How do YOU use Level 1 NPCs?

Itstucktwice

Just curious as to some of the ways people use/have used the Level 1 NPC mod. It doesn't matter if it one that makes sense or is entirely silly.

One of the more plain ones I often do is change Nalia from a Thief>Mage to a Fighter>Mage. It gives her a different role to fill than Imoen and is one I can easily justfiy, as it makes sense that Lord De'Arnise would want his daughter to be capable in combat.

The silliest one I have done is turning Xzar into a berserker. I didn't really have any justification for that one, I just wanted to hear his battle cries more often.

SCARY_WIZARD

Itstucktwice said:

One of the more plain ones I often do is change Nalia from a Thief>Mage to a Fighter>Mage. It gives her a different role to fill than Imoen and is one I can easily justfiy, as it makes sense that Lord De'Arnise would want his daughter to be capable in combat.

dat INTERDASTING!!!!! I like it. I shall do that.

I use it to re-assign proficiencies and stuff~

General

I make all weapons backstabbable.
I make Cleric and Druid restrictions a bit more slack. This is mainly for multi-class Clerics.
Basically, I make things more consistent with AD&D, and less consistent with AD&D 2E.

Baldur's Gate

Ajantis: I make him into a Cavalier. He's the type! He usually gets something sword-centric from me.
Alora: I make her into a Burglar, using Song and Silence from Gibberlings 3. She gets daggers and darts, and later slings.
Branwen: Battleguard of Tempus kit, using Divine Remix. I give her proficiency in battle axes, because Tempus.
Coran: I make his skills fit his backstory, a little more -- ranks in open locks and find/remove traps...not that I ever use the 'stain.
Dynaheir, Edwin, Eldoth, Faldorn, Garrick: Maybe weapon proficiency changes; not much else...
Imoen: Adventurer kit, from Song and Silence from Gibberlings 3!
Jaheira: I give her staves, spears, and slings. The thought of a 5'5" half-elf running at somebody with rageface with a spear in her hands and shouting "FOR THE FALLEN!" is pretty cool.
Kagain: ...I make him Korgan, but with Weapon & Shield style. :S
Khalid: Fighter/Magic-User. Or Fighter/Diviner. I also give him some more variety with his weapons. Swords, axes, maces, daggers...
Kivan: Well, I make him into an Archer...then, it's just bows and -- oh, look! Scimitars and spears.
Montaron: I make him more of a stealth/trappy type. Daggers, short swords...
Quayle: If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Safana: More of a trappy breaky type.
Shar-Teel: Two-handed swords, please. None of this dual-wielding silliness.
Skie: I make her skills more "badass". Primarily stealthy-type...
Tiax: I make him an even more awesome Cleric/Thief!
Viconia: Nightcloak of Shar, via Divine Remix from Gibberlings 3.
Xan: Dude, you're lucky I don't send him back in timeto accompany Erevain...
Yeslick: I set him up like the Alaghor kit -- specialty priests of Clangeddin. Because every Cleric is just that devoted to their god, right?

Baldur's Gate II

Anomen Delryn: Maybe some weapon proficiency tweaks...I also change his rewards around with the options presented. Failure makes him more warrior-ish.
Cernd: He's lucky I even look at him.
Imoen: Adventurer > Thief.
Jaheira: Consistent with Baldur's Gate.
Viconia deVir: Consistent with Baldur's Gate.

THAT'S ALL THE CAPITALS

THERE ARE

O_Bruce

How do I use Level 1 NPCs? Well, I don't.

artificial_sunlight

I don't use it. I shadowkeep everything i want

Itstucktwice

artificial_sunlight said:

I don't use it. I shadowkeep everything i want

I Shadowkeep quite a bit, too. I find both useful. I find Level 1 NPCs useful for a one time change that I want to keep for every additional run.

For example I always want Nalia as a figher>mage, so I use the mod and don't think twice about it.

On the other hand if am just experimenting or making small tweaks to proficiency points or statistics, I use Shadowkeeper.

Shin

When coming from BGEE or Tutu I use it in BG2 to retain the final stats and proficiencies of all characters I played with (i.e. what BGT normally does for you). If I gave Minsc the strength tome in BGEE I set his strength to 19 in BG2, and so on. As stated above this can just as easily be done with Shadowkeeper, but I like having stuff set up as correctly as possible when I start out.

SCARY_WIZARD

xwsf6z7v said:

words

That has to be the most innovative use of the mod yet!

Fredjo

SCARY_WIZARD said:

xwsf6z7v said:

words

That has to be the most innovative use of the mod yet!

LOL

blackchimes

I make Imoen a Swashbuckler. My excuse is that's the Thief kit that is closest to her personality. The real reason is the amazing Swashbuckler bonuses though.

Astafas

Where would one find this mod? :-)

Astafas

OK, found and installed the mod. But how do you use/activate it?? I'm no modder, needless to say...

10thLich

@Astafas
Read the readme
First few components are tweaks, the rest are components for each vanilla game NPC and various mod NPCs, with which (if you install them) you can change their stats, class(es) and/or weapon proficiencies.

10th

Astafas

I did read the readme. ;-) Only I didn't understand you were suppose to do everything from DOS mode (as I said, I'm really no modder/hacker, I normally need an easy interface). Think I was able to change Valygar to an Archer though.

Shin

Yeah, this particular mod is a little trickier to use than most. If changing kits of NPCs is all you want to do I'd recommend Shadowkeeper instead, more intuitive to use.

Astafas

I think I agree with @Shin, you can always roll and level up a PC yourself, to use as comparison to get the thief skills and other stuff right.

Shin

@Astafas Aye, you can also just use Shadowkeeper to change the kit, set their level to 1 and remove points/proficiencies and give them about as much exp as you have. Then load the game, level them up yourself and assign points as you feel best.

Edit: Or actually scratch that, might indeed lead to issues with the points/proficiencies assigned at the very first level. Probably easier to create a reference character like you say.

Lateralus

I recruit all of my NPCs and then leave them all at Gorion's ambush site. Then I make them box each other. Winners advance, losers get chunked by ME. And eventually...they all lose.

agris

Preface: I use a batch file (*.bat) to setup a manu-matic installation of modded BGT.

How do I use L1NPC? I create a text file for a given 'build'. Something like dex heavy katana stalker, multi fighter-mage, etc. Within this text file are the attributes, class, proficiencies and spells (if applicable).

Then, in my bat file, I can assign one of these prototypes to any given NPC, using L1NPC's components. So like this:

type _custom-game\multi_wiz_war-katana.txt | Setup-Level1NPCs.exe --language 0 --force-install 1206 --skip-at-view

This lets me create lots of different NPC archetypes, and play around with which NPC I assign them to. It's a nice way to experience different NPC story arcs and quests, while enabling a very specific party composition.

I wrote up more about this here.