Sherlock Holmes-like in BG

Illustair

I'm still in the process of reading "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and I'm quite intrigued as to how a character similar to Sherlock Holmes would fit in BG as companion. The character doesn't necessarily have to represent the entirety of the famed detective; maybe a couple of things attributable to him, just enough that you'd be able to recognize the inspiration. It could be through the way he speaks i.e. his diction or his accent, his incisive reasoning or keen observation skills, or that there would be a new detective class (it might be underpowered though seeing the game as more combat-oriented). Pray tell your thoughts. Even better if you'd care to provide some background history.

My imagination is only limited to having a human bard with english accent that gives insightful thoughts during your travels. He knows almost everything that's going on, but as to critical points of the story (e.g.Yoshimo), he only provides small clues and asks "what do you make of that, Mr. CHARNAME?" I'm sure others are far more imaginative than I am.

Alexisisinneed

It's sounds pretty intresting, but I have a feeling that if he doesn't start pulling his weight past chapter two my just dump in some random woods. Or will he be smart enough to know that I would try to kill him and then kill me first?

JLee

Maybe he'd be a Diviner?

He does possess some boxing skills and can play the violin. So, you are probably right about a bard.

Just keep him away from the black lotus!

Illustair

--Double post, sorry--

Illustair

Maybe he would make a comment just before you deliver the killing blow that he expected it would end up that way? "I expected ... *dies*" That was cheesy, but at least he was still smart enough to know...he also just knew that he couldn't do anything about it.

nano

Criminal investigation is easy in BG. Just cast Detect Evil and arrest anyone that's evil. Doesn't matter if they're not guilty of that particular crime; if they're evil, they're guilty of something

On a serious note, it could be interesting but it'd be hard to write him as having great deductive skills without giving away plot points or making the player feel like he's stealing all the glory. Keen observation skills could be good - provide extra clues to the player but leave it up to them to figure out what's going on. It's still a game, after all, and the player has to be the star of the show.

Bard is a weird choice, definitely make him some sort of thief multiclass. Detect traps and detect illusions is exactly the kind of thing he'd be good at. F/T or F/M/T? Or another bounty hunter?

Alexisisinneed

Illustair said:

Maybe he would make a comment just before you deliver the killing blow that he expected it would end up that way? "I expected ... *dies*" That was cheesy, but at least he was still smart enough to know...he also just knew that he couldn't do anything about it.

Of course he would say that even if it wasn't true or not because he would know that it would drive me more crazy.

Corvino

You could always have him as a non-party NPC questgiver or similar. That would negate the need for him to be involved in combat and allow the necessary eccentricity and deep thought.