Saerlieth is an adventurer who goes through constant stresses everyday in fighting for her life. The fact that suddenly, getting cheated on (or even being disagreed with to a certain degree) causes her to fall right over dead because of stress to her heart is ridiculous. Her Church of Tyr has nothing to do with Tyr the actual God and screams 'This is medieval Christian church!' all over it with no care as to what the actual church of Tyr is- especially disappointing, as she's supposedly the 'Chosen of Tyr'. The Forgotten Realms the mod thinks exists is nothing like how the Forgotten Realms actually are- the writers definitely failed their lore check. However, the mod is fun to laugh at. Tsujatha, too. I find him and his 'rawr I am evil but I will only love a good aligned CHARNAME also I am a virgin but still supply the best and most awesome sex your CHARNAME will ever have in her life' hilarious, too. Chloe? Still funny.
(On the other hand, by the same authors of Sarelieth and Tsujatha is Yasraena, who is not a romance, and is actually fairly decent.)
Kelsey stands out for being basically the first romance mod for girls that wasn't Anomen, and I think he deserves some credit for that. He's not to my tastes- I prefer the tortured soul type- but he really seems like the boy next door that you could fall for and live a happy life with. He's sweet, always respectful, generally seems to like CHARNAME for who she is, and isn't a jackass. Basically, nothing like Anomen.
Solaufein deserves a bemusing mention. He's romancable by anyone- male, female, in the middle of a romance with someone else. Yet his romance, if you can call it that, is basically all discussing philsophy and poetry. It's certainly unique. The bad? Bodhi kidnaps him no matter what, as Bodhi just thinks he's cool. And he doesn't really seem to have separate SOA/TOB tracks- if you exhaust his track in SOA, you get nothing in TOB.
Kivan is very well written mod and romance, yet... there's a lingering sadness to it. Kivan never outright compares you, but personally for me, I felt through the whole romance like I was being compared to his dead wife and I never quite shined as much as she would in his eyes. I think the mod is much better if you resurrect her, and just take them both along, then if you romance him. As I just don't think CHARNAME compares to this wonderful, caring, lovely person Kivan speaks of.
Xan's romance? Fun, with two different tracks: you went through the BG1 track, or you just started the romance in BG2. If you went through the BG1 track, then your romance used to end in tragedy, but now there's a happy ending path. I haven't played that route yet, though I'm sure it's lovely. Xan is his usual depressing self, but even if you just play the simple friendship track, you can tell he cares deeply for your Bhaalspawn. Romance, it's even more so. It's one of the mods that feels most like a real relationship to me- you both do stupid things, you make mistakes, you continue loving and supporting each other no matter what. It's probably my favorite romance.
Angelo? Fun. And suddenly surprisingly sweet, in ToB (if hilarious, if you're taking Haer'Dalis along). 'Why would you want to romance a man old enough to be your dad who tried to kill you before' is a question brought up and played with, but if your character is the type, it's a very fun romance. Angelo also has hilarious banters with practically everyone (well, save Sarevok- those are more angry banters then hilarious ones). I'd recommend picking him up and playing with him even if you don't intend to romance him, as he's just funny, though romance does bring out his best- and worst.
Romances for guys? Dace. Definitely Dace. (Though she works for gals, too.) I like Amber as well, but Amber sadly has no ToB content.
I haven't played many of the Spellhold Studios mods. Adrian is next on my list to try, though I'm probably going to play Xan's happy ending route first. Hm.
I really have to thoroughly disagree. Not about Chloe - I haven't played her tbh. But about Saerileth of Saerileth's Gate: A Tale of Saerileth - The Mod.
For a start the mod is written horribly. It uses Ye Old Eenglish, and it uses it wrong. Every British child is taught a degree of Ye Olde Eenglish in order to have the "joys" of Shakespeare upon us. So it's really evident to anyone who is British and remembers that horrifying period of our schooling, or knows anything about Old English that the mod authors clearly had no idea what they were doing when they decided to do this. And once you are able to decipher the meanings of the Old English the actual writing/plot itself for the romance and mod is horrific. Just terrible. I cite the example of "oh you slept with someone else! and so I die!" I get it it's supposed to be romeo and juliet type thing but see Juliet killed herself because she couldn't bear to live without Romeo she didn't just spontaneously drop dead. Jesus. Hell you even slightly disagree with the witch she can actually spontaneously drop dead. As if good people all share the same mind and same morals. It's ridiculous.
While I conceed that the whole visiting Sigil part and what not was interesting, and the extra content would have been nice, all together it's just too much. Saerileth takes over the damn game. And I am sorry but this tale here is about me and my CHARNAME not some 15 year old idiot who decided she loved me because apparently Tyr told her to. God.
The only possibly enjoyment you could get from this mod is ironic and perverse enjoyment in a "so bad its good" sort of way.
I'll take your word that Chloe's romance is terrible. But Saerileth has a bad romance on top of an NPC that takes over everything in my damn game.
The only good part of the mod is the third way to spellhold. And you can get that from other mods. Less intrusive mods.
I really have to thoroughly disagree. Not about Chloe - I haven't played her tbh. But about Saerileth of Saerileth's Gate: A Tale of Saerileth - The Mod.
For a start the mod is written horribly. It uses Ye Old Eenglish, and it uses it wrong. Every British child is taught a degree of Ye Olde Eenglish in order to have the "joys" of Shakespeare upon us. So it's really evident to anyone who is British and remembers that horrifying period of our schooling, or knows anything about Old English that the mod authors clearly had no idea what they were doing when they decided to do this. And once you are able to decipher the meanings of the Old English the actual writing/plot itself for the romance and mod is horrific. Just terrible. I cite the example of "oh you slept with someone else! and so I die!" I get it it's supposed to be romeo and juliet type thing but see Juliet killed herself because she couldn't bear to live without Romeo she didn't just spontaneously drop dead. Jesus. Hell you even slightly disagree with the witch she can actually spontaneously drop dead. As if good people all share the same mind and same morals. It's ridiculous.
While I conceed that the whole visiting Sigil part and what not was interesting, and the extra content would have been nice, all together it's just too much. Saerileth takes over the damn game. And I am sorry but this tale here is about me and my CHARNAME not some 15 year old idiot who decided she loved me because apparently Tyr told her to. God.
The only possibly enjoyment you could get from this mod is ironic and perverse enjoyment in a "so bad its good" sort of way.
I'll take your word that Chloe's romance is terrible. But Saerileth has a bad romance on top of an NPC that takes over everything in my damn game.
The only good part of the mod is the third way to spellhold. And you can get that from other mods. Less intrusive mods.
I agree entirely, but I was pretty sure that I said that I find the mod funny, rather than directly enjoyable. I find Saerileth to almost be a parody overall.
And I've never done Chloe's romance. I've only watched a LP and talked to some people online. The mod is just atrocious. It's not even 'so bad it's good'. It's 'so bad it's ****ing terrible'. Don't even try it. It's not worth it.
Dace seems pretty interesting. Might try her out. Says she has lots of banters with NPCs but I was kind of planning on a duo SCS run, so that might be a bit of a pity. But maybe fun in a bonnie and clyde kind of way.
And I've never done Chloe's romance. I've only watched a LP and talked to some people online. The mod is just atrocious. It's not even 'so bad it's good'. It's 'so bad it's ****ing terrible'. Don't even try it. It's not worth it.
Ah, Chloe. The demigod daughter with her 25 dexterity. Bringing shame to same-sex romances, sadly. Yet... I don't think she's as bad as CHARNAME. She takes over the narrative a bit, and her stats are ridiculous (25 dex, I repeat!) but she's not 'instantly in love from the moment she sees you and dying of a broken heart whenever you disagree with you' level of 'wtf'.
I haven't played many of the Spellhold Studios mods. Adrian is next on my list to try, though I'm probably going to play Xan's happy ending route first. Hm.
Xan oh Xan, you won't be disappointed I assure you. I'm playing with Adrian at the moment, he isn't voiced unfortunately, so I never know when his weapons aren't working (as I rarely look at the dialog box!). But so far so good!
I loved the Angelo romance, and the character in general. Sister V did a marvelous job.
Didn't really like the Tsujatha mod tbh, it just seemed really far fetched and I hate the voice.
On the subject of Elven maturity, Races of the Wild states that Elves reach physical maturity around 25, a few years after humans. They just aren't considered 'adults' by the Elven community until much later. Also, I dimly recall that Drizzt was swinging around swords in his 50's, which would lend further support to the notion that Elves become adults well before the 'starting age' for adventurers. Societal pressure probably helps keep most of them from leaving before then. Makes more sense to me than Elven children waddling around in diapers for 20 years, etc.
Anyone know of any good romance mods for evil characters?
@Catoblepas - If it means anything, I have not heard anything negative about the Shar-Teel romance. I haven't played it; not a fan of romances in general, but I read at least some negative comments about any other romance mod except that one and Branwen. Either they are boring and very unpopular, or they are actually decent and not widely used.
Has anyone actually given the Isra mod in bg2 a try? I've currently got her installed, but if the general view is that it's perfectly skippable, i might as well just go with Aerie..
I played through BG1 with Isra and enjoyed her friendship so much I got her for BG2 as well. I haven't finished it, and right now I'm running a female friendship run, but that's just so much fun getting to know her that I can't see how a romance would be unfun. If your character has just met her for BG2 (You can answer accordingly at the beginning of the mod interactions to tell this), she will be a little less prone to accepting you as a lover very quickly, and will play more like a regular BG2 romance.
However, if you knew her in BG1, then she will have accepted you and is much quicker at starting the relationship (as she already had feelings for you at the end of BG1). It's a cool insight they put in there that I enjoyed.
I'll mention that I haven't actually seen a lot of mods, but that's mostly because I'm pretty asexual and most of the time I get mods it's ones I have heard or seen are bad and want to see just how bad they are.
So I will talk about the one I hate the most out of all of them: Chloe.
Chloe is the absolute worst offender and even though I have never actually seen Saerelith I refuse to believe even jailbait paladin is worse than Special Snowflake Bhaalsp- I mean, Wind Babby. Chloe is just horrible and dumb and stupid and rude and mean to *everyone* in the group, and even Keldorn, who's been a paladin since before she was probably *born*, *asks her to train him because she's so good at swordfighting*. Authoress writer lady, they don't even use the same *sword style*, that's like apples and oranges. Are you freaking kidding me?
Oh and EVERYONE who is male wants into her pants. EVERYONE. Even Minsc. Thus she needs to rebuff them by reminding everyone for the umpteenth time that she is TEH GAYEST and that UGH MEN ALWAYS want HOT SEXY GIRLS UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MENNNNNNNNNNNNNNnnnnnnn.
Also she's a Kensai and she comes from a barbarian tribe to the north; she claims that her people made up the Kensai fighting style and I just slam my head into the keyboard, because it doesn't take an idiot to see that Kensai is a Japanese word and therefore should come from Yoshimo's land (Kara-Tur, was it?)
I just, everything about her made me angry and I hated her and wanted her dead. I literally had my entire group attack her and was betting deep down that somehow the modder had stuck in a "And then her magic goddess mommy came down specifically to protect her widdle baby wind babby" contingency to protect people from ever gaining the upper hand on this perfect specimen of perfection.
I could rant for hours about how much I hate Chloe. She is just that bad.
Yes, Chloe is fairly terrible in many many ways. I was so excited reading the description, only to find it was one of the worst mods I ever had the displeasure of installing.
Saerileth on the other hand is... well, okay, she's just as bad. Not only is it poorly written (from a creative AND a technical point), it also forces you to play the game without sound because BY ALL THE GODS IS THAT VOICE TERRIBLE. I'm all for voice content but that one is the worst I have ever heard in any BG mod of any kind. And, of course, the character and the romance are both also terrible for a plethora of reasons (listed quite nicely by the people above).
We could really use some more high-quality romance mods
I liked Tashia back in the day, although honestly I think that mod falls down in a big way due to the complete lack of voiced lines that aren't part of her normal soundset. The cool part about her romance is that she actually does get over her outstanding issues, to the point where in TOB she cuts the Gorion impersonating wraith's diatribe short, because she's had enough of second-guessing and guilt-trips. It's really quite awesome.
Sarah's also quite nice, although for various reasons I haven't finished TOB with her, so I can't comment on that quite yet (I've got her in TOB with one character, but I have maybe five runthroughs to juggle at a time, so...)
My favorite is Isra, though. Lots of voicing (and I dig her accent), beautiful music, and plenty of interesting conversation about things that are going on. She really fits right into the setting, as well, with enough cultural backstory thrown in to flesh out her personality and none of it feels artificial or contrived like Saerelith or Chloe. She's also pretty down to Earth, and while she does have personal issues, they really aren't particularly crippling, especially in BG1. 10/10 would play again, I'd say.
Now these days and for girls the best romance - Haer'Dalis romance hands down. May be it's me, but Xan's romance - as sweet as it is - felt out of character (in BG1, have not try it in BG2, though). Not the ending, probably, but definitely the way to it. Yet, Haer'Dalis remains very true to vanilla character and expansion with romance feels so natural you ask yourself why wasn't it in the game in the first place? Oh, and trust me - depending on your choice it can be hotter and spicier than Xan's writing
Imoen romance, there I said it ok. It's really good, well besides the music, the music is terrible, flow breaking and way too loud. It's really well written, well thought out and much less creepy than alot of the anime my friend Dino try's to get me to watch.
I haven't had a chance to try the Nalia romance though I have seen it, with the recommendations I might give it a go.
For myself my favourite mod romances are probably Tashia, though the joining of your party is a little weak she is a solid and enjoyable companion whether romanced or not. The romance tracks has few ups and downs and slow at first but with reasons for it, I enjoy the overall arc and enjoy her character and my good PC's interaction and as mentioned so character growth into ToB. Also the quest fights were tough with an interesting quest and good connection to CHARNAME's own heritage.
I have also enjoyed Fade allot, her reason for joining you is good and the character and romance is well done, interesting history and reactions and developments through the game, a unique result with the Bodie battle when she is taken due to her history, and a tragic history and current ties to the Shadow thieves to overcome. She a little cheeky and flirtatious, at times fierce but with a cute girly and vulnerable side, hiding an underlying insecurity and fear, good mod. And I will always love the mod for giving my good PC's a RP reason to storm the house with Celestial Fury as I never really had a reason to go barging in there without it. So marks up for that alone, now as Minsc says I can go in there 'butt-kicking for goodness!' And that is awesome. She also has ToB content now so you can finish the game with her which is even better .
I also really recommend the Isra mod, being a two-parter that goes through from BG1 through BG2 including ToB (though you don't have to have played the BG1 portion as you set the conditions of whether you met her and journeyed with her in the initial meeting/event triggering the mod in BG2, though I definitely would recommend doing it for it's own sake). The mod is pretty extensive with allot talks, reactivity to events and lots of interaction with other characters. I'm currently just got to the Underdark with her so I can't comment on content beyond that but there has been allot of content, interesting quests involving family dealings and with a somewhat tough fight if you do it early and some detective work. Well voice acted I thought and you have a number of conversation options you can initiate with her besides just flirts. The conversations are well done and refreshingly the conversation options don't on the whole divide down the nice guy, wise guy and jerk responses that often characterized parts of the canon romances but have a bit of variety in the responses you can give, and generally speaking she responds well to most. She comes across as warm, compassionate and passionate with a strong set of principles, to be expected as a paladin but she understanding and accommodating with the right flexibility in applying it to situations you encounter. That is to say she is a paladin done in a way that is a actual person and a character rather than an alignment on legs, with a sword (the lawful stupid stereotypes), and is more how I like paladins to be played, and someone who's character is not just being a paladin.
She does have some issues to work through though none of them but they don't dominate the character, with allot seeming to do with dealing with what happens when paladin ideals hit tough and personal situations and how to grow through that. The other refreshing thing about the mod is if you have known her in BG1 and done the pre-romance arc there you get together with her fairly quickly and naturally (since you already have that familiarity and intimacy built up) and the rest continues from the perspective of the her and CHARNAME as a couple and dealing with things from that angle . So getting together/fade to black sex is not the end and do avoids sex as reward for correctly romancing her as it were .
And lastly I'll give my vote to Dynaheir in the BG1 npc project mod (really hope someone makes a partial version of it for BG2 as I loved being able to initiate conversations with my companions as well as all that additional companion content). Really expanded her character nicely and is enjoyable romance, not to mention the touching and tragic cut scene at the end.
Then there is always Sheri the minstrel at the Mithrest Tavern
Well I just recently finished a run with Isra, and she is hands down my absolute favorite from what I've played thus far. A story that started as a growing friendship all through BG1EE, continuing into a low-maintenance romance in BG2, and finally becoming a true devotion at the end of ToB. Her actress is quite nice, her design for her portrait was well designed. Her stats were not exceptionally powerful and quite balanced, and her personal quests, while still prone to a few bugs, were really well done and not invasive on the main game or any major quests. Being a cavalier, she's able to use on of the most powerful weapons in the game in Carsomyr, and she can have access to priest spells eventually, as well as remove fear.
On top of it her personality is fairly likeable and she's rather accepting as far as paladins go. Overall I'd say the mod was a 10/10.
My favorite was the romance between Nalia and Auren Aseph. It was really sweet and cute and you could tell they enjoyed being around each other. It was fun to see them happy.
For BG1 my favorite romance ever is Dynaheir's. It feels very realistic and it makes Dyna such a likable and believable character, not to mention that it gives that tragic love feeling in BG2 when Minsc reveals that she died .
I have tried Branwen's romance but I had three problems with it : it's fast paced and because of that she's all over you very quickly and she also seems to be easily offended whenever you make a funny or ironic remark, unlike Dynaheir who reacts in a mature way and accepts you for who you are unless you were really a jerk.
For female romance I have had my female cavalier romance Ajantis , and it also felt really believable and in character - Ajantis is corteous and cute as ever, but he also has responsibilities and principles that make him the kind of guy you would like to start an argument with - the perfect love formula s2. I have been playing his BG2 romance as well and it's quite interesting , too.
My favorite unnoficial BG2 romance was Tashia, because she's very funny in an unpretentious way , and is also quite intriguing. My favorite BG2 canon romance is Viconia's , as her emotional turmoil is just an amazing addition to the whole story.
@TheNPC: There is Romantic Encounters for BGII as well as for BG1 (two separate mods). You can download here. The downloads for BGII are called "Romantic Encounters" only. For BG1, the Download is called "BG1 Romantic Encounters". I agree it's a bit confusing.
@TheNPC: There is Romantic Encounters for BGII as well as for BG1 (two separate mods). You can download here. The downloads for BGII are called "Romantic Encounters" only. For BG1, the Download is called "BG1 Romantic Encounters". I agree it's a bit confusing.
@Catoblepas - If it means anything, I have not heard anything negative about the Shar-Teel romance. I haven't played it; not a fan of romances in general, but I read at least some negative comments about any other romance mod except that one and Branwen. Either they are boring and very unpopular, or they are actually decent and not widely used.
Both Branwen and Shar-Teel romances are part of the BG1NPC project. Same as Dynaheir, Coran in BG1 and early Xan and Ajantis.
It is the mod that so-to-say introduced the romances into the game. Despite their age those are all excellent stories and romances, especially as each of them was written for an existing vanilla NPC. They all find the right tone and pace for their NPC. Dynaheir - I agree with everybody who mentioned it before - is the best of them in the way that it gives the character depth and character and it so fits her later fate. Branwen is far faster and spontaneous - just like that fighter of Tempus is supposed to be. Maybe it is not as deep as Dynaheir's but it definitely fits the character of the northern girl. Shar-Teel is great. Maybe it gets the least mentioning because it requires an evil type protagonist to trigger it. It starts out with a fight and sleeping with her on the first night. Just to learn that you have to fight much more to finally win her respect and *love?*. And maybe you discover that deep under all her agression and scowling hatret, Angelo's daughter is a honorable but wounded little girl. Ajantis has over time been further developped into his own mod which now extends into BG2/ToB and if I'm not mistaken this is done by the author who did the original BG1NPC romance. Xan's romance is bittersweet and of course *doomed*. Coran - is it really a romance? On the other hand, is that guy even capable of true love. It is fitting that he's given something that feels more like a prolonged Romantic Encounter. Have fun while it lasts. All of those romances are carefully paced and move along the BG1 main plot. They have hardly ever been topped by any subsequent romances.
Continued from previous post... Of the official BG2 romance, Jaheira's attrackts me every time again. The far older woman, but maybe still young in elven years, now a widow. The protagonist and herself struggle to admit what is going on. But there is passion and dedication and it is a very realistic development, after all you travel together since the Friendly Arm Inn and you have been through all of this together, side by side, day and night.
Other memorable romances from BG2 (I guess I played them all one time or another, I alternately play female or male protagonists) - Viconia (or how to survive with a drow) - Nalia (or how to romance the aristocracy) - Tyris Flare - Amber (this is the tiefling?) - Angelo (I forgave that weasel just for the fun he gave me) - Fade - Farren - Chloe (yes, the very same) - Skie in BG2 (maybe not available in EE? The sheer thought of it...and then it worked.)
Mixed emotions - Aerie (the blueprint for Saerileth) - Imoen ( The part prior the rescue at Spellhold is great. The dreamlike, what-if scenarios and flashbacks. Is it real or are those the young protagonist's hidden wishes? - it falls apart when the *real* Imoen joins again.) - Sheena - Edwin (my fault probably, I expected too much from that one) - Neera (she's the only decent one of the new official NPCs, maybe I give her too much credit for this and she's the only one with modded contents added to her so far) - Kivan (I really like him but...)
Just not my thing - Paladins (I'm forced to fight for survival throughout the game, I need no lectures in chastity nor advice if my shirt is too short, I'm happy that I even have one. I kill and fight because I have to and I make a pact with a thieves' guild if i must. Bhaal won't get me nor will a bigot paladin, female ones included.) Sole exception: Sirene, the tiefling paladin of Illmater, which is a contradiction in itself but an excellent one. - Gavin and Forgot-His-Name (adventuring merchant in BG2 government district, Kelsey?), nice and well written and boring, they are so normal just like lost children in the wilderness that is Faerun. - Yoshimo/Valygar/Anomen (nothing can breeze life into those)
Man, I guess I'm the odd man out here--I love BG1 NPC, but I find Dynaheir insufferable. Like, to the point where I have to weigh the fun of Minsc against having to put up with her.
On the flipside, I often find myself making room for Garrick, and I think the Khalid-Jaheira relationship gets some needed depth.
Comments
(On the other hand, by the same authors of Sarelieth and Tsujatha is Yasraena, who is not a romance, and is actually fairly decent.)
Kelsey stands out for being basically the first romance mod for girls that wasn't Anomen, and I think he deserves some credit for that. He's not to my tastes- I prefer the tortured soul type- but he really seems like the boy next door that you could fall for and live a happy life with. He's sweet, always respectful, generally seems to like CHARNAME for who she is, and isn't a jackass. Basically, nothing like Anomen.
Solaufein deserves a bemusing mention. He's romancable by anyone- male, female, in the middle of a romance with someone else. Yet his romance, if you can call it that, is basically all discussing philsophy and poetry. It's certainly unique. The bad? Bodhi kidnaps him no matter what, as Bodhi just thinks he's cool. And he doesn't really seem to have separate SOA/TOB tracks- if you exhaust his track in SOA, you get nothing in TOB.
Kivan is very well written mod and romance, yet... there's a lingering sadness to it. Kivan never outright compares you, but personally for me, I felt through the whole romance like I was being compared to his dead wife and I never quite shined as much as she would in his eyes. I think the mod is much better if you resurrect her, and just take them both along, then if you romance him. As I just don't think CHARNAME compares to this wonderful, caring, lovely person Kivan speaks of.
Xan's romance? Fun, with two different tracks: you went through the BG1 track, or you just started the romance in BG2. If you went through the BG1 track, then your romance used to end in tragedy, but now there's a happy ending path. I haven't played that route yet, though I'm sure it's lovely. Xan is his usual depressing self, but even if you just play the simple friendship track, you can tell he cares deeply for your Bhaalspawn. Romance, it's even more so. It's one of the mods that feels most like a real relationship to me- you both do stupid things, you make mistakes, you continue loving and supporting each other no matter what. It's probably my favorite romance.
Angelo? Fun. And suddenly surprisingly sweet, in ToB (if hilarious, if you're taking Haer'Dalis along). 'Why would you want to romance a man old enough to be your dad who tried to kill you before' is a question brought up and played with, but if your character is the type, it's a very fun romance. Angelo also has hilarious banters with practically everyone (well, save Sarevok- those are more angry banters then hilarious ones). I'd recommend picking him up and playing with him even if you don't intend to romance him, as he's just funny, though romance does bring out his best- and worst.
Romances for guys? Dace. Definitely Dace. (Though she works for gals, too.) I like Amber as well, but Amber sadly has no ToB content.
I haven't played many of the Spellhold Studios mods. Adrian is next on my list to try, though I'm probably going to play Xan's happy ending route first. Hm.
I really have to thoroughly disagree. Not about Chloe - I haven't played her tbh. But about Saerileth of Saerileth's Gate: A Tale of Saerileth - The Mod.
For a start the mod is written horribly. It uses Ye Old Eenglish, and it uses it wrong.
Every British child is taught a degree of Ye Olde Eenglish in order to have the "joys" of Shakespeare upon us. So it's really evident to anyone who is British and remembers that horrifying period of our schooling, or knows anything about Old English that the mod authors clearly had no idea what they were doing when they decided to do this.
And once you are able to decipher the meanings of the Old English the actual writing/plot itself for the romance and mod is horrific. Just terrible. I cite the example of "oh you slept with someone else! and so I die!" I get it it's supposed to be romeo and juliet type thing but see Juliet killed herself because she couldn't bear to live without Romeo she didn't just spontaneously drop dead. Jesus.
Hell you even slightly disagree with the witch she can actually spontaneously drop dead. As if good people all share the same mind and same morals. It's ridiculous.
While I conceed that the whole visiting Sigil part and what not was interesting, and the extra content would have been nice, all together it's just too much. Saerileth takes over the damn game. And I am sorry but this tale here is about me and my CHARNAME not some 15 year old idiot who decided she loved me because apparently Tyr told her to. God.
The only possibly enjoyment you could get from this mod is ironic and perverse enjoyment in a "so bad its good" sort of way.
I'll take your word that Chloe's romance is terrible. But Saerileth has a bad romance on top of an NPC that takes over everything in my damn game.
The only good part of the mod is the third way to spellhold. And you can get that from other mods. Less intrusive mods.
And I've never done Chloe's romance. I've only watched a LP and talked to some people online. The mod is just atrocious. It's not even 'so bad it's good'. It's 'so bad it's ****ing terrible'. Don't even try it. It's not worth it.
I'm playing with Adrian at the moment, he isn't voiced unfortunately, so I never know when his weapons aren't working (as I rarely look at the dialog box!). But so far so good!
I loved the Angelo romance, and the character in general. Sister V did a marvelous job.
Didn't really like the Tsujatha mod tbh, it just seemed really far fetched and I hate the voice.
Anyone know of any good romance mods for evil characters?
However, if you knew her in BG1, then she will have accepted you and is much quicker at starting the relationship (as she already had feelings for you at the end of BG1). It's a cool insight they put in there that I enjoyed.
I'll mention that I haven't actually seen a lot of mods, but that's mostly because I'm pretty asexual and most of the time I get mods it's ones I have heard or seen are bad and want to see just how bad they are.
So I will talk about the one I hate the most out of all of them: Chloe.
Chloe is the absolute worst offender and even though I have never actually seen Saerelith I refuse to believe even jailbait paladin is worse than Special Snowflake Bhaalsp- I mean, Wind Babby. Chloe is just horrible and dumb and stupid and rude and mean to *everyone* in the group, and even Keldorn, who's been a paladin since before she was probably *born*, *asks her to train him because she's so good at swordfighting*. Authoress writer lady, they don't even use the same *sword style*, that's like apples and oranges. Are you freaking kidding me?
Oh and EVERYONE who is male wants into her pants. EVERYONE. Even Minsc. Thus she needs to rebuff them by reminding everyone for the umpteenth time that she is TEH GAYEST and that UGH MEN ALWAYS want HOT SEXY GIRLS UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MENNNNNNNNNNNNNNnnnnnnn.
Also she's a Kensai and she comes from a barbarian tribe to the north; she claims that her people made up the Kensai fighting style and I just slam my head into the keyboard, because it doesn't take an idiot to see that Kensai is a Japanese word and therefore should come from Yoshimo's land (Kara-Tur, was it?)
I just, everything about her made me angry and I hated her and wanted her dead. I literally had my entire group attack her and was betting deep down that somehow the modder had stuck in a "And then her magic goddess mommy came down specifically to protect her widdle baby wind babby" contingency to protect people from ever gaining the upper hand on this perfect specimen of perfection.
I could rant for hours about how much I hate Chloe. She is just that bad.
Saerileth on the other hand is... well, okay, she's just as bad. Not only is it poorly written (from a creative AND a technical point), it also forces you to play the game without sound because BY ALL THE GODS IS THAT VOICE TERRIBLE. I'm all for voice content but that one is the worst I have ever heard in any BG mod of any kind. And, of course, the character and the romance are both also terrible for a plethora of reasons (listed quite nicely by the people above).
We could really use some more high-quality romance mods
Sarah's also quite nice, although for various reasons I haven't finished TOB with her, so I can't comment on that quite yet (I've got her in TOB with one character, but I have maybe five runthroughs to juggle at a time, so...)
My favorite is Isra, though. Lots of voicing (and I dig her accent), beautiful music, and plenty of interesting conversation about things that are going on. She really fits right into the setting, as well, with enough cultural backstory thrown in to flesh out her personality and none of it feels artificial or contrived like Saerelith or Chloe. She's also pretty down to Earth, and while she does have personal issues, they really aren't particularly crippling, especially in BG1. 10/10 would play again, I'd say.
Oh, and trust me - depending on your choice it can be hotter and spicier than Xan's writing
It's really well written, well thought out and much less creepy than alot of the anime my friend Dino try's to get me to watch.
Also like Dynaheir's romance in BG1
For myself my favourite mod romances are probably Tashia, though the joining of your party is a little weak she is a solid and enjoyable companion whether romanced or not. The romance tracks has few ups and downs and slow at first but with reasons for it, I enjoy the overall arc and enjoy her character and my good PC's interaction and as mentioned so character growth into ToB. Also the quest fights were tough with an interesting quest and good connection to CHARNAME's own heritage.
I have also enjoyed Fade allot, her reason for joining you is good and the character and romance is well done, interesting history and reactions and developments through the game, a unique result with the Bodie battle when she is taken due to her history, and a tragic history and current ties to the Shadow thieves to overcome. She a little cheeky and flirtatious, at times fierce but with a cute girly and vulnerable side, hiding an underlying insecurity and fear, good mod. And I will always love the mod for giving my good PC's a RP reason to storm the house with Celestial Fury as I never really had a reason to go barging in there without it. So marks up for that alone, now as Minsc says I can go in there 'butt-kicking for goodness!'
I also really recommend the Isra mod, being a two-parter that goes through from BG1 through BG2 including ToB (though you don't have to have played the BG1 portion as you set the conditions of whether you met her and journeyed with her in the initial meeting/event triggering the mod in BG2, though I definitely would recommend doing it for it's own sake). The mod is pretty extensive with allot talks, reactivity to events and lots of interaction with other characters. I'm currently just got to the Underdark with her so I can't comment on content beyond that but there has been allot of content, interesting quests involving family dealings and with a somewhat tough fight if you do it early and some detective work. Well voice acted I thought and you have a number of conversation options you can initiate with her besides just flirts. The conversations are well done and refreshingly the conversation options don't on the whole divide down the nice guy, wise guy and jerk responses that often characterized parts of the canon romances but have a bit of variety in the responses you can give, and generally speaking she responds well to most. She comes across as warm, compassionate and passionate with a strong set of principles, to be expected as a paladin but she understanding and accommodating with the right flexibility in applying it to situations you encounter. That is to say she is a paladin done in a way that is a actual person and a character rather than an alignment on legs, with a sword (the lawful stupid stereotypes), and is more how I like paladins to be played, and someone who's character is not just being a paladin.
She does have some issues to work through though none of them but they don't dominate the character, with allot seeming to do with dealing with what happens when paladin ideals hit tough and personal situations and how to grow through that. The other refreshing thing about the mod is if you have known her in BG1 and done the pre-romance arc there you get together with her fairly quickly and naturally (since you already have that familiarity and intimacy built up) and the rest continues from the perspective of the her and CHARNAME as a couple and dealing with things from that angle
. So getting together/fade to black sex is not the end and do avoids sex as reward for correctly romancing her as it were
And lastly I'll give my vote to Dynaheir in the BG1 npc project mod (really hope someone makes a partial version of it for BG2 as I loved being able to initiate conversations with my companions as well as all that additional companion content). Really expanded her character nicely and is enjoyable romance, not to mention the touching and tragic cut scene at the end.
Then there is always Sheri the minstrel at the Mithrest Tavern
On top of it her personality is fairly likeable and she's rather accepting as far as paladins go. Overall I'd say the mod was a 10/10.
I have tried Branwen's romance but I had three problems with it : it's fast paced and because of that she's all over you very quickly and she also seems to be easily offended whenever you make a funny or ironic remark, unlike Dynaheir who reacts in a mature way and accepts you for who you are unless you were really a jerk.
For female romance I have had my female cavalier romance Ajantis , and it also felt really believable and in character - Ajantis is corteous and cute as ever, but he also has responsibilities and principles that make him the kind of guy you would like to start an argument with - the perfect love formula s2. I have been playing his BG2 romance as well and it's quite interesting , too.
My favorite unnoficial BG2 romance was Tashia, because she's very funny in an unpretentious way , and is also quite intriguing. My favorite BG2 canon romance is Viconia's , as her emotional turmoil is just an amazing addition to the whole story.
The downloads for BGII are called "Romantic Encounters" only. For BG1, the Download is called "BG1 Romantic Encounters". I agree it's a bit confusing.
It is the mod that so-to-say introduced the romances into the game. Despite their age those are all excellent stories and romances, especially as each of them was written for an existing vanilla NPC. They all find the right tone and pace for their NPC.
Dynaheir - I agree with everybody who mentioned it before - is the best of them in the way that it gives the character depth and character and it so fits her later fate.
Branwen is far faster and spontaneous - just like that fighter of Tempus is supposed to be. Maybe it is not as deep as Dynaheir's but it definitely fits the character of the northern girl.
Shar-Teel is great. Maybe it gets the least mentioning because it requires an evil type protagonist to trigger it. It starts out with a fight and sleeping with her on the first night. Just to learn that you have to fight much more to finally win her respect and *love?*. And maybe you discover that deep under all her agression and scowling hatret, Angelo's daughter is a honorable but wounded little girl.
Ajantis has over time been further developped into his own mod which now extends into BG2/ToB and if I'm not mistaken this is done by the author who did the original BG1NPC romance.
Xan's romance is bittersweet and of course *doomed*.
Coran - is it really a romance? On the other hand, is that guy even capable of true love. It is fitting that he's given something that feels more like a prolonged Romantic Encounter. Have fun while it lasts.
All of those romances are carefully paced and move along the BG1 main plot. They have hardly ever been topped by any subsequent romances.
Of the official BG2 romance, Jaheira's attrackts me every time again. The far older woman, but maybe still young in elven years, now a widow. The protagonist and herself struggle to admit what is going on. But there is passion and dedication and it is a very realistic development, after all you travel together since the Friendly Arm Inn and you have been through all of this together, side by side, day and night.
Other memorable romances from BG2 (I guess I played them all one time or another, I alternately play female or male protagonists)
- Viconia (or how to survive with a drow)
- Nalia (or how to romance the aristocracy)
- Tyris Flare
- Amber (this is the tiefling?)
- Angelo (I forgave that weasel just for the fun he gave me)
- Fade
- Farren
- Chloe (yes, the very same)
- Skie in BG2 (maybe not available in EE? The sheer thought of it...and then it worked.)
Mixed emotions
- Aerie (the blueprint for Saerileth)
- Imoen ( The part prior the rescue at Spellhold is great. The dreamlike, what-if scenarios and flashbacks. Is it real or are those the young protagonist's hidden wishes? - it falls apart when the *real* Imoen joins again.)
- Sheena
- Edwin (my fault probably, I expected too much from that one)
- Neera (she's the only decent one of the new official NPCs, maybe I give her too much credit for this and she's the only one with modded contents added to her so far)
- Kivan (I really like him but...)
Just not my thing
- Paladins (I'm forced to fight for survival throughout the game, I need no lectures in chastity nor advice if my shirt is too short, I'm happy that I even have one. I kill and fight because I have to and I make a pact with a thieves' guild if i must. Bhaal won't get me nor will a bigot paladin, female ones included.) Sole exception: Sirene, the tiefling paladin of Illmater, which is a contradiction in itself but an excellent one.
- Gavin and Forgot-His-Name (adventuring merchant in BG2 government district, Kelsey?), nice and well written and boring, they are so normal just like lost children in the wilderness that is Faerun.
- Yoshimo/Valygar/Anomen (nothing can breeze life into those)
Chapter 3, right after meeting Aran Linvail. You literally can't miss her, not unless you join Bodhi instead.
On the flipside, I often find myself making room for Garrick, and I think the Khalid-Jaheira relationship gets some needed depth.