Hmmm, are you perhaps going to expand the PC, Aerie and Haer'Dalis love triangle? Either by restoring some content(if there is such) or maybe writing some new stuff. Granted that this is not a romance mod but I think Bioware missed a chance here as love triangles with one of the character not being romanceable and being the PC's rival is kinda unheard of. It would also help expand Aerie's thoughts on what she wants in a relationship and how her past traumas affect her decision/s. Also a shame how Throne of Bhaal does apparently no longer reference her being in a relationship with Haer'Dalis if he choose him nor any banters between him, Aerie or the PC even if it were just some friendship kind of talks(after all the one who lost for Aerie's love could still be her friend, right?).
And speaking of restored content I really liked how you decided to restore some of her banters. Do you plan maybe to restore a few more of those if there are any?
There's only three banters I found, in SoA, but if I come across any more of those, or interjections that weren't implemented, I'll most likely add them (unless they're really bad).
Haven't given much thought to Haer'Dalis, but if ever the Aerie romance ends for a male player, you should before along get a banter where she asks if you can still be friends. There's all different ones depending on if you choose another over her, or she choose Haer'Dalis over you... they're not long talks though. When I've time I might expand them a bit more.
Eventually I'll add player initiated dialogues for when you are friends with her, and you'll be able to ask her questions about events that have transpired, including her relationship with Haer'Dalis, before, during, and after she decides to end it with him.
STILL TO DO:
Main Quest - That'll take a while, as it seems I'm doing all the other bits first.
Mini-Quest with Minsc, probably.
Player initiated dialogues.
More stuff with Ammale, probably (maybe a follow up to the quest where she gets him... but I might leave it until later...)
More banters with other NPC's, I expect. Maybe some more interjections.
And another optional component to change her interaction with Hexxat, so that Hexxat doesn't admit to killing peasants while everyone sleeps and so Aerie doesn't physically go after her in ToB. As I explained before, I think it just makes Hex's interactions with just about every NPC who doesn't go after her completely dumb and out of character. Better to leave where she gets her food to the players imagination, as there's nothing in the game that actually addresses that issue. But it will be optional because it will be over writing the existing dialogue.
Some more fixes. Also, you can now tell Korgan to shut up if he's harassing her (if you're friends with or romancing Aerie), or you can say nothing and let things continue as usual.
I Don't think Korgan would accept you telling him to shut up - Korgan would butcher you first, then Aerie.
I don't think he's stupid enough to try that. He's a mercenary and for the time being, you're his boss. Unless you stop paying or try to cheat him, he'll mostly go along. Besides which, he seems to always like it when people insult him. I guess he feels that's how comrades should be with each other.
More fixes. Also, I realised that I'd scripted the new NPC banters to trigger instantly when both were in the party, (would have been annoying if you had Imoen and Aerie as about five banters would have triggered one after the other), so I've removed those scripts.
Didn't want it to be all niceness and hugs however. I thought, as I've been trying to think of more ideas for her friendship path, how about an enemy path as well? And so now, if your PC is evil and you do evil things, Aerie may turn against you and become your enemy:
You have to be evil when you recruit Aerie. She then has an evilometer that when it reaches a certain value will cause her to snap and leave the party. With a high enough charisma, you can convince her to stay a little longer, but the next evil thing you do will make her turn. You'll then have a few encounters with her.
As for what things will raise your evilometer with Aerie, I've only been through Chapter Two so far (I haven't added any EE quests yet, although it's only really Dorn that gives you opportunity to be really bad.
Here's the list so far (some of them will obviously cause Aerie to leave or turn hostile anyway if she's around when you do them):
If Quayle dies. Killing Hendak for Lehtinan. Abandoning Jaheira while she's cursed. Joining the Talos temple. Attacking William in Keldorn's quest. Ransoming Elgea. Killing Marcus during the Maevar's Guild quest. Killing Embarl during the Maevar's Guild quest. If Anomen kills Surayah. If Anomen fails his test. If your reputation drops to 5 or less (only works once). Killing Delcia. Poisoning the Druid Grove. Killing Valygar for the Cowled Wizards. Betraying Valygar to the Cowled Wizards. Making a deal with Firkraag.
The evilometer starts at 1. Each of the above will increase it by one. When it reaches 8, a timer will trigger and then Aerie will ask to leave.
mmmm, with the use of this meter, don't you think you are going too much "far" regarding to Aerie, while all the other character in "vanilla" bg2 only leave because of specific events? (e.g allying with bodhi, giving the egg to the demon in ust nasta, etc).
No, I don't think the vanilla BG characters go far enough. And if you're an evil character doing evil stuff all the time, I don't know how you imagine a character like Aerie is going stick around anyway.
But seriously, I don't think it's much different from Good characters leaving when your reputation gets too low, but you get some extra stuff afterwards (and can't recruit her again. I might change that in the future, but we'll see). Minsc leaves with her if she's his witch, although I've not decided what role he might play in the future encounters. At the moment I'm afraid he just disappears if they're both in the party.
Didn't want it to be all niceness and hugs however. I thought, as I've been trying to think of more ideas for her friendship path, how about an enemy path as well? And so now, if your PC is evil and you do evil things, Aerie may turn against you and become your enemy:
You have to be evil when you recruit Aerie. She then has an evilometer that when it reaches a certain value will cause her to snap and leave the party. With a high enough charisma, you can convince her to stay a little longer, but the next evil thing you do will make her turn. You'll then have a few encounters with her.
As for what things will raise your evilometer with Aerie, I've only been through Chapter Two so far (I haven't added any EE quests yet, although it's only really Dorn that gives you opportunity to be really bad.
Here's the list so far (some of them will obviously cause Aerie to leave or turn hostile anyway if she's around when you do them):
If Quayle dies. Killing Hendak for Lehtinan. Abandoning Jaheira while she's cursed. Joining the Talos temple. Attacking William in Keldorn's quest. Ransoming Elgea. Killing Marcus during the Maevar's Guild quest. Killing Embarl during the Maevar's Guild quest. If Anomen kills Surayah. If Anomen fails his test. If your reputation drops to 5 or less (only works once). Killing Delcia. Poisoning the Druid Grove. Killing Valygar for the Cowled Wizards. Betraying Valygar to the Cowled Wizards. Making a deal with Firkraag.
The evilometer starts at 1. Each of the above will increase it by one. When it reaches 8, a timer will trigger and then Aerie will ask to leave.
Let me know if I missed anything.
Now that sounds pretty interesting.
How about making Aerie react(or at least change her reactions in some scenes) to the PC differently if he is good, neutral or evil(alignment-wise)? Then make those reactions more extreme if the PC is not only evil aligned but starts doing bad stuff.
Hmmm...also how about adding Aerie being more or less tolerant of that stuff if it starts once she and the PC are already in a relationship? Some desperate Aerie attempt to redeem the PC even if it ends up costing Aerie's own life? Of course the result would depend on the player choices and on how charismatic is the PC and how nice he was to her all this time.
But I guess I'm going to far ahead with this stuff as you apparently have plenty on your plate anyway. Just trowing some ideas of mine ^^
Thanks for explaining. Sorry if my posts seems most of times "critics" but it's just becuase I'm following your mod closely because what you are doing has potential
It's okay. All these things are still in their early stages anyway, so we'll see how they go.
Keep it up this mod is looking awesome. Quick question are you going to do anyone else?
You mean expanding another NPC? I hadn't planned on any. I felt Aerie needed more content, since she's by far the shortest romance and she doesn't really have a main quest associated with her. Probably there are some other NPC's who could use some extra content as well, although in most cases there's already a mod for that.
How about making Aerie react(or at least change her reactions in some scenes) to the PC differently if he is good, neutral or evil(alignment-wise)? Then make those reactions more extreme if the PC is not only evil aligned but starts doing bad stuff.
Hmmm...also how about adding Aerie being more or less tolerant of that stuff if it starts once she and the PC are already in a relationship? Some desperate Aerie attempt to redeem the PC even if it ends up costing Aerie's own life? Of course the result would depend on the player choices and on how charismatic is the PC and how nice he was to her all this time.
I had planned on having different banters and replies if you were involved with her before, but haven't really gotten to it, except for in the first talk when she leaves. I figured it was best just to get the outline of the encounters done and now I can revise and add to them. Attempting to redeem the NPC is an interesting idea... I might take that into consideration.
As it is, this all only can happen if the PC is evil. You can do the bad stuff as a Good or Neutral Bhaalspawn and she won't take any notice, (except the things that would have caused her to leave or turn hostile if she's around when you do them anyway, like betraying Valygar), although it would be a strange roleplay choice. I don't think there's any way for the PC to change alignment in SoA, at least not until basically the end. Helm of Opposite Alignment, maybe, but I don't think Aerie would fall for that.
Just give me a chance, if possible, when meeting the slavers, that they ask you to meet "privately" in whatever place if you are evil, and they ask me to sell Aerie back for a sum\magical item (up to you). It could be a fun roleplaying choice.
Without her wings, I don't think they'd consider her valuable at all and so I can't really see any of them making that offer. And controlling her would be much more difficult for them now, as she's no longer a child and now knows magic.
I think some other games (Fallout 2, maybe,) you were able to sell any of your companions. But the slavers in Baldur's Gate tend not to be that talkative.
But, Neera is still valuable to the Thayans. Maybe there should have been an evil option to turn her over to them and betray the other wild mages, maybe even do some hunting for them tracking down others scattered throughout the world. But that's for another mod.
Just a quick writing note: Be careful with Aerie's stuttering and ellipsis-using. Overdoing it makes it less effective; one ellipsis or stutter every couple of lines is usually enough to get the idea across without making it taxing for the reader.
Just a quick writing note: Be careful with Aerie's stuttering and ellipsis-using. Overdoing it makes it less effective; one ellipsis or stutter every couple of lines is usually enough to get the idea across without making it taxing for the reader.
It's a good. I'll try to keep an eye on and check all that. I've always felt that the more confident/interested/passionate she is about what she's saying, the less she will stutter, as that's quite normal for people like her. As Anomen says, most the time she just tries to choose her words carefully, overthinking it and tripping up.
I should probably get back to the main quest I started on before anyway. Obviously anything is subject to some change as I can go along, but I feel I've formulated a much better idea of the villains personalities and backstories now than I really had when I started.
I like Aerie. She was one of my favorite NPC characters in BG2 and romance with her was great. But some dialogue choices in her lovetalks doesn't suited for my Paladin, like in ToB about losing her innocence and other.
It may be stupid to ask you, but can you make some banters between Aerie and charname paladin, please? I think it would be great, if Aerie could at least ask PC, how did he become a Paladin and which god he worship.
Something like this:
Aerie - Charname? May... may I ask you, why did you choose this path?
Charname - What do you mean, Aerie?
Aerie - I.. I mean, why have you become a paladin. B... because you believe in justice and all that is right in this world just like me, right?
Charname - Indeed. I choose to be a paladin, because I believe in justice and because I was inspired by Gorion's tales of chivalry and honor in my young age. On that day, I wanted to be a knight as they were from his stories. So I ask him a few days later, if I could become one of them. He agreed and so I started study to become paladin soon.
Aerie - R.. Really? It's good to k.. know, that your stepfather agreed with your wish. He could be so proud of you.
If Anomen, Keldorn or Mazzy are in the group:
Anomen - Indeed. You were so lucky charname, that your foster father allowed you to become a paladin in your age, while my father not. I would give anything to have father like Gorion. I really envy you...
Keldorn - I agree with Aerie. Your stepfather would be very proud of you, what have you truly become. You are a beacon of light. If I was prelate, I would offer you membership in our Order.
Mazzy - Truly my friend, I am so glad, that you walk the path of right and truth. By Arvoreen, I will stand by your side, even like I was your own squire.
Aerie - But...
Charname - What's wrong?
Aerie - But how do you reconcile with your heritage? Doesn't that bother you, that you are a Bhaalspawn?
Charname - Unfortunately yes. I found out, that I am one the children of Bhaal while I was back in Candlekeep. When I readed from Gorion's letter which he left to me, I was shocked. But that doesn't mean, I'll stop doing the right things and embrace my heritage. Never! I will stay loyal to my god and fight against the evil in the world and evil within me.
Aerie - I'm happy to hear that. I.. I see that you have really a strong faith, charname.
Aerie - I will do, what I can to help you with y... your noble quest and I will also h.. help rescue Imoen from the cowled wizards! I swear!
Charname - Thank you, Aerie. I appreciate your words and your presence in my group. You are one of my inspirations.
Aerie - T... thank you, charname. You are truly m.. my friend and I will stand with you until the end.
I like Aerie. She was one of my favorite NPC characters in BG2 and romance with her was great. But some dialogue choices in her lovetalks doesn't suited for my Paladin, like in ToB about losing her innocence and other.
It may be stupid to ask you, but can you make some banters between Aerie and charname paladin, please? I think it would be great, if Aerie could at least ask PC, how did he become a Paladin and which god he worship.
Well, in her friendship path at least I'd already put in a banter where she asks whether you'd always wanted to be whatever class you are, and then you ask her if she'd wanted to be a mage/cleric/adventurer when she was young... in the next revision I may try to add more alternative banter and replies depending on what class you are.
Speaking of evilness...I think it would be kinda cool if there was an option to corrupt Aerie kinda like it was possible in another Bioware game "Jade Empire" and in a way the first Dragon Age.. I mean...who wouldn't see an evil/mean Aerie?^^
The closest it got in the game was during Aerie's epilogue(if not romanced) with it stating that she did go on a revenge rampage against slavers and her heart was tainted with hatred during that time. Though she did go better with the help of some of her kin.
Still, a corrupted/revenge obsessed Aerie could be interesting. Especially if it affected her romance (or/and her friendship path that is in the making apparently) and caused her to react differently to various events.
Speaking of evilness...I think it would be kinda cool if there was an option to corrupt Aerie kinda like it was possible in another Bioware game "Jade Empire" and in a way the first Dragon Age.. I mean...who wouldn't see an evil/mean Aerie?^^
The closest it got in the game was during Aerie's epilogue(if not romanced) with it stating that she did go on a revenge rampage against slavers and her heart was tainted with hatred during that time. Though she did go better with the help of some of her kin.
Still, a corrupted/revenge obsessed Aerie could be interesting. Especially if it affected her romance (or/and her friendship path that is in the making apparently) and caused her to react differently to various events.
Nice roleplay possibilities IMO.
I think Aerie going all Dark Knight in her hunt for slavers is probably the furthest she can realistically get. And even then, 'goodness' and empathy are kind of fundamental to her whole personality and whatever happens she'll always drift back toward that. I've considered before an evil Bhaalspawn attempting to dominate Aerie, forcing her to do things against her conscience, but she wouldn't be happy and would probably end up betraying you anyway.
So yeah, basically, full blown evil Aerie is just not reaistic. But an Aerie getting tougher and more ruthless in dealing with evil people like slavers and their ilk is. Slavers are the subject of her main quest, and she'll definitely get harder and tougher throughout the course of it through SoA and ToB.
Speaking of evilness...I think it would be kinda cool if there was an option to corrupt Aerie kinda like it was possible in another Bioware game "Jade Empire" and in a way the first Dragon Age.. I mean...who wouldn't see an evil/mean Aerie?^^
The closest it got in the game was during Aerie's epilogue(if not romanced) with it stating that she did go on a revenge rampage against slavers and her heart was tainted with hatred during that time. Though she did go better with the help of some of her kin.
Still, a corrupted/revenge obsessed Aerie could be interesting. Especially if it affected her romance (or/and her friendship path that is in the making apparently) and caused her to react differently to various events.
Nice roleplay possibilities IMO.
I think Aerie going all Dark Knight in her hunt for slavers is probably the furthest she can realistically get. And even then, 'goodness' and empathy are kind of fundamental to her whole personality and whatever happens she'll always drift back toward that. I've considered before an evil Bhaalspawn attempting to dominate Aerie, forcing her to do things against her conscience, but she wouldn't be happy and would probably end up betraying you anyway.
So yeah, basically, full blown evil Aerie is just not reaistic. But an Aerie getting tougher and more ruthless in dealing with evil people like slavers and their ilk is. Slavers are the subject of her main quest, and she'll definitely get harder and tougher throughout the course of it through SoA and ToB.
Yeah, when I said "corrupted" i meant something closer to what one can do for example in Dragon Age by hardening idealistic characters like Leliana or Alistair and make them object much less to deeds that are morally questionable but without welcoming such deeds with enthusiasm or anything.
As funny as a dog kicking Aerie would be that could make her too OOC as she would become a completely different character.
Still, under normal circumstances good girls like her often are averse to killing off even bad guys and offer them a chance to redeem themselves when given the chance. Jaheira on the other hand (to put an example) despite being good is willing to wipe out guys that are evil without crying over their deaths.
So I guessed that Aerie could come closer to that without completely going the "Might makes right route".
ToB did handle her development quite nicely in a way with her no longer stuttering and having some kick ass lines showing that she is no longer in the mood to mess around.
And guys like slavers, child killers or people that did in some way hurt her race could easily enter her "Must die" list.
Personally I think it would be great if players were given a choice to influence her via a combination of high charisma and correct dialogue options to make her reluctantly agree to some controversial stuff or earn some scorn points from her by being low on charisma or/and failing to appropriately direct the conversation.
I love the RPG possibilities I guess^^
Hope her main quest will have multiple ways to handle it resulting in different outcomes.
Still, under normal circumstances good girls like her often are averse to killing off even bad guys and offer them a chance to redeem themselves when given the chance. Jaheira on the other hand (to put an example) despite being good is willing to wipe out guys that are evil without crying over their deaths.
Sure, Aerie prefers non violent solutions when one is available. She never seems to me particularly adverse however to killing the obviously really bad, especially slavers and child-killers of course. And you see in the game already she starts enjoying battles and a good fight (although she probably did all along anyway - shouldn't read much into anything she says when she's depressed in the romance).
Although her alignment is Lawful Good, I feel the lawful part of that is mostly to do with her being subdued by her captors in the past, inclined to be obedient and deferential. But I don't think she actually cares much for the law in Amn, or at least in the authorities ability to serve justice. Slavery is supposed to be illegal in Amn, but it's allowed to go on because of all the corruption - she was a slave right out in plain view of everyone and got no help. She's definitely no fan of the Cowled Wizards either. So yeah, I definitely see her as she develops becoming more like Jaheira, who I think she does secretly admire and look up to, in the way she handles things.
Of course, despite being subdued like that, I think Aerie is remarkably strong willed not to have lost her values despite everything she's been through... or perhaps it's really in spite of that.
Very nice! I've always been a big fan of anything that increase roleplaying, but this goes above and beyond that by expanding on Aerie's character as well!
Out of curiosity, would this work with plain ol' BGII? I'm not aware of the differences between the engines for II and EE, though I do know they did exist (why else would modders have to convert their mods?).
Very nice! I've always been a big fan of anything that increase roleplaying, but this goes above and beyond that by expanding on Aerie's character as well!
Out of curiosity, would this work with plain ol' BGII? I'm not aware of the differences between the engines for II and EE, though I do know they did exist (why else would modders have to convert their mods?).
I've no idea - I've not tried it. I modified Aerie's portrait slightly to match her avatar and descriptions of her in the game as fair and pale. Those are obviously different sizes from the original BG2 portraits. And one of the new characters uses an item that wasn't in the original BG2... downloading the appropriate mod might work, but even without I suppose it would still work, the character would just look different.
Hmmm, any progress with the mod? Looking forward to new updates^^
Though we all deserve a break now and then...
That said, any plans to add some new conversations with Minsc(especially the ToB expansion where they do not interact so much even if Aerie became his witch in BG2) or some party members that didn't interact much with her in BG2?
I haven't said anything since august? Really no idea where the time has gone. Alien abduction, maybe. That happens to me a lot. Anyway, my New Years resolution will be to finish this mod. I've been distracted by other things, such as writing several original which I may consider publishing since I think I've finally nailed the kind of things I really want to write about as well as approaching a style I like.
But back to Aerie. Obviously I've continued refining dialogue more and such, shortening Aerie's sentences and adding the odd dollop of metaphor to make them more Aerie-like. I've been trying to write the main quest in such a way that I don't have to create new areas and such, although in the time it took to do that I probably could have done that thing... Anyway, here's a brief overview of the story so far and principal players:
After being captured by slavers (aged probably around 11 - 13, or whatever the avariel equivalent would be), before being sold to the circus, Aerie, along with many other slaves, were taken to a fort to be processed (which essentially means tortured and traumatised into conforming and going along with things). While only a small part of Aerie's life in terms of the length of time she stayed there, it obviously had the most lasting impression even despite her attempts to put it out of her mind.
The man in charge of processing new slaves called himself Praxis, and he was what we would call in todays parlance a psychopath. Torturer is one of the few professions were being a pyschopath and having no empathy for your victims is a big advantage. He does like dogs though (although as Aerie would later point out, probably some time in this mod, he never really cares for those animals. He just sees them as property he can control, that are loyal and obey without question... perfect slaves). That aside, he also craves mental stimulation and at about the time Aerie was in his care, he became obsessed with the life and works of an ancient gnomish polymath who claimed to have invented many things and while in prison for having offended some aristocrat designed, among other things, an immensely powerful weapon. Which he might have then built, and then scattered all the parts so that no one else could ever copy him... THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT.
There are other villains involved in this mod as well who Aerie dimly recalls from her captivity, such as Amra, an elven archer who was part of the party that captured the avariel. Amra herself was a former slave, but unlike Aerie who was basically offered two ways out of the situation, acceptance or death, Amra managed to impress her masters so much with her treachery and ruthlessness that she eventually joined their ranks, and is currently Praxis' bitch. There is also Kimbul, a dwarven jailer in charge of the cells when Aerie was a prisoner, although unlike the others he is rather more troubled by the role he played back then.
In any case, these people are all brought back into Aerie's life thanks to a mysterious stranger who for some reason has taken an interest in Aerie and your party, although mostly in Aerie, who with her friends must stop the evil-doers and save the world, probably. Even though her avariel education was cut short, Aerie is already better educated than all but the wealthiest families in Amn, from Quayle and the curiosities in the circus she learnt the ways of magic as well as of gnomish inventiveness, combining that with her natural curiosty about all things... all of that must be put to use to defeat the bad guys. The bhaalspawn can help too if they want. I'm just saying, despite her shyness and lack of confidence most the time, Aerie is very smart and generally has good suggestions so bear that in mind when you get to play the completed version of this mod.
No telling when exactly that will be exactly, but after I've recovered from all the new years parties I'll start comiling and releasing what I have in installments.
I'm more of a writer than a coder... it's taking me a while to remember everything I have to do to get it all into the game. And then I suppose I'll have to check over everything once more because of the patch...
There were a couple of little things I added/changed that I'm not sure I mentioned before. Such as I added an option after sleeping with Phaere to persuade Aerie that you hadn't any choice. Also playing an evil character and poisoning the druid grove, I kept getting a 'no valid response' thing when Faldorn appeared... removing the checks from Aerie and Jaheira's interjections seemed to fix it (and there wasn't really any point to those checks anyway - neither Aerie or Jaheira are likely to want to stay with yet alone romance a person who would do such a deed in front of them).
When I do get around to releasing a new version next month (I have New Year and a birthday to get through first), there will be lots more rewrites, a little more of the main quest, optional alternate dialogues between Aerie and Hexxat that don't result in Aerie behaving out of character and starting a fight (or Hexxat saying things that would realistically turn every NPC against her). Also quite a few new npc-npc banters.
One thing I've completely forgotten to do up til now is check through the dialogue files for the characters in Neera's quest. I don't recall having any interjections from Aerie the last few times I played, but as it involves people being imprisoned and tortured for no reason other than being different and even slaves at one point, it's the kind of thing Aerie obviously would feel passionate and have a lot to say about.
Hope you enjoy your party and such~ I look forward to your next release of this mod. I enjoy the fact that you can be friends with her, and look forward to seeing how you handle her backstory.
Comments
Haven't given much thought to Haer'Dalis, but if ever the Aerie romance ends for a male player, you should before along get a banter where she asks if you can still be friends. There's all different ones depending on if you choose another over her, or she choose Haer'Dalis over you... they're not long talks though. When I've time I might expand them a bit more.
Eventually I'll add player initiated dialogues for when you are friends with her, and you'll be able to ask her questions about events that have transpired, including her relationship with Haer'Dalis, before, during, and after she decides to end it with him.
STILL TO DO:
Main Quest - That'll take a while, as it seems I'm doing all the other bits first.
Mini-Quest with Minsc, probably.
Player initiated dialogues.
More stuff with Ammale, probably (maybe a follow up to the quest where she gets him... but I might leave it until later...)
More banters with other NPC's, I expect. Maybe some more interjections.
And another optional component to change her interaction with Hexxat, so that Hexxat doesn't admit to killing peasants while everyone sleeps and so Aerie doesn't physically go after her in ToB. As I explained before, I think it just makes Hex's interactions with just about every NPC who doesn't go after her completely dumb and out of character. Better to leave where she gets her food to the players imagination, as there's nothing in the game that actually addresses that issue. But it will be optional because it will be over writing the existing dialogue.
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You have to be evil when you recruit Aerie. She then has an evilometer that when it reaches a certain value will cause her to snap and leave the party. With a high enough charisma, you can convince her to stay a little longer, but the next evil thing you do will make her turn. You'll then have a few encounters with her.
As for what things will raise your evilometer with Aerie, I've only been through Chapter Two so far (I haven't added any EE quests yet, although it's only really Dorn that gives you opportunity to be really bad.
Here's the list so far (some of them will obviously cause Aerie to leave or turn hostile anyway if she's around when you do them):
Killing Hendak for Lehtinan.
Abandoning Jaheira while she's cursed.
Joining the Talos temple.
Attacking William in Keldorn's quest.
Ransoming Elgea.
Killing Marcus during the Maevar's Guild quest.
Killing Embarl during the Maevar's Guild quest.
If Anomen kills Surayah.
If Anomen fails his test.
If your reputation drops to 5 or less (only works once).
Killing Delcia.
Poisoning the Druid Grove.
Killing Valygar for the Cowled Wizards.
Betraying Valygar to the Cowled Wizards.
Making a deal with Firkraag.
The evilometer starts at 1. Each of the above will increase it by one. When it reaches 8, a timer will trigger and then Aerie will ask to leave.
Let me know if I missed anything.
But seriously, I don't think it's much different from Good characters leaving when your reputation gets too low, but you get some extra stuff afterwards (and can't recruit her again. I might change that in the future, but we'll see). Minsc leaves with her if she's his witch, although I've not decided what role he might play in the future encounters. At the moment I'm afraid he just disappears if they're both in the party.
How about making Aerie react(or at least change her reactions in some scenes) to the PC differently if he is good, neutral or evil(alignment-wise)? Then make those reactions more extreme if the PC is not only evil aligned but starts doing bad stuff.
Hmmm...also how about adding Aerie being more or less tolerant of that stuff if it starts once she and the PC are already in a relationship? Some desperate Aerie attempt to redeem the PC even if it ends up costing Aerie's own life? Of course the result would depend on the player choices and on how charismatic is the PC and how nice he was to her all this time.
But I guess I'm going to far ahead with this stuff as you apparently have plenty on your plate anyway. Just trowing some ideas of mine ^^
Although I may do some other NPC mods. I had planned on having different banters and replies if you were involved with her before, but haven't really gotten to it, except for in the first talk when she leaves. I figured it was best just to get the outline of the encounters done and now I can revise and add to them. Attempting to redeem the NPC is an interesting idea... I might take that into consideration.
As it is, this all only can happen if the PC is evil. You can do the bad stuff as a Good or Neutral Bhaalspawn and she won't take any notice, (except the things that would have caused her to leave or turn hostile if she's around when you do them anyway, like betraying Valygar), although it would be a strange roleplay choice. I don't think there's any way for the PC to change alignment in SoA, at least not until basically the end. Helm of Opposite Alignment, maybe, but I don't think Aerie would fall for that.
I think some other games (Fallout 2, maybe,) you were able to sell any of your companions. But the slavers in Baldur's Gate tend not to be that talkative.
But, Neera is still valuable to the Thayans. Maybe there should have been an evil option to turn her over to them and betray the other wild mages, maybe even do some hunting for them tracking down others scattered throughout the world. But that's for another mod.
Following this one! Nice work.
I should probably get back to the main quest I started on before anyway. Obviously anything is subject to some change as I can go along, but I feel I've formulated a much better idea of the villains personalities and backstories now than I really had when I started.
It may be stupid to ask you, but can you make some banters between Aerie and charname paladin, please? I think it would be great, if Aerie could at least ask PC, how did he become a Paladin and which god he worship.
Something like this:
Aerie - Charname? May... may I ask you, why did you choose this path?
Charname - What do you mean, Aerie?
Aerie - I.. I mean, why have you become a paladin. B... because you believe in justice and all that is right in this world just like me, right?
Charname - Indeed. I choose to be a paladin, because I believe in justice and because I was inspired by Gorion's tales of chivalry and honor in my young age. On that day, I wanted to be a knight as they were from his stories. So I ask him a few days later, if I could become one of them. He agreed and so I started study to become paladin soon.
Aerie - R.. Really? It's good to k.. know, that your stepfather agreed with your wish. He could be so proud of you.
If Anomen, Keldorn or Mazzy are in the group:
Anomen - Indeed. You were so lucky charname, that your foster father allowed you to become a paladin in your age, while my father not. I would give anything to have father like Gorion. I really envy you...
Keldorn - I agree with Aerie. Your stepfather would be very proud of you, what have you truly become. You are a beacon of light. If I was prelate, I would offer you membership in our Order.
Mazzy - Truly my friend, I am so glad, that you walk the path of right and truth. By Arvoreen, I will stand by your side, even like I was your own squire.
Aerie - But...
Charname - What's wrong?
Aerie - But how do you reconcile with your heritage? Doesn't that bother you, that you are a Bhaalspawn?
Charname - Unfortunately yes. I found out, that I am one the children of Bhaal while I was back in Candlekeep. When I readed from Gorion's letter which he left to me, I was shocked. But that doesn't mean, I'll stop doing the right things and embrace my heritage. Never! I will stay loyal to my god and fight against the evil in the world and evil within me.
Aerie - I'm happy to hear that. I.. I see that you have really a strong faith, charname.
Aerie - I will do, what I can to help you with y... your noble quest and I will also h.. help rescue Imoen from the cowled wizards! I swear!
Charname - Thank you, Aerie. I appreciate your words and your presence in my group. You are one of my inspirations.
Aerie - T... thank you, charname. You are truly m.. my friend and I will stand with you until the end.
The closest it got in the game was during Aerie's epilogue(if not romanced) with it stating that she did go on a revenge rampage against slavers and her heart was tainted with hatred during that time. Though she did go better with the help of some of her kin.
Still, a corrupted/revenge obsessed Aerie could be interesting. Especially if it affected her romance (or/and her friendship path that is in the making apparently) and caused her to react differently to various events.
Nice roleplay possibilities IMO.
So yeah, basically, full blown evil Aerie is just not reaistic. But an Aerie getting tougher and more ruthless in dealing with evil people like slavers and their ilk is. Slavers are the subject of her main quest, and she'll definitely get harder and tougher throughout the course of it through SoA and ToB.
As funny as a dog kicking Aerie would be that could make her too OOC as she would become a completely different character.
Still, under normal circumstances good girls like her often are averse to killing off even bad guys and offer them a chance to redeem themselves when given the chance. Jaheira on the other hand (to put an example) despite being good is willing to wipe out guys that are evil without crying over their deaths.
So I guessed that Aerie could come closer to that without completely going the "Might makes right route".
ToB did handle her development quite nicely in a way with her no longer stuttering and having some kick ass lines showing that she is no longer in the mood to mess around.
And guys like slavers, child killers or people that did in some way hurt her race could easily enter her "Must die" list.
Personally I think it would be great if players were given a choice to influence her via a combination of high charisma and correct dialogue options to make her reluctantly agree to some controversial stuff or earn some scorn points from her by being low on charisma or/and failing to appropriately direct the conversation.
I love the RPG possibilities I guess^^
Hope her main quest will have multiple ways to handle it resulting in different outcomes.
Although her alignment is Lawful Good, I feel the lawful part of that is mostly to do with her being subdued by her captors in the past, inclined to be obedient and deferential. But I don't think she actually cares much for the law in Amn, or at least in the authorities ability to serve justice. Slavery is supposed to be illegal in Amn, but it's allowed to go on because of all the corruption - she was a slave right out in plain view of everyone and got no help. She's definitely no fan of the Cowled Wizards either. So yeah, I definitely see her as she develops becoming more like Jaheira, who I think she does secretly admire and look up to, in the way she handles things.
Of course, despite being subdued like that, I think Aerie is remarkably strong willed not to have lost her values despite everything she's been through... or perhaps it's really in spite of that.
Out of curiosity, would this work with plain ol' BGII? I'm not aware of the differences between the engines for II and EE, though I do know they did exist (why else would modders have to convert their mods?).
Though we all deserve a break now and then...
That said, any plans to add some new conversations with Minsc(especially the ToB expansion where they do not interact so much even if Aerie became his witch in BG2) or some party members that didn't interact much with her in BG2?
But back to Aerie. Obviously I've continued refining dialogue more and such, shortening Aerie's sentences and adding the odd dollop of metaphor to make them more Aerie-like. I've been trying to write the main quest in such a way that I don't have to create new areas and such, although in the time it took to do that I probably could have done that thing... Anyway, here's a brief overview of the story so far and principal players:
After being captured by slavers (aged probably around 11 - 13, or whatever the avariel equivalent would be), before being sold to the circus, Aerie, along with many other slaves, were taken to a fort to be processed (which essentially means tortured and traumatised into conforming and going along with things). While only a small part of Aerie's life in terms of the length of time she stayed there, it obviously had the most lasting impression even despite her attempts to put it out of her mind.
The man in charge of processing new slaves called himself Praxis, and he was what we would call in todays parlance a psychopath. Torturer is one of the few professions were being a pyschopath and having no empathy for your victims is a big advantage. He does like dogs though (although as Aerie would later point out, probably some time in this mod, he never really cares for those animals. He just sees them as property he can control, that are loyal and obey without question... perfect slaves). That aside, he also craves mental stimulation and at about the time Aerie was in his care, he became obsessed with the life and works of an ancient gnomish polymath who claimed to have invented many things and while in prison for having offended some aristocrat designed, among other things, an immensely powerful weapon. Which he might have then built, and then scattered all the parts so that no one else could ever copy him... THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT.
There are other villains involved in this mod as well who Aerie dimly recalls from her captivity, such as Amra, an elven archer who was part of the party that captured the avariel. Amra herself was a former slave, but unlike Aerie who was basically offered two ways out of the situation, acceptance or death, Amra managed to impress her masters so much with her treachery and ruthlessness that she eventually joined their ranks, and is currently Praxis' bitch. There is also Kimbul, a dwarven jailer in charge of the cells when Aerie was a prisoner, although unlike the others he is rather more troubled by the role he played back then.
In any case, these people are all brought back into Aerie's life thanks to a mysterious stranger who for some reason has taken an interest in Aerie and your party, although mostly in Aerie, who with her friends must stop the evil-doers and save the world, probably. Even though her avariel education was cut short, Aerie is already better educated than all but the wealthiest families in Amn, from Quayle and the curiosities in the circus she learnt the ways of magic as well as of gnomish inventiveness, combining that with her natural curiosty about all things... all of that must be put to use to defeat the bad guys. The bhaalspawn can help too if they want. I'm just saying, despite her shyness and lack of confidence most the time, Aerie is very smart and generally has good suggestions so bear that in mind when you get to play the completed version of this mod.
No telling when exactly that will be exactly, but after I've recovered from all the new years parties I'll start comiling and releasing what I have in installments.
There were a couple of little things I added/changed that I'm not sure I mentioned before. Such as I added an option after sleeping with Phaere to persuade Aerie that you hadn't any choice. Also playing an evil character and poisoning the druid grove, I kept getting a 'no valid response' thing when Faldorn appeared... removing the checks from Aerie and Jaheira's interjections seemed to fix it (and there wasn't really any point to those checks anyway - neither Aerie or Jaheira are likely to want to stay with yet alone romance a person who would do such a deed in front of them).
When I do get around to releasing a new version next month (I have New Year and a birthday to get through first), there will be lots more rewrites, a little more of the main quest, optional alternate dialogues between Aerie and Hexxat that don't result in Aerie behaving out of character and starting a fight (or Hexxat saying things that would realistically turn every NPC against her). Also quite a few new npc-npc banters.