Priest of Milil kit [beta]
Rhaella
Member, Developer Posts: 178
[EDITED]
Alright, so this is the newest version of a cleric kit I've been toying with adding as an optional component to an NPC mod I've been working on. It's installing properly, it should work, though I'm kind of clueless when it comes to balance.
Two additional spells, like with the canon cleric kits. I ultimately went with Dispel Silence, which works like an area of effect Vocalize (thanks to @Wisp for getting it working at all), and Forgotten Melody, which works like an area of effect, non-permanent Feeblemind. (It doesn't seem to be affecting the party but let me know if it does!) Other possibilities were bandied about below, but they ended up being more of a headache to implement. Let me know if these seem too weak/powerful--again, I'm terrible with balance.
You SHOULD be able to take the bard stronghold, they should never actually refer to you as a bard because you're not one, Azlaer's Harp should magically be functional, and you should get a Holy Symbol of Milil instead of Lathander. Let me know if any of this is not happening.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2i92o5z2m4bqlxi/priest of milil.rar
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[ORIGINAL]
So I know people are generally allergic to paired NPCs, but I was researching knightly orders maybe a year and a half ago, and discovered that paladins of Milil often traveled with bards (to make ballads about their exploits--now we know where Anomen really belonged), and it was too amusing a prospect to pass up.
So kit questions:
1) When it comes to the bard, this is a place where I would consider skald. The warrior-poet and powerful buffer makes sense when your social circle is paladins. But the Viking flavor of the skald just makes no sense. They're Cormyrian, which is pretty much the equivalent of France. Nothing northern about them.
I'm leaning towards custom kit, and right now I've given her one which basically gives her an extra spell per level and restricts her from the school of necromancy. (Also +2 on saves vs. spell and half the pickpocket score.) The flavor of it is taken from the 2e Minstrel bard kit, which is a bit music+magic and probably makes sense for a Mililan bard. Would that be more or less attractive than a skald? Would it be completely unbalanced to give her that extra spell per level AND some minor improvements to the song?
2) I've been toying with the idea of adding an optional Priest of Milil kit for a PC. If I did this, I'd give the choice of the Temple of Lathander and the Five Flagons as stronghold, since he is the god of bards, after all. Is this something people would be interested in?
Alright, so this is the newest version of a cleric kit I've been toying with adding as an optional component to an NPC mod I've been working on. It's installing properly, it should work, though I'm kind of clueless when it comes to balance.
Two additional spells, like with the canon cleric kits. I ultimately went with Dispel Silence, which works like an area of effect Vocalize (thanks to @Wisp for getting it working at all), and Forgotten Melody, which works like an area of effect, non-permanent Feeblemind. (It doesn't seem to be affecting the party but let me know if it does!) Other possibilities were bandied about below, but they ended up being more of a headache to implement. Let me know if these seem too weak/powerful--again, I'm terrible with balance.
You SHOULD be able to take the bard stronghold, they should never actually refer to you as a bard because you're not one, Azlaer's Harp should magically be functional, and you should get a Holy Symbol of Milil instead of Lathander. Let me know if any of this is not happening.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2i92o5z2m4bqlxi/priest of milil.rar
---------------------------------------
[ORIGINAL]
So I know people are generally allergic to paired NPCs, but I was researching knightly orders maybe a year and a half ago, and discovered that paladins of Milil often traveled with bards (to make ballads about their exploits--now we know where Anomen really belonged), and it was too amusing a prospect to pass up.
So kit questions:
1) When it comes to the bard, this is a place where I would consider skald. The warrior-poet and powerful buffer makes sense when your social circle is paladins. But the Viking flavor of the skald just makes no sense. They're Cormyrian, which is pretty much the equivalent of France. Nothing northern about them.
I'm leaning towards custom kit, and right now I've given her one which basically gives her an extra spell per level and restricts her from the school of necromancy. (Also +2 on saves vs. spell and half the pickpocket score.) The flavor of it is taken from the 2e Minstrel bard kit, which is a bit music+magic and probably makes sense for a Mililan bard. Would that be more or less attractive than a skald? Would it be completely unbalanced to give her that extra spell per level AND some minor improvements to the song?
2) I've been toying with the idea of adding an optional Priest of Milil kit for a PC. If I did this, I'd give the choice of the Temple of Lathander and the Five Flagons as stronghold, since he is the god of bards, after all. Is this something people would be interested in?
Post edited by Rhaella on
3
Comments
Milil is not the god of bards, and elves and half-elves can be Sorlyn (used as a term to describe clergy of Milil... there is no "Mililan") without the usual prejudice from members of their races. Oghma, his superior, is the god of bards. Milil's portfolio is "poetry, song and eloquence". So if you do want a custom kit, you can draw elements from both priests of Milil and Oghma.
More information can be found in the sourcebook Faiths and Avatars.
If I made a cleric kit, I'd definitely be drawing upon the Sorlyn abilities. Do you think using the bard stronghold is inappropriate? The faith is strongly associated with the performing arts (and Milil is the god the Five Flagons actors call upon occasionally). It seemed a more interesting choice than forcing you to pretend you're a Lathandrite.
I agree that the bard stronghold is not inappropriate. However, you may have to do a bit of fixing for continuity, else you may end up with quirky things like getting a Holy Symbol of Lathander or something. Creating new spells like an in-game equivalent of Harp of War would be an option too.
EDIT: New abilities/spells shortlist
- some charm ability a certain number of times a day (to replace Enthrall)
- Vocalize (to replace Dispel Silence)
- a replication of Harp of War (should be somewhat like the Magic Flute of bards, but with different spells)
If the custom kit is going to be hybridized with some abilities of Lorekeepers (priests of Oghma), perhaps these can be added:
- Identify a certain number of times each day, or a lore bonus
- Friends
Harp of War is definitely an interesting choice. I hadn't considered that! I was also looking at Battle Song, which functions somewhat similarly to Boon of Lathander. Too similarly, perhaps.
Harp or War... Lightning Bolt, Flamestrike, and Blade Barrier are in the book as powers, and probably decent choices. Granted, the other cleric kits all get both special abilities at level 1, and I worry about handing Blade Barrier out that quickly. I guess I could have the Harp of War last a day flat no matter your level, instead of scaling up like the others, and just have the abilities unlock as you get more powerful.
COPY_EXISTING your.spl override WRITE_LONG 0x18 THIS BOR BIT25 BUT_ONLYI assume it's impossible to get backwards compatibility with the original BG2 with that?
Maybe Wisp has a better solution but I think this one will be fine, but you might need to copy the same weidu block twice
Edit: If Rhaella wondered if it was indeed not possible to get around silence with a custom spell on original BG2, then no, it is not possible. You need ToBEx or EE.
I've got a kit that at first glance *seems* pretty functional right now. Will toss it on the first post in case people want to try it out. My only concern is that it's crashing the game after the ToB start menu. But so is the Priest of Lathander on a clean install, so I'm guessing this is a known issue and I didn't just break something? (No problems starting ToB with the original BG2, unless you count extreme hideousness.)