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Options for spicing up Garrick?

Poor Garrick is one of the least-loved characters in Baldur's Gate because of his combination of indifferent stats and no special abilities or personalised equipment. I was wondering about ways to change this (using EEKeeper, not writing a full scale mod) to make him a more appealing NPC to select. I'm thinking of something along the lines of giving him the Belt of Antipode non-removable and the special ability to create five bolts of ice per day. That example isn't exactly right because the increased vulnerability to fire outweighs the bonuses by too much but that shows how I'm thinking: I want to beef him up in some area but also apply a weakness in another. So any suggestions for kits, special abilities and personal equipment to make Garrick a more interesting character to play?
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Comments

  • VitorVitor Member Posts: 288
    Is there any way to give to him the songs of bards from Icewind Dale?
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    Easy options include kitting him (skald or jester depending on opinion), giving him an innate spell or 2 (I like the Luck spell, and maybe Shield), or boosting his dex by 1 or 2 points.

    Another option would be something like Nalia's ring, to explain his inexplicable survival.
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    Larkus said:

    Option for spicing up Garrick:
    Slice onion, crush garlic, peel chestnuts, and cut Garrick into tiny cubes!

    I was gonna go with some pepper, a few tomato slices and some garnish, then served with a good dinner wine. But that works also.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    Just making him a skald will make him useful, at the very least, his singing will be of some use now. His mediocre stats don't matter when he just stays back and sings.
  • GKL206GKL206 Member Posts: 75
    edited September 2014
    Jester certainly does fit in with his irritating personality: my only worry with that is that he might go from being useless to over-powered which I wanted to avoid. You can only tell by experiment what's to your own taste though. Otherwise giving him luck as an innate ability, a single point of dex and a +1 crossbow to start seems like a reasonable option. I don't want to make him super powerful, just a valid choice.
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    GKL206 said:

    Jester certainly does fit in with his irritating personality: my only worry with that is that he might go from being useless to over-powered which I wanted to avoid. You can only tell by experiment what's to your own taste though. Otherwise giving him luck as an innate ability, a single point of dex and a +1 crossbow to start seems like a reasonable option. I don't want to make him super powerful, just a valid choice.

    I've never heard of jesters being overpowered, but I love your idea for an innate ability and improved dexterity. Many characters get improved abilities, and I know at least one character got an improved ability score in the EEs (Quayle)
  • GKL206GKL206 Member Posts: 75
    CamDawg said:

    I know this isn't exactly what you're asking, but I love having Garrick in the party with BG1 NPC Project. Andy's writing for him is a lot of fun.

    I'll bear that in mind: I do have the NPC project running.

  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    edited March 2018
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  • DhariusDharius Member Posts: 665
    I think the best way to spice him up without modding is to give him a magical crossbow with an array of magical bolts, and all the wands you can find. Then he'll be dynamite :)
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,371
    Some fava beans and a nice bottle of Chianti?
  • Contemplative_HamsterContemplative_Hamster Member Posts: 844
    But the voice! That damn voice! He and Neera should pair up, maybe their voices would cancel each other out.
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    Mankini.
  • KuronaKurona Member Posts: 881
    Wands are ridiculously powerful in BG1 with only bows coming in second place. Garrick can use both, cast Sleep, Blindness and Web and even sing to counter the Horror-spamming mages. Mechanically he's one of the best characters in the game, if not the best.

    He does have the personality of a NTR game protagonist however, which might prove problematic for some.
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Maybe let him start with a wand of lightning in his quickslot. Would be kinda fitting considering the amount of Charnames that have been slaughtered by Silke's devastating bolts. Having him running around shooting lightning bolts left and right and potentially killing his allies seems fitting. We can RP that Silke has imbued a wand and given it to him to assist her in battles since his own magics haven't progressed far enough to enable him to throw his own spells.

    Mechanics-wise, he's actually a really strong companion since like all mages/bards he can use wands. I tend to have him singing as standard and then switching in a bolt or a spell/wand every now and then if needed. He doesn't really need dex, he's a competent marksman with the xbow of speed + bolts of lightning (again, lightning. Love those).

    If you want something not gamebreaking but that would thematically work for his character, then perhaps adding the defensive spin from a Blade could be fitting and explain how he manages to survive all the time. Or maybe some kind of inherent haste spell so he can run away if in danger (though himself, he would probably argue he casts haste to run INTO danger :P )

    Btw, as a side note, with potions of haste now doubling APR, Garrick dishes out 4 bolts of lightning per round with pretty decent THAC0 without any modding/changing whatsoever. Perhaps he can start with a few potions of haste in his quickslot?
  • jasteyjastey Member Posts: 2,785

    But the voice! That damn voice! He and Neera should pair up, maybe their voices would cancel each other out.

    CamDawg said:

    I was going to suggest BG1 NPC, but I see I was ninja'd.

    By me.

    Over three years ago.

    I have to say, this is one of the funniest thread necromancies I've seen in a long time. Thanks for the laughs!
  • Monkeyboy888888Monkeyboy888888 Member Posts: 10
    Skatan said:

    Btw, as a side note, with potions of haste now doubling APR, Garrick dishes out 4 bolts of lightning per round with pretty decent THAC0 without any modding/changing whatsoever. Perhaps he can start with a few potions of haste in his quickslot?

    What's this? Since when have they started doubling APR? I've totally missed this!

  • ChroniclerChronicler Member Posts: 1,391
    Yeah, that sounds insanely powerful. An improved Haste effect that's available right from the start of the game.
  • UnderstandMouseMagicUnderstandMouseMagic Member Posts: 2,147

    How did I know when I read the thread title that "garlic" would figure in a lot of answers?

    And how the hell did I manage to miss my chance of getting my own recipe in early enough when it was still funny? Got to monitor the threads a lot better.
  • ChroniclerChronicler Member Posts: 1,391
    Okay, so just checked. My Fighter/Thief had three attacks every two rounds. Then I drank an oil of speed and got brought up to 2 attacks per round.

    Either the "potion of haste" that they were referring to was something else or this is misinformation.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    @Chronicler what version are you on? I think it was a new addition to the beta.
  • ChroniclerChronicler Member Posts: 1,391
    I'm fully updated, but I'm on steam, so the new patches take a while to roll out. Not signed up for the 2.5 beta.

    If it's part of 2.5 then that would explain it.
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