NPC mod recommendations, please?

xzar_monty

Hi everybody,

I might want to start a new playthrough with BG2:EE, but for that to happen, I would have to find one or preferably two new NPCs to take along. This could only mean mod NPCs, because I know all the official ones well enough. I wonder if anyone could give me some reasonable recommendations.

Here's what I know:

I have previously taken Kelsey with me and found him very enjoyable, balanced and well done. The voice acting isn't always as professional as it could be, but this is a very minor quibble; all in all, Kelsey is an excellent piece of work and whoever did it deserves full credit. (If you're reading this, consider yourself praised.)

I have also had Amber with me for the whole of SoA, and she is almost as good as Kelsey. There's plenty of storyline and quests, and that is all good. What gets on my nerves a bit is that all of her action voicing (meaning what she says when you click on her) sounds as if she's in a very bad mood and/or miserable about something. "Come on! Give me a break!" and so on. I think this was a poor choice, but otherwise she's very good.

I have also tried Keto (if that was the name of the female bard), but she was far too talkative, flimsy and bubbly for me. Also, she didn't seem to have that much original content - but am I wrong here?

So, what I would like to have is a good storyline, balanced stats (NO VALENS, PLEASE) and as much original content as possible.

Are there any really good ones out there that I've missed?

All suggestions very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

DJKajuru

I don't know which ones have been converted to BG2EE, but Solaufein and Tashia were quite interesting! Specially Tashia!

JuliusBorisov

Nothing can be better than good old NPCs from BG1 in BG2.

All of them are BG2EE-compatible:

Ajantis NPC
Kivan and Deheriana Companions
Xan NPC
Alora NPC
Tiax NPC
Coran NPC
Branwen NPC

xzar_monty

@bengoshi: And these are all good, eh? I noticed that the three last NPCs are among the "one-day" ones, so I won't be using them. However, I did download Alora, Xan and Ajantis, and I might give them a try, so thanks for that.

I will have to confess that I haven't played BG1. I did try once, but after having already played BG2, I found it very rudimentary and boring.

Any other recommendations?

@DJKajuru: I know Solaufein, and there is some good work there, but the main problem is that you only get him so late and you'll have to ditch somebody (or leave a space) to be able to get him. But yes, I agree, in theory there's nothing wrong with him.

Schneidend

Ninde is fun.
I'll also second the Tashia recommendation.
Yasraena is also interesting, especially if you like making use of the game's nice short swords.

TheArtisan

The mod NPCs I use are Xan, Angelo, Isra, Fade and Kivan. All of them are interesting, well written characters, balanced, and with the exception of Fade can be picked up right after exiting the dungeon. You might have a peeve with the latter two having no voiced lines past their select sounds, but if it's not a huge deal then I'd definitely recommend them.

Xan and Angelo are great fun, humorous while at the same time realistic and deep. Some don't like Angelo because he's nothing like his BG1 character, but I prefer the mod one to the original.

Isra's a cool lady and a solid paladin, as well as a romance which actually feels romantic instead of piling personal issues on you.

Fade is... well, interesting, to say the least. I'd say she might not be as worthwhile to have if you're not going to play her romance.

Kivan's my favorite BG1 character so I have to bring him along.

xzar_monty

Thanks everybody!

I now have a whole host of new NPCs in my game (which, hopefully, won't crash when I start it). I'll try them out, and if I don't like them, well, it's not your fault.

My plan is to head straight to Dorn and take him, because he's the only new character I haven't tried. Then I'll see about these new NPCs, and when I've found a reasonable and enjoyable selection of characters, I'll go and fill the gaps with original Bioware NPCs, who I except to be at reasonable levels by that point. Like, 15 or whatever.

The only question now is: which class will charname be? I'll sort that out myself, but cleric looks like a reasonable option.

OzzyBotkins

The DeArnise Romance mod over on Pocet Plane
http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=119&Itemid=118
Play as a fighter

dockaboomski

If you are into Quayle (and judging from your explanation of your experiences with BG, you might not know him) try the Quayle Project. You have to sacrifice Aerie, if you care.

BleuCeleste

Might want to add Sarah. Her friendship path seemed nice (haven't done her romance). Fade's romance is pretty neat too.

GamingFreak

Isra's pretty decent; with just a couple pieces of equipment she's more than capable of smiting anything without being overly annoying like certain other NPC paladins. She also gets into way less fights than Keldorn would.

Flashburn

Coran is the only NPC mod I recommend and I can't recommend him highly enough. A masterpiece, minus the fact that he has proficiency in two-handed swords when BG1EE gave him longswords instead.