Kits for BG1 NPCs
MilesBeyond
Member Posts: 324
This is more of a hypothetical discussion, as AFAIK Beamdog isn't allowed to give BG1 NPCs kits, but so what?
If you could give kits to BG1 NPCs, which would you give them, and why?
Archer for Kivan, obviously. I'm just imagining him now, with GM in Longbows and Called Shots... It is beautiful.
I think Imoen would be fun as a Swashbuckler. Maybe cast Skie as an Assassin and Safana as a Bounty Hunter? I know Assassin doesn't really make sense for Skie, but at the same time, a noblewoman growing up in BG, her talents probably aren't going to lean towards disarming traps, if you know what I'm saying... Alora would be a straight thief, of course.
Any Paladin kit for Ajantis would work. BG1 NPC Project has him as a Cavalier but you could easily go with one of the other two. Undead Hunter would be of slightly limited use, but fun nonetheless.
Speaking of the BG1 NPC Project, they recast Xan as a Sorceror. A similar recasting that would be pretty awesome, I think, is Shar-Teel as a Barbarian.
Garrick as either a Skald or Blade would be fun to have around. I dunno for Eldoth
No Ranger kits really work for Minsc, though it's tempting to have him as a Stalker just for the silliness of Minsc backstabbing.
Kagain seems too relaxed to be a Berserker, but Khalid could possibly pass as a Kensai
If you could give kits to BG1 NPCs, which would you give them, and why?
Archer for Kivan, obviously. I'm just imagining him now, with GM in Longbows and Called Shots... It is beautiful.
I think Imoen would be fun as a Swashbuckler. Maybe cast Skie as an Assassin and Safana as a Bounty Hunter? I know Assassin doesn't really make sense for Skie, but at the same time, a noblewoman growing up in BG, her talents probably aren't going to lean towards disarming traps, if you know what I'm saying... Alora would be a straight thief, of course.
Any Paladin kit for Ajantis would work. BG1 NPC Project has him as a Cavalier but you could easily go with one of the other two. Undead Hunter would be of slightly limited use, but fun nonetheless.
Speaking of the BG1 NPC Project, they recast Xan as a Sorceror. A similar recasting that would be pretty awesome, I think, is Shar-Teel as a Barbarian.
Garrick as either a Skald or Blade would be fun to have around. I dunno for Eldoth
No Ranger kits really work for Minsc, though it's tempting to have him as a Stalker just for the silliness of Minsc backstabbing.
Kagain seems too relaxed to be a Berserker, but Khalid could possibly pass as a Kensai
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I'd also probably make Minsc a full-fledged Berserker. Never really made sense as a Ranger to me.
Imoen... I don't see any of the kits fitting her. She starts a thief because of innocent mischief, she didn't train to be a rogue it kind of happenned to her. Her true talent is wizardry I think. She just didn't happen to have an older mage notice it soon enough and her natural curiosity and intelligence led her to learn how to detect alarms (traps) and pick locks.
Kivan is an archer, haven't played him as anything else since I started using BGT.
Ajantis makes sense as a Cavalier or pure Paladin given his noble background.
Montaron should be an Assassin.
Basically what I'm saying is if they re-kit Minsc, Barbarian is the way to go.
Personally I've done the following using hacks and editors:
- Kivan as an Archer
- Ajantis as a Cavalier
- Garrick as a Jester
- Branwen as a level 2 fighter dual-classed into Cleric
- Dynaheir as a Diviner (occasionally I straight up turn her into a Cleric to dual-class into a mage when I feel like being a major Forgotten Realms nerd)
- Faldorn as an Avenger
None of the other characters really struck me as being the type of person that really fit any of the kits from a personality standpoint. Shar-Teel as a berzerker, maybe? If they added in more Cleric kits and made a special one of Shar for Viconia or Tempus for Branwen, that'd be cool. I can see a few of the guys who are multi-classed warranting a kit from a personality stand point (Assassin for Montaron, Swashbuckler for Coran) but that'd be fudging with the rules.
Kivan as an Archer is an obvious and beautiful choice. It would work.
And as far as the thieves go, it's brilliant. I mean there are so many damn thieves in BG1, that adding kits really would throw a wrench in things and make it totally interesting. No longer would Safana, Skie, or Alora be redundant because of the OP-ness that is Imoen! Different kits give you different choices. Plus, personally, I always found the thief kits to all have very, very interesting trade-offs and different tactics indeed. Thief kits seem to be done the best.
And as far as other NPCs being passable because they have bad stats, once again, kits would make things interesting. Take Faldorn, Garrick, Eldoth for instance. sandmanCCL mentioned Faldorn as an Avenger, and that's a durn good idea.
Why do I think he makes more sense as a Berserker? A few reasons. He's a talented warrior, in the vein of "Point me to the battle and I'll let my sword sort it out." He's a brute, and not only because of that bump to the head: his solution to every problem is "Let's bash their heads together".
And he also has some serious anger management issues, which are pretty well summed up in the berserker's rage ability.
It doesn't make sense for Minsc to be casting druid spells, even if you make the rather wild leap that he's inheriting the magic from Dynaheir (which would be a decent argument for making him dual-class at the beginning of BG2 as a mage, except that his Intelligence score is too low).
He refers to himself as a ranger, so for continuity's sake I'm okay with him being a ranger. But if I'm thinking of kits and classes that make more sense? Berserker is a lot more fitting for Minsc than Ranger.
Back on subject, NPC's and kits! I will try to avoid mentioning kits introduced by mods, except where I feel it really adds something important (clerics). If I really don't think any changes should be made I'll list those people at the end, but if I can see an argument being made for a kit being added to a character I'll list that character and the kit others argue for.
Ajantis - Works as a normal Paladin, but he could be a Cavalier.
Branwen - With currently available kits she should remain a Cleric. However, Divine Remix has a Battleguard of Tempus kit, which I always use for her.
Coran - As it stands I'd leave Coran as a Fighter/Thief, however one could argue for him being a Swashbuckler.
Faldorn - I would make her an Avenger.
Garrick - I would probably leave him as is, but one could argue for making him a Blade.
Imoen - I would leave her as is (or use a mod kit), but I can easily see how one could argue for making her a Swashbuckler.
Kivan - Archer obviously.
Minsc - I love him as a Ranger, but many people have valid arguments for him being a Barbarian.
Montaron - Could be left as is, but arguments could be made for making him an Assassin.
Safana - I would leave her alone, but people could argue for Bounty Hunter.
Shar-Teel - Beserker. I don't see her as a Barbarian.
Viconia - As it is she should remain a Cleric, however Divine Remix has a Nightcloak of Shar kit I love. I always install it for her.
Xan - Is complicated. I can see arguments for making him a Fighter/Mage (not a kit I know), or a Sorcerer. Personally I'd make him a Kensai/Mage (only possible with mods).
The companions I'd leave as they are, are; Dynaheir, Edwin, Eldoth, Jaheira, Kagain, Khalid, Minsc, Quayle, Skie, Tiax (Tiax needs no kits to rule all!), Xzar, and Yeslick.
Faldorn as an Avenger is an amazing idea
Ajantis: Cavalier
Alora: Swashbuckler (halflings don't put knives in someone's back in my world)
Dynaheir: Sorceror (well, it's not a kit, put it's my favourite class for him)
Khalid: Fighter/Mage (dito)
Faldorn: Avenger
Garrick: Skald
Kivan: Archer
Safana: Gypsy (Song and Silence kit)
*edit: fun to see (but not surprising) more people made Faldorn into an Avenger. Very fitting for her personality, and an awesome kit.
Across most of these posts there are a few very popular choices: Kivan as an archer, Safana as a swashbuckler (my personal favourite shoe-in), Faldorn as Avenger. My other personal preferences are in the link above.
With 21 dex and bonuses from class she should have both enough AC and thac0 to tank like the best, not to say about her massive skill points and immunity to magic with items.
my next game im planning to mod the game to relocate her to FAI, just to try it out. Seriosuly BG1 is awesome.
Taking @Son_of_Imoen's preferences as an example (they are right in front of me) Ajantis could be described as a cavalier in a sort of real world sense of being a courtly knight but nothing about him suggests demon/ dragon hunter, to me.
Alora likes stealing things but not fighting, something that swashbucklers excel at, I'd keep her as a pure thief as she likes to sneak and nick other people's stuff.
Faldorn is definitely an avenger
I'd go with @MilesBeyond on Garrick being a Jester as he is already a fool.
People always seem to talk of Kivan as an archer, he speaks like a marksman (Clint as a gunfighter) and has the best archer portrait there is. But, I just think archers are too strong.
I do think however that Xan should be and always have been a fighter/mage. His stats should remain as is.
I think I would have to have SCS installed before I would even consider doing something like this, as it could otherwise risk unbalancing the game. Even then I'd worry about balance.
Here are some of my guilty alterations ...
I always enjoyed making Viconia either a Mage / Cleric or Thief / Cleric
Garrick is definitely a Jester
And Eldoth could be a Skald at a push
Safana is definitely a Swashbuckler, her back story pretty much says so!
I've made Skie a Swashbuckler before, which was great but not so great from a RP point of view
Shar-Teel as a Beserker is great - although I am partial to leave her as a Fighter then dual her to Thief then mod her as an Assassin!
Coran as a Bounty Hunter makes sense since his quest is to hunt down the wryverns
I've made Xzar a Cleric / Necromancer before which was great fun
Simply being from Rashemen and having traveled from Rashemen to the Sword Coast speaks plenty of his woodsman skills. It's not exactly civilized country over there. Almost every man that isn't a farmer would be expected to be able to hunt or survive in the wilderness, especially so for a member of a Berserker Lodge like Minsc, who must spend days at a time in the woods on vision quests and rites of passage like killing frost trolls and such.
Granted, Minsc casting druid spells is a stretch, but a Rashemi berserker's rage is a form of magic in itself. In FR canon their rages make them appear larger and heats up the air around them. Truly masterful berserkers can turn into animals such as bears and giant falcons. Rashemi religion and folklore revolves around spirits, both of animals and natural phenomenon, so it does make some sense for him to know a bit of nature magic.
Honestly, that first paragraph is a stronger argument for Minsc being a Barbarian than a Ranger. And in the second paragraph you call them berserkers... I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.
It would make more sense (and here I'm speaking as though we were designing the character from scratch, so suspend any preconceptions about Minsc having been a ranger already for the moment; I'm with you on that, but hear me out), for instance, to design the Berserker kit to fit the Rashemi traditions. "Berserker", after all, translates as "Bear Warrior"--it would be fitting, then, to give it some Wild Shape abilities in the mid- to high-level range, allowing Minsc, as a Berserker, to transform himself into a Bear.
Maybe a Dire Bear. Rage plus wild shape is going to have some enhanced effects, I imagine. But looking at the character's personality, you kind of have to admit that Minsc in particular is a berserker first, and a ranger last. At best, he's a berserker with some non-weapon proficiencies in Animal Handling.
I'm not saying he needs to be changed. I'm just saying, if I were to design him differently, that's what I'd do.
Ajantis: Cavalier (the quintessential knight of Helm)
Branwen: Battleguard of Tempus (pretty obvious)
Eldoth (Charlatan, although it's 3rd edition--Eldoth is so full of BS it's a joy to watch)
Faldorn: Avenger (what better kit for a Shadow Druid -- I also think she should be Neutral Evil, especially given her role in BGII)
Montaron: Assassin (psychopath for hire)
Shar-Teel: Berserker (some people think Barbarian, but she's the daughter of Angelo of the Flaming Fist and wasn't raised in a Barbarian environment)
Viconia: Nightcloak of Shar (pretty obvious)
Yeslick: Alaghar (specialty priest) of Clangeddin (this would allow him to use axes)
Too bad there won't be any mage kits for BG:EE beyond wild mages and specialty wizards. :_(