Should Silke become a recruitable N.P.C.?
WithinAmnesia
Member Posts: 958
Hey I am wondering if making Silke into a recruitable Non-Player Character would be a worth while pursuit?
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Basically here is how a Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast Bard Comparison boils down: (based off of Silke from Tales of the Sword Coast).
Ability Scores: Silke (Garrick, Eldoth)
Strength: 10 (14, 16)
Dexterity: 15 (16, 12)
Constitution: 9 (9, 15)
Intellect: 14 (13, 13)
Wisdom: 12 (14, 10)
Charisma: 17 (15, 16)
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Special Feature(s):
Silke (Neutral Evil)
-Joins Early at her Fifth* Level with the following Wizard Spells Memorized:
Level 1: Magic Missile, Colour Spray, Shield.
Level 2: Agannazar's Scorcher, Invisibility.
Level 3: Lightning Bolt.
-*Able to cast Improved Invisibility once per day via either an innate ability or as a Silke Only Item.
-100 Lore (+50 Base Lore)
-A Free Quarter Staff +1
Garrick (Chaotic Neutral) - Can be gibbed by Drizzt in an attempt to get Drizzt stuck on the lake. He is the sacrificial lamb of choice for suicide missions.
Eldoth (Neutral Evil) - Able to Create 5 Poison Arrows once per day.
*Application*[Spoiler]I want to release the Silke N.P.C. for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, but I will mostly be using her 'true values' pulled directly from Near Infinity with Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast loaded. I like the Original Values for Silke and I try to not alter her in one bit, minus the Cursed Cloak of Itchiness and a '+1 in' Two-Handed Weapon Style. The Ability Score, Spells and everything else are pulled right for Near Infinity.
Also I was inspired to give Silke an / her original experience boost while also keeping her below average ability scores for I liked how in some of the Fire Emblem Games the player can recruit 'high level' characters early in the game with less potential (e.g. a 'Silke') or the player can be more wise and 'take a pass' on the temporarily 'strong' 'Very Powerful_in_the_beginning_but_VERY_Weak_in_the_end' 'high level' characters early on and instead focus their progression efforts into the low level 'Weak_in_the_beginning_but_VERY_Powerful_in_the_end' type characters (e.g. Xzar, Edwin, Zan etc.)[/Spoiler]
So what do you think? Would Silke be a good 'grab and dump' N.P.C. who is starts strong then is ripe for dumping? Would you feel that she has no place in Baldur's Gate as a recruitable N.P.C.? Or would you love an accomplished albeit eccentric evil scheming and plotting Human female actress performer bard, Thespian extraordinaire(!) for Original Baldur's Gate?
Updated: * I was mistakenly using a modded Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast that (I suppose?) changed Silke to a Level 7 Bard. I was wrong, I am sorry. Although I will use her 'mysterious' 5th Level in here secondary class. She should have no secondary class so I though that it would be a good compromise instead of her being a level 10 bard.. Yeah that was silly of me *Hindsight 20 x 20*. "An error is only a mistake if you refuse to correct it". Although I am keeping the 'corrected' spell memorization even though she is a level 5 Bard.. Hey I guess it make her Special then! *Wow Problem Solved
!*. Although maybe I will give her back her Original 4th Level Mage spell: Improved Invisibility as either an innate ability or as a Silke Only Item?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Basically here is how a Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast Bard Comparison boils down: (based off of Silke from Tales of the Sword Coast).
Ability Scores: Silke (Garrick, Eldoth)
Strength: 10 (14, 16)
Dexterity: 15 (16, 12)
Constitution: 9 (9, 15)
Intellect: 14 (13, 13)
Wisdom: 12 (14, 10)
Charisma: 17 (15, 16)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special Feature(s):
Silke (Neutral Evil)
-Joins Early at her Fifth* Level with the following Wizard Spells Memorized:
Level 1: Magic Missile, Colour Spray, Shield.
Level 2: Agannazar's Scorcher, Invisibility.
Level 3: Lightning Bolt.
-*Able to cast Improved Invisibility once per day via either an innate ability or as a Silke Only Item.
-100 Lore (+50 Base Lore)
-A Free Quarter Staff +1
Garrick (Chaotic Neutral) - Can be gibbed by Drizzt in an attempt to get Drizzt stuck on the lake. He is the sacrificial lamb of choice for suicide missions.
Eldoth (Neutral Evil) - Able to Create 5 Poison Arrows once per day.
*Application*[Spoiler]I want to release the Silke N.P.C. for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, but I will mostly be using her 'true values' pulled directly from Near Infinity with Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast loaded. I like the Original Values for Silke and I try to not alter her in one bit, minus the Cursed Cloak of Itchiness and a '+1 in' Two-Handed Weapon Style. The Ability Score, Spells and everything else are pulled right for Near Infinity.
Also I was inspired to give Silke an / her original experience boost while also keeping her below average ability scores for I liked how in some of the Fire Emblem Games the player can recruit 'high level' characters early in the game with less potential (e.g. a 'Silke') or the player can be more wise and 'take a pass' on the temporarily 'strong' 'Very Powerful_in_the_beginning_but_VERY_Weak_in_the_end' 'high level' characters early on and instead focus their progression efforts into the low level 'Weak_in_the_beginning_but_VERY_Powerful_in_the_end' type characters (e.g. Xzar, Edwin, Zan etc.)[/Spoiler]
So what do you think? Would Silke be a good 'grab and dump' N.P.C. who is starts strong then is ripe for dumping? Would you feel that she has no place in Baldur's Gate as a recruitable N.P.C.? Or would you love an accomplished albeit eccentric evil scheming and plotting Human female actress performer bard, Thespian extraordinaire(!) for Original Baldur's Gate?
Updated: * I was mistakenly using a modded Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast that (I suppose?) changed Silke to a Level 7 Bard. I was wrong, I am sorry. Although I will use her 'mysterious' 5th Level in here secondary class. She should have no secondary class so I though that it would be a good compromise instead of her being a level 10 bard.. Yeah that was silly of me *Hindsight 20 x 20*. "An error is only a mistake if you refuse to correct it". Although I am keeping the 'corrected' spell memorization even though she is a level 5 Bard.. Hey I guess it make her Special then! *Wow Problem Solved
!*. Although maybe I will give her back her Original 4th Level Mage spell: Improved Invisibility as either an innate ability or as a Silke Only Item? Post edited by WithinAmnesia on
2
Comments
As far as working her into the game without dropping her levels or overpowering the early parts, you could always give additional options to the player after you help her, involving a request that can only be completed later (like retrieving an item from BGC). If completed, then she likes your party and offers her services.
I kind of wished they had done this by default. She is one of the most charismatic people you meet (interactions between her and Edwin could be epic).
Apart from her, the only other cool kind of NPC missing from the game is a converted enemy, like someone from the Iron Throne whom you defeat in battle and help them see the light (such as the wizard at the bottom of the mines whom you force to spill his guts or someone from Bandit Camp) or an Ogre Mage turned face for something totally different. Oh well. I digress with lofty dreams...
A female bard is cool and needed though, and there are only 2 bards total. If you either nudge the stats up or work out a kit, could be interesting. She's an entertaining enemy for sure.
Edit: I agree BG2 might be better still, only 1 bard, who has a kit. And NPCs get buffed stays for BG2, so you could do that and make her a BG2 NPC, the only pure bard.
Although @Fiendish_Warrior has the perfect response in my eyes (your mileage my differ >.>)
I always loved that in Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast that one could do most any thing and that evil was treated in the same way as good in terms of playability goes. In Baldur's Gate II one could not make a pure Evil Party... Which saddened me even though I played the hell out of the dialog of the good party N.P.C.s but I saw the slimmed down cast of most good characters to be slightly stereotypical and I felt that of them some were kind of 'Mary Sue' and or too 'linear required' in my eyes.. Although it was a more in depth experience, although I still rather heavily prefer the recruitable N.P.C. variety offered with Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast.
Okay so with @Fiendish_Warrior next.. *just let me think of a good reply :-)*
Maybe have her hanging out in front of the Twisted Rune door trying to figure out how to get in? Heh
i say make her a joinable in bg1 (when you normally meet her)
in terms of stats she's similar to garrick but worse than both him or eldoth (lower total score by 4 & 5 respectively) so i'd mix that up - eldoth has ok str, garrick has ok dex, so she should have good con (16)
i's give her:
jester lvl5
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 17 (the highest among npcs)
as a counterweight to her being better than other bards (because of the kit and the levels), at a certain point, when you have her in a party, she should (on her own initiative) do something evil which will incur a large reputation penalty for you
-well 'they' is going to have to be me and I cannot get voice acting right now but I could maybe do it in the future if i proved myself first via getting help from the people who did the extended N.P.C. banter pack for The Original Baldur's Gate. *They used unique per character music as a work around for banter voice acting
"In fact, it would be nice to see an NPC get your party into trouble occasionally by, say, insulting patrons at the local watering hole, stealing something from a merchant, or even patronizing authority figures or others, forcing your CHARNAME to either talk his way out of it (bluffing or compromising) or fight his way out of it. Silke is precisely the type of personality that I could envision getting you into some of those kinds of quagmires. In terms of personality, she's so arrogant that she comes across as Baeloth's and Edwin's forbidden love child. I love it." I agree with you 115%, please continue your charactercher of Silke I will be taking notes *honestly: note pad here we go*. I want to promote you as the main writer for Silke if you want, but you don't have to take the whole 'shabam' it is more just there if you want it.
"As far as working her into the game without dropping her levels or overpowering the early parts, you could always give additional options to the player after you help her, involving a request that can only be completed later (like retrieving an item from BGC). If completed, then she likes your party and offers her services."
-I see where you are coming from with this idea, but I think that Silke can be unconventionally 'expanded' in a lateral sense. Although I think that it would be neat for her to join your party early on.. I will figure something out to 'balance it out'.. Mmmn, maybe she has a cursed item on her and the player begins a quest to take it off of her for obvious reasons? A cursed cloak of 'Itchiness' that is in fact a Cursed version of a Goddess Skin of Sune Cloak (The Faerun Goddess of Beauty). Yes, maybe only an accomplished specialized caster of magical remedies can successfully remove the cloak from Silke and maybe that said 'caster' is located within the City of Baldur's Gate? Maybe she was tricked via a dubious person who was not a fan of her arrogance as an actress and now Silke is 'itching' to get the score settled.
"I kind of wished they had done this by default. She is one of the most charismatic people you meet (interactions between her and Edwin could be epic)."
-Yeah I hear you on this, I never actually killed her lots in the past for I mixed up the Baldur's Gate N.P.C. "Skie" with 'Silke' and thus I would not initiate the quest very often for I did not want to 'pick' an N.P.C. (and as it happened, I mostly quit my older play throughs before I got to Skie so the naming confusion survived until around 2014), well I was wrong about Silke and "Skie" name confusion debacle but it got the 'seed planted' about Silke becoming a recruitable N.P.C. quite a while ago for myself. I agree she is probably one of the most nuanced and one of the more memorable 'entertaining' N.P.C. 'encounters' in the game, serious what serious Baldur's Gate fan cannot remember the infamous lines "Greetings mercenaries, I AM Silke! Thespian extraordinaire!" Also could you please write up so Eldoth + Silke interactions / banter @Fiendish_Warrior for I think that you have caught fire where I have not; and maybe you should heat up old the 'iron' and write a few of the banters out for the enjoyment of the community / forums?
"Apart from her, the only other cool kind of NPC missing from the game is a converted enemy, like someone from the Iron Throne whom you defeat in battle and help them see the light (such as the wizard at the bottom of the mines whom you force to spill his guts or someone from Bandit Camp) or an Ogre Mage turned face for something totally different."
-Oh please continue and flesh all of your ideas out. I am quite tired of writing this novel of a post so I will just say that I am heavily inspired to make a 'converted' N.P.C. whom previously worked against the party for gains of the Iron Throne / Bandit organization(s) (when the pay was still worth it) but then they later had a critical change of heart when the reliable money stopped (?) and learned out more of what was happening within the internals of the Iron throne power hierarchy and well maybe the person thought after learning of the party's recent antics of wiping the floor with the iron throne 'operation lieutenants' and their respectable forces, they converted to the ideals of "If you cannot beat them, join them" and decided to seek out your party to settle some unpaid debts and to join your prevailing cause.
"Oh well. I digress with lofty dreams..."[/Spoiler]Oh please digress about your 'lofty dreams' in great detail; I am a fan of them already! :-D @Fiendish_Warrior
@bob_veng I am really pooped right now and I plan on expanding my response into a better one in the future for you. I agree heavily with your post, although I have some ideas too:-P.
[Spoiler] Voice acting certainly isn't essential by any means. A workaround like you mentioned is the character music. Another thing that can be used is an excerpt of something she already says as a salutation, such as "Greetings" or "Greetings mercenaries" (if appropriate, such as during a hostile encounter with NPCs if she has anything to interject). Of course, I wouldn't attempt it unless it sounded right. It's a minor pet peeve when you can hear a sound excerpt abruptly cut off. I can only imagine it irritating for others. Unless you'd rather not make it public, would you mind sharing it? That sounds pretty interesting. Judging by her voice opening, she strikes me as someone pompous, pretentious, and over-the-top, excessively dramatic if you will. While that might give others the impression of a kind of artificiality, I could see her having become a thespian precisely because she recognized that we're all acting in a way but only a few realize it. So she embraces the play of life; however, for her, it is a solipsistic drama, where she is the star and we're all the extras. This drives her to be highly self-interested / self-centered to the point of being very manipulative.
Because of her interaction with Garrick, I see her as a seductress to a degree, using her sexuality as another tool to manipulate those around her, but I also think she would never sleep with anyone she seduced in that way, preferring to kill them before letting them take any pleasure in her, making her the worst kind of femme fatale. This also unveils another aspect to her worldview, which is that she has a superiority complex, believing herself above everyone. What would be comically terrible would be a romancing option for male CHARNAMES that results in her killing you while you sleep, ending your game.
While the second paragraph might appear as though it's a different aspect of her personality, and in some ways it is, I see her motivated by the unifying narrative that the world is her stage and she is *the* star (there are no others except mere extras). That has to be what drives her every decision and action. This would create a natural conflict with similar ego-inflated personalities, most obviously Baeloth. Can you tell me more about this? I would be interested in something like this, but would need to know what it entailed before committing myself. I'm pretty busy trying to write a dissertation, but am not opposed to little side projects for fun. The time commitment is my biggest concern and, well, I don't like to do anything half-heartedly. That's hilarious! If you want to go the cursed route though, you have to hit her where it hurts. The most important things for an actress like this though are her beauty, voice, and talent. A couple of launching off ideas would be:
(1) Why *isn't* she performing in the theatre? (a) Did a famous director (or Feldepost) sully her reputation (a la "You'll never work in this town world again!"). (b) Did she cross a wizard who affected her stage ability (perhaps she "freezes" on stage)? (c) OR...She's been affected by a curse that makes her BALD and she has to wear a wig! I imagine (c) would be insufferable!
(2) Maybe she accidentally stole a cursed item and it is making her age more quickly? Thus, she isn't seeking out someone who cursed her, but the only person who can remove this specific curse.
There are so many different ways you can go with this. At that point in the game, I am usually gunning for experience and kill her....
(1) Garclax imprisoned in the cave at Bandit Camp (though I'm not sure how or whether adding races that are not available at character creation works here). Obvious material warranting a temporary alliance there.
(2) Ender Sai (not exactly an evil character, but he obviously infiltrated them and is a spy of some sort; would be interesting to see for whom he was working)
(3) Stephan at the bottom of Cloakwood mines
(4) Ingot (not directly main quest related, but clearly angry with the gnolls)
(5) Neira (Nashkel) or Karlat (Beregost), one of the assassins. I mean.. if they're bounty hunters, why *can't* you buy one of them off? Even have them extort payment from you every so often to retain their services lest they try to cash in on your bounty. This isn't the most beautiful of outcomes with an enemy turning to help, but it works and it's kind of gritty.
I'm sure there are others, but I'm in a hurry now. Oh well.
Fun brainstorming with you![/spoiler]
Anyway @Fiendish_Warrior I wish (before I go) to say that about the writing 'time frame', it is basically from now until - ? *unknown* so go bananas on what ever you feel is right for you.. I hate deadlines so I don't have any. I just work for fun and I don't like being idle so it works out.. I am still helpless with the puns even after 17-20 hours of being awake.. *YAAWWN - rubs eyes* Well better get my 4-6 hours of sleep sometime soon. So I should be up around 12-2 AM pacific time. *21-24 hours I will be up today - resting my wonky sleep schedule - I should move to mars or something, most people work with ~16 hours awake and then 7-10 hours asleep; I work with ~18-22 hours awake and ~4-6 hours sleep. Although 1-2 times a week I can stay up for 34-50 hours awake and with 10 hours sleep. I just like to think rather than sleep.
Anyway I am starting to ramble, I will see you fine er, 'people' / 'human beings' (mostly :-P) tomorrow at a later date. Cheerio and or what every British people say for goodbye. *I am so tired that the background of this comment is starting to hallucinate into camouflage and circus / medieval heraldry stripe patterns.. ?.?*[/Spoiler]
A level 6 version of Silke would be ok if you couldn't recruit her until Chapter 5 (that's the same level as Skie and Alora). But if you can recruit her in Beregost, there should be a level 1 or 2 version available to match the party level. Level 7 and recruitable in Beregost? Yikes!
Amnesia - if you're planning to make this for BG1:TotSC, I'd advise looking at Jastey's Ajantis Expansion as an example of how to code an NPC mod for BG1. It's compatible with BG1:TotSC. Most other NPC mods are written for the BG2 engine (Tutu, BGT, BGEE, BG2, etc..), so be careful using them as code examples. They will use triggers and actions that won't be available to a TotSC-compatible mod.
http://gibberlings3.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=26781
Update: I want Silke to be a Level 5 Bard now.. I was wrong about her being a level 7 Bard. Every thing below 'in my novel of a post' is semi obsolete by my previous change of value. So just keep that in mind.
[Spoiler]You are correct that Silke is level 10 (and also is has mysterious level 5 in a 'second class') but that is only within Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition.
I think that if I made a level one Silke she would become the most useless recruitable non-player character in the game right after Garrick. Her Ability Score is the worst when compared to all of the Bards in The Original Baldur's Gate. So I kept her levels so she can be used early on as a somewhat powerful caster with weapon proficiencies in both Large Swords and Blunt Weapons. If I changed her to level one she would work as follows:
[Spoiler]Strength: 10 (70 lbs. Carry weight, Tied for third worst N.P.C. strength along with Alora and Quayle)
Dexterity: 15 (It is only good enough to provide a -1 AC Bonus.)
Constitution: 9 (It might as well be 7 or 14 for for in that range they don't offer any bonuses to hit points)
Intellect: 14 (60% Chance to Learn a Spell, 9 Spells Per Spell Level (no greater than 13 intellect), No Lore bonus, Level 7 Maximum Spell Level but that is wasted for Bards cannot learn seventh level Mage spells so it might as well be 13 Intellect for all that 14 Intellect gives over 13 intellect for Bards is a +5% Chance to learn new spells.)
Wisdom: 12 (It might as well be 10 or 14 for that range does not give any bonuses and a Bard only gains a Lore Bonuses from wisdom anyway).
Charisma: (+4 Reaction and -10% on Vendor prices; 5% and 10% better discount than Eldoth and Garrick respectively, and a +1 Reaction bonus when compared to Garrick.)[/Spoiler]So here is the verdict on her comparative Ability Scores:
Strength is a joke,
Dexterity only gives a -1 Armour Class bonus but that is wasted for wait for it!
Constitution might as well be 7 for it gives no bonuses, relying on her above average vanilla Hit Point rolls for her level to survive,
Intellect is still a joke,
Wisdom at her level is pointless for bards,
Charisma is the only thing that she has going for her and that is not saying much.
So what does a Level one Silke have that is 'special'? Dialog, Charisma, +30 Lore and she starts early.. Big Whoop..
[Spoiler]What does Garrick have that Silke does not?
-120 lb. carry weight, -2 Armour Class Bonus, +1 T.H.A.C.0 adjustment and Crossbow Specialization so he can reliably hit things at range, also Garrick's dexterity negates Silke's +1 Charisma Reaction bonus.
The what does Eldoth have over Silke?
-Create 5 Poisoned Arrows per day, +1 Damage Bonus, 150 lb. carry weight, +1 Hit Point per Level bonus..[/Spoiler]So if Silke was her original Level 7 she could start as a 'powerful' character but with a cursed cloak of itchiness and with her bum ability scores she would rapidly 'even out' over time with her 'experience lead' over the party diminishing as the party progresses from chapter to chapter.
So a level 7 Silke, what can she do effectively?
[Spoiler]35 Hit Points! (43% better than 7 'average' Hit Point rolls for her level.)
9 'Base' Armour Class (-1 bonus from her Dexterity score adjusting 10 Base Armour Class.)
17 Base T.H.A.C.0 (-3 vs. Level 1 Bard)
Saving Throws:
12 Death (-1 vs. Level 1 Bard)
12 Wands (-2 vs. Level 1 Bard)
11 Polymorphing (-1 vs. Level 1 Bard)
15 Breath (-1 vs. Level 1 Bard)
13 Spells (-2 vs. Level 1 Bard)
3 Level 1 Memorized Mage Spells: Magic Missile, Colour Spray and Shield.
2 Level 2 Memorized Mage Spells: Agannazar's Scorcher, Invisibility.
1 Level 3 Memorized Mage Spell: Lightning Bolt.
(She has maximized her memorable spell slots with none empty for her level.)
Weapon Proficiencies:
+Large Sword.
+Blunt Weapons.
[+1 Two-Handed Weapon Style]- My personal thoughts: For at level 7 she is missing a Proficiency point and she did invest into wielding a Quarter Staff +1, so I though that it would be natural for her and a more 'diverse' option to give her a fighting style rather than another weapon proficiency.
70 Pick Pocketing
100 Lore (Taken from Near Infinity)[/Spoiler]
Post Script:
Oh I found a Thespian Bard Kit in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition "The Complete Book of Bards" Source Book. It is kind of silly but they can wield all types of armour and weapons for they 'act with them'.. yeah.. I'm calling Urban Druid, Mine Rowdy and "Fighting Man" on that one.. Although I like the +5% Base pick pocketing bonus..[/Spoiler]
you never notice that she's of a relatively high level. she simply sucks as your enemy.
instead of making her distinct in that unhappy way of making you waste exp on a character without long term perspective you should make her usable in a standard way and make her distinct because of her kit.
http://www.sorcerers.net/forums/showpost.php?s=34f3bb33bbb6a93ce552c80202f1623f&p=14178&postcount=12
Making a 7th level NPC recruitable into a party of about 1st-2nd level is *way* OP. Rather than doing that, why not think of something unique to give her?
* If you think her ability scores are lacking, you could always tweak them.
* Perhaps adapt one of the Song and Silence kits for Silke - http://www.gibberlings3.net/sns/
DavidW even prevents SCS from giving level 10 bards Minor Sequencer just to keep Silke from steamrolling low-level parties (which, really, she should).
Imagine the Silke encounter with Silke stoneskinned (cast previously as per SCS) - the party uselessly flails at Silke as she starts the battle by casting Improved Invisibility. Then as CHARNAME and comrades stand around bewildered, they hear the sounds of spellcasting before a group of summoned monsters appears and attacks. Silke hangs back, still protected by Improved Invisibility from being targeted by Imoen's Wand of Magic Missiles. She casts Sleep on the party, and Imoen, Xzar, and Khalid drop. Then with her summons being overcome by Jaheira and Montaron, Silke casts Dire Charm and your PC turns on Jaheira, attacking her from behind. Montaron moves to run, but Silke cuts him down with a Magic Missile. With your PC charmed, Silke directs you to finish off Jaheira, and then kill your sleeping comrades one by one. Finally, she commands you to come to her for your reward, which she gives you with a dagger to the gut as she gives you a kiss goodbye...
However, besides level, for an evil bard, Eldoth has her beat with just his poison arrow ability.
I like the idea of BG2 NPC as you only have Haer there.
but she could be a jester, that's her "special ability"
Garrick- Skald (a more 'heroic' bard who wants to write about heroes)
Eldoth- Blade (you find him alone in the dangerous cloakwood. So he has to be able to defend himself. Also, apparently Garrick is the better singer)
Silke- Jester (Confusion seems right for her)
All have comparable stats, but now play different roles in the party. All could be worth taking. I, for one, would make Garrick a regular member of any party.
It'd also be worth taking multiple bards for the banter. Who ever has Garrick and Eldoth? With this setup you wouldn't be crippling yourself to do so.
*Edit: There, every commenter here gets as many like, agree and or insightfuls that I can give; enjoy!*
Here are some of my quick thoughts on what you said:
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"so i'd mix that up - eldoth has ok str, garrick has ok dex, so she should have good con (16) -Nah Mon
i's give her: -Mon, you need to usin' more of dat funky Vodo grammar stuffs.
jester lvl5 -Nah Mon, she be jamin' at dat Thespian Extraordinaire! Aldoe as a level 5 Mon *nod nod* Jah?
Strength: 9 -Nah Mon, she be jamin' 10 Strength Mon.
Dexterity: 13 -Nah Mon, she be jamin' 15 Dexterity Mon.
Constitution: 16 -Nah Mon, she be jamin' 9 Constitution Mon.
Intelligence: 15 -Nah Mon, she be jamin' 14 Intellect Mon.
Wisdom: 12 -Jah Mon, she be jamin' 12 Wisdom Mon.
Charisma: 17 (the highest among npcs)" -Jah Mon, she be jamin' indeed da highest N.P.C. Charisma at 17 Mon!
I tinks I will be using dat Thesian Bhard Kit een da Source Bewks Mon. Peace wit ja Mon!
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I think it would be fun to have her stick around after her quest and let her give you new quests throughout the game. Then after 4-5 quests have the ability to have her join you for a final silke quest and afterwards she can offer to stay with you.
Possible quests are acquiring new tavern for her to perform her show, chasing down other tavern owners who didn't pay up, and so forth.