Do we know what old BGI characters are getting a little more depth in terms of personal quest and/or dialog (except for Skie)? I always wanted to here more about the evil and mad Tiax and Xzar.
According to the Chris Avallone interview, SoD ties up the stories of all the original BG1 NPCs.
Minsc Dynaheir Edwin Khalid and Imoen (although there's a theory Imoen will not be available full-time, with her going somewhere and becoming a non-party NPC, and maybe then returning back)
Also, I believe they could give new voices to other vanilla characters, at least those that are shown on the official screenshots - Jaheira (from the gameplay footage several people heard she had a new voice), Viconia and Safana (the latter is especially important, since there's a chance of Imoen being busy with something plot-related). These three girls are the only characters from vanilla BG whose voice-over actors are not coming back but who in the same time are shown on the screenshots.
Also, all 4 EE characters will be there - Dorn, Baeloth, Neera and Rasaad.
THE NEW NPCs We can infer the following from the description of the new NPCs:
M'Khiin is a goblin shaman. On top of being a newly playable class this is a newly playable race as well. I'd be a little surprised if M'Khiin wasn't neutral to maximize the ability for everyone to give the new class a try no matter what alignment their BG1 play through had been. She is however, the most obvious choice to be an evil NPC of the new characters.
Captain Schael Corwin appears human. (I don't recall seeing any non-human members of the Flaming Fist.) She is described as a "deadshot archer". I'd imagine she is either an Archer (Ranger kit) or a Fighter with proficiency points placed into bow skills. Not sure about alignment but the description text seems to point to her leaning towards good or neutral good.
Voghiln appears to also be a human. He is a Skald (bard kit). Bards have to be neutral in alignment.
Glint is a gnome. Based on his description text he appears to be a cleric/rogue. Baravar Cloakshadow is a god of neutral good alignment, this may provide a clue into Glint's alignment.
My thoughts: None of the new NPC's leap out as being evil in alignment. M'khiin is the most likely candidate to be evil, but I've described above the reason I'm guessing she is neutral. With a skald, shaman, and very possibly an archer we have NPCs in 3 new kits/classes. Glint appears to be a good cleric/thief (an inverse of BG1's Tiax)
The way you have written it implies that bards must be neutral on the good-evil alignment axis, but it's actually that they have to be "any neutral combination", i.e., true neutral, lawful neutral, chaotic neutral, neutral good, or neutral evil. For example, Haer'Dalis and Garrick are CN, but Eldoth is NE.
Voghlin is actually easy enough to check, since he's in the Black Pits 2 in BG2EE.
Minsc Dynaheir Edwin Khalid and Imoen (although there's a theory Imoen will not be available full-time, with her going somewhere and becoming a non-party NPC, and maybe then returning back)
Also, I believe they could give new voices to other vanilla characters, at least those that are shown on the official screenshots - Jaheira (from the gameplay footage several people heard she had a new voice), Viconia and Safana (the latter is especially important, since there's a chance of Imoen being busy with something plot-related). These three girls are the only characters from vanilla BG whose voice-over actors are not coming back but who in the same time are shown on the screenshots.
Also, all 4 EE characters will be there - Dorn, Baeloth, Neera and Rasaad.
Less than I expected... It's a pitty that won't have Quayle, Tiax, Eldoth, Skie and other characters that we get late in Baldur's Gate... It would be fun to have a little more time with this characters.
Minsc Dynaheir Edwin Khalid and Imoen (although there's a theory Imoen will not be available full-time, with her going somewhere and becoming a non-party NPC, and maybe then returning back)
Also, I believe they could give new voices to other vanilla characters, at least those that are shown on the official screenshots - Jaheira (from the gameplay footage several people heard she had a new voice), Viconia and Safana (the latter is especially important, since there's a chance of Imoen being busy with something plot-related). These three girls are the only characters from vanilla BG whose voice-over actors are not coming back but who in the same time are shown on the screenshots.
Also, all 4 EE characters will be there - Dorn, Baeloth, Neera and Rasaad.
Less than I expected... It's a pitty that won't have Quayle, Tiax, Eldoth, Skie and other characters that we get late in Baldur's Gate... It would be fun to have a little more time with this characters.
Well, one can still hope (maybe those characters are in SoD, just not on the screenshots that have been released).
Also, I think mods will appear to change this.
The main thing, however, is how it is explained that certain characters can't take part in the SoD events. Those dialogues will be quite interesting to read. Why does the mighty Tiax decide he shouldn't rule in the Dragonspear Castle and make it his own?
None of those are really suited for melee combat besides Kagain, and it'd probably be more of a stretch to explain his presence than Dorn's - his sole defining character trait is greed, and he's not likely to just abandon his shop in Beregost and go running around in the North...
You just need enough gold to get him to join as per Korgan in BG2. No problem.
EDIT @Arcanis Just realised that you said the same thing. Great minds etc.
Let's hope that a good modder adds Kagain to SoD If it has been done, please inform me.
I didn't like most of the SoD NPCs, either ignoring them, or in the case of Dynaheir, sending her alone and unequipped to pet the wolves. I'd have preferred to just keep my old party, all told. All in all, I found SoD interesting, but probably won't play it again anytime soon.
I have just realised how to keep Kagain. Create a duplicate in Candlekeep using Shadowkeeper to change stats. Give him the same script as Korgan. Export him. Now, in a new game after creating the PC, you import him as a party member. He will now behave as Kagain and you can keep him in Dragonspear. There will be no new conversations in Dragonspear but it would enable people like @ObsidianShade to keep Kagain in the party. The same method could be used for other NPCs.
@ObsidianShade There is another alternative. Just play your normal game and in Shadowkeeper, make your party members exportable. I think that should work too but I haven't tested that one.
Comments
Minsc
Dynaheir
Edwin
Khalid
and Imoen (although there's a theory Imoen will not be available full-time, with her going somewhere and becoming a non-party NPC, and maybe then returning back)
Also, I believe they could give new voices to other vanilla characters, at least those that are shown on the official screenshots - Jaheira (from the gameplay footage several people heard she had a new voice), Viconia and Safana (the latter is especially important, since there's a chance of Imoen being busy with something plot-related). These three girls are the only characters from vanilla BG whose voice-over actors are not coming back but who in the same time are shown on the screenshots.
Also, all 4 EE characters will be there - Dorn, Baeloth, Neera and Rasaad.
Voghlin is actually easy enough to check, since he's in the Black Pits 2 in BG2EE.
Also, I think mods will appear to change this.
The main thing, however, is how it is explained that certain characters can't take part in the SoD events. Those dialogues will be quite interesting to read. Why does the mighty Tiax decide he shouldn't rule in the Dragonspear Castle and make it his own?
They're very much playable.
EDIT
@Arcanis Just realised that you said the same thing. Great minds etc.
Let's hope that a good modder adds Kagain to SoD