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Has anyone tried being a critter PC?

I was thinking, cause regardless of the mod or anything I attempt to do, I always have a difficult time with trying to play BG2, EE or otherwise, more than just the initial warp out of tutorialzone and going straight to de'arnise. I remembered a thread where someone made a paladin beholder, and I remember enjoying a great deal of BG1 trying to emulate that as well as doing BG2 till internal stuff came about and distracted me from it, and I never returned to it.

I'm now attempting to come up with ideas of what critters (that the game supports) I would play as. I'm wanting to go with a premise of just pretending to get sucked into the game, but as a critter/mute-ish so you can't talk about where you're from, and what kind of playstyle would arise from being stuck as a wolf or as a rabbit or a small wyvern.

so while I'm figuring out what kind of character I'd be most like as a wolf, Tell me what you guys would limit yourselves to, what critter would you pick and how would that artificially limit how you could play? (for the sake of simplicity, I'm assuming no limits on weapon handling or casting issues, being absorbed to your form or whatever because reasons)
If you guys want to tell me what you'd do in my shoes, I'm open to that kind of fun discussion too.

Comments

  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,268
    Jessica said:

    I remembered a thread where someone made a paladin beholder...

    Lol! @KidCarnival I am guessing... I am sure that was more of a joke than anything else, but it is still a neat idea.

    Hmm... I recall long ago that I found a 'mod' where someone turned a variety of creature files in the game into character files, making things like winter wolves and such into playable characters. I could probably arrange something similar for you if you wanted...
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758
    I remember this https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/20686/nonsequitur-roleplay-revival-the-one-true-canon-tale/, which included

    a beholder paladin of Helm, a mummified snirvneblin, a mindflayer swashbuckler, a myconid ranger and an oozemaster druid.

    You can use the EE-Keeper to change your avatar into critters, and then (if needed) add them speed so that they have the same speed as normal characters do.
  • lolienlolien Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,108
    I always would like to try out a poverty sorcerer run with a squirrel charname and one ring of luck.
  • JessicaJessica Member Posts: 29
    I already intend to just use EE keeper, I was just thinking about the challenges and everything else entailed in it all... At first I was like "no weapons" but then i realized it'd be impossible to do if they required magical weapons, so weapons substituted gradual enhancements you'd get in a roleplaying sense. Same thing with armor.
  • Jaheiras_WitnessJaheiras_Witness Member Posts: 614
    edited February 2016
    I love the idea of a Mindflayer Swashbuckler :blush:

    If I had to choose a critter race I would go goblin. If you're going to be a critter, might as well be the lowest of the low...
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    I created an entire kit based on Phase Spiders. And right now I'm running a butterfly protagonist with a Water Mephit friend.
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    Well, if my character dies in the MP no-reload run with @bengoshi and @Tresset they are going to be surprised for sure...
  • JessicaJessica Member Posts: 29
    I think I've decided on some kind of rogue or fighter or some combination of that. Ultimately, even when i try to put myself in the character's shoes or paws or whatever, I can't picture much casting being done during battle. I would go in, try to flank, and attack/backstab. So the question becomes, how to build it that's most appropriate for that character, and what kind of level would most reflect me...

    I'm realizing i'm putting faaaar more effort into the char creation process than the actual game by this point! if only i could focus.
  • DevardKrownDevardKrown Member Posts: 421
    i once played a basic Fighter made him a Gnoll ! :) played some with the walk speed to fix his slowness and was going for it quite some time
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758
    Gotural said:

    Well, if my character dies in the MP no-reload run with @bengoshi and @Tresset they are going to be surprised for sure...

    Although I like surprises but I think I'll pass this time. It's much better not to even have a chance for a surprise this time :)
  • wraith5641wraith5641 Member Posts: 500
    edited February 2016
    LOL A paladin beholder! That's hilarious!

    I'd love to see how that would work from a RP perspective. Maybe that beholder from Sahuagin City got sick of checking out the ladies, and decided to do some good for the world.

    @Jaheiras_Witness Isn't a mind flayer swashbuckler a bit like Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean? :)
  • SirBatinceSirBatince Member Posts: 882
    edited February 2016
    Playing a vampire is very fun and simple to do.

    All you need to do is slap VAMP1.itm and VAMPREG.itm on a fighter and you're good to go. Even works if you override them into other EE games. The vamp anims are included in all games and Viconia's bg2 portrait is also somewhat fitting.

    Of course, walking during daylight and having no mist mode are flaws but it's certainly tolerable.
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,079
    It's pretty interesting to play as an ankheg. Simply giving your character an ankheg sprite makes it so that they burrow down whenever they aren't attacking, just like a normal ankheg does. However, I don't think that they can go through narrow passageways. One thing you could do about that is give the ankheg the ability to shapeshift into a mind flayer at will so that they could fit through.
  • JessicaJessica Member Posts: 29
    So after plenty of thinking I know what I want only to redo it frequently, I've decided my internal rules I'll be following is, as a fighter/thief wolf, to limit myself to 'small' weapons, daggers/short swords/etc, and attempt to dual wield because claws.
    To be fair, I heavily debated going the route of paladin, but decided against it. Not only has a beholder paladin happened, but being a paladin just because I was once called the Paladin of Pizza, friend of the Duke of Donuts, rival of the Prince of Pancakes, and enemy to the Countess of Coffee has noooooo bearing on this run.... .... That's for a multiplayer/full-party-creation run ;)
  • NonnahswriterNonnahswriter Member Posts: 2,520
    edited February 2016
    Jessica said:

    So after plenty of thinking I know what I want only to redo it frequently, I've decided my internal rules I'll be following is, as a fighter/thief wolf, to limit myself to 'small' weapons, daggers/short swords/etc, and attempt to dual wield because claws.

    Sounds legit.

    image

    I mean, if Repede can do it... :wink:
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,405
    Okay so I have a very simple question in this regard; is my ability to use armor or weapons affected by the animation I chose?
    I used to have a PnP barbarian character who was an 8' tall human (hey, it was a fun game!). So if I use eekeeper to chose an orog or half-ogre animation for my character can I still use the stuff I find? (okay sure, the tailoring bill to fit a suit of "found" plate mail to an 8' body should be terrible; darn shame BG is so much simpler than PnP on things like this...)
  • wraith5641wraith5641 Member Posts: 500
    @atcDave I once tried to use Sarevok's original BG sprite on Sarevok in ToB. When I equipped a sword, it gave me a sword over the one that was already a part of his sprite. It sucked :(
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,405
    Interesting, thanks wraith!
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758
    Well, there was a mod for BG2 - Sarevok by Eric, http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index_mods_hosted_misc2.php - but it's not EE-compatible yet. The mod made Sarevok look like he did in BG1, with all the armour and such.

    If someone could make it compatible... ;)
  • JessicaJessica Member Posts: 29

    Jessica said:

    So after plenty of thinking I know what I want only to redo it frequently, I've decided my internal rules I'll be following is, as a fighter/thief wolf, to limit myself to 'small' weapons, daggers/short swords/etc, and attempt to dual wield because claws.

    Sounds legit.


    I mean, if Repede can do it... :wink:
    Well damn... I like the tales games, how the heck haven't i played that one! ... .... *corrected the 'error'*
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 6,002
    atcDave said:

    Okay so I have a very simple question in this regard; is my ability to use armor or weapons affected by the animation I chose?
    I used to have a PnP barbarian character who was an 8' tall human (hey, it was a fun game!). So if I use eekeeper to chose an orog or half-ogre animation for my character can I still use the stuff I find? (okay sure, the tailoring bill to fit a suit of "found" plate mail to an 8' body should be terrible; darn shame BG is so much simpler than PnP on things like this...)

    gear in game has no effect on the sprite you choose, if you see my above screen shot, you will notice that I have the slayer and solar sprites used and they can wear anything and not be affected, but interestingly enough if you choose the solar/ fallen solar sprites, no matter what weapon they use they will always use their "fist attack" animation, even when I gave my solar a bow, she was still "attacking with fist" even though she was actually using the bow

    also, I used a sirine sprite once, and luckily the bow animation worked, but regardless of what melee weapon I chose, she always use the "kiss attack" animation for melee attacks ( although she was still using the weapon)

    so if you make an orog, he will use his default sword attack animation when he attacks regardless of the weapon that you give him, but he will still be using the weapon that you gave him

    also to note, some sprites can actually have their color changed with EE keeper, for example; sirines ( if im not mistaken) and half-ogres can have different colors with the color settings, but some sprites ( Bodhi and irenicus for example) will keep their default colors regardless of what you change them to

    so I say; mix and match up different sprites and different colors and have a ball with it

    ALSO NOTE: some sprites have naturally slower movement animation ( like my death knight did for example in the screen shot above) so you may need to add some more movement rate speed with EE keeper to help them catch up to your team

    and also some sprites have naturally faster movement animation ( like clay golem sprites) so just be on the look out for that as well :)

  • KorbuKorbu Member Posts: 61
    edited February 2016
    I EEd my Wild Mage into a Baelnorn (the black Lich graphic), my Cleric of Talos into a Mummy, my Shadowdancer into a Vampire (Female), my Blackguard into a Demon Knight, and my Berserker into a Minotaur.
  • JessicaJessica Member Posts: 29
    I'm giving finally giving this a try, and it's oddly more enjoyable than I had thought. I'm having a lot of fun finally, but only after I was able to create more characters in single player mode due to v2.0. Granted the ui changes I'm definitely incredibly frustrated with, as it isn't the way the original was, and now i have to find everything in the confusing mess of the character record screen (some things I still can't find, like current status effects), but creating a winter wolf for myself and a shadow wolf for my otherself is incredibly satisfying.
    Dawn, the winter wolf and more 'me' except that I feel I would be more a caster and I don't like doing my own casting generally speaking, is a Fighter that's about to turn into rogue now that we've accepted Bodhi's deal (figured with the info I have, it's the lesser of two evils and I suspect we'll dislike her enough to end up killing her anyway, so win-win). Dusk is my otherself, my persona for what I used to be pre-transition if you will, and he is a cavalier, specalizing with the bastard sword partly with editing, as that's the weapon I was most prone to using in my irl swordplay.

    Dawn and Dusk come from a current fanfiction I'm writing with my coauthor, and the two stories being told in tandem were accepted into a group with a 90%+ rejection rate. Many happies! if anyone is interested, and doesn't mind MLP, lemme know. ^.^

    I will also occasionally post status updates on my progress, as I've gotten farther than before with accepting Bodhi's deal. So I apologize in advance for the necrobumps.
  • Diomedes33Diomedes33 Member Posts: 144
    Paladin Beholder... ...

    ... :s
  • AewyrvenAewyrven Member Posts: 228
    edited April 2016
    We made this stuff back in the day but there is already such a thing. Just play as a constant morphed avenger or polymorphic mage ;)
  • matricematrice Member Posts: 86
    edited April 2016

    I love the idea of a Mindflayer Swashbuckler :blush:

    If I had to choose a critter race I would go goblin. If you're going to be a critter, might as well be the lowest of the low...

    aren't the gibberish (or w/e they are called in english) even weaker than goblin (aren't xvart aswell weaker ?)
    Lone kobolt without a bow are also super weak.
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