Jan Jansen is the best

Klorox

He's definitely my favorite NPC.

He's funny, he's got personality, and he's freaking powerful.

Most people tote UAI as the best thief HLA, but I love Jan with his traps.

The rest of the team can have a tea party when Jan wants to go all out.

DJKajuru

I love him too, but I've never had him past chapter 3 =/

TheArtisan

Meh

lunar

Jan is the best, and with his flashers, high pickpocket and detect illusions skills, and mage spells he is the most versatile npc bar none. Can be the most powerful npc, really he can!
Too bad his personal quest is god-awful. Such a chore to travel all around in a mindless goose chase. I kill his quest messenger, his cousin IIRC, when he spawns and approaches the party. This way the quest can not be initiated. The cousin spawns later, again, though. And if he manages to initiate dialogue, you have to do his quest to keep him in party. So much chore.

DetectiveMittens

Pretty much with you on that @lunar, I have him in practically every play-through I do because I just don't know what I would do without my dearest gnome.

I usually kit him out with the Firetooth +4 and the Staff of the Magi +5 by the end of Chapter 2 and then just leave him to do his gnome things. Maybe give him the robe of Vecna providing I haven't another character to use it.

He is the reason I almost exclusively play gnomes in pnp.

SpaceInvader

lunar said:

Jan is the best, and with his flashers, high pickpocket and detect illusions skills, and mage spells he is the most versatile npc bar none. Can be the most powerful npc, really he can!
Too bad his personal quest is god-awful. Such a chore to travel all around in a mindless goose chase. I kill his quest messenger, his cousin IIRC, when he spawns and approaches the party. This way the quest can not be initiated. The cousin spawns later, again, though. And if he manages to initiate dialogue, you have to do his quest to keep him in party. So much chore.

Doesn't work: the Jansen won't be mad at you, but they will send waves and waves of cousins to be sure the message reaches Jan.

lunar

@SpaceInvader yeah the game is weird like that, it all goes 'aha, you can not escape from a deep, personal and horribly unfun quest of an npc you love so easily!' and that cousin spawns again and again but not immediately, at least in my experience. Sooner or later I succumb and get slow when I enter a new area and fail to kill the cousin before he reaches the party. Must have a pw:kill memorised at all times for this.

Klorox

It's a 5 minute silly side quest. I don't mind doing it.

Pteran

Just Ctrl+Y those cousins into oblivion. Or do the quick and easy quest lol.

ithildurnew

I always found Jan's quest oddly touching and interesting, showing that the crazy gnome has a well-concealed serious and kind hearted side to him...

The tangled triangle between him, his love and his rival are one of the few character conflicts I find actually fairly convincing as well. It's too bad bioware never extended the plot to a more final conclusion; I realize there is a mod that does this but I'm dreading it turns out to be yet another poorly written mod that ruins the existing mini story for me.

Dharius

Yep, definitely one of my favourite NPCs and probably the most rewarding NPC thief to use in the game. Although a player-created thief is probably more customisable of course, and a I think is a better option if you want to go that route.

matrice

Yeah, his quest is one of the worst (and actually, it literally diserserved a "unfinished buisness" mod like we had for the various item of the mine in bg1)

In addition, i don't even know how you dare equip him with firetooth, when he already has the strongest ranged weapon of the game. (thx to his bolt ofc)

Raduziel

Jan Jansen is the Tiax of BG2. In other words: he rocks, has great banters, a nice background, and favors any party.

I would love to see a conversation between those two, by the way.