All the banter mods - which ones are compatible (in terms of Role-playing)
namarie
Member Posts: 52
(Ok, so maybe not quite ALL the banter mods, but just, you know, the more popular ones.)
Long-ish post warning: tl;dr at the end!
A bit of context, I've been fighting and had just recently given in to the urge to re-start my BG2 EET game so that I can change my mod set-up and experience everything from the beginning. It took me a while to get used to the BWS for mods (I'm still more comfortable with manual installation, but I digress). I was tempted to include these banter mods in my next setup:
Banter Pack
IEP Extended Banters
Imoen Friendship
Viconia Friendship
Mazzy Friendship
Sarevok Friendship
I know that the IEP banter pack and the Friendship mods all belong to IEP project, and as such I assume they are all compatible with each other (compatible not just in a coding sense, but also in that the dialogues from these mods will not seem contradictory or awkward). But I don't know what to make of Banter Pack - the IEP extended banter was, according to the mod description, designed to work with Banter Pack; however, I don't know if there is anything from the Friendship mods that conflict (again, in a role-playing sense) with BP.
Normally I'd just assume that there wouldn't be any problem. But I read the BP description and apparently, they included 4 (FOUR!) alternative epilogues for Sarevok! I presume this has something to do with the banters themselves (i.e. players' responses affect the epilogue outcomes). I dug around a little more and found one o the four epilogues from BP:
http://home.arcor.de/varana/BantherPacks ToB.txt
@100=~Sarevok wasted little time building the cult of allegiance he promised his departed sibling. Among the war-weary survivors of Amkethran and Saradush, he found those willing to swear their lives to the newborn celestial power, and those less eager but fearful of losing what little they had left to the wrath of Sarevok and his patron. It was amidst the still-choking rubble of Saradush that Sarevok ordered the first temple to the glory of be raised, and the city became the holiest of destinations for followers.
Sarevok raised 's banner and acted with single-minded purpose on a crusade of conversion. He conquered Westgate and gave control to the church, and even Baldur's Gate endured a costly siege at the hands of Sarevok's zealots.
As the ultimate student of Bhaal's legacy, Sarevok personally selected and trained the elite bishops of the new worship, and appointed a man named Glennaro to the position of High Bloodpriest. A blacksmith, Glennaro had no previous religious experience apart from bellowed curses, but Sarevok admired the man's capable cunning. He presented Sarevok with a replica of his signature armor when petitioning for the position, winning over the son of the Iron Throne.
On the tenth anniversary of 's ascendance, Sarevok called for a jubilee and pilgrimage of the faithful. Saradush, rebuilt again in the image Sarevok dictated, would rock with worship and praise for the hero of Baldur's Gate and inheritor of Bhaal's legacy, culminating in a powerful sacrifice of blood at the Font of Bhaal. Glennaro had grown powerful beyond the dreams of men exploiting the bond Sarevok's guidance had afforded him with , but it was not enough to satisfy him. He intended to funnel the powers of the jubilee not to , but to himself, draining 's essence through the Font. Sarevok had anticipated such treachery, and tortured two of Glennaro's men to learn the secrets.
The opportunity stirred long-suppressed desires in Sarevok's soul, and as much as the man he had become wished to remain loyal, the man he was took over. When he confronted Glennaro on the day of the sacrifice, he demanded a partnership in the endeavor. But Glennaro had underestimated the energies involved, and as the blood of the faithless poured into the Font and he spoke the fateful words, the powers released were far too strong for the devious pair to handle, and as 's raw energies poured forth, the people of Saradush were burned where they stood, and the buildings crumbled from foundation to rooftop in a hellish display. For the second time in a decade, Saradush was laid waste, and the rivers turned to a soup of ash and blood.
In the end, Sarevok remained a slave to his ambitions. Just as they had once before, those ambitions destroyed him, along with countless others. How gravely this betrayal harmed the ascendant is beyond the capacity of mortal storytellers to know--but those who knew say had survived many hardships and heartbreaks in the past, and would, at any cost, endure.~
It's reasonably well-written in my book; however, I really just don't have the stomach for this sort of ending - I'd much prefer the original epilogue. More importantly, I'd like to avoid this ending just because it's weird since I plan to have my Charname slowly reaching a difficult, and somewhat bizarre reconciliation with Sarevok (it seems apt enough, since the events that occurred in the fallen Bhaal temple in SoD has shedded much light on Sarevok's... problems. Although he will probably never be forgiven for the murder of Gorion, the irony is not lost on Charname that, had Gorion encountered and rescued Sarevok from the temple ages ago, Sarevok would not have been exposed to the influences of Rieltar and might grow up into a normal kid, not unlike like Charname of Candlekeep or Imoen, under the tutelage of Gorion).
Having said all that, I suppose the most germane questions are (also TL;DR):
1) Without further spoilers/with minimal spoilers, can anyone tell me if there are alternative Sarevok Epilogues from BP that is compatible (Role-playing wise) with Sarevok Friendship + IEP Extended Banter?
2a) If all the Sarevok epilogues from Banter Pack share a similar tone, can I still get the original Sarevok epilogue with BP installed?
2b) What if I have Ascension epilogues as well? Which ones would take precedence?
3) In a similar vein, will I get confusing/strange/immersion-breaking dialogues from Banter Pack and any of the other Friendship mods in the IEP project?
4) If the answer is yes to either of the above two questions and I'm forced to keep only one set of mods, which set of mods offer the most fun?
Thanks everyone!
Long-ish post warning: tl;dr at the end!
A bit of context, I've been fighting and had just recently given in to the urge to re-start my BG2 EET game so that I can change my mod set-up and experience everything from the beginning. It took me a while to get used to the BWS for mods (I'm still more comfortable with manual installation, but I digress). I was tempted to include these banter mods in my next setup:
Banter Pack
IEP Extended Banters
Imoen Friendship
Viconia Friendship
Mazzy Friendship
Sarevok Friendship
I know that the IEP banter pack and the Friendship mods all belong to IEP project, and as such I assume they are all compatible with each other (compatible not just in a coding sense, but also in that the dialogues from these mods will not seem contradictory or awkward). But I don't know what to make of Banter Pack - the IEP extended banter was, according to the mod description, designed to work with Banter Pack; however, I don't know if there is anything from the Friendship mods that conflict (again, in a role-playing sense) with BP.
Normally I'd just assume that there wouldn't be any problem. But I read the BP description and apparently, they included 4 (FOUR!) alternative epilogues for Sarevok! I presume this has something to do with the banters themselves (i.e. players' responses affect the epilogue outcomes). I dug around a little more and found one o the four epilogues from BP:
http://home.arcor.de/varana/BantherPacks ToB.txt
@100=~Sarevok wasted little time building the cult of allegiance he promised his departed sibling. Among the war-weary survivors of Amkethran and Saradush, he found those willing to swear their lives to the newborn celestial power, and those less eager but fearful of losing what little they had left to the wrath of Sarevok and his patron. It was amidst the still-choking rubble of Saradush that Sarevok ordered the first temple to the glory of be raised, and the city became the holiest of destinations for followers.
Sarevok raised 's banner and acted with single-minded purpose on a crusade of conversion. He conquered Westgate and gave control to the church, and even Baldur's Gate endured a costly siege at the hands of Sarevok's zealots.
As the ultimate student of Bhaal's legacy, Sarevok personally selected and trained the elite bishops of the new worship, and appointed a man named Glennaro to the position of High Bloodpriest. A blacksmith, Glennaro had no previous religious experience apart from bellowed curses, but Sarevok admired the man's capable cunning. He presented Sarevok with a replica of his signature armor when petitioning for the position, winning over the son of the Iron Throne.
On the tenth anniversary of 's ascendance, Sarevok called for a jubilee and pilgrimage of the faithful. Saradush, rebuilt again in the image Sarevok dictated, would rock with worship and praise for the hero of Baldur's Gate and inheritor of Bhaal's legacy, culminating in a powerful sacrifice of blood at the Font of Bhaal. Glennaro had grown powerful beyond the dreams of men exploiting the bond Sarevok's guidance had afforded him with , but it was not enough to satisfy him. He intended to funnel the powers of the jubilee not to , but to himself, draining 's essence through the Font. Sarevok had anticipated such treachery, and tortured two of Glennaro's men to learn the secrets.
The opportunity stirred long-suppressed desires in Sarevok's soul, and as much as the man he had become wished to remain loyal, the man he was took over. When he confronted Glennaro on the day of the sacrifice, he demanded a partnership in the endeavor. But Glennaro had underestimated the energies involved, and as the blood of the faithless poured into the Font and he spoke the fateful words, the powers released were far too strong for the devious pair to handle, and as 's raw energies poured forth, the people of Saradush were burned where they stood, and the buildings crumbled from foundation to rooftop in a hellish display. For the second time in a decade, Saradush was laid waste, and the rivers turned to a soup of ash and blood.
In the end, Sarevok remained a slave to his ambitions. Just as they had once before, those ambitions destroyed him, along with countless others. How gravely this betrayal harmed the ascendant is beyond the capacity of mortal storytellers to know--but those who knew say had survived many hardships and heartbreaks in the past, and would, at any cost, endure.~
It's reasonably well-written in my book; however, I really just don't have the stomach for this sort of ending - I'd much prefer the original epilogue. More importantly, I'd like to avoid this ending just because it's weird since I plan to have my Charname slowly reaching a difficult, and somewhat bizarre reconciliation with Sarevok (it seems apt enough, since the events that occurred in the fallen Bhaal temple in SoD has shedded much light on Sarevok's... problems. Although he will probably never be forgiven for the murder of Gorion, the irony is not lost on Charname that, had Gorion encountered and rescued Sarevok from the temple ages ago, Sarevok would not have been exposed to the influences of Rieltar and might grow up into a normal kid, not unlike like Charname of Candlekeep or Imoen, under the tutelage of Gorion).
Having said all that, I suppose the most germane questions are (also TL;DR):
1) Without further spoilers/with minimal spoilers, can anyone tell me if there are alternative Sarevok Epilogues from BP that is compatible (Role-playing wise) with Sarevok Friendship + IEP Extended Banter?
2a) If all the Sarevok epilogues from Banter Pack share a similar tone, can I still get the original Sarevok epilogue with BP installed?
2b) What if I have Ascension epilogues as well? Which ones would take precedence?
3) In a similar vein, will I get confusing/strange/immersion-breaking dialogues from Banter Pack and any of the other Friendship mods in the IEP project?
4) If the answer is yes to either of the above two questions and I'm forced to keep only one set of mods, which set of mods offer the most fun?
Thanks everyone!
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Comments
banter pack and iep are also fine and they work well together that i can't tell which banter is from which.
a big thing with thee creators of the banter packs is they wanted to be as in character as possible so nothing immersion braking would occur.