[v1.67] Kale, a Halfling Barbarian for BG:EE, SoD and EET

Skitia

Introduction

A teller of tall-adventures he may or may not have had, Kale is a heroic seeming haflling from Gullykin, with a quick grin and a dashing cloak. However, he seems more grim than he appears, a smile hiding insecurities and frustrations with the inability to be great.

Your party provides a chance for him to prove himself to himself and the rest of the world, and he'll gladly bring on his canny ability to take a lot of hits and keep standing, his wit and charm, and his swing to help the party through whatever they are to endure.

In BG:EE Kale can be found in Gullykin, ready to get out into some action with the right group.

In SoD, Kale can be found in the Elfsong Tavern.

Details

Race: Halfling
Class: Barbarian OR Warden
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

STR: 16
DEX: 17
CON: 18
INT: 11
WIS: 9
CHA: 12
Total: 83

Kit

Kale uses the Barbarian Class in BG:EE, but in BG2 and optionally in BG:EE he comes with the Warden Kit

Warden: A warrior tradition placing emphasis on fighting in pairs, these warriors work best with a partner next to them, who they choose to elevate their ability in combat. The Warden takes on the defensive role in the pair, while their partner, the Ward, receives elevated offensive prowess. This comes at the cost of the own Warden’s skill with weapons being inferior to other fighter traditions, but there are few other partners one would wish to stand next to.

Advantages:
-Hit Die: d12
-May use WARD once per day. Gains one use at level 1, one use at level eight, an additional use every eight levels thereafter.

WARD: Designates Target as the Ward. The Ward is granted greater offensive prowess, while the Warden gains penalties for the same amount in place of bonuses to their defense for one turn. The bonuses vary on level. It does not stack with itself, and if the ward is changed, the previous ward loses their bonuses.

Level 1: The Ward receives +1 Damage bonus, -1 Thaco. The Warden receives penalties for the same amount, but gains 10% resistance to physical damage and regenerates 1 Hitpoint per 6 seconds.

Level 8: The Ward receives +2 Damage Bonus, -2 Thaco. The Warden Receives penalties for the same amount, but gains 20% Resistance to Physical Damage, and regenerates 1 hitpoint per 3 seconds.

Level 16: The Ward receives +3 Damage bonus, -3 Thaco. The Warden receives penalties for the same amount, but gains 30% Resistance to Physical Damage and regenerates 1 hp per second.

Disadvantages:
-May only become specialized in ranged weapons, and may not exceed mastery in any other weapon.


Mod Content

– One new party member with the Barbarian class and a unique item
– 7 friendship talks with the PC in BG1, 6 in SoD
– Banters with every BG:EE and SoD NPC
– A questline in BG1 and SoD
– A romance with any gnome, dwarf, or halfling PC in Siege of Dragonspear.
– Crossmod content with Emily, Helga, Vienxay, and Recorder.
- Optional Music Soundtrack



Q&A
Q: Is this mod compatible with EET?
A: Yes. (If for some reason it is not, let me know.)

Q: Will you merge this mod with the other four in a single download?
A: Currently this is difficult for BG1, as the first three were heavily traified, and share some file names with the same number scaling. This means a lot of renaming would be required to get the mod to work. Thus I would rather spend time developing content for BG2 than configuring them in one file. It's not an explicit no, but definitely low priority at best. The BG2 parts of these mod however, will be an all in one file with convenience in mind.

Q: When will the BG2 content be released?
A: I'm in planning stages at the moment, and will start writing/coding officially on the 1st. I'll make a thread on that date in the BG2 mod section where you can follow progress. My estimated time of completion is an ambitious March. That'd be the one year anniversary of my first three mods.

If you have other questions, post below and I will respond swiftly.

LavaDelVortel

Great to see the mod released! I suppose we'll need to write some crossmod with Petsy NPC when BG2 portion will be release

Do you have some ideas on how the relationship will be changing through SoD, SoA and Tob? Will there be some further requirements for the romance or other stuff you're planning?

Also, I can't check the package now, will do it at home, but I was wondering if he's voiced.

Skitia

He has voice files that are sourced from Neverwinter Nights. This actually reminded me to make a Credits Section, so I can properly put that in there.


Besides being a female dwarf/halfling/gnome there aren't really any requirements, and I plan to make it slightly easier for halflings to show his preference. You can still attempt to show interest with him even if you don't meet requirements, but he'll only return the attention so far. Story Progression wise, you can really push Kale's belief that heroism is purely for material reward and ego, or try to show him that there is a greater purpose to it all, and the story will push the question of the nihilistic point of heroism if everyone will die anyway. I usually try to have two different successful outcomes and branches of where you can take a story, and more than one way to successfully complete a quest. (Kale has about four different solutions to his quest). The friendship portion has no requirements.

There are vague ideas of having him attempt to pursue any other NPC halfling (Mazzy is the only one I believe) in the party with various degrees of failure.

LavaDelVortel

Thanks! I was also wondering about the gender, because I think that in the history of mods, no one ever wrote a gay option for halfling and dwarves. If we count in Glint, then the only one that was released was Glint. From the experience of someone who wrote all possible options, I can say that there are people who look for such mods. Sometimes (I assume it's because it may be somehow outing) people sent me PM about m/m romances - like White or m/m path in Verr'Sza. I thought I would ask so I knew what new options are being added. And also because Petsy romances men of short races and then we could do some crossmod romance conflict.

Skitia

That's interesting. I'll have to keep it in mind. I'll be happy to take a gander and open it up and any of my future NPC mods like that if they are highly requested in post-release versions, they're currently all opposite gender restrictions, with similar sized race requirements, mainly due to the ease of writing what you know.

Raduziel

My OCD loves the way you organized the thread. Congratulations on the release!

Skitia wrote: »

Helga, Cleric of Haela Brightaxe: TBD

You'll receive an MP from me when this happens :P

TheArtisan

I had some time, so I proofread the text:

BGEE.tra

@19 = ~Feelig great, mate! Like someone decided to take a long sit on it, just as it should.~
feelig -> feeling
Emily.tra
@22 = ~It's complicated. And none of your business. They love eachother, that's all that matters.~
eachother -> each other
@38 = ~I've worked hard, to.~ to -> too
@45 = ~I can't think of anything more interesting to talk about it.~
about it -> about

Kale_bg1.tra
@2 = ~Kale claps his hand on your back and almost eagerly launches into his story. Born faster, stronger, and more courageous than the rest of Gullykin combined, he describes himself as a daredevil and lady’s man, listing exploits of strength and flashing scar after scar. While the other hin of Gullykin were more homebodies or expert cons, Kale quickly realized his peerless strength and flashed it as his feat of impressment. Still, you have a feeling he is exaggerating when he begins to describe the process of slaying a wyvern with a sword into hits hindquarters blindfolded. He ends with how proud his mother is, obviously very fond of her as he goes into how much she gushes over his stories.~
lady's man -> ladies' man
hits hindquarters -> its hindquarters
'Impressment' is a term used in conscription. 'Mettle' would be a better word to use here.
@33 = ~Bloody Hell~ [KaleCrtM]
Bloody Hell -> Bloody hell.

Kale-items.tra
@47 = ~Kale's Mother's Letter.~ 
Letter. -> Letter
@49 = ~Samuel's Daggger.~
Daggger. -> Dagger
@51 = ~Hero's Cloak.~
Cloak. -> Cloak
@52 = ~This "Hero's Cloak", as Kale calls it, is stylish and fitting for any adventurer. You can't help but feel confident and want to move with a bit of swagger. Perhaps its the material, or a bit of magic, but it certainly seems to enhance your self-approval.

STATISTICS:

+1 Charisma
+1 AC
Immunity to Fear.

Usable By: Anyone~
its the material -> it's the material

Vienxay.tra
@12 = ~I only  treat lessers like this. Back in Evermeet, I've had dozens of lovers. Sometimes two at the same time.~
only  treat -> only treat
@34 = ~Sorry lass, but Ill have to turn down your proposition to get into my pantaloons.~
Ill -> I'll

X3Kale.tra
@22 = ~What, you think I've been fighting imaginery foes, or rabbits? You're going to be pleasantly suprised, friend.~
imaginery -> imaginary
suprised -> surprised

X3KaleB.tra
@81 = ~All right Monty going to go out and say it.~
All right Monty -> Alright, Monty,
@91 = ~Mate, thinking for long hours doesn't get  you a nice romp.~
get  you -> get you
@110 = ~I am flattered... Darthiir. Thank you.~
'Darthiir' is a derogatory term for surface elves.
@112 = ~You have no idea, little one. If you were in the underdark, you would be fodder for the creatures within.~
underdark -> Underdark
@139 = ~When are the babies coming? Been a touch quite at night around your bedroll and I was wonde-~
quite -> quiet
@153 = ~It's warming to see from thou.~
It's -> 'Tis
thou -> thee
@180 = ~It's Montaron, you idiot, or do you want to see my dagger up and close.~
close. -> close?
@217 = ~Setting up Boo? In Armor? A mighty idea. We should find blacksmith, so he may charge in with steel plate and razor teeth.~
In Armor -> In armor
find blacksmith -> find a blacksmith

X3KaleJ.tra
@30 = ~That's rather pessimistic of you. Aren't  you this big hero?~
Aren't  you -> Aren't you
@100 = ~Thanks for  you accepting ma's request. Been a while since I've seen my brother Samuel.~
for  you accepting -> for accepting
@120 = ~Says Who?~ 
Who -> who
@258 = ~Yet it still seems to bother  you, from what I can see.~
bother  you -> bother you
@298 = ~Typically elf, great archer. Suppose someone should watch my heroics from the back of the group for the record keeping.~
Typically -> Typical
@320 = ~I used to like unpredictable woman. After seeing wild magic, I'm now very scared of unpredictable woman.~
woman -> women
@327 = ~I'm suprised a tiefling is a paladin. But I'd rather have one as an ally than an enemy.~
suprised -> surprised
@328 = ~I've got my reservations about that Rakasha. But as long as he isn't against us, suppose what's the harm?~
Rakasha -> rakshasa
@359 = ~Well, it was settled not too long ago Right next to the ruins of the elven settlement of Firewine.~
ago Right -> ago. Right
@379 = ~She ain't say much about someone who constantly needs a hero to bail them out.~
say -> saying
@409 = ~They, forget the great Kale? You do yourself a disservice.~ 
They -> Them
@410 = ~I don't know that, but I know I will always remember  you.~
remember  you -> remember you
@474 = ~Damn Shame. Made it all pointless.~
Damn Shame -> Damn shame
@518 = ~Come on, mate. This is my serious face. My seriously taking in the moment before grandeur! Be ready, for I will hold nothing back,tower inhabitants!~
back,tower -> back, tower

X3KBRO.tra
@12 = ~Kale, I just need someone to give a bit of gold or persuade the man upstairs to clear my debt. It was an unfair game, they had to have cheat! I had a sure victory.~
cheat -> cheated
@8 = ~Damn Lucky Sam. You really didn't have to go out of your way for him. Well, let's tell the bloke the good news.~
Lucky -> lucky

X3KDEAL.tra
@9 = ~Suppose there is. There's some other bloke who is trying to weasel out of his debt, a dwarf named Kirk. Nearly killed one of our collectors too. Tends to hover near that low lantern place.~
@21 = ~There's some other bloke who is trying to weasel out of his debt, a dwarf named Kirk. Nearly killed one of our collectors too. Tends to hover near that low lantern place.~
low lantern -> Low Lantern
@7 = ~There  are other priorities, but we can when we have time.~
There  are -> There are

Skitia

Thank you so much, I went ahead and uploaded the spelling fixes along with a few others I found.

LavaDelVortel

That's interesting. I'll have to keep it in mind. I'll be happy to take a gander and open it up and any of my future NPC mods like that if they are highly requested in post-release versions, they're currently all opposite gender restrictions, with similar sized race requirements, mainly due to the ease of writing what you know.

I would gladly see him open to both genders as I can rarely play having to take care of RL stuff and maintaining so many mods at the same time, but also liking all kinds of romances. I do not care much about race restrictions here, because I most often play halflings myself :P

I am not sure if it's because people aren't sure how people will react, but as I said, it happened a couple of times I got feedback on m/m romances via PMs. Both here and at SHS and G3. I suppose it's still quite a sensitive topic, in a way. And quite personal.

Skitia

I've thought about it a lot and figured out a way I liked to incorporate it into his story and character when it gets to that point in BG2/(Late SoD maybe), so I'll tweak it in.


@Raduziel I finally figured out how to make a kit, so will be starting to work on the her and my last of the five as soon as I've uploaded my first three.

LavaDelVortel

Sure If you have some questions, PM me. I also dealt with such stuff. Also people - also those who PMed me before - were a bit disappointed that I am not going to provide SoD portion of my old NPC - White. Anyway, sorry if I hijacked your thread. Know, though, that I really like the concept and really hope to try your NPC in the game

Dawglicious

Yay! The more NPCs for BGEE/SoD the better! Keep up the good work

Skitia

Thanks!

I just released my Emily NPC MoD today, a few hours behind schedule. It admittedly is not as polished as Kale, though it also is a bit more complex in story and content then Kale or Vienxay, who will be released Wednesday.

I'll update Kale to 1.1 march 9th, though I've not gotten any non-spelling feedback so it will mostly be spelling errors and some content adjustment.

AWizardDidIt

Oh a Halfling Barbarian! That's really cool. I love seeing under represented race/class combos.

LavaDelVortel

Is there some approximate time when we may see SoD portion? I do not want to rush you! I am just considering playing BG1EE first time in a while and I was thinking about checking Kale Also, will there be some changes in BG1 original content (pre-SoD part) upon the new version?

Skitia

1.1 = no later than march 9th (Or anywhere between the 3rd and 9th). It will include some content adjustment for the pre-SoD part (I wanted to adjust one of his talk portions), some more script/grammar checking, etc. If I get my playthrough into SoD sooner, then I'll probably get it done sooner. I originally said the first part of the SoD will only include the join/leave dialogue, but I'll probably add talks into it too, as they're relatively easy to do and don't rely heavily on familiarity. The 2nd and 3rd portions will probably be about three days after the 1st and eachother.


Edit: I just finished my BG:EE playthrough (I've only ever beat it once before) and starting SoD for the first time, so going to mod as I go!

Skitia

So Kale's 1.1 update will look like this (And changelog will reflect similarly when I'm finished). ETA is still March 9th, if not earlier.
SoD: Kale can now be recruited at the Elfsong Tavern in Chapter seven, and Corwin will let you know as much if you ask about it. If not recruited at the tavern, he can be found outside of the palace before you march. There's no chapter 8 content, so if he's not recruited at this point, he's gone for good until I update his content into chapter 8 to follow the army.
+ Interjections into chapter 7 content.
+ A single talk with P.I.D. along with usual P.I.D. features,, there will be three talks within P.I.D. at different points of your bond and an undetermined amount of normal timed talks.
+ No quest content is planned for Siege of Dragonspear for Kale, instead he'll be getting a second brief quest in BG:EE.
+ I'm still not sure if all of these NPCs are going to have light romances in Siege of Dragonspear, I want to see how Beamdog approaches it with the ones they used and decide from there.

BG:EE content updates
+Several additional interjections regarding the storyline. I missed *all* major NPCs when adding initial interjections to all three of my NPCs and will be addressing this.
+Tweaks of talks to ensure information they shouldn't know and are asking the PC about are removed and replaced.
+Kale's 4th and 5th talk adjusted. A quest opportunity comes up after the fifth talk, originally an item was given immediately after, but now a small side quest is required first.
+Additional Banter with Montaron and Alora, halfling power!
+More bug fixes, such as mis-written banters, bad spelling, etc.

Notes:
+I'm not sure if crossmod or BG:EE banters are working. I *assume* they are, I'll test this when I can.
+My approach to Siege of Dragonspear Banters is going to have the areas see if it is time and then to call for them from a banter script file , thus remove the calling from the NPC's script file into other areas. This seems to cause no stuttering at all, which looks a lot cleaner, though I will need to consider putting in an interruption for every new block of dialogue if the PC enters combat, thus the conversation naturally coming to a halt. This unfortunately means the banters aren't truly random, as their callings are fixed to areas that have the necessary code added to them and I'm disinclined to do so within every area. But so far it seems the cleanest approach for player-experience, and testing seems promising.
+ I will be working on Vienxay's 1.1 update after this, then Emily's after hers.
+ I won't be uploading these off-site until SoD content is complete.
+ A lot of thanks to @kyudosha, who has been giving feedback via PMs regarding content so far.

megamike15

the romances in sod are very brief. it's like 5 talks over the course of the game and then they kiss after the final battle. thats about it.

Skitia

Kale is now updated to 1.1

In Siege of Dragonspear, you can find Kale in the location in the picture, the Elfsong Tavern talking to his brother, or outside the gates of the palace before you march. The update only covers chapter 7, and future updates will bridge the rest of the game. Updates from here will be focused almost entirely on SoD, I've no planned updates beyond bug-fixing/cross-mod, and alternative class selection for the earlier portion of the game.

Changelog:
03/09/2019 v1.1:
-First addition of Sod content covering to the end of Chapter 7. This includes interjects, a single P.I.D. Talk, a few banters, and more.
-Revised Talk 5 leads to a short-mini quest in place of it's previous form.
-Additional Talk with Montaron and Alora, and Fixed bugs in Party Banters and relationship checks for Alora/Kale.
-Additional 17 Interjects (I_C_T/I_C_T2), mostly across the main storyline, sometimes dependent on player dialogue selection.
-Bug/Grammar/Spelling fixes.
-Revised Changelog Style and Future Planned Content.
-Added "Is it compatible with EET?" Q and A under general questions. (A = Yes)
-Special thanks to @kyudosha again, for their helping and testing.

Skitia

Updated to 1.11 to fix a minor banter bug.

Not quite ready to put an ETA on the full SoD release for this mod or the others, or the full BG:EE/SoD release of my last two NPC mods, but April is feeling like a very good general estimation. I should have everything done by then and starting to look towards BG:2 for content additions.

megamike15

the fact your able to work on 3 mods at the same time is a feat in itself. granted sod is not that long and is easier to add banters to like with tob.

Skitia

SoD banters are quite easy. The main challenge is the interjects/story transitions and those special events they need that obligatory response to similar to what SoA/ToB has.

I'm also technically working on all five mods at the same time. This is mainly because I'd like to play through BG:EE1 on all five of them at once, and I'm exploring ways for them to interact with eachother more without relying on banter so the party feels more alive. Probably easier in the sequels rather than in BG:EE(1) itself. It has the serious drawback of going slower, but I also try to put in more time per day to make up for it.

jastey

@Skitia I am preparing a tutorial currently for how to script the "move with camp" in SoD for NPCs not in the party. I can give you what I have so far so you don't have to work through this from scratch (and also to let me know if I might have overlooked something).

Skitia

I'd appreciate it, it'd cut down research time.

jastey

It's nearly done, I can link it tomorrow or Sunday. Just need to read it carefully one more time...

jastey

@Skitia Here is what I have so far: Modding Tutorial: Automatic Transition from NPCs between Camps in SoD EDIT: Link updated to tutorial thread.
The tutorial contains SoD spoilers, obviously.
I do apologize for the layout, as I do not know how to make a html file, it's just a converted textfile from LibreOffice (and some of the layout got eaten in the process). EDIT: New version with good layout is up! Thank you to @argent77 for the html help.

Let me know if you spot anything.

Raduziel

Sorry for the off topic, but...

@jastey What an awesome tutorial. I think you should make a thread for it so more people may get access.

Skitia

The only things I'd like to see added to it are the essential interjections that every NPC has that you would build into your own mod NPC. They're well documented in most mods for BG:2 but there are very few SoD mods and their interjects aren't consistent enough to tell what the essential ones are.

But it's a great guide and definitely helpful, I finally understand why some of those files are there in the mods I've studied.

jastey

The "problem" with SoD is that most (if not all) NPC comments are done via DisplayStringHead inside some cutscenes. I identified some and managed to let my own NPC speak up but I'm not done playing SoD (I'm doing a similar thing as you with modding my NPC while playing but I got stuck in the second coalition camp). I am planning on doing a tutorial once I'm through but considering I am not playing currently that might take a while.

Skitia

Yikes, over a month before I get back to this one.

Estimated time for 1.2 is at the end of April (30th). Definitely lost a bit of speed due to trying to work on multiple projects at once, and RL hit me with surprises pausing just about all work for a while. I couldn't work on the mod at all as well when I was doing some encoding for my sister's film; the r3d file took my entire system's cpu for converting. My audio stopped working at one point as well which was very needed for the planned music files.

The good news is after this, the 1.3 release will contain the rest of SoD content and then I can shift over to BG2, which is my favorite of the series and where I have the most excitement for and several ideas ready.

1.2 should include:

BG:EE and SoD:
An optional music download. I'll put up the songfile for feedback a day or two before release. His theme consists of two clarinets and bassoons. it's a challenge to convey character with music, so do expect it to be revised in future releases.
Random bugfixes I spotted.
Alternative class picks: Nothing spectacularly,
SoD:
3 of 6 Talks.
All banters complete (2-3 each).
Content through the end of chapter 9/jump to chapter 10.

Previously I said he won't have a quest, but seeing that the SoD NPCs do, he will have a brief one that will be put in 1.3.

Skitia

April 30th was maybe a little too ambitious! All that remains though before I do the 2nd of the three SoD updates:

-Some banters
-Chapter 9 Comments (Not found anything where he'd interject yet)
-Class Pick Set ups
-Theme revision