I actually think how homogeneous they are is one of their strengths as a team. Don't get me wrong, I love BG's motley crew, but Kulyok's writing of a group that seems to naturally fit in with each other, that shares friendships rather than "banter" (in the original ense of the word) fits well with the more serious writing of IWD. The mod's writing complements the game very well, and I feel it wouldn't be the same even with just switching out one of the characters, seeing as many conversations are designed a chains.
Sure, but when we look at BG (and most mods), shorties are usually written with a more humorous bent (Mazzy being the great exception, which in itself sort of defines her character).
Here we have an egocentric halfling mage, a halfling blackguard of Bhaal, a quite resourceful artificer and finally a dark and bizarre gnome cleric. I would say we are not following the "merry & humorous" path here, or not making it as blunt and obvious as in some games and stories. They are diverse - just as humans are.
Here we have an egocentric halfling mage, a halfling blackguard of Bhaal, a quite resourceful artificer and finally a dark and bizarre gnome cleric. I would say we are not following the "merry & humorous" path here, or not making it as blunt and obvious as in some games and stories. They are diverse - just as humans are.
Sounds like there will two more when Aion is finished ?
Sure, but when we look at BG (and most mods), shorties are usually written with a more humorous bent (Mazzy being the great exception, which in itself sort of defines her character).
And Montaron, Korgan, Yeslick, Kagain...
If anything, shorties have a pretty equal representation in the IE games. Possibly even with the "cheerful/comedic" stereotype being in a slight minority.
I'd rather pin this one on how awful BG1's characterization is than anything else. Don't get me wrong, their personalities aren't the problem, but they're almost entirely defined by their soundsets which all sound like ridiculous caricatures. BG2 actually has more grounded characters which includes the short races, but there's less representation.
Except when it comes to gnomes. I'm as sick of seeing gnomes written as comic relief as anyone else.
Sorry, I just couldn't help myself and I prepared another short quest for IWD EE... Welcome Night of the Blinking Dead. All information on the first page and in the mods seperate thread: here.
I recently finished a complete run of IWD (including HoW and ToL) with many of these mods installed. I played through “Tales of Our Lady Dreamless,” “Below & Below Inn,” “Terror of the Skineater,” and “Night of the Blinking Dead.” I had LavaDelVortel’s “Findit,” “Forgelt,” and “Weasels” items mods installed as well. (Other mods included “House Rules,” “Universal Wizard Spells,” and “Tweaks Anthology.”)
I had the following new companions in my party: Dusky, Ina, Urchin, and Karihi. (For a short period of time I had Oak-Maw in the group as well, but I left at him in the Below & Below Inn as his chats weren’t working properly in the version I was using). Overall, I found Ina and Karihi the most interesting, but Dusky and Urchin were fun as well. These are all colourful and intriguing companions that added a lot to the game.
Thanks so much to LavaDelVortel and AionZ for creating and sharing these wonderful mods! With them IWDEE feels like an entirely new game. I plan to play through it at least one more time in the future thanks to the new companions and areas.
Thank you! I hope that wasn't your last visit to Icewind Dale and that you will also check out our other NPCs when you feel like it's the right time to return to the Frozenfar!
First of all, a small disclosure: I don't really do modded NPCs in BG games (there are too many awesome ones in vanilla anyway), so I wasn't sure what to expect from these guys. My only previous experience was Kulyok's IWD NPCs which, while it was nice and made the game bearable for me, didn't really blow me away. They were all just... so nice and good. It felt like the author was playing it safe, so to speak, to make everyone likeable and appealing to a wide audience. Which is fine, don't get me wrong, but it didn't make me excited about future playthroughs with the same team. But then I randomly came across this page here about a week ago and instantly reinstalled IWDEE. Because these guys are pretty much the opposite of playing it safe.
They all seem great, but I'm limited to 5 spots in the party so I went with Dusky, Ina, Dendjelion, Tipps, and Oak-Maw + the FindIt item pack. To be honest, I didn't expect to like them as much as I do. A half-orc that's not a mindless brute and has a wholesome same-sex romance? A ghost/spirit/spectre that's not needlessly cryptic? Halflings that are neither rogues nor comic relief? A blackguard who's an easy-going laid-back bro? A deer boy? Evil-aligned characters that are not stupidly evil just for the sake of being evil? I'm impressed and can totally see myself doing another playthrough with the other characters.
The only thing I'd like to see more of are relationships or just banter between the team-members. I have the cross-mod banter pack installed, but they still mostly just talk to my PC. I definitely like the individual NPCs here more than Kulyok's, but as far as I remember the party dynamics in her mod were more developed (understandably, since it was a set group).
All in all, thanks for the awesome mods, great job! I can wholeheartedly recommend these to anyone who's still hesitant to try.
Hey! I am glad you liked the mod! I tried to make my characters interesting and perhaps some are just weird, but after writing soooo many mods, I enjoy writing more usual stuff these days. Unless it's about quests, I like it when they blend in well with the original game.
Anyway, thank you! There are some more characters you may want to try out one day! Also, @AionZ has Min and Karihi and there are now he's working on the other ones he mentioned not long ago.
We kinda hope such additions will make it IWD fun to play, even after completing it before!
... I hope that wasn't your last visit to Icewind Dale and that you will also check out our other NPCs when you feel like it's the right time to return to the Frozenfar!
Oh I'll definitely be back!
But Urchin's creator made me nostalgic for PS:T so I'm running through that for a change (haven't played it in years, before the EE version).
Typo: writer's block. This means that you can't write anything. You feel your dialogues are bad, you start over and over again or you just can't force yourself to write any text, etc.
I created and released many mods lately, I pushed myself really hard to create stuff and that's the result. Now it may take more time + I will need something to inspire me. It's gonna happen, but it requires time.
New NPC - Orra - is available! Note, that IWD Crossmod Banter Pack does not include crossmod banters for her just yet, but they should be released when whey're ready, no worries!
Allright, you have my attention. I always looked for IWD mods with new areas.
So, how would you people rate this? Scenery, mood, amount of bugs (if any) etc.? I just did a run of IWD, so I'm currently contemplating giving BG+BG2 a whirl, but later on, who knows? I might just pick up on this.
It’s excellent and has totally revitalised the game. The NPCs are well written and have an odd/dark edge, meant in a very positive way, and are a bit more PST than BG in tone. Inna and Kahiri are especially good but I like all the ones I have used. I haven’t started a new run in a while because new mods keep dropping and I want to start again once they are all done.
Each element may be downloaded and installed separately and you may use the quest without NPCs, yet the game is way richer with those NPCs as they also include minor quests, encounters, items, scenery dialogues, friendships, romances... whatever you want. If you do not wish to romance them, you won't be forced to do that. You may shut them early on, so it's gonna always be up to you.
Crossmod Banter Pack has been updated with content for Orra.
On another note, unfortunately my other IWDNPC projects have taken a backseat in favor of my overdue BG2NPCs for the moment. I'll get back to them eventually, but there won't be any new IWD content coming from me for a while.
Comments
Sounds like there will two more when Aion is finished ?
And Montaron, Korgan, Yeslick, Kagain...
If anything, shorties have a pretty equal representation in the IE games. Possibly even with the "cheerful/comedic" stereotype being in a slight minority.
Except when it comes to gnomes. I'm as sick of seeing gnomes written as comic relief as anyone else.
I had the following new companions in my party: Dusky, Ina, Urchin, and Karihi. (For a short period of time I had Oak-Maw in the group as well, but I left at him in the Below & Below Inn as his chats weren’t working properly in the version I was using). Overall, I found Ina and Karihi the most interesting, but Dusky and Urchin were fun as well. These are all colourful and intriguing companions that added a lot to the game.
Thanks so much to LavaDelVortel and AionZ for creating and sharing these wonderful mods! With them IWDEE feels like an entirely new game. I plan to play through it at least one more time in the future thanks to the new companions and areas.
They all seem great, but I'm limited to 5 spots in the party so I went with Dusky, Ina, Dendjelion, Tipps, and Oak-Maw + the FindIt item pack. To be honest, I didn't expect to like them as much as I do. A half-orc that's not a mindless brute and has a wholesome same-sex romance? A ghost/spirit/spectre that's not needlessly cryptic? Halflings that are neither rogues nor comic relief? A blackguard who's an easy-going laid-back bro? A deer boy? Evil-aligned characters that are not stupidly evil just for the sake of being evil? I'm impressed and can totally see myself doing another playthrough with the other characters.
The only thing I'd like to see more of are relationships or just banter between the team-members. I have the cross-mod banter pack installed, but they still mostly just talk to my PC. I definitely like the individual NPCs here more than Kulyok's, but as far as I remember the party dynamics in her mod were more developed (understandably, since it was a set group).
All in all, thanks for the awesome mods, great job! I can wholeheartedly recommend these to anyone who's still hesitant to try.
Anyway, thank you! There are some more characters you may want to try out one day! Also, @AionZ has Min and Karihi and there are now he's working on the other ones he mentioned not long ago.
We kinda hope such additions will make it IWD fun to play, even after completing it before!
Oh I'll definitely be back!
But Urchin's creator made me nostalgic for PS:T so I'm running through that for a change (haven't played it in years, before the EE version).
What is the writers block? Please explain.
I created and released many mods lately, I pushed myself really hard to create stuff and that's the result. Now it may take more time + I will need something to inspire me. It's gonna happen, but it requires time.
So, how would you people rate this? Scenery, mood, amount of bugs (if any) etc.? I just did a run of IWD, so I'm currently contemplating giving BG+BG2 a whirl, but later on, who knows? I might just pick up on this.
On another note, unfortunately my other IWDNPC projects have taken a backseat in favor of my overdue BG2NPCs for the moment. I'll get back to them eventually, but there won't be any new IWD content coming from me for a while.