Jazon the revenant, a new tiny mod for BG2EE and IWDEE
deratiseur
Member Posts: 266
Jazon is a level 8 undead warrior who is very strong and resistant, and once you summon him he follows you around like a familiar.
If he dies, you can recover his heart and summon him again after a rest.
Jazon cannot progress in xp, he will be level 8 forever. He also moves more slowly than the allies.
There is a 5% chance each time you summon Jazon that he will turn hostile.
Jason starts with a non-magical weapon and gains a magical weapon with the main character's evolution, the enchantment of his weapon being equal to the main character's M xp (example: he is equipped with a +4 weapon when the main character has 4M+ xp) max +5 at 5M xp.
To find him, search the tombs. In the Atkatla cemetery in BG2, in the Valley of Shadows in IWDEE. You need to start a new game to find his heart.
If you forget to pick up Jazon's heart and lose it somewhere, give it to yourself via the console or EEKeeper. Item code: pxjcoeur.itm.
Find it on mediafire or Github.
If he dies, you can recover his heart and summon him again after a rest.
Jazon cannot progress in xp, he will be level 8 forever. He also moves more slowly than the allies.
There is a 5% chance each time you summon Jazon that he will turn hostile.
Jason starts with a non-magical weapon and gains a magical weapon with the main character's evolution, the enchantment of his weapon being equal to the main character's M xp (example: he is equipped with a +4 weapon when the main character has 4M+ xp) max +5 at 5M xp.
To find him, search the tombs. In the Atkatla cemetery in BG2, in the Valley of Shadows in IWDEE. You need to start a new game to find his heart.
If you forget to pick up Jazon's heart and lose it somewhere, give it to yourself via the console or EEKeeper. Item code: pxjcoeur.itm.
Find it on mediafire or Github.
Post edited by deratiseur on
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(By the way there is a slight typo in the github link you showed above at the time of me writing this.)
It usually takes a while for people to catch up in interest.
IMO it may be best to have one "flagpost" mod that is popular and can showcase interesting things in a mod. See lava's earlier mods, such as the dream mod - while it was super-confusing on a first run-through, obtaining the teddy bear and the rose for Edwin is a must-play-through. (And, also, making english as the primary language there in general, helps too. )
Some other mods are quite specialized, such as the archer mod. Archers can be fun (Jan in particular, and Skitia has one NPC that is an archer), but it is a bit specialized as a niche. Anyway, give it some time - people may pick up things.
If you decide to invest more time in the future, perhaps have one mod a "primary showcase" mod, in that you integrate a few different ideas: one main quest, a few side quest, ideally one unique NPC, a few nice items and some kind of storyline that is interesting. This does not have to be perfect, just to keep people interested.
I think good examples for the latter may be e. g. the Dusk NPC mod (which is a great mod, although I think a bit overpowered) or Lava's Dwaradime mod (not overpowered and mostly storyline-related). Or you can also combine a few mods with some kind of story, like that undead NPC may have been created by some mage who tried to become a lich but failed; and the storyline may progress towards that. That's just an example, of course there could be more unique ideas to weave things together. (I am actually not that familiar with your mods but I think having one primary quest mod as showcase mod could be useful. And you can ask Lava about the initial year or two before his mods became more well-known.)
You know how slow we are at this forum. Your mods are popular, but it takes time before it is picked up. There a mods coming out regularly and most are in the midst of a mega modded playthrough. So keep em coming, just dont expect immediate respons
As Jazon is a much smaller mod, I decided to give a bit early feedback.
At first I "lost" Jazon by not noticing he was part of the party, so he was somewhere on the map where I could not see him after walking for a while on the cemetary. That was resolved, but then I had the fight against the leader of the cowled wizards (at the least with that item-mod add-on where the leader shows up after some time). And I think Jazon died there permanently. Not sure if this is on purpose or not. And perhaps I lost Jazon somewhere else - I really don't know, but I ended up not having Jazon anymore. He is gone. This is one problem with NPCs that don't show up: people may lose them somewhat accidentally and not even knowing why or where because they may not pay close attention to such "7th slot NPCs". Or these NPCs die and then don't come back - no real clue how I lost him (again).
I have a few suggestions to make nonetheless; perhaps a few of these may be modified and integrated.
1) I think some kind of background or so would be nice. Perhaps a tome or scroll that explains how Jazon ended up where he did. This could be in a corpse; or it could be on the ground; or close to where the Jazon-item is found (though, it should be explained why the scroll is there, so that it does not end up as cheesy as the villain in James Bond meta-explaining how he will end the world and then James stops him, so it should be a "natural rationale" about the background. This could also be a separate tome item that can be found in the library or elsewhere, for people who want to know more about how Jazon ended up as revenant.)
2) UI-wise it would be nice if there is a way to "integrate" Jazon. Lava does this in a few of his mods by a special abilitiy, so perhaps there could be a ritual offered by someone (perhaps by the NPC added by the lichdom mod, or simply some already existing NPC that could offer a ritual). Could also cost permanent hp like in skie the other NPC. Either way, the ability could then be used to summon Jazon. Or perhaps re-assemble him (but then one may know how he died or so ... right now I don't know how I managed to lose Jazon).
If a special ability does not fit then perhaps there could be some object that auto-recharges every 24 hours. This would have the benefit of summoning Jazon for a fight, unless he already exists nearby. (Actually it may be better to have an item to summon Jazon specifically, similar to other items such as the djinni bottle.)
3) Upgrading Jazon may still be interesting for late gameplay. Like buying a flaming sword or something like that. (The mod could also add a decidated NPC, some kind of undead-lore merchant or something like that. And he could sell a few unique, not too powerful items related to the undead or revenant theme.)
Hmm. I have a few more ideas, but I think the gist of it is to make it easier to handle / control Jazon. Due to the requirement of him to walk, it means he can not access certain areas, right? So mostly just outdoors area. This makes him a bit less useful than e. g. djinni summoning flask, as that can be used for a fight in closed rooms.
Gameplay wise, Jazon seems pretty tank and strong in the early gameplay, so I guess people can find use cases for early gameplay. As it is quite easy to obtain his item, perhaps it may be better to offer a weaker Jazon variant first, and then a stronger Jazon variant lateron. Leveling up automatically perhaps, once the main actor reaches level 10 or 12 or something like that. The biggest issue I have right now though is in regards to keeping track of what happens to him, since by losing the item, we can only trace him when he is a NPC and nearby. In comparison: handling familiars is easier e. g. you can have the familiar in the inventory, but also on the battlefield if you want to, so you have flexibility here.
Uh... this object already exists, it's his heart, which ihe drops when he dies. Have you lost Jazon? Get his heart from EEkeeper (pxjcoeur.itm) and you can summon him again whenever you like. Tip: can't he go somewhere? Kill him, pick up his heart, rest, go to that "somewhere" and re-invoke him.
I don't have Lava's technical level. Many of you have come up with ideas; there are some good ones in the bunch, but I don't have the level or the time (I'm working on other things) to turn this little module into a big thing with quest included, epic combat included, and crossmod.
Maybe in the future I'll add a way to upgrade Jason in TOB. Or maybe I'll add his Nemesis somewhere, who won't like to see him reappear. But not just yet.
I think Jazon could need one or two unique abilities for the later game.
This does not have to be anything overpowered, but just something that
may make him a bit more tenable to use in the later game.
The Djinni is quite strong and can level up; so, Jazon could perhaps
remain at the level he was, but gain one or two abilities at when he
were supposed to gain, say, three levels. So roughly before the
characters venture towards the Asylum.
Abilities could be something pertaining to a revenant (e. g. one
fast revive within 72 hours or so, say after 2 rounds Jazon stands
back up), or something that is useful in combat, such as a unique
ability that can stun an opponent for 1 round and knock him back
a bit (some weapons do something like this, such as an axe I
believe). The player could also trigger that via the special-abilities
powers. These are just suggestions; of course other abilities may
fit.
For soaking up some damage, Jazon is pretty useful. The Djinni seems
more useful and viable though. I am not saying all should be equal,
but IMO Jazon may gain a little and the Djinni could be nerfed a
tiny bit.
Jazon could change weapon, but "any weapon" is impossible, and "a specific weapon", how do I "justify" it?
Without rp justification, my module would just become a big cheat ("ho, my badass pj gets even more badass by switching to tob, that's cool"). No! i needs something to justify it. Everybody tells me jazon needs something. But nobody tells me "why" (rp).
Well - this can be derived if you add some background story to Jazon.
For instance, how did Jazon become a revenant? Was he killed by some undead and
turned into a revenant? How so or why?
Naturally this is for mod-creators to decide, as part of their creative freedom.
I don't think it works extremely well when other folks try to come up with some
background story, as that may not be what a mod-author may want to see.
But let's try to focus on a background story first here. Or perhaps as a starter.
The Forgotten Realms Wiki may give some hints to us.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Revenant
"Revenants were undead creatures that would rise from the dead to hunt down
and slay their killers with unwavering zeal."
So I think, part of the background we could add some powerful entity that
Jazon is trying to hunt down. Perhaps a lich (the lichdom mod could perhaps
supply such a special-purpose lich). Alternatively, it may just be some
background in a diary written by Jazon before he was killed, and he may
never obtain that objective.
If a lich as enemy is too cliche, then perhaps we can add some failed love
story, where Jazon had a rival. To impress their lover, they would venture
into a place (say, some abandoned temple or something) where the rival
had Jazon be killed by someone else. Perhaps a vampire. And then Jazon
was stabbed with some holy spear by the rival - or something like that,
to explain how he became a revenant. Before he'd become a revenant,
he may have been put into a coffin, and that coffin transported (or
replaced by someone who was in the coffin; perhaps a graveyard fits
more than an abandoned temple).
"Ordinarily, revenants had lifeless eyes but when faced with their
murderers their eyes would flare with an unnatural light."
Or perhaps a quest to have Jazon become alive again - and thus a
real NPC. A bit more like the quest with Afaaq. (Though I think
Afaaq is too powerful, even though he has a cool background
story.)
I am currently playing with Jazon again and I have a few suggestion
to make, aside from background.
Jazon is a good early companion - easy to obtain, very durable early
on. In later stages of the game, he becomes a bit more annoying.
The biggest issue I have with him is that he is slow. This is
especially problematic in a few encounters where one has to
run through an area quickly. Jazon also loves to auto-attack, so he
interrupts movement of the team.
Jazon is also sometimes hard to find on the game map. Afaaq has
a way to get "pinged" on the map. Perhaps Jazon can also have that.
(Perhaps some ring could be added that helps with that, and the
ring may be a simple +1 AC or +2 AC ring or something. Could be
obtained at a later time.)
Giving Jazon more abilities lateron would be nice too, so he does
not level in levels, BUT in a few abilities, to make his drawbacks
less severe.
For instance, it would be nice if he could get a haste-effect if
some mini-quest is solved. That does not need to be haste, but
simply something that puts his normal movement towards other
humanoid beings.
It would also be nice, or alternatively, to get some item where
Jazon could be put into. Perhaps a cage or basket or so. Could
be heavy, but may be useful in a few situations where one may
carry Jazon across some area, rather than have him auto-attack.
The idea is not to make Jazon much stronger, but simply more
useful.
Also some self-healing ability would be nice, such as once
per day, could heal 50% of his hp or something like that.
I get around this by moving him back anyway, and then having
the healers in the party do mass heal or something like that,
but it requires quite a bif of micro-managing. Afaaq behaves
a bit better here, perhaps some of the code could be
shared or re-used. But I think, if there would be one thing
to start with, I think Jazon needs some background story,
perhaps in the form of a diary. That IMO would give more
room towards developing Jazon more, similar to Afaaq (if
we ignore the power-issue, but that is a balancing consideration,
not a storyline/RP consideration).
(If a lich is the protagonist, then perhaps the lichdom
mod could add such a lich, and also add several revenants
that are special NPCs, perhaps semi-auto-generated by AI,
but inter-connected by that lich being their killer, so
the revenants would hate him naturally.)
@1 = ~Язон~
@2 = ~Иссохшее сердце~
@3 = ~Это сердце такое иссохшее, как будто провело несколько месяцев на солнце. Оно должно было бы рассыпаться в прах, но все еще цело и даже, кажется, пульсирует время от времени.~
I also found out "indirectly" how to solve Jazon being too slow - kill him first, take the heart, respawn him lateron.
This ability would not be available initially but could lateron be gained; perhaps involving a mini-"quest" or something like that, like modifying his heart with some gems and at a small cost. Could be done by some NPC, such as Morris of the lichdom mod or any other regular NPC that may fit for this (should probably be a mage at the least, so at some mage shop or something like that).