All my bases are covered and there are no fugly males messing up my PC's harem. That was always a problem in the original, because you had to cart around Edwin and Yoshimo. Not anymore.
I'm planning on running a CHARNAME + 4 premade + Imoen/Yoshimo my first time through because of how much I enjoyed the party in my most recent play of BG1EE
After that it will likely be:
Imoen Jaheira Anomen Keldorn -???????- I'll probably swap npc's around here to do story quests. I imagine I'll end up with either Hexxat or Sarevok at the end of the play through depending on my needs or who ends up working better in my party.
As much as I like the new npcs their classes just aren't jiving with my style of play. Dorn is probably the most acceptable of the bunch class wise. He's basically a tanky melee. His issue with me is that he's like super evil and stuff... and half-orcs aren't exactly appealing enough to ignore his evil and just use him for romance. Neera is probably the npc who would mix the best with my party... except that she's a wild mage and random occurrences that result in reloads are as appealing to me as romancing a half-orc. Rasaad could have been a good character if not for the fact that a) he's a monk and at low levels monks are gimpy and b) he only romances females which leaves me out in the cold unless I wanna play a female which is something I rarely do these days. The romance ended up being the deciding factor. I could deal with lowbie gimpiness if I get smoochies out of the deal :P
If not for those two things he'd be good character for my party. I love his banter with Viconia and would have enjoyed him far more as a Cleric of Selune. Perhaps in the future when the divine kits mod is revamped for BGEE I may change Rasaad into a cleric and perhaps use the girdle to trigger the romance and then change back. He'd certainly be a good alternative to Anomen for me then.
I'm hoping Hexxat isn't a detestably evil sort and is more like Viconia who I quite enjoy in my parties. It would be nice to have a full fledged thief who doesn't up and "go away" in the middle of the story :P If I like her personality enough and she plays well enough for my style she may just keep Sarevok sidelined.
I really wasn't crazy about Neera in the first game, so I'll probably skip out on her, but take the other new characters. So my first run will probably look like:
PC (Elven Ranger) Dorn Rasaad Yoshimo/Hexxat Viconia Edwin/Imoen
I'll hang on to Yoshi until I figure out where Hexxat is. Since Imoen is kinda important to the plot, I don't know if I'll be able to look past using her, but if I can then Edwin seems the obvious choice. Once I see how the new characters play out, I'll do some more runs with my other 4 characters I have ready to go.
I'm worried with my party how the NPCs will get along... I hope there aren't a lot of conflicts. I'm mostly concerned about Mazzy IF I bring her. Though I believe she got along with everyone originally, so I hope that doesn't change.
@Nic_Mercy, I like the way you think, but the gender-bender belt can't be used to trigger a romance. I know because I've tried it. All the belt does is to change the on-screen avatar of the wearer, not the base gender in the program. Base gender is controlled by a "1" or "2" variable at character creation, and the belt doesn't change it.
I'll put the rest of this in spoiler tags because it's off-topic, but if you're interested in further commentary about same-sex romances:
The game program checks that variable the first time you talk to a romanceable character, and locks out the romance variable if the genders don't match up.
You can still force same-gender romance by starting a female character and then Keepering that character into a male (or vice-versa) but even if you do, the spellcasting voice will still sound female, and the dialogues in the romance will sound a little odd. I once adjusted the variables to force some male/male romances with my male charname, but it just felt ridiculous with them calling me "my lady" all the time and telling me what a beautiful woman I was.
We gay guys don't talk to each other like that unless we're messing around and doing what's called "camping" or "camping it up". When we're being serious and considering committed relationships, we have our own ways of talking to each other and our own insider language. We go through the initial risk of expressing attraction without knowing for sure if the other person is even gay or interested, and we have lengthy conversations about being in a minority, sharing our stories about how we realized, how we came out, and the reactions of our family and friends.
Thus, it really only works if romance dialogue in a game or story is written from the get-go for a character who has the orientation.
The best professionally written character I've seen where the writer understood how two men in a romance speak to each other was Zevran from Dragon Age.
The modded BG characters Faren and Nathaniel also do a very good job at it.
@Nic_Mercy, I like the way you think, but the gender-bender belt can't be used to trigger a romance. I know because I've tried it. All the belt does is to change the on-screen avatar of the wearer, not the base gender in the program. Base gender is controlled by a "1" or "2" variable at character creation, and the belt doesn't change it.
I'll put the rest of this in spoiler tags because it's off-topic, but if you're interested in further commentary about same-sex romances:
The game program checks that variable the first time you talk to a romanceable character, and locks out the romance variable if the genders don't match up.
You can still force same-gender romance by starting a female character and then Keepering that character into a male (or vice-versa) but even if you do, the spellcasting voice will still sound female, and the dialogues in the romance will sound a little odd. I once adjusted the variables to force some male/male romances with my male charname, but it just felt ridiculous with them calling me "my lady" all the time and telling me what a beautiful woman I was.
We gay guys don't talk to each other like that unless we're messing around and doing what's called "camping" or "camping it up". When we're being serious and considering committed relationships, we have our own ways of talking to each other and our own insider language. We go through the initial risk of expressing attraction without knowing for sure if the other person is even gay or interested, and we have lengthy conversations about being in a minority, sharing our stories about how we realized, how we came out, and the reactions of our family and friends.
Thus, it really only works if romance dialogue in a game or story is written from the get-go for a character who has the orientation.
The best professionally written character I've seen where the writer understood how two men in a romance speak to each other was Zevran from Dragon Age.
The modded BG characters Faren and Nathaniel also do a very good job at it.
Thanks for the info! Is it possible to force a romance to start by changing variables rather than changing gender?
@Nic_Mercy, it was several years ago when I experimented on it, but I seem to remember it not working.
There's an easy test - start a game of BG2 with "dungeon-be-gone" installed. Go straight to Anomen at the Copper Coronet. Make sure your main character speaks to him. His first dialogue if he thinks you are a female is "My lady... blah, blah, blah." If he does not see you as female, the romance will not start, even if you try to change the Keeper variable.
EDIT: I'm worried now about derailing this thread. We should start a new one if we want to talk about this further.
More on-topic: I wish I could include Dorn in my first BG2:EE party, so I could experience his romance dialogues and his new areas, but he's just so darn bloodthirsty evil, I don't think any of my characters can get along with him.
I have no idea at this point who I'm going to run with for my first party. I want to include Neera and Rasaad for the new content, but, as others have said, I don't like Neera's propensity to force reloads, and I don't like the monk class. Maybe I could try that new kit for Rasaad to see if I can get him through BG:EE without feeling like I'm carrying dead weight in my party, after the new patch is out.
@Nic_Mercy: BG2Tweaks, I think, has the option of removing all gender/race restrictions from Romances. This will not affect the dialogue, though, so the "my lady" stuff remains. That same mod also has options to allow multiple romances at the same time, though that can lead to bugs (and lots of RP-cringe).
@Nic_Mercy, it was several years ago when I experimented on it, but I seem to remember it not working. There's an easy test - start a game of BG2 with "dungeon-be-gone" installed. Go straight to Anomen at the Copper Coronet. Make sure your main character speaks to him. His first dialogue if he thinks you are a female is "My lady... blah, blah, blah." If he does not see you as female, the romance will not start, even if you try to change the Keeper variable.
@Nic_Mercy: BG2Tweaks, I think, has the option of removing all gender/race restrictions from Romances. This will not affect the dialogue, though, so the "my lady" stuff remains. That same mod also has options to allow multiple romances at the same time, though that can lead to bugs (and lots of RP-cringe).
I haven't decided yet. I'm excited though because my main character has 100 in open locks and find traps so I don't need to worry about having that role filled. I might still pick up the new thief npc anyway though. I hope she's a shadowdancer.
I think I'm going to roll a new PC tonight and try to get to final save before Nov 15. I never finished my evil bgee run, and picking up 8-9 months later is hard to do for me. There is so much evil banter I want to listen to
How did the sexuality conversation end up in this thread, too? lol I actually thought Zevran was poorly written. If you were nice to him, it turned into flirtation. And he was hyper-sexualized. I thought they did a much better job of that archetype with Isabella. I did really enjoy the Anders male/male romance, even though the end of it was pretty sad...
And not every gay guy calls each other by female epithets or gets "campy." I would never be with a guy who did that regularly. I am not a girl and I am not interested in a relationship with a girl and I am turned off by "campy" guys.
How did the sexuality conversation end up in this thread, too? lol I actually thought Zevran was poorly written. If you were nice to him, it turned into flirtation. And he was hyper-sexualized. I thought they did a much better job of that archetype with Isabella. I did really enjoy the Anders male/male romance, even though the end of it was pretty sad...
And not every gay guy calls each other by female epithets or gets "campy." I would never be with a guy who did that regularly. I am not a girl and I am not interested in a relationship with a girl and I am turned off by "campy" guys.
Thanks for pointing that out. I think a lot less people would have a problem with gay/bi characters if they were not written with the stereotypes "bi = total slut, regardless of gender", "gay = campy/tranny" and "lesbian = man-hating butch".
On topic, sort of: I always thought Mazzy and Korgan wouldn't get along. Is that just bickering in banters and not ending in a fight?
How did the sexuality conversation end up in this thread, too? lol I actually thought Zevran was poorly written. If you were nice to him, it turned into flirtation. And he was hyper-sexualized. I thought they did a much better job of that archetype with Isabella. I did really enjoy the Anders male/male romance, even though the end of it was pretty sad...
And not every gay guy calls each other by female epithets or gets "campy." I would never be with a guy who did that regularly. I am not a girl and I am not interested in a relationship with a girl and I am turned off by "campy" guys.
@KidCarnival Korgan likes Mazzy. To the extent that he's quite bashful about it, apparently. I've not had the two in the same party, but someone on some forum actually called it "sweet" without irony.
@KidCarnival Korgan likes Mazzy. To the extent that he's quite bashful about it, apparently. I've not had the two in the same party, but someone on some forum actually called it "sweet" without irony.
People have some very strange ideas about what is 'sweet'...
Comments
Good party:
PC(maybe fighter/thief)
Rasaad
Neera
Aerie
Jaheira
Minsc
Evil party
PC(maybe barb/cleric)
Dorn
Hexxat
Viconia
Edwin
Haer'Dalis
Jahiera
Viconia
Imoen
Neera
Aerie
All my bases are covered and there are no fugly males messing up my PC's harem. That was always a problem in the original, because you had to cart around Edwin and Yoshimo. Not anymore.
After that it will likely be:
Imoen
Jaheira
Anomen
Keldorn
-???????- I'll probably swap npc's around here to do story quests. I imagine I'll end up with either Hexxat or Sarevok at the end of the play through depending on my needs or who ends up working better in my party.
As much as I like the new npcs their classes just aren't jiving with my style of play. Dorn is probably the most acceptable of the bunch class wise. He's basically a tanky melee. His issue with me is that he's like super evil and stuff... and half-orcs aren't exactly appealing enough to ignore his evil and just use him for romance. Neera is probably the npc who would mix the best with my party... except that she's a wild mage and random occurrences that result in reloads are as appealing to me as romancing a half-orc. Rasaad could have been a good character if not for the fact that a) he's a monk and at low levels monks are gimpy and b) he only romances females which leaves me out in the cold unless I wanna play a female which is something I rarely do these days. The romance ended up being the deciding factor. I could deal with lowbie gimpiness if I get smoochies out of the deal :P
If not for those two things he'd be good character for my party. I love his banter with Viconia and would have enjoyed him far more as a Cleric of Selune. Perhaps in the future when the divine kits mod is revamped for BGEE I may change Rasaad into a cleric and perhaps use the girdle to trigger the romance and then change back. He'd certainly be a good alternative to Anomen for me then.
I'm hoping Hexxat isn't a detestably evil sort and is more like Viconia who I quite enjoy in my parties. It would be nice to have a full fledged thief who doesn't up and "go away" in the middle of the story :P If I like her personality enough and she plays well enough for my style she may just keep Sarevok sidelined.
PC (Elven Ranger)
Dorn
Rasaad
Yoshimo/Hexxat
Viconia
Edwin/Imoen
I'll hang on to Yoshi until I figure out where Hexxat is. Since Imoen is kinda important to the plot, I don't know if I'll be able to look past using her, but if I can then Edwin seems the obvious choice. Once I see how the new characters play out, I'll do some more runs with my other 4 characters I have ready to go.
Neera
Dorn
Rasaad
Hexxat
Viconia
The Goody-two-shoes:
PC Fighter/Thief
Keldorn
LG Anomen
Mazzy
Nalia/Imoen
Aerie
I have never used Keldorn or Mazzy for long, which Should be corrected.
Evil & shorties:
PC Fighter->Druid
Korgan
Mazzy
Viconia
Edwin
Jan
Should be able to get the Korgan-Mazzy "romance", Evil trio bickering and Jan to banter with everyone.
BG1 Survivors:
PC Cavalier
Jaheira
Minsc
Viconia
Edwin
Imoen
Apart from the Minsc-Edwin conflict, this should be fairly interesting. It's also quite balanced gameplay-wise.
I'll put the rest of this in spoiler tags because it's off-topic, but if you're interested in further commentary about same-sex romances:
The game program checks that variable the first time you talk to a romanceable character, and locks out the romance variable if the genders don't match up.
You can still force same-gender romance by starting a female character and then Keepering that character into a male (or vice-versa) but even if you do, the spellcasting voice will still sound female, and the dialogues in the romance will sound a little odd. I once adjusted the variables to force some male/male romances with my male charname, but it just felt ridiculous with them calling me "my lady" all the time and telling me what a beautiful woman I was.
We gay guys don't talk to each other like that unless we're messing around and doing what's called "camping" or "camping it up". When we're being serious and considering committed relationships, we have our own ways of talking to each other and our own insider language. We go through the initial risk of expressing attraction without knowing for sure if the other person is even gay or interested, and we have lengthy conversations about being in a minority, sharing our stories about how we realized, how we came out, and the reactions of our family and friends.
Thus, it really only works if romance dialogue in a game or story is written from the get-go for a character who has the orientation.
The best professionally written character I've seen where the writer understood how two men in a romance speak to each other was Zevran from Dragon Age.
The modded BG characters Faren and Nathaniel also do a very good job at it.
EDIT: I'm worried now about derailing this thread. We should start a new one if we want to talk about this further.
More on-topic: I wish I could include Dorn in my first BG2:EE party, so I could experience his romance dialogues and his new areas, but he's just so darn bloodthirsty evil, I don't think any of my characters can get along with him.
I have no idea at this point who I'm going to run with for my first party. I want to include Neera and Rasaad for the new content, but, as others have said, I don't like Neera's propensity to force reloads, and I don't like the monk class. Maybe I could try that new kit for Rasaad to see if I can get him through BG:EE without feeling like I'm carrying dead weight in my party, after the new patch is out.
And not every gay guy calls each other by female epithets or gets "campy." I would never be with a guy who did that regularly. I am not a girl and I am not interested in a relationship with a girl and I am turned off by "campy" guys. Thanks. I'm kind of worried about her and Dorn, though.
On topic, sort of: I always thought Mazzy and Korgan wouldn't get along. Is that just bickering in banters and not ending in a fight?
Korgan likes Mazzy. To the extent that he's quite bashful about it, apparently. I've not had the two in the same party, but someone on some forum actually called it "sweet" without irony.
Dorn
Rasaad
Neera
Hexxat(that's really her name?)
Anomen or Viconia.
if she has a class kit and is she an romance option
1 PC Cavalier
2 Jaheira
3 Hexxat
4 Neera!!!!
5 Rasaad
6 Almost every other character