Skip to content

Party formation continuity from BG:EE to BG2:EE

I've always played BG with a party composed by me (obviously), Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, and Dynaheir, mainly to have kind of a continuity when I import my character to BG2 (since those are the NPC originally kidnapped by Irenicus). I was wondering if in the Enhanced Edition things remained unchanged, meaning that even if I party with other NPCs in BG:EE I will always end up in Irenicus' dungeon with those fellas, or if I will be kidnapped with my actual party at the end of the game (like, if I have an evil party with Shar-Teel, Xzar, Montaron, Dorn, and Viconia, I will find myself in the dungeon with them in BG2:EE).

Comments

  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    It remains the same.
  • Darigaaz87Darigaaz87 Member Posts: 135
    That's a shame.
    RAM021Klorox
  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    unfortunately.

    but it's not beamdog's fault, there were legal obstacles to making these kinds of story changes
  • Darigaaz87Darigaaz87 Member Posts: 135
    Yeah, I figured that out. It really sucks though.
    RAM021
  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968
    bob_veng said:


    but it's not beamdog's fault, there were legal obstacles to making these kinds of story changes

    It was mainly technical obstacles that prevented them from doing it, I believe. I seem to recall reading a post from one of the Beamdog people, who mentioned that it would have been a major hurdle in order to accomplish it. So they just didn't want to tackle it.

    RAM021
  • meaglothmeagloth Member Posts: 3,806
    bob_veng said:

    unfortunately.

    but it's not beamdog's fault, there were legal obstacles to making these kinds of story changes

    And the obscene amount of work it would be. To give all the other companions the same level of depth and quests you would essentially be doubling the game, and they just don't have enough resources to do something like that.
    DJKajuru
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    It would also substantially change the storyline of any character who came with you: if Edwin's locked up in Irenicus' dungeon, he can't be working for the Shadow Thieves; if Quayle's with you, he's not raising Aerie in the circus; if Tiax is with you, he's not locked up in Spellhold, etc.
    DJKajuru
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    That said, you can construct some kind of continuity for yourself by sticking with NPCs who appear in both games. For example, a party of Dorn, Xzar, Montaron, Safana and Edwin will break up by the end of BG1, but you will see the Zhents and Safana again in some capacity (even if they've been replaced in your actual party). The same goes for a Good party that consists of, say, Ajantis, Coran, Jaheira, Imoen and Neera.
  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    shawne said:

    It would also substantially change the storyline of any character who came with you: if Edwin's locked up in Irenicus' dungeon, he can't be working for the Shadow Thieves; if Quayle's with you, he's not raising Aerie in the circus; if Tiax is with you, he's not locked up in Spellhold, etc.

    this is exactly why they couldn't do it, but in my opinion it would have been better if they had been able (and willing) to change the story to accomodate continuity.
  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968
    shawne said:

    The same goes for a Good party that consists of, say, Ajantis, Coran, Jaheira, Imoen and Neera.

    No, Ajantis is occupied elsewhere. He's one of the Paladins you slaughter when you're led to believe they're monsters. I forget the name of the area now, it's the one with the Red Dragon in it. Neera also has her own quest that wouldn't work that well if you started the game with her. They would basically have had to write a second story line for her. That would no doubt have been more trouble than it was worth.

  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    Belanos said:

    No, Ajantis is occupied elsewhere. He's one of the Paladins you slaughter when you're led to believe they're monsters.

    Exactly: he was in your party in BG1, you run into him again in BG2. Just like Xzar and Montaron.
  • kcwisekcwise Member Posts: 2,287
    edited November 2014
    One way to deal with the early dungeon is to assume that Irenicus grabbed who he did because of researching the Bhaalspawn, his half-sister, and their foster father. At first they probably seemed like a gift, two spawn with relatively no experience there for the taking. Being the planner he was he probably thoroughly researched Gorion and Candlekeep, from this he would not only learn all about the character name and Imoen but likely about allies like Khalid and Jaheira as well. When Gorion is forced to flee with his charge Irenicus may not have had everything in place yet, may even have had to rely on unreliable spies to find out what was happening after Gorion's death. Minsc and Dynaheir are harder to explain than Khalid and Jaheira, but if Irenicus' spies were following along they may have noticed the character talking with the mad warrior. If at that point the spies lost track of the character because they were killed by bandits (or just lost the character because of all the wilderness wandering) it's possible Irenicus, thinking to grab those closest to the Bhaalspawn, acted on the best info he had at the time and kidnapped Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, and Dynaheir.

    As to why Jaheira and Minsc seem so convinced they were companions of the character, we can't rule out mental manipulation. Irenicus seemed to always have contingencies in place. Perhaps he intended to use the other party members as unwitting spies or betrayers, filling their heads with false memories to ensure they would have a reason to stay with the character. When the shadow thieves attacked too soon, many of Irenicus' plans were interrupted. Remember, the character has options for being confused about who each of the other dungeon prisoners are. While this was the developer's way to introduce new players to the ongoing storyline, it can also be used as a sign of false memories implanted by Irenicus.

    Complete fabrication on my part, but one way to explain their presences without them actually having been with the protagonist in BG1.

    tl;dr - It's all mind magic! Irenicus brainwashed everyone to believe they were together for reasons unknown.
    Darigaaz87RAM021domeplsffs
  • Darigaaz87Darigaaz87 Member Posts: 135
    @kcwise your explanation is almost perfect. I will study it in depth the next time I'm going to put up a non-canon party game.
    kcwiseRAM021
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    edited November 2014
    @kcwise: The interesting thing about the "canon" party is that Irenicus has a motive to kidnap them even if they weren't actively traveling with CHARNAME - Imoen is a Child of Bhaal herself, Khalid and Jaheira were allies of Gorion, and Dynaheir and Minsc were sent by Rashemen to investigate Alaundo's prophecies. In other words, they're the only people in BG1 who would have direct knowledge of the Bhaalspawn regardless of whether they'd ever actually met one. The Zhentarim, for example, didn't have that info: Xzar and Montaron were sent to investigate the ore crisis, not the Bhaalspawn.
    kcwiseRAM021
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    bob_veng said:

    shawne said:

    It would also substantially change the storyline of any character who came with you: if Edwin's locked up in Irenicus' dungeon, he can't be working for the Shadow Thieves; if Quayle's with you, he's not raising Aerie in the circus; if Tiax is with you, he's not locked up in Spellhold, etc.

    this is exactly why they couldn't do it, but in my opinion it would have been better if they had been able (and willing) to change the story to accomodate continuity.
    Whenever I have Viconia or Edwin in the group, I have them break up with me right after Sarevok's defeat, but before ToSC's quests . That would give them time to do other stuff before I meet them again in BG2.
    RAM021
  • FelspawnFelspawn Member Posts: 161
    I still felt it would have made more sense if you completed the New NPC's storyline in your particular BGEE play through that THEY should be locked up with you in Irenecus's dungeon. Having said that i use to completely ignore Minsc and Jaheira (not even letting them out of their cages) and just going out with Imoen but in my most recently Blade Playthrough ( i love playing a blade) i picked them up and was reminded how good they can be. Jahiera in Particular is much more viable a companion then i remember her being in the first game. So even if i barely used her in the first game (typically just from the friendly arm to the mines and then that's it) i like using her again in BG2
    RAM021
Sign In or Register to comment.