Keeping Imoen out of the picture
Permidion_Stark
Member Posts: 4,861
It is important when making expansions to the BG series to annoy Imoen fans either by arbitrarily changing her character or coming up with a reason why she can't be a party member. So, if there was to be another expansion to the BG series how would you go about this?
Here are my suggestions:
1. Imoen can join your party but if she does Irenicus appears from nowhere and turns her into a Carrion Crawler. There is no way to change her back because Irenicus used a special spell that no one else knows.
2. As soon as Imoen joins your party Irenicus turns up and puts you all to sleep using a special spell that only he knows. That night you dream that you have beaten Imoen to death with a club. You wake up and find out that this is true. There is no way to resurrect her because you used a Club of Soul Stealing. Imoen's soul is now trapped in a club that says "Heya, it's me Imoen" every time you hit an enemy. You have to journey to hell to free Imoen's soul. At this point she dies.
3. Imoen can join your party and her character has been given lots more interactions with other party members. However, due to a misunderstanding in the production office David Warner was booked for the recording session instead of Melissa Disney. Now if Imoen joins your party Irenicus turns up and puts the Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity on her and she has to spend the rest of the game as a man. The belt cannot be removed because Irenicus used a special spell that no one else knows.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Imoen can join your party but if she does Irenicus appears from nowhere and turns her into a Carrion Crawler. There is no way to change her back because Irenicus used a special spell that no one else knows.
2. As soon as Imoen joins your party Irenicus turns up and puts you all to sleep using a special spell that only he knows. That night you dream that you have beaten Imoen to death with a club. You wake up and find out that this is true. There is no way to resurrect her because you used a Club of Soul Stealing. Imoen's soul is now trapped in a club that says "Heya, it's me Imoen" every time you hit an enemy. You have to journey to hell to free Imoen's soul. At this point she dies.
3. Imoen can join your party and her character has been given lots more interactions with other party members. However, due to a misunderstanding in the production office David Warner was booked for the recording session instead of Melissa Disney. Now if Imoen joins your party Irenicus turns up and puts the Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity on her and she has to spend the rest of the game as a man. The belt cannot be removed because Irenicus used a special spell that no one else knows.
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Comments
I was aiming for lightly humorous tinged with irony. Maybe I need to work on my material?
4. She suffers a head injury a' la Minsc and become another barbarian rager constantly repeating "Hya it's me Imoen" because otherwise she can't remember her name.
5. Under the influence of "Aunty" Jaheira she can't join your party because she has joined the local Druids and has become a tree hugger to learn more about "balance".
6. From not being a Bhaalspawn to being a Bhaalspawn to embracing the identity completely, she runs off to join the "Five" and hopefully aid the resurrection of Bhaal.
But what does she get instead of Boo?
Just basing this off how I feel after a character I like gets chunked after bring them along for a good period of time, no-reload style. Well, it would me anyway.
For that matter, I reckon we could use the quickening effect from Highlander, as it is 'The Time of the Gathering' in ToB.
My idea of soloing is Charname and Imoen going on an adventure together.
Actually I never really consider Imoen as Bhaalspawn. In my mind BG1 is Gospel: Imoen is my little sister and she's a thief. BG2 is the Apocrypha: it's interesting but you don't have to believe any of it.
So, make Imoen in BGII a doppelganger Irenicus placed into the dungeon to remain control over you. Your escape was a fake, same as the kidnapping of Imoen in the Waukeen's Promeande. All orchestrated by Irenicus to make you follow him to Brynnlaw and find your power while doing so (and because he likes scheeming for you, this would be in line with SoD). And when you finally come to your sister's rescue, she'll turn into a doppelganger and scream "Haha! Fooled you!".
I'm not decided what would have happened to the original Imoen, though.
It's so true, everything fits much better than in the game.
The "escape" never seems genuine after you meet Irenicus in Spellhold.
As an idea - the real Imoen could be killed in SoD with that poison knife: the poison WAS real after all and "recovery" was just a way to put doppelganger in Imoen's place in a believable manner. (Obviously, Coelar was convinced otherwise and sincere in her believes about fake poison)
Mind. Blown.
That's why the one you meet is so pissed when you don't let him come with you.
I've always thought BG2 should have carried on with the dopplegangers. They were a very nasty enemy and could have caused all sorts of mayhem. Linked them to "the hidden" for instance, or have them involved with the illithids in the sewers (Tazok's key). Which would have been an excellent continuation from Durlag's Tower.
Anyways the real reason I was saying I'd kill Minsc and Jaheira is because the sheer amount of BG1 characters who mysteriously ended up in Amn at the same time as Charname is kind of ridiculous. Let's do the list:
- Imoen
- Minsc
- Jaheira
- Viconia
- Edwin
- Faldorn
- Quayle
- Xzar
- Coran
- Safana
- Garrick
EE adds Neera, Dorn and Rasaad. You also have Tiax in Spellhold and counting the dead it adds Ajantis, Montaron, Khalid and Dynaheir.
Sure not all of them are party members but so many familiar faces undermines quite a bit the "lost in an unfamiliar place" bit, no?
Nowadays I just outright remove all of them with the exception of Imoen and Edwin (because too much effort and for Imoen I'd need to change the plot ;_;). End up using BG2 exclusive characters and add a few mods I like (Faren, Adrian...)
This also explains why I lose interest in getting to Spellhold to save Imoen halfway through BG2 (usually when I am wandering through the Umar Hills on some pointless quest or other) because this is obviously the point when my Charname says: "Hang on a minute, didn't Imoen cast a whole load of spells in Irenicus's dungeon?". At which point it dawns on the Charname that whoever it is that got taken to Spellhold it definitely isn't Imoen (who is probably currently running the Beregost Chapter of the Thieves' Guild. It is situated in one of those houses that you can't get into, which is why you have never noticed it).
The reason so many turn up in BG2 IMO is because the writers/developers were so invested in what they had created they wanted to expand on it. BG, because of the limitations at the time, didn't allow them to do that.
A players creative investment is "charname", the writers/developers creative investment is the NPCs. It makes sense that they would want to see their characters carry on if they liked or were proud of the character. Just as players take their charname through the game.
That's why I felt it was a mistake on the part of the developers of BG2 to kill off BG1 companion characters off-screen or reintroduce them as bit part players and plot devices. The player has had direct control over the Charname's companions for a whole game and once you have established that relationship I think it is a mistake to take it away.
I remember when I first met Xzar again in BG2 and I thought great, I loved him and Montaron, this should be fun.
At spellhold take her into your party. Have the tearful reunion. Immediately have her walk north and try to disarm the wall trap. It can't be disarmed and instantly kills her. Drop her from your party. Imagine Bodhi laughing. Go kill Bodhi for revenge.
But players weren't present of course when the development decisions were made.
I find it interesting to see who was dropped, most I can see why. With the exception strangely enough of Xan although I rarely take him in BG.
Xan was a strong character, instantly recognisible and must have been a dream to write because of the easy humour of "we're all doomed".
Give a character a strong trait and what they say and how they react falls into place easily.
But then they had Edwin available for mage, easier to use for players and easily as strong a character as Xan so perhaps Xan lost his place (for which I am eternally grateful).