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[Kaeloree]

As for the second part of today we present an interview with Bookwyrme! Bookwyrme has been a part of the Spellhold Studios community for many years, contributing to many mods, the most notable public ones including Hubelpot and Aurora's Shoes and Boots. We also take a sneak peak at her current project, the Mage Trio.

To learn more about Bookwyrme, her mods and why she picked up modding, read on below.



- K'aeloree/Liam

[Kaeloree]

Interview with Bookwyrme

When did you first join the IE Modding community?

I honestly can’t remember. I joined one or two forums sometime after I started playing BG2 and lurked for a long while, eventually commenting a bit. I do remember that it took me a while, even after that, to decide that mods were not automatically going to ruin my computer, but once I did decide, I never looked back.

What inspired you to get into modding? How did you start, and what was your first mod?

I never really planned to mod.

Once I got over my fear that mods would somehow destroy my computer, I started downloading and playing more & more of them, and did a little bit of beta-reading for various people.

Then, I ran into this fun, unfinished mod that I really wanted to see finished. So I waited, and at some point, SConrad mentioned that it probably never would get finished because the main writer was no longer around. Since I still wanted to play through the game with Hubelpot, I volunteered to write if someone else would code. Somewhat to my surprise, he took me up on it, I roped in Minarvia, who’d been asking about the mod for at least as long as I had, and asked Finduilas and Riviera, whose work I’d liked elsewhere, if they’d join in.

And it was a whole lot of fun, but that was going to be it, modding-wise, or so I thought.

What is your favourite aspect of modding?

Definitely the writing. It’s great to find the characters evolving & doing unexpected things. It can also be a lot of fun working with co-writers. Finduilas and I could get into detailed debates over the position of a comma in a line of dialogue. There aren’t too many chances to do that!

Seeing the characters actually on screen, though, is a very close second. I was pretty proud of the Trio’s first steps; I think I told almost as many people about it as if they’d been my kids.

You picked up Hubelpot a few years ago, dusted him off and added a whole lot of content - could you tell us a little about that?

He was (and is) a mod I very much wanted to see finished. I liked the idea of the ordinary, good-humoured guy going on an adventure for which he was completely unprepared. I also like his basic decency. He’s not about Honour and Adventure, but he knows what matters, and he’ll stand up for that if needs be.

He’s also much more aware of and outspoken about the day-to-day details of living than any of the other NPC’s. Keldorn will ask you about the state of your soul; Hubelpot would like to know what you want for breakfast. After all, it is much easier to be good on a full stomach.

In terms of the writing, we went in and did some revising of the old banters, and we added a lot of new ones, plus giving him a few more songs to sing; as you can tell from the beta, he’s not a bard, but he does enjoy a good song every now and again to pass the time. Oh, and we added a couple more quests. He still doesn’t have as much content as some of the newer mods, but all in all, I’m fond of him and look forward to seeing the new version released. The world needs the Heroic Hamster song!

Could you tell us a little about Aurora’s Shoes and Boots, and the history of the mod?

A while back, MTS asked if I wouldn’t like to write a bit for a new store mod he was making. I was working on the Trio at the time, but figured that coming up with a few new boot descriptions could be kind of fun. Then, somewhere in there, we started talking about just who it was who ran the store, and Jyzabyl mentioned she thought of the proprietor as talkative. Thus Aurora was born. Around then, I took over from MTS as project head and we moved to SHS.

I’d also been thinking for a while about how, for a bustling town, Athkatla was really rather quiet. There were all these people scattered about, but they had very little to say to or about one another, and it seemed as though, even though the game was about the Bhaalspawn, it might be nice to have a sense that there were other tales going on in the background, that these people mattered to themselves and to each other. Aurora was turning into an incorrigible gossip anyway, so it was easy to start her talking about the townspeople. She’ll also chat with the PC, if given a little prompting.

Mage Trio – one of the more ambitious projects out there, started earlier this year. How’s it going, and could you give us a synopsis of it?

It’s moving along. Most of the banters are written and coded, and I have two of the quests working now, which leaves three more to code. It’s going to be worth the wait, I promise.

The mod gives the player the chance to take one or all of the three mage apprentices from the Planar Sphere along as party members. They are a varied lot, though circumstances have made them friends; surviving the Cowled Wizards training course will do that. Also, Larz and Morul grew up together in Athkatla.

Nara is a low-level cleric of Oghma, who switched her focus to magic after discovering an unfinished book of spells. Being endlessly curious, she started studying them on her own and eventually left the temple for Athkatla, where she could get proper training. She still hopes to find the rest of that book, some day, and maybe to learn the fascinating spell it hints at.

She’s also the most easily influenced of the three, depending in part on who else is in the party, the player can turn her from NG to, ultimately, NE by the end of TOB.

Larz is almost too smart for his own good, and extremely headstrong. His family disowned him when he started studying magic and it was only through the help of Morul’s father that he was able to find a place in the school. He did well, and remains convinced that the CW’s are holding out on their students. Partly because of this, and partly because he’s sure he can master it, he turns to wild magic shortly after joining the PC. Travelling with the PC gives him a chance to see the world and maybe learn a few tricks they don’t know in Athkatla. It also, though he won’t admit it, vastly increases his chances of survival.

Morul, on the other hand, believes in doing things carefully and by the book. He comes from a family of very wealthy merchants—not noble, but wealthy enough that it almost doesn’t make a difference—and started studying magic as something of a hobby. He liked the Cowled Wizards’ orderly approach and did well in the school; he’s not quite as smart as Larz, but he’s a good deal wiser and more cautious and much more likely to listen if someone tells him not to attempt a spell before he’s ready. Travelling with the PC helps him to realize that Athkatla could do with some change, but he is a firm believer in change from the inside, so his plan to become a full member of the Cowled Wizards remains unchanged.

We’ve worked quite a bit on their friendships with each other, of course, but not to the exclusion of other NPC’s—Nara, for example, will form close friendships with Nalia, Aerie, and Valygar. Morul turns to Keldorn for advice, especially as he realizes that his goals and Larz’s may lead them into conflict eventually, and also spends a lot of time talking to Mazzy. He and Nalia start out driving each other crazy, but by TOB there is romance in the air.

What possessed you to take on the frightening task of creating *3* multi-layered, complex NPCs?

It was a whim.

I looked at Triaxx2’s post about making the three joinable, and thought, “Hey, that is a neat idea!” I had no idea quite how much would be involved, absolutely none. I thought it sounded like fun, and I figured it would maybe take a few months and fill the gap left by Hubelpot. A year and a bit later, I still think it will take maybe a few more months…

I’m glad I did, though. Working with three at once offers the chance to develop their interpersonal relationships and to have them affect one another’s quests in ways that I don’t think I could do otherwise, not even with Crossmod. I’ve also really enjoyed writing the variety of personalities as, I think, have the others who wrote (Taylor writes a fantastic TN Nara).

And, yes, it is fun. Aggravating, exasperating, and fun.

I know over the last six months or so you've been learning to code; what has been the most difficult step?

The most difficult step, really, was starting. I had been thinking of myself as a writer and only as a writer and switching to coding was a mental wrench.

And what has been the easiest?

There is an easy step? Where? Why don’t the tutorials mention it?

Really, I haven’t found one yet. I am finding it intriguing, though, and rewarding, and while it reminds me of Algebra, it is vastly more rewarding: Algebra never helped me create a spooky wood full of ghosts or set an inquisitive, sarcastic magpie to flying. It’s all about Story, really, and anything that helps me tell a story is good.

There are also those lovely moments when things click, when I know that not only did something work this time, but that I’ll be able to do it again, if I need to. And people have been incredibly helpful and patient answering questions—sometimes more than once—and very carefully explaining things.

What are your plans for the future, modding-wise?
I plan to release Aurora and finish the Trio.

Short-answer questions:
Favourite canon BG/BGII Character? - I cannot travel through a game without Minsc, but I also have to take Jaheira, who has been a good, supportive friend, and Imoen is my little sister, and Anomen—how can I resist someone who calls me “my lady”? Oh, and Mazzy; she’s so determined. And Keldorn is so patient and wise, and I love his interactions with Minsc; Nalia’s so passionate about changing the world, and I have to at *least* get Valygar through the Sphere so that he can stop living in fear, and… What do you mean I can only have a party of six?
Favourite Mod Character? - Look at the answer above and see why I’m not even going to try to answer this one --I’d be another few pages!
Irenicus or Bodhi? - Neither. They’re both rotten to the core.
Vanilla or Modded BGII? - Modded. Always and forever.
Favourite Class? Bards can do everything, and they do it with style.