23 replies to this topic

[Dunxco]

Another Dwarf NPC? Korgan is cool, but I think it's lacking. How bout it? I was originally thinking Fighter/Cleric, but then this'll be overshadowed by the BG1 NPC project with the return of Yeslick, or perhaps a Fighter/Thief, or maybe a straight Thief (although considering that Khadion will be out sooner than this mod would be finished, he might overshadow). Any questions? Comments? Ideas for storyline? Sick of Akathla forgetting the "diminuitive ones"?

[thecursed]

yes good idea.

[Dunxco]

Scratch that, how about taking the idea one step further:

The Diminuitive Ones!

A selection of different-classed characters for Dwarves, Halflings and Gnomes for those of you who think Akathla ain't just for the big an' tall! We could have Gnomish Fighter/Mages! Dwarvish Cleric/Fighters! Halfling Barbarians! A real mixture of depth of NPCs... let's say... 6! Different alignments, personalities, romances JUST for the short PC!

Sound better?

[Barren Fischa]

Hey, why not a Lawful Neutral gnome barbarian dual-wielding bastard swords? ^^

(Could be a vigilante sent after Jan Jansen by Trax since he has nothing official against him...)

[Dunxco]

Well, my plan was:

6 New NPCs
2 Dwarves (Male and Female, Good male Evil Female)
2 Halflings (Male and Female, Good male Evil Female)
2 Gnomes (Male and Female, Evil male good Female)
3 Romances, 1 for each race, undecided on gender though.
Sidequests and personal quests for each character.

[Shed]

It is hard enough to make one well made NPC, let alone six! To make an NPC, you need a strong character idea, the determination to put in months of work, writing talent, and coding skills. No one is likely to do it for you.

Most importantly, you need to believe that you are working on a worthwhile project, which people will appreciate and enjoy. Do you think the possibility of having a party under 4 foot (as far as I can see, that is only idea you have atm) is worth the effort? If so, go ahead.

This thread should also be in Mod Ideas. Would someone move it, please ?

[Dunxco]

I just think that there is a real downplay of the shorter races in this game, and i'm sure people agree with me. No-one wants to be pointy-ears all the time, that's just silly. Also, it would be a case of 1 npc's SoA and ToB content done, released, then another, then another, then another etc. Maybe 6 is a BIT ambitious, but let's look at the make-up of NPC races:

Humans: 10
Half-Elves: 1
Elves: 2
Gnomes: 1
Dwarves: 1
Halflings: 1
Tieflings: 1
Half-Orcs: 0

Don't you think this is a *little* unfair? Not everyone wants humans humans humans, it makes me really mad. And as you can see, it did start with just a single Dwarf NPC. And isn't it good to have ambition? I want to (at least) make one NPC for each of the diminuitive races! And, heck, remember the one-day and one-week NPC challenges and mods? If it can be done in one week, then it's possible! Don't you think, Shed?

And the idea is not to have a party under 4 foot: It's about balance between the races and trying to even out the gene pool a little and, as most mods purpose is, to add further flavour and intrigue to the game, which I think this mod will do.

Besides, look at the upcoming (and sure to be great) NPC mods: Khadion, Human. Harvey, Human. Julia, Human. Kivan, Elf. Viekang, Human. See a pattern emerging here?

[SConrad]

This thread should also be in Mod Ideas. Would someone move it, please ?

Moved.

EDIT:

Harvey, Human.

Well, technically, Harvey is a rabbit.

Edited by SConrad, 19 January 2005 - 11:52 AM.

[Dunxco]

This thread should also be in Mod Ideas. Would someone move it, please ?

Moved.

EDIT:

Harvey, Human.

Well, technically, Harvey is a rabbit.

But you understand my reasoning, right?

[SConrad]

Yes, I do. And I can't explain it or defend it - except my own mods:

Khadion is a human because it fits the character I want to create. Also, I have a bit of trouble imagining Aran Linvail's stepson to be a half-orc.

Hubelpot is a human because we didn't want to turn him into a complete joke-character (which he'd be if he was a gnome).

[Ebon]

Don't you think this is a *little* unfair? Not everyone wants humans humans humans, it makes me really mad.

The most common race in the Realms is human, as well as the most sociable. So having so many friendly human NPCs is expectable.
But yes, I totally agree in adding extra dwarf and gnome NPCs, just to end the possible prejudice of dwarves being selfish (Korgan) and gnomes crazy (Jan). But I would think before adding females. Wanna know why?
Because the screen sprite looks just like the male, while the paperdoll is female! (just a simple tweaking needed)

[Dunxco]

How hard do you think it'd be to tweak?

[NiGHTMARE]

Some Amnian population figures, courtesy of the Lands of Intrigue sourcebook:

Total population of Amn = 3,600,000

84% human (3,024,000)
15% halfling (540,000)
1% other (36,000)

Of this 36,000, dwarves and elves are uncommon, half-orcs and half-elves are almost unheard of (although the city of Purskul has a 20% half-orc population), and gnomes are so rare that most Amnish citizens have never even met one.

When combined with the fact that the halfling population lives almost entirely in the east of the country (it's the site of an ancient halfling nation), it would appear there are actually too many demi-humans in BG2! There certainly shouldn't be a large gnomish clan living in the middle of Athkatla

Edited by NiGHTMARE, 19 January 2005 - 12:37 PM.

[Dunxco]

A lot of the NPC's come from foreign lands. Jaheira, Imoen, Minsc, Edwin, Viconia, Aerie, Haer'Dallis, Korgan, they're all from different lands, so what's to say that these diminuitive ones came from other lands? No-one said they had to be Amn natives.

[NiGHTMARE]

True, though as I said most Amnian citizens have never even met a gnome, probably because gnomes seem to be the least inclined of all the demi-human races to go travelling.

Of course, while gnomes may be exceptionally rare in Amn, they're nowhere near as rare as aasimar, tieflings, friendly drow or adventuring undead... which is why I find it strange that there are a couple of aasimar NPC, something like six tiefling NPCs, four or five drow NPCs and a couple of undead NPCs being made or already made, yet as far as I know there's not a single gnome NPC being worked on .

BTW you do realize there are BG2 modding sites besides FW, right? Here's a few NPCs which may interest you: Alora, Yeslick, Cibbwin & Narendy.

Edited by NiGHTMARE, 19 January 2005 - 12:43 PM.

[Dunxco]

So, from what I gather, NiGHTMARE, you're discouraging me to join the ranks of the modding community by saying "People have been there, done that, don't bother.", correct? If I have somehow been misinformed please inform me, but that's how my brain interprets your contributions.

EDIT: And 50% of those NPCs are brought back from BG1. How about some fresh blood?

Edited by Dunxco, 19 January 2005 - 12:57 PM.

[NiGHTMARE]

From your earlier posts, you appeared to be under the impression that there were *no* dwarf/halfling/gnome NPCs already being made, and your "pattern emerging here" list indicated that you didn't seem aware of certain other modding communities . I'm simply letting you know that there are a few such NPCs out there, as you didn't seem to know about them .

Oh, and for the record I think you should start with a female gnome NPC, since they've yet to feature in a single BG game .

Edited by NiGHTMARE, 19 January 2005 - 01:03 PM.

[Dunxco]

I knew that some Dwarf NPCs were in the making (I made reference to Yeslick), but other than that I have difficulty finding anything thats not here, pocketplane group, or on sorcerers.net.

Female Gnome you say? Any ideas for storyline/concepts? What'd be good and bad?

[NiGHTMARE]

Hmm, a while back, I came up with an idea for a female dwarf or gnome women's libber NPC .

She was to be neutral or chaotic neutral aligned, and had been thrown out of her clan for her outspoken views. Her class was to be fighter, though she would use a new archer-esque kit, with her preffered weapon being the crossbow.

I didn't really come up with anything more than that, other than it could be interesting if she were a first or second cousin of Korgan. After that, I realized I already had enough on my plate in the Lands of Intrigue mod already .

But yeah, a pro-active women's liberation dwarf or gnome NPC could be... interesting.

Edited by NiGHTMARE, 19 January 2005 - 01:18 PM.

[Dunxco]

Interesting... a feminist view.

For the record, are there any women on the council of six?