33 replies to this topic

[Shfelliot]

Please note that since Brythe is still really in base concepts and subject to a great amount of change between now and the months that follow, please don't take any statistical information derived from this thread as anything more than a starting point.

Q: What is Brythe's basic information?

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Class: Pure fighter

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Appearance: His skin is pale white, he has long unkempt black hair with sunken in, deadened hazel eyes, and often wears a long, brown hooded cloak. He appears to be around 25 years of age, despite the fact he looks like he crawled out of a sewer and dived through a pool of white paint.

Weapon proficiencies: Brythe dual-wields a bastard sword and a longsword and starts out with both, probably rather evenly divided in weapon points with slightly more in bastard sword. It is highly recommended you keep leveling up his bastard sword stat in particular. As a fighter, however, he is yours to customize as you will.

Stats:
STR: 18/something or other
CON: 17
DEX: 12
INT: 10
WIS: 14
CHA: 6

Conceptual Biography:
When asked about his past, BRYTHE gazes at you with his deadened eyes through the unkempt long strands of his hair which showed his face and you detect a bit of a warped half-smile curling across his face. His birth name was Rebryth Elameril. He says he's a Tethyrian, the second son of a serf and joined a mercenary company when he was fairly young. There's more to it, he notes, but that story can wait for another sit around the campfire. Of course, that was a long time ago. Most of his lifetime, as he points out, has been spent inside the dankest, darkest dungeon for a period of 63 years in Tethyr for the crime of murdering of over 150 people over the course of a two week period... men, women and children. Having gotten out two years ago, he struck out a new life as a mercenary and here he is with you. Rife full of more disturbing questions that you started out with, you gather this is something that's not going to be settled in one conversation...or something that you might even want all the answers to.

Q: Will Brythe have any sort of special equipment, or abilities?

Brythe can at some point acquire a particular special item, but he does not start out with any equipment you can't get at your local weapons shop or murdering your local Radiant Heart paladin. (note: this author does not endorse the murder of Radiant Heart paladins). It is recommended if you intend to find it, you do more in fact than just use Brythe for a meat shield... something he's intended to be quite good at, I might add.

Q: Basic information regarding the mod?

- Multiple banters for all in-game NPCs in SoA and ToB, possibly a couple of cross-mod banters. Khadion-Brythe banters are guaranteed...

- Hundreds upon hundreds of interjections, including Tree of Life dialogue, Hell dialogue and Master Wraith talk in ToB.

- At least two SoA quests and at least two ToB related quests

- Several potential flashback sequences

- Branching, multiple possible storyline with multiple paths and possibilities as extensive as Khadion

- One storyline even branches into a possible 'romance'

- ToB endings affected by the course of your choices

- Deep, involving ominous larger subplots with a lot of twists

- All dialogue must be initiated to Brythe - Brythe must be spoken to. Brythe never starts any dialogue with anyone. If you want him to speak to other NPCs or stop speaking to them, you can 'order' him to it. If you want him to stop interjecting, he will. You even have to tell him to start interjecting. It's his personality and how he works. If you want him to be a silent meat shield the entire game, he will. You want the story and the quests, you have to go after it. If you want to get to know him, you will have to probe into him. He is guaranteed to never force his opinions on you unless you ask him to - a peeve of mine of all BGII NPCs. He is to be used just as I introduced him - he sees himself as a tool. He will kill a six-year old girl or charge into a group of dragons at the drop of a hat. He will never leave because of violating an alignment issue.

- Brythe can only be taken by good and neutral protagonists. This will be explained in detail in the mod, over time and is a major part of his story.

- He is an extremely uncomfortable NPC for your good or neutral-aligned party, as it will question the limits of morality. How can you and your NPCs handle someone who has done the things he's done - and judge if he's truly vindicated from his crimes or if such a thing even is possible...

- This is the kind of NPC who has all sorts of questions surrounding him as he starts your journey, and as you learn more about him, you will only garner more questions.

Q: How did Brythe survive for 63 years in a Tethyrian dungeon and not seem to age?

How, indeed... It's certainly one of the more puzzling things about him. And yes, I'm intentionally being vague about this one. Play the mod to find out.

Regarding the pallor of his skin, he was in a dungeon devoid of any sort of light for 63 years. All the pigment in his skin vanished.

Q: How did Brythe murder 150 people and not get executed?

Tethyrian politics, a beautiful piece of dementia. This one will be explained in time. A lot of Brythe's past, however, the less important parts before the murders, will probably be chronicled in some sort of fanfiction.

Q: Well, I had another question...

This thread for questions. Please note that I am going to be a notoriously vague guy about some things, for the sake of not spoiling the greater part of the mod... So ask at your discretion, knowing this.

[TheWizard]

Will Brythe be voiced?

[Shed]

Should his alignment not be Lawful Neutral? That would make his total subservience to the will of the PC more sense, I think.

[Kulyok]

From my own FAQ, if you do not mind:

1. Do I need ToB to play SoA part of Brythe?

2. Where will Brythe go if I kick him out?

3. Is the main (friendship?) path available to anyone? No race/alignment/gender restrictions?

4. In case of a possible romance, what about romance conflicts? Will there be script kills? Will there be verbal conflicts? Crossmod material?

5. In case of a possible romance, how will you manage flirts via player-initiated dialogues? Will there be submenus? How many layers? Will flirts remain at the first layer?

6. Will Brythe work with Concurrent Romance/Multiromance patches installed?

7. What is Brythe's starting level? Will it depend on PC's level? (i.e. depending on PC's level, it's 161000, 400000, 800000 or 1200000?)

8. How often should I check for new player-initiated dialogues?

9. Does kicking him from the party break friendship/romance?

10. Will there be explicit action descriptions? Like "(Brythe looks at you thoughtfully.)"?

11. Will there be stat/race/class/chapter-related dialogue options?

12. Will there be any content for the Watcher's Keep, if I have the Throne of Bhaal installed?

13. Will there be adult content, beyond PG-13 level? (For example, will the word "breasts" be in there?)

14. Will he have a quest or a custom kit? If so, will they be optional?

15. Will he have any special abilities?

16. Does anything change in the game, if I have the mod INSTALLED, but DO NOT have him in the party?


Cheers!

Edited by Kulyok, 13 December 2005 - 01:40 AM.

[SConrad]

I'm gonna answer one or two of these questions, and leave the rest to Shfelliot.

Will Brythe be voiced?

Most likely.

1. Do I need ToB to play SoA part of Brythe?

I can't say for sure, but it's more probable that he will require ToB than not.

7. What is Brythe's starting level? Will it depend on PC's level? (i.e. depending on PC's level, it's 161000, 400000, 800000 or 1200000?)

This is my fault - I edited out that information from the original FAQ.

Brythe starts at level 7, around the same level as the PC.

10. Will there be explicit action descriptions? Like "(Brythe looks at you thoughtfully.)"?

No. Brythe's dialogue will be as close as possible to Bioware dialogue, as with Khadion.

14. Will he have a quest or a custom kit? If so, will they be optional?

Quests, yes. See first post.

Kit, no. We didn't see any reason for it.

16. Does anything change in the game, if I have the mod INSTALLED, but DO NOT have him in the party?

Probably not.

[Shfelliot]

Should his alignment not be Lawful Neutral? That would make his total subservience to the will of the PC more sense, I think.

Brythe's subservience to the PC is a special exception to the rule, not his general alignment. He is a very understated person who reacts more than acts, tis true. But his general behavior and personality, when probed into, lend themselves much more to a person capable of things attuned to his own choices. This being said, his general behavior is affected much BY his subservience to the PC, but I'm going to shut up now and you're going to have to play the frickin' mod. But Chaotic Neutral, in my discussions with SConrad, seems most fitting.

[Shfelliot]

1. Do I need ToB to play SoA part of Brythe?

If you really want the full effect of Brythe, absolutely. I suppose it could be coded to seperate, but if you're playing Brythe to NOT be a robot (quiet NPC), there's no way you DON'T want to have ToB.

2. Where will Brythe go if I kick him out?

I haven't decided if he will come back if you kick him out. But if he does, see the introduction in the 'Who is Brythe?' for an answer to your question.

3. Is the main (friendship?) path available to anyone? No race/alignment/gender restrictions?

Absolutely. There IS an alignment restriction...your PC can't be of an evil alignment upon the initial meeting. But race and gender mean nothing...the main path and branching paths can be attained no matter what class, race, gender, or good/neutral alignment you choose to be.

Keep in mind the friendship path will be *huge* and branching with many possible outcomes. But *you* have to pursue them. What you want out of Brythe is unusual is that you get as much out of him as you put it...Brythe initiates nothing...*you* have to initiate everything and talk to him much and often. It's one of main attractions of the mod.

4. In case of a possible romance, what about romance conflicts? Will there be script kills? Will there be verbal conflicts? Crossmod material?

As with ANY in-game romance, for the sake of simplicity, if you romance Brythe you can't romance someone else or there will be something to the effect of script kills. We don't want to time to affect mod romances, but you cross those at your own risk. There WILL definately be some crossmod material between Khadion/Brythe...this may extend even to romance, I'm not sure yet. There definately will be crossmod banters. I'm considering talking to the authors of a couple of my favorite NPC mods and working on some optional banters there as well... If you intend to romance Brythe, for the sake of simplicity, my advice to you make it ONLY be Brythe. (Khadion being the exception, of course, as we have direct access to BOTH NPCs being the guy who's coding one is coding the other).

...now if there seems to be enough popularity with romancing Brythe and romancing an in-game NPC, maybe we can talk about it and see where it goes. Having a couple of concurrent romances is a fairly polgamous and demented idea...that actually might work with Brythe. ;P

On a final note, Brythe might quite possibly be romanceable for BOTH sexes, all races, etc. It's not some kind of statement I'm trying to make here, it's just his personality lends itself like Weimer's Solaufein...I don't think Brythe really sees things and people the way you and I do.

5. In case of a possible romance, how will you manage flirts via player-initiated dialogues? Will there be submenus? How many layers? Will flirts remain at the first layer?

There is going to be all SORTS of branching paths and choices for Brythe. I want to keep a simple linear system with several paths. There MIGHT be a flirt option. Don't know yet. SConrad may murder me for even mentioning the idea. Brythe is unusual in that in his banters, his lovetalks, everything said to him, like I said...you get as much out of him as you put in. You can even basically turn his banters on and off as well as his interjections and NPC dialogues. You can make him as opinionated or as robotic as you wish (this author's answer to BGII's very opinionated 'I didn't ASK for your opinion' NPCs). Thus like I said before, you must push and push hard with the talking to him if you want to get the full effect of the romance, just like the friendship. I intend to make Brythe very talktative AND very optionable to make replayability fun for people who love that sort of stuff. As you've noticed, I'm the kind of guy who LOVES all those talks and inter-party dialogue and whatnot (there will be an insane amount, trust me), but I'm also the sort who wants to give people the option to shut Brythe up at times they're battling Firkraag and don't want to frickin' know how Brythe feels about the weather, so there's more than enough of both to satisfy BOTH camps. This is also why it's setup so Brythe doesn't talk unless you initiate it...it's convenient AND it fits his personality (reactive instead of active).

To answer the question straightaway so it doesn't get confusing, making Brythe shutup at times will NOT shut him up for good. You can turn him on and off like a light switch and still get the most out of the mod. Just like any mod, there IS a certain amount of dialogues you must get through SoA, however, before you move onto ToB...but a large percentage of them will be optional, so you don't have to go through everything to get his ToB material....though you'll learn more about him the more you probe. Stuff for all camps, in other words...the perfect NPC mod. ;D

6. Will Brythe work with Concurrent Romance/Multiromance patches installed?

Perhaps. To fully enjoy Brythe, I'd advise keeping the lovelorn ness for Panty-Anomen and the lust for Viconia aside for this runthrough. ;D I *might* consider again a possible cross romance idea for the PC being able to romance an in-game NPC and Brythe...we'll see how that goes.

7. What is Brythe's starting level? Will it depend on PC's level? (i.e. depending on PC's level, it's 161000, 400000, 800000 or 1200000?)

7th level fighter, starting around where the default NPC starts. You can get him right near the beginning of the game after the Irenicus dungeon, so no doubt he can get quite powerful by the end of ToB.

8. How often should I check for new player-initiated dialogues?

All the freakin' time. Brythe can chatter you up like a storm if you want him to.

9. Does kicking him from the party break friendship/romance?

Romance, definately. Friendship, I don't know. See, Brythe upon joining you establishes a very strong bond of trust, so kicking him out might very well end up you never seeing him again. I don't know yet.

10. Will there be explicit action descriptions? Like "(Brythe looks at you thoughtfully.)"?

See SConrad's answer to this question.

11. Will there be stat/race/class/chapter-related dialogue options?

In some cases, yes. But since Brythe sees the world in a very unusual light, things you and I notice and take for granted, as I've said, don't exactly hold the same water in Brythe's eyes.

12. Will there be any content for the Watcher's Keep, if I have the Throne of Bhaal installed?

Oh HELL yes. Watcher's Keep is HIGHLY recommended for a Brythe runthrough.

13. Will there be adult content, beyond PG-13 level? (For example, will the word "breasts" be in there?)

Sexually? No. That's not the intent of this mod. Violent? In parts. Psychologically? YES. VERY MUCH YES.

14. Will he have a quest or a custom kit? If so, will they be optional?

No. Brythe is a pure fighter. You're not taking him along if you want an experimental kit, that's for sure. He's a solid addition to any party.

15. Will he have any special abilities?

This I'm not going to answer yet and shall be ambigous.

16. Does anything change in the game, if I have the mod INSTALLED, but DO NOT have him in the party?

Unless SConrad is feeling mischevious, no, except the appearance of Brythe in the game. I'll say it once, and I'll say it again...you get as much out of Brythe...friendship, romance, quests, EVERYTHING...as you put into it.

Cheers!

Word.

And if it's possible at all, there's no WAY I'm releasing this mod without getting Brythe voiced and having some nice background music. ;D

Edited by SConrad, 16 December 2005 - 08:20 AM.

[Shed]

Sounds fantastic.

There WILL definately be some crossmod material between Khadion/Brythe...this may extend even to romance, I'm not sure yet.

Please clarify .

[Andyr]

3. Is the main (friendship?) path available to anyone? No race/alignment/gender restrictions?

Absolutely. There IS an alignment restriction...your PC can't be of an evil alignment upon the initial meeting. But race and gender mean nothing...the main path and branching paths can be attained no matter what class, race, gender, or good/neutral alignment you choose to be.

Does Brythe have some way of knowing your alignment? If not, I'd suggest that an evil PC should still be able to recruit him--reputation may be a better criterion to use if you're going for 'does not want to associate with a known villain'.

[Shfelliot]

Does Brythe have some way of knowing your alignment? If not, I'd suggest that an evil PC should still be able to recruit him--reputation may be a better criterion to use if you're going for 'does not want to associate with a known villain'.

The recruitment dialogues will be setup in such a way where those who choose a PC of an evil alignment will simply not be able to recruit Brythe, as there will be markers of some sort that do not initiate recruitment if your PC is evil. No, Brythe does not have some means of telling your PC's alignment. Nor in such early stages can I predict if there will be effects of your PC changing their alignment to evil later on. The main reason is such that the character, and the creator (ie me)'s intent of the mod are such that, at least at this point, Brythe isn't being designed with evil PCs in mind. Much of the actual intrigue stems from the fact, as I have mentioned, he becomes such an uncomfortable fit for most parties of a good or neutral nature, and there are personality reasons for which Brythe wouldn't work with a PC of that demeanor. Tis as good an answer as I can give on the subject.

For the record, this does *not* extend to the alignment of the company you keep. Will/can there be personaltiy conflicts with certain NPCs down the line? As with any good NPC mod, absolutely. Will having Korgan/Edwin/Viconia/etc. in your party before recruiting Brythe affect his joining? No. It solely has to do with your PC's alignment.

It's simply that in a mod where, assuming you do go through the branching paths instead of keeping him quiet, a great deal of the content has to do with the PC having *some* kind of sense of conflict with someone of Brythe's past, a line had to be drawn somewhere. I do try to keep it as open as possible pretty much everywhere else.

[Andyr]

Hmm; I still think shutting off recruitment to Evil alignments just because of what it says on the character sheet might say, and not give you the option to appear (or be) good and civil. You say a Good or Neutral PC may become uncomfortable with him; perhaps you could write alternative dialogues for an evil PC's interactions with him?

[Archmage Silver]

Hmm; I still think shutting off recruitment to Evil alignments just because of what it says on the character sheet might say, and not give you the option to appear (or be) good and civil. You say a Good or Neutral PC may become uncomfortable with him; perhaps you could write alternative dialogues for an evil PC's interactions with him?

I agree here, but if you want to stick to the original plan it won't make a big difference to my mostly good and neutral aligned characters. But I do have one question, does Brythe join parties with e.g. Korgan or Viccy?

[Shfelliot]

I agree here, but if you want to stick to the original plan it won't make a big difference to my mostly good and neutral aligned characters. But I do have one question, does Brythe join parties with e.g. Korgan or Viccy?

Absolutely. As with any ingame BGII NPC, there may be certain NPCs that simply cannot coexist in a party together (ie Keldorn/Viconia) with Brythe, but it'll have much more to do with philosophy and ethics than alignment. More on compatible NPCs as the project progresses. Upon initial recruitment, ANY NPC can be in your party and Brythe will join no problem. (and for the record...most evil NPCs, Viconia/Korgan/Edwin...will probably have no problems coexisting with Brythe) The issue is upon your PC's alignment during recruitment, and your PC's alignment alone. I may, as Andyr suggested, have alternate dialogues regarding evil NPCs, but the scope of creating an entirely new section of banter simply for evil PCs, given the scope and intent of the mod being an uncomfortable fit for parties, might just not be feasible.

[Archmage Silver]

I agree here, but if you want to stick to the original plan it won't make a big difference to my mostly good and neutral aligned characters. But I do have one question, does Brythe join parties with e.g. Korgan or Viccy?

Absolutely. As with any ingame BGII NPC, there may be certain NPCs that simply cannot coexist in a party together (ie Keldorn/Viconia) with Brythe, but it'll have much more to do with philosophy and ethics than alignment. More on compatible NPCs as the project progresses. Upon initial recruitment, ANY NPC can be in your party and Brythe will join no problem. (and for the record...most evil NPCs, Viconia/Korgan/Edwin...will probably have no problems coexisting with Brythe) The issue is upon your PC's alignment during recruitment, and your PC's alignment alone. I may, as Andyr suggested, have alternate dialogues regarding evil NPCs, but the scope of creating an entirely new section of banter simply for evil PCs, given the scope and intent of the mod being an uncomfortable fit for parties, might just not be feasible.

Ok, thanks for the reply. Then I might drag Edwin along for some humorous banters... B)

[Minarvia]

About the romance, the quote was -
On a final note, Brythe might quite possibly be romanceable for BOTH sexes, all races, etc. It's not some kind of statement I'm trying to make here, it's just his personality lends itself like Weimer's Solaufein...I don't think Brythe really sees things and people the way you and I do.

Does this mean that the romance will be as (I hate to say this because I really like Solaufein) 'colourless' as Solaufein's? I mean, and I'm probably alone here, but I found Sola's romance a bit bland due to the genderless tone of it. I'm not saying that a lot of sexuality such as the word 'breasts' should be mentioned, but I'm hoping that a female pc will FEEL in a romance with Brythe and that he knows she's a woman! I hope I'm making sense here...

[Kulyok]

Does this mean that the romance will be as (I hate to say this because I really like Solaufein) 'colourless' as Solaufein's? I mean, and I'm probably alone here, but I found Sola's romance a bit bland due to the genderless tone of it. I'm not saying that a lot of sexuality such as the word 'breasts' should be mentioned, but I'm hoping that a female pc will FEEL in a romance with Brythe and that he knows she's a woman! I hope I'm making sense here...

You read my mind. Yep, I agree here. Though breasts... um... (mustn't admit I like flirts with breasts, mustn't, mustn't...)

[Shfelliot]

About the romance, the quote was -
On a final note, Brythe might quite possibly be romanceable for BOTH sexes, all races, etc. It's not some kind of statement I'm trying to make here, it's just his personality lends itself like Weimer's Solaufein...I don't think Brythe really sees things and people the way you and I do.

Does this mean that the romance will be as (I hate to say this because I really like Solaufein) 'colourless' as Solaufein's? I mean, and I'm probably alone here, but I found Sola's romance a bit bland due to the genderless tone of it. I'm not saying that a lot of sexuality such as the word 'breasts' should be mentioned, but I'm hoping that a female pc will FEEL in a romance with Brythe and that he knows she's a woman! I hope I'm making sense here...

Brythe *does* and *will* recognize the difference between a male and female PC in the romance portion, yes, though humorously I may incorporate the fact that *you*, the PC have to point it out to him at times. You have to understand, this is an individual who's been in a dark place a very, VERY long time. The fact that *anyone* is showing any kind of deeper interest in him other than for any noticable length of time is sort of a rather overriding sensation than something as trivial as someone's gender. (trivial to someone like HIM) That being said, there does promise to be, while not much in the way of mature content via physical relationships (as that isn't what this is about), there *will* be intimate conversations possible, because the Brythe mod is *extremely* mature on a psychological level, and certainly gender will play a role in that.

Edited by Shfelliot, 28 December 2005 - 05:16 PM.

[Minarvia]

YESSS!!! Thanks for the quick reply, Shfelliot. I do LOVE the idea of a lot ot phychology involved with this mod and romance, too. I did well in college, but I have to admit that sometimes in Weimer's Sola Romance the lenghty poetry sometimes went over my head and hit the back wall. So I can only hope that Brythe won't be too difficult to understand. Regardless, I'll DEFINATELY play him!
And to Kulyok - thanks for seeing my point (regarding the 'colourless' aspect), I thought I was alone there... : )

[Shfelliot]

YESSS!!! Thanks for the quick reply, Shfelliot. I do LOVE the idea of a lot ot phychology involved with this mod and romance, too. I did well in college, but I have to admit that sometimes in Weimer's Sola Romance the lenghty poetry sometimes went over my head and hit the back wall. So I can only hope that Brythe won't be too difficult to understand. Regardless, I'll DEFINATELY play him!
And to Kulyok - thanks for seeing my point (regarding the 'colourless' aspect), I thought I was alone there... : )

No epic poems or ballads, I promise. Brythe, at the very core, is still at his earliest roots a Tethyrian farm boy. (the second son of a Tethyrian serf) The language in the mod is intended to be very low key, stuff you can relate to, common language, that sort of thing. You should follow it just fine. It's psychological on the issues and emotions discussed only. Brythe is a very flawed individual. And for the record, Brythe *HATES* poetry.

[Minarvia]

No epic poems or ballads, I promise. Brythe, at the very core, is still at his earliest roots a Tethyrian farm boy. (the second son of a Tethyrian serf) The language in the mod is intended to be very low key, stuff you can relate to, common language, that sort of thing. You should follow it just fine. It's psychological on the issues and emotions discussed only. Brythe is a very flawed individual. And for the record, Brythe *HATES* poetry.
[/quote]

YES!!! YES!! Thanks so much for the reply and thanks in advance for all your hard work. I know that these things take up A LOT of time. But now I can hardly wait!!