15 replies to this topic

[Lysan Lurraxol]

New poll for the 0.46 version of CA, as there are a lot of new NPCs and new players. Some are hidden NPCs who you may not have encountered yet.

Edited by leahnkain, 26 June 2008 - 09:44 PM.

[leahnkain]

Thank you for posting this poll. Once again we're wondering who are your favorite CA NPCs and why. With input, we can get an indicator which NPC to explore and develop more and which are not.

Edited by leahnkain, 28 May 2008 - 06:50 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

I voted for six members, cause I am evil.
And you forgot Meepo.

Well, I like them all, or most of them all. Hmm, is there number how many I should have voted.

I'll tell you that I have used 'till this day mostly; Althon(also Aleigha), Rihn(she'll be replaced by Bergon in the games past 0.46...), Rivian, Shadow but she has now been mostly replaced by Candella, and (Vildamir who was later, during and after replaced by ) Catharandamus. and they are quite fine with every tactic I can think of, so I am a "power player", so crucify me.

I also have used:(PS, most of these were made for, to laugh at)
Aesdale, but I thought that him as a bad mage, cause he is a plain mage...
Ah, Aleigha, let's just say, I just couldn't bear her anymore.
Blodgett, he is lacking the height of a real warrior.
Blush, I really didn't need another cleric... But a shop would be welcomed.
Buranta, an interesting thief... with a dex of 14.
Catharandamus, someone needs to give a shovel, so he can make his own bed.
Chaarna, she drank my Xps quite lot at the start, toke my hard earned gem etc. and I never met her again. Well, at least I have flowers for her.
Dirbert, a good archer, but I don't need an archer!
Erky, Elky had friendly talks with Althon, especially about a book he(Althon) was carrying, that was nice touch and all, he would have been good ally, but I wasn't in need of... at the time.
Fala'stra, I see nothing good in her, + she is Enchanter->Thief.
Icar, what I can say is, he never saw it coming. I took his along for a while, and to me, he was awfully quiet.
Ilhara, her Str has lot to be desired from, but... she couldn't be more desirable, there must be something evil about her.
Meepo, if only he wouldn't have gotten himself killed by a fireball(potion), with all the others of his kin within the room.
Rihn, I hate bards... but she was the only some-what decent choice I had at the time, so I brought her along.
Rilithar, a well versed noble is always worth a talk, especially as he is really good at the smuggling business.
Rurik, a holy warrior, that's always needed at the smith.
Paraway, he might be a good alternative, but I like more of the metal than the meet shields, as the meetbags aren't my thing.
Shadow, she was good at the start. But when I changed her to Candella later... I had a distinct feeling that she was still following me.
Vildamyr, another priest, after the right circumstances, I truly bless the whom ever invented the protective stone curse.
Bergon, so I cheated to get a glimpse, and I liked everything I saw. ++
Elora, just met her... so can't really say opinion, except that I won't be taking her with me.

Ceri, WHO?

So I'll end up with Althon, Rihn, Rivian, Candella and Catharandamus. To this day. How I wish I could drag a whole army of them with me.

Spoiler

But soon I realized that I might not be able to keep them all with me to the future... so now I am paralyzed to stay within a prisons...ahh, that was solved.

Edit, I have no room in my party anymore... Ahh, but I never actually had, as I always went with 6 party members... But still I'll be looking forward any and all additions, even though I'm powergamer and have gathered my party to the best of my abilities.

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 26 June 2008 - 02:22 PM.

[Solar's Harper]

Meepo, if only he wouldn't have gotten himself killed by a fireball(potion), with all the others of his kin within the room.

*summons meteor shower* Happy evil day!

Ceri, WHO?]

Aha, to clarify, Ceri essentially points to the second Markessa, the good aligned version.
How the two are otherwise related however, is a spoiler so...

[Celestine]

Jarno, you have an excuse for taking every NPC along! That was one very entertaining post to read.

Edited by Celestine, 29 May 2008 - 01:10 AM.
stupid emoicon won't show up

[leahnkain]

Jarno, you should try a true power team. Althon Merchantius, Icar, Markessa Demuir (Kessa), Rurik or Catharandamus and Candella(she should be dualed to a mage at higher levels). The trio of Althon, Icar and Kessa is awe inspiring. The sheer killing power of the group is amazing.

I forgot to add, Icar was silent because his banters might not have been included. I have spent a lot of time making a lot of new banters for him.

Edited by leahnkain, 29 May 2008 - 06:54 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

*summons meteor shower* Happy evil day!

The Blight welcomes the travelers, but ups, the, the hot rocks bury the dragon under them, and finally the Imp gets to dances his a fire dance.

Jarno, you have an excuse for taking every NPC along! That was one very entertaining post to read.

Thanks, it wasn't meant to be, at first...

Jarno, you should try a true power team.

No thanks, I like the the 3 simultaneous fireball spells, plus the 3 offensive fighters I get with my party, with my were-druid-mod-kit + the NPCs(Candella dualed of course).

New team, started already with;
Berserker
Shadow
Paraway
Erky...

Aesdale
???

Any good suggestions?

[leahnkain]

If you like fighters Icar is the "man". He is the toughest CA fighter. Althon my "Imoen". He seems to be in most groups. If you get the guantlets of ogre power in Saltmarsh and give them to Cath, he is a god. Shadow and Candella banter well together. zI often drop Shadow and bring her back after Candella becomes a mage. I have included a spoiler for you.

Spoiler

Kessa is buggy TCKessa1 is her .cre code if you need to use the CLUA code. To get her you must talk to the priestess of Lovitar in Lamonsten the Lazy's house. The priestess is upstairs. You must have Althon in your group. SHe will only join if she has died.

Edited by leahnkain, 05 June 2008 - 10:46 PM.

[Sam.]

I like Meepo- proud keeper and protector of the MIGHTY DRAGON Calcryx!!!

[Sir BillyBob]

I like Meepo- proud keeper and protector of the MIGHTY DRAGON Calcryx!!!

Which is why he isn't much of an NPC. Like Ned, he is just to add to that part of the story, not for a long term role in the party. Everyone else will have a much richer role in the story as we continue to develop their stories.

BTW, Icar should be bantering in .46a, you just have to have the right people in the party for him to talk to. Candella and Shadow being the main two I can think of.

At some point, we should have well developed good and evil teams. This will allow you to play through as either side. Ceri, Kessa, and Elora will all have much more to add once the party get to Selgaunt. Right now, they join very late in the game and you don't get to really see their banters or skills.

[mystral]

I liked most of the NPCs in the game. Some of them are much more part of the story than others, but i liked the fact that none of them were actually necessary. The only 3 who didn't spend at least some time in my party were Terra (couldn't find her), Kessa and Blodgett.

Aesdale: Good mage, and has an important role to play if you want the full story of the U series, but way too naive for my liking. You might make him an enchanter instead of a plain mage, since it would fit with his background.

Aleigha: Good fighter, and a nice girl. Lots of banters with the PC, so i'm guessing she might be a future romance option. She died in the swamp, unfortunately.

Althon: Very good fighter, very interesting character. He's also central to the story, and seems to have the most banters of all the NPCs. I quite enjoyed having an evil NPC who had a bit more depth than just objecting to good actions, and wanting power/to kill people. He's actually well-written enough to make me enjoy having my party completely manipulated.
Almost guaranteed a spot in my party.
However, it seems the only way to recruit him is to get him in Myth Drannor. That makes him unavailable to an evil PC (who would be more likely to leave Vildamyr to rot in Mistmoor. ), which is a bit strange. You might add an option for an evil or neutral PC to actually serve Althon's purpose willingly rather than be manipulated: perhaps you could tie that option to Catharandamus, or expand on the theft quest in Saltmarsh.

Blodgett: An halfling fighter... Not really my thing, and i didn't have room in my party at the time anyway. His story in the inn at the beginning of the game didn't particularly make me want to hire him anyway. I mean, he just lost his whole party, so how good could he be?

Blush: Good cleric, nice lady as well. Her seduction of Aesdale is well-done, though a bit short. I wish we didn't get to see the 2 Althon-Blush cutscenes though, so the break up would be a surprise. She never showed up in her shop for me, though.

Buranta: I don't really know what to think about her. On the one hand, she has good voice acting and is quite useful to backstab the mages in Kessa's dungeon. On the other hand, with her 14 dex and assassin kit, she can't work as the only thief in the party, and i don't like having more than 1 thief.
I know that her one banter with the PC left me wanting to know more about her though.

Candella: She's a good thief, i guess, and probably more suitable than Shadow for a good-aligned party. She might be quite powerful after being dualled to mage as well. But her voice acting is WAY too whiny for me to be able to stand her, sorry. Shadow seems to be a more interesting NPC too.

Chaarna: I really like her. Her crush on a male PC might be a bit overdone (she's a bit too obvious imo), but apart from that, she's powerful and her character change after you get her back is well-done. I liked what i saw of the romance, the option to redeem her or keep her evil is good, though it might be enhanced to allow her to corrupt the PC (in a good parallel to Kessa and Althon). She's a strong contender for the spot of primary mage in any of my parties, since she's more powerful and interesting than Aesdale, even though Aesdale has a bigger part in the story.

Catharandamus: probably my favourite NPC. Good fighter after he regains his fighter levels, good cleric, every banter he had was interesting. I especially liked the way he saw through both Blush and Fala'stra easily, and his criticism of Erebus. I didn't get any quest from him, though, and i wish he could give me an option to betray Rilithar after getting to the vault. Other than that, another very well-done evil NPC.

Dirbert: I'm a bit ambivalent about Dirbert. He's a good fighter in the beginning, since archers are very powerful at low levels, but apart from his banters with Shadow and Candella, he is rather bland. Plus, Icar dislikes him, so i usually replace him after Saltmarsh.

Erky: I usually like Cleric/Mages (my PC is often one), but I replaced him by Blush. He doesn't seem to be part of the story, and i only saw 2 banters from him, with Shadow (they were interesting though). Plus, after being a prisoner for a year, i figured he might need some rest, and he should go home.

Fala'stra: I'd like her better if she was a thief -> enchanter rather than the other way around. Character-wise, she doesn't have much to say, which makes sense since she's playing at being good. I would like more hints that she's actually evil though (hte only one i got was Catharandamus' banter). She doesn't say anything to justify her betrayal either, which was strange given that she had seduced the PC earlier.

Icar: my other favourite NPC. Great fighter, extremely loyal, i thought from his characteristics that he'd be more Minsc-like, but he's actually very insightful. The fact that unlike most NPCs, he actually likes or dislikes some of the other NPCs very much, makes him more real. The blindness is a very nice touch as well.

Ilhara: Hmm, i don't usually like paladins all that much, but she's well-done. There are a bit too many NPCs who are only available through Myth Drannor though, so i wouldn't actually take her in my party unless i wanted my PC to romance her.

Meepo: like Ned, a nice addition story-wise, I wish i could feed him to the dragon though.

Rihn: I usually like bards, even if they're not too useful combat-wise, and here we get one who is actually powerful.
I wish I could get her in my party without Vildamyr, but i really enjoyed her story, and she's the most interesting good NPC along with Rivian. I especially like how she told Elminster off and dismissed those Harpers.

Rilithar: I'm rather ambivalent towards him. On the one hand he's a paladin (CG pally ftw), he gives the party a suitable reward , and i'm sure a good female PC would enjoy romancing him (more than Aesdale that's for sure), but on the other hand he's a paladin, and i really wished i could backstab him the first time i played through Mistmoor, both to please Cath, and to take all the treasure

Rivian: The other really interesting good NPC, she seems to have the most banters after Althon, her romance is very enjoyable (even though i couldn't actually progress to the romance stage due to a banter bug, her flirts and banters are very good). I wish she used a proper multiclass fighter/mage class instead of "cheating" by being an elven dual class char. Or maybe you could use an actual bladesinger kit (i'm sure i saw one somewhere). She's a bit "holier than thou" with other elven NPCs, which can be a bit annoying, and i'm hoping the PC might be able to cure her of that during the romance. But then again, i guess she has to have a flaw.

Rurik: very good NPC for the start of the game, but it doesn't feel right to take him away from Saltmarsh, and he's overshadowed by other clerics in terms of power as well.

Paraway: he is part of the story, his own kit, mix of a barbarian and ranger is nice, he has lots of banters at the start of the game, and at first he seems wise and kind of like a big brother to both Dirbert and the PC. However, his superstitions were really annoying to me, and his reaction to Erebus in Mistmoor made me drop him. Good for the start fo the game though. I wish his tracking ability could be useful sometime in the game too.

Shadow: She's probably the best thief, and an interesting NPC. Her banters at the beginning of the game were very realistic, but she seemed to fall silent after the Zhent ambush. Her banters with Icar were good too.

Vildamyr: Good cleric, he's seriously overpowered when you get him (he had about 150k xp, while my PC had perhaps 50k). His romance with Rihn is well-done. He's the obvious choice for a cleric if you're doing a good party. I really prefer Catharandamus though.

Markessa Demuir: i felt sorry for both the clone and the original. I would take the evil Kessa in an evil playthrough anytime, to complete the Icar-Althon duo and to add more depth to Chaarna. The good Markessa is harder to fit into a party, but I'd try to fit her in in a party with Aesdale and Althon. Maybe she could try to redeem Althon, since it was after all the origianl who caused his fall. Anyway, right now both versons come a bit late to have much to say.

Elora Bonesetter: useful when you first get her since you don't have any equipment and she doesn't need any. She replaced Fala'stra in my party after her betrayal, but otherwise, i'm not sure i'd have a spot for her other than as a temporary helper. She comes too late right now to get a good sense of her character, though i did see one banter she had with Catharandamus.

Edited by mystral, 29 August 2008 - 01:38 PM.

[SirLancelot]

I would be very interested if that Meepo or other kobold NPC would be seriously developed. Fresh air is always nice.

[leahnkain]

The feedback everyone is given is great. Fala'stra will be changed to a thief as her base class and mage as her current class. (She also has a lot of new banters coming.) Markessa(the evil one) has a lot of new banters as well. I wonder if anyone has tried Icar/Rurik together or Icar/Aleigha. Althon is joinable at 4th level if you do not go to Piney Bluff and go to the swamp instead. The council will telll you after a meeting to go to Lord Balthis's house. At this point you can get Althon. Meepo was can't enter towns, so it is really troublesome to write around it. I hope one day a modder will write Meepo in. One point of CA is to give a new world free of the Bhaal storyline for players to enjoy and even mod.

[Sam.]

I would be very interested if that Meepo or other kobold NPC would be seriously developed. Fresh air is always nice.

And you forgot Meepo.

I like Meepo- proud keeper and protector of the MIGHTY DRAGON Calcryx!!!

I like him too...

The latest meepo fix does allow him to be added to party after completing dragon quest .

I want Ned and Meepo!... Meepo actually becomes rather cool once he gets the 5th short sword proficiency.... I still think it would be fun to have him. What if he really wants to be good?... Give him a chance to rejoin after the apple quest. Please?
Possible Meepo quests:
The Dragonriders - Some Red Wizards learn of Meepo's dragon handling abilities and approach him to test his abilities and offer him a cushy dragonriding job. Second time, they offer more perks. Third time, they bring a press gang and steal him. Party must find him, then convince him that he wants to come back.
The Faux Pas - Meepo scares a ridiculing townsperson half to death, then is arrested. Party must convince the guard captain not to execute him, then must spend some time teaching him manners and ways of civilization. Sort of like dog training, only he can talk. Bad Meepo.
Althon's Bane - He's gotta, just gotta, pee on Althon's leg at least once.

When I played the PnP module with Meepo years ago we had great fun with Meepo as an NPC.... However, I believe that a lot more fun could be had with Meepo during the Citadel module with some additional bantar and personality development. Although we played the PnP module many years ago his personality as we ran him reminds me of the imp Cespanar in TOB. A comedic character in the party can add a lot of enjoyment to the experience. Shakespear almost always had one in his plays.

And the votes for Meepo continue to roll in ! ! (sort of...)

[Lysan Lurraxol]

Interesting to see that the evil characters seem to be the most popular

I'm glad you like Catharandamus, Mystral, you'll be glad to know he's going to have quite a bit more content (maybe worth playing a female PC for)

As leahnkain says, both Markessa (the original) and Fala'stra will have quite a bit more content coming up as well. Hopefully Fala'stra will be more sympathetic and complex, as well as make her betrayal a little less out of the blue.

Terra can be found in the first forest open to you on setting out to do the first Piney Bluff quest (you'll have to hunt around for her - I think she's near the bottom)

I had Aleigha and Icar for a little while, but i dropped her for Terra. I'm afraid I find Aleigha quite dull.