470 replies to this topic

[Aeryn]

Here's Keldorn, though it's rough and I am going to extend it a little. He's one of my favorite NPCs of all time, anywhere. I posted it because I'm looking for feedback, however. The "rudest" responses are mild and I did that intentionally because Keldorn only stays in the party if you make "good" choices throughout the game, but is it too mild? Keldorn to me in the supportive, fatherly, protect-you-from-yourself type, and I guess I assume that anyone who doesn't like they type wouldn't have him in the party in the first place. Basically what I'm getting at here is: should there be options that are extreme to the point where he would want to leave the party because he believes you're being led down a wicked path? Or does it work as is? Sorry, I'm being needy.

IF ~~ sa1ke
SAY ~<CHARNAME>, might we speak privately for a moment? It is important.~
++ ~Of course, Keldorn. What has you looking so anxious?~ + sa1ke.2
++ ~If we must.~ + sa1ke.2
++ ~Now?s not really the time, Keldorn.~ + sa1ke.1
++ ~No.~ + sa1ke.1
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.1
SAY ~I apologize if this is an inconvenience, but it cannot wait.~
IF ~~ + sa1ke.2
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.2
SAY ~You know I do not make a habit of prying into the personal lives of others, least of all yours. Helm knows you have enough people scrutinizing your every move already. There is, however, something I have noticed as of late that worries me.~
++ ~You mean Sarevok.~ + sa1ke.3
++ ~And that would be??~ + sa1ke.5
++ ~I really don?t think this is any of your business, Keldorn.~ + sa1ke.4
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.3
SAY ~Indeed.~
IF ~~ + sa1ke.5
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.4
SAY ~Your safety is my business, <CHARNAME>.~
IF ~~ + sa1ke.5
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.5
SAY ~It is obvious how close you have grown to your half-brother. Pray tell me what precisely is the nature of your relationship?~
++ ~Okay. I care about him...as more than a friend.~ + sa1ke.7
++ ~I don?t really think of him as my ?half-brother.?~ + sa1ke.6
++ ~We are?intimate.~ + sa1ke.7
++ ~[LIE] There is no relationship.~ + sa1ke.8
++ ~This conversation is over.~ + sa1ke.9
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.6
SAY ~That much is obvious, but do not avoid answering me.~
++ ~Very well. I care about him...as more than a friend.~ + sa1ke.7
++ ~We are?intimate.~ + sa1ke.7
++ ~[LIE] There?s nothing going on.~ + sa1ke.8
++ ~I am not going to discuss it with you, now or ever.~ + sa1ke.9
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.7
SAY ~I see. And do his feelings match your own?~
++ ~Yes, they do.~ + sa1ke.11
++ ~[LIE] Of course!~ + sa1ke.8
++ ~I think so.~ + sa1ke.12
++ ~I?m?not sure really.~ + sa1ke.12
++ ~Enough of this! It?s none of your business.~ + sa1ke.9
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.8
SAY ~<CHARNAME>?already you are changing?~
IF ~~ + sa1ke.13
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.9
SAY ~You will hear me out, <CHARNAME>.~
IF ~~ + sa1ke.13
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.11
SAY ~I hope, for your sake alone, that you are right.~
IF ~~ + sa1ke.13
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.12
SAY ~For your own sake, you should find out for certain as soon as you can.~
IF ~~ + sa1ke.13
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.13
SAY ~Let me say this and I will speak no more of it. While I cannot honestly say I support such a relationship, it is not my place to stand in the way. However, I would be remiss in my duty to you if I did not give you this warning.~
= ~You are a powerful young woman with a tumultuous destiny closing in upon you. Even the gods have a stake in your choices, <CHARNAME>, and a man like Sarevok would love nothing more than to take back the power that slipped through his fingers once before.~
= ~Do not be used, either by him or any other. You have come too far to be felled by the likes of him, and you deserve more from life than the pain I have seen in the eyes of women who are used then cast aside.~
++ ~Thank you, Keldorn. It?s an honor to have you watching out for me.~ + sa1ke.14
++ ~I appreciate the concern, but I can take care of myself.~ + sa1ke.15
++ ~Just stay out of it. I know what I?m doing.~ + sa1ke.15
++ ~Are we done here?~ + sa1ke.15
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.14
SAY ~The honor is mine.~
IF ~~ EXIT
END

IF ~~ sa1ke.15
SAY ~As you would have it.~
IF ~~ EXIT
END

[Thanatos.]

<3

[Kurokarasu]

As you said, it is rough, a sketch; still, you caught Keldorn's personnality in this conversation. This old knight is concerned by the PC and this fatherly relationship is guiding his acts, as well as his duty. Nice work, really!

I don't recall any really rude options while talking with Keldorn in the vanilla game (I can be wrong on this one, though) and I don't think Keldorn should leave the party because the PC is romancing Sarevok. In fact, for me, it would be quite the contrary. I can very well imagine Keldorn staying with Charname, watching over her, just in case his suspicions about Sarevok could be true. (sorry if my sentences aren't very coherent, it's growing late on this side of the Earth ) So, a good job again.

Also, I just wanted to tell you (all of the people who works on this project) that, if you need it, I can translate in French, when the time would come.

So, good night, and keep it going!

[HighTimeRodeo]

I like that talk Aeryn.

Keldorn might also have a talk with Sarevok. Maybe about how dangerous it could be to threaten <CHARNAME>'s possiblities at life or something like. Or, if he's CG, talk to him about how he'd like his new life to go, especially where the PC is concerned.

[Orthodoxia]

I also like that talk very much. Keldorn had always struck me as a paladin who had seen the world in all its shades of gray rather than just black and white like Anomen. His age and the fact that he has a family of his own might have something to do with that.

[Thanatos.]

A great NPC.

[berelinde]

I like it.

Just one small nitpick: Keldorn worships Torm, not Helm.

I wouldn't worry too much about not providing opportunities to get Keldorn ticked enough to leave the party. I don't think he's the type. I think the only things that will actually get him to the breaking point are Viconia and failing to free the slaves in the Underdark. Everything else, he weathers. It's possible that he leaves the party and attacks if you poison the druid grove, too, but I'm not sure about that.


Hmmm. Back to the Helm/Torm thing. Age and experience count for a lot, but I suspect he always had a more serene outlook on life. He serves the god of duty. He learned at a very early age the difference between things that are important and things that aren't. Anomen serves a god who advocates watching your neighbor for signs of eeeevil. Might make a difference.

[Aeryn]

Just one small nitpick: Keldorn worships Torm, not Helm.

Are you sure? In his dialogs in Explorer he speaks several times about Helm specifically...and just as I typed that I found one that mentions Torm. And the other NPC mods I have installed have him referencing Torm so...Torm it is. Thank you for pointing it out. As far as him leaving or turning on the PC - he will attack if reputation goes too low (conversation starts, "I know that you bring with you a troubled past and painful heritage but, for all the friendship that has formed between us, I cannot turn from such transgressions forever..."), so the assumption is that the PC is either good or neutral if they have him along in ToB. However, that's no guarantee that the PC will stay g/n. If, say, there were a dialog option that went along the lines of, "You have nothing to worry about, friend. Sarevok is showing me the power that comes from my heritage," that spirals downward through further conversation into a flat out, "I will claim my throne and rain down murder upon all the lands with Sarevok by my side," I can see Keldorn feeling it is necessary for him to attack. One of his lines right before he attacks when rep goes too low says, "I promised I would safeguard your soul and so I shall, even now. Forgive me, <CHARNAME>, but we must each obey our destinies, no...?" I'm not disagreeing with the general consensus that he shouldn't leave the party, I'm just playing the devil's advocate and trying to explore options for all PC types, crazy or otherwise.

[HighTimeRodeo]

I've never truly had Keldorn in my party through SOA. I included him once in TOB I think, so maybe I wouldn't be the best one to test him for the mod. Maybe Aeryn.

Also I finished a talk with Irenicus. I'll send it to Epitomy so she can have a looksee before I put it up here.

And yes, it is in Node.

[EpitomyofShyness]

I think my email is bugging out on me HighTimeRodeo, do you think you could send the Irenicus conversation again? I didn't recieve it...

On another note, Keldorn. Wow. I have never taken him in my party, due to me personally being easily irritated by Paladins... But after reading that I think I will have to take him along at some point purely to see how he really is. I have little experience with his character but I always make sure to do his quest with his wife, and from what I have seen you caught his character perfectly Aeryn.

As for translations, definitely something we'll need to keep in mind, though that's far in the future. Thank you very much for the offer Kurokarasu. As for me, I'm taking my second semester of College German this semester, so maybe after that I'll feel comfortable translating to German. After all, I have some German friends who could make sure I was saying things right, or there might be someone around after we really work some of this out who would like to see it done in German who actually has German as their first language. We'll see.

Lastly, I was thinking minimum stats. Suggestions? I can't see Sarevok being attracted to someone with an intelligence lower than 9. He strikes me as the type of man who appreciates smarts. As for charisma I'm not sure, but probably no lower than 10, and possibly higher than that. What are your thoughts?

[Icendoan]

Definitely Strength. He says at the start he respects her because she beat him in a fight, fair and square, and he would not let a weakling get anywhere close to him, especially since he lost. I would think above average STR, but not too high, such as 13. (Since, iirc, 9 is the average, 13+ is pretty strong)

Icen

[Aeryn]

INT for certain - doesn't the big guy have a pretty high stat on that one himself? I can't see him going for someone who can't formulate coherent battle strategies, let alone coherent sentences. STR I could go either way on. I can definitely see him mocking weaker PCs (like he does Aerie), so yeah a moderate number is probably a good idea. I think a fairly high CHA wouldn't be a bad idea - since you already decided that half-orcs were a no-no, we have to assume that he has some aesthetic standards. I'd actually love to see maybe extra dialog options for the really charismatic types, but that's just wishful thinking on my part.

Edit: Yeah, here's his stats (pulled from another page around here somewhere):
STR: 18
DEX: 17
CON: 18
INT: 17
WIS: 10
CHA: 15

Edited by Aeryn, 09 January 2009 - 04:08 PM.

[EpitomyofShyness]

Are we sure Sarevok is mocking Aerie for her strength stat? After all Imoen is worse on that. Could he be mocking Aerie more for her constitution? Her hp are pathetic. I dunno. I just hate the thought of, "Your not buff enough."

After all, 13 is actually pretty darn strong if you really think about it. Ninety pounds is a lot of weight. Of course in game 13 is practically pathetic but still... I wouldn't want a strength requirement higher than 10, because plenty of people will be playing mages. Or maybe no strength requirement but we can bring it up in conversation if the character is below a certain number. I dunno. Meh.

Oh ye gods! Seeing Sarevok's stats again makes me wanna cry. How many times have I rolled that high? Let me see... Hmmm... Once?! Oh and let me mention that was when I was messing around and intending to create a bloody gnome fighter! I almost cried. But looking at his stats again has given me this thought.

Honestly: Intelligence of 9 absolute MINIMUM. Maybe higher.

Charisma: At the very least 10. Possibly several points higher than that. I don't want to crimp someone's playing style but he will definitely care about something like that. Some people wouldn't, he would.

Strength: I would despise having a strength requirement higher than 10. I like roleplaying physically weak characters. It means they have to make up for it with strength in other areas. Meh.

[Thanatos.]

I can definitely see him mocking weaker PCs (like he does Aerie)

Aerie's personality is what he mocks - which is directly linked to her stats.

[Cal Jones]

Just for reference: A list of all NPCs with their stats

NPC banters guide (zip, for download)

Sarevok TOB alignment dialogues (rar, for download)

These should give you some idea of character banter styles and so forth.

Eye colour - I'd think with his skin tone they'd be dark, and glow when he gets angry or fights.
To be honest, no one really knows why he has glowy eyes and the other Bhaalspawn don't, in portraits at least. I personally think it's because an artist at Bioware thought they looked cool.
I know some mods (Edwin romance, for instance) make reference to the PC's eyes glowing on occassion, when angry, but I also think it's conceivable it's nothing to do with the taint - perhaps they were enchanted by, say, Winksi, after an accident that hurt his sight, or something of that ilk. Or perhaps it really was to help him read Alaundo's Prophecy under the bedsheets when he was a kid. There's no explanation so it could be anything, really.

[Orthodoxia]

I don't think there should be a problem with stat restrictions. Sarevok is picky and won't go for just anyone. For the eyes, as the story goes he has a piece of taint along with her soul. His eyes might glow from time to time in relation to some strong emotions but not all the time.

Also, not to bring any more complications into this mod, but will he able to *know/see* some things, personal/intimate, about the PC through this connection?

Edited by Orthodoxia, 10 January 2009 - 05:38 AM.

[Thanatos.]

You mean the taint? If so, perhaps, depending on his own struggles with it, he may notice symptoms.

[Choo Choo]

He does know what Irenicus did to Imoen, if he has a piece of her soul... and he also claims that it brought along an obsession with his weight.

[Icendoan]

vs the glowing eyes, I am a very strong supporter of the theory that Sarevok liked to read in bed.

Icen

[HighTimeRodeo]

vs the glowing eyes, I am a very strong supporter of the theory that Sarevok liked to read in bed.

Icen

Me too.

I don't think it'd complicate the dialogs, Orthodoxia. It might help actually, especially with the Irenicus talk I sent to Epitomy. I'm having doggy type trouble.

And I like the idea of having some kind of stat restrictions. Though I may have trouble, considering the fact I consider Charisma as disposable stat. Ah, well, that's what Shadowkeeper is for.

What kind of symptoms, Ithilian?