82 replies to this topic

[Rhaella]

Meet Adrian Sianodel, a 33 year old half-elven mage who, after several recent catastrophes, managed to land a brief but involuntary stint as Irenicus' pet wandmaker. Kill the duergar who guard him, and he'll be quite happy to lend his magic to your cause. To repay the debt, to exact vengeance... and perhaps because he simply has nowhere else to go anymore.

Adrian has lived an interesting life, for lack of a better term, though he's hoping to finally put his past behind him. Aside from his magic, he has a background in espionage and a decadent -- some might say romantic -- streak that has gotten him into trouble in the past. He once pursued (and ultimately wrecked) a political career with one of the most notorious organizations in the Realms, and may very much enjoy the opportunities for intrigue the Shadow Thieves have to offer... if you can drag him away from fighting with the Harper and the Red Wizard long enough to notice, that is.

Adrian may be somewhat difficult to get to know. He is not the most tolerant of people, and while he is intrigued by your powers and heritage (and has far more experience with the machinations of dark gods than he would like), neither his respect nor his trust is particularly easy to earn. That said, he will appreciate a leader willing to take him to task.

Information

Name: Adrian
Gender: Male
Race: Half-elf
Class: Sorcerer
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Deity: Azuth

Biography: When asked about his past, Adrian smiles slightly and says that there are enough demons to face in the present without worrying about yesterday's as well. Given his recent enslavement, it would appear that he has more than a few of his own with which to contend. Despite his slippery responses, you eventually glean that he spent some time in Sembia, working as a hirespell wizard for a rising merchant prince. You quickly learn that further prodding will win you nothing but headaches.

Stats
STR 12
DEX 16
CON 10
INT 17
WIS 16
CHR 14

[Rhaella]

Q: Where do I pick him up?
A: You can pick him up on the final level of Château Irenicus, in the top right section of the map. He's more or less compatible with Dungeon-Be-Gone, as finding him only involves a small amount of backtracking from the exit of the dungeon.

Q: Does he have a quest?
A: Yes, one. You can postpone it as long as you want, but keep in mind that the dialogue track will stall until it's complete. He won't be in any mood to talk with outstanding business hanging over his head.

Q: But I hate sorcerers! Why can't he be a regular mage instead?
A: Actually, he can be. While he was conceived of as a sorcerer, certain elements in his backstory made both mage/thief and cleric/mage feasible alternatives. Installing him as a sorcerer is still recommended, though the other two options should be fully consistent. Some content will be different depending upon his class, but the particular brand of arcane magic he actually practices doesn't make much of a difference in the long run.

Q: He doesn't seem very evil.
A: His Lawful Evil nature comes across more strongly with some NPC combinations than with others, though he tends to be relatively mellow when he doesn't feel threatened. Still, while I consider him fairly close to a darker flavoured Lawful Neutral, he can be more than a bit ruthless and self-absorbed, and his CV is pretty ugly.

Q: Is there a romance?
A: Yes. He'll romance female half-elves or humans with both Intelligence and Charisma of 12 or higher. All alignments and classes are acceptable.

Q: What about elves?
A: He hates them. He owes an elven PC too much to make an issue of it, but he won't be attracted to one.

Q: I didn't do anything wrong. Why isn't the romance working?
A: The romance doesn't start immediately. There are a couple of talks before his quest triggers, and throughout these, a counter will measure how much he actually likes you. After his quest is complete, if you meet the requirements and he likes you enough, the romance will begin, though the value needed to activate it is fairly modest. A heads up: he's more comfortable around morally flexible people, though he appreciates wit, conviction, and competence regardless of alignment.

Q: How will he react to a good protagonist? Will he still romance or befriend one?
A: Probably. It's easier to alienate him early if you're good-aligned, but the responses aren't exactly riddled with landmines. As long as you don't come across as naïve or overly judgemental, you should be fine.

Q: What about a chaotic protagonist?
A: Adrian isn't rigidly lawful by any stretch of the imagination, but chaotic behaviour does sometimes put him on edge, and some chaotic protagonists may need to make concessions to succeed at a romance.

Q: How nasty can I be to him?
A: You can generally call him out whenever his behaviour leaves something to be desired. If you stand up to him when he starts getting a bit unpleasant, he'll actually appreciate it. As long as you respect him when it matters, you should be okay. Once the romance is committed, it's very difficult to accidentally break it.

Q: How well does he get along with other NPCs?
A: Not very well at all. While he'll generally remain civil (he's not eager to provoke fights, especially with Keldorn, Jaheira, or Korgan), his relationships tend to be at least mildly contentious.

Q: Will there be crossmod?
A: Yes, definitely. Crossmod is already planned or written for a handful of NPCs. If you'd like to see someone in particular, just let me know.

Any other questions, just ask them here. =)

[Miloch]

Whoa, usualy folks go nuts over new NPCs mods. Why the *crickets chirping*? Well congrats anyway, if you want Level 1 NPCs compatibility, post the details on gibberlings3.

[Kaeloree]

Mainly because it isn't announced yet! It's only just gone public.

[Rhaella]

Whoa, usualy folks go nuts over new NPCs mods. Why the *crickets chirping*? Well congrats anyway, if you want Level 1 NPCs compatibility, post the details on gibberlings3.

Thank you! Haha, yes, the threads were set up a bit in advance and have just been sitting around invisibly for a while now.

[Miloch]

Ah ok, guess I must have modder access or something, heh. So is it alpha, beta, gamma or what?

[Rhaella]

Nah, it's visible now! You're just the first to notice. =)

The writing is done at this point and we're working on scripting now, so hopefully it'll be into beta fairly soon.

[Cal Jones]

I, for one, am really looking forward to this one. Are you planning an SoA only release to begin with or will you ship the entire thing in one go?

[Eric P.]

Hooray for the release and announcement of a much-welcome new NPC! I look forward to playing with Adrian in the party.

[Eric P.]

All we need now is a download link

[Rhaella]

I, for one, am really looking forward to this one. Are you planning an SoA only release to begin with or will you ship the entire thing in one go?

Unless testing takes so long that I accidentally do finish writing ToB in the meantime, it'll probably be an SoA release in the (hopefully early) summer and ToB sometime in the fall.

All we need now is a download link

Haha, hopefully relatively soon!

[Eric P.]

What would this character's attitude be toward, say, a female elven ranger who's a priestess of Mielikki?

[Rhaella]

Sounds interesting! I'll be following the mod's progress for sure.

Thank you for your interest! Hopefully it won't be too long. =)

What would this character's attitude be toward, say, a female elven ranger who's a priestess of Mielikki?

With the exception of Torm, he's not particularly impressed by good-aligned deities, but he's not actively opposed to them either and wouldn't make much of a deal of it. He's very much not a fan of elven rangers, though, and he tends to treat them pretty poorly.

[Tatyan]

Interesting! There is already a present -or planned- TOB part?

[Cal Jones]

See above. SoA content planned for summer with ToB in the autumn.

[ramenbito]

De-lurking...
I am really interested in this character also the fact that he can be romanced is a bonus. Cant wait to have him in my next BG2 run. ^^

[Rhaella]

Welcome aboard, ramenbito! (I'm a perpetual lurker myself, haha.)

Thank you guys for your interest! And yes, Tatyan, ToB won't be out immediately, but should be out sometime in the fall.

[Kulyok]

Hey, finally! Good luck with beta-testing. I already know that writing is going to be excellent.