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[Roxanne]

File Name: Corwin NPC (for EET)
File Submitter: Roxanne
File Submitted: 04 Jan 2018
File Category: [Link to SHS page deleted - no longer valid]

 

 

DOWNLOAD Link

Captain Corwin of the Flaming Fist in the town of Baldur's Gate is an original SoD NPC.

Her story ends with the protagonist having to leave for Amn. This mod does not change this - instead I made the new approach to extend the NPC's story forward, which in her special case seems to make much more sense. Her loyalty is with her town, its people, and the Flaming Fist and she will not leave it.

The mod makes Corwin available as a joinable NPC as soon as you get access to the city in the BG1 part of the game. Scar introduces her on your first meeting with him and you can chose her to help you with the affairs that trouble her hometown.

Features:
- A joinable NPC for the second half of BG1
- Interactions with the protagonist to flesh out the initial friendship (or not) that seques into the possible SoD romance.
- additional encounters and scenes that add to Corwin's background story.
- insights into the Flaming Fist relation to the Iron Throne and Sarevok, contents referring to Scar, Angelo, Eltan, Alatos, Skie and others.
- A continuous Corwin: She will follow you into SoD initial dungeon. During the city overture of SoD she will keep her original role to accompany you without joining, however her dialogues and reaction will reflect the case that she knows you already and has travelled with you. She becomes joinable (again) as soon as you leave the city and she will continue as the same incarnation you had in BG1.
- The original SoD content (including the romance) is preserved but adjusted to the possibility of her being already acquainted with the protagonist prior to the crusade. All in all the pre-SoD content is intended to give Corwin a deeper personality and make her SoD actions and decisions more transparent.
- Not to forget that Corwin is a useful archer in BG1 and keeps her stat gains, XP, equipment etc when she joins you again in SoD.

Due to the continuity provided for Corwin by this mod, it is for EET games only.

 

 

It is recommended to install also the SoD Banter Restoration mod to complement this mod with NPC to NPC banters.

A mod by Roxanne based on the original Corwin NPC character of the BG SoD extension.
 

Support and Bug reporting
 

Edited by jastey, 19 August 2022 - 01:18 AM.
removed invalid links.

[Roxanne]

Some hints

 

You can recruit Corwin on the Wyrm's Crossing Bridge when you talk to Scar. If you reject her or if you kick her out during BG1 part, she will return to work for the Flaming Fist but you will not see her again until SoD.

Spoiler

- Visit the area west of the Sorcerous Sundries (area where you enter the town) before you go to sewers or Undercellar.

- You get extra insight if Officer Vai is still in Beregost when you have Corwin in the party.

- Doing all of Scar's quests before you go to the Iron Throne wins you Corwin's friendship.

- Saving Duke Eltan and bringing him to the Harbormaster impacts Corwin's behaviour in SoD (positive)

- Best keep Corwin in the final party to meet Sarevok.

- She will leave after Korlasz' tomb is cleared and become re-joinable same way as in original SoD.

Edited by Roxanne, 23 February 2018 - 07:54 AM.

[Ulb]

This looks like a great addition to flesh EET out some more, thanks Roxanne.

 

I'll put this in my next install for sure, but alas, I really hate Corwin's personality so I'm not sure I'll every actually recruit her ..

[Roxanne]

This looks like a great addition to flesh EET out some more, thanks Roxanne.

 

I'll put this in my next install for sure, but alas, I really hate Corwin's personality so I'm not sure I'll every actually recruit her ..

The mod is there so that you can get to know her better, SoD was maybe too short for that...

 

PS - From my own experience: Nice girls do not command armies or anything the like (nor do nice boys, by the way).

Edited by Roxanne, 03 January 2018 - 07:15 AM.

[subtledoctor]

Why EET-only for a mod that only has BGEE content??

[jastey]

This is a great concept for an NPC mod. I didn't like her that much in SoD, either, but that was due to the drama SoD tries to inflict which Corwin and her daughter were part of, so the mod sounds interesting nontheless. Does the mod cover the corruption of the Flaming Fist and the turmoil the soldiers must have been in (the ones with a consciousness, that is)? This is something I miss dearly in SoD. At the end of BG1, the Flmaing Fist is turned into mercenaries of Sarevok's plans, in SoD they miraculously turned into the protecting saints again. I would have liked to see some kind of rehabilitation, a trial for Angelo etcpp... Corwin must have a lot to say about this. Also, is there /will there be crossmod content to bg1re's "Scar return" quest (I imagine she will be quite interested in her Second in Command being restored to life)?

[Roxanne]

Why EET-only for a mod that only has BGEE content??

The vanilla game does not support continuous NPCs in the way the mod needs it.

I have never modded BGEE and I will not start working backwards in a time where EET is available, The intention of this mod is to use the continuity provided by EET, not to add stuff to bean dogs product.

[Roxanne]

This is a great concept for an NPC mod. I didn't like her that much in SoD, either, but that was due to the drama SoD tries to inflict which Corwin and her daughter were part of, so the mod sounds interesting nontheless. Does the mod cover the corruption of the Flaming Fist and the turmoil the soldiers must have been in (the ones with a consciousness, that is)? This is something I miss dearly in SoD. At the end of BG1, the Flmaing Fist is turned into mercenaries of Sarevok's plans, in SoD they miraculously turned into the protecting saints again. I would have liked to see some kind of rehabilitation, a trial for Angelo etcpp... Corwin must have a lot to say about this. Also, is there /will there be crossmod content to bg1re's "Scar return" quest (I imagine she will be quite interested in her Second in Command being restored to life)?

Angelo is dead, he is one of those who dies with Sarevok in the final battle - no trial for him. Despite the feeling that such a thing would feel like a bad copy of the already bad trial in SoD. Too much of cinematics for my taste.

 

bg1re's "Scar return" quest

What is this? Maybe this is not compatible with my mod. *Captain* Corwin is one of Duke Eltan's officers and right hand of Scar before he is killed. In SoD she has in a way taken his place as Eltan gives her the command of the Flaming Fist part that marches against the crusade. So she is a high ranked officer (and she acts like that in BG1 and those who meet her reflect this, she's recognised as superior by the Fist she meets and Angelo treats her as an opponent to be counted if you get your party arrested.)

 

Spoiler

I stress and expand those events in the original BG1 part that show that not ALL of the Flaming Fist follow Angelo. When you meet some of those Flaming Fist members, it is indicated that Corwin tries to organise those remaining *traitors* against Angelo and Sarevok.

Corwin herself urges the protagonist to rescue Eltan and bring him into safety with the harbormaster (if you do this, it has direct impact on how she will react later in SoD, e.g. when you are accused of murder).

Corwin leaves the party when Korlasz is defeated and tells you that she will meet with Eltan to re-build the Fist and clean it of Angelo's traces.

I have chosen to rather hint at those developments by fleshing out existing encounters in chapter 6, so the player gets a feeling that the Flaming Fist is not completely under Sarevok's control, however I decided against some BIG scene that illustrates the change after Sarevok's death. My feeling is that such a thing would be too close to that last part of SoD and also take the issue to far. You see and feel that there is a *seed* and a *good* partition in the Flaming Fist and it gets the upper hand again. It is similar with the Dukes and the rest of the citizens, the first hailed the new duke and next day called him a criminal.

Edited by Roxanne, 03 January 2018 - 08:33 AM.

[Roxanne]

This is a great concept for an NPC mod. I didn't like her that much in SoD, either, but that was due to the drama SoD tries to inflict which Corwin and her daughter were part of, so the mod sounds interesting nontheless. Does the mod cover the corruption of the Flaming Fist and the turmoil the soldiers must have been in (the ones with a consciousness, that is)? This is something I miss dearly in SoD. At the end of BG1, the Flmaing Fist is turned into mercenaries of Sarevok's plans, in SoD they miraculously turned into the protecting saints again. I would have liked to see some kind of rehabilitation, a trial for Angelo etcpp... Corwin must have a lot to say about this. Also, is there /will there be crossmod content to bg1re's "Scar return" quest (I imagine she will be quite interested in her Second in Command being restored to life)?

Apart from what I said in the previous post, there is another important aspect we need to remember:

 

The Flaming Fist are not an army or police force like we know them in today's modern states. They are mercenaries, they hire out to those who pay them. Eltan (and Scar) are not noblemen by birth, they fought for several parties with their forces before they were hired by Baldurs Gate's dukes to protect the city. Eltan is one of the richest men on the Sword Coast through the jobs and the loot from his Flaming Fist campaigns.

 

In BG, Eltan soon became an important political force and finally was elevated to Duke. Like represented by Angelo, they are not necessarily loyal to law and goodness but interested in gold just as well. Corwin, on the other hand, represents the *other* Flaming Fist, she is born in the city and identifies with it. She and her father have values and ideals they want the Fist to represent.

 

So with that in mind, the *big change* in attitude of the Flaming Fist is not such a surprise. Sarevok promised good money and a war with loot for the FF, and that won him a lot of followers. With him gone, they now fight for the dukes who pay them instead. Pretty normal for a mercenary troup.

Edited by Roxanne, 03 January 2018 - 08:57 AM.

[Roxanne]

Nice! My only suggestion would be that unaware players will click green "Download" button and they will get only readme.txt. I suggest you to replace all content from this file with only a link to actual direct download of mod zip file.

I am not using the SHS file storage but have my mods on github (for known reasons), But the SHS software for mod posts require that you put something there, so the readme is a good strawman. It is done this way for all my mods for years already.

[jastey]

That sounds really great. And far better than another cutscene trial, I agree.

bg1re "Scar return" component gives the possibility to look for his remains and let him be revived. The PC can have a last good bye dialogue before he vanishes into some private life far away. He has no interest in regaining his former status. I could imagineCorwin would try to urge him to return.
The component is designed so it fits into the main story (that assumes he is dead and gone) without making any ripples. When writing it, I had a search whether there is any canon information about Scar. Whereas Duke Eltan is revived in canon lore, too, there is no record of Scar - but also none that he stayed dead.

[subtledoctor]

The intention of this mod is to use the continuity provided by EET, not to add stuff to bean dogs product.

So this makes changes to Corwin in SoD too?

1) Anyone playing BGEE without SoD won't see Corwin in SoD (because they have SoD), so whether the NPC is continuous is meaningless.

2) Anyone who does have SoD will have both BGEE+SoD together, as a single game, which means it is perfectly possible to have a continuous NPC.

3) If there's no BG2 content then BG2 is irrelevant, which means EET is irrelevant.

So, this comes across as a mod that is arbitrarily restricted from those who can't use EET (tablets) or who don't own/can't afford BG2EE, even though the mod has no BG2 content.

Also,

4) Umm, EET IS a Beamdog product. In fact it is a combination of three Beamdog products, and you are basically saying that players cannot use your mods unless they own everything Beamdog sells.

New theory: Roxanne is actually a "Bean Dog" employee using her mods to drum up sales!

Edited by subtledoctor, 03 January 2018 - 10:46 AM.

[Roxanne]

The intention of this mod is to use the continuity provided by EET, not to add stuff to bean dogs product.

So this makes changes to Corwin in SoD too?

1) Anyone playing BGEE without SoD won't see Corwin in SoD (because they have SoD), so whether the NPC is continuous is meaningless.

2) Anyone who does have SoD will have both BGEE+SoD together, as a single game, which means it is perfectly possible to have a continuous NPC.

3) If there's no BG2 content then BG2 is irrelevant, which means EET is irrelevant.

So, this comes across as a mod that is arbitrarily restricted from those who can't use EET (tablets) or who don't own/can't afford BG2EE, even though the mod has no BG2 content.

Also,

4) Umm, EET IS a Beamdog product. In fact it is a combination of three Beamdog products, and you are basically saying that players cannot use your mods unless they own everything Beamdog sells.

New theory: Roxanne is actually a "Bean Dog" employee using her mods to drum up sales!

The mod uses the BG2EE code of EET and the resource references of that game. I am not sure if you can do a revert-conversion-backwards for such a mod as opposed to converting BGEE mods to EET?

 

The only thing I ever *drum up* since the old days of BGT is the concept of the game trilogy being one continuous game. It is that game I make mods for and I share them with people who have a similar feeling about the game. I can see no point in taking any blame for this. Those people who own both games get EET and everything else for free and I cannot see anyone who just wants one part of the game to go out and buy another game just to play mods they will not care for anyway.

Edited by Roxanne, 03 January 2018 - 11:52 AM.

[Roxanne]

bg1re "Scar return" component gives the possibility to look for his remains and let him be revived. The PC can have a last good bye dialogue before he vanishes into some private life far away. He has no interest in regaining his former status. I could imagineCorwin would try to urge him to return.
The component is designed so it fits into the main story (that assumes he is dead and gone) without making any ripples. When writing it, I had a search whether there is any canon information about Scar. Whereas Duke Eltan is revived in canon lore, too, there is no record of Scar - but also none that he stayed dead.

The only ever later appearance of Scar I know of is that of his dead body found much later in the game in the Stormhorn Mountains (mod contents) and that will surely not collide with your story.

And for Corwin, a Scar that is revived and vanishes into private life when the town that is her everything is in need - such a person is a deserter of the worst kind, and more than dead. After all, she is one of the three person alive who know *Scar*'s real name. So there is also no conflict here,

 

Apart from this, Corwin's reaction to Scar's death is still on my to-do list.

Spoiler

My intention was to illustrate her dilemma in a dialogue with the protagonist about priorities - rescue Eltan vs. stop Sarevok - vs possibly (not assured) find dead Scar (where?) and have him ressurrected. Outcome - Scar died while performing his duty and his memory will be honored but Eltan can still be saved AND Sarevok be stopped, so this is the option she decides. She is a commanding officer and she knows how to deal with casualties. Saving what still can be saved has priority even with Scar having been a close friend.

I am still looking for an event in the chapter 7 where I can attach it to. I am a bit afraid I already put nearly too much Corwin into that part of the story (coming back to BG after Candlekeep until facing Sarevok at his elevation to duke).

[subtledoctor]

Who's blaming? People (person?) want good mods to be available on more platforms. Take that as a compliment.

As for "just buy the other game and play EET," that's all well and good for people who CAN play EET. But EET does not work on sons platforms and skilled modders (*ahem*) don't seem interested in helping to make it work for everyone.

Stuff like Certain People Whose Names Begin V, making mods unavailable for this or that game, or for this or that platform, out of some animus or prejudice or whatever, is not good for the community. No offense, but this sort of seems to be in a similar vein.

[Roxanne]

Stuff like Certain People Whose Names Begin V, making mods unavailable for this or that game, or for this or that platform, out of some animus or prejudice or whatever, is not good for the community. No offense, but this sort of seems to be in a similar vein.

It is not.

 

I started modding for BGT (never did anything for the classic BG1 separated BG2 games) because that was the game for me as a player, So I had a big BGT mod by the time the EE's were released but no way to use the great new features of that platform until EET was released.

 

EET provided all the continuity features (+ new opcodes and other stuff) I always needed and had to workaround in BGT. I only decided to go from BGT to EE because of EET.

 

The things I have done since then are not backwards compatible. I do nothing to exclude anyone or discriminate any platform. All I do is to develop things compatible with the best modding platform I have found and for me this is EET with its All-in-one-game features.

 

It is one thing to start at the low end and resist to move upward. It is another thing to take advantage of the full functionality and then go backwards and break it into chunks that may or may not work for the lower functionality.

 

I have always proclaimed that my mods are made and intended for EET. Some of them work for BG2EE as well by sheer coincidence and that is fine.

 

As for EET not working on some platforms(?) that is something I cannot comment on as this is beyond any of my skills.

[subtledoctor]

Not doubting what you've proclaimed - your proclamations have been accurate. I'm just saying, it's a shame to see mods restricted from use by some players not for technical reasons, but only because the author doesn't feel like helping them.

Just a philosophical difference, I guess.

[The Imp]

- You can recruit Corwin on the Wyrm's Crossing Bridge when you talk to Scar.
- A joinable NPC for the second half of BG1

And you couldn't move her to the first by just moving her say 30 meters towards the lowerleft corner of the bridge ?

She could even be there guarding the bridge instead of the other dude that never gets mentioned, as his job is to just talk to the PC for them to find out thart the bridge is "out for now" so to speak.

[Roxanne]

Not doubting what you've proclaimed - your proclamations have been accurate. I'm just saying, it's a shame to see mods restricted from use by some players not for technical reasons, but only because the author doesn't feel like helping them.

Just a philosophical difference, I guess.

I can just speak for the Corwin mod but the way the NPC transits from BG1 to SoD and especially inside of SoD is different for EET vs BG1+SoD.

I am not talking here of having your PC + NPCs go to the initial dungeon (chapter7b), I am talking about getting a continuous NPC in chapter 8, especially if that NPC is a SoD only NPC AND  that NPC also has a strawman double during the (fake) Baldurs Gate City episodes.

 

You tell me both games work the same? There are no technical differences that allow this in one game but not the other? If it can be done, I am simply not skilled to do it. In my BGEE+SoD game (which I have to enable EET) I cannot find some of the files needed for that as they are only created by EET during the import. Afterwards they only exist in the BG2EE part of the game to which I install the mod (even if content-wise it takes place in BG1 and SoD).

 

For all those technical differences just look at my mod to restore the NPC to NPC banters in SoD. Compare it to a similar mod from Astroguy who does that for BGEE+SoD. Even if both mods have the same effect in game, the solutions are different and in the end those are two different mods.

 

The differences between a BGEE+SoD content/NPC mod and an BG2EE/EET mod with BG1 or SoD content are significant.

Edited by Roxanne, 03 January 2018 - 03:06 PM.

[Roxanne]

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Edited by Roxanne, 03 January 2018 - 02:57 PM.