Skip Chateau Irenicus
A mod for BG2, BG2:EE and EET that allows you to skip the opening dungeon without losing potential equipment and items.
Are you tired of running through the whole initial dungeon over and over? Not anymore!
This mod allows you skip all the boring details of Chateau Irenicus. You can even collect all the items normally found within the dungeon. Just inspect the rubble of the destroyed building on Waukeen's Promenade. As a bonus you will also gain some experience and may find a bit of pocket change.
The mod also provides an optional component which improves the original opening sequence of the game by making it more believable.
"Skip Chateau Irenicus" is meant as an alternative to the (in)famous Dungeon-Be-Gone mod which provides a similar option, but in a way that seriously breaks the fourth wall.
This mod requires BG2 (with or without ToB), BG2:EE or EET (Enhanced Edition Trilogy).
Components
Main component: Skip Chateau Irenicus (requires BG2, BGT, BG2:EE or EET)
The component triggers moments after you are released from your cell. A rogue appears and opens up the opportunity to use the magical portals to leave the dungeon. Each portal will transport you to the other level of the dungeon or directly to the surface. Afterwards the way back is blocked like in the unmodified game. To loot the items from the dungeon inspect the rubble of the destroyed building on Waukeen's Promenade.
The item description of the dryads' acorns have been slightly altered to give you some information what you can do with it.
For BG2:EE before patch 2.0 and original BG2 the mod uses less advanced methods to transfer dungeon loot to the surface. As a result you may miss out on some minor stuff or have duplicate items, depending on how much you looted the dungeon before teleporting to the surface.
Note: For BG2:EE v2.0+ and EET there may be a general slowdown of the game for a few seconds after the initial cutscene on Waukeen's Promenade which is caused by the item transference process.
Optional component: Deal with skipped NPCs (requires main component, requires BG2:EE or EET)
1. Vanilla NPCs only
This option deals only with the vanilla NPCs Jaheira, Minsc and Yoshimo. They can be found at their designated locations as if you dismissed them from the party.
2. All available NPCs
This option deals with every supported vanilla and mod NPC. In addition to the vanilla NPCs it adds code for Adrian Sianodel (by Rhaella), Chloe (by Lucythebeast) as well as Yasraena (by Sillara). They can either be found directly near the destroyed building at Waukeen's Promenade or at their designated waiting locations as if you dismissed them from the party.
Other mod NPCs that can be encountered in Chateau Irenicus may be supported by their respective authors. In this case they will be handled by this mod component as well. This mod provides a simple mechanism to make it possible.
Optional component: More realistic opening cutscene (independent component; for BG2, BGT, BG2:EE and EET)
In the original opening cutscene of the game Imoen appears out of nowhere and frees you from your cell, which raises the questions where she was held prisoner and how she managed to escape. This component changes the cutscene, so that Imoen is imprisoned like everyone else, and her escape is portrayed more believably.
Note: This cutscene is fully compatible with the "Faster Chapter 1&2 Cut-Scenes & Dreams" component of the Tweaks Anthology mod.
Compatibility
This mod skips an important part of the SoA main story. Although items will be transferred to the surface you may still miss certain mod-added content, such as quests, journal entries or NPCs. The mod provides a feature to deal with skipped NPCs, but only code for the vanilla NPCs Minsc, Jaheira and Yoshimo are included in this mod. Modders can use this feature to add their own code though.
The mod is designed so that you can transport back and forth between the two levels of Chateau Irenicus until you decide to teleport to the surface. Afterwards the way is blocked forever, like in the unmodified game.
Edited by Argent77, 16 July 2021 - 02:34 AM.
