Imrahil

Oops - forgot to log in - that was me.

- Imrahil

I also get the banter about her not believing in any gods (although, if you press her, she admits to liking Malar & Garagos) repeatedly.

what do you mean by repeatedly? You mean she doesn't stop talking? Or if you go constantly via the same dialogue-loop? For that is quite normal

Meaning I get the same banter over & over, as if it were new.  I'm guessing there's supposed to be a flag or something that says the banter has already occurred, but it's not getting set, so you see that particular one several times.

Merely looking at the AD&D rules I did as would be normal. I am afraid I just disagree on it.

Fair enough.

...Ariena-Randomly-Leaves-For-No-Reason...

I can understand and I have no idea why she does that. I don't have it in my game, so it is hard to test... please tell me if she merely quotes that line and leaves and a string reference might be nice, for she uses that sentence several times and I don't know from what dialogue that is triggered...

She says it when a normal banter should come up, when we're sitting still or walking along, just quoting that one line & then leaving, but then (if I go to The Docks) she comes towards the party, like NPC's normally would if you booted them manually, & says her line as if I'd kicked her out.  Hope that's helpful - sorry I don't know the string reference, though.

- Imrahil

I had a little problem tough , when i used the Ctrl + I to see all the talk , she left and she get back in the Dock Districk , sure i get back there and she will join me again , the only problem is if im far like in the underdark i have to finish it without her and get her back when im in Akathla..:-( that is the only problem i had and she did it 4 times already...

Hey - I'm in the midst of an Ariena play-through &, while I'm not done, this was annoying enough to go ahead & point out that I get this, too.  I tend to AdvanceRealTime a bit & also leave the computer sitting & paused in order to get NPC banters, & it seems like every third one is Ariena leaving for no reason.  We're just sitting there, letting Real Time pass, then she says "You is stupid to send Ariena away for that." & she leaves the party.

I didn't do anything or say anything to her.  She goes back to her spawn point & when I run into her, she force-talks me & acts like I kicked her out ("You sees too much blood, pantywaist?"), at which point I say "No, not yet.  You better kill some more enemies for me Ariena" & she rejoins.

I also get the banter about her not believing in any gods (although, if you press her, she admits to liking Malar & Garagos) repeatedly.

I may as well give an update while I'm here on the other things I've found to this point...  

- First, she's pretty fun & unique.  I like her, in general, but with that said...

- Even a 7 Int is probably too high for the "Me is...", "Ariena no like", etc. banters.  She sounds more like a 5 Int to me.  7 is just below "normal" (where 9-12 is average), but she isn't below normal, she's kind of on the dumb side (not a critique of her banters, just that her Int should be lower to reflect her banters).

- I know where you're going with the "she's proficient with *every* weapon" idea, but the fact is, a total of 21 proficiency stars is, IMO, too much (7 would be about expected for someone of her level).  You could have her not be proficient with *every* weapon (say, take away 10 stars) & get the point across without it seeming so power-game-ish.

- Why does she have 20% resistance to Cold & Magical Cold, 50% Resistance to Acid, & 100% Poison resistance?

- when she asks CHARNAME is he was ever a captive, all you can talk about is Candlekeep - this seems to ignore the much more recent instance in which CHARNAME was a captive of Irenicus.

- Ariena interjects when talking to Lady Delcia Caan (Nalia's aunt), but after her interjection, the dialogue stops & you don't get the normal Lady Delcia conversation, so Lady Delcia just stays there instead of leaving like she normally does & "has nothing to say to you"

- similarly, when meeting Valygar, after you ask him to join you, Ariena says "Me no think it smart to makes big enemy...", but then Valygar doesn't join the party & just sits there & "has nothing to say to you" - I had to CTRL-Q him to get him in the party

- when first entering the Guarded Compound, Ariena starts a fight with Sion, but that Sion is un-killable - he's supposed to teleport away - if you fight him, he sits at Near Death forever - I had to briefly boot Ariena from the party right when entering so she wouldn't trigger an unwinnable fight.

- when confronting the Beastmaster in the Copper Coronet to free Hendak, if you start a fight with him, Ariena says "You better starts to run, cause it no helps.  Me fight many animals and me win of all of them!" (which, by the  way, has one too many "of"'s at the end), then she turns hostile on the party & never goes unhostile.  I had to boot her briefly again to get past this.  If she's actually supposed to go hostile on the party, it's not clear why from the dialogue.

- some spelling stuff...

-- in the description of Ariena's Armor, it says "Therefor it is not uncommon..." (should be "Therefore")
-- also in the description of Ariena's Armor, it says "Though Ariena faced some of here most..." (should be "her")
-- also in the description of Ariena's Armor, it says "...even if it did not fend the blow of all together" (which should be "off altogether", or even better "off completely")
-- with Jaheira, when discussing Khalid, Jaheira says "He was a gentle and kind soul and therefor brave." (should be "therefore")
-- with Yoshimo, when discussing why he's so far from home, Yoshi says "I wondered a bit up the sword coast..." (should be "wandered" & also Sword Coast should probably be capitalized)


I'm about to head to the Underdark - I was running through all the surface quests first with various Bio-NPC's to see as much banter as possible.  I'll report back if I find anything in the Underdark or in later chapters.  I just found the Ariena-Randomly-Leaves-For-No-Reason thing to be very irritating already.

- Imrahil

I'm guessing you haven't been back to see Pharod since you told him you'd found the Sphere? IIRC, it's perfectly normal to be sans Spere for a bit, but you do recover it if you go back & visit him, so head on back & see if you stumble across it, for one reason or another.

- Imrahil

      The description of some items in BG2 like Thracie's Plate, Orc Leather, Ring og Human Influence. And many such items from AD&D. 

The game describes it as follows:
~CHARISMA: Charisma measures a character's persuasiveness, personal magnetism, and ability to lead. This ability is important to the druid, bard and paladin.
Minimum: <MINIMUM>
Maximum: <MAXIMUM>~

Incidentally, none of those item descriptions you mention state that it's looks, and T'rahcie's Plate is the only one which comes remotely close to implying such a thing. (~This armor's curse sickened Libol and hideously disfigured him, and his wife fled from him in disgust.~)

Orc Leather: "...Finger bones, ribs, and skulls cover the armor, acting much like the traditional metal rivets. Powerful orcish enchantments give the armor special resistance to missile attacks, but the repulsiveness of the armor reduces the wearers charisma."

Combined with T'rahcie's Plate, I'm on the side that says that Charisma is *in part* looks.

I think the Nymph Cloak was supposedly commissioned by some noblewoman or other to make her husband seem less gross in general, right? I always seemed to read it as him acting less like a slob than actually looking prettier

Nymph Cloak: "The fabled Nymph Cloak is renowned for its ability to increase the Charisma of even the most surly dwarf. A Cormyrean noble hoping to make her politically convenient marriage more palatable apparently went to great expense to obtain one for herself and another for her husband. This cloak may be used to charm one person, once per day." (just an FYI, not really all that relevant, just a copy-paste for curiosity's sake)


I'm of the opinion that Charisma is *mostly* leadership & persuasiveness. It also encompasses looks, given that Comeliness is not an official stat.

My main problem with MOD NPC's that have Charisma requirements is that, in the dialogues of the NPC, all they ever talk about is how HAWT CHARNAME is. There's rarely a reference to how inspiring in battle he/she is or how deftly that last in-party bickering was handled.

I don't like exceptional stat requirements in any stat, as I've stated, but I particularly don't like Charisma requirements when they are defended by stating that Charisma is more than looks, but supported by dialogues which focus solely on looks.

- Imrahil