Roxanne

Hi Roxanne,
is the incompatibility between the new bgqe component "Brage's Sword" and Sandrah Saga still valid? (I'm on bgqe's depencies for BWS.)

I have not looked at it yet but I assume there is not a real incompatibility. Unless Brage is killed when you give him to the bounty hunter?

Seems like BWS do not recognize TDD zip files or something? It always says it failed in extracting. When the option to manual extract appear the setup decided to open Adrian-NPC file in winrar.

Strange, both mod links are hosted here on SHS. Could there have been a mix in the database?

I checked them now and there is no problem.

Is the Caelar mod and the Tamoko mod compatible with each other? Or any plans for that?

There is no reason for them not to be. They are independent like any other two weidu mods would be. There is not even any content overlap. In fact, the two women only ever meet during the SoD final battle. Caelar as party member happens only in ToB.

I find it a bit strange however why Tamoko wanted Sarevok to let go of his goal and convince the PC to "save him". Or why she loved him if she was with him only for ambitions sake. Still, I find it appealing the idea of a more accurate in her evilness Tamoko based on her alignment.

 

I can certainly understand to let go of the old and overused romance formula though with Tamoko the potential for a "tragic" romance seemed more interesting than most NPC romance mods that offer typical happy endings. Especially since there are so few evil romance mods particularly with female NPCs.

Writing romance mods is not my cup of tea. I have no talent for it and only limited interest. I enjoy playing other writer's romances if they are well written but I stay out of that *genre* myself.

I rather bring out other aspects of the NPCs. Tamoko trying to save Sarevok? Maybe she tried to convince even herself of this, but was it maybe just not trying to go down with him?

Will the Sandrah mod offer some extra expansion for her maybe?

Sandrah and Tamoko have interactions for sure. Sandrah's main topic is *Time of Troubles are not over yet* and this is something she shares with Tamoko, even if from a completely different angle.

More importantly, are there any plans perhaps for the outcome of the Tamoko mod to affect interactions with Sarevok in ToB or/and perhaps offer some expansion to him as well? Maybe some extra endings or different options by the end which would lead to those endings? Or will it be possible ONLY by using it along those Sarevok mods that you mentioned(I assume the Sarevok romance and friendship mods)?

The intention is to make everything around Tamoko consistent with what is told in later parts of the game including the romance and the friendship mod. However there will be no dependencies. It will work in whatever mod or not-mod setup you install.

1. Ah, I see. I though that whever there was so major change or/and addition it was the reason for a new official version.

 

I have recently released some smaller mods that were originally planned as elements for the next Sandrah version.

I tuned them a bit so they now can be used on their own, but of course they really provide a much *rounder or fuller* experience if combined with the Sandrah mod:

- Shine on Caelar

- Corwin

- The Sword of Chaos (aka Tamoko)

Some mini-mods have been included into Sandrah itself

- Added Midnight's book to game
- Elfsong ghost added
- Bhaal's daughter plot added
- Black Pits integrated and accessible from Waterdeep

 

1) The mod is constantly updated and improved but a real bigger release is not expected until IWD-in-EET (if that comes).

 

2) Tamoko is WiP, it has a small quest regarding Sarevoks's missing sword to fit into the gap between his death and when SoD starts. It will have NO romance, Tamoko's man was Sarevok, and she is not a very likable character you would romance - after all, she was the one to torture prisoners for Sarevok and help him kill Gorion.

Different outcomes yes, PIDs probably not, as she would neither become a real friend nor a romance. Tamoko is a cruel and cold person, fueled by as much ambition as Sarevok had and she is serving an evil deity. She is not *poor* Tamoko who was begging the protagonist for Sarevok's life because of her good heart.

She will be very much at odds with Sandrah if both are in the party. Her content will be mostly in SoD and she will never again meet Sarevok when he re-appears in later parts of the game. This is to ensure complete compatibility with all existing Sarevok/Tamoko contents from the vanilla game and respective mods.

 

1. Ah, I see. I though that whever there was so major change or/and addition it was the reason for a new official version.

 

2. Actually I thought that since Tamoko could(potentially) be convinced to give up on Sarevok meaning that she had some code of honor despite being of evil alignment and so I considered it cool if it was at least possible to befriend her as she and the PC were not antagonistic towards each other at all.

 

As for romance obviously I do not see courting her or listening to her life story as she does not seem as the type(from what characterization she got) but if taking her as the Neutral Evil character she is supposed to be I was wondering if she could not fall with the PC for either strictly a lustful relationship or to see him/her as worthy opponent type. Perhaps only for a evil aligned PC who can satisfy her ambitions and desires better than Saervok did.  Granted one who is not as crazy as Sarevok was as it seemed a bit too much even for her(Sarevok's other lover was more ruthless and evil than her IMO).

 

At the very least a charismatic PC can make her abandon Sarevok which I doubt any guy who does not have a very strong infuence on her could pull it off.

 

Regarding PIDs I thought less about flirting but more asking her on what she think about the current situation or to convince for a specific course of action that could affect her loyalty to the PC or/and her fate.

 

A shame she won't go beyond SoD given that she is specifically for EET

I see your points , but I try not to repeat myself in the stuff I do. I used a concept like you describe for the Caelar mod already, where instead of the NPC coming with some talk every hour or so, the player gets the options to question her directly, and then the conduct of the conversation opens more option for the next PID. I did not want to repeat the same again for Tamoko.

Tamoko comes with some secret that the player may or may not reveal. She has chosen Sarevok first of all because of his heritage and she swears loyalty to the protagonist for the same reason. She has little interest in the protagonist as a personality.

There are many good romance/relationship mods out there for the game. Myself, I am not trying to compete with those. My mods are more about the story and the background that surrounds the bhaalspawn protagonist. The PC is a child of his/her times, or rather the Time of Troubles when he was conceived and born. I see this episode as a major event that has shaped and influenced a whole generation in Faerun, not just those in some way related to Bhaal and his children, but many more who suffer or profit from the aera when Gods walked among the mortals.

In my mods I try to fill those characters with more life and their own stories. The protagonist is just one example of the *Time-of-Troubles-Generation.* and his path entwines with many others. I try to tell their stories rather than going deep into the personal relationship between protagonist with any of them. It is a different approach of how you can mod the game, not every mod needs to follow the scheme of 1) getting to know - 2) having a romance/friendship - 3) ending with an epilogue.

PS - Tamoko will be an EET mod not primarily because of content but because it uses the EET transition and NPC continuity features and will not work on BGEE/SoD. However, It also is supposed to be compatible with all the Sarevok related mods and so it injects contents into later events up to ToB even if she is no longer in the party by that time.