mishisings: (Jimothy)
So we go back to the road and run into this guy.

[​IMG]

...Yeah, no. Ignoring that...

You saw two people in the wood? I was told to meet some friends at the Friendly Arm Inn. Perhaps they and the ones you met are one and the same.

Kolssed: I doubt these are the ones you seek. They do not seem the friendly type, and are far afield of the Inn. If you wish to meet them, I left them not a moment ago just up the road. You will have to pass them anyway if you wish to go to the Friendly Arm. There is a crossroads a ways to the east and the Inn is north of that.

Could you help me? My foster father and I were attacked last eve, and now I'm not sure where to go.

Kolssed: I have little to give besides advice and good will. Make friends where you can, as traveling alone is almost certain death. You will want to surround yourself with like-minded companions, lest you risk making enemies in your own party. Aside from this little tidbit of wisdom, I'd say you're on your own. Luck be with you.

Ya hear him? 'Like-minded companions'! That'd be me! Yer doin' alright, despite bein' thicker than Candlekeep's walls! Imoen the Magnificent is gonna make an adventurer out of ya yet!

Who's thicker than Candlekeep's walls? Come here where I can whack you with my stick and say that!

This has to be the fourth or fifth time the game has told us to gather a full party quickly. And just to hammer the point home, the next people we run into are potential party members...

[​IMG]

[​IMG]

It'll be alright Imoen. Just let me handle it.

I'd be grateful for any assistance.

Nothing to fear from these simple potions, and I'll not even hold you in debt, though your conscience knows otherwise.

Just like all good people.

The Party Has Gained An Item

Perhaps as payment you would go with us to Nashkel. It is a troubled area and we mean to investigate some disturbing rumours surrounding the local mine. Some acquaintances are very concerned about the iron shortage. Specifically, where to lay blame in the matter. You would be useful, though I'll not hold you to it. We are to meet the mayor of the town, a man named Berrun Ghastkill, I believe.

Your conscience be your guide.

Aw, man, y'know, I'd love to pay you back I really would, but see, you're going south, and I'm going north. And I don't think one health potion is worth it to me to go so far out of my way.

You won't do this for me? You're bad, and I'll have someone hurt you! You'll see! That one's a meany, Monty; not a nice child at all!

Now you've gone and set him off! Blasted mage will will blither for hours. Off wit ye! I'll not suffer the both of ye!

And the two storm off.

... So much for not holding me in debt. Oh well, free potion!

... So naturally the first thing we do upon encountering recruitable NPCs is piss them off.

The one new piece of information that Kolssed character had to give us was essentially to make sure your party members have compatible alignments, lest they start fighting amongst each other. In the base game, evil characters will also just straight up leave if your reputation gets high enough, and good characters will leave if it gets low enough. There's an optional component to the NPC project that can work around that limitation, but we won't need it, since all of our potential love interests are good-aligned. Reputation conflicts won't be a problem for a while yet, but eh. They're evil, little sister didn't like the look of them, end of story.

It's all good, the Friendly Arm Inn isn't that far, and we'll meet up with the famous Jaheira and Khalid soon enough.

[​IMG]

Bandit raids are on the rise. Good to know.

[​IMG]

Wait, wait! how d'ya know my name?

Old Man: One can acquire such knowledge in more ways than one, child. But let the quiet one speak.

Not to imply anything, but how do you measure up to your own standards? Pestering strangers about their mental state doesn't seem all that well-adjusted to me.

Old Man: Point well taken, and thou hast answered my query most adequately. I shall think of thee as determined instead. I shall trouble thee no more, as thou art more than capable of the task at hand. North is the Friendly Arm Inn, where I am certain thou shalt find trustworthy friends awaiting. I have said too much and taken too much time from thee. Fare thee well.

So that was something.

[​IMG]

And here is the world map. It's pretty barren at the moment, because we haven't unlocked very many areas. We started in Candlekeep and when we regained control, we were in that rocky looking area right next to it. The coat of arms is where we are now, and to the south is Beregost, which we can't get to because we didn't exit from the bottom of the map of our current area. Because we exited from the top, we have two choices: the Friendly Arm Inn, and the Cloakwood.

Mishi's Modding Miscellany: Some of the joinable NPCs in the base game can't be met until chapter 4 or 5. That's fairly late in the game, and by the time you get there, you've most likely already assembled a solid party. NPC Project remedies this problem by adding optional components that move most of these NPCs to more accessible locations. Most of these NPCs are originally found in Baldur's Gate, though one is found in the Cloakwood. Coran is not one of these. Coran gets a different component to facilitate his recruitment. Fans of the original game will notice that I can technically go to the Cloakwood and recruit him right now. This is because of a component of the NPC mod that makes all areas of the Cloakwood but the Mines accessible as early as chapter 1. Unfortunately, Coran has a quest attached and if it's not completed within ten game days he may leave, and I'm fairly certain we don't have the levels to complete it at the moment, so we still won't be meeting him for a while.

NEXT: The Friendly Arm Inn!
mishisings: (Jimothy)
When we last left our hero, she was... Oh dear.

[​IMG]

Well, perhaps we should leave her alone, it's not every night one's foster-father is killed protecting one from nefarious villai-

Heya, it's me, Imoen!

[​IMG]

Really?

You're really gonna do this? We just had that conversation yesterday and after the night I've had I am in no fucking moo-

[​IMG]

Sorry I followed ya, but I never get out of Candlekeep and those monks are such a bore. Never any decent coin in their pockets neither.

You're really not doing much to help your case, you know.

I... I saw Gorion, and I am SO sorry! Kinda figured something bad might happen to you out here.

How could you have known? Gorion didn't even tell me.

I... accidentally... read a letter on his desk the other day. Can't remember exactly what it said, but he might still have... it might be on his... his body. Anyway, I'm not gonna let you wander around out here all alone. Never let a friend down, no sir! Stick with you until you say otherwise, I will!

Aaaaah, engine limitations. In the first Baldur's Gate, there wasn't much in the way of party interaction, so for any NPC that wasn't HUGELY IMPORTANT PLOT NPC, they didn't usually get anything but their greeting, and for joinable NPCs, a soundset that consisted of variations on the theme of "Stop clicking on me, jeez you're so demanding!" Imoen's greeting doesn't make much sense from a roleplaying perspective the first time you hear it, since she's the player character's childhood friend, and the second time you hear it, it's incredibly, inappropriately hilarious. In Baldur's Gate II they fixed that somewhat, in that the first lines of most banters were voiced, so you didn't keep hearing the same greeting whenever they decided to talk to you.

Since Imoen is our first party member, here is her character sheet, and bio.

[​IMG]


Imoen starts as a trueclass thief in this game, and she's probably the best thief for a good-aligned party. She's not as useful to us since we're already a thief, and we'll be getting another one later, but she's still good to have in the party. A lot of people like to dual-class her into a mage later on, since her intelligence stat is so high, and it's even canon, as she does turn up as a thief/mage in the sequel.

I know what you're thinking. "Childhood friend path, GET!" Except there isn't one. At least not in this game. There's a mod for Baldur's Gate II, but it's had mixed reviews. Personally, I think if she wants to act like the player character's little sister, it suits me just fine to consider her such. Imoen's a fun character with lots of entertaining banters, so we'll be keeping her around for a while until we can start building our lovelove party.

That and the chapter one narration really wasn't kidding when it said we wouldn't last long on our own. When I was testing this set-up for bugs, I kept getting killed by wolves. It's best if we can assemble a full party as quickly as possible, regardless of who's in it.

But first, maybe that letter of Gorion's Imoen mentioned might hold a clue as to what's going on.

[​IMG]

In the time-honored tradition of RPGs, our first action upon the game opening up is to loot the corpse of our beloved mentor. Let's see what he's got in his pocketses.

[​IMG]


There's not much in this letter that we don't already know, except Gorion and this E guy have apparently been expecting something like this for a while now. Now that we're done with the letter, Imoen has something to say.

[​IMG]

Hey! You were hiding your butt under a bush while he was fighting all these monsters, weren't ya?

I know! I just. I never thought he'd die. Especially not against a big dumb thug like that.

Don'tcha even know who attacked you? Whoever it was, looks like it was vicious.

Some big jerk in spiky armor. He said...

So ya remember what he said?

Well, he didn't say much... besides, obviously, wanting my corpse to be where Gorion's is now, or at least alonside it, he mentioned he had been looking for me.

Well, aren't ya the popular one? Sorry, just tryin' to liven things up here. Anyways, if that guy was lookin' for ya, he'll come for ya 'gain.

How reassuring.

Don'tcha worry, though! This time, with Imoen the Magnificent at your side, you can't lose!

Imoen the Magnificent?

'Course! It's the perfect name for me, someone who has so many talents!

Look, as magnificent as you are, I don't want to drag you into this mess. This is going to be dangerous, and I don't want to lose the last family I have left. You should go back to Candlekeep.

Leave? And if I did, who would keep ya entertained? Who would keep your spirits lifted in the darkest hour? And who would keep up the practical jokes?

I could do without the practical-

Leave! Hah! You'll have ta force me ta leave ya now!

Well, now that that's settled, let's be on our way, shall we-

[​IMG]

Okay, cards on the table, Imoen's really chatty in this early portion of the game. But she's a sweetheart, so I can't really hold it against her.

I'd hate to see this eat away at ya. We'll get him, ya know. That guy, whoever he was, who killed your dad. We'll find out who he is, and pay him back good! And don't you even think of ditching me, either. I know what I'm doing, and I'm in this as much as you. I liked Gorion, and you're my best friend. I'm your best friend too, whether you know it or not. you can count on me, and don't you forget it.

Jeez, Imoen, you already made it clear you won't let me ditch you. What's with you?

I'm just mad, that's all... mad, sad and a little worried, I guess. I'll get over it. Heh. I was trying to make you feel better, and now I'm all worked up. Come on, let's go find an evil dragon's lair or something to loot. Um, on second thought, a hobgoblin cave is more your speed. Or maybe a xvart village?

Way to shoot for the stars, kid.

Hmm. I'll have to think about this one...

NEXT: Beware of Strangers Bearing Potions

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Mishi

August 2020

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