Skie

[PetrusOctavianus]

Some chronology problems with Skie.

 

After returning to Baldur's Gate, the first thing we did was investigating the Iron Throne and we found the letters on Sarevok's girlfriend telling of the murder og Skie's father. No reaction from here after this.

 

Then we see Tamoko outside the FF HQ talk to her and enter the HQ. At some oint during this (I think while talking to Tamoko), we are told that Duke Entar is dead, but Skie doesn't collapse in a heap of blubbering as I had thought. Maybe being an adventurer has hardended her.

 

Then we dispatch Slythe and his bitch, and Skie puts up a brave face and threatens to kill them. After killing them, we thwart Eldoth's plans by persuading Skie to stay. Then we enter the Blushing Mermaid and Ivanne tells us about Scar's murder. Old news, but Skie reacts as if she just heard it.

 

Then we head towards the Helm Temple for some healing before the showdown at the Palace and we meet Sorrell.

When he says "Aye, I never liked you, but I'll do as you ask. There are greater things at stake right now. While you're skulking about...." Damned, now the game crashed on me. Anyway, Sorrell doesn't actually say anything about Scar and the Dukes being killed, but again Skie reacts as if Scar's death is news and she is worried about her father.

 

BTW, are there any actual quests involving Skie and/or Eldoth? I'm not likely to use them in future games, so may as well get as much fun out of them as possible.

 

 

EDIT:

Even more problems with Skie:

 

More people, like the Noblewoman (can't remember her name) who approaches when entering the NW aread og BG, tell her that her father is dead and she still reacts as if it's news to her.

 

The gardener doesn't show the proper respect when Skie is in the party. Or is she considered to still be in disguise?

 

Long after her father is dead, shortly after reaching Durlag's Tower, she and Eldoth still talks about her father as if he's still alive, when Skie has thought and come up with a plan that will make it look like she's dead, to avoid her father's bounty hunters. I didn't encounter any bounty hunters from the time I recruited Skie and untill her father was killed, though. Do they exist?

This banter is started by Eldoth saying "My Lady, I don't think life on the road suits you".

[Miloch]

I think Skie is one of the least fleshed-out NPCs unfortunately (I rarely use her either) but there may be some actual bugs here too.

[Jaxsbudgie]

I noticed all of these insane inconsistencies too, and they bugged the hell out of me.

I also noticed that she said "I can't believe he's dead" literally all the time, mostly when the party's reputation changed. I wasn't sure if she was referring to her brother or her father?

Do you think it's even possible to move her from Baldur's Gate?

Or get Eldoth to stealth and charm his way across the Baldur's Gate bridge and into the city commando style, to return a few hours later with Skie? His success rate could be determined by party rep, morale, equipment, potions ... I don't know

 

I want to like Skie, but she has very little going for her in terms of mod content ... and that voice set ...

 

Also, has anyone thought she'd make a good comeback into BG2? No? Just me then...

[berelinde]

Hmm. I'm so far out of practice with the BG1 NPC Project that it isn't even funny, but it looks like the chronological inconsistencies you are experiencing are part of vanilla game content, not mod-added content.

 

At this point, BG1 NPC is not adding new content, so even attempting to correct these would be impossible.

 

And it's a shame. I'm one of the estimated eight people that actually like Skie (apart from the voice...), and I'd really like to see more of her, but it isn't going to happen in BG1 NPC.

[Miloch]

I also noticed that she said "I can't believe he's dead" literally all the time, mostly when the party's reputation changed. I wasn't sure if she was referring to her brother or her father?

This is a bug in the original BG1 that has carried over into Tutu and BGT. Someone mistyped skiee40 for skiee04 somewhere, looks like. Instead, her HAPPY clip should be:

~[sKIE 4] You're the finest group of friends I've ever had.~ [sKIEE04]

The one you're talking about is her REACT_TO_DIE_GENERAL clip.

~[sKIE 40] 'sniffle' I can't believe he's dead.~ [sKIEE40]

Kind of inappropriate if a female member of the party dies, but that's what it's supposed to be. Her REACT_TO_DIE_SPECIFIC applies only to Eldoth (as it mentions him by name).

 

I guess I can fix this in some vastly inappropriate mod or other, being as how the BG1 Fixpack, BG1 NPC Project and BGT all seem to be out of maintenance. For Tutu, the soundclip will need to be ported from BG1 actually since it was never ported to Tutu. Luckily it exists in BG1, unlike her BATTLE_CRY clip skiee03.

 

The Dark Side of the Sword Coast's "Extended NPC Sounds" component (for BGT but also compatible with Tutu) "fixes" a lot of her more inappropriate sounds, as best it can. It uses the "Let's go shopping" for her BATTLE_CRY (rofl - I couldn't find a better one, though maybe I could sample "Get away from me!" from her INTERACTION3 clip) and "I feel safe with you in the party" for her HAPPY clip because I wasn't aware of the missing skiee04 at the time, but easy enough to change.

[Jaxsbudgie]

And it's a shame. I'm one of the estimated eight people that actually like Skie (apart from the voice...), and I'd really like to see more of her, but it isn't going to happen in BG1 NPC.

I like her too ... I think. She's essentially the Nalia of BG1 ... or Nalia is the Skie of BG2?

I guess I can fix this in some vastly inappropriate mod or other, being as how the BG1 Fixpack, BG1 NPC Project and BGT all seem to be out of maintenance. For Tutu, the soundclip will need to be ported from BG1 actually since it was never ported to Tutu. Luckily it exists in BG1, unlike her BATTLE_CRY clip skiee03.

That's a lot of mods out of maintenance, has everyone just moved onto greener pastures? Interesting about her voice clips, so her response to Eldoth dying was scripted to be the same as when anyone else dies? Oh dear, poor show Bioware. And she doesn't have a battlecry either? Methinks Skie was a last minute NPC, put in for flavour?

The Dark Side of the Sword Coast's "Extended NPC Sounds" component (for BGT but also compatible with Tutu) "fixes" a lot of her more inappropriate sounds, as best it can. It uses the "Let's go shopping" for her BATTLE_CRY (rofl - I couldn't find a better one, though maybe I could sample "Get away from me!" from her INTERACTION3 clip) and "I feel safe with you in the party" for her HAPPY clip because I wasn't aware of the missing skiee04 at the time, but easy enough to change.

I'll probably use DSotSC in my next playthrough then, although those NPC stats look a bit ... ridiculous, I'll probably just stick with the extended NPC sounds.

[berelinde]

I guess I can fix this in some vastly inappropriate mod or other, being as how the BG1 Fixpack, BG1 NPC Project and BGT all seem to be out of maintenance. For Tutu, the soundclip will need to be ported from BG1 actually since it was never ported to Tutu. Luckily it exists in BG1, unlike her BATTLE_CRY clip skiee03.

That's a lot of mods out of maintenance, has everyone just moved onto greener pastures?

I can't speak for the BG1 Fixpack or BGT, but I know that BG1 NPC was a massive undertaking. It burned out most of the people involved, at least where BG1 is concerned. Others left the community for one reason or another.

[Miloch]

That's a lot of mods out of maintenance, has everyone just moved onto greener pastures?

BG1 Fixpack was never truly finished - although I was marginally involved in it, its main proponent plainab is playing some online game now (as he's said in the topic devoted to it here) and in any case, it was only ever compatible with vanilla BG1, not Tutu or BGT. BGT's maintainer is "retired" according to him (though I think he would still fix this if he puts out another release). EasyTutu's maintainer Macready is semi-active at best. BG1 NPC's cmorgan was talking about fixing this sort of thing (and maybe copping DSotSC's soundset code, which I said was cool with me) but he also has RL demands like many of us.

Interesting about her voice clips, so her response to Eldoth dying was scripted to be the same as when anyone else dies? Oh dear, poor show Bioware.

No, she says something else if Eldoth dies (and for him only):

[sKIE 41] What am I going to do 'sniffle', you can't die Eldoth, you can't.

Well obviously he can...

And she doesn't have a battlecry either?

She did, at least by intention, but it is missing even in BG1 so we have no clue what it was. It has no text associated, so I would guess it was some sort of scream (like her DAMAGE and DEATH cries).

Methinks Skie was a last minute NPC, put in for flavour?

Well she is put in toward the end of the game (in BG city). It would be interesting to see her earlier, or indeed later in BG2, possibly a less-whiny incarnation. I like the idea of the "noble thief" (noble as in a lord's daughter) - rich girl with money who just steals for the thrill but eventually gets wiser, finds out guys like Eldoth are actually *bad* and there's actual evil out there. But as she is "true neutral" that could go either way - she could turn either to the light or the dark side. Or just start to look out for herself and stay neutral, but in a more cavalier, possibly swashbuckling sort of way.

I'll probably use DSotSC in my next playthrough then, although those NPC stats look a bit ... ridiculous, I'll probably just stick with the extended NPC sounds.

The core mod is only BGT compatible right now anyway, though we are slowly but surely working on the Tutu conversion (of the original mod, not the BGT version). We have attempted to make it "less ridiculous" as you say, without changing the spirit of the original. One reason I have shelved it for so long is that it involved quite a bit of patching that was impractical a couple years ago, though recent WeiDU improvements make it more so. So BG modding is not completely dead .

[Jaxsbudgie]

No, she says something else if Eldoth dies (and for him only):

[sKIE 41] What am I going to do 'sniffle', you can't die Eldoth, you can't.

Well obviously he can...

Ah yes! I remember her saying this. I still don't understand why Bioware made her say 'I can't believe he's dead' when someone died .... unless she was to say it after Eldoth had died permanently?

Well she is put in toward the end of the game (in BG city). It would be interesting to see her earlier, or indeed later in BG2, possibly a less-whiny incarnation. I like the idea of the "noble thief" (noble as in a lord's daughter) - rich girl with money who just steals for the thrill but eventually gets wiser, finds out guys like Eldoth are actually *bad* and there's actual evil out there. But as she is "true neutral" that could go either way - she could turn either to the light or the dark side. Or just start to look out for herself and stay neutral, but in a more cavalier, possibly swashbuckling sort of way.

This is exactly what I had in mind too, and a pure thief would be a nice addition ('noble thief' sounds like a kit idea to me ...), her stats could be raised I guess to make her yet another human thief dualled mage. I'm thinking wisdom raised to 11 after ditching Eldoth. She'd be easy to write into it as well, her father could have an estate in Athkatla, or her and Eldoth could have travelled there, Eldoth may have died or something. It's just about her voice set though, it was brain haemorrhaging to begin with, maybe you could change a few of her commands around so she doesn't complain so much? 'Do you like my perfume' and 'I wanna go home' could work ... I still like 'Let's go shopping' as her battle cry, haha.

I would like to mod this, but I have no idea how to mod, I only downloaded Near Infinity the other day.

[Guest Guest_Ipsy_*]

Wait, 8 Skie fans? Just 8? A friend on another forum is writing an AU BG1 fanfic with Skie as the protagonist, and a fair number of people have been reading it, and agreeing that Eldoth=Isaea Roenall, but Skie isn't exactly Nalia. I'm pretty sure that would be more than 8 Skie would be great in BG2, though. I mean, the vanilla Eldoth/Skie/Garrick love triangle, Eldoth's reappearance via Romantic Encounters, Garrick's presence in the Bridge District... There's a lot of potential there. BG1 has some tragically neglected and underappreciated characters

 

I don't think Skie would view herself as a swashbuckler, really. She's not Alora or Imoen, both of whom steal for fun, or Nalia, who likes to play Robin Hood. I don't even think that her thief really suits her. She's apparently graceful from her dancing lessons, she wanted to adventure, and she fancies Eldoth to be her gallant knight. If anything, IMHO a custom bard kit would fit her.

[Jaxsbudgie]

I don't think Skie would view herself as a swashbuckler, really. She's not Alora or Imoen, both of whom steal for fun, or Nalia, who likes to play Robin Hood. I don't even think that her thief really suits her. She's apparently graceful from her dancing lessons, she wanted to adventure, and she fancies Eldoth to be her gallant knight. If anything, IMHO a custom bard kit would fit her.

 

I think that a lot of characters that don't file under any of the other classes fall into either Thief or Bard. I think the idea of her being a Bard is interesting .... but I don't think I like it. Her changing class from BG1 to BG2 would annoy me, and I think being a Thief suits her more. She never mentions of singing or reciting poetry, I can't really imagine her singing in battle either. Methinks a custom Thief kit would fit her, similar to the Adventurer kit that has some longevity to it if she really was to be a pure Thief. Maybe a more charismatic Thief kit?

[Miloch]

I think that a lot of characters that don't file under any of the other classes fall into either Thief or Bard. I think the idea of her being a Bard is interesting .... but I don't think I like it. Her changing class from BG1 to BG2 would annoy me, and I think being a Thief suits her more. She never mentions of singing or reciting poetry, I can't really imagine her singing in battle either. Methinks a custom Thief kit would fit her, similar to the Adventurer kit that has some longevity to it if she really was to be a pure Thief. Maybe a more charismatic Thief kit?

There is something like "charasmatic thief" kit in TDD or some mod, but I dunno. She has a charisma of 13 which is slightly above average but not exactly remarkable (the kit is used for Imoen I believe). I have previously suggested swashbuckler, based on the kit's description alone (from 2nd ed. Complete Thief's Handbook):

Most Swashbucklers come from a wealthy or aristocratic background. Their skills of stealth and acrobatics came not from survival needs, but whim. This motivation typically remains the driving force behind the Swashbuckler's career... The daytime character may be a foppish dandy, gruff businessman, or airheaded noblewoman... Most often (80% of the time, say) a Swashbuckler has no secondary skills, since he usually is from a rich, foppish background.

Skie would actually be an exception to this last bit, since according to her background, she knows history, languages and dancing:

When asked about her past, SKIE bubbles that she is the daughter of Entar Silvershield, one of the Grand Dukes of Baldur's Gate. Her admittedly sheltered life has consisted mostly of learning ballet, history and languages. Being exceptionally agile, she has become a very proficient dancer, though this natural dexterity has mainly allowed her better to sneak off on sojourns away from the estate. She says she finds the nastier areas of Baldur's Gate exciting, though she seems naive about the dangers. On one of her escapades, she met up with the debonair Eldoth, and thinks he can help her live the life of adventure she craves. She trusts him implicitly - perhaps too much so.

So in fact a bard kit (perhaps Acrobat) would suit her too - she could well have a high lore value due to her studies. Not all bard kits are about singing either - some don't even have bardsong. Most acrobats are associated with lower classes and the circus though, so that's not fitting. In fact, the Adventurer thief kit there might be the best. She says it's "adventure" that attracts her, after all, and there's nothing specific about that kit the restricts her from it. Nothing wrong with plain thief either. You can already change her kit to anything you want by installing the kit mod and Level 1 NPCs. As for learning how to mod, I would suggest picking apart some of the various NPC mods (particularly ones that mod existing NPCs) - look at their .tp2 (installer) and .d (dialogue) files in a text editor and try to follow some of the tutorials on this site and others.

[Daulmakan]

The core mod is only BGT compatible right now anyway, though we are slowly but surely working on the Tutu conversion (of the original mod, not the BGT version). We have attempted to make it "less ridiculous" as you say, without changing the spirit of the original. One reason I have shelved it for so long is that it involved quite a bit of patching that was impractical a couple years ago, though recent WeiDU improvements make it more so. So BG modding is not completely dead .

Good to hear.

[Guest Guest_Ipsy_*]

I think that a lot of characters that don't file under any of the other classes fall into either Thief or Bard. I think the idea of her being a Bard is interesting .... but I don't think I like it. Her changing class from BG1 to BG2 would annoy me, and I think being a Thief suits her more. She never mentions of singing or reciting poetry, I can't really imagine her singing in battle either. Methinks a custom Thief kit would fit her, similar to the Adventurer kit that has some longevity to it if she really was to be a pure Thief. Maybe a more charismatic Thief kit?

Being a bard isn't necessarily about singing and poetry. In BG1 NPC, Skie demonstrates on several occasions that she received a good education--just look at her banters with Edwin. Also, it's possible to disable class-specific buttons, and I really don't see her picking locks/pockets, sneaking, or backstabbing. IMHO, a thief/bard kit with no backstab/bardsong/thieving, charisma bonus, and enhanced lore value would fit, except that seems too restrictive. Perhaps an ability similar to Cat's Grace, granting a bonus to dexterity/AC.

 

Besides, she wouldn't have to change class in BG2. A minimod to make her a bard/kitted bard/thief in Tutu or BGT would be relatively straightforward.

 

The Adventurer kit receives a bonus to lockpicking and trap detection. I'm pretty sure that, prior to joining the party, Skie never saw a trap that needed to be disarmed.

[Miloch]

IMHO, a thief/bard kit with no backstab/bardsong/thieving, charisma bonus, and enhanced lore value would fit, except that seems too restrictive.

Heh. It certainly does .

A minimod to make her a bard/kitted bard/thief in Tutu or BGT would be relatively straightforward.

Not necessary, because as I said, Level 1 NPCs already does it with whichever kit you want.

'm pretty sure that, prior to joining the party, Skie never saw a trap that needed to be disarmed.

And why not? You have to account for all her experience points somehow. If the party gets the level 6 version of her (most likely, by the time they reach BG city), she'll have over 20,000 XP and 40% in Find Traps. Does it seem likely that she's killed anything? Indeed, that she's killed over 30 ogre magi in the docks or sewers all by her lonesome self? Perhaps not, but that's what she'd need to get that kind of experience. Even if you somehow manage to get the L4 version of her (the only other version outside of L1NPCs), she'll have 30% in Find Traps and over 5k XP - the equivalent of 7 or 8 soloed ogre magi. Of course it needn't just be ogre magi, but they're a fairly big ticket item XP-wise in BG1. Nor need she to have soloed them, but she'd've been splitting the XP otherwise. And kills needn't be the only XP source either, but it's the main source in 2e rules, with successful thief skill use (such as trap disarming) providing a minor bonus. So in other words, she can't be as inexperienced as she might seem.