Yet Another Idea

[Brei]

Lately I've been thinking about the lack of evil romancable Male NPCs in Baldur's Gate 2. I have an idea for one but he doesn't have a name yet. Here are his details and until he gets a name he will be refered to as . I like the idea but I welcome opinons and constructive critisim. So please feel free to make suggestions. Also he is chaotic evil and by no means tame. If the mod is made there will be stuff that children should not see. There is nothing too extreme here though.There is also a sample banter included. Enjoy!

 

Name:

 

Gender: Male

 

Age: 32

 

Race: Human

 

Class: Blackguard

 

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

 

Birthplace: Westgate

 

Deity: None

 

Background: Born in to a Westgate whore he never knew his father. He knew no love as a child and was raised by his mother who threw him out at age seven. She made it no secret that she had not wanted him and had no desire to support him further. He was a hateful bitter child and took to stealing and lying better than someone twice his age. He was picked up by the Night Masks shortly after his mother abandoned him. He grew up in the guild taking quiet easily to jobs that required intimidation and violence. He rose through the ranks becoming an enforcer by age nineteen. It quickly became known he had a taste for violence of all kinds especially when it came to women. He had no problems convincing others to do what he wanted but he preferred using force. He was also known for several very violent hate crimes against dwarves. He spent many more years in the guild before he was assigned to go to Amn to see about a local thieves guild leader that wished to join their organization. It was there in Mae’Var’s guild that you met him and he offered to join you lured by the promise of blood and coin among other things.

 

Personality: While he can be charming it’s normally when he wants something that can’t be gained through violence. He is bloodthirsty and cruel, far more used to taking what he wants than negotiating for it. He is a womanizer and enjoys mocking people and corrupting people as much as he does killing. He has an extreme hatred for dwarves and more than often will attack them on sight. He is curious about the dark arts and has studied them as much as he could. He is also quite fascinated with Bhaalspawn and finds their dark nature intriguing.

 

Romance: Female Humans, Half-Elves and Elves

 

Sample Banter:

You are walking along quietly the group marching behind you and can’t help but notice ’s stare. He is looking right at you making no attempt to hide his interest. Glancing at him out of the corner of your eyes you see him give you an evil smile that makes your blood grow cold. Stopping your march you turn to him.

 

 

Charname 1:“What are you staring at?â€

 

Charname 2: “Is something wrong ?â€

 

Charname 3:“Keep looking at me like that and I’ll cut your eyes out.â€

 

if 1: “I’m staring at you I thought that was obvious my dear Charname.†He smirks looking you up and down with an intense gaze.

 

if 2: He frowns his eye meeting yours pinning you with a critical stare. When he speaks his voice is mocking. “No Charname nothing is wrong. I am honored that you seemed to care about a lowly warrior such as myself. Now come on let’s find something to kill. END

 

if 3: He chuckles moving close till your bodies are almost touching. He looks down at you smirking his tall frame hovering over you. “I would really like to see you try that but you are far too amusing to die just yet.

 

Charname 1a: You blush furiously under his gaze finally you turn away

 

Charname 1b: You smirk back. “With a look like that one would almost think you wanted something.â€

 

Charname 1c: You glare at him. “You’re here to fight not stare at me now keep your eyes on the road!†. END

 

Charname 3a: You look up at him coldly. “What makes you think I will be the one to die.â€

 

Charname 3b: “I um…ah excuse me.†You stammer and turn away quickly. END

 

Charname 3c: You slap him roughly across the face. “Get back in line!†END

 

Charname 3d: You smile impishly running your hand over his face before slapping him playfully across the cheek. “You thought I was serious? You should know better! Now come on we have stuff to do.†END

 

if 1a: He laughs his eyes shining as he watches you like a cat would a mouse. “One of these days Charname you won’t be able to run anymore. I wait eagerly for that day.†His eyes look you over hungrily giving you the impression that he may not wait at all. Shivering you try and remember what you were doing feeling his stare on you the whole time. END

 

if 1b: His smirk widens and his eye continue to roam your body. “Maybe I do†His eyes meet yours and his hot stare turns into a cold look. “Then again maybe I don’t.†He turns away with those words leaving you to wonder just what game he is playing. END

 

if 3a: He snickers looking down at you with great amusement in his eyes. “That’s what I like about you Charname you’re daring, suicidal maybe but that’s kind of cute too. He smirks and turns back to the road. END

[theacefes]

I won't say much on the idea itself because when it comes to mod ideas, in my opinion, to each their own in character development. However a big no-no: never tell CHARNAME what he/she is feeling in any kind of dialogue response. Ever.

 

EDIT: Clarification

[Brei]

Oh I didn't know that thank you for telling me though. I'll fix that as soon as possible.

 

Edit: Okay I think I got all the parts that told what charname was feeling If i missed something please let me know. Actions are okay though right just not feelings?

[Brei]

Okay his name is Velcan. I finally came up with one. Unfortunatly I can't seem to edit the fist post anymore so I will have to wait to remove the question marks and fix a few other things.

[theacefes]

makes your blood grow cold

 

Charname 1a: You blush furiously under his gaze finally you turn away

 

giving you the impression that he may not wait at all. Shivering you try and remember what you were doing feeling his stare on you the whole time. END

 

He turns away with those words leaving you to wonder just what game he is playing

 

All of the above are basically telling the PC what he or she is thinking or doing. This is a role-playing game. Let the player make the decision on whether or not this NPC freaks them out. Don't assume that he does.

 

Charname 3b: “I um…ah excuse me.” You stammer and turn away quickly. END

 

I don't see anything immediately wrong with the dialogue itself (the stuff in quotes) but that action text is redundant and basically says what the player could deduce from the stuff in quotes.

 

He looks down at you smirking his tall frame hovering over you.

 

How does he know the PC isn't 9 feet tall? I get that you're trying to do a scary evil NPC...but remember that the PC may be just as crazy/evil/scary, if not scarier (they are the spawn of an evil god remember?)

 

I hope none of this comes across as discouraging - just trying to help by drawing on my own experiences making NPC mods.

[Brei]

It's not discouraging its helpful. I want to know if I'm doing something wrong so I can fix it so thank you. I have an edited version of this on petals and thorns since I couldn't figure out how to make changes to the first post. Here it is if anyone is interested.

 

http://www.petalsandthorns.com/thorns/view...p?p=91435#91435

[berelinde]

Hey, PS:T/NWN format dialogue. Cool, if you want to use it, but there's bound to be purists who object. Then again, folks will object to almost everything, so your best bet's to do what you love and let other people worry about popularity contests.

 

I'd rather not talk about the dialogue beyond "hey, dialogue!" I tend to get preachy on the subject, and nobody appreciates that. So, I'll just talk about the concept.

 

There is a definite lack of evil NPCs in the game. It is the least-often completed NPC concept in mod land, as well, for reason's I've never been able to fathom. Lots are started. Very, very few are finished. The challenge for you will be making him charming. "Evil and showing it" tends to come across as "misogynistic ass" a lot of the time. Granted, Vico from "A Dance with Rogues" has quite a following, so this might not necessarily be a bad thing, but there has to be that little glimmer of vulnerability to make him endearing. Vulnerability might not be the right word. More like "NPC is tots scumbag, but awesome PC pwns 10 for 10." BAMF is cool, but PC still needs to be able to kick 'im inna fork. Get that done right, and he'll be amazing.

[Brei]

I wasn't aware that was an actual way to format dialog. I was just trying to get the sample banter out there in a way the I and hopefully everone else could understand. I will do my best to make him likable but that said he will defiantly act like a jerk sometimes. He will have endearing moments also though. I don't want him to be one sided and boring after all. I want to make him real and believable. Also I hate to admit it but it was Vico from ADWR that got me into evil characters and helped spawn this idea. I loved his character and he is a part of the insipration for this project. I'm not trying to make another Vico though. One is plenty. We do need more evil in bg2 that isn't so.... I can't think of the word but something has always seemed a bit lacking to me when it comes to evil NPCs. That is why I'm going make the attempt to make a truly evil yet charming NPC. After all not all chaotic evil does not have to always be crazy mass murderering dwarves.

[berelinde]

Regarding dialogue format, a little explanation might help.

 

NWN2

[grins] You don't say.

 

NWN/PS:T

You find yourself grinning at the young rogue's audacity. "You don't say," you laugh.

 

BG2

(grins) You don't say.

 

BG1NPC

*grins* You don't say.

 

vanilla BG

You don't say.

 

How you do it is up to you. I've developed a dislike of parenthetical dialogue in general. I'm dyslexic, so reading printed text is painfully slow and tedious. Anything that makes me read more than I really, really need to read is going to hurt. I would rather see something rephrased to avoid (action) and (emote) text entirely. There is usually a way to phrase it in context so that the emotion behind the dialogue line comes through without resorting to (smirks). That said, there really is no substitute for parenthetical text in a flirt-pack situation. What would we do without (purple prose)?

 

Actually, given Edwin's tendency to insert sarcastic asides within the arms of a parenthetical phrase, I'm surprised that BG2 uses the () convention for emotes. Wouldn't it get confusing?

 

Anyway, lecture/history lesson over.

[Brei]

Thank you for explaining that. I will probally keep things as they are for now at least. I may change my mind later though. Also I've started work on how Velcan will react to Bioware npcs. I figure I'll come up with a general outline for where I want everything to go before I start the actual banters. Anyway the new stuff is posted over at petals and thorns for all who want to look.

[theacefes]

NWN/PS:T

You find yourself grinning at the young rogue's audacity. "You don't say," you laugh.

 

*Shudder* Grrr...