Domi,
I see that you were the principal writer on Dynaheir--kudos! I'm really enjoying it.
I've been thinking about what you wrote in response to my post:
"The thing about gay romances is that it is a major statement in a character concept, and the character interpretation is a harsh mistress. Growing personality out of Bio's seedling is a tricky bussiness, an excersise in balance between what everyone else thinks, and what works for you..."
I completely understand this, and please know that my frustration with the lack of male-male romances shouldn't be taken as criticism of the BG1 NPC Project or those who created it. After all, you all went to the trouble to flesh out these characters, and did so to a fantastic extent. And certainly, writers should follow the path that moves them. If I were not to like a mod, well, I should learn how to write my own.
That being said, I also don't think that adding same-sex options for romances need be as radical for the NPCs' personality as you seem to indicate. I agree, Coran is pretty much a ladies' man, and I can't imagine him being interested in men in that way. Similarly, I imagine Safana is just into guys. I have no problem with that. On the other hand, many of the characters in the original Baldur's Gate did nothing to indicate either a sexual orientation or an exclusivity in orientation (at least in what I remember). For instance, I can imagine Dynaheir being as interested in a woman as a man. And other than any difficulty in addressing gender in actually writing the dialogues, nothing about that romance would have to be much different no matter who Dynaheir was involved with. And I'd say this could be as true for Xan or Ajantis as well. And as far as Montaron and Xzar, there's *something* going on there. I don't know what it is, and I don't know that I want to know what it is, but there's something there.
Part of the reason that I look at those npcs that way is that in the absence of specific clues given about a character, I assume that I can't assume a specific orientation for a character. Coran as written provides pretty clear evidence for exclusive heterosexuality. Garrick, on the other hand, provides evidence for interest in women (especially given what happens in BGII), but that need not mean that he might not be interested in men, if the right one came along.
Actually, the only way that a gay romance necessarily radically changes a romance is if we assume that same-sex relationships are as stigmatized within the Forgotten Realms as they are in the real world. If so, then there is a whole element of secrecy, hostility, and supportiveness among the other NPCs. And to be honest, that would be fascinating to explore. But it need not be explored--I don't think Westley Weimer took that track at all with Solaufein. In fact, I think he wrote the whole thing as gender neutral (which certainly has it's own advantages and disadvantages).
There is one more way that mods with same-sex options can be a little problematic, I suppose. If players are freaked out by the thought that if Ajantis were written to romance either males or females that that means that Ajantis is bisexual, it can alter their thinking about the npc. Just because Ajantis could be written to romance either gender, though, doesn't mean that within any individual game that Ajantis has to be bisexual, gay, straight, or asexual. Every romance goes down a path, and are typically written that players can close down options with responses pretty early. Let me tell you, despite the fact that Shar-teel is written (within the BG1 NPC Project) as a heterosexual woman, her sexuality has no impact on my games, because my character is not going to romance her.
Anyway, I'm sorry for the long, rambling, off-topic response to your note. Again, my first purpose in coming here was just to let the creators of this wonderful mod that Dynaheir is really well done and that I hope to try Branwen the next time I start a new character. (Oh, btw, I completely agree, Kivan *shouldn't* be romanceable, at least in BG1, for the same reasons that I feel weird about Jaheira being romanceable in BGII--both are dealing with a very recent tremendous loss. Much as I love Jaheira, it makes that romance kinda disturbing for me.)
Thanks!