Tenshi Muyo?

[T-Zero]

Hi! There's something I've been pondering for a while, since I installed the BG series and played through it the umpteenth time. Pretty much as soon as the game was released, good hard-working modders gave us the ability to pursue all three of the vanilla romances at the same time. But something that always nagged at me was that, while the mechanics of the romances were tweaked to permit a harem, the story wasn't. It's bugged me enough that I felt I needed to post and ask if anyone's made a mod that took all three romances, made them available, and then dealt the the subject of having more than one lover... and those lovers interacting in such a way that polygamous love could follow?

[InKal]

No 3-4-5-6somes for now AFAIK.

 

also "harem" is not the point. the point is to do all romances without the necessity of playing the game a couple of times and a possibility to unintentionally breaking the romance.

 

not to mention that you basically need some kind of conclusion to your kinky shenanigans, I mean the ToB ending:

 

TRIGGER WARNING!

 

 

 

 

"after solving some kind of misconceptions about some stuff, the harem..ekhem... the party under the iron (wink wink nudge nudge) lead of the halfling barbarian Kenji Maebara has finalised the final RULES:

monday, tuesday, - Viccy on top, wednesday, thursday - Jaheira front, friday - Aerie lotus (all day and night, no "redbull" jokes), saturday - Anomen CENSORED, sunday - orgy MOSAIC. Rules totally final and absolutely non negotiatonable was eagerly hmm... cultivated by the party and they all live happily ever after as the best harem ever!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[T-Zero]

Uh... hate to say it, but that's actually the exact opposite of what I was thinking. An evolving group dynamic that evolves from bitter and contentious bickering and a lack of respect or esteem for one another, centering around the protagonist, who must deal with these as he finds he loves each, and must come to terms with the fact that he cannot choose one over the others. It's a story that's been told before, and told well. I believe a mod could be made that did the same for BG.

[jastey]

In-character reaktion of the BioWare NPCs is ending the romance. I don't see a great mod potential, unless you mean expanding the "PC has to chose and cannot decide, NPCs state their discontentment repeatedly". Maybe I got your idea wrong, but from reading your first post I also thought you wanted an official polyarmour mod with the NPCs knowingly agreeing to, so maybe you should specify what you have in mind a bit more.

[T-Zero]

That's actually a bit closer to the idea. The title is an example of a well-written multi-romance story centered around a protagonist -just like BG. However, the difference is that the characters, though at odds, come to respect one another and even begin to forge friendships amongst themselves nearly as strong as their affection for Tenshi. Imagine the character development if that paradigm was applied here? Aerie is inscecure, obsessed with the pain of her past, wants a codependent relationship with CHARNAME, and is called on this by both Jaheira and Viconia. Jaheira is domineering, treats others as children to be taught (including CHARNAME), and seems to think the best way to get over her extremely recent loss of a boyfriend is to replace him with a new one post-haste. Both Aerie and Viconia call her on this. Viconia is arrogant, willing to use sex to get her way, and (at least at the start) is as amoral as you would expect from a drow. Both Aerie and Jaheira call her on this.

 

That looks like pure antipathy at first glance... but maybe not. In all the romances as written, the protagonist more or less acts as an enabler for all of them. Sure, there's growth, but it's of the "love cures all illls." sort. Now, imagine that during their bickering, CHARNAME takes a different role. When they fight, instead of simply seguing to the rest of the romance talk, he first notes where each side has a point. Not so much putting his/her foot down as expressing exasperation with his would-be paramours. Could this cause introspection? Possibly. Certainly Viconia might feign acquiescence to try and get in his/her good graces. Each of the love interests has something that they could learn from the other, something that would help complete them as persons, and our much-beleaguered hero stands at the center, poised to be a catalyst for this.

 

There are whole dynamics that would be added to the story this way. A fascinating story, at least to my mind.

'

[T-Zero]

Actually, if nobody's done this mod before, I'd be willing to take a crack at it. I can't code for anything, but I'm could take a shot at writing it, if someone can package it up in weidu.

[Roxanne]

A lot of what is suggested here has been included in the SandrahNPC mod, however this is of course written from the perspective of a single NPC's interaction with the rest of the group. As I created an NPC that can follow you from Candlekeep to the Throne of Bhaal and beyond, I had to face all the other romance possibilities in the game. I did not want to destroy those by claiming the PC for my figure alone, so I gave this issue a lot of thought. Some of my assumptions were

- a group of six people being together 24/7

- the group travels alone, often under *enemy fire*, with only little chance of outside contact (I think this is very well handled by the Romantic Encounter mod's episodes)

- your party faces death daily, the end is always near (Xan is right), you may loose your beloved any day

- the perspective of a family life and children for the male/female Bhaalspawn is unrealistic and he/she will notice that soon

- the same may apply for most of your party members, if they are a bit realistic

- the mechanics of love (and sex - or both) work a bit different in such a group than they would e.g. for six people in an office job.

- there is more desperation, "get it while you can", living from day to day.

- even if not orgies are daily business (Sandrah,/Viconia and a male PC or Sandrah/Shar-Teel come close to it), your NPCs may seek each others company and yours in different constellation when the tension of a big battle ahead or behind you is high.

- your lifestyle as such is a turmoil of events and feelings with only few constants, your love life will refelect that

World literature is full of those love stories that evolve under such extreme and war-like circumstances and how different they are from the *normal life*. (Dynaheir's BG1 romance already comes close to it - she seems to say to herself atsome point "why not" - probably she would not romance the PC under more everyday circumstances.)

 

With all the possible romances that are now in the game, it is hard to imagine that this can be done for every NPC-constellation. However it is possible for individual mods to consider the issue instead of claiming an exclusive love with the PC. (Some other attempts exist as well, where NPCs are rather interested in some other party member than the PC instead.)

 

I additionally introduced a feature in my mod that allows you to play all male or female romances in BG1 sequentially (once you have finished all lovetalks with one of them they will find an excuse to take some days off from your party - you can either pick them up again or recruit one of the others now to get a new experience,) Playing BG1 with all the mayor expansion mods normally gives you enough time for that.

 

PS I forgot to mention that the PC and also some of the party members are still quite young, willing to make some new/first experiences in love but still not ready for a *steady* companion. The last thing on PC's mind when leaving Candlekeep may be a marriage with (Saerileth or Anomen).

[T-Zero]

I'm glad someone else has thought about it Still... I was thinking less "love the one you're with" and more "love is love." Plus, I wasn't going to try to make it bit compatible with all the various npcs, except to not make it so that the mod conflicted with 3rd party romances. Still, all of those are wonderful considerations and I'd really like to play your mod. I just feel that the BW romances need more attention than they get. All of those character flaws I mentioned above never get the chance to resolve -they just get painted over. BW more or less goes, "You've answered correctly! Here, have a relationship that's actually an emotional mess but we're not going to bother evolving it to a healthy status."

[Roxanne]

I'm glad someone else has thought about it Still... I was thinking less "love the one you're with" and more "love is love." Plus, I wasn't going to try to make it bit compatible with all the various npcs, except to not make it so that the mod conflicted with 3rd party romances. Still, all of those are wonderful considerations and I'd really like to play your mod. I just feel that the BW romances need more attention than they get. All of those character flaws I mentioned above never get the chance to resolve -they just get painted over. BW more or less goes, "You've answered correctly! Here, have a relationship that's actually an emotional mess but we're not going to bother evolving it to a healthy status."

This is maybe a different topic - aside from romance. Something like character development - once an NPC is created and its personality is established, most stay that way for the rest of the game. There are few that *learn* unless those that are supposed to change from evil to good.

With BGT however, there is now the possibility to really evolve a character with all its changes - those events you go through would not leave people unchanged. Just for example, my blue-eyed enthuastic heroine loses quite a lot of her initial illusions alongside the Bhaalspawn but on the other side starts to develop a mature character with a different set of ambitions. Her development is as well dependent on the chemistry of your party (i.e. who else is there, which views are exchanged, which route the PC takes to his/her goal etc).

This allows much more choices than just right or wrong answers/decisions from the PC.

[T-Zero]

Actually, I think they're linked -the real difference is one between a single person's evolution, or multiple evolving.. with each influencing the other.

[Greenhorn]

Hi! There's something I've been pondering for a while, since I installed the BG series and played through it the umpteenth time. Pretty much as soon as the game was released, good hard-working modders gave us the ability to pursue all three of the vanilla romances at the same time. But something that always nagged at me was that, while the mechanics of the romances were tweaked to permit a harem, the story wasn't. It's bugged me enough that I felt I needed to post and ask if anyone's made a mod that took all three romances, made them available, and then dealt the the subject of having more than one lover... and those lovers interacting in such a way that polygamous love could follow?

 

Well, my good sir, I believe this is the answer to your prayers. Enjoy and happy holidays! http://dragonshoard.blackwyrmlair.net/mods_download.php?mod=389

[Ser Elryk]

So glad I stumbled onto this thread! This Rjali Romance mod sounds awesome. Anyone know if there's a mod page, or where to contact the mod author, Ron Joyal?

 

Side Note: Of all the mods I've seen or read about, Roxanne's Sandrah Saga mod is the most awesomely ambitious one that I've ever come across, by far. She deserves mad props in my opinion.

 

EDIT: Nvm. I found him. He's over on The Black Wyrm's Lair forums. Gonna try and get him over here or on SHS =)