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Amber's Overview and FAQ


Meira

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Overview

 

This mod adds a joinable NPC for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Amber is a chaotic good female tiefling fighter/thief with a few special abilities. Despite being fairly intelligent, she can also be rather blunt when communicating with other people. This trait rarely earns her friends among the people she meets, and the feeling of initial dislike is usually mutual. But underneath her prickly manners, she has a good heart and is prepared to go to great lengths to help those who she sees to be weak and in need of aid.

 

The mod features not only romance and friendship tracks for the protagonist, but also a romance track for a second PC in a multiplayer game (Player 2). This feature is also exploitable in a single player game if you want enjoy two concurrent romances without cheating (see the P2 romance FAQ for more info). In addition, Amber is lavishly voiced and has her own original musical theme.

 

The quest that will lead to meeting with Amber will start in the streets of Athkatla, and can take place before or after your journey to Brynnlaw.

 

FAQ

 

Q. Where can I find the download link?

A. Here.

 

Q. Does Amber use WeiDU?

A. Yes.

 

Q. Do I need Throne of Bhaal?

A. Yes. Amber uses the MakeGlobal() scripting action, included only in Throne of Bhaal.

 

Q. Do I need to start a new game?

A. No. The new areas we are adding will not interfere with the world map. Neither do we change the original game areas in any way that would jeopardise compatibility with other mods.

 

Q. A multiplayer-friendly flirt pack? What does that mean?

A. Flirting with Amber will not pause the entire game. The other players are free to do their shopping, adjust inventories of their characters etc. and you can make out with your sweetheart without annoying your co-players. This will be an optional component that will be of use mostly to multiplayers.

 

Q. How are you planning to release this mod? Both SoA and ToB content at the same time or separately?

A. The initial release will contain only the SoA portion. ToB content will be released later as a separete add-on.

 

Q. What tools and resources were used to create Amber mod?

A. Check out the tools and sources section under 'Links' on Amber's web page.

 

Q. Who is Amber?

A. She's a chaotic good female tiefling fighter/thief with a few special abilities. She's smart but she can also be rather blunt when communicating with other people, earning her few friends among the people she meets. Most people do not take too well to her, and the feeling is usually mutual. But underneath her prickly manners, she has a good heart and will go to great lengths to help those who she sees to be weak and in need of aid.

 

Q. Where can I find Amber?

A. The quest leading up meeting with Amber will start in Athkatla. There are more than one places where it can start, so you should not be forced to run around too much in order to find her.

 

Q. Is there be voicing and music?

A. Yes.

 

UPDATED 16th of January 2007

Q. What's your cast lineup?

A. Here you go:

 

Amber - Celissa (English)

Amber - Ines (German, soundset only)

Girl - Irenicus Knightingale

Boy - Harry

Lorraine - Silk

Demon - Darios

Gabriel - Darios

Ymmyrt - Darios

Ghost boy - Grim Squeaker

 

Q. What weapons does she use?

A. Long swords, daggers, bows and spears.

 

Q. You mentioned special abilities?

A. Yes, due her fiendish background, she can blind her target by looking into their eyes. Later on, as she learns to control her abilities better, she can cause even nastier effects. She has a natural resistance to fire, and during her long life she has also picked a thing or two on preparing poisons.

 

Q. Does she have any disadvantages to balance out those special abilities?

A. Yes. Although her proficiency as a fighter would allow her to use any weapons or armour, she won't wear any armour heavier than studded leather, or a shield larger than a buckler. She also won't use any weapons that are large enough to be unwieldy, such as halberds or 2-handed swords.

 

Q. Can you have a romance with Amber?

A. Yes, if you're a male of any race AND have a charisma and intelligence of 12 or better. Her mini-quests and casual talks are available also to those with whom she won't have a romance. A friendship path is also included for any PC who's not a total ass.

 

Q. Is there an option for Amber to have a romance with an NPC if the protagonist is not interested or she's not interested in him?

A. No, but Amber can have a romance with Player 2 if Player 1 is not a suitable match. This requires you to start a multiplayer game and to create another PC into Character Slot 2. She will not romance NPCs. The Player 2 romance will only happen if the protagonist is not a match; she will not run to Player 2 if you turn her down later. However, it is possible to manually "push" Amber towards Player 2 if both the Protagonist and Player 2 meet her requirements. Keep your eyes open during the joining dialogue. This feature is also exploitable in a singleplayer game if you want enjoy two concurrent romances without cheating.

 

Q. So, what about ratings? Any sex, violence or swearing?

A.There is no violence that would be any different from what is already in the game. There are adult situations and sexual themes in the romance track , in general of a similar level or milder than found in the Kelsey Romance or the NPC Flirt Packs, for example. There is occasional swearing, and a mush warning is probably in order. :rolleyes:

 

Q. What's the deal with the drow portrait on the 'Portraits' -page?

A. If there ever will be a 'Drow portraits for the Underdark' -mod that may well be Amber's drow portrait.

 

Q. How do I know if Amber likes my character enough to sleep with him?

Q. Help! Amber doesn't talk to me anymore! I though everything was going so well! What's going on?

 

A. From v2 onwards there is a new click talk option available: "How are you doing, Amber?" It serves two purposes: firstly you can monitor how much Amber likes you based on how she reacts to that question. Although currently there's only a very basic range available from 'Amber doesn't like you at all' to 'neutral' and 'Amber likes you a lot'. Secondly, whenever there's a talk coming up that has more specific conditions than simply the expired timer, Amber's answer to the question will give you a hint on how to meet those conditions.

 

 

Feel free to ask whatever comes to mind; we will see if we can answer your question without spoiling too much. After all, we do not wish to spill all of our beans before you have a chance to play the mod... :D

Edited by Meira
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Q: How come it requires ToB? Is it some scripting or spells or wild mages or something?

 

A: First of all, some scripts in the mod use *SpellRES actions. Although you can technically use them with just SoA by adding them to your action.ids, we decided to play on the safe side. I think along the way there was also some other reason for requiring ToB (I think it might have been a ToB spell that I used somewhere), but I cannot remember it right now. At some point, when I go through everything once more, I might check whether we ended up using something ToB-specific or whether we could just have the mod append the missing SpellRES actions to action.ids (if they are not there already) and have it work without ToB. But for now, I *think* you will need ToB.

 

Q: What's her weapon proficiency spread like?

 

A: She will be more or less proficient with daggers, spears, long swords and long bows. She also has some abilities in relevant weapon styles. She is no master with any of them, but due to her fighting experience, she knows more about some of them than most thieves. Vague enough? :rolleyes:

Edited by Darios
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Q: I was just wondering why her charisma was so low? Is it because of her physical features or her personality?

Heh, this seems to be a serious concern to many. Who cares if she's weidu or not, but why the charisma is so low. :rolleyes:

 

It's both physical and personality issue.

 

To ordinary citizen she has very outlandish features, even though her fiendish traits are not extremely apparent from further away (no horns, wings or tail(s)). To some more sensitive people she also 'reeks' of odd and out of place, which can be very uncomfortable before you get used to it. To seasoned adventurer this might not be so bad as they are bound to have seen many strange things.

 

Amber is also very good with bad first impressions, especially if she finds the person somehow threatening. She's not a leader either and for example, I would never consider a stronghold for her. Not that either the fighter or the thief strongholds would suit her anyway.

 

Without revealing too much I might add that she's also not terrible consisted with certain opinions she has. The PC gets to address the issue though.

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It's not a bad idea, though. :thumbsup:

 

Her becoming leader comment is already on the lines of the PC being out of his/her mind, but one-time talk on the subject would not do any harm. Of course I can't make any promises, but if the muse is favourable...

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Question: will she join the PC if it is evil or neutral?

Yes, she has no way of really knowing whether you are evil, good or neutral on your initial meeting. Of course, if you treat her badly or do somehing really evil she will leave you eventually. Naturally, I don't think that evil characters could not act reasonably if it suits their goals. Also, a high charisma and/or intelligence will help you to keep her for a while longer.

 

I admit that the mod is probably best suited for good or neutral PCs. However, it is possible to make evil or questionable decisions throughout her quests. :thumbsup:

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In the unlikely event that I one day wake up certain that Amber would be better off as an aasimar that portrait might do well. :) More work from the artist (including the full painting of my avatar) can be found here: http://peachysticks.deviantart.com/

 

Amber's default portrait can be seen here. I don't think I'll be adding alternatives - I'm quite attached to the one Darios edited from Amber's IWD original. You are of course free to change it to whatever you like better. :)

 

EDIT: My avatar has been changed from the one discussed here.

Edited by Meira
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