The new Companion, give your feedback and let your voice be heard

[Gurkog]

I want an animal as a companion. Preferrably an intelligent talking pack mule. EDIT: Or maybe a cow. A mighty warrior reincarnated in the form of a cow!

 

A cow that will always try to get on the other side of fences because the 'grass is greener'. Lots of fond memories of cattle growing up on a small ranch. They are very affectionate and playful, but they also bust fences trying to get that greener grass...

[Zoma]

An inspired Dark Sun races would be cool.

 

Half-giants. Insect men. Half-dwarves.

[septembervirgin]

I think I'd like to see someone who has athletic skills that aren't normally applied to combat but would mark that character as a great warrior. An excellent dancer and instructor in dance, this character has studied anatomy and movement to better the art of dance. This character has a very few magical talents, narrow but focused, to increase speed and agility. He operates as his own patron, due to a grant by parents who were successful adventurers but now are quite elderly (albeit able and mentally apt).

 

The character will coincidentally appear in a great many situations (usually right before a battle) with a variety of scripted statements of surprise and excuses. Eventually, this devout dancer will request meeting with the leader (or with a charismatic party member) and give through unintended innuendo that the character is a very crafty and capable spy and wishes to defect to the party. Overhearing the innuendo (and making a predictable misprision) will be an actual spy who thinks this dancer is their contact -- and later, when passwords and references aren't matching, will assume the dancer is a counter-spy trying to catch her. The dancer's studio floor will be poisoned, and their students will fall ill from arising vapors and quit their studies under this character's tutelage.

 

Once the situation is investigated by the player character and party, the matter could be brought before city officials (who have no evidence of the actual spy's misdeeds), the dancer (who is enraged and wishes the party to assist a vengeance), the actual spy herself (who will try to evade contact and try to trouble the party through planted evidence), and/or the ambassador of the government the spy works for (who will attempt to get the spy replaced with a more responsible agent). Of course, the party might just try to trap and kill the spy, which might work.

 

The dancer, if thrilled by the party's capability (even if they fail) and overall mission, might join. This character has disadvantages (unaccustomed to any weapon, distaste for blood) but can be useful in battle through his prior focus on perfecting his physique and grace. Agility and some physical skills might be easier to learn with this character in the party functioning as a tutor.

 

This dancer's personality leads them to speak of his ambitions and hope of eventually marrying a dancer, various dance forms and appreciation of music, his love of cities, and more his future than his past. Any reference he makes to his past is usually couched in terms of potential use in present tense or future tense, or is about idyllic moments spent luxuriating in urban climes.

 

Other companion ideas might be a member of a magical co-gender fraternity (that also operates as a party-going charitable society), a largish beggar who can sometimes get jobs as a laborer and operates as an "urban ranger" without advantageous skill in ranged weapons due to blurry vision, a beauteous female hermit who sleeps in a disused well that is occasionally thought to be a "spirit haunting that hill over there", a toy-maker who was once a mariner specializing in off-shore diving (and scouting for warning signs of a giant monster that plagues his village), a polite and jovial serial killer who has no particular preference for prey but is remarkable at concealing his hobby, a master door-maker and illustrator of the same that has power and prestige in a carpentry guild and who has horrifying mystical visions and frightening insight, an heiress to a brothel that has no more employee and she's used funds intended to restore the brothel instead to study magic yet yearns to manage a successful high-class brothel (and is leaning into a life of crime), a two-fisted hard drinking musician who has sealed a pact with evil forces and seeks to make further deals... well...

 

... alot of ideas.

[PsychoBlonde]

Is there a list of the OTHER companions yet?

[Neogy]

Not as far as I know PsychoBlonde. This is just a thread for people to think about what they would like and how it could be implemented.

[Oerwinde]

Someone with a heavily fractured soul that deeply affects him/her. A good person, generally upbeat, and uses humour to deflect from the issues that plague him. Possibly has his abilities go haywire sometimes due to the unreliable nature of his soul.

 

Also, a character that isn't awesome. Maybe some peasant farmer who tags along on your adventure. A sidekick type that needs guidance but can eventually develop into a well rounded expert adventurer.

[Volourn]

Every companion should be a dwarf companion. At the evry least, there eneds to be a beardless and hot dwarf female companion to romance. ie. That dwarf ranger was pretty sweet.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Volourn

[Longknife]

I've posted this before, but....

 

A sorta like the idea of a hypocrite thief. Y'know, a thief that knows stealing is wrong and has a strong sense of justice and seeks to help people, but due to whatever circumstances, whether it be bad luck in his home community initially leaving him little choice (but not anymore) or simply having no talent beyond those of theft or hell-if-I-know what, he continues to live as a thief, day in, day out. Deep down it bothers him, he feels bad for doing so and he knows he shouldn't do it, but somehow he always ends up doing it, telling himself "tomorrow will be different," always able to actually convince himself to steal again in the heat of the moment thanks to that sort of blind survivalist instinct we all have.

 

I just think such a character would touch on the theme of "actions speak louder than words" and to my knowledge I don't REALLY recall that many hypocrites who know they're hypocrites portrayed in media. Typically they're portrayed as unlikeable jerks, but the reality is guilty hypocrisy that knows of it's own flaws is practically a fact of life: plenty of parents are hypocrites when they lecture their kids, but are gladly hypocrites for obvious reasons (trying to teach their kids better). Likewise, thieves are typically portrayed as even being Robin Hoods or basic thugs, never something in between.

At any rate, I think it could be an interesting character concept because it presents to you a character that could be sympathetic for some. He DOES know right and wrong and will often give reasonable opinions on situations, but when it comes to actually acting, he's different, and he's sorry for it. For other people, they might hate this character and view him as "the worst kind of evil" in that this is a person that is fully aware of the wrongs they're commiting but somehow continues to do so anyways. It presents two different polarized directions in which the player can react to the character, both with good arguments. Do you try to change the thief (CAN you change him?) or does he deserve punishment for his actions because sorry and good intentions aren't enough?

 

I suppose it's sort of a similar theme or direction to that of the film Jakob the Liar, for anyone who's familiar with it. (good film) I just find it an interesting character type that manages to touch on various means, such as if actions speak louder than words (or is the result more important than the intent), do the ends justify the means (for if the thief is actually given a "higher purpose" in which his "talents" are put to use for a good cause), etc etc.

Should also clarify that I by no means mean he should be a depressed mother ****er that's constantly self-loathing because he's doing wrong and he knows it and feels bad for it. A sense of humor can't also be a good escape, and a far more entertaining one. Obviously he wouldn't be the MOST cheery guy around, but he could shrug something off with a half-there smile and a small joke; no need for him to be a whiny emo character.

[Merin]

Gah, this is impossible without knowing parameters and what companions are already in store...

 

Meh, I'll try and come up with something worth posting and edit this later.

[nikolokolus]

A sotted gunfighter with a penchant for cheating at cards and and a violent streak.

 

Edited September 21, 2012 by nikolokolus

[Gazoinks]

I always want to have at least one properly lawful companion character who represents the ethical, political, and religious viewpoints of the principle nationality in the game. Companion characters tend to cover the general range of rebels, free-thinkers, crazies, schemers, special snowflakes, and other interesting sorts of people whose status as being interesting is often, at least partially, derived from them being very uncommon sorts of people. I always like to have that balanced out with at least one companion who is entirely mundane in his/her history and abilities, and who is strongly committed to the status quo. Whether this is a grizzled soldier, an uncompromising sheriff, a magic-wielding diplomat, or a thief with strong, common roots... these characters can be just as interesting as the one-in-a-million sort, and help provide important social context to the narrative. So I'd like at least one companion of this general sort, with no preference to more specific details.

I like this. I like to now and then brainstorm game ideas, and a very tradition-centric character can be very interesting and provide a lot of context to the story (in my case it was a destitute knight). Another thing that I was thinking about was the use of Traits, both positive and negative. For example, the knight had the positive traits Stubborn (More resistant to mind spells and fear) and Heroic (Higher damage, higher crit chance), but also the negative trait Old-fashioned (Deals less damage to women, will get upset and leave your party if you value technology too much).

Edited September 21, 2012 by Gazoinks

[maggotheart]

I'm a backer for Wasteland 2 and one of the ideas they had for NPCs are that they should be like real people, with flaws and thoughts of their own that don't always do what the player might want them to do. For example, a companion might be addicted to health pots or whatever and steals from the party, hates dwarves and attacks them on sight, demands a share of the loot, doesn't trust wizards or magical items, deathly afraid of dogs, etc, etc. I think it's a great way to go and hope to see something similar here.

[nikolokolus]

How about the claustrophobic dwarf or the elf with massive tree allergies?

[alphyna]

1. someone really weird, borderline incomprehensible, but communicative — and written elegantly. Nordom is probably a good example: he doesn't really understand human stuff, he wants to learn it, but not in a "ooh, i'm a spirit, show me your human ways" way. it would be interesting if this character had some strange and quirly rituals and refused to explain them at first. like he can't eat red food, or he's tone-deaf (but somehow sings beautifully), or he always starts walking from the left foot. the point is his eventual explanation must tie with the lore neatly, but unexpectedly.

 

2. a tragic companion, the cause of whose tragedy was the main character, who obviously doesn't know it. the companion doesn't tell him (for good reasons — he knows that it wasn't the main character's desire to hurt him), but he can't help his own desire for revenge. drama ensues.

 

3. a really asexual character. aforementioned Nordom (technically asexual) was obviously male. I want someone who doesn't understend the idea of gender at all.

[alphyna]

Oh, and also: the best characters are always Tragic Comic Reliefs. Charming, funny, cute, cheerful — and really, really dark and hurt.

YEAH.

[d0riangray]

Viconia - nuff said

[Super Grover]

Keldorn Firecam!

[Sylvius the Mad]

More mages. You can never have too many mages.

[SqueakyCat]

A companion with a 'Boo' type mascot they have conversations with - leave it up to Obsidian as to the design of the companion - it could be a much darker character/mascot. I can't lie, Minsc was always my favorite in BG. Loved Edwin too, especially when he turned female for awhile. I still smile when I remember the party's reaction to his feminine status -- especially Minsc - it was priceless.

 

Mostly, I just want them to develop deep, rich characters -- not duplicates from any previous game.

Edited September 21, 2012 by SqueakyCat

[Karranthain]

Franklin Payne-like character please

 

http://arcanumclub.r...-tarantian.htm

l

 

Edited September 21, 2012 by Karranthain

[Gazoinks]

What about a character who's nothing but a Soul? Could be interesting.

 

EDIT: NEVERMIND! THIS TIMES A MILLION

 

Franklin Payne-like character please

 

http://arcanumclub.r...ian.htm<br />l

 

.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Gazoinks

[Stun]

Agreed. Recreate Edwin from the BG games. He always was so underappreciated. Apparently most people couldn't take their minds off of gimmick characters like Minsc and Boo long enough to see Edwin's personality for the brilliance that it was.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Stun

[Shadowless]

A character with Boo, Xzar, Minsc and Morte and Edwin like souls locked inside.

 

Who needs more than 1 companion when it has so many personalities?

Edited September 21, 2012 by Shadowless

[trulez]

If they can replicate the depth and feeling of any of the NWN2: MOTB companions I would be ecstatic.

[SqueakyCat]

Agreed. Recreate Edwin from the BG games. He always was so underappreciated. Apparently most people couldn't take their minds off of gimmick characters like Minsc and Boo long enough to see Edwin's personality for the brilliance that it was.

 

I loved them both and the banter, if you had both in your party, was priceless (because of poor, dearly departed Dynaheir from BG1).