Adventurers vs Companions?

[DruidX]

I understand you can have companions, as well as hire adventurers

 

what are all the differences between the two?

[Kal Adan]

Companions have personalities and their own story, like companions from Baldur's Gate. Adventurers for hire are more like characters from Icewind Dale - just some custom made characters, with no personality or story of their own.

[Fluffsy]

Companions have personalities and their own story, like companions from Baldur's Gate. Adventurers for hire are more like characters from Icewind Dale - just some custom made characters, with no personality or story of their own.

 

I remember the outcry for DA2-DAI when you were not able to murder the companions. We all know why - since they are limited and game is designed to be played with 4 characters. Great idea from Obsidian to implement "guns for hire" just in case some people will hate every single companion and will want to kill them.

[Cantousent]

Companions have personalities and their own story, like companions from Baldur's Gate. Adventurers for hire are more like characters from Icewind Dale - just some custom made characters, with no personality or story of their own.

That's not fair, Kal! My custom party had personality. There are plenty of voices in my head, they all have their own personality, and I could have them exchanging dialogue every time I played.

 

Seriously, though, I think the adventurer idea will be good once I've played through. I can include NPCs I like, forget the rest, and add adventurers to make up the difference. I just hope we don't have any NPCs forced into my party. Even if I like them, I'm irritated at being required to take around folks in my merry band.

[Fluffsy]

Seriously, though, I think the adventurer idea will be good once I've played through. I can include NPCs I like, forget the rest, and add adventurers to make up the difference. I just hope we don't have any NPCs forced into my party. Even if I like them, I'm irritated at being required to take around folks in my merry band.

 

I especially hate when you are forced to have a certain person in your party because of the quest and you need to dismiss one of the existing party members since your party is full at the time. At very least ignore the party size restriction until the companion becomes "optional" :|

[Lephys]

The adventurers sound really good for the "treating this as a challenge"-type playthroughs. The more you're trying to experience all the writing and narrative aspects of the game (whether that be your first playthrough or not), the more you're going to want to go with the pre-created companions. Even if you don't like ALL of them, and leave most of them at the stronghold and/or don't even hire them (although, it'd have to be a pretty horrible first impression for you to not-even-hire-them from the get-go. How else will you get to know them and ecide you hate them if you don't hire them and travel with them for a bit?).

[DruidX]

how many total can you have in your party including adventurers and companions?

[Leferd]

Max party size is 6. There are 8 total companions and you can hire up to 8 additional adventurers.

[DruidX]

Max party size is 6. There are 8 total companions and you can hire up to 8 additional adventurers.

 

what do you mean by "8 additional adventurers" max party size is 6?

[Tamerlane]

You can have yourself plus five party members in the field at any time. You recruit 8 potential companions and can make another 8 adventurers on top of that, though any not with you will have to wait at an inn/your stronghold.

[Leferd]

The maximum party size you can have at any one time is six. That includes your main character and any combination of five other companions or adventurers. This is the number you play with. The rest you can't take with you, can wait at your stronghold.

 

Companions are party NPC's that are created by Obsidian that have their own unique voice sets, storylines, and dialogue.

 

Adventurers are generic characters you can create at the Adventurer's Hall for a fee. They have no personality beyond what you cook up in your imagination. The maximum number you can create is 8.

[Osvir]

 

That's not fair, Kal! My custom party had personality. There are plenty of voices in my head, they all have their own personality, and I could have them exchanging dialogue every time I played.

 

Seriously, though, I think the adventurer idea will be good once I've played through. I can include NPCs I like, forget the rest, and add adventurers to make up the difference. I just hope we don't have any NPCs forced into my party. Even if I like them, I'm irritated at being required to take around folks in my merry band.

 

The custom party in Icewind Dale can have story and personality, it just depends on how much time you are willing to put on them (Biography, really). And also how easy it is for you to abstract narration. In PoE the Adventurer's will all get a "sense" of a background (Culture & Background, in Character Creation). Do you make all your adventurers Slaves? That'll add a certain "tone" or "personality" to your Stronghold, and to your character (but also to the slaves themselves. So, they aren't empty husks, they add lots to the story indirectly). Or do you make them all Scholars? Or Raiders? Or Mercenaries? Etc.etc. (There's TONS of different backgrounds, after all).

 

Hm, I wonder if those Backgrounds gives perks at the Stronghold? (probably not but a Scholar in the Library, adding bonuses, doesn't seem too far-fetched? Or a Laborer adding bonuses to building/fixing broken parts at the Stronghold?)

 

 

 

Max party size is 6. There are 8 total companions and you can hire up to 8 additional adventurers.

 

what do you mean by "8 additional adventurers" max party size is 6?

 

Well, you can get a Stronghold, and if you have the Stronghold you can send your companions and adventurers there (15, in total+1 MC).

 

You can put up to 5 of those characters in your party (+1 Main Character = party size is 6), 10 stays at the Stronghold, if you want that many. You should theoretically be able to get 15 Adventurer's (custom made) if you don't want any of the Companions.

 

Or is it 8 companions/8 adventurer's+1 main character? (17 characters total)

Edited March 13, 2015 by Osvir

[Lephys]

I didn't know you can have up to 8 adventurers in your... attache? I don't know what you would call it... I didn't realize they were in addition to all the companions. I never really thought about the maximum number of people you could have, though. That's cool that you can hire adventurers, then leave them at your stronghold to fight off stuff and handle things while you're away.

[Cantousent]

I don't know how they handled it, but it would be cool if they allowed the PC to set up lieutenants and create two or three groups. The PC could then hire out the groups, assuming his operation is mercenary, or search separately for information, if his main goal is spycraft, or even have one or more of his groups look for knowledge, making his primary goal scholarly. If some of these things were available, and with the proviso that these functions can be handled quickly and don't take away from the story or the RP aspect of the game, then there would be a tremendous incentive to include hirelings. This is especially true if they could also end up making you money in the long run. You front the money for hirelings, gear them up and set them out, then they earn you loot or find you information or even develop some commerce around your stronghold. I don't know much about the strongholds, not having read about them, but there is plenty of opportunity.

[Gromnir]

am actual a bit conflicted.  is our desire to make no use o' the adventurer's hall to create additional joinable npcs.  we would prefer to play through the game with a single player character and 5 joinable npcs so that we might maximize our exploration o' dialogues and interactions with those companions obsidian has worked so hard to create. however, am 'sposing that we is relieved that the adventurer's hall exists.  we look at the companions, and with the pc we intend to play, we realize that we could very easily be short o' what we deem as necessary skills.  should we go ahead and make one extra joinable npc, one that we is certain can be stealthy and capable at overcoming mechanics challenges?  should we simple play the game and use available companions regardless o' whether our party balance is what we would normally be comfortable?  we don't want to use the adventurer's hall, but...

 

*shrug*

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Sedrefilos]

Also, regarding Adventurers VS Companions, I believe Companions will win the fight

[Voss]

I didn't know you can have up to 8 adventurers in your... attache? 

Entourage.

Company (as in Adventuring or Mercenary Company)

Gang

 

 

 

I'll probably recruit everyone possible to staff up the stronghold, but first time through I'll pick the most useful 5 companions (like Grom I feel class and skill sets will largely dictate this) to cart along with me unless one is Jaheira or Anomen level of aggravating. Or if the attributes don't mess well with the class.  Second time through (if its worth playing a second time, I'll take the useless companions to enjoy their stories, and pick up the slack with custom built adventurers.  Or maybe re-use a companion if their particular build and story is exceptional.  But probably custom made, just to have a decent gender make-up.  sigh.

 

Unfortunately with just 8 companions, I feel that most of the decisions on who to take as the Starting Five are already made for me. It somewhat depends based on how deeply/hard to find they are.  One I know I won't use in the class' current shape, and another I doubt.  

Ranger and mage, respectively.  For the others, I'll probably take the priest over the chanter, but it depends how important healing is.  The rest I definitely want.

 

[Cantousent]

Yeah, Jaheira always died valiantly trying demonstrate how she could take on the nearest bear without arms or armor. She was marginally less irritating in BG2.

[Voss]

Yeah, Jaheira always died valiantly trying demonstrate how she could take on the nearest bear without arms or armor. She was marginally less irritating in BG2.

I found her much more irritating in BG2.  Starting from minute one in the cage, when she tries to take control of the situation from inside the cage.  And then got deeply offended by her 30 second grief cycle followed by a horrible stab at 'romance' mere days after her husband's grisly mutilation (if the PC is male, anyway).  

Then you have to deal with the curse from people she's offended in the past, and Harper shenanigans, where she happily betrays you, then changes her mind and betrays them, happily helping to slaughter them all.  Contemptible person.  

 

In BG1 she's just annoying, and the only decent early-game healing character that isn't in a locked area. [branwen is a decent healer, but grossly inferior combatant].  In BG2 she's actively offensive, demanding and childish, and has three viable replacements that can be reached without effort.

 

In my current playthrough I completely ignored her in BG1, and in BG2 was playing sloppily through the prison, and she ended up dying to the duergar.    Shockingly, no one else cared about Khalid when we came across his corpse.  

Edited March 14, 2015 by Voss

[Osvir]

I didn't know you can have up to 8 adventurers in your... attache? I don't know what you would call it... I didn't realize they were in addition to all the companions. I never really thought about the maximum number of people you could have, though. That's cool that you can hire adventurers, then leave them at your stronghold to fight off stuff and handle things while you're away.

That was a bit at PAX East actually, if the Stronghold is attacked:

 

Manual (You go back to the Stronghold and deal with the attackers) or you Auto-Resolve (Your defense takes care of it). Or, at least that's how I understood it? Would be awesome to be able to do "Manual Defense" with a "Defense Squad", a party of adventurer's/companions you've prepared for the task. And the Main Character's squad/party would stay wherever they are in the world.

[PBJam]

Can companions die permanently?

 

Can Adventurers die permanently? and if so can you hire a new one even if you had already hired 8?

[Elerond]

Can companions die permanently?

 

Can Adventurers die permanently? and if so can you hire a new one even if you had already hired 8?

 

Both companions and adventures can die permanently and in my understanding you can't hire more adventures after 8, even if you get hired ones killed.

[Kal Adan]

Are you certain of this? It doesn't make sense that you can't hire more adventurers when they get killed.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Yes, it's true. I recall a Josh Sawyer post where he says something like he doesn't want players to create never-ending companions to throw at encounters and cheese your way through the game. It's why it has a hard limit of 8 adventurers.

[PBJam]

btw sorry if a stupid question, but how do you lose adventurers/companions permanently? Can't you just use a resurrect spell if they die?