Companions - who wrote what?

[Eric Fenstermaker]

I've been asked who wrote which companions a number of times recently. I'd held off answering because there was a chance that it was going to tie into some of our PR around launch time, but I believe that is no longer the case. So for those curious:

• Aloth - Carrie Patel
• Durance - Chris Avellone
• Edér - me
• Grieving Mother - Chris Avellone
• Hiravias - Matt MacLean
• Kana Rua - Olivia Veras
• Pallegina - Josh Sawyer
• Sagani - Carrie Patel

 

[Sonntam]

Nice to see all the great writers that worked on the game! Really got to remember all the names. Absolutely loved all the companions, I can't even say who I liked the most of them all. Obsidian truly has a lot of talented writers.

[kaiki]

Thanks for the list! I've been avoiding the custom companions since I've been enjoying the really great dialogue and quests that come with each of the premade companions. That you guys made this much content for such little money blows my mind. You need more kickstarters so I can give you more money, haha!

[Lasci]

Hats off to Chris for both Durance and the Grieving Mother. I'm pretty sure they're my favorite two NPC's so far.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Lasci

[Rafkos]

Edér and Aloth are my favourite characters so far, great job.

[Sylvanpyxie]

Edér is my favourite... Just because he's so freaking adorable.

 

Gotta love an animal lover, right?

[Hatred]

Sagani is my favourite

[Whosdriving]

Eder is my favorite so far, his dialog with sagani made laugh so hard. plus the whole cheerful gallows humor thing.

[Labadal]

None of the characters are among my all time favorites (so far), but I like them all. I haven't recruited Pallegina yet.

[Urthor]

Surprised to see it was Avellone hitting it out of the park with BOTH of his, they were the truly stand out companions.  But then again the concept behind both characters was pretty fantastic to start with, probably a case of best man (read: studio owner) on the job.

 

 

TBH, Hiravias is probably the character that stood out as way better than you'd have thought he would be on paper.  Good concept, did a great job with the dialogue, and the v/a work was phenomenal as well.  

Edited April 1, 2015 by Urthor

[Longknife]

Good job on Eder. He's this nice little combo of "humble country boy" while simultaneously being smart and clever, just preferring things a simple way. There's a very obvious charm to it.

 

 

I'd be curious as to why Sawyer decided to make Pallegina ashamed or unhappy with her godlike state. Felt very out of character for me (or disgustingly weak, imo? Maybe it's a personal dislike) in a character I otherwise enjoyed. Durance was also a riot once his quest is completed. The scream he does during a certain scene is hilarious to me.

 

Oh and Kana. Kana legit reminds me of some Brazilians I went to school with, all coming to Germany to try and get an education so they can go back home and make Brazil a better place, all adoring their homeland but voicing concern for how disappointing it its. Even his outlook on life and - funnily enough - his facial structure reminded me of my Brazilian friends. Almost makes me wonder if the writer also hasn't encountered some big-hearted Brazilian hoping to show their country the potential of the world.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Longknife

[Katarack21]

Good job on Eder! He's one of my favorite companions. I really enjoy his cynical, world-weary point of view and I find his cynical humor quite funny.

Thank you!

[rf5111918]

 

I've been asked who wrote which companions a number of times recently. I'd held off answering because there was a chance that it was going to tie into some of our PR around launch time, but I believe that is no longer the case. So for those curious:

• Aloth - Carrie Patel
• Durance - Chris Avellone
• Edér - me
• Grieving Mother - Chris Avellone
• Hiravias - Matt MacLean
• Kana Rua - Olivia Veras
• Pallegina - Josh Sawyer
• Sagani - Carrie Patel

 

 

Chris can WRITE. Durance and Grieving Mother really stood out for me. 

 

Some of the dialogue for Hiravias was also hilarious. 

[Heijoushin]

Durance and Grieving Mother were definitely interesting. Though at times it was hard to tell what the heck they were going on about;)

 

I also like Aloth and Eder... those two are just very likable.

[Aramintai]

Avellone's npcs were the most interesting ones, imho. I've high hopes for his companion in Torment: Tides of Numenera.

[Leferd]

Thanks for the info Eric. Really enjoying the NPC's.

[Luckmann]

I've been asked who wrote which companions a number of times recently. I'd held off answering because there was a chance that it was going to tie into some of our PR around launch time, but I believe that is no longer the case. So for those curious:

• Aloth - Carrie Patel
• Durance - Chris Avellone
• Edér - me
• Grieving Mother - Chris Avellone
• Hiravias - Matt MacLean
• Kana Rua - Olivia Veras
• Pallegina - Josh Sawyer
• Sagani - Carrie Patel

Well then a cookie to you for Edér. I really like Edér, a truly down-to-Earth character that doesn't feel like he's there to make some odd point or have a schtick. Other than that, Avellone should write more characters. Just.. more. No, have him write like 18. Grieving Mother is psychadelic and Durance is bloody amazing.

 

Hiravias is.. what little I've seen, hilarious.

 

But either way, there's some real great characters here. Great, great job.

 

 

Edèr's quibs aimed at Aloth's second personality is just out-of-this-world. Poor Aloth. Poor, poor Aloth.

 

Edited April 2, 2015 by Luckmann

[Jasta11]

So far I've really liked Hiaravias and Kana a lot. The former in particular is pretty funny.

 

Edér reads like an Alistair (from DA:O) with more gallows humor. He's also a blond sword ans shield warrior type whose quest revolves around family issues. Not that it's a bad thing at all, the similarities are just amusing.

 

Haven't used Grieving Mother a lot since my PC is a Cipher.

 

Durance, however, is freaking fantastic. He's a classic ChrisA character, but you can talk back to him and unlike, say, Ulysses, his struggles made me feel for him. he's going through the mother of all crises of faith.

[Gallenger]

I was pretty nervous about eder - I thought he was going to turn into the perpetually whiny NPC that seems to have been made obligatory in games recently - but he ended up being one of my favorites hands down.  I really didn't have any issues with any of the NPCs all were lots of fun and I found myself really enjoying just getting to talk to them - I honestly didn't expect so much NPC interaction lol.   

[Stun]

Durance is my favorite. Leave it to Chris Avellone to write the perfect party freak.

[Luckmann]

Durance is my favorite. Leave it to Chris Avellone to write the perfect party freak.

The best thing about Durance is that he's not just quirky, he doesn't just have a schtick or is a thematic one-trick-pony. He's genuinely damaged and arguably crazy. And hilariously, unapologetically patriarchal. Because **** everyone you're wrong because fire.

 

Almost everyone else seem to have some theme or a thing, but Durance (and Edér, I think) really feel like real people.

 

 

This is not to put down some of the others, they're all well-made, although I'm personally not a fan of Sagani, Pallegina and Kana Rua so far.

 

Edited April 2, 2015 by Luckmann

[Whiteguy1x]

Eder is awesome just because he plays with the pets, also he makes a crack about feeding feeding durance to an undead which made me laugh.  Probably the most likeable companion.

 

Durnace was really interesting, and funny. I can't wait to finish his quest (waiting on dat second vision).  I kinda want to make an orlan character next just to call him out on all his remarks, i'm betting he isn't sorry haha

[eRe4s3r]

My current favorites are Durance and Grieving Mother. Durance.. needs no explanation, he is just Durance ^^. Grieving mother was a memorable experience to talk to, and flat out WEIRD

 

But if I could leave one remark regarding writing characters. In PoE their introductions were absolutely boring... all standing around (ok, a few talk to you and this is only even lore fitting for the Grieving Mother) but a far cry from Yoshimo (Who is definitely a very memorable companion, if for all the wrong reasons especially if that BG2 run was your first ,p), Aerie (Talking to wingless fairies is a minefield and the way you meet her is definitely unique!), Viconia (A drow.. oh and she's also about to be burned by a mob, so you better have some decent party when you meet her) etc. (I was tempted to write a mod character too ,p). Point is, I remember how I met characers in BG2, I honestly couldn't tell you where I met any of them in PoE.. except Aloth and Eder, but then only because that was the most boring way of all ways to introduce the first 2 characters

 

In the end I always tend to like the strange and cute. So Sagani's fox is also in my top spots. I am a bit sad we couldn't talk to her animal companion ;p

 

All the others I at least did not hate

 

The Paladin and the Druid characters I have yet to travel with... so maybe those are in top spots too. But that's for a 2nd playthrough.

 

I find it curious that the 2 I like most are written by Chris Avellone. Didn't know that Kudos to him for again writing the hands down most unique characters. (Well, imo)

 

To be absolutely honest, when comparing to Torment and BG2/TOB and Mask of the Betrayer (the only decent NWN2 campaign) then there wasn't really anything that topped any of my favorites from those. But PoE II might still change all that. heh ^^

Edited April 2, 2015 by eRe4s3r

[Sotof]

I went into this game prepared to dislike every companion, and I am glad to have been proven completely and utterly wrong. I liked all of them, really, but for different reasons.

 

Aloth was both funny and interesting, though his ending confused me a little. Did I turn him back to the Leaden Key somehow? I don't know. All I do know is that his every appearance was enjoyable.

 

Durance I used the least, being a priest myself, but he did have an intriguing personality. Unfortunately I never really developed too much with him and he set himself on fire, so eh.

 

Edér is like the Garrus or Alistair of the team. Great character, was especially interesting since I played a priest of Eothas myself and got to experience that journey with him. Was that really Eothas? And it got especially good near the end of the game as Edér got to some realizations about the gods along with the player character. Loved it every step of the way.

 

Grieving Mother is probably one of my favourites. The Watcher abilities really got to shine with her and the mystery surrounding her was great, and a bit of moral debate never goes wrong. Such a strange and yet relatable character.

 

Hiravias is kind of funny. I thought he would annoy me at first, but I really liked his story. Soul splitting and reconnecting them, and him being guided by two gods, one of them Wael, was quite something. Also think I got his best ending.

 

Kana Rua is another character I thought would annoy me. I was so wrong. That guy is so damn enjoyable in every piece of dialogue he got. Maybe it's just the lore nerd in me, but I adored this character. A quest for lost history and getting history of his weird home on top? Count me in. That's awesome.

 

Pallegina was nice as well. I liked her ideals of serving her nation not necessarily through answering to authority, but doing what she thought was right. The ending I got made me a bit sad for her though. Also her talking to Hylea, great scene.

 

Sagani probably had the best story. I mean what a strange custom that actually totally makes sense given the setting. It also gave a way to highlight the Watcher abilities through a different lens than just reading people. I found it very interesting, despite the sad and maybe a tad predictably realistic end for the story.

 

That's not even to mention the funny party banter with silly hand-devouring animals.

Edited April 2, 2015 by Sotof

[gkathellar]

I like all of the characters, but I'm with a lot of others on Durance and GM being my absolute favorites - Avellone's strengths as a writer really shine through in the weirdness and complexity of these two. Their sophistication really shows in the moments where their doubts are revealed.

 

Eder is also fantastic, and gets special applause from me for working because he isn't a special snowflake, rather than in spite of it.