A change in SoZ's cohort system...

[burrie]

From Cohort Overload over on the official forums...

Also, we decided to allow the party to have more than 2 cohorts. Now you can replace any player created party member with a cohort, except for the one you started the campaign with. So you could have up to 5 cohorts in the party (with the Leadership feat - 4 without).

So creating a party is going to be optional after all, and you could still play via the usual "One character whom has folks join up with him throughout the adventure". A nice change, I think.

Me, I'm still gonna start out with a four-player-built-party, but I like that they're offering support for the folks who just want to play with one PC.

 

[MetalCraze]

I wonder whether the cohorts will talk to each other which would be a nice touch.

 

[Shoelip]

But we're still forced to start at level 3? Those bastards!!

 

[CrimsonAngel]

Its a good Change in my book.

Having the options of both system is the best way to go over all i think..

So i think Obsidian deserves a HUG!!!

 

[fastpunk]

So what? SoZ has no romances so it will suck!!!

...

But seriously, it's a nice change. NWN2 never played good with more than 4 party members to be honest. So now I can roll with a 2 + 2 team.

 

[Spectacle]

Sounds like a smart change. It doesn't affect the people playing the game the way it was mean to the slightest, and it lets the wankers who are allergic to oldschool adventuring to enjoy the game too. They will no doubt complain about the lack of romance though.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Bah, usually the lack of romance sub-shit implies that the NPCs are written better. And that one dialogue choice in NWN2 > All the romance shit ever made.

But really, this is great news. Nifty to see Leadership feat rolled in too. And I agree, 6 party members is only for crazy thematic parties, like a Bardic legion.

 

[Anthony Davis]

You will still have to find and recruit the individual cohorts though.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

How much work has been gone to the cohorts personalities and backstories (as in same or less than average in the OC)? Voice acting?

 

[Elwro]

I'm still trying to get used to "cohort" being a noun denoting just a single person, for me it always meant a Roman army unit...

 

[thesheeep]

A single D&D hero is as strong as an entire Roman army unit.

 

[Anthony Davis]

How much work has been gone to the cohorts personalities and backstories (as in same or less than average in the OC)? Voice acting?

I believe they are all VO'd, but they are much less deep than the companions in the other games.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

How much work has been gone to the cohorts personalities and backstories (as in same or less than average in the OC)? Voice acting?

I believe they are all VO'd, but they are much less deep than the companions in the other games.

OK, cool. Thanks for the info.

 

[MetalCraze]

How much work has been gone to the cohorts personalities and backstories (as in same or less than average in the OC)? Voice acting?

I believe they are all VO'd, but they are much less deep than the companions in the other games.

*sigh* too bad. MotB companions were a nice part of the game.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

How much work has been gone to the cohorts personalities and backstories (as in same or less than average in the OC)? Voice acting?

I believe they are all VO'd, but they are much less deep than the companions in the other games.

*sigh* too bad. MotB companions were a nice part of the game.

Can't have everything, I guess. As long as there's enough meat in most of them and the main story is good, it's cool.

 

[Anthony Davis]

How much work has been gone to the cohorts personalities and backstories (as in same or less than average in the OC)? Voice acting?

I believe they are all VO'd, but they are much less deep than the companions in the other games.

*sigh* too bad. MotB companions were a nice part of the game.

I agree 100%, the companions and story written by Zeits and Avellone were amazing. MotB was a powerful, character driven story.

In SoZ we are adding in more gameplay elements and layers instead. Overland map, Party Gen, Party Chat, Trading, Improved AI, and more. The story is still very good and the cohorts DO have a personality, and most of them are quite fun. For example, I love the fact that we brought back Ribsmasher. I know for a fact that there is at least *ONE* special encounter that Ribsmasher is involved in *IF* he is in your party as well.

It may or may not pay off, but personally I am very pleased with how much fun SoZ is.

ps.
Party Chat is the shizzle too.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Ribsmasher

Oh my.

 

[Radisshu]

Ribsmasher? The psychotic goblin-killing martial artist?

 

[fastpunk]

Ribsmasher! I remember this guy from NWN2 OC. He's that mad prisoner in Riverguard Keep who goes completely berserk when you release him.

 

[Radisshu]

Deepest OC NPC IMO

 

[Anthony Davis]

Deepest OC NPC IMO

I rolled a 20 on my detect snark skill.

lulz, he may not be deep but he sure is fun in my opinion.

 

[burrie]

Out of curiosity, because the forums are given me a conflicting impression about the cohorts...

Are cohorts meant to only join the party for a story arc/quest, and then leave once it's finished, or could they actually become full party members, joining you from start till finish?

 

[Anthony Davis]

I could be wrong because I don't follow ALL the design decisions, but I was under the impression that all or certainly MOST of the cohorts were like mercenaries.

Once you find and recruit them, they stay until you boot them. Even when you boot them, they still hang around in case you need them again.

This might have changed, but that's what I thought. I will talk to Tony Evans tomorrow and get the straight dope.

 

[Radisshu]

Snark aside, I'm really looking forward to this game. It's great that you're going in a more open-ended old school party-based direction, compared to MotB. I mean I do love MotB, but going in new directions with the toolset is always good. Hopefully some great amateur campaigns will be inspired by this, too.

 

[JarlFrank]

Yeah, this is lovely. I've just begun playing NWN2, and like it so far. Once I'm through the OC I'll play MotB, and SoZ sounds pretty awesome too. I like the optional party-creation part of it.