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Competition D:OS 2 Fundraiser: Design the Codex NPC!

Humanophage

Arcane
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
5,032
Do:
- You can talk him into killing himself, or maybe cutting a body part off that will not re-grow in the next encounter.
- There should be at least three choices that will meaningfully and obviously affect the character's nature, based on your reply.
- These choices should be made in the first third of the game, and somehow echo later on, maybe helping you with an unrelated quest.
- Dialogue outcomes should depend as much as possible on your character's stats, race, or previous actions. Some options should be unavailable for certain characters.

Do not:
- Don't make him a static village fool who keeps harassing the protagonist with one-liners. There is nothing especially Codexian about it, and pertains to almost any male-dominated neurotic anonymous forum.
- Really transparent meta references are also boring, especially to well-known games like Baldur's Gate 2. Referring to golden pants is fine.

A couple of slightly over-the-top illustrations to the points above.

Idea 1: Meeting the Troll
It would be good if the first encounter with the troll was conditional on the outcome of some other quest you did. E.g., "help refugees":
1. Helped refugees. -> You find the troll trying to poison their well in the camp. You interrupt him and he gets tearful about decline, cue Suicide Quest.
2. Refused to help, left. -> You find him later on in some unrelated encounter.
3. Refused to help, lectured them about capitalism. -> He joins in the dialogue suddenly as you lecture them.
4. Robbed refugees. -> He approaches you later on after obvious stalking. He commends you for fighting the good fight, then tries to get chummy; cue Suicide Quest.

Idea 2: The Suicide Quest
The troll is depressed about total decline - see many creative suggestions in the thread. You can retrieve a worthless Grimoire from the local tavern to cheer him up: it does not heal his depression, but prompts a dialogue about the meaning of life. Think that Planscape quest when you have to talk a Dustman back into his philosophy. Some choices:
1. You convince him that decline is the unchangeable nature of the world, and suggest suicide. Some long philosophical options a la Planescape if your char's Int is high enough. Maybe mock his appearance if your Str is high. You encounter him alive much later on, but permanently mutilated in some grotesque way, depending on what way of suicide you suggested. You can even try helping him do it. If you repeat it four times, he is gone for good, and you find his corpse with a tearful diary that mentions your arguments a lot. You can use text from his xenophobic/misogynistic rants.
2. You convince him to join the local xenophobic militia. This endows him with a meaning. Later on, you encounter him as an additional vendor of weird useless items in their camp. You can inquire him about his stereotypes of different races, and hear him spout Evola-style nonsense about him being an aristocrat of the soul. Neanderthal's suggestions would go well here.
3. You convince him he should seek solace in romantic relationships. You later find him in a brothel as a male prostitute, where he spouts misogynistic comments about his co-workers, the decline of morals and traditional roles, and the need to populate the world with his race. You can convince him he is probably sterile if your Int is high, directing him to the militia or cuing the main suicide quest. Perhaps he can help you with a quest in the brothel.
4. In a long dialogue, you convince him that Grimoire is actually an epic work worthy of attention, even though he dislikes it at first. Later on, you find him writing his own equally worthless book, inspired by Grimoire. You can see that he still doesn't like Grimoire, but he feels that confessing would make him look silly. If you brutally critique his book, cue option 1.

Apart from affecting his fate, the essence is to grant the player the ability to kill him in fun ways through diplomacy. Dialogue options are visibly contingent upon stats and previous actions. Perhaps some other quests would give you additional dialogue options to convince the troll to kill himself.
 
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Aenra

Guest
This must be the only forum (i know of) where the more retarded you are, the more people look up to you.. or at least so one concludes reading the proposals here. Worthy of many a study, psychiatric and otherwise :)

Put @mind2x in and call it a day. Did his part for this forum, did it well and he's also not a retard.
[when not interacted with, he shouts/cries "i'm not the one!"]
[rest of the dialogue and actual appearance to be put in by Swen, for maximum butthurt and further twitter jabs]
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
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Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Another thought I had: I don't know how much input we have into details, but if Grog is a recurring combat villain, the fights should be different every time. Sometimes he will use weapons or abilities that you see once and then never again.

Like:
One time he will simply bum rush the party with a giant axe (you never see again), taking more hits to defeat and doing more direct damage than in any other scenario.
One time he will summon skeletons that erupt from the ground and surround the party, himself standing back hurling boulders.
Another time he will appear in a village and touch off fires that the party must extinguish to save the villagers (including a quest giver), and he attacks anyone who tries with flaming oil.
Another time he will cause an avalanche to try to crush the party, plus giant rock moles will appear and attack the party and attack Grog also. 3-way battle.
Another time he might show up as an extra headache when the main villains are causing problems. Actually he might do this a lot.
Also it is fine if any of these attack plans include his own attempted destruction as he tries to kill himself all the time.

The joke is that he is an asshole who attacks you in any number of contexts. The Codex reference is that the Codex represents many different (mostly hostile) viewpoints; personified as a single individual, that individual will use many different and sometimes contradictory tactics and abilities. Plus of course it's good for gameplay to have a different encounter design for each set piece.
 
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Kev Inkline

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A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Another thought I had: I don't know how much input we have into details, but if Grog is a recurring combat villain, the fights should be different every time. Sometimes he will use weapons or abilities that you see once and then never again.

Like:
One time he will simply bum rush the party with a giant axe (you never see again), taking more hits to defeat and doing more direct damage than in any other scenario.
One time he will summon skeletons that erupt from the ground and surround the party, himself standing back hurling boulders.
Another time he will appear in a village and touch off fires that the party must extinguish to save the villagers, and he attacks anyone who tries with flaming oil.
Another time he will cause an avalanche to try to crush the party, plus giant rock moles will appear and attack the party and attack Grog also. 3-way battle.

The joke is that he is an asshole who attacks you in any number of contexts. The Codex reference is that the Codex represents many different (mostly hostile) viewpoints; personified as a single individual, that individual will use many different and sometimes contradictory tactics and abilities. Plus of course it's good for gameplay to have a different encounter design for each set piece.
In case your suggestion were to go thru, sometimes he could have a posse that instead of just attacking the player starts an in-group fight between themselves, and the player is left in puzzlement why the fight broke out in the first place. I don't think anything personifies this place better.

The fact that there is only one thing we all agree about, and that is that we disagree. Some people even contest that.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
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Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Sometimes he could have a posse that instead of just attacking the player starts an in-group fight between themselves
I thought of that, but I don't picture him as having a group. In my mind he represents the conflicted viewpoints within himself. So he lashes out at the PCs or anyone else who gets too close, but though he projects his anger outward his hatred is really directed inward.

Plus the "group of guys who all killed/are killing each other" has been done already in Dead State and Wasteland 2 at least.
 

Kz3r0

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Joined
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Messages
27,013
it's good for gameplay to have a different encounter design for each set piece.
Sounds as, fun, this however will make it too intrusive, I think that we shoull strive for something optional and not challenging, also humourous while not being retarded.
Obviously if Larian finds our suggestions of their liking they can always implement them as part of the overall game.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
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Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Good point, I also like the idea of the encounters being optional, as in if you walk by and don't initiate dialogue, nothing happens. But once you open your mouth there's no escape.
 

Kz3r0

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May 28, 2008
Messages
27,013
Besides, last time Larian made Baker content available only through insertion of a specific code, so maybe we are thinking too hard about this, if Larian will do the same thing again we are the only ones who will have to deal with this guy.
 

Kev Inkline

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A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Sometimes he could have a posse that instead of just attacking the player starts an in-group fight between themselves
I thought of that, but I don't picture him as having a group. In my mind he represents the conflicted viewpoints within himself. So he lashes out at the PCs or anyone else who gets too close, but though he projects his anger outward his hatred is really directed inward.

See now what you did: you rated my post 'agree' and now you reply with a dissenting opinion. :D
 

HoboForEternity

sunset tequila
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Disco Elysium
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Besides, last time Larian made Baker content available only through insertion of a specific code, so maybe we are thinking too hard about this, if Larian will do the same thing again we are the only ones who will have to deal with this guy.
wait what? but i met the runaway imps all the same
 

Hyperion

Arcane
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
2,120
Larian will do the quest design themselves.

If the PC completes his quest, the PC should be blacklisted become hostile with another questgiver. The rewards should be somewhere between mediocre and smug self-satisfaction, and creates mutually exclusive content that requires multiple playthroughs.
 
Joined
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Messages
1,567
Perpetually disappointed cave dwelling misanthropic Neandertroll that can project toxic bile in combat.
Sets you on a quest to recover the long lost glory of the red troll race, (Refer to better quest ideas ITT somewhere maybe), is perpetually disappointed in what you return with, prompting vitriolic dialogue and increasingly harder checks to keep the troll from attacking you for your perceived failure.(You beat the troll into submission after each fight and when it regenerates you continue the quest) Finally at the end of the quest you either convince the troll that existence is futile and decline is inevitable, causing the troll to commit suicide, or fight the enraged troll to the death, who is a difficult boss fight that doesn't scale to player's level. Maybe a third option to convince the troll that what you've returned is good for what it is, where you're given your reward and allowed to leave, a harder to get "ideal" ending, and once you leave the Troll seals itself inside of it's bunker cave.

Divinity Troll model is a good base, add a neckbeard and some neanderthal features like more body hair along with the toxic bile overflowing from it's mouth.

Basically like my mspaint contest troll but less retarded:
May 26, 2015
Codex%20Troll8_zps5w9jx2kx.png

The Red Troll:

The Red Troll is your classic fantasy troll, mouth overflowing with Toxic Bile:x, great Strength and Endurance, Primarily cave dwelling:bunkertime:, and with little Charisma:rpgcodex:. Once a powerful and prestigious race:martini:, they were driven to near extinction by sap savagery and have adapted to their new and harsh environment. With their skin thickened from years of abuse and disappointment, their expressions cynical :nocountryforshitposters:, and their clothing fashioned from the hides of popped moles:popamole:,(An invasive species they've been forced to hunt in order to sustain themselves .) the Red Troll is an intimidating sight to outsiders; travelers with weak constitutions are advised to avoid them.:butthurt:

Some Red Trolls believe their race is on the rise, slowly but surely regaining their lost glory:hype:. Others think it's merely naivety, and the decline is stronger than ever :keepmymoney:.
 

tindrli

Arcane
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
4,465
Location
Dragodol
Name Grog Codexianski
Race Vampire troll
Class-Fighter oriented
Weapon Fast unique Flail of multiheaded dicks +6 of course wich hits enemy draining health but with every hit it gives random resistance
male or female- male by day female by night
Crimson or burgundy same depending a day or night
Moustached or neckbearded: same as above
Kindly or aggressive: he MUST hate combat but he always provoke it
Will he have special interactions with certain party members: "to be seen"
How often will he appear: Its extremely powerful and rare creature which appears only if player is solo run, magic oriented and when certain conditions are met like when player insanely maxes lets say "WITS". He can appear only in specific place in game(lets says by some watchtower, he is defecating or pissing on it), he can appear only on last map just before final encounter.
Quest: is a must i just cant think of anything beside killing all NPCs that you encounter in game, Grog has jellaousy issues.
and he must say random famous codex quotes from time to time and sure we have plenty of those
 

MasPingon

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May 13, 2007
Messages
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Location
Castle Rock
Grog is actually a pretty good name.

Recurring villain. Always has a dialogue with the PC, and whatever the PC says, he gets angry, contradicts him, and attacks. Important: dialogues may be simple, or they may be very complex, but there is no winning in conversation with him, except perhaps to ignore him and walk past. He will always attack. He may be lucid and even eloquent one sentence and rage-fueled incoherent the next.

The PC can never kill him but eventually he will "rage quit" and give a monologue about how he's too smart and cool to hang around here any more and he's leaving for good. And then he stays right where he is and the PC can come back and fight him again at any time.

Example dialogue:

Grog: Hey, you. Is day night?

1. Yes, day is night.
Grog: Day isn't night, you idiot! <attacks>

2. No, day is day and night is night.
Grog: Of course day is night! Fuck you! <attacks>

3. What a stupid question.
Grog: What are you doing here if you don't care about day and night? Infidel! <attacks>

4. kingcomrade
Grog: I don't even know what that means any more. <attacks>

You managed to distill posting on the Codex to its purest form. :o
Sup Drog?
 

Lady_Error

█▓▒░ ░▒▓█
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Split personality: Drog (depressed) and Grog (aggressive). Might fit in well with the new grimdark focus.
 

Brancaleone

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Apr 28, 2015
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Location
Norcia
Make him a literal grognard: a veteran, bitter troll who does not attack you on sight only because he'd rather spare you and inflict upon you all the criticism and complaints about his superiors he has been harboring.
 

Murk

Arcane
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
13,459
I think if you want a relatively unobtrusive but connected villain, you could do an evil quest-compass thing that basically leads you to fights/areas that already existed, but in a jarring order.

So, he pops up and offers you a quest compass under the guise of wanting to help you reach your goal (this would be triggered by you asking people info, and him hearing it and using it against you the way players use 'learned info' against other NPCs.)

The gag is that the quest compass intentionally points you to encounters that are higher level than you, breaking sequence and forcing harder fights, all while promising to show you the right path. It has a bunch of fluff text the troll gives like "the power of the enemies is proof that you are on the right track" etc.

Eventually it gets revealed that he was an agent of the malicious forces that be, sent to deter/kill you, and thought to do so by avoiding combat directly (enter andhaira fallout meme about rat diplomacy here).

There can be some jabs too, like "what, did you seriously think a magical compass would show you where to go, whom to talk to, and what to do? My, your head is really up in the clouds -- probably bumping against the rim of the sky, being that foolish and naive."
 
Self-Ejected

Bubbles

I'm forever blowing
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Split personality: Drog (depressed) and Grog (aggressive). Might fit in well with the new grimdark focus.

We already had Drog the bunny in D:OS 1. Might be too confusing if he recurred.
 

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