# Faren NPC Mod

A Spellhold Studios mod for Baldur's Gate 2

Authors: Feuille, Miss Sakaki

Mod Website • Mod Forum • Version: v3

## Introduction

"I know, I know, we don't have much time, and we're facing death every second, but surely we've got time to kick back?"

This mod adds Faren, a new joinable NPC to Baldur's Gate 2. Faren is a True Neutral dual-classed Fighter/Thief. He has a friendly, laid-back disposition and is willing to share a joke or a drink with a protagonist who treats him with respect. Faren can be found in the Trademeet jail. He is playable all the way through to the end of the Throne of Bhaal expansion pack.

The mod contains:

- Plenty of dialogue with the PC. This includes sequential non-romantic talks as well as romantic talks with a willing protagonist complete with conflicts with Aerie, Anomen, Dorn, Hexxat, Jaheira, Neera, Rasaad and Viconia.
- Interjections and interactions with the story arc and game-world
- Banters with all the Bioware and Beamdog NPCs
- Player-initiated dialogue, giving you an opportunity to talk about many different subjects
- Four encounters with multiple outcomes
- New items
- An original portrait for Faren
- Voicing and background music
- Fixes incorporated from the BG2 Fixpack to correct .ids files

## Installation

If you have not already done so, obtain and install the latest official Bioware patch from www.bioware.com. If you have other mods already installed, uninstall them before installing the patch. Faren is made using WeiDU, meaning that it adds to but does not overwrite game files. If you plan to install any non-WeiDU mods, install them before Faren or any other WeiDU mods. Note that the BG2 Fixpack should be installed before Faren, and Virtue should be installed after.

1. Make sure Baldur's Gate II or any related programs are not running.
2. Place Faren.zip anywhere on your drive.
3. Extract Faren.zip into your Baldur's Gate II directory.
4. Double-click setup-faren.exe. A DOS window will open and ask whether you want to install Faren.
5. WeiDU will copy the necessary files into the game and compile dialogues and scripts. This will take a few minutes.
6. If you are using Baldur's Gate II (not the Enhanced Edition), the window will fill with text while WeiDU decompresses Faren's audio files.
7. Choose whichever optional components you wish to install.
8. Start playing! You do not need to start a new game to have Faren in your party.

#### Uninstalling Faren

If you wish to uninstall Faren, run Setup-Faren.exe again and select the U option.

#### Optional Content

You can install crossmod content allowing Faren to interact with the following modded characters and romances if you have them installed: Adrian, Jastey's Ajantis, Amber, Angelo, Arath, Auren Aseph, Beyond the Law, Kulyok's Branwen, Chloe (SoA), Kulyok's Coran, Dace, Darian, jcompton's de'Arnise Romance (SoA), Laufey's Edwin Romance, Fade, Haldamir, Isra, Iylos (ToB), Kelsey, Keto (SoA), The Luxley Family (SoA), Nathaniel, Nephele, Ninde, Romantic Encounters, Saerileth, Sarah, Tashia, Kulyok's Tiax, Weimer's Solaufein, Tsujatha, Kulyok's Xan, Xulaye (Underdark), Yasraena, and Pixel Kaiser's Yeslick (SoA).

## Mod details

Abilities:

Str: 16
Dex: 17
Con: 16
Int: 10
Wis: 13
Cha: 10

Proficiencies:

It is possible to install different proficiency configurations for Faren. The "Martial" configuration reflects Faren's fighter background, and focuses on Sword and Shield Style, Long Sword and Flail. The "Rogue" configuration reflects Faren's thieving background, focusing on Single Weapon Style, Short Sword and Club.

Biography:

When asked about his past, Faren gives you a mock-suspicious glare and says blithely that there is little to tell. Hailing from Trademeet, east of Athkatla, he worked for the town militia when he was younger. After leaving this job - an event he recalls somewhat ruefully - he travelled to Luskan with a group of adventurers, with whom he made close friends. He is glad to be back on the road, saying he gets itchy feet if he stays still for too long, and despite his laid-back approach to life he seems happiest when wading into action.

Player-initiated dialogue:

Clicking the "Talk" icon, then clicking on Faren, will give you a menu with which you can interact with Faren.

Risque Content:

There are references to alcohol and recreational drug use, though these are are in line with in-game content. The romance contains romantic situations, mostly suggestive rather than graphic. The flirts, again, are mostly suggestive, but some of the content is more mature (see below).

Spoiler-free guide to romancing Faren:

Faren will romance male or female PCs of any race or alignment.

Faren will fight over you with the romanceable canon NPCs. He will also take note if you are romancing a modded NPC with crossmod content installed.

Faren will make up with you if you want to. If you treat him very badly he will bring it up with you, but there is the possibility of reconciliation. If you wish to end the romance, you can do so via player-initiated dialogue.

Flirting with Faren, though a sure-fire way to embarrass any fellow companions, can make treks across the wilderness that much more fun. Never one to be left out of the action, Faren will flirt back. Some of this content is more mature than that of the main romance, so if you or someone you live with feels it is inappropriate you can tell Faren via player-initiated dialogue that you rather he didn't talk to you so much. This disables the flirting without affecting the romance itself.

## FAQ

Q: Is Faren Enhanced Edition compatible?
A: Yes, thanks to Kaeloree! Faren talks to and has romance conflicts with Enhanced Edition NPCs.

Q: Do I need Throne of Bhaal to play Faren?
A: Though there is Throne of Bhaal content, you do not need it to play the mod. Faren's Shadows of Amn content does not end on a cliffhanger - it should be satisfying with or without the expansion. You can summon Faren using the Fate Spirit in Throne of Bhaal, or import a game in which he is in the party.

Q: When did Faren dual-class?
A: He dual-classed to Thief at level 7. His level will vary depending on the PC's level when you meet him.

Q: Does Faren come with any special items?
A: Yes, and there are other new items available in the mod.

Q: Does Faren have lethal/unsolvable conflicts with other NPCs?
A: There are some characters he gets on better with than others, but Faren does not try to kill anyone.

Q: I want to speed up the romance or friendship talks. What should I do?
A: Open up the console and enter CLUAConsole:AdvanceRealTime(999999). You can also try resting, as some of his talks only fire on rest. If neither works, please let us know via email or on the forums.

Q: Faren says weird things when I click on him. What should I do?
A: Select Faren and press 'L'. After a short pause, his ordinary soundset should be restored. If not, you will need to reinstall your game.

Q: What are the dialogue and variable details for Faren?
A: For Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal respectively, Faren's initial dialogue files are FHFRN and FHF25, his leaving dialogue files are FHFRNP and FHF25P, his banter files are BFHFRN and BFHF25, and his PC dialogue files are FHFRNJ and FHF25J. His romance global is FHFarenRomanceActive.

Q: Can I write Faren material in my own mod?
A: Please do - we would be delighted. Feel free to write Faren content in your own work: you don't need to ask our permission. Also, feel free to contact us about co-writing Faren content if you like.

Q: I like/don't like your mod(s), and this is why.
A: Please tell us what you think. We are always eager to hear criticism of our work whether positive or negative.

## Credits

Many thanks to Spellhold Studios for download and development hosting, and to all who have given support to Faren during and after development. Thank you also to cmorgan and Kaeloree for coding assistance - all remaining errors are our own. Finally, a big thank you goes to Kaeloree for his peerless enthusiasm, kind understanding regarding our disappearing acts, and overall support.

Authors: Feuille and Miss Sakaki
Voice acting: Dan Mitrovic (Faren), Miss Sakaki (wraith spirit)
Music: Dance of the Cotton Pickers from Gayane by Khachaturian. Recording published by Naxos
Portrait: Feuille
Additional art: vilkacis
Playtesting: Ankhesenpaten, Bite, Giuseppe, Lady Fiana, Lava Del'Vortel, Natsuhiboshi, Neysa, Nivea, RavenBlack, Rianess, witya, yarpen

Tutorials and technical assistance:

Gibberlings Three

Pocket Plane Group

Spellhold Studios

We created Faren using the following tools and resources:

Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Elements by Adobe

ConTEXT Programmers' Editor

DLTCEP by Avenger

IESDP maintained at Gibberlings3

Infinity Explorer

Near Infinity (Infinity Engine browser and editor) by Jon Olav Hauglid

OggVorbis audio encoder

Shadow Keeper

WavePad audio editing software

WeiDU by Wesley Weimer, maintained by the bigg

winLAME audio encoder

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal © TSR, Inc. The BioWare Infinity Engine is © BioWare Corp.

Faren is not developed, supported, or endorsed by TSR, Inc. or Bioware Corp.

## Version history

###### Version 3

- Updated to WeiDU 238
- Added Enhanced Edition content: banters and romance conflicts with Dorn, Hexxat, Neera and Rasaad
- Added a new Throne of Bhaal encounter
- Added 2 new non-romantic Throne of Bhaal talks
- Added further crossmod content
- Various minor bugfixes and dialogue tweaks
- Expanded player-initiated dialogue options
- Added music to plot-related talks when in a romance
- Increased the Faren-initiated flirt timer so flirts happen less often
- Underdark areas in BG2:EE do not allow romance talks and Faren-initiated flirts
- Post-rest talks fire more reliably

###### Version 2.3

- Removed Faren's vestigial Bhaalspawn powers
- Fixed ToB summoned dialogue assignment with rogue proficiency set
- Fixed .d typo in reaction to Desharik Romantic Encounters content

###### Version 2.2

- Made compatible with BG2:EE

###### Version 2.1

- Fixed several bugs thanks to the BWP Fixpack & Lollorian

###### Version 2

- Fixed interjection compatibility issues and fixed a handful of typographical errors
- Cleaned up unset globals in Romantic Encounters content
- Fixed a stutter bug after the battle with Bodhi
- Fixed repeating Nathaniel dialogue
- Added Chloe banters and romance conflict
- Added Fade banters and romance conflict
- Updated portraits

###### Version 1

- Initial public release