Announcing WTP Familiars, The Find Familiar spell the way it should be! ^_^ Options

[Salk]

Hello people!

Using Rabain's work as ground (version 0.5 was released in 2007 and had a number of issues), I have expanded his modification and adapted it to Baldur's Gate Trilogy. The modification is fully compatible with Baldur's Gate 2 and it's downloadable here.

Future versions might be made compatible with EasyTuTu and BG:EE but that's not a priority.

WTP Familiars revises the classic and iconic Find Familiar spell, rebalancing it and making it closer to its PnP counterpart. Sounds, portraits and additional dialogue choices are included, together with a nifty level up system. The familiars are now nine (new entry: Spider as new True Neutral, Rabbit is now Lawful Good) and mages can choose between 3 or 4 (depending on alignment) creatures (exception: True Neutral mages are restricted to the Spider). The violent death of the familiar has severe consequences and the little critters cannot just be used as boost for hit points and then stuffed into the backpack. They will make themselves heard if you do!

Additionally, the familiars have totally different innate powers that are PnP inspired.

The readme is included in the zipped archive. As installation goes, this modification needs to be installed after any other modification (like Spell Revisions) that changes the Find Familiar spell.

This modification needs Ascension64's ToBEx to function properly (if this is not detected, it will be installed automatically).

Thanks and enjoy!

This post has been edited by Salk: Nov 22 2017, 05:39 AM

[Salk]

Version has been updated to 1.4 due to a bug with erroneously set chapter globals.

During my testing I experienced glitches which I am unable to reproduce constantly: sometimes the familiar's script doesn't run the way it should and I am trying to figure out why. To elaborate: it once happened that the familiar was destroyed but the die() script never triggered and another time the familiar summoning script wasn't completely run (didn't set the makeglobal, didn't show the visual effect).

It's not so easy to isolate the cause since it seems pretty erratic and might depend on the interaction between different modifications.


This post has been edited by Salk: Jul 16 2015, 04:43 PM

[Salk]

New version available: 1.5!

Here's the change log:

- Fixed a bug with equipping weapon for a number of familiars
- Now the familiar leaving after friendly fire will no longer prevent the summoning of a new familiar
- Attempt to avoid disruption of the familiar's leveling up process
- Corrected a few typos

[Kross]

Apologies if these questions have been answered elsewhere, but I looked in the readme file and couldn't find any of the info I wanted.

1) Do the familiars level up with the character's total XP from all classes, or just with their mage class level? I ask because I'm fond of giving all my PCs a familiar through the potion swap exploit. (If Minsc can have Boo, I can have a rabbit!) I would rather not be running around BG2 as a barbarian with a level 1 familiar if I can help it.

2) Is there a list of the individual familiars and the specific abilities/classes they possess somewhere? Since the mod lets us choose which one we want, I figured it would be a good idea to pick the one that fits the party's needs the best before I summon one.

By the way, I must congratulate the author on reviving this mod. Familiars, in BG2 at least, basically served little to no purpose other than a splattering of extra HPs, someone to talk to, and maybe a useful spell if you got one of the nicer ones. I have hope that this mod will make them into "Party Member 6.5", and expand their role in the game. I'm also excited to read that you've done some work expanding their dialog as well, since interaction with your familiar is half the fun of the spell. Would it be possible to write interjections for familiars some time in the future? I bet the spider would have something to say when you talk to Pai'Na, or the cat loving the nice, warm fireplace of an inn.

[Kross]

Nevermind! Got a little curious and experimented myself. For anyone that is curious:

-Familiars scale with mage class level. That means that if you (somehow) are a 1 rogue/12 wizard/38 fighter, the familiar will be level 12.
-The spell will not function if you are not a mage class, even if you use the potion swap trick. The script specifically checks to see if you are indeed a mage.
-The Find Familiar scroll description gives you details on the familiars, but the information there seems to be outdated. There's no info on the spider, some familiars gain abilities not mentioned in the description, and the description seems to still assume that familiars will only be one level forever.
-There is an option to have the familiar follow you, which is nice if you find yourself constantly leaving it behind.
-When a familiar levels up, a brief description of the stats and abilities it gains appears in the chatbox. Very helpful.
-The cat familiar seems to be able to both pick locks and disable traps, so if you plan on being a mage in a party without room for a rogue you could aim for an alignment close to that one.

[Salk]

Hello Kross.

Thank you for your interest in my mod and your feedback.

You have indeed answered most of your own questions but I will specify first of all that there will be an update (1.55) very soon. I am sorry I am late with this reply of mine but I have been away for a few weeks.

By the way, the cat is not the only familiar with extensive thieving abilities: the ferret and the rabbit should be able to pick locks and disarm traps too.

Good catch about the outdated spell description for the Find Familiar scroll. I will remedy that.

I have not planned any sort of special interaction with the familiars but rather created new dialogue between familiar and master/mistress for each chapter of Baldur's Gate. I agree it would be nice to make the familiar a pseudo party member. Perhaps in the future.

[Salk]

Version 1.55 is out.

Change log:

- Corrected a typo that'd reset the wrong variable
- Fixed spell description for the Find Familiar scroll

[waebbl]

Hello, first thanks for keeping up this nice mod. I really enjoy your updates to the familiars.

I currently have WTPFamiliars-1.5 installed within a BWP megamod installalation using BGT. Now there's a problem with the transition from BG1 to BG2. I also have CtB installed and played the Candlekeep Chores.
At the end of Candlekeep Chores, if my familiar is out, it gets transfered into AR0602 (Irenicus' Dungeon), but can not be seen during the initial cut scene and happen to stand immediately in front of the cell. So Imoen can't come up and open the door of the cell. If I put my familiar into the backpack, before I speak to Gorion for the last time, the familiar is gone from the backpack, after the cutscene is finished, and I have regained control of my character.
BGT happens to put the familiar into the Picture 1 if it finds one, but they only search for the original names of the familiars (i.e. FAMCAT, but not WTPCat).
Is the WTPFamiliar mod in any way involved with the transition from BG1 to BG2? I didn't find any hints in the code so far, but I'm not much used to the IE games scripting language.

For a more detailed analysis of this, please look over at the Spellhold Studio forums, starting at this post

This post has been edited by waebbl: Nov 25 2015, 02:56 AM

[Salk]

Hello!

First of all, sorry for the late reply.

I am glad you could enjoy this mod (as long as it lasted) and I am sorry about the issue at transition. I tested it myself and didn't happen to have any but I am grateful for your bug report and will try and fix it as soon as possible. Modding wise, I am not really capable but hopefully I can think of something.

[Salk]

Version 1.6 is out.

Change log:

Fixed incompatibility with BGT transition script
Fixed incompatibility with Game Over Only on Party Dead modification
Improved familiars' discontent mechanic
Minor tweaks to dialogue and scripts

This post has been edited by Salk: Mar 14 2016, 07:32 PM

[Graoumf]

The link on the top doesn't work for me.
Where can I find this mod ?

[ALIEN]

Link is wrong, correct one:

CODE

http://dragonshoard.blackwyrmlair.net/mods_download.php?mod=388&bws=1

[Graoumf]

Thank you.

[Salk]

The link in the OP is now corrected.

Thanks for pointing this out!

[Salk]

A bug with level 12 level up dialogue option was reported and corrected.

Version 1.65 will be uploaded soon.

[Salk]

New version (1.65) is up.

Change Log:

- Corrected a typo breaking level up dialogue option at level 12

[Salk]

A new version (1.7) is being uploaded and will be available soon!

Change Log:

- The familiars will no longer stubbornly refuse to return to the backpack when their or the mage's health is seriously compromised in battle
- Attempt to avoid having the familiar's nagging ever interrupt the player during combat
- Fixed minor bug with evil familiars' TOB dialogue
- Additional dialogue for reputation shift (good aligned familiars will not stay with a villain!)
- Fixed minor bug with the ferret's and the rabbit's Burrow ability

[Salk]

The new version is up!

[Salk]

I am working on a new version of the mod that will add class-based special abilities for the Familiar.

I also noticed a minor visual glitch while testing, something I am unable to correct: if the familiar returns to the backpack while having a visual effect on itself, once the familiar is out again and the spell has expired, it will still show for a second before disappearing.

This post has been edited by Salk: Aug 13 2016, 05:57 PM

[Salk]

Hello!

Version 1.8 is now released.

Change log:

- All familiars use now their innate abilities instantaneously
- Introduced new Special Ability for Thief/Warrior class familiars: Empowerment
- Introduced new Special Ability for Mage class familiars: Spell bounce
- Wraith Form and Phasing abilities added to Spider
- Warrior class familiars are now immune to Critical Hits
- Fixed a bug with the Spider's poison resistance
- Fixed minor incompatibility with Sword Coast Stratagems