Hi! I'm a big fan of your games been watching the development of D OS2 from the very beginning! Bought it the minutes it got EA release :)

To the point of this thread now:

I started playing the game alone, played it for hours when my friend asked me to join his game. I thought I could just join him with my created character as already somehow leveled him up and had some gear. But then I found out that I can only create a new character if I want to join a new campaign with a friend.

So my suggestion is : Please consider making an option to save our characters and then be able to join our friends by importing it to their campaign.

I think it would be cool to export a character build and import it into character creation, but I think that importing a character mid-campaign would be weird.

Why? Its an old concept already introduced in a few great RPGs - Neverwinter Nights for example.

Imagine the game develops further, you spend lots of hours developing you character. Then some dlc or mod comes out and to play it you will have to just throw your 500+hours of gameplay into the trash and start all over again.

If DOS 2 was designed in the same way as DOS 1 - and I suspect it was - I do not believe that is possible to do.

Quests are spread out, and have multiple solutions. It's possible for Playthrough 1's characters to have done quests in a certain way, meanwhile Playthrough 2's characters have not done the quest at all, or have done it in a completely contradictory way.

Playthrough 1's characters are all level 5, Playthrough 2's characters are all level 9.

The way DOS 1 worked, it was completely, totally impossible to separate a character from the campaign which had happened so far.

Now, perhaps Larian has redesigned the systems so it is possible, but I think that's unlikely.

There is no respawning in DOS2, so if a character at - say - level 3 is imported into the game in which other characters are at level 10, then the level 3 character won't stand a chance to participate in battles without being instakilled.

Simple solution, you join the game as a companion for the host of that game so all his quests are directly shared with you. Like you hv been there from the beginning. But from the moment you connect its your choice to go along with the party or to do everything else on your own (competitive quests).
You cant join level 5 characters if you are level 9. Lets say the limit is +\- 1-2 levels.



Same as I said the put the level limit to +\- 1-2 levels.

Its really a well known and very good concept no need to create something new here.

Even the limitation of the levels is not required at all actually. If you are lower level you could wait for your teammates to level you up. If you are higher level you can help your teammates if needed.

Such a great game with such a great concept should be replayable as much as possible.

And with the modding tools there will be custom made scenarios. Well it would be wonderful to dive into new adventures with a familiar character.

Sorry for bringing this thread again but I think we need more opinion on this matter.

So does everyone ok with making a new character every new adventure? Or there will be no DLCs no custom made campaigns etc etc?

What about DM mode? We will have to make new character every time we want to go for some dungeon crawling. I don't get it a bit.

Bringing this back again folks =) Sorry but we need more feedback on this issue! Please don't overlook this feature. It was nice to have it in BG and NWN and a lot of other awesome RPGs.

I don't think there is another thread touching the same subject, so please leave some feedback!

I just noticed that some of the suggestion threads been moved to other subforum. Please move this too.

I still think people dont really get that having option to save and import your fav characters to anyones games is so much fun.

I even suggest making some kind of portals, for example @vometia is a level 12 paladin, @ellary is a level 7 wizard and @slampow is level 15 warrior. So lets say Vometia and i are steam friends so she decided to invite my character to her world, as soon as invite is sent if my character accepts the invite ill get a portal opened in my characters world that get him to Vometias world. I have no contacts with Ellary and Vometia has no contacts with slampow so i invite slampow and she invites Ellary, both of them teleport to Vomitias world as her world becomes the host. But if i wanted to share my experience with said party i just cast a teleport again and return to my world and invite them in. All above mentioned names are fictional any resemblace to real people are purely coincidental.

Now i didnt think this thru yet so any suggestions are welcomed! - The world doesnt scale, and if its very hard for us to be in her world we will just come back later. Or invite someone to help us.

A game with Ellary, Testad and Vometia? Sounds awesome! Count me in! =)

I totally play a mage though, haha!



As for the OP: I love Neverwinter Night an unbelievable amount, having spent around 2000 hours on the series and about 500 hours modding. I loved the import/export system, but there are a few problems with implementing it in DOS2.

The first, is origins. What if Testad had already recruited her? Could I still import my Lhose? I would be very sad if not, because I love playing Lhose.

The second is quests. Journals tied to the save like in NWN2, they're tied to individual characters. And quest items aren't tagged as such, so I could just import a character with, say, a purging wand and bum rush the final boss. If I couldn't, then I would be very sad, since I use the purging wand for damage.

The third is that NWN2 had character files, where characters were neatly stored with all their info. In DOS2, characters are a part of the world, as are their relationships and euipment. In DOS2, the world is saved with the characters in it, as elements of the world. In DOS, this was more of a problem, because of how homesteads would conflict, but in DOS2 we have similar problems, like aggression flagging after attacking someone being tied to the character. For example, if I were to import my character who had their collar off, aggroed the magisters, and was The One, what would be preserved?


These are just the most basic issues I can think of as I understand them. I'm certain there are more, of course. But, FWIW, I would love to have such a feature implemented. It would mean dropping into someone's game without having to create a new character, or needing to control an existing one. It would definitely be a boon to multiplayer, and... Oh hey, Testad wrote this! What's up, man! Great idea! +1!

Seriously, no, I am The Worst. Everybody else has made it to the other side of the map happily pwning everyone in sight and I'm still wandering around the starting area with my trousers on my head.

Which is better than my attempt at playing Doom when I immediately shot my co-worker because I thought he was an imp or something (and yeah, I'm conscious of the time frame, I've mostly avoided MP since then!)

Oh man, sounds like fun! I usually wander around collecting seashells and roleplay Lhose having a deathly fear of the water (can't swim in it, after all). The last game I had, we spent four hours at level 3, because we were playing hide and seek. The time before that, I spent an hour yelling at NPCs to join me pirate crew while helping a friend to set up Discord. So I totally get the slow playing thing. =D

Hey thanks SlamPow!

I actually didn't give it too much thought. I hope guys with bigger brains can come up with some system that would be awesome!

As I see it when anyone joins a host he starts to share the hosts quests. For example if you already finished the Act 1 and Vometia is still wandering around the starting area (a beach btw!) with her trousers! (see pants) on her head!! (no pants below) (it stuck in my "imagine this" section of the brain). Ok so, we share her quests, if lets say she plays as a Lohse and you would want to joint her as a Lohse too, we will get a blue screen of death and CTD. Well sh** I have no idea how to counter this.

Okay. I'm now going to argue against everything I just said, because I am totally biased to take Testad's side, because he's Testad.



Well, simple! Have the joining player replace the existing Lhose, with the approval of the host! There's no reason the existing character can't just be dismissed and overwritten while the player is connected.



You're forgetting the fact that journals can already be shared! There's a "Share Journal" button at the bottom of everyone's journal, which is toggleable! Easy solution: automatically reset journals upon going to another world, and allow the player to have journals tied to both the world and player! Simple!



Well, if they can isolate player data into a file (which I see as likely to happen, as it will most likely be a prerequisite for customizable Arena characters, which is a goal of Swen's), then it can be done on a most basic level.
As for the collar thing, just leave it off! They'll have to avoid guards, but that's an inherent risk in getting it off. As for magister aggro and The One status, that can be lumped in with journal data - tied to particular combinations of both world and player (so, Aleithia, my megamage, would have journal #1 on my world, and journal #2 on Testad's world, allowing her to progress at the pace of the world, and not necessarily the transient player).

Importing characters between games just will not work, and will never happen, the end.

figured

but still worth a try

I didn't know about the housing until Ellary I think pointed it out. Inviting some of you to my house would have been so much fun. I mean main characters of that people not the ones in my game.

Edit : Somehow totally missed SlamPows post. See above are pretty good points from the guy with more brains! Someone with even more may come up with a perfect system.

I would think Larian would have to allow some sort of exporting/importing to have a proper GM mode. True it doesn't make much sense for the main campaign but it definitely does for being able to jump between maps created by your friends.

I have seen this question asked a few times and agree completely - we need some for of character import and export - especially for GM'd games and custom campaigns - is there still no word from the developers on this subject?

Is it something that could happen later down the line? I asked the question on the Steam forums as well but there seemed no definitive answer to it.

I've always wanted this feature too but since it depends so largely on quests story and decision making it would be real incohesive? It's like Skyrim with co-op. It really wouldn't make too much sense. Even the battles and interactions with every NPC is a decision. Diablo 3 is a lackluster story so you can join and rush and tag along with whoever whenever. It's not the case here it would just ruin all that's precious with this game.
I have a brother that is unable to play on release but will a week later, so I plan to dabble a character solo and a different one with him and maybe another friend. That way I have some alone time to enjoy the game when I get off work early but also another game when I want to really co-op it up.
You never know what the future holds I just want the game to release and enjoy it now

I think i read that you might be able to save a character for the GM mode but im not sure.

That they will be adding it for GM mode is something... still it could really hurt campaign co-op play in my eyes if it didn't also exist for that as well.

They already stated it cannot and will not happen for campaign... the reason is that the campaign keeps track of quests you completed during that playthrough so you cant just jump in mid game without messing everything up.

If that were the case, surly the same would be true for a custom campaign?

If by "custom campaign" you mean a non-GM campaign created in the editor, then yes.
In custom GMed campaigns there will be no scripted quests and such and therefor importing/exporting character for use in GM mode will be no, or less, a problem as there won't be any "story data" attached to the character.

Yes, I meant campaigns created by other players that don't necessarily require a GM to play.

I have to admit, if it will not exist for the main campaign AND custom, user-built ones it could seriously hurt the co-op viability of the game for myself and the group(s) I play with - and would be a great shame.

I would love to see this option. Make a tiny tick box to allow imported characters or not. For those worried about random Co-op play I don't do random play so can't comment much on that part.. The custom games (GM/ custom created in toolkit) this would be amazing for friends who wish to continue the story of said characters. It would give the GM or Campaign maker the option to continue with harder battles in their story, rather then having to try and re balance each campaign for leveling.

Oh and for those groups of friends who maybe take turns making a campaign. It would allow them to keep using characters they fell in love with and keep their RP tales flowing. Since saves are host side only.. A neat idea I could see with this is players taking turns making their own lil origin campaign focused on their character, then their friends going through it with them. Dunno prob just my inner RP nerd, but that would be neat to me.

+1000 this idea to Save/Export/Import characters.

You hit the nail on the head there, Ellary. A definite +1000 from me as well. In-fact I am amazed that something like this is not yet in the game - it seems like pretty much a requirement at this point.

Outside of GM mode it is definitely NOT going to happen.. Larian already stated that.

From what I know of the GM mode, it would be easy for the GM to just give enough xp to reach certain level and give money for some loots.

And I am fairly sure you can start our custom campaign by giving xx amount of XP to start with in a room with merchant selling things for your level.

If it's mainly to start at a predetermined level or with certain powers, this really doesn't feel like this is needed.

If all that is possible then why on earth is using an existing character not possible? Copy over a few variables from a save and use it for a module - done! If the module is being started fresh then there isn't even any story or quest related stuff to get in the way, it's just move the character from one game to another.


I disagree with that. They are trying to sell this as the next evolution in RPG's that are akin to PnP etc. Something as simple as continuing to evolve, RP and develop a character that you have invested many hours in is a bog-standard requirement for RP games.

Honestly the importer/exporter needs functionality on all modes, would be nice to take my campaign characters to GM mod or even the arena. Obviously with some kind of scaling for multiplayer balance or the GM scenario. That way people can keep characters they enjoy and continue playing/experiencing what the game offers for longer.

They stated it some time ago.


I never just take one character from one campaign to another and I really don't think this is a MUST HAVE, much less a standard.
Seems to me you complain about a easy of use functionality, you can do without it with no problem. They might add it later if they can and if everyone yells about. To me that is a "nice to have" improvement.

Fair enough that you do not, doesn't mean others don't.

Having to start a fresh level 1 character with every single game, module, campaign and GM game seems completely bonkers to me - you will never get to RP or develop a character. You will always be pushed back to square one, there will be no continuity and it's a hassle that we can do without.

What amazes me the most though, is all the talk in their trailers of PnP etc... if they want players to have a true PnP experience this feature is simply a must.

I have DM'd games before and been part of games DM'd by others - both on PnP and games like Neverwinter Nights and Sword Coast Legends. We developed characters over modules with ALL of those.

Anyway, I feel I have said my part on the matter (and I think at this point I am just waffling ;-)) and I know I am not alone. I can only hope the developers listen because they seem to underestimate how big a deal this is to certain players.

Not a bad feature to have if gms want to start new sessions for different parts of their campaign, but I'm not sure why the gm wouldn't just use the same session/game. A simple work around would be to have the gm level the players up and give them the same items as they had the session before. Again, not really sure why the gm wouldn't just use the same game session for this and avoid the hassle, but all to their own I guess.

Never seen players bring characters from another gm's game in real life pnp, but I'll take some folks word that it happens.

Cool feature, but hardly gamebreaking or without an obvious workaround.

It's all about freedom of choice - let the players decide how they want to play. Such is the point of an RPG, especially one that reports to give PnP freedom to players.

I remember back when SCL was still in development - there were so many people that were very resistant to adding features to the game that it absolutely required. The "hype-haze" made the game seem perfect to them and they couldn't see the many glaring issues. What happened? The game came out and everyone slowly realised that yes, the things players had been discussing for months really did need to be added. The game ultimately flopped. Now, I am not saying that D:OS 2 is anywhere close to the abysmal mess that that game was, but the underlying point remains: why limit yourself and your players?

There are many instances when a feature like this would be a godsend. The very fact that the developers themselves recently mentioned it an a stream proves that they are realising it is required and will be doing something later down the line. I just hope that they realise the importance is all.

I REALLY like this game and I want it to be as good as it can be.

Just realised, I have started waffling again. My Will save must be particularly low today.

having this feature is really important to me, id like to be able to join others online, talk, show off and compare weapons and gear.

as the game stands now, i wouldn't play the multiplayer at anything other than a lan party. why get invested in a character when you only get to play him for a few hours? i love the idea of having multiplayer in this game, i really do but i feel like its current state online multiplayer just gives a random control over one of my character and local multiplayer is just a substitute to handing over the controller when it's my mates turn.

please give us the ability to import a custom character either automatically (your custom character is imported when you join if you have a free party slot) or manually by separating the character files so they can be sent.

most of the problems that arise are really just hand holding problems. for example, are you getting one-shot by enemies? probably shouldn't have joined your level 9 friend with a brand new character...

point is, even if problems arise i would still prefer to have the choice. i bought this game to play with friends as well as solo, while its shortcomings are not a deal breaker it certainly makes it painful to play with them. especially when i had to tell my friend he couldn't use his character he started with.

Well, it's not happening. The game is not designed or balanced around taking a character who did things in one way and inserting them into a game where things could have happened in a totally different way.

There is no need to be so negative about a feature that many would find really beneficial.

It's also something that is totally do-able if the developers wanted to do it.

Here's what could be done...

Firstly, you as a host would have the option of opening up your games in this manner - possibly via a checkbox on the "Connectivity" screen where you invite players. As such, everyone who doesn't want the feature doesn't have to use it. You could even have a "level difference" slider to prevent characters more than 1+ levels joining to retain balance.

Secondly, if the game you are joining is open to this, all that would need to be done is to temporarily replace one of the existing party members (the ones normally controlled by joining players) with the character of the joining player.

Lastly, quests would remain as they were - the host controls them so nothing needs to be changed at all. The joining character would be playing in the hosts game with whatever quests they are currently running... just as it would be if they joined in the existing manner. As such you wouldn;t even have to worry about story progress or quests getting messed up at all. If the developers did find a way to do some form of "quest-syncing" then great, but the way described here would not require them to do that.

...it's really not rocket science. A system like NWN would be ideal, where you have a "vault" where all your characters are kept. I mean jeez, even Sword Coast Legends got that right.

I am not being negative. I am being honest.

The game is not even remotely designed for swapping characters between games. That is something which would need to built into the design from pre-production. It is not something to casually add in and hope it doesn't break anything (it will break a LOT of things).

This is not an MMO or a persistent world. It's an RPG based around taking a single group of characters from start to finish, with the relationships between them as an important part.

It's not intended for swapping characters randomly in and out, and I'm not wasting my time reading your explanation about how a different game designed with a different mindset and programmed in a different way did a thing which is not applicable to this game.

Fine, then take the negativity somewhere else. I provided a valid example of how it could work above. If all you are going to do is repeat the same "I don't want it so no-one should have it" mentality then just don't bother... such a feature wouldn't harm your gaming experience and could help others who would like to see it.

Oh it's the Option Fallacy of Game Development again.

Developers spending time and effort adding lots of code trying to get the game to do what it was never designed or intended to do in the first place does, in fact take time away from them fixing bugs and balance issues, so it does have an impact.

I don't know where people get the idea that describing the thing they want as an "option" automatically makes it free and easy for the developers to implement. Even when the "option" is a thing the game was not designed or intended to do.

For someone that just said they weren't even going to read the reasons for having such a feature in the game, you certainly have a strong opinion on the matter. Infact, this almost seems like a trolling attempt to completely derail what has been up to this point quite constructive until you hopped on-board to ignore everyone and force your opinion down everyone's throat. Why did you even bother commenting on this thread? You know what, I don't need an answer as it is blatantly clear to anyone reading.

As such, I am done "talking" to you if all you are going to do is rant without reason and without even reading other people's very valid comments.

Bumping a fairly "old" thread, but since it was one of the few which came up after researching the topic on importing/exporting/saving player characters for gm campaigns this thread was one of the few coming up.

I most sincerly request this feature for gm mode.

This exact question was raised during the undead reveal youtube stream in the q&a session that was roughly 2 months ago. Any updates I missed during my research (looking at you Larian ; ))

Still no news on this one? A real shame that a feature this important has still not yet been added to the game.