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Maybe I just missed it during my initial playthrough of the alpha but it would be great if we were allowed to customize each of the characters/companions in the game. Obviously you wouldn't be able to change things like race and gender but being able to change stats and faces seems like it would add a whole new layer to customization to your party that could really enhance the game's replayability.

What are your all's thoughts on the classes and stat options for all the characters?

Thanks for your dedication and awesome work Larian, you're my favorite game studio right now by far!

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No. You can't, and probably shouldn't be able to alter the base character concepts for the scripted characters. You're free to build them any way you want, but their basic attributes are unchangeable, so obviously some favor certain skillsets over others. Notice that's different from me saying I don't wish I could create my *own* party from scratch.

The scripted companions are deliberately written characters with unique backgrounds and identities. Their basic attributes help define who they are. Red Prince's dialogue and personality would not feel as authentic if he were a shifty rogue instead of a noble knight.

Im fine with that. Well defined scripted characters add life and personality to a story, and are better at forming player attachment than some generic character with no distinct voice of their own.

However, I do wish there was *also* an option to create my own party from scratch. In the previous game, you could eventually hire mercenaries to act as party members, rather than the scripted companions but thats not nearly as satisfying.

Last edited by Gelatinous Rube; 30/09/16 06:31 AM.
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I would be very excited to be able to create 4 characters when I begin the game; not only would it be more fun and creative, it would also allow me more tactical choices since I could have a Lohse that fits a role in my party, instead of having to shoehorn her in after meeting her.

I am hopeful that when my friend and I play we are able to both begin by using split-screen multiplayer, each of us designing 2 characters, essentially.

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I did see a dev post on steam forums a while back that suggested they are thinking about making companions a bit more customisable when they initially join your party.

Last edited by SacredDark; 30/09/16 11:47 AM.
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Originally Posted by Melgrimm
I would be very excited to be able to create 4 characters when I begin the game; not only would it be more fun and creative, it would also allow me more tactical choices since I could have a Lohse that fits a role in my party, instead of having to shoehorn her in after meeting her.

I am hopeful that when my friend and I play we are able to both begin by using split-screen multiplayer, each of us designing 2 characters, essentially.


There is currently a workaround to do this http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=769494798

But yea larian should definitely add it themselves.

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Well even if it is not implemented as a feature there is a way you can do it if you have some friends who have the game. Just start a 4 people multi player game, then everyone gets to customize a character and then that game file can be played solo.

Takes a bit of work. But I hope they just make it a feature for people who want.

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You can via loophole. You have to create a new multiplayer game and go into the character creation screen, then open up 3 other instances of the game with new profiles and have them join your game. You should be able to customize all of them. I customized two characters with that method.

Here's the link for more precise info: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=769494798

All credit goes to user Strazyplus who figured it out.

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Originally Posted by Gelatinous Rube
No. You can't, and probably shouldn't be able to alter the base character concepts for the scripted characters. You're free to build them any way you want, but their basic attributes are unchangeable, so obviously some favor certain skillsets over others. Notice that's different from me saying I don't wish I could create my *own* party from scratch.

The scripted companions are deliberately written characters with unique backgrounds and identities. Their basic attributes help define who they are. Red Prince's dialogue and personality would not feel as authentic if he were a shifty rogue instead of a noble knight.

Im fine with that. Well defined scripted characters add life and personality to a story, and are better at forming player attachment than some generic character with no distinct voice of their own.


I don't feel that this is a valid argument to support this. This is a game and the primary function of a game should still be on playability. You can already take these base characters and reshape them yourself, so there's absolutely no justifiable reason for not being able to tailor them to fit your current playthrough.
Personally, I like having companions along that aren't faceless mercenaries with no backstory. But I absolutely loathe feeling that points are wasted, or that their base builds just don't match how I want to play. Since I can already make Lohse into a knight or a ranger when I select her as my main character, there should be nothing that prevents me from fully customizing the companion version of her.

Last edited by vometia; 01/10/16 04:23 AM. Reason: formatting
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Originally Posted by Archibald
I don't feel that this is a valid argument to support this. This is a game and the primary function of a game should still be on playability. You can already take these base characters and reshape them yourself, so there's absolutely no justifiable reason for not being able to tailor them to fit your current playthrough.

Personally, I like having companions along that aren't faceless mercenaries with no backstory. But I absolutely loathe feeling that points are wasted, or that their base builds just don't match how I want to play. Since I can already make Lohse into a knight or a ranger when I select her as my main character, there should be nothing that prevents me from fully customizing the companion version of her.


I agree with this. Swen has already said that they're probably going to at least allow partial character customization for Companions, but I hope that they go full-on and allow for the same amount of customization as you could get by selecting their origin at startup and tweaking from there.

Last edited by Stabbey; 30/09/16 09:42 PM. Reason: found link
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I think the only challenge is working out how to introduce the customisation options. It would be a bit weird to have a character creation screen pop up every time someone joins your party.

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+7 to this!

I haaate only having 1 character to customise! I feel so disconnected from them!

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Just have them auto level from zero to whatever level you are. They already do it when you're level 2 or more, which is pretty easy to reach before meeting any party members so it's not like it'd change anything really

As considering that you level them up beyond the initial level 1 manually anyway. It's not like it impacts their origins or characterization or anything. The creators can even still leave them with the same default starting equipment to encourage players to try them out as a certain role and diversify.

The skills might be tricky but it's just as easy to just place the skill book in their pockets

Last edited by aj0413; 01/10/16 04:25 AM.
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I want to make 4 custom characters as a default feature because honestly I don't give a rat's ass about pre-generated ones, and as for "the game is scripted around them" is a partial truth. The game is scripted around the dialogue tag system, which in effect, is tied to the pre-generated characters; but can be applied to your own.

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Originally Posted by Plumpbiscuit
I want to make 4 custom characters as a default feature because honestly I don't give a rat's ass about pre-generated ones, and as for "the game is scripted around them" is a partial truth. The game is scripted around the dialogue tag system, which in effect, is tied to the pre-generated characters; but can be applied to your own.


Yea actually that's a good point..... the whole origin story could be tags only which you can select.

But you know its prob best to keep them race and sex restricted by this point since the dialogue reflects that, it could be a lot of work to change that now.

But honestly you could keep everything the same and just allow for more customisation of appearance and stats for companion characters and that would be fine wouldn't it? With the added ability to select 4 none origin characters also at start. I think the devs would feel bad though after putting a lot of work into the origins :P

Last edited by SacredDark; 01/10/16 11:09 AM.

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