Fresh start

[Serak Moonblade]

My apologies if this seems like i'm still undecided but given the fact that if I drop Kivan, i'll never be able to get him back in the party again (please confirm this too), I presume there are no Kivan-specific quests that I'll be missing out on. Am I right?

@ Elfbane: I'm still going to get Branwen. Lemme reach there. Currently at the High Hedge

[ElfBane]

Originally Posted by Serak Moonblade My apologies if this seems like i'm still undecided but given the fact that if I drop Kivan, i'll never be able to get him back in the party again (please confirm this too), I presume there are no Kivan-specific quests that I'll be missing out on. Am I right? @ Elfbane: I'm still going to get Branwen. Lemme reach there. Currently at the High Hedge

I don't remember what the unmoded game does with Kivan. So why don't you Save the game...let Kivan go... and see what happens.

Better yet, since you are early in the game, why not restart the game. But this time use the mods that allow you to,,, 1. Separate NPC pairs, and,,, 2. Send NPC's to wait at an Inn when you drop them.

Those two mods would solve all this angst you're having about building the "perfect party". Many people before you have complained about the very same issues you are having now with NPC management. That's why the mods were created, to alleviate those problems. So instead of Cursing the Darkness...why don't we Light a Candle?

[SixOfSpades]

Originally Posted by Serak Moonblade . . . if I drop Kivan, i'll never be able to get him back in the party again

From Chapter 5 of Volothamp's Comeuppance:
If you kick an NPC out of the party while he's feeling Unhappy (or worse) about the way you've been running the show, he will deliver a few choice insults before leaving, and that's the last you'll ever see of him—or the equipment he's carrying. But if he's feeling neutral or happy about the party's Rep, he'll almost always either stay where he is, or go to some agreed-upon location, and wait for you to come back so he can rejoin.

I presume there are no Kivan-specific quests that I'll be missing out on. Am I right?

You are 99% correct. There is something Kivan wants to do, but you can do it whether he's in the party or not, and unlike Minsc, he doesn't even urge you to get a move on.

I find that the component of BG1Tweaks that allows you to send recruitable NPCs to an Inn is rather spotty. If I'm in the same room as Yeslick, he initiates conversation with me every round, so the only way to shut him up is to send him to some other Inn. And I'm pretty sure that Xan disappeared entirely. It's usually no hardship to leave NPCs in taverns the old-fashioned way, by booting them from the party there.

[Serak Moonblade]

Tried dropping Kivan after the High Hedge. He vanished.

I don't want to restart as my first priority is to finish the game. Something has always come up the past 3 times that I always had to shelve the game before finishing the Nashkel mines. Not this time. I'll finish once before I try to experiment.

I'm currently busy getting taken apart (repeatedly) by vampiric wolves east edge of the Temple east of Beregost. Buffing is still not getting me through. Ajantis with a +2 sword, Branwen with a +2 Hammer and Jahiera with a +1 staff can't seem to take even one of them out. And all Khalid will do is stand by and say "My heart isn't in doing this". Think I'll get back and buy atleast some +1 ammunition before I attempt to deal with them.

[ElfBane]

Originally Posted by SixOfSpades I find that the component of BG1Tweaks that allows you to send recruitable NPCs to an Inn is rather spotty. If I'm in the same room as Yeslick, he initiates conversation with me every round, so the only way to shut him up is to send him to some other Inn. And I'm pretty sure that Xan disappeared entirely. It's usually no hardship to leave NPCs in taverns the old-fashioned way, by booting them from the party there.

I have also encountered the Yeslick nag bug. But Xan has always gone to the FAI when asked.