Arans Assassination

[Crokus]

Well, this component sounded very intriguing in the readme, but frankly it was a huge dissapointment.

Right after leaving the underdark I visited Brega, to try out this new quest. After accepting the quest I naturally headed to the docks. My first idea was to go trough the "secret" door into the guild but I noticed that there were no soldiers there, so I checked Renals guild.

After a few words the amnish soldiers bust into the guild and well... what followed was very silly. The solders that should not defeat the thief guild (as Brega said) without your help killed all the thieves without getting bloody themselves 
On the second floor Renal doest even say anything when his former lackey busts in, killing every thief in sight!

Ok maybe the last floor is somewhat of a challenge, it is where the action is going on right?
Nope, upon entering some low lvl npcs attack. The amnish take care of them too.
Sigh, ok on to Linvail I guess. On the way the only people I encoutered were some mages and priests of maks... where are the assassins jumping form the shadows? This is a thieves guild right?

*Finally* i reach Aran and what do you know... he just attacks me! He doesnt even ask why I double crossed him! Not even a "bastard, you will die". For a chapter 6 party Aran, his mage and lvl 1 thug arent exactlya challenge either.
Back to the goverment district brega says thanks and end of quest.. 

[SimDing0™]

I think I'm going to pretty much recode this quest from the ground up, because it's an absolute disaster right now, and I must've been drunk/stoned/temporarily retarded to have made it the way it is at the moment. I'm sorry you found it to be such a disappointment; I can only promise that the v2 one will be rather better. I'll take your suggestions into consideration.

[Crokus]

Im glad, hopefully v2 will please me 

[Arthas]

For one of the most powerful criminal organizations on the Sword Coast, BioWare sure had fun portraying the Shadow Thieves as a bunch of wimps.

The guildhall in the docks isn't the real Shadow Thief guildhall anyway -- it's a front. However, that's beside the point.

I always wondered if the real Shadow Thieves *knew* that they were no match for the player character, and since the Shadow Thieves once worshipped Bhaal, they wanted you to succeed in becoming a god, so they did some damage control by trying to stay out of your way even when the fake Shadowmaster, Aran Linvail, is trying to recruit your services or kill you.

I didn't receive the impression that the Shadow Thieves in the game were powerful, mainly because the thieves in Irenicus' dungeon pose absolutely no threat to you. I'd like to see that changed. I'd also like to see a group of assassins hunt down the PC if you turn on the Shadow Thieves in chapter 2 or 6. Avenger's mod was great, but he made the thieves a little too powerful. I want to see loads of well-armed but not too tough thieves jumping out of the Shadows. Give them some daggers of venom.

I don't know about most BG2 fans, but I like battles to be fun as opposed to tactical nightmares. Something inbetween is prefferably.

Being given the opportunity to kill Aran in chapter 6 is a great idea. There would be consequences for the government though (the real leader of the Shadow Thieves is a member of the council of six).

Maybe you could create the impression that the thieves were never truly defeated...

[Caswallon]

One of the guards, or a clerk, or someone similar, could betray the plan to the Guild, so they can prepare for the arrival of the PC. The faster he strikes, the less opposition he's going to face.
Do something horrible (trap-wise, or so) to one of the guards to tell the PC that it's going to be difficult.
Assassins out of the shadows etc., of course.
However, the thieves shouldn't suddenly become supermen. They basically should stay way lower in levels compared to the PC.
Have Aran replaced by a doppelgänger, so he manages to escape.

Put a Lich in there.
Or maybe not.

[Rathwellin the Bard]

A backstabbing dual-classed Assassin/Mage Lich with Mislead (for backstab cheese), Spell Immunity: Diviniation, and other nasty stuff.

Hmm.

 

[irenicus]

wow we can double cross aran, i would rather sleep with him *covers mouth* er i didnt say that

[SimDing0™]

Rest assured that while he won't be a half-dragon lich lesbian demigoddess with 25 dex, I will be making Aran (and indeed the other major characters you'll encounter) more interesting for the revision of this component. Don't expect the same "wander in casually with 4 guards and take everyone out in a few seconds" approach, because that was absolutely ridiculous.

No battle in this mod will be anywhere near Tactics level, however. Don't even hope.

[jester]

Apart from the lich part I also fancy romancing this opponent. This time I have to agree with i, but don't overdo it. Coding 25dex lesbian half-dragon demigodesses can be tricky and is not for the faint hearted. Your first romance I must add.

Dang I must have misread your post.

Liches would be more in the TR department.....