#varric mod

[sapphim]

So here's something I've been mulling over. Varric has this cut exchange in his main dialogue file, after you've recruited Anders in Act I:

Varric: Nice job getting us those maps. I'd say Bartrand will be thrill— Well, "less sour" is the best he gets. Varric: Now, onto other matters: I think I have something that might interest you. Varric: I have a guy that can get us some work with the thieves' guild. Hawke: How much do you know about them? Varric: I'm not a member, if that's what you're asking. But I know some of their people. Varric: The Coterie is the strongest guild in Kirkwall. If you care to bed anyone, they'd be the ones to court. Hawke: Point me to him. I need all the work I can get. Hawke: This just reeks of trouble. Varric: And coin. They go hand in hand, you know. Varric: Gallard's in Darktown. Probably worth knowing what he has in mind, even if you're not interested.

As far as I've seen, there's no other content in the files connected to this quest, though Gallard is mentioned in Varric's short story, a letter in Act 1

Gamlen Amell, Payment is now two months late, serah. Interest accrues, as you are well aware. You will find yourself barred from our establishments unless payment is made. Think! No bettor, cardsharp, or numbers runner in Kirkwall will deal with you. I certainly hope this matter is attended to before steps are taken. Let us avoid further unpleasantness. Gallard

a banter in MotA

Anders: Couldn't you talk to Gallard for me? He likes you. Varric: I told you not to play that last hand. Anders: Yes, but I did it anyway, and now the Coterie has an IOU for my right ear. Varric: Gallard won't collect on that. He's got enough ears of his own. Anders: You didn't hear him admiring mine all night. And saying that he's always wanted a hat made of human ears. And calling a hatter. Varric: Look on the bright side, losing your ear will add to your tortured look. Some women really like that.

and an ambient bark at the Rose

Viveka: Come for you usual, have you, Gallard?

I'd like to do ~something~ about implementing something related to this in game the next time I update Varric Dialogue Edits (which restores other cut content in Varric's main dialogue) but I'm kind of at a loss about what ~exactly~ to ~do with it~

[sapphim]

I've made really good progress towards fixing Varric's A Friendly Concern quest. Which is not what I was planning on doing, but is what I've ended up making the most progress on while bouncing between projects.

Since the quest is, per MKirby, meant to trigger after completing at least one of the qunari quests (so, Blackpowder Courtesy) but at present typically doesn't trigger until after All That Remains, I'm of a mind to split the difference. So: trigger after completing 1) any romance scene, 2) Blackpowder Courtesy, and 3) at least one of: Offered and Lost, Prime Suspect, or Night Terrors. I feel like that delays it far enough to get the ball rolling on non-Isabela romances while still giving a solid buffer before All That Remains (which requires Blackpowder Courtesy, Offered and Lost, AND Prime Suspect as prerequisites before it even triggers), after which point the scene is profoundly tone-deaf.

Which romance Varric actually wants to talk to you about won't lock in until you actually go talk to him, to account for both Kirkwallycule and the reactions from your love interest I've already restored. So as is currently the case in the mod it'll first prioritize whichever active/intimate romance you have currently in your party, then fall back to any other active/intimate romance.

But with the fix involved then if you DON'T have a romance active but you've gone through with a romance scene (romance intimate) and then cut it off (romance ended) either at the end of the scene or elsewhere in the act (though in Act 2 I'm only aware of this as a possibility with Anders in Night Terrors?) you'll still get the talk but with two differences: 1) you won't get the scene interruption from the person you're not actually dating (they're ignoring you and Varric as hard as they can) and 2) there will be a restored dialogue option to tell Varric the relationship is over and done with.

I'm also strongly considering leaving that option available on the wheel for active romances with Fenris and Isabela as well. Just for roleplaying purposes though! Telling Varric you're feeling some sort of way about it won't end the romance if it's still considered active.

[sapphim]

the only problem w letting people's Hawkes tell Varric that it's over w Isabela and Fenris when it is not , in fact, over, is that fenbela romancers are already the most insecure (w good reason) users of kirkwallycule due to the whole: it is almost impossible to tell if both romances are still active until halfway through act 3, thing. so if I do start recklessly throwing around red flags like that then I will definitely have to make a nicer looking kirkwallycule debug specifically for the fenbelas. because they need the reassurance

[sapphim]

Hey DAII enthusiasts, can you think of any points in the game where it's possible to lock yourself out of a romance and it maybe shouldn't be? I don't mean just bugs or mistakes but also points that are fully intentional but maybe a bit questionable. I've received a query about:

Getting locked out of pursuing Isabela's romance by agreeing to remain FWB rather than selecting the one dedicated "pursue romance" line

Getting locked out of pursuing Fenris's romance by telling Varric he broke up with you(? I'm not familiar with this one, but that particular conversation with Varric is messy as fuck and already on my to-do list as needing more attention than I've already given it.)

And I've personally taken issue in my last replay with

Getting locked out of Merrill's romance dialogue in the climax by failing to select the one single flirt in the conversation about what she should do with herself in the future

I can always skim the wiki for similar known issues (and probably will) but that's annoying and you guys are usually on the ball so: If I were going to post something that did a little bit of romance clean-up, what else should be on my radar?

[sapphim]

okay. varric's Friendly Concern quest

according to Mary Kirby in this bioware forums thread, Friendly Concern is supposed to trigger after sleeping with at least one character and completing at least one qunari quest. according to the replies to the thread, the quest only triggers for Anders romances with very few exceptions for other characters

supposedly, this was fixed in patch 1.03. according to the wiki talk page, however, while the quest might trigger for all romances now, there's a possibility that it won't trigger until after all that remains, regardless of any other quests completed beforehand.

also, according to Mary Kirby in the above forum thread, it's deliberate that hawke is still supposed to be able to complete the quest even with a relationship that has been broken off, with special dialogue options for such a case.

so looking at the game files, the way the conversation actually works is that, if the quest has triggered for you, when you go talk to varric the game checks TWICE to see which character he's talking to you about. first it checks the standard "active romance" flags, but if none of those are true, it also checks special flags that were set specifically for the quest that also indicate a romanced character. I believe these are supposed to facilitate the special "breakup" conversation with varric, if you haven't initiated a new romance after the breakup. however, according to the wiki, this is only possible with anders after cutting off the relationship in Night Terrors, and the conversation ends early rather than playing out as intended.

so there are two different ways that this quest is initiated, both of which set flags to initiate the quest as well as the special "character romanced" flags I noted above

the first is flag 22 in act00pt_main. this flag is set within the following plots: Blackpowder Courtesy, Offered and Lost, Following the Qun; Prime Suspect, All That Remains; and Night Terrors. however, this flag, rather than checking all four "romance active" flags, ONLY checks anders' flag four times. this is why this quest only triggered for anders prior to the patch, and still might not trigger until after All That Remains. this wasn't fixed in the patch.

the second is in the area script for the estate. this checks different flags than the standard "romance active" flags, flags which would indicate the romance had been intimate, but it DOES check them for all four characters, and it does this at the same time it sets up the cutscene for Hawke's partner to comfort them after All That Remains, so a romance would have to be active regardless. this must have been the part they patched to work.

so there IS a problem here that the quest only triggers for relationships that are active at the exact time it initiates the quest, and only sets those flags at that point, so there's no way to get the "broken off" relationship dialogue with varric having, for example, refused the relationship at the end of the romance scene itself. see: the exception of anders in Night Terrors, which still doesn't work for reasons it's currently too 1 am for me to care about.

[sapphim]

need to figure out what causes varric's friendly concern quest to sometimes not trigger until immediately after all that remains when it should be eligible earlier, bc it is soooooooo tonally jarring lmao

[sapphim]

working on some small changes to varric dialogue restoration and oh ugh no don't do this to meeeeee

[sapphim]

Ok, mods that could be patched for Kirkwallycule/SebRe compatibility:

Repeatable Romance Scenes (by QS) - Will upload a patch to the kirkwallycule mod page that will randomly pick between cutscenes for all active romances. I’m itching to overhaul RRS more extensively with new/updated cutscenes but that’s definitely a later later later project because both Twinception and SebRe have much higher priority cutscene fuckery demands.

Epilogue Restoration - Not planning to update for kirkwallycule. If you have multiple romances active varric just starts muttering eldritch nonsense as all applicable lines of dialogue play over each other at once and I’m fine with that. Low low priority to patch for SebRe since it already works fine when he’s solo romanced.

Kidnappapalooza - Won’t require patching for kirkwallycule since (by design) you can already exert a decent amount of control over who’s kidnapped by changing up who you have in your active party. Do need to patch for Kirkwallycule+SebRe so rivalmance Seb is still flagged kidnappable even with other romances active.

Varric Dialogue Restoration - Varric will currently prioritize mentioning romances in order of Anders > Merrill > Fenris > Isabela. Could easily be patched for kirkwallycule compatibility by having him preference romanced NPCs in active party. Will probably do so. Maybe I’ll actually add idle animations for Hawke which I forgot the first time around.