Thread the lucky-thirteenth! http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=997663


JULAN, ASHLANDER COMPANION
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by Kateri

REQUIRES TRIBUNAL AND BLOODMOON


http://lovkullen.net/Emma/Kateri.htm (Thank you Emma, for hosting!)


Introduction
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This is a companion/quest mod. It started because the Morrowind Main Quest can be a lonely business. I wanted to create a companion who actually "knew" what was going on, and had his own opinions and agenda concerning it, and would be interesting company on the journey. I also wanted to give a bit of a new perspective and approach to the Main Quest for those veteran players like myself who know it backwards, but still enjoy playing Morrowind.

I wanted to create someone who was more than just a silent meat shield or beast of burden, but an interesting and believable character whom the player could gradually get to know, and develop a relationship with, from initial suspicion to genuine friendship (or more, should you so choose), in a way that felt natural and unforced.

Did I succeed? I have no idea! But I did have an enormous amount of fun trying!


The Lowdown
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Julan Kaushibael is a young Ashlander man you rescue from getting pasted by Daedra outside Ghostgate. He wants you to take him on as a companion in order to train him into becoming a better warrior, but it quickly becomes clear that there are things going on that he isn't telling you. As you progress through the Morrowind main quest with Julan, he gets dragged into your mission, and you get dragged into his - a tangle of secrets, lies, love, loss and betrayal.

That makes the mod sound heavier than it really is, however. I hope that above all, Julan is fun to have around, whether you're playing the Main Quest or not. He has a vast supply of sarky comments and random observations. Due to his upbringing, he possesses an odd mixture of naivet?, pride and paranoia, and is sometimes completely oblivious to how ridiculous he's being - which is unfortunate for him, as he hates being laughed at. Underneath it all, however, is a dedicated and caring person, who is desperately trying to do the right thing in the face of overwhelming odds.


Companion Features
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- All the standard fare you've come to expect from a companion mod, as developed over the years by many modders in the field - see the credits section of the readme for more details! Companion share, warping, teleportation - the usual stuff to make him a help rather than a hindrance.

- Train Julan's skills in whichever direction you choose, either by training him yourself (free, once per day), by asking an NPC Trainer to do it (more expensive, but unlimited) or by lending him skillbooks. His attributes are calculated from his skills, and so will rise as you train him. He will also learn new spells as his skill in the magical disciplines increases.

- Can cast useful spells on himself or the player, such as healing, curing, etc. Dependent on magicka level and his skill level.

- Takes healing potions and magicka potions automatically, and can keep himself healed on his own, with potions or spells, unless he runs out of everything.

- Various options for fighting, including ranged, melee, no magic, or stay out of fight.

- Telepathy ring (after certain quest events) that let you warp him to you from anywhere if you are outside, and also warps him to you if you are both in the same interior cell - useful for pulling him out of battle, or out of lava pits!

- Over 1800 unique lines of dialogue for loads of topics and hundreds of cells. He'll give inane running commentaries on quests for Mages, Fighters and Thieves Guilds,and the Tribunal Temple, as well as the Main Quest. If you like companions who shut up and fight, this isn't the mod for you.

- Optional romance, for female characters. Be aware, however, that as well as the pleasant aspects, getting involved can also mean more opportunities for jealousy, screaming arguments and hurt feelings. Put it this way, he's no romantic ideal, but that's not to say he doesn't have his good points. He's not a "boyfriend mod" however, and it's not the main focus.

- An optional female companion, after certain quest events. She's not as "developed" as Julan, but she does have her own "romance" quest for male characters, should you choose to accept it. Be warned, however... she's trouble!

No guarantee of good behaviour! Julan MAY do any or all of the following:

- Disagree with things you say or do. Expect the odd yelling match once in a while.
- Get horrendously drunk.
- Get on badly with your other travelling companions.
- Get on a little TOO well with your other travelling companions.
- Moan about the weather, the location, that he's bored, etc...
- Criticise your choice of faction or quest path.
- Make fun of your choice of headgear.


Known Issues and Incompatibilities
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This mod relies on the Main Quest! Thus, it will of course be incompatible with any mod that alters the Main Quest in a significant manner, e.g.

- any "Instant Nerevarine" mod
- Blake's Nerevar Say Nerevar
- Princess Stomper's Ghostgate.

It also conflicts with:

Guarded Ghostgate
Armingers[sic] at Ghostgate.

Exercise common sense! If you are unsure whether a certain mod will cause problems, please contact me and ask.

ADDITIONAL INFO - NEW PLAYERS READ THIS!


This is a Main Quest Companion Mod. It is NOT playable by characters who are past the Vivec Informants point in the main quest, and will be best used by characters who haven't touched the Main Quest at all yet. Part of what I wanted to do with this was to inject a new perspective and interest in the Main Quest for seasoned Morrowind veterans! It is playable by fairly low-level characters as a result - all that is required is the ability to reach Ghostgate and beat up three Clannfears. They're modded to have high HP, but low attacks. They're not too tough.

As it seems this hasn't been clear enough in the past: THIS MOD BLOCKS PROGRESS IN THE MAIN QUEST until you have completed certain of Julan's quests. The blocked points are: Hassour Zainsubani's dialogue, and the Cavern of the Incarnate door.

If you are stuck here -or anywhere else, check http://princess.elricm.net/JulanFAQ.html, (thanks to Princess Stomper and ElricM for hosting it!) and if the answer's not there, PM/email me or post in this thread. Please, use spoiler tags if appropriate!

Finally, thankyou to everyone who's been supportive, appreciative, constructively critical, posted screenshots, told about funny things that happened to them and Julan, helped out with info for others who were stuck and generally been wonderful - I love this community.


Kateri.

I wonder which part would offend him more, the noble or the savage? BTW, I don't think I've poked my head in one of these threads for a while, so, even though I'm not playing ATM, just wanted to say thanks for Julan. He's easily the most entertaining companion that's been made--really adds a lot of depth to the game. He actually acts like a person, not a lackey or guar!

Does Julan say anything about Hentus's pants? I thought he would, but could never trigger it if he does.

I've been adding mods in the middle of a playthrough and that kinda messed Julan up. I know, my fault. Thankfully his improved skills were restored, and all the dialogue is intact and everything, but he has lost all of his equipment. This isn't a very big problem, I can always use the console to get it back. The real problem however is that he also doesn't have his companion share function anymore. Is there a console command I could use to get it back?

Well, you could just go back to balmora and walk around a bit, I think thats where the script activates the companion share function....or at least where it did for me.....hope that helps.

I love this mod and cant go without it, but there is just one litte thing I noticed that seemed sortof immersion breaking to me...

Ok, so most of my characters are Telvanni, and thus pro-slavery. I read the part where Julan voices his opinion on slavery and fully expected a fight when I went ahead and bought myself a walking backpack slave. Of course, Julan dosent even grumble about it, which threw me for a loop. I was wondering when/if a new version begins, if this little thing could be addressed? Im sorry to bother about it, but it just annoyed me a bit....

Well, I thought that the Dunmer were sort of ambivalent towards slaves, and that Julan would just not care either way with slaves.

But, as Adea said, Julan's pretty vocal about his anti-slavery position.

I think you all are missing the point - Julan is a hypocrite. :slap:

Okay,I know I may sound a little,I don't know,Cheap? But, Is there a way you could make this mod usable without having to have the expansions?(Tribunal and BloodMoon)I really want to go through the main quest with him but I can't until I buy the expansions. Any Ideas?

Really not gonna happen. Sorry! Certain scripting functions that are only available via the expansions are required.

okay, well thanks anyway.

im having a problam with julan being stuck on his side when you find him. but his arms will still move as if he is running,

You probably have 13 bucks lying around in your house, man.

Try using the fix animation button on Liz Tails AnimKit.

You should be able to find the expansions, if not the whole GotY edition, for less than that on eBay. Might get outbid a few times, but keep trying.

that fixed it, thanks

When the player asked Julan about his skills, you may think he is suppose to view all his skills. The only skill his not viewing is the marksman skill, is that normal for this mod ?

Thanks Kateri for your companion mod !

Certain skills aren't listed because they are determined by scripting, and thus are meaningless as readings: athletics, acrobatics and marksman. Marksman changes based on his combat settings, as it determines what he fights with.

Ok, so I love Julan. The mod's amazing. And i have already completed a game with him. However, I am currently playing through a new game and I am at the main mission when you have to go and talk with the dissident priests. I removed a mod and Julan flipped out. So now he never gets sober, I cannot use my telepathy ring, I can't use recall or almsivi intervention, and I can't talk to people like mages, guards, and ordinators about Julan. Because I am so far in the storyline, I am REALLY trying to avoid resetting Julan because I don't want to redo all the quests and junk that I've already done, which is a lot...If anyone has any ideas PLEASE feel free to share. Much appreciated.

You don't have a savegame from before you removed the mod? Always make lots of saves!

It's really important to keep Julan in the same position in the load list, so if you remove a mod from above him in the list, you have to add/move another mod above him so he stays in the same position.

Here is something you can add to the 'Additional Info' -section. You must tell Julan to wait if you are planning to summon a creature and soultrap it, because if don't do it that way Julan considers you to be a criminal and will attack you on sight. I don't why Julan is acting like that, but I suspect that some global scripts is not running for Julan, as they should do for the ordinary npc. On other hand it could be as simple the pref for Julan's behavior.

That's a standard companion issue - never attack a summoned creature when you have other followers, as those followers will attack you. It goes like this:
Companion A is programmed to attack anyone who is attacking the party group. Player summons a creature, who is then considered part of the party group... I'm sure you can figure out the rest. AI is amusing sometimes.

Thankyou for the response! That is where I made the ultra mega stupid mistake. I saved over my backup...I put Julan back where he was supposed to be but nothing happened. Then, I noticed that I had the horrible curse of duplication. So, since I have no intention of continuing the game without Julan, I am going to start a new game and be super extra careful when I save! lol Thanks again! Love the mod!

That's an issue I don't believe have seen a patch for it yet. Have you seen it Kateri ?




Indeed.

If you are planning for an update this companion mod in the near future, please have a fix for this issue if it's possible. Maybe add an ability for Julan to summon creature as well, this will certainly boost the players fightning capability. If you need someone to test any further update just PM me about it.

Thank you Kateri.