Conversations with Dead People (spoilers)

[quartex]

When I watched the PAX Banner Saga gameplay videos back in September 2013, I remember Stoic commenting that your choice that resulted in Egil's death would have definitely consequences in the plot, that he wouldn't be there in the future to help you. I understand that a raidmaster is a useful unit to have in combat. But honestly I had so many units in Rook's caravan that I never felt the need to use him. I know there were several other places in the plot where Egil could die (I lost him during the Onef rebellion late in the game), but despite being a minor character I was disappointed that he didn't participate in any conversations (except for the 3 questions you get to ask him the first time you camp). I expected keeping him alive to have some sort of plot payoff later in the game. He seems fond of Alette, but the only interest we hear on her part is for Ekkil (although Onef may be lying) and Eyver. I realize there's a lot of plot strings that are left hanging at the end of the game. (one of the kickstarter goals was the have a big ending to the plot that reflected all the choices you'd made throughout the game, and I don't feel like that really happened in the finale)

But besides Egil, there are a bunch of minor characters would are easy to have die or leave early in the plot, but seem silent even if you keep them alive. I realize with such a large cast not everyone can get dialogue in every event, but I'm curious to know if anyone has heard from these characters later in the game?

Rook's caravan: Egil, Hogun and Mogun

Hakon's caravan: Bersi, Eirik, Griss, Mogr, and Yrsa (I realize Hakon's caravan is pretty much disappears after chapter 3 which is a shame) Is it possible to get any of these people to join Rook's caravan when he leaves Einartoff?

It seems to me that the most important character that you could lose early on is Oddlief. I heard it's possible to have her die when leaving Skogr. She has so many conversations later in the game I'm curious to see how her death might affect the plot. Her relationship with Rook is one of my favorite plots in the game.

[Sin2x]

When I watched the PAX Banner Saga gameplay videos back in September 2013, I remember Stoic commenting that your choice that resulted in Egil's death would have definitely consequences in the plot, that he wouldn't be there in the future to help you.

They also explained how the ending would look in one of the Kickstarter upates:

MAKING IT MEAN SOMETHING

The culmination of this is the end-game. Some of you may recall that an expanded finale was one of our admittedly clumsy stretch goals. It wasn’t something we defined very well. In our original scope for the game, it was a series of events that the player had to survive, and then they’d see the ending. We knew we could do better. This is where our constant iteration comes in.

What we have now really feels like the summation of all your decisions across the entire journey. Without giving anything away, we’ve taken nearly every action the player has made and put them in something of a sandbox of options. How you decide to survive the finale is up to you, and your options are defined by everything you’ve done up to that point. If you let a character die they won’t be able to help against something that might turn out to be vital. If you didn’t do a good job keeping your warriors alive you may find yourself in some serious trouble. If you saved every single person along the way it may actually be a detriment. Unlike our original design we don’t have a single ending in chapter 1, we have a range of success, and it’s up to the player to decide whether they accept that ending or want to try again. You can even fail completely.

But again it’s not just about saving a large group of strangers. The cast of playable characters grows throughout the story until by the end game you can have over a dozen characters in your party. Each of these characters talks to you along the way, forms relationships with each other and influences your decisions. And they’re not invincible - if you don’t keep them safe they will die, leave or even turn against you. We’ve taken the advantage of being able to make our own design decisions to the point that I can safely say there’s not a single character who has plot invulnerability by the end of chapter 3, as ambitious as this may sound.

What this all comes down to is that we’ve thought about this story... a lot. Right now I don’t think we could make it any better than our current pass, and that’s a luxury very few developers get. I hope you’ll agree it has been worth it! Now it’s time to get back to banging out that content!

Having re-read that, I feel that what I saw in the game is a pale shadow of this description. And it was a stretch goal too! Damn pity. I hope they'll manage to tie all loose knots in the proper finale of the third part at least.

P.S. Quoted text in italics? Are you trying to make our eyes bleed, Stoic?

[Aleonymous]

Rook's caravan: Egil, Hogun and Mogun

You just get a small talk with those, in some random camp-events. If I recall correctly (2nd playthrough pending), you have a small talk with Egil in Chapter 4 (or was it Ch.2, after Skogr?), concerning how he means to protect Alette and how he practices using his heavy shield. Also, there's a small Hokun/Mogun conversation (Ch. 6?) where they explain this thing -- one twin a familly-man, the other a casanova. The casanova (scarred one), says he's stay clear of Alette...

Hakon's caravan: Bersi, Eirik, Griss, Mogr, and Yrsa (I realize Hakon's caravan is pretty much disappears after chapter 3 which is a shame)

Yeah, it's a let down that all those characters are only "explored" in Chapter 3, amidst Dredge slaughtering! I do agree with someone else, that there should have been one more Hakon Chapter, for the Groffheim-->Einartoft span... Heck, since wishing is free, I'd also wish for a Hakon Chapter for the Einartoft-->Boersgard span!

It seems to me that the most important character that you could lose early on is Oddlief. I heard it's possible to have her die when leaving Skogr. Her relationship with Rook is one of my favorite plots in the game.

Odd is the strongest of the "characters in supporting roles", indeed. I think her role is so big that it shouldn't be possible to lose her.

[Yellow]

Yeah, it's a let down that all those characters are only "explored" in Chapter 3, amidst Dredge slaughtering! I do agree with someone else, that there should have been one more Hakon Chapter, for the Groffheim-->Einartoft span... Heck, since wishing is free, I'd also wish for a Hakon Chapter for the Einartoft-->Boersgard span!

.

Am also fan of the idea of at least one more Varl caravan chapter in between.

Btw who from Hakons caravan joins with you at Boersgard at the end? The entire party party?:

Bersi, Eirik(if you did not sended him back), Griss(if you allowed him to join you), Mogr, Yrsa(if she does not disaperas in the forest) and Ludin(if you did not send him back or got killed) ? or only some of them?

In my first playtrought Ludin and company died, and Eirik i send back so i never saw any of them again, on my later playtroughts i never get this far, since i get anoyed by the fact the caravan size does not matters :/ so am wondering how that plays out!

[Rensei]

Hakon is sent south by the varl king, when both parties meet for the first time in Einartoft. A certain tax collector and his green bodyguard decide to stay and join the main party on the Einartoft -> Boersgard route.
Hakon then becomes a target of jedi/mender mind trick again and ends up finding Juno once again, this time more alive. They venture to Boersgard where both caravans finally unite, sadly only for the last battle.

[Sin2x]

Odd is the strongest of the "characters in supporting roles", indeed. I think her role is so big that it shouldn't be possible to lose her.

According to Kickstarter updates, every character is plot-killable.

[EmblaWinterblade]

Egil gives the option to sneak in to that first town through the sewage if he lives. My Egil was killed by Onef so after that i dont know if he matters. Im hoping we'll see more of the consequenses in the next part of the saga.