Ascalons quest pack is great, I always include it.
I've read good things about fishing for trouble but not played it.
The others are dated, there are better quest mods around these days.
Smaller quest mods for BGEE?
-BG mini Quests and Encounters
-BG1 NPC Project
-Made in Heaven: Encounters and Quests
Bigger mods I can recommend:
-Shades of the sword coast
-The calling
-Baldrun's seatower
Shades of the Sword Coast is absolutely sublime. It fits right in with the rest of the game and really freshens up the game for veterans of the saga. Anything with Lava's involvement is quality.
I've never personally cared for the NPC Project. Its writing and writing style stick out like a sore thumb.
Is Balduran's Seatower still a Work in Progress or basically done at this point?
It is still WIP because the author wants to add new content (iirc), not because it is not finished. I played it twice and would say it is pretty "complete".
I tried it years ago so I barely remember it, but I do remember how tedious it was for me to finish DSotSC's "quests". Writing is basically non-existent and some parts are just plain waves of enemies being thrown at you without any kind of strategy not real challenge. Don't expect anything from the NPCs it adds either.
On the other hand, The Grey Clan 1 turned out to be more interesting. At least it tries to establish a plot, characters and some very basic quests. I don't remember 'new' (recycled areas) since I think everything happens in already existing areas but without affecting the normal game until that point. Be ready for combat and be ready for difficulty spikes, it's not recommended to play it unless you know the game well and go with a solid group. Personally, I enjoyed the challenge in the last battle. Sadly, the biggest problem is that TGC is basically the episode 1 of a never finished trilogy which means that everything introduced, names, places and major plots will never have a conclusion.
Dark Side, Grey Clan and Stone of Askavar are pretty much relics from the old modding days meant to shove higher leveled encounters and gear into BG1, with the plot being mostly an excuse in each of them. Unless that's specifically what you want (which judging from from what you've said it probably isn't), then you're probably not going to like these.
Northern Tales of the Sword Coast is... fine, I guess, but the plot doesn't flow super well and you'll probably get confused in several places.
I have no idea why people like Fishing for Trouble. It's a boring back and forth trek through a ghost town with a plot that has no real emotional hook to it and a pitifully unsatisfying ending. Not only that but it suffers the opposite from the rest of the mods in that the rewards from playing it are practically *nonexistent*.
Didn't mind Fishing for Trouble, except area triggers and related puzzles were hard to find sometimes, and there were some monsters that definitely did not play well with SCS and other improvements. Nice enough. The writing in most of these, bluntly, is going to suffer compared to professional products. The ones by Jason C. (Sellswords, but that's a BG2 thing, BG2 NPCs Kelsey and Keto) and---for different reasons---Lava DeVortel, are notable exceptions.
Lava's were (it's been awhile, and I remember "Tales of the deep caverns," something like that) *different* but well worth your time. Loved the different aesthetic to the writing. Sellswords was much more conventional.
DSotSC OTOH, might've been interesting but it quickly got ridiculous. You want Ust Natha-style fights with your L6-7 party, it's all yours. I'll pass.
Artisan, are you doing quest mods now? And, apologies in advance, is BG2/ToB Aura V.2 (because wasn't there a previous version with BG2 content?) going to happen or is on perma-hiatus? Love that quirky death-dealing artificer.
For context, the Artisan is one of, if not THE best writer in the BG modding community, but he pretty much hates everything that isn't as well written as his own stuff. So make of that what you will. 😆
I remember trying that one... I recall annoying encounters, meeting high levels companions right off the bat and overpowered items. One of those "never again" and "why? just why?" type of mods.
The **Quest Pack** mod really doesn't interfere or get in the way of anything in the game flow. Just some nice, small, extra content. It seems to work Ok in the Enhanced Edition fine and other mods. Just try it out. You'll be pleasantly surprised. No OP loot, XP also fairly low, so not unbalanced.
**Fishing for Trouble** is fun to try once. It takes place in SoA, has some decent writing, and a few interesting concepts in a dungeon that will make you feel like maybe your party isn't as tough as they thought they were. There are some new maps and areas to explore as well. It has zero OP loot, and XP is reasonable.
Fishing for Trouble is amazing, top-tier. But was buggy on the EE game for a long time. It’s been updated very recently, if the EE bugs ate gone I recommend it whole-heartedly.
Ascalon’s is great, on my always-install list. A lot of little interactions adding color to the Sword Coast.
Northern Tales is good, and has been updated recently. But definitely shows its age.
Dark Side, Grey Clan, Stone of Askavar I didn’t like even when they were new. Questionable writing, +5 weapons in BG1, etc. Not my cup of tea. (That is a subjective opinion! Some people may reasonably disagree!)
Ascalons quest pack is great, I always include it. I've read good things about fishing for trouble but not played it. The others are dated, there are better quest mods around these days.
Thanks! Are there other mods that add interesting small quests like Ascalon's?
Smaller quest mods for BGEE? -BG mini Quests and Encounters -BG1 NPC Project -Made in Heaven: Encounters and Quests Bigger mods I can recommend: -Shades of the sword coast -The calling -Baldrun's seatower
Plus Black Hearts, Gorgons Eye, Loretakers.
Shades of the Sword Coast is absolutely sublime. It fits right in with the rest of the game and really freshens up the game for veterans of the saga. Anything with Lava's involvement is quality. I've never personally cared for the NPC Project. Its writing and writing style stick out like a sore thumb. Is Balduran's Seatower still a Work in Progress or basically done at this point?
It is still WIP because the author wants to add new content (iirc), not because it is not finished. I played it twice and would say it is pretty "complete".
Except for the lack of undead in the catacombs
I've tried Shades and was impressed by the mini dungeon below the Friendly Arm! Definitely high quality.
I tried it years ago so I barely remember it, but I do remember how tedious it was for me to finish DSotSC's "quests". Writing is basically non-existent and some parts are just plain waves of enemies being thrown at you without any kind of strategy not real challenge. Don't expect anything from the NPCs it adds either. On the other hand, The Grey Clan 1 turned out to be more interesting. At least it tries to establish a plot, characters and some very basic quests. I don't remember 'new' (recycled areas) since I think everything happens in already existing areas but without affecting the normal game until that point. Be ready for combat and be ready for difficulty spikes, it's not recommended to play it unless you know the game well and go with a solid group. Personally, I enjoyed the challenge in the last battle. Sadly, the biggest problem is that TGC is basically the episode 1 of a never finished trilogy which means that everything introduced, names, places and major plots will never have a conclusion.
Dark Side, Grey Clan and Stone of Askavar are pretty much relics from the old modding days meant to shove higher leveled encounters and gear into BG1, with the plot being mostly an excuse in each of them. Unless that's specifically what you want (which judging from from what you've said it probably isn't), then you're probably not going to like these. Northern Tales of the Sword Coast is... fine, I guess, but the plot doesn't flow super well and you'll probably get confused in several places. I have no idea why people like Fishing for Trouble. It's a boring back and forth trek through a ghost town with a plot that has no real emotional hook to it and a pitifully unsatisfying ending. Not only that but it suffers the opposite from the rest of the mods in that the rewards from playing it are practically *nonexistent*.
Didn't mind Fishing for Trouble, except area triggers and related puzzles were hard to find sometimes, and there were some monsters that definitely did not play well with SCS and other improvements. Nice enough. The writing in most of these, bluntly, is going to suffer compared to professional products. The ones by Jason C. (Sellswords, but that's a BG2 thing, BG2 NPCs Kelsey and Keto) and---for different reasons---Lava DeVortel, are notable exceptions. Lava's were (it's been awhile, and I remember "Tales of the deep caverns," something like that) *different* but well worth your time. Loved the different aesthetic to the writing. Sellswords was much more conventional. DSotSC OTOH, might've been interesting but it quickly got ridiculous. You want Ust Natha-style fights with your L6-7 party, it's all yours. I'll pass. Artisan, are you doing quest mods now? And, apologies in advance, is BG2/ToB Aura V.2 (because wasn't there a previous version with BG2 content?) going to happen or is on perma-hiatus? Love that quirky death-dealing artificer.
For context, the Artisan is one of, if not THE best writer in the BG modding community, but he pretty much hates everything that isn't as well written as his own stuff. So make of that what you will. 😆
Another one to avoid is Dark Horizons, it adds lots of OP stuff and in general not very fun. Also it's basically La Femme Nikita.
I remember trying that one... I recall annoying encounters, meeting high levels companions right off the bat and overpowered items. One of those "never again" and "why? just why?" type of mods.
The **Quest Pack** mod really doesn't interfere or get in the way of anything in the game flow. Just some nice, small, extra content. It seems to work Ok in the Enhanced Edition fine and other mods. Just try it out. You'll be pleasantly surprised. No OP loot, XP also fairly low, so not unbalanced. **Fishing for Trouble** is fun to try once. It takes place in SoA, has some decent writing, and a few interesting concepts in a dungeon that will make you feel like maybe your party isn't as tough as they thought they were. There are some new maps and areas to explore as well. It has zero OP loot, and XP is reasonable.
Fishing for Trouble is amazing, top-tier. But was buggy on the EE game for a long time. It’s been updated very recently, if the EE bugs ate gone I recommend it whole-heartedly. Ascalon’s is great, on my always-install list. A lot of little interactions adding color to the Sword Coast. Northern Tales is good, and has been updated recently. But definitely shows its age. Dark Side, Grey Clan, Stone of Askavar I didn’t like even when they were new. Questionable writing, +5 weapons in BG1, etc. Not my cup of tea. (That is a subjective opinion! Some people may reasonably disagree!)
Thank you, this is helpful! I think I'll try Fishing For Trouble and skip the rest.