So I just did the Hexxat quest in Dragomir's Tomb, and I have thoughts.

First I have to say it was a very cool dungeon. Or rather, the story was cool. I rather liked the thief character even though she was pretty crap at being a thief, and I went into the tomb hoping to 'save' her or something – help her so she wouldn't be so confused and weird. And then *the thing* happened at the end. I was surprised, to say the least. I had thought that maybe she would turn on me (that she would be a vampire), and I'd have to defeat her to turn her human again, or somesuch nonsense. Instead she got eaten by someone who would have joined my party if I had not slain her.

Yes, that's right, my lawful good paladin killed the real Hexxat. She's a vampire (Minsc's racial enemy, btw) and she had just tricked me into rescuing her, AND killed an innocent, whom I thought was cool. Of course she had to go. I'm so glad these games give me an opportunity to roleplay.

That's my story. Now I have one question.

Is it possible to just pick up the thief Hexxat and have her in my party, not doing the Dragomir quest? Will she be able to level up, etc, or will she refuse to follow me unless I first go to the tomb?
The reason I'm asking in stead of just trying it out is that I'm on a different computer at the moment, and won't be able to play the game again until Friday. Just don't wanna go around thinking about this all week unless I have to.

Thanks!

They're both thieves, so I presume you mean fakexxat (Clara)? In her case she's a 'blank' character and although I've never tried it she should level up as normal and stay in your party. I see no reason why she wouldn't, given that she has no mind of her own, so to speak. She would be an awfully dull party member though.

Yeah I meant the non-vampire thief. I just figured Beamdog might have made her a "real" companion (albeit constantly confused and weird), just in case players got ideas. Hell, just having her in my party for a while might've broken the vampire spell, and slowly made her aware of the shit she's been though, and perhaps her (Clara's) quest would've been finding the vampire who enslaved her and make it pay.

Ok, that's it, I'm applying for a job writing NPC quests for the next D&D computer game.

The worst written character in the entire saga.

And from what I understand from your suggestions, I would have vote for you :) What you wrote in this paragraph is better than anything Beamdog has ever written.

I haven't played the 2nd EE in its entirety, but she can't be worse than Neera.

http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Neera#Quotes_2

Just listen to how !@#$ing annoying the "shut up" dialogue is. Beamdog forces you to meet their garbage character every time you go to Beregost (by that I mean once per playthrough; I've played BG multiple times, so this really adds up). There isn't one god damn thing about this character that isn't a pain in the ass.

She's worse because that's the point... she isn't "written" at all. She does nothing. Says nothing. She's just blank. Neera is the second worst. That voice... *cringe*

Yeah she is worse than Neera. Probably the most contrived character I have seen in an rpg.

Neera was just incredibly annoying. She sounded like some dumb Californian bimbo about to take her 50th selfie of the day.

I agree she's awful, but once you know where she is in Beregost, you can easily avoid her. I only went to her in my current game just to steal her +1 Quarterstaff and gem bag.

Her voice sounds like it was recorded in a large cave with terrible echoing and acoustics. Now that I think about it, that could make for a fun role play. Carry her along for however long you like, casting silence on her constantly (if that works on your own party members, which I think it does). Or slip that cursed ring (Discipliner?) on her or something.

I didn't think Neera was THAT bad. I ended up never taking her because my character is already a Mage and ALL RIVALS TO MY ARCANE MIGHT MUST DIE OR BECOME MY SLAVES *cough*, but I found her Manic Pixie Dream Girl persona quite amusing. Then again, I also adored Aerie even though I know some people find her incessantly whiny and annoying, so maybe I'm just a sucker for these types of personalities.

Too bad you can't get turned in to a vampire and gain a bunch of bonuses (strength, immunity to lvl drain, special attack where you drink an enemies blood and that enemy becomes a lot weaker while you gain some of it's abilities (like if you drain something with immunity to time stop you become immune to it and the enemy isn't immune any more) but also some serious vulnerabilities (being out side during the day damages you and makes lowers your stats and if you're out long enough you die).