So I'm preparing to start a new game (Tutu/BG2, but I might decide to just do trilogy if people recommend that), and I'm looking for a few mods that I've never been able to find anywhere.

First: A mod that will speed up Romances and NPC quests. Waiting/Sleeping days for everyone to go through the dialogues gets boring, and I feel dirty every time I open up the console to do anything.

A mod that lets me add kits to npcs. (I wouldn't mind making Imoen or Nalia Swashbucklers, or Anomen a Berserker or Cleric of Helm.)

A mod that fixes the experience of NPCs to a specified number when you get them. Right now I always have the urge to play through the first half of the game solo to get higher level NPCs, but that can get a little lonely.

1)Do these mods exist?
2)Where can I find them, if they do?

If you're going to go from BG1 right through to SoA and ToB, then I recommend BGT over TuTu. It is seamless, and takes your character, Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, Viconia and Edwin through with the precise stats they have at the end of BG1.

For speeding up romances, get the BG2 Tweak Pack.

For kits, try Song and Silence. It adds an Adventurer kit for Imoen and Nalia. Do not make them Swashbucklers... they do not have the Strength for it. For Anomen, try NPC Kitpack.

For making joinable NPCs join at or near to your level, use the ToB-Style NPCs option in BG2 Tweaks.

1)I always have the tweak pack installed, but romances still seem sluggish. Is there a way to play with that component and make it even faster?

2)Why not a Swashbuckler? As far as I know, there's no strength requirement for it, and the major bonuses are being able to specialize in bows and get a few extra points of AC.

3)I specifically said I don't want NPCs to be at my level when they join. That encourages me to play solo as long as possible in order to get higher level NPCs, while I'd rather them just join at a fixed level. So if I pick up Aerie, she'll be at level 8 or whatever regardless of whether I pick her up in chapter 2 or chapter 6.

Not that I know of. Because Swashbuckler is geared towards melee fighting, but without any backstab multiplier - they cannot specialise in bows, only melee weapons that a thief can use. They get +1 AC, THAC0 and Damage every 5 levels. Why would you send Imoen, with her 9 STR, into a melee fight? That's sheer madness. The only possible reason for giving Imoen the Swashbuckler kit is improved AC. No you didn't. You said you wanted it fixed so that you get higher level NPCs. The game uses different creature files for all of the joinable NPCs, depending on your level. There is no mod that I know of that fixes all of these creature files to one specific level. What if you picked up Jaheira and Khalid at level 8 when you were only level 1? You are talking about TuTu/BGT here.

I wouldn't send Imoen into a melee fight. Unless I was just sticking her there with a fireshield or something or parking her somewhere to buy another character a few seconds to get out of the way.

But considering her backstab is useless, that drawback is irrelevant since Imoen isn't great in melee anyway, and the 2 free armor class is a pretty nice bonus for a thief/mage. Every bit helps when she's being targeted by stealthed enemies, archers, or mages with MMM. Either way, it's definitely better than a vanilla thief.

And I said that I wanted fixed NPC levels because otherwise I get the urge to metagame and put off getting them, not that I wanted something to make them my level. From "I always have the urge to play through the first half of the game solo to get higher level NPCs, but that can get a little lonely," it is implied that I *don't* want to solo through the game to get higher level NPCs.

And who says Khalid and Jahiera have to be level 8, or that there is something wrong with them being a higher level than me? They have been adventuring for years after all. They can be whatever level they want. Maybe they're level 4 by default, and Garrick is level 1. Maybe Ajantis starts at level 8 in BG1, or Edwin starts at level 13 in BG2. It doesn't matter much. I just find it silly that NPCs levels are based on mine, rather than their own abilities. I just find it silly that Aerie gains millions of XP if you leave her to rot in the circus for a month while you go out and adventure.

But she's a thief, and excels in stealth, that is why I suggested the Adventurer kit, which gives her boosts where it counts, not in melee. But if you are set on Swashbuckler, go for it.

Another question: Is there a mod that won't give me the game over screen on the main character's death? Like how Icewind Dale does it?