Imoen

Context

Imoen (pronounced Eh-moh-enn) is a companion in the classic Baldur’s Gate video game, based on Dungeons & Dragon and released in 1998.

There are several other articles that may be useful for context :

As explained in the Forgotten Realms primer, these profiles are based on a modded playthrough. Notably, these add a fair bit of intra-party banter. In the baseline game, the companions receive less characterisation.

This profile, she’s got S P O I L E R S. Howbeit, due to time constraints, our BG companion profiles only cover them up to level 5 for now.

Background

Powers & Abilities

Imoen has a remarkable level of acumoen. She’s dextrous, fast, smart, precise, observant, witty, agile, socially gifted, etc..

She leveraged her light, accurate touch (and her boredom) to become a stealth expert, fast-talker and flyweight armed fighter. Though technically she comes a good 15 or 20 lbs. short of being a flyweight.

Though she obviously lacks in strength, Imoen packs a remarkable amount of endurance and pain tolerance in her slight frame. She’s a dogged fighter and adventurer.

Imoen is usually armed with a shortsword and a short bow.

She also has the typical D&D “thief” skills for stealth, B&E, surprise attacks and traps detection and management.

Foreshadowing

Using the spellbook of a mage-assassin, Imoen taught herself how to badly cast a few cantripsIn D&D parlance, a casual spell that does something minor.. These are too minor and unreliable to have a game presence, though. At best they might be party tricks.

But that she can cast them in the first place, through independent study, is a clear mark of talent for magic.

Imoen soon obtains reluctant instruction from a professional (in this playthrough, Dynaheir). But of course this is a long-term pursuit.

History

The sage Gorion found the orphaned Imoen when she was ten. He brought her to the Candlekeep fortress as his second ward.

Gorion said even less about Imoen’s past than about CHARNAME’s. And Imoen’s first memories are of Candlekeep.

Since “Mister G.” didn’t have much time to care for Imoen, she largely grew up at the Candlekeep Inn. The innkeeper Mr. Winthrop took a liking to her and treated her right. However, there were many chores to do to help run the tavern and earn her keep.

Thus, Imoen’s adoptive father figure is Winthrop, who raised her, rather than Gorion.

A dab hand

Unbeknownst to all, the genial and welcoming innkeep Winthrop had a shady past. Though that part of his life was over, Imoen badgered him into teaching her his old tricks. “Puffguts”, as she nicknamed him, trained her well – if reluctantly.

Imoen stole quite a few things in Candlekeep and was up to general mischief, but she was never caught for that. She’d pickpocket monks and travellers, though she normally stole but beer money.

Imoen sneaked out of Candlekeep and followed Gorion and CHARNAME as they hurriedly left. Thus, she espied the ambush that killed Gorion.

In the morning, she managed to find CHARNAME before they’d resume their travels.

Ground floor of Candlekeep’s Inn.

In this playthrough, part 1

In our sample playthrough, Imoen accompanies her sister Jet from the very beginning to the very end, whenever feasible.

After they get attacked by the mercenary mage Tarnesh  at the Friendly Arms Inn, Imoen spends much time poring over the dead assassin’s spellbook. She is driven to understand this stuff.

But, characteristically, she proceeds in a haphazard and unfocused fashion. As she attempts to show her sister her “prowess”, Imoen once manages to daze herself and enchant the spellbook with a small surge of wild magic.

In this playthrough, part 2

In Beregost  , Imoen goes on nightly expeditions to burglarize the richer houses. She sees this as ethically justified since her goal is to protect her sister by eventually buying her a suit of full plate armour (which costs more than 7,000 gold pieces).

A few days after Dynaheir is rescued from the gnolls, Imoen strongarms her into tutoring her in thaumaturgy. She does that by exploiting Dynaheir’s reluctance to be embarrassed.

Description

Imoen is a petite 20-year old, but most people peg her at 16 or so.

She’s a redhead (well, auburn) with a naturally fair skin, but will eventually get a decent tan when spending time outdoors.

She’s usually smiling.

She has a girly, upbeat, nasal voice that also contributes to underestimating her age. Her voice actress is Melissa Disney  .

Imoen eventually finds cosmetics (or perhaps cantrips) to dye her hair a dull, reddish pink. She also grows fond of tying bits of her hair into small tresses, probably in imitation of Jaheira. If technology allowed for it, she undoubtedly would have bright pink hair.

More generally, it’s her favourite colour. Almost all her clothing is in some shade of pink.

Portrait

In the Enhanced Edition of BG1, the portraits are those used in BG2. These apparently better reflect the character concepts.

In Imoen’s case, it seems that it raises minor continuity concerns:

Rooms on the upper floor of the Candleep Inn.

Personality

Imoen is :

She seems to consider herself the guardian of the good spirits of CHARNAME. After way too many years of boredom in Candlekeep, she’s excited to finally be out in the big wide world.

Imoen prefers to act cute and child-like. She doesn’t really mind that everybody underestimates her age. Even CHARNAME occasionally calls her “kid”, yet they’re the same age.

Not quite the cute little sister archetype

Imoen’s attention span isn’t the best, unless she’s genuinely interested in the subject at hand. Neither is her understanding of personal property.

She is also pushy and manipulative, and fond of monitoring and injecting herself into nearby conversations.

On the plus side she is ambitious… but that ambition clearly doesn’t come with a matching sense of responsibility.

She also has a tendency toward envy, and her definition of “unfair” suddenly becomes much more flexible when applied to her own actions.

Were the game more fully-featured, one could easily see Imoen sliding away from her Neutral Good alignment under the influence of an Evil version of CHARNAME.

In this playthrough

In our sample playthrough, Imoen is reluctant to grow up in large part due to a procession of slimy rumours about her sex life. These started when she was but 11, an unusually early age for puberty in a low-tech milieu.

It also comes from the tension between being excited about discovering new things, and getting cold feet when it comes to actually making the leap.

Imoen is very close to her adoptive sister Jet, who’s also her bestie and… her only real friend. Imoen is physically much safer with the towering Jet around. In return she watches for those who would abuse Jet’s naïveté or gloominess.

Imoen particularly enjoys those moments when those who would bully and overbear her suddenly shrink and slink away as her sister comes in. It’s even more satisfying to her than personally beating back would-be abusers.

BG2 portrait.

Quotes

“Anyway, I’m not gonna let you wander around out here all alone. Never let my good sister down, no, ma’am ! Stick with you until you say otherwise, I will ! And beyond too !”

“We’ll get him, you know. That guy, whoever he was, who killed Mister G.. We’ll find out who he is, and pay him back good !”

(Excitedly brandishing her blade) “Yeah c’mon Jet let’s… raid a dragon’s lair and loot everything !” (pauses, looks at her sword’s edge with a frown) “Okay. We could fight a party of hobgoblins, I guess.” (looks up at Jet, looks again at her small sword, pouts) “Maybe a pair of xvarts   ?”

(Referring to her past career as a serving wench) “No more aprons and bonnets for Imoen the Magnificent !”

“I care not !”

DC Heroes RPG

Tell me more about the game stats

Imoen (Level 1)

Dex: 03	Str: 02	Bod: 02
Int: 04	Wil: 03	Min: 03
Inf: 03	Aur: 04	Spi: 04
Init: 010		HP: 004

Skills:

Charisma (Persuasion): 04, Occultism (Rituals): 01, Thief (Locks & Safes, Pickpocketing): 02, Thief (Security systems, Stealth): 03, Weaponry (Melee): 03, Weaponry (Missile): 04

Bonuses and Limitations:

• Weaponry (Melee) is specialised in small blades (up to a shortsword). Other melee weapons are at 01, to simplify.
• Weaponry (Missile) is specialise in small bows. Other missile weapons are at 02, to simplify.

Advantages:

Edge (DEX), Language (Thorasta), Leadership (only with Jet, 2 points).

Connections:

None.

Drawbacks:

Dependent (Jet Foundling, 0 points), Edge (STR), Misc.: her body mass is 1 AP.

Motivation:

Neutral Good.

Occupation:

Former waitress.

Wealth:

002

Equipment:

• Shortsword [BODY 02, Enhance (EV): 02 (cap is 05), Descriptor: Slashing]. Lowered BODY due to the iron crisis.
• Short bow [BODY 02, Enhance (EV): 01 (cap is 03), Enhance (Range): 02 (cap is 04), Ammo: 01, Recommended STR: 02, R#03, Limitation: Low Penetration, Descriptor: Piercing].
• LEATHER ARMOUR [BODY 03, Blunting: 01, Damage capacity: 02, Enhance (Cold RV): 01 (cap is 05), Enhance (Piercing, Slashing, Bludgeoning RV): 01 (cap is 05), Bonuses & Limitations: Damage Capacity has the Full Recovery Bonus, Partial Coverage (Vest).]

The inn, in Candlekeep’s outermost courtyard.

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Imoen (Level 5)

Dex: 03	Str: 02	Bod: 02
Int: 04	Wil: 04	Min: 03
Inf: 03	Aur: 04	Spi: 04
Init: 010		HP: 020

Skills:

Charisma (Persuasion): 04, Evasion: 04, Occultism (Rituals): 02, Thief (Pickpocketing, Stealth): 03, Thief (Locks & Safes, Security systems): 07, Weaponry (Melee): 04, Weaponry (Missile): 05

Bonuses and Limitations:

• Evasion only when clad in light armour (studded leather or lighter) and wearing neither shield nor helmet.
• Weaponry (Melee) is specialised in small blades (up to a shortsword). Other melee weapons are at 02, to simplify.
• Weaponry (Missile) is specialise in small bows. Other missile weapons are at 03, to simplify.

Advantages:

Edge (DEX), Language (Thorasta), Leadership (only with Jet, 2 points).

Connections:

None

Drawbacks:

Dependent (Jet Foundling, 0 points), Edge (STR), Misc.: her body mass is 1 AP.

Motivation:

Neutral Good.

Occupation:

Adventuress.

Wealth:

004

Equipment:

• Shortbow +1 [BODY 03, Enhance (EV): 01 (cap is 03), Enhance (Range): 02 (cap is 04), Ammo: 01, Recommended STR: 02, R#03, Limitation: Low Penetration, Descriptor: Piercing, Advantage: +1].
• Whistling shortsword +2 [BODY 06, Enhance (EV): 02 (cap is 06), Descriptor: Slashing, piercing; Advantage: +2]. This sword was forged by a gifted singer, whistler and blacksmith, and enchanted by his only friend. The smith vanished when he got fed up with the constant mockery about his unusually small stature.
• STUDDED LEATHER ARMOUR +2 [BODY 05, Conditional Soaking (Slashing), Blunting: 01, Damage capacity: 02, Enhance (Cold RV): 01 (cap is 05), Enhance (Slashing, Bludgeoning and Piercing RV): 01 (cap is 07), Bonuses & Limitations: Damage Capacity has the Instant Recovery Bonus, Partial Coverage (Jacket), Advantage: +2].
• MASTERBELT MAGIC BELT [BODY 04, Enhance (Thief (Locks and Safes, Security systems)): 01 (cap is 09), Enhance (Military science (Camouflage)): 01 (cap is 09)].
• WORN WHISPERS MAGIC BOOTS [BODY 04, Enhance (Thief (Stealth): 01 (cap is 10)].
• BRACERS OF ARCHERY [BODY 04, Dart bonus. The dart bonus will be usable with any bow wielded by the person with the BRACERS.].
• IMOEN’S ARTEFACT [BODY 02, Advantage: this big heavy tome raises the Hero Points spending cap for Acrobatics and Thief rolls by one for its carrier.]

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Design Notes

The artefact (and the tiny storyline with it) is an addition from the BG1NPC mod. Again – modded version of the game.

It has non-standard mechanics since the D&D effect is… modest, but I felt there should be *something* on her DCH sheet.

By Sébastien Andrivet the Sly.

Source of Character: Baldur’s Gate computer RPG.

Helper(s): Darci the Bold.

Writeup completed on the 24^th of August, 2019.