I'm re-posting here what, IMO, is a very good Romancing FAQ, originally posted by karvala at the BIS message boards:
Romancing FAQ
Intro
This deal with FAQ about the romances in SOA and TOB. Where variable names are used that involve a characters name, the examples shown throughout are for Jaheira; they should be modified to instead use the name of the character that you're romancing.
Patches
You should install the final patch for your game (either SOA or TOB) prior to starting a game. Players are also recommended to get the Jaheira romance fix from Baldurdash for either SOA (for players with just SOA installed) or TOB (for players with TOB installed), as these fix additional issues not addressed in the official patches. These will help to ensure that the romance runs as smoothly as possible..
What?
Romances are special interactions between certain NPCs and the PC. They consist of dialogues, and some related events involving other NPCs.
Who?
Male PCs can romance Aerie, Viconia and Jaheira; Female PCs can romance Anomen. Some third-party mods are available offering further romances (such as Nalia and Solaufein), but these are unofficial and not covered further here. In addition to the gender requirement, there is a racial requirement. All four romance characters will romance a Human, Half-Elf and Halfling. In addition, Aerie will romance an Elf and a Gnome, Anomen will romance an Elf and Jaheira will romance an Elf. Viconia will romance a Half-Orc with a bug-fix from Baldurdash.
How?
Romances will start automatically with compatible PCs; no specific action is required by players. Romance dialogues (as opposed to other types of dialogue from romance characters) can usually be identified by the accompanying romance music.
Where?
Romance dialogues will not take place in a dungeon area. For some specific dialogues, some other areas are also excluded. If you feel you should be having a dialogue, moving to another area can sometimes be the solution.
When?
Romances will start at the beginning of chapter 2. The appearance of romance dialogues is timed using real (CPU) time, rather than game time. Romance dialogues are spaced approximately 1 hour real time apart for Jaheira and Anomen, and slightly less for Viconia and Aerie. Real time continues to count even while the game is on pause. Romance dialogues will take place in any chapter, but romance-related events involving other NPCs will not generally take place during chapters 4,5 and 7. If you have reached the stage in a romance when you're waiting for an event to happen, you will not get any further romance dialogues until it has happened.
Why?
For fun!
Troubleshooting Commands
Sometimes, a romance can run into technical trouble. The following is a list of some of the more useful console commands for romance troubleshooting, and the location of these variables in ShadowKeeper (as an alternative method to using the console):-
CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBAL",X) ("Global Variables" tab) - this controls whether or not the romance is currently active, where X is a one of the following numbers: 0 means not started, 1 means currently active in normal stage, 2 means currently active in committed stage, 3 means ended prematurely. CLUAConsole:GetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBAL") will show the current value
CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomance","GLOBAL",1) ("Global Variables" tab) - this will expire the romance timer, causing the next romance dialogue to appear, provided all other conditions for that dialogue have also been fulfilled. Don't ever set this number to anything other than 1.
CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("Lovetalk","LOCALS",X) ("Affects" tab, with Jaheira as the visible character) - this controls whereabouts in the romance you currently are, with X being a number used to indicate the dialogue you are currently on; you must point to the romance character with the mouse before entering this command. You should not change your current Lovetalk value unless you know for certain that it is okay to do so at your stage of the romance, as this can cause serious problems othewise. CLUAConsole:GetGlobal("Lovetalk","LOCALS") will show the current value (and again, the romance character must be pointed to with the mouse before entering the command).
Imprisonment, Petrification, Death
Imprisonment or Petrification of the romance character will immediately terminate that romance. To restore it, simply reset the romance status to active using either ShadowKeeper ("Global Variables" tab) or the following console command: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBAL",2) 'Chunking' (death beyond resurrection) will also terminate a romance, but the character will be unavailable, so this does not matter. Ordinary death (=grey portrait), followed by timely (within three days) resurrection of the romance character, will not end the romance; no action is required in this case.
Kicking Out Romance Characters
If Aerie, Viconia or Anomen are kicked out of the party, and rejoin again within three days, the romance will remain active. Beyond three days, if the romance is in the normal stage (JaheiraRomanceActive = 1), it will end. If it is in the committed stage (JaheiraRomanceActive = 2), it will remain active. For Jaheira, the romance will terminate as soon as she is kicked out of the party (it is possible to kick her out and keep the romance active early on in the romance, but this is a bug that may soon be fixed - don't rely on it!). If any of the romance characters leave the party voluntarily for quest reasons, the romance will be unaffected.
Starting A Romance In TOB
Romances will continue in TOB provided that they have reached the committed stage (JaheiraRomanceActive = 2) in SOA. If you have not reached that stage, or wish to have a romance in a new game starting in TOB, you can manually activate the romance using either ShadowKeeper ("Global Variables" tab) or the following console command: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBAL",2). This will automatically start the TOB romance, and the first romance dialogue will follow after the usual delay (of up to one hour real time).
Missing Dialogues in TOB
In TOB, the romance dialogues are still controlled by a real-time timer variable. However, there are also additional event/plot-related conditions for some dialogues. This works both ways, i.e. it will not only ensure that the romance dialogue will not occur before a certain event has taken place, but for some dialogues will also ensure that a particular dialogue will take place soon after that event, regardless of whether or not that dialogue has actually been reached in sequence. Any dialogues before that one that have not yet been experienced are simply, and deliberately, discarded in this scheme. Missing dialogues in TOB are therefore not something to be worried about.
Anomen's Test (*SPOILER*)
Anomen's romance will continue even if he does not pass his test, but the romance dialogues will be different.
Jaheira and the Harpers (*SPOILER*)
The Harper quests can be done without romancing Jaheira. However, if you do romance her, then the timing of these quests will be connected with the romance. It is essential to successfully complete the Harper quests, including the Xzar/Montaron quest, in order to progress beyond a certain point in the Jaheira romance.
Jaheira Dialogue Loop
The TOB official patch, and the Baldurdash patch for players without TOB, has resolved most of the problems with the Jaheira romance. Most players starting a new game with these installed should not experience any difficulties. One remaining problem, however, is that on some occasions, Jaheira may start to repeat the same dialogue over-and-over in quick succession. This is triggered by having party members badly injured. The solution is to heal the injured party members, which will stop the loop, at least until they become badly injured again. This occurs most commonly for players in chapters 4 and 5, and is normally fully resolved by the next romance-related event that takes place in chapter 6. No additional action is required.
continued below...
Romance FAQ
Romance FAQ
There's nothing a little poison couldn't cure...
What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, ... to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if he people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security.
What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, ... to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if he people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security.
Why aren't I getting any romance dialogues?
Romance dialogues appear at regularly-spaced intervals. However, sometimes there will be a seemingly long gap during which no romance dialogues have taken place. Here are some of the possible reasons why, and where appropriate, what to do about it:-
(1) You are not compatible on race or gender grounds, and so your romance has never started. Play a compatible character, or use the following console commands to force the game to accept your romance irrespective of race and gender:- CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraMatch","GLOBAL",1) and CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("CheckJaheiraMatch","GLOBAL",1) and CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBAL",1)
(2) You gave a wrong answer in one of the earlier romance dialogues, and so your romance has prematurely ended. Try again be nicer(!), or use the following console equivalent of flowers and chocolates to get a second chance: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBAL",2)
(3) You haven't waited long enough for the timer to expire, or the timer has got stuck. Either wait a bit longer, or use the following console command to force the timer to expire: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomance","GLOBAL",1)
(4) You're in an area in which the next romance dialogue or event can't take place. Move to another area. (This includes all dungeon areas, and in the case of romance-related events, most indoor areas.)
(5) You need to rest to trigger the next romance dialogue or event. Rest!
(6) You need to rest outside to trigger the next romance dialogue or event. Rest outside!!
(7) You're in an area with enemies nearby. Move away from the enemies.
(8) You're in chapters 4 or 5, and you're waiting for a romance-related event. Wait for chapter 6 (and probably not the first area in chapter 6 either).
(9) You're in chapter 7 and you're waiting for a romance-related event. Bad luck, you're too late! Either try again in another game, or use this console command as a temporary way of setting the chapter variable back to 6 (but carry on with the core plot until you've restored the chapter variable to 7, using a similar command): CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("Chapter","GLOBAL",6)
(10) You're in TOB, and haven't yet had a plot event required for the next romance dialogue to take place. Carry on with the main plot.
If you've tried all of these, and you still aren't getting any romance dialogues, then you can check out Extremist's Romancing Guide, which has details of the specific conditions required for every romance dialogue in SOA, and could also post a message on board here saying where you are in the romance (what your last dialogue was, who you're romancing, and ideally post some variable values using the commands outlined earlier as well, so that we can help you more effectively), and myself or someone else will be sure to help you.
Happy Romancing!!!!!
Karvala
Romance dialogues appear at regularly-spaced intervals. However, sometimes there will be a seemingly long gap during which no romance dialogues have taken place. Here are some of the possible reasons why, and where appropriate, what to do about it:-
(1) You are not compatible on race or gender grounds, and so your romance has never started. Play a compatible character, or use the following console commands to force the game to accept your romance irrespective of race and gender:- CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraMatch","GLOBAL",1) and CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("CheckJaheiraMatch","GLOBAL",1) and CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBAL",1)
(2) You gave a wrong answer in one of the earlier romance dialogues, and so your romance has prematurely ended. Try again be nicer(!), or use the following console equivalent of flowers and chocolates to get a second chance: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBAL",2)
(3) You haven't waited long enough for the timer to expire, or the timer has got stuck. Either wait a bit longer, or use the following console command to force the timer to expire: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomance","GLOBAL",1)
(4) You're in an area in which the next romance dialogue or event can't take place. Move to another area. (This includes all dungeon areas, and in the case of romance-related events, most indoor areas.)
(5) You need to rest to trigger the next romance dialogue or event. Rest!
(6) You need to rest outside to trigger the next romance dialogue or event. Rest outside!!
(7) You're in an area with enemies nearby. Move away from the enemies.
(8) You're in chapters 4 or 5, and you're waiting for a romance-related event. Wait for chapter 6 (and probably not the first area in chapter 6 either).
(9) You're in chapter 7 and you're waiting for a romance-related event. Bad luck, you're too late! Either try again in another game, or use this console command as a temporary way of setting the chapter variable back to 6 (but carry on with the core plot until you've restored the chapter variable to 7, using a similar command): CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("Chapter","GLOBAL",6)
(10) You're in TOB, and haven't yet had a plot event required for the next romance dialogue to take place. Carry on with the main plot.
If you've tried all of these, and you still aren't getting any romance dialogues, then you can check out Extremist's Romancing Guide, which has details of the specific conditions required for every romance dialogue in SOA, and could also post a message on board here saying where you are in the romance (what your last dialogue was, who you're romancing, and ideally post some variable values using the commands outlined earlier as well, so that we can help you more effectively), and myself or someone else will be sure to help you.
Happy Romancing!!!!!
Karvala
There's nothing a little poison couldn't cure...
What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, ... to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if he people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security.
What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, ... to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if he people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security.