Lore From Learning

A Gibberlings Three Mod
Authors: CamDawg
On the Web: Project Page and Forum

Version 6
Languages: English, Polish, Russian
Platforms: Windows, macOS, and Linux
GitHub: Gibberlings3/Lore_From_Learning

The Lore From Learning mod is a small WeiDU mod that adds lore bonuses to your main character as you learn and adventure throughout the game. The bonuses (and the stimuli that provide them) are, by design, meant to be minor and enhance the role-playing aspect of the game.

The Lore From Learning mod is designed to work with the original or Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate or Baldur's Gate II, with or without their various expansions, and including nthe conversion projects BGT, EET, or Tutu. While the mod will not currently work for Icewind Dale, support is planned for future versions.

In terms of installation order, Lore From Learning should generally be installed after any NPC mods. The mod utilizes the main character's "dream script" (the script that triggers events at rest periods) which is also sometimes used by mods NPCs. By installing it after mod NPCs it ensures that the lore trigger/rewards will be weighted lower than romance or other NPC-related events.

At present there are no known incompatibilities.

If you should encounter any bugs, please report them to the authors at G3's Miscellaneous Released Mods forum. In addition, Lore From Learning is available on GitHub, so fixes and changes can be submitted by the community.

Special Note for Siege of Dragonspear from Steam/GOG
Good Old Games (GOG) and Steam both package the additional content for Siege of Dragonspear in a method that WeiDU, the tool used to install this mod, cannot access. You must run a program called DLC Merger on your SoD installation before you can install this or any other WeiDU-based mod.

Windows
The Lore From Learning mod for Windows is distributed as a self-extracting archive and includes a WeiDU installer. To install, simply double-click the archive and follow the instructions on screen.

Alternatively, the files can be extracted into your game directory using 7zip or WinRAR. When properly extracted, your game directory will contain setup-cdlore.exe and the folder cdlore. To install, double-click setup-cdlore.exe and follow the instructions on screen.

You can run setup-cdlore.exe in your game folder to reinstall, uninstall or otherwise change components.

macOS
The Lore From Learning mod for macOS is distributed as a compressed tarball and includes a WeiDU installer.

First, extract the files from the tarball into your game directory. When properly extracted, your game directory will contain setup-cdlore, setup-cdlore.command, and the folder cdlore. To install, double-click setup-cdlore.command and follow the instructions on screen.

You can run setup-cdlore.command in your game folder to reinstall, uninstall or otherwise change components.

Linux
The Lore From Learning mod for Linux is distributed as a compressed tarball and does not include a WeiDU installer.

Extract the contents of the mod to the folder of the game you wish to modify.

Download the latest version of WeiDU for Linux from WeiDU.org and copy WeiDU and WeInstall to /usr/bin. Following that, open a terminal, cd to your game installation directory, run tolower and answer Y to both queries. You can avoid running the second option (linux.ini) if you've already ran it once in the same directory. To save time, the archive is already tolowered, so there's no need to run the first option (lowercasing file names) either if you've extracted only this mod since the last time you lowercased file names. If you're unsure, running tolower and choosing both options is the safe bet.

To install, run WeInstall cdlore in your game folder. Then run wine BGMain.exe and start playing.

Note for Complete Uninstallation
In addition to the methods above for removing individual components, you can completely uninstall the mod using setup-cdlore --uninstall at the command line to remove all components without wading through prompts. .

The Lore From Learning is broken down into more targeted components for the player. However, they all work on the same mechanic: at every rest, your main character will have some time to read books, talk with their party, etc. It is during these rest periods where lore triggers will be evaluated and, if appropriate, bonuses awarded. The specific details about triggers are deliberately vague so as not to spoil, however, full details are posted on the forum, specifically in this thread (spoilers).

Advanced Customization
In the mod folder is a text file named customize.tpa. Using a text editor, you can adjust various factors that affect the various triggers and rewards related to all of the mod's components. Details are in the file itself; if you have any questions or feedback feel free to ask on the forum.

Books Provide Lore Bonuses
As the player adventures through the Sword Coast and beyond they find many history books. As the player reads these books they can earn bonuses for learning the history of the broader world. A handful of books will provide greater bonuses than others. However, there is a maximum amount of lore you can earn from books.

Weapon Knowledge Provides Lore Bonuses
As your skill with various weapons advanced, two lore bonuses are possible.

Party Members Provide Lore Bonuses
Given how much time you spend with them, the party can be a wealth of information. This component provides some minor rewards for traveling, long-term, with a party with a diverse set of backgrounds, specifically, of many different race and class combinations.

Defeating Monsters Provides Lore Bonuses
The player will gain lore knowledge as they adventure and defeat monsters. Specifically, lore bonuses can be earned by defeating many different types of monsters.

Exploring Areas Provides Lore Bonuses
The player will gain lore knowledge as they adventure and explore new areas. In particular, famous or exotic locations (e.g. other planes) will provide larger advancement for lore bonuses.

The Lore From Learning mod was created by CamDawg. For issues, suggestions and general feedback, G3's Miscellaneous Released Mods forum are the best resource. Visit the Gibberlings Three Forums for information on this and any other Gibberlings Three mods on which we may be working.

Lore From Learning was inspired by a suggestion from Cahir for a new Tweaks Anthology component. Cahir proposed that these otherwise good (but somewhat pointless) history books could actually do something in game, namely, provide a small lore bonus. I really liked the idea, but the more I thought about it I realized the idea could be expanded. After all lore is a relatively small mechanic that doesn't really affect game balance, but there were some minor opportunities to emphasize and reward role-playing.

So while he's already awesome (he's been a long-time Polish translator for other G3 mods), I'd like to thank Cahir for the original inspiration for the mod. In addition, thanks to the folks on the Infinity Engine Discord that helped with the original discussion, namely auiwqi, Kenraali, and Lauriel.

As of version 3, even more thanks to Cahir for the Polish translation!

Thanks also to yota13 for the Russian translation added in version 4.

Tools Used in Creation

• WeiDU by Wes Weimer, the bigg, and Wisp
• Near Infinity by Jon Olav Hauglid, FredSRichardson, and argent77
• IESDP maintained by igi and lynx
• Notepad++
• Notepad++ Text Highlighters by argent77

The modding community for the Infinity Engine has been going strong for nearly two decades now, and is the culmination of thousands of unpaid modding hours by fellow fans of the game. Modders produce their best work and players get the best, well-supported mods when we all work together.

There are two big ways to upset this harmony. One is to claim someone else's work as your own. The second is to host and redistribute a mod without permission from the author(s).

Be kind to your fellow players and modders. Don't do either.

Version 6 - October 26, 2023

• Fixed bug that prevented installation without the new component

Version 5 - October 26, 2023

• Fixed corrupted text in the Polish translation, thanks Roberciiik!
• Added the Exploring Areas Provides Lore Bonuses component
• Thanks to Cahir (Polish) and paladin84 (Russian) for the translation updates for the new component
• Fixed a bug where the custom values set by players in customize.tpa could be ignored by the mod

Version 4 - August 5, 2021

• Added Russian translation, courtesy of yota13

Version 3 - June 3, 2021

• Added Polish translation, courtesy of Cahir
• Decreased the threshold for the third point of lore in the Defeating Monsters Provides Lore Bonuses component
• Added some missing Project Infinity stuff that really should have been in v1
• Earning a lore point with the other components could interfere with the various counters for the Party Members Provide Lore Bonuses component
• Earning lore from books now requires literacy (9 INT)

Version 2 - May 27, 2021

• Fixed bug where Weapon Knowledge Provides Lore Bonuses would not install on non-EE games
• Fixed bug where Defeating Monsters Provides Lore Bonuses was not iterating correctly when looping through monster types
• Fixed bug where earning a point of lore would prevent sleep
• Added a few more continuations in scripts to hopefully prevent conflicts with actual combat actions
• Fixed bug where Defeating Monsters Provides Lore Bonuses was not picking up on the correct breakpoints for lore bonuses

Version 1 - May 27, 2021

• Initial release