So you want to start a new game, but you can't be bothered to go through Fort Joy or the Hollow Marshes for the umpteen millionth time? Look no further: with this mod, your new game will be launched straight into Act 2!

In order to make this, I sampled and edited SimranZenov's Start in Fort Joy. I'll take down this mod if asked by him on that basis. You may find the Steam Workshop version of Joyless Beginnings here.

Multiplayer now works fully with all 4 players. Special thanks to LaughingLeader and The Composer for helping me come up with solutions to previous issues.

The mod has not been fully tested beyond the boat yet: it is possible bugs may occur. If this ends up being the case, please let me know!

Mod Features

• Player characters start at Level 9 after character customization.
• Player characters each begin the game with 2100 gold, a bedroll and a resurrection scroll. Two teleporter pyramids are also given to the first player.
• Player characters begin equipped with a set of appropriately levelled legs, boots, chest, belt, gloves and headgear according to their class choice. If a custom class was used, the player will be assigned fitting gear based on their attributes.
• The Mask of the Shapeshifter and Face Ripper can both be found on the ground near the players' new starting position.
• After completing character customization, players start off on the Lady Vengeance at the beginning of Act 2, following Malady's rescue attempt.
  

Known Mod Incompabilities

Custom Class Mods are compatible with this mod, but usually make the player start out with Fort Joy tier armour. To circumvent this, I have written script that checks if you do not have a belt (i.e. Fort Joy tier gear) and assigns you gear based on your attributes: if you have Str 11+ upon exiting character customization, you will get Str gear, if you do not and have Fin 11+, you will get Fin gear, and if you have neither of those but have Int 11+, you will get Int gear.

TL;DR: Custom classes work fine.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How will this mod affect quests and decisions from Act 1?

With the exception of Gareth having been rescued, the game will assume you did absolutely nothing in Act 1 barring the minimum. This means
Fort Joy Arena won't have been done and you won't have rescued anyone from the ship.

2. Can I recruit the origin characters as companions? How will companion relations be affected by using Joyless Beginnings?

As far as the companions are concerned, they've only just met you. Some may give you grief over leaving them to drown, but this doesn't really affect your relationship with them or their recruitability. It goes without saying that you can't do the Act 1 parts of their origin stories, but the rest of their stories should function just fine.

3. I'm having an issue with your mod! Do you know anything about this?

If at all possible, please reproduce the issue without other mods enabled - especially if there's no obvious link to my mod, such as an NPC breaking while talking about something that should have happened in Act 1. If the problem persists, please let me know.