#jaheira being there is most likely a bug
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when isobel asked if I believed in love at first sight, damn right I said yes
bonus:
#art#Thyneron#jaheira being there is most likely a bug#but I will always love it#she showed up just to judge me#bg3#The Emperor
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Having some Thoughts about Astarion and his perceived intelligence, or lack thereof (it was largely in the tags of this post, which I absolutely recommend reading, but it was getting overly long).
Astarion is perceived as… not very bright. Like it's kind of a running joke in fandom at this point, and it's been bugging me for a bit, so…
INT 13 isn't actually low
INT 13 is actually a fair bit above average! Of the main six Origin characters, only Gale has a higher INT score at 17, which is what you'd expect from a wizard and Actual Nerd (complimentary). Wyll has INT 13 as well, Lae'zel and Shadowheart have the average score of INT 10, and Karlach has INT 8. Of the secondary companions, Halsin and Minthara also have INT 10, and Minsc and - interestingly - Jaheira both have INT 8.
So, far from being one of the dumbest companions, stats-wise, he's actually one of the most intelligent.
Poor planning skills aren't a reflection of intelligence
Yes, Astarion is notoriously terrible at coming up with long-term plans. You know what he also hasn't been able to do for two hundred years? Come up with long-term plans.
He spent about forty years living a normal life, then five times that duration as a slave, being punished for any show of thinking for himself. He tried to make a plan that went against his master's orders, and he spent a year buried alive for it. His only purpose was "to seduce anything with a pulse"; thinking outside of that wasn't just discouraged, it was punished. He's out of practice!
Also, there are a lot of incredibly intelligent people who can't make plans for Assorted Reasons, even without two hundred years of being a puppet to someone else's will. Dyspraxia, ADHD, all sorts of things.
The whole smooth brain thing
This one does bug me, but I also suspect it was a nod to fandom perception. The epilogue has Bing-Bong in it, there were at least parts written well after the game release, and the subsequent fandom response. It's entirely possible, if not likely, that parts of the writing were influenced by fandom perception.
He had low INT in early access
Yes, and they changed it, and he no longer does. Wyll was essentially rewritten between EA and now. Karlach wasn't even a main character in EA. The Dream Visitor was extremely different in EA! Astarion was below average intelligence in EA, and now he's above average ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Neil Newbon says Astarion is intelligent
"I see him as being very intelligent — very erudite — and highly manipulative when he wants to be."
From this interview. I figure he'd know better than anyone save Stephen Rooney, y'know?
The trauma
I mean we can't understate the trauma. The trauma would do a number on your cognitive abilities (and your everything else lbr). And on top of two centuries of going through The Horrors, Cazador repeatedly belittled and infantilised him, hard not to internalise that when Cazador had complete control over his entire existence.
This isn't really meant to be an essay or aimed at anyone in particular and also quite possibly my 'burnt-out gifted kid who valued their intelligence above everything else' is showing but that may be more a Gale thing! Just that the whole 'lmao Astarion is so dumb' trope was bugging me for this, that, and the other reason, so. A post.
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Considering the cast has grand ideas like "all of us are down to become immortal, tbh Jaheira", "I am at risk of dying from being burned alive from the inside", and "I'd like to be a god", you don't necessarily need to fuck around with ancient unstable magics for that (although in the later case, it does take a lot more time and work and risk of death).
There are generally easier ways to gain these things (except for apotheosis), but in 5e you can still solve these problems with insane amounts of XP: you need to reach level 20, when the ability score caps are raised from the mortal limits of 20 to 30, and instead of levelling up "epic boons" are put on the table (which is basically the equivalent of epic levels).
"[Boons are] extraordinary and represent the gradual transformation of a character into something resembling a demigod."
(This is the point where you're warming up towards getting ready to pick fights with the gods*; find yourself a chunk of divine essence and welcome to the start of the divine ladder, mx new quasi-deity... also it may start to alter your physical appearance as you become something more than human[oid])
Depending on DM fiat, you can get these due to plot events whenever the DM feels like awarding you one, or you gain one every 30,000xp acquired (the equivalent of levelling up). I believe beating a Solar to death will net you one, slaying an ancient red or gold dragon will net you two...
The growth in power allows various things ranging from mundane stuff like increasing your ability scores (so stuff like an almost perfect memory, the ability to process information at superhuman speed, being literally the most interesting person in the world, superhuman reflexes, or bench pressing an elephant would be within your reach) or becoming eternally healthy (immune to poison and disease of any kind)...
...over to more esoteric stuff like having permanent truesight, and hopping between the planes of reality at will, or ageless and irrevocable immortality, or turning invisible at will whenever you stand in darkness, or hacking magic. Also full immunity to specific forms of damage: Karlach's engine can't kill her if she's immune to fire. There is no boon on paper for immunity to radiant damage such as may be inflicted by the sun, but it's easy to imagine one existing.
The level cap in-game is 12, but I know the actual XP total is higher. I think I've seen people have it at least up to 15 with mods to remove the cap, but I'm not sure. Either way, I think the party is one decent campaign away from level 20. (And if we need epic level threats, Mephistopheles is clearly up to something, and it's bugging me; I think we should have a party reunion. In Mephistar. With silver weapons.)
#*If you try to pick a fist fight with Shar or Mystra at level 20 you will lose though: Don't pick fights with Greater Deities#Bhaal... Bhaal might be punchable?#My Durge is going to start fist fighting legendary dragons and storming Mt Celestia on his days off. The brainwashing has sunk in too deep#We do not settle for mortality. We do not cope with the blood on our hands that we had no say in. We don't cope with daddy throwing us asid#We tear divinity from the hells and heavens themselves or we die trying.#They don't need full godhood but they're not surviving a normal mortal life#Gale might join them during one of his bad moments.#lore stuff#?
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Heart of the Weave - A Baldur’s Gate Fanfiction
Chapter 4
A faint yet loud voice outside the front door can be heard, and I begin to think: there’s no way they’re here already?! The sooner the better I suppose! Gale and I press our ears to the door, wondering if it’s who we think it is. The voice is rather familiar; too familiar, in fact.
“You mean to tell me there’s not a Whizbangs in Waterdeep? COME ON!!” Ah, yes. Karlach. Karlach is our funny, enthusiastic Tiefling friend who had an engine for a heart. She was also on the nautiloid and infected with one of those parasites within the ocular region. Her story is that she was basically sold to Avernus – or, Hell – by someone she once trusted. His name was Gortash and he was one of the bastards we had to kill in Baldur’s Gate. His evil political influence and desire to dominate the world was nauseating and unbearable, so we had to do what we had to do. Plus, Karlach got her revenge. He should not have sold her to Hell to serve for an archdevil. She went back to Avernus with Wyll, the Blade of Avernus, so they can fight together and keep her alive. Her engine would not allow her to live much outside of the Hells.
Gale opens the door and there stands three of our loyal, badass friends on the castle porch: Shadowheart, Karlach, and Wyll. It appears Lae’zel is still in the Astral Planes, and who knows what happened to Astarion, Halsin, and Jaheira? I start to wonder what happened to our other loving friends who started new lives elsewhere.
“Holy shit! It’s Gale! Wait, is that Emmy behind you?! How’d you know we were here?” Karlach says enthusiastically, looking as if she’s ready to punch an object out of pure excitement.
“Well, you do know we’re married, do you not?” Gale asks her with a smirk painted upon his face. I can’t help but laugh at his remark, because she was at our wedding. “Besides, we knew you were here because there’s only one person – er, tiefling – we know that gets this excited about Whizbangs.”
“Damn pal. You got me.”
“Karlach and I found a forge in Avernus to fix her heart. We’re so excited to adventure with you guys again, as long as no ‘Chosen Three’ or ‘elder brain’ gets involved again,” Wyll says, wrapping his arm around Karlach’s waist. I smile, wishing I could jump up and down in ecstasy from this news, though I’m dead set on the idea that I’ll vomit everywhere. I already feel a knot curl up within my stomach.
“Karlach! That’s…amazing news. Can I hug you?” I ask her, trying to maintain my excitement.
“Of course, soldier!” I hug Karlach, feeling her strong arms embrace me in return for over a minute. No flames are rising from her body anymore, nor does she even feel hot. She’s considered my best friend and I’m more than thrilled that she’s going to be okay outside of Avernus, but more relieved she no longer has to suffer. I am more than thankful we saved her life in time when she was about to explode from her old engine. I can’t imagine missing Karlach and begging for her to be alive.
“I have arrived! Oh, it’s so good to see everyone again. Well, most of you. I imagine we’ll bump into Astarion on the road, should he be able to find us in the darkness,” Shadowheart says. I hug her as well, and she immediately begins to feel the heat of my skin from the fever. “You really aren’t feeling great, are you? You are burning up. Let’s leave as quickly as possible.”
“I have dealt with being poisoned, burned, frozen… I really think I’ll be okay,” I say. Now that I think about it, it’s wild. Everyone is so concerned about me, considering I have dealt with much worse in the past, nearly meeting my death bed on multiple occasions. Then again, we just need confirmation this isn’t the tadpole again at least. Gale takes my hand, holding it gently and rubbing my knuckles with his thumb. Judging by the look on his face, it looks like he is praying to some Goddess or God silently.
“I’ve prayed to Sêlune. I bet it’s just a bug, but let’s go just in case,” Shadowheart responds, giving off a fake smile. “You never know what this could turn into.” Her and I grew very close on our adventures, to the point she’s gotten super protective over me. I was with her when her parents passed. She once told me I am the only person she has left, and ever since those words escaped her lips, I’ve considered her family to me. I can’t imagine how it’s been for her, traveling alone and discovering the world without a companion by her side. I’m sure it gets rather lonely.
“Well, we probably should leave now. The quicker we leave, the better,” I say. “Don’t worry, I set out enough food for Tara to indulge in while we’re gone.”
“Good news on that front, Tara knows how to pluck vegetables from the garden, so she’ll be okay regardless,” Gale says. “Off we go.”
I close the door behind us and we head on the road in Waterdeep that leads to Baldur’s Gate, though it will be awhile before we actually get there. The fresh air outside seems to make me feel more refreshed than before somehow. The beautiful petunias growing on the side of the road, the large yet beautiful pieces of architecture in the city, such as museums and the Academy, and of course the cute little markets where people are making a living… It’s all so pleasing to the eye.
“So, how have you guys been?” I ask Karlach. “I see you and Wyll are together at last! I knew it would happen someday.”
“You are correct! We’re engaged, actually. No set date for the wedding. Wyll proposed to me in Avernus right after slaying the head off of a giant. Nothing more romantic than that.”
“I was going to have it be a traditional engagement, but alas this was before we could fix her engine, so I had to do it in Avernus. I didn’t want to wait,” Wyll says with animation in his voice, almost like how Karlach sounds every time she talks. It actually makes me so happy they ended up together. It’s funny how they were once enemies, threatening to murder one another, and now they’re engaged to be married. They grow up so fast.
“Well, congrats you two!”
“Don’t worry, Emmy. You’re definitely invited to the wedding. You too, Gale and Shadowheart.”
“Thank you, Wyll. That’s appreciated,” Shadowheart says. “Ah, I love weddings. I’m so glad I was able to be the maid of honor at Emmy and Gale’s wedding, it was absolutely stunning. I’d relive that day if I could.”
“Oh trust me, so could I,” Gale says, holding my hand within his as we walk the quiet roads of Waterdeep. It feels nice to catch up with my friends that I haven’t seen since the reunion party five – or maybe six – months ago. It feels much longer than that.
Another sudden wave of severe nausea hits me like a freight train, causing me to stop walking for a moment. This time, it’s gut-wrenching and nearly painful, possibly the worst it’s been in awhile.
“Whoa, is everything alright?” Gale asks, rubbing my back as I’m hunched over. “It’s okay. Do what you need to do.”
“Whatever is causing you to feel this way, I’m going to punch it in the fucking head,” Karlach says. “I would expect this if you came across Cloudkill or something atrocious like that. Have you been around any disgusting spells like that recently?”
“Not at all,” I mumble. “I think it’s a stomach bug, but…much worse.”
“I feel like a failure. I’ve failed you. I’m a wizard who has studied the arcane since I was young, yet I can’t heal or cure you whatsoever,” Gale says, sighing as he continues to rub my back. “I’m so sorry.”
“That’s just the thing,” Shadowheart chimes in. “Magic may not be able to help her at all. At least not this time.” I take a deep breath and close my eyes, trying to fight off the sickness that’s overwhelming my body. So going by Shadowheart's words, magic can only help in certain conditions? I have so much I still need to understand; I should have studied the arcane growing up. However, my natural desire was to help others, cure those in pain, and bring light into the sinister world of darkness. It seems I can’t help myself unfortunately.
“I’ll be okay. I have waves where I feel totally fine, though most of the time I think I’ll throw up. In fact, I have at least six times today.” In Faerȗn, illnesses are surprisingly rare due to the magic and healing spells that cure just about anything. If there is no spell, there’s surely a potion for it. Either way, magic has not been able to cure whatever this atrocity is.
After my insane episode of sickness, I finally feel a little better after about twenty minutes and we continue forward on our adventure. The scent of spearmint in the wild somewhere relieves me, and I feel somewhat normal again – thank the stars.
“So Shadowheart, how have you been?” Gale asks. “I’m sure it’s been a wild ride exploring the depths of every mountain, city, and forest you can possibly imagine.”
“You know, as much as I enjoy it and find new places to discover… It gets lonely. However, I’m faring quite well. But, good news on that front, I found a place in Waterdeep and moved here a couple days ago. I’ll be slowing down on my adventures for a while,” she says, inhaling the forest air. “I’m glad I will be around some familiar faces.” This just made my entire day, knowing Shadowheart lives close to us and I’ll have someone to hang out with while Gale is teaching at the Academy. Finally, adult interaction!
As we all continue to walk the long and familiar dirt path to Baldur’s Gate, I notice glossy splotches of newly shed blood on some large rocks just a few feet away from us, remembering all the lives I took. Granted, they were well deserved, but nonetheless it affects me sometimes. Just because they were warranted doesn’t mean I’m not affected. Someone or something just got murdered here within the last hour or two. I sigh, trying not to focus too hard on the blood splatters around us. After a moment, I began to smile, realizing how many lives we ended up saving and that we were the heroes of Baldur’s Gate. We still are. All of the violence toward the evil beings was worth it, though I do question myself every now and again.
“Are you alright, baby?” Gale asks. His voice is so soft like a lullaby. If only it were a cure for my unfortunate illness.
“Yes, I’m more than alright.” Part of me is so excited to get to the city. Maybe I’ll see some familiar faces, and hopefully I’ll get the answers I’m looking for.
#Baldurs gate 3#bg3#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep#astarion#karlach#wyll ravengard#shadowheart#bg3 fanfiction#baldurs gate 3 fanfiction#fanfic#ao3
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Thank you Larian Studios for providing the most tense experience of my recent gaming career.
It only took two attempts, the first one crashed and burned about eight hours in due to a softlock due to a bugged dialogue, and almost put me off trying again. But the second attempt flew past at breakneck pace.
My squad was Gale (Divination Wizard, for guaranteeing those critical CC spells), Karlach (Tavern Brawler Open Hand Monk, for quite possibly the highest DPR in the game), Shadowheart (Light Cleric Spell-Tank abusing Radiating Orb) and Anja, my PC (Halfling Lore Bard who talked their way out of every sticky situation Karlach couldn't punch).
Potential BG3 & Honour mode spoilers below:
Honorable mentions to Astarion, the incredible flying Owlbear (who helped me beat Grym by leaping from the top rope and doing an incredible 200 damage) and Jaheira, who helped me buff to avoid certain one-shot thresholds in the later game.
Honestly, I think I spent too much time prepping for this challenge. All the way back in Act 1, I was making choices to ensure I had access to certain allies and options later on in Act 3 to avoid difficult checks (like recruiting Yurgir for the Raphael fight) only to end up... not really needing them. Act 1 had some of the toughest fights by far, and making sure I hit the right thresholds for XP was really important. I remember tiptoeing through the Goblin Camp, hunting for shreds of XP to hit the right level to face the Goblin Leadership, only to end up being caught out and having to brute force my way through several fights. Inquisitor W'worgaz required a whole setup to ensure I could kill him in 2 rounds, but after he fell and I sauntered into Act 2 with the Blood of Lathander and Adamantine Scalemail for Shadowheart, I was feeling pretty confident.
I talked the three Thorms to death, fireballed some plants and blundered the portal fight (Sorry Halsin!) before finally rocking up to Catacombs and taking on the Trials of Shar. I cheesed Balthazar by using Knock on his door (and treating myself to a cutscene where the only member in range of the trigger was my Quasit, who looked very bewildered by the whole encounter) and the rest was a breeze. Even Ketheric fell over to Karlach's punches, and the final phase of the Illithid colony turned out to be pretty easy when I realised I could tank 99% of the Avatar of Myrkul's damage and negate his healing just by having Karlach stand in range with her Necrotic resistance and 20 AC, and having Gale haste himself and cast Bone Chill every round. Sucks to be beat at your own game, huh Myrkul?
Act 3 swiftly turned into a collect-a-thon as I scooped up the last few powerful items I needed to make endgame builds. Lorroakan never got a chance to cast a spell thanks to two characters with counterspell, and with Markoheshkir and the Weave set, Gale became the ultimate hobo wizard capable of blowing up pretty much any threat. Level 11 brought Globe of Invulnerability and turned some of my biggest fears (House of Grief, Gortash & Raphael) into steamrolls where I didn't even take a single point of damage, and never saw a single hostile action. Viconia De'vir spent her entire lifespan being Black Hole'd into a Wall of Fire/Black Tentacles/Silence combo that rendered her impotent, new Legendary actions and all. Gortash got one round of throwables in before Karlach turned his face into a grey paste with the aid of six attacks per round, and Raphael? Oh brother. Using all the explosives I could find in Felogyr's basement, I collapsed all his pillars and then stomped him into the ground with Stunning Strike and Tasha's Hideous Laughter.
Orin came close to ruining my run through my own hubris - She managed to out-initiative my party by quite a lot and land smack bang on top of my Danse Macabre ghouls... blowing them all up and causing a huge chunk of friendly fire to Gale, who went down to bleed before his turn came up. Fortunately, some well placed potion throws and a haste bottle brought both Gale & Globe of Invulnerability up, and upcast Magic Missile did the rest.
The walk to the brain didn't bother me, even though I did forget about Voss' ambush if you don't free Orpheus, because by that point I was so stacked with items anything without the ability to deny CC would just turn into oh-so-much chunky pulp whenever I looked at them. When the time came to fight the Netherbrain, I hesitated... the pressure of losing my run to the Brain's turn timer was terrifying, and I didn't want to take that risk.
So that was when the contingency I'd been planning from Day 1 came in.
I'd been romancing Gale. Primarily to get to see his scenes and how he was as a romantic partner, but also because it lowered the DC to persuade him to detonate the orb to a 25, with advantage. I had no re-rolls left, but thanks to my Halfling race, a natural 1 was unlikely. With all my buffs & stats, I needed a 3+ to succeed, and when that total came up with a 33 I knew I never needed to worry.
And just like that, Gale of Waterdeep sacrificed himself, and the golden dice were mine.
Thank you, Larian Studios. And thank you Gale. You're the best.
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My dear Brainrot and Roman Empire:
Almost finished playing BG3 and absolutely loved it despite all bugs, problems and mistakes. But one thought keep troubling me after revealing past of the Emperor and how touching his relationship seems to be with Ansur.
Guys, I'm serious, I need AMV, because these two being lovers or just written in stars legendary bromance, they have major vibe Arcade and Saturno. Honestly, they have too little time on screen, but it felt, all those pears were just perfect.
There is so little content in this fandom for me personally on many things, like Raphael and Tav as worthy combatants and all tension between them (I just can’t help myself), the story between Hope and Raphael, all his sayings about Tav in diaries, Haarlep being most iconic all the time (I need him and Raphael doing that barbie prison posing, because despite being smart he prefers being the best bimbo in the world and material girl, I can’t help but just adore him), sweet sweet Withers (my baby, my baby, you're my baby, say it to me), him, who, with his little riddles and simple phrases, just hanging around kept my/Tav's faith and sanity in check, because when you watch almost everything Laezel believed in turn against her, Gale being forced to kill herself by his ex-lover/his goddess, Shadowheart stuck between Shar's foggy future and Selunite's past, Arabella's parenrs, Astarion with all his baggage, Will with Mizora and his father, Karlach with a sick heart, so you come to him broken and still find some kind of stability and desire to keep going, thinking you're still doing right - well, doing everything that Scratch could not say, but always wanted - Stoney and Boney being my most healthy comfies (If I ever enter into a relationship, then let it be like this).
I almost cried at Jaheira story with her husband(I have utmost respect to him), Minsc and Astarion bro duo - is my favorite, despite i always enjoyed sarcastic banter between Astarion, Gale, Shadowheart and sometimes Lae'zel, then Jaheira and Minthara came - that moment I needed to stop all quests lines and just listen to them talking, then came Minsc and Boo and I fall, recruiting Minsc was one ofthe best decision in the whole game, and so on.
In the camp in the third act, I caught myself thinking that, I don’t have to glue them together, they can now stick together and communicate without me. I just look at them and my eyes rejoice, my dear babies, my big broken family, I will do everything to make you happy, safe and sound (also had a bug that the whole camp was hanging around with me, so this ralks in-between often made my day a day). I'm one step away from actually starting to make content, because AAAAAA what are you doing to me?
But Ansur and the Emperor became my roman Empire. I don’t care about the nature of their relationship, because whatever they are for each other, their devotion, their common past and non-romantic intimacy, understanding and knowledge of certain traits, it’s as if they have their own language.
Ansur’s despair, although he was there almost until the very end - I’m just AAA, oh glass, my favorite tasty glass. I can’t even imagine how hard it was for both of them not only to meet in person, but also the absurdity of finally seeing the corpse of their dear comrade. And although only one of them is technically undead, both are essentially looking at the corpse of their former friendship.
I can’t even express in words how much I feel about this. And it seems to me personally that for some reason Ansur knows that Tav and their group of adventurers will be able to overcome what Ansur could not prevent a long time ago, which is why he fights so hard. I just can’t bear this resentment, this bitterness, this story with all the little pieces that were shown to us. Someone do it, please
#bg3#brainrot#baldur's gate 3#baldur's gate iii#bg3 ansur#ansur#bg3 emperor#Emperor#balduran#shitpost
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The Chad Chronicles: a BG3 Dark Urge playthrough
(Note: Earlier versions of parts 1 and 2 were originally posted over on Reddit. I've decided to do my updates over here, going forward.)
There will be spoilers. Proceed accordingly.
Part 1. Character creation and the prologue
My first completed run in Baldur's Gate 3 was with a cheerfully chaotic good tiefling rogue, who got all the good endings except for the characters who inadvertently got killed along the way (Lae'zel, Minthara, Jaheira, Minsc). My second run, close to being done, is a Resist the Dark Urge game with Nimue, a snarky, selfish drow bard who has slowly become a Big Damn Hero.
I actually didn't plan on Nimue becoming a Big Damn Hero, but she has gradually become a better person because I, as a player, struggle with making anything other than goody-two-shoes choices. After a couple of very likable NPCs ended up dead at the beginning of Act I, she started to change (because I felt really bad about it).
But I'm curious about what a true Embrace the Dark Urge run would look like, and it finally hit me: if I'm going to play a version of the game in which everyone, including my character, ends up as their absolute worst selves, I have to run it with a character who looks like someone I would really like to kick in the nuts.
Meet Chad.
Chad is a human fighter who I've been told looks like "Gortash's shitty cousin". He is terrible.
This is his dream visitor:
We'll call her Stacy.
(The joke for those in the know is that [REDACTED] knew that the best way to get to Chad was to appear to him as a hot elf girl.)
So. Here we go.
The prologue proceeds more or less as normal—Chad even rescues Us before teaming up with Lae'zel and rescuing Shadowheart from the pod. In the helm room of the nautiloid, Chad decides to fight the demon for his sword and gets knocked out for his trouble. Meanwhile the girls fix the transponder, and then everything goes boom. End of prologue.
Chad takes a long rest immediately after the nautiloid crash, during which he has many murdery thoughts that he doesn't understand ... but that he kind of likes. When he wakes up, the unconscious Shadowheart is gone from the beach—he won't encounter and recruit her until he finally gets to the Emerald Grove. But before that, there are bodies on the beach to loot and creatures to kill.
Right from the start, it's clear that Chad is not the sharpest knife in the box.
(I intend to respec him at the first opportunity, turning his INT and WIS into dump stats so that I can boost his CHA.)
Clearly this is going to go well.
Part 2. Oh, rats
I laid down a few guiding principles to keep in mind for Chad's action and dialogue options:
He picks the most selfish and mercenary choices in any given dialogue or scenario, but it's even odds on whether they're going to be callously pragmatic or just stupid. (In other words: which option do I think will generate the darkest comedy.)
He will also use Intimidation over Persuasion at least half the time, depending on what he's trying to get out of a person (and also depending on whether that person is a pretty girl or not).
He is actually nice to most animals (cats, birds, dogs, livestock) and thinks that makes him an Okay Guy, but he hates rats and bugs.
As the game progresses, he will get increasingly more unhinged and murdery.
After the mop-up operation around the nautiloid, Chad heads out to find his fortune. He hits it off with Astarion, murders a couple of tieflings to recruit Lae'zel, and does not cut off Gale's hand, since a smart magic guy is useful. Very quickly he has a party of people who are useful, or hot, or both.
When he gets to the Grove, he kicks some goblin ass (though really it's Lae'zel and Astarion who do most of the work). He nearly punches out Aradin, then talks to Zevlor and learns about Kagha, then goes to talk to her. On the way, he finally recruits Shadowheart and bullies some kids. He manages to save Arabella more or less by accident, and after talking to Kagha, he agrees to escort the tieflings out of the grove if the druids will pay him enough.
And then, because he makes dumb choices and hates rats, I had him pick up one of the rats and huck it across the room like he's in a shot-put competition.
(Yes, I know what the rats in the Grove really are, from previous runs. That may or may not have been a factor in my decision.)
Cue aggro from the druids. The party manages to take out Kagha and one of her underlings, but the other druids all rush off and when the party emerges from the cave, they discover that the druids have massacred the tieflings. Wyll (who Chad hadn't even spoken to yet) is among the dead. No Blade of the Frontiers for Chad.
Whoops.
(Wyll would hate his guts anyway.)
Plus the druids are all aggro at the party and the whole-ass grove has gone red in the minimap.
Double whoops.
The party manages to hightail it out of the grove without getting attacked and has their fight with the True Souls on the road, and that's when I decide I'm done with him for the night.
Chad's adventure has gotten off to a ripping start.
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Bg3 playthrough - House of Grief (it all comes together for my tav)
Spoilers!
Some notes first: I’ve been noticing lately that I’ve got some annoying bugs happening after patch 6… I can’t say they 100% for sure never happened before the patch, but I know they’re happening a lot now - quite often, the incidental companion dialogue as we walk around won’t load the audio - words will appear above their head, but there’s no spoken lines with it. More annoying - sometimes my character gets stuck in conversations. I’ll go to talk to an NPC, it seems like the conversation is going to start, but nothing happens: we all just stand there with the game frozen and no way to back out or go forward.
I thought it was so neat that Jaheira and Minsc had dialogue with Sarevok, and I never bothered to check what the conversation was like if you don’t bring them along - it’s much longer, if you’re a durge, and I probably should have done that instead. Oops!
It ALSO looks like I was supposed to have a cutscene with Jaheira after my bhaalspawn reveal dream at the beginning of act 3, but it only triggers if Jaheira is actually in your traveling party - simply being at camp isn’t enough.
Act 3 NPC names are the worst. It’s like they got tired of naming people and just picked random jokes or food related names. In a way it’s funny I guess, but mostly I don’t really like it. You guys are the ones who chose to fill the city to the brim with NPCs, name them properly if you’re going to do that.
You used to be able to pray every day at the tabernacle to get your buff. It seems that with patch 6, it’s now a one-time deal. I guess that’s less annoying for most players, but I actually liked doing my daily prayers. Every single time, Bhaal got mad at me, and I liked having my daily little “fuck you dad, you’re not the boss of me” moment.
Ok now the main event - I finally did the House of Grief. Yet another little callback to the older games, yet another pain in the ass act 3 fight. I really rely on summons now to help me pad out the fights, I don’t think I’d be able to win any of these otherwise. It was super neat meeting Nocturne and the little memories she had to share, but I wish I could see what the encounter is like if Shadowheart had the noblestalk. I was never able to get her to take it. She won’t just consume it directly, and I never had any options pop up in dialogue if the mushroom was in my inventory or hers or whatever. No matter what I did it never worked. Oh well!
Hey what do most people decide to do with Shadowheart’s parents? I don’t see a lot of discussion about it because I’m not usually hanging out in those corners of the internet.
I played through the encounter once. The parents were requesting, specifically, over and over again, that they wanted Shadowheart to free herself from the curse.*** You have the option to let Shadowheart decide what she wants to do, and I’m always interested to see what the characters are set to do by default, so I took that route, and Shadowheart chose to kill her parents like they were asking. It’s a very very touching and emotional scene, her parents say they will always be with her, you can choose to give her a hug during her cut scene, very satisfying tie-up. It felt like I made the right choice.
But then I went back and ran it again just to see what would happen if I made different choices, and it made me change my mind. I know her parents are able to articulate clearly and unambiguously that they want her to free herself from her curse, and I know, being a parent, I 100% understood where they are coming from. For sure. But just because you think you want something, that doesn’t mean it’s actually the best thing to do. And you know what… I think… my poor tav’s really been at a loss for most of act 3, and all the backstory he’s learned about himself. He kind of feels disposable. It’s the reason he agreed to Raphael’s deal: his soul is void to begin with, so it doesn’t even matter.
But I think it was the conversation with Sarevok that really cemented a positive course of action for him. Sarevok told him a little more about his position in the bhaal cult, and kept repeating over and over how I was made for murder, how I was perfect murder. And I think… the whole point of the game clicked in my brain. You know, it’s in that song, “I Want to Live”. That’s the whole entire point. For EVERYONE. All the companions. Each one has to find the reason to fight for their life, their own life, sometimes figuratively and sometimes literally. Each one is learning to want to LIVE. That’s the whole entire point. No noble but pointless self-sacrifice. No throwing yourself away, no fear, no hiding, let’s fucking LIVE. And I think it has all clicked especially for my resisting durge, who now wants every single one of his actions to be a big “fuck you” to daddy. My tav was made to murder: now he’s going to save everything, aggressively, passionately.
So Shadowheart’s parents want to give up now - I don’t think my tav is going to let that happen.
***plus I mean… I think another issue is that the curse is a bit vague. What exactly is the drawback? Shadowheart gets pains in her hand occasionally? I feel like that’s not a huge deal. Maybe if the curse had been described more, had more awful things attached to it, it would be a harder choice.
If you tell Shadowheart not to do it, you can talk about how - sure there will be some pain to figure out how to live with - but that’s life, life involves pain sometimes. Shadowheart will say that she doesn’t want to just give up now that she’s come this far, and laughs that it’s her parents that she gets her rebelliousness from anyways! They’ll figure it out together.
No one expresses any regret if you make this decision. Her parents come to your camp and stay there and talk about how happy they are. Shadowheart has someone who can actually tell her about her childhood and fill her in on her old memories. She still has a cutscene where she cries, but this time she cries about feeling like she doesn’t deserve to be anyone’s daughter. You don’t even get a CHOICE to hug her this time, you just do, and then her parents appear to comfort her as well and you get a great big family hug. Amazing. I’m so happy with this choice. My camp is very very fully now, with all my companions, and also Mizora, and Yenna, and Volo, and now Shadowheart’s parents as well. I like it. Wish a certain old Hellrider was here too, bet he’d have fun helping Yenna with her soup. Sigh.
So again I haven’t seen much discussion, but I wonder if there’s any discourse about what to do with Shadowheart’s parents. I don’t even want to look and see - I’m afraid I’m going to see ableist discussion about how Shadowheart’s mom is better off dead and should be put out of her misery and I don’t want to risk putting that in my eyeballs.
Hey. I saw some interesting discussion about Dammon and how his character is a bit more morally complicated than he appears. Dammon is a lovely guy of course, but he also very conspicuously is the only tiefling who misses something about living in the hells: he enjoyed working with all the infernal machinery - but don’t forget - it all runs on souls. In Baldur’s Gate, I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all that his forge is RIGHT next door to the Devil’s Fee. Honestly I kind of like this aspect of his character, makes him more interesting, to me.
Feeling good, feeling JOYOUS, my poor old tav feels like he’s finally got a clear direction. Next up is taking care of Orin!
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What's your preferred party in BG2?
Gorion's Ward - Physical Damage Dealer
I prefer to use the main character as either a physical or ranged damage dealer, so Archer and Berserker tend to be ideal, but I go Ranger if I can't make up my mind. Unlike most people who play Berserker, I don't dual class to a mage.
I have played a variety of classes, like Sorcerer, Fighter/Cleric and Shadowdancer, but the straightforwardness of the Berserker is just more fun.
Imoen - Primary Spellcaster/Thief
Imoen is the only party member I have in 100% of my runs of Baldur's Gate. I have done runs without Jaheira or Minsc (most of my runs are without Minsc) but I have to date never completed Throne of Bhaal without Imoen in the party.
Imoen is one of the best companions in the game, largely because Mages are so good in BG2 (Second edition mages were something else, I swear) and she covers the things you need from a thief so there's no need to take an additional thief. Imoen is always my primary damage dealer.
Jaheira - Tank
Kitted properly for magic resistance and with Earth Elemental transformation, Jaheira is one of the best tanks in the game. Earth Elemental gives her immunity to physical damage, which is why elemental and magic resistance is so crucial for her. Earth Elemental is also very large in size, so she can better cut enemies off from going after the damage dealers.
Viconia - Healer/Debuffer
Viconia is the best cleric in the game owing to her versatility. She can be a Tank if you build her for physical resistance, but I prefer to use her as a Healer and Debuffer. Her high magic resistance means she's usually the only one NOT getting CC'd in the first frame of a fight, so she can quickly start removing CC from her allies, and her huge array of spells makes her extremely versatile.
In the Enhanced Edition she got access to Holy Smite as well, meaning she can effectively AOE nuke in a good or neutral aligned party, just as long as you take care to keep her in the back line so she doesn't get clipped by it (Holy Smite only damages evil creatures, Viconia is Neutral Evil).
Those four are the most commonly used party members. Some others I frequently use if the situation calls for it or if I'm feeling like shaking things up:
Aerie - Secondary Priest/Mage
Anomen - Secondary frontline fighter
Hexxat* - Modded to Shadowdancer for backstabbing or Fighter/Thief for frontline fighting
Korgan - Frontline Fighter
Nalia - Temporary Spellcaster (Rep. Imoen)
Neera - Slapstick (She will usually disintegrate herself)
Sarevok - Frontline Fighter
Yoshimo - Temporary Trap Bitch (Rep. Imoen)
*- A bug that causes Hexxat to recognize many indoor areas as being outdoors makes her far less viable as she'll start catching fire even in dungeons
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Hello! Could you explain what's wrong with the Baldur's Gate fandom? I've been in it for a while and haven't seen anyhing really terrible/bad. Is there something I should be aware of? I'm really worried :/
Ah, fuck. It’s finally time to wade into the swamp, I guess.
I have a lot to say about this, but I’m not gonna say it all, because I’m not comfortable pulling out specific receipts about people and events publicly and because I’m tired from final exams.
As I’m sure you are aware, the BG fandom is pretty small and doesn’t have all that much visibility in the mainstream gaming community. My other experiences with small fandoms have been very nice. The less people there are, the fewer chances for bullshit. For some reason, this is not the case with the BG fandom. For some reason, the person to bullshit ratio is comparatively much, much higher.
When I first joined the community a number of years ago, I was concerned right off the bat, because I was seeing unapologetic bigots and even nazis floating around in the fandom with zero accountability (not naming names here - I do not want to call their wrath and the wrath of everyone who worships them down on myself). I thought “fine, there’s nothing I can do about this all by my little self, so I’ll stay in my little corner and only interact with the people I’m cool with” and that worked for a while, but here’s the thing. Staying away from people you don’t like doesn’t stop them from either 1) trying to interact with you or 2) being so active and/or popular in the fandom that you can’t escape their nonsense.
To be clear, I’m not talking about just the environment here on Tumblr. I’m also talking about the Beamdog forums. Yeah, there are definitely some nice people in the community and I love them, but it only takes a few bad apples to spoil an experience and I experienced a lot of bad apples. For example, I’ve encountered a number of people on the forums who possess a smug sense of superiority and aren’t afraid to try to make you look stupid and run you into the ground just for disagreeing with them, because they don’t seem to understand that there are different ways of approaching the games that are equally valid and worthwhile. And if you call people out for being gross? They are often dismissive and will even try to turn your words into a joke.
And then. And then. There is the problem of how popular and accepted incest is in the BG fandom. Looking directly at you, people who ship Gorion’s Ward with Sarevok or Imoen. There’s also the rampant whitewashing I’ve seen in fanart. Every time someone draws Jaheira or Rasaad or Sarevok or (the list goes on) pastey fucking white, I die a little more on the inside.
Now, let’s move on from the accumulating little bad experiences to the Big Bad. I have four words for you: Siege of Dragonspear Discourse. If you’ve been around the BG fandom as long as I have, you should know exactly what I’m talking about. The big clusterfuck that happened right after SoD got released.
The game was released full of bugs, and that’s a legitimate complaint to have, but is that what most people were up in arms about? Lmao no. They were at Beamdog’s throat about all the new queer characters and other progressive content and nothing got people angry like the trans character, Mizhena. People were literally making videos of killing her in the game to demonstrate their hatred. And the lead writer for the project, Amber Scott, was so massively bullied by people about this and about her comments in an interview saying that the original games were sexist and she wanted this new game to not be, that she made her Twitter private.
Things in the BG fandom changed for the much worse after that. Amber Scott left Beamdog, though I know that it had nothing to do with the SoD clusterfuck, and that made me really sad, because I was very gung-ho about standing behind her and Beamdog about their storytelling choices with SoD, because we need games like that and we need writers like her in the game industry. All the steam in that engine dissipated when she wasn’t there to stand behind anymore. The forums went back to being the same old minefield, except now there was a bunch of new broflakes who joined to voice their displeasure about SoD and like…how is that doing anything to make the community better?
Anyway, all of this, plus the fact that the BG fandom isn’t much of a one for fanfic, so if you write any, you get like no feedback, eventually spelled the end of me being active in the fandom. So, uh, that’s a basic summary of that story.
I’ve been holding my tongue on this for years, because I didn’t want to start drama, but fuck it. Consider this my callout post to the BG fandom to look carefully at yourselves for once and take out your goddamn trash.
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