#[ also rip viconia ]

[spiderwarden]

Someone: come! Let us eat and make peace! Let us talk of surface trade relations and build trust between our people!

The Baenre: oh? Let us discuss then! Oh this is most intriguing!

Them once everyone is sat down and relaxing: Ah! It’s seems you’ve fallen into my trap, time to die!

The Baenre: 👁️ 👄 👁️ 🍴 🍲

The Baenre: :(

[hit-tab]

actually the hardest part about rping my tav is that i have to pretend that seeing minsc and boo and jaheira again doesn't fill me with so much joy and affection.

[revvethasmythh]

Generally speaking, I’m actually quite competent at bg3 now and most fights are too easy for me on easy mode (I just keep it because…I don’t need a difficulty increase going through the last little bit). THAT SAID, even on easy mode, I had to retry the Viconia fight no less than four times and ultimately had to swap out companions to see if it would help AND respecced Shadowheart into a light domain cleric before I finally cracked that bitch

[linka-from-captain-planet]

You have unlocked my third eye of Nine Fingers getting a strip tease from that Despoiler tiefling, she tries to touch her hips but is told to not touch. Keene is usually in charge of everything and everyone in the city so it's like "You dare???" But she's like... Alright, let's see where it goes.

I BEEN SAYING THIS

no I haven't I actually didn't think that much about it before seeing that Queen Rhol thirst post, but I can see it so vividly now like ofc I love Jaheira/Nine-Fingers but Jaheira's a busy woman, Nine-Fingers needs someone to be her right-hand and queen and who better than a woman who named herself QUEEN RHOL THE DESPOILER

Barely related, but contemplating Nine-Fingers/Queen Rhol made me wonder which Sharess Caress worker the other Baldur's Gate middle aged women would hire, and my conclusions are thus:

Jaheira likes to be put in her place sometimes, so she's a Ffion girl (RIP). The drow and Naoise are too sensual, she's trying to get slapped around, not necessarily fucked. Also in my heart, she's kind of a broke bitch and can't afford a private dance with Rhol (unless NF buys it for her naturally)

As I mentioned in one of my fics, Florrick is also a fan of Ffion because she likes being submissive to a rugged man/woman with big tough hands. But also after a long day of stepping all over everyone in Wyrm's Rock, she most definitely needs a sensual foot rub in the bubble bath and thus also hires Naoise sometimes

Viconia gets homesick and hires both drow. Sorn for fucking (heterosexual :/) and Nym for general drow power play and also massaging, because Shadowheart stresses her out

[trappedinafantasy37]

Alright alright alright! Speedrun time so I can finish this run, finish the Act 3 write up, and start posting the Shadowheart origin fic. Did quite a bit all in one day, so let's gooooo.

Went to the sewers and found Nine Fingers Keene, someone on my list of NPC's who absolutely should be kissable but isn't cause Larian is full of cowards!

Went to the bank and found this guy.

Followed his stench right on back to the sewers. But unfortunately Jaheira got, *cough*, left behind at Moonrise so Minsc also got, uuuhhhhhh, left behind.

Unfortunately, a civil war broke out between the Guild and the Zhent. Sided with the Guild cause, who wouldn’t. Although, Minthara had some ideas about what to do with the undesirables once we take over the city. Always the little schemer she is.

Met some weirdos!

Met a pirate who had quite a thing for Minthara. I mean, "Captain Grizzly" was laying down that rizz HARD. But, can we blame her?

Killed Lora and returned to the Captain. Surprise, it's Ethel! Don't care, gimme my money. Also got an ally with a very useful skill for the most annoying fight later. *Minthara approves*.

Shadowheart went home and met her mother. Poor girl was boutta cry! Also had some pretty triggering memories while going through the cloister.

It has been so long since I've made Shadowheart go down the Selunite path that I forgot how much of a pain in the ass the House of Grief fight was. I wanted to rip my skin off the entire time! I spent thirty minutes watching Minthara and Shadowheart get blinded over and over and then have their asses beat. I actually had to go pull out the hirelings. Holy shit, I fucking hate the Sharrans! If you ever need a good reason to have Shadowheart go down the DJ path, this bullshit of a lineup is a good damn reason!

Viconia, on the ground, begging for mercy. Shadowheart did not care what happened and wanted Viconia to embrace loss. Minthara said "fuck your mother and fuck your mercy" and killed Shadowheart's mother. Gah, what a romantic she is!

I HATE SHAR! I HATE SHAR SO DAMN MUCH! FORGET THE DEAD THREE, LARIAN, LEMME KILL SHAR! THERE ARE VERY FEW THINGS I CONSIDER TO BE TRULY EVIL AND SHAR IS MOST DEFINITELY ONE OF THEM!

The price of freedom is never free...

What a whirlwind of a day. Fought in a civil war between thieves, ran into some old enemies, and Shadowheart went through one of the most traumatizing things in her life and killed every parental figure she’s ever had in a span of ten minutes! But, that’s okay. Minthara made her feel all better. After all, killing your parents is a rite of passage.

< The Wizard | The Foundry and Gortash >

[crossdressingdeath]

Viconia DeVir: They already heard how you disgraced yourself before Lady Shar. How she marked you as the enemy. But it is quite another thing for them to see it for themselves. Viconia DeVir: I am very glad you decided to return. A cautionary tale such as yours will be studied by Lady Shar's initiates for years to come. Viconia DeVir: But perhaps I can make a case for some small measure of mercy. Give me the artefact, and I can at least make this quick. Shadowheart: Enough. I don't answer to you. Not anymore. I'm here for my family. Shadowheart: That's right. I know what you did. And it's not going to be quick - not for you. Viconia DeVir: This is your family. And now you have turned your back on it. Viconia DeVir: The artefact was your last chance to prove yourself - and you squandered it.

Oh this is fun. Everyone with a good family in this party has a dead family! ...Except maybe Gale. We don't hear much about his parents unless I've missed something.

I am here for how certain Shadowheart is in her choice now. After how unsure and insecure she was about turning on Shar in act 2, it's so good to see her convinced she's following the right path! I especially like her little smile when she tells Viconia she knows what she did. We're going to rip her apart to free Shadowheart's parents and it's going to be so good!

...Also. Not to make everything about Durge again. But Viconia talking about how Shadowheart has turned her back on her family and squandered her last chance to prove her worth has delicious delicious parallels.

[harrycollins]

Bruh, some dragon age fans in a discord I'm in are trying to argue bg3 is a rip-off of dragon age.

Babes, dragon age was made because bioware lost the IP to Baldur's Gate and was inspires by DND to make dragon age. The same writers worked on it in part there will be similarities. BG is way older than dragon age. Babes wake up and learn how to google. That bioware boot is so deep in there it can see stomach acid.

Also, if you look at the name Viconia DeVir and then Vivienne de Fer it pretty easy to see what name took inspiration from the other considering one has been around since 1998.

IT IS SUCH A BRAINDEAD TAKE LMAO

I would have understood if they said bg3 took inspo from da:o about some aspects like camping and... maybe having a dog if I force to find parallels but saying BG3 is a Dragon Age rip-off considering how the franchise is OLDER than Dragon Age is ridiculous.

[ryttu3k]

So how does Tavias respond to meeting the instigators behind the various issues of friends? Y’know, Cazador, Mizora, Viconia and the like. I know it’s on sight but is embittered disdain or volcanic rage

Oh it 100% is the Urge prior to the whole Temple of Bhaal thing. Like it's his own anger, Bhaal going, "Well hell, we can work with this", and Tavias having to fight like hell against it to avoid causing worse consequences (like attacking Mizora would have bad consequences for Wyll), or just stealing someone else's revenge XD;;

It was... probably the hardest to deal with with Cazador. Wyll and Shadowheart, they're Tavias' friends. He absolutely wanted to rip their abusers to shreds. But Cazador? Like. Tavias was in love with Astarion. Cazador had tortured and abused his love for two hundred years. I imagine that if Mizora, Viconia etc were a DC 15 roll, resisting the Urge against Cazador would have been, like, DC 25 (and he only resisted because he thought that Astarion deserved the chance to kill his abuser personally).

Afterwards, it was easier to deal with but also... the stakes were less personal? Pretty much all that came after the showdown with Bhaal was the House of Hope, the Wyrmway, and then endgame, and while Tavias very much didn't trust Raphael and was pretty angry at the Emperor, it wasn't quite as personal. So, much easier to stay in control.

So mostly the Urge trying to slide in (Bhaal taking advantage of Tavias' anger) and something he had to actively fight against to stay in control, and being significantly harder against Cazador because of his relationship with Astarion.

[thessalian]

Faerun!Alisaie vs the House of Grief

But before that (which surprises Controller Person who's used to not getting virtual nookie until AFTER doing a LI's companion quest...

Shadowheart: So ... Alisaie... You've been practicing your stealth lately, haven't you?

Alisaie: Yes--

Astarion: I am still hurt, by the way. In case you were at all curious.

Alisaie: Look, let the lovely lady finish her thought and plan me a plan about how to rob a very powerful wizard.

Astarion: Oooh. That is more of a challenge than some old printing press...

Alisaie: Also there were no people in the basement. Just those Steel Watch things. Even if it had come to a fight, no snacks.

Astarion: ...All right, I suppose I forgive you.

Shadowheart: Anyway... I wondered if you might want to sneak out a bit tonight. I have ... plans, of a sort. You brought me night orchids, and ... well ... now maybe you can help teach me how to swim...?

Alisaie: I could definitely do that. There is ... all kinds of incentive for that.

Mizora: I find myself rather tempted to say "Just fuck already" ... but I do recognise that you're working on it.

Alisaie: And why the fuck are you still here, again?

Mizora: I want these Absolutist assholes to pay for nabbing me ... and frankly I'm bored. Oh, hell-drama is fiery and convoluted, but this is just ... cute. A change is as good as a rest, as they say, and I deserve a vacation!

Karlach: Shut your fucking face, you obnoxious--

Wyll: Karlach, don't taunt the literal devil...

Karlach: I WILL HAVE HER SPINE AS A BACK-SCRATCHER!

Shadowheart: ...You knew this was going to cause an argument, didn't you.

Alisaie: Astarion wasn't going to let us leave without making a big thing of it unless I gave him something more entertaining to watch. Now c'mon. Let's teach you to swim.

Shadowheart: So if I ask you to turn around while I get undressed, will you peek?

Alisaie: You'd be very offended if I didn't. And if I asked you to turn around...?

Shadowheart: I wouldn't do it at all. But I'm a little more direct about these things than you are. That's half the fun.

Alisaie: I will warn you right now - sand will get everywhere.

Wyll: *tosses his cloak Alisaie's way while still restraining Karlach from ripping Mizora's tail from her ass*

Alisaie: We've both got one but a little extra never hurts. *tips a salute of thanks to Wyll, exits stage beach-nookie*

And, to kill the afterglow somewhat, the House of Grief

Shadowheart: Thank you. For doing this. They're going to be...

Griefmaiden At The Door: I thought you were too much of a coward to come back. So I suppose it's just that you have no shame--

Alisaie: Can I punch her in the mouth? I really want to punch her in the mouth.

Shadowheart: Save the punching for the Mother Superior.

On being led to the Mother Superior

Viconia: Well. What do you have to say for yourself? After all the work I put into you, what do you have to say for yourself?

Shadowheart: WHERE ARE MY PARENTS, YOU BITCH?!?

Viconia: Well. I thought I did a better job with you. Stubborn wench.

Alisaie: Um ... okay, Sharrans only get this bitter over anything to do with Selune, and Aylin was really quick to hand over Selune's blessing and this smug bitch is talking about... Did you steal a potential Selune favourite for yourself?

Viconia: Oh, no. You. Blondie. Hand her over and you can leave with Shar's blessing. We need to strip a few lessons from this one.

Alisaie: ...*steps over to Viconia*

Shadowheart: ...Alisaie...?

Alisaie: *takes Viconia by the shoulders* Elfsong Tavern says hello, you vindictive ghoul. *HEADBUTT*

Wyll; Gale: *exchange looks*

Gale: I'll go left; you go right.

Wyll: Got it. *Cloud of Daggers on one choke point*

Gale: *Wall of Fire on another choke point*

Shadowheart: Use fire and radiant! Poison, not so much! Also they can see in even magical dark!

Viconia: You're giving up all our secrets now?!?

Shadowheart: .........ELFSONG TAVERN SAYS HELLO, YOU SLAVE-DRIVING FREAK OF NATURE!

Alisaie: Thaaaaaat's the spirit! *Slashing Flourish on a couple of incoming mooks*

Stabnation: *significantly ensues*

And, after all that...

Gale: Yet again, Astarion's going to be disappointed about you losing loot.

Alisaie: He's going to be helping us rob a wizard's sanctum, Gale. He'll cope. Besides, I wanted her to have to live with being beaten by a bunch of adventurers for the rest of her life.

Wyll: You have your moments of cruelty, and they're always so appropriate!

Shadowheart: ...They don't blame me! My parents, I mean! For ... for what I did when I didn't remember they were my parents! But ... but now I either hurt forever, or I ... I... Alisaie?!?

Alisaie: I'm sorry, Shadowsweets. I could do it for Wyll, but not you. Not after everything you've already done because someone else told you it was the right thing. Ask them what they want. It's their lives.

Shadowheart: ...You already know what their answer will be, don't you. But ... Wyll needs to hear it as much as I do. ...Stay with me?

Alisaie: Your pace. Always.

One bittersweet pyrrhic victory and minor mourning later

Wyll: What is it with evil fuckers and parents, hmm? What is that about?

Alisaie: Wouldn't know. Mine were shitlords. I'm really pissed we couldn't smash that stupid fucking mirror. It would have been so cathartic.

Shadowheart: So ... I was meant to be a faithful of Selune ... someone important there ... and the Sharrans stole me and ... it was just to piss Selune off, and... I ... need to process this ... but I'm not sure I'm in a space where I can ... just sit down and actually process it, all at once, you know?

Alisaie: I get it; it'd be like trying to swallow a ham hock whole. But! I can find us a nice little sublimation activity where you can vent some of that, maybe break it down into some metaphorical bite-sized chunks.

Wyll: Please don't tell Astarion about that whole deal. I really want to avoid the grumbling that ensued after he found out about the Oskar thing. Not that we're not swimming in gold at this point, but he gets ... intense. Also he's a little grumpy about how we didn't get a whole lot of treasure out of any of it.

Alisaie: NOT A WHOLE LOT OF--?!? Do you see this rapier that Lora gave me? Do you see it?

Wyll: Yes, but all Astarion knows is that he can't wield it.

Alisaie: Eh, he'll change his tune when I'm shoving it through Cazador's face. Anyway... Hands up who wants to make some assholes pay for trying to blow up refugee children?

Shadowheart; Wyll; Gale: *raise hands*

Gale: But ... then book?

Alisaie: Yes; then we pick up Astarion, get book, and then shove a rapier through Cazador's face.

Shadowheart: I ... meant to ask. Shadowsweets?

Alisaie: Riffing a bit on "sweetheart" there. I wanted to be a little imaginative in terms of endearments. No good? Do I need to workshop it some more?

Shadowheart: *bluuuuuush* No, no ... I ... I like it.

Alisaie: Good, because if we were going to sweet parts of your anatomy that it wouldn't be completely grotesque to have had my hands on ... or in...

Shadowheart: *blushing into near apoplexy* Alisaie!

Alisaie: Don't worry. *leans; whispers* But ... for private consumption?

Shadowheart: *somehow blushing even more, but a little smirk too* Just about everything of mine is for your ... private consumption.

Alisaie: *chuckles* Gods, I love you. Right. C'mon. We're being heroes, so... Wait. What are you two doing?

Gale: *having conjured popcorn and offering the bag to Wyll* ...nothing?

Wyll: *holding a piece of popcorn maybe an inch from his mouth* We ... just finished a really nasty fight and snacks help?

Alisaie: Look, if you want an actual performance, I'll do the ballad I wrote for Shadowheart at the first tavern we come to.

Shadowheart: You ... you wrote a...?!?

Alisaie: Yes, and I can't wait for you to hear it, so let's--

Other House of Grief Personages: *are way less chill about the fight than Nocturne was*

Alisaie: ...In fact, I so much can't wait for you to hear it that we're going to hit the Basilisk Gate, like ... nowish. I want to save some oomph for the anti-refugee assholes. ...Oh; unless you think any of these shitlords need to die, Shadowheart. Your call.

Shadowheart: Honestly, I'm over it. Don't care what happens to them. I want an ale to hide behind while you sing about ... well, me ... and then I want to kill people who are being shitty to refugees.

Alisaie: *to the world in general* Gods, I love this woman.

[prynnehesters]

bg3 playthru 2 good guy run 4 real

ive been playing mostly on balanced but i switched to explorer once for a fight that gave me too much trouble

fuck orin all my homies hate orin. i legit used my divine intervention for this fight and the person she trapped still died (rip lae'zel, u were a real one)

i switched the fight difficulty to explorer for the viconia de vir fight cuz i hate darkness, it was too overwhelming

i dont think ill fight raphael, i might make a deal w him...im lazy lol

yeah he gets the crown, fuck it we ball

lowkey fuck the emperor

i call this playthru my "aggressive horny" playthru cuz i had the goody goody squad (karlach and wyll) by my side for most of it, and then astarion for some spice TM

i did do some questionable things in act 1 to please astarion but act 3 he loves me now (and so do karlach and wyll and basically everyone except jaheira lol)

i did get minsc and he's pretty funny. ive used him a few times but i dont like getting a new guy so late in the game tbh. he has a few fun interactions but like...i don't like how you have to save stuff for him and also basically your party is fleshed out at this point. at least w things like sea of stars, the last minute companion doesn't require tune ups until you level up whereas in bg3 you get a companion and you start w level 1 but like, whatever. also ngl his gear does suck. jaheira being the last companion does make sense ultimately and minsc feels more like an easter egg

sidenote, i found out lucretious is voiced by vinegar strokes from rpdruk lol. wild

but yeah i just have to deal w raphael (maybe) and gortash and then the fuckin undead dragon and the companion quests

yeehaw

[whatisurspaghettipolicy]

#I like to think that her ability scores not matching deception etc was purposeful to be imply like bestie this isn’t who you are

You're correct! Her entire stat build/race is also Larian doing a whole "mister police you couldve saved her i gave you all the clues"

Lessgo:

Race: Half-elf [high elf]

Elves are the most genetically diverse group in DnD, and High Elves are split into Moon Elves and Sun Elves. Most half-elves are descended from Moon Elves - who are chaotic good, with black, blue, or silvery white hair that they often wear in braids (decorated with beads), and often have green eyes. They long to travel, enjoy humble (but comfortable) homes, are fond of pets and quite often worship Sehanine Moonbow...who may or may not be related to a certain Silver Lady...

Over the course of Shadowheart's arc, we learn that aside from her looking Extremely Very Much like a classic Moon Elf (complete with braid and the chance for silver hair) she also has the stereotypical Moon Elf goodness. She approves of a lot of good deeds that seem at odds with her proclaimed nature (saving Isobel, being kind to Silver the wolf), and if told to make her own choice about Aylin, will save her. In the House of Grief, Viconia's notes lament that Shadowheart wants to travel. After killing Viconia (in a good run) she talks about setting up a little cottage with space for as many animals as possible. And we know from her conversation with Nocturne that she had a little mouse named Nibbles. RIP Nibbles. Alongside that, within Shadowheart's lifetime Sehanine Moonbow, a common god for Moon Elves, was an aspect/alias of Selûne.

(Listen. That's 4e merging a bunch of gods. I won't get into 4e. Those two separate again per the Second Sundering, which happened in the 1480s - so only about ten years ago.)

Immediate alarm bells. A moon elf-half elf worshipping Shar is like putting an alligator in your living room. Like yeah, it could happen. But usually they're not there, you know?

Starting Stats

STR 13 DEX 13 CON 14 INT 10 WIS 17 CHA 8

So. Here's the thing. When you build a half-elf, you get an immediate +2 to charisma, then a free +1 you can use anywhere else. But with Shadowheart, Charisma is the dump stat.

Here's how I'd arrange those same stats for a trickery domain cleric.

STR 8 DEX 14 CON 13 INT 14 (+1) WIS 17 CHA 12 (10+2)

(The 8 in STR - i assume her previous 8 in CHA was 6+2, but I'm accounting for the fact that I don't think you can go lower than 8 for dump stat, given Minsc now has an INT score of 8 instead of 6.)

Arguably, if you kept her trickery domain - you'd want a relatively high charisma for any deception. However, with most deception checks being a DC 10, you could pull off a +1 (and then use a feat to grab proficiency in deception later). She doesn't need a 13 STR - that would better fit her INT score; two massive social skills for clerics, Religion and History, both rely on INT - so does Firebolt, the skill she gets from being half high elf.

So what story do her current stats tell us?

...well.

Let's start with INT.

Intelligence tells us how naturally brainy you are, you've been educated, how book smart you are. But it's more than that. Intelligence also covers how much you remember. A cleric with a +0 to religion or history checks is a cleric that's been set up to fail; it's hard to picture a cleric who'd willingly force themselves to forget everything. Red flag.

And now DEX.

Dexterity is how well you can pick a lock or pick a pocket. It's the main stat for rogues who can't do their jobs well without it. It's also how well you can dodge an attack; DEX should rarely ever be a dump stat (and should always be pretty prioritised) because with a low DEX, you've got god awful AC. It's why you see wizards with like, 16, 18 DEX; they're not flipping all over the place, they just need that boost to their AC so they can avoid taking a hit. But we also know early on that Shadowheart went on a secret mission to do some sneaking and some thieving. But with her +1 to dex, she's...not great at sneaking or thieving. I mean, sure, just over 50% of the time she'll pass but...well...that's not a great success rate in a life or death situation.

And now to CHA.

Charisma in DnD is a mixture of things; your attractiveness, your force of personality, and how easily you can sway people to your side. As I said, half-elves are naturally charismatic. Previous Sharran Cleric Viconia in BG2 has a charisma score of 14. Shadowheart's is 8. And this does such a good job of reflecting the fact that her force of personality is very low because she's spent forty years having her natural personality crushed down to fit Shar's whims; she's supposed to know how to lie and sneak and cheat and poison, but she gets a -1 to deception/persuasion rolls, and wakes everyone up when she tries to kill Lae'zel. (Because she wants to be caught, I'm certain)

Every single mechanical choice adds to this impression that she's not where she's supposed to be. Especially when you compare her stat distribution to the certified iconic Trickery Domain cleric, Jester:

Here, you can see what I mean - Jester has a +1 to Cha and Int, with high Dex. Her Str is 16 but if Shadowheart's player rolled as well as Laura Bailey did, I wouldn't have suggested STR as a dump stat, ha.

The stat distribution, the design, the racial choice - all of these paint the metanarrative: Shadowheart is not living as her true self, and cannot remember why. Uh oh, spaghetti-os.

I think it's really fascinating that a lot of the complaints I see about Shadowheart is her to-hit rate because for me that illuminates a very clever bit of character building via her subclass mechanics. Excuse me a second, I've been a 5e DM for about six years now and I've been thinking a lot about each of the BG3 companions in terms of stats/mechanics haha.

Yes, you can go in and rebuild her and make her a light/life domain and optimise either damage or healing. But we can break down two good story reasons for her being a trickery domain cleric:

(behind a cut bc implied/actual spoilers)

1. Trickery and Shar. Shar is an evil goddess, but she's also the absolute embodiment of the Cain instinct; just a constant opp for her twin sister. She's a duplicitous trickster who has even stolen Selûne's identity in the past. Having Shadowheart as a Trickery domain reminds us - the players - that Shar is a primarily a little dickhead who loves to lie and cheat - which stands at odds with Shadowheart's massive penalties to deception.

Early on in her personal quest, just from this surface read, we know: her god lies, her god's domain and followers are all about trickery, and Shadowheart is very bad at lying directly. When you couple this with the initial places where she gets hit with the ouchies from Shar (the Blighted Village when you're reading about children being taken, the Selûne statue in the Blighted Village, finding Kagha torturing a little girl underground...) and it's quite easy to piece together the arc of her personal quest, in a very OH NO way.

(This could be a whole other stat/build conversation - as a half-elf, Shadowheart should be naturally better than average at social rolls like deception because half-elves receive an automatic +2 to their charisma score at creation...but living in a cult and having your personality shackled to a divine shock collar would absolutely affect that. And her high elf ability [firebolt] relying on intelligence to hit??? The fact that as a half-elf high elf she's likely half moon elf????? I love these little mechanical details.)

2. How trickery clerics are best used. This is where a lot of people who haven't DM'd DnD for the life of a small child fall down I think. But here's the thing: trickery domain clerics are best when they do not fight at all. They're decent healers, but it's more than that; they are advantage bots.

Blessing of the Trickster gives your allies advantage on stealth checks. Good for them.

Guiding bolt has a 70% chance to hit? That's why you use Channel Divinity: Invoke Duplicity. You add an illusory version of yourself to the field to distract and disrupt, giving advantage to your allies.

Your teammate's social encounter not going well? You can add either a quick guidance or charm person (again, giving them advantage) to the mix.

Time to sneak? Good thing you get Pass Without Trace. Let's go lesbians! That's a +10 to stealth checks for all your allies!

Each of these things is an action; she sacrifices her own action in a turn to support and aid another. Unless she has Healing Word up, she's left choosing whether to help or heal; actually fighting likely won't be super up in priorities, especially with her to-hit rate.

We know from the House of Grief that she was trained as a healer. It seems odd that she'd be in a subclass that doesn't focus on that - like the Life Domain. But this subclass gives us the greatest indication of all that she was raised as a tool for both Shar and her Mother Superior, making you, as a player, try to balance her ability to heal with her disrupting spells and abilities, meaning a sacrifice in her ability to hit any fuckin thing at all.

Anyway, chef's kiss, I love the secondary story about each companion the game tells via mechanics.

[linka-from-captain-planet]

The L Word: Faerûn

one thing I do to keep myself entertained in a playthrough (and fantasy post-game) is to imagine it's just absolutely riddled with dyke drama involving literally every female character I find attractive, no matter how obscure, so I made myself a The Chart to keep track.

Alekto is my drow Tav (conceptualized as "Bette Porter but stupid and makes even worse decisions"), everyone else is probably recognizable except maybe Adrielle who is the girlfailure (hot) paladin from the Hag Support Group. Wyll and Dammon are the only men with rights in this universe so they also get to be here

Not pictured but definitely on The Chart somewhere:

Mystra (the Jenny Schecter of Faerûn probably)

Viconia and Jaheira prob hate-fucked at least once

Everyone at Sharess' Caress (Hoots is obvi a hub, Naoise always gives her blessing to Lae'zel in my game if you know what I mean)

All of Nine-Fingers' Ladies and all of the Umberlee worshipers (mega polycule from hell)

the hot quartermaster and hot ghustil at Creche Y'llek were secretly super in love (RIP)

Z'rell for sure is in the Older Woman Quadrant but not sure where, probably a hatefuck for Minthara at some point at least

Orin, but she's the one woman in this entire game I don't care for tbh so didn't bother to include her