#ALL the bg3 companions are great though tbh

[nag-mamahal]

I'm on my Astarion enjoyer era! (this is a lie I am obsessed)

It took me one day, just one day, to fall into the rabbit hole, and it's all thanks to the "I was right there!" snippet appearing on my feed. I don't watch anything related to video games, or DND.

This was fate 😍

I can't believe I've gone against my principles and downloaded Tiktok for this pixel man... and enjoyed myself hshahaha. Have to sustain myself with edits and recordings rn bc I tried to run bg3 on my dusty laptop that can only run Google docs and it almost killed the thing. I suppose I will have to save for a PC just to get to stare at astarion's face 🤧 it will be worth it I'm certain. perhaps by the time I've saved up enough a sequel will be out 🥹

[mirandaputsherbestbuttforward]

Anyway, I finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard just over 85 hours for the whole thing (definitely missed some puzzles and a bit of loot here and there), but here are a collection of my thoughts before going to bed.

Spoilers below!

Genuinely, I think it was a solid game. The writing and themes throughout are really potent. I think the dialogue in some places was a little 80s cheesy or a BIT out of place in the DA setting but I definitely laughed at a lot of it.

I think the companions were great, though I found myself not really caring for Lucanis (and I'm not torn up that I accidentally got him killed in the endgame).

Neve, on the other hand, was a sniper shot directly at my forehead; she is carrying out the legacy of the Emotionally Distant Usuallly Hetero BioWare Brunette™ that I have always fallen for, but thankfully not straight this time (bless).

I think the environments were amazing and had so much depth even if the maps were more 'linear' in terms of areas to explore but I loved not having fetch quests. I loved being able to use companion abilities to unlock more parts of the map as we went along.

I do think there was a lot of content - which is good - but it did feel like a bit of a slow go to start.

I felt that the romance wasn't necssarily lacking in terms of BioWare's standard style of romances with casual flirting -> serious flirting -> kiss scene -> romance scene just prior to endgame, BUT because there was so much to do in Act 2, it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere fast and so spacing it out that way felt like there could've been a few more little things in between (e.g. kiss animations like BG3, or something) to hold us over.

In terms of story, I think for the most part it really fit into the series well enough; I don't think the lack of worldstate mattered too much in order to tell the story they wanted to tell with Solas. A few mentioned and call backs are all we would've gotten and I'm okay with that (e.g. like who you picked for Divine or who is ruling Fereldan, etc).

I like that we got to explore more Dwarf lore again, I think this fandom needs to be more into dwarves because holy shit.... the whole reason they can't dream???????? insane.

Also in terms of gameplay, the combat was fun and refreshing, and very mass effect-y and I loved it. I was a warrior and just had fun smashing the shit out of everything. I do wish we had more loot / options to work with (lowkey missed the crafting system in DAI to make our own stuff) but I get why they did it like that.

I loved Rook, and I know that you can't be a super aggressive asshole but tbh this doesn't call for it. They were brought in as someone who could help the team and work together.

As someone on tiktok said, they are friends with fully developed prefrontal cortexes and act like it; DA2 companions are not found family, they are only friends with Hawke and only tolerate each other because of that mutual friendship. Inquisitor is like the manager of a bunch of coworkers.

ANYWAY, I think Rook was a fine protag, and I LOVED the CC aside from a few things like why do some of the more detailed complexions get a 5 o clock shadow embedded into it? No age slider??? no grey hair slider???

Fat slider good but should've had more. Also the boob/ass slider lacking like I get it that it helps keep armours intact but they should've let the sliders go more for better shapes.

All in all, I'm giving it a solid 8.5/10, and well worth the 10 year wait.

I just hope that they get to make a DA5 with that hint they dropped on us in the post-credit scene. I was really hoping for DA Absolution to have a tie in because what the fuck has Meredith Stannard been doing beefing w tevinter to get a circlet to bring someone back from the dead, and what plot point is that gonna be????? but anyway I guess I can hope for a season 2 of DA Absolution next

[wetcatspellcaster]

This is probably a weird and random ask to get / send - BUT you're Rosalie fanfics are my favorite BG3 fanfics I've ever read. Like I have forgotten she is not a canon character. (also the fact that you noted Spuffy in your fic and your user name are other reasons why I knew I would love them so much right away) But I'm actually writing because of Dragon Age - because I had never played a DA game before Veilguard and now that I am playing it I totally understand what you mean by the game completely consuming every waking moment. BG did this too for me and I didn't think I would find another game that did so soon. I finished my first play-through and now I have no idea what to do with myself. (probably start a new one I guess) I know you have previously written DA fic, and I would be lying to say I don't have my fingers crossed to some day see your take your take on some Veilguard fic (and lucanis because dear god there are SO many great things to think about there). Anyway - I don't want this to come across as trying to pressure or begging for fic or anything like that at all - just wanted to say I admire your writing and your takes on characters so much and I like hearing / reading your thoughts on Vielguard / DA now too in addition to BG!

hi! thank you for your kind message :) I'm not going to respond to the part about Veilguard fic. If it happens, it happens - if it doesn't, I have a backlog of multiple DA fics you can read, all completed, and my two current WIPs that are still updating.

my thoughts on Veilguard are that I love it and it is consuming my time, like you say. It's not without flaws - I think this is a game that was rushed out in the wake of BG3 hype, not a game that we've waited 10 years for after Inquisition - but I'm not thinking about them too hard. I also think that some of the criticism comes from comparing a game that has been out 2 weeks, to games we've had 10-20 years to think about and make into something else in our heads.

for right now, I just want to have fun. I think the story and setpieces are good, some quests have been phenomenal. I like the characters, and I'm enjoying gameplay. That's all I require from it tbh. The only thing I come back to is the fact that I am having a weird amount of dissonance between how fucking cool I personally think Rook is, vs. their positioning in the group dynamic - they often feel on the outskirts of their own story. which I think comes from more effort being put into interactions between companions (in comparison to the other games), and protagonist interactions being less frequent than Inquisition. I also think that's the kind of dissonance that provides a rich ground for fic, though.

I'm glad you like my writing. Thank you for being so nice and sharing that with me! :) xx

[emahriel]

Hi! First of all I just want to say that I adore your blog and Fjorn! One of my favorite tumblrs 100% (:

I have a question about oc’s and development and backstory. I have a Female high elf (rogue) and i’m trying to write a backstory for her, like where she comes from, her family, past lovers etc what happened before she met the companions basically. But its SO hard and usually i have no problem with this but with bg3 i feel like i’m more limited with the ideas, because i want it to make sense with the bg3/dnd universe. Like the place she grow up in etc, i feel like that has to be a place related to high elfs in the bg3/dnd universe if that makes sense? Anyway do you have any tips when writing backstorys for your oc? Thanks a lot!

Hello there! Thank you so much for the love, I appreciate it! I’m gonna be honest, I don’t have very good tips when it comes to writing backstories and I feel like I’m still in the process of figuring that out myself – but I’ll share tidbits from my process if it can help!

Generally speaking, I take specific concepts or ideas from other medias/characters I like to start with (for instance, the idea of a tragic past and trying to escape from someone for years until a nautiloid snatches my Tav away – a miracle in disguise, aka the beginning of bg3). I also knew I wanted my character to somewhat go through the following states: good – evil – neutral.

Thus began the process of reading! So the first thing I did was figure out if there was a good race that would work with that. I was thinking of a Drow or maybe a Tiefling, but I eventually settled for Aasimar despite them not being in the game. Then I stumbled upon Fallen Aasimar and was like damn… this is perfect for the concept of a ‘‘damned’’ character. After figuring that out, I thought about the class and what would fit the best. Tbh I had just watched The Witcher: Blood Origin (wasn’t great) so a big inspiration for Fjorn was Merwyn and Fjall (with Fjall being assigned as her protector, and Merwyn – an Empress- being evil), so I settled for Paladin since they swear Oaths and it worked with that concept. It wasn’t until Larian announced Paladins and showcased Oathbreakers during the Panel from Hell for Patch 9 that I decided that’s what I would choose for him. Dark Knight is one of the most interesting classes for me in FFXIV, and I really wanted to have something similar for Fjorn; I thought it fitted the idea of ‘‘sometimes you have to do bad in order to do good’’.

So yeah, I take characteristics from other characters that I really love and just combine all of my favorite things together! It’s not really a tip, but something worth mentioning is that the different Wikis out there are extremely useful: Forgotten Realms Wiki, DnD 5th Edition Wikidot, Baldur’s Gate Wiki, DnD Beyond, (wouldn’t recommend Fextralife), etc. I also spent quite some time on reddit just looking up other people’s DnD OC concepts, which did spark some ideas! I wouldn’t worry tooooo much about things not making sense though, the one thing I love about DnD is that you can go absolutely wild and get away with almost anything.

In your case, would probs start reading up about high elves, although I feel like they could come from nearly anywhere. According to different wikis, there are different kinds of high elves in the Forgotten Realms: moon elf, sun elf, star elf, dark elf and llewyrr. There’s most likely way more info about them out there, possibly also more kinds, but this could serve as a base. Click on one and then read about them until one catches your eyes and just go from there since they may have different cultures, different upbringing, different characteristics, etc.

Sorry this is kinda all over the place, but I hope this helps you a bit more!

[de-pointe-du-lioncourt]

Some things I’d like to see in BG3 (even though it will never happen)

Not saying anything new here but more animalistic races:

Smaller reptilian races like Lizardfolk or Kobold. Kobolds are already in the game like. Come on.

Firbolgs. Everyone loves them now that Critical Role has been using them a lot more. I love seeing things from previous D&D editions that have been forgotten getting the love they deserve. I also enjoy how they went from mostly human looking to Bovine-esque.

Shifters. I admit my vision for Shifters is probably way different than canon, I see them way less human than in the pictures I’ve seen. More feline or rodent like faces, furrier, etc. Great for lycanthropy which was going to be a thing considering the scrapped werewolf companion. Also apparently there’s a lot of them near Baldur’s Gate in the Werewoods.

Simic Hybrids. Yeah yeah they’re from Ravnica but you can make it make sense. The Gith can travel through different planes. There’s already cults and guilds and crazy wizards doing wacky science experiments so the Simic Combine making an appearance in Faerûn isn’t far fetched.

Other, not animalistic races:

Warforged. From Eberron, not the Forgotten Realms. There’s already robots in the wizard tower in act two and Sorcerous Sundries in act three, both of which use magic to pilot them. Then there’s the steel watch in act three which uses tadpoles brains to pilot them. I don’t think an explanation as to how Warforged (or at least a version of them) appeared in Faerûn would be very difficult to come up with.

Changelings. Also from Eberron and tbh… I don’t have a real case for them I just think they’re neat. I could see them be home brewed into another Underdark race though tbh.

Aasimar. Totally doable. We have Aylin already, we have Marcus who is like a fucked up twisted version of an Aasimar. They would be great.

Genasi. Technically we can make them in all but name. Skin, eye, and hair colors to match whichever element/subrace you want. Classes and subclasses and spells and even gear to give you a whole element theme. Might as well have just made them a playable race.

Classes/subclasses:

If I’m being honest I’m happy with what they picked. Except I don’t understand why they didn’t add Artificers. We have all these gnomes. The Guild Artisan background. All these robots that I mentioned earlier. Gortash being Gortash with all his designs and building and shit. Let me give Durge a gun.

I will never understand why they didn’t give us the Loviatar option for Clerics or the domain of Pain.

Also give Paladins the option to choose a deity so you can be a Paladin of whatever deity you want without having to dip into Cleric. But make it a choice because not all Paladins are followers of a god. Also I want more oaths.

Make Warlock patrons actually get involved more. Not like Mizora level but still… maybe I’m just not far enough into my warlock.

Backgrounds, character lore, etc:

Why can’t I have a Tiefling from Elturel when like 90% of the game’s Tiefs are refugees from there. Why can’t I have a character from Waterdeep or Candlekeep. One thing that kinda annoys me about the game is that other than brief mentions or some books about other places, it really feels like Baldur’s Gate is it. Which is funny because you don’t even actually reach Baldur’s Gate until act 3! And then Menzoberranzan is treated like it’s super close but actually it’s far as fuck and there’s totally other Drow cities that are closer. My point is I wish we could choose where our characters are from.

Going back to my Genasi point, pretty much we can already make them. They could just. Add some flair options. Could also work for my Paladin point, give us flair to choose from to label your character as “Paladin of *whatever deity*.” I’m sure there’s other flair options that people would enjoy, even if it doesn’t have any effect on the game. I think it would be good for role playing purposes. What if I wanted to label my high elf as a sun or moon elf? Or have a Shadar-Kai elf? Or say that my wood elf is a wild elf? Literally just having it in my character description would make me happy.

Okay I’m done. For now.

[themadchemist]

Finished my first BG3 playthrough the other day and man I LOVE this game!!!

I love how how there are so many different ways to handle certain situations and fights. It's probably the first time I played a game like this and it was so much fun!!!

I was actually really worried about all the different options and stuff but after spending 110 hours on this game, it wasn't really that bad, on the contrary, it was amazing!

I'm going to start my 2nd playthrough tonight, this time with a Drow Paladin/Warlock (my first was a High Elf Archfey Warlock and I have to say, Eldritch Blast is busted lol)

Here's my elf girl who looks more like a lotr elf than I wanted to lol

And my Drow boy for my 2nd run whom I've already fallen madly in love with

Spoilers under the cut, mostly for the companions' stories.

First of all, the main story. It honestly wasn't THAT great. Like it's not bad or anything, just nothing too special imo. Just goes from finds a cure, fight the 3 bad guys then fight the big gross thing. The 3 chosen were a bit interesting (ok, maybe just Gortash, mainly because he's so pretty lol) like I honestly considered allying with him but 1. I couldn't do this to my girl Karlach 2. I really wanted his robe and I doubt I could've gotten it without killing him XD (I ended up not using it at all but still).

As for the companions' stories, they were GREAT. Astarion, Shadowheart and Wyll were the best imo, Lae'zel has actually really grown, Gale's was good but not as good as the others tbh (and somehow he still managed to grow on me so much that I considered going for him instead of Astarion. I obviously didn't but damn Gale, go easy on me, my poor heart can't take it). Karlach and Halsin's stories were the weakest imo but maybe that's just me being salty about their endings...

For romance, I went with Astarion and Halsin and they're just so sweet 😭😭😭 Halsin has that gentle giant energy and he's just so easygoing. Definitely the kind of guy I'd go for irl lol. And Astarion. Man, he's AMAZING!!! I'm really happy with how his story turned out, a bit disappointed with his good ending, especially when there seems to be a way in d&d to cure his condition, but I'm happy with his story all the same. Like, he's kinda still his "magnificent basterd" self but he also grows so much throughout the story, he becomes softer, more sincere and most importantly, he's actually free and learning to be himself again, to genuinely love and care and to open up and show vulnerability and just ughhhhhh I love him so much and I honestly wish Cazador's death was even worse. He deserved much worse for what he did (and because his fight was soooooooo annoying).

Gale is another one that really broke my heart at one point and I was so ready to fist fight Mystra for him 😭😭😭 like at the end of act 2, he was actually ready to die and it was pure torture to see him like that and just 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Shadowheart was another one that I really enjoyed, I went from just liking her to wanting to punch her to absolutely loving her. Like in act1 it was fine, funny at times but she really got on my nerves in act2, especially in the gauntlet of shar, like I get that this is where she's supposed to achieve her goal and become a dark justiciar but going Lady Shar this and Lady Shar that at everything started to really annoy me at a certain point but all that annoyance got thrown out of the window when she freed the Nightsong and turned her back on Shar. Like, that must've taken a lot of courage and honestly I was impressed. And then the whole thing with her parents... Damn, Shar really is evil. I chose to free them even though it meant she would live with the pain of Shar's curse for the rest of her life. Like, this was one of the few times that I broke the rp and chose as myself. Overall, her story was amazing (fuck that fight with the mother superior though. All that darkness was pure hell for my party of casters).

Wyll's story really surprised me ngl. I was expecting the boring heroic guy but he turned out to be so much more. The whole thing with Karlach and then his father. This time I chose to sell his soul to Zariel for help to rescue his father but I wonder if I can still rescue his father even after I break his contract. And he gets free bonus points for the fact that his story ended in fighting a dragon. Dragons are always a good addition to any story lol.

Karlach's story had so much potential but it felt like it was cut short. There were a couple of ways to solve her engine's problem, like the gnomes in the steel watch foundry who were working with infernal iron and maybe Dammon. Idk, it was all a bit disappointing honestly. Like she died in my playthrough and no one noticed until she was gone and damn I feel like I'm going to cry again just thinking about it 😭😭😭 overall, best girl deserved so much better.

Speaking of Dammon, him, Rolan and Alfira are my children, my babies, I reloaded the fight with Marcus like 9 times just to save Isobel, not for her though I didn't care about her at the time, but for them. I'd defend them with my life. Like I can't describe the fear I felt when I learned that Rolan left the inn, like my reckless son better be safe or I'm quitting the game. And then the rage I felt when I found him in the wizard's tower but his face looked bruised, like whoever did this to him, their days were numbered. No one hurts my baby like that. And then I saw Dammon and Alfira around the city and I was so happy they were safe and building good lives for themselves.

Back to the companions, I was surprised that you couldn't talk to the tiefling refugees as Halsin. I don't understand why tbh. He took them in and let them stay at the grove, sure he left for a while and left Kagha in charge which led to the whole problem but it's not like he was to blame for that, he wasn't there and he stopped the ritual as soon as he got back. Unless I missed something, I really don't understand. Also, he's another character that suffered from a short story, one that felt more like a side quest even and after that, he was just there... But I'm glad I had a chance to have my big cuddly bear elf man who loves ducks and honey around (also his lines after the romance are just perfect. I love him so much).

And lastly, Lae'zel. I don't really have that much to say about her since I've only used her a couple of times for her personal quest. Although, I admit I didn't expect her to make such little fuss about opposing Vlaakith. Although that was probably all for nothing since I accidentally doomed her people to following a false queen by siding with the Emperor. In my defense, the Emperor was protecting me the entire time, I barely knew anything about Orpheus and the Emperor, despite the concealed truths here and there, wasn't entirely bad. He didn't stab me in the back in the end or force me to do anything bad AND if it weren't for the Emperor someone from the party would've had to become a mind flayer so idk... I wish there was a way to keep the Emperor and rescue Orpheus but oh well... Also, the idea that Balduran was fighting to protect the city even though no one really knew that was cool. (also, I made the mistake of making my Guardian really pretty so I couldn't bring myself to betray him even after he showed his true colors. I blame the option to hug him for this. I only wish he could've kept that look around me...)

All in all, I really enjoyed the game. Act 2 was probably my favorite. Will start my 2nd run tonight, excited to see the Drow reactivity they talked about since the elf was just there, just some person lol