#I wanted to romance astarion but Shadowheart..

[im-okay-mj]

I still haven’t gotten Karlach, I’m sorry 😭 I only just figured out how to get Halsin

[thirddoctor]

For so long, I only felt what she wanted me to. Now I have to do it for myself, and I feel like I'm drowning.

[99thpercentile]

every single one of the origin companions is a beautiful, complex individual with a compelling story. and also hot. how the fuck is my bi poly ass meant to cope with only being able to romance one of them at a time?

[forcedhesitation]

astarion origin playthrough worth it just for all the extra moments where he does the "sad wet cat" face

[zuutiomi]

kinda some of Mavi and other companions relations and thoughts on each other

[wavebiders]

Feeling very insane about the fact that, in a way, being a bad Sharran is what saves Shadowheart in the end

Because like. She's not supposed to be bad at keeping secrets. She's not supposed to be vulnerable, kind, or hopeful. She's not supposed to get attached to anything or anyone

Yet, it's these things that allow her to get close to the pc and the group as a whole. The more she fails to keep Shar's secrets the more she opens up to you, and the more she opens up to you the more you have the chance to build a relationship with her, and it's through having that relationship that she finds the courage to defy Shar

If she had been a better Sharran she never would have built that bond at all, she wouldn't have felt safe to make the decision she did, and probably no one would have trusted her enough to let her decide to begin with

Shadowheart is saved because she is loved, and Shadowheart is loved because she cannot stop being herself no matter how hard she tries

[imafraidoftomorrow]

Baldur's Gate 3? More like The Bisexual Dilemma with the way everyone is so hot and fuckable

[thranduil-aran-edhil]

OK, so. Finished my first run. Gotta admit I'm not 100% satisfied with some endings. BUT NO BIGGIE, THAT'S WHAT HEADCANONS ARE FOR, DON'T WORRY I GOT A PERMIT (i'm a Dungeon Master) SO LET'S GO, HC TIME D&D STYLE BC WE STILL GOT 8 LEVELS TO GO: (spoilers for BG3 and Descent Into Avernus going forward)

They'd all stay together and continue to go on adventures, the 9 of them, Tav, Lae'zel, Shadowheart, Gale, Astarion, Wyll, Karlach, Halsin and Minthara. Found Families stay together. (I do enjoy the polyship aspect too, so just throwing it out there)

There's an exchange you can have ingame with an NPC in the Guild and Tav will say the party's name is Wormskulls and I love it. I do also love Tadfools. Maybe they are Wormskulls to the general public and Tadfools to their close friends and allies lol. After the tadpoles are gone I think it would be very useful for them to commission earrings enchanted with Rary's Telepathic Bond. Less invasive than a mindflayer tadpole and just as useful. Also symbolic for Gale. I think the earring would have a pendant of a skull with a serpent coming out of its eye and being bitten by the teeth.

OK SO, my girl Karlach. I haven't romanced her yet, gonna do a run for that. But she's not dying on my watch. She's going back to Avernus, BUT YOU CAN BE SO SURE THAT THE MOMENT THE WHOLE PARTY IS READY WE'RE KICKING DOWN ZARIEL'S DOOR AND KICKING HER ASS. Or giving her her sword back and possibly turning her back into an Angel, something that whatever party of adventurers that managed to save BG and Elturel in Descent Into Avernus CLEARLY didn't do, it would probably not only nullify Mizora's contract with Wyll bc Zariel is now a completely different entity, if you decided to redo Wyll's contract with her, but also would give us a better chance of Zariel taking the infernal engine out of Karlach herself. Maybe turning Wyll into a Devotion Paladin? (more details about Zariel here)

I'd ask Jaheira and Minsc to take care of Scratch and Albie (owlbear cub) because the Hells is no place for pets. Even very brave ones. Maybe Halsin's "ending" fits here, taking care of the pets and the kids while everyone goes to Avernus, they leave him with a Sending Stone. And when they are back he's there waiting for them. 🥺

If we saved Duke Ravengard and broke Wyll's contract. (or didn't but are hcing that we broke his contract by defeating/unmaking Zariel) what does that mean to Wyll? I think it be super cool to go more in depth about it. How does he reconsile with his father? Does he accept to be reinstated as heir and becomes the Duke right away or does he think it's best for his father to continue his role a bit longer? Does he even want to be Duke or does he think he can serve the people of the Sword Coast better as an adventurer? If he turns into a Duke, what sort of benefit does that give an adventuring party?

Finding something to make Astarion able to walk in the sun again I've seen people talk about the Ring of the Sun-Walker as if it's from the 5e books, it's not, it's homebrew. HOWEVER, any freaking DM with a heart would create something similar for their player to continue playing without being afraid of dying instantly bc of the sun. The Cloak of Dragomir is canon to the Baldur's Gate videogame universe, so it be a good tie in, but it would be a temporary solution at best since it penalizes the player quite harshly, Strength: -6, Dexterity: -4, Intelligence: -2, Wisdom: -2, Charisma: -4 and Vampire Regeneration divided by 3, to 1 HP per 3 rounds. That being said, I wouldn't make it TOO easy to obtain as there are other ways for Astarion to be safe, like the Darkness spell. It would be interesting to see him (and Tav) struggle a little bit more, really feel the sacrifice Astarion made by rejecting the Ascendance even after they find something to combat the Sunlight Hypersensitivity.

Astarion's biological family would be something very interesting to explore in the future. They would be Elves themselves and are most likely still alive, we even have a surname thanks to people analyzing the shit out of that tombstone: Ancunín. As a DM I wouldn't wait for a player to decide to search for these people, I'd throw them at the players! Strolling through the Upper City in a quick shopping trip? You hear a loud gasp, things clattering and bumping into the ground, hurried desperate steps and then someone sobbing "Astarion?? Astarion is that you?!" What do you do?

Visiting Waterdeep and Morena Dekarios. This woman deserves to see her son again, and Gale deserves to finally go back home and see his mom without the burden of an ancient artifact lodged in his chest and a goddess wanting him to kill himself. Would he stay? I'm not sure, he went through an entire Odissey and maybe now home, although pleasant, is not as comforting anymore. Waterdeep is the element of Gale of Waterdeep and he's not him anymore. I think this would be a great premise for a roleplay focused arc. Gale is invited to the Blackstaff Ball for the first time since Mystra shunned him, the Wormskulls are famous now, The New Heros of Baldur's Gate (Gala Episode anyone? All of them SLAYIN with their fits? Poor Halsin totally out of his element). He's once again welcomed into the society of the Lord Mage of Waterdeep and his peers seem to have all but forgotten he was ever a pariah. Is that what he wants?

And Waterdeep has many opportunities for more adventure.

A paranoid Beholder underground anyone?

Kill the Lich Queen (CLASSIC D&D). Vlaakith IS FINISHED. TIME TO SPELLJAM AND BE SPACE PIRATES YALL. Lae'zel deserves to see this through to the END.

Shadowheart goes through another journey to find out if she wants to truly embrace Selûne or maybe become another thing entirely. Selûne should reach out or Isobel and Dame Aylin would help her out. Or maybe Shadowheart is tired of being a Cleric and following a god. But change and inconsistency is something that is under Selûne's portfolio, she's often followed by those who are lost, so I think she'd find more than fitting for Shadowheart to be a cautious and weary follower of her.

Your Tav's personal stuff. The Dark Urge sounds amazing and I can't wait to do a run with them, but I think most of us got very attached to our Original Characters Do No Steal. So I'm excited to see what people come up with for their Tavs. Otessa, my Tav, doesn't know her dad was a pirate, he never told her, so I expect that his past will come bite him in the ass and she'll have to help him out of that pickle.

When the party has reached level 17, Gale has access to the Wish spell. And I really do think they'd use it to get rid of Astarion's undeath. As a DM I wouldn't let Gale simply get the spell outright, he'd have to research it. Not only that, I don't think Astarion would be totally free of undeath, some remnant of it would linger, he'd probably turn into an Elf that needs blood to survive and is forever locked out of the Call of Arvandor or something. But he'd be mortal and would be able to walk in the sun without that ring, cross bodies of water, wouldn't instadie from pointy wood objects in the chest etc. (i'm writing a little one-shot about this, should post it soon)

[llamagirl28]

Another BG3-related ask: who would the BoC ROs pursue if they’re playing BG3? 👀

Oooh fun!

Elaine - Karlach

Isac - Lae'zel

Sofie - Astarion

Agravain - Shadowheart

Gawain - Wyll

Galahad - Shadowheart

Nimue - Astarion

This is more of, who would they pursue on a first playthrough because all of them would take an interest in multiple characters lol

[maleficore]

I really think the "Maybe what you really need is a friend, not a lover" line should not be the end of Astarion's romance arc. Let my man figure his shit out! He literally says "I don't know what I want", why is that option a brake up thing and not a trigger for an alt act 3 romance scene? Something with the vibe of "I know we've talked about this and your friendship means a lot to me, but I've decided what I want and it's for us to be more than that". Please...

[viperbooty]

its a really big bummer to see the mass success of bg3, to see how many artists and players alike have enjoyed this game and yet, somehow, almost every time, wyll is magically not mentioned or drawn, featured in a video, hes not adored or hated

so far the fandom just generally acts like hes not even there. and it makes me sad to see the single black companion get this level of people ignoring him, his arc, his personality, even just people disliking or hating him

instead the only thing that caught any wind was how quickly a mod came out to make wyll white. how fucking sad.

[charliespoorasshole]

been obsessed with astarion ever since bg3 came out. wanted to play it (in large part) for astarion. admired astarion from afar for months in an non-spoiler free fashion. finally got a ps5 and bg3 with the full intention to romance astarion… cracked as soon as i saw the option to romance shadowheart.

[a-summer-soul]

So um I finally got to play Baldurs Gate and um wow Larian and everyone really did put their souls into this. There's a humanity in it that is wrenching and beautiful and compelling. This game really is going to revolutionize the industry and I'm so so proud of them all, every single fucking one. Hells, if they're hiring, I might just go join up! Jawdropping, utterly jawdropping. I had thee best time ever and I'm in love with all of them! 🥹

[do-you-know-this-adhd-character]

Do you know this (noncanon) ADHD character?

Evidence below the cut!

Karlach displays distractibility and diminished attention span, squirms and fidgets regularly (having the most exaggerated and fidgety idle animations of all the origin characters, even), is markedly restless and is often "on the go", is talkative, and speaks impulsively, thus displaying symptoms for combined-type ADHD per DSM-5 criteria.

[precious-little-bhaalbabe]

✨🌸💕flowery anime style portrait headshots of each of the romanceable companions, filled with flowers and hearts and silly filters and effects, as they try and seduce Tav💕🌸✨

Gale, a spark of magic at his fingertips: “I was previously the lover of the goddess of magic, I’m sure my talents are plenty to please any mortal.”

Shadowheart, dark eyes half lidded: “My Lady Shar may have taken many of my memories, but I assure you, she has not taken of my knowledge of activities to perform in her sacred dark.”

Wyll, holding a rose, hand extended in invitation: “I can woo you with all the finest noble courtship and courtly dances befitting the son of the Grand Duke”

Lae’zel, a cocky and sure smile and confident stance: “Let me show you the renowned stamina and dexterity a Githyanki warrior is capable of, in and out of battle.”

Astarion, eyelashes fluttered and voice lowered, hand to his chest: “I’ve been seducing all types for 200 years, whatever you fancy darling, I’m sure I’ve had plenty of practice.”

Minthara, stood proud and regal: “I will grant you the honor or worshipping my body, a right few have earned.”

Halsin, powerful arm outstretched, beckoning: “Let us experience the bounty of the Oak Fathers gifts, and join together in passion as nature intended.”

Tav, blushing, fidgeting nervously: “Uh, gods, I mean, you’re all very attractive, but I’m not sure-“

Karlach, crushing a beer can on her forehead and taking a stance like she’s about to rage: “I’VE BEEN ON FIRE FOR TEN YEARS AND HAVEN’T HAD SEX SINCE I WAS NINETEEN, WHO WANTS TO FUCK?!?”

Tav: looks at Karlach with bubbling heart eyes, sighing dreamily, to the befuddlement of the rest of their companions

[gilded-gheists]

JUST started a good Durge playthrough and I'm dying over my absolute little guy bard Tinfoil.