#btw i was playing as shadowheart for this so i didn't actually get to see her dialogue response to it

[thecubspeaks]

Compared to oh, say, the gaping wounds and gushing blood that Karlach and Lae'zel bore in the aftermath of their latest sojourn into the sewers of Baldur's Gate, Gale felt like some minor magical lightning burns could wait. When Shadowheart at last turned to him, looking ghost-pale and utterly drained, spattered in their friends' blood, he held up his hands in demurral.

"If it's still painful in the morning, I'll come to you," he said, and Shadowheart nodded, clearly relieved.

He and Shadowheart were often among the first to wake, she to pray, he to study his spellbook. Which was, he mused, not exactly not praying, especially now. Mystra's blessing sat new and strange upon him, he so constantly conscious of it, he wondered if it was visible to others.

His hands tingled with phantom sparks as he tried to study, and he decided it probably would be best to trouble Shadowheart for a bit of relief. It occurred to him, as he made his way quietly across their rather lavish rooms in the Elfsong to the corner where she prayed, that he didn't think he and Shadowheart had really spoken since that day in the Stormshore Tabernacle. In fact, it occurred to him that she had, perhaps, been avoiding him.

Some might be deterred by such a realization, but simply allowing misunderstandings to fester would only tear their little group apart in time, and they had enough to be worrying about. So he made his way over undeterred, waiting quietly in the doorway until Shadowheart lowered her hands and raised her head.

"Oh," she said, clearly surprised. "Gale. Did you need healing after all?"

"If you don't mind terribly."

She gestured him over, and he lowered himself to the floor next to her with a soft grunt. Normally, she'd make some arch comment about his age, his bad knees, something, but she just started murmuring the healing incantation, avoiding his gaze.

"Is something the matter?" he blurted out. She looked up, surprised again, the spell fizzling out from his interruption. "I can't help but notice that you seem... well, I don't think any of us have ever gotten a healing without some kind of commentary on our intelligence, speed, or recklessness. I was beginning to think it was an essential verbal component for you," he added, hoping for a smile.

Shadowheart didn't smile. She blushed slightly and looked away.

"I apologize, I..." She clasped her hands together, her customary unconscious posture when nervous, one hand cupped protectively over the curse-wound on the back of the other. She sighed and looked at him. "I'm sorry. I confess I don't know... I don't know what to say to you at the minute. I don't know what to say to the Chosen of Mystra."

Gale felt himself flush, a bizarre mix of pride and embarrassment and half a dozen other feelings with no sufficiently nuanced name in Common. "I must point out that you are the one who told me to ask for her forgiveness."

"Yes, of course I did!" Shadowheart said, then quickly remembered that their friends were still sleeping. Lower, she continued, "I know better than anyone that no good comes of tempting a goddess's wrath. We've already seen what Mystra will try to do when she's angry. If there were any way for me to placate Shar..."

"You did nothing to deserve her treatment of you," Gale said, surprised by the fierceness in his own tone, the surge of protectiveness towards her. "You can't compare..."

"She wanted me for her Chosen," Shadowheart said quietly. "When we were looking at those books in the Temple library, there was one... it said that the Chosen of Shar would slay the Nightsong. It was... she wanted it to be me. The stolen Selûnite to slay Selûne's child." Her voice was quiet still, but her tone soured into bitterness. "At the end of the Gauntlet, I heard her voice in my head. That I would cleanse her church, lead it to a new dawn."

"And only at the cost of Dame Aylin's life," Gale said dryly.

"And what price would you have paid?" Shadowheart retorted. "From the sound of it, you really could have been just like your beloved Karsus. You could have destroyed the Weave all over again, if not even more."

"And do you really think I have not paid for that mistake enough?" Gale replied. He didn't like to get heated with his companions, not at all, but he couldn't stop himself. "Should I have died? Should Mystra punish me, as Shar punishes you?"

Oh, he didn't mean that. He regretted it the moment the words were out, before he could even see the anger and hurt shining in Shadowheart's eyes. She looked away.

"I'm sorry," he said. "That was uncalled for, and not at all what I truly feel."

Still not looking at him, Shadowheart waved a dismissive hand. Then she raised her palms and mumbled the incantation, healing light pooling in her cupped hands, which she then pressed against Gale's burned arms. The prickling electric feeling faded at once, the burn marks smoothed away.

Her hands still on top of his, her eyes still lowered, Shadowheart said, "I'm frightened for you, Gale. I don't think any good comes of being looked at too closely by a god, whether it's Shar or Selûne or Mystra."

"Mystra protects me now," Gale said, baffled. Everything was as it was meant to be, he was who he was meant to be, and if one of the feelings mixed into that confusing nameless jumble felt suspiciously like an unshakeable sadness, that was probably a natural response to the state of things. "I feel her power. Her purpose for me is no more than what we all already hope to achieve. I entirely understand your concern, given your experiences, but I assure you, Shadowheart. There is nothing to fear."

Shadowheart pulled her hands away. "Yes. I hope you're right."

[mass-effect-galaxy]

Baldur's Gate 3 roleplaying idea: The Eilistraee Sword Dancer

(the "evil drow" variant is here)

I am still rather new to DnD lore and therefore I am still looking at what kind of characters you would actually be seeing in BG3 and how they would react and act in the story.

I became interested in the cult of Eilistraee by chance when I turned Shadowheart into a cleric of the Dark Maiden because I didn't find the altar to Selûne in the pantheon next to the Elfsong. This made me curious to learn more about that religion (other than the obvious naked drow dancing with a sword).

I quickly realized that an Eilistraee cleric would be perfect for a Tav character. These brave men and women are used to traveling the surface, making contact with other people, and offering help and guidance wherever needed - basically what you do being the protagonist here.

Eilistraee clerics are usually, but not exclusively, drow women. This religion is open to all races and has many elf, human, and half-elf followers. For about a century now, the clergy is also open to men. So, you can be of any race and gender when playing an Eilistraee cleric. Specific orders, like the Sword Dancer, are still limited to drow, elf, or half-elf women.

Technically, you want to have the first level as a War Domain cleric of Eilistraee and multi-class the rest into School of Sword bard. The cleric uses wisdom for spell-casting and the bard uses charisma. You should focus on charisma because Eilistraeans are supposed to solve conflicts by diplomacy, whenever possible.

As a cleric of Eilistraee, you are practically the embodiment of Good. Her clerics are expected to be proficient both in swordplay and arts, most notably dancing, singing, and playing instruments. They are supposed to offer succor with their music and protection with their swords.

These clerics travel to communities of different races to provide whatever help is needed. They in particular travel to those regions where drow are not welcome, probably because of misdeeds done by Lolth-sworn drows. These kinds of pilgrimages are called "Run". Their purpose is not spreading the Eilistraean faith but the improvement of the peaceful coexistence of races, with the ultimate goal of making the surface a safe place for drow. Anti-racism is a pillar of the Eilistraean faith.

Even though we accidentally end up in the Emerald Grove while it is under attack by goblins and drow, that place would certainly be a place that would see the visit of Eilistraean clerics soon. The priestesses would provide healing, music, food for the needy, and protection from wild animals and dangerous monsters (the "High Hunt").

So, that's what you do: you talk to people and offer your help. You don't ask for anything in return, and when you get rewards you use that money to buy useful things for your companions. You do not steal or plunder, and when you loot dead enemies you only take what you need (food, coin, and gear you are actually going to use).

You try to solve conflicts without violence, as much as possible. However, this has its limits - and you don't carry around a sword because it looks good (Clerics of Eilistraee don't use bows and crossbows, BTW). You abhor slavery, and whenever you can't convince someone to let go of his slaves, you are free to strike him down. You also don't run around claiming to be a True Soul. If someone assumes that on his own, it is their business; but you won't claim it yourself - even when the outcome would be a fight. If violence is unavoidable, you should try to end it as quickly as possible with as few people as possible getting involved.

Being a "light side" cleric in a world where all gods are real would also mean that you should respect other peoples' allegiances. I don't think that it would be right to lecture Shadowheart on her Sharran faith. I would even go as far as saying that interfering with Shar ordering Shadowheart to kill a daughter of Selûne would be overstepping your boundaries as sort of an envoy of Eilistraee. This is definitely true for Gale: It is not your place to question Mystra commanding Gale to sacrifice himself. And if he is willing to do so, you would see your part in supporting him in whatever way you can on that path - what would also be the proper ending for that playthrough (don't bring him to the end of Act 2, though).

Even though Eilistraee is usually depicted as a nude dancer, this is not really a nudist cult. Rites are usually performed naked. During the High Hunt (in terms of BG3, the boss fights against the chosen three) clerics of Eilistraee are naked too and only armed with swords. In all other situations, a cleric of Eilistraee would be wearing practical clothing appropriate for the task; probably even less revealing and flashy than what is considered fashion amongst Lolth-sworn drow.

On a side note, being a drow and a bard gives you the highest amount of special dialogue the game offers in one run.

[codecicle]

Swag, tell me about your BG3 character, I’m curious about what you play !! :D

rubbing my hands together evil style. wampus you have no idea what you've unleashed

this is my bastard son: Samuel Alastine :D he goes by Sam but everyone calls him Sammy ^_^

his personality is like if you combined chip jrwi + sokka atla and made a really sappy fucked up love child. he's such a sarcastic little bitchboy at all times who loves being a bastard and charming his way into and out of situations (the consequences of his actions). he really focuses on the actions of the people and how they treat others as a sign of if he should trust them or not, when asked by Withers the question on how much a single human life was valued i had his answer READY lmao he was instantly responding with "it depends on the person's actions." he definitely has a weak-spot for kids though, he went through a rough childhood, but he doesn't consider it "important" and he trys to keep it as close to his chest as possible.

he's a tiefling sorcerer and i decided to make his sub-race a dragonborn tiefling so he could get the specific type of spells i wanted. i think my plan for progressing him is to focus my general skill-tree to be skewed towards how his personality would fight instead of whats most practical, and for him that definitely means wiping out multiple people in one flashy go with ZERO back-up plans. the amount of times he's had to get one of the other party member to revive him is insane, so he tends to leave that part out of the big flashy tales about his adventures. he loves showing off and bragging so much genuinely again think sokka atla just an absolute loser bastard who tries to take credit in a loving way. he would kill and die for his friends he just shit-talked as beneath him and side characters 5 seconds ago, and if someone else tries to also talk bad about them he's throwing hands and swinging on them in an instant with his whole 8 strength

speaking of which i skewed by skills so badly by putting the free +2 modifier to charisma to give him a 17 bro i coulda blanced his skills a little more and made all of his attacks do more than a grand total average of like. 2. maybe 3 if youre lucky but i DIDNT because im not a COWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!! so now he just flops over if he gets breathed at wrong or is out of spell slots like god intended. but at least he knows how to flirt GODBLESS

also also i definitely think his current party is going to remain his favorite and most trusted for the whole game. he's adventuring with Shadowheart, Wyll, and Astarion right now and they fit him so perfectly its actually insane. he loves how forward thinking Shadowheart is and is willing to follow her, and respects her for keeping her secrets while still letting him make fun of how closed off she is. (realizing now that my playful banter i try to give him might be the romancing options. but like. yeah he would try and do that she would never go for it though.) ((maybe)) and he absolutely adores Wyll's heroicism and looks up to him in a way, full of nothing but respect for how selflessly he acts and how he fights with confidence. he's an especially big fan of how he treats kids, knowing he never would have gotten that same kindness and it was nice to see the cycle be broken and someone make a change. and astarion he just wants to fuck LMAOOOO he loves the conversations they have and while astarion saying "oh yeah btw how do you wanna die when that worm in your brain spreads. like do you want poison or a knife" should normally be offputting thats EXACTLY his kinda humor and flirting. he said knife btw ^_^ purely because at the beginning where astarion jumped him he pinned him to the ground and held a knife to his throat and he really wants that to happen again but you didn't hear that from him. nuh uh.

anyway im having so much fun playing this game fully in character i see why the council did it that way now !! this is so silly goofy and fun i love going "oh wow any normal self respecting person would NOT say that to the random person they just met. i dont want to pick this option but youre not gonna believe this chief, its What My Character Would Do" every 5 fucking minutes for a new dialog this game is awesome im gonna go die in a combat now goodbye [vanishes into the woods] [the camera very clearly shows me hiding behind a tree thats too skinny for my body asking someone off screen if he's gone yet]

[yourfavsinbg3]

Honor Mode Liveblog part 4

I finally made it to the Underdark! Hoorary!

Wait wait wait. Back up. Last time I updated I had just killed the Spider Matriarch and was heading to the goblin camp, what gives?

Yes, well, you see. Life happened, and I didn't feel like posting. However, I've made a pact with my real life partner and multiplayer co-pilot that neither of us are allowed to start a new save file until we've either completed our multiplayer save or one of our single player saves, so for a while I was just putting my head down and going without much in the way of notes or posting. I've gotten the itch to play again, and this time I'm going for those fucking golden dice so I can use them in an upcoming Dark Urge playthrough.

So! The TLDR of what happened:

Absolutely wiped out the goblin camp. I even freed the worshiper of Maglubiyet only to accidentally unleash spiders unto him. I never said I was a smart player.

(This involved getting the 'pentacrush' soldier inspiration for Lae'zel via killing like 8 goblins with one cast of 'Radiance of the Dawn', which felt great)

This did include Minthara, despite my desire to redeem her, because I hadn't realized she greeted half-drow with a speech about 'impurities of the blood', so of course she had to go. Lyra ain't gonna stand for that

Killed Gandrel the gur because I didn't realize non-lethal knock outs also grant EXP. I am not a smart man

Most of it was Wyll's doing I mean look at this

Killed Auntie Ethel before she could even get to the basement with a combination of a glyph of sleep, Lyra finally getting fireball, and some very lucky crits

I am now also scared and more appreciative of fighters after all of it because GOT DAMN LAE'ZEL

(That's using the Everburn blade you can snag from the cambion in the tutorial btw)

Dealt with the mud mephits handily enough that I don't even have notes about how the fight went. Considering the first time I fought them in a different save they nearly TPKed me? That's character growth babey

Finally gave the good news to the grove and sent the Tieflings on their way, tried to woo Wyll but he was too busy being sad to act on it.

Then, FINALLY, we're at the Underdark!

Some miscellaneous highlights:

Wyll is an Oathbreaker paladin/Fiend Warlock. This is both because I'm enamored with the plot implications of it and because Oathbreakers get some really excellent extra damage bonuses, to the point where I miiiight have to replan his overall leveling scheme.

Lyra was retconned to be a cleric of Lathander; nothing else has changed but with her lowering tolerance for BS I felt her being a Selunite and traveling with Shadowheart wouldn't actually work out that well. Plus, she looks fantastic in red.

(yes, that is Minthara's armor. Lyra's pulling double duty as the High Dex party member)

And despite that newly in-built hatred for undead, Lyra is the one bound to the Necromancy of Thay. Whoops!

Lyra got Volo's Ersatz Eye in what was a decision that would not have made sense in character, so as the player I made the executive decision that any action like that is due to Lyra having some form of pre-cognition. Plus, she looks so cool; how could I not take the eye?

Had possibly the busiest long rest I could have: Oathbreaker Knight came to deal with Wyll, Lae'zel and Shadowheart fought over the artifact, then Shadowheart attempting her midnight murdering... I was honestly surprised that the owlbear cub didn't show up for a piece of the pie.

Because I've never really used them before, Lyra's using her high wisdom to take on the burden of tadpoles and consume them all before anyone else needs to. I have Illithid powers now :D! This can only end well!

The Owlbear cub and Scratch are here!! They're the best of friends :D

First thing I did in the Underdark was get Phalur Aluve and give it to Wyll; there is so much extra damage to be had with that sword.

I did get the cutscene of the Dream Guardian halting ceromorphosis which reminded me that I made the dream guardian by hitting random a couple times then making the result old and boy howdy is it somehow the Hottest Character I Have Ever Made

That's all for now! Onto clearing out the Underdark and the Mountain Pass so I can finally move on to Act 2!