#where's my rugan larian!!!

[okthisway]

Rugan - Criminal [BG3 GMV] is anyone else obsessed with a certain zhentarim lad named rugan

[stuffforthestash]

I really thought we'd meet up with him again and he'd have the juicy gossip about a side quest, at least. Maybe call me a clever lass again 😭

[forgeofthenine]

Wouldn't it be cool that Larian gave us a mini adventure where your companions are some of the NPCs of the game, such as Alfira or Rolan, and that gives you the possibility to have some subtle slow romance options to interact with them?

For me it would be awesome. Not to say that I would gladly give some extra money if that meant that my Tav can have some sweet moments with the fav blacksmith.

Like, I can perfectly imagine how (since the VA of Dammon does not like the idea of a romance route, affirming that once the players can "have" him he might lose his charm and mystique) during the adventure, your character is able to have some bonding moments with the NPC you choose in order to have a more deeply connection and could aim into a beautifully strong friendship or aim into the beginning of a romantic interest. But just that.

Either friendship or the beginning of "what it could be". Getting the tension and the vibes of romance but never actually getting a kiss or a more physical option.

Just let my half-elf character have a nice "no-date" with Dammon where they spend all night long talking about their interests and at some point he tries to show her how to properly hammer or do some blacksmithing stuff by helping and correcting her posture from behind. Like in Ghost.🥲

I can totally understand why Frazer doesn't want Dammon to be a love interest, and he brings up a great point with the mystery aspect, but I would love a patch or a dlc that adds more to the NPCs.

Even if we don't get romance routes (though both Rolan and Zevlor would slot perfectly into being love interests, though I digress) I would like more options to flirt and/or chat with NPC fan favourites like the tieflings (Alfira, Cal, and Lia included) and others like Rugan. Really, I just want more content for our favourites, and having Dammon and Rolan hanging around in act 3 is nice, but I'd still like to at least be able to get my first on with them instead of just having to think it in my head lol

[ohsayit]

Hot take (not really) about boobies, just because I feel like it lol

Reblogged something about desexualising female characters and boob size. First and most importantly, I love boobies. I always love boobies. Secondly, I am unapologetic about being horny. (Hormone brain is something else. But that's another story for another day.)

As much as I enjoy people discussing how to desexualise characters so we get more personalities and stories out of them, I enjoy horny inducing characters equally. Yea I am looking at you, Larian and your array of thirst traps.

Though, the fantasy situation where I don't think human society could ever land in would be: realise and accept the fact that our dirty brains will just be horny regardless, because we are all filthy (lol) by nature.

People's brains get turned on by different things. Boobs, butts, body hair, hair on your head, eyes, lips, jawlines, hands, fingers. Anything and everything can be a trigger for someone's sexual desire and there is nothing wrong with it. Suit yourself and let other people suit themselves.

I love boobies, truly. I only like them sexy when I feel like it. I only think about boobs in terms of sex when: (a) my mind wanders and that isn't intentional, (b) when me and a real person are at it and in the act together, or (c) I am having a good time thinking with these pixels in my own bloody head.

I don't think the human society will ever be able to leave this sex topic alone because we had too long of a history smearing and demonising it, and proceed to use it as a means to manipulate, or whatever word you fancy, people into shapes.

Wanting to take the attention off from horniness inducing character designs? Great stuff. Inducing horniness with some rando characters that has less than 45mins to total voice lines in a game where, mostly likely, this character doesn't have more than 20mins in a regular playthrough? (Yea, I am looking at you again, Larian and this one particular thirst trap Rugan.) Also great.

I think we have a bigger problem of making it a boolean situation where you are either a thirst trap and renders any and all personalities irrelevant, either steer things off the horny chart so the character can really shine. Being able to both see characters' and real people's worth beyond their sexual value, and appreciate the boners they bless the world, is a such an underrated and hopeless needed skill/ability everyone should possess.

When it's not a "thing" anymore, that usually marks the start of everyone's good time.

Sex, ladies, objectification, and all that are deep topics. I am in no mind to unleash chaos on those fronts upon myself. I simply want to appreciate both real people and pixels in all sexual and non sexual ways. Give me pretty faces, purring voices, and nice boobies, please. I would love to keep enjoying a vast variety of eye candies.

Don't believe me? Check out my gibberish about Zevlor. For some reason I won't shut up about him despite not being my dearest.

[paramnesiagirl]

BG3: The Power of Player Narrative

In my most recent multiplayer run of Baldur's Gate 3, the game on everyone's minds, I found myself playing the role of a companion.

I don't mean simply piloting one of those already given to you at the start of the game, no, what I managed to land myself into, was roleplaying a fully fleshed out 'custom companion', Hestia. A blue-haired, somewhat crass, Tempest Cleric of Mysta's domain.

-- She does seem a bit mean, doesn't she? --

Now, while many of us can say that we're used to making up stories for our intrepid adventurers, and designing whole narratives for them, I was surprised by the ability of BG3 to allow me to do so.

It was amazingly easy to craft an inspiring quest of a cleric now wanting revenge on a variety of former suitors from her time as a noble. Easy to invent up bits of dialogue for her (based on the tremendous amount of soft storytelling already present). Other companions 'interacted' with her based on their own traits, such as hers and Gale's mutual love for Mystra and the Weave.

It was even easy to make her her own companion tent!

-- What a bookworm! --

A bit too easy. As after hours of me interjecting with 'Hestia disapproves!' at various choice selections, the host finally decided to listen to me for once. To our extreme regret.

At around 20 hours, we had found Rugan, the Zhentarim you can 'accidentally' choose to get into trouble. Seeing as it was our own faults, Hestia wished to help him. She cut his binds herself. Unfortunately, she decided to do this in front of his enemies.

Our party might have ended in all of our deaths, that save, but it was unforgettable.

BG3 has done what few RPGs have been able to accomplish: allow players the ability to write their own stories.

I didn't feel like a player, I felt like a true working component of the game. Often times, when talking about player experience, you'll hear the words 'it felt real'. Hestia was real. The freedom and ability of me to choose details as small as the colour of her armour (gold and blue, as befitting a cleric), to selecting the little bits and bobs she'd put around her camp; all of it felt like a true release of control. A gift from the developers to myself, and every other player.

It's so damn hard to create a game these days. Everything is predetermined, hard-baked into lines upon lines of code. Yet, developers are expected to create a system that allows players to move around freely. A contradictory task.

What Larian has done, is expand upon the traditional 'box' forumula that you must place players in. They've taken the power of narrative, and put it completely into the hands of the player to design the flow of the story for. You can choose where to go, you can choose who lives and dies, you choose the state of your world.

Perhaps, that's why I'll remember BG3 till my end days.

It wasn't a pre-written story that brought me to tears because of its Oscar-winning quality, but one that we gripped the reins of hard and steered ourselves towards outcomes that only we have ourselves to blame for. It's engaged me like no other game has, except perhaps since the early days of modding Skyrim to curate our perfect and unique experiences based on over 200 mods.

So, what now?

Now, we can only hope that other companies expand upon this. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, from the long Dragon Age RPG lineage, is slated to be released in the next few years. It, amongst many other games, will need to hold themselves up to this higher standard. One that, unlike other RPG titles released in the last three years, did not rely on DLCs or large patches in order to appeal to players.

The power of player narrative, its potential, and the manner of which game developers can go about utilising it, has now been put into full view. Now, more than ever, companies must reconsider the amount of priority they want to put onto marketing their games, verus actually making them. With the current player numbers and profits made from BG3, perhaps, they will finally be convinced.

[harrycollins]

I'm diseased with liking minor npcs and I kind of have a soft spot for Rugan, that zhent that you can save from some gnolls in act 1.

I made sure the guy survived act 1 and when I didn't find him in the elfsong tavern where he said he would be I kind wondered if Larian decided to scrap some of that story. But no. I found out via a letter on one of the zhents attacking the thieves guild. Roah made him "retire", that is why he never was able to give me that drink he promised. Save to say Roah will die more often now in my playthroughs.

I'm sad. But one the other hand, how much of those "loose ends" people accuse Larian of aren't really loose ends but things you might accidentally find out in the world if you snoop around? Makes me wanna break into every house and snoop everywhere. Guess I'll be here a while. I'm still playing my first playthrough and I'm 300+ hours in. That is minus the 500+ from ea lmao

ok, so I really love Rugan. I always saved him twice in every single of my EA playthroughs however I accidentally hit him during my first playthrough and he became hostile... so I had to kill him. I would reload but my latest save file was from a hour ago before I did all the hard content on the Risen Road dvdbnsj

I am sad for you to never getting that drink with him 😭