#why couldn't it be minsc lol

[3gremlins]

i got to that bit after the cazador fight* in my paladin pt and i initially did with the spawn what i did with my druid (let them into the underdark for potential vampire rehab) and this broke my oath which i thought was a bit bs. so i reloaded and did the mercy kill which felt bad so i searched the internet and found the funniest reddit thread of a WHOLE bunch of other paladin players who also thought it was a bit bs/wish the paladin stuff in this game was more nuanced lol**.

i do kind of see the reasoning behind the oath of the ancients being against vampire rehab b/c it's all about life and undead are i guess anti-life (plus many of the vampire spawn would probably not take to rehab well and the underdark doesn't deserve that). It was interesting that apparently if you're oath of vengeance, the right thing to do *is* vampire rehab and you only lose your oath if you either kill them/don't take responsibility for them.

might have to do an oath of vengeance pt at some point (that seems a little less binary than oath of the ancients). apparently they've also patched the oathbreaker knight so it will appear later and not just only in act 1 (which was leading to broken half paladins apparently??).

i also realized this time through that we could steal most of cazador's paintings for sale later tho, like i accidentally grabbed one off a wall trying to interact with stuff and was like WAIT A MINUTE lol

*this fight was also ridiculously easy (tho tbf it was also pretty easy on my druid too, but def faster on paladin/with everyone doing radiant stuff), casting daylight while everyone is in stealth and having a druid or cleric cast the feast buff before you go into this fight is clutch (makes you immune to all their debuffs like nausea, poison etc), also having the arcane interference arrows (which do silence and also radiant). Tbc, i like it when fights are easier b/c we're overpowered, it's just a bit more fun (esp with turnbased where combat can take hours lol). they also keep patching/changing stuff in the game so i can't tell if it's class/pt related or if it is just easier now so there's that too

**i think it's more an issue with the source material than anything else tbf, dnd is very binary/black and white and not terribly nuanced (like it's gotten better but it's still problematic on that count) and other ttrpgs do a better job with more shades of grey type worldbuilding/classes

[kawareo]

what were some of your fav scenes/fights in bg3?

also completely unrelated, but what were Strike’s pre-tadpole stats?

oh boy okay stats first, then the ramble under cut ^-^

I said before that his stats as Durge would be pretty op, and I do know that they are, but I think the fact that he devolves so much before the events of the game evens him out lol - he was also multi-classing into a Fighter. I was trying to think of him more of in a 'what if he was the miniboss instead of Orin' way, rather than as if he were a playable character

After tadpoling, his stats have nearly halved, except Charisma which is still pretty high (like 17 at the start, i think)

I really like the Nere fight for some reason, especially if I made a deal with the duegar and also am trying to keep the gnomes alive!

And the entire part in the Ilithid colony, i love parts where you can clean out a place room by room, and then the big fights, once I figure out the strategies for them (for example, the Moonrise towers, creche, or protecting the grove, love when I learn how to beat them). Also in my evil Durge run every fight is fun because I have Lae'zen, Minthara, Shadowheart's spirit guardians and my sorcerer who can deal two level five spells per round if needed, so we kind of just power through every fight lol

All of the romance/sex scenes are lovely and I could stare at them forever, personal favorite is the Halsin one. The dance scene with Wyll is super cute. The entire tiefling party slaps absolute ass I love that section. Haarlep scene, too! Genuinely scary! That thing scares the shit out of me but their scene is so fun to watch.

Some of my all time favorite scenes are also Ketheric's introduction, Gortash and Orin talking (orin's va fucking killed it there with the "yes so no sir rip and cut your throat sir", i can quote that entire scene from memory), Minsc' introduction! Dame Aylin and Isobel kiss! The coronation scene! Anything where Auntie Ethel shows up! Rolan!

Lmao it might be shorter if I just tell you things that I dislike tbh, the list is shorter; i love Lae'zel but after act 2 I kind of really don't care about her storyline? I dont know why but the political coup and the githyanki drama just isn't that interesting to me. I couldn't care less about Orpheous, either. Genuinely fuck that Lorroakan fight I hate it form the bottom of my heart. Haven't found the dragon yet and I'm scared in advance because I heard some scary shit. I haven't had to fight any of the Thorm family yet because I always charisma my way through them but in my new run I'll try them, the fights look like a bitch though. It's mostly the gityanki stuff (besides Lae'zel herself) that i don't care that much for , almost everything else I can find interest for

[jessiemeows]

Insecure

Pairing: Spawn Astarion x F! Tiefling Redeemed Durge/Tav

Summary/Setting: post-Cazador and post-Ansur the dragon in Act 3, Astarion and the companions are back near the Rivington camp. Karlach accidentally hurt our poor vamp’s feelings lol.

I wrote something a while ago regarding Astarion most likely gaining weight from finally having access to blood after years of starvation so I wrote it a little short story for it!

Rating:  pg-13 lmfao, very light but mentions insecurities around weight

I wrote this while wine-drunk last night so, hopefully, there are not too many errors! 

------------------------------------------------------

Karlach exclaimed, "Come here, Fangs! I need to pinch those cheeks of yours!" while inching her fingers closer to Astarion's face. Astarion had just finished sewing up Clive, the teddy bear, who was Karlach's partner in crime. As a rogue, Astarion could easily dodge Karlach's attacks, whether it was her bear hugs or pinches, but he let the fiery tiefling have her way with him now and then.

“You are just so adorable, I can see why Eris can't resist you.” Karlach was rambling on about the vampire, smooshing his face to the point he could barely speak “Eris is such a lucky duck to have a chubby little vampire.”

Astarion's eyebrows furrowed as he glared at Karlach. "Chubby?!" he shouted, squirming out of the tiefling's grasp. His face was red and sore from Karlach's previous actions. "What do you mean by calling me chubby?!" Karlach's eyes wandered, searching for answers, giving him a dazed look. "I- Astarion," she stuttered in response.

Halsin stopped teaching the Scratch and Hoots how to roll over, and Gale, Minthara, and Shadowheart paused their conversation to look at them. Lae’zel’s usual loud sharpening sounds of her greatsword ceased, and the sudden silence was deafening. ‘Great,’ he thought to himself “now the whole camp was staring at them now.”

"I-just," Karlach stuttered, trying to choose her words carefully. "Since you and Eris have been together and you've been eating from her, you've filled out a little bit. It's not an insult! You deserve to finally be happy! That's all I meant, Astarion."

Astarion waved his hand at Karlach dismissively and stormed off to his tent, relenting on his next poorly chosen words.

------

Eris had returned from a retreat with her companions Wyll, Jaheria, and Minsc. They had been hunting for fresh game and gathering vegetables to celebrate the defeat of Ansur, the dragon, and Wyll's new title as 'The Blade of Avernus'. After the celebratory meal, they all sat by the fire. Minsc was telling one of his many stories while Jaheria kept interrupting him, saying that she remembered the story a little differently. Of course, Minsc claimed that it was how Boo, the giant miniature space hamster remembered it, so his story was the truth. 

The tiefling spent hours enjoying the company of her friends, laughing and drinking. However, she couldn't help but miss the absence of her vampire partner who had retreated to their tent for the night. This wasn't anything new for Eris, as he sometimes became moody and preferred to be left alone. In fact, it was often for the better that he did so, as he had gotten into arguments with others on more than one occasion. But it was quite unusual for him to not even come out to greet her once she returned from her travels and to say hello.

As the night was drawing to a close, she said her goodnights to her friends and made her way back to her shared tent. She may have been a little tipsy from the wine she had consumed earlier, and all she could think about was kissing her adorable, charming vampire. However, upon stumbling into the tent, she noticed the elf sitting quietly, reading and sulking about.

"Hey Astarion, is everything okay? Or are you mad at me? You seem quiet tonight," Eris asked as she began to change into her nightclothes. Astarion's gaze wandered as he took in her hourglass figure, admiring her soft curves. "I missed you at dinner," Eris added, tilting her head at him. Astarion remained silent, lowering his eyes again and pretending to read his book while avoiding eye contact with Eris.

"Astarion," Eris said again, this time staring at him with big, puppy eyes and a pout on her lips. He couldn't resist those eyes. "Hm? Oh, it's nothing," Astarion replied, trying to hide his true feelings. Eris, however, knew him too well. She finished getting dressed and crawled towards him, sliding her arms in between him and shutting his book. 

"I know you're hiding something from me, Astarion," she said while resting her head in the crook of his neck. "Come on, you can tell me. What is it?" Her warm breath left a trail of kisses down his neck to his jawline. He could smell the wine on her breath, which meant she was a bit tipsy. She always got playful when she drank. He tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

“You’re gonna think I’m silly.” He trailed off before speaking again. “Do you think I've gained weight since we met?” 

A moment of silence followed, Astarion released his grip on her waist and placed her back beside him. "Wait, let me speak, my love," she pleaded. Despite her words, the vampire turned back to the book he had been reading. However, before he could start reading again, she sprawled herself on top of the book on his lap and let out a groan.

"Instead of throwing a temper tantrum, please go ahead and say what you need to," he said, clearly upset with her silence.

"Astarion, I won't lie to you. Yes, you have gained weight, but it's a healthy weight. When we first met, you were very thin. I was surprised when you were able to hold me down when you used that dagger against me." She quickly sat up, straddling him and cupping his face.

"Ugh, when are you going to let that go?" the vampire rolled his eyes at her.

"Never," the tiefling giggled quietly, "but you've gained a significant amount of healthy weight. You're so much stronger than before, and you're still absolutely beautiful to me." Eris started kissing Astarion's cheeks, then moved to his neck. Meanwhile, Astarion began tracing his fingers on a couple of scars she had on her back, slowly inching his fingertips underneath her shirt. He let out a soft moan as she nipped his neck with her own fangs. The poor thing was trying to show him a taste of his own medicine. "And I wouldn't change how you look now for the world."

Astarion's cheeks began to blush. He grabbed Eris's chin and parted her lips with his own. "I love you so much, Astarion," Eris said, breaking their kiss momentarily. "I love you too, Eris. I will always love you.  How about a little fun, hm?”. He deepened their kiss by rolling Eris over to her back, feeling her smile silently say yes.

[artistic-mathematics]

The thing about shipping in bg3 is... none of them are really non-canon?? As long as you're talking the origins obviously, you can literally play as any of them and romance any of the others. If somebody says Lae'zel and Shadowheart together makes no sense or couldn't work out, they are literally just wrong. That is an ending to the game that you can get. I have! If they don't like that ending, that's fine. They can choose a different one. But that doesn't make theirs MORE canonical somehow

And realistically, even in a Tav playthrough, Lae'zel and Shadowheart probably have more dialog interactions and relationship growth than any other two companions. Whose relationships tend to remain pretty static throughout the course of the game if you aren't playing as one and romancing the other. So I don't really get the argument that any of those ships have some obvious deep connection that this one is just lacking

(Also, funny enough, I think Karlach is the only person either Lae'zel or Shadowheart shows any outward sign of being attracted to, beyond a little no-strings sex for Lae'zel, until pretty late in the game when they've both become much more open versions of themselves. Everybody else is so flirty so quickly, but these two keep their cards close to the chest... except when it comes to Mama K, and we do not blame them for that lol)

this is very true! it's also why I love this game -- that you can romance anyone as anyone (well, aside from Jaheira and Minsc), including the origin characters.

I don't think the other anon meant that any ship is more or less canonical necessarily, just that they didn't see the appeal to it and felt it was lacking compared to other ships? but I certainly disagree with that. as you said, Lae'zel and Shadowheart have the most relationship growth by far, and I think if anything they probably have the deepest connection between companions by the end (aside from potentially Karlach and Wyll, and Minsc and Jaheira, though these two pairs knew each other before the events of the nautiloid).

yeah Karlach has 0 filter and I love her for it haha. and yeah, iirc Lae'zel and Shadowheart have the most emotionally soft act 3 romance cutscenes (even with Shadowheart's sex scene, it's much more emotionally charged than some of the others) and it just goes to show how both of them have progressed along the way. on one hand, Lae'zel is navigating this new emotion that she doesn't even understand in a world she used to detest, and is making a valiant effort at opening her heart (and succeeding!). on the other, Shadowheart is finally allowed to love openly (hence literally everything in her romance options up until that point are very tentative -- I mean for fuck's sake, if you fail the insight check you don't even get to kiss her at the waterfall and she disapproves) and is doing everything she can with this newfound freedom. they definitely are more discreet than the others when it comes to feelings, but damn does it make their act 3 scenes all the more sweeter.

[athkatla]

So obviously I loved baldur's gate 3 and it has reinvirograted my love for the BG series and I plan on going back and playing the first two again and then replaying BG3 with the other two fresh in my mind but my god did I have so many bugs in my playthrough!! I hope they are fixed by the time I replay it in a month or so!

specifics below the cut, spoiler warning for the full game!

My Journal just having premature information in it. With Arabella's parents in Act 2, it said she ran off and then it later said she rejoined us - before she had even ran off! Lol. There were other instances of it saying things before they happened or not updating correctly but I can't remember what they were specifically

In Act 3, Barcus and Wulbren were somehow both the leader of the Ironhand Gnomes even though I encouraged Barcus to usurp Wulbren and he did it lol. They both thanked me for making them the leader after doing the Steel Watcher factory questline, they both were mentioned in my journal as being allies due to being the leaders of the gnome, and at the end right before fighting the brain they were both in the little building with all my other allies and both spoke dialogue lol

I couldn't finish Wyll's personal quest because we successfully rescued his dad from the Iron Throne but he never showed up in our camp so Wyll just kept saying "yep my dad is back in camp can't wait to speak with him" and that's it :(

Speaking of the Iron Throne - I worked my ass off to save everyone before it flooded and my journal said I KILLED EM ALL! And Orin's letter said WAY TO GO BUD YOU KILLED EM ALL! No I didn't :(

I was unable to complete the Hag Support Group quest in Act 3 because when I confronted Auntie Ethel at the Mermaid bar thing she just turned into a hag and kept on bopping around and I was unable to throw Hagsbane at her because it wouldn't let me select her, it was like she was part of the background

My romance with Gale was also bugged, I had the same conversation with him twice for some reason

I had to break up with Karlach twice because I did it once in Act 2 and thought we were good and then in Act 3 I had the option again to break up with her because she still thought we were in a romance?! OK!

Shadowheart chose to free herself and kill her parents and somehow she still would have random lines about how the mark on her hand hurt and how Shar was cruel. Like girl we killed your parents to get rid of that mark, why is it still here!!

Also Minsc was just like, not recognized as existing! I rescued him, he was at my camp, and then was just absent for the final part of the game and he had no lines and wasn't even in the cutscenes at the dock lol. Not even in the background!

After Moonrise Towers when everyone is hanging out in the Tower, Halsin is standing next to Thaniel. Whenever I went back to my camp, Halsin wasn't there! In order to make sure he didn't get left behind when I moved to Act 3, I had to ask him to join my party, go to camp, and then kick him out of my party for him to stay in camp instead of being in Moonrose Towers

Also idk if this is a bug or just a weird choice but Karlach's death was offscreen? At the end after defeating the Netherbrain, Gale was like "hey where is Karlach?" and there was a narration saying she didn't have much time and then nothing ever again lol. So I guess me saying I'd be there when she died was a lie?! Maybe it would have been different if she was in my party when we killed the Netherbrain, idk.

I was also expecting to actually be at the party post-Netherbrain. Jaheira was like "hey let's have a party after saving the world" and I was like "yeah dude" thinking it'd be like Dragon Age Origins postgame where you can just go talk to your companions one last time and see what they plan to do next but instead there was just credits after my final romance scene with Gale lol. Like idk if that is a bug or a ~feature~ but I found it sad I didn't get to talk to everyone one last time :( Even in the original 2 Baldur's Gate games they had a little epilogue saying what everyone did, I miss that closure!

Idk I still love the game, I still think it's amazing, I'm very glad they're sending out hotfixes left and right and I look forward to playing it again once it's been patched up a little bit better in Act 3

[dustdeepsea]

BG3 patch 5 finally released on mac today

I played all of the epilogue and it feels so bittersweet. I'm so happy for all of the stories we got.

I did this with Rin, my first playthrough character (Drow monk who romanced Astarion) and it was intense, even though I had put aside that character more than 100 hours ago.

(rambly thoughts/spoilers below the cut)

I wanted to hug illithid!Karlach, but alas. (Dammon's hopeful note still shows up for her in the chest, which is something?)

Wyll became a Ranger instead of a Warlock! That's so perfect for him. But I couldn't hug him, maybe because I turned his romance down? :(

Shadowheart mellowed out so much, and became so open and sweet. I am romancing her on my second playthrough, and I know I'm going to weep buckets when I play this epilogue the second time.

I've gone through an entire arc of obsessing over Astarion, so I felt quite alright when I interacted with him. He is so sweet and beautiful; I understand why people can't bear not to romance him every iteration.

Halsin is still bigger than me, even with my larger-framed body. This man is massive!! His hugs must feel amazing.

Gale became a professor at Blackstaff Academy, and we're going to visit as a guest lecturer :3

Jaheria and Minsc are as sassy and loveable as ever. Jaheira also confirmed that the Upper City is basically reconstructed from the rubble in six months lol

As a writer, I'm secretly cheering some of the choices I made while penning my post-game fic and bemoaning others.

But most of all, as a player, I'm just really glad I got to have this experience with all these characters one more time. I feel like I have closure now.

Thank you, Larian <3 <3