#ASTARION IS THE ONE IN THE CUTSCENE AND NOT MY PALADIN!

[starkspi]

[mintytealfox]

I am doing a run where I am changing everyone's classes to the most opposite class I can think of and BOI is it uncomfortable! this is what I have so far:

Astarion: Paladin Gale: Barbarian Wyll: Cleric Karlach: Rogue

I am still trying to decide for Shadowheart and Lae'zel

but my current team is with the three bois and I am just loosing my mind

-We accidentally broke Astarion's oath in like 5 minutes and he sounded so SAD "something is wrong. I feel like I've...lost..something" I have never reloaded so fast in my life. He must continue on this path and I must hear more about his fascination with being the one who does healing every now and then, and him finding it as a novel thing/concept (but we did check out the oath breaker thing and its likely a glitch but his eyes were a light feint blue during that cutscene- talking to the oathbreaker- I was choking on air)

-Then there is GALE with him trying to rawr and be scary but its just not translating very well lol

-Wyll is just chillin lol when he heals he is YELLIN some of those spells lol

[sky-kiss]

Okay, your OC is a love interest, what does their first romance cutscene look like?

A/N: Sassy, this is such an amazing question. I hope it’s alright that I did it for my three main idiots (I have another, but he’s just an old man for Jaheira lol). 

Scrungus: (Cowboy lizard)

Being an Oath of Redemption paladin, Scrungus isn’t overly romantic. He’s very kind, but he’s more focused on the wellbeing of the group. The incident with the goblins leaves him a little down, so he’s melancholy post party. The PC has to seek him out. He gives you a little smile, tips his head. If you offer him wine, he politely declines. 

“Had to be done. Couldn’t have ‘em running along the coast, know that. Still…ain’t sitting right. Coulda done more. Shoulda, I reckon.” 

If you mention you would have liked to dance at the party: “Would have been good to see…ain’t much point killin’ if you’re not enjoy living.” 

If you ask him if he knows how to dance, or would have danced with you, he gives you a little grin. Yeah, he picked it up somewhere along the line. In a little village, years back, after a fight just like this. Used to be pretty good. But don’t hold him to it. He’d hate to step on your toes. 

If you point out that the goblins and the Absolute left you no choice: 

He agrees, but finds it unfortunate. Worse folks have turned their back on evil. 

If you go to hold his hand, he chuckles and moves it away. 

No offense meant, but he’s got one responsibility. Gotta see you through the city. No use muddling things. 

You spend the night talking about your past, his, maybe he tells you a story about some absurd devil or demon he talked round to redemption. It’s ridiculous. He lets the PC lean against his shoulder and doesn’t move them when they doze off against his chest. 

Evoi: (Evil, evil, evil AU!Joi; it’s early, and she’s…untempered) 

Goblin-party only. She’s turned on by the stink of carnage and the way you looked while slaughtering the Grove. She makes this very evident, very early into the party, sidling up to the PC, nosing their throat. 

Blood-slick, hunter-kin—soak in carnage, baptize her in your sweet cries. 

She’s going to fuck you. Consent is optional, sorry. Will lick every drop of blood off your character. It’s a lot of kissing and biting. Going to absolutely devour/go down on the PC. You’re her pet now (and she’s obsessive, crazy, generally the worst). 

Joi: (Amnesia Girl)

Joi still has no idea what’s going on or who she is at this point. The scene will have more variance compared to the above, based largely on player input. Most of  her reactions are going to be emulating the PC’s drive. I.e if you’re interested in talking, she’ll be softer and happily talk, but consistently direct the conversation away from her. If the PC is more forward and wants sex, she’ll fall back into that role. 

Is likely very similar to Astarion in that she’s unsure she wants to have sex at that point, but it feels natural, normal, and a way to like…establish rapport. And since she has nothing personal to offer, why not sex? It’s the best she can do. 

If the PC opts to take things more slowly, she’s comforted. Wants to hold the PC’s hand or sit in their lap/beside them. She’s naturally very physical, and the slow!route still reflects that. If the PC asks whether she enjoyed the party, Joi is puzzled and admits that she doesn’t know. Saving the tieflings felt strange, almost wrong, but she likes it. 

Platonic/Slowburn route: Joi asks your PC to tell her about their life, stroking their hair. She thanks the PC for sharing and kisses them. 

Sex route: Joi is enthusiastic, but distant. Leads the encounter, focused on pleasuring PC. The morning after, she is more conflicted and admits she did not sleep well.

[windwithinmyveins]

Romance Guide [Changeling]

Looking to romance Ceres in Baldur's Gate 3 [RP]? Our comprehensive Ceres Sex and Romance Guide has you covered with a detailed list of all Ceres approvals and disapprovals, as well as how to get all Ceres romance encounters throughout Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3 in BG3 [RP].

To initiate a romantic encounter with Ceres in Baldur's Gate 3, it's crucial to advance in the game first. Additionally, it's highly important to consider Ceres approval when making decisions. Various instances in the story and moments at the campsite with Ceres can shape her perception of you. A negative relationship might result in her losing interest in you during crucial moments.

How and where to recruit them.

Ceres can be located in the same prison as Halsin, both of whom are potential allies in Baldur's Gate III. Upon rescuing Halsin, Ceres will join the battle alongside him.

Recruitment Options: There are two distinct paths to recruit Ceres into your party, depending on your alignment and choices within the game.

Good Recruitment: If you opt for the good path, after saving Halsin, you'll trigger a special cutscene with Ceres. Following the initial Tadpole Mindmelding scene, you'll have the opportunity to recruit her. Additionally, having Ceres in your group provides a bonus of +10 for every Leader in the Goblin Camp you defeat while she is accompanying you. This boosts your chances of unlocking the rare romance option with her

Evil Recruitment: Should your character's alignment lean towards the darker side, you can recruit Ceres through a more aggressive approach. If Halsin becomes your adversary, Ceres will follow suit. In this scenario, you'll need to knock out Ceres. After a long rest, you'll encounter her again in the prison cell of the Githyanki creche, where she is on the brink of execution. Interrupt this process and pass an Intimidation Check to coerce her into joining your cause.

Ceres Approval and Disapproval Guide

Ceres, your almost most self-indulgent party member, she follows her spontaneous desires and sets her own rhythm.Ceres takes pleasure in indulging in life's finer aspects and seeking adrenaline rushes. She frowns upon senseless acts of murder but appreciates helping children and enjoys being flattered. Ceres is an ideal party member for those embracing a less conventional approach to life and are comfortable matching the pace she sets.

In light of this, here's a breakdown of Ceres preferences and dislikes.

Ceres Approval List

Flattery and admiration for her cunning skills.

Loyalty among friends and allies.

Seeking justice for the oppressed and marginalized.

A good sense of humor and wit.

Stealthy and efficient infiltration techniques.

Appreciation for anything music related.

Respect for personal autonomy and freedom.

Displaying vulnerability.

Ceres Disapproval List

Needless violence and harm to innocent bystanders.

Unnecessary collateral damage.

Betrayal or disloyalty within the team.

Overly serious or rigid personalities.

Maintaining high approval with Ceres proves challenging for characters aligned with evil tendencies. Nevertheless, specific early-game choices can effortlessly earn her favor.

Approval changes the nicknames they use for you

Very low: Sidekick

Low: Partner in crime

Neutral: Playmate

Medium: Honey

High: kindred spirit

Very High: Babygirl (Genderneutral)

Exceptional: My sun, moon and stars (Genderneutral)

How to Romance them in Act 1

To unlock the Romance route, you need to have at least +20 points and she must be the first one you approach at the festival.

If you did not have any Leader left over to kill with her, you get relationship points by the following choices:

Let Astarion kill the Gur [+5]

Accept the Hags deal [+5]

Destroy the staff of Mayrina [+5]

Help Karlach kill the Paladins [+5]

Open the door of the barn [+2]

Recruit Scratch and the Owlbear cub gives additionally [+2]

You'll find them sitting next on the log, if the tree log is destroyed the romance will be bugged out and you cannot approach them.

After +20 points you will get a special cutscene of waking up to weird animal screen, upon checking you see Astarion hovering dangerously but distraught over Ceres, both bloodied. According to Astarion he hunt a fox, and upon catching it, it turned out to be Ceres. They will admit that they are a Changeling. This will unlock additionally skills in the battle [Fox, for traveling of smaller holes or distracting the enemy & Tae for a strength build, will reset after a long rest]

The Tiefling party

"You saved not only Halsin and me, but also all this refugees. You are truly extraordinaire."

It was the right thing to do. [Ceres 1] "Don't humble yourself, everyone here is to celebrate you!"

If I'd knew you were there I would have come sooner. [Ceres 5] "Bold, we barely know each other, but I may be willed to fix that."

I just want to get rid of the Tadpole. [Ceres -1] "Well, at least you are honest." [This will cancel the Romance]

“So many suitors around our hero, and yet, here you are. I see the glances of [Companion with highest or second highest approval] pining for you for days. If you feel the same, you should not wait any longer, who knows how long we have to live?”

But I want to be with you. [Ceres 5] “Being with me? [Nickname of approval], I’m like a shooting star in the vast darkness, here one moment, gone the next. Better make a wish while you can.”

Are you trying to get rid of me? [Ceres 5] “Get rid of you? Oh, darling, I’m like a firework on a festival night. Bright, dazzling, but you wouldn’t keep it in your pocket, would you?”

Really? Thank you for telling me. Have a nice night. [Ceres 10] “Of course, anything for my [Nickname of approval]. Have a pleasant night. Let’s cherish the moments we share, even if they don’t follow the expected script.” [This will cancel the Romance]

“But fine, when you are this persistent, we will meet when everyone went to sleep.”

If she wasn’t the first companion you approached

“You did great work out there, enjoy your night [Nickname of your approval rate].”

If the companion with the lowest approval rate is not taken: “I will hang out with [Companion], we all deserve a party.”

If Ceres is the one with the lowest approval rate: “Everything as it should be.”

Go back to your bedroll and engage with it to make a decision regarding whether to sleep alone or with Ceres, if you want the cutscene to be played with Tae make sure to use the skill first for them to change into him. Opt for Ceres, triggering a conversation that precedes an an intimate scene with her.

“Hey you came! I hope you can dance. And if not that will be fun nontheless”

Oh, I thought we sleep together “Dancing, sex – it’s all a grand performance, isn’t it? My mistake, but hey, let’s make tonight a spectacle to remember, regardless of the stage we find ourselves on.” [Will cut to the Sexscene]

And the music? [Ceres 5] [Ceres will wind up a music box playing ‘Down by the river’] “Ready for a dance under the stars?” [There will be a dance] -> “I did enjoy this, thank you.” Do you plan on stopping here? -> “Certainly not.” [Starts the sex scene] So did I, thank you. -> “You are welcome.”

This was a mistake. [Ceres -30] [Ceres looks first shocked, then smiles before the screen fades to black] [This will cancel the romance and starts the [Trauma] Route ]

Read here for Act 2

[moonvigilant]

i think it has been long enough so i can say this, bg3 ending spoilers ahead

bg3 only has one (1) ending, every other 'ending' is just non-standard gameover

and the 'evil' playthrough isn't complete as well

the one (1) ending is where you tell the netherbrain to commit die, and the gate prevails once more, if you try to do anything else you get:

try to take the brain for yourself and conquer the world? illithid gamer chair, fade to black

same as 1 but you do it for bhaal instead? illithid gamer chair, fade to black

try to save the world but you didn't resist bhaal? well too fucking bad he takes over regardless of of your choices, and there's four of them, first three will result in him taking your body, which doesn't even work in the cutscene because right after he does the game cuts to you rushing to karlach LMAO

4. 4th choice will let you kill yourself before bhaal could take over, which honestly goes pretty hard i won't lie i just wish it lasted more than 20 seconds

every other 'variance' is not even part of the ending to the actual 'plot', they are character endings i.e. lae'zel going to war w vlaakith or not, sending wyll and karlach both to avernus, etc

this is why i was also thinking they just didn't cook 'evil' playthrough enough because if you are evil most choices actually don't matter

unless i've missed something, which i very much could have, when i killed isobel (through killing aylin) i couldn't find jaheira anywhere, not even a body, the game implies that she's '''''retired''''' instead of killed off so i assumed i could find her in act 3? nope just literally nothing, friend who was watching me play was confused as well

and from what i've heard minthara doesn't even have her own personal quest, unlike halsin, which is bonkers, i don't even like her but i hope all minthara enjoyers out there get what they want

volo criticizes you for being awful and then... just peaces out, never to be seen again

i will give them that if you are a paladin durge, sarevok actually makes a comment on it

and of course the interaction with helsik in general

it's upsetting that they imply ascendant astarion could make a difference, but of course it doesn't

and then allying with gortash also makes no difference my guy just gets snapped regardless

idk, if i have to put how i feel about an evil playthrough in an easy way, it would be "it's unserious" because it is lmao they clearly are trying to nudge you into being 'good' which is fine and all but i just wish being 'bad' made more sense without the game trying to guilt trip you back into being 'good' because even with my complains i still had a lot of fun, just wish they have real 'alternate' endings

end rant, i just wanted to get this out of my system

and maybe we will have a proper durgetash ending in bg3 definitive edition *gets shot*

[avionvadion]

Because I forgot to Update ya'll on my DURGE playthrough...

MASSIVE DARK URGE SPOILERS BELOW

So, for context, Kai'mana was romancing both Astarion and Shadowheart, and to get a certain Durge cutscene with Astarion I needed to break things off with Shadowheart. The game would not let me. So I had to YEET Shadowheart into a chasm to kill her, so Astarion would show up instead, and that triggered the break up conversation with Shadowheart so Kai'mana could officially date Astarion.

It was, uh... an experience.

Astarion, stoooop. My heart. T_T Anyways, I couldn't pass up on that pun. I had to.

Ooookaaay. Good luck with that.

I can't believe Kai'mana actually drank this dude to death. What a queen. Astra could never. And by that I mean she would have refused to drink and would have just slaughtered the guy with magic. She's a queen in her own right.

GODS, I LOVE HER GLOWY EYE. Almost makes me regret letting Volo pluck out the other.

Baby girl needs her beauty sleep.

Whaaaat the fuckkkkkk-

I was so prepared to use Speak to Dead after the battle. I was so READY to get some answers.

But I didn't quick save before the battle, and the bitch incinerated herself as she attacked Kai'mana. Like. Excuse me???

I was SO mad.

Anyways. Killed Big Bad Number One.

Went on to Act 3.

Currently waiting for more game updates before actually starting Act 3. So, therefore... in the meantime...

Guess who's doing another Astra playthrough!???

But this time as Astra properly now that I've got her backstory and stuff figured out? :3 Alongside my Astarion Origin playthrough, my Barbarian Githyanki, and my Vengeance Paladin Deepgnome?

[mercy-mercie-mercymorn]

TAVS.

bg3 spoilers ahead!

aurora (gold dragonborn cleric of mielikki) grew up in the woods, far away from the city. she likes animals and once spent three days chasing a unicorn, just to see what it did. on a diplomatic trip to stop logging that was infringing on a grove once considered sacred to mielikki, she got abducted. pokey sticks and fire breath quickly proved to be the best way to make her way through her new life. on the way she fell head over heels for the two dumbasses who got fucked by the Hells. so they decided to start saving people, hunting things. and now it's wyll and wyll's wife aurora and aurora's wife karlach's family business. yay hell polycule!

(aurora is the reason i call wyll my wife. he's just. my wife <3)

kassandra (seladrine drow warlock) has never been to the underdark. she has a cousin there, on her mom's side, maybe? she grew up in baldur's gate and made a career for herself as a shrewd businesswoman (she makes jewelry; that's how she got warlockéd). using people's impressions of drow against them is like her primary skill and it works surprisingly often despite the fact that she is 5'3" on a good day and has the face of a disney princess. she also has the animal skills of one. aurora is steve irwin, kassandra is cinderella. karlach and kassandra were instant besties, which evolved in the sapphic tradition of "surely she doesn't mean it like that haha" until kassandra just straight up said she wanted to make out with karlach.

(i haven't finished her playthrough yet because i'm afraid teehee)

winter (avariel [mod, winged elf] bard) is your manic pixie dream girl. i stole her name and most of her appearance from Winter The Lunar Chronicles because i am a silly little criminal. winter has never met a problem she could not make marvel-esque quips at, much to shadowheart's eternal chagrin. desperately wants karlach to teach her that silly tiktok dance she's always doin So Bad. her adventure is a very strange change of pace for her because she was previously a tavern waitress/occasional entertainer when there was literally no other option. as such, she does not know how to use weapons really at all and makes everyone else protect her (insert pleading face emoji). anyways, she's the golden retriever gf to shart's black cat gf.

(her wings get in the way of every cutscene but i still love her)

marie (human durge paladin) is like if tinkaton was a person. she hates the murderhobo ps5 in her brain and loves weird little guys (gale). voted most likely to cry at dog food commercials. i really haven't played much of her, so i haven't decided on much backstory for her.

(i just think she's a little funny)

the one that only sort of counts.

cynthia (tiefling wild magic sorcerer) is literally just my OC who got isekaid to faerun. the only people who know this are the """dream guardian""", the gods, and the three dipshits and their lame goddess. she's there to cause problems and live up to her old nickname: Godkiller. her fake persona, Lady Cynthia Tav, is from a little town on the coast and enjoys the finer things in life. her most fervent desire is to have a spray bottle so she can get astarion to stop that (at any given moment, "that" ranges from mild horniness to wanting to violently murder people). she is beginning to understand what it was like for her brother to raise her.

(don't have many pics of her, but she's the most frequent subject of my drawings)

there's a bunch of more in my notebook that i doodle in while playing

[fuzzy-set]

The paladin experience in bg3 is very funny, because the fights are like:

Ketheric: I am the Chosen of Myrkul, the undying champion, the tyrant of Moonrise tower!

My paladin, a random tiefling with a tadpole in his head: *proceeded to hit him 4 times/round with Haste*

Ketheric: *immediately downed, had to escape with cutscene*

Then in the mindflayer colony, the avatar of Myrkul appeared, and got one shot again by my paladin 🤣

The various githyanki troops sent by Vlaakith felt like nothing, and I think my paladin had killed two avatars in act 2 alone. Then in act 3, when I saw Viconia I was like "oh crap, this one gotta be tough", but then my paladin just smote her down in one turn. (After that my paladin broke his oath by letting her go... Well, this is more of a player-choice, because she's my Bhaalspawn's wife and I won't kill her, no matter what.)

At this point I am convinced that my paladin is half a god lol

Edit: just fought cazador, and after his grand proclamation of his power, he was immediately killed by my paladin with 4 divine smites. Then in the second round Shadowheart cast flame strike while gale upcast fireball to finish off the rest...

Astarion got captured and then immediately released lmao, but he didn't even do anything before the fight concluded. Man cleric + wizard + paladin combo is super strong.

[mypunkpansexualtwin]

the bg3 ask, any 4 odd numbers you wanna do for your tav. :) <3

You're the best, and you're getting more Maya (partly because she's reclaimed the little throne in my brain, partly because she's the only one I've finished Act 1 with.)

Anyone else wants to shoot some my way or reblog it for themselves, here's a link!

5) Do you remember the first humanoid enemy your Character killed? Was it the first person they've ever killed, in your opinion? Would they have been bothered by it?

The group of de-coma-tized and very angry for it cultists on the nautiloid where you find Shadowheart would be the first ones in-game. As far as the first person Maya ever killed? Ha. No. I've got her backstory hammered out now and even if she wasn't a Dark Urge character, she's still a vengeance paladin. She's definitely done some killing in her time. That said, with the memory loss and capacity for guilt having been restored to her, yeah she felt a little bad for having to kill a bunch of mind-controlled people who got pissed off when she pushed a button she couldn't read.

17) What does your Character think of Withers?

Not the first friendly undead in her merry little band of misfits, and at least he bites less than Astarion. Was definitely expecting some kind of Mysterious Magical Benefactor like in a fairy tale after he made a point of "we will meet again at the fated time" or whatever. Definitely didn't expect to find him bumming around in camp like everyone else three hours later. Frustrated after the Alfira thing, but that's on whatever the fuck is going on with her head, not on him. Has a half-joking theory on who he actually is. That seems a lot less jokey as time has gone on in act 3.

27) Who ended up in your Character's most used party?

Shadowheart, because Maya's a vengeance paladin, not a devotion paladin. She can heal, but she's better as a backup. Shadowheart's pulled their asses out of the fire more times than she can count. Karlach is in second place because it's nice to have someone who can dish out significant amounts of damage that can also tank while Maya patches herself up after picking and holding a fight with everything in a half mile radius. Also because Gay. Third slot had pretty much an equal rotation between everyone else, usually with Astarion or Gale because range. When Karlach wasn't in the group, it was Lae'zel for the same reasons, just marginally less Gay.

31) Does your Character have new or old phobias or superstitions that affect their story?

Again, the amnesia has definitely been a factor as far as old phobias, but dealing with the Duergar down in the Underdark sets her teeth on edge when they start swinging those whipping canes around. The sound of them makes her jump and the Urge rears its head pretty hard, almost defensively, when that happens. Siccing herself on them is about the only time she didn't feel bad indulging it. Speaking of Just Dark Urge Things, she's got a new paranoia about lingering too hard on impulsive or intrusive thoughts, or really even falling asleep at this point. When she has to sleep, it's under the influence of an ungodly amount of alcohol just to make sure that she either stays down or is too impaired to be a danger to anyone if she has another, different flavor of blackout. She was also too scared to pet Scratch or Baby for days after zoning out and punting a squirrel so hard it exploded. (And by she I mean me. There was no warning on that cutscene, I saved every time I interacted with them pretty much all the way through the rest of act 1 and into the start of act 3.)

[pheonyxian]

Baldur's Gate 3: Sexless Any% Part 2

Part 1

Updated our old friend ratings and made three new ones! Including one that I know you animals have been not normal about.

Shadowheart: Basically the same, keep learning bits and pieces about her backstory, and she asks me not to pry, and I don't. Her dialog menu is literally full of shit like "We should talk about [thing you expressly told me not to talk about multiple times]" and "We should get to know each other better" and "I'm offended you kept secrets from me, a guy you've only known for five days." 2/10 literally nothing's changed.

Gale: Remember when I said I shamelessly like charismatic male characters who use charm to hide their dark secrets? Addendum: They have to do it for the *aesthetic.* The inner turmoil. Gale does it for profit. I'm offended. He said if I don't feed him expensive magical artifacts then the world is going to end. Not gonna lie I want to deny him any and all magical artifacts just to see if he explodes. 1/10 definitely sold essential oils in the past.

Astarion: We agreed that last night meant nothing and he was free to explore other necks, especially the bandits and paladins that try to kill us. Which actually unlocked a feature that allows him to drain HP from any living creature as a bonus action and gain +1 to skill checks. So remind me to play a vampire in my next DnD game. Regardless, now that we're just good friends we opened up about our lack of previous vampiric partners and gossiped about which companions would be a good drink and told each other our faces are pretty and other completely platonic things. 7/10 played bite/marry/kill with the other companions.

Lae'zel: I was supposed to recruit Lae'zel like, immediately after recruiting Shadowheart, but I was an idiot and walked right past her cutscene trigger. Thankfully six hours later I figured I really should have seen her by now and backtracked. Her first impression is very rough but talk to her a bit and turns out she can fight AND is well read AND literally gains influence with practically every action I do. Only issue is her one track mind to go to something called a creche and be "purified" of the mind flayer parasites, which is definitely not going to be some Logan's Run/The Island shit. 8/10 Not looking to avoid spoilers but you KNOW the fanbase underrates her.

Wyll: I heard someone describe Wyll as "main character energy" and yeah that's it. Go look up his intro cutscene if you haven't seen it. 6/10 have seen the thing with his patron and Karlach but honestly still too early to tell.

Karlach: Valid. 10/10

[panigamermauser]

I just made myself very sad by thinking about Tav and how much of non-character they are.

Rant under the cut

It is as if Tav are an afterthought.

Playing as companions or Durge gets you every single bit of the content Tav gets and a lot more on top of it. Why did they even bother with Tav? Should have made Durge the default. No one would be surprised, as you were a Bhaalspawn in first two games too.

Why have all the [BALDURIAN] dialogue lines if Tav never ever existed in Baldur's Gate? There's not a single NPC that knows them. Not a single note about them, or a letter that mentions them, or even a banter of 'I used to live here'.

Like, it fits Durge, Astarion and Shadowheart. And they HAVE plenty of content in the city. Karlach was gone for decades and people still remember her.

Tav was gone for couple of weeks at most, and suddenly it is as if they never existed. They are a ghost and they are irrelevant to the plot.

At first I thought that being a Baldurian is Tav's special thing. Like companions' special backstories flashbacks or Durge being Bhaalspawn.

You get to talk about it first two acts of the game, so I assumed you get some special little cutscenes when you come home. But no, your DOG gets more of special content than your Tav.

You can recommend a tavern you like to tieflings in the grove. So why no one knows Tav in the tavern they ~supposedly~ frequent?

Imo, if they never bothered to write Tav into the world, they should have removed all the [BALDURIAN] options from dialogues. Either give in-game content for Baldurian!Tav or make them outsiders who never saw the city for themselves. I do not know about you, but l do not want to be a Schoroedinger Baldurian. Just fucking remove the option if you're not doing anything with it.

I explored every building in the city. Talked to every NPC that is talkable. Read every single letter in every mailbox. So it is very unlikely I am missing things three quests before the end.

And do not start with 'you get to come up with your own backstory'. In Dragon Age having main character to actually exist in the world never stopped anyone from elaborate backstories for their Wardens, Hawkes and Inquisitors.

Was it so hard to add a couple of NPCs that show up if you consistently choose [BALDURIAN] dialogue options in first two acts? Cannot companions ask what happened to the place you used to live at, where are your friends and family?

It would be better if they cut off the whole Tav thing and used the resources to make a better ending at this point.

Being Durge does not limit you on classes, or other options, after all. You still get to come up with backstory of how they ended up being a paladin or a warlock or a cleric or a druid despite being a Bhaalspawn. You still can romance every companion. You can make exactly the same choices. Durge is literally Tav+. Same shit, but with more content.

So why even bother with Tav at this point? Add to it being a silent protag and your typical Larian ending to the game... I really wish I chose Durge as my main char now. At least the game cares about Durge before its lackluster ending. Tav gets nothing.

Companion Protags and Durge get their personal plots wrapped up, with all other companions having something to say about it. But not Tav. My Tav cares for everyone in this game. Yet no one gives a single shit about Tav. And I'm just sad about it. And need to get this off my chest.

Rant over

[flowersdaggersviolasandblood]

Blood, Flesh, and Tears

Name: Torment (He/Him)

Race: Zariel Tiefling

Class: Paladin (Oath of Vengence)

Background: Haunted One

Next is Torment, and I stayed up nearly all night a few days ago to get this boy past the Ketheric boss fight. Not because the fight was difficult. Compared to Pero, Torment had all sorts of resources packed in his 18 STR inventory that it was a breeze to get past the first fight on the ground floor and rush to the first phase of Ketheric's fight.

Before fighting him, because Torment was able to explore the tower a bit, I had the options to try to persuade him. There was one with intimidation where he could've threatened Ketheric to stand down, but I decided to use the persuasion check where Torment tries to cater to Ketheric's love for his wife, Melodia, and remind Ketheric of what she would've wanted for him. Now, because Ketheric is still a boss character, we still fought him, but you can definitely see some sort of guilt and remorse from him. Regardless, we threw hands and he bounced.

After phase one, we jump into the mystery flesh, this time with Halsin, Astarion, and Wyll in tow. This time around, Torment just went on a rampage against the roaming intellect devourers. I also missed a room when I did my first run with Pero. As I said before, I didn't stick around in the boss room was Pero because I was naked & afraid. This time around, I was a bit more thorough with my search in this small place and discovered a puzzle!

So there's this door that shows the cave depictions of the Mindflayer's Grand Design that we saw in the reveal trailer for BG3 all the way back then. But to access this area, we gotta reconnect the Memory, Reason, Emotion, and Speech components to unlock the door. It was a pretty challenging puzzle and it took a few times to get it right. Afterwards, because Torment didn't meet Omeluum the Friendly Mindflayer, this pretty much informs us of the Great Design; a worldview where the Mindflayers enslave every race across the cosmos under one mind.

As I mentioned before, during and after the boss fight pretty much serves as a exposition dump for those who missed some content that explains and hints at the Absolute or didn't read the notes littered about the game. Another thing too, I decided to look at the brains that we can have the talking head speak the memories of. We gained a brain of a sleepy child, a tragic fate as they were around during the beginning cutscene of the game when Baldur's Gate was being attacked. We also gained the brain of a Githzerai, a subrace of Gith who believe that fighting the Mindflayers should involve using psionic techniques.

They asked that we destroy their brain, freeing them from their mental torment of being aware of their state of being. In return, they gave us a condition that helped with intelligence and wisdom saves, but we were a susceptible to mental damage.

While down here, we fought Kressa and her Myrkulite crew, but this time around, there's another person who is familiar with Torment and his past. She was surprised to see Torment again, believe that he had died some time ago. Torment was able to pretend to act dumb in front of her, which expelled a few more information from her. Apparently, she contributed to shaping Torment into who he was, but now really the source of it. It's also revealed that Torment has had the tadpole in his head long before entering the nautiloid. We even found the very pod that Torment remembers bashing his head against until he escaped with a bleeding head.

After saving Zevlor, the Flaming Fists, Mizora, and killing everything there, we descended towards the boss room. This time around, because we had Wyll in tow, he called out to his infected father as Orin placed a parasite in his head and bamf-ed away with Duke Ravenguard and Gortash. When we faced Ketheric again, Torment tried again with trying to persuade Ketheric Thorm that he can change for the better.

Now, this might seem out of character for Torment, as the last time he fought some big players (the Goblin Leaders back at ACT 1), he rarely cared to even speak to them. However, being that these three are the big influencers of the Absolute, Torment wanted Ketheric alive long enough and to potentially learn of his past through the General. However, what ends up happening is that homeboy decides to end himself lmao. We skip the 2nd phase of the Ketheric fight and go straight into the Apostle of Myrkul fight. Even ended with a climatic kill as Torment divine strikes the dead bastard after he downed Halsin.

After speaking with our Dream Guardian, we returned to the surface. After speaking with Withers, we get a cute moment where Dame and Isobel are reunited. I might as well mention their whole deal here because we learn a lot more about the two at camp. Long ago, a servant of Selune, Dame Aylin, came to Rethwin and it was love at first sight. Her father, Ketheric didn't approve of their relationship, which Isobel chalked it up to the fact that Dame was an Aasimar, and thus, immortal.

However, her memories are missing as she remembered dying, but not remembering the cause of it. She then remember sitting in her own grave with her father horribly changed, running from him out of fear and confusion. She hid out in Last Light Inn, which is where she would eventually be founded by Jaheira and her Harpers. Isobel was fearful of her father finding out where she went, so she lied about her history and told no one of her story.

While at camp, Torment confronted Wyll about his contract with Mizora and why he partook in such a deal. We learn that Wyll and his father were around during the events of the D&D 5th Edition: Rise of Tiamat adventure module! To go through the context of that adventure, you and your party are to uncover and stop of cult from summoning Tiamat, the evil dragon goddess of evil dragons, and bringing her hellish carnage into Faerun. I actually played a bastardized version of the game by a asshole DM :).

Wyll was place in charge of his own personal army as his father dealt with other matters, leaving his young son to a handful duty. As he crew was being swarmed and assaulted by the cultists of Tiamat, that's when Mizora decided to step in, promising power and Baldur's Gate protection. Of course, being placed in a tight spot and a wall, Wyll accepted the deal. However, when he returned back to his father, with Mizora in tow, he was banished by his father. Whatever grudge Wyll may have about his father, it will not matter as his father is now a pawn in the Absolute's game, and it will be time that we save him sooner than later.

Thanks to the fact that we were able to do Halsin's quest, Thaniel thanks us for saving him and promises that a reward will be granted Torment down the line. As we leave the Cursed Lands, the sun finally shines upon the land as a giant tree presents itself to the healing land.

As you can tell, I went ahead just a bit further as I was intrigued to see what the sight of Baldur's Gate would look like. And we are given a marvelous view. While at our new campsite, Torment spoke with Karlach as she expressed her anger about Gortash being in khaoots with the Absolute and plotting it all along. She then expresses that she's heating back up again, needing to see Dammon again about her condition before she pops. We then spoke with Astarion as he laments about the Ritual of Profane Ascension, showing hints of envy and grand desire to ascend himself. Torment expresses concern about doing so, but he's not a Vengeance Paladin for nothing.

Torment took this oath to defeat villains and to avenge the weak who suffered due to the disgusting deeds of those with more power. Torment understands and is sympathetic to Astarion wanting to ascend in place of his master, however, Torment is unsure if he'll choose Astarion over a few souls.

Before ending this chapter in Torment's story, 2 interesting things happen. One involves Gortash and Orin as she disguised herself as a Flaming Fist as she informs her colleague that a massive earthquake as damaged portions of the city that stutters their plans.

As Torment laid below the stars, he contemplates on what he would do if he were to wrestle control of the Elder Brain, which we are given a bunch of options. Some evil, others good. I picked the option where Torment essentially goes, "We'll talk about it when we cross that bridge." But before he can even get a good nights rest, we are ambushed by Githyanki!

[boghermit]

cazador didn't last 1 round when i got to him. i'd just reached level 12 in the previous combat encounter in his palace. my oathbreaker paladin hit him twice. lae'zel was a fighter with advanced extra attack and a potion of speed. i think she hit him 5 times? it wasn't the full 7 she could've anyway. he was paste.

I honestly had to turn the game difficulty down but that was solely because I RUSHED to that quest at full speed, underleveled, with very little strategy in mind. I had my Durge, who is a bard and....mostly useless...there was Astarion, who was SLIGHTLY less useless, then Shadowheart and Lae'zel. Shadowheart used her once-per-game cleric atom bomb and just disintegrated everything on the platform (besides Cazador) and it was so ridiculous that I doubled over laughing at it. Then Cazador kept spamming sleep on Lae'zel because he knew his ass was grass the second she got in range of him. (I'm pretty sure she was the one eventually just melted him.) I'd love to see how easily he goes down when I fight him at the proper intended level.

Worth it though. That whole cutscene after...I'm still in awe. I've played hundreds of video games but it's very rare that a game just leaves me slack jawed, especially wrt actor performance and voice acting. The only other game that comes close is Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

[flowersdaggersviolasandblood]

Blood, Flesh, and Tears // Assassin with a Heart of Gold

Name: Torment (He/Him)

Race: Zariel Tiefling

Class: Paladin (Oath of Vengence)

Background: Haunted One

-

Name: Admaer Daeneiros (He/Him)

Race: High Elf

Class: Rogue (Assassin)

Background: Criminal

WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD

Ayo, it's been a minute. Due to work, life, and other stuff, I've taken a long while break from the game due to the exhaustion. So I haven't gotten far with my bbys. So much so that for Torment, I didn't have enough, I feel to make a stand alone post with just him. So, we're gonna combine my two playthroughs with both Admaer and Torment together into one post!

Starting with Torment. Last we left off, we found Balthazar and secretly agreed to help him reach the Nightsong. You know, until I decided "naw, that's wack" and killed him early on anyways. After completing the trials of Shar and gaining access to the Shadowfell, I was very tempted to have Torment stand in Shadowheart's way so that he would have to make the ultimate decision to kill her...But I fucked that up lol. I ended up activating a dialogue tree where I was able to fucking succeed a goddamn DC 30 PERSUASION CHECK on her ass and got her to stay in the party anyways and save the Nightsong. Laughing my fucking ass off on that one homie.

After freeing the Nightsong, since Last Light Inn was still standing, I got to see a cool cutscene where it looks like Jaheira is about to rally the forces to go against Ketheric Thorm and help us in the fight. Torment was able to kinda comfort Shadowheart and while at camp, Torment talked with Lae'zel about the whole "not going to the Githyanki creche thing." Which, she did threaten to leave, but Torment threatened back that she should stay...Which she approved of apparent...Girl you a freak, I can't wait to finally romance her someday lmao.

As Torment was settling in to rest, homeboy, Sceleritas Fel, came to visit again. This time, bearing some very unfortunate news. Presented in front of us was Wyll, the one companion that I have the highest approval ratings with (funnily enough lmao). Because we didn't go after Isobel and kill her, our urge requires blood. It will not wait any longer and it will take what it can get. Despite Torment saying that he won't hurt Wyll, a lot of the choices that I experimented with led to Wyll getting bodied, and unless I lie about the cause of Wyll's death, the whole camp will be against Torment and kill him.

So, with a successful will save to not @ Wyll, Torment hurriedly warns Wyll that he's next on the chopping board and came forward about what happened to Alfira. Torment ended up blacking out, but instead of waking up in a pool of Wyll's blood, he awakens tied up. At this point, Torment is absolutely berserk, not even able to formulate proper and sane sentences (depending on the choice of dialogue you choose, of course). Wyll encourages Torment to fight against the urge and to regain his senses. And with a howl and a snarl, the urge eventually subsides.

Because Torment came forward about killing Alfira, Wyll asks why Torment didn't say something sooner. RP-wise and based on the dialogue option I chose, Torment became overwhelmed with emotions, mainly fear and despair, and simply cried. And honestly, I don't know why my simp ass was overlooking Wyll for Torment's playthrough, because I was immediately smitten by Wyll's promise to work with Torment through his dark urges. I'm honestly pulled in so many different directions with this character XD. First Astarion, then Halsin, and now Wyll!

After getting some encouraging comments from everyone...Except from Astarion, funnily enough. But this is where we will end with Torment and transition over to Admaer.

Moving over to Admaer, I was able to find He Who Was (HWW for short) and accepted the quest to find the guilty ones' confession of their transgression. Now, I already dealt with 2 of the Thorm family and decided to take a quick trip over to Malus and tell him to kill himself. After doing so and picking up the item to continue Halsin's quest, I picked up the book and went running back to HWW. This time around, I wanted to instead verbally call the guilty one so that I didn't harm HWW. This apparently got us onto good terms with him and maybe slightly insinuating that homeboy gets aroused when punishing sinners. HWW leaves us, but with the promise that we'll see him again.

As for Halsin, I was able to more successfully keep his ass out of the Shadowfell and went on a trip to find Thaniel's missing half, Oliver. This time around, Admaer didn't both playing games with the kid, letting them know right away that the crew knew that they were Thaniel's other half. This initiated combat over at Riethwin and this time around, due to positioning, Lae'zel got caught up in the cutscene. I decided to pick the option that best sounded like Lae'zel, which was harshly telling Oliver to get in the fucking kid.

Once again, we're informed that we gotta get rid of Thorm to fully restore the land. This time around, I'm gonna try to get into the upper levels of Moonrise Towers before going after the Nightsong with Admaer and Nalanthar to see what would happen.

[flowersdaggersviolasandblood]

Blood, Flesh, and Tears

Name: Torment (He/Him)

Race: Zariel Tiefling

Class: Paladin (Oath of Vengence)

Background: Haunted One

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

So after dealing with the homies outside, we now get to deal with the homettes inside. Before going on another senseless violent rampage, decided to pay a few peeps a visit. One, decided to get Torment acquainted with the dommy daddy, Abdirak.

This entire time Torment was in a perpetual state of "this better not awake anything in me." Spoiler alert, it did. Homeboy was spared because of this. Hope we'll get to see this man later in the game. Torment also rescued Liam and mainly wanted to know where Halsin was, not caring much yet about the Nightsong. As we rampaged across the Goblin camp, Tormet started eating some gummy worms and gaining a few Mindflayer powers from them. Torment is still a bit skeptical about doing this, but utilizing these powers might give them an edge against the Absolute cult.

After wrecking house (fuck Dror Ragzlin, that mf was hard as a cock!) Torment was able to free Halsin and gain some knowledge about his reasons for wanting to reach the old temple of Selune. Apparently the cultist are bring innocents to a place called Moonrise Towers where these individuals come out as True Souls. This could be their main base of operation, so infiltrating it will be high priority if they want to find a cure.

Torment agrees to let Halsin bunk with the Party as they go venture through the Underdark to reach Moonrise Towers. During and after the Goblin slaughter, we learned a few new things about Shadowheart. One, we got the lesbian fight between she and Shadowheart and was able to tell the girls to kiss and make up. Two, we learn that Shadowheart has a life desire to be a Dark Justiciar, but her Mother Superior always deemed her unfit for the role. It is also around this time that we even get a cutscene moment of Shadowheart and her earliest childhood memories that she could remember.

With this in mind, Torment is starting to warm up to her, though he's becoming a bit more worried about Shadowhearts' dedication to Shar. Torment isn't going to pretend that he knows everything about the Lady of Darkness, but the allusion to abuse and the fact that her worshippers adopted Shadowheart into their ranks, when they probably would've left her for dead. Torment is careful to not make any hints that he might disapprove of her worship, wanting to hear more of her story and the Shar worshipers before casting his final judgement.

During the Tiefling party, I won the fucking game my guy! Some time ago, Astarion offered to share the night with Torment, which Torment was unsure if he wanted to because the moment he dropped this, it was when he recently killed Alfira and he feared for Astarions' safety. But after the bloodshed he committed, Torment was high on adrenaline and was a bit more susceptible.

Hearing Astarion's declaration of love made Torment's heart stop and he tried to see if the vampire was toying with him. He wouldn't have pegged Astarion as someone would would drop such precious words so suddenly. Torment, in the brief second, couldn't help but doubt these words, but at the same time, he has withdrawn himself from more carnal desires that he was willing to shove his own self doubt and mistrust to enjoy the night with Astarion. This time, not running away from him.

With that merry song and dance out of the way, we're now ready to set our sights on ACT 2, but first, Wyll asks that we take care of the "Devil" that still prowl the road. With the Goblin threat gone, Torment is more than ready to deal with this Karlach. Before going after her, however, Torment gets another visit from his Guardian.

Apparently this Guardian is also infected with a tadpole like the rest of the Party, and they express that the magic that controls these parasites is secreted away with the cultist. No typical healer can alleviate this burden, as removing the parasite any other way will kill Torment. They urge that Torment find the source to this magic and destroy it, for when the Absolute decides that everyone transforms, it won't be a matter of days, but it will be instantaneous.