#I am playing a cleric elf in my other save

[intramoon]

Mina; a acolyte high elf storm sorcerer, for my new playthrough. ♡

[simpcityy]

My Little Spawn Pt.6 (Dadstarion X Child!Reader)

Summary: Astarion was finally free from Cazador after being kidnapped by a mindflayer but he was stuck with one annoying task, you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Baldur's Gate 3 or any of its characters.

Word Count: 960

Warnings: Use of (Y/N), Cazador, language, violence, spoilers for those who haven't gone far in the game, mentions of blood, animal death...Uhhh...I think that is all. MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU AREN'T IN ACT 2 YET.

Author Notes: Hello everyone, another short chapter for this week but next week I am going to focus on the new story I want to publish soon while. Thank you so much for the support! I should be updating the master list with all the links of each chapter. Remember to Reblog and like if you enjoy this series.

You looked at Astarion as the group was having a meeting of what they have done so far. “So we slayed an old hag, killed a Gur, defeated some Gnolls, met a devil and killed other creatures we came across and you still want us to rescue this Halsin guy?” He complained, crossing his arms. “He can be our ticket to curing this tadpole.” Tav stubbornly kept the same plan, recusing Halsin. You tugged at his arm “ Astarion, if we save the mister, we won’t have that yucky worm.” You tried to cheer him up. “See, that’s the spirit little soldier!” Kalarch smiles, “You should listen to them Fangs.”  Astarion only mutters looking down at you before picking you up “ I guess you are right but I won’t be happy if this Halsin can’t do anything. Just wasted time is all. We could’ve been in Baldur’s Gate by now.” He walks off to his tent with you in his arms. 

  How Astarion hated that he was right, after a long brutal battle, Halsin wasn’t any help. He stood at his tent sipping the cheap and awful wine. He wasn’t even in the mood for a celebration. He scanned the camp seeing the tieflings and his odd companions celebrating for taking down the leaders. He turns his head hearing your giggles as Scratch is chasing you around. He turns over to Tav as they walk over. He smirks and puts on an act “You know, I never picture myself as a hero.”

You were by the lake looking out to the moon. Scratch was long gone resting after playing with you. You boredly threw rocks into the lake before looking over hearing something shuffle in the bushes. You walked off into the woods that surround the campsite. There is a sweet scent in the air and you wanted to find out what it is. Getting closer and closer to the sweet smell before a gloved hand grabbed you from behind. Your tadpole was squirming. “Let me go! Astarion” You yelled before the headache got worse before going to a deep sleep. Someone else has had a wiggly worm like yours and made you go into a deep sleep. 

The following morning, Astarion walked back to camp watching Tav head back to their own tent because anyone else wakes up. He walked into his but stopped seeing it empty “Oh Little spawn, where are you?” He hums “Having a sleepover without telling me?” He hums to himself and lays down on the bedroll. He pulls back out the book and continues reading till everyone else wakes up.A couple minutes passed and he heard the shuffling of everyone stirring away. He lets out a chuckle knowing some of them might be hungover. He gets himself changed and walks out seeing everyone but he keeps looking for his little spawn. “Have you seen (Y/N)?” He walks over to the Wizard. Gale looks up “No…last time I saw them was last night playing with Scratch.” He looks around “Maybe she stayed with Shadowheart?” He goes back to cooking breakfast. The pale elf walks over to the Cleric. “No, I haven’t seen her since last night.” Shadowheart says “but maybe that gith might know” She was already pointing fingers. Astarion was slowly panicking, no one knows where the hells you were. He quickly downs a potion of animal speaking and walks over to Scratch. “Where is (Y/N)?” He stood in front of the dog. Scratch tilts his head “(Y/N) was last seen by the lake before I went off to rest?” He begins to sniff the ground and runs into the woods. Astarion follows quickly, and looks around seeing your small footsteps along with larger ones. “No….” He whispers. Scratch barks looking up at him “The scent goes through this path.” He walks off sniffing the ground. Astarion only stood still, his mind wondering who took you. Was there a goblin that they didn’t kill, did another Gur hunter found you? He was brought back down to earth hearing someone calling his name. “Astarion what’s the matter.” Tav walks over with the rest of the group. “(Y/N)...they…they were taken…” He whispers before stabbing his dagger to the tree frowning. “ This…this..is all your fault.” He looks at tav refusing to believe it was his own fault. Pulling back the dagger, he walks off following Scratch who was on your trail. Everyone else watching him walk off, seeing how a few days together alone, you have impacted greatly on his life. 

You were placed in a dark jail cell, the trip was a long one. When you woke up, all you could do was wail and hug yourself. “I wanna go home!” You cried. You quickly kept quiet as the big door opens and hear heavy footsteps. “What’s this general?” You only push yourself closer to the corner scared. “ My soldiers told me about this young one with a tadpole. I had to see myself.” You look over whimpering and flinch as the door to your cell opens. “So young and tell me why are they here? When this isn’t part of our plan Ketheric.” Ketheric looks over “ Someone did some digging into her tadpole, they aren’t just a human child with a tadpole but a dhampir Gortash.” This puts a smile on Gortash's face, “Such a beautiful creature” He looks down at you. “Bring them with you to the city when your part of the plan is done…we can use them as part of our plan.” He added before walking off. Both men walk off locking the cell once again. You only whimper crying out softly “I wanna go home” You whisper “Astarion” You cried out in the empty cell.

[sinfulwunders]

𝔅𝔞𝔩𝔡𝔲𝔯'𝔰 𝔊𝔞𝔱𝔢 ℑ𝔫𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔗𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔐𝔞𝔨𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯 2.0

Hey everyone, so as some of you may know, I was in the process of making a baldur's gate inspired townie save a while ago, but due to needing a mental break I never got to finish. I am once again resuming the process of making this save again (including the sims that were made for me previously last time I did this)

𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔅𝔞𝔩𝔡𝔲𝔯'𝔰 𝔊𝔞𝔱𝔢?

“Baldur’s Gate III is an upcoming role-playing video game that is being developed and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main game in the Baldur’s Gate series, itself based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing system.“ (via wiki)

𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔓𝔲𝔯𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔚𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔄𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔡

The purpose of me doing this was out of pure curiosity and my love for these games

In this, I will be taking submissions (everyone accepted) for sims (occult or human) to live in this modern day Baldur’s Gate themed town where I will be sharing gameplay and poses for all the sims included 

*here is the list of races/species in baldur’s gate* 

By the end of this we will accomplish making and populating a town based on a MODERN DAY Baldur’s Gate :)

More below if you’re interested :)

ℜ𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔰/𝔖𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔅𝔞𝔩𝔡𝔲𝔯'𝔰 𝔊𝔞𝔱𝔢

Dwarf

Elf

Halfling

Human

Githyanki

Half-Elf

Tiefling

Drow

Vampire or Vampire spawn (just a vamp xD)

𝔒𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 ℜ𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔰/𝔖𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔑𝔬𝔱 ℑ𝔫𝔠𝔩𝔲𝔡𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫 𝔅𝔞𝔩𝔡𝔲𝔯'𝔰 𝔊𝔞𝔱𝔢

Fairy

Mermaid

Werewolf (they’re kinda in there but not really)

Other

𝔖𝔬𝔠𝔦𝔞𝔩 ℭ𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔅𝔞𝔩𝔡𝔲𝔯'𝔰 𝔊𝔞𝔱𝔢

Cleric - “representatives of the gods they worship, wielding potent divine magic for good or ill.”

Fighter - “have mastered the art of combat, wielding weapons with unmatched skill and wearing armor like a second skin.“

Druid - “channel the elemental forces of nature and share a deep kinship with animals. Mastery of Wild Shape allows them to transform into beasts from all over the Realms.”

Ranger - “are unrivalled scouts and trackers, honing a deep connection with nature in order to hunt their favoured prey.“

Rogue - “With stealth, skill and uncanny reflexes, a rogue’s versatility let’s them get the upper hand in almost any situation.”

Warlock - “Bound by a pact to an all-powerful patron, warlocks trade their loyalty for supernatural abilities and unique magic.”

Wizard - “Wizards master the arcane by specializing in individual schools of magic, combining ancient spells with modern research.”

𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℭ𝔞𝔫 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔇𝔬? / ℌ𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔬 𝔖𝔲𝔟𝔦𝔱

create a sim or family of any of the races/species listed above (or another species you think I may have missed)

be creative and go wild(if you want to)!

this is a modern day baldur’s gate inspired theme so please dress is modern clothing (It’s fine if you don’t if it matches them well)

pick a social class for your sim above

base aspirations and traits off of the classes and race/species listed above (click on the links for the races/species and classes to read more into it)

can be any gender/age/sexuality

maxis match/mix cc (no alpha hairs tho and I might tweak details on sim to match the theme/my game style, but I will never tweak their facial/body features)

only cc for everyday outfit

make a post with at least one picture of your sim and a brief description of them (like what race/species they are and what social class they’re in)

descriptions don’t have to be descriptive if you don’t want them to be, they can be brief.

tray files including cc (xD) sent to me or public dl (choice is yours) :)

no deadline for now

tag @ sinfulwunders and #baldursgatesimsedition2.0 in your post in case I miss the notification 

[petit-etoile]

Its a bit of a prompt request, but one you probably won’t expect.

Would you write something with ur tav and astarion? Im rlly curious on the relationship for these two < v <

i  decided  to  do  this  a  little  bit  differently  &  make  it  mostly  a  headcanon  post,  because  i  feel  like  there  is  still  a  lot  that  is  undecided  for  me !!  the  reason  this  is  a  headcanon  post  rather  than  a  little  ficlet  is  mostly  because  aerea's  class  changes  depending  on  my  mood  ( she  went  from  being  a  cleric  of  selûne  to  being  a  thief-assassion  to  being  a  bladesinger  to  now  being  a  blood  hunter )  but  there  are  some  consistencies  to  their  "story"  that  don't  change  for  me  based  on  the  incarnation  of  aerea  i'm  playing:

aerea  is  a  young  elf  only  around  sixty-four  years  of  age.  she's  reincarnated  ( &  this  is  where  i  either  don't  know  enough  of  actual  dnd  lore  or  am  choosing  to  ignore  it )  &  her  soul  was  plucked  by  bhaal  to  be  corrupted.  the  emperor  appears  to  her  as  her  "ancestor".

astarion  knew  her  in  her  previous  life  when  they  were  both  young !!  they  were  "courting"  &  one  of  their  major  memories  together  is  that  aerea  &  astarion  crafted  perfumes  for  one  another  as  a  gift.  because  astarion  is  undead  &  can  no  longer  access  meditation  to  remember  his  past,  he  only  understands  that  he  recognizes  aerea's  scent  but  doesn't  know  why.  aerea's  memories  are  corrupted  by  bhaal  so  she  doesn't  understand  why  she  knows  astarion  either.

aerea  starts  off  the  journey  very  one-note  and  monotonous,  hardly  reacting  to  anything  that  is  thrown  at  her  until  the  death  of  alfira  which  shakes  her  so  much  that  astarion  becomes  suspicious  of  her.  her  "true"  personality  doesn't  come  out  until  act  iii  where  she  slowly  begins  laughing  &  finally  opening  up  to  the  others  even  though  she  does  have  a  minor  heroic BSOD  episode.

aerea  is  a  very  nervous,  very  afraid  person.  when  faced  with  the  choice  to  take  the  noblestalk  herself  or  give  it  to  shadowheart,  she  practically  insists  shadowheart  takes  it  so  that  aerea  doesn't  have  to  face  her  memories  of  whatever  it  is  that  she  did  before  her  memories  were  taken  away.  she  is  shaken  after  the  death  of  alfira,  being  in  moonrise  towers  makes  her  physically  ill  &  she  is  inconsoable  after  her  fight  with  orin.

i  need  to  find  the  tiktok  user  who  said  this  first  so  i  can  credit  them,  but  aerea  becomes  the  chosen  of  jergal  which  is  how  she  she  becomes  immortal.  elves  already  live  long  lives,  but  this  comforts  astarion  more  than  it  comforts  aerea  &  puts  them  in  a  better  place  relationship  wise  as  no  one  has  to  fret  about losing  the  other.

in  the  moonlight  (my  darling,  do  not  fear)  is  heavily  inspired  by  aerea/astarion !!  she  does  get  severely  injured  fighting  the  orthon,  but  the  suggestion  that  astarion  ought  to  drink  her  blood  as  she  dies  actually  comes  from  aerea  rejecting  bhaal.  she  panics  while  dying  &  begs  astarion  to  do  it  as  she  has  no  idea  jergal  is  about  to  resurrect  her.  he  almost  obliges,  but  jergal  saves  the  day.

aerea  helps  astarion  become  "a  better  person"  by  helping  humanize  him.  astarion  rebuilds  aerea's  lost  confidence  &  although  it  means  abstaining  from  being  a  dastard,  he's  slowly  able  to  see  who  she  has  before  the  possession  from  bhaal.  she  begins  laughing  again  ( &  he  learns  she enjoys  poetry  [ he  begins  writing  some ]  &  cats  [ they  own  two !! ]  &  raising  children  [  they  reopen  cazador's  mansion  as  an  orphanage  post-endgame ].  they  raise  yenna  until  they  very  end  of  her  lifespan.

they  get  privately  married  the  night  astarion  takes  her  to  his  grave !!  they  exchange  rings  &  perfumes.  they  get  married  again  in  obnoxious  elven  fashion.  karlach  is  there  because  i  said  so  ( they  found  a  wish  scroll. )

[zeawesomebirdie]

Going insane in your askbox again <3 true friendship right there. Anyway so you've probably noticed I am so so into Baldur's Gate 3 right now so I just want to let the thoughts out in a discombobulated fashion. There are no fun parallels here (or are there? I think I can do fun parallels) this is just word vomit because I can't play the game until either my dad finds a way to let me play from across the Channel or until Christmas. Because I couldn't bring my good PC all the way to England and my laptop sure as fuck doesn't have the specs to play it. So.

I don't know how much you've seen of it but one of my favourite things is explaining media to people in too much detail so I will pretend you only know that there's hot characters in it. It's an RPG based on the D&D system (and set in a D&D world) where you're an adventurer kidnapped by one of those yucky psychic-powered tentacle monsters, a mindflayer. You and the whole ship of kidnappees have those nasty little mindflayer tadpoles inserted in your brain (like in TCW on Geonosis, this time it's through the eye), and even though you blow up the mindflayer ship and save yourself by the end of the tutorial, that little tadpole is going to make you into a mindflayer in a few days (that's how they reproduce). So you embark, originally, on a quest to not transform into an actual monster, and it all spirals from there. On the way, you get to meet other people who have common interests with you, the main ones being six other people with a tadpole in their brain, who can team up with you & become your companions because they also don't want to become mindflayers, but there's also lots of cool NPCs of course.

The game plays pretty close to actual D&D, if you've played it/seen people play it, so there's all the classes (except artificer alas), the spells, the combat is turn-by-turn, and you roll dice for a lot of stuff that requires skills. There's a lot of options for how you play things, dialogue, actions, etc, and it doesn't feel as "good normal thing to do vs the most cartoonishly cruel thing ever" as a lot of those immersive RPGs do (it does sometimes but way less). The story looks pretty insane from what I've seen trying not to spoil myself too much, and I say that in a very positive way.

And okay, I'm going insane about the story, sure, but mostly it's the companions. The main six are really fleshed out and interesting, their voice actors all did a great job, their writing is great, and they're so so compelling aargh. In order of when you meet them, we have... 1) Lae'zel the Githyanki, a race of alien looking green guys from a different plane of reality with a very warrior culture. They have a deep hatred of mindflayers, so Lae'zel is extremely intense about finding a cure for the tadpole issue, and they're very ferocious, so she's pretty abrasive if you haven't befriended her. 2) Shadowheart the cleric, who's a bit racist at first to be honest, and very mysterious... In part because she doesn't remember much of her life, in part because she's secretive about the bits she does remember. Then the next two are in the same area and you can see whichever first, but 3) Gale of Waterdeep, the scrungly wizard, and yes he really is so scrungly. Wizards in D&D are the spellcasters who weren't born with magic but who studied it and who owe their powers to hours of reading books, consequently he's kind of a nerd. He also asks to eat your magic items pretty early on because he's got a condition where he needs to eat magic or bad things happen. 4) Astarion, my beloved, the pale elf, the vampire spawn. Yes, him, you know who it is everyone posts about him and they're correct to do so, I mean what's not to love? He's a vampire, he's hot, he's judgy and flirty and fucked up, his morals are atrocious, absolutely great character. 5) Wyll Ravengard, the Blade of Frontiers, a charming knight in shining armour type, who given his skill with a rapier you'd think is some kind of fighter, but actually he's a warlock with a patron who's both hot and suspect. And 6) Karlach (pronounced Kar-lack, not Kar-lash), a tiefling with a burning engine for a heart and the nicest personality of any of the companions honestly. She's tall, she's strong, all the lesbians want her, and because of the engine-for-a-heart thing she runs really really hot and subsequently she can't touch things (or people) or they burn.

That's the main guys, which you can also play as if you want (but it's not the best idea for a main playthrough, you're better off creating your own adventurer and then maybe on a second/third/etc. playthrough trying one of the origins characters, or the Dark Urge, which, that's something else entirely, ignore that). They're all interesting and fun and I want to do their quests so bad and I would romance all of them at the same time if I could, but alas they're not all into polyamory. My first run is 100% going to be romancing Astarion, because I love them all but I am positively insane about him.

Now I've tried not to spoil myself too much but let's be honest I still managed to, so, eh, but it's more like sunlight through the leaves of a tree, there's still a lot of shadows, I just have a clear-ish picture of a certain amount of stuff. From that picture, I'll say that I love interactions between the companions especially, like I find all the similarities and differences between them so interesting, and the different relationships they could have fascinate me.

For example, and yes I have Astarion tunnel vision, there's an interesting dynamic with him and Wyll, or him and Karlach, there's room for fun stuff with him and Gale as well, and honestly if I knew Shadowheart and Lae'zel well enough I could say there's something there as well but I don't - except that Lae'zel and Astarion are often together in the morals thing. Oh yeah there's a companions approval thing, so sometimes when you do an action they'll approve or disapprove, and it's weighted based on how important the issue is to them. Lae'zel approves of violence, Wyll approves of helping people, etc. Well Lae'zel loves violence, because that's her culture, and Astarion - also likes violence lol, and he doesn't like stopping to save all the pathetic lifeforms you encounter. So in that way they're both focused on the goal, curing themselves from the tadpole, unwilling to stop and help every damsel in distress, and they think the best resolution to a conflict is someone's blood outside of their body.

Shadowheart and Lae'zel have this hate relationship where at the start of the game Shadowheart is kind of against Lae'zel's people (kind of rightfully so, their reputation as fierce warriors who'll destroy anything as long as it means getting rid of a mindflayer isn't exactly wrong), and Lae'zel isn't nice to anyone but especially not those who antagonise her (and people love to make them fuck about it, which. Yeah. Yeah, make them fuck about it). Karlach is part of Wyll's backstory, he was meant to kill her because she killed people but you can like, smooth things over and uncover truths or something (I haven't played that part yet!) and she can join your party and it's good now, but there's a connection there. I'm trying to connect Gale to someone but honestly I don't know now that I think about it, I need to look into him some more he's so fun to me.

But you could argue that there's things that they all have in common - I feel like, off the top of my head, they all have this authority figure who sucks in their life? Gale has Mystra, the goddess he follows (followed?) who apparently sucks violently as a person, Astarion has Cazador, the vampire who turned him and abused him for centuries, Shadowheart has I think Shar, her goddess, Wyll has Mizora, his patron who's hot and shitty, I mean she's a warlock patron, Karlach has I believe Zariel, who - kept her trapped in one of the nine Hells?, and Lae'zel has whatever the fuck is happening with the Githyanki and their queen Vlaakith which honestly sounds like a shitty cult. Like they've all got fucked up authority figures <3 it's different flavours, like Astarion and Karlach actually have a fair bit in common with the way they were treated (but they're opposites in the way they reacted, which to be fair they weren't in the exact same situation so y'know - Karlach is joyful and passionate and pretty straightforward, Astarion is sarcastic and secretive and guarded, and also he approves of you letting children get hurt), or Gale and Shadowheart who both have religion/deity issues, and Wyll and Karlach share a person from their past that sucks, but like. Lil group of fucked up homies <3 I can't wait to hold all of their hands while we decimate whoever hurt them.

I'm not kidding btw there's a scene at the start where you can literally crush the skull of the mindflayer who abducted you (off screen but it does make a crunch) and I can't wait to do the closest thing to that that the game will allow to Cazador :) I think I'm also going to have a Reaction to Gale's storyline but I've managed to keep the details fuzzy for now so I don't know more.

So hi this is me chewing at drywall desperately waiting to get to play the game <3 how's it going in DC land, having fun with all the Robins? I personally think you should look at Gale a little, he has a vibe in common with Obi-Wan (the "looks like an english professor, is actually pretty slutty" vibe) and also he says pish posh unironically and he wears pyjamas at camp (everyone else just takes off some layers and looks kind of dressed for the club, he full on gets the velvet pj top out, it's incredible). Though Wyll is also very charming, like I keep going on about how Astarion is incredible because of course I think that, and Gale has the nerd charm, and next to that Wyll looks a little Less (and he has hours less of content I think), but the man has a charm. And the ladies are great too, it's just that you're less into women, but -

Oh wait I forgot to say: you know how in D&D there's 6 stats, strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma, and the highest any of your stats can be at character creation is 17 and the lowest is 8? Astarion, unsurprisingly, has an 8 in strength, he's a rogue, it's normal; Gale also has an 8, but he's a nerd who loves books, so that's fair; and Karlach and Lae'zel both have 17 in strength, because they're great warriors, so that tracks. Shadowheart has a 13, which is fair for a cleric, and Wyll - Wyll, even though he's great with a rapier, is a warlock, and warlocks cast with their charisma, so it's not his highest stat, but it's fine, it's not going to be the dump stat either, right? Wrong. 8 strength for Wyll. It kills me every time. You've got those three women, two of whom could snap you in half and the third who could probably win at arm wrestling against random men, and three men, all with 8 in strength. 8 for an adventurer is pathetic, to be clear. 8 is your dump stat. The human average is 8 or 9. Adventurers are well above human in terms of stats. 8 in strength is normal for a wizard, but man, Wyll on his own, but also the combo of all of them having 8 in that one stat? It kills me.

(for the anecdote, their stats are roughly as follows: Astarion has an 8 in strength and a 17 in dexterity, normal for a rogue, and only 10 in charisma, which is truly enough to get him into bad situations and not enough to get out of them; Gale is a squishy wizard who, obviously, put all his points into intelligence, which - in D&D intelligence is book smarts and wisdom is street smarts, and it's the casting stat for wizards, so that tracks, his charisma manages to be higher than Astarion's also; Lae'zel has a 17 in strength and an 8 in charisma, which also tracks, she's a warrior and she doesn't need words to make people pay attention to her, she's also got a good constitution; Karlach also has the 17 strength, but her 8 is in intelligence, normal for her background and normal for a barbarian, and she has the same constitution as Lae'zel, a respectable 15; Shadowheart has a 17 in wisdom, which actually shines an interesting light on her character now that I think about it, and she's got the same 8 in charisma as Lae'zel, which, they should kiss about it; and Wyll's 17 is in charisma, which makes him the most charismatic of the group, which tracks with his vibe and the way he behaves on top of making sense for game mechanics, because once again warlocks cast with charisma. This game is turning me into a D&D player the way 3½ years of my bestie talking my ears off about the TTRPG didn't)

Actually I didn't even get to the fun point of Karlach and Astarion being contrasts in so many ways!! Because she's nice, he's mean, okay, but also. They're both kinda touch starved, but she's once again very open about it, she's overtly sad she can't touch people or pets because of her burning skin, and it feels like if you helped her with that she'd be trying to start a cuddle pile every evening at camp with zero shame about it, and also apparently there's a horny aspect to the no touch frustration thing if you're in a romance with her, because you both want to go for it but her skin says no. Astarion has spent 200 years obeying every order of a very cruel vampire lord, and he's both kind of desperate for someone to be nice to him, but also really really against people getting close to him in every sense of the term. He does also like cuddles though <3 and then there's the Wyll-Astarion thing, where Wyll is this very prince charming kinda guy, saves the widow and the innocent, just goes around helping people all the time, absolute bleeding heart, and Astarion spent 200 years suffering, hoping that someone would help, and nobody came - which is part of why he disapproves of you helping people, seeing people be so nice everywhere makes him mad, because he certainly didn't get any kindness for most of him life! You're saying that there are kind adventurers who help poor victims of fate, that there's actually a lot of those guys, it's just that none of them crossed his path, ever, in 200 years, when he was one of many and his sire is somewhat notorious?

Actually, thinking of that, there's a dialogue with Gale where Astarion says that the others can go pray to their deities if they want, but he won't, and Gale asks him if he's every prayed to any of them. He just goes "oh, I did, every one of them. None answered" and like. Arghhhh. The god worldbuilding in those two sentences!! Because there's gods of lots of things in the setting. Gods of the forgotten, the downtrodden, the victims, the abused, and the implications of that!!! I love the idea of deities actually existing, but them being both very human and also completely inhuman. Human in that they are Like Us, prone to the same fits of temper, the same cruelty, the same extremes as us, including also kindness, but inhuman in that it's pushed to eleven and distorted, because they're not actually human, either they never were or they aren't anymore. This shines a light on the human facet of them, because here it's about people, even well intentioned, kind people, turning away from suffering because it's complex and nuanced and difficult to help. Astarion was a vampire spawn, and he'd done terrible things, and his master was powerful, so... The gods are like us, they look away from pain and misery too. Insane sentences. Especially because the other gods we see also suck: Gale's goddess seems very shitty, and Shadowheart's also looks uuuh bad. I love the "gods suck" because in D&D lore those aren't just the christian god, they're kind of human, and a little bit of greek mythology vibes I would assume, and for real some of them just ascended to godhood from humanity, it's a thing that happens. So. Yeah. Sucks for Astarion obviously but that makes my brain effervescent. It's so crunchy for the worldbuilding. None of them answered..... Chewing on drywall!!

ANYWAY this is a BEAST holy shit. I have many thoughts about this game. Crunch crunch crunch. Good night beloved sleep well thank you for at least reading the unhinged ramblings, when I get the game I'll be back with even less hinges <3 can't wait for the wedding I'm going to be honest <3 <3

Ram my beloved. This is me rn:

Thank you for the hinges in my inbox!!! This was a delight to wake up to!!! No I don't understand at all but I am loving this for you!!!! May you get this game soon!!!!!!

(And thanks for all the context, like half my dash is this game and I think my boyfriend is playing it but I have somehow remained Unknowledgable about everything, so I appreciate it!!)

You asked how things are going in DC land. So. Funny story.

I'm still recovering from covid, like I'm negative now but by the Force I'm still so sick. I can't write. Like at all. Like I can't even tell you the last time I was too sick to write, it never happens. So my current fanfic reading word count is a 1.5 million words in the last three weeks. And I now have plans to make a rec list. And that's not even all!

I've also written three folk songs for superbat. Because I am Totally Normal about themb. I have spent the last several months trying to write songs In General and then three weeks of covid later I have three. About stupid idiots being in love. Because I'm Clearly Normal about them. And I low key am now just going to write a whole entire album because why not, and because none of the songs are explicitly fansongs they just sound like normal folk songs, so who's gonna know but me anyway (and all of tumblr. Bc if I manage to finish this thing I will never shut up about it)

AND. And I've also watched several movies, and started another TV show, exclusively so I could understand more fic. And that is. Going. My parents are very confused. The librarians probably get a kick out of my requests. My brothers have already started teasing me. I am having the time of my life

Also Dick is my favourite character, he's beautiful and wonderful and such a good oldest brother I love himb he is baby. I'm still working on learning about the other Robins, but I've read enough fic and seen enough comics to know sort of who the others are, it's just that my interest in things tends to fall in the pre-90's category, which means Dick is the only Robin for a lot of what I'm reading/watching

I love you, I hope you are enjoying your weekend and you and your hinges are always welcome in my inbox <3

[curly-cottage-girl]

Ok I would love to (in as non-spoilery a way as possible) hear more about your Strahd character bc I am VERY intrigued

Hehe okay. So her name is Namya, she’s half human half dusk elf. She was a university student/life cleric, until one time when she was visiting her mother (the dusk elf, never met her human father), an assassin broke in and attacked them both. She was able to kill him, but not before he had killed her mother. Right before she died, Namya’s mother pointed to a map saying that that’s where her people come from (which is, surprise surprise, the valley of Barovia). Namya also finds a note on the assassin’s body that was an order to kill her and her mother written by Rahadin (one of Strahd’s main lieutenants).

So she hires a bodyguard and enters the valley to try to find out more about her past, especially as she quickly finds out that it’s supposed to be impossible for someone to leave the valley, but somehow her mother did. And obviously she wants revenge. Cue meeting other party members (one of whom is the bodyguard), many shenanigans, death saves, and cool moments, (and also ending up becoming queen of the dusk elves), and now we’re nearing the final confrontation with Strahd.

And then at the very end of last session the GM dropped a huge bomb on us of my mother showing up….,. As a vampire. So yeah idk how I feel about his cliffhanger lmao… especially after I almost died while having my epic face-melting revenge on Rahadin… xD (plus my GM gave me some spoilers about how this whole vampire thing happened with her which is CRAZY and I still don’t know how Namya will react lmao)

But yeah! It’s been very fun. Also I call it my “dads game,” because literally every other player and also the GM himself are dads, and then there’s me xD (basically the GM’s dad wanted to play a game again with people, so it’s him, my dad, and a mutual friend’s dad, then my friend the GM, and one of HIS friends. And me ^_^)

[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

[naddpod-encounter-tourney]

Reborn:

for this, I wanted to shoutout the impeccable propaganda from round 2 by @stone-stars, which is as follows:

the wrestling match (3 identical rolls)

hardwon being a mama’s boy: “in some ways you’re so like your father, and in some ways you’re so much better” “i think those are the ways that i’m like you, mama.”

the reincarnation ritual (almost rolling a gnome, and then half-elf hardwon)

“if i was gonna come back as anything, i’m proud to come back as half of you”

“this is how i see myself, you know? i’ve always been half elf, ever since i met you.”

the dwarven daddy hot tub (the kingshammer accepting hardwon)

beverly buying a comic about being a cleric for erlin (bonus: the comic is about brunhilde, emily’s cleric)

beverly reuniting with his mom and the return of erlin, egwene, gunther, and red

beverly telling erlin about his kiss with terran in zone of truth

“i’m not mad at you, dude. it’s the end of the world.”

lucanus reveal / him and meemaw yelling at each other

moonshine kicking down the door and yelling ‘hey mom and dad’

scoutmaster denny returns (and gets tackled by hardwon)(and later turned into a boot by moonshine)

the escalation of the war against thiala and revelations as to what’s been happening on the prime material plane

moonshine and lucanus’ first conversation

lucanus revealing he likes being razzed

“someone who felt they could never have a child… is holding their child”

“i didn’t want to need you, dad, but now that you’re here… it’s kind of nice”

wizard tournament setup

nana kindleaf return

martha toegold reveals she knows what happened to bev sr

“everything will be alright if you do what needs to be done”

beverly finds the book on how to defeat devils

“your father has given you a strategy guide on how to beat him” “i have to look away so that the tears don’t ruin the pages.”

also, honorable mention to the fact that the first half of this episode was almost lost forever. the wrestling match and hardwon's reincarnate were almost going to be lost forever and re-played. shoutout to emily axford for preserving some of the most magical dnd moments through pure determination and internet forum diving. in the words of jake hurwitz: "we saw the face of god that night."

I am personally going to add one more moment here: Balnor talks to Bev after the whole debacle with Erlin and has a touching Dad moment.

Your Own Personal Hell:

The Boobs fight off acid and Bastion in Gluttony, then fly out into a storm where they sink through to their own separate rings of hell.

I do literally mean "fly out" as they get swept up by wind when they get out of the literal belly of the beast. Moonshine spends several spells to find Bev and try to save them before finally just allowing themselves to sink into the quicksand.

Ilsed talks in everyone's head about how they will be separated, and the gang decides to call him "Ms. Rosell".

Balnor fully goes missing.

Hardwon sees the dragon Wilhelm Bronzebeard and remembers the first time he held a Kingshammer.

Moonshine goes fully fungal, remembers meeting Pawpaw, and then loses him.

Bev comes face to face with his father, and remembers the first person he watched die. He then nearly takes his fathers hand before Moonshine tells him what a child has a duty to his father, but a hero has a duty to the world.

The actual time Jake says “You ruined my night, Brian.” It's earned.

I'd also like to highlight @theatricuddles' comments from last round, which can be found here

[eclipsecrowned]

so. don't know where the back case is, but it is coming. i have done a few little drafts that will be either posted or queued once i have the ability to cut posts again. and mostly, i am in gb3 brainrot hell. i cannot guarantee anything before monday, and even then it's not for sure that my laptop will be repaired same day, but i do want to get something going with my muses for the setting asap.

like this for a small, 1-3 sentence starter from one of my gb3 muses, including a canon companion, an npc, three pcs, and an au for an extant muse. since i do not have the ability to add new muses of yet on this venerable desktop, i'll include mini bios under the cut. i will get to the starters just as soon as i have the ability to add icons/cut posts again, likely early next week.

gale of w*terdeep, a veritable renaissance man. wizard, poet, epicurean, and utterly doomed. his blighted love for a goddess drove him to desperate acts that put the entire world at risk, a shard of dark magic buried deep in his chest and eternally starving. he has done his best to subdue it, to distance himself from the world, but a recent abduction by interplanar forces has driven him back into the world, seeking to control his condition and help yon heroes save the day -- only to find a lovers scorn and holy orders to let the magic devour him in service of that salvation. his goddess, lover, abuser demands his sacrifice, while his companions demand his survival, and gale is somewhere in the midst of it, broken but not defeated.

bing bong, an imp from the hells that was summoned to perform simple tasks for an unscrupulous merchant. he is so named because he can only articulate the words 'bing bong,' which is incidentally the sound his door makes when he pulls the lever to admit customers. he's certainly a minor demon, but also has a little bow tie and loves cuddles, so how can you hate him. for a brief moment, he was cherished and coddled by sh*dowheart, but his joy was ended in a fiery demise, used as a projectile against the forces of evil. yet hope springs eternal, and bing bong is intent on making his way out of the hells -- for good, if he can help it.

aurelia rosegrove, a daughter of the wilds far from home. half-elf, ranger, outlander, she's never quite found anywhere suitable for her myriad natures. raised by a druid mother in a small grove to the east, the wilds were always home to her, and like a proper lady of the house, she was chasing out vermin from a young age. she made a name for herself among local communities as a monster hunter and peerless tracker, unmatched in skill and determination, til she suddenly disappeared in the night, her camp intact and the fire still burning when found days later. captured by illithid forces, she's seeking a cure and a way home, working with others for perhaps the first time in her life. not the most friendly or forthcoming figure, she nonetheless does her best by those around her -- especially the sort of gruff warrior women that have always weakened her iron will.

hel rautametsänen, the problem child of k*lemvor. tiefling, grave cleric, unclear origins, except that she has wandered the whole of faerun as a comforting horror. disfigured from birth, and sickly for as long, she was denied by her goliath mother's clan and raised on the road by her scoundrel father, til he was able to find sanctuary with a noble sworn brother just outside the gate. it was in this court hel first learned to perform, and there her fate was sealed. she has spent the twilight of her youth playing healer to various companies, and now grown acts as a wandering cleric playing priestess, gravedigger, funeral director, and grief counselor as needed. she was snatched from a fated meeting, a chance to put her past to rest, and left with a far more dire prognosis via tadpole. she tries to be a steadfast and comforting figure to the party, but is not above shenanigans or turning a blind eye. has a deep vein of violence hidden under her patient guile that is slow to blossom but effective when summoned.

sybelle riselin, the alleged baby of the bunch. human, wizard, sage origins, she hails from athk*tla and a great archive therein. pretty much her entire life has been spent in seclusion among the records and her fellow acolytes, but she was given a simple task that drove her from her comfort zone. as is common in these stories, the task proved anything but simple. snatched up by mindflayers, she has far greater worries now than the transportation of tomes. yet she has found good company, and seeks to do right by them, to be an asset despite her anxieties and lack of experience. the whole situation has encouraged her to gain more life experience, to live while she still can, to be more than a young woman collecting dust in a musty back room. mostly, though, she's delighted to be traveling with 'real' heroes and able to commit their daring deeds today to word that will be read many generations hence.

'valas' d*vir, the wheel of fortune made flesh. half-drow, sorcerer, a noble-turned-outlander, he's been many things over his century of life, but he can never deny what he is at heart. the son of a great hero and his infamous lady wife, valas' charmed early life ended with the absence of his mother and the grief of his father. in the decades since losing his father, he has had no cause but to further his study of the world, and no lasting tether to others -- until his fathers divine relatives resurfaced. now he is a man hunted, an escape artist trying to put distance between himself and the bhaalspawn that would see shared blood spilt. he has escaped one nightmare temporarily only to fall into another more fully, imprisoned on a nautiloid and infected. he's utterly insufferable as a party member, but capable of great power and insight, and even of change if sufficiently persuaded towards heroic or villainy alike.

[alaughingcrow]

I am having.... a time, in DnD.

I am doing my best to play a character who is incredibly sketchy despite not being actually evil.

And I am putting the details under the read-more because this got long.

Like imaging you're in a group, alright, and this guy joins and he's got a big brand scar on his face - like the kind they do to criminals to ID them/keep them publicly ostracized. And he's a priest - but he won't tell you what god he serves, you just know it's to do with dead things (specifically: Grave Cleric - big on grave rights and things staying in the grave) and the symbol of his office is a pair of manacles that he never takes off his wrists. Also he's missing the front half of his tongue. He very occasionally makes some reference to having elf blood but he looks very human so you figure it was a few generations back. This is weird but not unrecoverable territory to open a campaign with.

You get stuck in a pocket dimension with this man (Barovia, we're playing Curse of Strahd). You find out he has a daughter he's never previously mentioned and you've never seen despite working with him for months. He makes a deal with a witch to ensure her life. (this witch also very explicitly bakes other children into pies, one of which he has eaten but this was pre-cannibalism confirmation (though post suggestion of cannibalism)). A few days later he resurrects a guy and then just kinda has the ability to drain his life force if he wants to.

He dies, in a cursed ass looking temple because this is Barovia. This is a sad but normal occurrence because this is Barovia and everything here is terrible and/or wants to kill you. Except then this giant spider made of smoke crawls out of his mouth and resurrects/transforms him and now he looks like an actual half elf and his brand's gone but his tongue is back (if a bit weird)(his eyes are dark voids now too - no distinction of pupil/iris/sclera). You ask him about this and he just... doesn't explain shit. (the answer is he's a warlock now but again, you don't know this (you also don't know his patron's the goddess of murder)).

Little while later you save a gang of kids from a bunch of werewolves and one of them is this sketchy wizard kid who tricks the ranger into letting him copy his memories (which involves the ranger getting hit with >50hp in psychic damage). This kid then disappears in the night and shows up the next morning with a pair of reanimated corpses. For no reason you can perceive, the Grave Cleric is just... fine with this. Apparently he helped dig them up. (You were not there for the discussion on the ethics of reanimating corpses not inhabited by souls).

And for some fucking reason you do not stop to question this. Or talk to the other party members about this. Or ever think that maybe you shouldn't trust this guy.

Like I am out here doing shit and the rest of the gang is like 'yeah this is normal'. Except for the Barbarian who's mostly just decided it's not his problem to deal with.

[hereforthehaunts]

For the BG3 ask, for any except your durge (only because I've not played one yet and am dancing around spoilers, so I guess if the answer wouldn't be a spoiler then go for it!)

6, 15, 23, 40

Aye aye captain! I will keep this durge spoiler-free. Thanks so much for asking! Probably going to be pretty Phoebe-centric just for time's sake.

6. What is your Tav's origin story?

Drama timeeeee.

Phoebe is the oldest daughter of Helene (elf wizard) and Silas (human bard). She has a younger sister named Arden and two younger brothers named Gilbert and Leon. Her father taught her to play the violin and love music. Though he was a bard, he never went out adventuring like he'd planned to as a young man. He met his wife and started pushing back his plans to leave. Then Pheobe came, so he never did. He got a job in town at a shop. Unfortunately, one day the shop caught fire and he was unable to escape. Pheobe had aspirations to go out and study music in Baldur's Gate, but once her father passed she wanted to stay and help take care of her siblings. In her grief, her mother could not bear the thought of her daughter having the same fate as her husband, so she studied and prepared until she was able to use magic to alter Phoebe's memories. Helene took Phoebe to the city and erased her memories of where her hometown is. As hard as she tries, Phoebe cannot remember the place where she grew up. She has all the memories of her family and her life, but where it happened she cannot recall, so she can never return there. In the city, Phoebe goes all into her studies. Eventually she starts travelling around, playing in taverns. That's basically what she's up to when she gets scooped up.

15. If your Tav could/does multiclass, what other class would they choose?

I have not multiclassed before so this is all what ifs and could very well not be good decisions lmao.

Phoebe- a couple options here. Wizard bc of her mom (and because she sorta maybe sent Gale away during act 1... don't hate me please I was young!!!) or rogue because I think the idea of couples picking up little things from each other is cute. I could also see ranger.

Lapis- Barbarian or fighter

Honeylark- Cleric maybe?

Pippa- Paladdin maybe? Really not sure for Pip. Rogue?

23. What is your Tav’s favorite moment they’ve had with their lover?

Probably any moment post-game where Phoebe and Astarion are sitting together and she realizes they are truly relaxed. No one is coming after them, there is nothing to fight. Astarion's guard is down, and they are just existing together in a moment laughing and talking.

40. What is the biggest mistake your Tav ever made?

So funny story actually... The biggest mistake my Tav has ever made was entirely my fault, but it is canon to her run so... When I played Act 2 I kind of didn't understand the fact that I needed to go to Moonrise Towers to save the tieflings before the final battle. I kind of thought I would just do it all when I got there at the end. So the tieflings in Moonrise Towers did die. And it is Phoebe's fault and totally not mine and she has to live with that not me. (IT JUST FELT LIKE SO FAR TO GO BACK!! I DIDN'T WANT TO DEAL WITH THE GAUNTLET AGAIN I'M SORRY). And also I didn't realize Zevlor was there in the mindflayer colony, so I literally walked past him and Orin did some terrible things to him. Act 2 was traumatic for Pheebs. Luckily this is not canon to the LTFU (liz and toad fanfic universe).

[yellow-faerie]

I have absolutely no context for this but tell me about your tavs anyway

Hello Astrid thank you very much Astrid, you are massively enabling me and I appreciate it so very much

Ok, so this is Tabitha Swallowsong, affectionately known as Tav by her friends (the character who I may consider "canon" if there was such a thing). She's a Half Wood Elf Bard who, while not born in Baldur's Gate, was raised there. She ends up romancing Gale:

She's who I played for my first play through, getting to grips with the controls and all the story and that sort of thing, but I intend (once I work up the courage to actually enter the endgame on the first save file) to do another game with her on the normal difficulty so that I can play her while understanding how everything works. (Also will not bend to peer pressure the minute someone asks me out and actually romance Gale instead of Shadowheart - although I love Shadowheart to pieces).

____

This is Thea (who's full name is Thianaloth Kelvix), a Sledarine Drow Monk of her family's order who's monastery is hidden in the mountains near Baldur's Gate. She romances Shadowheart (I love that romance so much, especially the later bits):

I've just started her playthrough and I gotta say - monk is a very fun class to play battle wise, I'm quite pleased I chose it, and I really enjoy playing as Drow for (while I understand it's really not to everyone's tastes) I find the natural distaste quite interesting story wise? It makes me have to shake up my gameplay a bit more and my characterisation because it often forces me to do things that aren't just Angelic Good (which...I am a massive people pleaser, even in games, so that's quite nice)

Bonus Dark Urge -

This is Nowhere (a name that she calls herself when she is asked after waking with no memories and having this deep sense of Not Belonging) who later goes on to take the name Akanis Rozes when she reinvents herself.

She's a Mephistopheles Drow and I thought ranger would be most appropriate for her storywise (well, maybe rogue would fit better but I'm trying to play classes that the origins don't have). Also I want to try the Astarion romance out with her and having two rogues with me all the time is a bit much:

Dark Urge is so much fun to play?? Like I said, massive people pleaser so I'm doing a good run, but I love how much characterisation it adds while still allowing for roleplay by the player.

There's also Llelyr, a cleric of Ilmater, who I'm doing a multiplayer with with my brother but I don't have any pictures because I have only just worked out how to wrangle the PS5 screenshot feature, and I do have a few others that I've had ideas for (but I'm putting off actually playing until I get further in with some other runs):

I want to do a run with an older Tav, possibly try out Paladin and the Halsin romance; I think storm sorcerer sounds so much fun (and I've heard there's some good Gale dialogue with sorcerer especially when you romance him so...Gale romance 2: electric boogaloo); I want to play a Gith at some point because I saw it was the least preferred race and I feel bad about it (I might do a Lae'zel romance here); not to mention all the origins I haven't done yet...

[thornfield13713]

So, I am torn.

I am getting towards the end of act 2 with Thoradin, which means my mind naturally turns towards my next protagonist, who is going to be Ned the drow druid.

Problem: I cannot decide who to romance.

On the one hand, Lae'zel finding love with a drow druid and bonding over both having massive god-queen issues and all the similarities and differences of their societies. On the other...I can never quite bring myself to turn back from letting Lae'zel go to save her people, and while there is romance in separating out of duty, I'm not sure it's an ending I'm here for. And I've been having fun ideas about a githyanki character who might do very well as a Lae'zel LI - possibly a discreet adherent of Orpheus, a weakling who was well aware that her people considered her only good for breeding and wanted a way out - with a happy ending together as part of the revolution in their society. Also, I'm told there are lots of fun Lae'zel-exclusive conversation options for romances with fellow Githyanki.

On the other - Astarion and an escapee from a cutthroat society who's trying to figure out what to do without the ruthless social rules that have dominated their life. Astarion and his big burly enbyfriend who is trying so hard to be gentle and careful and considerate right from the off because they know they were brought up in a society that was the very opposite of that, particularly towards men, and they don't want to slip back into bad habits. Going back to the Underdark together to found a new civilisation down there. Both of them new to the sun together. Astarion's Drizzt thing coming into play a bit. Also, on balance, my rogue/cleric cross works so much better as a partner for Halsin, being close in age, relatively chill, and a fun contrast. Also, the image of 'big burly bear elf and twink half-orc (he may be middle-aged, but he is still a twink)' is too good to miss.

So, once again I'm putting it to a vote because I love all my BG3 companions so much that it's always hard to decide who to romance with them. I may not choose the final result, but it's a good way of getting a clear idea. Also, please put reasoning for your choice in the replies - those often have more to do with who I choose than the vote itself, as seen with the vote for Rosie's LI.

[the-panda-writes]

The Siren of the Inquisition

Chapter 12

Aiduin POV

“....What would you have me tell them? This isn’t what we asked them to do!”

“We cannot simply ignore this! We must find a way!”

“And who put you in charge? We need a consensus or we have nothing!”

“Please we must use reason! Without the infrastructure of the Inquisition would harbor-”

Josephine is cut off before she could continue with their argument when Aiduin finally wakes up. 

Sitting up with a groan, he looks around him, seeing Ashe with the young boy in her arms and Mother Giselle.

“Shh. You need to rest.” the female cleric says to the elf.

“They’ve been at it for hours.” Ashe deadpans, coming up to sit next to the cleric.

“They have that luxury thanks to the two of you.” Mother Giselle says to both of them with a small smile. “The enemy could not follow and with time to doubt, we turn to blame. Infighting may threaten as much as this, scurry fears.”

“I hate to say it, but she does have a point, your worship.” Ashe says, making him look at her. “During times of crisis and suffering a loss such as Haven, people will turn to blame others.”

He ponders this information, asking if we know where Corypheus and his forces are right now. 

“Not yet. To be honest, I don’t even know where we are.” Ashe chuckles.

“How can one laugh in a situation like this?” Mother Giselle asks in a calm yet judgemental tone. 

“It helps me cope.” Ashe snides at her, then looks down to the child who is now wiggling in her arms. “If you will excuse me, I need to check on Peter’s wounds. It looks like his vision will be impaired from now on.” 

As the woman walks off, Aiduin returns his gaze back to the Cleric. “Despite the number he still commands, there is no sign of him. That, or you are believed dead. Without Haven, we are thought helpless, or he guilds for another attack.” she says, trying to play devil's advocate. “I cannot claim to know the mind of that creature, only his effect on us.”

“If they are arguing about what we do next, I need to be there.” He says, trying to sit up some more, but the Cleric stops him.

“Another heated voice won’t help, even yours.” Giselle says, placing a calming hand on his shoulder. “Perhaps especially yours.” 

Aiduin lays back down as the Cleric tells him about what they have witnessed, seeing him; their defender; stand and fall and see him return. He still goes to sit up on the side of the cot as she continues.

“The more the enemy is beyond us, the more miraculous your actions appear, and the more our trials seem ordained. But it is hard to accept to know we have been called to endure, what we perhaps, must come to believe.”

Aiduin just chuckles a little but goes on to continue the conversation. “I escaped the avalanche, barely with my life and the life of the woman that saved me; but I didn’t die.

“Of course. And the dead cannot return from across the veil, but the people know what they saw; or perhaps what they needed to see. The Maker works both in the moment and in how it is remembered. Can we truly know the heavens are not with us?”

Ashe POV

As Ashe left the conversation between the cleric and the revived Herald, she is relieved that he is okay. She was so scared that if she didn’t do everything to save him, she would have to find another way to find a way home.

If there is one.

Ashe places that child in her arms on a spare cot as she checks Peter, the boy now turned orphan she rescued. 

He is not going to be able to see properly for the rest of his life. And he is going to have so much trauma from this ordeal, leaving a mental scar as well as physical. Ashe thinks, frowning as he caresses the boy's small head. She uses her magic to try and ease some of the pain from the burns on his neck and torso. She is interrupted by movement coming from the opening, turning to see the Commander coming to check on them both.

“How is he?” Cullen asks with a sad smile.

“He’ll live, but I am worried about how his mental state will be when he fully awakens.” Ashe says, going to place a blanket over the child and using her magic to heat it up to stave off the cold. 

“Once we find a better, more fortified place to rebuild, I will see if he will be placed with a kind family until we can get into contact with someone of his ken.” Cullen says, placing a gentle hand on her covered shoulder.

“You won’t have to,” Ashe says, turning her head to look him in the eye. “I’ll take care of him.”

Cullen POV

Cullen is in a state of shock when she, a woman of 25 winters, unmarried and has no children of her own, will be taking in a small boy no older than 5 winters and caring for him and his needs.

Before he could bring another word out, he hears singing coming from the campfire.

“Shadows falls

And hope has fled

Steel your heart

The dawn will come.

The night is long

And the path is dark

Look to the sky

For one day soon

The dawn will come.

The Shepherd’s lost

And his home is far

Keep to the stars

The dawn will come.”

He smiles looking back to the pair, seeing that Ashe has now huddled behind the child to keep him warm and is asleep as well. He brushes a small piece of the woman’s hair away from her face, seeing her marking enhance her beauty to him as he sings with the rest of the Inquisition.

“The night is long

And the path is dark

Look to the sky

For one day soon

The dawn will come…”

Aiduin POV

After the people have quieted down a bit, Aiduin looks to them before his thoughts were interrupted.

“A word.” Solas says, curtly, leading them both away from camp.

As soon as they were far enough away, Solas lights the torch with his magic and turns towards the herald.

“A wise woman, worth heeding. Her kind understands the moments that unify a cause - or  fracture it.” Aiduin’s fellow elf says to him as he gets closer. “The orb Corypheus carried, the power he used against you, it is Elven. Corypheus has used the orb to open the breach, unlocking it must have caused the explosion that destroyed the Conclave.”

Aiduin looks at him, almost shocked but now finally understanding the power Corypheus wields is of their people. 

“I do not yet know how Corypheus survived, nor am I how people will react when they learn of the orbs Origin.”

Aiduin asks what it is and why he knows of it. Solas tells him that it used to focus and channel ancient magics. “Corypheus may think it is Tevinter; his Empire’s magic is built on the bones of our people. Knowing or not, he risked our lives, I cannot allow it!”

“This whole mess is confusing. I can see how our people might be an easy target for blame for all of this.” Aiduin says, pondering how to go with this information.

“History would agree, but there are steps we can take to prevent such a distraction. I know of a place we can go to for shelter and, possibly, rebuild.” Solas says, turning towards the mountain. “We will set off in the morning and I will tell you a way to lead the survivors to a safer place.”

“Thank you, Lethallin.” Aiduin says, turning to him and giving him a small bow. “Come, let us get some rest.”

As they go to return to camp, Solas asks a question.

“What did Corypheus say about the half-elf maiden?”

“He called her a ‘Traveler,’ said that she is not of this realm.” Aiduin says, trying to make sense of the monster’s words.

Solas remains quiet, pondering the information. I must keep a close eye on this maiden, she may know more than she lets on.

[angeltism]

does baldurs gate have women and are they good . does baldurs gate have romance options and are women in those options . important questions that dictate if eyhmi begs furr the game

OH MYOG D YEAH THERE'S THREE MAIN COMPANIONS (all companions r romanceable) WHO R WOMEN N ANOTHER SORTA COMPANION ?? IDK I'VE SEEN PEOPLE ROMANCE HER I THINK BUT IDK HOW ??? But ahem yes there are!!

...Adhd fueled ramble under the cut. There's a lot. A lot.

This is La.e'z.el, she's the first friendly face you see in-game. She's a githy.anki fighter, n I haven't really had her in my party so I haven't done her lore or gotten closer to her so what I can say on her is purretty limited (esp since I don't really wanna spoil anything unless specifically asked 2 ++ I'm only in the start of act 2 in the game itself so I don't know much that much 2 begin with) but I'll try.

She's a little mean at the start n can be hard on others, but it's more of a "I am just extremely truthful (at least, for my beliefs n how I view the world) ++ can be kinda harsh on others but it's cuz I'm trying 2 be efficient n let us nawt have our damn gith parasites here" She's nawt super empathetic, n it takes a bit for her to soften up on ya, but even I've gotten her 2 be nice in her own way 2 my character and that's without having adventured with her much/at all.. so I imagine if you're actually going 2 do her quests n having a lot of approval points with her, she'll warm up 2 you even faster.

She took a little 2 grow on mwe personally but she's purretty cool in my opinion n I'm def gonna make another character after I finish the game w my current character 2 try n romance her. She's super badass n just like everybun else I'm about 2 mention she is also super duper girlboss n amazing :3

This lovely high half elf cleric is Sha.dowheart, the second character you meet in the game! She's much more,, reasonable, I guess, at least compared to the other two "og 3" companions you meet so early on (La.e'zel n Asta.rion) n is purretty kind n nice,, sorta?

She definitely has a bit of a darker side, specifically with who she serves n she has the tendency to be a bit sarcastic n sassy occasionally, but me n her have gotten along well in my current playthrough !! Ermm from what I've heard she's more of a slow burn romance n I've heard it's been purretty wholesome?? Dunno, but I love her, she's amazing teehee <3

And finally for concrete actual companions, the tiefling barbarian Karl.ach! May or may nawt be being hunted by another one of the companions you meet (Wy.ll) ++ some clerics or whatever but heyyy that's fine purretty lady haha.

Nawt much 2 say about her cuz there's a fair bit that's a mild bit spoilerly for nawt only her but another character (Wy.ll again) ++ some enemies you find but uhm. She's beautiful. A lil scary at first esp if you take what others say about her at first 2 heart but she's so kind. So caring. Adorable sometimes ghdjdhdh. Nawt the stupid barbarian stereotype ++ we love her for that. Big strong woman hehe (ʃ⁠ƪ⁠＾⁠3⁠＾)♡

Okay nyeow for the "sorta companion under specific circumstances idk much about her sawrry", Min.thara!! She's a drow paladin, n starts out as an enemy ++ ermm. you can kill her. but also romance her?

Idk how others managed 2 romance her but in my current save she's dead. ermmmm. so I have nothing else 2 say but she's really purretty n didn't seem like that bad of a being,, n she purrobably has some character growth from when ya first meet her (hopefully) so yayy purretty woman !! also drow r awesome. ok yea!

Anyways, ermm aside from like. one night stands you have the option of having. these r all the romanceable gals in the game and they're all super awesome in their own ways yippee!! (4 some reason I thought there were more but nwo, 4 gals n 4 guys)

So like. The game as I mentioned a bit graphic again just putting it out there cuz I've giggled like a small child a few times playing. Ermm there's nothin much 2 say though ?? Butyeah again just saying ig lmao fhshdhs.

BUT ALSO OHMYHOD IT IS A GREAT GAME THERE IS SO MUCH CONTENT N SO MANY DETAILS IT'S SO GOOD ARGHFHGJFHTBT if nothing else WOMEN PURRETTY N STRONG N CAPABLE N BEAUTIFUL :3

[red-dragon-archfiend]

Today I've given each non-Sorcerer class in D&D 5e a multiclass build combining them with Draconic Sorcerer. The power level of these builds ranges from terrific to typical to terrible, and Draconic is usually not the most optimal subclass to choose for them anyway, but I try to highlight when the subclass features are important. I'll start by just giving you the list of each combination, and below the cut I'll go into far more detail about each one, including how it functions and how viable I think it is.

Artificer: Half-Elf Draconic Sorcerer 17/Alchemist Artificer 3

Barbarian: Half-Elf Ancestral Guardians Barbarian 12/Draconic Sorcerer 8

Bard: Custom Lineage Draconic Sorcerer 17/Eloquence Bard 3

Cleric: Mountain Dwarf Draconic Sorcerer 19/Order Cleric 1

Druid: Half-Elf Spores Druid 17/Draconic Sorcerer 3

Fighter: Half-Elf (Drow) Eldritch Knight Fighter 11/Draconic Sorcerer 9

Monk: Half-Elf (Drow) Draconic Sorcerer 16/Kensei Monk 4

Paladin: Half-Elf Draconic Sorcerer 14/Crown Paladin 6

Ranger: Half-Elf Hunter Ranger 16/Draconic Sorcerer 4

Rogue: Ravenite Dragonborn Swashbuckler Rogue 19/Draconic Sorcerer 1

Warlock: Hellfire Tiefling Draconic Sorcerer 17/Hexblade Warlock 3

Wizard: Half-Elf Bladesinging Wizard 17/Draconic Sorcerer 3

To clarify a few things, the reason Half-Elf is chosen so frequently isn't just my own personal affinity for Half-Elves, but also because the stat increases Half-Elves offer are crucial for making the many MAD combinations (multi-ability dependent) function. If you're playing with stronger starting stats than those afforded by Point Buy, it's fine to change for a different race in most circumstances. As for the color of your Dragon Ancestor, it only matters on a mechanical level if you take six or more levels of Sorcerer. If you do, fire is generally the best choice, so Red, Gold, or Brass Dragon works best, but if you don't, any color works the same, so just choose the one you like best or what makes sense for your character. I'd also recommend starting with Sorcerer unless the other class gives you heavy armor, also offers constitution save proficiency, or if the class is (for some reason) Monk, because newly acquired versions of Unarmored Defense replace previous versions, and chances are Draconic Resilience will work better for you than the Monk's Unarmored Defense. Also, remember if you get armor that you're going to need space in the back for your wings when you hit Sorcerer level 14, so be sure to set time aside to get your armor modified.

Artificer: Not really exciting, but Infusions are always helpful, and medium armor and shields improves our durability. Healing Word is all we need to bring up downed party members, and Experimental Elixir gives us a free potion every day. We don't get to CHOOSE which one we get, but all of them are helpful, especially in a diverse party where at least somebody could benefit from whichever result our Elixir provides. The real value from this combination is flavor; a Sorcerer who experiments with their own magical blood is a cool concept!

Barbarian: This is kind of a joke? The idea is to cast Mirror Image and Fire Shield before we enter a rage, using Extended Spell to make them last longer. Ancestral Guardians makes attacking anybody but us both difficult and unrewarding, and our spells make that same for attacking us too. If you're not particularly attached to Draconic Sorcerers like I am, I'd recommend Clockwork Soul instead so you can learn Armor of Agathys.

Bard: This one is pretty straightforward. Silver Tongue is incredible, both classes use charisma, and choosing Custom Lineage and choosing a feat that increases charisma offsets the fact that we get one less ASI to work with. Notably, Sorcerers stop learning new spells after level 17, and our spell slots still scale like a full-classed character since we're combining two full casters, so we're only trading 3 Sorcery Points, Draconic Presence, an ASI, and Sorcerous Restoration for all the things those Bard levels have to offer. Not necessarily better than a full-classed Sorcerer at level 20, but not really worse either, if you're in a social campaign where Silver Tongue goes a long way.

Cleric: This one is actually really cool, I'm glad I thought of it. Voice of Authority is great in any party that makes weapon attacks a lot, and Font of Magic lets us make more spell slots to keep using it. An additional charisma-based skill is great for a Sorcerer, and the combination of heavy armor and shields in addition to constitution save proficiency from starting Sorcerer give us Fighter-like durability, outside of hit points, but those are already better than usual thanks to our great Mountain Dwarf stat increases. Mountain Dwarf also adds poison resistance, which goes nicely with fire resistance from Elemental Affinity, and more importantly we're not slowed by heavy armor, so we can dump strength.

Druid: Spores was chosen because it's the melee Druid, and Draconic Sorcerer offers better AC, constitution saving throw proficiency, Booming Blade, Shield, Mirror Image and Metamagic. Notably you get access to a lot of utility cantrips that Druids lack, like Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, and Mage Hand, so I'd suggest grabbing those to make yourself more useful outside combat. It's MAD and delays your Druid levels by more than I'd like, but given how allergic Druids generally are to multiclassing, I'd say this is a reasonably effective combination.

Fighter: This one takes advantage of Draconic Resilience to focus on dexterity. Metamagic is the big draw though, that combined with Action Surge and War Magic gives us a buffet of action economy. Either pick of a rapier and use the blade cantrips, or a longbow to use with ranged cantrips. Consider taking Elven Accuracy to use with Faerie Fire, and Quickened Spell to pair with Scorching Ray and Action Surge longbow attacks to capitalize on that advantage as much as possible. By level 20, this build can use Action Surge to make six longbow attacks, then follow with Quickened Scorching Ray, upcast to sixth level, for a total of thirteen attacks in that turn, with super-advantage if you have Elven Accuracy and cast Faerie Fire beforehand. This sounds incredible, and it is, but the biggest problem this build faces is (spoilers) it's mostly outclassed by Sorcerer/Paladin and Sorcerer/Warlock, as you'll see below, because they can accomplish similar things much more effectively and with less multiclassing investment. This build absolutely works, especially if you were disappointed by the Arcane Archer and want something stronger, but consider those other two combinations first.

Monk: This one is terrible, but there is something you can maybe do with it. If you take Elven Accuracy and Great Weapon Master, you can make two-handed longsword attacks with dexterity for big damage, using one of the blade cantrips. Martial Arts is an amusing bonus action, but compared to Quickened Spell it's kinda just filler. If your DM allows the use of Dedicated Weapon, you can use the Elf Weapon Training feature from the Half-Elf variants in place of Skill Versatility to make the Way of the Kensei entirely obsolete, so you can choose a different subclass, which may as well be the Way of the Ascendant Dragon, if only for flavor purposes. Is that the most practical choice? Not really. But this build is itself very impractical, so it doesn't matter much. Really, if you want to be a dragon-themed Monk, just play Way of the Ascendant Dragon, it's really cool and does everything you'd want it to do.

Paladin: In stark contrast with the last one, this one is not only good but actually better than most single-classed builds. The Sorcadin, as it's called, is one of, if not the, strongest multiclass combinations possible, and also my favorite build in D&D 5e. There's a lot to say about it, but the TLDR is Quickened Spell means we can be a Paladin and a Sorcerer at the same time, and our Sorcerer levels give us a lot more spell slots to burn for Divine Smite. I could write an entire post about this combination, from the several ways to play it, the sheer potential it has, and the narrative potential of a warrior motivated by a personal oath they chose for themselves grappling with powerful inner magic they had no say in possessing.

Ranger: With quite possibly the best combination out of the way, back to one of the worst. This one has similar problems to Monk, but it's not quite as bad. The idea here is to use Horde Breaker in conjunction with Green Flame Blade to do sizeable damage to two foes at once. Draconic Resilience aside, not much to say about this one, though the flavor is neat. Like with the Monk, the Ranger has a dragon-themed subclass in the Drakewarden, so I'd recommend just playing that instead.

Rogue: Better AC on the only Rogue that wants to be in melee a lot, Booming Blade for more damage, and we already want good charisma so we can actually get some solid use out of our few spells. Ravenite Dragonborn was chosen for Vengeful Assault, which paired with Quickened Spell (from Metamagic Adept unless we decide to take more Sorcerer levels) allows us to make more sneak attacks outside of our own turn. If that's not your speed, Half-Elf is once again the best option, this time because Rogues really like the extra skills. If you liked the Fighter build, you could play an Arcane Trickster instead of a Swashbuckler and take several more Sorcerer levels, though managing the build becomes a lot harder at that point. Still pretty solid though, an Arcane Trickster with several uses of Subtle Spell could be an absolute menace.

Warlock: The "Sorlock", the only combination here that rivals Sorcadin, though I'd say this specific version is probably worse. All the benefits of Warlock without the downsides! We can even convert our Pact Magic slots into Sorcery Points every short rest. Hellfire Tiefling was chosen to capitalize on Elemental Affinity and to use Darkness alongside Devil's Sight, since we want to get the most out of Draconic as our subclass. Usually Sorlocks take Eldritch Blast, but Elemental Affinity means Fire Bolt is almost (but not as) good, so we can afford to take another invocation besides Agonizing Blast. I'd recommend choosing Pact of the Chain and taking Investment of the Chain Master, because we might as well get a pseudodragon familiar to match the theme. The real gimmick to this particular Sorlock is combining Elemental Affinity with Hex Warrior to make Green-Flame Blade a viable melee option, especially with Quickened Spell. This matches and even outpaces the damage from a Hexblade with Pact of the Blade just using a longsword, and we have the spell slots to make casting Shield actually worth it, which pure Hexblades can't do. Not the most optimal way of playing a Sorlock, but certainly a cool one that's still very effective.

Wizard: Same benefits as the Spores Druid and works for the same reasons, though Wizard spells are stronger in general than Druid spells, so Metamagic is even more of a benefit. Consider learning Shield and Shadow Blade as Sorcerer spells, so you always have them prepared. Between Sorcerer and Wizard, we'll eventually have 9 cantrips, fixing the Bladesinger's struggle to fit in their combat cantrips and utility cantrips at the same time, but like with the Druid, MADness is the main issue here, and the Bladesinger really doesn't want to be more MAD than it already is. You may want to prioritize dexterity over intelligence or charisma, or if that sounds too gimmicky, try a more traditional subclass like Abjuration, Divination, War, or whatever makes sense for your dragon ancestor. An Evoker with red dragon ancestry or an Enchanter with green dragon ancestry feels thematically appropriate and fun to me!