#They're stuck in my head like a tadpole

[darcydarlingdabbles]

Wyllstarion - Post Game Drabbles

//I'm counting this as a WIP Wednesday because I know me, and me will not be able to get this out of her head.//

SFW

They're basically made for each other. But spesifically to grow into each other. Wyll is literally the knight in shining armor Astarion says he dreamed about.

Wyll on the other hand needs someone to stand up for him and encourage him to be selfish sometimes. He also has a thing for paranormal romance (see his convo with shadowheart about mermaid erotica) Ironic as he's a monster hunter.

Astarion constantly calling Wyll a sweet fool, with increasing affection.

Astarion fits perfectly into the noble life, and riding the wave of being the heroes of Baulder's Gate, Wyll is going to be the new Archduke. And the vampire is /thrilled/ to be setting up the plans and parties.

Wyll suggest they can do the coronation and the wedding in the same ceremony, knowing that Astarion would love the spectacle.

Astarion says absoutely not. Wyll has one day fully about him and all he's sacrificed for the Gate and he's going to have it, dammit. Besides, this means the vampire gets to plan his own wedding--something he'd never thought he'd do. He boasts to Wyll that it will be another lavish party that will go down in the histories as far grander than the coronation anyway.

Astation surprises Wyll with an elegant but private ceremony with only their friends--their family.

Whoops, did he forget to inform Wyll's father? What a pity.

Astarion being the son-in-law of Ulder Ravengard's nightmares.

NSFW

H/C Wyll is demi-sexual. Astarion is a switch that leans bottom, but Wyll brings out his inner needy brat. Wyll is willing (sorry not sorry) to give or take whatever his vamp needs.

Astarion has a lot of healing to do when it comes to sex and intimacy, and he's very insecure about this. Wyll is more than happy to wait. Until they've formed a greater bond and sex is about that bond and intimacy.

Once they're engaged, and with Cazador dead, Astarion is ready to jump Wyll's bones at any provocation.

Wyll is indulgent but says why not wait until the wedding when they're so close to it. Astarion is foppishly distraught, but respects Wyll's wishes. Mostly.

He'll get his prince charming up to do everything...up to the point of fucking him properly. It's a delightful torment for them both. Wyll gets Astarion to slow down and teach him what he likes, and Astarion gets to be the tease and tempter without hurting anyone.

Astarion would love to be the one to break his Wyll.

[pinnithin]

enver gortash fascinates me from the perspective of his relationship with the dark urge because like, as far as i know his alliance with them is one of the very few he didn’t actively despise. the guy was sold into slavery by his own parents (who tried to justify it by saying their child was a hateful monster and anyone would have done the same) and spent his formative years employed by a devil who gets off on gratuitous levels of suffering and manipulation. and then once he's escaped that and built himself up so he can never be used and enslaved again he meets this bhaalspawn who also had to adapt and survive a violent and manipulative environment for years by becoming the monsters who raised them.

gortash sees how the dark urge has risen to command armies and slaughter hundreds in the same way he outfoxed raphael and ruthlessly controls the people in his employ, and after earning and owning his reputation as a tyrant heres another person who might actually have like, a shared lived experience. not exactly a friend, because people like them can't afford to have friends, but someone who at least understands. and he willingly works with them on this plan to enslave the sword coast and agrees to share power with them.

and then orin lobotomizes them, puts a tadpole in their head, and leaves them for dead at moonrise.

like, can you imagine. youre working with the first person you see eye to eye with and prooooobably arent plotting to actively sabotage (or, at least would hesitate to do so) and the rug just gets yanked out from under them by their own sister, and now you're stuck with her because the plan still has to move along. and as the days go by a group of adventurers start to screw up your plot right when baldur's gate is within your grasp, and you learn that among them is your old almost-friend who you actually liked and respected - and they have no memory of you whatsoever. oh, and on top of that they're rolling with people you've actively fucked over and want to kick your ass.

did it hurt for him to learn this? did he ever think about how things could have been different? did he think, you were supposed to be my ally, my friend, someone who actually understands that becoming a monster is the only way to keep yourself safe and in control. we were going to rule together. and now you're ride or die with this squad of people you've only known for a few weeks at best, and you want me dead. you don't even remember me. you don't even remember yourself.

[tavshortfortavern]

Isekai!Tav Plot Bunnies

Origins of Humans.

Earth being a canon place in Forgotten Realms lore as another plane birthed a lot of ideas. I thought it was really convenient for any isekai plots but now it makes me wonder of the world. Specifically humans on Earth and those in Faerun. Cuz how did that happen. In DND humans do not have clear origins or a 'creator deity'' like dwarves or elves. Storytelling-wise, this is up to the DM and writers but that means my plot bunnies could be true. Humans came from Earth. Earth could be the origins of humanity.

I did some reading and found that mages from this place called the Imaskari Empire opened portal to this 'other world' and kidnapped humans to be slaves. The places these kidnapped humans came from were described to be similar to those on earth like Egypt or Mesopotamia. The mages closed those portals and put wards to prevent future gates for a very long time (Gates from Earth to Toril used to be common thats why its called Forgotten Realms) Not forever or permanently. Just a long time. It would make sense for those wards to wane after so much time and that's how a Tav would stumble into Faerun from modern earth.

I'm inclined to think Earth is the original home as Faerun has no clue how humans came about, even humans but on our world we have plenty of creation stories and myths, a lot of which mimics the other. Granted even we can't all agree which is the one true origin but we we have them. It also makes sense for humans, who are known for traveling and being able to thrive wherever they wish (even when its not ideal or possible) to be in different worlds. They're just so short-lived they wouldn't remember ancient times.

So Tav ends up in Faerun and becomes an adventurer for a time before getting tadpoled. They keep being from another world a secret. Through the course of the adventure they learn of the wards preventing gates being opened to their world, which is an issue if they want to head back. The more they delve into this they slowly piece together ancient, ancient history and realize the truth. This might be a chance to involve earth dieties. There are so many dieties and pantheon on earth compared to Fearun. Someone pointed out how many goddesses of magic there are and it hasn't left me. So maybe earth had magic at some point of its gone now?

There might also be how different Tav's soul could be. Someone else mentioned in Faerun, souls are created by the gods so an isekai Tav soul could be different being from earth. It could come with its advantages but drawbacks. Such as resurrection and dying. But the gods on Faerun might not be able to do anything with that Tav either, escaping a lot of divine retribution if they decide to meddle and be rude. Maybe Ao doesn't want them here bc they would disrupt everything but can't do anything since they're soul is not from here and what if the earth gods have a problem? They're kinda outnumbered.

This is just me but I have fun thinking of Tav not just from earth but a more futuristic version. I'm a fan of medieval fantasy meets scifi. Being a world without magic means humanity is focused on advancing technology and it shows. A normal isekai Tav is already chaffing at the lack of modern comforts but a futuristic Tav is trying so hard not to make faces at this 'backwards' society.

Idk this has been stuck with me for a whole

[fistfuloftarenths]

get to know your tav

tagged by @my-favourite-zhent, thank you for enabling me

this is gustava, whose otherwise lovely parents have terrible taste in names. she's a half wood-elf bard and warlock, born and bred in the lower city.

what is your tav's favorite weapon?

her voice and her knowledge. not cutting words/vicious mockery , but she joined the college of lore for a reason. she's a scholar of music and magic, and knows far more than you'd expect if you caught her playing something bawdy in a festhall.

style of combat?

prefers not to fight if she can persuade or deceive her way out of it. if she has to fight, then it's hunger of hadar and an eldritch blast or two to knock over anyone who staggers out alive. never lets them get close to her.

deepest desire?

if you asked her? she would like to travel as far as she can and talk to people and learn their songs. preferably with a pack mule and a bag of holding. and some good boots. and rugan.

but deeper even than that and she's barely aware of it - she wants the elves to know her songs, and to play for them centuries after she's dust.

guilty pleasure?

sitting in a tavern people watching while being a judgemental cow. will claim its practice for cutting words but it's not, not really.

best-kept secret?

the details of the contract with her archfey patron

greatest strength?

her ability to read people and manipulate them, for better or worse. she ended up in de facto charge of the tadpole group because she was good at talking to all of them, and also good at talking to everyone else.

fatal flaw?

has done and will continue to do some appallingly stupid things just to see what will happen. burned herself twice on the stove, just to check. glued herself to the table. stuck her naked hands into a dead man's head to pull out the brain.

did not, however, lick a spider.

favourite spell/cantrip?

speak with animals. mere words cannot explain her joy

bad habit?

cannot always keep mouth shut when she thinks of something clever and or nasty to say. especially when it's accurate. nearly lost a tooth when referring to the flaming fist as the flaming filth to their faces.

hidden talent?

can identify and imitate accents from all over faerun. can even sing with them.

leisure activity?

finding a quiet corner and listening to people and scribbling down things in her commonplace book. alternatively, dressing up and putting on best high class accent and pretending to shop for things she will never be able to afford.

comfort food?

fiddlehead soup, the way her parents made it.

favourite person(s)?

rugan. she's not sure why and he's inconvenient, but he is.

favoured display of affection?

small touches, as if she's reassuring herself that they're there and solid. a kiss to the top of their head. running the back of her fingers down their arm. hooking her foot around theirs under the table.

fondest childhood memory?

curled up in a blanket, listening her mother and father and their friends sit around and talk and sing and play music, tapping her short child's fingers together in time.

anything else you’d like to share?

she hates volo. so much. she booed him at the goblin camp and will forever regret - just a little - not setting off those smokepowder barrells herself. he's a useless prat of a wizard, not a bard at all, but the instant she starts tuning her lute some uncultured chucklefuck will start asking her to play his tunes.

would kick him to death in an alleyway.

[rim-draws]

Faerûnian Writing Challenge

Day 2 | SFW

Waking up on Ravaged Beach

It hurts.

Not Tav’s body, of course. Some mysterious forces had made sure of that. Creepy.

But their head bangs on and on painfully. There is a certain squirming sensation, sound even, that squishes every once in a while then they move their head. It’s exhausting to hear.

Dusting themself off, the scenery truly a strange sight. Tav is sure they’ve never seen nor been in this area before. This ship, nautiloid? has flown them far from home. Not ideal.

Now slug free but tadpole full, truly a bad trade off. Tav is certainly not looking forward to being exploded into a tentacle monster any time soon, seeing as a click if a button could morph them into one. Which might even happen very soon according to Lae’zel. Even less ideal.

Where even is Lae’zel, anyhow? She seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on. Now they're just stuck with a tadpole and fending for who knows how long until they’ll become just another mindless freak. Extremely not ideal.

Tav was young. And as a half elf, they’re young young and not ‘100 years is my youth’ type of young. They still have much to live for, much to experience, much to do. Not that they would do anything useful to the world during those years but they’d like to have them or go out on their own terms.

Horrifying thought: would they still be conscious while under the tadpole’s control? Probably, right? Suddenly, their species being 100+ years old lifespans feel exceedingly long rather than short. Extremely, absolutely 1000% not ideal.

They shook their head. The longer they stand here thinking about this, the more this will just eat them alive before the tadpole can do it.

Tav could see Shadowheart a few steps ahead. She was equally as clueless as they were on the ship, maybe it’s a better option to just leave. But from her armour she seems to be a warrior of sorts, definitely belonging to some type of group or tribe. Having connection with someone who have them isn’t a bad idea…

The little odd thing she was so cryptically hiding behind her since the nautiloid sprawled out beside her body.

Tav blinked.

They could take it. It’d be so easy. They could steal it before she even had a moment to move, could even kill her for it. What weight would it shift in the grand scheme of things? Whose blood wouldn’t they dare shed for the guarantee of their own safety?

But on the other hand, she’s more useful than the object. She could heal, for one, and could hold herself quite well in battle even if it’s not always a guarantee. And if anything, she’s also a half elf. Tav’s mother didn’t stay around him long when they were younger, but she did say to look after ones of your own.

They contemplated a bit more before nudging her with their feet.

No dice.

They kick some sand into her face.

She coughs.

Ah, progress. At least she isn't dead.

“How are we alive? Where even are we?:

“I thought you’d know.” They watched the way she quickly pocketed the strange thing. With a vague copy of what a smile looks like, Tav pushes forward. Everyone is entitled to their secrets, what’s the rush anyway.

Things are only just heating up.

[spiritsong]

19 & 24

okay so heads up — I had most of the answers prewritten for these as a character building exercise, and you just so happened to choose the two questions with the LONGEST responses 😂 I will try and cut them down but... well, I have never been known for my brevity

Has your Dark Urge become particularly close to anyone romantically and/or platonically in their journey? If so, who, and what is the relationship like? If no, why not?

Gale

Gale is the first person Aune grows close to. She stuck close to him upon meeting partly because she thought his kindness would be easy to take advantage of, and partly because she was scared out of her mind in regards to the tadpoles + the urge + the memory loss, and figured a wizard might be a good source of knowledge in that regard. She considers him her first real friend, and is the first person she begins to care for. Their relationship might have turned out differently had they not practiced channeling the Weave that one night. Aune envisioned kissing Gale, which was intensely startling for her; she had yet to remember that kissing was even a thing. (Durge!Aune is pretty touch-averse.) From that point forward, despite the two growing closer together, she always questioned the validity of her feelings (mostly platonic, sometimes romantic) for him; she could never be sure if they were natural or some fabrication of the Weave. After the Grove massacre, on the night of the goblin party, Aune and Gale have a nasty argument, and afterwards keep their distance from each other for the next couple of weeks. When Elminster eventually shows up and breaks the big news, the pair end their quasi- silent treatment phase. Aune becomes intensely concerned about Gale as he flip-flops between a suicidal, defeatist attitude and one of painful optimism. Gale confesses his feelings. Aune is startled, again, but ultimately decides to sleep with him, mostly because she is afraid he will be dead soon and also just wants to make him happy. She does end up enjoying herself in the moment, but comes crashing down afterwards, realizing it was a big mistake; realizing she would never stop questioning if her feelings were real. (And, less consciously, she realizes that Gale would never truly accept her, scars and darkness all. The argument they had back at the goblin party revealed as much.) They talk the following morning. They're both heartbroken. Gale is cold towards her, and whatever is left of their relationship is on the crux of falling apart.

Lae'zel

The second person Aune befriends is Lae'zel; their relationship starts out with such incredible ease - they are so in tune with each other that they never argue. They have a lot of similarities in regards to their worldviews, which makes them work well together as they navigate their crisis. It becomes a bit harried after the run-in with the gith patrol as Aune feels as though Lae'zel betrayed her trust (Aune made the party prioritize getting to the creche above most all else). But eventually she gets over it and they continue to grow closer. Things change at the creche - Aune convinces Lae'zel to consume a tadpole after the zaith'isk caused near-irreparable damage to her mind. In retrospect, it shames her deeply, but she doesn't regret it. In the moment, she decided that ultimately her own survival was most important, and she needed Lae'zel to be physically & mentally okay. She decided for Lae'zel that the practicality of the solution was more important than Lae'zel's ideals. Later on, Lae'zel doesn't dwell on this, but it haunts Aune forever. After what happens with Vlaakith at the creche, Aune vows to support Lae'zel through the ordeal in whatever way she can - to do as she wishes no matter what. (She is greatly motivated by her guilt.) Lae'zel helps Aune through a lot of the difficult moments that come up in regards to the Urge, particularly with the insomnia. They get into the habit of spending at least a part of the night with each other, with Aune usually resting her head in Lae'zel's lap while Lae'zel tells her of githyanki legend or culture. Lae'zel pets Aune's hair until she falls asleep. They never spend the entire night together; after a couple hours Lae'zel will shoo her away.

I'm not even going to bother going into Astarion because that will turn this into more of a novel than it already is 💀

Does your Dark Urge have a treasured item with them? If yes, what is it and why is it special? If no, how do they feel about item sentimentality in general?

Yes! Aune has very few belongings with her when she wakes on the ravaged beach, but one item of note is an old and worn herb sickle. Despite coming across better alternatives later, she continues to use it for harvesting as it's one of the only physical things she owns that ties her to her past. She starts making a habit of collecting (stealing) little things from her companions that she figures won't be missed or noticed. She does it out of fear that she will lose her memories again and forget about the people she has come to love and care for. I'm in the process of writing a drabble about it & maybe making an accompanying art thing, so I'll leave it there! OH BUT WAIT ALSO I've been poking around Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft for information regarding the Haunted One background recently, and learned that those with this background get to choose or roll for a trinket on the Horror Trinkets table. I cheated and rolled for one — a little black book that records your dreams, and yours alone, when you sleep; and chose a second — a clockwork device that beats like a heart. I'm very excited to think of what implications and consequences the journal will have on Aune's journey (what if one of the companions, unaware of her Urge, flips through it without her knowing? I doubt she would forget her terrible nightmares, but if she does, could she resist the temptation of flipping through the journal to read about it later on?) and OF COURSEEE I have decided that the clockwork heart was a gift from Gortash, though Aune doesn't remember him or the item's significance. (because I'm still in Act 2 lol)

[yuridovewing]

Tigerheart's Shadow Diagnosis: B

I will not lie. Dovewing was there and it boosted my ranking by a lot

To be honest, I think I'm a bit of an outlier when it comes to WC fans, cause I actually sorta like the travel books. I dunno, I always kinda enjoy a little adventure where the cats interact with human stuff. It's cute to me, it reminds me of pet xenofiction and it's the closest WC ever gets to this sorta thing. They definitely have a pacing problem, and I felt that in this book, but they're not the worst things ever to me.

I liked Tigerheart getting stuck on a train and all the cats needing to deal with the train tracks (and calling trains "thundersnakes" was really cute) and I liked a lot of the city stuff. The guardian cats were a really neat group and I'm glad we spent a lot of time on them, they're lovely. I also really enjoyed Spiresight as a character. Sometimes you just gotta enjoy a weird girlie with visions (and I've subscribed to the theory that he's Tadpole btw. That scene where he grabs Pouncekit while she's hanging over the ledge with such ferocity, mirroring how Tadpole died pushing Moth up the ledge in canon... aughhhh)

The entire first part of the book with Tigerheart in ShadowClan was also really good. I love the parallel between him and Dovewing where they both felt suffocated by their clans' expectations of them and cracked.

Dovewing's treatment will always bother me but I did like her here a lot. You go girl get OUTTA there!!! Everyone acting like she just had a goofy little anxiety dream when she was literally a prophecy cat... Grrrr bite bite grrrrrrrrrr. It really puts into perspective how despite what her sister and the fandom preaches, no one actually respects Dovewing and her feelings and they're quick to dismiss it all as being "stuck in her own head". Her interactions with Tigerheart and their kits were really precious and I loved most of their scenes Besides the ones where Tigerheart was being weird, which brings me to...

... Erins "learn how to have clan cats be normal about outsiders/at least come to respect them" challenge. Failed immediately. Why does Tigerheart feel suffocated by his clan to the point where he decides to join Dovewing super quickly and looks for a reason to join when he feels forced to stay in ShadowClan, only to get to the city and be like "well let's go back to ShadowClan honey. What, you didn't actually think I wanted to come out here, did you?" And then the ending has him like "No wait I kinda wanna stay dead because leading ShadowClan is scawy" and like he's allowed to have conflicting feelings but it read like he just swapped motivations when the plot needed him to. Not to mention how rude he is to the guardian cats and forcing his customs onto them (and this being portrayed as a good thing and evidence he's a fantastic leader) I think it'd make more sense if he wanted to stay in the city with Dovewing and felt comfortable with the guardian cats, but he felt restless and guilty for ditching Rowanstar, and when Spiresight gives him the warning then he suddenly folds. Like cmon, at least PRETEND you respect outside groups for a moment before turning your main protag into a spokesperson for how superior this dystopian- i mean euphoric society he llives in is and how everyone ever should shut up and conform to it or else you're an idiot who deserves to get beat up.

I dunno. There was a lot of good here but a lot of weird stuff too. But that sorta comes with the territory for WC, really. Good idea, good beginning, good characters, but needs tuning up imo.

[fanfiction-artist-prototype]

A collection of all my Tav's and Durges

(Real name) Tiritus Silvershield/ (Code name) Tavrita (From a smaller branch of the Silvershield's but not from the main house) Devotion Paladin of Bane with the noble background. They're doing their best. Came for the killing of the Absolute and removal of their tadpole, stayed for the Crisis of faith.

---

Da'tch Rogue with the Guild background. She's trying not to be so murder-happy but it's a life-long learning process! Stuck around because these Istik would die without her; discovering the power of friendship and open communication along the way!

---

Cassandra Redeemed Bhaalspawn Wizard. Her thing is running out of spell slots in a fight and watching her attacks realise they fucked up when she pulls out her swords. Was happy enough to live by her urges guidance, but 'unfortunately' her companions convinced her she could be a good person.

---

Tav

A Bhaalspawn sorcerer that just kind of wants to impress their companions because they like this notion of 'friends'. *Pats Tav's head* This dragonborn can't read, write or count well, but by the gods can this motherfucker kill.

---

Ravryn

Half Elf Drow, war-domain cleric of Lathander who would really like it if people kept asking if she worships the spider bitch thank you! She doesn't even have lolth-sworn eyes!? Asked: "Is anyone gonna have it together at *all* in this group?" and didn't wait for an answer. Withers is her favourite and she makes it known.

--

Please please feel free to ask me about each other their backstories/headcanons i have for them!!

[rielzero]

Been playing around in my head with the concept of a tiefling oc, for an AU were I can ship him with Raphael. (Outside of the bg3 adventure, so no tadpoles.) would be oc not ingame made chara, i find the tiefling character heads for male tiefs lacking ingame.

Some things so far..

-wasn't born a tiefling, but a half elf?

-either tiefling aspect became active later in life, or he was transformed by other means. He likes who he is, and how he looks.

-his name is ..nymrod, a play on nimrod, not his original name, but he was treated like a fool for so long it kind of stuck. He wears his insecurities on his sleeve. "Little nym" or "nymph" being nicknames as he's pretty.

-I'd say he's older than he looks, had some life experiences. Definetly knows his way around people including fiends.

-pinkish skin! Very soft guy. Cute. Not tall, slender. Lacks ridges on his skin, like someone sanded him down. Very nimble. Other colours undediced, hair isn't long.

-acts like a fool/innocent person to trick others.

-rogue? Sorcerer? Undediced on class, or if he does classing at all. Might as well just be a citizen kind of person, denizen of hell.

-unsure wether he has hornsor not, he might actually not have them, or they're small.

-no scars, blemishes or body art, maybe freckles. If dragon sorcerer, the scales would be subtle, coating his skin a little paler.

-unsure about large details of backstory. So far I just got that he was saved by raphael out of romantic/sexual interest? idk. Nymrod isn't going to be a super complex chara thus far. Just a casual oc for funsies.

I would welcome suggestions, I'm probably gonna doodle some concepts later.

Strikes the mood as a.. "oh, we just kept him around because he is nice to dote on." Kind of character, self indulgent stuff.

[crossdressingdeath]

*cracks knuckles* alright, character development asks for your boy: 6, 8, 11, 19, 29, 30. -@veilkeeper

(The character development asks)

6: What companion are you platonically close with? In my first run Kyvir was closest to Gale (I don't know what I did with him, but his approval skyrocketed so fast) but I'm currently going back and forth between him and Wyll in terms of story. The dynamic of the monster and the monster hunter is sososososo good, and the idea of Kyvir's closest friend learning he's Bhaalspawn and responding with "Well, that explains a lot" and everything after refusing Bhaal where Wyll's just incredibly proud of you... good shit. Also, daddy issues gang. But also the angst of Kyvir's best friend learning what he did in the past and barely being able to look at him, Gale's dialogue at the inauguration is so much... I genuinely haven't decided, I'm gonna go through their dialogue more carefully this run. Maybe it starts as Gale and then switches to Wyll in act 3 just from Gale taking the whole Absolutist thing so incredibly badly and then getting kidnapped before they can hash that out...? I don't know, much to think about. (I also considered Karlach but the whole Gortash thing was just. too much angst. tone it down like 5%.)

8: Who are they suspicious of? I don't know if suspicious is the right word, but he's the most distrustful of Wyll at first. Both because he can't believe anyone is as perfect as Wyll appears to be and because for some reason monster hunters get his hackles up. It would've been Astarion or Lae'zel if it wasn't for Astarion failing so hard at pretending he's not a vampire that Kyvir didn't even notice he was trying to hide it (he fully just thought Astarion was sensitive about it and so didn't bring it up) and both him and Lae'zel being really quite up-front about how they're not the greatest people. Shadowheart a little bit because she's so obviously lying her ass off before admitting she worships Shar, but also she's really obvious so he's not that worried. He's also suspicious of Jaheira when she first joins up because the Urge doesn't like her and this is a little before he realizes what's actually going on with that; he would have been distrustful of Minsc too, but Jaheira vouched for him and by that point Kyvir trusted her to at least not stab him in the back for no reason, so that was fine.

11: Weapon of choice? In this run mostly warhammers (specifically Faithbreaker and Ketheric's warhammer), and Nyrulna in act 3 (glowing trident go brrrrrrrrr), but since I intend to reclass him as a bard he won't be able to do that anymore. So that kind of remains to be seen. (Definitely giving him Orin's sword in act 3, though.)

19: How do you think they'll meet they're end? I remain convinced that redeemed Durge is fully immortal because Jergal won't let them die, so... what end? More seriously, if he does die it'll be in a dramatic battle against a grand force, the sort of fight that the bards will sing of for a thousand years! ...Or possibly he'll get stabbed in a back alley because he can't not be a little shit even when he really, really shouldn't. But probably Astarion and Halsin won't let that happen.

29: Does your Tav want to utilize the tadpole powers or not? Kyvir's head is quite messed up enough as it is, thank you very much. He is not touching the tadpole powers. Also, even aside from the "Hey, I don't need more brain damage" situation the Emperor's non-illithid disguise is juuuuuuuuust off-model enough (thanks to all the brain damage keeping the Emperor from getting a good look in his head) that it sets off some alarm bells for him so he was never going to trust the guy enough to start messing with the tadpoles anyway.

30: What's your favorite thing about your Tav? ...Hm. My favourite thing? Well, it's a bit basic, but I love the "pretending to care while not caring at all can get you far in life, but watch out" thing he's got going on. Enough of his life pre-amnesia stuck with him that he doesn't want to get near anyone, but his companions are all such messes that he can't not. In general I'm having a lot of fun playing with Kyvir's memories and how much he remembers the lessons they taught him even with the memories themselves gone, but mostly my favourite thing right now is the "defrosting ice king but no one realizes because he's really good at pretending to be super friendly" bit he's pulling off throughout most of the story by virtue of being one of the only members of this party with decent charisma, at least in act one. ...Also all the Durgetash posting he's inspiring but that's only partially related to him.

[amywritesthings]

You said you were playing 4 runs of Bauldrs Gate 3? I would love to hear about them ^.^ if you don't mind!

Hello, friend! Yes, oh my gosh. I am... a little insane and feel such comfort playing Act 1? So I have been kind of constantly making new characters and going back. BUT THIS IS SO KIND OF YOU OFC I CAN TALK ABOUT THEM AHHHHH

Ames - ha, get it, because that's my other nickname? But yes, Ames is my first playthru; a wood elf druid with a multiclass of cleric. She's a bit of a wishy-washy morally grey woman who does whatever it takes to avoid a fight, so she's constantly weaving new lies to be everyone's friend (and eventually backstab them). She doesn't really remember much of her past, but she's only looking forward to the future. Romance? Astarion.

Lunara - my high elf ranger that I play with my partner, who has an elf named Whit'us that is a rogue. Together they're kind of two morons in a pod, though Whit is much more of a moron than Lu. They're thick as thieves and one another's wingmen. Lowkey looks like Keira Knightley with green/amber hair. Love her. Romance? ...Astarion, while also trying to steal Whit's girl (see: Shadowheart).

Echo - my durge playthrough! Although Echo has a backstory and you're not supposed to have one for the dark urge, I actually quite like her playthrough the most -- and considered writing her in a fic one day. Echo is a wood elf of noble blood, as her family is royalty of Southwood, a kingdom of wood elves. She ran away one day and the rest is sorely fuzzy -- hence the durge aspect that works perfect. She's a Cleric of Selune, so she butts heads constantly with Shadowheart. She is currently resisting the Urge, and is likely my most innately 'good' character by a mile in terms of decisions in-game. Romance? She's Astarion's soulmate I don't make the rules.

Ellaveve - my newest character! she is a tiefling bard who is ditzy as shit. before the mind flayer fiasco, she was a child star that used to perform for people on the road (aw, so cute, a tiefling that tap dances) but while she was on her artist comeback tour, the Tadpole Incident occurred and now she's kind of stuck doing nice things for people in hopes that they'll remember she used to be very famous. Romance? Gale or Wyll -- we'll let them decide!

[thessalian]

Faerun!Alisaie vs Prologue (Again)

((Yep. I decided to do it. Why not?))

Aboard a Nautiloid, being leapt upon by a githyanki

Lae'zel: Abomination! This is your end!

Alisaie: Okay, I have bird. Sort of. You have ... frog, I think. So long as neither of us has squid features anywhere, we're probably okay!

Merciful thought-sharing spasm stops that in its tracks

Lae'zel: Ah. I see. Survival is paramount now. We will--

Alisaie: Yeah, yeah, I know, to the helm; Us over here's been on about it.

Lae'zel: So long as that ... thing fights for us, it is well. Now, we must remove these imps and--

Alisaie: *shoots an imp directly through the head with a crossbow*

Lae'zel: ..............................wut.

Alisaie: 'We' must trust me to know how to defend myself, okay?

Lae'zel: That was not what--

Alisaie: Later, okay? Incoming imps!

Lae'zel: At least I get to kill something...

A few dead imps later...

Lae'zel: Please explain to me why you are searching the corpses. And looking disappointed.

Alisaie: I'm working on the assumption that we're going to survive this mess, so we're going to end up somewhere that we need things. Like food. And healing. Which usually costs coin. Also I am looking for-- aha! *holds up rapier* Perfect!

Lae'zel: To explain my ... disbelief earlier. I saw the lute upon your back, and reasoned that you were a bard. Yet beyond your wings, I saw no magic employed--

Alisaie: Well, unless you want an accidental Thunderwave to the back, I need something that'll let me fight something that's directly in my face.

Lae'zel: Can you even use one of those?

Alisaie: Well, there's bards ... and then there's bards.

Lae'zel: ...I will remind myself that so long as you can fight, I have no need for you to make sense.

Room with a screaming cleric, and Alisaie looting the place some more

Lae'zel: You will constantly make me retract any and all statements. We need to go to the helm. This diversion is pointless!

Alisaie: I am not leaving someone stuck in one of those pods. They're stuffy, they're freaky, and they smell disgusting. *searches a side room*

Lae'zel: That is hardly a priority--

Alisaie: Also, we need all the help we can get in this fight to get control of the ship. *comes back in carrying a rune and assorted spare change*

Lae'zel: ...Granted, but--

Alisaie: And unless you want me to bust open that pod and fly off with its hopefully less grumpy occupant, leaving you on this doomed ship o' squid, you just go right ahead and keep pissing me off. *inserts rune into socket* ...blgh.

Lae'zel: ...What? Are you ceremorphosing?!?

Alisaie: No; just this thing needs to be yelled at by the tadpole in my brain in order to work, so-- There we go.

Shadowheart: *falling out of the pod* ...Thank you. ......You keep dangerous company.

Lae'zel; Alisaie: Which one?

Mind-Sharing Thing: *happens*

Lae'zel; Alisaie: Oh.

Shadowheart: Let me come with you. As long as you're dangerous to our captors, you're good to have around regardless.

Lae'zel: ...Must we?

Alisaie: Yes now shut up. Alisaie, by the way.

Shadowheart: Shadowheart. Just a moment-- *rummages in pod; retrieves Important Doohickey* Ah. There we go.

Alisaie: Cool. Great. Let's go. I can kind of feel Lae'zel's frustration in my brain and it itches.

Lae'zel: Tchk.

Alisaie: That is the best disgusted noise I have ever heard and I am adding it to my repertoire as of right this second.

Lae'zel: Must you?

Alisaie: You're too busy being frustrated with me to be freaking out about your situation, right? And please note I only said that because you'll be too frustrated about being read so relatively easily to think too much about the rest of it.

Lae'zel: ...............

Shadowheart: *snrk*

At the helm, in the middle of a devil / illithid fight:

Lae'zel: And you're sure you would not rather I take command?

Alisaie: I'll give you one instruction you'll like. Go forth and kill shit.

Shadowheart: What are you going to do?

Alisaie: *takes wing; lands relatively close to the helm long enough to shoot an imp in the face*

More Hell-Beasties: *materialise in her way*

Shadowheart: oshit-- *dashes; Shield of Faith*

Alisaie: *Thunderwaves the hellbeasties*

Shadowheart: Oh. ...Right. Bard.

Alisaie: *reaches the transponder* Well, this is gonna put me off squid for life... *connects stuff*

Dragon: OHAI.

Alisaie: LAE'ZEL!!! IS THIS YOURS?!?

Lae'zel: *while stabbing a hellboar* Hardly! I have not yet earned the hon--oh.

Dragon: *breathes fire right in Alisaie's face*

Nautiloid: **POIT**

Alisaie: *slams into a wall next to an illithid*

Illithid: *looks at her*

Alisaie: .........Fuck this shit; I'm out.

Little Niggling Voice At The Back Of Her Head: but i'm supposed to rescue you--

Alisaie: *side-eyes illithid so hard* If that's you? Tentacles are not a facial care regimen and I can take care of myself! *flies out of hole in hull ... and is beaned in the head by falling debris*

Little Niggling Voice: there we go...

Rest of Cutscene: *works as intended, but needed to be slightly altered because of winged Tav*

[rogue-of-heart-classpecting]

So I’m currently creating a session with my fantrolls and wanted to know how it could go :) I used the hiveswap extended zodiac signs! So we have an arcer (maid of blood) Pigo (Thief of space) Scoro (Knight of heart) Aquittarius (witch of void) Viries (mage of time) leicorn (Heir of rage) Taurra (Seer of mind) Gempia (page of light) Limini (bard of doom) Sagius (Sylph of breath) Caprinius (Knight of hope) Cansces (Rogue of life)

None of them really know each other they just kinda got stuck together 💀 though the viries and Leicorn end up matesprits!

ATTACK: Heir, Bard, Sylph, Knight of Hope, Witch

DEFENSE: Rogue, Knight of Heart

MAIN QUEST: Mage, Thief

SUPPORT: Maid, Knight of Heart

GUIDE: Seer, Page, Mage

Right away, we have a bit of an imbalance with two Knights and no Prince. That means no one to cut down an overgrown aspect and also a lack of both Heart and Hope. Two very unpleasant aspects to be without, in my opinion. You can live without passion and optimism, but at what cost? There will be very little Heart and very little Hope to go around in this session. The Knights will have to work hard and be selfless to protect their aspects in the group. That means not getting too caught up in their own heads about what their place in the universe is!

To finish the game, the Thief needs the help of the Mage to breed the frog. I have a feeling they won't work well together. The Mage being a jadeblood might help; they seem to be calmer and more willing to work together. But the fuchsiablood thief might be unwilling to work with anyone in the group due to their bloodthirsty power hungry caste and their selfish domineering class. They might work well with the Mage, or poorly, depending on how you view it. The Thief would get all the Space from the Mage, leaving the Mage with only Time, which they know everything about, but also suffer from. This would suck for the Mage. The Thief would certainly be able to do the breeding quickly. They spend time getting all the Space they need and then use it to make the tadpole. However, others would be left feeling uncreative, unable to start new quests or tasks, and impatiently snapping at each other to hurry up with everything they're doing. Remember how the post-scratch trolls always seemed like they had no idea what they were doing or what to do next? How it was hard even for Terezi to figure out who was killing everyone? Or how for the pre-scratch trolls they all seem hopeless and downtrodden; kind of powerless in the face of Meenah?

At least everyone else would listen to the Mage. The Seer of Mind and Mage of Time are two really good predictive guide classes. I think the Page could also help, but more by themself. It would be an individual progressive growth encouraged by friends. They would be a big help endgame.

To attack, we have a lot of powerful players, all with unique fighting styles. The Sylph could definitely freak out and start ripping the enemies apart. Metaphorically. I think. The two Knights would be strong players, fighting with the most powerful internal motivators. The Witch would be able to zap people in and out of being in the battle and even being anywhere at all. The Bard is possibly the most frightening. They would start enacting Doom and destroying everything because they think those are the rules they have to obey. They could also destroy rules of the GAME itself. They have to get under control quickly unless you want the whole story wrecked.

We have a strong and reliable defense with the Rogue and Knight of Heart. The Rogue would be immediately ready to help everyone stay alive and healthy. They won’t be comfortable helping themselves very much. I suppose they would try to stay under everyone else as a public servant who follows the team’s commands. The Knights both would make sure (or try to make sure) everyone believes in themselves and their cause. This may or may not work depending on how much growth they both get as Knights.

The Maid would be able to help the Knight of Heart by forming a strong relationship with them. They would both have to butt heads with the Sylph to keep everyone together and working for each other. The Sylph and Maid might keep each other in check.

[wehowl]

reese ayren / baldurs gate 3 verse

Nautiloids were bizarre flying ships employed by mind flayers to travel directly between worlds and through the Astral Plane.

She wasn't even in Faerûn when the Nautiloid grabbed her. She was somewhere else, minding her own business exploring the multiverse, when the skies opened up and this giant tentacle ship came out of nowhere and YOINKED her. It all happened so fast, one moment nothing - the next there's a Squidward putting a tadpole in her eye and oh my god she's going to have nightmares about that for eons. Did it have to be the eye? She would have preferred the nose even!

But then as quick as that happened, the ship was attacked by strange people riding dragons then it crashed over the ocean and she managed to escape. Now she had one major problem though... actually, she had several major problems. Her powers, the ones that let her freely travel the multiverse, weren't working. Likely something to do with this tadpole in her head. However, where the multiverse takes it also gives - in place of her usual powers, she's got access to the powers of the world she's stuck in. Introducing Reese Ayren, a level 1 bard who wishes she could Vicious Mockery some people she knew back in her own World drama.

Now she's trust into an adventure with a group of people who probably won't all kill each other in the middle of the night (probably) and attempts to keep the fact she's not from this world and has no clue how it works at all to herself. Everyone around here has their secrets!

rhea ayren / baldurs gate 3 verse

Rhea was also minding Reese’s business. Having tracked her double down to some random world. What she was going to do, she wasn’t even sure but the mindflayers ship coming out of the sky and captured the both of them and infected them both with tadpoles. In the process, Rhea’s W.E.D (world exploration device) was damaged and is now unable to take her home. She’s forced to play nice with Reese and the rest of the TadFools.

Okay, they’re not that bad. She’s just grumpy.

Her talents, skills, and training converts to a Rogue, travelling down the subclass of Assassin.

Rhea and Reese come to a temporary truce and both agree for now to pretend that they're from this world and are twin sisters to avoid any unwanted attention.

[boss-poss]

I've been thinking it over for a minute and I think one of the biggest flubs larian made was sticking a thing in your head, telling you it's super fucking dangerous and you need to get that shit out yesterday, and then telling you to shove more of these things in there to gain powers. Then you see the upgrade tree and its got lots nodes so you're going to need a lot tadpoles and those are pretty rare so you've clearly got a while based on that alone.

On top of that it's notably a 3 act 80 hour rpg so you clearly can't just drop dead early on or it wouldn't be a game. So you go through the story and instead of dropping the ticking clock element early on and changing motivation the game spends the majority of the time telling you the same lie that you're only hours away from the worst fate imaginable and it just. Never ever arrives. So much of the plot and the sidequests hinge on your character doing anything they can out of desperation to remove this mcguffin when it has been made very abundantly clear from both a gameplay and meta perspective that you're stuck with that shit for the whole ride.

Maybe it's just me but that sort of narrative disconnect really makes me frustrated when I'm forced to have my character act like they're in mortal danger when they're not. All the decisions I make are made with the knowledge that every single solution to the problem will either not end up solving it because that can't happen for story reasons or will just be a flat out trick. It cuts off so much of the side content when you realize that it's essentially going nowhere.

Why even bother with the creche when I know that they can't remove it? Why take the devil's deal? That was in act 1. Buddy, that's way too early to essentially end the main plot. Nice try. Why even entertain a tricky hag who clearly plays by some sort of monkey's paw rules for the same reason? My character looks like he has a deathwish but really I just know that there's no point in bothering.

Idk man, I just think that a competent human DM would be able to bring a sense of uncertainty and paranoia and make you less likely to meta game decisions because they can change the narrative instead of sticking doggedly to one that feels forced and artificial for the majority of the game.