#good aligned and will romance wyll but is open to polyamory

[lelianaslefthand]

realized that with the character customization ui changes it’ll probably take even longer for cosmetic mods to be updated

[super-lad]

indulging myself on talking about my bg3 party (spoilers below):

Silas - Wood Elf - Assassin

Went for Dark Urge since its the only origin character you can customize, but Silas is actually my Skyrim OC whose been inexplicably transported to the Forgotten Realms. Won't get into specifics since the Dark Urge gives him amnesia, but it's fun to play an evil character trying and failing to resist their impulses. The Dark Urge storyline is actually a bit similar to Silas's actual backstory, but, alas, he doesn't remember it and probably never will. He does still have PTSD with bows (he's not sure why), so dual swords and throwing knives are his go-to.

Gameplay-wise, he lacks in raw power and depends on Advantage while staying invisible. Basically, he needs to one-shot people each turn to not die, which is pretty in character for a compulsive murderer. He is quite squishy, however. Well, the whole team is. I'm thinking of multiclassing him with Fighter or Barbarian to get a higher Armor Class (which is also a shoutout to his Skyrim storyline).

Romance-wise, I'm going for a main love triangle with Astarion and Wyll. Hopefully, the two characters are OK with polyamory in the end. Plus, the two have a great dichotomy; think Kara Danvers vs Livewire. And trying to keep approval from two opposite sides of the moral alignment chart has been... slow. Silas got no action in Act 1 besides a chaste kiss with Wyll and Astarion is just beginning to tolerate him. To speed things up, I gave Astarion an open tab on Silas's blood. This diagnoses Silas with acute anemia. Symptoms? An almost constant penalty in his Ability Checks. Worth it? It better be!

Astarion - Arcane Trickster

Astarion is someone I didn't care much about and planned to replace for a better party member. Alas, I got annoyed with his constant disapproval of my character, which made me determined to see him like Silas in the end. His jaded personality is clearly a result of his traumatic past, so I'm interested to see how much he changes when given a (comparatively) healthier dynamic. I like that Silas and Astarion have similarly evil tendencies, so I'm curious to see whether they make each other worse or better.

Gameplay-wise, he works similar to Silas. Squishy and needs Advantage to be good. He's our main archer, which keeps him off the frontlines, so he doesn't die as much. Doesn't use magic much in combat either, but he does have all the utility spells helpful in non-combat situations i.e. Feather Fall.

Wyll - Warlock

Wyll is the Kara Danvers of BG3. He's a superhero with a seemingly unattainable level of altruism. As you can imagine, I was obsessed. And like Supergirl, he has a hidden dark streak, which is interesting to see play out. Being good is a choice. He always chooses good despite the cost. Silas definitely idealized Wyll when he first met him hoping to become a better person by osmosis. However, after discovering the Warlock's powers come from a Fiend contract, Silas became disillusioned. I think its clear that our resident superhero could change the Dark Urge, but Silas isn't sure if he's ready to let go of that. And I'm curious to see how how stagnant Wyll's morality remains as the story progresses.

Gameplay-wise, he's our biggest damage-dealer. His spells can hit and debuff multiple enemies HARD. Still squishy, but he makes up for it by killing before they can get to him. Plus, it helps to have Silas and Shadowheart keep them distracted.

Shadowheart - Cleric

Shadowheart was someone I, too, planned to replace at the first opportunity. And I did. Once we got Karlach, a buff giantess devil-lady with a heart of gold, it was bye-bye healer, hello absolute unit with lethality that far outstrips anyone else in the party. And I love LOVE Karlach (I'm still going to pursue her and lae'zel's personal quests), but at that point, the main trio had been with Silas throughout 80% of Act 1, and I was surprised to find Shadowheart had grown on me. She's actually quite witty and complex once you get past the masochistic goddess she worships. We also come across her fellow fanatics a lot throughout the story, so its fun to see someone become conflicted with the religious dogma they were raised with. I also like that she's a twist on the typical healer archetype. She's not altruistic like Wyll. She worships darkness, but not because she's evil, but because it's all she ever knew. I'm most interested to see where she is with her faith in the end.

Gameplay-wise, a healer is indispensable as we all know. She actually has the highest strength stat in the group, so she's good utility i.e. moving heavy objects. Furthermore, to help mitigate the team's squishy problem, I gave her heavy armor proficiency so she's become pretty decent at soaking damage. Her spells are from the Trickery Domain, so she has a lot of buffs and debuffs, which has been critical in reducing how many hits the team takes. Essentially, since I don't like to change their original classes for roleplay reasons, I'm turning her into a pseudo-Paladin which has proven really fun to play around with. I'd say she's definitely grown the most in usefulness.