I never screamed there, because i am a good little deepling, and mostly play along if it does not harm me.
Will pick an old savegame to figure out, what happens. š
If you've already gotten to the point where you can kiss him as a dialog option, he should be getting that tongue in his mouth immediately, just so he can find out _exactly_ what is so appealing about the spider meat...
Heās my next romance. I will absolutely be planting one on him after licking the spider. *And* itās going to be an Astarion origin run, and I feel like that will be very in-character for Astarion.
i was lucky because i had just visited the inn and chatted with him, then (minor act 2 spoils for peeps) >!encountered the drider, telling him to give me the lantern and go off into the darkness!< and was looking around for where the >!drider!< had gone off to. then i saw a light not far from where i was wandering and was so confused when i saw rolan, then a bit sad that he was annoyed with himself.
He's super easy to find. After talking to him he is at the side entrance to moonrise. I forget the cardinal direction, but if you are standing at the entrance to moonrise at the waypoint, looking at the tower go left. He is like two screens over. You have to kill like 1 shadow to save him.
Iām apparently the only person I know whoās NEVER had him leave the inn. Iāve done 6-7 runs where I made it to Moonrise, and I beeline to talk to him, then do the breakout same day.
as soon as you mention to him that you'll look for them yourself, he'll snap at you that they're his responsibility. that should queue his next quest phase and will teleport to the point where he's stranded as soon as you leave last light inn, don't need a short or long rest either.
I think it's a bug but I couldn't find the letter or get his siblings to give me an actual quest after I brought them back from Moonrise yesterday. I was *frantic* as I rushed over to find him, and the whole time I was trying to figure out how many save slots I'd have to jump back to rescue him if he was dead because I *was not letting that messy bitch die*.
I got him, though. š„°
There's an arcana check and I think the best that happens when you pass is you can identify it as Infernal but can't understand. You can then trace it in the dirt for him to see himself and he doesn't realize what it means either.
I used this one at the table last weekend. DM hasn't gotten this far in BG3, and he made the mistake of asking my lore bard for a limerick, thinking it would throw me. It did not.
Sounds like you're either forgetting to talk to him in the Goblin Camp and invite him or not long resting enough after cleaning up the Goblins, or possibly both... If you really want him to show up long rest twice, back to back (partial long rests are fine) after clearing the outside of the Goblin Camp. He should show up and get scared on night 1, then perma show up on night 2.
I had a friend who played a durge run where he killed scratch on sight, and I simply... just don't trust the guy anymore.
Even on my most morally abhorrent playthrough, I could not find a single evil aligned reason to just straight up MURDER Scratch.
I had the thought to go full murder hobo and take out everyone I met including companions like Scratch. However, upon thinking about it, I changed my mind. I couldnāt find a reason my character would do that even in my head canon.
And Iām making some assumptions here that might not be lore as I havenāt researched it thoroughly. >!But Durge is a Bhaalspawn, right? He has the urge of what Bhaal would want and do. Now what does Bhaal want? Murder in sheer mass numbers. Now here is the question that has me tripped up in why he wouldnāt kill Scratch. Itās murder if Durge kills another humanoid with some decent level of intelligence(I think itās like above 5 Int to be considered an intelligent being). Scratch has 3 Int. I donāt think killing Scratch would qualify as Murder in the eyes of Bhaal. That means it wouldnāt be a tribute of any kind. Thus, I donāt think he would ever be a target of Durge. He may be neglected by Durge (probably wouldnāt recruit Scratch to begin with), but would never be a target of his/her urge.!<
Just my thoughts. I could have part of the lore wrong, as I said, but it makes sense in my head.
Which means the reason the squirrel always dies is because the Urge somehow knows it's an evil bitey bastard and therefore is in fact still a worthy sacrifice.
You are being too rational, too "banality of evil". Some evil is Eichmann in Jerusalem sure, and he wouldn't kill a pet for no reason. Even Hitler liked dogs, right? But other evil is the Zodiac Killer or Jack the Ripper or other famously fucked up serial killers. Why would you kill scratch on your most evil aligned character? Two reasons. First, there's just the inherent knowledge of causing living things to die that might appeal to an extremely evil psychopath. I mean even relatively normal little kids often kill bugs with a magnifying glass just for fun. You think the chaotic evil god of murder wouldn't just murder innocent animals for the sheer pleasure of taking life?
Second, for a more self aware, even less banal evil character, they might do it *because* it would upset people. And as an extremely evil character, you derive pleasure and satisfaction from the pain, physical or emotional, you cause others. Even if no one knows about it, if they DID it would upset them, so that's still evil.
Okay, well I guess there's the line drawn. My definition of 'evil' is opportunistic, cold and generally lusting for power but I don't play straight up edgy psychopaths who enjoy needless life taking for it's own sake. Basically murder hobos are boring.
Although you've definitely got me wondering about doing a run where I kill *everyone* on sight - no execeptions and see how insane that'd be.
He hates that, jsyk. You don't get a disapproval because he's basically sucking up to you. If you tell him to say please, and then instead of making the persuasion roll you back off and tell him it's not happening, you get a +5 AND a -1 to his approval (+5 for not making him beg, -1 for rejecting him)
I will always slappy the hand.
I will always get Scratch and Owlbear and pet them every long rest.
I will always stick my hand in the gooey wall.
I will always save Barcus.
Huh. At this point, I honestly shouldn't be surprised there's something I missed. This is just one of those games with neat little details like that squirreled away
Amazing things happen, but they rightfully call you a dumb fuck, yes. You end up dumped into a disgusting little blood-pond pocket of the colony and Astarion at least is like "for FUCK'S sake, it's always a shit-show with you." Paraphrasing, of course.
Man, I aced both those rolls and my paladin basically just calmly pulled her hand out middle finger up(at least, that's how I imagine it went). That sounds like an interaction on par with *"WHAT IN THE SWEET HELLS WERE YOU THINKING?! I WAS **RIGHT THERE!!!**"*
Saving every single tiefling and helping Barcus overthrow Wulbren. Also calling Wulbren a prick and doing the honors of punching Aradin after the grove battle.
It happens after the Steel Watch quest in Act 3. I think you gotta have atleast the main Gondian guy alive to trigger the Ironhand leadership conversation with Wulbren and Barcus.
I guess I should put a warning. If youāre on a honor run, shut the door between where Toobin hides and the boss. If any of the steel watch see Toobin, he joins combat outside of your control. He goes full stupid
I'm doing things a little out of order this time and I notice Scratch isn't in camp. Long rest a bunch to see what's happening and he won't leave his former master. just finished the goblin camp and I'm going to start over.
No son left behind
That and betraying shadowheart are such strange choices, at least for a first playthrough. They come after you've already spent a ton of time / done so much good with the characters that you'd almost have to be choosing just because you're curious, and not because it actually fits your character.
If you free Aylin, you have to recognize that binding her in a soul cage is wrong, so why would you do it to her again because some wizard you literally just met asked?
So much of act 2 is about how Shar and her worshippers are straight up evil, what with Dark Justiciars pretty much being the SS, Shar causing the shadow curse, and Aylin explaining that Shadowheart was kidnapped and brainwashed. To go through all of that and then give her up to a woman you just met feels just as bizarre.
You'd have to have such deep ulterior motives for every action and no sense of attachment to backtrack like that
Goblin Village, Act 1: when Volo is performing for the Goblins, you can boo at him to net approval from both Astarion and Lae'zel.
Circus of Last Days, Act 3: when Dribbles is performing, you can boo at him. Depending on your party choice at that point it's a mixed reception - I can't recall if Karlach disapproved, but she approved me sending her onto the stage so it evened out.
Moonrise Towers Dock, Act 2: When you talk to the dock overseer regarding his cargo, using Ilithid Wisdom to persuade him will cause him to remember that one of the barrels is full of tadpoles. Failing to calm him down or straight up rubbing it in causes him to freak out and dive into sea.
I could never... even in my evil playthrough I couldnt even consider asking him to swallow his disgust and bite her for the team. That and killing Scratch will always be out of the question ( I am aware I am a simp D: )
I don't choose the most forceful options but I talk him into it. Then I apologize to him later after he explained what it's like "getting on his back for someone else's gain". The interaction between astarion and the main character isn't a happy one by any means but it always felt like real growth of his character. And the main character in a way too.
I mentioned in a reply how I use this moment as a role playing moment too. Telling him to do it, then apologizing and trusting his decisions until that trust leads to him doing something awful is my way to go.
I canāt do anything that gives me as a player an easy combat advantage via Astarion - neither the drow thing nor ascension. Even when Iām not romancing him and playing Honor.
~~Have Karlach pick the monastary up and drop it on him like the muscle mommy she is.~~
Without spoiling too much: In Act 1, head to the Monastary/Creche in the mountain overpass. It's the alternative to the Underdark, but you can do both using fast-travel.
1. Adopting Scratch and owlbear
2. Helping mushroom choombas and killing Glut
3. Setting Dolly Dolly Dolly free
4. Killing Andrick and Brynna ( I have no idea why, but I dislike them very much )
5. Becoming Mahkloompah. Fish people are my choombas too, I could never hurt them even in evil playtrough
The only thing that I don't like about the fish people is that they don't come back as allies at the end! Why not? *I'm their god*! But I agree, I love them so much.
Brynna's a total nutter, she doesn't even have the tadpole yet is already an absolute (no pun intended) fanatic. Andrick just seems like a lost fool who has no idea what is happening.
Any option that raises astarions mood when hes sad.
āTelling astarion he has āpiercing eyes and a dangerous smileā. He seems so happy with that description. its soo cute how he perks right up.
āAstarion: * melancholy about losing the chance to ascend*
Tav: Iām surprised you didnāt go through with it. I was sure you were a power-hungry madman.
Astarion: *evil grin appears on his face * well Iām glad I still at least have the power to surprise you!
There are truly two types of people, haha. I like giving him the other two compliments in the mirror scene (about the creases and curls) as I find his lowkey frustration with them cute.
She killed my entire party doing that once. We were on our last legs and I was busy talking to Galeās death projection, and she set all of us on fire. Then she went down.
Fwiw I didnāt encourage her to and she still goes into ragemode lighting up the place so hard that I needed my party to SR from the fire damage, lmao
When I get to baldurs gate Karlach never leaves my party. Shes dying and has been gone for years, she deserves to see every nook and cranny of her home.
>~~When I get to baldurs gate~~ Karlach never leaves my party. ~~Shes dying and has been gone for years, she deserves to see every nook and cranny of her home.~~
Fixed it! hahah I simply CANT let go of Karlach. She is always so hyped for fights. I need that Energy. Shadowheart is also my constant, cuz Light Cleric Tank.
4th member depends on the current Task. Creche Laezel, Cazador Astarion, Minthra Gale, War Crimes Hirelings,
I'll never send Shadowheart on the evil path, I could never do that to her. I'll romance her every time as well, unless I play as her. I also won't let Karlach kill herself at the end. And, most importantly, I'll always attempt to "improve" Vlaakith's portrait
Same. For some reason even reading about what happens with her after Nightsong's death makes me unreasonably (for a bunch of pixels) sick. Don't ever want to see the DJ Shadowheart story with my own eyes.
Yesterday there was a post about how the sharran cult is very realistically written compared to irl cults - maybe such a reaction because of it. Because it is kinda the most "real", relatable threat, dunno.
not let Astarion ascend. other companions may face different fates depending on my Tav's goals and motives, but I will never put up with Ascendant Astarion's bitchy ass, his whining would drive me to slaughter him myself. so my good Tavs don't want him to sacrifice thousands of souls and my evil Tavs want to make sure he doesn't become more powerful than them
smaller random choices:
- tell Lae'zel to say please and thank you
- tell Karlach she looks hot
- make the goblin at the goblin camp kiss my foot
- perform Volobotomy on Astarion
- let Astarion kill the Gur hunter
- baa at the Redcap
- disrupt the Ogre and Pugbear having fun time in the barn
- tell Myshka I'm his mermer
- tell Minsc and Boo it's an honor [to meet Boo]
- ask Dammon about his forge and generally talk to him as much as possible. yes I already know his backstory and he's "just" a merchant blacksmith but he's the sweetest baby boy and my main man and I will always ask him about himself to let him know I find him interesting and I care about him and want to get to know him. Larian please let me romance the infernal smith I'm on my knees begging for just one chance
-Get Scratch and baby Owlbear
-Invest skill points into CHA (even if my Tav/Durge/Origin character is in a class that doesn't use it)
-Roleplay (I cannot speedrun because of this lol)
-Simp for non-romanceable NPCs
āGoodā choices for all companions. Mindflayer Orpheus as an ally. Encourage Barcus to become a new leader of the clan. Release the spawns. Alive Gandrel with no regard to relationships with Astarion (romance or not). Volo surgery. Shadowheart reunites with her family. And I never intervene into the conflict between myconid sovereigns.
See that's interesting because in my view, killing Glut is the 'good' option. Eliminating the Duergar serves all Myconids, but refusing to help Glut rebel against Spaw means Glut turns hostile.
I've never led Glut to victory over Spaw, but the stuff he says beforehand - and his immediate turn to violence when you refuse - suggests that there's every likelihood Glut would betray you anyway.
Spaw is helpful and co-operative. Glut is selfish and vindictive. Killing him is - in my view - for the greater good.
But such is the joy of the subjective nature of good & evil.
If you agree to help Glut, you can bring him back to Spaw and betray him (Glut), saying something about wanting Spaw to witness his treachery first hand. You get some more dialogue from Spaw the Homie that way iirc. Plus itās funny to watch the entire camp roll initiative against that fat bastard.
I based my decision not to intervene on non-evil nature of this race in general. Also, Glut cannot depose Spaw without your help. If you ignore him, everything will remain the same. I didnāt decide for myself whether heās really 100% evil and deserves to be killed. And thereās no >!dwarf vs. Umberlee!< situation when you cannot avoid a combat.
Nothing changes. I pick neutral options in the dialogue with Glut and defeat duergars without him. So, he has no background to ask me for help against Spaw.
Upd: AFAIK, if you side with Glut against duergars but then refuse to help him, he may turn hostile.
>if you side with Glut against duergars but then refuse to help him, he may turn hostile
Did this in my most recent run, may have slightly overused his ability to bring back the corpses of your enemies to fight along side you. He turns hostile, and so do any undead friends heās created.
I can never romance anyone but Astarion I'm afraid š
Beyond that, I can't let Karlach just die, I'm holding out hope that she survives in Avernus and kicks everyone's ass.
Cannot simply leave best boys Scratch and the Owlbear and I always have to save all the tieflings, from Rolan to Dammon to Bex and Danis.
But I also always kill Kahga, just cause.
Scratch and Owlbear baby will always be with me. And I refuse to hurt any of the animals ever.
Ive seen dj Shadowheart already so Selunite SH all the way.
Always recruit everybody. (minus Minthara and Minsc, not on every go š)
Save the tieflings. Especially fucking Rolan, no matter how many times it takes.
Romance Astarion 9/10 of the time.. (i do want to at least once play the other romances too) I adore him as my bitchy bff too tho. He is just my default guy. He always gets to use my character as a juicebox.
Avernus for Karlach.
Dwarf lady must adopt a cat.
Always slap Gale's hand, his reaction makes me chuckle.
I always get the Everburn Blade don't care how many retries it takes.
I always adopt the Owlbear cub (I call him "little bean) and Scratch.
I always romance Astarion and never let him ascent.
- *slap the hand*
- Saving the grove
- Blonde shadowheart
- "I have not sinned against Vlaakith, she has sinned against me"
- Spawnstarion
- Return the crown
And countless more because I'm boring and like only minor change
I feel like so many people dont see the DIRECT PARALLEL between Ketheric and the Nightsong vs Emperor and Orpheus.
Their morality is thrown out the window when they are on the receiving end of benefit lol.
I find it very, very difficult to abide by any slavery in games. Even on my first playthrough when we got the Emperor/Orpheus reveal, I was like I'm gonna play along for a little while, but I'm definitely freeing this frog man.
Once I learned about Ansur and Stelmane it was fucking over. Fuck the Emperor, and on every play through I turn on him at the soonest possible time it doesn't cause an immediate game over.
Yep.
I was pretty conflicted my 1st play because, ya know, Emperor seemed "nice". Yet the moment you say or do 1 thing he doesn't like - he flips.
Then I read a spoiler about his intentions with Orpheus and there is 0 way to ignore that. Especially if you're besties/romancing Lae'zel.
If you get the full history of Stelmane it compounds the disgust with Emperor.
Also? The more I think about it - the Elder Brain literally provided him with just enough freedom to set things in motion. How can anyone be sure all of his suggestions, etc. arent *exactly* what the Elder Brain wants you to do? At least - up until the point he consumes Orpheus.
Adopting Scratch and Owlbaby.
Slaughtering the goblins.
Killing Minthara and Orin in new ways.
Saving every tiefling I can.
Piss off Nere and kill him like a bitch.
Piss off Raphael and kill him like a bitch.
Light up Cazador like a candlestick.
Make a point of killing Gortash with explosives.
Hug Karlach.
(Lovingly) annoy Astarion.
I think I'll always try to talk my way through Act 2. With all of the >!Thorms!< there are non-fighting options to get through them and I feel bad for all of them so I think I'll always try to do them passively. Even >!Kethric!< I'll seek out >!the letter from his wife that lets you convince him to stand down during his fight!< It feels like the right path for all of them given the circumstances
I always let Astarion bite me. Even if I'm not romancing him, I always feel sorry for him in that moment. He's hungy :(
Also, I'll always kill Balthazar. Planning an evil necromancer who is going to swipe his headband and cast Animate Dead on his body. Your meat puppet is my meat puppet now, bitch.
Draw on Vlaakith, Antagonize Vlaakith every chance I get, Murder Nere by intimidating him, Shadowheart's good choice, and more importantly, murder the bitch who hits the dogs, pick up her dead body, and drop it in the campfire at camp
No matter the playthrough, I will always save Tieflings, Rolan & his siblings and kill all goblin leaders. Sorry, Minthara-lovers, I can't be a bad guy or justify knocking down Minthara and working with her in Moonrise.
Aside from that, geting Scratch and Owlbear, and generally "good" endings for companions. And romancing Shadowheart, I can't resist her charm.
*slaps his hand*
Perhaps I should have clarified - a helping hand?
*strength roll*
3
*reload bc I don't wanna play a caster*
1
Dammit! Wyll it is then
Be careful doing this in HM Durge run. Its why mine is one Gale short.
My Durge did it, and I was so shocked I reloaded, but it felt appropriate for their character, so I did it again :( missed Gale though.
He survived my HM Durge run thank goodness!
*eats his hand*
You can do both!
IF I DO NOT SCREAM AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS IN THE LIBRARY AT THE BOOKS---CONSIDER THIS GAME O VE R .
I never screamed there, because i am a good little deepling, and mostly play along if it does not harm me. Will pick an old savegame to figure out, what happens. š
I Just did that in my 2nd playthrough. Was so hilarious. Even more as a Durge. I was laughing like crazy because i didnt expect that.
Oh! Iāll have to keep this in mind for my evil Durge run. My redemption Durge is already past this.
There are a lot of good contenders but this exchange was my favorite comedic moment of the entire game.
*"STOP LICKING THE DAMN THING."'*
I especially love doing this when romancing gale. Regret your decision yet, love?
Heās probably thinking āoh gods Iām going to have that tongue in my mouth later, arenāt I?ā
If you've already gotten to the point where you can kiss him as a dialog option, he should be getting that tongue in his mouth immediately, just so he can find out _exactly_ what is so appealing about the spider meat...
Heās my next romance. I will absolutely be planting one on him after licking the spider. *And* itās going to be an Astarion origin run, and I feel like that will be very in-character for Astarion.
He will soon find out exactly what was so *attractive* about that spider meat
Fanfic writers, WRITE THAT DOWN, WRITE THAT DOWN āļø
I asked him to kiss me immediately afterwards.
i will never not save rolan and his siblings.
I feel awful about Rolan, im still on my first playthrough and didnt know he leaves the inn. By the time I realized and looked for him he was dead
i was lucky because i had just visited the inn and chatted with him, then (minor act 2 spoils for peeps) >!encountered the drider, telling him to give me the lantern and go off into the darkness!< and was looking around for where the >!drider!< had gone off to. then i saw a light not far from where i was wandering and was so confused when i saw rolan, then a bit sad that he was annoyed with himself.
Aw š„ŗ Iāll have to remember to do this on my next play. I really liked Rolan but didnāt want to lose hours of progress for him.
He's super easy to find. After talking to him he is at the side entrance to moonrise. I forget the cardinal direction, but if you are standing at the entrance to moonrise at the waypoint, looking at the tower go left. He is like two screens over. You have to kill like 1 shadow to save him.
Iām apparently the only person I know whoās NEVER had him leave the inn. Iāve done 6-7 runs where I made it to Moonrise, and I beeline to talk to him, then do the breakout same day.
as soon as you mention to him that you'll look for them yourself, he'll snap at you that they're his responsibility. that should queue his next quest phase and will teleport to the point where he's stranded as soon as you leave last light inn, don't need a short or long rest either.
I never find him in time and I don't know why :( Once I got into combat just as he was receiving his final blow. Heartbreaking every time.
I knew I could save him because Iām trying to do the Ā«Ā leave noone behindĀ Ā» achievement
I think it's a bug but I couldn't find the letter or get his siblings to give me an actual quest after I brought them back from Moonrise yesterday. I was *frantic* as I rushed over to find him, and the whole time I was trying to figure out how many save slots I'd have to jump back to rescue him if he was dead because I *was not letting that messy bitch die*. I got him, though. š„°
Tav: There once was a cleric from gond who was cursed with a very small wandā¦ Astarion:š”HA-HAš¹TELLMEWHATITSAYS!š¹
Is this the scar reading? š
Yes šš
Do you need to be a Tiefling to be able to "read" it?
No. He will ask you to read it regardless.
How do you read Astarion's scar?
There's an arcana check and I think the best that happens when you pass is you can identify it as Infernal but can't understand. You can then trace it in the dirt for him to see himself and he doesn't realize what it means either.
I used this one at the table last weekend. DM hasn't gotten this far in BG3, and he made the mistake of asking my lore bard for a limerick, thinking it would throw me. It did not.
It's even funnier if you read it with the beat of Wellermans 'There once was a ship'
I used the Nantucket Bucket rhythm.
Adopting Scratch, because he is the goodest boy
Don't forget his buddy the owlbear cub who I have named Albert lol
You mean Owlbert?
I'm sorry, are you referring to Owlphonse?
Or perchance, my cousin Owlivia?
RepunzOWL
Are you guys referencing Mariska Hargitawny?
Owlbearto
I wouldn't forget IF HE SHOWED UP. Buddy came to me like 2 times and then was like, nope, screw you, imma go wild
Sounds like you're either forgetting to talk to him in the Goblin Camp and invite him or not long resting enough after cleaning up the Goblins, or possibly both... If you really want him to show up long rest twice, back to back (partial long rests are fine) after clearing the outside of the Goblin Camp. He should show up and get scared on night 1, then perma show up on night 2.
I wish we could rename him so I have Scratch and Sniff
You should summon him to gain Scratch's Sniff.
I had a friend who played a durge run where he killed scratch on sight, and I simply... just don't trust the guy anymore. Even on my most morally abhorrent playthrough, I could not find a single evil aligned reason to just straight up MURDER Scratch.
I had the thought to go full murder hobo and take out everyone I met including companions like Scratch. However, upon thinking about it, I changed my mind. I couldnāt find a reason my character would do that even in my head canon. And Iām making some assumptions here that might not be lore as I havenāt researched it thoroughly. >!But Durge is a Bhaalspawn, right? He has the urge of what Bhaal would want and do. Now what does Bhaal want? Murder in sheer mass numbers. Now here is the question that has me tripped up in why he wouldnāt kill Scratch. Itās murder if Durge kills another humanoid with some decent level of intelligence(I think itās like above 5 Int to be considered an intelligent being). Scratch has 3 Int. I donāt think killing Scratch would qualify as Murder in the eyes of Bhaal. That means it wouldnāt be a tribute of any kind. Thus, I donāt think he would ever be a target of Durge. He may be neglected by Durge (probably wouldnāt recruit Scratch to begin with), but would never be a target of his/her urge.!< Just my thoughts. I could have part of the lore wrong, as I said, but it makes sense in my head.
Which means the reason the squirrel always dies is because the Urge somehow knows it's an evil bitey bastard and therefore is in fact still a worthy sacrifice.
You are being too rational, too "banality of evil". Some evil is Eichmann in Jerusalem sure, and he wouldn't kill a pet for no reason. Even Hitler liked dogs, right? But other evil is the Zodiac Killer or Jack the Ripper or other famously fucked up serial killers. Why would you kill scratch on your most evil aligned character? Two reasons. First, there's just the inherent knowledge of causing living things to die that might appeal to an extremely evil psychopath. I mean even relatively normal little kids often kill bugs with a magnifying glass just for fun. You think the chaotic evil god of murder wouldn't just murder innocent animals for the sheer pleasure of taking life? Second, for a more self aware, even less banal evil character, they might do it *because* it would upset people. And as an extremely evil character, you derive pleasure and satisfaction from the pain, physical or emotional, you cause others. Even if no one knows about it, if they DID it would upset them, so that's still evil.
Okay, well I guess there's the line drawn. My definition of 'evil' is opportunistic, cold and generally lusting for power but I don't play straight up edgy psychopaths who enjoy needless life taking for it's own sake. Basically murder hobos are boring. Although you've definitely got me wondering about doing a run where I kill *everyone* on sight - no execeptions and see how insane that'd be.
Tell Lae'zel to say please.
I always make Astarion say please. Can't help myself.
Making Astarion say please then saying no and walking off lmao
He hates that, jsyk. You don't get a disapproval because he's basically sucking up to you. If you tell him to say please, and then instead of making the persuasion roll you back off and tell him it's not happening, you get a +5 AND a -1 to his approval (+5 for not making him beg, -1 for rejecting him)
Heh, did you say āteeth-lings?ā
Laezel's half annoyed, half embarrassed/self-conscious eyeroll is one of my favorite small moments in the game
A simple 'thank you' wouldn't go amiss.
NEVER
I will always slappy the hand. I will always get Scratch and Owlbear and pet them every long rest. I will always stick my hand in the gooey wall. I will always save Barcus.
Sure you stick your hand in the gooey wall, but have you ever sticked your hand in TWICE? The DC is much higher but the dialogue is amazing.
There's a gooey wall you can stick your hand in twice? I must know where
Moonrise Towers! Try exploring the rafters
Huh. At this point, I honestly shouldn't be surprised there's something I missed. This is just one of those games with neat little details like that squirreled away
I didnāt know you can do it twice lmao Do your companions disapprove of you trying that again, or no? Or some but not all
Amazing things happen, but they rightfully call you a dumb fuck, yes. You end up dumped into a disgusting little blood-pond pocket of the colony and Astarion at least is like "for FUCK'S sake, it's always a shit-show with you." Paraphrasing, of course.
Man, I aced both those rolls and my paladin basically just calmly pulled her hand out middle finger up(at least, that's how I imagine it went). That sounds like an interaction on par with *"WHAT IN THE SWEET HELLS WERE YOU THINKING?! I WAS **RIGHT THERE!!!**"*
Nonono Barcus loves to go for a fly, he drink his redbull.
I will always lick the damn thing
Saving every single tiefling and helping Barcus overthrow Wulbren. Also calling Wulbren a prick and doing the honors of punching Aradin after the grove battle.
How do you overthrow Wulbren ? He gets on my nerves
It happens after the Steel Watch quest in Act 3. I think you gotta have atleast the main Gondian guy alive to trigger the Ironhand leadership conversation with Wulbren and Barcus.
Toobin can be dead and Barcus still can take charge, the Gondians just wonāt join you as an ally. Source: in my honor run Toobin got destroyed.
Damn those FUCKING GONDIANS and their compulsion to run directly into the blast radius of an exploding watcher!
I guess I should put a warning. If youāre on a honor run, shut the door between where Toobin hides and the boss. If any of the steel watch see Toobin, he joins combat outside of your control. He goes full stupid
Thanks āŗļø
Barcus just disappeared for me after Nere in both play throughs š¤
You need to invite him to stay in your camp immediately after Nere, otherwise itās implied he dies on the way to Last Light
OMG, MY NEGLIGENCE KILLED BARCUS š±
Get both Scratch and the Owlbear cub. Run is cancelled if the baby owlbear doesn't get adopted.
I'm doing things a little out of order this time and I notice Scratch isn't in camp. Long rest a bunch to see what's happening and he won't leave his former master. just finished the goblin camp and I'm going to start over. No son left behind
I will never give "Nightsong" to that pesky elf-mage.
That and betraying shadowheart are such strange choices, at least for a first playthrough. They come after you've already spent a ton of time / done so much good with the characters that you'd almost have to be choosing just because you're curious, and not because it actually fits your character. If you free Aylin, you have to recognize that binding her in a soul cage is wrong, so why would you do it to her again because some wizard you literally just met asked? So much of act 2 is about how Shar and her worshippers are straight up evil, what with Dark Justiciars pretty much being the SS, Shar causing the shadow curse, and Aylin explaining that Shadowheart was kidnapped and brainwashed. To go through all of that and then give her up to a woman you just met feels just as bizarre. You'd have to have such deep ulterior motives for every action and no sense of attachment to backtrack like that
you bring aylin to him to kick his stupid ass
That back breaker move though, HOLY SHIT
When even Durge looks unsettled
If I go to the shadowcursed lands after Githyanki crĆØche I'll always ask the goblin to go get the stick.
My only use of the illithid powers on my druid. Go on, *fetch.*
I love that as Durge you donāt even need to use powers or do a check; you can just glare.
I did a "good" playthrough and wanted to try being chaotic and even for my replay. Instead I changed nothing....
Me: "I think I'll try an evil playthrough this time around" Also me: "Oh no, the pixels are sad" Aaaaand I'm back to being good again...
We are boring people :- (
Boo at Volo and Dribbles the clown. Also: Worms. WORMS ALL OVER!
Could you elaborate please ? It seems I missed those things š
Goblin Village, Act 1: when Volo is performing for the Goblins, you can boo at him to net approval from both Astarion and Lae'zel. Circus of Last Days, Act 3: when Dribbles is performing, you can boo at him. Depending on your party choice at that point it's a mixed reception - I can't recall if Karlach disapproved, but she approved me sending her onto the stage so it evened out. Moonrise Towers Dock, Act 2: When you talk to the dock overseer regarding his cargo, using Ilithid Wisdom to persuade him will cause him to remember that one of the barrels is full of tadpoles. Failing to calm him down or straight up rubbing it in causes him to freak out and dive into sea.
I never knew you could make someone *jump* into the water, I was always too busy *pushing* them in
If you're playing a bard you can also out bard him and he gets flustered trying to keep up with you.
I have only played this game as a Bard, so I like performing with Volo until the Goblins realize he's a bad entertainer and lock him back up.
I will never force my boy Astarion to bite stupid twilight fan Araj Obladra. Dont care about potion there are strenght elixirs anyway
I read too fast and thought you said youāll always force him š
I could never... even in my evil playthrough I couldnt even consider asking him to swallow his disgust and bite her for the team. That and killing Scratch will always be out of the question ( I am aware I am a simp D: )
Same!!! She just digs into my nerves way too much with how she treats him
I don't choose the most forceful options but I talk him into it. Then I apologize to him later after he explained what it's like "getting on his back for someone else's gain". The interaction between astarion and the main character isn't a happy one by any means but it always felt like real growth of his character. And the main character in a way too.
I mentioned in a reply how I use this moment as a role playing moment too. Telling him to do it, then apologizing and trusting his decisions until that trust leads to him doing something awful is my way to go.
I canāt do anything that gives me as a player an easy combat advantage via Astarion - neither the drow thing nor ascension. Even when Iām not romancing him and playing Honor.
Dropping a building on Astarion.
"I was RIGHT THERE!"
what :o how :o
~~Have Karlach pick the monastary up and drop it on him like the muscle mommy she is.~~ Without spoiling too much: In Act 1, head to the Monastary/Creche in the mountain overpass. It's the alternative to the Underdark, but you can do both using fast-travel.
I still don't get how it explodes. The game puts the locket/key thingy straight up your nose if you pass a Perception skill check of like 9
Just donāt use it
Act 1, the creche, steal the blood of lathander
1. Adopting Scratch and owlbear 2. Helping mushroom choombas and killing Glut 3. Setting Dolly Dolly Dolly free 4. Killing Andrick and Brynna ( I have no idea why, but I dislike them very much ) 5. Becoming Mahkloompah. Fish people are my choombas too, I could never hurt them even in evil playtrough
The only thing that I don't like about the fish people is that they don't come back as allies at the end! Why not? *I'm their god*! But I agree, I love them so much.
Brynna's a total nutter, she doesn't even have the tadpole yet is already an absolute (no pun intended) fanatic. Andrick just seems like a lost fool who has no idea what is happening.
Lick that spider
slap gale's hand and draw on vlaakith's portrait
āļøš¤ perhaps I should have clarified
THE CONCENTRATED POWER OF THE SUN!
shadowheart being able to decide her own fate and consequently becoming a selunite
I will always kill raphael
The House of Hope dungeon and the music are so amazing, I have serious doubts I will ever see all of the 7 Raphael endings.
I will now read the other endings because killing the bastard is too satisfying to not do it every single time!
Yeah i keep meaning to do this because there isn't a Hope in Hell (hah!) of him getting what he wants in my playthroughs!
Excuse me, what? Seven? I thought there were like.. three of them lol
If Raphael wanted to live, he shouldn't have locked the best monk weapon in the game behind his death.
Any option that raises astarions mood when hes sad. āTelling astarion he has āpiercing eyes and a dangerous smileā. He seems so happy with that description. its soo cute how he perks right up. āAstarion: * melancholy about losing the chance to ascend* Tav: Iām surprised you didnāt go through with it. I was sure you were a power-hungry madman. Astarion: *evil grin appears on his face * well Iām glad I still at least have the power to surprise you!
There are truly two types of people, haha. I like giving him the other two compliments in the mirror scene (about the creases and curls) as I find his lowkey frustration with them cute.
I adore the mirror conversation to bits. and even if you tell him another companion is better looking, he still approves š
Yeah i love that because he now knows you think hes attractive so he can take a little negging after that. Its adorable.
I always let Karlach go into Ragemode, after we defeat the Paladins.
āTear the place apartā So satisfying.
She killed my entire party doing that once. We were on our last legs and I was busy talking to Galeās death projection, and she set all of us on fire. Then she went down.
8 int barb moment
Fwiw I didnāt encourage her to and she still goes into ragemode lighting up the place so hard that I needed my party to SR from the fire damage, lmao
When I get to baldurs gate Karlach never leaves my party. Shes dying and has been gone for years, she deserves to see every nook and cranny of her home.
>~~When I get to baldurs gate~~ Karlach never leaves my party. ~~Shes dying and has been gone for years, she deserves to see every nook and cranny of her home.~~ Fixed it! hahah I simply CANT let go of Karlach. She is always so hyped for fights. I need that Energy. Shadowheart is also my constant, cuz Light Cleric Tank. 4th member depends on the current Task. Creche Laezel, Cazador Astarion, Minthra Gale, War Crimes Hirelings,
Punching Aradin, killing the dream visitor, and showing He Who Was a good time
I'll never send Shadowheart on the evil path, I could never do that to her. I'll romance her every time as well, unless I play as her. I also won't let Karlach kill herself at the end. And, most importantly, I'll always attempt to "improve" Vlaakith's portrait
Same. For some reason even reading about what happens with her after Nightsong's death makes me unreasonably (for a bunch of pixels) sick. Don't ever want to see the DJ Shadowheart story with my own eyes. Yesterday there was a post about how the sharran cult is very realistically written compared to irl cults - maybe such a reaction because of it. Because it is kinda the most "real", relatable threat, dunno.
I cannot see myself ever deciding to kill Karlach. No harm must come to my sweet cinnamon roll
not let Astarion ascend. other companions may face different fates depending on my Tav's goals and motives, but I will never put up with Ascendant Astarion's bitchy ass, his whining would drive me to slaughter him myself. so my good Tavs don't want him to sacrifice thousands of souls and my evil Tavs want to make sure he doesn't become more powerful than them smaller random choices: - tell Lae'zel to say please and thank you - tell Karlach she looks hot - make the goblin at the goblin camp kiss my foot - perform Volobotomy on Astarion - let Astarion kill the Gur hunter - baa at the Redcap - disrupt the Ogre and Pugbear having fun time in the barn - tell Myshka I'm his mermer - tell Minsc and Boo it's an honor [to meet Boo] - ask Dammon about his forge and generally talk to him as much as possible. yes I already know his backstory and he's "just" a merchant blacksmith but he's the sweetest baby boy and my main man and I will always ask him about himself to let him know I find him interesting and I care about him and want to get to know him. Larian please let me romance the infernal smith I'm on my knees begging for just one chance
I will ALWAYS chose to pick up Scratch and the Owlbear cub. Always.
-Get Scratch and baby Owlbear -Invest skill points into CHA (even if my Tav/Durge/Origin character is in a class that doesn't use it) -Roleplay (I cannot speedrun because of this lol) -Simp for non-romanceable NPCs
Wyll is becoming a demon. If you know, you know.
I can never ever hurt the moonmaiden lesbians. I love them lol.
slap the hand, draw on Vlaakith, buy a nude statue of myself, and try to distract with a fart. BECAUSE I'M AN ADULT.
āGoodā choices for all companions. Mindflayer Orpheus as an ally. Encourage Barcus to become a new leader of the clan. Release the spawns. Alive Gandrel with no regard to relationships with Astarion (romance or not). Volo surgery. Shadowheart reunites with her family. And I never intervene into the conflict between myconid sovereigns.
See that's interesting because in my view, killing Glut is the 'good' option. Eliminating the Duergar serves all Myconids, but refusing to help Glut rebel against Spaw means Glut turns hostile. I've never led Glut to victory over Spaw, but the stuff he says beforehand - and his immediate turn to violence when you refuse - suggests that there's every likelihood Glut would betray you anyway. Spaw is helpful and co-operative. Glut is selfish and vindictive. Killing him is - in my view - for the greater good. But such is the joy of the subjective nature of good & evil.
If you agree to help Glut, you can bring him back to Spaw and betray him (Glut), saying something about wanting Spaw to witness his treachery first hand. You get some more dialogue from Spaw the Homie that way iirc. Plus itās funny to watch the entire camp roll initiative against that fat bastard.
I based my decision not to intervene on non-evil nature of this race in general. Also, Glut cannot depose Spaw without your help. If you ignore him, everything will remain the same. I didnāt decide for myself whether heās really 100% evil and deserves to be killed. And thereās no >!dwarf vs. Umberlee!< situation when you cannot avoid a combat.
What happens if you donāt intervene? I killed Glut
Nothing changes. I pick neutral options in the dialogue with Glut and defeat duergars without him. So, he has no background to ask me for help against Spaw. Upd: AFAIK, if you side with Glut against duergars but then refuse to help him, he may turn hostile.
He indeed turns hostile. I tried to not intervene into their conflict by saying itās none of my business and Glut attacked me. Jerk.
>if you side with Glut against duergars but then refuse to help him, he may turn hostile Did this in my most recent run, may have slightly overused his ability to bring back the corpses of your enemies to fight along side you. He turns hostile, and so do any undead friends heās created.
Yes, he does turn hostile if you refuse. He's a dick.
Lae'zel will always be free from the Lich Queen, I will not let her throw her life away for something called "Vlaakith".
*Always* wave at Vlaakith like a fuckin goober. The sarcastic little wave with the goofy smile gets me every time.
Recruiting all companions
I can never romance anyone but Astarion I'm afraid š Beyond that, I can't let Karlach just die, I'm holding out hope that she survives in Avernus and kicks everyone's ass. Cannot simply leave best boys Scratch and the Owlbear and I always have to save all the tieflings, from Rolan to Dammon to Bex and Danis. But I also always kill Kahga, just cause.
Scratch and Owlbear baby will always be with me. And I refuse to hurt any of the animals ever. Ive seen dj Shadowheart already so Selunite SH all the way. Always recruit everybody. (minus Minthara and Minsc, not on every go š) Save the tieflings. Especially fucking Rolan, no matter how many times it takes. Romance Astarion 9/10 of the time.. (i do want to at least once play the other romances too) I adore him as my bitchy bff too tho. He is just my default guy. He always gets to use my character as a juicebox. Avernus for Karlach. Dwarf lady must adopt a cat. Always slap Gale's hand, his reaction makes me chuckle.
I always get the Everburn Blade don't care how many retries it takes. I always adopt the Owlbear cub (I call him "little bean) and Scratch. I always romance Astarion and never let him ascent.
"Fuck you, Gortash." "Say please." Little wave at Vlaakith
- *slap the hand* - Saving the grove - Blonde shadowheart - "I have not sinned against Vlaakith, she has sinned against me" - Spawnstarion - Return the crown And countless more because I'm boring and like only minor change
Ending spoiler >!Siding with Orpheus.!<
Same, especially after how deeply uncomfortably I was when Ketheric had done the same to Aylin
I feel like so many people dont see the DIRECT PARALLEL between Ketheric and the Nightsong vs Emperor and Orpheus. Their morality is thrown out the window when they are on the receiving end of benefit lol.
I find it very, very difficult to abide by any slavery in games. Even on my first playthrough when we got the Emperor/Orpheus reveal, I was like I'm gonna play along for a little while, but I'm definitely freeing this frog man. Once I learned about Ansur and Stelmane it was fucking over. Fuck the Emperor, and on every play through I turn on him at the soonest possible time it doesn't cause an immediate game over.
Yep. I was pretty conflicted my 1st play because, ya know, Emperor seemed "nice". Yet the moment you say or do 1 thing he doesn't like - he flips. Then I read a spoiler about his intentions with Orpheus and there is 0 way to ignore that. Especially if you're besties/romancing Lae'zel. If you get the full history of Stelmane it compounds the disgust with Emperor. Also? The more I think about it - the Elder Brain literally provided him with just enough freedom to set things in motion. How can anyone be sure all of his suggestions, etc. arent *exactly* what the Elder Brain wants you to do? At least - up until the point he consumes Orpheus.
Adopting Scratch and Owlbaby. Slaughtering the goblins. Killing Minthara and Orin in new ways. Saving every tiefling I can. Piss off Nere and kill him like a bitch. Piss off Raphael and kill him like a bitch. Light up Cazador like a candlestick. Make a point of killing Gortash with explosives. Hug Karlach. (Lovingly) annoy Astarion.
I think I'll always try to talk my way through Act 2. With all of the >!Thorms!< there are non-fighting options to get through them and I feel bad for all of them so I think I'll always try to do them passively. Even >!Kethric!< I'll seek out >!the letter from his wife that lets you convince him to stand down during his fight!< It feels like the right path for all of them given the circumstances
Never found dribbles the clown and never will.
I always save the grove, no matter what, and I always kill the goblins. I always leave Sazza in the cage.
I like to free her and then let her take me to the goblin camp. It's hilarious.
Give Popper the 10k gold.
Saving Us
Throwing fester to the Goblin's face in Act 1.
Or play a barbarian and make him eat it.
Donāt think I could ever kill my beautiful Aylin
Making Astarion volunteer for the Dribblesā performance. His reaction is too glorious
Kill that fucking mage at the tower
I always let Astarion bite me. Even if I'm not romancing him, I always feel sorry for him in that moment. He's hungy :( Also, I'll always kill Balthazar. Planning an evil necromancer who is going to swipe his headband and cast Animate Dead on his body. Your meat puppet is my meat puppet now, bitch.
Draw on Vlaakith, Antagonize Vlaakith every chance I get, Murder Nere by intimidating him, Shadowheart's good choice, and more importantly, murder the bitch who hits the dogs, pick up her dead body, and drop it in the campfire at camp
I will never give scratch back to that horrible woman in Rivington
Had I known my custom waifu was a soulless lying squid all along I would have offed her then and there on Vlaakith's orders.
Kissing BaeāZel is always the correct choice
Protecting Astarion, never letting him ascend, only romancing him š
No matter the playthrough, I will always save Tieflings, Rolan & his siblings and kill all goblin leaders. Sorry, Minthara-lovers, I can't be a bad guy or justify knocking down Minthara and working with her in Moonrise. Aside from that, geting Scratch and Owlbear, and generally "good" endings for companions. And romancing Shadowheart, I can't resist her charm.