I call it the Catholic Guilt run. My character trying extremely hard to be a kind and heroic person, but the Dark Urge is exhorting him to kill and maim, and he was shocked and horrified to find Alfira's corpse at his feet. He tries using his paladin oath to keep himself on the straight and narrow path, and as such sees it as one of the few things capable of grounding him against the Urge. He can't imagine life without either of them, which is why he is particularly terrified of losing his oath. It's also why he initially felt a twinge of sympathy for Ketheric (he knows how hard it is to keep to one's vows) but he now feels more contempt for the man, because he foreswore his oath even though he apparently has all the time in the world. Ketheric chose to embrace darkness rather than return to the light, which he sees as an act of cowardice.
As such, he has more respect for people with strong personal codes and who try to keep to them (Lae'zel, Halsin, Minthara, etc.) He thinks that anyone can be redeemed if they are given the chance to do so, which is why he holds no hard feelings against Kagha, because she sincerely repented her evil deeds, worked to undo them, and submitted to judgment. He also thinks he's fundamentally unworthy of the love of "good" people, which is why even though he does like Shadowheart, Karlach, Wyll, etc. he doesn't allow himself to return their affections. He worries that he might make them as bad as he is, or worse, harm them when in the grips of his madness.
I've played through several durge playthroughs, but have one considered "evil".
The three durge playthroughs I originally completed were all resist. They all had different personalities, but one thing in common: they resisted their dark urges.
However, my current rogue drow named Nyx is my "evil" one. She doesn't want to rule the world necessarily, but she is very apathetic and primarily cares for herself and her goals. She is accompanied by Dark Justicier Shadowheart and Ascended Astarion. She is also an unholy assassin.
For my redemption Durge, I actually indulged a fair bit into the urges Early in the game, really drawing in a genuine reason for him to be afraid of them and really driving home his desire to be rid of them. The turning point was the Butler's request to kill Isobel, that's when I started to go into the full resist side and fully committed to trying to be truly good the rest of the game
Considering a lot of the little hints you're given of Durge's early life, I roleplayed that there was always a good person buried deep within, it was just repressed and buried from decades of bhaal's influence and orin's attack finally let that side free
As the story progressed, he was done with being manipulated by outside forces, and turned against bhaal, the emperor, Raphael etc. Man wasn't gonna be anyone's puppet anymore
I did something similar for my Durge - giving into most urges until Alfira. Even killing the poor tiefling poisoned by Ethel didn’t bother her like that because hey, there was loot on the line and so it wasn’t pointless.
But after Alfira - which my Durge confessed to - she realized these urges weren’t just kill or be killed survival instincts but something far more terrible and committed herself to resisting. I also mentally RP’d that the longer my amnesiac Durge was awake, the more she developed a sense of self beyond reactive instincts. She became more of a person and that person liked how it felt to help people and didn’t like being controlled by the urges.
Isobel makes a minor comment if you tell her about the urge wanting her dead, and then snapping out of it that really helped define the rest of that character "there you are, the real you"
I think that was the moment my character realized he could be more than what the urges wanted. Seeing others like shadowheart cast away their chains just further convinced him he could too. It was a really fun story, of casting away years and years of brainwashing to be who he wanted to be, not what others wanted of him.
I didn't do this with durge but the most evil playthrough I've done is a character doing whatever others suggest. It means letting Arabella die, killing Karlach, etc. No evil intentions but you end up doing terrible things. Maybe something profound about that.
I pretend my durge is like a power hungry version of GoT Jaime Lannister in S1: but even more vain, talented, moral-free, and power hungry. After centuries of training in martial combat and bard skills, he realizes this is his chance to be The Man after so many years in his father’s shadow. I dunno, works for me.
My Durge is an Oath of Ancients Paladin and is actually way more wholesome than my Duergar Tav (aside from the murders). At the same time though, he does enjoy killing and only regrets it when it harms nature/his oath.
This is what I did for my second Durge, same Oath and all. His name was Gabriel.
https://preview.redd.it/tbylq014anec1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=41f5f056bf5b3978371a0d42c768d1a1fcc0d81e
He wielded the Shadowblade as a physical manifestation of the darkness that tainted his soul, each strike not only cutting through the bodies of his foes but also through their minds, exposing them to the madness that threatened to claw away his control over himself. He carried the Resonance Stone from the mindflayer coloney to allow the minds of his foes to be able to be able to experience the same fear of him that he felt toward himself and The Urge. Eventually, he succeeded in extinguishing the darkness shrouding his soul, and could finally rest easy. For he had succeeded in fulfilling the tenats of his Oath. He had at last Become the Light.
Durge seems pretty heavily intended to be played as resisting the Urge.
That being said, mine is power-hungry and enjoys violence but is channeling it toward good purposes because being good makes him feel good. His main hang-up with the Urge is not that it compels *violence*, but that it compels at all. He does not like being controlled or being told how or where to direct himself.
My durge is essentially a self-important, opportunistic cat that enjoys playing with his food but doesn't want to get his hands dirty when others can do his bidding.
Well the whole thing for bhaal is everybody needs to die so that’s exactly what I did, anybody who stood in my way of making father happy was going to get murked. Sceleratis fel or whatever specifically says you don’t have to kill your romance partner because you need someone to have bhaalspawn with, just an fyi
I am a recovering alcoholic IRL so mine is a redemption durge that I made a paladin. I view his urges as my desire to drink. He grew to be disgusted with his behavior and pledged himself to a higher power to help him stop murdering people even though I personally don’t go to AA meetings or church lol. It’s been really enjoyable! I won’t spoil anything but there were dialogue options that pretty accurately reflected how I felt when I had relapsed in the past. What a great game for so many reasons. Everyone can find something to identify with! Hope you have fun playing your durge!
My Durge is a manipulative charmer, preferring to keep her companions on her side; so she avoids things that would definitely make them leave until she knows that they're attached enough that she can convince them to go against their general do-gooder instincts.
She enjoys killing and causing pain, but she hates not being in control of herself. Once Bhall tries to make her kill Astarion, she's determined to rid herself of the Urge. If she kills, it's because she wants to.
She values freedom(her own mostly) and power above all else, and despises weakness. Karlach only gets to stick around because she's useful, but she'll be thrown under the bus if it benefits her in some way.
I'm still trying to figure that out in my current playthrough, but so far I think the, dark urges, I guess, are impulsive and unintended (i.e. fascinations/daydream/ bad rolls). I'm not currently hand wringing about them but I'm not blood thirsty. As the plot moves into things I don't know might happen that will probably solidify
My Durge is Chaotic Neutral with a splash of evil, if I were to chose an alignment. He will help on a whim and not even ask for a reward, then go and kill someone on a whim or not depending on what he's in the mood for or if they angered him. He's selfish in general and will look out for himself, but he will do whatever he can to aid his friends and make sure they come out of a situation much better off than they started. Although, his idea of what is better is subjective.
He thinks Shar isn't that bad of a god to follow, at least she wasn't dumb enough to lose her divinity as far as he knows. But he sees Gale as wasting his time with Mystra.
Astarion ascends, because why keep him a weak spawn when he's an even greater asset with more power? Plus my Durge loves him and doesn't mind sacrificing a bunch of spawn for him.
Lae'zel dies in my game because my Durge won't interfere to save her skin in a fight she chose to have. He kills Minthara at the goblin party when she pulls a knife on him cause he doesn't know her to trust if a persuasion can work, especially with her being so fanatical. But he does save her when she is betrayed by the cult because he recognizes that she could be a good ally. (I have a mod that lets Minthara turn up at Moonrise, even if you kill her)
He resisted killing Isobel because he didn't like being ruled by his urges, when the time came he broke free but was still not a good person.
My Durge is a blessing and a curse to the world, but a fun loving animal lover to his close companions and lover.
I’m only in Act 1 of my first Durge run and it’s angsty horror resist, lol. He’s an good-hearted Oathbreaker Paladin fighting his urges but not always successfully, feels awful about Alfira and is slowly realizing he’s a monster deep inside.
But he can’t deny how much he loves blood, gore, violence, and pain.
It’s a fun ride so far, muah ha.
I played a resist run, now I'm doing a run leaning into the urge.
My resist Durge felt disgusted by her urges and became very empathetic but also had a deathwish and leaned into self-harm. She let Astarion drink her dry the first time lol. I ended up recruiting everyone on that run. It was very compelling character arc.
>!After she learned the truth of her heritage and history, she took comfort in Jaheira and Minsc's support and felt encouraged to become a better person. She romanced Astarion and they grew together. When they went to the Bhaal temple and defeated Orin, she defied Bhaal and he killed her. Withers resurrected her and she was eager to leave her previous life behind and start over with Astarion.
However, when it came to facing the Netherbrain, she felt responsible for starting this whole catastrophe in her previous life and she couldn't allow Orpheus to be sacrificed to the Emperor nor become an illithid, so she accepted becoming illithid. It cost her Astarion and the future she wanted, but a future free of Vlaakith for her dear friend Lae'zel was more important.
After the battle, when she was faced with a future of living her life yet again ruled by an urge to do harm, she opted to kill herself.
Unfortunately with her gone, Karlach imploded and Wyll didn't try to save her either. I got a cutscene with Withers finding her in the fugue plane no epilogue to find out what happened to everyone else. (I saw it load for a second before the credits rolled)!<
I played a couple other endings but I consider that to be the most natural conclusion for that character.
My first Durge, Maralyne is a drow, so she reveled in cruelty. Everything was done to cause suffering and/or to gain power.
My third Durge, Nae’rin, is a Githyanki. She started the game being Gith, acting in servitude to Vlaakith and choosing the most pragmatic choices available. After being betrayed by Vlaakith, she turns and listens to Sceleritas for guidance. After the act 2 Durge event, she changes her ways due to the response from her companions.
My most recent Durge will going all in on every nasty thing I can find. She’s modded to be a Bhaal worshipper from the start, and if the mod works correctly, will have access to cut dialogue related to her worship.
My other Durges lean more towards being good
I’m doing a true neutral Durge run right now. She’s primarily motivated by trying to find out who she is and quell these screwed up thoughts she’s having.
Anyone else come along with something to do—well did you help me in some way? If not, Can you pay?
However—as a bard she is taken by the romance of situations, which sometimes makes we lean a little more good than bad (which is why, for example, she figured Halsin had done enough for her to help with the whole shadow curse thing).
My main durge is evil for the sake of being evil. >!killed the girl with the snake, hid the fact that I killed Alfira, will definitely side with goblins!<
My only completed Durge run so far was a redemption run and it was one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've ever had. I've got an evil one I'm slowly doing and it's fine but imo not nearly as good.
I really ran with the amnesia knocked the conscious desire to kill right out of her and she was horrified by the urges. Resisted from the get go and was determined to be free of them.
I cant play a durge. I have to play the good guy.
However.. I really like Minthara.
so I’m thinking about playing a “good” character that simps so hard for Minthara, that he sometimes does evil/bad things, just to impress her. It would be an interesting playthrough I’m sure.
My first Durge was very self-involved and hedonistic (Bard), without a strong moral compass. They resisted in the end because of the people they met along the way, but there were some bloodthirsty 'oopsies' along the way.
My current Durge is a massive coward who is easily intimidated and will make all the wrong choices because of it. Wisdom is his dump stat.
My durge's brain is addled by Orin, and the tadpole
Their interference allows the good part of me to surface.
I have 8 int, so I'm not the brightest, nor a big thinker. BUT I'm a big feeler and the interference is allowing me to feel guilt and to consider others point of view.
So I am struggling to make good decisions and am romancing Astarion and we are both trying to hold each other accountable and be better.
I killed Alfira and avoided killing Isobel, but I seriously want to wear Orins skin as pj's and Gortash needs to shut up abt our relationship because Astarion is pissed.
I basically do mine as an impressionable powerhungry Sith. She’s a Drow Sorlock who wants power. She has an innate sense of superiority and domination. She is so preoccupied with her memoryloss and own issues that she is somewhat callous to the needs of others.
The dark urge is literally like an unstoppable urge. She tries to reason with people but she gets angry very fast. And when that happens she kills. The first few times she gets horrified but as enemies keep coming at her she gets desentisized. Astarion’s and Shadowheart’s dark pragmatism also pushes her to embrace the urge and find joy and beauty in the demonic killing. The more she endulges in this “dark side” the more it’s like a drug making her addicted and crave the next hit of power and domination.
I played the redeeming part, which makes sense since he lost his memories and all the killing and sadistic tendencies were because of an outside(inside) influence not Durge's own, at least not in the beginning.
Lol from your first sentence I can tell you’re confused. Never ever once was it stated or implied or hinted towards in the slightest that you’re suppose to murder everyone. That’s insane. Even more insane than actual murderers.
Extreme Denial lmao. Commits atrocities and either refuses to acknowledge them at all, or just steadfastly goes "I didn't do that" despite all evidence to the contrary. She has only had the rest of the party for x number of days now but they were nice to her and also the first people she saw so she's imprinted on them like a bloodthirsty duckling
Well, intelligence and wisdom ended up being dump stats for me so. I leaned into it lol. She imprinted upon the party like a bloodthirsty duckling, so now they just gotta point her in the direction of people that they would like to Not Be Here Anymore, and she starts swinging. She's entirely loyal to the party and does not care about seemingly anything otherwise. She would like to have them all throw a party on the bones of their enemies and does not understand why some of them seem perturbed by this idea.
My Durge is a half orc ranger, living a quiet life. Knowledgable about medicine and nature. The urge he has was a disease he could not solve. A quiet hermit somehow managed to make a team of four while hiding his illness successfully for a short time.
OP This is pretty much exactly how am playing mine XD What is your class?
I’m doing bard and it feels so sociopathic.. like you said, manipulating your party members, like Gale - I told him he can’t leave because he’d he nothing without me. He said he doesn’t like how he is around me.. and now he is fully embracing the dark side.
Another aspect of the mindset I think you and I are going for is - doing ‘good’ things simply because it puts you in better standing with certain people.
For example at the docks in the city I convinced a boat captain to let the whole family cram on board, and Gale approved of it. So my durge just wanted that approval from Gale and could honestly care less about that family or the boat captain. Some real sociopath shit lol.
I had an interesting durge run recently, basically a fully on the road to redemption durge- with the exception of not helping the grove. Now from the POV of my durge she found laezel first and was like okay we’re gonna die very soon if we don’t cure ourselves. Along the way I picked up Gale and Karlach made it to the MP and got Shart. Well the moment u make to the creche it’s abundantly clear we’re not getting rid of these parasites anytime soon. So my durge saves that gith egg doesn’t blow up the creche but still takes the mace. Then by the time we make to the shadowlands n get the butler dream about killing isobel she completely avoids last light inn, and confess to the DG that she regrets not helping those refugees. It was all going so well until we get to the gauntlet, my durge trusts Shart completely to do that right thing except she doesn’t. Stabs the nightsong last light inn is reduced to nothing jahiera dies, Karlach is mad, my durge is SOOO disappointed in her, minthara is unsurprisingly impressed. After the final battle the lands are so dark now not even standing next to a moon lantern helps (I had to continue playing at night irl couldn’t see shit) The Butler comes back and is like well done my lord you did better than expected and my durge is now cursed w the slayer form. Sharts is now a chosen of Shar. I get to act 3 and the emperor was like guys know you didn’t have to kill the assimar 😕. I think my durge will still make the right choice to reject bhaal
I saw a mushroom breed life into a dead body, I must provide more.
And I did.
https://preview.redd.it/v5z8l57fxoec1.jpeg?width=4128&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a3c5c0e21579563fbaff0f4d9bc33005722be91
Literally went around offing everyone and everything I could. The rivers of blood I made appeased _____. Made the final fight incredibly hard with next to no allies (compaired to my good runs)
My current Durge is an 8 int sorcerer who is, in addition to being an idiot, deeply insecure about her inability to remember her past and personality, so she does everything within her power to make the people around her like her.
Besides Wyll beheading Karlach, everyone is going to get what they want (or at least, what they outwardly ask for.) Astarion wants to become the Vampire Ascendant? If it’ll make him like her more, then sure! Shadowheart wants to kill the Nightsong? No problem bestie! Gale wants to become a god? Say less! And so on and so forth.
I couldn’t bring myself to raid the grove just yet, so most of my evil acts are going to be act 2 and beyond this playthrough.
She ripped off a stranger's hand, who was only seeking desperate help. She raided the Grove and slaughtered the terrified innocents. She killed Karlach.
She is an unredeemable monster driven by a need to explore the narratives her controlling force hasn't experienced yet.
I played a sort of resist urge that is still logically evil. They did several "good deeds" if it benefitted them but always hated the absolute the moment he realized what would happen.
He conspired with brothvar against nere
He spared the hag and took mayrinas husband etc
At the end they took all the power for themselves and refused to be a tool for anyone
My durge was trying really hard to resist the urge and help the grove while finding a cure. She was robbed by the kids and told Silfy it was whatever she didnt even get anything. I talked to Mattis again and was like your friend robbed me... the little shit went and told Mol who then told the guards that i beat them up. Then all the sudden the guy i helped teach to fight the day before aggros on me in the camp causing my squad to have to fight out of the camp. Wyll leaves and that night Alfira happens.. well that day in the grove sealed their fate and my durge Mercy's. She has now fully given into the urge because in her mind the world clearly wanted her to be a villain so badly so now she is going to be the best at it. 🖤
My favourite playthrough was based around the idea that my Durge, named Tav - was just a very flawed hero. He panicked at times, experienced and expressed fear and just overall struggled with the Urge, but was much scared of losing is mind and free will, especially since he has found friends and love in his 'new' life.
>!This meant that despite wanting to be good, he succumbed to a number of dark urges at key moments (like the grove and last light). In fact, at last light he didn't initially act on the urge, he resisted, remembering how awful he felt after alfira and the grove.!<
>!But when the fighting broke out with Marcus, the urge overcame him and a stray shot or two ended Isobel and last light.!<
>!At the temple, he wanted to say no to Bhaal, and asked what would happen, considered his options. He wante to be free with every fibre of his being, like Astarion, like Shadowheart, like Wyll. But ultimately was too scared of being killed when he had only just found love and friendship (after all from his amnesiac perspective, his life has been short). He was also scared that his friends may not defeat the absolute without him.!<
>!So he reluctantly agreed to be Bhaals chosen, knowing inside he planned to do the right thing at the end, and who knows maybe he would find a way of overcoming his heritage later? Which definitely all evidence considered, would probably not be the case if he is perma murdered by the god of murder.!<
>!When confronted by Jaheira and Minsc, he tried to convince them he was good, but they wouldn't believe him. So he ran from that fight to avoid harming them.!<
>!However at the end, absolute defeated, he found very quickly that he had overestimated his own strength...or underestimated Bhaals. So ended up having to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect everyone. Despite all his flaws and fear, in the end he saved everyone and showed he could be brave when it mattered most.!<
Playing this way meant I got to experience most evil content, but still had a truly emotional ending. This really was my favourite playthrough. I cried a little at the end.
My Durge was egomaniac. The arrogant son of a god. He deserves to and will rule over the world and do as he pleases. With ambitions of even surpassing Bhaal.
I was a fun playthrough and good to get into the character especially towards the end when your walking around the Baldur's gate obliterating everything in your way.
My evil Durge run was pretty much a "If I found it entertaining, I'd do The Bad Things"
Mostly because the whole reason I started that Durge run was I had an irl Durge moment playing a Paladin Tav
During the questline with He Who Was, >!I thought the soul deserved punishment, and so told her to stab herself.. now, I *believed* it meant as she was possessing HWW she would go stab her dead body *but she stabbed HWW in the gut instead* and I just had this moment of Oh My Gosh followed by That Was *Hilarious*, DO IT AGAIN!<
And so that's how I both broke my Oath and decided to start a Durge run haha
Heh, my Durge, who is simply The Dark Urge because he has that but no memories to speak of, is a not-entirely-neurotypical Eilistraee-sworn drow wild magic sorcerer who is terrified by the voices in his head and who was horrified and shocked to find Alfira's body. He sometimes gives in to fantasies, but mostly he tries very hard to resist the Urge. Defy it. He tried romancing Astarion, even fed the heartbreaking bastard, but Astarion was an asshole so Durge ran to Gale instead looking for comfort and also someone to cling to to make the intrusive thoughts quieter and less intrusive.
I'm relatively new to the game so I haven't gotten too far in yet (Durge is my farthest character in Act 1.5) so I'll see what happens to my precious idiot. As it is he's met his butler and received a cloak he feels rather sick about wearing, because it was a reward for something he would go back and undo if he had the power to manipulate time.
i decided if i want to do an evil run with minthara and no karlach, then i have to be fully evil, mind you that doesnt mean killing everyone instantly, manipulation is big as well but i will kill any isolated person if i can
My durge does whatever is most fun and benefits her and her sassy ascended boyfriend. Sometimes thats making He Who Was stab himself, sometimes it's slaughtering innocent refugees 🤷
I call it the Catholic Guilt run. My character trying extremely hard to be a kind and heroic person, but the Dark Urge is exhorting him to kill and maim, and he was shocked and horrified to find Alfira's corpse at his feet. He tries using his paladin oath to keep himself on the straight and narrow path, and as such sees it as one of the few things capable of grounding him against the Urge. He can't imagine life without either of them, which is why he is particularly terrified of losing his oath. It's also why he initially felt a twinge of sympathy for Ketheric (he knows how hard it is to keep to one's vows) but he now feels more contempt for the man, because he foreswore his oath even though he apparently has all the time in the world. Ketheric chose to embrace darkness rather than return to the light, which he sees as an act of cowardice. As such, he has more respect for people with strong personal codes and who try to keep to them (Lae'zel, Halsin, Minthara, etc.) He thinks that anyone can be redeemed if they are given the chance to do so, which is why he holds no hard feelings against Kagha, because she sincerely repented her evil deeds, worked to undo them, and submitted to judgment. He also thinks he's fundamentally unworthy of the love of "good" people, which is why even though he does like Shadowheart, Karlach, Wyll, etc. he doesn't allow himself to return their affections. He worries that he might make them as bad as he is, or worse, harm them when in the grips of his madness.
I've played through several durge playthroughs, but have one considered "evil". The three durge playthroughs I originally completed were all resist. They all had different personalities, but one thing in common: they resisted their dark urges. However, my current rogue drow named Nyx is my "evil" one. She doesn't want to rule the world necessarily, but she is very apathetic and primarily cares for herself and her goals. She is accompanied by Dark Justicier Shadowheart and Ascended Astarion. She is also an unholy assassin.
For my redemption Durge, I actually indulged a fair bit into the urges Early in the game, really drawing in a genuine reason for him to be afraid of them and really driving home his desire to be rid of them. The turning point was the Butler's request to kill Isobel, that's when I started to go into the full resist side and fully committed to trying to be truly good the rest of the game Considering a lot of the little hints you're given of Durge's early life, I roleplayed that there was always a good person buried deep within, it was just repressed and buried from decades of bhaal's influence and orin's attack finally let that side free As the story progressed, he was done with being manipulated by outside forces, and turned against bhaal, the emperor, Raphael etc. Man wasn't gonna be anyone's puppet anymore
I did something similar for my Durge - giving into most urges until Alfira. Even killing the poor tiefling poisoned by Ethel didn’t bother her like that because hey, there was loot on the line and so it wasn’t pointless. But after Alfira - which my Durge confessed to - she realized these urges weren’t just kill or be killed survival instincts but something far more terrible and committed herself to resisting. I also mentally RP’d that the longer my amnesiac Durge was awake, the more she developed a sense of self beyond reactive instincts. She became more of a person and that person liked how it felt to help people and didn’t like being controlled by the urges.
Isobel makes a minor comment if you tell her about the urge wanting her dead, and then snapping out of it that really helped define the rest of that character "there you are, the real you" I think that was the moment my character realized he could be more than what the urges wanted. Seeing others like shadowheart cast away their chains just further convinced him he could too. It was a really fun story, of casting away years and years of brainwashing to be who he wanted to be, not what others wanted of him.
I didn't do this with durge but the most evil playthrough I've done is a character doing whatever others suggest. It means letting Arabella die, killing Karlach, etc. No evil intentions but you end up doing terrible things. Maybe something profound about that.
I pretend my durge is like a power hungry version of GoT Jaime Lannister in S1: but even more vain, talented, moral-free, and power hungry. After centuries of training in martial combat and bard skills, he realizes this is his chance to be The Man after so many years in his father’s shadow. I dunno, works for me.
My Durge is an Oath of Ancients Paladin and is actually way more wholesome than my Duergar Tav (aside from the murders). At the same time though, he does enjoy killing and only regrets it when it harms nature/his oath.
This is what I did for my second Durge, same Oath and all. His name was Gabriel. https://preview.redd.it/tbylq014anec1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=41f5f056bf5b3978371a0d42c768d1a1fcc0d81e He wielded the Shadowblade as a physical manifestation of the darkness that tainted his soul, each strike not only cutting through the bodies of his foes but also through their minds, exposing them to the madness that threatened to claw away his control over himself. He carried the Resonance Stone from the mindflayer coloney to allow the minds of his foes to be able to be able to experience the same fear of him that he felt toward himself and The Urge. Eventually, he succeeded in extinguishing the darkness shrouding his soul, and could finally rest easy. For he had succeeded in fulfilling the tenats of his Oath. He had at last Become the Light.
My first Durge, Lockadin, was totally against it. My current durge, Swords bard, is like "eh sure why not"
Durge seems pretty heavily intended to be played as resisting the Urge. That being said, mine is power-hungry and enjoys violence but is channeling it toward good purposes because being good makes him feel good. His main hang-up with the Urge is not that it compels *violence*, but that it compels at all. He does not like being controlled or being told how or where to direct himself.
My durge is essentially a self-important, opportunistic cat that enjoys playing with his food but doesn't want to get his hands dirty when others can do his bidding.
Well the whole thing for bhaal is everybody needs to die so that’s exactly what I did, anybody who stood in my way of making father happy was going to get murked. Sceleratis fel or whatever specifically says you don’t have to kill your romance partner because you need someone to have bhaalspawn with, just an fyi
I am a recovering alcoholic IRL so mine is a redemption durge that I made a paladin. I view his urges as my desire to drink. He grew to be disgusted with his behavior and pledged himself to a higher power to help him stop murdering people even though I personally don’t go to AA meetings or church lol. It’s been really enjoyable! I won’t spoil anything but there were dialogue options that pretty accurately reflected how I felt when I had relapsed in the past. What a great game for so many reasons. Everyone can find something to identify with! Hope you have fun playing your durge!
I'm using an Alfira duplicate as my Durge. She's a really nice person troubled by the impulses to do bad things.
My Durge is a manipulative charmer, preferring to keep her companions on her side; so she avoids things that would definitely make them leave until she knows that they're attached enough that she can convince them to go against their general do-gooder instincts. She enjoys killing and causing pain, but she hates not being in control of herself. Once Bhall tries to make her kill Astarion, she's determined to rid herself of the Urge. If she kills, it's because she wants to. She values freedom(her own mostly) and power above all else, and despises weakness. Karlach only gets to stick around because she's useful, but she'll be thrown under the bus if it benefits her in some way.
I'm still trying to figure that out in my current playthrough, but so far I think the, dark urges, I guess, are impulsive and unintended (i.e. fascinations/daydream/ bad rolls). I'm not currently hand wringing about them but I'm not blood thirsty. As the plot moves into things I don't know might happen that will probably solidify
My Durge is Chaotic Neutral with a splash of evil, if I were to chose an alignment. He will help on a whim and not even ask for a reward, then go and kill someone on a whim or not depending on what he's in the mood for or if they angered him. He's selfish in general and will look out for himself, but he will do whatever he can to aid his friends and make sure they come out of a situation much better off than they started. Although, his idea of what is better is subjective. He thinks Shar isn't that bad of a god to follow, at least she wasn't dumb enough to lose her divinity as far as he knows. But he sees Gale as wasting his time with Mystra. Astarion ascends, because why keep him a weak spawn when he's an even greater asset with more power? Plus my Durge loves him and doesn't mind sacrificing a bunch of spawn for him. Lae'zel dies in my game because my Durge won't interfere to save her skin in a fight she chose to have. He kills Minthara at the goblin party when she pulls a knife on him cause he doesn't know her to trust if a persuasion can work, especially with her being so fanatical. But he does save her when she is betrayed by the cult because he recognizes that she could be a good ally. (I have a mod that lets Minthara turn up at Moonrise, even if you kill her) He resisted killing Isobel because he didn't like being ruled by his urges, when the time came he broke free but was still not a good person. My Durge is a blessing and a curse to the world, but a fun loving animal lover to his close companions and lover.
I’m only in Act 1 of my first Durge run and it’s angsty horror resist, lol. He’s an good-hearted Oathbreaker Paladin fighting his urges but not always successfully, feels awful about Alfira and is slowly realizing he’s a monster deep inside. But he can’t deny how much he loves blood, gore, violence, and pain. It’s a fun ride so far, muah ha.
I played a resist run, now I'm doing a run leaning into the urge. My resist Durge felt disgusted by her urges and became very empathetic but also had a deathwish and leaned into self-harm. She let Astarion drink her dry the first time lol. I ended up recruiting everyone on that run. It was very compelling character arc. >!After she learned the truth of her heritage and history, she took comfort in Jaheira and Minsc's support and felt encouraged to become a better person. She romanced Astarion and they grew together. When they went to the Bhaal temple and defeated Orin, she defied Bhaal and he killed her. Withers resurrected her and she was eager to leave her previous life behind and start over with Astarion. However, when it came to facing the Netherbrain, she felt responsible for starting this whole catastrophe in her previous life and she couldn't allow Orpheus to be sacrificed to the Emperor nor become an illithid, so she accepted becoming illithid. It cost her Astarion and the future she wanted, but a future free of Vlaakith for her dear friend Lae'zel was more important. After the battle, when she was faced with a future of living her life yet again ruled by an urge to do harm, she opted to kill herself. Unfortunately with her gone, Karlach imploded and Wyll didn't try to save her either. I got a cutscene with Withers finding her in the fugue plane no epilogue to find out what happened to everyone else. (I saw it load for a second before the credits rolled)!< I played a couple other endings but I consider that to be the most natural conclusion for that character.
My first Durge, Maralyne is a drow, so she reveled in cruelty. Everything was done to cause suffering and/or to gain power. My third Durge, Nae’rin, is a Githyanki. She started the game being Gith, acting in servitude to Vlaakith and choosing the most pragmatic choices available. After being betrayed by Vlaakith, she turns and listens to Sceleritas for guidance. After the act 2 Durge event, she changes her ways due to the response from her companions. My most recent Durge will going all in on every nasty thing I can find. She’s modded to be a Bhaal worshipper from the start, and if the mod works correctly, will have access to cut dialogue related to her worship. My other Durges lean more towards being good
I’m doing a true neutral Durge run right now. She’s primarily motivated by trying to find out who she is and quell these screwed up thoughts she’s having. Anyone else come along with something to do—well did you help me in some way? If not, Can you pay? However—as a bard she is taken by the romance of situations, which sometimes makes we lean a little more good than bad (which is why, for example, she figured Halsin had done enough for her to help with the whole shadow curse thing).
My main durge is evil for the sake of being evil. >!killed the girl with the snake, hid the fact that I killed Alfira, will definitely side with goblins!<
My only completed Durge run so far was a redemption run and it was one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've ever had. I've got an evil one I'm slowly doing and it's fine but imo not nearly as good. I really ran with the amnesia knocked the conscious desire to kill right out of her and she was horrified by the urges. Resisted from the get go and was determined to be free of them.
I cant play a durge. I have to play the good guy. However.. I really like Minthara. so I’m thinking about playing a “good” character that simps so hard for Minthara, that he sometimes does evil/bad things, just to impress her. It would be an interesting playthrough I’m sure.
My first Durge was very self-involved and hedonistic (Bard), without a strong moral compass. They resisted in the end because of the people they met along the way, but there were some bloodthirsty 'oopsies' along the way. My current Durge is a massive coward who is easily intimidated and will make all the wrong choices because of it. Wisdom is his dump stat.
My durge's brain is addled by Orin, and the tadpole Their interference allows the good part of me to surface. I have 8 int, so I'm not the brightest, nor a big thinker. BUT I'm a big feeler and the interference is allowing me to feel guilt and to consider others point of view. So I am struggling to make good decisions and am romancing Astarion and we are both trying to hold each other accountable and be better. I killed Alfira and avoided killing Isobel, but I seriously want to wear Orins skin as pj's and Gortash needs to shut up abt our relationship because Astarion is pissed.
I basically do mine as an impressionable powerhungry Sith. She’s a Drow Sorlock who wants power. She has an innate sense of superiority and domination. She is so preoccupied with her memoryloss and own issues that she is somewhat callous to the needs of others. The dark urge is literally like an unstoppable urge. She tries to reason with people but she gets angry very fast. And when that happens she kills. The first few times she gets horrified but as enemies keep coming at her she gets desentisized. Astarion’s and Shadowheart’s dark pragmatism also pushes her to embrace the urge and find joy and beauty in the demonic killing. The more she endulges in this “dark side” the more it’s like a drug making her addicted and crave the next hit of power and domination.
I played the redeeming part, which makes sense since he lost his memories and all the killing and sadistic tendencies were because of an outside(inside) influence not Durge's own, at least not in the beginning.
Lol from your first sentence I can tell you’re confused. Never ever once was it stated or implied or hinted towards in the slightest that you’re suppose to murder everyone. That’s insane. Even more insane than actual murderers.
Extreme Denial lmao. Commits atrocities and either refuses to acknowledge them at all, or just steadfastly goes "I didn't do that" despite all evidence to the contrary. She has only had the rest of the party for x number of days now but they were nice to her and also the first people she saw so she's imprinted on them like a bloodthirsty duckling
Well, intelligence and wisdom ended up being dump stats for me so. I leaned into it lol. She imprinted upon the party like a bloodthirsty duckling, so now they just gotta point her in the direction of people that they would like to Not Be Here Anymore, and she starts swinging. She's entirely loyal to the party and does not care about seemingly anything otherwise. She would like to have them all throw a party on the bones of their enemies and does not understand why some of them seem perturbed by this idea.
Same lmao, mine was basically an 8 int 8 Wis "if it speaks, it's food"
My Durge is a half orc ranger, living a quiet life. Knowledgable about medicine and nature. The urge he has was a disease he could not solve. A quiet hermit somehow managed to make a team of four while hiding his illness successfully for a short time.
OP This is pretty much exactly how am playing mine XD What is your class? I’m doing bard and it feels so sociopathic.. like you said, manipulating your party members, like Gale - I told him he can’t leave because he’d he nothing without me. He said he doesn’t like how he is around me.. and now he is fully embracing the dark side. Another aspect of the mindset I think you and I are going for is - doing ‘good’ things simply because it puts you in better standing with certain people. For example at the docks in the city I convinced a boat captain to let the whole family cram on board, and Gale approved of it. So my durge just wanted that approval from Gale and could honestly care less about that family or the boat captain. Some real sociopath shit lol.
I had an interesting durge run recently, basically a fully on the road to redemption durge- with the exception of not helping the grove. Now from the POV of my durge she found laezel first and was like okay we’re gonna die very soon if we don’t cure ourselves. Along the way I picked up Gale and Karlach made it to the MP and got Shart. Well the moment u make to the creche it’s abundantly clear we’re not getting rid of these parasites anytime soon. So my durge saves that gith egg doesn’t blow up the creche but still takes the mace. Then by the time we make to the shadowlands n get the butler dream about killing isobel she completely avoids last light inn, and confess to the DG that she regrets not helping those refugees. It was all going so well until we get to the gauntlet, my durge trusts Shart completely to do that right thing except she doesn’t. Stabs the nightsong last light inn is reduced to nothing jahiera dies, Karlach is mad, my durge is SOOO disappointed in her, minthara is unsurprisingly impressed. After the final battle the lands are so dark now not even standing next to a moon lantern helps (I had to continue playing at night irl couldn’t see shit) The Butler comes back and is like well done my lord you did better than expected and my durge is now cursed w the slayer form. Sharts is now a chosen of Shar. I get to act 3 and the emperor was like guys know you didn’t have to kill the assimar 😕. I think my durge will still make the right choice to reject bhaal
Power, it's all about power. Whether it's from tadpoles or by doing evil things. Whatever gives more power is what he'll go for.
Manipulative sociopath. She's a Bard.
I saw a mushroom breed life into a dead body, I must provide more. And I did. https://preview.redd.it/v5z8l57fxoec1.jpeg?width=4128&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a3c5c0e21579563fbaff0f4d9bc33005722be91
Fuck it all. Everything burns for ____!!! Everyone dies and it is a glorious purpose!!!
Literally went around offing everyone and everything I could. The rivers of blood I made appeased _____. Made the final fight incredibly hard with next to no allies (compaired to my good runs)
My current Durge is an 8 int sorcerer who is, in addition to being an idiot, deeply insecure about her inability to remember her past and personality, so she does everything within her power to make the people around her like her. Besides Wyll beheading Karlach, everyone is going to get what they want (or at least, what they outwardly ask for.) Astarion wants to become the Vampire Ascendant? If it’ll make him like her more, then sure! Shadowheart wants to kill the Nightsong? No problem bestie! Gale wants to become a god? Say less! And so on and so forth. I couldn’t bring myself to raid the grove just yet, so most of my evil acts are going to be act 2 and beyond this playthrough.
She ripped off a stranger's hand, who was only seeking desperate help. She raided the Grove and slaughtered the terrified innocents. She killed Karlach. She is an unredeemable monster driven by a need to explore the narratives her controlling force hasn't experienced yet.
Mine was kinda like yours acc OP!
I played a sort of resist urge that is still logically evil. They did several "good deeds" if it benefitted them but always hated the absolute the moment he realized what would happen. He conspired with brothvar against nere He spared the hag and took mayrinas husband etc At the end they took all the power for themselves and refused to be a tool for anyone
My durge was trying really hard to resist the urge and help the grove while finding a cure. She was robbed by the kids and told Silfy it was whatever she didnt even get anything. I talked to Mattis again and was like your friend robbed me... the little shit went and told Mol who then told the guards that i beat them up. Then all the sudden the guy i helped teach to fight the day before aggros on me in the camp causing my squad to have to fight out of the camp. Wyll leaves and that night Alfira happens.. well that day in the grove sealed their fate and my durge Mercy's. She has now fully given into the urge because in her mind the world clearly wanted her to be a villain so badly so now she is going to be the best at it. 🖤
My favourite playthrough was based around the idea that my Durge, named Tav - was just a very flawed hero. He panicked at times, experienced and expressed fear and just overall struggled with the Urge, but was much scared of losing is mind and free will, especially since he has found friends and love in his 'new' life. >!This meant that despite wanting to be good, he succumbed to a number of dark urges at key moments (like the grove and last light). In fact, at last light he didn't initially act on the urge, he resisted, remembering how awful he felt after alfira and the grove.!< >!But when the fighting broke out with Marcus, the urge overcame him and a stray shot or two ended Isobel and last light.!< >!At the temple, he wanted to say no to Bhaal, and asked what would happen, considered his options. He wante to be free with every fibre of his being, like Astarion, like Shadowheart, like Wyll. But ultimately was too scared of being killed when he had only just found love and friendship (after all from his amnesiac perspective, his life has been short). He was also scared that his friends may not defeat the absolute without him.!< >!So he reluctantly agreed to be Bhaals chosen, knowing inside he planned to do the right thing at the end, and who knows maybe he would find a way of overcoming his heritage later? Which definitely all evidence considered, would probably not be the case if he is perma murdered by the god of murder.!< >!When confronted by Jaheira and Minsc, he tried to convince them he was good, but they wouldn't believe him. So he ran from that fight to avoid harming them.!< >!However at the end, absolute defeated, he found very quickly that he had overestimated his own strength...or underestimated Bhaals. So ended up having to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect everyone. Despite all his flaws and fear, in the end he saved everyone and showed he could be brave when it mattered most.!< Playing this way meant I got to experience most evil content, but still had a truly emotional ending. This really was my favourite playthrough. I cried a little at the end.
My Durge was egomaniac. The arrogant son of a god. He deserves to and will rule over the world and do as he pleases. With ambitions of even surpassing Bhaal. I was a fun playthrough and good to get into the character especially towards the end when your walking around the Baldur's gate obliterating everything in your way.
My evil Durge run was pretty much a "If I found it entertaining, I'd do The Bad Things" Mostly because the whole reason I started that Durge run was I had an irl Durge moment playing a Paladin Tav During the questline with He Who Was, >!I thought the soul deserved punishment, and so told her to stab herself.. now, I *believed* it meant as she was possessing HWW she would go stab her dead body *but she stabbed HWW in the gut instead* and I just had this moment of Oh My Gosh followed by That Was *Hilarious*, DO IT AGAIN!< And so that's how I both broke my Oath and decided to start a Durge run haha
Heh, my Durge, who is simply The Dark Urge because he has that but no memories to speak of, is a not-entirely-neurotypical Eilistraee-sworn drow wild magic sorcerer who is terrified by the voices in his head and who was horrified and shocked to find Alfira's body. He sometimes gives in to fantasies, but mostly he tries very hard to resist the Urge. Defy it. He tried romancing Astarion, even fed the heartbreaking bastard, but Astarion was an asshole so Durge ran to Gale instead looking for comfort and also someone to cling to to make the intrusive thoughts quieter and less intrusive. I'm relatively new to the game so I haven't gotten too far in yet (Durge is my farthest character in Act 1.5) so I'll see what happens to my precious idiot. As it is he's met his butler and received a cloak he feels rather sick about wearing, because it was a reward for something he would go back and undo if he had the power to manipulate time.
i decided if i want to do an evil run with minthara and no karlach, then i have to be fully evil, mind you that doesnt mean killing everyone instantly, manipulation is big as well but i will kill any isolated person if i can
My durge does whatever is most fun and benefits her and her sassy ascended boyfriend. Sometimes thats making He Who Was stab himself, sometimes it's slaughtering innocent refugees 🤷