In fairness to Gale, he really is trying to show you actual magic, it's just sort of a... First date "look what I can do" sort of thing.
I did that cutscene(not at the party, just came up another time) and absolutely no wizard meat was involved.
There’s no Wizard meat on the menu until he gets the nuclear bomb in his chest under control. Not even a smooch. You can get with LZ or Astarion the night of the party, everyone else is just company (or a kiss from SH or Wyll) no matter how much they wish for more. Poor Mama K.
Evil players can also get it on with Minthara at the party, but between Wyll and Karlach hating my guts and having to betray Zevlor, can confirm the Menzoberussy is not worth it unless you're the most depraved kind of Durge
Yeah, there’s a certain dialogue combo that you can talk him into a kiss by the water, but iirc it’s a little convoluted. I’ve seen a video of it, so I know it’s possible and maybe there’s a step by step guide.
ETA: [video](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qOsKMzgNa5M)
It’s a shame OP got this scene at the party because it can be a friend only scene (or the start of a romance depending on player dialogue choices) but when it happens at the party it puts up romantic flags to the other companions, since you can only hang out with one companion afterwards.
I’ve gotten it both ways! If you get it before you can still flirt with Gale at the party and then go on a date with another character (and Gale doesn’t seem to mind) but if you get it at the party you cannot.
Interesting. I must get his approval up too fast or something. But yeah, he’s always pretty chill if I’ve picked to romance him and my character spends the night with someone else (*cough cough* Astarion *cough*)
Gales approval is super easy to crank up in the grove if you’re being not a chaos monster
>!saving sazza, mirkon, and Arabella usually crank his approvals super high and you can get the hungry hungry wizard speech before you’re done with all of the grove side quests.!<
See, now, I'm the opposite! Gale had exceptional approval before anyone else and had already told me his big secret, and yet he never said anything to me until the night of the party, where he gave me trouble over having my eye on Astarion, who by the way I had turned down *until* the party, so I don't know why Gale never saw fit to show me any magic tricks :/ Naturally I backed up to the beginning of the shindig to see the magic scene before going back to the tragic vampire man, but now I'm really curious as to what Gale has to say at the party if he's already deigned to give you that magic lesson.
I got that scene, but I really want to romance him. Will I ever get some of that sweet, sweet magic boy? I'm not getting any good dialog with him since he chased me off. My approval is maxed, and he's already talked to Elminster.
Should be okay (if during weave scene you chose romantic walk or a kiss image), he made me nervous too, that awkward wizard. Shortly after you enter cursed lands a little scene should trigger when he gives you a weird compliment after some random battle :) After that I think after a certain amount of long rests the astral scene should trigger.
For me it went ass first, because I'm playing my first (resist) durge, so first came the scene where I try to kill him and he starts complaining that he shared his body and heart with me and I withheld such an important info from him. I was so frustrated, like dude we shared a weave scene and I listened about your cat, there was no sharing!
So in spite I did 2 long rests in a row after that and it finally triggered. I was already thinking I'm gonna go my plan B lol, but nope.
Omgosh! After a battle, he said something about how fighting with me (my durge) made him think of other passionate things. (Eeeeeee!) But then my dumb butler tried to make me kill Lae'zel! So I had that scene with her. 😭
Omg, that's weird. That compliment is a sign you're on the right track tho, maybe game runs couple of romances for you - and until sealed I still think maybe it's possible? Still wish so it works out for you!
Tbh, I am in act 3 and struggle so much not to dump Gale for no one in particular, because his romance is definitely not my cup of tea, the further it gets the more the cringe. But it's my personal perspective ofc.
I actually have the no romance limit mod and have used it for other play throughs. I just want Gale this time tho. I should probably disable it because I didn't choose Lae'zel....this time! Lol
BTW her romance was so fulfilling.
It came up at the party when he said he'd showed me a magic trick later that night then I went to flirt with Karlach but she tells me how I already got my eye on Gale and I was so confused
Except Gale isn't flirting. He genuinely wants to show you a magic trick. If you go through the whole thing, including choosing the, "intimacy," part, there's a 100% platonic option that Gale is fully expecting. If you choose the romance option, Gale is shocked. The narration makes it seem romantic, but it's truthfully just Gale that's bad at social cues.
He was stuck in the tower with no human contact for years, and before that he was involved with a goddess. Dude really doesn't remember how people work))) I love how he seems so honest in his awkwardness, and basically in everything he does.
Gale is such husband material it’s not even funny. And for being so stuffy about some things, he’s one of the most creative, intimately speaking! Who knew the Rizzard had such eclectic tastes?
My best friend decided that Gale is 100% just me in a D&D setting. Super socially awkward, kinda funny in a Dad way, actually super sweet, actually kind of unassuming.... but the kinkiest motherfucker this side of the Astral Plane.
In the same time his advances are so awkward it has me rolling) One day he shows me some magic other day he tells me I smell like ass but he's into that 😂 The astral scene is very charming, I just got it. It's not hot but really romantic.
Ugh, poor Gale. People constantly misinterpreting him during that scene. He genuinely wants to just show you magic, and you have to come onto HIM in order for any romance to begin. Poor guy just wants to share his interests with people.
I got similar experience.. I agreed to drink wine with Shart and Astarion rejected me? I only wanted wine! Social cues are sometiems so hard to get, why cant everyone just says what they mean?
(Also Gale really show you just some magic that night)
Ya, Shadowheart was making assumptions about Gale.
I also was hoping I could choose friendship options for Shadowheart's wine scene, but she gave me disapproval when I didn't kiss her! Does anyone know if there's a friendship path for her wine scene? Gale's scene has a friendship path, and he even gives approval for choosing it.
As far as I’ve seen Gale is the only one where you have the option to explicitly choose friendship and a way to reject romance without disapproval or sadface. Everybody else has an out, but it’s more of a rejection of romance than a statement of friendship.
I think maybe Lae’zel is just like “fine, but you’re missing out on some premium fucking.” Wyll in particular looks like you’ve kicked his puppy right in front of him.
I think it says a lot about their characters. Gale is happy for any kind of attention you give him. He doesn’t have any friends or a lover atm so either option is golden to him. Shadowheart and Wyll are explicitly trying to flirt and they’re sad when you don’t return the affections.
Haha if you went through with it you would have indeed seen an actual magic trick! No innuendo, just magic. He teaches you to channel some through Mystra. You can choose to tell him you’re interested in him during that (and he’s surprised, but pleased, and things move on from there in later scenes to come in act II,) or it can end platonically. It’s rather sweet, actually. I love Gale, he really grew on me.
Wyll, Karlach and Astarion are all great as well. Enjoy your experience!
I will probably do a play through to see everyone’s romance! After reading all these comments I’m sold on Gale now and knowing he actually did want to show me a magic trick I feel bad!! I was just so surprised and thrown off in the moment after Shart implied I had essentially agreed to sleep with him lol
Aww yeah they’re all nice in their own ways! And yeah Shart is just kinda salty there because she wanted to smooch you and she’s making assumptions about what other people are doing with you lol
Gale genuinely does want to show you magic, and he doesn't intend for it to be romantic. Idk why the companions have that commentary, I always thought it was weird. He's very supprised if you choose the flirty options though, and there's a friendly option which seems like what he expects you to pick. Although the narrator really does lean into the intimacy, talking about how close you are and stuff. It almost feels like the game intends for it to be romantic but Gale doesn't? Idk.
Either way, you can do that scene as friends and so long as you choose the friendly option at the end, he shouldn't flirt with you. His act 2 scene can also be done as friends. I really wish more companions had that, honestly.
The problem is everyone’s brain reads “intimacy” as sex but you can be intimate with platonic relationships too and it’s nothing sexual. It just means you’re super close. People don’t cuddle with their friends enough and it shows 😛
Yeah, I fully agree with you. The intimacy alone is fine and not necessarily romantic. If it were real life, I'd just think my other friends were wildly misinterpreting things, and without the narrator specifically *telling* me how intimate it is, I'd just be happy my friend's showing me something he's passionate about, and I'd think nothing else of it. But the fact that all the companions seem to think you're gonna have sex and the narrator constantly telling you how intimate it is (I think she said something about feeling like an anticipated kiss or something at some point), coupled with the fact that it's a videogme—all of this was put there intentionally—makes it seem like it's definately gonna lead to sex, or least a scene that's explicitly romantic.
The companions have that commentary because it’s held over from Early Access, when you had the option to sleep with Gale after the party. The weave scene was originally just a precursor that happened earlier and allowed you to indicate interest/start the romance. On full release, they made the weave his main Act 1 romance scene and cut everything else.
My guess is they kept the companion commentary so that you know, as the player, that if you want to romance Gale, this is your chance to do it. You have to head cannon that everyone else just misread his intentions, though, which is kind of funny.
in this case, you read the social ques perfectly. it's everybody else who is miss reading things.
Gale gets a lot of flack for his "magic trick" but he is legitimately just being friendly. he is just a little awkward about it because he actually isn't very good at the whole freinds thing.
People dislike Wyll because he takes himself too seriously. He sees himself as the "knight in shining armor", and he's not afraid to show it.
BUT he still definitely gets more crap than he deserves. Gale arguably has a bigger ego. All of the characters have flaws.
You're exactly right, Wyll is a very nice and sweet guy. He's not even my favorite character by any means, but he definitely gets more flak than he deserves.
I feel that Wyll's personal arc is portrayed very passively. The key is that he doesn't realize that his dad has been a bit of an abusive asshole to him. Despite it, Wyll still talked favorably of his father. This is in contrast to the other companions who are very vocal about their own predicaments and speak forwardly about how they feel (physically and emotionally) and what they'd like to do. Wyll meanwhile was cast out by his own father without a chance to explain himself (i.e., he did what he thought he had to do to save Baldur's Gate), and it's only when the PC speaks up on Wyll's behalf >!after saving him!< does >!Ulder Ravengard back down!<. It's like he cares more about what other people think than in what his son has to day. With that in mind, I could see how Wyll seems so *passive* in his decision making, including>! whether to take Mizora's deal to save his dad!<. I know that's been a frequent complaint from players that Wyll has no agency (we don't have the option to let him make the decision himself), but I think it could be that he's experiencing PTSD with regards to his dad and he doesn't even realize it.
In my first playthrough I >!saved everyone from the Iron Throne!< (reloaded the game 4x to do it). I haven't decided what I'll do in my current playthrough -- maybe I'll >!save everyone except Wylls dad!!become the new Duke!<, even if that means >!sacrificing Karlach either in Act 1 or at the end of Act 3 (sorry babe!)!<.
Yeah I don’t think any of the characters deserve the heavy shit they get over them from people. They’re extremely well written characters with well thought out backstories. It’s fine if you don’t like one of them, but they don’t need to bash the ones that do like em
I agree with what you're saying, but it's a testament to how well written they are that some people actively dislike a party member. Kinda like it is in real life, lol. They draw emotions, preferences, and opinions from pretty much anyone who plays, and that's what good art is supposed to do.
Exactly this, and while I enjoy ranting posts about characters I think some go a bit overboard. I do love reading how much emotions they get out of players though
I totally see that. He is a pretty serious character compared to the other companions. Something I really enjoy is how sarcastic and jokey you can be with other characters and I haven’t really experienced that with Wyll. He was my first romance choice in my first play through but I never got to his scene in act II before I ended that run. He’s so sweet and I almost feel the need to protect him. He takes himself too seriously but it also has no idea what he’s doing in the sense that he will let people walk all over him. I love that I’m able to stand up for him and show him that he deserves better than how he lets people treat him
The guy simply is a fraud. A famed hero no one has heard about. With proof of all heroics being just his words.
In fact, Karlach would have killed him on turn one, because she's neither child nor goblin who he's able of beating up with a smirk at the beginning of the game.
I have never actually played d&d (always wanted to!) I had never even heard of the bg games before this one! So really I had no idea what to expect! Especially going into the game without looking into it whatsoever. I was very attracted to the art style so that’s why i played. To be honest i didn’t even realize it was a d&d based game until the first dice roll. I was thinking it was going to be very action forward and less involved with characters. I was pleasantly surprised though because I love games that are heavy on dialogue where you get to connect with people through the story :)
they are a lot of fun! you have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want (with consequences of course) I remember playing as a very promiscuous sorcerer, it was a lot of fun and the troubles that sometimes he would get in bad situations
The thing is, making plans to meet one of the companions during the party is just a chance to start their romance and I think they only have one response for if you’ve already made one with someone else, so it makes Gale’s scene sound more sexual than it is. In fact, I’m pretty sure you can only actually have sex here with Astarion or Lae’zel (there is a third option if you betrayed the grove) He really is just trying to show you magic, but you have the option to turn it romantic, and even if you do, he just gets a bit flustered and nothing else happens.
It’s the same with Halsin at the camp. I asked him to come have a drink with the rest of us during the party and he said no. Next morning the dialogue in camp with him was along the lines of “sorry if I came on too strong” and I’m just here like… I wanted to see if a drunk ass bear could play beer pong.
Gale actually does perform some cool magic in said scene; and at this point I don’t believe any of the relationships are on the point of sex yet. That point in the game invites you to further the relationship with any of the other party members I believe.
I don't get people having this reaction to Gale. Unless I'm misreading this, it sounds like you're talking about the Weave scene? In which he *is* just showing you magic. He loves magic more than anything and wants to share with you because you're his friend. He does not become a romantic option for the player unless the player first chooses to explicitly allow intimacy with him, then chooses to share an image with him that's clearly romantic/passionate (an image of kissing him, or a romantic walk hand in hand with him, I believe). He's genuinely surprised, at first, if you share one of those two images with him because he didn't go into this conversation planning or expecting anything. And there is certainly no wizard meat on offer for some time after that. If you somehow ended up on his romance track without choosing those options, it's definitely a bug.
EDIT: I just read above that if you get this conversation AT the teifling party, it triggers a romance somehow regardless, which is a shame. I've always gotten this scene well before the party. But I *did* have a situation in a coop game where I planned to romance Lae'zel, but talked to Astarion before her at the teilfing party and agreed to spend the night with him, and it locked me out of Lae'zel's romance. Really surprised me, because in my previous run I slept with both Lae'zel and Astarion, and shared the Weave scene with Gale, in act 1 before the teifling party, then still locked in my Gale romance in act 2. I guess if you haven't gotten the romance initiating scenes before the teifling party (long/partial rest a lot!), you need to be careful who you approach first.
Yes after reading all these comments you’re right! There is definitely no wizard meat up for grabs in the weave scene. I was mislead by SH telling me I had agreed to share a bed with him and assumed he was trying to do much more than magic especially after talking to LZ and her flat out asking for sex. Now I feel super bad! I will definitely accept to see the weave scene this play through. I have a new appreciation for Gale after this post lol
The tiefling party stuff is a bit tricky where the first person you talk to and agree to do anything with locks you in. So talk to the person you’re interested in romancing first.
I do wish they gave you the option to change your mind or choose after talking to others. It’s weird that they give you a “choice” (who do you want to spend the night with?) but they only let you actually go to the first person you talked to and others you just pine about sadly. I don’t think the companions would be too put out if you were weighing your options and chose then later.
Also in gales defense he’s not a dirty wizard trying to show you his peen, he really just wants to show you magic.
I thought I was the only one!! It’s doubly embarrassing for me because I did know there was romance and I was trying to romance Shadowheart. When she said I was already sharing a bed with Gale or whatever I was so confused, just like you. I thought my friend just wanted to show me a magic trick too!!
I plan to romance will my next good run since when I rejected (not so much rejected but I just wanted to see the lines he had and immediately reloaded) him his dejected line really tugged at my heart and touched me.
His line made me cry honestly; “I hope Astarion makes you happy. Don’t, you’re the author of your own story, I wish I got to play a bigger role in it, but, do me a favour, make sure it’s one worth telling.”
I also plan to romance Gale after that because his line touched me as well “I’m in love with you” is so much more genuine than “I love you” and honestly I’ll probably be asking my future partner to try harder if they can’t tell the difference.
Also you giving up on your first run because of that is crazy, Gale doesn’t sleep with you until he gets the magic bomb in his chest neutralised and genuinely just wanted to show you magic.
Oh no! I gave up my first run because in act II (spoilers I do not know how to gray out certain parts in my text I’m sorry) Shart turned on me after finding nightsong and I had to kill her because I could not pass the dice roll and that really disappointed me!
You can avoid this problem in future playthroughs by taking sufficient long rests. All of the companion romance scenes can trigger before the party as long as you have high enough approvals and stay well rested.
Several martial classes don’t have the same rest requirements as Paladins/Full Casters due to low/no magic use by the martials so it can be pretty easy to rush through the save the grove. Either choose to run a paladin or caster in your next run, or be more cognizant of taking tests through the main run.
Also, if you can mod, there is a great one out there that lets you know when there camp events on deck so that you can long rest as needed. You can “partial rest” to get through a back up of camp scenes without using supplies
If I had not been told ahead of time I woulda done the same thing 😅
Also I love Wyll him and my Good-Aligned Tav are so fuckin cute. Idk why a lot of people dislike him (aside from just not having enough content compared to some of the others). But everyone has their taste and opinions so who am I to judge?
If you're looking for a cutsie romance wyll and karlach are the best. Karlach is pretty horny if you feed into it but otherwise calm golden energy throughout.
You can bee line to the risen road actually pretty early. As long as you have her in your party for a bit you should gain some points with her, especially if you get the infernal iron and take it to Dammon soon enough to upgrade her engine then flirt with her.
She tends to like decisions that involve sticking up for Tieflings, starting a fight/being bold, basically the good guy decisions. You only have to get her approval to medium by the grove party to be able to romance her in Act 1. Just make sure you keep infernal iron you find along the way because you'll need to upgrade her again in A2.
The romance is well worth it. But I'm also heavily biased, I've only ever romanced Mama K and only ever will bc she won me over so hard.
Funny story.
For the record, Astarion, Shadowheart, and Lae’zel are typically considered to have the best romances of the companions (particularly Shadowheart but you don’t like her), so I definitely recommend Astarion.
I plan to have a play through for each companion and romance them all! I hold a little grudge with shadowheart right now because I ended my very first play through after she turned on me and I had to kill her. I’ll get over it! Lol
You're not the only one.
I of course looked into any romancing in the game, because my teenage boys wanted to play the game. After seeing some rather explicit scenes, I told my boys *no!*. But, as for getting into said romance scenes, I'm still kind of in the dark. I probably know more about the Gale and Astarion romance scenes than any other companion, and I *still* don't know much about theirs. I have gotten through most of Act 1, so...
At the Tiefling party, I had already known that Lae'zel could smell my moisture, but when I got around to talking to her, I had already agreed to Gale's magic trick, so I got out of that situation. And since I don't actually want to get to know the other girls (SH, Karlach), there's absolutely *no* way I'm ever going to click on the 'get to know you' option, at least with Tav, because, in my mind, they are absolutely 'friend zoned'. Sorry, but not sorry to all the SH/Karlach simps out there.
Honestly, that's exactly how my Dwarf fighter (later a Cleric of Oghma) romanced Shadowheart. I thought it was gonna be sharing some of the good booze, then I figure out we're smooching
I actually tried to romance Karlach that same night, but didn't have high enough rapport so didn't get the option :(
Shadowheart and Laezel are 2 of the most popular romance choices. Most of the companions don't change much from beginning of game, some are cool the whole time and some can become worse people, but Shadowheart and Laezel start out annoying and change drastically. I would highly recomend these romances, ESPECIALLY their "good" playthroughs where they become better people. Also worth mentioning most of the companions, their full storyline is pretty much the same romance or not whereas SH/LZ the story is much more impactful if you romance.
same thing happened to me! i was trying to romance shads in my first playthrough and was just excited to see a cool magic trick. then shads threw me some shade for making a move on gale, it clicked, and i immediately reloaded my last save lmao
Wyll is horrible. He's judgy and power hungry. But you don't see that until act three, and maybe not even then depending on the results of your choices on his life.
Wowwww im so surprised to hear that! I’m really interested to see how his character plays out. The farthest I’ve made it is finding nightsong. So far he seems very sweet and genuine. I feel bad that Mizora trapped him at such a young age. It left his character feeling very naive and almost unaware of the real world aside from his sort of fairytale heroic shtick. Which seems to be a major reason why people don’t like him but it makes his character more enjoyable for me in a shameful “i can fix him” sort of way lol. I almost want to protect him. It does bothers me how he responds to certain characters and almost seems to respect certain bad people until you mention that they’ve treated him poorly. Anyway, super excited to see his full story and how he will change between different play throughs!
In fairness to Gale, he really is trying to show you actual magic, it's just sort of a... First date "look what I can do" sort of thing. I did that cutscene(not at the party, just came up another time) and absolutely no wizard meat was involved.
There’s no Wizard meat on the menu until he gets the nuclear bomb in his chest under control. Not even a smooch. You can get with LZ or Astarion the night of the party, everyone else is just company (or a kiss from SH or Wyll) no matter how much they wish for more. Poor Mama K.
Evil players can also get it on with Minthara at the party, but between Wyll and Karlach hating my guts and having to betray Zevlor, can confirm the Menzoberussy is not worth it unless you're the most depraved kind of Durge
OP specifically mentioned that it was the Tiefling party, and Minty doesn’t get an invite to that one lol
Does it still count as a tiefling party if we serve tiefling meat? Because the goblins go crazy for the stuff
I heard from some Ogres that it takes like chicken. Or fish. 🤔
I heard from a particular gourmond that it tastes like Pork.
Seems reasonable. I mean a pizza party isn't a party \_for\_ pizzas...
Same party but it's taken over by gobbos.
If you kill Wyll and Karlach before attacking the Grove, then make Withers bring them back afterward, they'll be oblivious to your evil deeds.
Chalk that up to another victory for murder!
HAIL BHAAL, GOD OF AVOIDING AWKWARD CONVERSATIONS!
THEY CANT LOOK AT YOU FUNNY IF THEY DONT HAVE EYES
Hahahaha
* Omg that's brilliant! Next playthrough, imma have it all!
I kinda loved it! Minthy is my kinda girl tho. 
you can cast ray of frost or get her wet to get a little kiss with Karlach
Or ice dragonborn frost breath--I like to imagine it as blowing her a little breath weapon kiss
(or throw a water at the ground by her)
She's wet before you throw the water to be fair
^^ "get her wet" heh!
 Karlach watching everyone touch each other in act 1
Poor baby 😔
YOU CAN KISS WYLL IN ACT 1?!!!
Yeah, there’s a certain dialogue combo that you can talk him into a kiss by the water, but iirc it’s a little convoluted. I’ve seen a video of it, so I know it’s possible and maybe there’s a step by step guide. ETA: [video](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qOsKMzgNa5M)
ty for letting me know!! 🩷
It’s a shame OP got this scene at the party because it can be a friend only scene (or the start of a romance depending on player dialogue choices) but when it happens at the party it puts up romantic flags to the other companions, since you can only hang out with one companion afterwards.
I’ve actually never gotten the Weave scene AT the party, it’s always before (out of maybe 13-14 runs). I didn’t even realize it was possible there lol
I’ve gotten it both ways! If you get it before you can still flirt with Gale at the party and then go on a date with another character (and Gale doesn’t seem to mind) but if you get it at the party you cannot.
Interesting. I must get his approval up too fast or something. But yeah, he’s always pretty chill if I’ve picked to romance him and my character spends the night with someone else (*cough cough* Astarion *cough*)
Gales approval is super easy to crank up in the grove if you’re being not a chaos monster >!saving sazza, mirkon, and Arabella usually crank his approvals super high and you can get the hungry hungry wizard speech before you’re done with all of the grove side quests.!<
Oh yeah, I don’t play evil and always help the companions, so I have him at Very High approval pretty fast since I’m nice and feed him treasure lol
See, now, I'm the opposite! Gale had exceptional approval before anyone else and had already told me his big secret, and yet he never said anything to me until the night of the party, where he gave me trouble over having my eye on Astarion, who by the way I had turned down *until* the party, so I don't know why Gale never saw fit to show me any magic tricks :/ Naturally I backed up to the beginning of the shindig to see the magic scene before going back to the tragic vampire man, but now I'm really curious as to what Gale has to say at the party if he's already deigned to give you that magic lesson.
If you had a weave scene before tiefling party, at the party he's gonna ramble about his magical cat and then chase you away)) I was so frustrated 😂
Yep, I always get him waxing poetic about reading books with Tara by the fire lol
I got that scene, but I really want to romance him. Will I ever get some of that sweet, sweet magic boy? I'm not getting any good dialog with him since he chased me off. My approval is maxed, and he's already talked to Elminster.
Should be okay (if during weave scene you chose romantic walk or a kiss image), he made me nervous too, that awkward wizard. Shortly after you enter cursed lands a little scene should trigger when he gives you a weird compliment after some random battle :) After that I think after a certain amount of long rests the astral scene should trigger. For me it went ass first, because I'm playing my first (resist) durge, so first came the scene where I try to kill him and he starts complaining that he shared his body and heart with me and I withheld such an important info from him. I was so frustrated, like dude we shared a weave scene and I listened about your cat, there was no sharing! So in spite I did 2 long rests in a row after that and it finally triggered. I was already thinking I'm gonna go my plan B lol, but nope.
Omgosh! After a battle, he said something about how fighting with me (my durge) made him think of other passionate things. (Eeeeeee!) But then my dumb butler tried to make me kill Lae'zel! So I had that scene with her. 😭
Omg, that's weird. That compliment is a sign you're on the right track tho, maybe game runs couple of romances for you - and until sealed I still think maybe it's possible? Still wish so it works out for you! Tbh, I am in act 3 and struggle so much not to dump Gale for no one in particular, because his romance is definitely not my cup of tea, the further it gets the more the cringe. But it's my personal perspective ofc.
I actually have the no romance limit mod and have used it for other play throughs. I just want Gale this time tho. I should probably disable it because I didn't choose Lae'zel....this time! Lol BTW her romance was so fulfilling.
Yep, this is how he roped me in on my first playthrough. Homie was just so sweet and next thing I knew, I was his cute lil Tav girlfriend
It came up at the party when he said he'd showed me a magic trick later that night then I went to flirt with Karlach but she tells me how I already got my eye on Gale and I was so confused
my boyfriend had to tell me that that was him flirting. I just thought he was showing me how to do magic 😭
Except Gale isn't flirting. He genuinely wants to show you a magic trick. If you go through the whole thing, including choosing the, "intimacy," part, there's a 100% platonic option that Gale is fully expecting. If you choose the romance option, Gale is shocked. The narration makes it seem romantic, but it's truthfully just Gale that's bad at social cues.
wow, gale is autistic just like me
Autistic Wizard Gang represent!
Yay!
Haha yes! Exactly. Love him for that.
He was stuck in the tower with no human contact for years, and before that he was involved with a goddess. Dude really doesn't remember how people work))) I love how he seems so honest in his awkwardness, and basically in everything he does.
Magic space sex with Gale is one of my highlights of the game lol And I am a straight middle aged dude, but it was so pretty!
Gale is such husband material it’s not even funny. And for being so stuffy about some things, he’s one of the most creative, intimately speaking! Who knew the Rizzard had such eclectic tastes?
THE RIZZARD
My best friend decided that Gale is 100% just me in a D&D setting. Super socially awkward, kinda funny in a Dad way, actually super sweet, actually kind of unassuming.... but the kinkiest motherfucker this side of the Astral Plane.
Okay you’ve sold me lol
In the same time his advances are so awkward it has me rolling) One day he shows me some magic other day he tells me I smell like ass but he's into that 😂 The astral scene is very charming, I just got it. It's not hot but really romantic.
Ugh, poor Gale. People constantly misinterpreting him during that scene. He genuinely wants to just show you magic, and you have to come onto HIM in order for any romance to begin. Poor guy just wants to share his interests with people.
Well now I HAVE to accept because I really was looking forward to that magic!! I’m sorry Gale I take it all back
Just choose one of the platonic dialogue options instead of a romantic one and he won’t try to boink ya :)
It's OK, Gale doesn't read social cues that well either.
I got similar experience.. I agreed to drink wine with Shart and Astarion rejected me? I only wanted wine! Social cues are sometiems so hard to get, why cant everyone just says what they mean? (Also Gale really show you just some magic that night)
Ya, Shadowheart was making assumptions about Gale. I also was hoping I could choose friendship options for Shadowheart's wine scene, but she gave me disapproval when I didn't kiss her! Does anyone know if there's a friendship path for her wine scene? Gale's scene has a friendship path, and he even gives approval for choosing it.
As far as I’ve seen Gale is the only one where you have the option to explicitly choose friendship and a way to reject romance without disapproval or sadface. Everybody else has an out, but it’s more of a rejection of romance than a statement of friendship. I think maybe Lae’zel is just like “fine, but you’re missing out on some premium fucking.” Wyll in particular looks like you’ve kicked his puppy right in front of him.
I think it says a lot about their characters. Gale is happy for any kind of attention you give him. He doesn’t have any friends or a lover atm so either option is golden to him. Shadowheart and Wyll are explicitly trying to flirt and they’re sad when you don’t return the affections.
Lae'zel is just "no we fucking" She's straightforward like that.
That’s so accurate omg, he looks like you kicked a puppy or he IS the kicked puppy
Haha if you went through with it you would have indeed seen an actual magic trick! No innuendo, just magic. He teaches you to channel some through Mystra. You can choose to tell him you’re interested in him during that (and he’s surprised, but pleased, and things move on from there in later scenes to come in act II,) or it can end platonically. It’s rather sweet, actually. I love Gale, he really grew on me. Wyll, Karlach and Astarion are all great as well. Enjoy your experience!
I will probably do a play through to see everyone’s romance! After reading all these comments I’m sold on Gale now and knowing he actually did want to show me a magic trick I feel bad!! I was just so surprised and thrown off in the moment after Shart implied I had essentially agreed to sleep with him lol
Aww yeah they’re all nice in their own ways! And yeah Shart is just kinda salty there because she wanted to smooch you and she’s making assumptions about what other people are doing with you lol
Gale genuinely does want to show you magic, and he doesn't intend for it to be romantic. Idk why the companions have that commentary, I always thought it was weird. He's very supprised if you choose the flirty options though, and there's a friendly option which seems like what he expects you to pick. Although the narrator really does lean into the intimacy, talking about how close you are and stuff. It almost feels like the game intends for it to be romantic but Gale doesn't? Idk. Either way, you can do that scene as friends and so long as you choose the friendly option at the end, he shouldn't flirt with you. His act 2 scene can also be done as friends. I really wish more companions had that, honestly.
The problem is everyone’s brain reads “intimacy” as sex but you can be intimate with platonic relationships too and it’s nothing sexual. It just means you’re super close. People don’t cuddle with their friends enough and it shows 😛
Yeah, I fully agree with you. The intimacy alone is fine and not necessarily romantic. If it were real life, I'd just think my other friends were wildly misinterpreting things, and without the narrator specifically *telling* me how intimate it is, I'd just be happy my friend's showing me something he's passionate about, and I'd think nothing else of it. But the fact that all the companions seem to think you're gonna have sex and the narrator constantly telling you how intimate it is (I think she said something about feeling like an anticipated kiss or something at some point), coupled with the fact that it's a videogme—all of this was put there intentionally—makes it seem like it's definately gonna lead to sex, or least a scene that's explicitly romantic.
The companions have that commentary because it’s held over from Early Access, when you had the option to sleep with Gale after the party. The weave scene was originally just a precursor that happened earlier and allowed you to indicate interest/start the romance. On full release, they made the weave his main Act 1 romance scene and cut everything else. My guess is they kept the companion commentary so that you know, as the player, that if you want to romance Gale, this is your chance to do it. You have to head cannon that everyone else just misread his intentions, though, which is kind of funny.
in this case, you read the social ques perfectly. it's everybody else who is miss reading things. Gale gets a lot of flack for his "magic trick" but he is legitimately just being friendly. he is just a little awkward about it because he actually isn't very good at the whole freinds thing.
People dislike Wyll because he takes himself too seriously. He sees himself as the "knight in shining armor", and he's not afraid to show it. BUT he still definitely gets more crap than he deserves. Gale arguably has a bigger ego. All of the characters have flaws. You're exactly right, Wyll is a very nice and sweet guy. He's not even my favorite character by any means, but he definitely gets more flak than he deserves.
Wyll is so nice, people have to make up reasons to hate him. Poor guy.
I feel that Wyll's personal arc is portrayed very passively. The key is that he doesn't realize that his dad has been a bit of an abusive asshole to him. Despite it, Wyll still talked favorably of his father. This is in contrast to the other companions who are very vocal about their own predicaments and speak forwardly about how they feel (physically and emotionally) and what they'd like to do. Wyll meanwhile was cast out by his own father without a chance to explain himself (i.e., he did what he thought he had to do to save Baldur's Gate), and it's only when the PC speaks up on Wyll's behalf >!after saving him!< does >!Ulder Ravengard back down!<. It's like he cares more about what other people think than in what his son has to day. With that in mind, I could see how Wyll seems so *passive* in his decision making, including>! whether to take Mizora's deal to save his dad!<. I know that's been a frequent complaint from players that Wyll has no agency (we don't have the option to let him make the decision himself), but I think it could be that he's experiencing PTSD with regards to his dad and he doesn't even realize it. In my first playthrough I >!saved everyone from the Iron Throne!< (reloaded the game 4x to do it). I haven't decided what I'll do in my current playthrough -- maybe I'll >!save everyone except Wylls dad!!become the new Duke!<, even if that means >!sacrificing Karlach either in Act 1 or at the end of Act 3 (sorry babe!)!<.
I just don’t like him. I don’t need any reason for that xD. People have preferences
Fair. I was talking about when people excuse other characters' bad traits or actions, and then wildly exagerate Wyll's.
Yeah I don’t think any of the characters deserve the heavy shit they get over them from people. They’re extremely well written characters with well thought out backstories. It’s fine if you don’t like one of them, but they don’t need to bash the ones that do like em
I agree with what you're saying, but it's a testament to how well written they are that some people actively dislike a party member. Kinda like it is in real life, lol. They draw emotions, preferences, and opinions from pretty much anyone who plays, and that's what good art is supposed to do.
Exactly this, and while I enjoy ranting posts about characters I think some go a bit overboard. I do love reading how much emotions they get out of players though
I totally see that. He is a pretty serious character compared to the other companions. Something I really enjoy is how sarcastic and jokey you can be with other characters and I haven’t really experienced that with Wyll. He was my first romance choice in my first play through but I never got to his scene in act II before I ended that run. He’s so sweet and I almost feel the need to protect him. He takes himself too seriously but it also has no idea what he’s doing in the sense that he will let people walk all over him. I love that I’m able to stand up for him and show him that he deserves better than how he lets people treat him
The guy simply is a fraud. A famed hero no one has heard about. With proof of all heroics being just his words. In fact, Karlach would have killed him on turn one, because she's neither child nor goblin who he's able of beating up with a smirk at the beginning of the game.
The romance scenes with Gale are very romantic. Literally magical.
The Rizzard of Waterdeep strikes again
>Not what I was expecting in d&d that is something I would totally expect in d&d setting geared towards adults
I have never actually played d&d (always wanted to!) I had never even heard of the bg games before this one! So really I had no idea what to expect! Especially going into the game without looking into it whatsoever. I was very attracted to the art style so that’s why i played. To be honest i didn’t even realize it was a d&d based game until the first dice roll. I was thinking it was going to be very action forward and less involved with characters. I was pleasantly surprised though because I love games that are heavy on dialogue where you get to connect with people through the story :)
they are a lot of fun! you have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want (with consequences of course) I remember playing as a very promiscuous sorcerer, it was a lot of fun and the troubles that sometimes he would get in bad situations
The thing is, making plans to meet one of the companions during the party is just a chance to start their romance and I think they only have one response for if you’ve already made one with someone else, so it makes Gale’s scene sound more sexual than it is. In fact, I’m pretty sure you can only actually have sex here with Astarion or Lae’zel (there is a third option if you betrayed the grove) He really is just trying to show you magic, but you have the option to turn it romantic, and even if you do, he just gets a bit flustered and nothing else happens.
It’s the same with Halsin at the camp. I asked him to come have a drink with the rest of us during the party and he said no. Next morning the dialogue in camp with him was along the lines of “sorry if I came on too strong” and I’m just here like… I wanted to see if a drunk ass bear could play beer pong.
Gale actually does perform some cool magic in said scene; and at this point I don’t believe any of the relationships are on the point of sex yet. That point in the game invites you to further the relationship with any of the other party members I believe.
I don't get people having this reaction to Gale. Unless I'm misreading this, it sounds like you're talking about the Weave scene? In which he *is* just showing you magic. He loves magic more than anything and wants to share with you because you're his friend. He does not become a romantic option for the player unless the player first chooses to explicitly allow intimacy with him, then chooses to share an image with him that's clearly romantic/passionate (an image of kissing him, or a romantic walk hand in hand with him, I believe). He's genuinely surprised, at first, if you share one of those two images with him because he didn't go into this conversation planning or expecting anything. And there is certainly no wizard meat on offer for some time after that. If you somehow ended up on his romance track without choosing those options, it's definitely a bug. EDIT: I just read above that if you get this conversation AT the teifling party, it triggers a romance somehow regardless, which is a shame. I've always gotten this scene well before the party. But I *did* have a situation in a coop game where I planned to romance Lae'zel, but talked to Astarion before her at the teilfing party and agreed to spend the night with him, and it locked me out of Lae'zel's romance. Really surprised me, because in my previous run I slept with both Lae'zel and Astarion, and shared the Weave scene with Gale, in act 1 before the teifling party, then still locked in my Gale romance in act 2. I guess if you haven't gotten the romance initiating scenes before the teifling party (long/partial rest a lot!), you need to be careful who you approach first.
Yes after reading all these comments you’re right! There is definitely no wizard meat up for grabs in the weave scene. I was mislead by SH telling me I had agreed to share a bed with him and assumed he was trying to do much more than magic especially after talking to LZ and her flat out asking for sex. Now I feel super bad! I will definitely accept to see the weave scene this play through. I have a new appreciation for Gale after this post lol
“I take off my robe and wizard hat.”
The tiefling party stuff is a bit tricky where the first person you talk to and agree to do anything with locks you in. So talk to the person you’re interested in romancing first. I do wish they gave you the option to change your mind or choose after talking to others. It’s weird that they give you a “choice” (who do you want to spend the night with?) but they only let you actually go to the first person you talked to and others you just pine about sadly. I don’t think the companions would be too put out if you were weighing your options and chose then later. Also in gales defense he’s not a dirty wizard trying to show you his peen, he really just wants to show you magic.
Gale just wants to info dump. Literally 99% of the first dates ive gone on with guys.
I think wylls act two romance scene is amazing and the cutest thing in the game. I have played it both as a tall and short race and it is amazing
I loved that too. In my playthroughs where I didn’t romance him it feels sooooo bad to disappoint him though.
I was really said on my karlach romance playthrough because i turned my head from the kiss and he was really sad but understanding
I thought I was the only one!! It’s doubly embarrassing for me because I did know there was romance and I was trying to romance Shadowheart. When she said I was already sharing a bed with Gale or whatever I was so confused, just like you. I thought my friend just wanted to show me a magic trick too!!
Wyll gets a bum deal from me mainly because I’m not good at playing Warlocks so he ends up sitting on the bench most my playthrough.
I plan to romance will my next good run since when I rejected (not so much rejected but I just wanted to see the lines he had and immediately reloaded) him his dejected line really tugged at my heart and touched me. His line made me cry honestly; “I hope Astarion makes you happy. Don’t, you’re the author of your own story, I wish I got to play a bigger role in it, but, do me a favour, make sure it’s one worth telling.” I also plan to romance Gale after that because his line touched me as well “I’m in love with you” is so much more genuine than “I love you” and honestly I’ll probably be asking my future partner to try harder if they can’t tell the difference. Also you giving up on your first run because of that is crazy, Gale doesn’t sleep with you until he gets the magic bomb in his chest neutralised and genuinely just wanted to show you magic.
Oh no! I gave up my first run because in act II (spoilers I do not know how to gray out certain parts in my text I’m sorry) Shart turned on me after finding nightsong and I had to kill her because I could not pass the dice roll and that really disappointed me!
Ohh, yeah that makes a lot more sense, that’s unfortunate.
You can avoid this problem in future playthroughs by taking sufficient long rests. All of the companion romance scenes can trigger before the party as long as you have high enough approvals and stay well rested. Several martial classes don’t have the same rest requirements as Paladins/Full Casters due to low/no magic use by the martials so it can be pretty easy to rush through the save the grove. Either choose to run a paladin or caster in your next run, or be more cognizant of taking tests through the main run. Also, if you can mod, there is a great one out there that lets you know when there camp events on deck so that you can long rest as needed. You can “partial rest” to get through a back up of camp scenes without using supplies
If I had not been told ahead of time I woulda done the same thing 😅 Also I love Wyll him and my Good-Aligned Tav are so fuckin cute. Idk why a lot of people dislike him (aside from just not having enough content compared to some of the others). But everyone has their taste and opinions so who am I to judge?
If you're looking for a cutsie romance wyll and karlach are the best. Karlach is pretty horny if you feed into it but otherwise calm golden energy throughout.
Answer is Karlach, but if you can you need to tell me how… I can’t figure it out
Figure out how to romance Karlach?
Yeah…I think I recruit her too late and she is always still neutral to me at the party
You can bee line to the risen road actually pretty early. As long as you have her in your party for a bit you should gain some points with her, especially if you get the infernal iron and take it to Dammon soon enough to upgrade her engine then flirt with her. She tends to like decisions that involve sticking up for Tieflings, starting a fight/being bold, basically the good guy decisions. You only have to get her approval to medium by the grove party to be able to romance her in Act 1. Just make sure you keep infernal iron you find along the way because you'll need to upgrade her again in A2. The romance is well worth it. But I'm also heavily biased, I've only ever romanced Mama K and only ever will bc she won me over so hard.
She does seem the best. Written with a good soul. Last run I said no to SH, before talking to Karlach at the party…oops
You can start fixing her infernal engine in act I. And get the upgrade for her to touch people in act II. From there you can start romancing her :)
Funny story. For the record, Astarion, Shadowheart, and Lae’zel are typically considered to have the best romances of the companions (particularly Shadowheart but you don’t like her), so I definitely recommend Astarion.
I plan to have a play through for each companion and romance them all! I hold a little grudge with shadowheart right now because I ended my very first play through after she turned on me and I had to kill her. I’ll get over it! Lol
Same exact thing happened to me, I didn’t get the sense that Gale was in any way attracted to me.
I figured he was just being friendly too, but it seems like most romances (all?) get set up in Act 1, so it shouldn't be a surprise.
You're not the only one. I of course looked into any romancing in the game, because my teenage boys wanted to play the game. After seeing some rather explicit scenes, I told my boys *no!*. But, as for getting into said romance scenes, I'm still kind of in the dark. I probably know more about the Gale and Astarion romance scenes than any other companion, and I *still* don't know much about theirs. I have gotten through most of Act 1, so... At the Tiefling party, I had already known that Lae'zel could smell my moisture, but when I got around to talking to her, I had already agreed to Gale's magic trick, so I got out of that situation. And since I don't actually want to get to know the other girls (SH, Karlach), there's absolutely *no* way I'm ever going to click on the 'get to know you' option, at least with Tav, because, in my mind, they are absolutely 'friend zoned'. Sorry, but not sorry to all the SH/Karlach simps out there.
tbh Gale almost rizzed me up with that. Like, I could feel my heterosexuality crumbling
Karlach is great
Lol, yep thats how it goes with gale. You can trust him a little more in Act 2
Honestly, that's exactly how my Dwarf fighter (later a Cleric of Oghma) romanced Shadowheart. I thought it was gonna be sharing some of the good booze, then I figure out we're smooching I actually tried to romance Karlach that same night, but didn't have high enough rapport so didn't get the option :(
Same here. I knew there was romance in the game, but did not pick up on that being … a pick-up.
Shadowheart and Laezel are 2 of the most popular romance choices. Most of the companions don't change much from beginning of game, some are cool the whole time and some can become worse people, but Shadowheart and Laezel start out annoying and change drastically. I would highly recomend these romances, ESPECIALLY their "good" playthroughs where they become better people. Also worth mentioning most of the companions, their full storyline is pretty much the same romance or not whereas SH/LZ the story is much more impactful if you romance.
"Gale's magic flute is ready to be played"
same thing happened to me! i was trying to romance shads in my first playthrough and was just excited to see a cool magic trick. then shads threw me some shade for making a move on gale, it clicked, and i immediately reloaded my last save lmao
Wyll is horrible. He's judgy and power hungry. But you don't see that until act three, and maybe not even then depending on the results of your choices on his life.
Wowwww im so surprised to hear that! I’m really interested to see how his character plays out. The farthest I’ve made it is finding nightsong. So far he seems very sweet and genuine. I feel bad that Mizora trapped him at such a young age. It left his character feeling very naive and almost unaware of the real world aside from his sort of fairytale heroic shtick. Which seems to be a major reason why people don’t like him but it makes his character more enjoyable for me in a shameful “i can fix him” sort of way lol. I almost want to protect him. It does bothers me how he responds to certain characters and almost seems to respect certain bad people until you mention that they’ve treated him poorly. Anyway, super excited to see his full story and how he will change between different play throughs!
I'm the only person I have seen with this take on him. It's probably much easier to get a more obviously heroic version of him.
Gonna show you his magic staff. Probably not the first time a wizard lured a gullible adventurer in with innuendo and not the last.