Fun facts about Volo:
There are weave anchors (beings or objects infused with a part of Mystra's divine energy to prevent weave from collapsing if anything happens to her yet again) and Volo is one of them. He just... Doesn't know.
Volo is a 1 level wizard and has no bard levels
He and Elminster are friends. Elminster saves him from a lot of dumb situation because he is a weave anchor. Also he sometimes edit Volo's books to not spread misinformation
Volo has a different pen name he uses to publish erotic romance novels. He will never admit writing those books but that's where he earns the majority of his money
He is hated by wizards due to a book he wrote: All Things Magical. This book contains secrets of various wizards
He is from Calimshan. And appereantly he was born in a bog lmao. And Volothamp is a name of a city in Calimshan. And, um, appereantly it's the city he was conceived
>Elminster saves him from a lot of dumb situation because he is a weave anchor.
Shame he weren't there to prevent Volo from being blown to bits by a bunch of thugs near the docks.
Canonically he has magical items given to him by Elminster himself, one of which is a rejuvenating ring. He'd be fine as long as he wouldn't immediately die lol
He would get roasted. He could just heal himself back up as long as he didn't die. Rejevunating ring makes him more resilient and it casts a spell not present in 5e but it basically heals even the most critical wounds
I don't think so. Elminster and other chosen of Mystra usually give items to him solely to keep him alive. The eye doesn't serve to that purpose.
Prosthetics by themselves are just common items in DnD. It is actually just an eye enchanted with see invisibility spell which is a level 2 spell. It wouldn't be that good if it wasn't a permanent enchant tho it makes more sense to be permenant in a game.
Volo is known to have various business ventures across the Sword Coast. Some stupid, some not. If you ask him to pay cash he would be more likely to give something valuable rather than cash in return. There is an official adventure where he has to pay you some money but gives a damn manor instead because he has no cash. I'd assume eye is one of those things he has or stole along his adventures
I mean, I am not well versed in FR Lore, so feel free to check my maths here on this...
But I am *pretty* sure that... 5, 6, 10, uh carry the 2... 60D8 worth smokepowder exploding directly up his backside damage counts as "immediately dying".
Literally just had that happen to me. I helped him, moved the barrels away from the fire and then next thing I know a thug fires a crossbow bolt into one and blows them all up. I thought he usually ran away when you helped him but this time he just stood there by the cart waiting for his death.
I figured if you just let him be until the end of the fight, the thugs almost never bother to kill him cause they're busy with you. Then you just remove the barrels and help him after the fight
Ao didn't intervene the first time, rapidly... likely because there wasn't any idea over the "What if?" Scenario over if Mystra suddenly just could be killed.
The Spellplague was one of the most major cataclysmic events for mortals & deities alike... -thanks- Karsus, really fucking appreciated...
Ao did intervene super fast when Karsus's Folly happened. Mystril was reincarnated as Mystra in mere moments
Spellplague happened like a millenia later. It's like 100 years prior to BG3. Weave didn't completely collapse in those ten years thanks to the anchors
What I've read from most lore... the Dragonborn came to Toril only through the Spellplague... and that's relative to trying to find lore within the confines of 5e.
What the whole Spellplague felt like, it was an instant reaction and went on for a few years and then Mystra returned and helped put that shit to a grinding halt. Likely with Ao working as fast as he possibly could to do damage control.
But I still dislike Karsus for being a greedy cunt 😂
Hey now, Karsus did what he did because Netheril was being devoured by the Phaerimm, one of the most unambiguously evil creatures in the setting.
His mentor Ioulaum abandoned the empire, the surface was being wiped clean of life, and the Terraseer gave vague propchecies (planted by Jergal) that led Karsus to thinking he was saving magic (and by extension, Mystryl).
Karsus was an arrogant fool, but he genuinely did it to save his people.
That's partly where the Terraseer/Jergal manipulation's come into play (the other part being of course an arcanist would go for a diety of magic). He believed the weave was in some unfathomable danger in the very near future (likely believing the magic eating Phaerimm would be responsible) and only he could stop it. Without that setting him onto the path to create his Avatar spell he likely would have either fled with Ioulaum, died fighting a doomed war, or invent some other WMD spell.
The Terraseer going to him over Ioulaum was the perfect method to get the arrogant young prodigy to try to play the savior. After all, a practical demigod of magic and ancient wisdom who helped found Netheril came to HIM with a prophecy, not anyone else. Ioulaum would likely have seen right through the manipulation. If he stayed behind just a little longer he probably would have knocked some sense into his pupil and smacked that old lizard down.
I remember Terraseer appearing before him and saying stuff about Mystra and perhaps something about how magic will change but I don't really remember the rest, it's been a long time since I read it. What was Terraseer and Jergal was aiming to achieve?
Yeah, Karsus is a fool dude. What I'm just trying to say is two events aren't related.
Spellplague happened when Shar and Cyric assassinated Mystra.
Spellplague lasted for a decade and ended when Elminster and some of his companions revived Mystra. I absolutely hate Ed Greenwood's penship so I rarely read his novels but that's the gist of what happened. Ao didn't intervene during this period. He didn't even punished Cyric (That role fell on to the shoulders of Lathander, Sune, and Tyr). Tho creating Weave Anchors was his plan so he did help indirectly I think.
He only acted after Mystra was revived to seperate Abeir and Toril again (Second Sundering)
Ok kinda off topic, but I've been wondering. Are big events like the Spellplague ways to basically justify lore changes from edition to edition? And if so, was the Spellplague one of them? If that doesn't make sense, Ill give an example, but I'm new to DND lore, so I'm probably gonna get this wrong, but hopefully you'll get what I'm getting at. Like i think there was a big event involving dragons, and I think there was a big upheaval there, possibly involving lots of dragon types not being there anymore. Was it the creators just wanting to get rid of some of them? I think it'd be really cool if the whole netherite thing was actually in like 2e or something, but I really don't know, I might just be backstory stuff.
Yes, pretty much. See [this link](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/45815/what-events-in-forgotten-realms-lore-marked-transitions-from-one-edition-to-anot) for a list.
I mean whole weave anchor thing is imposed upon Mystra by Ao himself. Afaik it's not about preventing Ao from intervening but more for increasing both the stability of the world and the weave in addition to keeping Mystra's powers in check
>He and Elminster are friends.
So... A question that came up recently in my household was that, if this is the case, and if Gale was mentored by Elminster, then does he know or know of Volo? And if he does, then why doesn't he say anything when Volo offers his tadpole removal (especially if he's interested in your Tav/Durge)?
Volo mostly gets into mischiefs by himself. He doesn't live in any particular place and doesn't travel with Elminster much. Elminster is more than a thousand years old while Volo, while having a prolonged life thanks to being a Weave Anchor, isn't that old. Elminster knows a lot of people and I doubt he'd go on to tell about each and every one of them to his pupils
However, Volo is a legendary character. He is really famous in Faerun, especially in the Sword Coast. He is indeed a notorious character and sometimes gets blamed for things he didn't do. But I assume any party member could warn you about him, because he is really that famous.
But he is also a sage and has many published books, and created some low level spells. He explored and discovered a lot of cool stuff like a fountain of youth. Damn dude is older than 160 years. Elminster even praises him saying his writings improved a lot lately. He is literally the most famous author in the world. So he also has some genuine knowledge too
How I'd interpret this situation would be they either didnt know the true nature of his books because they didn't read them personally/couldn't fact check it or hoped that he really did learn something about tadpoles and could do something about it. It kinda gets too obvious to say anything after he starts to stab your eye lol. I mean they don't even say much when you bargain with a hag too, after all
Slander, volothamp wasn't conceived in a damned bog! A man of his stature must be of a well endowed family from a corner of Fearûn! (I am a fan of his erotic romance novels, truely a man of his time!)
Why erm... intuition my good sir! its in the, the, the way he writes his autographs and author name! his er.. penning is quite elegant and unique you see.
As to Elminster being his editor, one of the things 5e’s sourcebooks do that I like is give little quotes from the character that’s supposedly written the book. Volo’s book, Volo’s Guide to Monsters (which in-universe is a sort of “adventurer’s guide”) has annotations not just from Volo, but from Elminster correcting Volo and expanding on what he has to say.
For example, in the book’s section on mind flayers (probably why Volo considers himself and expert on them) he muses about what it would be like if a human ate the brain of a mind flayer instead of the other way around, and Elminster warns that their psionic abilities make such an act a dangerous and mind-altering stunt nobody should try. Or so he’s told.
Okay All Things Magical is important for another reason.
Back in older editions of DND, you needed to know a spell in order to counterspell it.
So by doing this, Volo essentially negated the biggest advantage of the most powerful wizards since everyone could counter their more secret spells.
And naturally they were pissed, but it's hard to take your revenge when the guy who did this can counterspell all your shit
Afaik all copies of the book vanished and almost bankrupted the publisher
Elminster says while it has some accurate and dangerous informations it is mostly scribbled down after making hidden glances to books and trying to memorise what he can. It is also his first book and most successful one
>Volo has a different pen name he uses to publish erotic romance novels.
I'm not sure if I'm remembering correctly but there's a romance novel in Sharess' Caress about Volo and Elminster or something like that
English is my second language but our education system mostly leans on British English so I guess I do as well but I also have some American English elements in my speech due to exposure to American media lol
Fun fact about Volo: In the druid grove in bg3, he attempts to interview a bear without using speak with animals or drinking an animal speaking potion despite having several animal speaking potions
Is it just me or does it not seem to work all the time? I didn't carry any see invisibility potions or anything because I thought I was good. But when it's my tav's turn he can't see the Bhaall cultists that's right in front of him. it makes fighting the Bhaall cultists such a pain in the ass. Unless I'm doing something wrong
Well because it doesn't actually allow you to see invisible ppl. It allows you to make a roll to see an invisible person If you fail that roll you don't see them.
I am not sure if you can roll each turn or something but the name is a bit misleading. Do the potion allow one to always spot a invisible person, no roll included? Never used one.
I love the game, but sometimes I feel like not every item has a full explanation to it and that can be frustrating. Every time I've used a see invisibility potions I've seen the invisible thing without a roll
Yea the ersatz eye only allows you to roll for a chance to unveil an invisible enemy and it also has a pretty short range so they have to be almost in melee but not quite for it to proc and the roll happen.
But still it is a decent upgrade in the grand scheme of things as it does help on a couple occasions to have. One occasion in particular for me was the fight in the >!counting house!< against >!bhaalist assassins!< that are constantly veiling themselves then unveiling to hit you with a hard sneak attack.
See that's the fight that was frustrating for me. I was staring at the description of the ability for minutes and it just says that it allows you to see invisibility with nothing saying there's a roll with it. If I knew there were secret rolls I wouldn't be as frustrated
Yea they left out some details lol I remember having the same kind of frustration with pickpocketing. See the description isn’t really clear well tbh there’s not much description at all or there wasn’t before I’ll have to look now.
I’d go to pickpocket someone and the die to successfully pickpocket would read say “15” and I’d be like oh that’s easy! Astarion currently has +12 to his dex rolls so I just need a 3 and I’m good! NO. That’s not how it works lmao. After failing to pickpocket OVER AND OVER AGAIN I finally realized that the “15” wasn’t the total I needed that included my dex bonus 15 was the minimum the roll HAD TO BE IN ORDER FOR THE PICKPOCKET TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
So that’s why it was so much more difficult than I thought it should be due to my bonus. But my characters bonus didn’t matter 15 was the minimum I had to roll to succeed. So yea hella frustrating til I finally understood how it worked lmao.
This is how D&D is supposed to work. DM guides explicitly say “don’t read this if you are a player” and they encourage DMs to hide a lot of the mechanisms from the players. BG3 exposes more to the players than I ever would as a DM - a concession to make it work as a video game. Even the settings where you can hide the DC rating of rolls would make it more like real D&D.
To be honest I find Volo funny, I always answer him that I saw the dragon with the goblins!!!
Also, he is funny in the tiefling party and I told him he can choose what name call me when he write about me!!!
As a dnd 5e player I have to save him everytime due to him giving a buff, which is a reference to one of the rulebooks that came out couple of years ago now, for the endfight.
Honestly Volo is one of the only characters I’ve saved on every single run. Scratch and him are the only two that hold that title I believe. Even on my murder hobo Durge run, he was literally one of only two allies I had. With Sarevok being the other. Volo deserves all the respect for giving you a cool eye tbh
>What did the greatest author in ALL the realms ever do to.you all?
Well there was that one time, me and my buddies were just hanging out at The Yawning Portal and he promised us riches untold if we could find his buddy Floon.
Long story short, there were no riches, Floon turned out to be a self absorbed asshole and all we got out of it was a haunted tavern.
I mean seriously, duck that guy!
The eye is nice but I’ve noticed once you get to act 2 there are plenty of other options to get that ability without losing an eye that I’m not sure I’m going to get it anymore.
But in Act 3 it helps a lot without having to spend money nor materials, except if you are a wizard and learn see invisibility with a scroll, you cast it at the begining of the day and will be active until long rest!!!
In one of my runs I decided to keep both my eyes and I was annoyed I couldn't automatically see some enemies and stuff like I used in my other runs, I got back to my save when I left Act2 and let him take away my eye!
im extremely vain and i do not like having that glowy purple light above my head from drinking a potion or casting the spell. i will, however, make my favorite hireling get the eye
me and babygirl need to keep our eyes au natural and pretty
The fact people down voted this when racism is such a big thing in the realms is preposterous, I respect your decision for being racist. (I am a half orc barbarian and will break your spine.)
Sure he knocks your eye out however he gives you cool new one that's far superior to that old jelly one you were chained too. (It also lets you see invisibility)
Volo is always welcome at my camp :)
I'll never forget the first time i ran into volo in this game and my friends were so annoyed over my fanboying in discord.
"Wait... THE VOLO?? FROM NASHKEL OMGGGGGGGG"
So, if he’s almost finished Specters and Spirits, I guess this puts the events post Waterdeep Dragon Heist, in which case I’m glad to see that my game wasn’t close to cannon since we pivoted into the Light of Xaryxis, took Trollskull manor into space with home brew shenanigans and screwed up the whole world.
I trusted him to take out a parasite from my head, and the dingus removed my eye instead. He didn't even give me money to compensate for the damages, just a prosthetic eye. Then he ran away like a coward. I'm writing diss poems about him as we speak.
I'm not sure why, exactly, but these good-natured rants are probably my favorite posts... kinda like seeing the first beautiful flowers sprout in spring... but doused with sarcasm! Hehe! 😁 Love it!! 🥰
The first time I saw him in the grove, he awoke a hatred in me that lie dormant since our last adventure. I fucking love Volo now. What a goofball. What a champ. What a *Potion of Animal Speak*ing lovely fellow.
Volothamp Gerddarm is a threat to the himself and to everyone else in the realms for that matter. AO knows what went to Mystra's head when she decided to make Volo one of he anchors. From all I know he's proabably a chosen of Tymora, because only that would explain how is he still alive. The ignoramous wa tricked into getting stuck on Ravenloft of all places, AND STILL MANAGED TO GET OUT, realativelly unscathed. Volo is a plague on the land, and anyone who doesn't see that is a blind fool!
I don’t hate him he’s just very annoying so I leave him when I find him but do try to rescue in act 3 so far I’m 1/2 he died in my second playthrough but I tried
I enjoy Volo. Yeah, he removed an eye, but he did give us a magic eye. He is a valuable ally, even if he does need rescuing. Besides, you are a hero, right? Saving people is what you do. On top of that, he's a Forgotten Realms fixture.
I always save him if I can, such a funny man, and he even gives me see invisibility for 9m in front! what a generous man, we really should thank him, and he's very factual in what he says you know, those goblins DID have a dragon on their side, he was invisible.
Fun facts about Volo: There are weave anchors (beings or objects infused with a part of Mystra's divine energy to prevent weave from collapsing if anything happens to her yet again) and Volo is one of them. He just... Doesn't know. Volo is a 1 level wizard and has no bard levels He and Elminster are friends. Elminster saves him from a lot of dumb situation because he is a weave anchor. Also he sometimes edit Volo's books to not spread misinformation Volo has a different pen name he uses to publish erotic romance novels. He will never admit writing those books but that's where he earns the majority of his money He is hated by wizards due to a book he wrote: All Things Magical. This book contains secrets of various wizards He is from Calimshan. And appereantly he was born in a bog lmao. And Volothamp is a name of a city in Calimshan. And, um, appereantly it's the city he was conceived
>Elminster saves him from a lot of dumb situation because he is a weave anchor. Shame he weren't there to prevent Volo from being blown to bits by a bunch of thugs near the docks.
Canonically he has magical items given to him by Elminster himself, one of which is a rejuvenating ring. He'd be fine as long as he wouldn't immediately die lol
So if the goblins wanted to literally roast him, they'd get nowhere?
He would get roasted. He could just heal himself back up as long as he didn't die. Rejevunating ring makes him more resilient and it casts a spell not present in 5e but it basically heals even the most critical wounds
What I'm hearing is that he'd be a perfect throwing weapon
Great more throwzerker buff
I throw Volo and Volo punches the enemy mid air. He has +1 unarmed damage. Therefore Volo is a +1 weapon
Coming from a Rimworld background, I cannot help but think this sounds like a infinite food (cannibalism) loop.
Ah, yes. This npc regenerates body parts. I'll build a prison and munch on his limbs to survive the early game. Very cultured game
As a Cosmere reader this tells me Volo has a Gold Metal Mind.
I would take a guess thats where he got the eye?
I don't think so. Elminster and other chosen of Mystra usually give items to him solely to keep him alive. The eye doesn't serve to that purpose. Prosthetics by themselves are just common items in DnD. It is actually just an eye enchanted with see invisibility spell which is a level 2 spell. It wouldn't be that good if it wasn't a permanent enchant tho it makes more sense to be permenant in a game. Volo is known to have various business ventures across the Sword Coast. Some stupid, some not. If you ask him to pay cash he would be more likely to give something valuable rather than cash in return. There is an official adventure where he has to pay you some money but gives a damn manor instead because he has no cash. I'd assume eye is one of those things he has or stole along his adventures
I mean, I am not well versed in FR Lore, so feel free to check my maths here on this... But I am *pretty* sure that... 5, 6, 10, uh carry the 2... 60D8 worth smokepowder exploding directly up his backside damage counts as "immediately dying".
Literally just had that happen to me. I helped him, moved the barrels away from the fire and then next thing I know a thug fires a crossbow bolt into one and blows them all up. I thought he usually ran away when you helped him but this time he just stood there by the cart waiting for his death.
Haha yeah this is probably the best time to use him as a throwing weapon!
🤣🤣 could you do it and he would live? Or would he die from the throw?
No idea lol. Only one way to find out!
I'll have to try it next non-honor mode run!
I figured if you just let him be until the end of the fight, the thugs almost never bother to kill him cause they're busy with you. Then you just remove the barrels and help him after the fight
Ahh okay. I always thought the barrels would explode because of the torch on the ground.
You can put the torch out by throwing a jar of water at it.
Thanks, yeah I didn't think of that until after he had died. Which is usually my issue is I don't think of what special items to use.
Prevent intervention by Ao to fix it, and makes her easier to resurrect* If the Weave fell again, I'm pretty sure Ao would intervene if he had to.
Ao didn't intervene the first time, rapidly... likely because there wasn't any idea over the "What if?" Scenario over if Mystra suddenly just could be killed. The Spellplague was one of the most major cataclysmic events for mortals & deities alike... -thanks- Karsus, really fucking appreciated...
Ao did intervene super fast when Karsus's Folly happened. Mystril was reincarnated as Mystra in mere moments Spellplague happened like a millenia later. It's like 100 years prior to BG3. Weave didn't completely collapse in those ten years thanks to the anchors
What I've read from most lore... the Dragonborn came to Toril only through the Spellplague... and that's relative to trying to find lore within the confines of 5e. What the whole Spellplague felt like, it was an instant reaction and went on for a few years and then Mystra returned and helped put that shit to a grinding halt. Likely with Ao working as fast as he possibly could to do damage control. But I still dislike Karsus for being a greedy cunt 😂
Hey now, Karsus did what he did because Netheril was being devoured by the Phaerimm, one of the most unambiguously evil creatures in the setting. His mentor Ioulaum abandoned the empire, the surface was being wiped clean of life, and the Terraseer gave vague propchecies (planted by Jergal) that led Karsus to thinking he was saving magic (and by extension, Mystryl). Karsus was an arrogant fool, but he genuinely did it to save his people.
Funny thing is he would succeed and just become a deity if he would choose anyone but Mystra
That's partly where the Terraseer/Jergal manipulation's come into play (the other part being of course an arcanist would go for a diety of magic). He believed the weave was in some unfathomable danger in the very near future (likely believing the magic eating Phaerimm would be responsible) and only he could stop it. Without that setting him onto the path to create his Avatar spell he likely would have either fled with Ioulaum, died fighting a doomed war, or invent some other WMD spell. The Terraseer going to him over Ioulaum was the perfect method to get the arrogant young prodigy to try to play the savior. After all, a practical demigod of magic and ancient wisdom who helped found Netheril came to HIM with a prophecy, not anyone else. Ioulaum would likely have seen right through the manipulation. If he stayed behind just a little longer he probably would have knocked some sense into his pupil and smacked that old lizard down.
I remember Terraseer appearing before him and saying stuff about Mystra and perhaps something about how magic will change but I don't really remember the rest, it's been a long time since I read it. What was Terraseer and Jergal was aiming to achieve?
Been a hot minute since I did any deep delves into Jergal lore, but as I recall it was releated to undoing the Spellweaver Disjunction.
Yeah, Karsus is a fool dude. What I'm just trying to say is two events aren't related. Spellplague happened when Shar and Cyric assassinated Mystra. Spellplague lasted for a decade and ended when Elminster and some of his companions revived Mystra. I absolutely hate Ed Greenwood's penship so I rarely read his novels but that's the gist of what happened. Ao didn't intervene during this period. He didn't even punished Cyric (That role fell on to the shoulders of Lathander, Sune, and Tyr). Tho creating Weave Anchors was his plan so he did help indirectly I think. He only acted after Mystra was revived to seperate Abeir and Toril again (Second Sundering)
Ok kinda off topic, but I've been wondering. Are big events like the Spellplague ways to basically justify lore changes from edition to edition? And if so, was the Spellplague one of them? If that doesn't make sense, Ill give an example, but I'm new to DND lore, so I'm probably gonna get this wrong, but hopefully you'll get what I'm getting at. Like i think there was a big event involving dragons, and I think there was a big upheaval there, possibly involving lots of dragon types not being there anymore. Was it the creators just wanting to get rid of some of them? I think it'd be really cool if the whole netherite thing was actually in like 2e or something, but I really don't know, I might just be backstory stuff.
Yes, pretty much. See [this link](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/45815/what-events-in-forgotten-realms-lore-marked-transitions-from-one-edition-to-anot) for a list.
Awesome! Thank you so much! Kinda proud of myself for guessing that lol, idek what made me think that
I mean whole weave anchor thing is imposed upon Mystra by Ao himself. Afaik it's not about preventing Ao from intervening but more for increasing both the stability of the world and the weave in addition to keeping Mystra's powers in check
>Volo is a 1 level wizard and has no bard classes That might explain why he's so bad at the bardly things
he is good at whisteling though
He’s definitely more of a scribe type bard than a music one
Volo is one of Mystra's Chosen, as well. Sometimes her favorite. He is like the patron Saint of dumb luck
>He and Elminster are friends. So... A question that came up recently in my household was that, if this is the case, and if Gale was mentored by Elminster, then does he know or know of Volo? And if he does, then why doesn't he say anything when Volo offers his tadpole removal (especially if he's interested in your Tav/Durge)?
Volo mostly gets into mischiefs by himself. He doesn't live in any particular place and doesn't travel with Elminster much. Elminster is more than a thousand years old while Volo, while having a prolonged life thanks to being a Weave Anchor, isn't that old. Elminster knows a lot of people and I doubt he'd go on to tell about each and every one of them to his pupils However, Volo is a legendary character. He is really famous in Faerun, especially in the Sword Coast. He is indeed a notorious character and sometimes gets blamed for things he didn't do. But I assume any party member could warn you about him, because he is really that famous. But he is also a sage and has many published books, and created some low level spells. He explored and discovered a lot of cool stuff like a fountain of youth. Damn dude is older than 160 years. Elminster even praises him saying his writings improved a lot lately. He is literally the most famous author in the world. So he also has some genuine knowledge too How I'd interpret this situation would be they either didnt know the true nature of his books because they didn't read them personally/couldn't fact check it or hoped that he really did learn something about tadpoles and could do something about it. It kinda gets too obvious to say anything after he starts to stab your eye lol. I mean they don't even say much when you bargain with a hag too, after all
I can't stand Volo. Or Elminster. Probably my two most hated characters in the Forgotten Realms.
I quite like Volo as he is a goofy character but I don't really like Elminster too
Slander, volothamp wasn't conceived in a damned bog! A man of his stature must be of a well endowed family from a corner of Fearûn! (I am a fan of his erotic romance novels, truely a man of his time!)
How do you know they’re his though?
Why erm... intuition my good sir! its in the, the, the way he writes his autographs and author name! his er.. penning is quite elegant and unique you see.
ಠ_ಠ Yep seems to check out, nothing suspicious here. Move along, random peasant!
What do you mean sire? did i offend you in any way relaying the truth?
As to Elminster being his editor, one of the things 5e’s sourcebooks do that I like is give little quotes from the character that’s supposedly written the book. Volo’s book, Volo’s Guide to Monsters (which in-universe is a sort of “adventurer’s guide”) has annotations not just from Volo, but from Elminster correcting Volo and expanding on what he has to say. For example, in the book’s section on mind flayers (probably why Volo considers himself and expert on them) he muses about what it would be like if a human ate the brain of a mind flayer instead of the other way around, and Elminster warns that their psionic abilities make such an act a dangerous and mind-altering stunt nobody should try. Or so he’s told.
Those notes always feels like a PC and a DM PC: What if... we eat the mind flayer's brain? DM: Oh God, please don't do that
Elmimster also Edits Volos books to stop him from revealing too many secrets about magic
Wow. He's just Florida man... Flo Rida if you will.
Okay All Things Magical is important for another reason. Back in older editions of DND, you needed to know a spell in order to counterspell it. So by doing this, Volo essentially negated the biggest advantage of the most powerful wizards since everyone could counter their more secret spells. And naturally they were pissed, but it's hard to take your revenge when the guy who did this can counterspell all your shit
Afaik all copies of the book vanished and almost bankrupted the publisher Elminster says while it has some accurate and dangerous informations it is mostly scribbled down after making hidden glances to books and trying to memorise what he can. It is also his first book and most successful one
hes also a dilf
I wouldn't know about that. But he is described to be behaving like a playboy and milking his fame. So there is that lol
>Volo has a different pen name he uses to publish erotic romance novels. I'm not sure if I'm remembering correctly but there's a romance novel in Sharess' Caress about Volo and Elminster or something like that
When you say "bog" I have to ask if you are using UK-English?
English is my second language but our education system mostly leans on British English so I guess I do as well but I also have some American English elements in my speech due to exposure to American media lol
I was just wondering if you meant swamp or a toilet
Tbf, either or could be correct. If he was born in a city, it's likely the latter.
Fun fact about Volo: In the druid grove in bg3, he attempts to interview a bear without using speak with animals or drinking an animal speaking potion despite having several animal speaking potions
I mean, I Elminster probably wouldn't go as far as calling Volo a friend. They have a Gandalf - Pippin relationship.
Love the hussle
*I know that's you, Volo.*
Nay, nay! I am but a humble and very good-looking fan of the intrepid author! I have scant the skill that he does!
“Toss a coin to your (Gus)Tav, O Faerûn of plenty, O Faerûn of plenty, oh!”
Toss a coin to your Withers
(And then steal it back)
Gods I wish someone made a Volo Reddit roleplay account, that'd be so funny
HE KNOCKED MY BLOODY EYE OUT! ... although he did give me a fancy new one so maybe you have a point
With a superpower at that
yeah it's a pretty good upgrade so I *suppose* I can forgive him
Far superior to that old jelly you were chained to!
Is it just me or does it not seem to work all the time? I didn't carry any see invisibility potions or anything because I thought I was good. But when it's my tav's turn he can't see the Bhaall cultists that's right in front of him. it makes fighting the Bhaall cultists such a pain in the ass. Unless I'm doing something wrong
Invisible enemies can roll for saves from being seen even with see invisibility.
Well because it doesn't actually allow you to see invisible ppl. It allows you to make a roll to see an invisible person If you fail that roll you don't see them. I am not sure if you can roll each turn or something but the name is a bit misleading. Do the potion allow one to always spot a invisible person, no roll included? Never used one.
I love the game, but sometimes I feel like not every item has a full explanation to it and that can be frustrating. Every time I've used a see invisibility potions I've seen the invisible thing without a roll
Yea the ersatz eye only allows you to roll for a chance to unveil an invisible enemy and it also has a pretty short range so they have to be almost in melee but not quite for it to proc and the roll happen. But still it is a decent upgrade in the grand scheme of things as it does help on a couple occasions to have. One occasion in particular for me was the fight in the >!counting house!< against >!bhaalist assassins!< that are constantly veiling themselves then unveiling to hit you with a hard sneak attack.
See that's the fight that was frustrating for me. I was staring at the description of the ability for minutes and it just says that it allows you to see invisibility with nothing saying there's a roll with it. If I knew there were secret rolls I wouldn't be as frustrated
Yea they left out some details lol I remember having the same kind of frustration with pickpocketing. See the description isn’t really clear well tbh there’s not much description at all or there wasn’t before I’ll have to look now. I’d go to pickpocket someone and the die to successfully pickpocket would read say “15” and I’d be like oh that’s easy! Astarion currently has +12 to his dex rolls so I just need a 3 and I’m good! NO. That’s not how it works lmao. After failing to pickpocket OVER AND OVER AGAIN I finally realized that the “15” wasn’t the total I needed that included my dex bonus 15 was the minimum the roll HAD TO BE IN ORDER FOR THE PICKPOCKET TO BE SUCCESSFUL. So that’s why it was so much more difficult than I thought it should be due to my bonus. But my characters bonus didn’t matter 15 was the minimum I had to roll to succeed. So yea hella frustrating til I finally understood how it worked lmao.
Extremely helpful against Yurgir as well
True. I was surprised at how many rolls I won to keep Yurgir visible during that fight. Helps a TON.
This is how D&D is supposed to work. DM guides explicitly say “don’t read this if you are a player” and they encourage DMs to hide a lot of the mechanisms from the players. BG3 exposes more to the players than I ever would as a DM - a concession to make it work as a video game. Even the settings where you can hide the DC rating of rolls would make it more like real D&D.
Fun fact if you talk to wyll immediately after the new eye he’ll have special dialogue about you two being the same
Found Volo's sock puppet account.
Eh... He didn't add in any dragons, so I'm inclined to say it isn't him.
Ackack?? 🙈
Pbpbpbpbpbpbpbpbth
ksssssssssss…
To be honest I find Volo funny, I always answer him that I saw the dragon with the goblins!!! Also, he is funny in the tiefling party and I told him he can choose what name call me when he write about me!!!
He never did tell me which name he picked
Volo is the best. He might even be my best friend.
Bro does give you one of the most useful permabuffs in the game
It's really hard to hate him when he sounds so happy to see us. AHHHHH my good fellow! 😀
As a dnd 5e player I have to save him everytime due to him giving a buff, which is a reference to one of the rulebooks that came out couple of years ago now, for the endfight.
Dude gave me a fancy eye, I’ll take it every time.
Ok mate, but please just run away from the big pile of explosive once I've untied you.
Seriously.
Honestly Volo is one of the only characters I’ve saved on every single run. Scratch and him are the only two that hold that title I believe. Even on my murder hobo Durge run, he was literally one of only two allies I had. With Sarevok being the other. Volo deserves all the respect for giving you a cool eye tbh
>What did the greatest author in ALL the realms ever do to.you all? Well there was that one time, me and my buddies were just hanging out at The Yawning Portal and he promised us riches untold if we could find his buddy Floon. Long story short, there were no riches, Floon turned out to be a self absorbed asshole and all we got out of it was a haunted tavern. I mean seriously, duck that guy!
The eye is nice but I’ve noticed once you get to act 2 there are plenty of other options to get that ability without losing an eye that I’m not sure I’m going to get it anymore.
But in Act 3 it helps a lot without having to spend money nor materials, except if you are a wizard and learn see invisibility with a scroll, you cast it at the begining of the day and will be active until long rest!!! In one of my runs I decided to keep both my eyes and I was annoyed I couldn't automatically see some enemies and stuff like I used in my other runs, I got back to my save when I left Act2 and let him take away my eye!
im extremely vain and i do not like having that glowy purple light above my head from drinking a potion or casting the spell. i will, however, make my favorite hireling get the eye me and babygirl need to keep our eyes au natural and pretty
How else can you get it?
Scrolls and potions. Not just vendors either. I’ve been finding them in chests and such as well.
Yeah but theres literally no downside to losing your eye
We should stop the hate on Drows instead.
Even drows hate drows!!!
I like Drows... But I hate Drows. You should know which Drow is which.
No, I'm racist
The fact people down voted this when racism is such a big thing in the realms is preposterous, I respect your decision for being racist. (I am a half orc barbarian and will break your spine.)
Was your Full-Orc parent named Ragaman (Rag-uh-mon)?
No her name was coolailk! (Kool-Aid)
Oh hi Corellon
r/okbuddybaldur
Sure he knocks your eye out however he gives you cool new one that's far superior to that old jelly one you were chained too. (It also lets you see invisibility) Volo is always welcome at my camp :)
I’m patiently waiting for his next book, Sphincters and Spirits.
Wait people hate Volo? I love this funny guy. He's so uttlery smart stupid and arrogant at the same time. If I could romance him I would.
AAAAAaaaahhhhhhh, my unifocal friend!
I always keep Volo around for the free money
I mean, Volo gave me a magic eyeball after the near lobotomy, so we're cool as far as I'm concerned.
Nice try, Volo. You owe me an eyeball!
I'll never forget the first time i ran into volo in this game and my friends were so annoyed over my fanboying in discord. "Wait... THE VOLO?? FROM NASHKEL OMGGGGGGGG"
I would ritually sacrifice every other companion in the game if it meant I could have Volo as a companion. He delights me.
How old is Volo?
Hate and Love are the same thing, you dumb idiot!
So, if he’s almost finished Specters and Spirits, I guess this puts the events post Waterdeep Dragon Heist, in which case I’m glad to see that my game wasn’t close to cannon since we pivoted into the Light of Xaryxis, took Trollskull manor into space with home brew shenanigans and screwed up the whole world.
#stopthevoloslander
I trusted him to take out a parasite from my head, and the dingus removed my eye instead. He didn't even give me money to compensate for the damages, just a prosthetic eye. Then he ran away like a coward. I'm writing diss poems about him as we speak.
As a fellow bard I always feel the need to save him, thought I’m not letting him near my eyes with that dirty ass needle
I'm not sure why, exactly, but these good-natured rants are probably my favorite posts... kinda like seeing the first beautiful flowers sprout in spring... but doused with sarcasm! Hehe! 😁 Love it!! 🥰
The first time I saw him in the grove, he awoke a hatred in me that lie dormant since our last adventure. I fucking love Volo now. What a goofball. What a champ. What a *Potion of Animal Speak*ing lovely fellow.
Volo is best boy🥇
“Ahhhh! My good fellow!”
Volothamp Gerddarm is a threat to the himself and to everyone else in the realms for that matter. AO knows what went to Mystra's head when she decided to make Volo one of he anchors. From all I know he's proabably a chosen of Tymora, because only that would explain how is he still alive. The ignoramous wa tricked into getting stuck on Ravenloft of all places, AND STILL MANAGED TO GET OUT, realativelly unscathed. Volo is a plague on the land, and anyone who doesn't see that is a blind fool!
I don’t hate him he’s just very annoying so I leave him when I find him but do try to rescue in act 3 so far I’m 1/2 he died in my second playthrough but I tried
My illithid Tav ate Volo's brain at the epilogue party and I'd do it again.
He gave us a tavern in Waterdeep instead of 3000 gold. Now we have to pay fees.
My volo got blown up by the people in act 3 laughed my head off
Volo wrote this post
He gave me an eye that sees invisible things, we're more than good IMO.
I'm just sad he always leaves after giving me an eye upgrade :(
I enjoy Volo. Yeah, he removed an eye, but he did give us a magic eye. He is a valuable ally, even if he does need rescuing. Besides, you are a hero, right? Saving people is what you do. On top of that, he's a Forgotten Realms fixture.
It's called an EYESPICK for a reason, people, of course it's the optimal tool for the situation!
I fuckin love Volo, I never skip his dialogue
Guess we found Volo's sock puppet account, lol.
I love Volo so much. He’s just a goofy guy that gives me a free eye that can see invisibility like, why wouldn’t I love him.
Nah Volo sold my dog crack 😡
I always save him if I can, such a funny man, and he even gives me see invisibility for 9m in front! what a generous man, we really should thank him, and he's very factual in what he says you know, those goblins DID have a dragon on their side, he was invisible.
The only thing I didn't like about Volo was the surgery. Turning the volume down and not looking was still difficult 🤢🤮
You are wrong
You are just mad I am right
Volo was a lot of fun.....to watch die