Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Early Access Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Shadowheart is definitely closer to neutral.
I've seen the quote about evil companions a few times and I haven't seen a source for it. I don't like it, but I'm afraid they won't be adding that many more companions.

Neutral evil. Shar is an evil deity. Plus she repeatedly makes selfish choices and encourages the player to do likewise.

Though I definitely think there’s room for an alignment shifting romance if you put the work in.

 

[d1r]

I think they're going bottom up alignment wise:

Lawful Good .... Neutral Good .. Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral .. Gale .............. Wyll
Lae'Zel ............ Shadowheart .. Astarion

 

[Swen]

Based on SteamSpy:

Good, imagine the sales when it really releases with some decent marketing behind it.

You're looking at a new Fallout/Elder scrolls money printing franchise thanks to Larian.

Truly the Fallout 3 of Baldur's Gate games. Congrats Swen, genius buisnessman.

Seethe more, this game will be better and sell more than the originals.

 

[BarbequeMasta]

Based on SteamSpy:

Good, imagine the sales when it really releases with some decent marketing behind it.

You're looking at a new Fallout/Elder scrolls money printing franchise thanks to Larian.

Truly the Fallout 3 of Baldur's Gate games. Congrats Swen, genius buisnessman.

Seethe more, this game will be better and sell more than the originals.

Whatever you say ToddSwen.

 

[NJClaw]

I think they're going bottom up alignment wise:

Lawful Good .... Neutral Good .. Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral .. Gale .............. Wyll
Lae'Zel ............ Shadowheart .. Astarion

So this means that we are getting a good drow and a good tiefling. Why can't I just get an evil spawn of the devil and an evil evil elf? Why do they have to be good? Why do evil elves always have to be good?

 

[Commissar Draco]

Resting limitations that have impact on quests is genius.

No,it is retarded limitations that kills the joy of exploration. At very least it should be made clear that there will be negative consequences from your resting. That said i manage to get till the spiders and kill most goblins without resting.

Limiting resting adds to utility of non magic wielding characters in party, if you allow to rest every five minutes people will make four wizards or maybe three wizard + tanking cleric parties, like they did in DOS 1 and 2, now when you need to conserve the magic, they use warrior who can hit things without resting or rouge who can sneak in and plant a trap or Ranger... etc... Game is not even that hard on normal that you need to rest on ship and island anyways.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I think they're going bottom up alignment wise:

Lawful Good .... Neutral Good .. Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral .. Gale .............. Wyll
Lae'Zel ............ Shadowheart .. Astarion

So this means that we are getting a good drow and a good tiefling. Why can't I just get an evil spawn of the devil and an evil evil elf? Why do they have to be good? Why do evil elves always have to be good?

I find it especially lame that they decided to portray all Tieflings thus far as victims and dogooders.

 

[d1r]

I think they're going bottom up alignment wise:

Lawful Good .... Neutral Good .. Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral .. Gale .............. Wyll
Lae'Zel ............ Shadowheart .. Astarion

So this means that we are getting a good drow and a good tiefling. Why can't I just get an evil spawn of the devil and an evil evil elf? Why do they have to be good? Why do evil elves always have to be good?

I find it especially lame that they decided to portray all Tieflings thus far as victims and dogooders.

What is the reason for such a huge thiefling presence in the first place? Is that just normal in 5E? Kinda strange that they were almost not present at all in the older Baldur's Gate games.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I think they're going bottom up alignment wise:

Lawful Good .... Neutral Good .. Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral .. Gale .............. Wyll
Lae'Zel ............ Shadowheart .. Astarion

So this means that we are getting a good drow and a good tiefling. Why can't I just get an evil spawn of the devil and an evil evil elf? Why do they have to be good? Why do evil elves always have to be good?

I find it especially lame that they decided to portray all Tieflings thus far as victims and dogooders.

What is the reason for such a huge thiefling presence in the first place? Is that just normal in 5E? Kinda strange that they were almost not present at all in the older Baldur's Gate games.

Dunno if there's an in-lore explanation, but I'd guess that Larian thinks that it makes the setting seem more exotic when in truth too much of it just banalizes its fantastical aspects.

 

[fantadomat]

Resting limitations that have impact on quests is genius.

No,it is retarded limitations that kills the joy of exploration. At very least it should be made clear that there will be negative consequences from your resting. That said i manage to get till the spiders and kill most goblins without resting.

Limiting resting adds to utility of non magic wielding characters in party, if you allow to rest every five minutes people will make four wizards or maybe three wizard + tanking cleric parties, like they did in DOS 1 and 2, now when you need to conserve the magic, they use warrior who can hit things without resting or rouge who can sneak in and plant a trap or Ranger... etc... Game is not even that hard on normal that you need to rest on ship and island anyways.

So? If people want to play with 5 wizards then let them. It is fucking game,people should be able to play they way that entertains them. I play till all my characters are at red and all my spells are spend,but that doesn't mean everyone else should be playing like me.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I think they're going bottom up alignment wise:

Lawful Good .... Neutral Good .. Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral .. Gale .............. Wyll
Lae'Zel ............ Shadowheart .. Astarion

So this means that we are getting a good drow and a good tiefling. Why can't I just get an evil spawn of the devil and an evil evil elf? Why do they have to be good? Why do evil elves always have to be good?

I find it especially lame that they decided to portray all Tieflings thus far as victims and dogooders.

What is the reason for such a huge thiefling presence in the first place? Is that just normal in 5E? Kinda strange that they were almost not present at all in the older Baldur's Gate games.

basically everyone with any drop of demonic/devilish blood became a stereotypical tiefling. And there were a lot of them.
Technically they already were tieflings but the blood was heavily diluted. I know someone will reply with an AKSHUALLY... And I'm well aware.

 

[NJClaw]

I find it especially lame that they decided to portray all Tieflings thus far as victims and dogooders.

There are a couple of exceptions, I think. The two tieflings who captured Lae'Zel seem pretty keen on killing her without giving her a chance, and there's a group that wants to leave the camp and abandon everyone behind, despite being some of the few combatants in the encampment. But yes, unless I missed something, their faction is the only one which is depicted as "good".

What is the reason for such a huge thiefling presence in the first place? Is that just normal in 5E? Kinda strange that they were almost not present at all in the older Baldur's Gate games.

They should be part of a caravan directed to Baldur's Gate. Maybe (fabulously optimistic here), there's a reason why they were going there in the first place. Dunno, something like "there's a guy with a plan that requires gathering a bunch of tieflings".

 

[rusty_shackleford]

there's a reason why they were going there in the first place.

their city got sent to avernus

 

[Heroic Liberator]

there's a reason why they were going there in the first place.

their city got sent to avernus

I'm guessing that fiendish mutts wouldn't be treated kindly down there?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

there's a reason why they were going there in the first place.

their city got sent to avernus

I'm guessing that fiendish mutts wouldn't be treated kindly down there?

The leader of the refugee group talks about it a bit.
Also, there's a letter from one of the kids to their dad you can find lost in the underdark.

 

[whydoibother]

What is the reason for such a huge thiefling presence in the first place? Is that just normal in 5E? Kinda strange that they were almost not present at all in the older Baldur's Gate games.

They should be part of a caravan directed to Baldur's Gate. Maybe (fabulously optimistic here), there's a reason why they were going there in the first place. Dunno, something like "there's a guy with a plan that requires gathering a bunch of tieflings".

They are gypsies looking for a place to settle, because they were chased out of their original homeland, from what I gathered. Its a refugee story, very easy to write genuine good/gullible good and genuine evil/pragmatic "evil" quests for, good for moral gray choices. Already saw that work with the druids, I am sure there will be more of the same in Baldur's Gate. We also saw a lot of good payoff on a similar theme in The Witcher games, with elves in ghettoes. Someone name dropped War and Peace a few pages back, and having a refugee tribe looking for a place to stay is like a Do It Yourself Drama for Dummies, even video game writers can make you think when choosing things like that.

I doubt there's a big plan for them like you suggest. But I am wondering if Shadowheart isn't a bigger character than she seems. With the skills she has, and how secretive she is, wouldn't be surprised if she isn't a half elf at all, and was in magical disguise this whole time. That'd be a neat trick to pull.

there's a reason why they were going there in the first place.

their city got sent to avernus

I'm guessing that fiendish mutts wouldn't be treated kindly down there?

The leader of the refugee group talks about it a bit.
Also, there's a letter from one of the kids to their dad you can find lost in the underdark.

There's also the newlywed couple daydreaming about what they'll do in Baldur's Gate, and you can drop a line about how they probably wouldn't be allowed to do these things, and they regretfully agree. So they know they are more likely to see the ghetto than the fine restaurants.

 

[Xamenos]

What is the reason for such a huge thiefling presence in the first place? Is that just normal in 5E? Kinda strange that they were almost not present at all in the older Baldur's Gate games.

I've said it before. 4e added tieflings and dragonborn as core races, and Wizards in their wisdom shoehorned them in every setting.

 

[Gargaune]

Yep. It's storytelling 101: begin at the most compelling part of your story, or at least a compelling part.

Maybe it's down to personal preference, but I strongly disagree here, I like stories that start with the mundane and gradually build up to the extraordinary, mirroring the protagonist's development in the process. All relative to the setting, naturally. BG3 packs a lot of high level material in its opening and, whichever way the plot goes eventually, it will rob it of some finesse and pacing compared to something like Kingmaker, where you gradually peel the layers off the supernatural onion.

Most video games aren’t.

Especially not most Steam ones where people can refund within the first two hours of play.

That's an external consideration to the virtues of the plot, it's an appeal to the lowest common popamole denominator on Larian's part and a begrudging sacrifice on ours. Same thing as the title, we understand why they called it "Baldur's Gate 3", doesn't make it kosher. We can recognise the business rationales behind an unpalatable decision and still wish it weren't like that.

Why throw potions, when you can throw your allies. Throw your halfling rogue behind the enemy lines.

Drop your potion and throw your companion at it.

 

[Robber Baron]

and Wizards in their wisdom shoehorned them in every setting.

 

[NJClaw]

and Wizards in their wisdom shoehorned them in every setting.

Jesus Christ, I just realized that tieflings basically are furries.

Oh God.

Oh fuck.

I have a lot of Kingmaker saves to delete.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Eh, it seems more like 9. I forget. rusty_shackleford knows the number.

Anyway, Gale and the nblack guy are neutral. As is the tiefling whose life you can save.

Astarion, Shadowheart and the Gith are all evil.

So who is the 7th you’re talking about?

I thought the Drow that someone said joined him for one quest is also a companion. Apparently she is just for that quest I guess.

I was hoping the succubus-looking thing in one of the loading screens is a companion but it seems we won't have such luck.

Anyway, my point was that all the people who noticed that all the companions seem unusually smug/rude to them now have an explanation. Looks like it's not part of the general style, just a non-representative group of all the companions.

BTW I wasn't kidding about being able to throw your allies during combat. Swen said that's possible too, if the throwing character has enough strength.

 

[fantadomat]

BTW I wasn't kidding about being able to throw your allies during combat. Swen said that's possible too, if the throwing character has enough strength.

Maybe swen should try and throw a normal person and see how far it will fly.

 

[NJClaw]

BTW I wasn't kidding about being able to throw your allies during combat. Swen said that's possible too, if the throwing character has enough strength.

Maybe swen should try and throw a normal person and see how far it will fly.

I can throw a small child, and I have 8 strength AT BEST, so I fail to see why an experienced adventurer with 17 strength shouldn't be able to throw a halfling.

 

[Haba]

BTW I wasn't kidding about being able to throw your allies during combat. Swen said that's possible too, if the throwing character has enough strength.

Maybe swen should try and throw a normal person and see how far it will fly.

Does the throwing person have 20 STR?

 

[BarbequeMasta]

BTW I wasn't kidding about being able to throw your allies during combat. Swen said that's possible too, if the throwing character has enough strength.

Maybe swen should try and throw a normal person and see how far it will fly.

I can throw a small child, and I have 8 strength AT BEST, so I fail to see why an experienced adventurer with 17 strength shouldn't be able to throw a halfling.

I wonder what the charcter weight will depend on. Race? Constitution? equipement? all of them?