Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Pre-Release Thread [EARLY ACCESS RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[mondblut]

In reality what made BG a thing was the production values. It was a very good looking game for those times, it had good music and sound effects, and pretty UI and portraits in addition to the isnpiring area backgrounds.

What made BG a thing was that by 1997, people were really hungry for a AD&D game that did not suck.

Interplay got to thank Deathkeep and Warriors of Ravenloft for its success

 

[AwesomeButton]

Everything about the illithid is wrong. You can't "go looking for a healer" with a tadpole attached to your brain stem! And a healer won't do anything because the "safest" and most reliable way to get rid of the tadpole is by squashing your head and then resurrecting you. I guess it works if the healer does that. I think it also works with a Wish spell. And tadpoles live in the brine water near an elder brain, not in some vat on a spelljammer!

This is "passion" you newbie tryhards.

"Intellectually vapid" - we've got a badass over here

Great I just saw that Shadowheart is Vicionia 2.0 since she is also a Shar cleric.

I had missed that she is a Shar cleric! This might get interesting.

IMO, writing a good femme fatale type has to be done by a man, not by a woman, and there simply aren't any men among Larian's writers.

 

[Rostere]

But then it didn't make sense the whole city raid. Why waste time crushing towers and playing with peasants when you are hunted down.

First, he might not have known whether he would be pursued there or not.

Second, it seems his objective in the first place is snatching people. Maybe he is also eager to replenish manpower to replace casualties as a consequence of earlier losses.

 

[NJClaw]

Some guys complaining that female npc are not pretty but dudes are not exactly Idris Elba either... so... equality... yay!?

Minsc won't be in the game. Calling it. They'll add new naive and heroic companion with space furry instead.
Now let's talk about Jan Jansen.

I love Jan but then I remembered DOS2 writing, what are the chances we don't end up hating him here? 5%?

Not pretty? Shadowchick is hot, the other one is an alien and it would be disgusting to find her attractive

The plot twist will be that every single character will be written as Jan

 

[fantadomat]

The Ilithid from the intro seems to have gone rogue and killed the other ones on the ship is there any way this could actually happen within the lore?

It is possible to go rogue if they are away from the elder brain for too long or grow resilient to their mind control. Ilithid in reality are not much more than thralls to the elder brain. Some even manage to contain part of their memory and essence from before the change. Which is pretty strange since your brain gets eaten.

 

[Elex]

I don't know about you people, but I'm still not over how they butchered ceremorphosis lore. If there's something to be outraged about, it's that + the gith not being gith-like.

Your comment reminds me of this

That comment is wrong, it’s like a guy that once read something and now think the little article he read is a bible.

He should actually read the mind flayer lore section in volo guide to monster before going full autism. (Featuring an artwork with a tapdole inserted in an eye)

in addition the illithid Lore change based on the setting (in eberron they are different for example).


Speaking of reading stuff this is the canon version of how minsc returned:
https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Dungeons-Dragons-Legends-of-Baldur-s-Gate/Issue-1?id=91892

 

[AwesomeButton]

What made BG a thing was that by 1997, people were really hungry for a AD&D game that did not suck.

That too, I remember there was talk of the end of the genre. But the people who were "really hungry for an AD&D game that did not suck" by no means could have made BG the gaming icon it became. Production values trump all in the end. That's why this D:OS3 will be a success too, despite everything it screws up gameplay- and lore-wise.

 

[Salvo]

But then it didn't make sense the whole city raid. Why waste time crushing towers and playing with peasants when you are hunted down.

First, he might not have known whether he would be pursued there or not.

Second, it seems his objective in the first place is snatching people. Maybe he is also eager to replenish manpower to replace casualties as a consequence of earlier losses.

Ceremorphosis (transforming a host into an Illithid by placing a tadpole in their brain) takes a LOT of time! I was never a fan of attacks on cities, they always feel cheesy and meaningless, only done to make the scene feel more "grandiose".

 

[Elex]

The Ilithid from the intro seems to have gone rogue and killed the other ones on the ship is there any way this could actually happen within the lore?

yes as i wrote above is litterally write in volo guide to monster:

Sometimes a mind flayer that's away from its colony breaks free from the elder brain. Perhaps it ran into a situation where its bonds of obedience were broken, or perhaps the colony was destroyed while it was away. In such a case, the mind flayer becomes free-willed for as long as it avoids contact with an elder brain.


A renegade illithid remains fearful of gith attacks, and likely sets about creating a sort of colony of its own, the better to remain undetected. It gathers minions, establishes a lair, and makes defense of its territory a top priority. Unlike colonial mind flayers, rogue illithids develop a healthy respect for those not of their kind. They treat especially powerful creatures and individuals as equals, not adversaries, and seek to cooperate with them. A renegade mind flayer might become a trusted advisor or a powerful ally, so long as it is kept well fed. Any alliance it makes, however, collapses if the mind flayer falls under the sway of an elder brain once more.

The gith attack are fitting and The theory that the illithid is friendly can be possible.

also mind flayer are know for making experiment so the tapdole in the characters can be a special mutated version.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

The Ilithid from the intro seems to have gone rogue and killed the other ones on the ship is there any way this could actually happen within the lore?

Instead of going rogue I think the dead Ilithid died from external attacks? The one living in the trailer seems desperate to bolster his forces. The ship kidnapping people feels less like a show of force and more of a desperate measure.

And then the gith and dragon suddenly follow him through massive Dimension Door (I think?) and are trying to kill him/crash his ship down. Even when he teleported elsewhere the giths chased him not so long after which means they are tracking him. Seems like he is the last Ilithid from his ship which was attacked by the giths and he is trying to bolster his forces by kidnapping people.

 

[fantadomat]

The Ilithid from the intro seems to have gone rogue and killed the other ones on the ship is there any way this could actually happen within the lore?

If an Illithid is away from its elder brain for too long, the elder brain loses control and the mind flayer can go rogue. Famous examples are alhoons or illithiliches. However, that kind of illithid won't have access to tadpoles or a spelljammer. Unless the elder brain somehow died during travel, I guess. The problem is that mind flayers are usually made within the colonies so that the others can supervise them. You can't make a mind flayer in a field, it takes like 20 years.

It is possible that the brain got raided by our antagonist,and the pods got stolen. Or maybe a the whole brain and the colony had gone "rogue".

 

[Dwarvophile]

I don't know about you people, but I'm still not over how they butchered ceremorphosis lore. If there's something to be outraged about, it's that + the gith not being gith-like.

At least, if you're drown into a conflict between Ithilids and Giths, things might be a bit nuanced and interesting. With both planning to enslave you, only in one case you get to keep your brain. Actually, that sounds like choosing between libtards and alt right.

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

the only thread that matters https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/0/1750150007024924167/

Can we talk about how one of his two examples of a "sexy, femme fatale" woman is this:

Spoiler

I used spoilers because I like you all too much to spring a jump scare like that on you.

 

[fantadomat]

bolster his forces by kidnapping people.

Did you people even follow the conversation??? It was spelled out for you,a few times,that it takes 20ish years to make tentacleface.

 

[Rostere]

Ceremorphosis (transforming a host into an Illithid by placing a tadpole in their brain) takes a LOT of time! I was never a fan of attacks on cities, they always feel cheesy and meaningless, only done to make the scene feel more "grandiose".

I'm just speculating. I don't think the cinematic makes obvious and complete sense in any interpretation from the information we have so far.

But I think the most likely summary would be that it is trying to convey an existing conflict between the illithid and the githyanki, in which the player is drawn in as collateral damage. The illithid in the cinematic seems to be snatching people arbitrarily, from which it will likely be implied that the PC was an random victim also.

Either the illithid goes to the city at random (just trying to shake off the githyanki), or with the objective to snatch people, or for some other objective (IMO unlikely), or a combination of several of the previous.

 

[mondblut]

That and there are no spellcasters in JA2.

There are. It's called grenades and mortars.

 

[Elex]

But then it didn't make sense the whole city raid. Why waste time crushing towers and playing with peasants when you are hunted down.

First, he might not have known whether he would be pursued there or not.

Second, it seems his objective in the first place is snatching people. Maybe he is also eager to replenish manpower to replace casualties as a consequence of earlier losses.

Ceremorphosis (transforming a host into an Illithid by placing a tadpole in their brain) takes a LOT of time! I was never a fan of attacks on cities, they always feel cheesy and meaningless, only done to make the scene feel more "grandiose".

Also the old video was showing BG the new video a different city (yartar)

so we know that multiple cities are under attack.

 

[Lacrymas]

I can buy that that illithid is rogue, it would actually make sense with the other mind flayer bodies around. But attacking a city while trying to make more mind flayers is retarded. If the hosts are left unsupervised, they are vulnerable and can easily be killed. If it wants to infest people with tadpoles, random travelers would be better, why attack a city with a single spelljammer?

 

[InD_ImaginE]

bolster his forces by kidnapping people.

Did you people even follow the conversation??? It was spelled out for you that it take 20ish years to make tentacleface.

Huh, here: https://dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis and https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis , it is listed as 7 days. Maybe 20ish years includes actually growing the tadpole. The actual process is much faster.

 

[Dodo1610]

The Ilithid from the intro seems to have gone rogue and killed the other ones on the ship is there any way this could actually happen within the lore?

Really? Sure they are not dead or wounded from a protracted chase or fight which started before the cinematic? Seems like the illithid was already being hunted by the githyanki, I doubt they would just intervene immediately when some illithid starts snatching people from some random Faerûnian town.

There already being a snatched githyanki on the ship seems to imply an earlier fight as well.

But the ship isn't damaged before gith attack and there is only one surviving mind flayer on the ship so it moe logical to me that the Ilithid killed them. Also attacking random cities in broad daylight seems odd.

 

[Rostere]

I can buy that that illithid is rogue, it would actually make sense with the other mind flayer bodies around. But attacking a city while trying to make more mind flayers is retarded. If the hosts are left unsupervised, they are vulnerable and can easily be killed. If it wants to infest people with tadpoles, random travelers would be better, why attack a city with a single spelljammer?

The illithid only needed a few seconds above a city to snatch a handful of people. The danger to the nautiloid seems to be negligible before the githyanki arrived. Snatching a few people from a city seems to be a faster way of achieving the objective with no tradeoff.

But the ship isn't damaged before gith attack

We don't see any damage. It could be that in the previous encounter, the captured gith (plus allies maybe) boarded the nautiloid and managed to kill all illithid except for one. The ones on dragons are then merely the cavalry backup.

and there is only one surviving mind flayer on the ship so it moe logical to me that the Ilithid killed them.

Why? I don't see how this makes any sense.

Also attacking random cities in broad daylight seems odd.

I don't think so. It seems completely risk-free, anyways, he only needed to expose himself to retaliation for seconds. I don't think it makes much difference that he was chased off earlier by the githyanki. Maybe he arrived by the city at random and decided to snatch some people on the go.

Anyways, most likely the githyanki don't give a shit about the town, but want to fight the illithid and re-capture any githyanki aboard the nautiloid.

 

[fantadomat]

bolster his forces by kidnapping people.

Did you people even follow the conversation??? It was spelled out for you that it take 20ish years to make tentacleface.

Huh, here: https://dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis and https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis , it is listed as 7 days. Maybe 20ish years includes actually growing the tadpole. The actual process is much faster.

Did you read it??? It says that you become a full grown tentacleface in 20ish years. The eating brain part and the body modification is done in 7 days. Even in seven days cycle it seems redundant to kidnap people when you are chased.

 

[vortex]

Can we talk about how one of his two examples of a "sexy, femme fatale" woman is this:

Spoiler

I used spoilers because I like you all too much to spring a jump scare like that on you.

Look, we all have tastes but that is a good lookin' afro-american fantasy female. Would. Don't judge.

 

[Lacrymas]

The illithid only needed a few seconds above a city to snatch a handful of people. The danger to the nautiloid seems to be negligible before the githyanki arrived. Snatching a few people from a city seems to be a faster way of achieving the objective with no tradeoff.

But the dramatic theatricality paints a mark on the illithid when people know others are kidnapped. It's very easy to call a crusade against the illithids in those circumstances.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Also attacking random cities in broad daylight seems odd.

bolster his forces by kidnapping people.

Did you people even follow the conversation??? It was spelled out for you that it take 20ish years to make tentacleface.

Huh, here: https://dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis and https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis , it is listed as 7 days. Maybe 20ish years includes actually growing the tadpole. The actual process is much faster.

Did you read it??? It says that you become a full grown tentacleface in 20ish years. The eating brain part and the body modification is done in 7 days. Even in seven days cycle it seems redundant to kidnap people when you are chased.

The mature tadpole is inserted into the ear of a living humanoid, where it burrows into the creature's brain. It quickly consumes the brain and grows to fill the creature's skull, leaving the lower brain stem intact. The tadpole attaches itself to the brain stem, melding its mind with the creature's body. Implantation is complete within only three minutes.

Over the next few days, the body undergoes a massive physical transformation into the recognizable form of a mind flayer. All traces of the original creature's mind are erased by the process. The process of ceremorphosis is irreversable even by magical means after one hour.

The transformation into a mind flayer is complete after seven days. Following ceremorphosis, a mind flayer takes up to 21 years to reach full maturity.

But after 7 days they are technically on the side of the mind flyers. Yeah, they won't be super powerful tentacle monster but they will work to help him, right? I am not sure about DnD lore but as the hosts are physically mature I reckon they should be able to function physically as well.