Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Hagashager]

The thing that puzzled me most about this is how any of the characters can be level 1 at the start of the game.

I don't remember all of them, but Gale is like that due to the Netherese orb.

Karlach is due to the infernal engine being outside of Avernus.

Lae'zel isn't supposed to be anything special really, she hasn't even gone through basic Githyanki initiation rite of killing her first Mind Flayer.

Shadowheart has the whole amnesia thing via divine intervention.

No clue what in-game reasoning is used for Astarion and Wyll.

The Tadpoles disempowered everyone. Wyll says as much in dialogue. Astarion says something similar. He was more dangerous before the Tadpoles but had zero control of himself.

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

 

[Raghar]

The thing that puzzled me most about this is how any of the characters can be level 1 at the start of the game.

I don't remember all of them, but Gale is like that due to the Netherese orb.

Karlach is due to the infernal engine being outside of Avernus.

Lae'zel isn't supposed to be anything special really, she hasn't even gone through basic Githyanki initiation rite of killing her first Mind Flayer.

Shadowheart has the whole amnesia thing via divine intervention.

No clue what in-game reasoning is used for Astarion and Wyll.

Astarion was wimp to begin with.

 

[Raghar]

BTW I saw something crazy. Brown/light black Gethianky. Like WTF...

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Twitter "artists".

 

[Sunri]

Twitter "artists".

250 for this lmao

 

[Herumor]

Twitter "artists".

You'd be surprised how many people are willing to pay that kind of money to see their requests drawn. Furries are the most extreme example of this, they pay obscene amounts of money for their "art" requests. -

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

The thing that puzzled me most about this is how any of the characters can be level 1 at the start of the game.

I don't remember all of them, but Gale is like that due to the Netherese orb.

Karlach is due to the infernal engine being outside of Avernus.

Lae'zel isn't supposed to be anything special really, she hasn't even gone through basic Githyanki initiation rite of killing her first Mind Flayer.

Shadowheart has the whole amnesia thing via divine intervention.

No clue what in-game reasoning is used for Astarion and Wyll.

Astarion is just a vampire spawn, and hasn't been allowed to drink human blood by his master. Plus, the tadpole.

Wyll blames the parasite and claims that he used to be able to summon demons and stuff.

 

[Larianshill]

Astarion is just a vampire spawn, and hasn't been allowed to drink human blood by his master. Plus, the tadpole.

People keep saying that like it means something. Curse of Strahd has many vampire spawn that didn't drink any blood at all, probably for decades or centuries, and they're as powerful as you would expect the vampire spawn to be (CR 5, just slightly lower than a mind flayer).

Tadpole is a dumb plot device. It depowers Gale, whose power is born from his mind, Wyll, whose power is born from the infernal pact, Karlach, whose power is born of her natural strength and skill, and Astarion, whose power is born of his innate physiology - somehow, it's capable of targeting every possible power source you can imagine. But Lae'zel is fine. She was never strong before, shouldn't the tadpole weaken her even further, if it made Karlach from a demon-slaying machine into a weakling? Shouldn't Shadowheart be completely powerless, if Wyll was reduced from a powerful, legendary hero to Wyll? Why are these two specific people fine? And why do the companions at no point frame the tadpole problem as "Ooooh, if only there was no tadpole in my brain, I could solve this whole cult problem by myself"? Why is Astarion (and everyone else, should you convince them to use it) treating the tadpole as a source of power, as opposed to a source of weakness? Is it because the writers know it's a shit excuse and don't want to call any attention to it?

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

People keep saying that like it means something. Curse of Strahd has blahblahblah

Imagine expecting 5E to be consistent or make sense.

Tadpole is a dumb plot device.

Yes.

What people should really be asking is why Halsin has 10 strength.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Astarion is just a vampire spawn, and hasn't been allowed to drink human blood by his master. Plus, the tadpole.

People keep saying that like it means something. Curse of Strahd has many vampire spawn that didn't drink any blood at all, probably for decades or centuries, and they're as powerful as you would expect the vampire spawn to be (CR 5, just slightly lower than a mind flayer).

Tadpole is a dumb plot device. It depowers Gale, whose power is born from his mind, Wyll, whose power is born from the infernal pact, Karlach, whose power is born of her natural strength and skill, and Astarion, whose power is born of his innate physiology - somehow, it's capable of targeting every possible power source you can imagine. But Lae'zel is fine. She was never strong before, shouldn't the tadpole weaken her even further, if it made Karlach from a demon-slaying machine into a weakling? Shouldn't Shadowheart be completely powerless, if Wyll was reduced from a powerful, legendary hero to Wyll? Why are these two specific people fine? And why do the companions at no point frame the tadpole problem as "Ooooh, if only there was no tadpole in my brain, I could solve this whole cult problem by myself"? Why is Astarion (and everyone else, should you convince them to use it) treating the tadpole as a source of power, as opposed to a source of weakness? Is it because the writers know it's a shit excuse and don't want to call any attention to it?

But Dungeons and Dragons already had level drain for a long time. And in the first editions the effect was permanent. So having a tadpole that permanently drains everyone to level 1 no matter the class is not necessarily implausible. On the other hand it's lazy writing. Still it's a mistake that almost every RPG with pre-made companions makes. Edwin was chasing Mins and Dynaheir all the way from Rashemen and neither of them gained any levels? Bastilais still level one even though she's supposed to be this important Jedi? Morte is a lvl 1 warrior despite having years of adventuring experience? The only games that avoided that (and still have some characters start at level 1) are Betrayal at Krondor (the wannabe mage character is outclassed at the beginnig by veteran warriors he travels with) and Fire Emblem games (older characters will start with higher stats and advanced classes but will pay for that by slower leveling).

 

[Hagashager]

Am I alone in developing a distaste for Tieflings? It's not so much BG3 itself as it is the player base's psychotic obsession with fucking Tieflings.

I'm not being hyperbolic when I say 75% of all BG3 videos, pictures, and references from fans all showcase some God-Damned Tiefling, usually female.

On the subreddit there's a "Show your Tav" thread. It's consistently like 70-90% Tieflings and these guys put so much fuckin' effort into desparately trying to make their Blue-Skinned, mega-horned, wounded-bird, female Tiefling bard/sorceresses unique.

I'm at the point where I praise seeing half-orcs and Dragonborns. Oh, and God-forbid anyone play a dwarf. Of all the races, no one, not a single soul seems to play a Dwarf.

 

[Lady Error]

I'm disappointed that Ranger is just a fighter with extra steps, right down to heavy armor proficiency.

Rangers have spells, including some unique ones. They have a subclass that's about stealth, and a subclass that's about a summoned beastie.
And even if you want to be a dual wielding melee fighter as a ranger, you still get the benefit of dropping that 75% move slow and forcing people to fight you instead of going around you.

My ranger is a fucking killing machine, does even more damage than the Barbarian - and all from a distance. I played DOS 1+2 and POE 1+2 as a ranger too, probably my favorite class.

 

[VerSacrum]

Am I alone in developing a distaste for Tieflings? It's not so much BG3 itself as it is the player base's psychotic obsession with fucking Tieflings.

Tiefling players have a long history of being perceived as annoying snowflakes. NWN persistent worlds often banned them (or at least had a quota on them) back in the day, along with good-aligned Drow that were fucking everywhere because of the Drizzt fad.

 

[Zariusz]

Am I alone in developing a distaste for Tieflings? It's not so much BG3 itself as it is the player base's psychotic obsession with fucking Tieflings.

I'm not being hyperbolic when I say 75% of all BG3 videos, pictures, and references from fans all showcase some God-Damned Tiefling, usually female.

On the subreddit there's a "Show your Tav" thread. It's consistently like 70-90% Tieflings and these guys put so much fuckin' effort into desparately trying to make their Blue-Skinned, mega-horned, wounded-bird, female Tiefling bard/sorceresses unique.

I'm at the point where I praise seeing half-orcs and Dragonborns. Oh, and God-forbid anyone play a dwarf. Of all the races, no one, not a single soul seems to play a Dwarf.

It perfectly represents the audience that Larian aims at, they remind me of a recreation of some shitty OC or deviant art/tumblr/twitter snowflake persona profile picture, with dyed hair and pallete of random mental diseases half of which are made up.

 

[Fedora Master]

I'm disappointed that Ranger is just a fighter with extra steps, right down to heavy armor proficiency.

Rangers have spells, including some unique ones. They have a subclass that's about stealth, and a subclass that's about a summoned beastie.
And even if you want to be a dual wielding melee fighter as a ranger, you still get the benefit of dropping that 75% move slow and forcing people to fight you instead of going around you.

My ranger is a fucking killing machine, does even more damage than the Barbarian - and all from a distance. I played DOS 1+2 and POE 1+2 as a ranger too, probably my favorite class.

Any martial class will be powerful. The Ranger just doesn't bring anything unique to the table. That said I was playing a Hunter, which is the worst subclass. Umbral Stalker/Assassin is something else entirely.

 

[notpl]

Astarion is just a vampire spawn, and hasn't been allowed to drink human blood by his master. Plus, the tadpole.

People keep saying that like it means something. Curse of Strahd has many vampire spawn that didn't drink any blood at all, probably for decades or centuries, and they're as powerful as you would expect the vampire spawn to be (CR 5, just slightly lower than a mind flayer).

Tadpole is a dumb plot device. It depowers Gale, whose power is born from his mind, Wyll, whose power is born from the infernal pact, Karlach, whose power is born of her natural strength and skill, and Astarion, whose power is born of his innate physiology - somehow, it's capable of targeting every possible power source you can imagine. But Lae'zel is fine. She was never strong before, shouldn't the tadpole weaken her even further, if it made Karlach from a demon-slaying machine into a weakling? Shouldn't Shadowheart be completely powerless, if Wyll was reduced from a powerful, legendary hero to Wyll? Why are these two specific people fine? And why do the companions at no point frame the tadpole problem as "Ooooh, if only there was no tadpole in my brain, I could solve this whole cult problem by myself"? Why is Astarion (and everyone else, should you convince them to use it) treating the tadpole as a source of power, as opposed to a source of weakness? Is it because the writers know it's a shit excuse and don't want to call any attention to it?

Astarion isn't a vampire spawn any longer in mechanical terms - he can walk in the sunlight, he has no claws, he can cross running water, etc., his only "power" is that drinking human blood gives him a psychological pick-me-up. Karlach, for what it's worth, joins at level 4 or 5 and is pretty beefy for the setting. Several characters are shown at higher strength before you gain control of them, they're simply set to level 1 once they join properly as a convenience to let the player customize them. There is no reason to assume anyone but Wyll or Gale were ever truly noteworthy, and both of those characters explain their falls from grace. Whether it makes sense is another matter entirely, but good lord this non-argument is tedious and I'm tired of reading it every other page. Levels, armor values, hit points - these things are all game abstractions, they aren't meant to be scrutinized so literally.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Am I alone in developing a distaste for Tieflings? It's not so much BG3 itself as it is the player base's psychotic obsession with fucking Tieflings.

They like demons. Tieflings, in 5E's rules, are basically just weaker, playable demons.

Of all the races, no one, not a single soul seems to play a Dwarf.

Not sexual enough. Weaponized sexuality is the main form of power in modern society for the underclasses.

This is part of why so many men want to pretend to be women. It's about the power that comes from being desirable, and the tranny cargo cult mentality that prevents them from seeing that they're not desirable just because they put on a cheap wig and a dress.

Most players just don't see the sexual desirability of a bearded midget being too high, so they skip him and make a female whatever instead.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Levels, armor values, hit points - these things are all game abstractions, they aren't meant to be scrutinized so literally.

When the abstraction breaks verisimilitude, it invites criticism. I agree that it's an old discussion, but I blame Larian and Wizards for it more than I do anyone here.

 

[The_Mask]

When the abstraction breaks verisimilitude, it invites criticism. I agree that it's an old discussion, but I blame Larian and Wizards for it more than I do anyone here.

Mostly Wizards. If you take Larian at their word, and they had to *pay* to use the D&D name, then it's... like... 99,9% on Wizards.

 

[Raghar]

What people should really be asking is why Halsin has 10 strength.

STR is his dump stat.

 

[Lady Error]

The goblins on the other hand

are goblins. you don't talk with goblins, you kill them.

Massacred all of them for good measure - the goblin king with a couple barrels of gunpowder.

 

[Tenebris]

On the subreddit there's a "Show your Tav" thread. It's consistently like 70-90% Tieflings and these guys put so much fuckin' effort into desparately trying to make their Blue-Skinned, mega-horned, wounded-bird, female Tiefling bard/sorceresses unique.

Don't forget they're all playing the ultra unique Oath of Devotion+Good Dark Urge too.

 

[Rhobar121]

I must be old because I remember the times when the most popular races were elves or elf-like creatures...

 

[Hagashager]

On the subreddit there's a "Show your Tav" thread. It's consistently like 70-90% Tieflings and these guys put so much fuckin' effort into desparately trying to make their Blue-Skinned, mega-horned, wounded-bird, female Tiefling bard/sorceresses unique.

Don't forget they're all playing the ultra unique Oath of Devotion+Good Dark Urge too.

Here's what gets me.

I'm okay with wounded bird, special, "Not-Like-Other-Tieflings" Tieflings. What gets me is the sincere belief these guys think they're being avante-garte by doing it.

The guys who play Human, Male Fighters at least know they're milqtoast about it. None of them are trying to pretend they're anything other than utterly generic.

At least have the self-awareness to admit you just like cool, horned demon people and maybe a whole lotta other people do too.