I JUST WANT TO talk about characters

GOD I LOVE JAHEIRA we knew that was coming

I'm just hideously impressed how much she feels like Jaheira

Does that make sense

I played Baldur's Gate and 2 as a miniature

And it's all her fault I always play Druid in dnd games lmao

If you've played Neverwinter Nights or BG1 this is fucking iconic

I MEAN they all were but geez

Anyways, I'm just so giddy that she still feels like Jaheira even with the different voice actress. She did really great work getting the essence of the character

AS FOR THE REST OF THEM

I'm honestly disappointed with Karlach and Astarion's irrelevance

Karlach is endearing, to her credit

Astarion is just a whiny child and if it weren't for the accidental rival dynamic he seems to have with my Durge I would probably ignore him lol

They have been manipulating each other ceaselessly and it's interesting dialogue wise? I love the options

But overarching plot? I just don't care

I feel like every other character has really strong ties to the bigger plot, they are so relevant

But beyond Karlach being Gortash's pawn? She's like what's it called

What's the trope lol

PLOT CATALYST?

Idk, I think she deserved a bit more than that

Astarion, too. He has a fascinating personality, all to Neil's credit no doubt

He really makes him a whiny weirdo and it fits beautifully I love it

BUT.

ah well

Gale bores me too. I don't wanna go near that baggage. I think he'll be more interesting as I get into the gate?

I feel like it's been a dry spell for him all of Act 2

He was like let's blow up, the brain's there

Which! I FEEL like okay. That was interesting

For someone with 20 Int or whatever, and pathetic quantities of Wis, YA THAT IS A VALID reaction

NO FORESIGHT just calculated boom is great right HERE

No perception to ya know EVERYONE around him

So fitting but like bruh chill

I like Wyll's overarching dynamics

The Gate keeper Fist was terrible to him and I had to back out and sneak around

I'm hoping Wyll gets some closure and peace with where he's at as the Act goes on

I'm assuming he'll figure out a middle ground from Folk Hero to (what's originally) Haunted One. I KNOW HAUNTED ONE is like Durge for BG3, but traditionally he would fit the description better, I think

Haunted One, if I recall it right, was meant for Warlock dynamics. So when Wyll showed up with Folk Hero I was like Okay interesting twist to it. IT FITS HIM don't get me wrong. I think both backgrounds would be suitable if Durge wasn't a thing lol

Shadowheart's parents thing is not something I expected. I like the slow burn of plot she has

It's been consistent

She has this mysterious start and then the bandaid gets ripped off and then I feel like her characterization has been great through that

For Shadowheart, I took the silent approach LOL

WHICH

Okay

She told my Durge (as I assume she does to all) STAY OUT OF IT and I am so nosey, fam but I was like Okay fine. Fine. I was like detecting thoughts and just abusing the crap out of being annoying to her

So with Nightsong I did all the silent things

FULLY EXPECTING she would stab Nightsong

Um. She didn't. Apparently if you just leave her to her own devices she throws the spear

Which wow kinda potent

Nightsong has high Persuasion confirmed???

I feel like, save for Karlach, the women in this game just feel so much more fleshed out?

LAE'ZEL

Okay so, I was back and forth on romance and I did settle on Lae'zel

Because I can get away with murder with her

And I've just been terrifyingly impressed with her character development and I wanna do a non-romance playthrough for comparison sake

IS SHE ALWAYS THIS NICE by Act 3 or is it just the romance doing that

So

Shadowheart and Lae'zel. WE SHOULD TALK

Devora Wilde is Bae…I mean Lae’zel 🧟‍♀️🦎 on X

Their stories are basically THE SAME.

And their growth is the SAME

I mean, potentially, depending on choices

And I do appreciate they get over themselves and gain respect for each other

It's a cute dynamic between them and I'm glad they can be besties

Minthara, I just love her. I wish you didn't have to turn her into a goddamned sheep to recruit her

She's got a lot more depth for possibly the least recruited character

And I love the "plot twist" of her being sane when she finally comes under the Emperor's protections

It's ... humbling and I really enjoyed that part and made the sheep shenanigans more worthwhile

I just wish you could get that piece sooner and get some kind of route to make it possible to get her by seeing that

Does that make sense

OKAY AND

HALSIN

He reminds me of 2E wood/wild elves with Oberon

He has the STATS of a 2E wood elf

I don't know how to describe it lol

I'm trying to recall, it's been decades lol

But I remember they had like Str+, Con+ and Cha- but I might be misremembering

I'd have to load an old Neverwinter Nights save to check. I was in a good modified server for YEARS that had everything up to 3.5e

And I always ended up with a druid and it was either wild or wood forgetting which

But Wild was awful because back then the stats would equal 0 lol

You'd have +2 and -2 of 2

Anyways, elves aren't what they used to be, certainly not wood

They used to be the "stronger" of the elves

AND HALSIN JUST fits that old school idea of wood elves being bigger and stronger than their elven cousins

He has 10str and 14con and that makes a lot of sense to me lol

AM I EXPLAINING THIS WELL?

He just seems like good old CLASSIC druidic wood elf

I appreciate this

I, 100% have druid bias

Again, Jaheira's fault LMAO

I still love playing that awful druid who is bad at people, refuses metal even if it's coin because coin is metal lmao and is just I ONLY EAT DIRT

favorite dnd bull shit

Anyways

I wanna dive deeper into the characters

I lost a thought earlier that I had about... something

I hit a part I was playing yesterday and I was CRINGING so hard because it's one of those.... sheesh how to explain

I got triggered

I don't remember why but I do remember thinking This is why it's dangerous to be realistic with trauma because you'll trigger your audience that's been there

For the life of me, I can't recall what triggered because I wanted to nope out so bad lmao

I think I'll let the thought go