Baldur's Gate 3

I was hoping we could make ourselves reek of red thrombosis.

Major spoilers for ending of BG3:

!This is my first playthrough where Lae'zel wants to free Orpheus (and not just to immediately kill him) so the choice of whether or not to do so is harder than just "do I trust the Emperor or not?". I'm definitely not the first to feel weird about the options you're given here and how they play out in terms of The Emperor's actions, but I thought it'd be fun to write out my headcanon for the direction I wish I could have taken the conversation (a direction I believe would stay true to what Larian intended with this scene). !<

• !After your character indicates they want to free Orpheus and The Emperor gives its speech about trust, your character can say "I trust you, but we can't let Orpheus be killed. We need to find another way."!<

• !The Emperor responds "There is no other way. An Illithid is needed to dominate the Netherbrain, and I cannot exist outside of the astral prism without absorbing the protection provided by Orpheus."!<

• !You can respond "What if Orpheus is willing to protect you? He could be freed and we could still be shielded from the Netherbrain."!<

• !The Emperor: "I told you: to Orpheus, you are Illithid. If you free him, he will kill you. Right after he kills me."!<

• !You can then make a persuasion check with a DC influenced by how much you've shown The Emperor trust thus far: "He will see reason. And if he doesn't, I will subdue him again. I won't let him hurt us."!<

• !If unsuccessful, The Emperor doesn't believe you, and you're brought back to the original dialogue options.!<

• !If successful, The Emperor will guardedly agree to let you free Orpheus. However, it doesn't trust that Orpheus will protect it if it leaves the astral prism, so it will refuse to go with you.!<

• !When Orpheus is freed, he will initially be hostile toward The Emperor and threaten to kill it for imprisoning him. You can pass a high persuation or intimidation check to convince him to see reason and work together for the common cause. Otherwise, you can side with him against The Emperor and help him kill it, or you can fight Orpheus. If the latter, you must knock him out; if you kill him, you get a Game Over.!<

• !If you convince Orpheus to stand down, you are then presented with the same choice as you would if you'd freed Orpheus without convincing The Emperor to stay. However, The Emperor becomes a powerful callable ally in the ensuing battle. It continues communicating with your party, and it has a tense but nonviolent interaction with Orpheus after the Netherbrain is defeated.!<

• !If you subdue Orpheus, Lae'zel is angry, but she will reluctantly agree in light of Orpheus's hostility that The Emperor consuming him is the only option.!<

• !If you help Orpheus kill The Emperor, the scene will proceed as if The Emperor abandoned you.!<

!What do y'all think? Does this seem realistic, or am I off with any of the characters? What's your headcanon for this scene? !<

Artist: Nyachooh | twitter | danbooru

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/23713897

Like if you go full tadpole as a Gnome, do you end up as a pint sized Illithid?

I just thought about this, and if so I need to start a new playthrough immediately!

And Larian was there to accept.

https://glasgow2024.org/hugo-awards/2024-hugo-award-winners/

Samantha Béart was apparently at the convention as well.

There is/was a video of the ceremony at this link: https://glasgow2024.org/whats-on/events/hugo-awards-ceremony/ The Larian crew shows up about 2/3 of the way through the ceremony.

Edit: trying to figure out the spoiler tag...sorry

Edit 2: I tried three ways and nothing worked, but spoilers below

I've run into a lot of times where needed things don't trigger bc I'm hiding

spoiler hag

! For example, when rescuing Mayrina the first time, I snuck past them and tried to talk to her, which triggered the cutscenes and hag transformation.

Combat was supposed to start, but didn't. So I went into the fireplace thinking that was a good escape route and into the lair, where she, in hag form, told me I shouldn't be sneaking around and to leave, but with the normal lady's voice.

Then, when rescuing from the cage, I used the druids thorn whip to yang Mayrina down. Combat triggered and she acting like she was still in the cage instead of running through the open door behind us.

I tried a second time and she ran through, but disappeared. When I went back, she was outside the cage. I thought she was the hag bc she had 0 damage, so I cast blindness on her and she ran...somewhere.

Also, the hag never rendered, but I could see her vision outline.

Anyway, now I think I actually have to fight the hag. I read something about a water trick, so I'll try that was well.

But jeez, with all the warnings to run away from a hag, I thought I'd be able to do that.

Of course leaving an angry hag alive is no good, so 🤷‍♂️!<

Looks like Taylan has made his decision: he intends to put ads on bg3.wiki

(I'm limiting spoilers here to the House of Hope. I'm still in my first playthrough, so I haven't seen it all yet.)

We were warned more than a few times that it was a fool's errand, but when my party learned the Orphic Hammer was at Raphael's place, and acquired the means to get there, the prospect of a heist was irresistable.

Of course, Raphael showed up just as we were about to leave, and he wanted blood. It was the toughest fight we've had so far. Here's what worked:

Party Members: (All level 12. AC range 17-20. Companions as their default classes.)

• My College of Lore bard
• Shadowheart
• Karlach
• Gale

Followers & significant summons:

• Conjure Elemental: Air Myrmidon
• Conjure Elemental: Earth Myrmidon
• Create Undead: Ancient Servant (mummy)
• Hope

Especially notable tools:

• Envoy's Amulet (bard)
• Sussur Greatsword (Karlach)
• Staff of Cherished Necromancy (Gale)
• Fire resistance elixirs
• Maybe 15-20 healing potions (mostly greater, some superior and regular)

Preparation:

• Fire resistance elixirs for everyone. (They were already active from earlier fights.)
• Defeat all enemies in the house before trying to leave, so they couldn't wander in and make the final fight harder. (Some of their corpses were useful in the next step...)
• Summon the mightiest summons we could that weren't made of fire, water, or ice.
• Drink deeply from the boudoir faucets, to replenish everyone's resources.
• Persuade Yurgir the orthon to turn against Raphael and join our side. This was a DC 30 skill check IIRC, so probably not available to every party. Fortunately for us, my bard is a persuasion expert, was fully inspired, and had the Envoy's Amulet and Shadowheart's Guidance. We talked him into it after a re-roll or two.
• Enjoy the battle song.

Battle:

• Cast Planar Binding on Raphael immediately. Maybe twice. He shakes it off quickly (I think it's just one turn) but it keeps him and some of his minions busy just long enough for us to have a chance at retreating.
• Leave the foyer ASAP. With all those fiends on raised platforms and moving to surround us, there was just too much heat in that room. Let our summons tank for us as we cast some debuffs and run for the door, and then have them follow us out.
• Regroup at the far end of the passage to the feast hall. This let us choose our positioning in a meaningful way, and provided a choke point for the enemies.
• Engage the fiends one or two at a time as they trickle through the door. Gale's staff-boosted necrotic attacks work well. AoE damage and debuffs (like the air myrmidon's Raging Vortex) keep them from being too threatening. Meanwhile, let Yurgir work on them from behind.
• Heal mostly with potions, since quaffing only consumes bonus actions, leaving spell slots and actions for enemies. Toss potions at the feet of party members in need before their next turn, and whenever two or more are clustered closely enough to hit with a single potion. Heal Yurgir with spells when possible, since he doesn't spend much time in potion range.
• Continue until Raphael is the last enemy standing.

Master of the house:

• Hit Raphael with all the debuffs we can; especially Silence. Karlach does great work with the Sussur Greatsword, and the myrmidon's Raging Vortex seems to work well. This keeps him (somewhat) less dangerous long enough for the next step.
• Send the summons past Raphael, through the door, and back into the foyer to destroy the pillars. Their teleportation abilities are great for this. It really pissed off Raphael, and he killed them all, but not before they could finish the job.
• Summon new summons. The more the merrier! Quothe the raven and Scratch were with us, though not much use beyond a couple brief distractions.
• Lure Raphael close to a relatively open area, where the party can take aim at him without bunching up too much. (His AoE combos can be tough to heal through if they hit more than two targets each.)
• Resume the debuffs, and pour into him every damage source available that he can't nullify or retaliate against. (Avoid radiant damage.) Necrotic and force damage work well.

I was skeptical more than once that we could win... but somehow, we did. Whew.

Yurgir had so much fun that he offered to join us later in the campaign. I guess bard school pays off. :)

Anyone else have a strategy that turned out brilliant or failed hilariously?