Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Drugs and Debauchery in BG3 - Where's my Black Lotus?

So I'm currently doing a BG+BG2 playthrough in preparation for BG3, first is 14 years (feels like new games again!), loving the darker side of stuff like the Brothels and Black Lotus dens, make RP better for me.

My question, I've only dabbled lightly in the Beta on release, not gonna touch it till full release: so far, is there any drug/herbal potions that are like Black Lotus or Druandae from DOS in game now?

Also, Brothels? I know there's romances but sometimes a Paladin needs to just dip his wick, you na' mean? Haha..

It's unclear when (Act 2 or 3) we'll get to Baldur's Gate, but the Blushing Mermaid still exists and so probably does the access to the Undercellar there. The Low Lantern also still exists, according to the map: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/world-...map/d6560096-bbc5-4210-af02-08d88cac3a62

Edit: So far we can meet the Zhentarim, but they do not sell or consume drugs. Regarding drugs, there are no hints in the game yet. You can only collect different herbalism and craft just one single thing: an Elixier of Silvanus.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Are you referring to a Paladin wanting to pay money to a prostitute so she/he will let them put his penis inside of them?

If that's the case, then no, that's not necessary, and something that almost never adds anything to a game. That said, Cyberpunk 2077 despite all of it's weirdness, if you're willing to get into it, the mission where you meet with a joytoy to get information and have the choice if you want to have a session with them, was actually quite profound, and got me a bit emotional if I'm honest.

Dos2 had some of that.
Larians tone includes adult themes.

I guess we’ll see when we get to a town, or indeed an inn that isn’t on fire, whether purchase of sex or drugs might be possible in the game. Unless life on the Sword Coast has changed more in the century since BG2 than looks to be the case, it feels feasible that we’d encounter both sex workers and drug use as the adventure continues. I don’t have any strong preference for my character being able to partake personally, though I can see it could help bring roleplay of certain characters to life (my most recent favourite BG1/2 character got drunk at every tavern she visited).

These are also themes that I’d expect to be handled with a bit of nuance, but I think I trust Larian not to do them badly. Though I’m not sure I got far enough into D:OS2 to see what they did there: I’ve not yet made it past the beginning of Act II.

I want a Succubus - a full on 5e version, not a Fall From Grace or a Witcher goat. One that will potentially send you straight to the blood war.

What would black lotus do in terms of game play? I suppose they could put in some sort of psychedelic filter on the screen view, and maybe play some sitar/tambura music in the background. That might be fun once in a while.

What I would like to have is the ability to smoke a pipe ... nothing wacky, just regular pipe smoking. It would be cool to see my character blow smoke rings while resting.

You can consume it to recover up to 3 levels worth of spell slots, of any class.

...

Yeah, I figure somebody had to make that reference.


(Also, for balance, you'd then have Disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma Saving Throws and Ability Checks, because you're high.)

I did a little more research (5 whole minutes!), and it turns out that the classic Lotus Flower that I always picture in my mind is the Nelumbo Nucifera, which is very pretty but also quite edible! People eat the seeds and root-stalks all the time, and they can even be ground into a type of flour. The flowers are often used in making tea. Nelumbo Nucifera has some other interesting properties such as the ability to suck heavy metals out of the water supply. But it is not a recreational drug at all!

Perhaps my misconception comes from the story of Odysseus landing on the island of the Lotus Eaters. Apparently there is disagreement regarding what plant exactly the Iliad was talking about. It may have been the Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea, which is actually a water lily and does have some mild narcotic effects. Or perhaps Odysseus ate of the Ziziphus Lotus which is actually a rather ugly fruit-bearing tree related to the jujube. No beautiful flowers here, however.

And then the term "Black Lotus" itself has more references to works of fiction than to any actual plant. So there it is. Argyle continues to wander aimlessly throung the swirling Mists of the Unknowing.

I'd also like a normal evening in the local boozer, trying to drink people under the table. Just a good old fashioned drinking game.

Makes quite a lot of sense that a fictional world like the Realms would have different plant varieties than Earth, really. just consider how many varieties of a given plant we have here, often some have a niche usage. A different varieties not found on earth doesn't seem that far-fetched in a fantasy world.

Really, if you want to look it up, the Realms has a lot of really strange plants out there that are quite common in the setting. Duskwood and Blueleaf are two tree varieties native to the area we are adventuring in. Never seen them portrayed in a game though, lol. Maybe Larian will be the first...

I think my thirst for the more debaucherous things in BG3 would be sated by merely seeing then in the game world, I definitely have no need to get a drunk or high filter on the screen or anything like that...just seeing it around is enough.

Not sure why, but just knowing there's those elements in the game really grounds me in the immersion 😊

OK, 4 and a half weeks till release guys - my money is on there being a few references here and there on Black Lotus and debaucherous trade/use, maybe some Brothels - I don't expect nor want to 'take part' in anything though, just knowing it's there satisfies my lust for reality in my Roleplaying.

With the raft of new footage that's come out lately, I thought I saw some people smoking black lotus around a hookah somewhere - anyone seen this footage?

I may have been on the mead at the time, hence the memory of a Rock Gnome.

We've only seen a small portion of the city, really - there's bound to be more seedy parts of town. Eh. But. I certainly won't be using it, it's not GTA - wherein I don't really use that, either. I'm not fifteen.

I find things like Brothels and Drugs ground a game for me, with it being a part of every day life for many.

In that, I don't mean people need to be all drugged out and lurking in brothels day in day out in the game, but seeing some of it would seem right to me since pretty much everyone I know dabbles in enhancements and such things IRL (I'm in the event/media/entertainment type crowd, it's a debaucherous lot of humans at times).

I'm definitely not saying those things should be glorified or experienced in some form of weird 'wasted-o-vision' like in some games, but them being in the game at all really helps my immersion in the game world.

Wanting things that truly immerse you in a game doesn't mean you're being immature - sex and drug use are normal parts of the adult world we live in.