Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion I'd like a timer

I'd like a timer to reflect the race against time, i.e. the tadpole taking over the characters' brains.
E.g. 5 long rests to complete Act 1 or you die/get mindcontrolled? Similar counters for Acts 2 and 3, maybe adjuested for player's actions?
Topic already beaten to death?
Maybe in Honour Mode? As setting in Difficulty settings?

The tadpole doesn’t kill you or take over your brain though

Your companions could travel on without you and Withers refuse you service (and help) until you get your act together.

You could adjust a number of factors. For example, Gale. Kaboom unless meeting Elminster in X days. Kaboom unless finding some item in Act 2, etc. Not necessarily a recommended game mode, but probably possible.

I’m happy with how Act 1 and 2 are

You know, that might have been cool, though.

Imagine if the tadpole's hold on you increased over time. Every so many long rests, the character develops another tadpole power. You don't choose them by getting extra tadpoles, but rather the power simply develops.

And just when you get all the powers... ceremorphosis. That's it. You cease to exist and a mind flayer is born.

That was my (miss)understandng from EA ...

Exactly!

Excellent ideas! As to Gale - this already exists - I had Gale die on me when fighting Gnolls, I left his stinking corpse in Camp ("I leave Companion in your care" dialogue with Withers) and two days later the git exploded and ended my Honour Mode run ...

I think this is a horrible idea - at least if it was mandatory. A lot of the joy of the maps comes from gallivanting through them and exploring them. A lot of enjoyment of the story/stories - at least for me - comes from figuring out what is going on, not only with the tadpoles but with all the little side-stories. I don't need a timer that forces me to be more conservative with my spells - which would make combat less fun - and miss out on camp scenes so I can enjoy the maps while also keeping my bar from cluttering up with (illithid) spells I never use. For me Lae'zel never shutting up about the creche and the zaithi'sk is enough of a timer.

Because really, the above doesn't add a timer, it just forces you to long rest less. Which changes little for melee focused groups but is a pain if you prefer casters. It also contradicts the idea of the astral prism which keeps you safe from the effects of ceremorphosis.

I wouldn't mind more time sensitive maps though, I love the Iron Throne and think that it is an excellent example for what a timer is good for.

I'm loving my idea more and more - e.g. 5 Long Rests for "good" Act 1 - at dawn of day 6 Minthara storms Druid Grove and kills everybody.
May be linked with difficult level - 6 on easy, 5 on normal, and 4 (3?) on hard.

Fundamentally, I dont think timers fit this structure of a game. They are either forgiving to the point of being irrelevant, or get in the way of fun. “Find help before you become mindflayer” is a fun scenario to think about, but not a great fit for stating cRPG with a big focus on exploration.

As it was pointed before, BG3 doesn’t even have narrative ticking bomb. Characters think so initially, but it is established later on that the tadpole is dormant.

So I think it is all well to theorycraft a hypothetical game that would use tadpoles and timers, or think how BG3 could have less convoluted story hook, but none of it has much relation to game as is - which won’t be heavily redesigned nor rewritten at this point.

This sort of idea is suited to a challenge mode. We all know by now that players would like more custom and/or challenge run variants. There's various mods that fill such niches at the moment.

The consequences don't have to be dire. Some story events could just have a timer (Grove gets run over by goblins, Isobel is kidnapped). It *could* be dire, but not related to the tadpole. Hell, you're travelling with a living bomb. It could also be tied to the tadpole for once, in this challenge mode only.

OP did not ask to completely and fundamentally change the base game. It's just a suggestion for an optional scenario.

Yeah, in that case I wouldn't mind/don't care for it. I think one of the optional challenges in Deadfire was having to complete certain objectives within timeframe. It might act as an effective difficulty challenge, as players might not be able to farm all XP per level, and look for optimal/efficient routes.

So long as its not on by default for everyone, I hate timers, for me it would ruin this game.