Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Astarion Origin LI Reactivity suggestion

To start off- This isn't a necessary change or addition at all, and I understand it'd take a lot of work, but who knows? Definitive edition might come with surprises.

Some Origin Characters have very customized romances, and I was thinking about how some romances play out for companions- I think it'd be cool if when you play as Astarion and ascend, you got a dialogue option to propose to turn your LI into a spawn- basically in the same dialogue tree where you can ask for kisses and stuff, and in the vein of discussing the tadpole.

I imagine most of them wouldn't accept- (from the clues we have, it seems Minthara would) but I do believe /some/ might cave with a persuasion or deception check (telling them you will turn them into a vampire lord). Karlach for her engine (even though if she's a companion and you're playing another character, she doesn't approve of you becoming a spawn, I think the engine+being the one in love herself might make her doubt) and I think it could arguably be an option for Shadowheart, and perhaps Gale if he's seeking immortality. I don't think others would accept, and from that the player should be given the option to end the relationship because of it or not care about that.

In Karlach's case of course, the attempted transformation would lead to failure, but since we're playing as Astarion we should get the option to decide how he feels about that.

I think the cool part here would be their reaction if you do turn them- waking up as a vampire and stuff, and how they feel about that. Hopefully it'd come with at least an eye color change, too, and impact the Elfsong Tavern scene/the epilogue.

(I'd argue that, in this vein, Ascended Gale could also propose ascending to their LI at the epilogue party, for example!)

I’ve had an itch to try to play as Origin Astarion, with possibly Minthara as a love interest. I think that would work and be interesting. Given some lines, she might very well accept, yes. And that’s something very particular to the story, with many implications, that would be nice to try and navigate. I’d say I would like it, if it was possible to implement it.

I think for God-Gale they purposefully broke up the romance path to show that he got the opposite of what he wanted. He just disappeared for half a year, the world moved on without him and hardly anyone cares a smidge for what he has to offer. His whole arc is, that he wants to prove himself worthy and thinks that his only means to do so are his mental skills and his magical prowess, while in reality his worth lies in him as a person. So his Origin-God ending has fun spells but also a touch of loneliness to it and I think it's great this way. Though I suppose Minthara might still take the offer even after having been forgotten for half a year.

In regards to Astarion, I would really like to ask my LI for a daily blood donation - and be lectured about what a bad idea this is, should the LI in question have poisonous blood. ^^ But most of all I would like an option to get them involved in the ritual-scars and start this arc earlier, since the way the scars are currently introduced is very awkwardly paced.

I fully support this. It's strange that Astarion origin doesn't have that option. Him being a vampire is a unique thing and it alters the relationship if you're playing as Tav and decide to join him. The same courtesy should be extended to his origin playthrough, not only for continuity and story reasons, but also to make playing as him stand out more.