Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Astarion and Sebille

There is also wyll, who is probably the most chill (aside from his situation) I think he would probably make a really nice friend or romance option

Oops, forgot about Wyll. He's not been appealing so far, but maybe he'll grow on me - hopefully they'll unbug his romance scenes soon.

Yesss! I do really enjoy his character I feel like hes just that one nice companion that is liked by all!
Hes just super adorable (if I'm not doing a chaotic evil play through)
Hopefully they'll fix his buggy love soon

I was expecting an evil background, so no surprise here, but I have to wonder however did he manage to

Nonsense, better give us a corruption arc for Minsc! I want one play through with nice and fluffy Astarion who abandons his vile past and then another one with a bunch of assholes trashing Faerun along with all other planes they get get their hands on.

Is it too much to ask to turn someone into an asshole? Jeez all I want to do is make Wyll into a murder hobo! And Gale into an untamed demon with many evil deeds!

I have violent urgers, towards Astarion.

At some point during the game Astarion says . I suspect he didn't lie but he didn't tell the whole true either. My theory is he was sentencing them and selling to Szarrs. One of MC's lines got my attention too; we can say that it's kind of suspicious that Cazador appeared exactly in this particular moment to "save" Astarion. This makes me think Cazador could somehow use Gurs to get him - but it also implies that he couldn't do this other way which is weird for a vampire lord. But I guess Astarion knew who was he dealing with (he HAD to know considering ) and secured himself against vampires, so the vampire had to use mortals.

I would never compare Astarion to a Prince. Their common feature is only the love of power (and not same way). Otherwise, they are very different. And I understand why the OP sees common ground between Astarion and Sebille.

1. Master
2. Scar
3. Desire for revenge
4. Strong distrust

But Sebille is not a manipulator. Astarion manipulates, after the first attack, he immediately becomes a cutie. He says "trust me", and can kill you in the same night. He's also a chaotic evil, and I really hope that doesn't change. I can expect that even if MC supports him, Astarion will still betray us. But it looks more pleasant than "the way of redemption".

In DoS2 end Sebille became softer, and I rly don’t like it. I liked who she was, but not who she became. I hope that Astarion will follow path of evil, even if it ends badly, so be it.

I also didn't read spoilers, I don't want to spoil my fun.

I love the idea of an irredeemable character arc, but I did really enjoy Sebille and her story line, I just loved the development of character and the different ways acts towards the MC! It's what I felt make her romance more intriguing!

Now for Astarion I wouldn't mind having the option to either redeem him or not, I feel like it would be a complete slap in the face if things end badly for him as there are some parts to him that make him seem like he wants to be more chaotic neutral than chaotic evil.

Again I agree with what a lot of people are saying in regards to keeping him a villainous sadistic being,
But I want to be able to do that through choices, not through a set storyline, I feel like the MC should have an impact on the outcome of the companions somehow.
So I would love it if the way you make choices or the way you talk to Astarion could either make him become less "evil" or more.

A redemption path for Astarion is likely, considering the players will be able to take any of the origin npcs on either a good or evil playthrough. And I don't think the devs would restrict in-game choices based on origin to the point where the player is forced to play good or evil. So the writers will need to make room for either possibilty. Now whether you can still redeem him if he is not the main character is another question.

I think making Astarion's ark irredeemabale is a kind of slap for those who love him but don't want to play as complete evil character. I mean, it is good to have a choice for both sides.

I dunno I'm not really sure. I thought the game is drawing him to some sort of redemption arc up until a specific moment in his post goblin killing conversation. And even this conversation seems to build up towards it, he starts by saying "I never thought of myself as a hero" and his tone seems to suggest he might surprisingly enjoy it, and then he is like "I hate it". I thought it was a very good subversion of expectations moment, And even if it doesn't necessarily mean there is no redemption in his future, it was a very nice moment.

The other question is (damn you FR) of course "can Astarion even be redeemed?" FR lore as I understand it dictates that Astarion is a vampire = undead= inherently and unredeemable evil. The only way I see to redeem him is perhaps curing him of his condition (provided it is even possible. I know you could cure your loved one in BG2 of vampirism, but I'm not sure Astarion is the same). The problem with this solution is that is not really a redemption by any means. Astarion was evil because of his vampirism and now he is not because of magic. no redemption whatsoever...

You don't always need to redeem someone to coexist peacefully. Even if your alignments are different. You still may find common ground in certain situations. And Larian promised more detailed personalities than just alignments.

Agreed that the party scene was a great subversion of expectations. I'm still hoping that there is redemption path but it is getting harder and harder see. His reaction to return of Connor was the turning point for me -- this was just mopey, "that which defined my life is gone now I don't know what make me happy" Astarian. This was someone who delighted in cruelty. And it seems he wasn't a good person before becoming a vampire. Redemption, if possible, will hard path to follow.

FR actually isn't the problem here -- in fact there is an exploit in the game that could eliminate his vampirism. Kill him, use Gale's scroll of true resurrection, and if Astarian wants to come back the taint from his soul is cleansed. In the original Raveloft module this was one of the possible endings. You could use true resurrection to liberate Strahd's soul.

I'm pretty sure Astarion was never a good person. I do not know how much he lies about his real work before vampirism, but someone wanted to kill him for it. Is not it so? If he really judged people, it must be very funny.
I'm not sure that the reason for his "evil" is vampirism.

Yeah, I meant, not completely turn him into fluffy kitten, but at least him staying with MC, not some "I am now true vampire so go off" vibes...or stabbing in the back and more. Personally I believe that his character is much more than just a manipulative monster as many people may see him.

But this is exactly what I meant when I said it is a problem... it's no redemption if all you have to do to attain it is some technical magic. The problem is that as long as Astarion is a vampire he can't have redemption, he can only have some sort of redemption forced on him. any redemption of that kind is not really a character arc but more of a side quest.

Vampires in D&D can be at least neutral - another Faerun vampire elf, Jander Sunstar, is a good example. Astarion obviously was an evil person as a mortal and 200 years of torture unsurprisingly didn't change him. Someone in this thread mentioned this already but

Considering how many non-linear small things this game offers, I bet that both redemption and staying evil will be possible for him. His background story is so specific it must be.

EDIT:

I think you may be right to some extent. Someone on Reddit noticed that