This may have been said before, I'm new here, I'll keep this sort for that reason.
The companions are too much, if that makes sense. They're all tied together by the tadpole, yes, but as characters they're all so.... specific? They're all a person with a (BIG) personal problem rather. Like Gale is about to explode, Astarion is being hunted, Wyll is tied to a cambion. Lae'zel feels the most normal here. I don't have an issue with their personalities, but hopefully the future companions are a bit more basic and tied to the story? Think Alistair from DA:O. He still has his character arc and development but his introduction, goal, and end are very VERY tied to the main plot. Here, it's a group of people who all want a tadpole out, yes, but it'd be nice to see someone who doesn't have a massive side problem to solve.
This is the suggestions box still, so I guess my suggestion here would be to increase plot relevance in the future companions or something?? Might be too hard at this point in the writing process, who knows.
While writing this I did come up with a counter point for myself actually, which is that all of the current companions are neutral or evil (and since they put themselves first they need a personal goal to keep them interesting), and the type of character I'm describing would either have to be Good or evil but directly serving the big bad (whoever that may be, likely the Absolute).
But yeah, thoughts? I'm no writing expert so I expect (and welcome) criticism here; maybe having characters with big side stories is a well-liked thing in this community.
