I'm also not ok with Astarion's character. Astarion being a vampire doesn't bring anything meaningful to the table. Not for the story, not mechanically. He should have been a living high elf rogue and the character would have been much better for it. The whole vampire storyline would have been much more interesting and the player would have been much more invested in it if Cazador would have turned him later when you reach Baldur's Gate.
It's a cheap take on vampires having a "centuries old vampire spawn" run around as a level 1 daywalker acting all regular adventurer. The fangs, pale skin and red eyes are ever present yet no one pays any attention and calls it out. Not even the vampire hunter who is looking for him. It just diminishes the entire concept of vampires and turns it into a camp joke. It seems like they got excited about having a vampire companion and then ignored all logic and reason surrounding that character.
I like my vampires serious, horrifying and level appropriate.
Last edited by 1varangian; 06/12/21 09:49 PM.
