Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Focused Examination: Intimate Choreography with Small-sized Characters

So, on to the prop-assisted poses. First up, I want to look at standing doggy positions; like doggy style, but the participants are standing up, more or less, with the receiving partner bent over a conveniently appropriate height object – such as a sacrificial altar, I suppose. This one is used for all of the same sorts of reasons you might use a regular doggy-style pose, but it moves the position off the floor, which is often desired, with the added bonus of it presenting a way to ground the participants in the surroundings of their scene, at least a little bit. It's also better on your knees.



This position is due most of the same commentary as basic doggy-style, so I won't repeat that, however, there are some other considerations to take into account here. This pose defines itself, more or less, by the fact that you rest your weight on the supporting object, so some of the intimate-sharing options that work for doggy style will actually end up fighting against the flow of this pose. Because the giving partner essentially has the receiver pinned against the prop, it naturally creates a much more giver-dominant atmosphere to the scene unless you work to subvert that with your other choreography; in basic doggy style, the receiver still has a handful of options for getting out of the situation if they truly wish to, however the majority of even those are all tacitly but tangibly removed by the addition of the prop – remember this when setting the tone for the scene.

Focus on raw physicality and overt sexual activity are what this pose does best, and it does so naturally; fierce passion is easy to communicate from the giver, but harder to capture from the receiver's direction, since their options for movement or communication with their partner are limited – movement and position of the head and the intensity of grip in the hands are your main tools here, for the receiver.

If you want to spin this in a slower and more romantic way, it's doable, but it will always maintain that undertone of raw-animal sex to it even so. This can be useful and intentional of course. The giver can use gentle touches and strokes on their partner's back to convey this – shots that focus on the curves of the receiver's back also help this atmosphere. The giver can even lean forward all the way to cover their partner, for erotic kissing down the back as well.

When we start thinking about smaller-sized partners, however, we come to an obvious first problem.



This is a difficult issue no matter what direction you come at it from. Once again we're in a situation where the larger partner will need to kneel down, or the smaller partner will need to hop up in some way, but in three out of four cases doing so is nigh on unworkable:



If we adjust these poses for the larger partner to kneel, then we're functionally back at the same positions discussed above (doggy variants), with all of the same considerations that we examined then, but with some added problems. In the case of a small giver, the more upright position that using the table-prop creates makes actually engaging in the act itself more challenging – there's not likely any solid penetration happening there. For a small receiver, though the prop gives them something to support their body against and removes any need to rely on being held by their partner, that same prop makes shooting eh scene at all difficult. It creates an obstruction and a block which you need to choreograph around, and in both of these cases, the smaller partner and the lowered pose make thee prop more of a difficulty than a boon; you're just not going to shoot a satisfying scene like this, most likely, and still be able to really see what's going on.

If, instead, we move the smaller partners up, our options are severely limited – with a small giver, getting into position to engage their partner is a trial, as is staying there, if they don't have a step ladder. They'll likely need to support themselves by holding onto their partner's body, leaving them no freedom to do anything but cling tight and, er, get to work. The larger receiver's options in this are mostly synonymous to the similar doggy-style position discussed earlier, but once again our options for what sorts of shots can be used is limited baby the physical prop object. This third pose has the other downside for choreography in that it's just not a particularly photogenic or appealing pose to work with, visually.

The fourth I kept aside for a different reason, since it can work passably well, but it risks looking a little dubious:



Come on guys, I just warned you both about making these poses look too sus...

But the point remains; if anyone wondered why I took time to mention the inherent elements of vulnerability and helplessness in this position for the receiving partner, it is because here, for a small receiver in particular, this effect is magnified greatly, and you have to be aware of this and how it can affect the tone of the scene you're composing. While the receiver for this pose, between same-sized partners, still has a couple of options, the small-sized receiver has basically none at all – short of magic or other intervention, this pose is a pin that renders them completely helpless; their feet can't touch the ground, and they have no leverage at all to take lead with the scene, or to get out of it.

With that note out of the way, this position can actually work as a scene option, in ways that the other three don't really manage to; the prop isn't the terrible obstruction here that it is for kneeling poses, and while there isn't any escaping the giver-dominant nature of the position, it's perfect for that if that is what you want. A raw, sexually focused scene is what will occur naturally here, and it's what the pose works best for, regardless of your partner sizes, but if this sequence is part of something that requires a little more intimacy or closeness and connection, you have a few options:

The smaller partner can still reach back to their partner – a hand on the hip can connect them to the rhythm of the scene and let them contribute, or guide it with the larger partner following their lead, if you want them to be the one directing the pace. Alternatively, they may be able to reach upward instead, to stroke their partner's chest, neck or cheek – eye contact is difficult, but manageable with a strong back arch and a twist, though actual kissing would take a fairly strenuous crunch from the giver as well, to achieve. The giving partner also has free reign to use their hands in ways that can convey the intended atmosphere of the scene – hair stroking, back rubs, and other gentle touches in sensitive or erotic places can all be used to counterbalance the roughness of the base pose.