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

So much for over-the-table. While we've got the sacrificial alter here, however, let's look briefly at on-the-table too.

This is the situation where your giving partner stays standing, while your receiver lies back, using the conveniently sized sacrificial altar as a support to help make things work. The pose only really works if the sacrificial altar in question is roughly the height of your giving partner's groin – conveniently, for creating scenes that use this pose, it always is, more or less – however do bear the consideration in mind. If you're using a prop that you've previously established the proportions of in the external world or otherwise, and it's not right, then find another prop or pick a different pose – folks will notice a miss-fit or a scale change hacked in for the sake of the scene, and it will not look good.



Unsurprisingly a lot about this pose variant has the same considerations that missionary poses have, and I won't go over all of that again – however, there are a few key points that are easy to miss or not realise.

By the nature of the position, it looks a lot like a missionary pose from the waist up, but it has an inherently more upright nature, for the giving partner – pressing in close and lying down for full contact can and will usually be awkward and won't translate well; it may not look like it at first, but kissing (face to face) is actually a lot harder in this pose than an actual lying down one and, in general, making the giving partner bend down at almost right angles won't end up looking or feeling good for the scene choreography either – the pose pictured is about as far as your giver will really want to lean forward, and still have the position come out well.

The tone and pace of this pose is very versatile, much like missionary poses can be, though it leans more towards the physical-erotic than it does the intimate-romantic side of the scale. More-so than most positions, what the receiver does with their legs will have a major impact on the tone of the scene, and the pace that it naturally suggests, and changing the leg positioning drastically changes the way the scene is likely to look and feel, and the tone it naturally leans into:



For smaller partners, this position goes to both extremes: it will need only very minor adjustments and extra considerations if the receiver is the smaller one, as it translates across reasonably well with the difficulties posed by the smaller character's size being mostly nullified by the table prop, and the considerations that remain being the same as those mentioned for other face-to-face positions. On the other hand...



Working with a smaller giving partner is basically a non-started here. It simply cannot work regardless of what you do to adapt this position: if you bring the larger partner down, then you're back at one of the other 'simple' positions, and have removed the prop entirely. Similarly, if the small giver jumps up, then you are effectively just using one of the other 'simple' poses as well, as though you were on flat ground. In the case of a small giver, the scene simply becomes a different pose, whether it is on the table prop, or beside it – make sure to pick a position that matches the tone and pace that the original scene was aiming for.

For a small-sized receiver, there isn't too much that needs to be noted – as with other similar poses, make sure to pay attention to how much further the smaller partner needs to stretch their knees and thighs to accommodate the larger partner and make the same or similar positions compared to a same-sized participant.

While the pose is heavily geared towards being giver-dominant and letting them control the pace of the scene, the receiver can contribute to, or guide, the pace and rhythm of motion in this position as long as they have something to push and pull against (and as long as the giver co-operates, of course) – the more giver-upright inclination of the pose makes guiding through contact with their partner impractical.



A small-sized receiver can more easily put their heels up on the edge of the prop near their behind in this position than they could for other poses that more invite the giver to move above them; this gives them a solid anchor to press against, and also allows them to effectively control the depth of penetration. Motion derives from the feet through to the rest of the body to create the horizontal motion, but only insofar as pushing away – they'll need something to push against as well, for this to make sense. Reaching back to grip the far side of the prop can supply this, but whether you do this supply something else for them to grab onto, the point to bear in mind is that the smaller-sized receiver will have a much shorter range of reach – if the far side of the prop is too far, and there's nothing else for them to press against properly, this will limit their ability to direct the scene.