Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback The Problematic "Friends" Spell: The Number One Annoyance from my Last Two Playthroughs

...What are you asking, exactly?
I can't honestly tell how what I said relates to what you answered.

Eh, not asking. Just wondering about viable means of responding for NPCs based on a given circumstance.

-I said something about not wanting to limit enchantment spells and their consequences.
-You said that the problem isn't the existence of the spells and their consequences, but how those consequences should manifest.
-I imagined four contexts for NPC responses as a manifestation of consequences. But I think it can just be a "mild" response, a "negative" response that is not hostile, and a "hostile" response that requires a roll or starts combat.

That's on me for using question marks to denote suggestions rather than questions.

To add, the way consequences currently manifest are not bad universally in my opinion, but there is only one way that NPCs respond. So it makes sense for the response we have to occur in some circumstances, but context needs to matter. The best way to address the context is through a typology of:
-A situation where the NPC recognizes the spell was for good or not a big deal.
-A situation where the NPC is mad that the spell occurred but otherwise does not or cannot do anything about it.
-A situation where the NPC is mad and will become hostile if not talked down or managed.

I would also add that these situations should ideally only proc if the target notices the spell was used on them. I would personally change how the spell works a bit. First, shorten the duration from 10 turns to 1 or 2 (no more teleporting away to avoid consequences),add the casters intelligence (wizard, arcane trickster version) or charisma (sorcerer, warlock version) modifier to the spell. Make it so that when spell is cast or when it ends, as it may be hard to transition out of a running dialogue scene, the target must make a Wisdom or intelligence Save to see if they notice the spell was cast on them. If they succeed the roll consequences unfold, if they fail all is good no confrontation.

I was gonna make a post on this, but glad to see I'm not alone. I agree with some traditionalists that having no repercussions would make this a game breaking spell. In the multiple runs ive done with Friends it seemingly never failed the Charisma check. It was also annoying when you dont realize why the game is feeling bugged like why is everyone so hostile and having a whole faction at times attack you for just having the friends spell active not even if that you casted on them. Lot of reloading which was not fun. I think the simplest solution is to make friends either less of an attitude drop that leads to violence straight away. Maybe if you get "caught" only have it be the recepient who can confront you and the game gives you a good 10 seconds to get out and dodge, so ideally not to be used on re-curring npcs/factions or companions and if youre gonna use it, use it when you really need to ala "Illithid Powers"

I like the idea of this, I think considering we have a release date the game is probably finished or closed, and we're looking at months of fine tuning im not sure if they want to add more to the game in terms of how it process rolls and ends up in silent dialogue. I think lowering the duration and modifying how quickly it escalates to full on fights is good.