nobody in this forum would tolerate in any other high-profile big-budget RPG. But of course Larian gets a pass on it.
A) That's some needlessly judgmental and condescending assumption about fellow forum members. Again, to you (because I've seen you making this type of judgments before), different perspective on things doesn't mean we support 100% everything Larian does or that we would treat any other company differently. I have no allegiance to Larian. What is considered acceptable or not depends from one person to another.
B) That's overlooking the nuances brought by the replies of this threads.
That's all I'll say on that.
I can only agree with that.
And back to topic:
In general, I am also okay to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story, but I wouldn't mind some small changes to make the secrets a bit more convincing.
ShadowheartAnd don't give me, "It'd take way too many permutations and deviations in script to do this." Nope. Check made. Success. "You recognize the symbols as that of Shar, Goddess of Darkness and Forgetfulness." Lore item added to your Compendium providing details about Shar.
Single new option provided. "Are you a Sharran?"
Shadowheart responds. "No. I found this armor in an old temple." Insight check. Failure means nothing else happens. Success means, "You can tell she's lying."
Options: 1. Call her on it. 2. Let it go (ends dialogue path).
If you call her on it, she gets indignant. "Fine. Yes. I'm a Sharran. Is that going to end our relationship?" You decide whether it is yes or no. Situation ended. Not thousands of dialogue paths or permutations. And, if you DO know she's a Sharran, none of the "OMG, you're a Sharran," dialogues occur later. You just skip them. If your character doesn't know, they occur.
I'd like that, that sounds like a very good idea, if this is her final armour design
Personally, I would have preferred if her armour would be a little less reminiscent of Shar's religious symbols.
To be fair, if this has not changed, Shar's symbol is a black disk with a purple border - very close to Shadowheart's armour design, but not exactly the same. But due to the heavy use of onyx, her armour and circlet make me think immediately of Shar, too. The symbol on her chest looks a bit similar to that of Lathander, so maybe the Sharrans at least tried to make it a little bit less obvious
AstarionI think he should really try to hide the bite marks a little bit better
If the ruffles of his shirt would be just a little bit higher, we would not notice them. Before being abducted, he would have been most likely in Baldur's Gate to ... bring someone home for dinner for Cazador, and I don't think he would have been very successful if his victims would notice bite marks on his neck, no matter how charming he would be.
The fact that he is quite pale and has red eyes would not be suspicious to me, I think albinism could also exist in the Forgotten Realms, and my Tav with the "Moon 1" skintone is paler than he is. The fangs may not be
that obvious when he talks, but they can be noticed, so all in all, I would like it if our Tav could make a check.
(By the way, does anybody know if vampires in D&D
can eat normal food? If not, this would also be a bit suspicious)
WarlocksAnd while we’re throwing shade on our companions’ not-so-secret secrets, you’d think any character with any skill in Arcana would notice that Wyll is making use of powers that typically come with Warlocks.
I think so, too.
