I have been reading this thread and have enjoyed the discussion immensely. I too did not trust Gale at first, because he seemed subtly manipulative. However, I did a play-through where I never used wisdom checks or charisma or tadpole on anyone in my crew to let their stories unfold a bit slower. Ie…to not force their stories from them with the power of my personality/rolls.
I found that playthru to be incredibly satisfying. First, I liked all my companions alot more. It seemed like we were all in the mess together. As an example , the slower unfolding of Gale’s story that came with just respecting his privacy? It was loads better and gave me a much deeper level of trust with him after his reveal. The vulnerability when he finally explains all his shadiness felt so much more genuine. I can’t recall the specifics now…but it did seem like the pacing was much better. His desire to keep his condition secret felt alot more justified.
He just came across as a rather lonely dude who screwed up alot in his foolish younger years and knows it now…and is just doing his best not to explode and make it all worse.
This approach made me view them all (my party) more as vulnerable flawed beings rather than outright deceivers (because I never “aha’d them, I guess). I enjoyed the playthru alot!
I think when the full game releases, I am going to play it once completely thru this way. Ie, a simple adventurer who does not push or wheedle for private info from my traveling companions. I’ll wait until they trust me (or…gulp…kill me) instead of trying to “game” them. Curious to see how that all plays out!
