I am sad that we have to tell people that putting additional illithid tadpoles in your brain is probably a bad idea. Then again we have instructions on packs of toothpicks.
I would choose to see this as an option for people who choose "power at any cost" - this is pure Lord Voldemort and Horcruxes. You gain power at the expense of yourself.
Remember, Astarion WANTS the tadpole but wants to control it because it "frees" him to some extent. So this is related to that.
What is incredible is that this is likely just a tiny part of the game that incorporates a path you can go down and its supports how much you want to descend into iniquity and self destruction.
Bravo!
I don't think people needed a warning to understand that tadpoles are bad in the EA, but now you see a whole screen and upgrade tree related to them and nothing that actually encurages you to ignore a system of the game that seems to be a large part of your potential character progression.
I won't use it myself, but at the same time it feels like by ignoring the tadpole and ignoring the murderhobbo background your character is basically just a spectator to witness other origin character's animations/storylines.
I agree with the idea mentioned that it could be by ignoring the tadpole you might end up with a larger party as less people leave you. Overall though it feels like Larian's main effort from the get go was to make the evil path the actually interesting way to play the game and they didn't really bother filling out the holes in gameplay and story you get for not going down that route. Or not playing the Larian characters.
