Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Tav and Dark Urge

See? That's precisely what I'm talking about: "You can become a hero. Swen confirmed it", but Swen didn't make particularly clear that no matter what, you'll be a "hero" (and I can't help but wonder if he's not misusing the word, by the way) that from time to time will maim people without the ability to stop.

The wording seems to suggest that no matter what you will make the ultimate decision on each of your actions, when people who tried it already clarified that this is NOT the case.

Small miniature stories based on your background selection similar to Mass Effect 1 or DA:O.

I guess we are back at the point were we discussed that the resources put into making the companion's origins should have been put into making more meaningful backgrounds for Tav - we see it in the Durge example, but maybe not so repetitive and utterly constrained as we see with the remaining current set.

I'd like to think of it like a story with a very similar plot, but different approaches. e.g. Misery vs Texas Chainsaw Masacre. Both dark stories of kidnapping and torture, but very different in tone and sheer amounts of carnage.

I would suggest something unique tying to the current main story. Like, by picking Tav something happens in say, the tutorial level that kicks off a storyline available only to Tav. Something that doesn't have to do with our past, but is still an experience unique to our custom character. Also, getting the chance to talk more about our past at least in broad strokes, and our feelings about the current situation. We have one or two chances to do that, but not many. Oh, and perhaps we get chances for the game to resct and insert things based on those choices. Like if we say the elfsong tavern was our local, then we get someone who knows us at the tavern when we get there.

I don't want to lose out on the flexibility we have with Tav either, but I also don't like feeling as though I'm playing the version of the game that got the least care and attention and like I'm playing a character that is the lowest priority of the game and game world.

I am still hopeful this may exist. Like at least a couple interactions with characters that recognize you. e.g. A fence that gives you a discount if you are a criminal he knew, or a retainer that recognizes you as a minor noble in court.

Just give it something unique that can be only it's own. Like maybe this whole Guardian thing could just be something TAV has (pretty much what I thought would be a thing before more was revealed). No need to give it to Urge because it already has the Gobbo whispering to them. In fact maybe limit certain things some other classes can do to TAV. Maybe make Paladin as a class available only to TAV because if TDU has amnesia then how would they remember making an Oath? And maybe Cleric too because again, amnesia, how can you even know a name of a God you are to worship? And maybe only TAV being able to speak with their patron as a Warlock or maybe as Dark Urge your patron acting differently because of the Gobbo while TAV has different relationship with them as well. Basically give the most options in terms of classes and what you can do to TAV (maybe even making the Tadpole powerups also only a TAV thing because Origin characters by virtue of being already written wouldn't be stupid enough to shove more of those in, maybe aside from Urge, but Gobbo I think wouldn't like that either) while Dark Urge and Origins are more limited in this way due to their personal issues.

If you play a warlock Dark Urge...

And the Dark Urge turns into Bhaal...

Does that mean there's a devil somewhere that owns Bhaal's soul?

*

Just a hypothetical, of course, because we won't know the full story of the Dark Urge until many hours after release.

Hmm, I'd be all for additional options for Tav, but am much less sure about accomplishing that by restricting options for other characters, and especially the DU, who seems to have been introduced specifically for people who wanted the freedom to create their own character when it came to race, class, etc but still have the game tell them a strong story for that character. While I wasn't particularly in that camp, anything that would undermine the DU's ability to fill that role for the people who are would get a no vote from me.

I would totally be in favour of more optional ways to connect our Tavs to the world by giving us some more options to set where they're from and what factions they belong to, and therefore potentially have NPCs in the world who recognise them so have some different dialogue (eg as a druid, I'd love to be able to specify I'm either from or at least have visited the Emerald Grove, and therefore have people there respond somewhat differently).

Even if we don't get this level of reactivity, I am hoping that by leaning into race and class, playing Tav would still be fulfilling. I'm guessing that those will be far more important for Tav than for other characters who have other stories to define them (and will likely have other character-specific dialogue options to pick competing with the race/class ones). I'll have to see in practice how well it actually works in the game or whether it still feels like something is missing. It could go either way for me based on what I know so far.

I once read a hilarious post about Dark Urge GOO Warlock as a bus driver. Dark Urge is a driver, their life is a bridge they ride over, on the bus there are tadpoles in the seats and Gobbo is strapped to the front of the bus that now went off the bridge and dives into the abyss that is your patron Great Old One. The risk they all took was calculated and they all failed their math classes.

Yes this is exactly it for me too. I want all that flexibility the custom PC provides, but I hate the idea that among the, now, three ways the player can play the game, as one of the origins, as the DU, and as custom Tav, custom Tav is for Larian the throw-away option that will be by design the least satisfying, when it should be the most satisfying way to play the game.

If Durge IS Bhaal and a cleric of Bhaal, can you be your own patron??

I think that there are paths and endings that none of the Origins including the Urge are going to be able to achieve and will belong solely to Tav. E.g. None of the Origins will have the motivation to become the Arch Duke, but that is a very real possibility for a Tav.

Your definition of hero is too narrow is the problem.

If you wipe out The Absolute from a desire for vengeance on those that enslaved you then you improve the world. It doesn't matter that it was a bloody path or that a lot of extra people got killed that didn't need to. The world is improved and baldur's gate is saved.


DU is almost certainly an Avatar or Incarnation of Bhaal but not Bhaal itself.

So, are we 100% confirmed that there are certain atrocities that your DU commits in-game that you CANNOT avoid no matter what you choose?

Not that I disagree with the general net positive sentiment, but does that mean Stalin is a hero because he helped defeat Hitler, even if a lot of extra people got killed?

?

Um.

I don't...

What, um...

What does that mean?

The Dark Urge is ... an avatar or incarnation ... but not the thing that it's an incarnation of?

I don't understand. Are incarnations different from the thing that is incarnated?

I think Tav was always meant to be TDU but they ended up mading TDU extra dark so they ended up having Tav and TDU as 2 separate origins for the people that don't want to be dragged into the more disturbing parts of the origin, that's why Tav is just TDU without the extra content.

Yes.
It is explained on the forgotten realms wiki.
God, then Avatar walks the Earth as weaker version, then incarnation a weaker version of that.

Yeah, you wake up next to a dead body that you very obviously killed while you were 'sleeping'.