Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Halsin Romance, Expectations and Obligatory Poly

He is more than that, but it is a part of him. And this thread is about his romance.
We can only make a compromise, it was introduced by the developers, Larian wanted to make room for minorities in BG 3, not with unimportant characters.

If you ask me, all companions should be open to everything, but it's not like that.

I guess there are many people who see our dear druid as an embodiment of some fetishes, so yes, for some he is his sexuality, nothing more. Or just a joke character.
To me and other people, his eternally kind heart, his care about others, and all what you said - this is what he truly is. I do understand Halsin is not real, but he, for sure, has deep impact on those who romanced him and his fans in general.
Can both opinions exist? Well, I think they can, because people are different. Just please, guys, don't fight.

Now, in my ultimate world: You're absolutely right. It would be awesome if everyone could be anything.

But some people prefer it differently and that's just preference.

I do think, that if we want Larian to implement changes and more content for Halsin, we need to try and get closer to a compromise for everyone.

Otherwise, if there is too much conflict it might result in Larian staying quiet and not do any changes, as they might find it too explosive to touch.


There is a solution, where we can keep Halsin's identity, keep his current content, but also allow for people to have a monogamous understanding with it.

If they do, as I described,but is up to your own headcannon to decide if your Tav and Halsin evolve into monogamy or in another direction entirely.

Let us support each other in getting a nuanced experience where both things are possible.

When someone says: I want monogamy
Then say: That would be a nice addition for the existing content, and can be added in a non specific way that allows for head cannons and more


When someone says: I want him to stay polyamorous
Then say: He should. We can keep the content that is there, and just add more possibilities

Wouldn't it be nice if we all had an option we could enjoy?

We are not going to get there if we bicker like this. And I am certain that we would all love more wholesome bear content.

(The sexual harrassment stuff and the dealing with his trauma needs to be revised, though. The harm it is doing to real victims of SA is another can of worms.)

That's exactly how I see it, your story was good, he isn't really changed and can still represent the minority like Larian intended and we get more content and a better ending. But if either or, then nothing happens.

Cowoline, I am fully agree with you. What we need are options, not drastic changes.
So, rethinking my first comment and taking into account your opinion, Halsin should stay polygamous as he is, as a part of wood elf lore, but options must be added for him to become more open to Tav who is monogamous, to make them have a compromise. Plus, his Underdark experience definitely should be either rewised or expanded.
I probably repeat myself and your thoughts too, but I just wanted to make a summary of what I read both in my head and here out loud.

Especially because Halsin defines himself as fluid:

Being relationship fluid means that you don't follow social norms just because, but you make choices that are right for you and your partner.

Example: you should be married before having children

An RA (like myself) might not even find marriage necessary, and might not prefer that.

But what we would do instead would be to evaluate the relationship on an ongoing basis instead, and make rules that fit us and not society.

So at this point and time Halsin says "you are all I want", and he means that. But he also knows that it might change. So when that changes they have an open discussion about it.

Some RA remain in a relationship with one person, but not because society dictates it, but because it is what feels right to them. And when that is no longer relevant, you talk and evaluate and find a compromise both are happy with.

RA is not the rejection of relationships - it is the rejection of the idea that societies norms should dictate what any relationship should look like.

It is the pursuit of keeping your relationships healthy and happy, and recognize that at different stages, different parts of a relationship or different relationships take priority over another.


Halsin's fundamental issue is in fact that he is too rigid to adhere to the lifestyle he is meant to represent.

For Halsin’s introduction, it probably depends on when you first played the game. If you played EA, he was introduced as a serious and kind character, who to me could help fill a lack of good companions (during EA, they said they only added the evil and neutral companions). If your first intro to Halsin was the bear sex scene, I guess his intro would be as a joke character.

Okay, so I am trying to see if we can get some attention brought to this in a more healthy way, but I can't do it without your support <3

https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=907260#Post907260

https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/16yv2g9/the_halsin_compromise/

Reddit is a horrible place to get any kind of serious discussion. Unless you're posting a meme your post will never see the light of day.

I know. I was recommend to post any concerns I had with the game by the Moderators as it is where the devs are... which explains a lot honestly. But that is also why I made a thread here and on the Larian Discord server.

Okay, not speaking as a moderator, but as a human being:
If you want your subjective opinions to be valued and to be discussed fairly by a community of equals, Reddit is not the place. The upvote-downvote system for both posts and comments stifles any attempt at fair discussion, and the Reddit culture is very smug.

[This is not the opinion of Larian or the moderation team. This is the strictly my own personal opinion.]

I've seen a 1-2 devs there a few times, but it is no different in value than the forum or the Discord, again, in my opinion. I am 99% certain that, based solely on the sheer size of this topic and its persistence across sites, relevant parties are likely as aware of this topic as they are of the JusticeForKarlach and JusticeForMinthara situations.

[Again, this is my personal opinion and personal assessment, and not the position of Larian or any other members of the moderation team.]

It's not a compromise for a monogram Tav, it's still your polygamous games. Still not too tasty-smelling bone from your lunch.


Exactly. When I spent hundreds of hours in the first actEA falling in love with a character, happy to find out that there will be romance in the game with him. And get the result that romance is not for me, romance is for those who even did not know the name of the character before the bear video. And then they try to convince us that it's just that we saw everything wrong.
To be honest, reading the cries about "oppressed" minorities here, I do not believe that something will be fixed for us.
In games are no longer cute comfortable romance. They are now used to represent the most exotic types of relationship

I am not against a monogamous Halsin romance - it is probably what i would play if it was a possibility. But I think you aiming for that is a high ask now that he ask been introduced as he has.

Being RA means that you can be polygamous or monogamous. I am monogamous RA. In Halsin's case this means that he will always evaluate the relationship. And that's a healthy thing. This compromise actually allows you to have a monogamous romance with him, where he accepts the choice, but also says that it is something you should leave open for discussion later on if needed.

The rest is your personal headcannon from there on. So, if in your head cannon they're so happy and content with just each other, then that is exactly what will happen in this type of relationship.

I don't trust any developer to "fix" what was intentionally a marketing ploy for inclusivity.

Hopefully modders can do Halsin justice in the future.

Sadly, this might very well be true

It's not the same, changing a character is different and I've only read so much about the topic here.
This is how Halsin was made and promoted, your suggestion is not bad, but it would be no loss for Larian.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're trying to say. It's like you think it's good and bad at the same time?

No, I don't think it's bad, but does Larian do something like that? No idea.

Laras, I understand you and I kind of feel the same way. I'm not really agree with the "minority" thing since polygamy/polyamory is in wood elfves' lore (not 100% of their population are polygamous but they accept this way of relationships) and Halsin is a wood elf.
You can read my ideas (page 32), but as I said above, I like Cowoline ideas too: Halsin may remain poly but he can have some special bond with Tav and agree to be only with them. He even says that in the game, but he also wants Tav to be happy and feels ok if Tav will have someone else beside him. The core problem is some of his lines are messed up: he may say "You are all I want", but at the same time "Our bond is fluid and I act as nature calls (or something like that)", like he cannot decide what exactly he wants, like he has a split personality. Maybe those lines were not properly composed, maybe they were written with some time gap, maybe there was no strick idea for what Halsin may want from relationships (yes, I also don't really like that he has problems with this term). He is very very sweet character with, unfortunately, messed up dialogue system. I love him, people in this topic love him, but yeah, there are problems.

He says he's like a bear and they're actually not tied and he doesn't want to be tied to Tav, he says a lot and faithful isn't a thing for him, otherwise he would be mono.