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

Pretty much!! Lol

He's pretty much the kind of guy who wants control of the situation, his way or no way, which is pretty evident when the player breaks off the "relationship". He's a little too hurt by it to really fit the casual sex thing. Even by the end when he technically breaks it off with the player to go of with the kids, if we're to answer "nah, I have better things to do", he's like standing there with puppy eyes feeling sorry for himself, as if breaking it off actually hurt him despite him doing it first, really.

Ugh, if he could at least be casually cool with it. Everything really paints him more and more as a sad and pathetic figure, I don't even want to know more.

It's like they took every single one of my icks and inserted them all into one character.

Some people are trying to find logic in Halsin's actions and, unfortunately, it leads to such unpleadant conclusions.
I prefer not to do so since I (and many other people) see no logic at all, just poor writing. He is a very nice character, loved by many, who got stuck in a nightmare because of some questionable decisions.

Halsin has one good thing going on for him: if he gets abducted by you know who, then everybody survives, unlike when the three other options get abducted. Found this out yesterday and was happy, that both, the girl and the cat, were happy and healthy. And Scratch too - the abduction scene for Halsin is quite dramatic in that regard, but don't worry, our bestest boi is fine. Plus, the Halsin fans can get him back unscathed and the people, who don't want him in camp can just 'botch' the persuasion role later. I think, that will be my go to solution in good playthroughs from now on.

I somehow keep refusing to see any of it as if it's actually who Hasin is, I mostly feel bad for the way they ended up portraying him. Feel sorry for Halsin. You know how reality shows tend to cut up the footage and paste it back into the final product in ways that shows things out of context and order just to get views and engagement. To me that's what they did here.

I feel the same way. We got an entirely different Halsin.

According to Papercut_Ninja, on the SH thread:

"As much as you can find this inconsistent with the character, that's just what it is, something you feel plays out wrong in your story."

I guess the same could be said of Halsin.

I was under the impression we had an alliance, but I guess some ppl didn't get that memo.

So after mulling it over some more and hanging out in the SH thread I wanted to say a little more on what they could do to fix this, something more coherent and less emotional. Its more rehashing yea but I felt the need to say it anyway.

They should really have kept all the poly stuff locked behind dialogue that Tav initiates. Tav has the option to express poly relationships even in act 2, so the whole thing should have been focused on player input rather than companion characterization anyway.

In regards to Halsin, while having a conversation with him about mono isnt bad...it feels yucky. I dont want to ask, beg, pressure, or manipulate him. I want him to want to be mono with me. I dont want to maniplulate him the way we feel he manipulated us.

The only time Halsin or any of the companions should be open to a polyship, is if Tav suggests it. If Tav solo romances him, or breaks it off with whoever they are romancing to be with him, that should be the end of it. So when you ask for the status of the relationship, unless you are already playing poly, he shouldnt talk about fluidity and stuff like that, as its no longer part of his character and is off the table. He should not be saying monogamy isnt for him. If Tav decides to reopen the relationship, fine. But if Tav hasnt explicitly said anything about going poly, the default should be mono. This makes sense narratively as he says "I only want you" and gives the player complete agency and control which is the main issue for this character.

If it shouldn't be about companion characterization then make all the companions open to polyamory then.

And not just with Halsin, but each other too.

They made all of the companions playersexual, so doing the same with their relationship preference makes sense. Plus it keeps things fair across the board.

Exactly. Tav suggesting it would open up the route for sure, that would then flag the companions to show interest in eachother. Otherwise it should be as all the companiona already are, playersexual and wanting only Tav. When Tav says otherwise thats when the change can occur.

That'd work so long as it makes sense. The problem in the current situation is that the only time that would work out is if they take away all their autonomy and turn them into exactly what you didn't want which is you 'bullying' them into something they are not.

They sometimes show their preferences in partners but fall in love with the player character despite your character possibly not fitting the description, e.g. Lae'zel seems to like strong types that can deal with her but you could be a simple halfling Bard and get absolutely destroyed in the duel. But this is explained throughout their romance story. You're not pushing them to liking you, they just do.

They also have preferences when it comes to number of partners, as right now they're all written mono until the random 180 in the case of Halsin, Shadowheart and Astarion (with Halsin having no option to not turn 180, which is really bad). However, changing them away from that can logically only work right now by having them say "I'm okay with whatever you want" removing all their autonomy because you're essentially asking them to change their preferences for you.

That said, it could actually work out fine if you get to pop that question before they mention their preferences, and they accept thus never implying they'd prefer otherwise. Then ignorance will have to be bliss and it doesn't feel as forced by the player.

This is probably the easiest and most fair route tbh. Plus it puts player agency back in our hands. I can definitely get on board with this.

In my opinion, player agency should come before like anything else. Nothing is more annoying when you're forced to take a backseat in your own story. They say we have player choice, then prove it.

The best part about this is that everything can play out as it does now, as long as you do not bring up a polyship. You can still romance more than one person at a time without triggering them all to flirt with eachother. As lomg as the player cam open/close the idea at will it shouldnt be a huge issue.

Seems to me the people who do wanna play poly dont care about this anyway. And as long as Tav doesnt initiate poly it wouldnt change anything.

Yeah if people don't mind being the pushy type then it's fine indeed. It doesn't need much more of a justification than them saying "I love you enough to be okay with it, even if I'd prefer otherwise". I think that's what Karlach does already? I just know some, like you, would probably prefer it differently.

I just wanted a normal romance with Halsin like you would get with any of the other companions.

Oh it doesn't necessarily make sense narratively, but then neither does what we have now. Mine as well just give the player more choice then.

I'm still of the opinion that it could've just started after Thaniel's saved and you've convinced Oliver to join up, and be like any other companion. It really didn't have to get more complicated than that. And if they wanted poly to be part of it, they could've made that part of his romance story in act 3, and something the player chooses and he agrees with. Doesn't even have to include any other companions because it doesn't make sense for them as it stands, and it's not like you have to actively fuck around to be part of a poly relationship, the implication of it being poly is enough.

They only made him poly because they wanted to do the scenes with the bear and Astarion. Thats it. I dont like the concept at all. I would prefer they just drop the whole thing but that isnt gonna happen.

I am very upsetti