In general, I don't like how patronising the player dialogue gets when talking about power. In Gale's case, when you discuss his plans of not-quite-godhood with him two of the options are something along the lines of "I love you for the man you are are, not the god you'd pretend to be" and the usual "power corrupts" both feel very moralising to me (the "pretend" is bothering me in the first one). At this point the characters have had enough brushes with the gods to give you a multitude of arguments against Gale's plan. I would have loved real arguments based on previous experiences, as they would have helped to show your connection through the experiences you shared. A discussion based on reasonable arguments would also feel more suitable to convince an INT-based character like Gale.
There are also a few moments in which I'd like an option to take his side or at least talk to him afterwards. There is this moment you can get with Lorroakan on the no-godhood path, which makes it pretty clear that Gale's Folly has also made him a bit of a laughing stock in the academic community. This was previously only hinted at at best (It certainly puts a new light on his year in solitude.) and it's a topic worth a discussion, if only to check if he is alright after the scene.
I've actually done a bunch of analysis on this lol, and it's something I find insanely interesting! I do think talking Gale down from godhood is the right call myself, but not because godhood would be an immoral choice. What Mystra is doing is unconscionable imo and a mortal would be totally within bounds to unseat her for it. It's not a matter of Gale being less in any way either. I just think godhood would be personally, psychologically bad for him. (Plus what happened to Karsus is I-have-no-mouth-and-I-must-scream material that just isn't worth it lol.)
I figure Gale buries his self-esteem issues under stuff. Magic, wealth, education, etc. If you strip those things away and leave him as just a person he does not see anything of value there. He uses other things to try and create lifelines for when he thinks his existence has nothing to offer by itself and the world would be better off without him. 'I might be a worthless person but at least I'm smart. At least I'm powerful. At least I'm influential.' The root of the problem is that he thinks he's worthless. He's never been worthless. With god!Gale, he buries that insecurity under so much stuff that he'll be hard-pressed to address it in any meaningful way again. He'll never know for sure whether a romanced player chose to be with him because they believed he could ascend to godhood--giving them perks from such a powerful partner. He'll never know if anyone likes him as a person instead of the stuff he's accumulated. Alternate readings are totally possible ofc, but that's mine.
So I don't personally mind the 'god you pretend to be' line because I figure it speaks more to Gale trying to bury himself under whatever qualities, skills, achievements, or possessions he finds impressive. I interpret it as 'you don't need stuff to impress me'. I'm also in what's probably a weird minority position where I don't think Gale is ambitious for its own sake so much as he uses ambition as a crutch against his mental health issues. Characters who try to bend and expand what magic is capable of achieving purely because they love the challenge of it I'd say are more fitting there. Even characters who get joy from competing with one another would qualify imo. But ambition itself doesn't strike me as Gale's end goal. Think the guy just wants to know he's not replaceable and is worth caring about as a person. Way more mundane desire but Gale's depressed and traumatized so it seems unattainable to him. If he gives up on being cared about, he'll put all of his efforts into being irreplaceable through unrivaled ability. Means to an end does not true ambition make imo.
Also though, YEAH SAME ON THE LORROAKAN SCENE. I'm kind of grossed out but not surprised Mystra spread word of that the way she did too. Not because she's caricature evil or anything, I think she has complexes tied to the Karsus incident and subsequent deaths so she's doing her best to control wizards. She'd want to discourage similar activity, so what better way than to make an example of Gale? Still abusive as hell though.
And with bragging, I didn't figure him mentioning Tara and the mephit were part of that tbh. The yawning portal story might have qualified a bit where anecdotes are concerned but it also read to me like he was so impressed by the player that he wanted to impress back. Wasn't offended, just seemed a little awkward on his end in a realistic way. Also makes sense to me that the stories he tells are ones where he's trying to make himself look good. Especially early on, he's afraid the group will abandon him somewhere to explode if he isn't seen as bringing something of value to the table. Since dude's depressed + brought down to level one, he doesn't see himself as bringing much to the table except burdens and added threats. Guy's desperately trying to compensate.
