Enjoying the romantic roleplay with him quite a lot and the playfulness of the relationship; especially the teasing between the two, they're so fun. A sanguine couple fated to get married (after all she was sent by Mephistopheles himself to him on an infernal pact mission that plays directly into his lore). The only issue I have with this playthrough is roleplaying the evil ending once I get to it, since I can't go for Dark Urge's unique ending (which sucks Bhaals!) so will have to go for generic ones instead to become Bane's Chosen.
I also think Larian missed the mark regarding the evil endings by not giving us the option to let Astarion/MInthara dominate the Absolute instead and thus have us rule by their side (like we can with the Emperor, but alas this is feedback I'll be making eventually).You have a very beautiful couple! And with a unique backstory... (I love dressing characters alike too, there's a special beauty in emphasizing the unity of the couple). About the endings - it's a pain to literally “slaughter” (as the DU their LI) the possibility of choice, reducing the character's roleplay to only one-single option, in which the DU decides to reject his father one way or another. With the Emperor, by the way, we got a very interesting and in its own way beautifully tragic ending (when Tav looks at the Emperor taking on the guise of the Guardian at the end). It can certainly be beautiful for a story in which Tav has some sort of feelings for the Guardian that don't go away, even when they learn of his true appearance. That said, the real romances with Astarion and Minthara and the evil DU have been “put under the knife”, which is very sad.
I leave the camp to see what happened in the grove. Minthy has taken over the grove without resistance and I should talk to her. This then starts the goblin party. Halsin is still standing in the camp and acts as if everything is fine, it doesn't bother him, he doesn't seem to notice that the grove has been wiped out and goblins are having a party there for that reason and Minthy is also standing in the camp. Astarion is also bugged, it is not possible for me to trigger a night together with him here.
Now that's certainly very funny. I didn't even think it was possible to bring the game to this kind of thing.
It's a shame that the night with Astarion turned out to be buggy, though it could also have been buggy further on anyway, since both Halsin and Minthara thought you had completed their quest. Halsin, of course, was clearly in way over his head on this one, and there's no telling how that would have affected further progression.
I swear Gandrel revived somehow and started cutting onions... Was not AT ALL expecting such an emotionally heavy scene for merely suggesting we could use Oblodra's potion, caught me completely off guard how something so meaningless from my perspective weighed so heavily from his. Feeling like I just emotionally got ran over by a freight train... it's over, am just a side character in his story now, he can have the entire world and more
Yes, you hit the mark with your description of the emotional feeling of that scene when it first happens in the game. It really has the power to be taken by surprise, and what initially seemed like just one random scene, overnight leads to such a heartbreaking confession. Only the very vulnerable look on Astarion's face in the frame while talking to Oblodra can sort of hint at something. But the first time, I wrote it off simply to Oblodra's offensive behavior and her attitude towards Astarion, and was angry that I didn't have the opportunity to behave with her in any way harsher than the overly polite rejection the game provides. Astarion didn't even tell me why he didn't want to bite her, because I didn't ask that question, I was immediately angry and only wanted a reason to fight with the drow, and when everything ended with a simple walk away, I somewhat forgot about the incident, because a lot of other things happened that day before the long rest. And my surprise when he suddenly began to thank me in such a tone, completely uncharacteristic for him, was no less than my character's, and my first rejoinder - asking what he was thanking me for - was more than appropriate. And then, of course, that scene just turns my soul upside down. In general, the romance with Astarion is characterized by the suddenness of the scenes, which strongly hooks and gives a special feeling during the first playthrough. The invitation to a date and the following scene of the First night becomes very sudden when playing a good character (well, or that's what I thought, that I had a good character, Gandrel was killed after all, of course, and I gave the “evil” book to Astarion without questions, but with joy that “My God, at least I can give you something, maybe you'll grumble less...”), but nevertheless when the flood of disapproval and unhappy muttering only after the bite scene turns into a more or less normal attitude, and then he suddenly... And the act 2 scene is of course a very special sentiment. You can also get a confession after killing Orton Jugrir, if you skip the blood merchant before that, the confession will be different.
Heheh yup I also love that he is self-aware about the fact he exclusively keeps sending Durge to only kill
girls who are into other girls Haha, now that's an interesting point...
...Sceleritas hides behind a pile of bones and skulls and shouts "I would still be for Gortash"...
*Under the table... Yes, this is a particularly wonderful shot...
Oh my ... Dick Urge ... I will vote for it. lol ... "Have you seen the little D...?" "He said he wanted to go out and play."
I would definitely roleplay a character with a cowboy vibe, with a sort of western flavor, and he would introduce himself to everyone as “Dick. Big D... Big D... Urge.” Lying on the grass in camp, chewing tobacco, and snorting at all his companions, who were fretting about everything: “ Ceremorphosis, tadpoles, illithids... Ha! There's not a problem Big D... can't solve!” And to reply to Ulma upon meeting her after the ritual, “Why does Ast need your morality, Grandma? He's got Big D... (*proudly pounding his chest with his fist)!”
And that is destiny fulfilled That's a beautiful shot! <3
But I think he got his revenge:
(If I had to see him in an Orin wig, you do too xD)
Oh, awesome!
If we could look into Astarion's pockets we would find the following note:
What beautiful handwriting...
I played my evil DU, organically rejecting Bhaal for herself and taking the power of the Absolute. From the beginning, her NE alignment was not based on Bhaal's influence, but on her lack of values. Values of the world around her as such, contempt for all gods, a penchant for black humor (it's always funnier to tell kids they're all going to die, especially since that's the only thing that's true, they're going to die someday, all of them, anyway). There's definitely some expressiveness passed down from Bhaal, though, and the occasional flaring desire to kill. Sudden acts of kindness, especially to animals ( petting Scratch and the baby owlbear), were combined with a cynical sneering approach to all moralists (like Wyll and Karlach), Minsc was took in purely to the point of trolling him (generally good companions had a hard time), and a cold calculating nature (doing quests based on the calculation of possible gain).
The taste for life was accidentally awakened the moment the white-haired elf with ruby eyes put a dagger to her throat and felled her to the ground. This was... Unexpectedly interesting. It was necessary to fake at least a somewhat worried expression on her face, and an imitation of a struggle, so as not to frighten the stranger with a smile out of place. Astarion, with his liveliness, emotionality and pouty expression (when he hides his fangs, he has such a pouty expression), became a nice decoration of this strange story with tadpoles. His nocturnal forays, his red eyes, the boar, drank to the last drop of blood, it will be fun to catch him red-handed someday, he is so skillful at hiding something, just adorable... When she opened her eyes and saw the mouth with the cute little fangs above her, she would have liked to make a joke in response to his “Shit...” remark, like, you shouldn't be so negative about something you haven't even tasted yet, but... There was a vulnerable, confused expression on his face that she hadn't expected from a guy who was always so sharp-tongued. The bite had been the first moment of intimacy, the first time she'd wanted to share blood with him, because it was so important to him, to give him her blood, and relax... Relax until she woke up with the help from Wither. And almost immediately, the first night, and the bite again, her fingers fingering the scars on his back. And the dawn when she saw the scars for herself, and the way that Astarion had put his face to the sunlight, the way his slender fingers trembled. The companions dreaming of getting rid of the tadpole would be very sad if they knew her thoughts at that moment, because from now on she would sabotage any suggestions to get rid of the tadpole until she killed Cazador and found another way, other than the tadpole, to give Astarion back everything that had been taken from him. She attempted to awkwardly care and show affection only to Astarion, and regularly slipped fruit and cookies into his backpack while he couldn't see. She envisioned in advance how she would slowly skin the Cazador (maybe start with a thin strip under his lower eyelid, and make the bastard cry bloody tears?). After the confession, she wished she could take any power she could just to cover Astarion with it like a cloak from the whole world. But it soon became clear that he himself could take the power, he spoke of it with such eagerness, and wanted to be her protector himself. Her hatred for Bhaal came from the moment Daddy almost made her kill her beloved, and she really wanted to kill Daddy himself after that, and was determined to find a way to get rid of any 'parental influence' at all costs. Thoughts of it being rather fun to be a possible instrument for the destruction of the world (after all, a front row seat with a chance to watch it all burn down) were replaced by an aggressive reluctance to be a tool for any brazen deity, no matter how evil. Ascension was truly a beautiful moment, watching Astarion be born again, watching him blossom with life and true power. And she could forget everything and be a little girl in his arms, “my treasure” and “my little love”. And when the time came to decide, she hesitated, because she wanted so much to stop the war, to continue her life with the one she loved, to live in the castle, falling asleep and waking up in each other's arms, walking through the sunny city, holding hands and intertwining fingers... But... The world is not so good, the world contains many dormant threats. She remembered the words of Wyll, Karlach, Jaheira... Not how much their words specifically, it's not hard to kill some, but others will come. There are many. They see him as a monster. They will come. It must be prevented, they must die. Astarion must become even stronger. So she kills Karlach-illithid and becomes the Absolute. To gather armies, as the The Dead Three wanted, and do with that army what she wants. To kill a god, and take their orb, and give that orb to her beloved. So that no one else can harm him. And the passionate kiss of two lovers, and a city destroyed and subdued to their will. “For I will take whatever power I can get to cover you with it, like a cloak, against the whole world...”
Overall, I liked it, if you add some fantasy and a pinch of headcanons, you can play a dark romance with gusto, despite the fact that you can't have both romance and Bhaal on the same plate.