Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Memorable side characters

The last time I can remember minor characters getting such good treatment in a video game (and to be fair this depends on what I've actually played) was in a critically-acclaimed story-based fantasy RPG that was the third in the series, developed by a European studio based on licensed IP. I'm currently playing The Witcher 1, and a scene where I had to follow an elderly druid as he walked very slowly to the destination, made me remember The Witcher 3 where there's a famous scene where you walk with the Bloody Baron to the site of his child's grave, and he and Geralt talk in detail about his story, and the lore of the monster you're trying to defeat. I wanted to link a video I'd seen a while back talking about this scene, but I can't find it now.

I think for me it is Vampire teh Masquerade Bloodelines - there were so many memorable sidecharacters there too.

I think VTMB is even better in this sense- Because every time I play I explore every single dialogue option there is for everyone, I'm just so invested in what they have to say and tell me about that world. I can't say that for all BG3 NPCs, or even companions.

I haven't thought about VTMB for years, except for the sequel which I thought had been cancelled. Great, both of those are going to have to be added to my already overloaded play queue...

The sequel seems not to be cancelled, I saw some stuff recently, but I don't expect much from it tbh. And last, I heard, the more interesting clans will be behind a paywall.

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines I play at least once a year, because the characters are so spot on.

But I think,BG3 are in the same category. I love the first two games, but I have some gripes with a few characters, especially Anomen.

I think a small side quest toether with Nine Finger's bodyguard would have been interesting. You can now have a short greeting with each when you walk around the hideout , fight alongside them against the Zhentarim and summon two to fight with you in the end game. But I would be interested in more dialogue possibilities to find out more about them, and have them agree on a name for you. All the Ladies have a "common" name for an infectuous disease, so I 'm curious where that comes from. (Lady Croup = Dyphteria, Lady Lockjaw = Tetanos, Lady Flux = dysentery, Lady Ague = general term for "shivering" feverish diseases, like malaria, and Lady Quinsey = absess of the throat.
I would love to learn their backstory.

Hey, guys. For the next game in a row, I've had a one druid on my mind. But not the one that first comes to mind and suggests looking at wooden ducks, but another one.
In the third act, outside the house where the Mystic Scavenger has taken up residence, a dragonborn druid stands sighing over a dry tree sapling. Is there any way to help him? I never solved that mystery. He may not be the most memorable secondary character, but he stumped me and kept me awake.

Neither water, nor destroying this Scavenger, nor curing diseases on the tree helps. Of course, maybe he can't be helped in any way, but maybe I'm just missing something?

No, sadly that leads nowhere. I tried with Jaheira, I even pulled out Halsin for once, but neither of them could help.
Missed opportunity for sure.

Too bad, I threw my entire inventory of potions and spells at the poor guy, but I couldn't help him. Definitely would have been an interesting quest. Thank you.

It's the same with the parents of the kid in the cemetery. And the boy in the alley whose parents were murdered. They were left there crying, and there is no way to help them.

That boy got me. I tried everything, talking to every Flaming Fist in the city in hopes, someone could help him.

I also found it strange that boy was just... there, with his parents murdered. Was it supposed to be a Batman reference or something?
Wonder if that was a scrapped mini quest.

On the topic of the thread:
The pigeon commander on the pigeon post - love him. And I'm always delighted with his Casador voice. l come to talk to him every time.

Dwarf Distur (Grimforge) - I hope things worked out for him and he was able to change his name.

Dammon (Tiefling Blacksmith) - he may not be the most minor character, but I'd take this sweet bun to my camp at the first opportunity.

Popper (the kobolt from the circus) is just a good boy.

Quill (Alfira's replacement) she's awesome, I'd love to meet her in the game. She has such a sad story, too bad there's no way to save her. There is a corpse of her lover lying in the cells of Sarevok, they never met(.

For me it has to be Kar'niss. The actor did such a fantastic job, and the design on him. The way he moves and talks. I think I half smiled through the whole encounter, he is so well made. I wish I could get more of him, especially doing a evil playthrough. He is one of the most unique side character and you can do nothing much with him. And I do not mean in a romance way, I see a lot of people want that (no judgement btw), I mean just a more fleshed out quest. Having him in camp, the final fight etc.

Quill is especially tragic, when you find the dead soldier in Sarevoks cells with a love letter to Quill. And yes, she is great.

Uh, hard pass. I have severe arachnophobia and Kar'niss triggers that more than the spider matriarch. Plus, he is pretty far gone , so I doubt, there is much left to save. Same with He who was, who is inflicted with the shadow curse and doomed to become an abomination like the people in the village, if he survives ( he has a lot of fans too, who conveniently overlook, that there is no cure from the shadow curse).

Big agree on Kar'niss. There's quite a lot that could have been done with him despite his condition(s), especially if you go through on a drow. He has such a unique model, amazing voice acting, and yet is so underutilized it feels like a crime.

At least Abdirak served a function and had a unique interaction. ;;

Someone mentioned earlier how he may have been originally planned as a companion, and honestly? That would have been great. I've picked the game back up recently due to needing a GPU replacement on my PC, and having been restarting often due to not knowing what I wanted to play, I've been through Act 1 more than is healthy I think— so I'm being reminded of just how many amazing and interesting side characters there are. Many intrigue me more than the actual companions do, really, and I feel it's because so many of them seem relatively "normal" or more grounded in the world, rather than feeling... 'larger than life', I suppose.

Dammon, of course, is another favorite. He deserves a hug and a smooch, honestly.

I also can't believe no one's mentioned our favorite pets - Scratch and the owlbear! We really should have been able to give the owlbear a name, honestly.

Scratch and Owly are not side characters, they are the main characters

Kar'niss as a companion? Sign me up!
He could have been a great alternative to Halsin or Jahira, I imagine he could have had some great drow magic. Having both druids like I did on my first playthrough gave me a bit too much druid magic. Maybe Kar'niss could have had bard magic as well? Ah well, could have been cool.

I feel for you on finding a GPU in the current marked, prices are insane.. I hope you find something decent!


I was actually kind of thinking that!

Oop, my apologies - I meant that people had been mentioning that about Abdirak, not Kar'niss!

I would gladly take both as companions, though.

You can really tell Halsin wasn't originally planned to be a full companion, simply due to being able to pick up Jaheira later. I'm absolutely fine with Jaheira - second favorite companion from the original Baldur's Gate duology! But Halsin was... kind of not needed. He didn't even really need to be a full companion in order to be romanceable, imo. But that's a topic for a different thread!

Oh, I was able to RMA from the distributor I originally bought the PC from! Just waiting on FedEx, at this point. My GPU still works, just was showing the obvious signs of failure (random artifacts when under strain, gyrating textures in game, etc.). I'll be back in business soon, hopefully!

Honestly - fair. They're the true showstoppers!

Still wish we could name our owlbear friend though. ;;

Abdirak would have made a great companion - with him being a Loviatan, he would have had a lot of stuff going on for him in act 3 - and act 2, where there is a lot of discussion about pain.


And whoever suggested to replace Jaheira with spider boy - shame on you

Not my favourite druid.



And I really don't get the Kar'niss hype - he seems to be pretty popular , especially as a romance option. Can someone explain that to me? I just don't understand it. He is pretty crazy, cruel and looks like a spider, everything screams 'run away'