Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Returning the Idol of Sylvanus Journal Bug?

I'm not sure whether this is a bug or not. I just find it really weird that after returning the Idol of Sylvanus to its pedestal after taking it back from the person who asks you to steal it, the Journal does not update to reflect the Idol's return.


There's plenty of other Completed Quest Journal entries that can get updates afterwards depending on what you do later on. Especially if it involves killing a character or something. The character death makes the Journal update in some cases, to reflect the current state of the world and possibilities still or now available to you in the current reality.


Alternatively, there could be an option to talk to the Druids and say that you "Found" the missing Idol and hand it over to them. Even add an appropriate Skill die roll. Pass, and they thank you for finding the stolen Idol. Fail, and they know it was you who stole it in the first place. Something like that.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

its not a quest i.e, no one actually asked you to find/ return the idol

Yes, you are correct. This is more so to point out how odd it is that there is no quest or asking from the druids to recover it. How odd it is that after everything that's happened involving the idol, that the grove Druids would do nothing to to even attempt to recover said idol. It feels like there is a big step missing with the Idol of Sylvanus quest.

The thread is more to point out how odd it is that there is no recognition in-game that you returned the idol to its proper place, or that there is no option to speak to any of the Druids about it. It's weird enough they aren't asking you to help them find it, but you should at least be able to talk to them about it being back on its pedestal. At the very least the Journal entry should reflect that.

If the player chooses to return it, the game should be able to acknowledge that.


Perhaps I should rename the thread, eliminate the word bug, and replace it with "missing option" or something like that?

I would be interested to know what other people think about the Idol thing. Do you think the game should recognize that you returned the idol in the end? Or should the journal ignore that you returned it?

your current options;
1 ignore it, i'd say at least 60% take this path
2 nik it before resolving the shadows... imo the worse option
3 nik it after the shadows and give it to the one asking you to steal it ... the expected option
4 nik it back and or just keep it... best option

i must admit returning it to the druids never even occurred to me but i agree it should at least be an option for Druid characters... perhaps a mod

I never thought to give it back!
While doing it - is it possible to identify the criminals commissioning the heist? So that they can experience "suicide by bear" (or some other threatened specieis)?

Maybe a mod yeah. Thought I hope it is simple enough for the team to make it so placing the idol on the pedestal overrides the journal to say "We left the grove without stealing the idol."

"Suicide by bear" is one of the funniest things I've heard in a while XD. The party goes into the hideout, bear mangled bodies everywhere. "Huh, wonder how a bear got in here to begin with?"

the way i would do it

currently: ending the shadow as a good Druid person has a small side quest that makes you the new 'best bear" & rewards you with special Druid weapon [imune to hold spell or some such]
mod: also add a copy of the idol that the player can keep or hand over to thieves

result: all questlines are now possible for the cost of one line of code... technically you didn't take the druids' idol so no change to your journal is needed

Just realized that if you pickpocket the Mushroom from the Bone Cloaks in Act 1 after you gave it to them to complete the quest, their appearance in Act 3 reflects this and the game treats it as if you never gave it to them in the first place, despite it still offering the quest rewards upon quest completion.

It's the same logic as with the Idol situation. Returning it to the druids or the pedestal should have the same effect as pickpocketing the Mushroom from the Bonecloaks.
Given Larian made a conscious decision to implement this change for pickpocketing the Mushroom for Patch 7 (Or was it 5?), I'd say it makes sense for the Team to apply the same logic to the Idol situation.