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Generally you can look at stat based deaths as such (As per 3.5e):

Strength - Muscles cease to function. Heart stops/rendered helpless.

Dexterity - Total paralysis. Heart stops/rendered helpless.

Constitution - No life force.

Intelligence - The mind is gone. The target is a soulless husk. Effectively dead.

Wisdom - Enters a deep, endless sleep state filled with nightmares. Effectively dead.

Charisma - Enters a catatonic state. Effectively dead.

Stat deaths have been around for a while. They used to be an effective deterrent for stat dumping, because if you ran around with only 3 points in a stat, you could easily get stat-deathed especially with stat reductions being more common back in the day.

These days, stat reductions are a lot rarer and generally you tend to get more limited in stat allocation (BG3 puts the minimum you can assign to 8 for example). So it tends to be a more niche mechanic, especially since general usage of it means it does nothing 50% of the time (Given that only even levels of stats provide anything... Taking an enemy from 19 STR to 18 STR does literally nothing).

Of course, you still have this feeling of needing to do those 5 side quests. As well as the problem of trying to maintain a lure for people to continue doing things within the act once they hit the "Experience cap" for it.

Given that the standard motivation for many to do side content, is the experience reward. If they stop getting it, then they stop caring to do it (And/or it feels unrewarding to do)

Hence why if experience is removed entirely, you'd need to ensure there is good enough draw to make people want to interact with stuff. Same would apply here, you'd need to provide compelling reason for people to continue doing stuff once experience stops (Of course, without going too far and making the rewards so good that people feel forced to do things to obtain them, effectively going right back to where we started with experience and the need to obtain all of it...)

Update: Part 4, Chapter 36 is now published. Hope you enjoy it!

BG3.5 - Hellraisers (Fanfiction)
Baldur's Gate 3.5: Hellraisers - an original fanfic story that is a sequel to Baldur's Gate 3 Fanfic: The Afflicted. It picks up immediately after the events of Baldur's Gate 3 as characters from the previous fanfic - Fiovay, Kai, Aelun, Vlyn, and the other members of their party - travel to Avernus. Their quest is to save Karlach but also to hopefully find and rescue Darson, Aelun's father, from the clutches of Demogorgon.

Here is the link to the blog site: https://baldursgate3hellraisers.blogspot.com/2025/10/baldurs-gate-35-hellraisers.html

Because player romances aren't fluff and decoration?

What gameplay content do they provide? A low effort sex scene? The ability to initiate an awkward kiss scene?

Meanwhile, I suggested things that could actually impact gameplay (Rivalries that make certain companion set ups not possible)


I mean, it's up to you if you want to sit there and expressly watch their romance progress.

Beyond that, there might be some dialogue changes in the likes of expressing concern if someone is being put into a dangerous situation (Including stuff like the altered barks that happen in BG3 when a character goes down when the player has high affection), some subtle changes like their tents in camp moving to be together.

Nothing that necessitates detracting from the general gameplay, but that still provides a nod to the fact that companions are in fact, people who do people things like form connections (With entities outside of the player).

Which would also highlight the fact that IF the player successfully initiates a romance with them, it's because the player managed to grow close enough to them in order for it to happen. Rather than BG3 where it's just assumed that every companion will automatically be lusting for the PC and no-one but the PC (Despite Wyll's, terrible, attempts to woo Lae'zel and Shadowheart in dialogues when roaming around together in a party)

Art Cullagh is kept sleeping with magic in bed. You got to wake him. He are supposed to lie in bed during entire quest. When you shove Art Cullagh he are standing awake with open eyes in overview and eximade screen. But game doesn't detect that he are awake and Halsin doesn't notice. When you talk to him he are in bed sleeping cutscene but goes to standing where you shoved him after. Shoving him multiple times make he move his arms, fists and nod head moody. You are able to pickpocket and inflict effects like ability drain strength on him. He at times goes to lying at floor when you shove him and goes to standing when you exit place and return. Shoving Art Cullagh multiple times you have to do charisma ability check, pay money, attack or go to prison. If you save and load save then move immediately to another room then prison room you spawn at. The locked door hitbox isn't loaded and you move past it with no dexterity lockpicking check. This could go through other locked doors and skip dexterity check. The fugitive condition is triggered when you move past the locked door. At times when player that shoved Art Cullagh multiple times talk to him. You see cutscene whit him and it tell. This individual isn't particular fond of you. He become trader and you go to barter screen. Shoving Art Cullagh more away from bed and talk to Art Cullagh. Make the cutscene when he lie occur with Halsin somewhere else. Kill awake Art Cullagh make quest update Art Cullagh died before we could wake him. I shoved Art Cullagh to other rooms and outside the house. If you talk to Halsin Art Cullagh teleport to bed in the room he first was in cutscene and teleport outside after. When you talk to Art Cullagh the cutscene occur with Halsin teleported outside and he teleport to bed room after. I talked to Art Cullagh with Battered Lute Halsin teleport outside house. Art Cullagh talk in another place and lie on air. After cutscene Halsin teleport to room where Art Cullagh is supposed to be in and walk away. Art Cullagh which is standing awake outside house begin to walk to bed which he aren't supposed to. It seems like the game's state machine for Art Cullagh and the associated quest Waking Art Cullagh Halsin's Quest is getting very confused by the Shove action. Talking to Art Cullagh while walking you see another cutscene in another place. What's around him is determined of which direction you stand when talking to him. He move past other people hitboxes and when he he hit bed he lie in it. It sounds like the game's state machine for Art Cullagh and the associated quest Waking Art Cullagh Halsin's Quest is getting very confused by the Shove action. Game state for the Art Cullagh quest is deeply corrupted due to your non standard methods! It sounds like the Battered Lute dialogue successfully triggered the start of the quest progression, but the game is struggling immensely to handle the character movement and location logic because of your many shoving.

Before update you had to rescue her at grove. Then get to Waukeen's area, defeat Githyanki to play as her again. Before update red dragon that will be major in act 3 was at that area and you could eximade it. But Githyanki attacked abrupt with no cutscene. This was big difficulty increase and considerable people did need to find way around it and lost Lae’zel permanently there. Now when you are able to play as her again before that. If you select right conversion possibilities you don't fight them. If you go to goblin camp, west and enter mountain pass before this. Lae'zel quest update as it does when you get to hitbox at mountain pass. But now you skipped the Githyanki, Red dragon and Flaming fist event. If you go to Waukeen's area after they is gone. The bridge that dragon otherwise destroy isn't. That makes you able to move over bridge to area you otherwise can't get to. Then one of the few invisible walls stop you. That bridge near Waukeen’s Promenade, the Mountain Pass entrance is physically programmed to be destroyed during the Githyanki patrol cutscene. By walking around the trigger zone and entering the Mountain Pass from the Goblin Camp side first, the game automatically updates Lae'zel's quest line, which tells the game, The Githyanki, red dragon and Flaming Fist event is over." Because you skipped the actual cutscene where the red dragon breathes fire, the bridge never receives the command to break apart. Larian Studios didn't expect players to cross that specific bridge intact, so they didn't map out the physical ground on the other side. That is why you hit that invisible wall the game is blocking you from walking into an empty, unfinished part of the map map layer! Prompted Frida inventory carry was 95. After you go to mountain pass, Lae’zel does talk about githyanki creche when you go to hitbox. After this and when i did move little narrator tell moving that body has caused quite the upset. Lae’zel become your enemy in combat, attack with no conversion. You get no quest update that Lae’zel left you as otherwise when she become enemy. Frida inventory carry become max and encumbered. You ran into a really bizarre inventory and faction glitch! It sounds like 2 bugs happened at the exact same time when you crossed that Mountain Pass hitbox. The narrator tell moving that body has caused quite the upset means the game's crime detection system suddenly glitched out. If you carry corpse in companion inventory, crossing into the new Mountain Pass map area caused the game to suddenly re scan your inventory. The game registered corpse as stolen property or a murder victim being dragged into a new zone. Because Lae'zel was the one holding him or near him her AI instantly reacted to the crime turned hostile, and attacked you with no story. When companion that joined attack you their inventory items is added to custom companion inventory to not lose them. Because Lae'zel was likely carrying heavy armor, weapons, items and heavy corpse Frida was instantly overloaded with weight, causing the max encumbered status. This could happen with any companion, moving different and dropping corpse before this stop it.

Yoou have to throw the hammer into the prisoncell, through the gate bars. I think he even tells you that when you first meet him.