Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Drow should have more drawbacks

Hi,

Currently playing as a drow and noticing that this race has the most benefits, superior dark vision is one on them, but quest wise - goblins worship me and I can walk around Goblin base as a boss, one would say thats ok if some evil characters think you are evil as well, but surely I will get some penalties from good characters, right?

Nope.

Except for some unique answers - nobody pays too much attention that I am a drow, for instance, those warriors that got slaughtered at the burning house and their grand duke of something got kidnapped by a drow raiders... completely ignore the fact that I am a drow, there should be at least some distrust or something.

To sum up - game needs more racism or xenophobia (that sounded terrible haha), or some kind of opinion penalties to make it more realistic and challenging.

The drow is actually the character type with the most unique dialogue by far. Just to make sure I understand, your concern is that there's not enough?

It does sound like that, does it not?
No, I think the main concern is that you do not face any hardship as a drow, quite the contrary, you only experience bonuses. Whether this is good or bad depends on the player, I imagine.


I also do not know how to bring in those additional 'bad experiences' for a drow player, other than adding even more unique lines for the drow. We also do not yet have the full game, so we can not 100% say that there isn't any drawback for a drow character just yet.

I welcome highlighting the issue though, even if we do not yet know if it is in game. An idea might come up to offer that drawback. Like additional loss of approval from non-companion NPCs if you are caught doing something bad.

No I get what you mean now and you're right. It's incredibly stupid to give a drow character only benefits. I still remember how everyone was treating Viconia in bg

The scene at Waukeen's Rest feels so unreal when you play as a drow and counselor Forrick informs you the duke was kidnapped by drow raiders but doesn't at least question your allegiance.

There should be much more contempt and fear when you go to the grove and when you meet humans or elves in general, I agree.

Drow nowadays are like Twilight vampires. They're no longer scary or hated, they're sparkly shiny cool kids.

Yes. This was so strange that they did not attack me. I do not wish for easy mode in this game, hopefully there will be more difficulties later on while playing one. Not all of us are wannabe Drizzt.

The burned down inn should be much more hostile towards drow than the rest of the map, I think. The tieflings who captured Lae'zel are also much more hostile towards drow than most other races.

Other than that it is a bit hard to tell, for now, Baldur's gate as a city should be dangerous for a drow player, but considering who we meet in act1 so far it is not so odd drow have an advantage. As long as it changes later on when you visit more civilized areas.

The same goes for githyanki. When people questioned the idea of having such an outlandish, uncivilized race in the game, Larian promised that the world would respond realistically to them. But aside from the occasional glib remark about your race, there's nothing in the game so far that acknowledges the fact that you're basically a literal alien. NPCs barely treat you any different. It's nowhere near the reactions that you should be met by when you show up in Faerûn as a githyanki, so it's a really shallow experience. Drow should likewise be treated by locals in a manner that ranges from screaming horror to violent hostility, depending on the individual. A drow waltzing into a druid's grove would be attacked on sight. These races should not be playable in a game where much of the gameplay takes place in relatively civilized areas amongst normal denizens of Faerûn.

The grove is different though since to reach it in the first place, you first must help in its defense. No matter what race you are if you defend the gates it should buy you quite a bit of goodwill.

In Original Sin 2 when you played elder race (or skeleton) you could disguise yourself, maybe Larian should implement something of the sorts (but without ripping off faces haha), like wearing a veil or a hood/helmet.

There is already disguise self spell.

In the current woke enviroment WotC won't allow Larian to give Drow penalties, notice that there is no sunlight sensitivity, which the Drow were designed around originally? Drow are going to be the most broken race, at least until Yuan Ti Purebloods get implemented.

Pretty sure our dark passenger lets us walk in the sun.. the goblins kind of hint to that. But I do agree with OP. As a Gith the only appropriate reaction to my race was with shadowheart... imo everyone at the grove should behave the same.. well if they know what a Githy is. Same with drow.. if you happen to see a drow in your town that isnt married to a red haired human you can assume they are here to kill someone.

Drow do get more special lines, I am noticing this in my evil playthrough, but I would say in general all races have a similar experience and all of them might as well be humans in the narrative. There is very little racial differentiation even though Forgotten Realms does an excellent job at describing nuances and differences between races, it is sad to see very little of it reflected.

On the other hand, it must be so difficult to adapt so much diversity in a new generation game like this is. So I guess we have to be ready to accept it will not be a 100% dnd experience when it comes to the setting. It's just a gigantic work.

I hope that the other races will get more options even in the content currently in the game, maybe the drow are just the most fleshed out in that area.

That being said I do think it is reasonable that some races will get more options than others depending on the situation.

Drow get so many lines in fact. Even when you find some drow armor, the party members comment on the fact it has lost its magic potency while your drow character is just boasting about they are good armors. It clearly shows how much emphasis devs have put on the race.

I won't say I am complaining. I like drow. But yeah, I agree, other races deserve more specific lines too.

There should be several instances where quests are flat out locked out for drow or they are attacked on sight in a normally peaceful or neutral encounter. But I doubt Larian (and WotC) will allow that.

Drow had drawbacks to somewhat counter their insane bonuses in 3rd and prior editions, like SR11+level, +2 Dex, Int, AND Cha (-2 Con). In 5e, compared with Wood elves or shield dwarves, drow bonuses kind of suck now. Giving them their penalties back would make them nigh unplayable.

I don't think anyone suggested stat penalties, but something more along the lines of dialogue, quest and story penalities... because drow.