Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Your Character and their story

I've seen a few threads in the suggested fourms about adding a PC backstory, I am unsure if this will ever happen in game (who knows) but judging by how open and vast the game is anyway it will be quite difficult.
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Anyway for the main topic I thought since that why not just start a general thread where you all can describe your character and backstory (who they were before the abduction or even what were they doing right before being snatched away)

I just thought it would be a nice idea since making a character and backstory is one of my favourite things about DnD!

So yeah, feel free to just write whatever, even if you have multiple characters!

My first character (and likely one I will either alter or keep i love her already)

A half drow who calls herself Jimbo,
Shes lived a nomadic life in the desert but decided to make a change and head to Baldurs gate to become a painter.
During her time there she managed to fall for a bard. She eventually found the courage to ask to court her. (She said yes) but sadly that was all interrupted when there came the mind flayers!

Merelda, Halfling Wizard (illusion - eventually) Guild Artisan, Baldurian (provisionally).

She's a graduate of some college of magic whose guild artisan background I've chosen to interpret as an orthographic occupation. As a halfling and a Baldurian, she's not used to being alone, and probably still hasn't lived on her own or even had a room of her own, all the more reason to want to overlook some things in her travelling companions. Going to school was the first time she ever left her borough for any extended period of time, being abducted is likely the first time she's ever been more than a days travel from the city itself.

Consciously, she's very conflict averse, and being so[ out of her depth during this adventure, is apt to behave pretty pusillanimously, but overriding this is a deep curiosity that has the side-effect of putting her into such fraught situations (so she'll be terrified of the Book of the Dead, but she can't help but read it). Kind-Hearted and communitarian, she'll be happy to advocate for the abused and help the down-trodden but she'll never choose to use violence to solve problems in any situation, even against nasty goblins (can't quite square this with the game yet)

She's not looking to be a leader, she'll be hoping somebody else take initiative in the group, but in lieu of that she'll be more scared of the group disbanding, leaving her alone to deal with the tadpole, and is willing to massage a few ego's to keep that from happening.

So in otherwords: an earnest halfling about to go on a long journey, hopefully to make it there and back again.

Hopefully people can come with something better / longer. This isn't anything as impressive as Corvella Greyrose. Instead I'm focusing on the bits of the game that allow me to make character in my head and which parts of the game seem to frustrate that. I always make high charisma / wisdom / int characters to open all dialogue options and to win those dice rolls. All min maxed Mary Sues and I don't care

First character was a version of a character I used in PoE. Wizard, scholar, emotionally distant, somewhat manipulative not above using her good looks to get advantage in conversations Good soul but always interested in necromancy but wanted to know if the dark arts could be put to good purposes. If you can create "false life" in a person can mages find a way heal like clerics do? Perhaps necromancy could be used to advance medicine. Lives in her mind much of the time. Destroyed that Thayan tome as soon as she saw it -- she knows that nothing good comes from the land of Szass Tam.

Half-drow but most people miss that because her skin is ivory white and never seems to take on color from the sun.

In the middle of her research she was captured. Happy to see so many people say "you are strange one" but wishes people would talk to her about books and magic theory. I mean don't you think it's a problem that we're all supposed to thank Mystra for the weave but the greatest of all mages comes from a plane of existence where Mystra doesn't exist? Does no one want to discuss the glaring bias in Eliminster's accounts? No? Okay fine, that's a bit much but can someone please notice that I look like I belong in a library? Gave Gale the boot when when he insulted her command of the weave. Seeing the underdark for the first time and wondering if she will run into the person her mother would never speak of.

Second, moon elven cleric of Mystra currently waiting for some bugs to be resolved. Reflexively polite but not cold or mannipulative in the way the previous character was. Life is something of mystery and the secret to living a happy life is make the most of its chaos. Personality has often been called magnetic -- people are drawn to her and can't quite say why. Happy to be in the presence of humans because elves are often suspicious of her veneration of a human deity. Noticed the symbols of Shar on that cleric near the run and politely told her to fend for herself. Thought she would enjoy Gale's company but is finding that he doesn't even seem to register that she also worships Mystra (in somewhat different form) but keeping him in the party because she suspects Shar is trying to steal his soul. Also has taken on Wyll as project. He's clearly a Warlock. What did he promise his patron? Is there a way to save him?

So many souls to save, a cleric's job is never done.

Third, Seldarine drow. First story was that she was raised in the high forest by worshipers of Elistraee since she seem to know the ways of surface dwellers so well. But I found that she had so many dialogues about the underdark that I changed my story to be: raised in a prominent house in the underdark that fell into disfavor when her mother was found to be a secret worshiper of Elistraee. The life of my PC went from silk sheets and salt wine to stolen bread and foraged mushrooms in the blink of an eye. Fled to the surface with her father who taught her magic. Never had a formal apprenticeship but has somehow managed to learn magic by stealing any book that isn't under lock and key. Good person but decided to read the Thayan tome because books are more precious than any jewel. Thinks she sees a kindred spirit in Shadowheart -- Shadowheart's deceptions don't bother her because her own mother taught her to lie at an early age. Indeed her mother might still be alive if she were a better liar. Wishes the people of Faerun would notice her noble bearing and that she could explain that the drow don't really have royalty but certain houses are more prominent than others. Sleeps with her spellbook clutched her chest for fear someone will take it in the night.

So far #3 is the story best supported by the game.

Ahhh I love all of these
super amazing creative characters!!! Keep it up I love this!

I've made about a dozen characters by this point, but I'll talk about the two who've escaped from my game into the terrifying world of my fanfic. They are:

A cleric of Ilmater currently known around Baldur's Gate as Sister Fae (also as "that weird drow the Ilmatari took in"). If you recall Phaere and Solaufein from BG2, her story will sound a little familiar. As she puts it: "It was the usual thing - a young, foolish female falls in love with a male who secretly worships Eilistraee, and they decide to escape to the surface. It went pretty well for us at first. We settled in a nice, dark place not far from Baldur's Gate, kept to ourselves, had children. And then some less-than-understanding travelers stumbled across my husband and children one evening. And killed them."

That didn't end well for the travelers. It also sent her into a spiral of self-destruction which only ended when a very brave cleric of Ilmater stepped up to try and save her, and succeeded. Since then she's developed a healthy sense of humor to help deal with her past and the hostile reactions she gets from those who don't know her. While working in the temple, she helped to raise an orphan who was taken in there some years ago - my second character, a tiefling named Magenta, who's currently a ranger in the service of Mielikki.

Magenta is an innocent, socially awkward type, who spends most of her time out in the wilds, traveling up and down the Sword Coast. She's ashamed of her infernal heritage and has always done her best to hide it, though that's tricky when you've got horns and a tail and so on. Her life thus far has been pretty uneventful; she doesn't remember much of her years as a child on the streets of Baldur's Gate, or any family she may've had before being taken in by the clerics. The events of this game will be her first real adventure, and it'll be made even more complicated by the presence of a certain handsome, flirtatious, "totally-not-evil-you-can-trust-me" vampire spawn.

My character is Tav McBlenderson a noble ranger. I used the little things the game give us to create something nice-
So my boy Tav is a Baldurian merchant who is self proclaimed ranger of the woods. Even though he grew up in a wealthy family in Baldur's Gate, he was raised hearing tales of heroes and legends, and was not very into his family business. His love of nature and exploration made him presue sword training but he never strayed far from the city due to his duties. Fighting evil was a life dream of his but the real life of a merchant kept him from making any real progress. His parents were not too kin about his foolish desires and considered them to be childish and a waste of time, which created a lot of tension at his home. Even though he was skilled with the sword and knew the wild areas around Baldur's Gate well, his lack of actual experience in the wild made him naive and sometimes childish in his notions of justice and chivalry. In actuality, he never explored much of the woods, fought any real evil, or left home for more than a day or two. All that was charged when the mind flayer ship kidnapped him.

He will be a cheotic good character, I feel like this is exactly the type of character for cheotic good based on my experience with similar characters.

The character I've played the most so far is Gehk the Githyanki ranger.



As you can see he's quite handsome.

Gehk was born in a creche on some world in the Prime Material Plane like most of his kind. He endured the same brutal upbringing other Githyanki do. Rigorous daily training. Occasional duels to the death against his own peers. Tests of endurance against torture, burning, acid baths, etc. etc. And of course he was raised to all but worship Vlaakith and despise the mind flayers above all else. Despite the Hell training he managed to make strong bonds with a few of his fellow students and they made plans to find a job on the same astral skiff so they could continue benefiting from each other's strength (and company, not like they l-liked each other or anything, baka). Gehk's creche was located near a rocky shore along a river and he'd often spend time walking the beaches or swimming in the river to hone his physical ability (and to enjoy the sunshine and a good swim, not that he'd ever admit it).

He also picked up an incredible fondness for frogs and often spent time watching them when nobody was looking. He now insists frogs are the only good thing about the Prime Material Plane and will go out of his way to aid frogs and only frogs. All other living things but frogs and Githyanki may as well not even exist.

When the time came for his rite of passage his creche raided an Illithid stronghold and things took a turn for the worse. The stronghold had better defenses than was expected and a good chunk of the creche died, including Gehk's comrades. Gehk managed to secure a stealth kill on an already wounded mind flayer and took its head before him and the rest of the survivors were forced to flee.

Watching the few people in this world (or any other) that Gehk considered a friend get their minds devoured by mind flayers left him with an especially burning hatred for their kind even by the standards of most Githyanki.

Still, he was able to present the mind flayer's head to Vlaakith and become acknowledged as an adult. Carrying on the dreams of himself and his companions he got a job working on an astral skiff. It was a small crew of a dozen or so and they mostly sailed the Astral Sea hunting astral whales to bring food back to support the larger raiding vessels. A not-so-glorious but worthwhile life that allowed him to do good for the Githyanki all the same. Occasionally his Sarth would join up with other small skiffs to enter into the Prime Material Plane and conduct small scale raids for goods to bolster their income when hunting was poor which gave Gehk ample experience as a slave hunter and looter of goods.

(Mechanically I took the Sailor background. Seems fitting enough)

Eventually there was word of a much larger raid being organized and all the local skiffs and ships were being called in for it. His Sarth signed up for this glorious undertaking and Gehk would finally have his first real taste of glory!

.... And then he got a tadpole stuck in his head.

Frogs?

Maybe Larian will have Slaad in the full release. I don't think any other game has done that yet. I've always wanted to see Sssendam in the flesh.

Yesss a picture too!!!
Frogs are superior, I think they are the ones who can bring happiness!
We need to worship them and mushroons!

I'm loving all these stories they're so in depth!!! <333

(Its making me want to rethink mine, I need more than just lesbian elf who lost her shoes and will now spend the entire campaign looking for some hot boots)

Great thread. I made up a number characters with class and backstories before EA, but decided to play none of them : they will be kept for full release.

@Abits : I have a druid with about the same backstory. A human from a merchant family, with a family business that's been running for 3 generations. He went on a first travel, as part of an effort from the family to expand their business to other cities, and fell in love with the nature. Eventually, he became a druid. He's an educated, perceptive and diplomat person. Don't ask any physicality out of him.

As I was playing EA and trying stuff, I came up with one more character, that I'll play full game with. But one that intrigues me, and might be a future full-playthrough character in formation is the following.

She's a Githyanki who failed to become the shining knight she'd always thought she'd be. It wasn't out of lack of strength (with a very good 16), but maybe the rolls were not going her way on that crucial day of The Test. Fact is, she was then considered a failure by her society and left with finding something else to do with her life. She turned punk, alternative and anti-conformist. Also, mage. She's got shaved sides and a dreadlocks pony tail. She also probably spent much time out of the Astral Plane, so her hair is now grey-white and she has a couple of wrinkles. But don't mistake that old-looking lady for a weakling. She'll topple you in the blink of eye and blast you out of her way like you're bread crumbs. She favours Force and Thunder type of damage spells (fire and ice are too subtle). She may have just as bad and blunt a personality as an old Toph Beifong.

My main issue with her is that I didn't find any options to tell young Lae'zel to drop it with her "we must do this and go there and do that". I know the protocol as much as you kiddo.

Highly charismatic halfling wizard (Enchantment specialization eventually, self taught) with an insatiable lust for power and control. Neutral evil, lawful leaning. presents a calm and caring neutral good facade and hates when others see what she is really like. Does everything she can to manipulate those around her into liking her, lies constantly, reacts explosively to being made fun of. Manipulative in the extreme, says whatever she thinks other people want to hear. Gets other useful idiots to do her fighting for her, binds everyone to her cause, promises great rewards to those who help her.

I usually name my first characters in games as Micolash (it suits BG3 theme even, khe khe), he will be charismatic rogue thief with some points in wis, folk hero tempts me with animal handling but in final game it will be probably sailor or criminal for roleplaying.

Born as son of the local prostitute and unknown drow-father. Mother named him Micklaus. The street raised him, there he found new family in local kids gang. Fast hands and silver tongue let him earn recognition among the criminal element of the city. After few years of hard work of depriving others of their valuables, he has finally joined the respected guild of thieves.
As his criminal fame rose, he made enemies among the Flaming Fist and his rivals. The noose slowly tightening around his neck made him leave Baldur’s Gate. Micolash, as he changed his name, signed up for the ship, hoping to leave troubles behind. How wrong he was.

Argyle lives in a quiet section of the Northwest city region of Baldur's Gate. His mother is a washwoman of solid standing within the community, with a quick hand and little tolerance for insolence. His paternity is unknown, although many have commented on his uncanny likeness to some of the family portraits hanging in the Grand Hall of the nearby Silvershield estate. He enjoys song and laughter, and is widely known among the tavern-folk for having a remarkably limited vocal range. Argyle is always willing to help a friend in need and will not shirk when hard work is required, but his passion is the pursuit of scraps of ancient lore, and long forgotten magic secrets scribed in parchment and stone.

I really wanna build my Half-Elf Wild Mage i never get to play since 3,5 edition so here he goes:

He is called Fifin, a Chaotic Neutral urchin from Baldur's Gate (I think that fit well with the custom hero background story as a Balduran, who knows the city and familiar with the famous citizens and local rumours).

His Backstory (very simplistic, sorry for that):

Born in the slums of the great city of Baldur’s Gate, Fifin had a rather interesting childhood. His mom was a tavern wench who had an inkling for elven adventurers and a kind of simple rowdy beauty that the pointy eared bastards found refreshing after a long day of dungeon-dwelling. She died young, some jumping fever that took many in those days, leaving her half-breed bastard to fend for himself. And that is exactly what Fifin did. Stealing, lying, cheating, the boy made a living for himself on the streets of the Lower City. He was a quick lad, both in body and mind, who had a touch of wild magic about him that manifested very early, causing all sorts of miraculous accidents around him. These wild surges of power saved his arse just as often as they put him in peril and earned him a dangerous reputation as a relentless troublemaker.

Then someday, after a long night of drinking, he mixed with the wrong crowd and woke up aboard a mindflayer ship... :PPP

I have the her gourd, No! I have her shoe! I am her chosen, follow me!

seriously though give us your character!

You're not going to drop that fanfic bomb and just leave it hanging are you?

:o I must follow thoust who possesses thy shoe! Venture forth friend!!!

I think I wrote her at the start of the post! If not I forgot

Shes just a half drow called Jimbo who originally was a desert nomad hunter, but moved to baldurs gate in the hope of becoming an established artist! After a while she fell for a bard and some time later painted up some courage to ask the mistress bard to go for a coffee or the tavern or something! She did say yes but that's when the mind flayers popped in and were like "hah no you cant sorry, I'll abduct you now"
And for some reason she lost her shoes during the Nautloid (I think that's you spell it) crash.

And thus the venture began!


Also I agree! tell us more of your terrifying worldly fanfic wise one!!!

I haven't really developed any of my characters for the EA yet, but I'm planning on recreating my gnome rogue I played in an Avernus game, once gnomes are playable. I never got to finish that campaign and I'm still really fond of her.

Her name is Tippy. She's a forest gnome little shit of an urchin with only rats as her only friends. She's got no manners, has no respect for authority, and loves making fun of any uppity noble types. Despite this, she's not really one to steal, and generally keeps her hands to herself. As a mercenary, she's had some experience fighting cultists and running into weird arcane stuff, and has picked up some magic tricks of her own. She mainly picked up adventuring to earn enough money to one day leave Baldur's Gate, and maybe find her family, if they're still out in the world.
It's doubtful she'd know what to do once she's kidnapped by some weird, tentacle-faced monsters and infected with some slimy tadpole though... but at least she'd be out of Baldur's Gate!

All hail urchin rat queen!!!

Did I say terrifying? No, no, my fanfics are full of sunshine and rainbows! And mind flayers!

But if you insist, here's a link for ya. (Some restrictions apply, fanfic promotion is online only, all stories are priced as marked).

Vaeltrass a Human Ranger ( will hopefully be Monk later ).
She is part of the super secret Lae'Zel fanclub in Baldur's Gate, in fact she is the founder and leader of it.
That's how she ended up on the Nautiloid, she was stalking Lae'Zel ( yes she's a creep ) trying to find the courage to deliver the lover letter she spent weeks on and was snatched up by the Mind flayers.
Now she finds herself fighting for survival alongside Lae'Zel, she gets off on being scolded by her.


She doesn't like Gale much.