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I only talk with companions if I they have a yellow exclamation mark, but I'm still early game level 3 or so, because restarted many times.

So don't know if all this "romance" making sense yet, just one thing; even if someone doesn't agree with your decisions and even if hates you -- sex is just sex, nothing more. Can be more, it's great if it is, but still makes sense to just "let's find someplace quiet" and get over with it, without wasting time with emotional baggage's.

Last edited by LoneSky; 11/10/20 10:11 PM.
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Originally Posted by Lady Avyna
This is still in Early Access and Larian said this might last a year. The romance that we have currently available in the game is just a taste to give us an idea of what they are doing. That's why when your character has sex it says "Under Construction" because they are still working on it. If you feel the romance is rushed, keep in mind that the game is not finished yet. When you got the Early Access, it tells you to give Larian feedback so they know what they should add or work on and that's what these forums are for.



I agree with you on this. I think the romance we got in game was a test run to get some feedback on how we want it to develop, how well it plays out, bugs, etc... We are just test-running different parts of the game even if it feels like a cohesive piece it could all change by the time the game releases. Combat, party interactions, exploration, romance, etc.. all is being evaluated. So everyone into romances should give constructive feedback on what you would like to see more or less off.

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If the party scenes were included just to get feedback on romance in general, then that's fair. I enjoy romances in games too, and admittedly I'm a slow burn kind of person so that may be why it all felt very fast to me.

It would be nice if you could advance romances without having to have sex. I know there was that tongue-in-cheek "that's why we're all here" comment in one of the community updates, but that's not how all my characters see it.

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I'd prefer to think it's just a one night stand than an actual romance, going by my experience with the let's bang scene for Astarion, SH and Lae.

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Originally Posted by Lady Avyna
This is still in Early Access and Larian said this might last a year. The romance that we have currently available in the game is just a taste to give us an idea of what they are doing. That's why when your character has sex it says "Under Construction" because they are still working on it. If you feel the romance is rushed, keep in mind that the game is not finished yet. When you got the Early Access, it tells you to give Larian feedback so they know what they should add or work on and that's what these forums are for.

I think you're right. It seems like the only romance that is really complete is the one with the drow lady, which makes sense. She is probably not gonna have any meaningful role later in the game so they could finish her romance for early access.


Larian's Biggest Oversight, what to do about it, and My personal review of BG3 EA
"74.85% of you stood with the Tieflings, and 25.15% of you sided with Minthara. Good outweighs evil, it seems."
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I think sometimes people see romance in a fantasy game as they would in RL, sitting at their homes and going out to meet a nice gal/guy. one possibility to think about (not saying its necessarily true) is that Larian, unlike other RPG games, got "romance" right. If we do not confuse "romance" with "love story/deep relationship" this is one way to look at it. Anyone whos been in RL in summer camp, probably knows how fast people who don't know each other previously can get to banging, in a matter of one, two three days. Now imagine a group of people, in a risk for their lives, not knowing if they survive the next day, living in the same camp day in and day out, a lot of them with issues, they have a party, they are scared/worried/ angry and kind of lonely, drunk, why not look for company, sharing a drink and sex? people in much less depressing and desperate situations do that in RL and a lot. Its not "Love story/ deep relationship of the ages" maybe its not even the classic "romance" but it happens, and it can be fine, not rushed or weird.
Now, I would have a bit of issue if these are the only companions in the game and *all of them behave the same way, are open sexualy and would look for sex to distract themselves or finish a party, just like in RL some people and companions should be different or more reserved or have other tastes and less of "fuck all" and "do what ever the fuck I want" mentality. But right now, for mostly evil and selfish type of companions (I personally didn't get this kind of reaction from Gale, but maybe his approval wasnt high enough) It can be seen as rather realistic and refreshing take on "romance" in games.

p.s
It is also a matter of taste and the companion personality, I remember in BG 2, I used to get so bored with Aerie's "deep and true love" and slow burn romance. While in Viconia's case, sometimes you would have sex very quickly (if you don't reject her) but it would lead to an amazing very complex, true and fascinating romance and journey

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Originally Posted by Darthmansour
I think sometimes people see romance in a fantasy game as they would in RL, sitting at their homes and going out to meet a nice gal/guy. one possibility to think about (not saying its necessarily true) is that Larian, unlike other RPG games, got "romance" right. If we do not confuse "romance" with "love story/deep relationship" this is one way to look at it. Anyone whos been in RL in summer camp, probably knows how fast people who don't know each other previously can get to banging, in a matter of one, two three days. Now imagine a group of people, in a risk for their lives, not knowing if they survive the next day, living in the same camp day in and day out, a lot of them with issues, they have a party, they are scared/worried/ angry and kind of lonely, drunk, why not look for company, sharing a drink and sex? people in much less depressing and desperate situations do that in RL and a lot. Its not "Love story/ deep relationship of the ages" maybe its not even the classic "romance" but it happens, and it can be fine, not rushed or weird.
Now, I would have a bit of issue if these are the only companions in the game and *all of them behave the same way, are open sexualy and would look for sex to distract themselves or finish a party, just like in RL some people and companions should be different or more reserved or have other tastes and less of "fuck all" and "do what ever the fuck I want" mentality. But right now, for mostly evil and selfish type of companions (I personally didn't get this kind of reaction from Gale, but maybe his approval wasnt high enough) It can be seen as rather realistic and refreshing take on "romance" in games.

p.s
It is also a matter of taste and the companion personality, I remember in BG 2, I used to get so bored with Aerie's "deep and true love" and slow burn romance. While in Viconia's case, sometimes you would have sex very quickly (if you don't reject her) but it would lead to an amazing very complex, true and fascinating romance and journey

True. I romanced Shadowheart in my playthrough and in the day after she said it was a drunken mistake


Larian's Biggest Oversight, what to do about it, and My personal review of BG3 EA
"74.85% of you stood with the Tieflings, and 25.15% of you sided with Minthara. Good outweighs evil, it seems."
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Originally Posted by Abits

True. I romanced Shadowheart in my playthrough and in the day after she said it was a drunken mistake


Yeah broke my heart lol. And then I got some snarky comment from Lae'zel cause I didn't want to spend the night with her instead laugh

I do hope I get to romance her after the full release though!

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There is a romantic scene with Gale. Actually, there are two of them. In the first scene that everyone seems to have missed, Gale teaches PC to touch the Weave. If you choose a romantic line in this scene, then later on the party the character and Gale may have sex.
I don't know exactly how to activate the Weave scene. I have it on Gale approval "very high" after I completed all the activities in Blighted Village. Also I played as a cleric, I don't know if this scene is possible for non magic classes.


P.S. English is not my native language, sorry for mistakes, if there are any.

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Originally Posted by Aloija
There is a romantic scene with Gale. Actually, there are two of them. In the first scene that everyone seems to have missed, Gale teaches PC to touch the Weave. If you choose a romantic line in this scene, then later on the party the character and Gale may have sex.
I don't know exactly how to activate the Weave scene. I have it on Gale approval "very high" after I completed all the activities in Blighted Village. Also I played as a cleric, I don't know if this scene is possible for non magic classes.


P.S. English is not my native language, sorry for mistakes, if there are any.


Huh, I was wondering if it was even possible to romance Gale in EA, it's weird because I also have done all there was to do in the Blighted Village before moving on to goblin camp, his approval was for the longest time the highest of all my companions but I never had such a scene trigger for some reason. Do you remember the spot it was triggered at? Or was it more of - you do/kill someone and he gets an exclamation mark above his head? Cause honestly, for my ''good'' cleric it would've made more sense to romance Gale instead of Astarion, I actually wanted that to happen but he gave me a cold shoulder. I am curious as to how it plays out, cause come full release I won't be picking Gale at all as a traveling companion, mostly because I'm gonna be playing a sorcerer, don't need 2 arcane casters in a 4 man team, sadly. If only Larian let us have 6 man team instead of 4... I know it would make the game easier, but also they could scale up the difficulty of encounters... or do something to balance it out.

But also, I found another scene with Astarion this time around that I totally skipped during my 1st playthrough. Basically, 1st time you go to camp and Gale is admiring his own mirror image, and has this entire lecture about ceremorphosis, you can talk to Astarion about becoming a mind flayer and the way you wish to be killed. Then the scene I never had trigger for me, was when you get Lae to talk to that tiefling guy who saw other githyanki, you go to camp again after that and boom, Astarion is admiring stars talking about creche and you get to actually have some quality flirt time with him. Come full release I do hope all these scenes will trigger naturally, instead of having to go to camp every 5 minutes to make sure nobody hasn't got some cues to talk triggered... Like as of right now, way too many character and bond building scenes can be entirely missed. It really irritates me.

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Totally agree. The reactions seemed natural to me. I've played through 30 hours in the game while I had that Tiefling party; and spent more than 10 nights in the camp with all that Tadpole talks and confrontations with the team as I chose to continue usage of Tadpole's power. The teammates reactions built and impression of something next to despair after we failed in all ways to get rid of the Tadpoles. And Tiefling party dialogues were mostly natural to me in the way too unfriendly conditions we were all the time. And justified also - Gale frequently approved occasional helping and dialogues with him were constantly progressing, Lae'zel dissapproved and didn't talk mostly, Wyll disapproved but he seems as a comparatively open person to share his "insides", Shadowheart was mostly approving and Astarion approved almost everything I did. So it aligned with the outcome where I can only choose between the last two.
I also played as rather rogue half-drow bitch with a fluent morality and unhealthy tendency to find amusement in killing and ruining all heart filling moments with all my companions and more. So, when I got an option to spend a night with Astarion ( who is actually the reason number one why I played as an addict all the days and nights since the EA release) it seemed pretty natural to me. He approved my actions a lot during the game, I had at least four situation-based dialogues with friendly or flirty moments ( since the very first dialogue to many more such as the dialogue about dead boar we've found; persuasion about his dream; second dialogue after first bite; BDSM scene with pain priest at Goblin Camp; dialogue after ruining goblin's sex; and especially when you forcing him to say "please" to have sex with me at Tiefling party (Available only if you choose the option "4. Knowing you - yes" after he says "...Is it too much of me to ask?" and requires persuasion though. Also its fun to see his reaction if you say "No" after persuaded him to say "please" - worth checking. Also try to ask him what about hugs after sex and then say that he is not that good - pretty funny as well. I've noticed that he is a character who is sometimes ok with a dialogue confrontation with you, and in some dialogues this opens him up a little bit better as a person that the way where you try to be liked by him, or just polite ))
And I am super-agree with the point that there is not the "Love of my life" stage of the story, it's just something which can be called as the very first step to it:
Shadowheart, in fact, agrees on something more that ordinary camp dialogue the very first time ( and it's not sex)
Lae'zel just considers sex as an occasional pleasure and behaves like it
Gale shares his story giving us a bit of trust credit which is justified after you repeatedly fed him with artifacts (??? don't know how to check approval rate - any clues?)
Wyll gives a friendly talk, nothing more to it. This is also fine after you saved the Tieflings just like he wanted.
Astarion (even if you don't play along his expectations) is really behaves like a manipulative narcissist, so he is scarcely likely able to "love" in higher senses at this stage, and seeks an occasional fun just like Lae'zel, but in his own style.
Anyway, it's all a big imho, but I was seeing this as a plot tie for an actual drama which we'll see in the next chapters only

Last edited by nhjke; 12/10/20 02:43 PM.

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Originally Posted by Nicottia

Huh, I was wondering if it was even possible to romance Gale in EA, it's weird because I also have done all there was to do in the Blighted Village before moving on to goblin camp, his approval was for the longest time the highest of all my companions but I never had such a scene trigger for some reason. Do you remember the spot it was triggered at?


My assumption about the activities in the village was wrong. It seems that the scene activated because of the approval and the number of nights in the camp. I loaded one of the early saves from the Druid Grove (before visiting the village), and teleported on the map, each time after that visiting the camp. As a result, the necessary dialogue with Gale appeared.
I don't know if it is important, but the dialogue appeared on 5-6 nights after the cambion's visit.


Last edited by Aloija; 12/10/20 04:10 PM.
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The dream character I made is hotter than any of the companions. They all have too much baggage. OK to fight as a team with but I don't wanna see any of them naked. smile

Last edited by flick40; 12/10/20 04:06 PM.
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Originally Posted by Aloija
Originally Posted by Nicottia

Huh, I was wondering if it was even possible to romance Gale in EA, it's weird because I also have done all there was to do in the Blighted Village before moving on to goblin camp, his approval was for the longest time the highest of all my companions but I never had such a scene trigger for some reason. Do you remember the spot it was triggered at?


My assumption about the activities in the village was wrong. It seems that the scene activated because of the approval and the number of nights in the camp. I loaded one of the early saves from the Druid Grove (before visiting the village), and teleported on the map, each time after that visiting the camp. As a result, the necessary dialogue with Gale appeared.
I don't know if it is important, but the dialogue appeared on 5-6 nights after the cambion's visit.



Alright, I might have to try reloading an earlier save and check if that would trigger it. Also, have you been using the tadpole powers much in that run of yours? Cause my first EA playthrough had 0 tadpole options taken. Makes me curious if that could also factor in that scene appearing. I find it a bit weird that if you don't use the tadpole at all, you never see the man/woman of your dreams from character creation. I'm hoping that Larian will include some tadpole dreams for good aligned people NOT using the thing at all. Like trying to tempt us into using it or something.

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Looking at it in a narrative way, I do hope there are more tiers of progression than what we see before intimacy. In my first playthrough I had a male and my second a female. The initial options with Astarion were the same options. So my gender did not influence the relationship with him in any way. It was humorous to see UNDER CONSTRUCTION in some parts.

However, I would say it would be nice if there were 1 or 2 more layers to get through before then. It would just add a more natural progression.

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Originally Posted by Nicottia
Also, have you been using the tadpole powers much in that run of yours?


I did a few tests - with tadpole persuasion and dream after and without. In both cases I got a scene. But I may have used mind reading on Gale the first dialogue with him, I don't remember for shure. Maybe it affects somehow.

Last edited by Aloija; 12/10/20 05:58 PM.
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So, I run another test with new character. It seems to be enough to have a very high approval with Gale and spend 10 nights in the camp to get a scene with a romantic moment.
Here's my step-by-step action:
Shadowheart recruitment
Astarion recruitment
Gale recruitment
Reading Gale's thoughts (tadpole) in the dialog
Camp
Lae`zel recruitment
Camp
Battle at the gate, dialogue with Zevlor
Camp
Will recruitment
Camp
Dialogue dying True Soul dwarf
Camp
Get the dog
Camp
Teleport
Camp
Pet the dog until the approval with Gail reaches very high (I did not do this in a normal game passing, only for the test)
Teleport>Camp x3
The scene
P.S. Of course, I talked to Gale with each new dialog.


I don't know if the tadpole usage on Gale has any effect, I need to do another test to check, but it is too exhausting.



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Originally Posted by Aloija
So, I run another test with new character. It seems to be enough to have a very high approval with Gale and spend 10 nights in the camp to get a scene with a romantic moment.
Here's my step-by-step action:
Shadowheart recruitment
Astarion recruitment
Gale recruitment
Reading Gale's thoughts (tadpole) in the dialog
Camp
Lae`zel recruitment
Camp
Battle at the gate, dialogue with Zevlor
Camp
Will recruitment
Camp
Dialogue dying True Soul dwarf
Camp
Get the dog
Camp
Teleport
Camp
Pet the dog until the approval with Gail reaches very high (I did not do this in a normal game passing, only for the test)
Teleport>Camp x3
The scene
P.S. Of course, I talked to Gale with each new dialog.


I don't know if the tadpole usage on Gale has any effect, I need to do another test to check, but it is too exhausting.




Ooh thanks, will deffo try that out! smile

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Originally Posted by Aloija
So, I run another test with new character. It seems to be enough to have a very high approval with Gale and spend 10 nights in the camp to get a scene with a romantic moment.
Here's my step-by-step action:
Shadowheart recruitment
Astarion recruitment
Gale recruitment
Reading Gale's thoughts (tadpole) in the dialog
Camp
Lae`zel recruitment
Camp
Battle at the gate, dialogue with Zevlor
Camp
Will recruitment
Camp
Dialogue dying True Soul dwarf
Camp
Get the dog
Camp
Teleport
Camp
Pet the dog until the approval with Gail reaches very high (I did not do this in a normal game passing, only for the test)
Teleport>Camp x3
The scene
P.S. Of course, I talked to Gale with each new dialog.


I don't know if the tadpole usage on Gale has any effect, I need to do another test to check, but it is too exhausting.




Then it's obviusly the tadpole. I've done all the other stuff mentioned + feeding him the artifact, but no sign of any scene whatsoever. Or maybe it's race/class dependent?
Obviusly not using the tadpole leads to pretty lame experience regarding companions which is a pretty big developer's oversight IMO

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You're all jumping from one stressful situation to another and might die in the morning. Someone just wanting to get off isn't that strange.

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