Originally Posted by kanisatha
Originally Posted by _Vic_
New story details are in the article from the latest Dragon+ magazine:

https://dnd.dragonmag.com/2020/03/02/in-the-works-baldurs-gate-iii/content.html


“The more you use your tadpole by selecting it from the options within dialogue, the stronger the influence of your tadpole becomes. But the more you use it, the quicker you unlock your powers,” says Larian Senior Designer Edouard Imbert.

“It’s that duality we’re introducing. It’s comparable to Bhaalspawn, which is a nice link to Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II. We want players to be wary this thing is still inside them, and the fact that they can turn into a mind flayer is still there,” warns Smith.

To add to the chaos, a new cult known as the Absolute is on the rise. It quickly becomes clear that certain enemies you encounter within this faction also have tadpole powers, making them more interesting (and more dangerous!) opponents. Don’t be surprised when that priestess you’re facing off against suddenly uses telekinesis to drop one of the temple’s statues on you.


The question every fan of the Baldur’s Gate series will be asking themselves is: will we see a few familiar faces from past games? “Fans of Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II are going to look at our game and have certain expectations. Some of those expectations we’re going to completely shatter. We’re set 100 years after Baldur’s Gate II and we are taking everything in the Forgotten Realms D&D books as canon,” Smith says, the earlier playtest confirming that Volo is in the game. “We don’t want to take away the expectation that they might meet this or that character again. But we’re not going to change timelines or do anything crazy to introduce anyone, we’re using the lore very respectfully.”

The problem here though is that this strongly incetivizes everyone to play evil and never good. If you play good, which means NOT using your tadpole at all because using your tadpole means moving closer to becoming a mindflayer, you get screwed out of awesome powers and even some beneficial dialogue options but with no alternative benefits whatsoever. And since I will NEVER ever play evil in any game, I am permanently screwed.


Over using the Tadpole has a major price, like it makes you more vulnerible to Mindflayers. Plus using the Tadpole is not in of itself an evil act, only a dangerous one.