As one new to forgotten realms, I actually found the bg3 resources to be pretty useful. Quick reads, tells you what you need to know to understand the major players (including Shar), and keeps you from having to digest 50 tears of convoluted lore. Perfect for newbs like me.
Don’t get me wrong…I absolutely devour fantasy/sci-fi lore in other settings. GOT, Simarillion, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Dune, Star Trek, etc. But Forgotten Realms, much like the Simpsons, just passed me by, and is too damned big and scattered to catch all the way up on. Thus, I am only interested in what I need to know to get a good game experience. This wiki is sufficient (in addition to things I learn in the forums).
Having said that, starting the game cold with zero lore background—- I took my cue to respond to Shadowheart from 1) Gale, who seemed to think it was cute, and 2) the book about the Lady of Loss I found. These two in game cues led me to see Shar worshippers as emo wiccans that cry alot, do sneaky stuff, and dislike Selune. Note…for some reason in game, I did not link Dark Justicars and the blighted village to Shar worshippers. Might have skimmed a book too quickly something. But I somehow mussed that link my first playthru, and did not get that link until after I had my Shadowheart reveal convo.
Now…my question is this. Is it poor in game writing that made me come to this initial conclusion? Is Gale’s reaction, a literal chosen of Mystra, appropriate for Shadowheart’s reveal? I am curious what u guys think. Now that I know more about Shar, his reaction surprises me and seems a bit off the mark. Of course, it could just be his cool and calm demeanor too. Maybe other origin chars have stronger responses?
In any event…why have Religion be a skill if we rarely have a skill check for it? The Shar convo seems a good time for a Reigion check to come up (or a history one). As it did in druid grove reading those murals, etc. That would be an efficient and easy to implement solution for newbs imho.
