Summary
One of the best things thatBaldur’s Gate 3manages to do is endear the player to the many, many NPCs that can be recruited for the party.BG3’s Origin characters, like Astarion, Wyll, Shadowheart, and others, all get character arcs that the player can help dictate, and the non-Origin characters, like Minthara and Halsin, are charismatic, if a little strange with some habits. Not only has Larian Studios made sure to build the relationship of party members with the player character, it has also made sure that the relationships between NPCs are also clear.
Although a party can only consist of four, andthe player’s avatar must be in the party at all times, the party members can still be conversed with in their camp, which also serves as a home for other NPCs that are collected along the way, likeBG3’s best boy, Scratch. These conversations are important in understanding the other party members and furthering their respective quest lines and possiblecompanion romance options. Funnily enough, there are even specific interactions for when the players talk to party members without using their avatar character.
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Interacting With NPCs Without Tav Shows That NPCs Might Hate Each Other
And They Have A Funny Way Of Showing It
Although the majority of interactions will be done by Tav, Durge, or whoever the avatar character happens to be,other party members can be used to interact with NPCs in the world. This is massively beneficial, since it’s almost impossible to have one character that can literally do everything. For instance, if the avatar character isn’t charismatic, having a party member that is trying to persuade someone in their stead is very useful, but there are limits to whom the non-avatar character can interact with.
Should anyone but the avatar character be used to interact withmembers of Tav’s camp,they will be unable to access the usual dialogue trees that are available to the avatar. Because Larian loves to put in extra details to make the worlds of their games more immersive, there are lines of dialogue to shut down the interacting character, rather than not allowing interactions to take place at all. Some of these lines of dialogue are hilariously harsh and show a level of contempt by some that makes the camp feel like a toxic working environment.
It should be noted thatthese lines of dialogue suit each party member relatively well, but not perfectly. Karlach will simply, and quite dismissively, direct the interacting character to the chief, being the avatar character. Lae’zel will refer to the interacting character as a pet and ask that they send over their owner, which is very in line for the abrasive gith, but Astarion likely has the harshest line of all. The vampire spawn will tell the interacting character that he has no time for underlings in his usual, mocking tone, which doesn’t exactly demonstrate much love.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Party Members Have Preexisiting Relationships
And Not All Are Good
Throughout the adventures ofBaldur’s Gate 3,many party members can be recruited to fill up the camp and some have preexisting relationships. For instance,Shadowheart and Lae’zel just really hate each other, Astarion loves to insult Galefor whatever reason, and Minthara and Halsin are former enemies after thewhole business with the Emerald Grove. There’s plenty of negativity to go around, which makes the harsh interactions between non-avatar characters seem quite in-character.
Minthara could only be recruited in an evil playthrough when the game was first released, but thanks to her popularity, this was changed by Larian in a patch.
In general,there seems to be a lot of former enemies in the party, with Wyll once ready to kill Karlach as a part of his warlock contract and practically everyone being an enemy of Minthara, provided that Tav chose to aid the Emerald Grove. Still, this doesn’t quite properly show the positivity in the party, since Wyll and Karlach do become friends to the point where the warlock agrees togo to Avernuswith the tiefling. Curiously, they will still be dismissive of each other if they interact at camp and neither is the avatar character.
Although most of the party start off negatively with each other,given that they are only together out of sheer desperation, they do grow to like each other by the end. Shadowheart and Wyll share a funny conversation about a raunchy book, while Minthara talks about how beautiful it is that Karlach can always live in the moment.Jaheira is already friends with Minsc, while Karlach fan-girls over her and Halsin demonstrates great respect. The interactions of the party aren’t quite as toxic as they are made out to be at the start.
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Interaction Between BG3 Party Members May Be Deceptive
They Exist Exclusively For The Player
Although some of the interactions between non-avatar party members would definitely work as in-character conversations, particularly with Astarion calling Gale an underling, they shouldn’t all be taken at face value. Astarion’s line might be said to Gale, butit is doubtful that he would be unwise enough to say it to Lae’zel or Minthara. Karlach always seems down for a chat, especially since she is quite bubbly and open with her feelings, yet her dismissive redirection to the chief of the party remains.
Astarion has a line with the Book of Thay in which he will say he won’t kill members of the party, except maybe one. This one depends on who in the party has the lowest affinity with the vampire.
All in all,these interactions between non-avatar party members are a bit of fun by Larianto add a bit more immersion while giving players another line from anextremely talented voice cast. They exist to remind players that party members at camp should only be interacted with by the avatar character, and although some of the interactions would be in character, not all are. It isn’t as though the lines are wildly out of character either, since Lae’zel’s rather scathing insult is quite common place for her.
Such interactions didn’t need to exist. Larian Studios could have easily just made it so that nothing happens when a non-avatar party member tries to interact with someone in camp, but because they can interact with NPCs in the world, these little lines of dialogue make sense. It just goes to show how much effort and detail went into makingBaldur’s Gate 3the award-winning experience that it is, and the gaming industry is all the richer for it.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game set to release in August of 2023. Players will create a character to embark on a large-scale journey and can do so solo or cooperatively with a friend. Combat is a turn-based style this time around.
