pennamepersona

[pennamepersona]

a collection of some of my favorite durge lines/flavor text

[pennamepersona]

i've already made a post about "hey where does withers get the blood when he resurrects durge" so here's an extremely specific followup

if we've got an afab durge from a species with a menstrual cycle, do they...also have that cycle? i assume they would when bhaal made them bc he's all into spreading his unholy seed and whatever the fuck, but does withers do a complete factory reset? does jergal understand the ins and outs of living bodies with hormone cycles??

"Is Durge Undead" 2.0: can the vampire lick up some period blood

#bg3 #bg3 dark urge #bg3 withers #bhaalspawn #menstruation mention #three guesses what made me start thinking about this #but for real though. like for REAL though. #i am once again asking!! is durge undead now!!! #what's bhaal's blood type! would an afab durge have a menstrual cycle! #these are the questions sarevok anchovie does NOT want you asking! #...does orin have her period? surely she does. do you think she like. gets...really creative during that time #not necessarily using that blood just like #as a pick me up? #if your favored medium is blood and pain and you start to produce those yourself surely it's like. gonna spark something. #you can tell when orin the red is on her period bc the murders spike

[pennamepersona]

yeah the classic durge run has been going great why do you ask

#bg3 #bg3 durge #bg3 dark urge #i just finished a paladin run #and I've got a monk tactician run going as well #and then i pull up my fucking squishy sorcerer file #12 ac y'all #I'm sure it'll get somewhat better as i go on since rn I'm only lvl 3 #but Jesus fucking Christ casters are so squishy #i did learn that there's an old issue of dragon magazine that says bhaalspawn lean towards being sorcerers #so that was interesting and maybe is A Justification #but I'll tell you what it remains wacky that this incredibly prolific assassin apparently has a d6 hit die #metamagic is cool and all but What are you talking about

[pennamepersona]

Reference image for Col, my dearest darling beloved Dark Urge monk. By god do they look so fucking edgy. I used one of the Decay skin tones, which is why they look just a little bit dead. Can't tell you how pleasing it was to find the hot topic ass dexterity armor and for the sick monk gloves to match. Truly written in the stars

#bg3 #dark urge #col #this is so i can link back to what col looks like for fics on ao3 #also. i am self-indulgent. i just love them so much guys. #they have evil autism and absolutely no ability to talk to people #they seem blunt and Serious but that's barely true #the best character trait thing i ever realized about them was bc of that tumblr post that's like #'what each bg3 companion would do if locked in a room w/ a box that gives u an electric shock' #and minsc was described as electroshocks georg #and i realized that col would rival minsc for electroshocks georg #not even for a good reason. they'd just do it. maybe to win ?? not that they know what the competition is #they just. would walk over and shock themself. repeatedly. they'd get weirdly intense about it. #so yeah no they're not Thinking Serious Thoughts they're just fucking weird #i adore them with my whole heart and soul they are everything to me

[pennamepersona]

[pennamepersona]

I hope they have a “call-before-you-dig” hotline in Baldur’s Gate because if you even think about getting a basement your whole house just plummets straight down into whatever ancient crypt or murder cult headquarters or demonic ritual enclave happens to be in your zip code

[pennamepersona]

hey when withers says thou shall not perish while i endure or whatever, how literal is that. is durge functionally immortal. is durge undead. [shakes the bars of my enclosure] i need to know

#bg3 #bg3 dark urge #bg3 durge #bg3 withers #baldurs gate 3 #for my first durge i used one of the decay skin tones #bc i felt like that was fitting #and i liked it a lot it's very cool the tips of your ears are slightly dark and your lips are kinda grey #it's got the vibe of Something Is Wrong Here #and i'm js i think it would make sense if durge was a little bit kind of undead #at the very least post temple of bhaal if they reject the urge #also i had to find the mirror to check the name of that skin tone #and can i just ask. why is it so fucking far away in the shadow cursed camp. #also did y'all know there's fully a bed in that camp. like it's a shitty bed but there's a fireplace and everything #the different camp layouts are so fucking wild

[pennamepersona]

i know this is way more literal than i'm probably supposed to take it but like. if bhaal takes back durge's blood when they turn him down, and withers brings them back. where does the new blood...come from

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 dark urge #dark urge #i'm just saying that it would have to be very similar blood #bc of how blood works #and if we are gonna be literal about it which i think is more fun #then where is withers getting this new blood #i know the answer is probably he can just make it bc he's a god #but LIKE....................where is he getting it tho #bc it was bhaal's blood right like that's the whole deal #that's why durge was so plagued by The Urges #bc they have the real literal actual blood of bhaal and no other parent to thin it out #so can withers just. make identical blood that removes the bhaal part but keeps literally every other aspect #like! what's bhaal's blood type. is what i'm asking. #also on the topic of being too literal. durge is shaped like a playable race but they aren't Exactly That #so what's their lifespan. hey. when withers says you shall not die while i live. what does that Mean. #is durge undead

[pennamepersona]

A friend who wanted to stay anonymous datamined BG3's dialogue, alongside with tags, approval, roll requirements, dev notes... 9300 files total! I'm sharing it now. Make sure to have both Dialogs and jscssetc folders to have proper formatting. The Link lines have the Jump function - click them to jump to the associated line. The rest of the tags can be shown/hidden as per the header. The files are separated by acts, but be warned that there might be spoilers in the tags and game files.

[pennamepersona]

wyll: it really is a shame that the flaming fist is so corrupted these days :(

jaheira: yeah, "these days". sure. this is totally a new development and not something i wholeheartedly expect from your little mercenary militia.

#bg3 #bg3 wyll #bg3 jaheira #i just think it's so funny how he'll comment in the city #that the flaming fists aren't what they used to be #or that he's surprised they aren't in certain areas #and jaheira's like nah kid they take so many bribes #jaheira voice wait you didn't know cops are corrupt #jaheira: not sure if it's sweet or pathetic that you actually believe in upholding the law #and trust that people in power will do it

[pennamepersona]

Baldur's Gate 3 Character Sheet

I decided to make my own template for my BG3 characters, because I enjoy filling these things out so much. 🤪

Available here (free, but optional donations are appreciated!)

[pennamepersona]

woke up thinking about the narrative use of astarion & how weird it is that his personal quest doesn't tie into the main narrative At All bc something is wrong with me, etc

ftr, i'm saying all of this as a bigtime astarion fan. love this guy. i keep romancing him and it's begun to feel like a cry for help. And Also, @ larian it's really fucking weird that you made a guy who doesn't tie into the plot at all

i'm putting the rest of this under a readmore. also i'm maintagging this mostly just for being able to find it later, if anybody wants to come @ me then pls know i basically never engage w/ tumblr and you'll probably be disappointed.

best i have for a real justification is that astarion exists in part for players who want to be Evil And Fucked Up. none of the other companions are fully down with using the tadpole powers or trying to take over the cult. and it is genuinely good to have a companion who gives you that option! if players who wanted to explore the fucked up options had complete disapproval from every companion, it would be kinda feelbad and make those options feel less like a real choice you're allowed to make.

why does that matter re: astarion being entirely detached from the main narrative? thank you for asking. it means that "guy who is down for being fucked up and taking over the cult" doesn't come across as secretly being in league with the bad guys the whole time. astarion having no link to ketheric, orin, or gortash means that his power play ideas don't make you suspicious that he's been lying to you and is just waiting to deliver you to the Chosen.

to be clear: still weird that he has no direct tie-in. but this is the best reason i could think of for why he'd be so completely not involved.

the other Point Of Him, i think, is for The Dark Urge. it's no secret that astarion is a killer parallel for durge. i'm not gonna go into that but goddamn, i love it.

and if we're looking at things from the durge perspective, i think it kinda works for astarion to be so detached. he then becomes Random Baldurian Affected By Durge's Actions and it adds more strength to him also functioning as a piece of nuance for the tadpoles. he's the only one who directly benefits from the tadpoles existing! and that on its own is a cool bit of narrative. i think the durge side of things makes astarion's narrative tie in just a bit more. we've now got Dude Who Was Saved By Player Character (Albeit Unintentionally). i think it adds more depth to the durge narrative, and if the dark urge was the only non-origin option and tav didn't exist, i think it makes astarion's lack of narrative relevance a bit less glaring.

tldr; useful for the guy who's down to be fucked up to not be involved with the villains At All so you don't get suspicious of him and the option to be fucked up feels like more of a real option

(also tasty durge & astarion narrative depth)

#bg3 #bg3 meta #astarion #still weird. can't emphasize this enough. #i'm a major astarion fan and still @ larian what's up with this guy #i think i'm onto smth with having him as the If You Wanna Be Fucked Up narrative support #and i really do think it makes sense for him to not have any possibility of being secretly involved with the Chosen #still weird but that feels like it might be the real reason #i'm rly tired btw so possible i'm less of a genius than i think i am #fr woke up and almost immediately started thinking about this #wrt to the rest of the companions i landed on shadowheart and lae'zel being the most Necessary ones #wyll adds reason to care about ravenguard and also ansur #karlach ties into wyll and gives more gortash narrative #never thought about it much before but gale is actually v similar to astarion #his quest ties into the narrative but he as a character does not #you could remove gale and lose nothing from the actual plot narrative #the fact that his quest ties in makes him in a whole other category than astarion ofc #but he doesn't actually leave a hole like the others do #though tbh karlach is the next easiest to remove #she adds to wyll and to gortash but mostly she is uninvolved w/ the bigger narrative #wyll should rly get more attention from larian given that he's the guy who gives u reason to care about the Baldurian side of the narrative #the duke is def helped by wyll being around #but the most necessary and narratively useful are absolutely shadowheart and lae'zel #shadowheart has the artifact. could you just find it on your own or have it Appear somehow? sure. but she makes it infinitely less clumsy. #also the Entire thing w/ aylin #rly the whole shadowlands thing would lose a lot w/o shadowheart #and lae'zel is your Singular connection to the githyanki #it isn't *necessary* but you lose quite a bit of Giving A Shit About Orpheus which is y'know #i would say pretty important #none of this is me saying any of these companions are therefore Better than the others btw

[pennamepersona]

I made some transparent versions of the approval/disapproval pop ups!

I tried to make them look as close to how they do in game as I could

character art is from edwardv.artstation.com

might make some for people's tavs/durges if anyone would be interested in that!

#bg3

[pennamepersona]

durge run more like bhaalanced mode

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 dark urge #jeb bush voice please clap #thought of this last night and I'm convinced I'm the funniest person on the planet #though i must imagine others have told this joke before

[pennamepersona]

the thing that finally let me understand wyll was seeing a couple posts about how he's like. unfazed in the beginning. this is normal to him

very "the day you were taken by the nautiloid was the worst day of your life. for the blade of frontiers, it was tuesday"

#bg3 #bg3 wyll #he really did get off the ship and then saunter over to the nearest place that needed saving #oh i was abducted by mindflayers? eh time to teach these kids how to hold a sword #and also to believe in themselves #the thing about wyll for me is that i accidentally didn't recruit him right away #straight up just missed him. got distracted by zevlor and that merc asshole #and in my first run i was very task oriented so i missed karlach as well #fully got through the whole thing up to the party in like 8 hours #then learned it should've taken me more like 30 #oh also didn't get lae'zel til the end of the act either #so wyll and lae'zel both took a backseat #i did hang out with karlach ill admit to that #partly bc her vibes are immaculate from day 1 and partly bc it was shadowheart astarion gale and me (cleric) for ages #do you have any idea how fucking incredible a barbarian feels when you've been living with 3 casters and a rogue #anyway sorry for thinking you were normal and kinda boring lawful good wyll #didn't realize that actually you're unhinged and have absolutely no point of reference for regular behaviors

[pennamepersona]

wulbren: i want you to blow up the steel watch factory and everyone inside of it barcus: that! would kill all the gondians! that's too far! resist!durge: yeah, that does sound like mass murder, and i kind of swore that off recently durge: should’ve hit me up six months ago durge: i mean i would’ve killed you also but for sure would’ve been down to slaughter all the gondians

#bg3 #bg3 dark urge #barcus wroot #wulbren bongle #sorry man i did this whole thing where i beat my sister in single combat #and rejected the boon that my evil father wanted to give me #died got resurrected by a skeleton also watched my butler get stabbed a bunch so that was fun #it's rly funny to do quests out of order #completing the durge storyline and then doing other stuff is just a way to sprinkle on some comedy #anyway fuck wulbren that's not a real solution man #durge voice speaking as someone who was recently a big fan of mass murder #turns out it isn't actually a great solution to most problems #i know i was as surprised as you are #also getting completely enthralled by vengeance does more harm than good #sorry wulbren :/ already learned these lessons before :/ #plus he's a real cunt to barcus who is the KING of npcs you come around to loving #'quiet barcus the adults are talking' #man my vow against killing innocents is pretty flexible sometimes i don't think you want to test me #barcus put his trust in durge back when they were still let's say pretty sketchy in terms of control #now that they've got a handle on themself it is my firm belief that they're ready to smash a guy's head in on behalf of Any of their friend

[pennamepersona]

hey. why is no one talking about Us, the best intellect devourer I mean totally normal kitty I have ever met in my life

#bg3 #bg3 us #i wouldn't have gotten them at all if my buddy hadn't told me about them #easy to miss but so so so precious #FRIEND! we are here for you! #i kinda hate the squeak hiss noise intellect devourers make #but i love to bring Us around with me #in part bc all the passive npc dialogue is really funny #look at its paws aw what a cute kitty #yep that's definitely what's happening here #anyway bg3 fandom explain yourselves #I've literally never seen any discussion of Us even referenced #get well soon!! love my lil guy!!!