I’m not even talking about bugs. Opinion based on act1 and very beginning of act2 experience.
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- Dialog and player choices feel railroaded as heck, options are suddenly lovelove or rude as fuck. Quality of dialog writing is very different from other parts of the game.
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- His story is r/rpghorrorstory level problematic. From DM perspective his backstory and associate npc’s are especially bad choices.
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It wouldn’t bother as much if either was better, but both in current state just sticks out to me.
My partner thinks this character must be some executives personal OP character shoe horned in to game despite criticism.
spoiler
sidenote: His story would work far better if he was delusional insane person. Instead its literal game over with “certain choices”, if you take him out of the portal.
I feel like he’s a well written character, and people underestimate how much he changes based on player choices.
When you first meet him he’s desperate and clearly hiding something, but a nice enough fellow. Then you learn he used to be a REALLY big deal (ie. Level 20 Wizard) but flew too close to the sun. Fair enough, a megalomaniac who has learned his lesson.
Then he’s offered a deal: sacrifice yourself to save the world, absolve yourself of your sins, die a hero. The the thing is at first he’s ON BOARD with this. The first time this solution is proposed, he can totally see the logic of it. And on face value, blowing up the Absolute right there in act 2 is the best case scenario for everyone. The enemy and all their army wiped out in one hit, without risking it all trying to fight them one by one. He has a chance to die a hero and save literally thousands of lives with his own.
But what happens is that players want to play the game. They want to see Baldur’s Gate. So they convince Gale not to sacrifice himself, to make the selfish choice and choose to live. So they miss their chance to kill all three and the brain in one spot, and have to traipse around the city gathering allies for a super risky final battle.
In the process, the players turn Gale BACK into the megalomaniac he started as. Because we coached him into ignore the advice of his (very wise) peers like Mystra and Elminster, he starts thinking he’s God’s gift all over again. Starts coveting power, first to save his own skin, but then just for power’s sake. And in the end, if you let him, he learns absolutely nothing from his whole saga: he’s the same power tripping manchild he started as.
I think if theres poor writing, it’s having the choice of blowing himself up in act 2. That’s way too soon: if you want to see a third of the game, you HAVE to convince him to ignore him most treasured mentors and be selfish. It feels very railroady and the only version of Gale you can play as/with in act 3 is someone who has turned completely away from the path to redemption
I disagree with your last point. Yeah, you convince him to not blow himself up, but for my Tav it amounted to “we’ll find another way where you don’t die.” He does get pretty power hungry, but a few persuasion checks and he realizes he was backsliding and agrees with you to cut that shit out. He decides to get the crown for Mystra without seeking its power and she agrees to heal him.
There’s redemption there, you just have to push him.
Eh. I haven’t seen his dialogue since they apparently tweaked it, but I didn’t find it that bad to begin with. There was a bit of a vibe in act 2 like “sorry you’re hurt, didn’t mean to lead you on, was just being nice” but thats life sometimes. /shurg
The RPGHorrorstory element… eh. I somewhat agree, mostly just in exactly how far along/established in his journey of magic he was. A young prodigy attracting Mystra’s attention, and then ruining himself (and endangering others) in pursuit of more, is an interesting twist on the traditional exploration of a Wizard’s hubris, the issue comes more from like “yeah, I didn’t just attract Mystra’s attention, I was a peer of Elminster and one of Mystra’s Chosen” (conspicuous failure to mention the magical institutions of his home, EG, the Blackstaff, Vajra, Larael, etc., aside). TBH, just changing his interactions with Elminster to either double down on the implicit arrogance of assuming himself Elminster’s peer, or have him be more of a fanboy, a la Karlach to Minsc and Jaheira, would’ve gone a long way.
I quite disagree with the rpghorrorstory feeling. It’s the opposite to me, even if I see why you may feel like this.
It’s the opposite because the grandiose past comes with two bond that are completely in the hands of the dm, and because it is a video game, there is no bargaining around it : you have an anciant mortal curse that you need to feed in order to survive, and you have a past with a goddess, and we all know how the power dynamic is with a god or goddess.
On the one hand it is quite some for the dm to integrate, but on the other it’s even more to work with than a paladin oath, a warlock patron or a cleric god. Narrative bonds are powerful tools for the dm.
As for the writing and the dialogue options, Gale is an asshole at first, that’s not bad writing in itself. I guess it could be better, but I’m no writer and I’m not good with talking to people. I find it reasonably good. With some people you can only be blunt.
I think some people are out off balance by the direct flirty behaviour though. It’s funny IMO because, although I’m not a woman, I feel like this might be what women live with some men. This is the case for several characters btw, and some articles about how horny the characters can be hint me into this line of thought.
I agree. Beyond the romance bugs making him seem like a skeezy incel, his backstory is some Mary Sue shit and he has a tendency to jump on morally dubious power grabs at the slightest opportunity. (See: book in apothecary basement, Raphael, personal quest events in Act 3). He made a good first impression but he might stay in the wall on my next playthrough.
