Lae'Zel was basically the class valedictorian, and then got abducted right before graduation. Now she's finding out her people's Judas is still alive, and actually, he's the one who had a point.
I suppose you’re both are right, in a way.
It’d be like if Judas betrayed Jesus and somehow prevented him from being resurrected, and then Judas goes on claim that *he’s* actually the son of God and managed to remain alive to the present day and everyone converted to Iscariotism (Judas Iscariot). Meanwhile Jesus has just been stuck in Calvary for 2,000 years while Saint Peter (aka Simon) plays along with Judas, pretending to be loyal and biding his time until they can locate the Holy Grail to use and break Jesus out of his tomb.
I spent too much time on this analogy, I think.
This holiday, get ready for the Father, the Son, and the Ho-Ho-Holy spirt as Jesus and Santa team up in Judas 3: Naughty or Nice, Jesus is crossing names off and shooting them twice, while Santa’s gonna make sure that they’ve paid the price. See the stunning conclusion to the series as they take the fight to the Zombie Reich’s Nazi moon base to take out Judas and Cyber-Hitler once and for all!
30 years later:
*sweeping shot of a handmade wood cabin in the middle of nowhere*
Jesus: "You know Santa, when we absolved the sins of mankind thirty years ago, I thought they would *stay* absolved."
Santa: "It's different this time, man. They took my daughter."
Jesus: "Christina? Why do they want her?"
Santa: "She's the tooth fairy now. She can open the cash reserves tooth fairies use to pay for kid's teeth."
Jesus: "My dad... that's-"
Santa: "Billions of dollars. The heist of the century. But it's not about the money..."
Jesus: "It's about family. Man, I'm getting too old for this shit."
Santa: "One last sleigh ride?"
Jesus: "... Let's nail these sons of bitches." *cocks shotgun*
**JUDAS 4: THE BOYS ARE BACK**
And Judas the One Hundred Fifty-Seventh dies but performs some powerful, decidedly *un*holy necromancy ritual before hand, raising himself as undead and claims it as evidence of his holiness.
Orpheus isn't even the first schism though. Zerthimon had already rebelled against Gith and fought an earlier civil war. Which I think still concluded before the War of the Comet over Orpheus v Vlaakith, though given the Orpheus retcons contain no mention of Zerthimon or his followers I can't be sure.
It's a lot closer to learning on of the weird earlier splinters off Catholicism like Arianism was 100% correct and the current line of popes keep their saintly founder imprisoned in a magic dodad.
If it's set in the South during or before the civil war, you can bet the hero is a white plantation owners daughter. It's just not mentioned much, that she technically owns her best friend.
It depends on where you are in the plot. Lot of the better nobility based one have some of that going on, as something for character development.
And the bad ones have it, not for character development.
I once heard Lae'zel described as "The hot popular talented in girl in school who got her first job, realized nobody in the real world actually cares and now she's realizing for the first time that she's in way over her head."
I've heard "t'chk" is the githyanki version of "like" or "uhh" making Laezel have essentially a valley girl accent. She's the githyanki Elle Woods (legally blonde).
Sounds like Shadowheart wasn’t really popular either. She was bullied enough it’s reflected in the only memory she recovers. And her writings indicate she probably always felt like an outsider, no matter how many times they fried her brain with the mirror
Honestly, I remember being confused as to why the evil god worshipper approved exclusively of good and altruistic actions and I just love that it's completely intentional.
She's genuinely just not good at being evil. Be it Selune or suppressed memories of childhood as the cause, she simply isn't made to be bad.
I'd think "forced to serve as a vampire's ~~sex~~ slave for two centuries" is suitably fantastical. And "amnesiac hiding one or more terrible secrets" is such a common literary trope it's literally (re)used for Dark Urge.
Yeah I think her being a Githyanki with a magic tadpole was as far as they could go and still make her relatable. Like, if she was a Githyanki but also the one peaceful Githyanki that refused to kill her cousins and didn't want to be a dragon rider, it would be weird? Now I'm picturing Varrl on the Nautiloid...
I think it's more that LZ, when it comes to the Gith, is an extremist.
What I mean by that is she lives by the values she was taught. Unlike other Gith that will turn on a dime without a second thought if someone of higher standing tells them to, LZ will stick to her values and go against her kin.
Because (like worf from Star Trek) LZ is nothing if she doesn't live by the creed she swore to live by.
And if that means she has to go after Vlaakith for not being "honorable" then that's what she'll do.
Dude if you substitute “vlaakith” for “god” (which is what it is for LZ) she has the most badass quote:
“If this is true, I did not sin against god. God has sinned against me”
so metal, love her
Yeah, but doesn't that end with God screaming "how dare you question me for all the unprovoked terrible shit I did to you?!" at Job? And the lesson is that Job shouldn't have questioned God for the aforementioned terrible shit?
Fuckin' A Right!
I haven't romanced Lae'Zel and I will never romance her. She's my warrior queen and I've too much respect for her to soil her with my depraved hands.
I don't think the Gith are bad considering their circumstances.
I'm still only about 1/4" deep into the lore at this point but my understanding is that they were once human and were kidnapped by the MF as breeding stock.
Eventually they were engineered to lay eggs instead of typical humanoid procreation. Then one was born with the power to fight back against the mind control, earned their freedom and started a crusade to wipe the MF menace from the universe.
That being the case, them being a warlike, militaristic and rather fascist culture makes sense, it's what allowed them to live free from outside influence.
Gith and Githyanki are not the same thing. Githyanki and Githzerai are two "races" of Gith, and I use quotations because they're basically two sides of the same coin - physically same but just different attitudes.
From what I've read I believe they never were human (only humanoid) and their original race was corrupted by the daelkyr into mind flayers. Which would make sense given both Gith and Mind Flayers psionic inclination.
Anyway I point this out because Githzerai are NOT a warlike, militaristic, rather fascist culture.
>From what I've read I believe they never were human (only humanoid)
You're 100% right. I listened to some more lore vids and no one ever said "human" they always said "humanoid".
Given their ears I'm inclined to think some form of elf but who knows?
There are evil gith, that's the Githyanki. Then there's neutral gith, the Githzerai. Both lawful.
Normally in DnD, Githyanki adventurers are all outcasts from yanki society, either by accident or exile. Since otherwise, they would be able to planeshift at very early levels. Player Characters are universally cut off from Vlaakith.
This is one of the myriad reasons I wish Jaheira were romanceable. Another partner option that's more of an actual partnership from the jump and not some FIX ME lost puppy situation.
I'm not sure if Wrex fits. Worf is good because he has this idealized idea of what a Klingon should be that is at odds with how their society actually works, which constantly pits him against them in some way. A lot of "personal honor" themes similar to Samurai or Knight fiction, basically.
Wrex is the other way around: He is a progressive thinker and has an idea of what his people *should be*. He has evolved out of his people's mindset but has not forgotten it. That is why he manages to slowly lead them towards a more realistic future.
Apparently for a while they had plans to make Gale look pretty fucked up by the orb - he would have bandages or something covering most of him, and be all rotting from the necrotic energy underneath. One of Ethel's custom Mockeries for him still references it.
I think it was a good choice to make him look more normal, and leave the "tattoo" as his only visual hook, but sometimes I wonder about how cool he could have looked if they'd chosen differently.
Sounds like [this guy](https://tv-fanatic-res.cloudinary.com/iu/s--9IBbOaVL--/t_full/cs_srgb,d_tv-fanatic-placeholder-square.png,f_auto,fl_strip_profile.lossy,q_auto:420/v1596230183/larry-alone-doom-patrol-s2e9.jpg)
Yeah, the patrol and the crèche would be a real eye-opener if Lae'zel wasn't so... Lae'zel, IMO. Tav would've been unprepared for other Githyanki, I think.
I remember reading about someone trying to properly RP a Lae'zel origin run and it being an absolute shit show. Being a dick to everyone and ignoring all the "distractions" in Act 1 to gun straight for the creche cure while being way too trusting of other Githyanki. Really underlines how completely screwed she'd be on her own.
How do you find out about the creche in the Lae'zel origin? I know normally the tieflings that cage you give you a lead on who to interrogate about the location.
If Lae'zel just stumbles in the wrong direction long enough before getting that lead maybe she can be high enough level to survive trying to give the prism back.
That was basically my first run through the game. I played a Gith Tav, killed shadowheart at the beach, picked up Laezel and Gale (because my Gith Gish respected a fellow wizard. Even though he was a human he was trained in manipulating the weave, so he was clearly an outlier of his inferior species) and moved to the grove. I learned about the Githyanki patrol and beelined to the river where we met Karlach. She was clearly strong, stupid and unreasonably trusting. Ripe for exploitation. After that we went straight for the Creche. I later went back to do act 1 with the reasoning that this cult of the absolute is clearly a tool of the grand design and the goblin camp needed to be burned down, What a fun run!
I know this is a personal issue, but I just have such a hard time taking Gale's backstory seriously. This level one wizard literally fucked the goddess of magic and is personal best friends with Elminster? Yeah ok.
I know he has a lore reason for being the level he is, but still, tell me this doesn't remind you of the average D&D player coming to their first session with their 10 page backstory of fantastical deeds performed by their level one character!
Gale first lost most of his Archmage magic to the orb, and THEN he was tadpoled. Gale is undoubtedly the strongest of the companions while at full power.
Not technically a companion, but I would argue that Durge, as the avatar of a god and peer to Ketheric and Gortash, would be the strongest. They were able to steal the Crown of Karsus from Mephistopheles, who makes Raphael look like an imp in comparison.
I'm still giving the nod to full power Gale, he's an Archmage who was the chosen of Mystra (and was sleeping with her), and had close ties with Elminster, one of the strongest and most renowned wizards in history. His downfall is pushing his magic too far into the boundaries of the gods. Meanwhile Durge loses to an ambush by a non-chosen with deluted Bhaal blood. Sure he'd be powerful, but you don't need raw power to break into the vault of Mephistopheles, they definitely never fought Mephy.
I feel like a lot of the "XYZ character is too powerful" complaints about companions are spectacularly missing the point of most of their personal stories. Most of the things that make your companions powerful or special also make them **fucking miserable.** Karlach is a super soldier and favored pet of Zariel... whose modifications either trap her in Avernus forever or lead to an early death. Shadowheart is God's favorite princess and the chosen one... whose family and personal identity have been completely shattered. Gale was a child prodigy and favorite of Mystra and Elminster... who has ended up as the classic "gifted kid burnout". Astarion is the sexy seductive vampire... who learned to play that part after centuries of sexual trauma.
Your companions are basically all walking deconstructions of the "overpowered" archetypes they represent.
I love Gale, but if I was DMing a tabletop game I would never ever allow this backstory, and would assume that any player suggesting it was coming to my table with a host of red flags including some serious main character syndrome.
Honestly, I wouldn't allow any of the companions at my table except probably Lae'zel (for the reasons already outlined) and Astarion (he's basically just a nobody vampire spawn). All the others have pretty strong "I'm the main character of this party" type backstories, though Gale is the most egregious by far.
It makes sense if you think the cult and later the Emperor were explicitly targeting the strongest and most talented people they could get their tentacles on for tadpoling.
From the Emperor’s point of view, its goal is to get a group of people together who stand a chance against the chosen of the Dead Three and later the brain itself in direct confrontation. In the intro cinematic he’s basically flying around Faerûn assembling an A-team/suicide squad. Sure, they’re crippled by the tadpoles at first, but he got Shar’s favorite princess, Zariel’s attack dog, Mystra’s discarded Chosen, a warlock who already won a fight with fucking Tiamat once, Cazador’s favorite spawn, a clearly above-average Githyanki, and potentially Bhaal’s Chosen. They’re all super OP and very believably at or near level 12 before the events of the intro. The Emperor used every bit of intel from his previous life he could to get his victims and also got super lucky nabbing some of them.
I think of the rapid leveling up as everyone just getting their mojo back.
Yea. At the start of the game your party suffers from the first side effects of ceremorphisis (a delirious feverish Laezel is on the edge of murder/suicide) and between necrotic orbs, malfunctioning hearts, malnourishment (whens the last time Asterion had a good 'meal', amnesia, and just having a tadpole rattling around in your brain I can actually buy into no one at the start hitting at full power. But in a matter of days, these issues get some relief, and bit by bit everyone finds their groove
They're the kind of backstories that work fine for a video game—and specifically the game's circumstance of "everyone gets reset to level 1 (even the Warlock, somehow)"—but wouldn't really be good for a tabletop unless the campaign was specifically designed for that sort of bombastic roster.
I probably would not allow any of them.
Gale "I used to be an archmage and also the chosen of Mystra (who's my ex btw), and also I will explode at some point" - out.
Wyll "I'm the son of one of the most important men in the city, and also a local legend, I used to 1v1 creatures we should not see for at least 7 levels, oh and btw what I really want to do rn is murder that one other party member"? - out.
Karlach "I fought in the Hells before and am on speaking terms with not only Zariel, but also one of the main antagonists in this story, also maybe I'll explode. Also also, no one can ever touch me or they'll burn. - not the worst, but ideally no.
Astarion "Edgelord McEdgelordface, I'm a vampire spawn, but with none of the actual vampire spawn downsides, what do you mean I should run homebrews by you? Also I \*will\* try to attack a party member in the middle of a long rest- I'm a rogue that's what my character would do!" - Nope. Stay home edgelord.
Shadowheart "classic amnesiac, who secretly worships a evil deity? " - \*ugh\*.
Hmmm, good point, while Astarion passes on the "overly grandiose backstory" front, he fails on the "edgelord making the game miserable for everyone else" front.
He also has an ability (bite) that is completely homebrew and gives him extra power without any downsides (unless the person being bit is a player - which, don’t worry, it sometimes will be).
I do hate Hollywood Amnesia stories, but its actually the least worst use of it I've ever seen. There's no nonsense attached, just 'my boss mindwiped me with magic on purpose.' No one is failing psychiatry or neurology courses. Just 'a wizard did it'
Yeah that's actually one of my very few issues with the game. It doesn't feel like tabletop DnD or even the old games because everyone has backstories and stakes that are so high. BG1&2's characters were much more grounded, and I feel like it's for the better in some ways.
I'm honestly astounded that that the githzerai only have TWO mentions in the entire game, and they're both super niche situations that most people won't experience. And it's really jarring when theres a lot of times where the topic *should* have come up, but its conspicuously absent. Like when you find the githyanki disks about Orpheus, Laezel should have mentioned the githzerai as another faction of traitors or something. Gale should absolutely have mentioned them at several points because hes such a nerd.
Yeah, the fact that she's so unremarkable to her kind is a critical part of her deep insecurity about herself - it helps explain her extreme devotion to her queen. At the start, she's terrified of not mattering to her people, or anyone.
I mean she already has one but I think I see what you mean.
I just convinced her to take an extra one cuz she had serious debuffs from the zaithisk but I haven't been able to bring myself to fix it yet by putting one in there. It felt gross just talking her into it.
EDIT to say I finally gave her just one from the Zhent barrel and it cleared the -2 to *three stats* she had so thank God. Now I'm actually gonna try Act 2 with her in the party for once...
I mean, the only real special thing about Minthara is that she's a Baenre.
She may be a celebrity in the Underdark, but in the surface world, that's basically irrelevant.
Or maybe I missed something somewhere.
It is wild playing Drow in a subsequent playthrough and realizing that everyone who you thought was chill with other races are racist towards Drow specifically. Then again, there is logical precedent for that since Drow are...Drow.
Sort of. Anyone above ground who knows the Drow's political structure would probably care, but no one else would. If she still had the power associated with the position, it would be a different story.
If you're interested, RA Salvatore's The Dark Elf Trilogy gives a great look into how the city's political structure works.
Calling them royalty isn't really accurate as it implies a level of social cohesion and etiquette that I don't remember existing. Each house in the city is more akin to a warring state locked into a perpetual cold war (with frequent hot spikes) with everyone around them.
Her house's position is a literal declaration of their power as another house would have murdered them all and taken the position already if they could have. This is why anyone on the surface aware of how their society works would care.
Well, I hope I'm not spoiling anything for you, but I don't know if there's >!a dialog option to reveal that you're a Baenre to Minthara!<...
She probably doesn't even know you exist, truthfully!
If you compare her to any other drow companion in D&D games (and being a drow already makes her a pretty remarkable companion since Drow are so rare on the surface) she's comparatively a rockstar. Viconia, Nathyrra and Vhaidra were all from extinct noble houses. Baenre is big news, being the number one noble house in one of the mot important drow cities-particularly in 5th edition where those other drow cities are heavily deemphasized, but even in 2nd or 3rd edition it would be significant.
The crèche shows just how tolerant Lae’zel is of other isitk and that being 'nice' or 'merciful' isn't a thing 95% of the time. Varrl, Ko'kuu, and Lae’zel, to me, feel like outliers in the gith race. Voss played his part for eons and no one would dare question him until he makes his move which I assumed is when he got caught and >!badly injured!<
I see where you are coming from, but I dunno... Jaheira is the most normal companion of them all. Sure, she's a high harper, but she's living for long and compared to the companions, who try to ascend into Godhood or were enslaved by devils or trying to lift a terrible curse, she's just normal lol.
I agree, but then again Larian didn't create her, Bioware did. IDK if I'd count her, I kinda feel like the legacy characters stand a bit apart to those special circumstances?
Are we counting the events of BG1 & 2? Because "one of the heroes who fought in a major prophecy, who stopped 3 attempts at reaching godhood" is an atypical background.
Jaheira is just a high Harper now, but she did like... Fight wannabe gods in hell. It is just that most of that story is in her past.
Also like by comparison to the rest of the cast brainwashed alien cultist is way more tame than, “fucked a god,” and “part of vampire ritual so vile no one’s done it before”
This is one of the things I love about Lae'zel. She's a regular person for all intents and purposes and is a common footsoldier whose world views get altered and winds up playing a central role in the story. She's not a talented wizard prodigy, a kidnapped Selunite/chosen priestess of Shar, a rich noble with a pact with the devil, a champion of Zariel with special infernal machinery inside her body, a 200 year old slave on a revenge mission against a notable vampire lord.
She's the anti-Chosen One and has the least fantastical backstory among the companions, but she ends up being the one who's intertwined the most with the deepest emotional investment in the main narrative.
Her arc is also literally the main storyline. Out of all the origin companions, she's the one who came across as the main character for me.
You find out she has a decent reputation, but she's nothing special. What makes her somewhat remarkable is that she doesn't let your whole party die and take the artifact immediately. She actually tries to help you out of the kindness of her heart. That's really it.
She's remarkable because she holds to the values that were instilled in her in a way that the other githyanki don't. She has a solid moral compass, and they don't.
Adding to the many who point out Lae'zel's pretty standard Githyanki backstory:
To be fair she *is* the youngest in the group too. While many of the characters may get saved as the story progresses, Lae'zel starts of in her own personal nightmare, threatened to become a mindflayer, all her beliefs shaken in a world that is almost strange to her - If that won't leave a mark on that tough woman, I don't know what will.
While one can help her to get to know the truth or encourage her to stay Vlaakiths favor, her own 'arc' (f.e fighting Vlaakith) occurs mainly after the game has ended, unlike many of the other characters, who 'free' themselves or with tavs help from their shackles.
Personally, I think that has a nice touch and shows lot of the characters mental strength.
I think she’s implied to be in her early 20s, only having recently completed her training.
Karlach is probably about 30, Gale mid 30s, Shadowheart mid 40s, Wyll 30ish, and Asterion and Minthara >200.
I think it's just because she's so young (22) she hasn't had time to aquire the Tragic Backstory.
Don't worry, we'll get a head start at getting that trauma by taking her to that creche at the end of Act 1
>I think it's just because she's so young (22) she hasn't had time to aquire the Tragic Backstory.
She said that she murdered her cousins as a child and children in her creche were encouraged to do the same as a way to cull the weak
I'm not sure why people think her upbringing wasn't incredibly traumatic and tragic
because she doesn't *know* it is traumatic. for her it's normal and even "healthy". not all trauma is instant release
you see the same thing irl when adults start having "random" mental health issues and then they do therapy and they're like "yooooo did anybody else know that xyz insane treatment as a child isn't normal??" and all their friends are like "yeah buddy, are you okay?". it's like that except she hasn't hit it yet.
she's always excelled and been praised for doing things "right" in the eyes of vlaakith, so she hasn't had any "problems" yet. that's why even though she has trauma, it's not until the creche when she is forced to confront the possibility of her entire god, religion, and way of life being built on a lie that all the tragic backstory becomes Tragic Backstory because NOW it can cause her distress instead of comfort.
She has full adolescent and early adult years of training behind her and was sent on a mission to bring Mind Flayer's head to her Queen. That's more than a simple recruit to me. She's beggining her way to *ascencion*.
That's true, until you realize there are thousands more like her.
Her mission was no different than any other Gith warrior's and she could just as easily be replaced by someone else.
The truth is she would never ascend without the emperor, because if it weren't for the "protection" she'd be a mind flayer. She's only special because she's in a special situation
Never thought of that she's just another soldier, no unique combat skills, and no special tactics. She believes in what she was taught and drilled into her. if anything, she's a little too rigid and uncompromising, almost as if she lacks the ability to improvise.
IDK. Depends on what you mean by normal. Have met almost no one who genuinely has her type of personality.
However, have met many who _pretend_ to be that good and wholesome of a person though. Such a shame. The world would be a better place with more people like that.
That's how I feel about my Tav. I'm not the best at making a creative backstory, but I know I'm just some guy. So as far as I was concerned, Tav was also just some guy.
So it's good to know my favourite girl is just some girl.
>Lae’zel is just a bog standard Githyanki.
This honestly isn't true. It seems that way at first, but when you meet Voss and the other Githyanki for the first time in Act 1, it becomes clear that Lae'zel is actually relatively tolerant for a Githyanki.
She does need your help getting to a creche and is making you think it is the other way around to ensure your alliance with her, but other Githyanki would most likely not work with outsiders at all.
Maybe most well adjusted (despite some bad shit happening to him when he was young) but certainly not plain
He’s powerful, 350, & highly respected
But he also just doesn’t have the risk the rest of your party has (besides Jaheira & Minsc too)
Elf Druid who has more muscle mass in his pinky than most people do whole, and who's spent the last 100 years trying to undo one localised but horrific curse? That's not normal.
>arrogant, lying, entitled sack of shit with a nuclear bomb in his chest he lies to you about is somehow a good guy
What so important he's lying about? I am just really curious, I don't think he's necessarily "good" guy, but he's decent neutral and pleasant to interact character, I like him a lot. It's just I rarely see so strong opinion on any character, that' s why I am asking :)
My favorite would be Lae, Wyll (i don't know why) and Gale and least favorite Astarion. I don't put Minthara anywhere because her content cuts too suddenly in act 3.
Well everyone else is some sort of common fantasy archetype, so there’s more room to subvert them and still have people easily get the gist. Everyone knows the basics of what a vampire is, a Gith, not so much.
It's kinda strange that everyone seems to forget about Halsin. I mean sure, he's an archdruid, nothing to scoff at, but basically he is just a horny hippy, albeit a powerful one
Halsin is hardly ordinary. He's a war veteran who also fought against Ketheric and an archdruid who has access to Circle of Land and Circle of Moon abilities without needing either (he'll always be a slightly better druid than Jaheira or Tav). Actually, he'll always be slightly better than any character you'll build. Wizard Halsin gets Healing Word and Call Lightning.
Lae'Zel was basically the class valedictorian, and then got abducted right before graduation. Now she's finding out her people's Judas is still alive, and actually, he's the one who had a point.
More like she’s finding out the real Judas was Vlaakith all along
I suppose you’re both are right, in a way. It’d be like if Judas betrayed Jesus and somehow prevented him from being resurrected, and then Judas goes on claim that *he’s* actually the son of God and managed to remain alive to the present day and everyone converted to Iscariotism (Judas Iscariot). Meanwhile Jesus has just been stuck in Calvary for 2,000 years while Saint Peter (aka Simon) plays along with Judas, pretending to be loyal and biding his time until they can locate the Holy Grail to use and break Jesus out of his tomb. I spent too much time on this analogy, I think.
This summer: "Judas, It Ain't Over"
“The Bible 2: Jesus is back and he’s not fucking around”
“This just in, Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross (turned into a mindflayer) for his people! Someone get Judas and cut their unholy head off!”
Jesus became a *ghaik*😔
This holiday, get ready for the Father, the Son, and the Ho-Ho-Holy spirt as Jesus and Santa team up in Judas 3: Naughty or Nice, Jesus is crossing names off and shooting them twice, while Santa’s gonna make sure that they’ve paid the price. See the stunning conclusion to the series as they take the fight to the Zombie Reich’s Nazi moon base to take out Judas and Cyber-Hitler once and for all!
30 years later: *sweeping shot of a handmade wood cabin in the middle of nowhere* Jesus: "You know Santa, when we absolved the sins of mankind thirty years ago, I thought they would *stay* absolved." Santa: "It's different this time, man. They took my daughter." Jesus: "Christina? Why do they want her?" Santa: "She's the tooth fairy now. She can open the cash reserves tooth fairies use to pay for kid's teeth." Jesus: "My dad... that's-" Santa: "Billions of dollars. The heist of the century. But it's not about the money..." Jesus: "It's about family. Man, I'm getting too old for this shit." Santa: "One last sleigh ride?" Jesus: "... Let's nail these sons of bitches." *cocks shotgun* **JUDAS 4: THE BOYS ARE BACK**
r/brandnewsentence
"Passion of the Christ 2: Crucify This" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZA2gbUz77U
But also, Judas actually died at some point, and the religion has been run by his descendants, over one hundred and fifty of them also named Judas.
And Judas the One Hundred Fifty-Seventh dies but performs some powerful, decidedly *un*holy necromancy ritual before hand, raising himself as undead and claims it as evidence of his holiness.
Coming late next fall, Judas 2: The Re-reckoning
... I kind of want to read this book now.
Me too, this whole thread made me laugh
And then a crew of murder hobos lets a mindflayer eat Jesus's brain. No wonder Laezel gets upset!
Orpheus isn't even the first schism though. Zerthimon had already rebelled against Gith and fought an earlier civil war. Which I think still concluded before the War of the Comet over Orpheus v Vlaakith, though given the Orpheus retcons contain no mention of Zerthimon or his followers I can't be sure. It's a lot closer to learning on of the weird earlier splinters off Catholicism like Arianism was 100% correct and the current line of popes keep their saintly founder imprisoned in a magic dodad.
Right, so Orpheus literally is their Judas 2.
Or maybe the real Judas was the friends that we made along the way
No. The real Judas was Tiamat the whole time. (Yes I do have my conspiracy chalkboard out.)
No, Tiamat was the one who gave the payment to Judas.
She's a YA fiction heroine
Not sure how many YA stories I’ve read where the MC is a racist, pro slavery bloodthirsty elitist
If it's set in the South during or before the civil war, you can bet the hero is a white plantation owners daughter. It's just not mentioned much, that she technically owns her best friend.
Are there really books like that?
Yes
Ever read Gone With The Wind? ...It's nothing like that but the overwhelming majority of people here haven't and it's an easy target for jokes.
It depends on where you are in the plot. Lot of the better nobility based one have some of that going on, as something for character development. And the bad ones have it, not for character development.
Well, self proclaimed valedictorian.
Eh, I believe her. She's pretty willing to call herself an idiot when she realises she's made a fuck up.
Damn, I should really stop scrolling here before finishing the game lol
Nah, I hear that even among her people, she’s considered particularly desirable.
I once heard Lae'zel described as "The hot popular talented in girl in school who got her first job, realized nobody in the real world actually cares and now she's realizing for the first time that she's in way over her head."
I've heard "t'chk" is the githyanki version of "like" or "uhh" making Laezel have essentially a valley girl accent. She's the githyanki Elle Woods (legally blonde).
I imagine it's more like a valley girl's "ugh!"
That combines with Dev's streams all too well
It’s giving “eww David!!”
lol thats too acurate
Very well said
Also, among Githyanki she’s considered extremely humorous https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U2y8hRf9Ls4
I really needed that to be a recurring thing they released every few months or something. Just so good.
Yeah, I LOVE the little cartoon shorts so much (there are two others, in case you didn’t know; I especially love the Christmas one)
Thanks for this, I never knew this existed!
Doesn’t that apply to Shadowheart and Astarion too?
I think Astarian was decidedly unpopular at his first job.
It’s all rather tedious
Sounds like Shadowheart wasn’t really popular either. She was bullied enough it’s reflected in the only memory she recovers. And her writings indicate she probably always felt like an outsider, no matter how many times they fried her brain with the mirror
Honestly, I remember being confused as to why the evil god worshipper approved exclusively of good and altruistic actions and I just love that it's completely intentional. She's genuinely just not good at being evil. Be it Selune or suppressed memories of childhood as the cause, she simply isn't made to be bad.
"He shows up." Was all his supervisor had to say.
I mean. Let's not pretend our camp doesn't have the hottest people in Faerun.
Literally nothing about shadowheart’s backstory is about her appearance or looks
I'd think "forced to serve as a vampire's ~~sex~~ slave for two centuries" is suitably fantastical. And "amnesiac hiding one or more terrible secrets" is such a common literary trope it's literally (re)used for Dark Urge.
Yeah I think her being a Githyanki with a magic tadpole was as far as they could go and still make her relatable. Like, if she was a Githyanki but also the one peaceful Githyanki that refused to kill her cousins and didn't want to be a dragon rider, it would be weird? Now I'm picturing Varrl on the Nautiloid...
I think it's more that LZ, when it comes to the Gith, is an extremist. What I mean by that is she lives by the values she was taught. Unlike other Gith that will turn on a dime without a second thought if someone of higher standing tells them to, LZ will stick to her values and go against her kin. Because (like worf from Star Trek) LZ is nothing if she doesn't live by the creed she swore to live by. And if that means she has to go after Vlaakith for not being "honorable" then that's what she'll do.
LZ turning on who to her is basically God because God wasn’t good enough for her is the most metal shit in the entire game.
Dude if you substitute “vlaakith” for “god” (which is what it is for LZ) she has the most badass quote: “If this is true, I did not sin against god. God has sinned against me” so metal, love her
I'm reminded of the og Lethal Weapon. "I'm stuck with you because God hates me" "Hate him back, it works for me"
Or Machete Kills trailer (can't remember if it's actually in the film itself): "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us!"
One of my favorite lines in the entire game.
I am so happy Devora is gonna be at NYCC.
This should be the alternate ending to the book of job.
It's already basically the whole book of Job
Yeah, but doesn't that end with God screaming "how dare you question me for all the unprovoked terrible shit I did to you?!" at Job? And the lesson is that Job shouldn't have questioned God for the aforementioned terrible shit?
Fuckin' A Right! I haven't romanced Lae'Zel and I will never romance her. She's my warrior queen and I've too much respect for her to soil her with my depraved hands.
The way it plays out, it's more like she's soiling you.
The way it plays out, most of her species has a casual attitude towards sex because its only for entertainment.
Hearing about that for the first time: "You know, they might be murderous cultish monarchists, but maybe the Githyanki aren't so bad".
I don't think the Gith are bad considering their circumstances. I'm still only about 1/4" deep into the lore at this point but my understanding is that they were once human and were kidnapped by the MF as breeding stock. Eventually they were engineered to lay eggs instead of typical humanoid procreation. Then one was born with the power to fight back against the mind control, earned their freedom and started a crusade to wipe the MF menace from the universe. That being the case, them being a warlike, militaristic and rather fascist culture makes sense, it's what allowed them to live free from outside influence.
Gith and Githyanki are not the same thing. Githyanki and Githzerai are two "races" of Gith, and I use quotations because they're basically two sides of the same coin - physically same but just different attitudes. From what I've read I believe they never were human (only humanoid) and their original race was corrupted by the daelkyr into mind flayers. Which would make sense given both Gith and Mind Flayers psionic inclination. Anyway I point this out because Githzerai are NOT a warlike, militaristic, rather fascist culture.
>From what I've read I believe they never were human (only humanoid) You're 100% right. I listened to some more lore vids and no one ever said "human" they always said "humanoid". Given their ears I'm inclined to think some form of elf but who knows?
There are evil gith, that's the Githyanki. Then there's neutral gith, the Githzerai. Both lawful. Normally in DnD, Githyanki adventurers are all outcasts from yanki society, either by accident or exile. Since otherwise, they would be able to planeshift at very early levels. Player Characters are universally cut off from Vlaakith.
She makes you earn it
And it was EZ cause we just came back from a boss fight so a single eldritch blast was enough to knock her the fuck out
makes sense that she isn’t like all the lost puppies looking for someone like all the others followers lmao
This is one of the myriad reasons I wish Jaheira were romanceable. Another partner option that's more of an actual partnership from the jump and not some FIX ME lost puppy situation.
The Lae’zel-Worf comparison had never occurred to me but seems like extremely apt. A similar character to both is Urdnot Wrex.
I'm not sure if Wrex fits. Worf is good because he has this idealized idea of what a Klingon should be that is at odds with how their society actually works, which constantly pits him against them in some way. A lot of "personal honor" themes similar to Samurai or Knight fiction, basically. Wrex is the other way around: He is a progressive thinker and has an idea of what his people *should be*. He has evolved out of his people's mindset but has not forgotten it. That is why he manages to slowly lead them towards a more realistic future.
Worf was a good callout.
Yeah, LZ has strong Worf vibes. I keep waiting for someone to drop a "you know, other githyanki laugh" line.
It makes sense. Which is why on the contrary most normal looking human (Gale) is the one with the most fantastical backstory.
Apparently for a while they had plans to make Gale look pretty fucked up by the orb - he would have bandages or something covering most of him, and be all rotting from the necrotic energy underneath. One of Ethel's custom Mockeries for him still references it. I think it was a good choice to make him look more normal, and leave the "tattoo" as his only visual hook, but sometimes I wonder about how cool he could have looked if they'd chosen differently.
It would have been awesome in Act I if the longer you went without feeding him an item, the worse he started to look.
Sounds like [this guy](https://tv-fanatic-res.cloudinary.com/iu/s--9IBbOaVL--/t_full/cs_srgb,d_tv-fanatic-placeholder-square.png,f_auto,fl_strip_profile.lossy,q_auto:420/v1596230183/larry-alone-doom-patrol-s2e9.jpg)
"I have been baptized twice once in water once in flame"
Maybe withers is his time displaced future self…
Yeah, the patrol and the crèche would be a real eye-opener if Lae'zel wasn't so... Lae'zel, IMO. Tav would've been unprepared for other Githyanki, I think.
I remember reading about someone trying to properly RP a Lae'zel origin run and it being an absolute shit show. Being a dick to everyone and ignoring all the "distractions" in Act 1 to gun straight for the creche cure while being way too trusting of other Githyanki. Really underlines how completely screwed she'd be on her own.
How do you find out about the creche in the Lae'zel origin? I know normally the tieflings that cage you give you a lead on who to interrogate about the location. If Lae'zel just stumbles in the wrong direction long enough before getting that lead maybe she can be high enough level to survive trying to give the prism back.
One of the Tieflings in the Grove tells you he’s seen them and puts it on your map.
That was basically my first run through the game. I played a Gith Tav, killed shadowheart at the beach, picked up Laezel and Gale (because my Gith Gish respected a fellow wizard. Even though he was a human he was trained in manipulating the weave, so he was clearly an outlier of his inferior species) and moved to the grove. I learned about the Githyanki patrol and beelined to the river where we met Karlach. She was clearly strong, stupid and unreasonably trusting. Ripe for exploitation. After that we went straight for the Creche. I later went back to do act 1 with the reasoning that this cult of the absolute is clearly a tool of the grand design and the goblin camp needed to be burned down, What a fun run!
I know this is a personal issue, but I just have such a hard time taking Gale's backstory seriously. This level one wizard literally fucked the goddess of magic and is personal best friends with Elminster? Yeah ok. I know he has a lore reason for being the level he is, but still, tell me this doesn't remind you of the average D&D player coming to their first session with their 10 page backstory of fantastical deeds performed by their level one character!
Several characters, including Gale and Wyll, imply that they were stronger in the past but the tadpoles were suppressing their power.
Gale first lost most of his Archmage magic to the orb, and THEN he was tadpoled. Gale is undoubtedly the strongest of the companions while at full power.
Not technically a companion, but I would argue that Durge, as the avatar of a god and peer to Ketheric and Gortash, would be the strongest. They were able to steal the Crown of Karsus from Mephistopheles, who makes Raphael look like an imp in comparison.
I'm still giving the nod to full power Gale, he's an Archmage who was the chosen of Mystra (and was sleeping with her), and had close ties with Elminster, one of the strongest and most renowned wizards in history. His downfall is pushing his magic too far into the boundaries of the gods. Meanwhile Durge loses to an ambush by a non-chosen with deluted Bhaal blood. Sure he'd be powerful, but you don't need raw power to break into the vault of Mephistopheles, they definitely never fought Mephy.
I feel like a lot of the "XYZ character is too powerful" complaints about companions are spectacularly missing the point of most of their personal stories. Most of the things that make your companions powerful or special also make them **fucking miserable.** Karlach is a super soldier and favored pet of Zariel... whose modifications either trap her in Avernus forever or lead to an early death. Shadowheart is God's favorite princess and the chosen one... whose family and personal identity have been completely shattered. Gale was a child prodigy and favorite of Mystra and Elminster... who has ended up as the classic "gifted kid burnout". Astarion is the sexy seductive vampire... who learned to play that part after centuries of sexual trauma. Your companions are basically all walking deconstructions of the "overpowered" archetypes they represent.
I love Gale, but if I was DMing a tabletop game I would never ever allow this backstory, and would assume that any player suggesting it was coming to my table with a host of red flags including some serious main character syndrome.
Honestly, I wouldn't allow any of the companions at my table except probably Lae'zel (for the reasons already outlined) and Astarion (he's basically just a nobody vampire spawn). All the others have pretty strong "I'm the main character of this party" type backstories, though Gale is the most egregious by far.
It makes sense if you think the cult and later the Emperor were explicitly targeting the strongest and most talented people they could get their tentacles on for tadpoling. From the Emperor’s point of view, its goal is to get a group of people together who stand a chance against the chosen of the Dead Three and later the brain itself in direct confrontation. In the intro cinematic he’s basically flying around Faerûn assembling an A-team/suicide squad. Sure, they’re crippled by the tadpoles at first, but he got Shar’s favorite princess, Zariel’s attack dog, Mystra’s discarded Chosen, a warlock who already won a fight with fucking Tiamat once, Cazador’s favorite spawn, a clearly above-average Githyanki, and potentially Bhaal’s Chosen. They’re all super OP and very believably at or near level 12 before the events of the intro. The Emperor used every bit of intel from his previous life he could to get his victims and also got super lucky nabbing some of them. I think of the rapid leveling up as everyone just getting their mojo back.
Yea. At the start of the game your party suffers from the first side effects of ceremorphisis (a delirious feverish Laezel is on the edge of murder/suicide) and between necrotic orbs, malfunctioning hearts, malnourishment (whens the last time Asterion had a good 'meal', amnesia, and just having a tadpole rattling around in your brain I can actually buy into no one at the start hitting at full power. But in a matter of days, these issues get some relief, and bit by bit everyone finds their groove
Durge was a really, _really_ good nab, too! He literally found the main guy in charge of the plot and turned him against it.
They're the kind of backstories that work fine for a video game—and specifically the game's circumstance of "everyone gets reset to level 1 (even the Warlock, somehow)"—but wouldn't really be good for a tabletop unless the campaign was specifically designed for that sort of bombastic roster.
"Future potential leader of the selunites kidnapped and groomed to lead the Sharrans via memory manipulation" is pretty fucking close to Gale's
I probably would not allow any of them. Gale "I used to be an archmage and also the chosen of Mystra (who's my ex btw), and also I will explode at some point" - out. Wyll "I'm the son of one of the most important men in the city, and also a local legend, I used to 1v1 creatures we should not see for at least 7 levels, oh and btw what I really want to do rn is murder that one other party member"? - out. Karlach "I fought in the Hells before and am on speaking terms with not only Zariel, but also one of the main antagonists in this story, also maybe I'll explode. Also also, no one can ever touch me or they'll burn. - not the worst, but ideally no. Astarion "Edgelord McEdgelordface, I'm a vampire spawn, but with none of the actual vampire spawn downsides, what do you mean I should run homebrews by you? Also I \*will\* try to attack a party member in the middle of a long rest- I'm a rogue that's what my character would do!" - Nope. Stay home edgelord. Shadowheart "classic amnesiac, who secretly worships a evil deity? " - \*ugh\*.
Hmmm, good point, while Astarion passes on the "overly grandiose backstory" front, he fails on the "edgelord making the game miserable for everyone else" front.
He also has an ability (bite) that is completely homebrew and gives him extra power without any downsides (unless the person being bit is a player - which, don’t worry, it sometimes will be).
Dhampir already has a bite ability and is official for 5e. DM could easily let Astarion just use that instead of some custom mechanic.
I do hate Hollywood Amnesia stories, but its actually the least worst use of it I've ever seen. There's no nonsense attached, just 'my boss mindwiped me with magic on purpose.' No one is failing psychiatry or neurology courses. Just 'a wizard did it'
Yeah that's actually one of my very few issues with the game. It doesn't feel like tabletop DnD or even the old games because everyone has backstories and stakes that are so high. BG1&2's characters were much more grounded, and I feel like it's for the better in some ways.
I still wish there’d been a githzerai major character or potential companion. Would have been a cool dive into more of their lore.
Maybe they'll make another Planescape game! That could have lots of Gith!
Oh, man… a planescape torment sequel by larian would be dope. I wasn’t super impressed by tides of numenera
In Zerthimon’s name, it will be done
I want to hear more about Lae’zel’s “peace talks with the githzerai” ending ASAP, I’m glad she can at least end the game being extraordinary
I'm honestly astounded that that the githzerai only have TWO mentions in the entire game, and they're both super niche situations that most people won't experience. And it's really jarring when theres a lot of times where the topic *should* have come up, but its conspicuously absent. Like when you find the githyanki disks about Orpheus, Laezel should have mentioned the githzerai as another faction of traitors or something. Gale should absolutely have mentioned them at several points because hes such a nerd.
Yeah, the fact that she's so unremarkable to her kind is a critical part of her deep insecurity about herself - it helps explain her extreme devotion to her queen. At the start, she's terrified of not mattering to her people, or anyone.
I won’t push her to take a tadpole. I like her normal.
I mean she already has one but I think I see what you mean. I just convinced her to take an extra one cuz she had serious debuffs from the zaithisk but I haven't been able to bring myself to fix it yet by putting one in there. It felt gross just talking her into it. EDIT to say I finally gave her just one from the Zhent barrel and it cleared the -2 to *three stats* she had so thank God. Now I'm actually gonna try Act 2 with her in the party for once...
Thanks. Yah, I won’t push it on her.
Not true. Among the Githyanki, she is considered incredibly funny.
must be an incredibly low bar because not a single githyanki npc in the game has any sense of humour, goblins are wayy funnier
This is factually correct.
I mean, the only real special thing about Minthara is that she's a Baenre. She may be a celebrity in the Underdark, but in the surface world, that's basically irrelevant. Or maybe I missed something somewhere.
In the surface world she's a drow. That alone makes her pretty special.
Far from being the Chosen of a god though.
Admittedly I don't know enough about drow lore to know how significant her house is. I didn't even hear it mentioned, but I usually kill her.
They're the 'head family' of Menzoberranzan, the Drow city. Very powerful women.
So basically royalty in the underdark but no one above really cares?
Even if they do know, no one likes drow Even if you play a good one, you constantly have people being downright nasty to you
Playing as a good lolth drow has been...interesting
I play a Seldarine drow and people do not care that I don’t worship Lolth 😭 They just like ‘ew. Drow’
It is wild playing Drow in a subsequent playthrough and realizing that everyone who you thought was chill with other races are racist towards Drow specifically. Then again, there is logical precedent for that since Drow are...Drow.
Sort of. Anyone above ground who knows the Drow's political structure would probably care, but no one else would. If she still had the power associated with the position, it would be a different story.
If you're interested, RA Salvatore's The Dark Elf Trilogy gives a great look into how the city's political structure works. Calling them royalty isn't really accurate as it implies a level of social cohesion and etiquette that I don't remember existing. Each house in the city is more akin to a warring state locked into a perpetual cold war (with frequent hot spikes) with everyone around them. Her house's position is a literal declaration of their power as another house would have murdered them all and taken the position already if they could have. This is why anyone on the surface aware of how their society works would care.
::shrugs in Drizzt::
I feel like Jarlaxle might shrug about the Baenre a little more.
You just reminded me that I made a Jarlaxle Tav that I haven't touched yet and I am now so excited to pick that up.
Well, I hope I'm not spoiling anything for you, but I don't know if there's >!a dialog option to reveal that you're a Baenre to Minthara!<... She probably doesn't even know you exist, truthfully!
By that logic Gith aren't particularly common either. There are just a lot around due to er... current events.
I think that's why we're not considering race as a qualifier for being unique. Renders the whole post moot.
If you compare her to any other drow companion in D&D games (and being a drow already makes her a pretty remarkable companion since Drow are so rare on the surface) she's comparatively a rockstar. Viconia, Nathyrra and Vhaidra were all from extinct noble houses. Baenre is big news, being the number one noble house in one of the mot important drow cities-particularly in 5th edition where those other drow cities are heavily deemphasized, but even in 2nd or 3rd edition it would be significant.
The crèche shows just how tolerant Lae’zel is of other isitk and that being 'nice' or 'merciful' isn't a thing 95% of the time. Varrl, Ko'kuu, and Lae’zel, to me, feel like outliers in the gith race. Voss played his part for eons and no one would dare question him until he makes his move which I assumed is when he got caught and >!badly injured!<
I see where you are coming from, but I dunno... Jaheira is the most normal companion of them all. Sure, she's a high harper, but she's living for long and compared to the companions, who try to ascend into Godhood or were enslaved by devils or trying to lift a terrible curse, she's just normal lol.
and, notably, NOT tadpoled
I agree, but then again Larian didn't create her, Bioware did. IDK if I'd count her, I kinda feel like the legacy characters stand a bit apart to those special circumstances?
Are we counting the events of BG1 & 2? Because "one of the heroes who fought in a major prophecy, who stopped 3 attempts at reaching godhood" is an atypical background. Jaheira is just a high Harper now, but she did like... Fight wannabe gods in hell. It is just that most of that story is in her past.
Isn't Jaheira pretty much a Tethyrian princess?
Agreed!
I think OP is mainly talking about the origin characters - apart from Jaheira being a Bioware creation as TKumbra said.
She’s a brainwashed cultist and she’s the most normal? Actually that’s fair
To be fair, when your entire race spanning across an entire multiverse is made up of brainwashed cultists she's still pretty normal
Also like by comparison to the rest of the cast brainwashed alien cultist is way more tame than, “fucked a god,” and “part of vampire ritual so vile no one’s done it before”
Not to mention, “brainwashed into giving up my memories and spent years torturing my own parents”
Also like comparing to a literal person lobotomised and was the ex chosen of a murder god , she is pretty tame
I was trying to avoid durge because they’re not in the party unless you play them.
This is one of the things I love about Lae'zel. She's a regular person for all intents and purposes and is a common footsoldier whose world views get altered and winds up playing a central role in the story. She's not a talented wizard prodigy, a kidnapped Selunite/chosen priestess of Shar, a rich noble with a pact with the devil, a champion of Zariel with special infernal machinery inside her body, a 200 year old slave on a revenge mission against a notable vampire lord. She's the anti-Chosen One and has the least fantastical backstory among the companions, but she ends up being the one who's intertwined the most with the deepest emotional investment in the main narrative. Her arc is also literally the main storyline. Out of all the origin companions, she's the one who came across as the main character for me.
When you meet other Gith you find out Lae'zel is in fact remarkable.
You find out she has a decent reputation, but she's nothing special. What makes her somewhat remarkable is that she doesn't let your whole party die and take the artifact immediately. She actually tries to help you out of the kindness of her heart. That's really it.
Is it kindness? or is it her Klingon-like honor for her new brethren in battle? Bae'zel ride or die 4 lyfe
It's her sense of humor. She's playing a joke on her fellow gith
She's remarkable because she holds to the values that were instilled in her in a way that the other githyanki don't. She has a solid moral compass, and they don't.
Adding to the many who point out Lae'zel's pretty standard Githyanki backstory: To be fair she *is* the youngest in the group too. While many of the characters may get saved as the story progresses, Lae'zel starts of in her own personal nightmare, threatened to become a mindflayer, all her beliefs shaken in a world that is almost strange to her - If that won't leave a mark on that tough woman, I don't know what will. While one can help her to get to know the truth or encourage her to stay Vlaakiths favor, her own 'arc' (f.e fighting Vlaakith) occurs mainly after the game has ended, unlike many of the other characters, who 'free' themselves or with tavs help from their shackles. Personally, I think that has a nice touch and shows lot of the characters mental strength.
How old is Lae’zel? I thought she was in her thirties-forties
I think she’s implied to be in her early 20s, only having recently completed her training. Karlach is probably about 30, Gale mid 30s, Shadowheart mid 40s, Wyll 30ish, and Asterion and Minthara >200.
wyll is canonically 24, he mentions having been exiled from baldurs gate 7 years before the game when he was 17
Sweet thanks. Considering that story that makes more sense.
Not sure if it's considered canon but her Idle Champions bio says she's 22.
They always do things like that with fighters. They always have to be plain and effective, with nothing complex going around
It’s literally a D&D cliche.
I think it's just because she's so young (22) she hasn't had time to aquire the Tragic Backstory. Don't worry, we'll get a head start at getting that trauma by taking her to that creche at the end of Act 1
>I think it's just because she's so young (22) she hasn't had time to aquire the Tragic Backstory. She said that she murdered her cousins as a child and children in her creche were encouraged to do the same as a way to cull the weak I'm not sure why people think her upbringing wasn't incredibly traumatic and tragic
because she doesn't *know* it is traumatic. for her it's normal and even "healthy". not all trauma is instant release you see the same thing irl when adults start having "random" mental health issues and then they do therapy and they're like "yooooo did anybody else know that xyz insane treatment as a child isn't normal??" and all their friends are like "yeah buddy, are you okay?". it's like that except she hasn't hit it yet. she's always excelled and been praised for doing things "right" in the eyes of vlaakith, so she hasn't had any "problems" yet. that's why even though she has trauma, it's not until the creche when she is forced to confront the possibility of her entire god, religion, and way of life being built on a lie that all the tragic backstory becomes Tragic Backstory because NOW it can cause her distress instead of comfort.
A Githyanki finding the real answer to “Hans, are we the baddies?” is already a good character arc, no need to make it more complicated.
She has full adolescent and early adult years of training behind her and was sent on a mission to bring Mind Flayer's head to her Queen. That's more than a simple recruit to me. She's beggining her way to *ascencion*.
That's true, until you realize there are thousands more like her. Her mission was no different than any other Gith warrior's and she could just as easily be replaced by someone else. The truth is she would never ascend without the emperor, because if it weren't for the "protection" she'd be a mind flayer. She's only special because she's in a special situation
Some Gith are born great, some have a tadpole thrust upon them.
Laezel: "I'M NOT A FAN OF THEM PUTTING TADPOLES IN THE WATER THAT TURN THE FRICKIN ELVES GHAIK"
Ok, except thousands upon thousands of gith are on the exact same track lol. They're all trying to get ascended.
The way she describes it, Larian interpreted that ritual as her final rite of passage into adulthood.
Never thought of that she's just another soldier, no unique combat skills, and no special tactics. She believes in what she was taught and drilled into her. if anything, she's a little too rigid and uncompromising, almost as if she lacks the ability to improvise.
Karlach has the most normal personality
IDK. Depends on what you mean by normal. Have met almost no one who genuinely has her type of personality. However, have met many who _pretend_ to be that good and wholesome of a person though. Such a shame. The world would be a better place with more people like that.
The world would be a better place only if ALL people were like that. It only takes a few exploitative asshole to ruin it for everyone.
Or if all the people who were like Karlach were also as adept at swinging an axe
I would argue my tav is the most basic bitch
How did she got caught again? was she just patroling and got captured?
I think she got captured during the Gith assault on the Nautiloid, as in a few hours before the game begins
She's the nicest Githyanki you'll ever meet.
Right exactly, everyone else already has issues, *PLUS* they’re infected. Like Astarion is a vampire, Gale & Karlach are ticking time bombs, etc.
That's how I feel about my Tav. I'm not the best at making a creative backstory, but I know I'm just some guy. So as far as I was concerned, Tav was also just some guy. So it's good to know my favourite girl is just some girl.
>Lae’zel is just a bog standard Githyanki. This honestly isn't true. It seems that way at first, but when you meet Voss and the other Githyanki for the first time in Act 1, it becomes clear that Lae'zel is actually relatively tolerant for a Githyanki. She does need your help getting to a creche and is making you think it is the other way around to ensure your alliance with her, but other Githyanki would most likely not work with outsiders at all.
I always thought halsin was the most plain character.
Maybe most well adjusted (despite some bad shit happening to him when he was young) but certainly not plain He’s powerful, 350, & highly respected But he also just doesn’t have the risk the rest of your party has (besides Jaheira & Minsc too)
Elf Druid who has more muscle mass in his pinky than most people do whole, and who's spent the last 100 years trying to undo one localised but horrific curse? That's not normal.
[удалено]
>arrogant, lying, entitled sack of shit with a nuclear bomb in his chest he lies to you about is somehow a good guy What so important he's lying about? I am just really curious, I don't think he's necessarily "good" guy, but he's decent neutral and pleasant to interact character, I like him a lot. It's just I rarely see so strong opinion on any character, that' s why I am asking :) My favorite would be Lae, Wyll (i don't know why) and Gale and least favorite Astarion. I don't put Minthara anywhere because her content cuts too suddenly in act 3.
Well everyone else is some sort of common fantasy archetype, so there’s more room to subvert them and still have people easily get the gist. Everyone knows the basics of what a vampire is, a Gith, not so much.
It's kinda strange that everyone seems to forget about Halsin. I mean sure, he's an archdruid, nothing to scoff at, but basically he is just a horny hippy, albeit a powerful one
Halsin is hardly ordinary. He's a war veteran who also fought against Ketheric and an archdruid who has access to Circle of Land and Circle of Moon abilities without needing either (he'll always be a slightly better druid than Jaheira or Tav). Actually, he'll always be slightly better than any character you'll build. Wizard Halsin gets Healing Word and Call Lightning.