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The other characters

When I play BG3, I play a role. In my first playthrough, I played Jank Halversen, a stereotypical slimy Bard.

Assuming a role other than myself comes naturally to me, from years of playing table-top role-playing games, LARPs, and working at the NY Ren Faire. That’s why I can indulge in the silly fantasy of playing an Evil character while trying to be a nice guy in real life.

Real Angela approached her first BG3 playthrough as herself, with her own set of values. Therefore, she reacted to the other main characters as she would in the real world.

I’ve already reported that she observed, “All the characters in this game have some sort of emotional baggage.”

Here are Real Angela’s reactions to the characters that could potentially be added to the party:

Astarion, Gale, and Shadowheart

They were all clearly hiding something from Fey at the start of the story. Real Angela didn’t care for that, and was frankly not interested in having them around. She only tolerated them when it was clear the story revolved around their presence.

This would have consequences later.

Minthara

Real Angela didn’t think that Minthara’s past experience with abuse justified her domineering attitude.

Bill, you can have a relationship with Minthara if you want to, but I just don’t see it.

Bellandria did indeed have a relationship with Minthara, but she was not Bill’s first choice. We’ll get to that later.

Wyll

Wyll was also keeping something from her, but it was clearly not by choice.

Real Angela didn’t mind that. She reserved her hatred for the one who kept Wyll from telling the truth: Mizora.

Lae’zel

While Lae’zel didn’t hide anything, Real Angela found her constant attitude of superiority to be annoying.

Jaheira and Minsc

Real Angela never played the older games Baldur’s Gate or Baldur’s Gate 2. However, her partner Michael had. As he observed her playing BG3, he was more interested in the legacy characters’ appearance than she was.

Real Angela found Minsc to be as delightful as I do. However, she needed my guidance in order to be able to add him to the party; she wouldn’t have figured it out otherwise. To be fair, it took me several playthroughs to figure it out myself.

I honestly don’t recall how Real Angela reacted to Jaheira. I think she found it fun to have her around in certain scenes (such as the hunt for Minsc), but otherwise she preferred to have other people in the party.

Karlach

Fey (and Real Angela) thought that Karlach was amazing and delightful.

In the words of Real Angela:

Who would want to have a relationship with anyone else in this game?

In Karlach’s introduction in the game’s character-creation section, in the dialog in the early game, and in many of my blog posts, there’s no secret about Karlach’s fate: If nothing is done, Karlach is fated to perish due to what was done to her in the Hells.

Real Angela became obsessed with rescuing Karlach.

I told her the truth: I knew of four ways to rescue Karlach. Two of them involve playing as Karlach, and so were obviously not possible in this playthrough.

Finally, both Real Angela and Fey found a way (with some guidance from me).

To show her devotion, Fey paid for a nude statue of her paramour to be a permanent landmark in the camp.

Halsin

As for Halsin, he was just what the doctor ordered. He was the only character in the game with whom one could have a relationship who did not have “emotional baggage.”

As I noted in playthrough 12, Halsin practices ENM (Ethical Non-Monogamy).

I’m not going to repeat all the same photos I posted for Amaranth’s adventure. But, at Real Angela’s request, I will include some kissing sequences.

The Three Protectors

Of course, I set up the Three Protectors. For a playthrough on Explorer difficulty, they weren’t really needed. Still, they were good to have around so I could play “Barbie dress-up.”

It turned out that Real Angela would not have particularly minded if I’d dressed them in their underwear, but I amused myself with different outfits and dyes. I’ll save the reborn “Swedish Bikini Team” for some other playthrough… perhaps.

This is a multi-part essay. Here are links to all the parts:

• Part 1 – Fey and Bellandria
• Part 2 – Characters
• Part 3 – Hugs and Doggies
• Part 4 – Approvals and Interruptions
• Part 5 – Problems and Plans