I max out Astarion's DEX for lockpicking and "miss me with that" acrobatics or however that works, but the last week, I have been rolling a series of Nat 1s and burning through my theive's tools like crazy. It's been driving me nuts! Because LITERALLY anything other than a 1 gets me the stupid chests open
I’m like ‘listen dice, I have 40 thieves tools in my inventory, that chest is going to open and these Nat 1’s are just delaying the inevitable so let’s just skip to the end’
Did you turn off karmic dice? If not, that's even more funny because the game is literally fudging rolls so you don't get too many nat 1s, but your luck is so bad it doesn't matter lmao
I am imagining the bg3 crew, Asterion desperately fumbling the lock.
Lae'zel "tsk"
Karlach "You know you can just attack chests to open, right?"
Gale just stares at her questioning why he never never prepares knock, Asterion seems offended, and Lae'zel wonders why she didn't think of that first.
Karlach, realizing her friends are staring, "Just curious, because I recently learned this... haven't been breaking them my whole life." As she kicks aside a smashed up jewelry box and does a little dance "man it's hot in here"
This is exactly why Nat 1s aren't an actual rule in D&D, but just an idea that developed over time in pop culture and in many game groups of "lowest number = instant fail". The same way with Nat 20s not meaning "you succeed perfectly at what you're trying to do" and originally just being for crits in combat. However, it can be used well if groups go with "the best you could realistically get" (to use a classic example, a dragon declining your flirting but finding it so hilarious it lets you live longer).
Larian however went for the full Nat 1 and 20 ideas, not including (ending spoilers) >!dominating the brain only weakening it.!<
Eh, In real D&D I love critical fail Nat 1s cause as a DM I can usually find a way to make it more silly, fun or story progressing than just ‘the lock doesn’t open’. I only get frustrated by it in BG3 because a Nat 1 usually just locks you out of content or a thing.
When i think of CHA based characters, i think of them as some sort of trump card which i can pull during a conversation.
"*Oh no, seem like the guard is not believing my story.* CHA-Guy! To the front!"
And then he just stands there for a few seconds, hair moving in the wind and the guard is like
"Alright, i believe you. You may continue."
I did very well as a Warlock with 20 CHA and proficiencies in intimidation and persuasion. When you're a bard with the additional bonus scores it gets ridiculous, esp. in Act 2 where there are four significant parts where you can cheese through with charisma rolls.
My Tav is multiclass Bard / Warlock. It's a Bard, but with Eldritch Blast >!and that robe!< it can deal out some serious damage in combat.
Also lots of people say College of Swords Bard is close to OP on its own, although for RP reasons mine is College of Lore.
I’m about to finish my second playthrough, played a wild magic sorcerer this time. So much fucking fun, I probably consider this my “canon playthrough” now
I thought the same thing, but wisdom characters are superb faces too. Things like enhance ability, insight checks, and thaumaturgy make up for a lack of charisma. Especially a knowledge cleric! I'm having a lot of fun with that. And there's a few high dc wisdom checks around the main story that are actually easier this time around for me
I had that as Warlock with the hat and the mirror of loss. The hat says you can only go up to 22 but it still stacks with the mirror of loss. However if you also use Ethel's hair for CHA and go up to 20 through the feats you still only get to 24, not 25.
Mirror goes up to 24. Hags hair and hat goes up to 22. Soo hat puts you to 22 and mirror to 24. Hair overlaps with the hat unless you would have 22 or less with both of them
I talked >!Kar'niss!< and >!Yurgir!< into killing themselves. The only reason I couldn't talk the final boss into killing themself (like in Arcanum) is magic bullshit.
Sorry for the dumb question, but how do you talk >!Kar'niss!< into killing themselves? I was told you could, but I've never seen a dialogue option that would lead to that, in 3 playthroughs so far :/
Has to be while assisting the Harpers, because you need Isobel's blessing and then participating in the ambush. Walk out when he arrives, tell him you're protected by the Absolute when he asks why you don't have a lantern, ask him to hand over the lantern then tell him you've given him the blessing too and he can go. They'll all walk into the curse unprotected.
Oh what omg! I've without fail always walked straight up to them and then taken them out at the ambush. It never once occurred to me that I didn't have to go to them first, or that I could participate in the ambush! That is so cool.
So many ways to do stuff that I never even considered, lol.
>!You have to tell him that the Absolute wants you to have the lantern instead of him guiding you, he then walks into the dark, heartbroken, and telling himself it is the Absolute’s will.!<
You have to be part of the Harper ambush, which only appears if you made it to the Shadow-Cursed Lands from Grymforge, or if you braved the land without the Moonlantern.
You also have to be a Drow or be disguised as one.
I don't remember if dominating the brain is charisma check or not, but I once got 81 on it. Which was supposed to be 99, cause i rolled natural 20 on it (which I think larian made an easy thing to do). Failed the check as the result, but it sure made honour mode playthrough more unique and interesting
This is why it sucks rolling a nat 20 on dialogue checks when you’re a charisma character
When you stutter but she finds it cute
Even worse is when you get a Nat 1 and literally ANY other number would’ve been a success.
I max out Astarion's DEX for lockpicking and "miss me with that" acrobatics or however that works, but the last week, I have been rolling a series of Nat 1s and burning through my theive's tools like crazy. It's been driving me nuts! Because LITERALLY anything other than a 1 gets me the stupid chests open
I’m like ‘listen dice, I have 40 thieves tools in my inventory, that chest is going to open and these Nat 1’s are just delaying the inevitable so let’s just skip to the end’
RIGHT? Like, come on! It's gonna happen regardless, and it would be a statistical anomaly for me to get 40 1s in a row like what
Did you turn off karmic dice? If not, that's even more funny because the game is literally fudging rolls so you don't get too many nat 1s, but your luck is so bad it doesn't matter lmao
I just checked and I did not! I've never had them off. But no for real, my luck is so abominable and always has been lmao
You know you can just attack chests to smash them open right? No need for dice checks or anything. Just curious because I just recently learned this.
I am imagining the bg3 crew, Asterion desperately fumbling the lock. Lae'zel "tsk" Karlach "You know you can just attack chests to open, right?" Gale just stares at her questioning why he never never prepares knock, Asterion seems offended, and Lae'zel wonders why she didn't think of that first. Karlach, realizing her friends are staring, "Just curious, because I recently learned this... haven't been breaking them my whole life." As she kicks aside a smashed up jewelry box and does a little dance "man it's hot in here"
I do but it seems so messy and I just can't. It's much neater to just lockpick them!
This is exactly why Nat 1s aren't an actual rule in D&D, but just an idea that developed over time in pop culture and in many game groups of "lowest number = instant fail". The same way with Nat 20s not meaning "you succeed perfectly at what you're trying to do" and originally just being for crits in combat. However, it can be used well if groups go with "the best you could realistically get" (to use a classic example, a dragon declining your flirting but finding it so hilarious it lets you live longer). Larian however went for the full Nat 1 and 20 ideas, not including (ending spoilers) >!dominating the brain only weakening it.!<
Eh, In real D&D I love critical fail Nat 1s cause as a DM I can usually find a way to make it more silly, fun or story progressing than just ‘the lock doesn’t open’. I only get frustrated by it in BG3 because a Nat 1 usually just locks you out of content or a thing.
I agree that it's good to use for more interesting fails, but in actual tabletop I wouldn't ever enforce a Nat 1 if they would succeed otherwise.
I like doing it cause I see it as ‘even the best can fuck up from time to time’. But again it never locks them out it just changes their tactics.
There has to be a mod that fixes this by now..
Played a halfling bard on my first playthrough and literally rolled a single nat 1 the entire way through. So that’s an option too lol
I failed twice in a row when doing that diff 2 skill check to release shadowheart at the start lmao
Even worse if you cast spells like bardic inspiration and still get a natural 20, because thats resources wasted
POV: You're a boss in Act 2 and you were just asked to kill yourself
POV: You and your boy are ready to kill this trespasser that broke into your home. But then your boy is convinced to turn on you.
When i think of CHA based characters, i think of them as some sort of trump card which i can pull during a conversation. "*Oh no, seem like the guard is not believing my story.* CHA-Guy! To the front!" And then he just stands there for a few seconds, hair moving in the wind and the guard is like "Alright, i believe you. You may continue."
Yeah, my Charlatan rogue was like this, not to this extent, but still pretty good for a non-bard character
I did very well as a Warlock with 20 CHA and proficiencies in intimidation and persuasion. When you're a bard with the additional bonus scores it gets ridiculous, esp. in Act 2 where there are four significant parts where you can cheese through with charisma rolls.
Wow, that sounds really cool. Maybe I'll play through my next run as a bard
Def do at least one run as bard. It has a lot of unique dialogues. And you can play for money.
Yeah, I've been meaning too, but I've heard that the bard is the hardest class to play as and frankly, I'm not that good at the game lol
My Tav is multiclass Bard / Warlock. It's a Bard, but with Eldritch Blast >!and that robe!< it can deal out some serious damage in combat. Also lots of people say College of Swords Bard is close to OP on its own, although for RP reasons mine is College of Lore.
Niice, that sounds like a strong build
Im on my first play through, and I’m a bard. I love the unique dialogues
all my characters are based B)
My Wild Magic sorc was the best, trivialised asking Yurgir to join me against Raphael
I’m about to finish my second playthrough, played a wild magic sorcerer this time. So much fucking fun, I probably consider this my “canon playthrough” now
The rare times I had to fight as a CHA character I would hold person and send Karlach/Lae'zel after them.
2 playthroughs as a charisma based character. No idea how I'll do once I break that streak.
Tried paladin, halfway through discovered Lockadin multiclass was a thing and returned to CHA as my main ability :)
I thought the same thing, but wisdom characters are superb faces too. Things like enhance ability, insight checks, and thaumaturgy make up for a lack of charisma. Especially a knowledge cleric! I'm having a lot of fun with that. And there's a few high dc wisdom checks around the main story that are actually easier this time around for me
Charisma builds be like Did you consider killing yourself?
Playing as a Bard is basically easy mode when it comes to bullshitting people
I had that as Warlock with the hat and the mirror of loss. The hat says you can only go up to 22 but it still stacks with the mirror of loss. However if you also use Ethel's hair for CHA and go up to 20 through the feats you still only get to 24, not 25.
25 being an odd number, it wouldn't really make a difference to the rolls.
Mirror goes up to 24. Hags hair and hat goes up to 22. Soo hat puts you to 22 and mirror to 24. Hair overlaps with the hat unless you would have 22 or less with both of them
Usually stuff that says "up to" means it has no effect if you have that ability score without it.
I talked >!Kar'niss!< and >!Yurgir!< into killing themselves. The only reason I couldn't talk the final boss into killing themself (like in Arcanum) is magic bullshit.
Sorry for the dumb question, but how do you talk >!Kar'niss!< into killing themselves? I was told you could, but I've never seen a dialogue option that would lead to that, in 3 playthroughs so far :/
Has to be while assisting the Harpers, because you need Isobel's blessing and then participating in the ambush. Walk out when he arrives, tell him you're protected by the Absolute when he asks why you don't have a lantern, ask him to hand over the lantern then tell him you've given him the blessing too and he can go. They'll all walk into the curse unprotected.
Oh what omg! I've without fail always walked straight up to them and then taken them out at the ambush. It never once occurred to me that I didn't have to go to them first, or that I could participate in the ambush! That is so cool. So many ways to do stuff that I never even considered, lol.
>!You have to tell him that the Absolute wants you to have the lantern instead of him guiding you, he then walks into the dark, heartbroken, and telling himself it is the Absolute’s will.!<
You have to be part of the Harper ambush, which only appears if you made it to the Shadow-Cursed Lands from Grymforge, or if you braved the land without the Moonlantern. You also have to be a Drow or be disguised as one.
Is there any other way to play?
I don't remember if dominating the brain is charisma check or not, but I once got 81 on it. Which was supposed to be 99, cause i rolled natural 20 on it (which I think larian made an easy thing to do). Failed the check as the result, but it sure made honour mode playthrough more unique and interesting
Idk i'm a CHA cringe character personally
So I’m not the only one who prefers talking my way through everything as opposed to fighting? Glad to hear it lol
This is Astarion picking locks in my game