There’s a lot of love to go around in Baldur’s Gate 3, and it’s no secret that a huge draw to the game for a lot of players has been the ability to graphically romance the Origin characters that can join your party…and even some NPCs as well, though those particular encounters are for a good time, not a long time. The love doesn’t just stop there for fans, however, because there are plenty of characters that you’re unable to have join your party that continue to earn a place in players’ rankings of their favorite characters.
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There are names that come up frequently like the silver-tongued Cambion Raphael, the grumpy Tiefling Wizard Rolan, the would-be companion Bard Alfira, and even one of the game’s primary antagonists Enver Gortash (particularly for Durgetash shippers – I see you all and I agree), and honestly so much more. Given that the NPCs in the game, by nature, have limited (by Larian Studios standards, which is still a lot of content to be fair) interactions with the player character, the metaphorical chokehold so many of these characters have the Baldur’s Gate 3 fandom is seriously impressive.
What is it about these characters that continues to win over the fandom?
First, you’ve gotta give another round of applause to Larian Studios for the level of detail they added to this game. Even NPCs, particularly the larger ones like those mentioned above that have side quests or major plotlines associated with them, have an incredible amount of characteristics built into their code, their writing, and the performance bringing them to the screen the make the encounters with them so genuine and human, even when the character isn’t human themselves.
Larian has provided enough for the majority of these reoccurring NPCs for fans to safely infer additional details about them to add to the overall love they feel as well, the love which is expressed often through stunning fan art and writing. NPCs have become so loved that mods for the game on Nexus mods have introduced additional romance options, including a ring that will let you turn its wearer into an NPC, and a mod that will let you hug most humanoid NPCs.
Speaking on performances, Baldur’s Gate 3 is fortunate to have so many “good eggs” in its cast. From every interview conducted, award show appearance and acceptance speech, and livestream hosted by a cast member to either play the game itself or host a live autograph signing, you can feel how passionate each individual is for their character(s), and how much they want to share the love for them with those who understand it best – the fans. In particular, George Taylor has hosted numerous livestreams on Twitch playing through Baldur’s Gate 3, each one seemingly making more and more fans of Rolan.
Overall, even the “side characters” in Baldur’s Gate 3 are carefully crafted to be well-rounded, this level of depth in each character invites fans to dive in, and for the most part when they do there is a wonderful performer behind them and a lovely fandom willing to share in that love.
I want to talk to you about your favorite Baldur’s Gate 3 NPC and why it’s Rolan! Chat with me on socials @amazingspidrhan.
