There are lots of interesting characters and companions in Baldur’s Gate 3. Still, modders keep trying to add more and more. Swen Vincke, who is the head of Larian Studios, said that this modding trend matches some of the early ideas for the game. They originally considered turning some unplayable characters into full companions, including a major villain.
During his presentation at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), Vincke talked about decisions made during the development of Baldur’s Gate 3 (thanks, IGN). There were more potential companions in the early stages, but this didn’t fully carry through to the final game. One interesting point was Ketheric Thorm, the main antagonist of Act 2. Thorm, known for being immortal and having connections to the god of death, Myrkul, was initially considered to join the player’s party.
According to Vincke, players were initially supposed to have the option to persuade Thorm to join their party instead of engaging in the climactic battle atop the burning chapel. He would have then served as a source of information, and players could have steered the story toward his potential redemption or allegiance. However, this entire companion arc was cut during an effort to streamline Act 2.
“If you play the game and there’s a moment where you can convince him and you can see that a moment where he breaks, that moment led to recruitment normally. We cut that out when we were rescoped. It was part of the fixing of Act two when we were stuck on it. That was what happened in the rescoping. He was supposed to be in your camp while you were dealing with Gortash and with Orin. So he became a source of information on them, and he could trust, you could get him to his arc. You could then be convinced by him to go to his side. So it was a great story, but yeah.”
Swen Vincke
I absolutely love a villain redemption story. It is sad that we wouldn’t be able to recruit them, but in the end, the game was amazing, so it was a good loss. This will definitely give modders ideas because now they know there is the perfect setup to introduce this character to your party.
Vincke revealed that several ideas were considered but ultimately abandoned during the development of Baldur’s Gate 3. This included Vlaakith’s Githyanki palace, trips to the Astral Plane and Hell, and a return to Candlekeep. This could have been cool in the game, too, but it was smart to limit themselves. The game is already very big, and making it bigger would have led to it being released later.
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