Yes it is only turn-based in combat. Outside of combat it is real time.

K-Pop Astarion

The Myconid King

A friendly Mind Flayer and Bugbear

Elminster is totally Gandalf

The White Raven

Even in combat, you can right click on any character, then go to Examine, and it will show you their stats and resistances

What's this about a Bhaalspawn plot from a hundred years ago, that Jaheria was a part of stopping?

My version of the Guardian

A displacer beast!

You aren't kidding about Gandelminster!

A white raven? Must be an auspicious sign for January.

Your guardian looks suspiciously like Blood Raven. . . .

I did deliberately try to make my Guardian look like Blood Raven. It just felt appropriate.

January meets an Aasimar

The Mind Flayer Colony

The tadpole spawning pools

The Elder Brain

Myrkul, God of Necromancy

Wolfie

January and the Eldergleam

In the light

Great pix and glad to see you are still enjoying BG3. Is an Aasimar something like an Avariel? Yikes, a mind flayer colony sounds pretty scary. Yay, Eldergleam!

The Aasimar and Tieflings were added with D&D 3.0 or 3.5. Ope! turns out they came out in 2.0, in the Planescape Campaign setting

They are both plane-touched, in that these individuals or races have an ancestor who was either a celestial being or a devil. I played January as one in Neverwinter Nights 2.

BG3 has a lot of Tieflings, refugees from a city that was taken to one of the Nine Hells, but eventually escaped. I think that was in the one of the D&D books or other properties. In BG3 that city is back, but the Tieflings wihin were driven out by the other residents because of their devilish ancestry. Basically it is an allegory for racism.

Tieflings are a playable race in BG3, and one of the most memorable companions - Karlach - is a Tiefling. But Aasmar are not playable. Maybe they are saving that for a DLC? The one NPC in the game is not your typical Aasimar. She is the daughter of Selune, goddess of the moon. So she's really more of a demigod than the standard Aasimar in D&D, who just have a little bit of such blood somewhere far back in the blood line.

Wasn’t Kaelyn the Dove from NW2 an Aasimar?
Such a sad continuing story they gave her at the end. A favorite Tiefling companion of mine has always been Annah of the Shadows from Torment. She and the tanar'ri Fall-from-Grace had some great back and forth banter. Loved them both. I can see the three of them in my Oblivion companions.

I had to look it up to be sure. Kaelyn is a Half-Celestial. The article explains that they have a much closer tie to their divine ancestry than the Aasimar, and so have a lot more magical power. The character in BG3 fits this a definition a lot better than Aasimar as well, though I believe they call her the latter.

He's back!

Minsc only take orders from one tiny being

Boo!

The dynamic duo

Fleeing tadpoles! It's the miniature giant space hamster and his large minion! Rangers everywhere, rejoice!

Is Minsc's voicing similar to BG1 and BG2?

They did not bring in the same voice actor to play the role. Instead they brought in Matt Mercer. So he does not sound exactly the same. But Matt is a really talented guy. I have seen and heard him in a lot of stuff, like Critical Role. He does a really earnest reproduction of the Minsc voice, down to his distinctive enthusiasm. Plus there are lots of new Minscims. One I remember is "Dig your graves evil, Minsc and Boo are coming to tuck you in!"

Needless to say, I am totally jazzed to have Minsc in the party!

Here is an example

I just met this guy, and already I do not like him

Neither does Astarion

Redemption

January retakes her Oath - to defend life itself, to protect all that is good and natural, and repel wickedness wherever it threatens

Reaching for the Light

Ugh, lawyers

Servants of Bhaal

Didn't I kill this guy in a previous game?

We will just have to kill him again

Wow, you are right. That voice actor absolutely nails dear Minsc!


I just connected the dots that Jan is a paladin and an elf. Used to be humans only - elves needed not apply. Seems like a great improvement to me!

Is that Sarevok from BGI?

Jan is a Half-Elf, it felt right considering her magical heritage. When I play Blood Raven, I will probably make her a full Elf. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference in how they look in the game.

There are no race/class restrictions at all. Anyone can be anything. One of the Origin companions is a Drow Paladin for example. A definite improvement from the old days when Mazzy was a Fighter with some extra abilities, rather than a full on Paladin herself.

That is the Big Bad Guy Sarevok from BG1. I think you can bring him back as a companion in one of the BG2 expansions. Throne of Bhaal maybe? So apparently they made that canon. Which just means you can kill him again, right Boo!

Showdown in the Bhaal temple

The devil has 666 hit points

Looks like you are nearing the end of the game? Uh oh, better stop fiddling around, and take that devil down to Georgia.

"my name's January and it might be a sin
But I'll take your bet, you're gonna regret
'Cause I'm the best there's ever been"


Battling an Undead Dragon

This guy is in our side. Seriously, he is.

They don't have Beholders in this game, but they do have Spectators

January has the three Netherstones

The first battle against the Elder Brain

Needless to say, you cannot win the first encounter with it

The Elder Brain is loosed upon the world

With the Crown of Karsus fueling it, it can complete the Illithid Grand Design, the enslavement of the entire multiverse

It brought more Nautiloid ships as backup

But the Army of Light has dragons

It also has this guy, who is kicking a lot of butts for Goodness

Time for the final assault upon the Elder Brain

The Crown of Karsus, which at one time destroyed all magic, and with it the Netherese Empire

Regicide

The fall of the Elder Brain

The Army of Light victorious

I am not going anywhere without you Karlach

Congrats of finishing the game! Thanks for your insights throughout. Not gonna play it now but great to know where to find some good tips/perspectives. Just in case, you know.

Nice to see Minsc still buttkicking for goodness.

Um. . . don't want to thing too hard on where netherstones come from.

Always good to have dragons on your side!

Karlach has absolutely beautiful ears.

Minsc is a hoot, as ever. He is always one of my favorite companions.


Hang on Snoopy

The other passengers leave much to be desired

Blood Raven catches up on a good book

Giant Miniature Space Hamsters you say?

The temple of Jergal, where you find Withers (the undead guy who respecs your characters)

So a Blood Raven playthrough now, is it? She looks quite true to Blood Raven - good job with character creation.

Love that Boo has his own lore book!

Silverlight likes a good book

Especially when it is about obscure arcana

Silverlight is now the Spider Queen

Open the book

Things have definitely changed

Minsc resembles that remark

Jaheria agrees

Speaking of which, Jaheria can turn into an Owlbear

Minsc, Jaheria... wait, this is Baldur's Gate! Wow, it looks incredible. I haven't been keeping up with the BG3 stuff going on, looks really good.

Silverlight looks great! Blond ponytail - check, blue eyes - check, pointed ears - check.

I had gathered that Minsc made the journey to BG3 but didn't realize Jaheira did as well. Is she less. . . whiny than she was in BG2?

An owlbear? Is that even a thing?

I remember that term "owlbear" from somewhere.

I found Jaheria a lot easier to put up with in this game. She is not whiny, but can be a little overbearing at times.

I am pretty sure the Owlbear goes back to 1st Edition D&D. Yep, it does. It even has its own Wikipedia page. I don't think it ever appeared in a video game until now. It was also in the recent Dungeons and Dragons movie. I wonder if that is connected to them having it in BG3 as well?

DM: "Your party approaches the dell. To your left is a cabin, to the right is a cave."

...Dungeon Master rolls three 6-sided dice and then reaches into his silk pouch for the 30-sider...

DM: "Sorry guys, it's from the Outdoors, Very Rare, Wilderness 2 table."

Everyone at the table groans. Tony rolls his eyes while Renee reaches into the bag of Doritos.

DM: "Dunn dunn dunn, it's an OWLBEAR!"

Some pics from Morroblivion:

He died for your sins...

White Fell meets a familiar face

Ice to meet you



And some pics from Skyrim:

Corvus and the Crow

White Fell gets a Lopov shot

Looks like gravity is just a suggestion around here

Nice! I see Blood Raven from Boston (aka Corvus) made it to the land of the Nords.

Hmm, White Fell and Ice - sounds like a couple new supers for the Stormcrow's Alliance.

Thanks to the new Fallout TV show, I decided to re-roll January as a toon in Fallout 4.

January and Avery hanging out at home

Their Mr. Handy (Cray) is of course a goddessend

The nukes are flying

But they made it safely into the Vault

Following Dr. Sinister to the pods. He assures January that there is nothing alarming about his name. He is just left-handed.

Very neat. Jan and Avery look like themselves. Cray is a bit off though. . . perhaps a sweater and bow tie?