Ode to the Short Stack Lover

[CDI Link]

An inspiration to us all, I hope you survived the fall.
Your only saving grace, was that you died to save some face.
The romancer of gnomes, your words were sharp and honed.
Forgotten lover of the dwarves, you forum post was the only real discourse.
Mighty hugger of halflings, the deletion was quite baffling.

[CDI Link]

That aside no other companions? Just plain old humans and elves for the final release? Was hoping after the bear that we would get some more flair to keep us falling flat on our faces with how out there Larian were willing to go to push this RPG choices thing to the extreme that they are often known for. Unless they are in hiding than sure I am willing to be proven wrong if I can at least get a dwarf or something to change up the current companions, I was hoping for a companion for every race to open up some inclusion and allow more player choice but have not checked in since EA dropped all those years ago.

[Sigvuld]

A TOAST TO OUR FALLEN CHAMPION, THE MOST BASED OF US ALL

[DDkiki]

Yeah im bummed there is no halfling/gnome/dwarf companion, not even speaking about them being female :C
Linzi in KM and Regill in WotR were great characters and we really need more unique halfling/gnome/dwarf party members in RPGs and better romancable ones.
Its a shame cuz iirc there has been planned female dwarf werewolf but was cut later.
Oh well, maybe there are companions we don't know yet, non-origin ones.

[CDI Link]

Originally posted by DDkiki:

Yeah im bummed there is no halfling/gnome/dwarf companion, not even speaking about them being female :C
Linzi in KM and Regill in WotR were great characters and we really need more unique halfling/gnome/dwarf party members in RPGs and better romancable ones.
Its a shame cuz iirc there has been planned female dwarf werewolf but was cut later.
Oh well, maybe there are companions we don't know yet, non-origin ones.

I really do hope there are, I would be distraught if I have to play yet another fantasy rpg where the focus is humans and elves as your only real options as adventuring companions and possible romance options (only since it seems to be a selling point in this game). Larian really could have flexed on the industry by writing serious paths for the more skimmed over and often stereotyped races and I hope its all not just a cop out in the final product.

[CDI Link]

Originally posted by Sigvuld:

A TOAST TO OUR FALLEN CHAMPION, THE MOST BASED OF US ALL

A hero that shall live on in our hearts...and in my nightmares, to you good friend. May your radical dreams one day become a reality, and your ideals inspire those who fight for a more inclusive future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tdyU_gW6WE

[Bishi]

If gamers and developers keep infantilizing short races to this degree, why not try some of these simple solutions. A) Don't write them to act like children. B) Race lock to other shorts. C) Fade to black on implied steamy moments.

And no! I'm still not salty you can't romance Varric in Dragon Age....

[DDkiki]

Originally posted by Radical_Inu:

If gamers and developers keep infantilizing short races to this degree, why not try some of these simple solutions. A) Don't write them to act like children. B) Race lock to other shorts. C) Fade to black on implied steamy moments.

And no! I'm still not salty you can't romance Varric in Dragon Age....

Yup, good example are gnomes in PF games, both Jubilost and Regill are awesome gnomes who:
1) dont feel samey, which is a problem for many small-race writing in games(dwarf=loud rude alcoholic etc)
2) both expand and explain different parts of their race for newcomers into lore
3) just a well written interesting characters, one being a journalist and researcher and other a hell knight, literally Judge Dredd.

[mods twist his balls]

Short races need love too

[CDI Link]

Originally posted by DDkiki:

Originally posted by Radical_Inu:

If gamers and developers keep infantilizing short races to this degree, why not try some of these simple solutions. A) Don't write them to act like children. B) Race lock to other shorts. C) Fade to black on implied steamy moments.

And no! I'm still not salty you can't romance Varric in Dragon Age....

Yup, good example are gnomes in PF games, both Jubilost and Regill are awesome gnomes who:
1) dont feel samey, which is a problem for many small-race writing in games(dwarf=loud rude alcoholic etc)
2) both expand and explain different parts of their race for newcomers into lore
3) just a well written interesting characters, one being a journalist and researcher and other a hell knight, literally Judge Dredd.

pour one out for the Varric fans

And I agree, having Jubilost and Regill were a great way to twist the narratives and stereotype of the archetypal gnome characters, as well as a great addition to the cast for newcomers to learn about the more interesting setting fluff that helps ground them within the story and adventure. But even they suffer from almost being un-intractable expositional dumps almost akin to museum pieces.
For how much everyone wants to aim for interacting and building companionship with the other characters, races like dwarves and halflings have always suffered in rpg's for not having the same amount of personal characterization. I mean they are people that live in the setting with history and culture but their personal lives are often sidelined and ignored in favor of generalizations and ease of writing. Maybe I am wrong but alot of people gush over the romance options like its a main selling point, and this was a good chance after the bear stuff to really show the dedication to player choice and options. But I hope I am wrong and there are some small race representation on release to even out the heavy focus on elves...like am I crazy for seeing that there are almost four elf companions?

[DDkiki]

Originally posted by CDI Link:

Originally posted by DDkiki:

Yup, good example are gnomes in PF games, both Jubilost and Regill are awesome gnomes who:
1) dont feel samey, which is a problem for many small-race writing in games(dwarf=loud rude alcoholic etc)
2) both expand and explain different parts of their race for newcomers into lore
3) just a well written interesting characters, one being a journalist and researcher and other a hell knight, literally Judge Dredd.

pour one out for the Varric fans

And I agree, having Jubilost and Regill were a great way to twist the narratives and stereotype of the archetypal gnome characters, as well as a great addition to the cast for newcomers to learn about the more interesting setting fluff that helps ground them within the story and adventure. But even they suffer from almost being un-intractable expositional dumps almost akin to museum pieces.
For how much everyone wants to aim for interacting and building companionship with the other characters, races like dwarves and halflings have always suffered in rpg's for not having the same amount of personal characterization. I mean they are people that live in the setting with history and culture but their personal lives are often sidelined and ignored in favor of generalizations and ease of writing. Maybe I am wrong but alot of people gush over the romance options like its a main selling point, and this was a good chance after the bear stuff to really show the dedication to player choice and options. But I hope I am wrong and there are some small race representation on release to even out the heavy focus on elves...like am I crazy for seeing that there are almost four elf companions?

Yeah, shame for Varric...and his hairy chest :>
And yeah they kinda suffer from it, but its mitigated by Jubi being forcefully obnoxious in general and Regill having pretty unique trait that many people who even live on Golarion wouldn't understand.

Tbf i basically dont care about romances, mostly due to my 1st run would prolly be as Dark Urge and i dont see my "Totally not bhaalspawn" with anyone(oh got it reminds me how cringe all romances in BG2 were). But RPGs were often played by this type of audience who is there basically for dating sim and they mostly here for elf and sometimes human companions...so devs kinda forced to appeal to this very vocal group of players.

My only hope for short race companions is that we didnt see all non-origin companions and there are some dwarves/halflings/gnomes there that can join our party...Devs just so afraid of them for reasons of them being "too child-like" its getting stupid at this point. Even DnD movie had halfling x human relationship and it was kinda charming? Dude liked big and strong women heh.

Also iirc PFKM Linzi's writer said he wanted her to be romanceable but it was basically vetoed from above, but he said she is only into girl and hid some references to it in many of her dialogues with other female companions.

[Octarin]

Honestly, this is too based. I intend to make a very spiffy female halfling bard, and I'll be forced to romance the humans. Yeah, ok, but there could be a cute dwarf or gnome or even a halfling out there. It is kinda same old same old in this aspect.

[Bishi]

I brought up romance as it does seem to be the main reason the main cast is what it is, that we know for sure at least. They could have made Minthara a Duergar for example and we could have had some interesting lore exploration with the mindflayers.

[CDI Link]

Originally posted by Octarin:

Honestly, this is too based. I intend to make a very spiffy female halfling bard, and I'll be forced to romance the humans. Yeah, ok, but there could be a cute dwarf or gnome or even a halfling out there. It is kinda same old same old in this aspect.

I wish you the best of luck in your adventure halfling friend, I hope we all are not locked into the status quo and get a chance to break the stagnant mold of today toward a livelier tomorrow.

[CDI Link]

Originally posted by Radical_Inu:

I brought up romance as it does seem to be the main reason the main cast is what it is, that we know for sure at least. They could have made Minthara a Duergar for example and we could have had some interesting lore exploration with the mindflayers.

The current cast is manageable but I agree with the duergar aspect, what better companion to fight the mindflayers influence than a mind made of steel, and a heart forged in fire. You already have a cleric of shar to share drow/underdark lore why not have the other side to share in other underdark perspective. Its a bit heavy but would free up some room for variety in the party as well as being a character that could bounce off of shadowheart (being a cleric to shar and all that)

[seandeven]

Bravo Maestro!!!
well said...

Forest Gnome Feylock
I believe going forward
The fey magic flows

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Since they announced the Archfey patron, the excitement for BG3 is palpable.
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Jubilost and Regill
are just awesome :)