There's an easy way to remove the parasite...

[Turbo-Laser Ninjadragon]

Perhaps someone has said this before but, why can't I just tear the thing out of each companion's head and then either use a scroll of true Resurrection or withers to bring them back to life?

It seems kinda obvious. I even tried it thinking it might be hidden but if it is I haven't found it yet.

[Fluffykeith]

Only thing I can think of is that it’s not clear how the tadpole and ceremorphosis affects the soul, and True Res requires that the soul be willing. If the tadpole alters the will of the soul then it might screw up the spell.

Other thing I guess is that in the game world, heroes have access to such magic because they’re exceptional in some way, the scrolls aren’t meant to be very common but appear that way because the loot is sort of skewed towards the heroes within the game mechanics. Otherwise people would be getting resurrected left right and centre and there’d be a very different concept of death altogether. So it kinda looks like one of those situations where the game mechanics would allow it but they don’t exactly jive with the game lore.

[Phil khajeets]

Unfortunately there is none It is locked by the game till endgame which is a joke.
They literally force neuralink on us

[Lani]

Aside from the plot armor the tadpoles enjoy. True Resurrection scrolls might indeed work, assuming it's done in time, i.e. before the tadpole integrates with the host brain to the point a True Resurrection would simply consider it part of the to be resurrected brain.
There's not many campaigns where you'll have 9 of those extremely rare items available, let alone for low level characters.
There's also that trust bit which would be an issue especially int he early days before integration,

[Bregastor]

I think you need to distinguish what is there for gameplay purpose and what is there for lore purpose.

For example, you cannot use the scroll on a char that can become a companion if thar char dies before joining you.

Hence such scroll are there for the entire purpose of gameplay, and are not canon lorewise

[seeker1]

A trip to Volo's surgery shop ... yeah, where did he get his medical training from? ... and you'll see why the surgical removal method doesn't work.

BTW, without mods, the spells True Resurrection and Raise Dead are not in the game. Just scrolls and spells of Revivify. Withers appears to have the POWER of something like True Resurrection, but it's modified by +2 plot armor.

[Turbo-Laser Ninjadragon]

it would work and it's a major plot hole. Were it in the game it would make sense to hide it really carefully through a very discrete series of actions. Originally I noticed that when corpses are picked up one can grab them and drag them onto the party (they become an undropable card no matter who's corpse. almost implying that you can add the corpse to your party). At first I thought "maybe I can find the parasite in a dead follower's inventory when they are dead?" but alas, this is not the case. Had I designed the game that's how I would do it.
Just add a discrete Item slot for "skull cavity" which is easy to overlook but....only appears when they are deceased.
Sadly no such thing exists.
But it should...because it would be awesome.

[Turbo-Laser Ninjadragon]

Originally posted by seeker1:

A trip to Volo's surgery shop ... yeah, where did he get his medical training from? ... and you'll see why the surgical removal method doesn't work.

BTW, without mods, the spells True Resurrection and Raise Dead are not in the game. Just scrolls and spells of Revivify. Withers appears to have the POWER of something like True Resurrection, but it's modified by +2 plot armor.

But then there's still withers.

[Lod101]

Originally posted by Turbo-Laser Ninjadragon:

But then there's still withers.

Withers: No.

[Turbo-Laser Ninjadragon]

Originally posted by Lod101:

Originally posted by Turbo-Laser Ninjadragon:

But then there's still withers.

Withers: No.

it's better to ask for Forgiveness than Permission. ;)

[Chaosolous]

DnD rules don’t make much sense tbh. Like, everyone who dies in the game should technically be able to be revived.

Essentially death should have no meaning in DnD yet everyone is always sad about people dying. Like bruh, take one of my 200 revivify scrolls and stfu.

Not sure why Ketheric was so intent on immortality. Just go see a Wizard or something.

[seeker1]

Withers SHOULD, theoretically, be able to resurrect NPCs.

He won't. As I said, he seems to have the power, modified by +2 plot armor.

BTW, in the very description of even the most powerful resurrection magic, there are limits. Nothing can prevent you from dying of the natural end of your lifespan. Resurrection cannot save you from dying of old age aka "natural causes".

So yes, this is why Ketheric did what he did, and why Jaheira was poking over that Scroll of Timeless Body you find. People still die in a world of resurrection magic. Yep

[Lani]

It would be a fun spell to try out on some dragonhide armor though

[Turbo-Laser Ninjadragon]

Originally posted by seeker1:

Withers SHOULD, theoretically, be able to resurrect NPCs.

He won't. As I said, he seems to have the power, modified by +2 plot armor.

BTW, in the very description of even the most powerful resurrection magic, there are limits. Nothing can prevent you from dying of the natural end of your lifespan. Resurrection cannot save you from dying of old age aka "natural causes".

So yes, this is why Ketheric did what he did, and why Jaheira was poking over that Scroll of Timeless Body you find. People still die in a world of resurrection magic. Yep

And that's fine, I accept that a hammer and a set of pliers are out as surgical options go, but.... I believe that the parasite COULD be removed with extreme care not to damage the brain excessively and that in combination with wither's aid, it is not a bad strategy.

[Steffan]

Even if Withers could (which is uncertain), why should he? Now he has the perfect tools to stop the Dead Three. If he frees your group, it will likely disintegrate and the Absolute problem will stay unresolved

[Josephus]

As an old DM I have had this happen. Players that are smarter than me seeing the gaping holes in my plot. The thing is D&D is about the story and not the rules. A DM just makes some plausible magical ♥♥♥♥ up as to why the player cannot do it, or, if I can work it out LET them do it and give them unexpected consequences.

I will always refer Rules Lawyers to 5E Players Handbook page 6 Paragraph 2: "Ultimately, the Dungeon Master is the authority on the campaign and its setting, even if the setting is a published world."

I look at BG3 as having a DM with a set of House Rules listed here: https://bg3.wiki/wiki/D%26D_5e_rule_changes These being necessary for balancing the experience for a fun video game.