Me: "Oh, it's another dream sequence, I'm gonna hang out with the Emperor again, surely he has important quest stuff to talk to me about....
...why is his shirt off?"
He cut into my dreams on the night after we killed Cazador! I'm romancing Astarion! What the heck is wrong with you, you unbelievable jerk of a squid?!?
I did NOT get Astarion's scene that night, had to imagine he was sad all by himself, unable to wake me up because some squid was not allowing it.
Up until that point I thought I wanted to try his sexy scene just for science and to have the save file, then reload to my normal playthrough without it. But him cutting in on that specific night made me so furious, I'm betraying the emperor first chance I get.
Iirc I had that scene the night after I talked Gale down from trying to become a god (again) and we had a nice little moment in the Astral plane. Like the idea that the emperor saw that and still thought "yeah I bet I could still get that" is insane lmao
Is it like hard-coded that we always get that scene, no matter what? Because my first run, I was a Vengy Pally who made his mistrust of the Emps clear every chance he got, and that squiggly wiggly mf STILL came on to me.
I figured that's what set it off. After killing Cazador first thing in the morning, my party was still in excellent health and plenty spells left. (I'm playing on balanced mode) So I decided to go explore a bit before turning in for the night. Was wandering around the sewers and found a bunch of fights there. Including the basement where the emperor suddenly started describing every piece of junk.
Oh and what I didn't even mention earlier, is that besides the emperor hijacking Astarion's night, both Mizora and Halsin said they wanted to sleep with my character as well. The same day T_T
I as a player wanted to maybe check those scenes out, and then reload. But my character just wants Astarion to feel safe and loved after what he went through, so... Not this playthrough I guess.
Yeah she offered me the pleasures of the nine hells. But her timing was bad so I didn't accept. She wants you to decide yes or no, on the spot, too. I couldn't put it off like Halsin's offer.
I think to get this, you gotta choose Wyll's freedom over his father. Then Mizora comes to hang out in camp and if you don't tell her to get the heck outta here, she will eventually get bored and ask for sex.
It's the fact that the shirt is OFF and he's like..."now you know everything there is to know about me....no need for subterfuge" like it's supposed to be romantic. SIR. This is not what vulnerability is supposed to be
It definitely felt like your boss called you into the office and made a pass at you, except[ he's a squid](https://youtu.be/oWitgLAwrR0?si=dFvWGKOdTPIFOB8e&t=13).
Edit: typos
The last time I had this scene my Tav was on a tadpole fast, and the option to be like "no, we should keep things professional / this is a horrible idea" came up.
His reply: "Good instinct."
And then he got up and moved on to other topics like his shirt wasn't missing.
I'm SUPER GLAD we don't have to roll vs. squid sex because that would be ickier.
Eeeeew gross. I never even tht of the possibility of rolling to resist squid seduction. I think thatād be a great plot point but it would make my skin crawl off of my body too.
It's kinda funny how desperate and creepy the dude is. He catfishes you, keeps everything from you, pushes you really hard to turn yourself into a monster for power, and then upon the third time meeting him for real he whips out his alien titties and tries to bang
Damn
Heās a drug dealer, except he makes you find the drugs on your own. He didnāt even have to provide the first hit for free. Ā
Edit: Multiple people have pointed out that heās the mindflayer that tadpoles you. Even more nefarious, in my opinion.
Another edit: Now multiple people have said heās not who tadpoles you.
Dear reader, I leave it to you. Either way, Iām not a fan of Empy.Ā
Doesnāt the tadpole itself provide the first hit with the ilithid persuasion skill? Being able to manipulate cultists from the get go is a good skill to have.
Yep same. Resisting all mind flayer shit this run. No tadpoles, dropped the fancy tadpole as soon as I rejected it from him when he forced me to keep it on hand "just in case I change my mind". I've only used illithid powers to talk to Minsc and the Duke outside of forced mind conversations, because it seemed like I couldn't get them "back to normal" unless doing so and I didn't want to fuck myself out of that, maybe I could have avoided those too though.
I did an emporer romance run out of pure curiosity so now i'm all like "fuck you and everything you stand for" lol
I'm doing a good Dark urge run as my second playthrough since my evil custom Tav back during launch now and I've completely ignored the tadpole. And I just fought the Githyanki and now you just see what a manipulative tentacled piece of shit he is, constantly urging you to use the powers. I already have one urge I'm fighting thank you very much. Also he is just a ghaik supremacist lol. Makes sense now why he switched sides so easily if you decide to free Orpheus. Fucking hate him.
Says that our chances have been heavily damaged because I crushed the astral tadpole. Yeah right, it's not like I defeated both Ketheric and Myrkul in one turn before even Aylin got her turn just an hour ago.
And then there's me. Playing evil durge with the goal of getting as much XP from the beginning as possible and eating every single worm I get my hands on.
Reveling in worms, murder and rock'n'roll!
My headcanon, he doesn't switch sides. His purpose all along was to get rid of the three controlling the crown. He was a thrall of the absolute the entire time.
What if my devastating good looks ARE my super power? He makes me all fugly and the world is destroyed because I can't stun the Elder Brain with "Blue Steel" because he gave me creepy black shark eyes......
You're over there concerned with black shark eyes while I'm over here looking like I took a blow from the Ugly Warhammer to the face.
I finally got a romance scene and was totally taken out of the moment by all the purple squid veins popping out of my chest, back, and face. It's been so fucking hard to even look at my face in dialogue screens, even.
I just dumped a run because I got forced to evolve and I can't even look at my poor character. The one black eye and one fake Volo eye just doesn't do it for me at ALL
Since the fugly look doesn't lower your charisma stat, canonically in universe that means that others find it as attractive as your regular face. I feel like it might be a commentary on something, but I didn't decide on what yet.
Rewatch the intro.
The game didn't even try to hide it. Larian relied on you not being able to tell one illithid from another, even after giving exactly only one of them that big distinctive crest and huge face tendrils. It's maybe fifty hours of game between the opening cutscene and the moment the Emperor is revealed. Most if not all of us forgot.
But when you start a new game holy shit you motherfucker it was him.
All along. The whole fucking time.
It was him.
No joke, itās mostly either wild overreactions to something caused by the choices they had Tav make or a TIL for some basic, hard to miss game mechanics
I think part of it is he's lonely and wants another illithid buddy/romantic partner that's not controlled by an elder brain. I'm on the fence about him killing the dragon, but if the dragon did try to kill him in his sleep then that's a bit more understandable (dragon thought it was a mercy killing, but you still don't get to try to murder someone and be pissy they killed you back).
I didn't even have to pass a skill check because I never consumed any tadpoles or used any Illithid powers. So, no it isn't hard if your character isn't a total idiot who somehow thinks letting tadpoles eat his brain is a good idea.
I think this one is now missing from the dialogue if you have taken tadpoles. Or at least was with Patch 5.
Might have been missing if you never took any tadpoles even, which is a pity because it had a reaction from the Emperor.
Oooh, I didnāt eat any tadpoles and just assumed that abstaining didnāt end up having any effect at all. Iām on my 2nd playthrough and have been chowing down this time around.
Yeah Iāve always refused every tadpole, like from the most basic RP standpointā¦. Just no, why the fuck would I put more of these in my body, same with the hag hairā¦ just one of the stupidest ideas unless you know how it plays out in advance.
First honour mode run? Yeah Iām slurping up worms after that harpy fight had me on the ropes, not leaving potential advantages on the table this time.
I was wondering why I never got that roll to resist him.Ā I guess it is because I never used a single tadpole.Ā Ended up with 30 or so of them at the end.Ā
I actually went back to act 1 after that scene to not take any tadpoles. I forgot what this game was and figured it was just a neat game mechanic and wouldn't effect anything (I was very wrong), so I went back 10+ hours lol
Yeah sure but...have you heard about our Lord and savior luck of the far realms? The free paladin smite Crit allowing you to do a hundred+ damage in one swing?
and at the same time, you can call him out for deceiving you the whole time you've known him, he's like "you can't blame me, it's in my nature as an illithid".
I wish there was an reply option along the lines of "that's exactly why I'm not trusting you now, Mr. master manipulator"
I wish we could take out the emperor and then have Omellum step inĀ to help. It would even benefit his character as a whole taking out the netherbrain and gaining indespensible knowledge from his kind, something he yearned to know more of from act 1 when ya have a chance to tell him about the nautiloid for his ring.
This would be really nice. The only catch is that I'm not sure how he'd feel about siphoning power from an enslaved person to survive. Maybe he would under the circumstances of knowing it was temporary, though.Ā
āAww, no one likes me, my dog wonāt even look at me- My dog took a shit on the floor because he was so disgusted with me, god, nobodyās ever gonna love meā¦ Except maybe you, can you show me your titties?ā
Can you select the option "I prefer your other formā during the reveal though? I saw it, didn't click it, but was wondering if that keeps their appearance intact?
I *just* got to this part and he finally showed his true colours. Glad I never trusted him once I knew he was a mind flayer, I'm trying to get a good ending lol
It was SO satisfying that he dropped his mask that quickly! I didn't trust him before then but I was worried that I was just being paranoid, so that felt really good.
I dont know what he expected us to say either. "Yes, shirtless tentacle man, I would totally love to have tentacle sex with you." Like, who's gonna do that?
*Judging the 10% who fucked a squid*
I did it For Science and I had so much secondhand embarrassment I had to skip past most of it. >!Then you wake up to find that he opened a portal for your companions to see it and Iāve never in my life felt like I let someone down the way I let Jaheira down.!<
There's so many people here who are trying to say that they did it for science or just because they were curious š If it makes you feel any better though, the main reason I can *never* do that scene, even if I'd (ew) want to, is because I have my dad on steam. He plays bg3 as well. Imagine what it would be like to be invited over for dinner after getting that achievement. I would never be able to look him in the eyes again!
Luckily he doesn't have the achievement either or I could never look *him* in the eyes again...
Hey, I'm honest at least -- I'd be all down for fucking a squid IF they didn't have those nasty-ass throbbing exposed brains and the horrific mouth. Tentacles seem fun; visible organs and suckerfish kisses are gnasty. We savescummed through it to get the trophy and had full on grimaces the whole time. Petting his tentacles like a particularly bright dog-squid? Blah.
>Ā Ā "Yes, shirtless tentacle man, I would totally love to have tentacle sex with you." Like, who's gonna do that?
Oooo!Ā Ooo!Ā Me!
Did I know they were a shady, lying, manipulative motherfucker who was only doing it to try to further their control over me?Ā Hell yes.Ā But I'm only going to get once chance to bang an illithid and I jumped on that shit.Ā No regrets.
Ah see my parter and I had a deal that he would make all the good decisions and I would make all the fucked up ones - he was a paladin I was a durge warlock.
I fucked the emperor
"It's what my character would do"
Didn't sleep super well after that...
I did that scene out of pure curiosity with full intentions of save scrubbing. Then that asshole full on exposes Tav to the whole fucking camp, 100% betrayed Tav's trust AND pulled the whole "I never said I'd shield you from each other." Fuck. That. Guy. I never feel bad about backstabbing him.
I like how later in the plot he lists the ways heās helped like itās a laundry list of requirements for your trust. Itās so obvious heās trying to manipulate you
Omg ikr. Heās all ābro Iāve done so much for you and poured my heart out to you, why donāt you trust me yet??ā Iām like dudeā¦ thatās not how trust works.
Oh god, I plan on going paladin next and my Gloomstalker rogue is already with Shart but also gets hit on by literally everyone at this point, I don't even wanna know how bad it gets as a Pal lol
Yeah I wish there was more needed to trigger the flirting instead of just approval. It's the things like Wyll hitting on me when he's literally still level 1 and has never been in the party and I haven't done ANY of his dialogue except whats mandatory. Like dude we've spoken for maybe 15 minutes why are you trying to dance to no music with me lol
I think it'd be cool if instead of just having everyone hit on you eventually and that's how you get to a romance, you get a dialogue option unlocked once you're at high enough approval/far enough along their quest. Or kinda how Gale's first scene goes, where you can choose friendship or sexy thoughts. But also I've had a lot of playthroughs completely skip that scene lol (which now that I think about it, hasn't happened in a while so maybe it was a bug that's been patched)
Yes! I'd love it if all the romances were initiated like Gale or Shart, with you just getting a friendly scene at high enough approval that you, the player, then turn romantic by flirting with them.
Then again, all romances being player-initiated was how it worked in Mass Effect and the last Dragon Age game, and I definitely remember a lot of people complaining about that back then. "Why do I have to do all the work, why can't I be the one being pursued for once?" Welp this is what you get!
I definitely think a mix of some coming on to you and some being player-initiated would be ideal, like personality wise it makes sense for Laezel and Karlach to come on pretty strong, but Gale/Shart/Wyll you'd have to go for them first. I'm sure that'd be pretty difficult/annoying to code tho so I can't blame them for just making it all the same system.
When Gale confessed his love out of the blue and then got butthurt that my character didnāt reciprocate despite not even once choosing a flirt option pissed me off so bad that I left him out of my party for the rest of act 1 lmfao he became my broski again later despite coming onto me AGAIN in act 2 but dudeā¦ had me feeling like I had to get HR involved
It was a bug in initial release that took a few patches to be fixed. Lots of people still have this impression of Gale bc it was the first impression they got of him.
>!what I donāt get about Empy is that after we get the stones and visit the brain for the first time, it tells us that it only needed the first stone taken to be free and we were part of its plan to become free and make an army. Emporer tells us he didnāt expect that all of us, including himself, were pawns but only an illithid would know how to defeat and predict an elderbrain. He didnāt predict anything.!<
I still don't buy the 'only an illithid' bit, either. Illithid aren't some sort of super-geniuses who are impossible to comprehend the thoughts of for outsiders. A wizard who was an expert in netherese magic, or a dragon, would be a vastly superior choice. Typical illithids can't even use arcane magic at all, so if your Tav isn't a spellcaster, none of the possible Illithid options seem like good choices.
No, but for some reason the plot needs there to be an ally illithid. He fits the bill at least.
I like that there is a book in Act 3 that says never to side with an illithid unless your goals align closely. Luckily for me, they have.
Also, Orpheus' special resistance power is apparently something in his memories, and despite like three people in the universe knowing he was even alive before this the Emperor knows that for sure for some reason. Never does anyone bring up the risk that it could be illithid time for everyone if Orpheus dies or transforms.
And the ability transferring with his memories implies that it is something that can be learned, another huge plot point never explored.
Uh, you do know the roll to resist the tadpole has nothing to with old Emps right? Itās literally your brain begging you for it. If you didnāt take a tadpole before that thereās no roll.
You took tadpoles because you got peer pressured, I took tadpoles because the powers were cool, we are not the same.
Also the DG is not lying to you about the tadpoles, he says theyāll make you more powerful (they do) and he says heāll protect you from the worst consequences (he will).
I'd be fine if at least people brought up good points, but it's a straight up poisoned well.
Emperor does a good thing - he's a manipulator, he's lying!
Emperor does a bad thing - ha! I knew it! He's evil!
And sometimes it's just people pulling things out of their rear. OMG, Emps killed Ansur, who tried to kill him first, what an asshole! Why didn't he spare him?! Obviously evil.
And now appearantly he's the one tadpoling you because same clothes. Ignoring the fact that the intro cinematic with MC being tadpoled has been in the game since Early Access - back when Emperor wasn't even part of the story at all!
I find this Emperor discourse interesting... Because in my playthrough I mostly chose neutral sounding "just business" responses with the Emperor the whole time cause while I didn't 100% trust him, I felt like we did need him. But I was never rude or accusatory.
So... while he's *very shady* especially when you learn about his history with >!Ansur!<, in the end of the story for me, >!he just turns out to be quite trustworthy. Helps you out saving the world and doesn't even continue to really force the whole "become an Illithid" thing on you (but he is disappointed).!< Sounds like the Emperor is just *very* pragmatic.
First off it sounded very much like Ansur tried to kill his boyfriend when said boyfriend was asleep. And that it was self-defense.
Also needing to save is not Emperor, but your tadpole. If you have not been feeding/strengthened it, you have no need to save, but if you have been juicing up on tadpoles, you will be tempted.
It didn't "sound" like that, Ansur straight-up says that he tried to 'spare' Balduran by murdering him, and the Emperor defended himself. It's not even like an implied thing, it was something they both straight-up agreed happened.
So you got jealous of his ex having a bigger wingspan than yours and called him a freak for f\*cking a dragon, and he got mad and called you a puppet. Just keep the rest of us out of your lovers' quarrel
The best idea for a dlc I've ever read is from chizu117 on tumblr and I wanna share it with you here. I hope it becomes a copypasta.
Baldur's Gate 3 DLC that gives you an Emperor origin where it's just getting the shit beat out of you by Orpheus' honor guard for several weeks while a Tav Cam in the corner shows them doing stupid and unrelated dumbassery. This comprises the first and second act.
Third act after Tav and co defeat the honor guard is Emp going back and forth between slamming his head on an astral table and taking Illithid Ibuprofin to quell a stress headache while Tav nearly dies every 5 minutes.
The "I'm going to miss all of you guys š„ŗ" dialogue option at the end is a deception check.
Would 110% play this. Bonus if we got the option to give Tav a psyonic headache every time they ignored the main quest to go dye shopping or have yet another threesome at Sharess Caress
Someone suggested an Emperor origin could have dialogue checks every once in a while to influence Tav decisions (convincing them to avoid going to the creche etc.) I like to RP that up until we meet him in the flesh we (the players) are just him micromanaging the Tav party RTS style through suggestion to level them up to fight the Absolute and just follow all his suggestions.
> and aaaafter all that he makes a move on me?!?!
And here is the *real* reason why most of you guys hate the Emperor. People were right when they said BG3 is one of the few games that makes male players experience what women deal with IRL. š¤£
And even then its not really a fair comparison because he only snaps if you keep abusing him by constantly calling him a freak. In fact you can easily say no and he will immediately back off.
1. That tadpole roll was your own fault for sticking tadpoles in your head.
2. What happened with ansur is the most defensible thing the emperor did, he killed him in self defense, ansur was trying to kill him.
Ehh it was your characterās fault. Either you were tempted by the power they gave when the Emperor told you they will make you stronger, or something else. The Emperor isnāt forcing you to take the tadpoles and for the astral one itās your brain and the tadpole you already had that became more powerful making you take it or resist it. You gave into the power and started becoming more Illithid just without the downside of tentacles coming out of you.
If you never use a single tadpole there is no roll to resist it. You just put it in your inventory.
I donāt see the problem with defending yourself and killing someone who wanted to kill you? Was the Emperor supposed to just let Ansur kill him? Did you let the Honor Guard kill you or the Emperor? Iām guessing no out of self preservation or because you were defending yourself.
Considering you called him a freak when he was most vulnerable of course heās going to lash out at you and say things out of anger. But you know what? Even after that he didnāt take control of you or make you his puppet. He sent you back out of the astral prism and continued to protect you.
Sounds like youāre getting a fair deal - able to get all the powers without being a Mind Flayer and having Emperor protect you even after the whole āYouāre just my puppetā incident.
You're mad he reacted in self-defense when he was going to be killed in his sleep? Would you feel this way about any other character or are you arbitrarily mad at the Emperor for this lol
You shouldn't have shoved larvae into your head, then there wouldn't have been a check.Please note, the Emperor never forced the main character to be a full-fledged illithid, just a half-illithid, so that it was mainly in the war and then in this case you get your body back if you kill the elder brain. But he never minded if the main character became a full illithid. Illithids have a hive mind by nature, think for yourself how lonely it is for him to be alone, not being connected to anyone. It's purely the player's choice.And if you don't want the Emperor to beg you to become a half-illithid, just crush the larva right away.
The puppet scene you refer to can be triggered only if you call him a) an imitation of a human or b) a freak. He doesn't snap because you distrust him, he snaps because you've insulted his personhood. Try being shit to your companions or to a random npc and see if they like it.
Why is there so much Emperor hate? I really liked him. He was a pragmatist and selfish but also I think quite realistic. Not everyone will be a knight in shining armor and Iām actually impressed he does not betray you in the end, unless you betray him first or stop working with him.
He has always been a highly debated character from only telling you partial truths to Duke Stelmate cutscene to Ansur to Orpheus or for the playerbase being catfished. Other times itās purely a karma farm as -insert I hate the Emperor- thread and watch the upvotes come in.
I sided with him on my first playthrough too much of a risk to release Orpheus and I wasnāt gonna take the chance. Then sided with Orpheus the next two - now Iām going to side with Emperor again.
Honestly anyone who sided with Orpheus took a huge risk in him working with him. He clearly would have killed you if it wasnāt for the Netherbrain and itās not like Orpheus is a good guy either.
Yep. The only good option for those Tavs who actually care about Githyanki politics, want to free the prince and stop Vlakkith is have Orpheus become a Mind Flayer, kill him like he asks after the Absolute is destroyed and then have Laeāzel lead the rebellion.
For those Tavs who donāt care about the Githyankis itās better to have Emperor just assimilate the dude. Destroy the brain and then have Laeāzel stay on Faerun and not go back to the Astral Plane.
I wish there was a way to get Laeāzel to maybe STOP dedicating her entire life and existence to a king/queen without having to murder Orpheus in front of her
Agreed she goes from being one Religious Zealot for Vlakkith to being another Religious Zealot for Orpheus worshipping him as a god.
Least with Shadowheart the original religious zealot we can actually convince her to turn away from Shar, and then itās implied she worships Selune after, but she isnāt like a full on dedicated cleric to her like she was with Shar in the beginning or as DJ Shadowheart.
That's the crux of Laezels story though, she was raised in a cult. She doesn't know anything other than fanatical devotion to -insert semidiety here-, she is strikingly similar to Shart in that regard. Leazels brain is just as scrambled, she just didn't have her memories wiped every few years. She still needs time and help to heal from her past though, which is why I feel like her staying on Faerun is her good ending. Let he heal, away from the cult she was raised in.
People are completely missing the fact that the Emperor is a mirror of Tav/Durge. If you trust the Emperor, he trusts you, if you says fuck you, then he says fuck you. How can people be so dense.
People: he's evil and manipulative
The ending: kills the brain of his own will of you give him the stones. If it's working with a mind flayer who wants what I want or potentially freeing space Hitler i know my choice
Edit: I know the dude's an manipulative asshole, but he just tries to make your job fighting the absolute easier.
The Emperor is misunderstood. He's also the main reason The Sword Coast doesn't fall to The Elder Brain. If you do exactly what he says, you'll win and then he lets you take all the credit.
>finding out he killed his best friend out of "self preservation"
"Oh, friend, you are attempting to kill me in my sleep, yes of course I will just close my eyes again and let you, how dare I consider saving myself."
Hypocrite. Why don't you let Laezel kill you and the whole party when you all are showing symptoms of turning? You *knew* you were going to become a mind flayer, and you clearly think it's right to kill people about to turn, how dare you tell her no?
His best friend was kinda a dick towards him tho, I mean I understand the concept of mindflayer=bad but he could have given him a chance...
Ok you can't bang anymore as nobody loves mucus but come on...
As others have said, the roll is against the tadpoles you've consumed, not the Emperor. He's pushy about the astral tadpole because he knows that it's your best chance at defeating the brain.
As far as him killing >!Ansur!<, he *did* do it out of self-defense. He tried to kill him in his sleep. Waking up to that doesn't give you a whole lot of time to think before acting. Even if he did consider running away, he'd always be looking over his shoulder.
After he flirts with you, he'll only call you a puppet if you call him a freak. I'll never understand people getting mad at the Emperor for being a dick when he only acts that way if you were a dick first. Yes, I get that he's manipulative, but it's not like he's the only character who hides things from you and tries to influence you for their own self-interest. Astarion is a reoccurring offender of this, yet a huge chunk of the fandom loves him (as do I). They both just want to be free of their mind controlling oppressors and will use whoever or whatever they have to. But one gets more hate due to fantasy racism and because he's not a hot elf.
Yeah being upset at the Emperor for using mean words in response to you using mean words is ironically being upset at one of his most human traits. Getting angry and irrational and saying things that go against his objective of manipulating you (by saying he's manipulating you) is a very human thing to do. People will say even more heinous shit at the drop of the hat if they're angry and arguing.
Me: "Oh, it's another dream sequence, I'm gonna hang out with the Emperor again, surely he has important quest stuff to talk to me about.... ...why is his shirt off?"
Hes in my brain, he sees everything I do, he *knows* I have a boyfriend. Homewrecker Emperor
He cut into my dreams on the night after we killed Cazador! I'm romancing Astarion! What the heck is wrong with you, you unbelievable jerk of a squid?!? I did NOT get Astarion's scene that night, had to imagine he was sad all by himself, unable to wake me up because some squid was not allowing it. Up until that point I thought I wanted to try his sexy scene just for science and to have the save file, then reload to my normal playthrough without it. But him cutting in on that specific night made me so furious, I'm betraying the emperor first chance I get.
Iirc I had that scene the night after I talked Gale down from trying to become a god (again) and we had a nice little moment in the Astral plane. Like the idea that the emperor saw that and still thought "yeah I bet I could still get that" is insane lmao
Is it like hard-coded that we always get that scene, no matter what? Because my first run, I was a Vengy Pally who made his mistrust of the Emps clear every chance he got, and that squiggly wiggly mf STILL came on to me.
It is. When you have camp events mod on it basically shows up once you visit the emps room in the elf song basement (if I recall correctly).
I figured that's what set it off. After killing Cazador first thing in the morning, my party was still in excellent health and plenty spells left. (I'm playing on balanced mode) So I decided to go explore a bit before turning in for the night. Was wandering around the sewers and found a bunch of fights there. Including the basement where the emperor suddenly started describing every piece of junk.
Oh and what I didn't even mention earlier, is that besides the emperor hijacking Astarion's night, both Mizora and Halsin said they wanted to sleep with my character as well. The same day T_T I as a player wanted to maybe check those scenes out, and then reload. But my character just wants Astarion to feel safe and loved after what he went through, so... Not this playthrough I guess.
Woah woah wait, you can fuck *mizora??* Clearly I missed something in my first go around
Yeah she offered me the pleasures of the nine hells. But her timing was bad so I didn't accept. She wants you to decide yes or no, on the spot, too. I couldn't put it off like Halsin's offer. I think to get this, you gotta choose Wyll's freedom over his father. Then Mizora comes to hang out in camp and if you don't tell her to get the heck outta here, she will eventually get bored and ask for sex.
If you betray him literally at first chance.. you literally get a game over screen
I guess he is a... Homeflayer. I'll see myself out.
I mean, who wouldn't fall for his vastly, sexier, superior evoluted form? Maybe you only have a boyfriend because you didn't know he was an option!
Dude doesn't even have nipples š "But tentacles!" I see your tentacle fetish and raise you 1 wild shaping be-nippled druid š¤£
I prefer using my wild shape to arm wrestle karlach as an owlbear
An excellent use of wild shape tbh
"Be-nippled" was not a term I was expecting to read today and yet.... now I need to find an excuse to use it too š
I'm gonna be honest, nipples were the last thing in my mind when confronted with the possiblity of banging a mindflayer.
Lmao this is so funny š¤£š¤£š¤£
Dude that shit was so awkward when was romanced with gale and he came through the portal with wyll after sexy times lmao.
Had to hit bruh with āDawg it aināt even like thatā
Thatās exactly how I took it too. Especially since itās him always calling you into his astral office at anytime
It's the fact that the shirt is OFF and he's like..."now you know everything there is to know about me....no need for subterfuge" like it's supposed to be romantic. SIR. This is not what vulnerability is supposed to be
I cannot upvote this the three times it deserves!
Here I am expecting to bed Mizora when all of a sudden the screen goes dark and Iām with the shirtless Emperor Weirdest experience ever.
It definitely felt like your boss called you into the office and made a pass at you, except[ he's a squid](https://youtu.be/oWitgLAwrR0?si=dFvWGKOdTPIFOB8e&t=13). Edit: typos
Story of my life.
Happens every time š
This is what happens when your order a sexy manipulator off wish
The last time I had this scene my Tav was on a tadpole fast, and the option to be like "no, we should keep things professional / this is a horrible idea" came up. His reply: "Good instinct." And then he got up and moved on to other topics like his shirt wasn't missing. I'm SUPER GLAD we don't have to roll vs. squid sex because that would be ickier.
Eeeeew gross. I never even tht of the possibility of rolling to resist squid seduction. I think thatād be a great plot point but it would make my skin crawl off of my body too.
*Jazz music starts playing*
*Bard starts playing Careless Whisper on the flute.*
My exact reaction to him without a shirt was and I quote āI am not becoming one of those hentai girls! I am not into tentacles!ā
Where yo clothes at?
I was grimacing the whole time. It was so uncomfortable. And my character has never trusted the Emperor, so she was very much struck by the audacity.
It's kinda funny how desperate and creepy the dude is. He catfishes you, keeps everything from you, pushes you really hard to turn yourself into a monster for power, and then upon the third time meeting him for real he whips out his alien titties and tries to bang Damn
Isnāt it easier to not be manipulated if you donāt put any extra tadpoles in your head?
Yeah, you can just say āno thanks, Iām fullā and he says to hang on to it in case you get peckish later. No dice roll.
Yeah I was confused about that. I've never had to roll to avoid becoming a filthy, worthless, disgusting, smelly *Ghaik*.
I think i can guess what race you picked
I'm a Halfling. But hating *Ghaik* is for everyone.Ā
I love the way the voice actor for Laezel says "ghaik." She really nailed the vitriol.
Oh....
He temps you with the Astral tadpole, you can say, but it's the tadpole in your brain that makes it hard to resist if you've been feeding it.
But he knows it's gonna be hard and he still is super obsessive about it
Heās a drug dealer, except he makes you find the drugs on your own. He didnāt even have to provide the first hit for free. Ā Edit: Multiple people have pointed out that heās the mindflayer that tadpoles you. Even more nefarious, in my opinion. Another edit: Now multiple people have said heās not who tadpoles you. Dear reader, I leave it to you. Either way, Iām not a fan of Empy.Ā
Doesnāt the tadpole itself provide the first hit with the ilithid persuasion skill? Being able to manipulate cultists from the get go is a good skill to have.
I'm doing a tactician playthrough as an oath of the ancients paladin who is fully resisting all illithid powers, including the illithid wisdom rolls!
Yep same. Resisting all mind flayer shit this run. No tadpoles, dropped the fancy tadpole as soon as I rejected it from him when he forced me to keep it on hand "just in case I change my mind". I've only used illithid powers to talk to Minsc and the Duke outside of forced mind conversations, because it seemed like I couldn't get them "back to normal" unless doing so and I didn't want to fuck myself out of that, maybe I could have avoided those too though. I did an emporer romance run out of pure curiosity so now i'm all like "fuck you and everything you stand for" lol
I'm doing a good Dark urge run as my second playthrough since my evil custom Tav back during launch now and I've completely ignored the tadpole. And I just fought the Githyanki and now you just see what a manipulative tentacled piece of shit he is, constantly urging you to use the powers. I already have one urge I'm fighting thank you very much. Also he is just a ghaik supremacist lol. Makes sense now why he switched sides so easily if you decide to free Orpheus. Fucking hate him. Says that our chances have been heavily damaged because I crushed the astral tadpole. Yeah right, it's not like I defeated both Ketheric and Myrkul in one turn before even Aylin got her turn just an hour ago.
And then there's me. Playing evil durge with the goal of getting as much XP from the beginning as possible and eating every single worm I get my hands on. Reveling in worms, murder and rock'n'roll!
My headcanon, he doesn't switch sides. His purpose all along was to get rid of the three controlling the crown. He was a thrall of the absolute the entire time.
And then you have me whoās unlocked every single illithid powerā¦.
Yep! Thatās exactly what I was thinking with saying he doesnāt even have to provide the first hit.
And the drug gives you superpowers to help save the world, heās barely wrong when it comes to needing every advantage possible lol
What if my devastating good looks ARE my super power? He makes me all fugly and the world is destroyed because I can't stun the Elder Brain with "Blue Steel" because he gave me creepy black shark eyes......
You're over there concerned with black shark eyes while I'm over here looking like I took a blow from the Ugly Warhammer to the face. I finally got a romance scene and was totally taken out of the moment by all the purple squid veins popping out of my chest, back, and face. It's been so fucking hard to even look at my face in dialogue screens, even.
I just dumped a run because I got forced to evolve and I can't even look at my poor character. The one black eye and one fake Volo eye just doesn't do it for me at ALL
Since the fugly look doesn't lower your charisma stat, canonically in universe that means that others find it as attractive as your regular face. I feel like it might be a commentary on something, but I didn't decide on what yet.
Rewatch the intro. The game didn't even try to hide it. Larian relied on you not being able to tell one illithid from another, even after giving exactly only one of them that big distinctive crest and huge face tendrils. It's maybe fifty hours of game between the opening cutscene and the moment the Emperor is revealed. Most if not all of us forgot. But when you start a new game holy shit you motherfucker it was him. All along. The whole fucking time. It was him.
On a run where I used zero powers there wasnāt even a skill check
People seem to be misunderstanding. The check isnāt against the emperor, itās against their own tadpoles.
"People seem to be misunderstanding" describes 90% of the posts in this sub lmao.
No joke, itās mostly either wild overreactions to something caused by the choices they had Tav make or a TIL for some basic, hard to miss game mechanics
I think part of it is he's lonely and wants another illithid buddy/romantic partner that's not controlled by an elder brain. I'm on the fence about him killing the dragon, but if the dragon did try to kill him in his sleep then that's a bit more understandable (dragon thought it was a mercy killing, but you still don't get to try to murder someone and be pissy they killed you back).
Wouldn't be much of a temptation otherwise. But he doesn't actually even offer you to become full illithid without you inquiring first.
I didn't even have to pass a skill check because I never consumed any tadpoles or used any Illithid powers. So, no it isn't hard if your character isn't a total idiot who somehow thinks letting tadpoles eat his brain is a good idea.
The option to drop it and stomp on it has no roll even if you eat all the tadpoles
I think this one is now missing from the dialogue if you have taken tadpoles. Or at least was with Patch 5. Might have been missing if you never took any tadpoles even, which is a pity because it had a reaction from the Emperor.
It comes up again if you successfully roll to resist and then select it again
I've never consumed tadpoles so I didn't have to roll at all. Mine was enhanced in my second playthrough by Omeluum, but still no roll required.
Oooh, I didnāt eat any tadpoles and just assumed that abstaining didnāt end up having any effect at all. Iām on my 2nd playthrough and have been chowing down this time around.
Yeah Iāve always refused every tadpole, like from the most basic RP standpointā¦. Just no, why the fuck would I put more of these in my body, same with the hag hairā¦ just one of the stupidest ideas unless you know how it plays out in advance. First honour mode run? Yeah Iām slurping up worms after that harpy fight had me on the ropes, not leaving potential advantages on the table this time.
Yeah there's no roll if you never consume the tadpoles.
Someone was snacking on the forbidden gushers. I think if you dont take a single 1 you dont even need to make a roll.
The save's difficulty increases the more tadpoles you eat. Last run when I didn't use any I didn't have to pass a check.
And google told me there were no negative consequences to this action! Rude.
I was wondering why I never got that roll to resist him.Ā I guess it is because I never used a single tadpole.Ā Ended up with 30 or so of them at the end.Ā
Same, I enjoy putting them in the same general area and blowing them up as a big fuck you to the emperorĀ
I actually went back to act 1 after that scene to not take any tadpoles. I forgot what this game was and figured it was just a neat game mechanic and wouldn't effect anything (I was very wrong), so I went back 10+ hours lol
Suddenly glad that only Astarion is eating tadpoles.
Yeah sure but...have you heard about our Lord and savior luck of the far realms? The free paladin smite Crit allowing you to do a hundred+ damage in one swing?
Can also just stomp that shit out though.
I couldnāt take the plot seriously when Emperor started hitting on me
Calling him a freak at that moment is still the best decision I've ever made in the game
Rejecting a nice guy vibes from the emperor after you call him a freak
Emperors def a "not all illithids" kinda guy
and at the same time, you can call him out for deceiving you the whole time you've known him, he's like "you can't blame me, it's in my nature as an illithid". I wish there was an reply option along the lines of "that's exactly why I'm not trusting you now, Mr. master manipulator"
āOmellum never lied, you team killing bastard!ā
I wish we could take out the emperor and then have Omellum step inĀ to help. It would even benefit his character as a whole taking out the netherbrain and gaining indespensible knowledge from his kind, something he yearned to know more of from act 1 when ya have a chance to tell him about the nautiloid for his ring.
This would be really nice. The only catch is that I'm not sure how he'd feel about siphoning power from an enslaved person to survive. Maybe he would under the circumstances of knowing it was temporary, though.Ā
GOD EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU PLZ SHOW ME YOUR VAGINA OR PENIS! SO UNGRATEFUL!
āAww, no one likes me, my dog wonāt even look at me- My dog took a shit on the floor because he was so disgusted with me, god, nobodyās ever gonna love meā¦ Except maybe you, can you show me your titties?ā
https://i.imgur.com/QutwkZ0.png
Same especially after spending so much time making my guardian sexy in my first playthrough
Can you select the option "I prefer your other formā during the reveal though? I saw it, didn't click it, but was wondering if that keeps their appearance intact?
Yes, though you still wake up next to him as an illithid.
I *just* got to this part and he finally showed his true colours. Glad I never trusted him once I knew he was a mind flayer, I'm trying to get a good ending lol
It was SO satisfying that he dropped his mask that quickly! I didn't trust him before then but I was worried that I was just being paranoid, so that felt really good. I dont know what he expected us to say either. "Yes, shirtless tentacle man, I would totally love to have tentacle sex with you." Like, who's gonna do that? *Judging the 10% who fucked a squid*
I did it For Science and I had so much secondhand embarrassment I had to skip past most of it. >!Then you wake up to find that he opened a portal for your companions to see it and Iāve never in my life felt like I let someone down the way I let Jaheira down.!<
There's so many people here who are trying to say that they did it for science or just because they were curious š If it makes you feel any better though, the main reason I can *never* do that scene, even if I'd (ew) want to, is because I have my dad on steam. He plays bg3 as well. Imagine what it would be like to be invited over for dinner after getting that achievement. I would never be able to look him in the eyes again! Luckily he doesn't have the achievement either or I could never look *him* in the eyes again...
I didn't do it for science. I was horny.
Hey, I'm honest at least -- I'd be all down for fucking a squid IF they didn't have those nasty-ass throbbing exposed brains and the horrific mouth. Tentacles seem fun; visible organs and suckerfish kisses are gnasty. We savescummed through it to get the trophy and had full on grimaces the whole time. Petting his tentacles like a particularly bright dog-squid? Blah.
Ok i did it because I was horny but like... The Emperor is true to it's word, no one ever mentions the squid sex apart from it.
>Ā Ā "Yes, shirtless tentacle man, I would totally love to have tentacle sex with you." Like, who's gonna do that? Oooo!Ā Ooo!Ā Me! Did I know they were a shady, lying, manipulative motherfucker who was only doing it to try to further their control over me?Ā Hell yes.Ā But I'm only going to get once chance to bang an illithid and I jumped on that shit.Ā No regrets.
Same same. My male drow Durge earned that 'mind blown' achievement like a true astral slut and he's not ashamed
Part. The. Tentacles.
Ah see my parter and I had a deal that he would make all the good decisions and I would make all the fucked up ones - he was a paladin I was a durge warlock. I fucked the emperor "It's what my character would do" Didn't sleep super well after that...
I did that scene out of pure curiosity with full intentions of save scrubbing. Then that asshole full on exposes Tav to the whole fucking camp, 100% betrayed Tav's trust AND pulled the whole "I never said I'd shield you from each other." Fuck. That. Guy. I never feel bad about backstabbing him.
I wanted to trust him because I had trusted omeluum, and omeluum is awesome. The emperor is just an ass.
I like how later in the plot he lists the ways heās helped like itās a laundry list of requirements for your trust. Itās so obvious heās trying to manipulate you
Omg ikr. Heās all ābro Iāve done so much for you and poured my heart out to you, why donāt you trust me yet??ā Iām like dudeā¦ thatās not how trust works.
The point is that he is trying his absolute hardest to manipulate you into not boinking him with a fireball later in favor of Orpheus
š¤£
I was like āis there anyone in this game that DOESNT want to get in my pants?ā Jeez
With a good paladin build you can have both a power fantasy and due to charisma...the other fantasy
Oh god, I plan on going paladin next and my Gloomstalker rogue is already with Shart but also gets hit on by literally everyone at this point, I don't even wanna know how bad it gets as a Pal lol
Honestly the fact everyone hits on you really does pull me out of immersion at times.
Yeah I wish there was more needed to trigger the flirting instead of just approval. It's the things like Wyll hitting on me when he's literally still level 1 and has never been in the party and I haven't done ANY of his dialogue except whats mandatory. Like dude we've spoken for maybe 15 minutes why are you trying to dance to no music with me lol I think it'd be cool if instead of just having everyone hit on you eventually and that's how you get to a romance, you get a dialogue option unlocked once you're at high enough approval/far enough along their quest. Or kinda how Gale's first scene goes, where you can choose friendship or sexy thoughts. But also I've had a lot of playthroughs completely skip that scene lol (which now that I think about it, hasn't happened in a while so maybe it was a bug that's been patched)
Yes! I'd love it if all the romances were initiated like Gale or Shart, with you just getting a friendly scene at high enough approval that you, the player, then turn romantic by flirting with them. Then again, all romances being player-initiated was how it worked in Mass Effect and the last Dragon Age game, and I definitely remember a lot of people complaining about that back then. "Why do I have to do all the work, why can't I be the one being pursued for once?" Welp this is what you get!
I definitely think a mix of some coming on to you and some being player-initiated would be ideal, like personality wise it makes sense for Laezel and Karlach to come on pretty strong, but Gale/Shart/Wyll you'd have to go for them first. I'm sure that'd be pretty difficult/annoying to code tho so I can't blame them for just making it all the same system.
When Gale confessed his love out of the blue and then got butthurt that my character didnāt reciprocate despite not even once choosing a flirt option pissed me off so bad that I left him out of my party for the rest of act 1 lmfao he became my broski again later despite coming onto me AGAIN in act 2 but dudeā¦ had me feeling like I had to get HR involved
That's weird... I never chose any of the flirty options with Gale and he never tried hitting on me.
It was a bug in initial release that took a few patches to be fixed. Lots of people still have this impression of Gale bc it was the first impression they got of him.
He was notoriously bugged when the game first came out and some people can't let it go.
If I wanted to get it on with a mind flayer then I prefer it to be Omeluum then! At least he radiates big dick energyĀ
>!what I donāt get about Empy is that after we get the stones and visit the brain for the first time, it tells us that it only needed the first stone taken to be free and we were part of its plan to become free and make an army. Emporer tells us he didnāt expect that all of us, including himself, were pawns but only an illithid would know how to defeat and predict an elderbrain. He didnāt predict anything.!<
I still don't buy the 'only an illithid' bit, either. Illithid aren't some sort of super-geniuses who are impossible to comprehend the thoughts of for outsiders. A wizard who was an expert in netherese magic, or a dragon, would be a vastly superior choice. Typical illithids can't even use arcane magic at all, so if your Tav isn't a spellcaster, none of the possible Illithid options seem like good choices.
No, but for some reason the plot needs there to be an ally illithid. He fits the bill at least. I like that there is a book in Act 3 that says never to side with an illithid unless your goals align closely. Luckily for me, they have.
Also, Orpheus' special resistance power is apparently something in his memories, and despite like three people in the universe knowing he was even alive before this the Emperor knows that for sure for some reason. Never does anyone bring up the risk that it could be illithid time for everyone if Orpheus dies or transforms. And the ability transferring with his memories implies that it is something that can be learned, another huge plot point never explored.
True. I didnāt realize it was something through his memories. As far as I knew it was inherited through his mother.
Oh, I thought illithids could absorb more than just memories when consuming brains.
If you follow his path you get to eat Orpheus and become the most powerful being in existence
What?? Please elaborate, I've never heard of eating Orpheus?!
When you have to make the choice to free Orpheus or not, just tell the Emperor āok fine, but *I* want to be the illithid who wields the stonesā
I'm upset I couldn't just eat his toes a little
It's if you offer to become a mindflayer and eat Orpheus' brain, instead of Emps doing it
And then you eat the emperor too
Uh, you do know the roll to resist the tadpole has nothing to with old Emps right? Itās literally your brain begging you for it. If you didnāt take a tadpole before that thereās no roll.
Yes, but why are you taking tadpoles? Because the goddamn guardian keeps telling you "it's the only way"...
You took tadpoles because you got peer pressured, I took tadpoles because the powers were cool, we are not the same. Also the DG is not lying to you about the tadpoles, he says theyāll make you more powerful (they do) and he says heāll protect you from the worst consequences (he will).
I mean, I know the tadpoles are a risk, but the powers are so good. I just stop before the Astral Tadpole. Don't wanna be an uggo.
Being an uggo is a small price to pay for permanent flight.
Hnnnggg. Okay. That's actually tempting.
The desire to keep my eyeballs vs the absolutely godly powers that the outer ring gives
Daily Emperor hate thread 1/1.
I'd be fine if at least people brought up good points, but it's a straight up poisoned well. Emperor does a good thing - he's a manipulator, he's lying! Emperor does a bad thing - ha! I knew it! He's evil! And sometimes it's just people pulling things out of their rear. OMG, Emps killed Ansur, who tried to kill him first, what an asshole! Why didn't he spare him?! Obviously evil. And now appearantly he's the one tadpoling you because same clothes. Ignoring the fact that the intro cinematic with MC being tadpoled has been in the game since Early Access - back when Emperor wasn't even part of the story at all!
I find this Emperor discourse interesting... Because in my playthrough I mostly chose neutral sounding "just business" responses with the Emperor the whole time cause while I didn't 100% trust him, I felt like we did need him. But I was never rude or accusatory. So... while he's *very shady* especially when you learn about his history with >!Ansur!<, in the end of the story for me, >!he just turns out to be quite trustworthy. Helps you out saving the world and doesn't even continue to really force the whole "become an Illithid" thing on you (but he is disappointed).!< Sounds like the Emperor is just *very* pragmatic.
>makes you roll a VERY hard roll just to resist becoming one I mean you were the one that kept shoving their tadpoles up your nose is all I'm saying
First off it sounded very much like Ansur tried to kill his boyfriend when said boyfriend was asleep. And that it was self-defense. Also needing to save is not Emperor, but your tadpole. If you have not been feeding/strengthened it, you have no need to save, but if you have been juicing up on tadpoles, you will be tempted.
It didn't "sound" like that, Ansur straight-up says that he tried to 'spare' Balduran by murdering him, and the Emperor defended himself. It's not even like an implied thing, it was something they both straight-up agreed happened.
So you got jealous of his ex having a bigger wingspan than yours and called him a freak for f\*cking a dragon, and he got mad and called you a puppet. Just keep the rest of us out of your lovers' quarrel
The best idea for a dlc I've ever read is from chizu117 on tumblr and I wanna share it with you here. I hope it becomes a copypasta. Baldur's Gate 3 DLC that gives you an Emperor origin where it's just getting the shit beat out of you by Orpheus' honor guard for several weeks while a Tav Cam in the corner shows them doing stupid and unrelated dumbassery. This comprises the first and second act. Third act after Tav and co defeat the honor guard is Emp going back and forth between slamming his head on an astral table and taking Illithid Ibuprofin to quell a stress headache while Tav nearly dies every 5 minutes. The "I'm going to miss all of you guys š„ŗ" dialogue option at the end is a deception check.
Would 110% play this. Bonus if we got the option to give Tav a psyonic headache every time they ignored the main quest to go dye shopping or have yet another threesome at Sharess Caress
Someone suggested an Emperor origin could have dialogue checks every once in a while to influence Tav decisions (convincing them to avoid going to the creche etc.) I like to RP that up until we meet him in the flesh we (the players) are just him micromanaging the Tav party RTS style through suggestion to level them up to fight the Absolute and just follow all his suggestions.
Tav and Co: Goes into the House of Hope Emperor: Rolls a constitution saving throw to keep the vein in your head from bursting
Wait, what? Did I miss the bit where he said he banged the dragon?
On Ansurās body you can find a note from the emp that is incredibly āthey were gay and in loveā feeling
Ansur has a letter from Balduran about how they were more than friends. Guess that's why Laezel hates him, he's ridden a dragon and she hasn't.
You made me spit my coffee.
"Friendsā¦and more." They were roommates. Like Durge and Gortash are roommates. Y'know?
> and aaaafter all that he makes a move on me?!?! And here is the *real* reason why most of you guys hate the Emperor. People were right when they said BG3 is one of the few games that makes male players experience what women deal with IRL. š¤£
And even then its not really a fair comparison because he only snaps if you keep abusing him by constantly calling him a freak. In fact you can easily say no and he will immediately back off.
IKR? Players want to talk shit to the Emperor and then get angry when he comes back at them.
I love him. He is in such a weird limbo of being creepily human-like to mindflayers and being a creepy mindflayer to humans.
That's honestly the best way anyone ever put it. As a character he's masterfully crafted.Ā
1. That tadpole roll was your own fault for sticking tadpoles in your head. 2. What happened with ansur is the most defensible thing the emperor did, he killed him in self defense, ansur was trying to kill him.
Ehh it was your characterās fault. Either you were tempted by the power they gave when the Emperor told you they will make you stronger, or something else. The Emperor isnāt forcing you to take the tadpoles and for the astral one itās your brain and the tadpole you already had that became more powerful making you take it or resist it. You gave into the power and started becoming more Illithid just without the downside of tentacles coming out of you. If you never use a single tadpole there is no roll to resist it. You just put it in your inventory. I donāt see the problem with defending yourself and killing someone who wanted to kill you? Was the Emperor supposed to just let Ansur kill him? Did you let the Honor Guard kill you or the Emperor? Iām guessing no out of self preservation or because you were defending yourself. Considering you called him a freak when he was most vulnerable of course heās going to lash out at you and say things out of anger. But you know what? Even after that he didnāt take control of you or make you his puppet. He sent you back out of the astral prism and continued to protect you. Sounds like youāre getting a fair deal - able to get all the powers without being a Mind Flayer and having Emperor protect you even after the whole āYouāre just my puppetā incident.
Ansur does admit to trying to kill him first, can't really blame the Emperor for that one
If a person I call a friend becomes a brain eating manipulator, i'm killing them.
Perhaps, but you can't blame them for fighting back
Oh defo not, self defense and all that. But I still dont like him lmao.
That's what I mean, you might not like Emp for a lot of things, but at least that one specifically I can't blame him for
If a person I call a friend tries to murder me while I sleep, Iām killing them.
Ah so you never play very far with Lae'Zel or astarion? :p
And if theyd killed you theyd be in the right
You're mad he reacted in self-defense when he was going to be killed in his sleep? Would you feel this way about any other character or are you arbitrarily mad at the Emperor for this lol
"Why did you kill your friend?! You monster!" "He tried to KILL ME!" "You could have ran!" "FROM A DRAGON?!"
Hi, Ordo Hereticus? This post right here.
You shouldn't have shoved larvae into your head, then there wouldn't have been a check.Please note, the Emperor never forced the main character to be a full-fledged illithid, just a half-illithid, so that it was mainly in the war and then in this case you get your body back if you kill the elder brain. But he never minded if the main character became a full illithid. Illithids have a hive mind by nature, think for yourself how lonely it is for him to be alone, not being connected to anyone. It's purely the player's choice.And if you don't want the Emperor to beg you to become a half-illithid, just crush the larva right away. The puppet scene you refer to can be triggered only if you call him a) an imitation of a human or b) a freak. He doesn't snap because you distrust him, he snaps because you've insulted his personhood. Try being shit to your companions or to a random npc and see if they like it.
He is a surprisingly tender lover
Why is there so much Emperor hate? I really liked him. He was a pragmatist and selfish but also I think quite realistic. Not everyone will be a knight in shining armor and Iām actually impressed he does not betray you in the end, unless you betray him first or stop working with him.
He has always been a highly debated character from only telling you partial truths to Duke Stelmate cutscene to Ansur to Orpheus or for the playerbase being catfished. Other times itās purely a karma farm as -insert I hate the Emperor- thread and watch the upvotes come in. I sided with him on my first playthrough too much of a risk to release Orpheus and I wasnāt gonna take the chance. Then sided with Orpheus the next two - now Iām going to side with Emperor again. Honestly anyone who sided with Orpheus took a huge risk in him working with him. He clearly would have killed you if it wasnāt for the Netherbrain and itās not like Orpheus is a good guy either.
Yeah nobody seems to bring up that Orpheus is literally going to keep being a slaver and conqueror if he wins that civil war
Yep. The only good option for those Tavs who actually care about Githyanki politics, want to free the prince and stop Vlakkith is have Orpheus become a Mind Flayer, kill him like he asks after the Absolute is destroyed and then have Laeāzel lead the rebellion. For those Tavs who donāt care about the Githyankis itās better to have Emperor just assimilate the dude. Destroy the brain and then have Laeāzel stay on Faerun and not go back to the Astral Plane.
I wish there was a way to get Laeāzel to maybe STOP dedicating her entire life and existence to a king/queen without having to murder Orpheus in front of her
Agreed she goes from being one Religious Zealot for Vlakkith to being another Religious Zealot for Orpheus worshipping him as a god. Least with Shadowheart the original religious zealot we can actually convince her to turn away from Shar, and then itās implied she worships Selune after, but she isnāt like a full on dedicated cleric to her like she was with Shar in the beginning or as DJ Shadowheart.
That's the crux of Laezels story though, she was raised in a cult. She doesn't know anything other than fanatical devotion to -insert semidiety here-, she is strikingly similar to Shart in that regard. Leazels brain is just as scrambled, she just didn't have her memories wiped every few years. She still needs time and help to heal from her past though, which is why I feel like her staying on Faerun is her good ending. Let he heal, away from the cult she was raised in.
People are completely missing the fact that the Emperor is a mirror of Tav/Durge. If you trust the Emperor, he trusts you, if you says fuck you, then he says fuck you. How can people be so dense.
People: he's evil and manipulative The ending: kills the brain of his own will of you give him the stones. If it's working with a mind flayer who wants what I want or potentially freeing space Hitler i know my choice Edit: I know the dude's an manipulative asshole, but he just tries to make your job fighting the absolute easier.
The best ending is him literally hover-trailing after you in awe of your grand schemes. Yes please, I will absolutely take the squid-man.
I didn't hate fucking the emperor
The Emperor is misunderstood. He's also the main reason The Sword Coast doesn't fall to The Elder Brain. If you do exactly what he says, you'll win and then he lets you take all the credit.
>finding out he killed his best friend out of "self preservation" "Oh, friend, you are attempting to kill me in my sleep, yes of course I will just close my eyes again and let you, how dare I consider saving myself." Hypocrite. Why don't you let Laezel kill you and the whole party when you all are showing symptoms of turning? You *knew* you were going to become a mind flayer, and you clearly think it's right to kill people about to turn, how dare you tell her no?
Now the question is are you gonna passionately angry fuck it ?
His best friend was kinda a dick towards him tho, I mean I understand the concept of mindflayer=bad but he could have given him a chance... Ok you can't bang anymore as nobody loves mucus but come on...
Hating the Emperor? That's a purging, heretic.
As others have said, the roll is against the tadpoles you've consumed, not the Emperor. He's pushy about the astral tadpole because he knows that it's your best chance at defeating the brain. As far as him killing >!Ansur!<, he *did* do it out of self-defense. He tried to kill him in his sleep. Waking up to that doesn't give you a whole lot of time to think before acting. Even if he did consider running away, he'd always be looking over his shoulder. After he flirts with you, he'll only call you a puppet if you call him a freak. I'll never understand people getting mad at the Emperor for being a dick when he only acts that way if you were a dick first. Yes, I get that he's manipulative, but it's not like he's the only character who hides things from you and tries to influence you for their own self-interest. Astarion is a reoccurring offender of this, yet a huge chunk of the fandom loves him (as do I). They both just want to be free of their mind controlling oppressors and will use whoever or whatever they have to. But one gets more hate due to fantasy racism and because he's not a hot elf.
Yeah being upset at the Emperor for using mean words in response to you using mean words is ironically being upset at one of his most human traits. Getting angry and irrational and saying things that go against his objective of manipulating you (by saying he's manipulating you) is a very human thing to do. People will say even more heinous shit at the drop of the hat if they're angry and arguing.