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Baldur's Gate seriesare there POC and LGBT chars?(144 posts) (144 posts) 
(144 posts) 
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This is my favourite topic
Posted October 06, 2020
low rated
Does this game feature POC, especially black characters and LGBT characters in BG3?
Post edited October 06, 2020 by SarahGabriella
Posted October 06, 2020
You fail to mention which game you are talking about.

There are no LGBT characters in the classic games (though I hear one of the Enhanced Editions may have had at least one, and Siege of Dragonspear apparently has a minor transgender character.) It's just not something that was done at the time, at least not in mainstream games. (SaGa Frontier had such a character, but despite being a Square game, it's not mainstream, and it's not at all similar to the BG series.)

BG1 does have a cursed item that will change the character's sex, and BG2 does have a side plot where a recruitable character accidentally undergoes a sex change, but I would not call either instance a good example of a transgender character; in fact, I think they're actually offensive to some degree.

As for POC, there's the dark evles (drow) who have dark skin; however, the race is evil in the lore, with the one dark elf kingdom in BG2 being evil. There is a recruitable drow character, but many of the good aligned characters are racist and don't like her solely due to her race.

In other words, there aren't any good representations of POC or LGBT characters in the classic games, and there are some representations that are actually offensive, so the series doesn't have a good track record of this stuff.

(Haven't played BG3; aside from the fact that I don't care for the series from what I've played, there's the problem that the game is far bigger (in disk size) than what I would consider "way too big".)
Posted October 06, 2020
According to the https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Romance page, there are some characters who will romance same-sex other characters.

Baldur's Gate 2 features a recruitable bear. He is considered a Fighter, and one of his specials is a 15% chance to Hug target, which deals 2d6 crushing damage.
Posted October 06, 2020
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advowson: According to the https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Romance page, there are some characters who will romance same-sex other characters.

Baldur's Gate 2 features a recruitable bear. He is considered a Fighter, and one of his specials is a 15% chance to Hug target, which deals 2d6 crushing damage.
Note that only the Enhanced Edition has that recruitable bear. Also, the only characters who will do same-sex romances are added in the Enhanced Editions, and there's some controversy over them, to the point that someone made a mod to remove those characters. (Then again, Siege of Dragonspear also sparked some controversy, but at least some of it is from players who get offended when anything they perceive as liberal politics is in a game.)
Posted October 06, 2020
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dtgreene: You fail to mention which game you are talking about.

There are no LGBT characters in the classic games (though I hear one of the Enhanced Editions may have had at least one, and Siege of Dragonspear apparently has a minor transgender character.) It's just not something that was done at the time, at least not in mainstream games. (SaGa Frontier had such a character, but despite being a Square game, it's not mainstream, and it's not at all similar to the BG series.)

BG1 does have a cursed item that will change the character's sex, and BG2 does have a side plot where a recruitable character accidentally undergoes a sex change, but I would not call either instance a good example of a transgender character; in fact, I think they're actually offensive to some degree.

As for POC, there's the dark evles (drow) who have dark skin; however, the race is evil in the lore, with the one dark elf kingdom in BG2 being evil. There is a recruitable drow character, but many of the good aligned characters are racist and don't like her solely due to her race.

In other words, there aren't any good representations of POC or LGBT characters in the classic games, and there are some representations that are actually offensive, so the series doesn't have a good track record of this stuff.

(Haven't played BG3; aside from the fact that I don't care for the series from what I've played, there's the problem that the game is far bigger (in disk size) than what I would consider "way too big".)
Added BG3. And yea, the size of the game in development stage alone is insane. Questionable if im gonna buy it but if it would feature diversity i would likely get it regardless.
Posted October 06, 2020
high rated
Asking about POC characters is an odd question for a game like this. The term just refers to any minority group: what's a dwarf? What's an elf? Having broadly diverse characters is generally expected for a fantasy game like this, to a greater degree than can exist in real life, it's part of what informs the player that they're in a fantastical world.

Whether or not the in-game diversity reflects real world diversity is something else entirely. You can't have a Hispanic person in Balder's Gate, for example, there's no such thing as Spain or Spanish. If you're just interested in skin color then search for Baldur's Gate character portraits and see what's available for yourself.
Posted October 07, 2020
low rated
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guises: Asking about POC characters is an odd question for a game like this.
It'd not an odd question at all, IMO. Someone who is, themselves, a POC ... might like to be able to have their in-game avatar be more reflective of their appearance, than (for example) my own fishbelly-white Irish self. Someone who is LGBT+ might like having their avatar within a game that allows for romancing NPCs be reflective of their real-life orientation.

It's about being able to more closely and easily identify with the "protagonist" of the game, by having more parallels to their own real-life self and experiences.

And that is not in the slightest degree "odd", "silly", or whatever else of that nature.
Post edited October 07, 2020 by _Pax_
Posted October 07, 2020
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guises: Asking about POC characters is an odd question for a game like this. The term just refers to any minority group: what's a dwarf? What's an elf? Having broadly diverse characters is generally expected for a fantasy game like this, to a greater degree than can exist in real life, it's part of what informs the player that they're in a fantastical world.

Whether or not the in-game diversity reflects real world diversity is something else entirely. You can't have a Hispanic person in Balder's Gate, for example, there's no such thing as Spain or Spanish. If you're just interested in skin color then search for Baldur's Gate character portraits and see what's available for yourself.
Yes, and all the relatively recent Role Playing games allow players to customize their characters, including skin colors--that's not new at all. Role-playing games in that sense have a lot to teach about racism--namely, that the best kind of society is a color-blind society in which a person's skin color is no more important to his or her life than eye or hair color, etc. When I hear the word "Diversity" I immediately think "racism" because all it reflects is someone's skin color inherited through their parental genetics--that's the pop-culture meaning for the word today. The word "diverse" used to mean "a varied mixture" of whatever you were talking about--not simply "a varied mixture of races as denoted by skin colors." You hit upon what is great about RPGs--various races, colors, etc. are accepted as normal and not unusual or special--and for the most part all are equal. You don't see race-baiting in RPGs, thank goodness...;)

As far romances and sex go--the Internet is awash in pornography and cheap romance novels are a dime a dozen these days. For me--romance just doesn't fit in the RPG where the purpose is battling "otherworld" evil in all its many forms, etc. If people want smoozy romancing let them fire up The Sims, etc....;) There are plenty of places to go for cartoon sex depictions if they want those, etc. I don't want to see that sort of thing pollute role-playing games--if people want to smooze or socialize, let them go to Facebook...;)
I know some people like the cheap, silly romances in RPGs--and that I cannot understand. It's like defiling the purity of the genre...;)
Posted October 07, 2020
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waltc: As far romances and sex go--the Internet is awash in pornography and cheap romance novels are a dime a dozen these days. For me--romance just doesn't fit in the RPG where the purpose is battling "otherworld" evil in all its many forms, etc. If people want smoozy romancing let them fire up The Sims, etc....;) There are plenty of places to go for cartoon sex depictions if they want those, etc. I don't want to see that sort of thing pollute role-playing games--if people want to smooze or socialize, let them go to Facebook...;)
I know some people like the cheap, silly romances in RPGs--and that I cannot understand. It's like defiling the purity of the genre...;)
If you are going to talk about defiling the purity of the genre, here are some other things that defile that purity:
* Having a real-time aspect to combat. (In particular, real-time-with-pause, as seen in BG1 and BG2, defiles the purity here.)
* Having large amounts of dialog, with dialog choices. (This belongs in visual novels, not pure RPGs.)
* Having cutscenes. (Again, belongs in visual/kinetic novels or perhaps FMV games, not pure RPGs.)
* Having puzzles. (These belong in adventure or puzzle games, depending on whether the puzzle is scripted or has mechanics.)
* Having action minigames. (Not a problem for BG1/BG2, but it's an issue in many other games in the genre, including Ultima 1 and Final Fantasy 7.)

So, even Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 are already not particularly pure, even if you don't count BG2's romances. (This can be said of many other games, probably even most of the games you tend to think of as being RPGs.)
Posted October 07, 2020
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dtgreene: In other words, there aren't any good representations of POC or LGBT characters in the classic games, and there are some representations that are actually offensive, so the series doesn't have a good track record of this stuff.
Ahem! Valygar Corlatha in BG2
Posted October 07, 2020
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dtgreene: In other words, there aren't any good representations of POC or LGBT characters in the classic games, and there are some representations that are actually offensive, so the series doesn't have a good track record of this stuff.
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alcaray: Ahem! Valygar Corlatha in BG2
Don't forget Dynaheir!
Posted October 07, 2020
I can't believe that this is number one thread in a forum about a game that nobody had a chance to play yet.

Play the game if you like Baldur's Gate, RPGs, Larian Studios etc. and make your own conclusions on whether LGBT and POC issues are sufficiently covered in the context of the fantasy role-playing game set in Forgotten Realms universe.

From my perspective I'm looking for hours of fun to be spent exploring the game that hopefully will be a worthy successor to the series.
Posted October 07, 2020
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midrand: I can't believe that this is number one thread in a forum about a game that nobody had a chance to play yet.
This forum is for the entire BG family. It's been here for... as long as GOG has been selling BG.
Posted October 07, 2020
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SarahGabriella: Does this game feature POC, especially black characters and LGBT characters in BG3?
I'm still downloading the game, so I don't know yet. But if you're looking for an RPG that has diveristy as a theme, I would recommend the Mass Effect games. If you have them already, you can play while you wait for BG3 to download. Some other games that feature diversity are Overwatch, the Street FIghter series, the Civilization series, and anything X-Men.
Posted October 07, 2020
One question that I have that is relevant to this topic:

According to the 5e rules, your character need not be limited to the categories of male and female. Is this carried over to Baldur's Gate 3?

In other words, what gender choices are available when creating a character in BG3?
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Baldur's Gate seriesare there POC and LGBT chars?(144 posts) (144 posts) 
(144 posts)