Baldur’s Gate 3 players think key companion’s recruitment is too “harsh”

After missing out on a major companion due to dice rolls, a Baldur’s Gate 3 player is making the case that Gale’s recruitment is too easy to fail.

Baldur’s Gate 3 encourages players to recruit various companions on their journey, including Origin characters like Astarion, Shadowheart, and Karlach.

Each of these characters adds depth to the story, providing new insight into the game’s world and the looming mindflayer crisis that seeks to overtake the Sword Coast.

Of course, some characters are harder than others to recruit. This has one player arguing that Gale is too easy to completely miss out on despite how central he is to the main storyline.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 players argue Gale’s recruitment is too easy to fail

As Reddit user stoodis- pointed out, Gale is the only companion in Baldur’s Gate 3 that players can miss by failing a dice roll.

During their Honor Mode run, the player “failed two remarkably easy-to-fail skill checks on my Bard at level 1 (failed to read the portal, failed strength check),” which led to Gale completely disappearing.

The experience led them to look back at how other companion recruitments work in comparison. As they explain, most are pretty easy to recruit so long as you’re not openly hostile. Even still, you can headbutt Astarion and fight Minthara and still have them join your party.

In contrast, players can completely miss Gale just by failing a skill check. In this case, the player failed a DC 12 Strength roll, something that may be difficult for non-melee-focused characters at level 1 or 2.

One commenter pointed out that something Gale says reads differently in this context, saying “No wonder ‘May the dice roll in my favor’ is one of his lines.”

Another put it into Dungeons & Dragons terms, comparing losing Gale this way to “the DM killing a player character before you even see their face because you failed a skill check.”

While some commenters have pointed out that other companions are harder to recruit, given how central Gale is to Baldur’s Gate 3’s plot, it is pretty surprising that he’s so easy to miss out on, especially in Honor Mode.