Failure isn’t supposed to feel rewarding inBaldur’s Gate 3. Although sometimes, missing a roll or losing a fight leads to more interesting - even favorable - outcomes. Most quests offer multiple solutions, and not succeeding right away can push players to come up with more creative tactics.
Rather than treating failure as a setback, the game often turns it into an opportunity for new narrative directions or character growth.Here are some of the best moments where things going wrong end up makingBG3’s story even better.
11Failing The Constitution Checks In The Bloodied Shrine
Earn A Permanent Bonus That Can Only Be Dispelled By Death
Failing all three constitution checks when being whipped by Abdirak will give you the same result as passing the performance checks to convince him of your pain. If you’re not a bard or have a low constitution score,rolling poorly can be an easier way of gaining the “Loviatar’s Love” permanent buff.
Bards don’t have to fail or succeed any rolls here, and have a unique set of options.
The condition gives the affected avatar a +2 bonus to attack rolls and wisdom saving throws when they’re below 30% HP. This is a great buff to give to any character, but it works particularly well for tank builds and other melee fighters.
10Not Lifting The Illusion Of The Putrid Bog
There’s Something Weird About That Sheep
After playing the game a few times, it makes sense that you may want to skip straight to the point when entering the Sunlight Wetlands, butit’s a lot more fun to investigate the area before you uncover it to be the Putrid Bog.
Not only is the atmosphere a lot more pleasing while under the spell, but piecing together that the area isn’t what it seems by interacting with the “sheep” is a more enjoyable process compared to uncovering the mystery with one roll.
9Accidentally Revealing Yourself To Dolor
Succeeding The Stealth Roll Is Actually The Worst Outcome Here
One example of failing directly resulting in a good outcome is during the"Investigate the Murders" quest.If Dolor makes it away from the Wine Festival, he’ll take Gauntlet Devalla and the owner of the Facemaker’s Boutique, Figaro Pennygood, as hostages.
If you find Dolor before he kills Figaro and decide to sneak up on him, succeeding the stealth roll will actually just give Dolor enough time to kill him. On the other hand,failing the roll will alert Dolor to your presence, and he’ll momentarily pull away from his victim, giving you a chance to save both the hostages.
8Impersonating Lolth Incorrectly
The Dialogue Tag Is A Little Misleading
If you’replaying as a Lolth-sworn drow,you may choose to impersonate Lolth to convince the giant spiders in the Shattered Sanctum to help youdefeat the goblins. Failing the charisma check angers Lolth herself, and it’s implied that she intervenes to make the spiders attack you instead.
“Suddenly, a suffocating wave of divine rage surges through the spider pit. It hadn’t occurred to you that Lolth might be listening.” - Narrator
Though this isn’t exactly useful, gods and goddesses rarely show any interest in the player, so it’s a very unique interaction. Weirdly enough,Lolth seems to have no issue with the player impersonating her if they pass the charisma check,so it’s rather funny that she only cares if they portray her poorly.
Even though you’re deceiving the spiders here,you have to roll a persuasion check instead of deception.The spiders seem to believe you before Lolth reaches out to them, which implies that, unbeknownst to the player, you’re actually trying to convince Lolth to let you imitate her instead of the check having anything to do with lying to the spider.
7Falling For Priestess Gut’s Kidnap Attempt
Kill Gut Without Any Effort And Watch A Great Cutscene
If you decide to comply with Priestess Gut instead of simply killing her, she’ll hand you a mysterious potionwhich she claims will help purify you. Failing the arcana check will cause you not to realize that it’s aPotion of Sleep- if you continue to drink it, you’ll pass out and wake up in a prison cell.
This won’t work if you’re playing a character with fey ancestry like an elf, drow, or half-elf, because these races are immune to magical sleep.
Gut will begin to interrogate you, which provides some decent context on how mind flayer transformations work. After some time passes, you’ll meetthe mysterious Korilla, who kills Gutand frees you on the order of Raphael. Not only do you witness an incredibly rare cutscene featuring a fairly unknown character,Gut will die without alerting the rest of the goblins.
6Getting Arrested
An Unconventional Way To Sneak Into Places
Similarly to falling for Priestess Gut’s tricks,committing a crime and failing to convince guards of your innocence is a one-way trip to a prison cell.Throughout the game, this can be a quick way of getting into otherwise restricted areas.
All Prisons In BG3:
In the Emerald Grove, this can lead to youbefriending Sazza and discovering the hidden passagethat connects to the forest. Allowing yourself to get arrested at the start of Act Three is also a simple way to get past the guards at South Span Checkpoint and into Wyrm’s Rock fortress.
5Dancing With Two Left Feet
You Don’t Need To Be A Professional To Be Wyll’s Dance Partner
If you’re planningto get closer to Wyllor just want to see your Tav dance with him, failing the strength, acrobatics, or performance check during his Act Two romance scene will result in a short, hilarious sequence where they desperately flail around him.
This will only endear you to Wyll further,so failing one roll is a very sweet set-up for partnering with him later in the story.
4Being Killed By Astarion
You Can’t Get Rid Of Tav That Easily
Death doesn’t always mean game over inBaldur’s Gate 3,and one of the funniest examples of this is having Astarion accidentally kill you when drinking your blood. In the morning, you’ll be able to get someone else in your party to revive you, then confront him. If you don’t fancy using your words, you may start the conversation by punching him.
This scene is especially comical if you’re playing as a member of one of the shorter races,as your character will jump pretty high to reach him. Astarion also has a distaste for gnomes, which adds more salt to the wound if you happen to be playing as one.
3Letting Gale Fail His Death Saving Throws
A Fun Alternative To Using A Spell Slot
It’s normally very inconvenient to have a character die in battle, butGale adds a very fun twist to revival.If you don’t useRevivifyon him, you’ll soon be visited by his projection, who will give you a very specific set of instructions for using the “Scroll of True Resurrection.”
This complicated side-quest will simply reward you with aScroll of Revivifyto save Gale with, but if you’re short on resources or just want to try a fun puzzle,letting Gale die once can make your playthrough a little more interesting.
2Leaving Astarion In Rosymorn Monastery
Witness One Of BG3’s Most Iconic Lines
Astarion will have quite a few choice words for you after triggering the laser security system in Rosymorn Monastery and letting him be incinerated.
Reviving him with Withers afterward will unlock a hilarious dialogue sequencewhere he’ll scold you for leaving him in the blast area of such a dangerous weapon. His “full concentrated power of the sun” line is so iconic that it’s even been immortalized inThe Sims 4 Life & Death DLC.
