One of the things that makes Baldur’s Gate 3 so beautiful is the depth of its characters, big or small. Every character, ranging from the main cast to the smallest of NPCs, feels like they’ve lived, and they have backstories and personalities to match. It’s no wonder the dialogue tree grew as large as it did during development.
One such example of this is Nocturne, a tiefling, follower of Shar, and former friend of Shadowheart. While she is only encountered under certain circumstances during a particular quest, Nocturne’s backstory is rich and full of heart. The trader is known for being kind, compassionate, and sweet, but this was almost so different.
Speaking to TheGamer as part of a wider piece, Nocturne’s actor, Abigail Thorn (House of the Dragon, The Acolyte), revealed that the character was pitched to her as a “sexy demon” with a “particular Mephistophelian direction,” which only changed during the recording of her lines.
Nocturne’s Baldur’s Gate 3 Personality Was Changed “On The Spot” Says Abigail Thorn
Speaking to TheGamer, Thorn recalls the time she was first pitched on Nocturne. “I was working with Beth Park, who was a voice director for Baldur’s Gate 3, on Harmony Fall of Reverie,” she says. “After a few days on that project, she said, ‘Oh, by the way, Abigail, I like what you’re doing here. I’ve got this other part in this other video game, and the character is a sexy demon,’ and that sent me in a particular Mephistophelian direction.
“After hearing that, I was like, ‘Okay, all right, sure, send me the details.’ And then I found out it was Baldur’s Gate 3, and I’d heard of Baldur’s Gate 2. So I was like, ‘Oh, it’s kind of a pretty big deal.'”
It wasn’t until Thorn arrived for recording that she actually found out more about the character. She says that while Nocturne’s design hadn’t been finalized, she was shown a picture of a tiefling, which “was very much sexy demon.” She recalled the image as “someone with horns and smoke and a tail, and it was very, very sensual.” This is all she had to go on.
I’d prepared this sexy demon voice that was very smoky, but I just changed it on the fly. I pitched her up a little, made her more vulnerable and sweet, and found Nocturne on the spot.
“I went into the booth, and I must have spent the first hour or so giving sexy demon, and it just wasn’t really working, because it clashed with the lines,” Thorn tells me. “I told them, ‘This isn’t sexy demon. This is like your friend from school who you’ve not seen in years,’ so I asked if I could try a different way, drop the demon thing, and play her as a friend from school who you haven’t seen in years. Beth said yes.
“I’d prepared this sexy demon voice that was very smoky, but I just changed it on the fly. I pitched her up a little, made her more vulnerable and sweet, and found Nocturne on the spot. We ended up re-recording all this stuff from the first chunk of the session, and she ended up becoming much more girl next door.”
Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate, And Assassin’s Creed Stars Unite For All-Female And Non-Binary Audiobook, And We Spoke To Them All
TIVA is a self-funded audiobook project featuring a wealth of talent, aiming to “stand against the exploitation of artists by corporations and AI.”
It’s clear that the Larian development team wasn’t afraid to reshoot lines when needed. Alongside Thorn’s changes as Nocturne, Baldur’s Gate 3’s performance director recently revealed that the cast was called back in to record every line using they/them pronouns.
- Released
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Engine
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Divinity 4.0
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
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Full cross-platform play.
