Baldur’s Gate 3 changed a whole lot during development. We saw some of that on early access, with Karlach and Wyll especially, but of course, the game was in development long before Larian showed it off to the world.
Now, we have a glimpse at one of the earliest character drafts we’ve seen yet. Larian CEO Swen Vincke just shared a screenshot of a 2018 design doc on social media, outlining brief notes about Lae’zel. Here, we can see that her backstory changed quite a lot, as her story would have initially seen her chased down by her former “classmates”, presumably from Crèche K’liir.
Lae’zel Was Originally Being Pursued By Other Githyanki Who Wanted Her Head
Vincke shared this in response to a fan showing off their incredible Lae’zel cosplay. It got Vincke reminiscing on how far Baldur’s Gate 3 – and Lae’zel in particular – has come from their initial concepts.
Some aspects of her character stayed exactly the same, even her name. So, she was always going to be an evil-aligned Githyanki fighter called Lae’zel who doesn’t fare from Faerûn, but aside from that, it was all very different.
One of the notes reads: “This Gith is being pursued by its former classmates once tadpoled. They want her head.” In the final game, she just gets separated from her brethren, rather than hunted down by them. That only happens if she decides to reject Vlaakith. And even then, the Githyanki are after the whole squad, not just her.
While you might find her alignment surprising, Vincke adds that Lae’zel is “definitely” evil. However, I would add that Shadowheart and Astarion are almost definitely evil-aligned, too. Not necessarily because of how they act, but more so for the factions they come from. I mean, Shar is literally an evil-aligned goddess, even if Shadowheart is secretly a big softie (and not actually a Sharan).
As for the rest of the old character drafts, Vincke isn’t sharing them just yet. Someone did ask in the comments, and he says that he’ll share them when he sees more cosplay pics. So, get on it, cosplayers. Please.
- Released
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / 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
