FlintlockJazz

It seems to have been pretty common in Bronze and Iron Age Europe, testified by many moor mummies. Just 15 km South of where I live a 16 year old girl has been found that was sacrificed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yde_Girl So most of the people of Western European descent have ancestors that practised human sacrifices. I am not prepared to assume that they were all evil people. You might not be prepared but that doesn't make it untrue. Joking aside, most would not 'practice' human sacrifice, it would be the priests who would use it as a method of control who did, the main population probably did not have much of a choice. Plus, the person you quoted did not say they were evil, he said he was not fond of good/evil RESPONSES, his opinion of people who performed sacrifices is actually "they tend not to be very nice people", which is true and most people back then were probably not nice people.

Wait what?! Oh balls I always thought it was everyone! Well I know what I will be trying out next playthrough...

I've never taken the baby to be sacrificed personally, so I don't know if they give any reasons or not. It could be that they allow 'legal guardians' such as parents or wards to make the choice for them, though that then raises the question of whether they have a similar situation as in the Witcher 3 where parents would send unwanted children down the path of treats when they were short of food. My personal opinion is that the Ethik Nol are corrupt, they use the sacrifices to prolong their own lives and it is implied to me that for all their talk of give and take they take a lot more than they give. Willing sacrifices are easier to get hold of since you don't have the society coming for you, and a willing sacrifice is probably more effective since they give of themselves more, but I can see them taking unwilling sacrifices if it benefits them especially if coin or power is involved. My last character considered it a service to Twin Elms to purge them of the taint of Ethik Nol.

He is awesome, always liked ol' Tommy. Must admit though, I don't actually recognise the film he's in there, I just like using it for my "Really?" responses.

Apologies if these have already been asked or answered elsewhere. 1. With the skill system being changed, will the mechanical effects of Backgrounds also be changed? As in, do they still provide skill bonuses or will they now give other bonuses instead (and perhaps penalties as well)? 2. If the main character is using a custom portrait, how will the new watercolour portraits work with them? Do you pick a watercolour portrait from a list or will the game attempt to create a watercolour version automatically?

A tribute to Tales of the Sword Coast isn't a very good reason, since ToSC was kind of bad. And part of it was suddenly yanking you away from the main plot to entirely different places. Didn't say it was a good idea to do!

I was assuming that it was still an early build of the map and would naturally be improved by the time the game releases, but I realise that this is an assumption of mine, so good job on raising this and count me as seconding this!

Oooo the Beyond I'm guessing is Watcher stuff? That a lot of what was done purely by text in the first one is now going to be played out?

From my understanding, Aedyr's colonisation interests seemed to stem from Engwithan relic collection. They didn't seem that interested in much of anything else, the government at least anyway, and seemed more miffed at the loss of access to the ruins than the colony itself when Aedyr revolted. Maybe its just not that interested in general trade or colonisation perhaps?

Hmm, I initially thought the slow plinking death you describe lacked the magnificence required, but then I realised: that is so Sagani. She is the steady and calm but also relentless sort, her fighting isn't showy but does that mean she cannot be magnificent? Is it just showiness that makes something magnificent? So I decided that yes, she does deserve it, for being a Magnificent Coxfither the Sagani way and bestow said title upon her!

I suspect (and this is just me theorising) that it could be they did not have the time to make each form as unique as they wanted this time through, as each form's differences is about a talent's worth (one a bit faster, one a bit tougher, etc), and so didn't feel it was worth it as a quest reward. Hopefully this time they will be able to differentiate them more. I didn't realise it until rjshae pointed it out that all the animal forms are mammals, but now I do I kinda like that. Gives it a rather cool motif.

I hereby declare that Hiravias, too, is bestowed the title, Magnificent Coxfither!

So anyway, there I was, having finally got to the end of the game for the first time in ages (chronic restarting and real life getting in the way). I had really ****ed it up, as while my party had managed to take down the Judge and the Headsman I had my main, Eder, Kana, and Pallegina all out for the count. Sagani was still up but was dominated, and was currently chasing the only member of my party still up and under my control with a knife: Aloth. Sagani really wanted to plunge that Drawn in Spring into Aloth, and then there was Thaos. So Aloth does what any mage would do in this situation: he Benny Hill's it around the temple, trying to buy time to wait out the Dominate on Sagani, stopping only to drop the occasional Minelotta on Thaos. Finally Sagani regains control, and I immediately command her to Wounding Shot Thaos, only to realise too late that I had forgotten to switch her back to Stormcaller, and Thaos bashes her down again. In desperation, Aloth fires off one last Minelotta... only to have Thaos drop like Durance drops a used whore! Game won. The last thing Thaos sees is an Elven mage teabagging him. Aloth, you magnificent coxfither!

Ah, that probably explains what Hiravias means when he refers to the Autumn Stelgaer as his 'first' form and mentions learning others. Did wonder.

Music to ones ears!

One does not simply munch a two-handed baquette sandwich! I would insist on having a table to eat at with assorted sides to go with it while fighting them off with my foot. One must have standards even in epic conflicts with dragons!

Does it talk?

Okay, we need to have cannons! And not just on ship! A companion that is a sapient cannon! EDIT: Omigod he/she would be a talking weapon! Lilarcor as a cannon!

Munching on a sandwich in one hand while fighting with a sword in the other would be awesome.

Maybe they could use the Savage Worlds health system? Or the GURPS health system whereby as long you keep succeeding your Health roll you can keep on fighting on negative hit points!

I thought that at first too regarding the party size, then I realised the sixth 'person' is Maia's animal companion. Assuming we can multi-class our companions however we want, I wonder how well walkpathing will work with an all-Ranger party and six animal companions? Not that this scenario is likely. Thinking of all-ranger parties is when I realised one of the reasons they felt the need to reduce the party size, that you have extra companions from other sources that the old IE games did not have. In Baldur's Gate you could have summons and the like, but not a permanent companion like the Rangers can in Pillars. While they are not 'full' characters as such, they are still a slot so to speak and if you have more than one ranger in the group, like the all-Ranger party you mentioned, you can get a rather large group trundling around. So maybe that's one of the reasons they reduced the party size?

Half Life 3 confirmed?

I was under the impression they did the expansion like this because it was sort of intended as a tribute to how the expansion Tales of the Sword Coast was done in Baldur's Gate 1. As anameforobsidian has said, the base game needed some more meat and potato especially in regards to the stronghold and the extra character companions, and as Karkarov said the ending didn't really lend itself easily to an adventure straight afterwards due to world changing effects. I kinda get the impression that Deadfire will have a more open-ended story though that could just be me.

In the vids? I don't think those were live gameplays. There are like 3 instant transitions(upper deck, chieftain's house & one inside the ruins) seem legit but can't know for sure. Don't think it'll instantly transition from ship to settlement tho, like in the video. Yeah, I recall them saying before they had been working on improving in particular the transitions between inside and outside of houses and the suchlike. Those three transitions Quillion mentions are all transitions within an area, so fits with that. Looks to me like they may have sorted that at least, while the greater transitions are probably edits. Just my theorycrafting (and hope), so no doubt will be proven wrong shortly.