Baldur’s Gate 3 developer reveals Orin kidnapping was originally very different

One of the writers who worked on Baldur’s Gate 3 has opened up with some interesting new information about earlier versions of the story, which would have featured a new target for Orin in Act 3.

The last act of Baldur’s Gate 3 ups the stakes significantly. Not only are you constantly brushing shoulders with the remaining chosen of the Dead Three, but your camp, which has been a safe space throughout the entire game, becomes a much more threatening place.

Once you arrive at the city of Baldur’s Gate, Orin, chosen of Bhaal, will kidnap one of your camp dwellers and take their place, and it’s up to you to rescue them from her lair.

However, in an interview with IGN, Lead Writer Adam Smith goes into detail about how Orin originally always targeted the character you had romanced, but said it was later changed after the idea proved to be unpopular.

Larian Studios dev reveals Orin originally targeted your romance

Speaking to IGN’s Kat Bailey, Smith said that the change also meant that players didn’t feel forced to instantly confront one of the strongest enemies in the game the moment they discovered who got kidnapped.

He said: “That was a creative risk, the kidnapping of a companion a thing. Once you do it, and you don’t go after them right away, you lose a whole bunch of story depending on how you’re going to take it. But at the same time, we needed something where the stakes were high.

“So that’s why we did it that way, and we had a lot of rules that changed over time. Originally it was always your romantic partner, which wasn’t very popular.

“It can happen still, which usually send you on a beeline to the Bhaal Temple, which has its problems then because you’re rushing toward a very high-level area, maybe a little bit too early.”

Currently, the only characters who can be kidnapped are Halsin, Minthara, Gale and Lae’zel, provided one of them is in camp. If none of them are, Orin will kidnap Yenna.

For all the latest news and updates on Baldur’s Gate 3, check out what one player new to the game decided to do with Shadowheart’s artifact.