Baldur’s Gate 3 player warns against playing fetch with Scratch

It’s possible to end your Baldur’s Gate 3 story earlier than planned, as one player discovered when they took one of Scratch the dog’s possessions.

True to its D&D 5E roots, Baldur’s Gate 3 lets you act like a criminal and steal anything not nailed down. You can be stealthy and use invisibility magic to get away scot-free, or you can go the Grand Theft Auto route and kill anyone who sees you.

There are penalties for stealing, as nearby guards can spot you, leading to a situation where you can try and talk your way out of it or use a bribe to make them look the other way. However, some guards can’t be fooled, leading to everyone in the area going aggro.

While the camp is a mostly safe place for the party to hang out, it’s possible for a fight to break out, leading to the group being wiped out. This can easily happen if a certain visitor appears, as they won’t take kindly to canines being treated poorly in their presence.

Stealing Scratch’s ball can end a Baldur’s Gate 3 campaign early

A user on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Reddit has detailed the event that ended their Honour Mode run. It turns out that playing catch with Scratch the Dog can be construed as an attack, causing the entire camp to attack Tav.

Playing fetch with Scratch ended my campaign.
byu/Renilas inBaldursGate3

“One of my friends throws Scratch’s ball and I grab it so I can toss it for the pup. This turns the entire camp hostile. Now, we hadn’t leveled the other companions as we had no need of them, so overall this might have been fine. Except for one tiny little detail…”

“The Oathbreaker Knight has joined the battle. 12 levels of pain came our way, killed us all in 4 rounds and that was that.”

The Oathbreaker Knight appears when a Paladin Tav breaks their chosen Oath for the first time, giving the player the option to become an Oathbreaker Paladin, with the ability to unleash unholy magic on their foes.

Unfortunately, the Oathbreaker Knight is an incredibly powerful character who can easily decimate the party during Act I. As such, you shouldn’t provoke them, nor should you harm Scratch in their presence, as this will cause them to attack the party.

Scratch has a knack for ending runs, especially when playing catch with explosives. He’s lucky he’s adorable, otherwise no one would bring him into their camp at all.