Larian Studios has put so much time and love into Baldur’s Gate 3 that the game has become a true work of art. Even MeinMMO editor Sophia Weiß enjoys every second of gameplay. However, she would have liked to sacrifice an NPC to the evil
during her good run
in Act 1.
I started playing at release and am still in my first playthrough. While I haven’t accumulated 200 hours like MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski, over 160 hours is quite a lot for me.
However, I have reached Act 3 now and completed some of the side quests more or less successfully. One NPC has stood out to me in particular: Rolan, the grumpy apprentice mage from the Emerald Grove. As much as I would have liked to drop him off at the Goblin camp in Act 1, I am quite satisfied with his character development.
Attention – Spoilers: Below, you can expect spoilers regarding Rolan’s possible story from Act 1 to Act 3 and the characters associated with it.
Rolan – don’t annoy me!
When you first meet Rolan, he is standing in a corner of the Emerald Grove. He is discussing with his two siblings, Cal and Lia, whether they should stay and help the druid in the fight against the goblins.
Rolan is absolutely against it: He brings up every argument he thinks is effective to convince his family to continue their journey to Baldur’s Gate. He comes across as consistently arrogant. He dismisses every argument for staying and is visibly annoyed.
What does Rolan want in Baldur’s Gate? To become an apprentice mage. For a mage whose reputation isn’t that great – at least according to Gale. And this position is so much more important than the Emerald Grove. Or maybe he simply cares about the safety of his family. At this point, it’s unclear.
As a player, I managed to convince his siblings to stay. Since Rolan doesn’t want to leave his family behind, he stays as well. Though he does so grumbling and cursing. At the tiefling party after the successful victory over the goblins, he at least entertains everyone with his magic tricks.
Overall, he just annoyed me here: What a windbag
, I thought to myself.
If Rolan survives Act 1, you will find him in Act 2 at the inn “The Last Light.” There, he drowns his sorrows in alcohol: Cal and Lia have been captured by the followers of the Absolute. Because I convinced the two to help, he angrily confronts my character.
Angry and drunk, he storms out into the eternal night to rescue his two siblings himself. Here, I almost lost him and I wouldn’t have felt bad about it: The idiot tries to sneak into the Towers of the Moonrise and is confronted by a horde of shadow monsters.
If you wait too long – one or two long rests, that is – he is as good as dead.
I was lucky enough to stumble upon him in time. Not because I planned it, but simply because I discovered him while exploring. And of course, I help. Just as I later freed the gnomes and Rolan’s siblings from prison in the towers.
Only now does Rolan’s hard shell start to show cracks: Rolan is immensely relieved at the return of his brother and sister. Perhaps – but only perhaps – he is simply afraid of not making it safely to the presumed safety of Baldur’s Gate with his whole family.
But they make it. Rolan even becomes… friendly. And he receives the offered apprenticeship at Lorroakan. Unfortunately, he is promptly demoted to an employee in the mage’s shop.
Additionally, his new master regularly mistreats Rolan. Worst for Rolan, however, is that his two siblings are not allowed to live with him in the mage tower. Lorroakan simply threw them out.
This mage is, by the way, a completely different caliber: He wants to capture the Night Song and use it as a source of immortality like Ketheric Thorm. The Night Song, Lady Aylin, doesn’t find this funny and challenges Lorroakan.
And here, the true wood from which Rolan is carved shows: When Lorroakan asks him to join him in fighting against me and Lady Aylin, he promptly sides with me. That he throws away his hard-earned education to do the right thing made me very happy.
After a hard battle, Lorroakan lies defeated on the ground and Rolan thanks me. He is even really nice. He makes himself the new master of the tower and even swears his loyalty for all that is to come.
Rolan is quite a tragic character. Only at the end of his quest can I look back at the beginnings and understand why he is the way he is: Like so many, he is afraid for his loved ones and simply wants to avoid all potential trouble.
But the fact that in the end he so fervently commits to my character and will probably stand by my side in the final battle did then positively surprise me. Rolan is one of the good ones, even if it may not seem so at first glance.
Hats off, Larian
Actually, Rolan’s great development shouldn’t surprise me. Larian has gone big: Baldur’s Gate 3 is a gem among games, and even the smallest role is well thought out and written. But I didn’t expect them to turn this grumpy wooden head from Act 1 into a sympathetic guy.
Of course, I know that Rolan had a lot of luck
in my run. I could have let the goblins overrun the grove or let him die in the shadow lands at Shadow Curse. But not only did he survive, but due to my actions and decisions, he developed into a valuable and reliable ally.
I am really glad that I managed to save him
to this extent. Hats off, Larian!
Now I’m curious about what else awaits me. Somewhere in Baldur’s Gate, Zevlor is surely still around, Mizora just won’t leave my camp, and Orin has taken a hostage. Well, at least I have a few free days ahead. I still have much to do – maybe I’ll be finished before the end of the year. And we’ll see how it ends with my romance – by the way, I’ve already written about that: To date the biggest joker of Baldur’s Gate 3, I have spurned two of the hottest companions
