#brainworm squad

gatekeep

girlboss

mansplain

manipulate

malewife

I have definitely Thought About This! The setting I had in mind was during the Anarch Revolt, with the main squad being a new pack.

Thoughts behind Lasombra Astarion - still keeps his self-image issues regarding reflections, which sets him aside from his companions. That implication that Cazador set the Gur on him is pretty similar to the Lasombra tradition of deliberately grooming your future childe for the Embrace, and honestly, a combination of blood bonds and heavy use of Dominate fits Cazador's modus operandi as well. The ritual is either Abyss mysticism or, yeah, straight-out infernalism, like the whole Azaneali/Angellis Ater stuff. In this, it's not a tadpole that frees Astarion from his control, it's the Vaulderie.

For his fate afterwards, I'm not sure. I feel Ascending would parallel him diablerising Cazador and maybe his siblings, as in it may be a step too far. An Ascended/diablerist Astarion would probably stay with the Revolt as it became the Sabbat, one who doesn't might go Autarkis.

For the others, I'm not 100% locked in on these, but I'm thinking:

Shadowheart: Lasombra as well, focusing much more on Abyss Mysticism (whereas Cazador dabbled but largely stuck to the Lasombra social structure stuff). Keen user of Obtenebration. Has had a lot of her memories erased or altered via Dominate. Kinfolk. At first is extremely vehemently against joining the Camarilla and supports the nascent Sabbat, but leaving the Sharrans may work as her going Autarkis, working out her own route?

Lae'zel: I'm actually thinking Ventrue? Very strict social structure, all these complexes about power and weakness. If she ends up staying with the Revolt and joining the Sabbat, the whole Dark Knight thing the Ventrue antitribu have fits pretty well! OTOH, Orpheus kind of fits as a stand-in for a methuselah, so that would cause... issues. She might be Ventrue antitribu only in the sense that she's not Camarilla, and still has her personal loyalty to Orpheus.

Gale: Tragically, I think he's Tremere, and probably quite a low generation (maybe instead of Mystra, he's bound to his sire, Meerlinda?). Born Mage who was identified and groomed by the Tremere specifically for the Embrace. Leaving Mystra = defecting from the Pyramid and joining the Revolt, although he still feels deeply conflicted about it. He may end up joining the Camarilla but could be swayed otherwise, which I suspect he might do based on love of his friends and being convinced he doesn't need the power the Camarilla could offer him.

Wyll and Karlach: Brujah, but more specifically, Brujah from the same 'family', with Zariel being Mizora's and Karlach's sire, and Mizora being Wyll's sire. Wyll fits the idealistic Wanting To Fix Things Brujah mindset, and Karlach… enjoys punching things. I don't see either fitting with the Sabbat. Zariel and Mizora are both into infernalism and got their childer into it as well, although Karlach resents it and Wyll feels deeply conflicted. Another option is that they just have regular-ass sires, but Mizora and Zariel are Baali who convince them to go apostate - Karlach under a lot of duress, Wyll with good intentions (power to help people!) but recognising later that, oops, that may have caused issues.

Halsin: Two fun options! One, he's a Gangrel (who follows the Path of the Eightfold Wheel, natch). Also Autarkis, although I feel he'd want to keep having a Purpose and would probably end up with a group of other Autarkis and try to… keep an eye on them. Another interesting option, though, is that as well as Garou, there are also bear Fera! Will elaborate below.

Jaheira: Gangrel, straight-out. Would go Autarkis after the Revolt.

Minsc: Having met him yet, but I get a Brujah-with-out-of-clan-Animalism vibe. Maybe learned from Jaheira? Autarkis as well.

So for Halsin, there are werebears! They're called Gurahl.

"The werebears are Gaia's healers, tied to the Earth with a stronger bond than any other Fera. Many Garou believe the Gurahl are extinct, killed during the War of Rage when they would not give up the secret of restoring life to the dead. In truth, they entered a long sleep using a trick taught to them by the Mokolé, and have awoken in the modern world.

Slow to anger, Gurahl tend to be healers and protectors rather than warriors. Rare since the War of Rage, they were targeted for refusing to teach the Garou the secret of resurrecting the dead."

So, either Halsin is a Gurahl who ends up accidentally adopting a pack of Cainites, or he's a Gurahl kinfolk who's Embraced as a Gangrel. When he returns home, he's a bit, "Sooooo… hi. Vampire now," and they don't end up killing him because, what the hell, he's family and also still Halsin. "Yes, this is my son. Yes, he's a vampire. It's complicated."

Slight alternative - Halsin, Jaheira, and Minsc are all much older (older ancilla/ancilla with a werebear pal), with Jaheira and Minsc already being close, and maybe Halsin and Jaheira knowing each other beforehand. When they meet this newer, younger pack (the Origin characters), they go, "Okay, these kids are going to need guidance" and jump in to babysit mentor them. In that case, they may not consider themselves truly part of the Anarch Revolt, but be avowed Autarkis. Age-wise for the Origin characters, Astarion is ancilla but the whole two hundred years of slavery means he's still pretty inexperienced in the world, and the others are all neonates. Hell, Lae'zel, Wyll, and Karlach may even still be considered fledglings, or like, just released.

So tl;dr, Anarch pack who largely go Autarkis after the Revolt, with Astarion, Shadowheart, and Lae'zel torn between Autarkis and the Sabbat, and Gale being torn between Autarkis and the Camarilla. I want to say they all stay Autarkis, with the bonds they've developed? Still have some Anarch traits like a vinculum, but otherwise are avoiding both the violence of the Sabbat and the hierarchy of the Camarilla, a lot of which is why they joined the Revolt in the first place.

Mine

(In response to: "The owlbear cub brings Astarion "snacks" the same way Scratch brings gifts and sometimes they go hunting together.") Astarion is more or less adopted by the cub, who he grudgingly teaches how to hunt. Astarion gets the blood, cub gets the rest. (The cub gets named 'Bite'.)

If no one in the party gets the Volo eye from his amateur surgery, Wyll replaces the stone one with it.

Astarion knows exactly who Jaheira is (and Minsc, later) and is barely resisting fanboying in excitement. She's up there with Drizzt! (Later, he and Karlach basically just jump up and down like excited kids meeting their hero.) [original post]

Relatedly, if Jaheira knew about Cazador, she would have killed him like a century ago.

Elves have expressive ears. The squad giggle a bit about it when they meet Halsin, and Astarion points out, bemusedly, that it's a normal part of elf body language. They point out that he doesn't, leading to his own realisation that Cazador stole another type of language from him. Later, he starts relearning it and it's another 'fuck you' to Cazador. [original post]

Wyll and Karlach find a music box in Avernus and spend a lot of evenings dancing and generally living their best lives. They also use the House of Hope as a base when they need a break, which now has a permanent portal between it and Devil's Fee (threats were involved), guarded by Yurgir. They use it to stock up on fresh food (both for themselves and to trade), supplies, getting news, and sending messages.

On that note, Wyll, Gale, Astarion, and Shadowheart have a book club by correspondence. He uses the portal for that, too.

Wyll, trying to find a new class after Warlock, does settle on Ranger… but he also vibes heavily with Bard, and starts learning Bardic techniques too. Multiclassing!

Gale works out over the course of the adventure and spending time with Dark Urge that he does actually have a touch of sorcery, namely the same Storm Sorcery Durge has. Mystra never let him know because she has less control over sorcery than wizardry, but now he can learn as he likes. Multiclassing, part 2!

Halsin adopts Yenna (and Grub). And the tiefling orphans. And Arabella, when she's taking a break from roaming (she's training as a wild magic sorcerer, but there's more than a hint of druid there too). And Scratch (I know what the epilogue says, I'm ignoring it) and Bite, the owlbear cub. And Myshka (Malta gets adopted by Derryth). And Us. Good kitty :)

Like in Evereska and Evermeet, Reithwin becomes linked to the Feywild. Thaniel and Oliver visit it pretty often.

Astarion goes through a period of trying a ton of different jobs to see what he most enjoys doing. As well as adventuring, they include perfumery, tailoring, bartending, and a short but memorable stint throwing knives at Circus of the Last Days (Lucretious adopts him into her House, it's a vibe). He still hasn't worked out what he wants as a career but is enjoying the freedom of being able to choose.

(He also, thanks to visiting Halsin in Reithwin a lot, learns a bit of Druidry and picks up a bat wild shape. Batstarion as a spawn! Multiclassing, part 3!)

Astarion has a really good mind for puns. Just incredibly good with wordplay, quick at it, comes out with them in response to conversation like breathing for normal people. He's constantly, crushingly disappointed in himself every single time. Just makes the funniest pun you’ve ever heard then just. Sighs in abject despair at his own words. [original post]

The first time Shadowheart really sits and meditates focusing on the full moon, she gets a furry little surprise along the lines of her first werewolf transformation. Whoops. Halsin (a werebear who sometimes still struggles with his own transformation) helps mentor her in the whole... accidentally a shapeshifter thing.

Redeemed Durge becomes Chosen of Jergal, and sets out about on a mission to stamp out any remnants of the Dead Three, once and for all. They also multiclass (part 4!) into Cleric along with Sorcerer.

Other favourites

"- Grubb the cat is mildly clairvoyant, hence his anxiety. - Jaheira adopts Mol into her foster home. The path is long, but Mol's new family helps her to make better choices. She is highly frustrated by 'Uncle' Minsc. - Arabella's 'beardy man' is actually an avatar of Silvanus, not Elminster. Might be contradicted by epilogue now, but I'm sticking by it. - Wyll is a workout freak. He tries to get everyone to join him for early morning jogging and squats. Only Minsc ever goes. - Zevlor joins Karlach and Wyll/Tav in Avernus. They unite with the remnants of the Hellriders and become an infernal engine gang. - If both are liberated, Nessa the displacer beast and Shadow-Whiskers the displacer beast find happiness together. - Moonrise becomes a massive Selunite temple; Halsin's orphanage occupies most of the ground floor. Many previously-tadpoled absolutists who no longer have a home to go to work there. - Spawn Astarion, if unromanced and left to his own devices, eventually does become a perfumer. He markets scents to the undead and other conspicuously-scented beings, and makes quite a bit of coin. He sets up shop in Araj's abandoned apothecary, if she is dead. - Gale's mother sent Mystra a sternly-worded letter after the breakup. Delivered by Tara. it didn't help. - If rescued, Vanra is changed by her time with the hag and develops a touch of wild magic sorcery. - If Haarlep is alive and Raphael is dead, Haarlep moves into Raphael's suite in Sharress' Carress. His room is a popular attraction. - Jaheira is the best cook in camp, better than Gale. But she doesn't want anyone to know, because she doesn't want to get saddled with cooking duty. - Selunite Shadowheart eventually persuades Nocturne to leave Shar. Nocturne becomes a cleric of Lathander, god of rebirth and renewal, and helps others in her position to find rebirth without turning to the Lady of Loss." - lulufan87 (OP)

"Astarion likes cats because they've been his hunting buddies on rat capture trips." - satinsateensaltine

"- Gale has old man reading glasses, always takes them on the road along with minimum one book - Astarion actually suggested nickname "Shart" once. SH left him questioning all his life choices after. - Karlach takes short-raced Tavs over her shoulder when they can't jump a gap - Both society of Briliance and Underdark people know of Omeluum, but they aren't bothered, because it looks and is very polite. - Astarion and Shart abuse their tadpole connection to talk shit about other party members and NPCs" - notsohappynotsosad

"Wyll jokingly nicknames Astarion the Fang of Frontiers know that's he a hero and adventurer like himself." - TheCrimzenKing

"Selûnite Shadowheart gets her little rat pet. :)" - uwubewwa

"Gale becomes the most well known Wizard in the realm alongside Eliminster. But chooses to die a natural death instead of becoming effectively immortal, due to now appreciating the life he has after the campaign." - Rhinomaster22

"- Shadowheart and Nocturne have turned fully from Shar and are happily partnered. They live happily with their farm animals. - Shadowheart, Gale, Hope, and Tav have a recipe sharing circle. Tav grows night orchids and gives Shadowheart the cuttings whenever she visits. - Shadowheart and Tav swap custody of the Owlbear. - The Owlbear treats US like a sticky little sister. - Every time Tav pets the Owlbear and Scratch, she also pets US. - Spawnstarion and the Gur Monster hunters ALSO have a recipe sharing circle for scent masking and monster repellents. - Astarion is the camp tailor and mends little slogans into the team's clothing. Wyll's underwear has "Agonizing Blast" across the seat." - dirt_rat_devil_boy

"Doni is okay and survived the trip to Moonrise by finding new hiding spots. He emerges after the shadow curse is lifted and finds safety with Thaniel." - M_de_Monty

"I choose to believe that Korilla is the female singer in Raphael's Final Act" - SuspiciousWeasel15

"Halsin is a werebear that is also a Druid. He is completely unaware that he is a werebear." - aniborfy

"the reason Astarion hates flowers is because he associates them with graves and it reminds him of his own burial." - badshakes

"- Gale was a Weave Anchor same as Elminster and Volo, and that's why he survived the Orb taking him. The Orb ate what made him an anchor and it's the only reason Gale survived. Many of Mystra’s Chosen are/have been Weave anchors. - Gale was born a tempest sorcerer and that's why he was a "wizard prodigy." It explains why the game is hellbent on having him equip Witch Bolt as a spell every time he levels up. - Gale becomes Rolan’s mentor after Baldur's Gate is freed." - ariseis

Ohh, now that's a fun concept! Kind of depressing for all of them since, uh, godhood sure is a thing, but an interesting idea nonetheless. Just going with the original six Tadfools + Durge...

Durge: The God of Second Chances. Still part of the 'death' pantheon, but their portfolio is specifically for death being deferred, for second chances. They would be prayed to by those who want a second chance instead of an untimely demise.

Astarion: The God of Free Undeath. His portfolio specifically looks after vampire spawn and other undead who have escaped or want to escape their masters.

Wyll: The God of Protection. Prayed to by monster hunters, who seek to kill only those who actively are harming others.

Karlach: The God of Vengeance. Killing your betrayer may not fix things, but it sure as hell might feel good!

Gale: The God of Necromancy. All things magical, natch.

Shadowheart: The God of Peaceful Death. Looks after those who have suffered greatly in life and are now at peace.

Lae'zel: The God of Honesty. "Better a short life built on truth than immortality woven of lies." Portfolio is those who are determined to fight and perhaps kill for the right to live freely and honestly.

Oh that's an intro XD Theo has the Shades of Frontiers, Dev has the cutest li'l space buns, Sam looks like a supermodel and has brought THE GUN SHOW, and Neil has a tee with 'Astarion's Juice Box' on the front and 'Astarion Approves' on the back :D

Hi, Aabria! Is Fuego okay in NYbN ;_;

Aabria: "Everyone knows Baldur's Gate 3 is just a dating sim with too many steps <3 " [video]

Charisma saving roll - Theo gets the first 1 of the night :D [video]

Ancient gnome named Muffin introducing you to a tavern that's definitely not a tavern. I adore her.

WYLL…

Muffin: "You're pretty, but you're not that pretty…" Astarion: :o [video]

Lae'zel: "I just think, lady -" Muffin: "Muffin is fine -" Lae'zel: "Lady Muffin -" Everyone else: *giggling* [video]

Not a very good magic user. Wyll: :( Astarion: *playing with a firebolt*

Lae'zel rolls a 2 in Persuasion… minus 1. Good job XD

Muffin: "I'm willing to make a deal, but I don't like money." Lae'zel: "We'll give you Astarion." Astarion: "What? Not again!" [video]

Wyll: "Can we not call Lady Muffin a hag? She prefers Lady Muffin."

Lae'zel: "Is there any other body part of Astarion's you'd like?" Neil: *literal spittake* [video]

Lae'zel just traded Astarion's fangs for a Wish scroll and the others did not hear :o [video]

Karlach: "Lae'zel, if you hurt this sweet baby boy who has never done anything wrong in his life -" Astarion: "Nothing provable!!" Karlach: "I will end you :)" [video]

Wyll: "How did we get here ;_;"

Neil: "I feel we really screwed this one up, folks :) "

Wyll: "Why did we not read the terms and conditions ;_;"

Tadpole communication! "Tadpole over!" [video]

Neil: "First day of Vampire School!"

Lae'zel: "Ahh, Vlaakith Shmaakith, let's look in the bag!!"

Karlach just yoinking the backpack from Astarion. [video]

Aabria: "You know how never to light a match when you smell gas?" Sam: "I feel Karlach's never learned that lesson."

Disembodied eye flirting with Astarion. Of course XD

Aabria: "I would love for you to make whatever roll you think you need to make :) "

Wyll: *throws up on Lae'zel* Lae'zel: "SKVA -" [video]

Astarion: *playing with the Hand of Vecna like it's a, uh, hand puppet*

Oh lmao chat has mentioned that Neil actually voiced Vecna at one point.

Aabria: "This is your time to reckon with what you've done, I've got consequences incoming :) "

Dev: "I would like to summon my own… hand… mage… hand…" Sam and Neil: *golf claps*

The sound effects... [video]

Aabria to Theo: "Are you trying to do this with brute strength or with magic?" Dev: "Use magic for the love of god."

Wyll do not be tempted by the Hand XD;;

Aabria pointing out that Neil has played Vecna and gets him to try and tempt Wyll to cut off his own hand XD [video]

Wyll: "…Whoops."

Karlach: "I don't know about you but I'm suddenly tired let's go back to camp!!" [video]

Neil: "Oh oh oh I know what this is!! …This is not good :D" [video]

Theo is not rolling well XD

Aabria: *celebrates because she rolled 21 for Initiative* Neil: *rolls 23 and uses it to promptly spider-climb the fuck up the wall and Molotov cocktail firebreathe the creepy hands* [video]

Dev: "I rolled a 5! :D"

Oh that went poorly :D

Lae'zel: "Vlaakith…" Aabria: "Bless you :)"

Sam: "Time to get lich or die trying!"

Aabria: "Hey, the cheque still clears if I TPK :)" [video]

Karlach is a badass <3

Neil is doing the most absolutely D&D, he has definitely read the rulebooks XD

Wyll: "I'm going to help my friends…" Aabria: "Aww :)" Wyll: "…And I am going to Fireball. :)" Neil: *loses shit* [video]

Astarion, having lost his pants to Wyll's Fireball: "Well, here we are again. :)" [video]

Neil: "Now here's the thing, I currently have a githyanki attached to my ass…"

Aabria: "You give him a second butthole. Above or below?"

"That was a load-bearing butt." "A butt-ress, if you will!"

Lae'zel suffers the consequences of her actions <3 [video] [video]

NPC: "This isn't your fight." Karlach: "That's what I thought, but have you met Lae'zel?"

Karlach: "We could wrestle, we could have a little sparring match…" NPC: "I'm a wizard, so please don't."

Aabria: "Why don't you give me Perception, Arcana, or Religion?" Sam: "You know Karlach's an atheist, yeah?"

Neil: "Is he trying to look cool?" Aabria: "No, he's trying not to poop blood."

Theo: "Do it for the plot, innit?"