Baldur's Gate 3 Missed a Big Opportunity With One Tiefling…

Summary

Baldur's Gate 3 missed a big opportunity by not including Rolan as a companion in the game's third act.
Rolan could have been a popular romance option for players, adding a new dynamic to the story.
Rolan's backstory and personality had the potential to add depth to the game's narrative and companions, especially in contrast to the chipper Gale.

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead for Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 has an interesting cast of companions, as well as a plethora of companion-worthy characters. From Araj Oblodra, who would have made an interesting Drow companion, to Alfira, who would have been the perfect Bard companion. However, there is one Tiefling that has recently risen in popularity, and Baldur’s Gate 3 missed a big opportunity with him.

The Tiefling in question is none other than Rolan, and his popularity has recently risen on social media, with many Baldur’s Gate 3 fans becoming enthralled by the character. Rolan is quite a fascinating character, with his moody and grumpy attitude, he would have made an excellent companion and would have been a breath of fresh air among the other companions, as none of them are ever grumpy, unless the player has a low approval rating for them.

Baldur's Gate 3: Every Companion's Backstory Explained

The companions in Baldur's Gate 3 all have their own backstories, and most of them seem to have a tragic and rough past in one way or another.

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By Lyna De Wit

Baldur’s Gate 3 Missed a Big Opportunity By Not Having Rolan As a Companion

Act 3 Would Have Been The Perfect Opportunity To Recruit Rolan

Throughout the events of Baldur’s Gate 3, players can come across Rolan if they save the Tieflings at the Emerald Grove and convince him to stay with the rest of the Tieflings in Act 1. Act 3 would have been perfect to recruit Rolan, as players and Rolan could engage in a fight with the sinister wizard Lorroakan. After this fight, Rolan is grateful to the player for helping him and states that he needs to master the Weave, and that the former Lorroakan’s Tower would be the perfect place to do so.

Instead of staying in Lorroakan’s Tower, Rolan could have been asked to join the player’s quest to defeat the Netherbrain and the Absolute Cult. There’s even Gale and Withers in the camp, who could’ve given him a few pointers on mastering the Weave.

A Popular Romance Option

Even though non-companions cannot be romance options, many fans have been falling for Rolan and making fan creations depicting the player character and Rolan in a relationship together. Baldur's Gate 3 has some popular romance options, and a new romance could have been added to the story by allowing players to pursue Rolan in Act 3. The story of the romance could slowly build up throughout the events of the game when they encounter him. It seems certain that if Rolan was a romance option in Baldur’s Gate 3, his romance could have been as popular as Astarion’s and Shadowheart’s romances.

An Extra Tiefling Companion Could Have Added More To The Story

Rolan Had An Interesting Backstory That Could Have Been Expanded if He Were a Companion

Rolan’s history is rather unknown, apart from the fact that he was originally going to become Lorroakan’s apprentice before Elturel was pulled into Avernus. It turns out that Rolan doesn’t have any family that he is related to by blood, or at least none that he talks about. It is revealed if the player uses the spell "Speak With Dead" on Rolan, that Cal and Lia aren’t his siblings by blood. Instead, Rolan befriended the two siblings sometime before the events of the game, and the two adopted him as their sibling. Rolan also reveals that he was mistreated by his teacher, Lorroakan. He admits that the man threw nonsensical questions at him, and each time he answered a question wrong, he would receive a harsh beating.

It truly is a missed opportunity for Rolan as he had the potential to add more to the story and give more backstory to what it was like being a refugee from Elturel. He also had the common theme of going through tragic events that Baldur's Gate 3's companions typically have.

A Personality That Mirrors Gale

Baldur's Gate 3's Gale is a very chipper man, and his chipper personality hides his past. When it comes to Rolan, he is very much the opposite of Gale. If things are dragging him down, he would rather go to a tavern and drink his sorrows away, as is seen in Act 2 when Cal and Lia are missing. Gale, on the other hand, would look on the brighter side of things and not let himself get dragged down. It would have been refreshing to have two Wizard companions in Baldur's Gate 3 who are opposites concerning their personalities.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 97%

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Released: August 3, 2023
ESRB: M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
Developer(s): Larian Studios
Publisher(s): Larian Studios
Engine: Divinity 4.0
Multiplayer: Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play: Full cross-platform play.