Baldur's Better Aesthetics 1.0 — Baldur's Gate 3

[maidenhaver]

Vampires just seem to have pointy ears as well if I understand it correctly.

Is this a Forgotten Realms thing? I don't think it's true generally. Vampires are supposed to be able to blend in, after all.

They blend in with bulgarians.

[SniperChris]

Ok so it seems Cazador Szarr is actually from Kara-Tur meaning "asia", so it actually makes sense for him to be asian, and he is actually not an elf vampire. Vampires just seem to have pointy ears as well if I understand it correctly. So I suppose he could stay the way he is.

The in-game books I saw suggest that the vampire family has human heirs which they turn at adulthood. Also that they have been in power for 500(?) years in Baldur's Gate. Maybe someone more familiar with the Realms can say how likely it is a family from Kara Tur did that at that time (and also avoided race mixing once established).

Cazador appears to have suffered from rewrites between Early Access and Release. Originally, one of his lines indicated that one of the rules he enforced on his Vampire Spawn was that they were not allowed to feed upon sentient beings. This would have created a much more complicated dynamic (especially because Astarion's rebellious streak already existed in Early Access... meaning Astarion was rebelling against an "oppressive master" who kept him from... killing and eating people). I suspect that Szarr was also meant to have a much larger role in the ultimately cut Upper City content. When he was reduced to a dungeon miniboss, it seems like they just stopped putting any thought into him whatsoever, including how he fit into Baldur's Gate.

It doesn't help that Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus was developed alongside Baldur's Gate III, but in Descent into Avernus the entire Szarr family was supposedly massacred and the manor razed to the ground (with the implication that they're still managing things from the shadows).

He's not the only one who suffered on the cutting room floor. Originally, Halsin is the one who killed Isobel (with his glaive, Sorrow), thus driving Ketheric mad, and he was still keeping it a secret in Act II.

As for Szarr's origins - him being a Shou from Kara-Tur is just more diversity nonsense. A Baldur's Gate patriar (vampire or not) ought to be a Sword Coaster.

[J1M]

Kinda surprised there aren't any characters in the game that are mutts. As if a half orc and a half elf never met in a city full of mixed race characters.

[SniperChris]

Kinda surprised there aren't any characters in the game that are mutts. As if a half orc and a half elf never met in a city full of mixed race characters.

I'm surprised there were any Half-Orcs or Half-Elves at all. Wizards of the Coast is phasing out both Half-Orcs and Half-Elves from the next edition of D&D. They are considered "racist." It's the same reason that racial trait bonuses existed in Early Access but disappeared with the full release. Wizards of the Coast is phasing out racial trait bonuses, as well, for similar reasons. I think it was too much hassle to remove Half-Orcs/Half-Elves but the trait shift was implemented to comply with Wizards of the Coast's vision of the future.

[rusty_shackleford]

Kinda surprised there aren't any characters in the game that are mutts. As if a half orc and a half elf never met in a city full of mixed race characters.

I'm surprised there were any Half-Orcs or Half-Elves at all. Wizards of the Coast is phasing out both Half-Orcs and Half-Elves from the next edition of D&D. They are considered "racist." It's the same reason that racial trait bonuses existed in Early Access but disappeared with the full release. Wizards of the Coast is phasing out racial trait bonuses, as well, for similar reasons. I suspect this is the reason they disappeared from the full release.

Can't begin to describe how much I hate WotC.

[Luckmann]

Vampires just seem to have pointy ears as well if I understand it correctly.

Is this a Forgotten Realms thing? I don't think it's true generally. Vampires are supposed to be able to blend in, after all.

It's not a Forgotten Realms thing and it's not a D&D thing generally, either. It's just some odd and ******** cultural shift where people are adding pointy ears to things because it's a cheap way of otherizing them from humans. It makes no ******* sense whatsoever in a solid 50% of cases.

[Reichspepe]

As for Szarr's origins - him being a Shou from Kara-Tur is just more diversity nonsense. A Baldur's Gate patriar (vampire or not) ought to be a Sword Coaster.

Definetely don't disagree there, but at least it is actually refenced that he's not "normal" and from somewhere else. Not like the sudden rise of californiacation all over the Sword Coast and the ******** we wuz elves 'n dwarves n' gnomes n' shiet.

[telosmelos]

Kinda surprised there aren't any characters in the game that are mutts. As if a half orc and a half elf never met in a city full of mixed race characters.

give it enough time, they'll start pushing the ****** breeding narrative soon

[Jason Bright]

Vampires just seem to have pointy ears as well if I understand it correctly.

Is this a Forgotten Realms thing? I don't think it's true generally. Vampires are supposed to be able to blend in, after all.

It's not a Forgotten Realms thing and it's not a D&D thing generally, either. It's just some odd and ******** cultural shift where people are adding pointy ears to things because it's a cheap way of otherizing them from humans. It makes no ******* sense whatsoever in a solid 50% of cases.

Possibly because there is no human ethnic group with such a feature, (as far as I know) so it's a way of differentiating whilst evading any possible controversy.

[likerasapdisgaea]

Baldur's Better Aesthetics is an attempt to make Baldur's Gate 3 look more like Faerûn as we know it. More Dwarves will have beards, more Duergar will be bald (including the women!), and fewer Githyanki will be sporting big ol' whiskers. You will also notice fewer people from Chult, but more from Calimshan, and there will no longer be ANY Half-Orcs with pink hair. Please note, these changes aren't universal. A couple of Dwarves have assimilated and gone clean-shaven, and a few lore-accurate descendants of Chultan foreigners remain (like the legendary Duke Ulder Ravengard). But you will certainly notice a difference!

Installation Instructions: Download the provided .zip and extract its contents directly into the "Data" folder located inside of your "Baldur's Gate 3" folder. For Steam users, your Baldur's Gate 3 folder can be found at Steam/steamapps/common/Baldur's Gate 3. The English.pak file is not necessary, but it fixes some typos in dialogue and changes the names of certain NPCs (like female guards turned male).

MOD FILE:https://f.rpghq.org/aMFjPfwdkv8h.zip

Dwarves of Faerûn

If you are like me, I trust you made a double-take or two at the sheer number of shaved Dwarves wandering around the city as if they were not by their very presence in public bringing great and lasting shame on their ancestors. Babyface Dwarves? This mod addresses this scandalous situation. With this mod installed, most of the male Dwarves you encounter across Baldur's Gate will now be sporting big, bushy beards, as one would expect of the Dwarves across Faerûn and other fantasy worlds.

In addition, fans new to Dungeons & Dragons and Faerûn may not know that the Duergar (or "Grey Dwarves") are famous for being almost universally bald - both men and women! And while the team at Larian largely kept true to this vision, there were still plenty of Duergar sporting voluminous manes of bouncy, breezy hair. Simply unacceptable! Most of the Duergar you encounter in the Underdark (and elsewhere) will now be bald.

Githyanki of the Astral Planes

I've made some other less noticeable changes, such as reducing the amount of beards on Githyanki men (according to the lore, Githyanki men have sparse facial hair) and reducing the amount of normal hairstyles among Githyanki, in general - topknots and fauxhawks abound!

People From Far-Away Lands

First she's from Kara-Tur! Then, she's from Chult! Now, she's a Baldurian.

There will also be decidedly fewer people who look like they are from Chult (the southern jungles) or Kara-Tur (basically China). Baldur's Gate may be a trading metropolis, but the Sword Coast is still largely a Renaissance + Magic level of technology. There is no ubiquitous and cheap international travel to bring all of these people here. While they have not been removed entirely, you will certainly see fewer of them.

Figaro actually looks like he could be named "Figaro," now.

Ulthred now looks like an "Ulthred."

Jeorna the Druid no longer sticks out like a sore thumb.

Thadwick as a proper Dwarf.

And there are many other changed NPCs that you will notice! There will also be fewer pink-haired Half-Orcs.

Going forward, I've had several people suggest that I make Drows darker. I was expecting that Starfield would distract me, but right now that game is... not getting great reviews. So, who knows! Maybe I'll come back and make the Dark Elves look like they were supposed to in older editions of D&D.

Have you considered a mod to replace the body type with male/female again? That is the only woke content left after this mod...

[beerhazzzard]

Thank you very much for this utterly phenomenal mod!

There is also a laughable amount of gay marriage, it seems that every other character is in a same sex relationship - clearly performative.

Nothing wrong with positive representation and inclusion but at rates resembling real life please, Larian?

[Acrux]

Nothing wrong with positive representation and inclusion but at rates resembling real life please, Larian?

Leave now and never return.

[rusty_shackleford]

Nothing wrong with positive representation and inclusion but at rates resembling real life please, Larian?

Leave now and never return.

This forum is a melting pot of friendship.

[Luckmann]

Nothing wrong with positive representation and inclusion but at rates resembling real life please, Larian?

Leave now and never return.

This forum is a melting pot of friendship.

This but unironically.

[likerasapdisgaea]

Thank you very much for this utterly phenomenal mod!

There is also a laughable amount of gay marriage, it seems that every other character is in a same sex relationship - clearly performative.

Nothing wrong with positive representation and inclusion but at rates resembling real life please, Larian?

Yeah realistic proportions would be better but im fine with none too. The less degeneracy the better imo.
The Aasimar's entire questline is that she is gay. Isobel too. Everytime something crazy happens in camp I go to isobel to see what she thought and all she says is gay stuff. It's almost like she has no personality after lastlight.

[Shillitron]

Yeah realistic proportions would be better but im fine with none too. The less degeneracy the better imo.
The Aasimar's entire questline is that she is gay. Isobel too. Everytime something crazy happens in camp I go to isobel to see what she thought and all she says is gay stuff. It's almost like she has no personality after lastlight.

> Lesbians with shallow identities that don't stretch beyond their sexual orientation

Sounds pretty immersive and accurate to me.

[Shillitron]

Hi

Came across this mod and it seemed too good to be true. I extracted the mod folder into the data folder and it didn't work. I believe this may have something to do with the latest hotfix for the game or perhaps i'm doing something wrong.

Also, i'm wondering if this mod changes the appearance of Wyll and the black elf and black human male at the grove?

Is this your only mod?
You need to have the "Mod fixer" thing from Nexus I believe.

[Luckmann]

Came across this mod and it seemed too good to be true. I extracted the mod folder into the data folder and it didn't work. I believe this may have something to do with the latest hotfix for the game or perhaps i'm doing something wrong.

Make sure you've extracted it properly and that it's gone into the right subfolders. The game should not be able to deny loose data files, as they directly overwrite the .pak-files.

Also, i'm wondering if this mod changes the appearance of Wyll and the black elf and black human male at the grove?

I can confirm that it does not. Rath "Big Nig" Druidsson and Wyll "Ayyshiieet" Ravengard are not changed by this mod.

Is this your only mod?
You need to have the "Mod fixer" thing from Nexus I believe.

Should not be necessary for loose mods. After Patch 2 it shouldn't be necessary at all but I've seen some conflict reports and I haven't been able to try Patch 2 yet myself.

[J1M]

Thank you very much for this utterly phenomenal mod!

There is also a laughable amount of gay marriage, it seems that every other character is in a same sex relationship - clearly performative.

Nothing wrong with positive representation and inclusion but at rates resembling real life please, Larian?

Yeah realistic proportions would be better but im fine with none too. The less degeneracy the better imo.
The Aasimar's entire questline is that she is gay. Isobel too. Everytime something crazy happens in camp I go to isobel to see what she thought and all she says is gay stuff. It's almost like she has no personality after lastlight.

Because you are supposed to poke her with the spear.

[SniperChris]

Thank you very much for this utterly phenomenal mod!

There is also a laughable amount of gay marriage, it seems that every other character is in a same sex relationship - clearly performative.

Nothing wrong with positive representation and inclusion but at rates resembling real life please, Larian?

Hi! Thank you for your comments. I appreciate it.

Removing all of the sexual content was originally one of my goals with the mod. Unfortunately, editing the dialogue/cut scenes is more difficult than changing the characters' appearances, and I wanted to get this mod out before Starfield launched (foolishly assuming Starfield would be worth playing). I was almost successful in removing Dame Aylin's entire over-the-top speech after Act II - the entire cutscene was disappeared - but it caused a CTD when you got to the player's dialogue choices. However, based on the partial success I had, I assume that it is definitely possible to remove/edit cutscenes.

I have, however, edited the two sexual writings in the game that I found. Frankly, if I had my dithers, I'd remove the entire Balduran Plotline, as it is full of plot holes and retcons and undercuts the Emperor's story.

Hi

Came across this mod and it seemed too good to be true. I extracted the mod folder into the data folder and it didn't work. I believe this may have something to do with the latest hotfix for the game or perhaps i'm doing something wrong.

Also, i'm wondering if this mod changes the appearance of Wyll and the black elf and black human male at the grove?

The mod instructions are very simple - just make sure that you've extracted the contents of the .zip directly into the Data folder.

The mod does not make changes to Wyll and Rath. The goal was to give Baldur's Gate more lore-friendly demographics, not whitewash the game. I also did not want to run afoul of established characters. Ulder Ravengard has been portrayed as a black man in the D&D sourcebooks, so it only stands to reason that his son, Wyll, would also be black.

[Rand]

The mod does not make changes to Wyll and Rath. The goal was to give Baldur's Gate more lore-friendly and realistic demographics, not whitewash the game. I also did not want to run afoul of established characters. Ulder Ravengard has been portrayed as a black man in the D&D sourcebooks, so it only stands to reason that his son, Wyll, would also be black.

Yeah, but these are WOTC sourcebooks, are they not?
You know, the same people that deliberately turned Aragorn and Eowyn black and Gandalf into an oriental...

Who cares about their ******** corrupt politically motivated "lore"?

Baldur's gate for the Baldurians!
(Seriously, much respect for the mod, though. I'm just bitching here.)

[SniperChris]

@Rand, Ulder Ravengard is an original character to 5e.

[ABK1997]

Hi

The mod is working for me now. Not sure why it didn't before but probably an error on my part. Thank you for your excellent work.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that you missed a few characters. Do you plan on updating this mod in the future? Of course, its entirely dependant on you and your schedule/willingness to do so as you have already done an excellent job with it.

Thank you again.

[ArthoRa]

Thank you for your mod from Russian community. It is a really shame that Nexus sunk so low

[Slavic Sorcerer]

On one hand. I want better aesthetic
On the other, killing blacks is much more amusing

Cant decide, but hey - at least the dwarves have beards they always should've had
Not every dwarf is Varrick from Dragon Age. Shaving off his beard was what made him unique among dwarves

[FloSharChosen]

I created an account just to thank you for this incredible work. I had started something of this nature on my own, but in a much more modest way.

You've done a great job of restoring this universe to its coherent Western roots - here, we're in the Forgotten Realms and not in its distorted woke version.

Dwarves are Dwarves and Humans are not systematically non-white in order to follow a forced political agenda.

The universe is coherent and rooted, thank you.

I have two comments, however:

1/ Is it possible to modify portraits that continue to display the old appearance?

2/ A Druid in the first circle of EMERAUDE is of "African" type, is this deliberate?

[SniperChris]

@ABK1997, the mod is not meant to be a whitewash mod. It is meant to make the world look closer to the Forgotten Realms. I am not trying to eliminate all non-white characters.

@ArthoRa, thank you so much. And it is a pity. I knew it was over when they removed the mod to take the sexual degeneracy flag out of Spider-Man. Had to do it myself.

@Slavic Sorcerer, even Varrick annoys me tbh.

@FloSharChosen, thank you! As I said above, the goal is not to whitewash the game; just make it better. With regard to Rath the Druid, his voice seems very black to me, and it felt odd when I toyed with making him a white man. It is possible to modify the portraits - I just don't know how. I know it's possible because the game generates a new portrait for the player after Character Creation, and the portraits have their own section in the files indicated what goes into the portrait. For example: 6a36a641-3438-e44a-fe56-860ed9dfa6f3-_(Icon_Human_Male).

[Slavic Sorcerer]

even Varrick annoys me tbh.

That's what also makes him unique, unfortunately

[FloSharChosen]

@FloSharChosen, thank you! As I said above, the goal is not to whitewash the game; just make it better. With regard to Rath the Druid, his voice seems very black to me, and it felt odd when I toyed with making him a white man. It is possible to modify the portraits - I just don't know how. I know it's possible because the game generates a new portrait for the player after Character Creation, and the portraits have their own section in the files indicated what goes into the portrait. For example: 6a36a641-3438-e44a-fe56-860ed9dfa6f3-_(Icon_Human_Male).

I totally agree with the philosophy of your mod but the initial situation is more like blackah to be rebalanced, especially on humans. So I was wondering if there was a roleplay reason for this Emerald Circle Druid.

I'm in Act 2, but I know that Cazador has an absolutely absurd appearance (Asian elf vampire). Have you corrected this?

I've also noticed that the Flaming Fist patrol during the Red Dragon attack cinematic next to the Waukenne Inn is particularly "inclusive".

Changing the portraits would really be a major improvement for your mod.

Thanks again for your hard work, which I really appreciate.

[Ryoohki]

Thank you, good sir! You are the best!