Baldur's Gate 3 writer says it's important to put some of yourself into your characters, "and I never feel more seen than when Astarion is being a giant dumbass"
Jan. 12, 2024Stephen Rooney made the vampire feel a little more human
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ABaldur’s Gate 3writer has said it’s important to put some of yourself into the characters you’re writing, and that they most relate to Astarion when he’s “being a giant dumbass.”
Stephen Rooney, senior writer at Larian Studios, took to Twitter this week to share an insight into what it’s like writing for everyone’s favorite vampire. Rooney’s advice was posted alongside a Baldur’s Gate 3 fan’s tweet which features the caption: “Astarion Ancunín, 2 seconds after doing a big fat disapprove of freeing the pixie,” and a screenshot of the character saying: “A pixie! An honest-to-God, pixie.”
“It’s important to put some of yourself into the characters you write,” Rooney responded, “and I never feel more seen than when Astarion is being a giant dumbass.” The Baldur’s Gate 3 writer probably isn’t the only one able to relate to Astarion.
For what it’s worth, Astarion’s fans seem to like him this way. In the replies to Rooney’s tweet, several Baldur’s Gate 3 players have responded, sharing that they love this about the character. “His brain has a few smooth spots and I adore him for that,” one user replied. “He’s not a details guy,” said another. “Thank you for writing him like a manager that doesn’t know what’s going on in his department,” another adds.
Others have shared their favorite Astarion being a “giant dumbass” moment, like the Twitter user above who shared a screenshot taken from the game after the companion helped to steal the Orphic hammer. “Actually, I’m not really clear on what we have to do, but I assume we’re smashing something,” Astarion says in the scene. It’s nice to know that even a 239-year-old virtual vampire has some human elements to him, thanks to Rooney’s writing technique.
In case you missed it, two of the people responsible for bringing Astarion to life, Rooney and the character’s voice actor Neil Newbon, actuallymet a few months agoand it was unbelievably wholesome.
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After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I’m also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.
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