Baldur's Gate 3 has a lovely tribute to one fan's father living with Alzheimer's

Baldur's Gate 3 features an NPC that, as it turns out, is actually a very lovely tribute to a fan's father living with Alzheimer's.

Back in 2020, when Baldur's Gate 3 was still in early access, a user by the name of Solfalia started a thread on developer Larian's forums thanking the developer for releasing the first act of the game even though the game wasn't finished yet. As Solfalia explained in the post, their father got them into gaming from a young age, having played "so many hours of Baldur's Gate 2 together." The two of them had been looking forward to Baldur's Gate 3, but unfortunately, Solfalia's father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, meaning the two of them would be able to play together that Christmas, even if the game wasn't finished yet.

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Now, three years on, Solfalia recently shared a new post in the forums thanking Larian for a different reason. The user explained that they did get to play with their father at Christmas, but "much later" they received an email from one of Larian's writers. Referring to the writer as "superwriter" for the sake of privacy, Solfalia explained that, "It turns out my message had resonated with quite a few of you, as many of us have experienced the struggle of a family member with Alzheimers or Dementia, and superwriter was e-mailing me to ask if I would be open to having something included in the game to honour my father…

"I obviously accepted, and we discussed some details on my father through e-mails. I told my Dad the following Christmas, as I wanted to make sure he knew before the disease progressed too far, and he was so happy he asked me to send a thank you to the team, complete with a picture of his goofy smiling face."

This particular NPC is called Golbraith Stredivas, a "mindflayer hunter of great renown" who is now retired, spending "his days writing - in the hopes of passing his knowledge on to future generations."

Solfalia continued to explain that "not only did Golbraith look like my father, but he had multiple lines of dialogue. Some really touching ones too (for me, at least). The different papers in the house were amazing, the stack of letters between Golbraith and his son put a lump in my throat. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't misty eyed."

At this point in time, Solfalia's father is now in a care home, so isn't able to play the game, but of course the player shared this all with his father. "He loved every moment of it. He loved the idea that his character has a monocle, and was proud his character has a secret cellar with weapons. He still talks about it from time to time during our weekly chats."

It's moments like these where it becomes quite clear why Baldur's Gate 3 became such a special one for people last year.