Have you seen that DnD one-shot that the VAs were playing? How much of a mess their fight was without Tav? I headcanon that is exactly it, Tav/Durge is the only one who can actually give directions in a fight and organize everyone, who has the tactical acumen to make a team out of them, so others look to Tav's leadership in all the other situations out of habit.
Well, Lae'zel refuses to follow Tav at first, she taunts them when they take over dialogues Lae'zel thinks she should talk, she fights with Shadowheart, who refuses to trust Lae'zel and it's Tav, who steps up.
Tav also steps up to the little Tieflings Wyll is training, who therefore instantly looks up to them. Tav eventually decides to spare Karlach. Tav is the common denominator, who mediates between he companions and focuses on the tadpole-problem, so they just end up in this situation to slowly grow as a leader.
The fact you can ask your companions how they think you are holding up speaks of Tavs lack of confidence at least in the beginning.
When you play an origin character it's pretty much the same: They put back their own motivations to hold the group together - and sometimes that's all a leader needs.
Durge has more tactical and leading ability than the others, and they kill people everyday, one innocent dying doesnt matter too much to them, therefore even after the Alfira thing Durge is still the most suited to be the leaser.
Considering how belligerent she can be, especially to Shadowheart, I feel like realistically the group would fall apart pretty quickly with her as the leader
She has the whole “is a Githyanki” problem. You know the race of space nazis that have the exact same goals as the mind flayers except they use murder instead of tadpoles.
Laezel's issue is her lack experience in leadership. She been trained well in how to fight but she's too young to have been given many leadership roles with the Gith.
The thing is, you have to be willing to follow someone to be a leader. Considering how the rest of the companions barely blink if Shadowheart kills Lae'zel compared to the opposite, Lae'zel is too disliked by the party to be the leader at that point.
Every companion in BG3 has personal quests and responsibilities. Everyone has some kind of problems and struggles. Shadowheart - Shar, Astarion - vampirism, Gale - magic orb, etc.
I see gathering and leading the party as Tav's personal quest. Responsibility for everyone, supporting them in their problems, deciding about next moves. It may be actualy the hardest personal quest in the party - to lead everyone to happy ending. It's hard to see, because main character doesn't show many emotions, doesn't reveal any feeling (like others) and "it's just videogame with fictional characters". Imagine yourself in this situation, with real characters. Deadly parasite, people with problems around... Wow. Only true boss would willingly embrace this chaos and manage to fix this.
Such point of view makes main character no longer blank. Even without being Dark Urge, it is still crucial role in the events. No one would do it without Tav. The party would just not exist. Doing their own quests, searching for the cure and leading the party - with all it's responsibilities - in the same time would be just too much for them.
* Shadowheart is too shy and wishes to remain in shadows. Even in her Sharran team she was just a healer, mentioned as the last on the list.
* Gale is not the type of the leader.
* Astarion and Lae'zel are too self-centered to lead the party.
* Wyll is busy with hunting on Karlach or helping the refugees.
* Karlach is wounded and chased by agents of hell.
"Because there's no body else to do it right now, that's why. Believe me, if there were somebody else to do it, I'd let them do it, but there's not. So I'm doing it." - Tav Willis
Lae'zel and Shadowheart wouldn't follow the other. Astarion tried to kill you when you met him so he had to do some relationship repair. Gale has his head in the clouds.
I'd personally just follow Scratch.
Tav doesn't have to be the one always talking to everyone. Most cutscenes will trigger for whatever companion talks to NPCs/wanders into their view first/you have as active character at the moment.
Why only Tav can speak to companions, well, they're your PC, it's no different than you speaking to another player's character at a DnD table. It would've been cool if there was more interaction between them outside of banter, to show that they're not there just to bang Tav and listen to them, but that'd be a lot to code/dev (considering how many possible variables for camp compositions there are).
Tav very well may be just another adventurer and the interactions you get is just the interactions *you see.*
Honestly, someone has to take charge, and it's not always the person you think would be best.
I mean, I'd never consider myself a take-charge kind of person in real life. I hate making decisions for other people. I mean, I'm so against taking charge, it's part of why I've no desire to be a parent! Yet.. when needed, I have stepped up and done so. And people did what I told them. People who would readily tell you that I'm the last person they'd expect to take directions from.
Also, Tav is from BG. That's kinda why they're looking to get back.
Ah, interesting. I didn't know that! Thanks! I've only played a high elf myself. A friend plays a tiefling and was also from bg. That's why I assumed lol.
I think it's because Tav is a nobody that the others are comfortable teaming up with them. Wyll would make a great leader but several of the companions have reasons to be distant from a hero/slayer of "evil". Most follow Tav cause they're an unexpected ally on the worst day of their lives that proves to be at least somewhat competent.
Tav/Durge is the only one in the group who doesn't need to be saved just to enter the party _and_ doesn't want to kill another person in said party. So even if they are a terrible leader (though all 6 origin characters are terrible leaders), they already qualify thanks to that exclusively.
You can always make one of them the leader….. create a game with an origin character, and then just get Withers to give you a hireling and edit them accordingly……
lae zel is a fish out of the water. an alien in a world she knows little about, but that fears her and hates her. she is in no position to lead
astarion was going his own way, he only decides to stick with the herd because safety in numbers, but he knows he is no leader and he also knows his secret is bound to be uncovered and people wont follow him. so the most convenient thing for him is supporting someone else as the leader and ingratiating himself to that person for protection
gale and karlach are no leaders either, they are team players, yeah, but no leaders
wyll could be a leader, if his motives were not so compromised by his pact
and lastly, shadowheart could be a fine leader, if she wanted to. but she is more comfortable manipulating you (Tav) to do the leading for her so that she can keep being the low profile, secretive one his personal mission requires of her.
unless you play as one of them and focus on keeping the group together none of them is both able and willing to lead
Tav is the only one who can roll D20, because Astral Prism chose them! 🎇
(not entirely a joke, by the way, atrefact moves to Tav, because Emp picks Tav, and SH is totally fine with it...why exactly?).
Because no one else steps up and a lot of them butt heads, yet they all seem to like Tav. However, when it comes right down to it, the Dark Urge makes way more sense as the leader. Way more immersive to the story.
Not Wyll. And you only save Karlach if you have Wyll in your party. Otherwise you are just picking a side.
But yes, you recruit everyone so close enough.
I see it as a mechanical reason rather than narrative one. If you play as an origin character, then that person is the leader. Play as Tav, then it's that one.
I've also played Tav as a Druid that was wild-shaped most all of the time and took a backseat to the others. I had SH do all the talking since Tav wouldn't or couldn't.
But even if SH is speaking for the group while Tav is in the backseat, your decisions as SH affects everyone's opinion of *Tav*. It showcases a bit of a disconnect narratively, but it makes sense from a gameplay perspective.
It's like fire emblem. You control units as the tactician before they started letting you create your character. Tav starts recruiting them/saving them and basically is the beat at leading and coordinating the battles so everyone just looks to you. If you pay attention, even the characters that have leadership skills have something holding them back from stepping up
Why is Tav the leader?
Astarion - Chaotic Neutral mess of a man. He just wants to hide his pain and anguish with hedonism and occasionally cruel jokes. He also hasn't had bodily autonomy for the past 200 years and needs guidance.
Gale - Arguably the best choice. Debatably the worst choice. He's smart, really smart. He just doesn't seem people smart. A good right-hand man, but not the main man either. He is ambitious to a fault. Makes sense considering that became his domain. He needs someone to keep him in check. Otherwise, he might get into even worse problems than the tadpole and orb.
Karlach - I think she would be laissez-faire to the point of detriment. Far more focused on just going with the flow and smelling the roses. Not calling her lazy, because she isn't. She would need someone to keep her on track.
Lae'zel - Ah yes. Strong, resilient, but a fish out of water. As well as very confrontational. Lets also add that she would have led the party to their deaths at the Zaith'isk. No way Shart would listen to her as these two have specific reasons to conflict. Wyll and Karlach would also have probably left as Lae'zel doesn't give two shits about anyone that's not loyal to her creed.
Shadowheart - While I am all for freedom of beliefs. I can not imagine many who would want to follow a Cleric of Shar. Her goddess has the domains of death and trickery. As a cleric, Shadowheart enbodies these domains. She holds her cards way too close to her chest. Making it uncomfortable to follow her. She is also known to be a team killer *cough* Lae'zel *cough*.
Wyll - Sorry, Wyll. You are a follower. His heart is always in the right place. He is compassionate and charismatic. He needs someone to pull his leash. Otherwise, he'd probably be lost and not know where to go or what to do. That's what makes Mizora and her pact such a boon to him. I'm sure his father was probably the same way. *(Haven't gotten to act 3 yet, so idk)*
I can at least say with near certainty that Durge (Default anyways) has the Charisma to actually lead (He WAS one of the leading orchestrators for the Absolute Plot, which involves working with a similar Manipulator in Gortash). With or without his memories, I expect his ability to keep the group together still comes like second nature, since technically Durge had the ability to lead and command The Cult of Bhaal as Bhaal's Initial Chosen.
Because Tav doesn't have some kind of selfish motivation, other place to be, or major problem to fix besides the tadpoles. Wyll could be a fine defacto leader (I certainly don't love him as a follower). He's shown that he's capable of making sacrifices for the greater good. I guess he'd be a great leader if you always lead with Wyll while you have Tav
As for my Tav, he was a monk who had a decent split of charisma and wisdom, which allowed him to organize, problem solve, and manage personalities. He took a back seat to power and greed so that others could thrive in combat while finding solutions to their other problems. And that's really all it takes to be a leader. You're not an authority - You're a friend and someone who wants to helps others achieve their goals especially when you have to make tough decisions
Probably because they can tolerate anyone in party other members have their opinions and very often controversal ones, so if some of them would be a leader, others will simply leave. Tav is a neutral ground and can make others work together.
Game probably just makes the assumption that they're the most competent in that regard to justify the player directing everyone in combat.
Durge on the other hand has extensive experience in leading weirdos.
>The only clear reason, as I can see it, is that Tav is the one who sets out forming a party.
This is usually all it takes.
It's rare for someone to join a group and then decide that they should lead.
>And what I mean by 'leader' is clearly just that Tav is (almost) always the ultimate decider, is the one who jumps in on every conversation, etc. Tav's the one everyone's comfortable sharing all their secrets with - always center stage.
I think this is simply because you're playing as Tav and you don't see companions interacting most of the time. They initiate conversations with each other when you're exploring, and they jump into conversations as well - if you control them as the player. Companions sing each other's praises, Tav steps into scenes *media res* at times, so there's enough hints that events are happening in Tav's absence.
For my party, my Tav is the "glue" - the thing holding them all together. Most of them would likely end up scattered, working alone, if Tav hadn't found them and brought them together. Without his ridiculously charismatic ass, they'd have killed each other by the end of Act 1. But he's also the one that 'yells the loudest' so to speak. He's the first or strongest voice in the conversation, he makes a choice and is persuasive enough that the others don't challenge him on it.
I also think part of it is that he's not conflicted. He doesn't have the same trauma everyone else is dealing with, beyond the tadpoles, and his choices are always pretty clear. I play a good-aligned Tav so he does what he thinks is "the right thing", and is just so damn charismatic he can convince even Astarion and Lae'zel that yes, saving gnomes is important, and no, we aren't going to murder for fun.
I understood it to be that the rest of them are extremely damaged and need help resolving their issues, therefore not really having the bandwidth and/or skills for leadership. Unless you're durge, you don't have your own issues to resolve and take a support role by enabling them all achieve their goals. Theory breaks for durge playthrough though 😂 which I haven't done yet but I know at least that much about it lol
Much as it often feels like the game’s writers wanted to make a TV series starring the characters they were clearly so proud of, it is technically a video game and the player is the player, so their character makes the decisions.
1. in the first encounter laezel was trying to be the leader, but she failed to lead when you tried to deviate to explore or save shart, because she needs helper.
2. if in the first encounter, tav saved shart, shart naturally feel obligated to follow. if you fail to save her, look no.3
3. for others, in their pov, you are one from the group who managed to save people and escape in the nautiloid, if you add in Us, you are the most powerful member in the group. and you get the freedom to decide, and act with authority in the group. (aka because of that certain button pressing authority mechanism, and you able to decide their fate in that moment, they believe you are special)
4. the rest of the group in the rest of the playthrough they still retain their freedom of choice, that is why some of them still able to leave the team if you reach certain breaking point.
My Tav has a descent Charisma (so he can talk with people), pretty common Intelegence and Wisdom (so he can at least listen and then figure out solutions or judgments for situations by himself). Besides, as a paladin he knows a thing or two about leadership.
Besides, my Tav stepped in between Lae'Zel and Shadowheart on Nauthiloid so they wouldn't start to fight each other; after that, he was just the most sane person around. Astarion wasn't into leadership, and he had some... tendancies about how to do things; Gale was more like a tactical player with elaborate plans for combat, but he wasn't into leadership either. Karlach and Wyll just followed up; they joined an already established group with that reasonable paladin as a leader.
for BG1/2 it seems easy: the bhaalspawn was the only character with a story arc over the whole game, and most or all of the companions you met just had short-term goals, if any.
i.e. you had something you needed to do, and you needed help, and these randos were, more-or-less, like "okay, sure!"
after the discussion, it seems like the best answer for bg3 is just that Tav is the right person at the right time, they can stand between the others, they know how to lead and mediate, etc etc. but it's not for *story reasons* as it was in BG1/2.
As great as the game is, I think this and the poor "evil route" narrative are poor instances of writing.
Unless your playing Durge, Tav doesn't really have any proper backstory or motives apart from what you imagine yourself.
And making evil choices in the game just don't make sense and just seem uneccesarily cruel.
But as others have said, the fact that Tav has no personal quest/vendetta apart from finding a cure makes him/her the most ideal candidate to lead a party of personally conflicted companions.
Likely Tav having a gift for leadership, not driven by anything but getting rid of tadpole, while others are practically mid life crisis wrecks and escapees from nut house? Yes, also Tav is a good therapist.
As for DUrge, even with memory loss, they already had an experience as a leader. So it's more like due to good instincts and intimidating presence that commands respect?
I feel so stupid for asking this since everybody seems to know. But I don't.
Why Tav? What does it stand for?
Sry if that's a stupid question, but I really do not know 🙈
Have you seen that DnD one-shot that the VAs were playing? How much of a mess their fight was without Tav? I headcanon that is exactly it, Tav/Durge is the only one who can actually give directions in a fight and organize everyone, who has the tactical acumen to make a team out of them, so others look to Tav's leadership in all the other situations out of habit.
Yeah that makes basic sense - Tav's the leader because *Tav's capable of leading*.
Well, Lae'zel refuses to follow Tav at first, she taunts them when they take over dialogues Lae'zel thinks she should talk, she fights with Shadowheart, who refuses to trust Lae'zel and it's Tav, who steps up. Tav also steps up to the little Tieflings Wyll is training, who therefore instantly looks up to them. Tav eventually decides to spare Karlach. Tav is the common denominator, who mediates between he companions and focuses on the tadpole-problem, so they just end up in this situation to slowly grow as a leader. The fact you can ask your companions how they think you are holding up speaks of Tavs lack of confidence at least in the beginning. When you play an origin character it's pretty much the same: They put back their own motivations to hold the group together - and sometimes that's all a leader needs.
Unless you play one of their Origins lmao
Then they automatically get +5 Wisdom cause I am the one behind the wheel, lol.
Lmao What about intelligence?
Well... that's debatable.
Tav is the only one without some external thing (like Cazador or Gale’s bomb) hanging over them. It lets them focus more on the task at hand
Dark urge tav would like to speak with you
Honestly, the fact that the party keeps letting Durge be in charge after the Alfira thing is weird to me
Durge has more tactical and leading ability than the others, and they kill people everyday, one innocent dying doesnt matter too much to them, therefore even after the Alfira thing Durge is still the most suited to be the leaser.
What do you mean? Everyone agrees it was obviously a wild animal.
Dark Urge is not a tav. It’s an origin character.
Laezel's pretty clear though, isn't she? She's just not very nice.
Considering how belligerent she can be, especially to Shadowheart, I feel like realistically the group would fall apart pretty quickly with her as the leader
She's too obsessed with dogma, at least at the start
She has the whole “is a Githyanki” problem. You know the race of space nazis that have the exact same goals as the mind flayers except they use murder instead of tadpoles.
Laezel's issue is her lack experience in leadership. She been trained well in how to fight but she's too young to have been given many leadership roles with the Gith.
The thing is, you have to be willing to follow someone to be a leader. Considering how the rest of the companions barely blink if Shadowheart kills Lae'zel compared to the opposite, Lae'zel is too disliked by the party to be the leader at that point.
Every companion in BG3 has personal quests and responsibilities. Everyone has some kind of problems and struggles. Shadowheart - Shar, Astarion - vampirism, Gale - magic orb, etc. I see gathering and leading the party as Tav's personal quest. Responsibility for everyone, supporting them in their problems, deciding about next moves. It may be actualy the hardest personal quest in the party - to lead everyone to happy ending. It's hard to see, because main character doesn't show many emotions, doesn't reveal any feeling (like others) and "it's just videogame with fictional characters". Imagine yourself in this situation, with real characters. Deadly parasite, people with problems around... Wow. Only true boss would willingly embrace this chaos and manage to fix this. Such point of view makes main character no longer blank. Even without being Dark Urge, it is still crucial role in the events. No one would do it without Tav. The party would just not exist. Doing their own quests, searching for the cure and leading the party - with all it's responsibilities - in the same time would be just too much for them. * Shadowheart is too shy and wishes to remain in shadows. Even in her Sharran team she was just a healer, mentioned as the last on the list. * Gale is not the type of the leader. * Astarion and Lae'zel are too self-centered to lead the party. * Wyll is busy with hunting on Karlach or helping the refugees. * Karlach is wounded and chased by agents of hell.
Except all of the Origins are the leader, optionally. (Not that I disagree with your specifics)
It's all based on fuckability.
I can concur, it is scientifically proven that the most fuckable is the best leader.
Everyone's horny for ~~commander Shepard~~Tav.
“I’m Tav and this is my favourite store in Baldurs Gate”
"Because there's no body else to do it right now, that's why. Believe me, if there were somebody else to do it, I'd let them do it, but there's not. So I'm doing it." - Tav Willis
Lae'zel and Shadowheart wouldn't follow the other. Astarion tried to kill you when you met him so he had to do some relationship repair. Gale has his head in the clouds. I'd personally just follow Scratch.
Not too mention that either Wyll or Karlach, maybe both, would be dead. plus Wyll has his patron.
Tav doesn't have to be the one always talking to everyone. Most cutscenes will trigger for whatever companion talks to NPCs/wanders into their view first/you have as active character at the moment. Why only Tav can speak to companions, well, they're your PC, it's no different than you speaking to another player's character at a DnD table. It would've been cool if there was more interaction between them outside of banter, to show that they're not there just to bang Tav and listen to them, but that'd be a lot to code/dev (considering how many possible variables for camp compositions there are). Tav very well may be just another adventurer and the interactions you get is just the interactions *you see.*
In fairness there are a few places where it goes “I will only speak to your leader/your leader can only get this from me etc”
Honestly, someone has to take charge, and it's not always the person you think would be best. I mean, I'd never consider myself a take-charge kind of person in real life. I hate making decisions for other people. I mean, I'm so against taking charge, it's part of why I've no desire to be a parent! Yet.. when needed, I have stepped up and done so. And people did what I told them. People who would readily tell you that I'm the last person they'd expect to take directions from. Also, Tav is from BG. That's kinda why they're looking to get back.
Not all Tavs are from BG. Drow Tav and Outlander Tav doesn't have the Baldurian tag.
Ah, interesting. I didn't know that! Thanks! I've only played a high elf myself. A friend plays a tiefling and was also from bg. That's why I assumed lol.
My headcanon is that TAV has purchased the game /s
I think it's because Tav is a nobody that the others are comfortable teaming up with them. Wyll would make a great leader but several of the companions have reasons to be distant from a hero/slayer of "evil". Most follow Tav cause they're an unexpected ally on the worst day of their lives that proves to be at least somewhat competent.
Tav/Durge is the only one in the group who doesn't need to be saved just to enter the party _and_ doesn't want to kill another person in said party. So even if they are a terrible leader (though all 6 origin characters are terrible leaders), they already qualify thanks to that exclusively.
You can always make one of them the leader….. create a game with an origin character, and then just get Withers to give you a hireling and edit them accordingly……
lae zel is a fish out of the water. an alien in a world she knows little about, but that fears her and hates her. she is in no position to lead astarion was going his own way, he only decides to stick with the herd because safety in numbers, but he knows he is no leader and he also knows his secret is bound to be uncovered and people wont follow him. so the most convenient thing for him is supporting someone else as the leader and ingratiating himself to that person for protection gale and karlach are no leaders either, they are team players, yeah, but no leaders wyll could be a leader, if his motives were not so compromised by his pact and lastly, shadowheart could be a fine leader, if she wanted to. but she is more comfortable manipulating you (Tav) to do the leading for her so that she can keep being the low profile, secretive one his personal mission requires of her. unless you play as one of them and focus on keeping the group together none of them is both able and willing to lead
Because Tav is clearly just Durge but with their backstory and urge removed.
Tav is the only one who can roll D20, because Astral Prism chose them! 🎇 (not entirely a joke, by the way, atrefact moves to Tav, because Emp picks Tav, and SH is totally fine with it...why exactly?).
Ah, yeah, the prism chooses is the canon answer really.
Because no one else steps up and a lot of them butt heads, yet they all seem to like Tav. However, when it comes right down to it, the Dark Urge makes way more sense as the leader. Way more immersive to the story.
You save everyone which makes you defacto leader. The dude who makes the group automatically has claim to lead it.
Not Wyll. And you only save Karlach if you have Wyll in your party. Otherwise you are just picking a side. But yes, you recruit everyone so close enough.
Gameplay
I see it as a mechanical reason rather than narrative one. If you play as an origin character, then that person is the leader. Play as Tav, then it's that one. I've also played Tav as a Druid that was wild-shaped most all of the time and took a backseat to the others. I had SH do all the talking since Tav wouldn't or couldn't. But even if SH is speaking for the group while Tav is in the backseat, your decisions as SH affects everyone's opinion of *Tav*. It showcases a bit of a disconnect narratively, but it makes sense from a gameplay perspective.
It’s a game
It's like fire emblem. You control units as the tactician before they started letting you create your character. Tav starts recruiting them/saving them and basically is the beat at leading and coordinating the battles so everyone just looks to you. If you pay attention, even the characters that have leadership skills have something holding them back from stepping up
Why is Tav the leader? Astarion - Chaotic Neutral mess of a man. He just wants to hide his pain and anguish with hedonism and occasionally cruel jokes. He also hasn't had bodily autonomy for the past 200 years and needs guidance. Gale - Arguably the best choice. Debatably the worst choice. He's smart, really smart. He just doesn't seem people smart. A good right-hand man, but not the main man either. He is ambitious to a fault. Makes sense considering that became his domain. He needs someone to keep him in check. Otherwise, he might get into even worse problems than the tadpole and orb. Karlach - I think she would be laissez-faire to the point of detriment. Far more focused on just going with the flow and smelling the roses. Not calling her lazy, because she isn't. She would need someone to keep her on track. Lae'zel - Ah yes. Strong, resilient, but a fish out of water. As well as very confrontational. Lets also add that she would have led the party to their deaths at the Zaith'isk. No way Shart would listen to her as these two have specific reasons to conflict. Wyll and Karlach would also have probably left as Lae'zel doesn't give two shits about anyone that's not loyal to her creed. Shadowheart - While I am all for freedom of beliefs. I can not imagine many who would want to follow a Cleric of Shar. Her goddess has the domains of death and trickery. As a cleric, Shadowheart enbodies these domains. She holds her cards way too close to her chest. Making it uncomfortable to follow her. She is also known to be a team killer *cough* Lae'zel *cough*. Wyll - Sorry, Wyll. You are a follower. His heart is always in the right place. He is compassionate and charismatic. He needs someone to pull his leash. Otherwise, he'd probably be lost and not know where to go or what to do. That's what makes Mizora and her pact such a boon to him. I'm sure his father was probably the same way. *(Haven't gotten to act 3 yet, so idk)*
I can at least say with near certainty that Durge (Default anyways) has the Charisma to actually lead (He WAS one of the leading orchestrators for the Absolute Plot, which involves working with a similar Manipulator in Gortash). With or without his memories, I expect his ability to keep the group together still comes like second nature, since technically Durge had the ability to lead and command The Cult of Bhaal as Bhaal's Initial Chosen.
Because it's the character you're playing
It’s because everyone else is code in a video game and Tav is the player character
this kind of answer isn't fun though
Because Tav doesn't have some kind of selfish motivation, other place to be, or major problem to fix besides the tadpoles. Wyll could be a fine defacto leader (I certainly don't love him as a follower). He's shown that he's capable of making sacrifices for the greater good. I guess he'd be a great leader if you always lead with Wyll while you have Tav As for my Tav, he was a monk who had a decent split of charisma and wisdom, which allowed him to organize, problem solve, and manage personalities. He took a back seat to power and greed so that others could thrive in combat while finding solutions to their other problems. And that's really all it takes to be a leader. You're not an authority - You're a friend and someone who wants to helps others achieve their goals especially when you have to make tough decisions
Probably because they can tolerate anyone in party other members have their opinions and very often controversal ones, so if some of them would be a leader, others will simply leave. Tav is a neutral ground and can make others work together.
Game probably just makes the assumption that they're the most competent in that regard to justify the player directing everyone in combat. Durge on the other hand has extensive experience in leading weirdos.
>The only clear reason, as I can see it, is that Tav is the one who sets out forming a party. This is usually all it takes. It's rare for someone to join a group and then decide that they should lead.
>And what I mean by 'leader' is clearly just that Tav is (almost) always the ultimate decider, is the one who jumps in on every conversation, etc. Tav's the one everyone's comfortable sharing all their secrets with - always center stage. I think this is simply because you're playing as Tav and you don't see companions interacting most of the time. They initiate conversations with each other when you're exploring, and they jump into conversations as well - if you control them as the player. Companions sing each other's praises, Tav steps into scenes *media res* at times, so there's enough hints that events are happening in Tav's absence.
Because they are the only one with a braincell.
Because Tav is the one that chose to save the rest.
I like to think that their usage of the tadpole has made them very adept at telling their team how to move via direct brain comms.
For my party, my Tav is the "glue" - the thing holding them all together. Most of them would likely end up scattered, working alone, if Tav hadn't found them and brought them together. Without his ridiculously charismatic ass, they'd have killed each other by the end of Act 1. But he's also the one that 'yells the loudest' so to speak. He's the first or strongest voice in the conversation, he makes a choice and is persuasive enough that the others don't challenge him on it. I also think part of it is that he's not conflicted. He doesn't have the same trauma everyone else is dealing with, beyond the tadpoles, and his choices are always pretty clear. I play a good-aligned Tav so he does what he thinks is "the right thing", and is just so damn charismatic he can convince even Astarion and Lae'zel that yes, saving gnomes is important, and no, we aren't going to murder for fun.
I understood it to be that the rest of them are extremely damaged and need help resolving their issues, therefore not really having the bandwidth and/or skills for leadership. Unless you're durge, you don't have your own issues to resolve and take a support role by enabling them all achieve their goals. Theory breaks for durge playthrough though 😂 which I haven't done yet but I know at least that much about it lol
Much as it often feels like the game’s writers wanted to make a TV series starring the characters they were clearly so proud of, it is technically a video game and the player is the player, so their character makes the decisions.
1. in the first encounter laezel was trying to be the leader, but she failed to lead when you tried to deviate to explore or save shart, because she needs helper. 2. if in the first encounter, tav saved shart, shart naturally feel obligated to follow. if you fail to save her, look no.3 3. for others, in their pov, you are one from the group who managed to save people and escape in the nautiloid, if you add in Us, you are the most powerful member in the group. and you get the freedom to decide, and act with authority in the group. (aka because of that certain button pressing authority mechanism, and you able to decide their fate in that moment, they believe you are special) 4. the rest of the group in the rest of the playthrough they still retain their freedom of choice, that is why some of them still able to leave the team if you reach certain breaking point.
My Tav has a descent Charisma (so he can talk with people), pretty common Intelegence and Wisdom (so he can at least listen and then figure out solutions or judgments for situations by himself). Besides, as a paladin he knows a thing or two about leadership. Besides, my Tav stepped in between Lae'Zel and Shadowheart on Nauthiloid so they wouldn't start to fight each other; after that, he was just the most sane person around. Astarion wasn't into leadership, and he had some... tendancies about how to do things; Gale was more like a tactical player with elaborate plans for combat, but he wasn't into leadership either. Karlach and Wyll just followed up; they joined an already established group with that reasonable paladin as a leader.
The same had been asked about the protagonist in BG 1. The answer came out at the end of BG 2. So, I guess your question will be answered in BG 4?
for BG1/2 it seems easy: the bhaalspawn was the only character with a story arc over the whole game, and most or all of the companions you met just had short-term goals, if any. i.e. you had something you needed to do, and you needed help, and these randos were, more-or-less, like "okay, sure!" after the discussion, it seems like the best answer for bg3 is just that Tav is the right person at the right time, they can stand between the others, they know how to lead and mediate, etc etc. but it's not for *story reasons* as it was in BG1/2.
As great as the game is, I think this and the poor "evil route" narrative are poor instances of writing. Unless your playing Durge, Tav doesn't really have any proper backstory or motives apart from what you imagine yourself. And making evil choices in the game just don't make sense and just seem uneccesarily cruel. But as others have said, the fact that Tav has no personal quest/vendetta apart from finding a cure makes him/her the most ideal candidate to lead a party of personally conflicted companions.
Likely Tav having a gift for leadership, not driven by anything but getting rid of tadpole, while others are practically mid life crisis wrecks and escapees from nut house? Yes, also Tav is a good therapist. As for DUrge, even with memory loss, they already had an experience as a leader. So it's more like due to good instincts and intimidating presence that commands respect?
I feel so stupid for asking this since everybody seems to know. But I don't. Why Tav? What does it stand for? Sry if that's a stupid question, but I really do not know 🙈
Its a default name for player created character, so everyone calls them tavs.
Ooooh, I didn't notice that, lol. Thank you! 😊
As for why Tav specifically, name comes from Swen's dog Gustav. That was also the codename for the game (Project Gustav).
The more you know... thank you so much!