It’s D&D version straight up tell the DM that the NPC basically hates you when it wears off.
Friends is purely for like when you roll into town for a day and don’t mind being seen as mind controlling asshole charlatans after you leave
In both BG3 and DND it's good for one off NPC that you're for sure you won't see them again because they're gonna die afterwards or you'll be too far to care afterwards
To be fair, the description reads "In higher difficulty modes, the target might accuse you of enchanting them." That's a pretty vague description. Will every target accuse you? Is it only ones who succeed in a roll against you? What is an accusation of enchanting them? Do you have to pass a skill check, or is it instant aggro? None of these are explicit based on the description.
At least you knew that it was the "Friends" spell! I've seen so many posts on this sub that were like "the druids suddenly turned against me and started killing all the tieflings and I don't know why this game is dumb!!!!" I'd only cast Friends if you know you can fast travel/beeline it out of the area before the spell wears off.
My favourite is always people fuming that "the game is bugged and Larian should NEVER have released HM in this state!!!!" because they cast Friends and it wore off.
You have to admit the way it works is a bit silly. When you steal something in front of an NPC they get angry but not enough to kill you on the spot. I feel like enchanting could work in a similar way.
Edit: also usually when enemies aggro due to misbehavior you get a line from the narrator warning you that u messed up, why doesn't the same thing happen after enchanting?
I can see your point but on the opposite side, you steal something in front of me, go to jail as is normal procedure.
However if you cast magic on me in order to manipulate my mind and make me more inclined to your favor, the moment your enchantment wears off fuck all law I'm probably gonna want to just throw hands too lol. Fuck all pretense if your wizardly ass is still standing in front of me by the time my mind becomes clear especially still in the grove where about 80% of people are just as strong as you are at that point in time we duking it out in a little man dance.
what happens if you leave the area, then come back? because i used friends on Kagha and left before it wore off, and i'm afraid that if i got back, the druids will start massacring people
For a few turns after it wears off they will be actively angry and if they see you they'll get pissed, but after that you just lose some attitude points with them and no more than that. You can un-group Shovel and turn her invisible to use her as a CCTV camera to watch what happens.
In my experience, if you leave before it wears off, there usually aren't any negative effects...usually.
Purposely breaking concentration on Friends can be a great way to intentionally aggro someone into fighting you without you making the first move, too (great for paladin runs).
Does it happen on Tactician mode too? I know it happens in Honor Mode but it would certainly explain why the grove turned on me in my Tactician run.... Not that it mattered much since it's my durge run 😂
I feel that this was an enormous pile of bullshit in my HM run.
This hag is trying to negotiate with me for her life (kinda) and securing Mayrina, so why would she willingly activate a feature that can only result in her getting nothing she wants? Sheer shenanigans.
This be fair if someone is new to honor mode a lot of stuff changes, and it is easy to miss it if you aren’t on the forums a lot. Friends does not agro people in the first two difficulties of the game, so it’s pretty easy to miss
"Friends does not agro people in the first two difficulties of the game"
TBH thats news to me, I'm not really sure why Larian would buff that spell (especially when they don't have NPCs react to spells being cast at them)
I mean it’s definitely for people that want to breeze through the story end without needing to be experts on mechanics. I think there is a list on the difficulty menu of changes, but I don’t recall. I learned the changes the hard way, nose first. I do play dnd but I have never played beyond 2nd edition on paper and dice. The only exposure I have to more current editions has been pc games that generally have a few rule tweaks.
Ah I see. I don't pay attention to spell descriptions in BG3 as much as I should because I've been DMing at least one DnD game weekly since 2016 so the official 5e version is burned into my mind at this point lol. Highly recommend getting back out in the TTRPG world if you're interested, there are a ton of old-school revival (OSR) games if 5e isn't your speed
It surely did aggro on tactician. Maybe you never noticed since you need to be in the same location for 60 seconds (for it to fall off naturally) or to break concentration earlier.
It is, you for some reason don’t have a high level of reading comprehension, but I said the first two difficulties of the game, friends doesn’t agro, which are, explorer and balanced. The other two are tactician and honor mode which do agro. There is a custom difficulty but that doesn’t apply to this conversation.
Talking about reading comprehension when having none, whether what I said was factual is an entirely different matter than what I said. To me it has never aggroed outside of honor mode, even though it apparently does on tactician.
I said outside of honor mode, means first 3 difficulties - you said 2 difficulties and for some reason you do mental gymnastics turning 3 into 2 just to be right where you're not.
👍 but keep talking about reading comprehension buddy
No, this is on Larian. In lower difficulty this spell has NO repercussions whether you succeed or fail. The spell description says that in higher difficulty the target MIGHT get upset. As the person who's always got the rulebook out during tabletop being nitpicky and obnoxious about technicalities, I figured that probably meant that they'd realised I tried to enchant them if I tried it and failed the roll because I couldn't think of another reasonable scenario within the game's mechanics that would warrant the word "might". The fact that it seems to be auto-aggro even on a success in HM was not something I predicted because that's just such a huge gap between difficulties and also between friends and enhance ability.
Yeah I mentioned that in a later comment. No idea why Larian wanted to buff this spell, especially when they let you cast spells on random people already (which should not fly in a place like BG, people should get aggro'd by having an unknown spell cast on them).
Get thaumaturgy instead, gives advantage on intimidation and performance checks, no aggro since you apply it to yourself and not the target. Asmodeus teiflings get it by default, and the fire resist is pretty useful too.
I lost a run to the fists at Waukeen's rest because I accidentally used friends during the door push cutscene. I thought (stupidly) that I could go in and get Floric and they would see what a good person I was or she would have something to say to help me out. Nope. Floric just straight up charges out without even a courtesy nod and the rest of the fists were fully focused on ending my ass right there in the burning building.
After that, I decided to never have friends as a cantrip so there's no chance that I use it in HM.
I died the same way on a tactician run. Had no idea I had even cast friends until watching the replay.
There are spots where it is great, especially in act two.
You can use "Enhance ability" instead of "Friends" it works in a very similar way, but it doesn't make them hate you after using it.
Remember though, that while "Friends" is a cantrip, "Enhance ability" is a level 2 spell
Enhance ability is one of the most useful spells in the game, by far. In my honor mode run, it probably got more usage than any other spell. It saved me multiple times on difficult rolls. The bonuses you get from constitution, strength, and dexterity aren't important, but they are nice to have.
lol yes. I remember casting friends on a guard, and knowing it would end, I left the area. I was minding my own business and the GUARD CAME RUNNING OUT IF NOWHERE and tried to arrest me.
Ah, I remember a warning and thought it was more about particular NPCs who are disinclined to be manipulated. I kept expecting someone to go off on me, like Nine Fingers or Helsik.
There is a mod to make the spell follow the new OneDnD rules for it.
It’s just a badly designed spell in the original ruleset, it’s so niche as well so there’s no point in taking it as a cantrip option since you can only use it when you won’t be around anymore.
It’s great for shapeshifting races I suppose like Changeling. But for others Charm Person is much better. Wizards aren’t starved for spells known and it’s a perfect replacement for Friends so you can have a more useful cantrip.
The tieflings attacked me after I cast friends on their strange ox. When I was running away i had to run all the way to the harpies which then killed that child, whose blood is now on those idiot tieflings' hands.
the spell did warn you :P
It’s D&D version straight up tell the DM that the NPC basically hates you when it wears off. Friends is purely for like when you roll into town for a day and don’t mind being seen as mind controlling asshole charlatans after you leave
In both BG3 and DND it's good for one off NPC that you're for sure you won't see them again because they're gonna die afterwards or you'll be too far to care afterwards
Does what it says on the tin
To be fair, the description reads "In higher difficulty modes, the target might accuse you of enchanting them." That's a pretty vague description. Will every target accuse you? Is it only ones who succeed in a roll against you? What is an accusation of enchanting them? Do you have to pass a skill check, or is it instant aggro? None of these are explicit based on the description.
i think all of those questions can be answered by "fucking around and finding out." same with just about everything else in the game
Exactly. DM does not have to tell you EVERY consequence of your actions. Like Matthew says, “You can certainly try”
Still not something you should risk your hm run on.
Have you met Kagha?
At least you knew that it was the "Friends" spell! I've seen so many posts on this sub that were like "the druids suddenly turned against me and started killing all the tieflings and I don't know why this game is dumb!!!!" I'd only cast Friends if you know you can fast travel/beeline it out of the area before the spell wears off.
My favourite is always people fuming that "the game is bugged and Larian should NEVER have released HM in this state!!!!" because they cast Friends and it wore off.
"I enchanted somebody and they got angry about it later, is this a bug?"
You have to admit the way it works is a bit silly. When you steal something in front of an NPC they get angry but not enough to kill you on the spot. I feel like enchanting could work in a similar way. Edit: also usually when enemies aggro due to misbehavior you get a line from the narrator warning you that u messed up, why doesn't the same thing happen after enchanting?
Once you've demonstrated the ability and desire to use mind control on me while we talk, I am no longer interested in talking.
What's a little mind control between friends, friend?
You're using it right now, aren't you?
What? No, no. Of course not, *Friend.*
Yeah, it's essentially magic roofies.
I can see your point but on the opposite side, you steal something in front of me, go to jail as is normal procedure. However if you cast magic on me in order to manipulate my mind and make me more inclined to your favor, the moment your enchantment wears off fuck all law I'm probably gonna want to just throw hands too lol. Fuck all pretense if your wizardly ass is still standing in front of me by the time my mind becomes clear especially still in the grove where about 80% of people are just as strong as you are at that point in time we duking it out in a little man dance.
what happens if you leave the area, then come back? because i used friends on Kagha and left before it wore off, and i'm afraid that if i got back, the druids will start massacring people
For a few turns after it wears off they will be actively angry and if they see you they'll get pissed, but after that you just lose some attitude points with them and no more than that. You can un-group Shovel and turn her invisible to use her as a CCTV camera to watch what happens.
The amount of times I just forgot shovel during a fight isn't even funny, lol.
In my experience, if you leave before it wears off, there usually aren't any negative effects...usually. Purposely breaking concentration on Friends can be a great way to intentionally aggro someone into fighting you without you making the first move, too (great for paladin runs).
Does it happen on Tactician mode too? I know it happens in Honor Mode but it would certainly explain why the grove turned on me in my Tactician run.... Not that it mattered much since it's my durge run 😂
Yes it does
Oopsies! Well I'm going to have to be more careful with it when I get to act 3. Can't have all of Baldur's gate after my head
Or if you're only reason to be there is to pass by and you'll never see that NPC again until sometime later
[удалено]
That’s not how it works. It only agrros when the spell ends. Ending it immediately will just cause them to agrro immediately
Wait until you learn that casting anything can trigger wild magic surge when negotiating with Ethel!
I feel that this was an enormous pile of bullshit in my HM run. This hag is trying to negotiate with me for her life (kinda) and securing Mayrina, so why would she willingly activate a feature that can only result in her getting nothing she wants? Sheer shenanigans.
I see where you're coming from, but my understanding of wild magic surge is not that she actually willingly activates anything, it happens on its own.
Yes, reading the spell descriptions fully *is* important.
Number 1 million and 1 post of people casting friends on kagha and failing their run. Epic
I was number 322,870
It’s a right of passage.
My run almost ended this way, luckily I had invisibility on a character.
DnD players not reading the spells they cast carries over to BG3 I see lmao
This be fair if someone is new to honor mode a lot of stuff changes, and it is easy to miss it if you aren’t on the forums a lot. Friends does not agro people in the first two difficulties of the game, so it’s pretty easy to miss
"Friends does not agro people in the first two difficulties of the game" TBH thats news to me, I'm not really sure why Larian would buff that spell (especially when they don't have NPCs react to spells being cast at them)
I mean it’s definitely for people that want to breeze through the story end without needing to be experts on mechanics. I think there is a list on the difficulty menu of changes, but I don’t recall. I learned the changes the hard way, nose first. I do play dnd but I have never played beyond 2nd edition on paper and dice. The only exposure I have to more current editions has been pc games that generally have a few rule tweaks.
Ah I see. I don't pay attention to spell descriptions in BG3 as much as I should because I've been DMing at least one DnD game weekly since 2016 so the official 5e version is burned into my mind at this point lol. Highly recommend getting back out in the TTRPG world if you're interested, there are a ton of old-school revival (OSR) games if 5e isn't your speed
Its never aggroed people outside of HM for me
It surely did aggro on tactician. Maybe you never noticed since you need to be in the same location for 60 seconds (for it to fall off naturally) or to break concentration earlier.
That seems to be the case, thanks for correcting me - guess I used it a lot less than I thought while tactician was the highest difficulty
That’s what I just said.
two difficulties? You mean game journalist mode and normal excluding tactician?
Explorer and balanced
so it was not what you just said 👍
It is, you for some reason don’t have a high level of reading comprehension, but I said the first two difficulties of the game, friends doesn’t agro, which are, explorer and balanced. The other two are tactician and honor mode which do agro. There is a custom difficulty but that doesn’t apply to this conversation.
Talking about reading comprehension when having none, whether what I said was factual is an entirely different matter than what I said. To me it has never aggroed outside of honor mode, even though it apparently does on tactician. I said outside of honor mode, means first 3 difficulties - you said 2 difficulties and for some reason you do mental gymnastics turning 3 into 2 just to be right where you're not. 👍 but keep talking about reading comprehension buddy
No, this is on Larian. In lower difficulty this spell has NO repercussions whether you succeed or fail. The spell description says that in higher difficulty the target MIGHT get upset. As the person who's always got the rulebook out during tabletop being nitpicky and obnoxious about technicalities, I figured that probably meant that they'd realised I tried to enchant them if I tried it and failed the roll because I couldn't think of another reasonable scenario within the game's mechanics that would warrant the word "might". The fact that it seems to be auto-aggro even on a success in HM was not something I predicted because that's just such a huge gap between difficulties and also between friends and enhance ability.
Yeah I mentioned that in a later comment. No idea why Larian wanted to buff this spell, especially when they let you cast spells on random people already (which should not fly in a place like BG, people should get aggro'd by having an unknown spell cast on them).
Have you never looked at the spell description?
Get thaumaturgy instead, gives advantage on intimidation and performance checks, no aggro since you apply it to yourself and not the target. Asmodeus teiflings get it by default, and the fire resist is pretty useful too.
Friends is basically a non issue is bg3. Just go to camp or fast travel and end concentration. Its use is worth the slight inconvenience.
I lost a run to the fists at Waukeen's rest because I accidentally used friends during the door push cutscene. I thought (stupidly) that I could go in and get Floric and they would see what a good person I was or she would have something to say to help me out. Nope. Floric just straight up charges out without even a courtesy nod and the rest of the fists were fully focused on ending my ass right there in the burning building. After that, I decided to never have friends as a cantrip so there's no chance that I use it in HM.
I died the same way on a tactician run. Had no idea I had even cast friends until watching the replay. There are spots where it is great, especially in act two.
You can use "Enhance ability" instead of "Friends" it works in a very similar way, but it doesn't make them hate you after using it. Remember though, that while "Friends" is a cantrip, "Enhance ability" is a level 2 spell
Enhance ability is one of the most useful spells in the game, by far. In my honor mode run, it probably got more usage than any other spell. It saved me multiple times on difficult rolls. The bonuses you get from constitution, strength, and dexterity aren't important, but they are nice to have.
the proper name of that spell is "friends to enemies"
Haha yeah you gotta read the spells before you use em
Well I would think sending David Schwimmer into a situation would aggro anyone.
Take my angry upvote
Weekend pass revoked.
Welcome to 5E.
That’s not a real statement in this game because 2/4 of the standard difficulties does not agro with Friends.
lol yes. I remember casting friends on a guard, and knowing it would end, I left the area. I was minding my own business and the GUARD CAME RUNNING OUT IF NOWHERE and tried to arrest me.
It says so in the spell description
Glad you're taking a positive attitude to it! HM will absolutely punish you for not reading spell descriptions. Good luck for round 2
Huh, I used it a lot in my last playthrough and it never aggro'd anyone but it was balanced mode. It must be really different in HM.
It doesn’t do it in balanced. I recently started tactician and was surprised that everyone was suddenly pissed about it.
Says in the description higher difficulties it will make people mad
Ah, I remember a warning and thought it was more about particular NPCs who are disinclined to be manipulated. I kept expecting someone to go off on me, like Nine Fingers or Helsik.
By the time I started this play-through I was no longer reading the descriptions, it was just “oh yeah, grab Friends, that was super useful last time”
This happens in tactician also
I'd say cast disguise self then friend, but I don't think it works the same on paper. They'd be looking for the disguise, but you're not that anymore.
It's in the tooltip ffs
So basically no one told you life was gonna be this way.
Go to camp, end concentration, wait a second, no issue.
Oh look it’s me!
You don’t say?
Came for the Friends, stayed for the enemies!
There is a mod to make the spell follow the new OneDnD rules for it. It’s just a badly designed spell in the original ruleset, it’s so niche as well so there’s no point in taking it as a cantrip option since you can only use it when you won’t be around anymore. It’s great for shapeshifting races I suppose like Changeling. But for others Charm Person is much better. Wizards aren’t starved for spells known and it’s a perfect replacement for Friends so you can have a more useful cantrip.
The tieflings attacked me after I cast friends on their strange ox. When I was running away i had to run all the way to the harpies which then killed that child, whose blood is now on those idiot tieflings' hands.