Origin Characters? – Baldur’s Gate 3

Immediately after the opening cinematic, the first screen you encounter when starting a new game is the Origin screen. This is where you can choose to create a character all your own by selecting the Custom option at the top. But there is another set of options right below that: Origin Characters. So what are Origin Characters, and how will playing an Origin Character be different than playing a custom character?

Origin Characters are premade characters that have their own personality and backstory. Playing as an Origin Character will provide you with unique story and gameplay opportunities. This includes special dialogue options, abilities, and more. The downside is that you won’t be able to customize your character as much as a Custom Character. You also won’t encounter your Origin Character as an NPC in the game, meaning you will have one less option for potential party members.

Origin Characters weren’t available in Early Access, so they are new with the game’s official release. However, the feature may be familiar to players of Divinity: Original Sin 2.

Origin Characters vs Companion Characters

Origin Characters will appear in the game as potential companions if you do not choose them in character creation (except for The Dark Urge). By choosing to play one of these characters, you will have one less option for your party members. It will also change the way certain scenes play out. You won’t be able to interact with this character because you will be them. Obviously that means no romance either.

When playing as these characters, certain scenes that would otherwise allow you to interact with the character will instead feature a different NPC. For example, Lae’zel is normally the very first character you interact with in the game. If you choose to play as Lae’zel, you will instead encounter a character named Losiir. He’ll fill the same role in the story and take Lae’zel’s place in your party for the first part of the game, so you won’t be short-handed as a result of choosing this Origin.

How to Customize an Origin Character

To select an Origin Character, click on their portrait in the character creation screen. From there you can click on Play Introduction to watch a monologue in which the character will tell you about themself. You can also view their race, subrace, class, subclass (if applicable), spells, background, and abilities. For the most part, only your spells and abilities can be changed here. Everything else is fixed.

Each Origin Character’s race, appearance, and background is chosen for you and can never be modified, with the exception of The Dark Urge character. Origin Characters’ classes and abilities can be changed later on in the game – just note that the story may continue to refer to their original class. You can respec and multiclass with an Origin Character the same as you can with a Custom one.

The classes, subclasses, and backgrounds of the Origin Characters are the same as those that are available to custom characters, with one exception: The Dark Urge has a unique background, Haunted One. The only way to have this background is to play as this character. Interestingly, it’s also the only aspect of The Dark Urge that you can’t customize.

There are seven Origin Characters available. Below is a table with their basic traits. You can click on an Origin Character in the gallery for a closer look at their appearance and stats.