If you tired of running back and forth to vendors in Baldur’s Gate 3, you can just kidnap them and keep them in your camp

Just when I think I’ve seen it all, players come up with something new. But I suppose that’s always been the essence of it. Exploring every possible idea just to see what happens and wondering if the devs ever saw it coming when designing the game’s mechanics. Today I learned you can actually kidnap merchants in Baldur’s Gate 3 and bring them to your camp.

Why visit the shop when you can bring the shopkeeper home?

BG3 is full of hidden details you only uncover by poking around and interacting with everything, like banging on the war drums in the Goblin Camp just to mess with them. But let’s be honest, the real fun is in the exploits. You can, for instance, skip one of the toughest fights in Act 3 and still walk away with all the loot, or even remove tadpoles from your companions (which technically breaks the game, but it works). Still, kidnapping NPCs is on a whole different level.

Source: Baldur's Gate 3; Developer: Larian Studios

GregYk posted on Reddit a while back about their discovery. You can just pick up any vendor and bring them back to your camp. And the method is surprisingly simple. All you need is a character with at least 20 Strength, then use the Improvised Melee Weapon action on a merchant and aim to throw them somewhere far away. While your character is still running, quickly open your map and hit the camp button. That way, you fast-travel to camp while still holding the NPC, and just like that, they come with you.

Source: Baldur's Gate 3; Developer: Larian Studios

Naturally, the first thing I did was try it out myself. Turns out, it’s not quite as easy as it sounds, it doesn’t always work. But judging by the comments, it can work if your timing is just right. I went for the poor armor trader in Baldur’s Gate, but missed the camp button timing, and, well... let’s just say he met the ground a bit harder than expected.

As you’d imagine, with this method, you could bring Alfira to your camp, but it doesn’t stop there. You could potentially rescue tons of characters by relocating them somewhere safe, like anyone from the Last Light Inn or even the Emerald Grove. The possibilities seem endless.

Source: Baldur's Gate 3; Developer: Larian Studios

That said, a few players have pointed out that not everyone takes kindly to being forcibly “rehomed,” so I’ll have to be cautious with my experiments. Still, I fully intend to try this on every single NPC that crosses my path in BG3. For science, of course.

Baldur's Gate 3

August 3, 2023

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• Wizards of the Coast
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• Larian Studios
• Baldur's Gate (franchise)