Reddit users may have discovered why Baldur's Gate 3 has no short companions

Larian Studio’s 2023 Game of the Year winner, Baldur’s Gate 3, is undoubtedly an incredible masterpiece, but many players have wondered why there are no short companions. BG3 is based on the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition ruleset, which features several iconic playable character species, such as Halfling, Dwarf, and Gnome, all of which are also playable in the game, but never come up as a companion character. The modding community for Baldur’s Gate 3 is legendary, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if someone might have added this somehow, but some players may have come across a reasoning based on existing D&D lore.

Reddit users may have discovered a reason why Baldur’s Gate 3 had no short companions

Apparently, according to the D&D adventure book, Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, something “can go awry” when Mind Flayers infect a Gnome with a tadpole. According to the book (which, as a true D&D nerd, I was able to pull from my shelf of books), “For reasons unknown, ceremorphosis can go awry when an illithid tadpole is implanted in the brain of a gnome.” Most of the companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 share the same fate as the player, infected by a Mind Flayer parasite that threatens to turn them into one of the tentacle-faced creatures. If the Mind Flayers were aware of these issues with Gnomes, that could explain why they chose to avoid all Gnomes, as well as other shorter humanoids, thus making it rare to find one of these in a Mind Flayer vessel.

Post shared by u/FractionofaFraction.Source: Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit

Apparently, there are three possible outcomes when a Mind Flayer tadpole infects a Gnome. First, both host and parasite will perish. Second, it will go awry, creating a Gnome Squidling. This is “a deformed mind flayer with weak, spindly limbs and oversized tentacles. It relies on levitation to keep its body aloft and uses its tentacles like legs…” But finally, “when the processed is warped only slightly…” it can create a Gnome Ceremorph, which is essentially a Mind Flayer but the size of a Gnome. Amazingly, this version of the outcome also “retains fragmented memories of its previous life” that allow it to speak Gnomish as well as keep its “propensity for invention.”

Users discovering the appearance of Gnome Ceremorph (left) and Gnome Squidling (right).Source: Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit

The Baldur’s Gate 3 subreddit had a lot of fun with the images of these two creatures, calling them “cute” and “adorable.” Users wrote comments such as, “Aww, give the little fella some brains,” and “It can have some brains. As a treat.” The Squidling is apparently so dangerous that “most mind flayers destroy squidlings on sight…” but Reddit users clearly have difficulty looking past its huge puppy-dog eyes.

Of course, there is a more realistic explanation for why Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t have short companions, as one user explains, “The more realistic explanation is that cutscenes and animations are kind of a pain to make fit for all sizes.” Having all companions be of a similar size and appearance likely saves a lot of development time, which Larian already spent many years on. This could explain why Larian abandoned what sounds like an incredible idea early in development: “a halfling werewolf bard…,” which appears in datamining, according to one Reddit user.

The lack of halfling, dwarf, or gnome companions is disappointing, especially if one of them could be a werewolf. Since Larian has said they won’t be working on the next Baldur’s Gate title, there may never be an opportunity to remedy this. But at least in my next tabletop D&D game, I can create my own halfling werewolf bard character.

Baldur's Gate 3

August 3, 2023

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• D&D / Dungeons & Dragons (franchise)
• Larian Studios
• Baldur's Gate (franchise)
• Dungeons and Dragons