A Baldur's Gate 3 player who, by their own admission, role-plays "a klepto monk that practices the Way of the Sticky Hand" found themselves facing the RPG's final gauntlet alone after a spot of petty theft went spectacularly awry.
Warning: the below contains spoilers for the final part of Baldur's Gate 3, so if you're still on your first playthrough, you might want to look away now.
The player, who goes by Saquon, recounted their unfortunate tale over on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit. Having made a rousing speech to their companions, the player set about making their final preparations before the big end battle. This included a spot of trading with a merchant whereby a sword caught their eye.
"I saw he had a sword on his table, so I gave it a yoink, thinking I was hidden," Saquon explains. "Immediately, all my allies in the room disappear, and just the flaming fist guy is left, who immediately moves to attack me. Doesn't even give me a chance to explain if it's a misunderstanding."
Having killed the assailant in self-defense, the player continues towards the final task, taking out the Netherbrain. Between them and it are numerous formidable foes, including a great big dragon. About to take on the fire-breathing beast, the player suddenly realizes they're all alone. "They actually abandoned me and the fate of The Realms over one little sword," Saquon says. "After all we'd been through."
To the player, throwing the towel in over a single stolen piece of equipment "seems kind of petty," and they're not the only one who has accidentally ruined their playthrough right at the end in this way. "Happened to me too, I was left speechless," says DeadTemplar. "Like, why did you even put that thing on the table if it's not for the taking!?" Even worse, another player says they didn't see the sword in question and "clicked it by accident."
According to some in the comments, this increased hostility towards stealing came about after the arrival of Patch 6, which Larian rolled out last month. One player in the comments says that before the patch was implemented, they did the same thing with "no consequences," as they were simply told that they had to pay for the sword when they tried to steal it. Another says that previously, when attempting to pilfer a potion, the merchant would offer to sell it to them, but following Patch 6, "all of them aggro the moment I steal it."
So let that be a lesson to all of us to think twice before bolstering our inventories using the five-finger discount, particularly in Baldur's Gate 3's Honour Mode, where our transgressions can't be undone by a simple reload.
Our own Ali Jones, thankfully with companions in tow, managed to beat Baldur's Gate 3's final gauntlet with a whole new fighting style and a healthy dose of RNG.
