It’s good to accept some of your failed rolls in Baldur’s Gate 3. Constantly reloading can get boring quite quickly, and it will make your story more interesting if your character doesn’t immediately succeed at everything they do. It’s not very often that not ing a roll will result in dire consequences, and there are often multiple ways to approach things if you don’t initially succeed.

With that being said, failing a few select rolls can greatly change the outcome of your campaign. Whether they lead to complete game-overs or doom one character to certain death, here are some rolls that you’ll be much better off succeeding at. If there’s anything to save your inspiration for, these are the moments you’re going to want to keep in mind.

10 Saving Arabella

DC 5-18, Persuasion, Intimidation, or Nature

Early on in the Emerald Grove, one of the first major rolls you'll come across is to convince Kagha to spare Arabella. Failing to do so will result in her snake biting her, which quickly causes her to die. This means the party will miss out on finding Arabella again in Act Two and will never be able to learn her Shadow Entangle ability. Although this doesn't majorly change the story for the player, it's a shame to miss out on this, but it also changes the fates of many minor characters.

A not-so-fun fact is that the DC checks to convince Kagha to release Arabella are actually higher if they have the "tiefling" label. Playing as a character of any other race and choosing the exact same dialogue option will have slightly easier checks. This penalty still applies if you're also a druid as well as a tiefling, but if you're a druid and not a tiefling, some rolls have a lower difficulty class.

If Kagha allows Arabella to be killed, then Halsin will exile her from the grove, which makes any steps she may have taken towards redemption for naught. Arabella's parents will then attempt to take revenge on her during the celebration party if the grove is saved, and will poison her if not told to back down. This is a rather grim ending for everyone, so saving Arabella is the best outcome. If you fail initially, you get one more chance with some slightly easier checks, with the easiest being a DC 5 Nature roll.

9 Convincing Rolan To Stay In The Emerald Grove

DC 10 Persuasion

Rolan is another fan-favorite character who players can save in Act One, though they might not realize it at the time. Players can find him arguing with his siblings about his desire to leave the grove instead of staying to help the rest of the refugees. Convincing him to stay will allow his storyline to continue into the next two acts. It's quite easy to miss out on this since the initial check in Act One may not seem that consequential.

If only one of his siblings survives, then you need to another persuasion check to have Rolan on your side in the fight against Lorroakan.

If Rolan is not convinced to stay in the grove, both of his siblings will die on the journey to Baldur's Gate. If he does stay, then he can be found in Last Light Inn, where the party can help him save them both. When his siblings survive, Rolan will side with the player against Lorroakan, which makes the fight a lot easier and encourages him to take a stand against the wizard after enduring his cruel treatment for so long.

8 Getting Out Of The Zaith'isk

DC 12 Intelligence, DC 15 Wisdom, Then DC 18 For Any Ability

The Zaith'isk is one of the first methods players can use in the attempt to rid themselves of their illithid tadpole. If you attempt it and climb into the machine, you will have to three saving throws to avoid receiving any negative effects. If you let Lae'zel enter the contraption first, then they will need to even harder checks—up to 30 DC persuasion —to get her out without being affected, but will gain her approval.

Failing to escape the Zaith'isk will result in -2 penalties to intelligence, constitution, and wisdom. You can remove these debuffs by consuming a single mind flayer parasite, but this may go against your playstyle. It's even more inconvenient if it's Lae'zel who has suffered the debuffs, since she is initially reluctant to use illithid powers and will need to be convinced to use them.

7 Convincing Philomeen Not To Detonate The Runepowder Barrel

DC 10-15 Intimidation or Persuasion

After meeting the Ironhand gnomes, players are encouraged to find Philomeen in Grymforge to retrieve the Runepowder barrel that she took with her. Upon encountering Philomeen, the party will need to talk her down from detonating the barrel and blowing everyone in the room up. Though she won't be convinced to hand over the entire barrel, she will provide them with a Runepowder Vial, which can be used in battle or to free True Soul Nere.

If you select another character outside the dialogue screen, you can sneak up behind Philomeen and steal the barrel.

If you can't convince her not to detonate the barrel, assuming you haven't already stolen it from under her nose, then the explosion will kill her and any party nearby. Most players will likely take their entire party with them to find Philomeen, so this can result in an instant game-over. This is inconvenient at best and game-ending at worst if you're in Honour Mode and can't reload your save.

6 Resisting The Ephemeral Whispers From Equipping A Whispering Mask

DC 13 Wisdom

If a character equips a Whispering Mask found in Auntie Ethel's lair while she's still alive, they'll have to roll a wisdom saving throw every turn. If they fail, then they will become one of her pawns and become hostile towards the party. You can make a character unequip the mask, but these methods are quite tedious and involve either fleeing battle or knocking out the affected companion.

A character with Protection from Evil and Good cast on them will not become a pawn if they fail the wisdom saving throw with a Whispering Mask equipped.

Losing a party member can make the fight against the hag considerably more difficult, and having a companion out of your control can be extremely inconvenient and ruin your plans for future tactics. If you have any potions or other items in their inventory that you've been saving for a specific occasion, then you can count on the AI being as inconvenient as possible and using them against you. If you equip your entire party with Whispering Masks, everyone failing the checks can result in an instant game-over.

5 Resisting Your Hunger As A Mind Flayer

DC 15 Constitution

One of the noblest decisions you can make in Baldur's Gate 3 is sacrificing yourself to become a mind flayer, allowing Orpheus to live on as the githyanki prince and keeping all your companions tentacle-free. However, giving up your soul isn't going to come without consequences. During the epilogue party, you'll start to become hungry, which can lead you to desire to explore the brains of one of your companions.

You'll need to a constitution check to resist your hunger. If you fail, then you'll attack the person you were speaking to and be forcibly ejected from the party by Withers. Although this is the epilogue, so it won't have a major impact on your story as a whole, it's still an anticlimactic and disappointing way to end your campaign, especially if the idea of this betrayal isn't appealing to you.

4 Resisting The Dark Urge To Kill Your Lover

DC 14 Wisdom

The Dark Urge origin comes with many unique cutscenes and dialogue compared to a regular custom character, but some of this content is absolutely devastating. In particular, there will come a time when they will be encouraged to kill Isobel. If they refuse, they will later have to resist the urge to kill their lover or the companion whom they are closest to. Failing to quell their urges and murdering their favorite companion instead of waking them up has dire consequences.

Withers will not be able to revive your lover if you kill them, but this is actually the least of your problems in this scenario. Not being able to prevent yourself from murdering your lover will cause the rest of your companions to confront you, and failing to convince them of your sanity will result in them all becoming hostile, which is one of the worst outcomes for a campaign. Going to sleep after Sceleritas's warning will also cause you to murder your closest companion.

3 Convincing The Emperor To Protect Minsc From The Absolute

DC 15 History or Intimidation

Retrieving Minsc from the Absolute's clutches is a huge part of Jaheira's companion quest, and she will leave the party permanently if he dies before ing the camp. This can be done by knocking him out with a non-lethal attack after finding him as the Stone Lord and then convincing the Emperor to keep him under his protection. However, he is reluctant to do so due to Minsc's unpredictability, so it's quite possible to fail this roll, which causes Minsc to die.

Missing out on not only Minsc but also Jaheira in Baldur's Gate 3 is a massive shame for anyone interested in the lore of the Baldur's Gate series as a whole. They have plenty of dialogue together referencing previous events and feature some great interactions with other returning characters, such as Viconia and Sarevok. This also has the heartbreaking implication of Boo outliving Minsc, since he's still hiding in the sewers when the player fights the Stone Lord.

2 Getting Gale Out Of His Portal

DC 7-12 Strength, Intelligence, Charisma, Wisdom, Or Sleight Of Hand

Failing to save Gale from his portal is one of the worst rolls you can fail in an honor mode run. When you meet him, you're given two chances to pull him out, and if you don't either of the checks, Gale will be permanently dead for the rest of your campaign without the ability to revive him. Considering that it's so early on, it's genuinely worth restarting your entire save if you were set on having Gale in your party.

Gale is an extremely useful character to have in your party, and he has a few more unique abilities than a custom wizard character. You can use his Netherese Blast to defeat the Absolute, and he can acquire an extra spell slot if he dabbles with Shadow Magic in Act Two. It's slightly surprising that it's so easy to completely lose such an important character so early in the game.

1 Recruiting Scratch And/Or The Owlbear Cub

DC 5-15 Animal Handling, Deception, Intimidation, Medicine, Perception, Persuasion Or Survival

Quite possibly the most heart-wrenching thing that can happen to a BG3 player is failing to recruit either of the animals who can become camp followers — Scratch and the Owlbear Cub. Failing to calm Scratch down upon meeting him in the forest can lead you to angering him, which prevents him from ever being recruited. Leaving him to die next to his handler may not be a worse fate than giving him back to the Sword Coast Couriers, but it's extremely saddening nonetheless.

There are several ways to miss the owlbear cub, but actively trying to recruit him and failing is incredibly disappointing, especially if you also provoke his mother (and father, if you're playing on Honour Mode). If you end up in the same boat as Reddit Ok-Foundation-5348 and can't heal his wound when he shows up to camp, you'll lose your chance of having him as a follower. Baldur's Gate 3 has its fair share of upsetting outcomes due to failed rolls, and some are very hard to recover from, so you should always make sure you're saving regularly.

Source: Ok-Foundation-5348/Reddit