The Urge

Promotional art

The Urge is a Quest for the Dark Urge in Chapter One of Baldur's Gate 3.

Objectives

Be yourself! Think dirty thoughts!

• Special, yes, special, aren't you? Ssh, don't fight it. You know what you need to do. Take up that knife, do what you do best. Easy as breathing. You'll feel better after.
• You really can't help it, can you? These vile things you do... Don't you wonder why you're doing them? You must really have been an awful person before the crash... Perhaps it's better that you forgot about it. But you want to know, don't you?

Follow your dreams!

• At night, you dream of a dead world. Lakes of gall, pulsating heaps of expired flesh. You're the only living being. When the red sun burns out, you drive the last dagger through your heart.

Get over it! Spill more blood!

• Oh, don't look so scandalised. This is definitely not the first time you've done this. Alfira may have grown up to become the age's great songstress, but you - you can be the most prolific killer in the history of the Realms! It will be easy - you can do it in your sleep!
• Oh, don't look so scandalised. This is definitely not the first time you've done this. Quil may have grown up to become the age's great songstress, but you - you can be the most prolific killer in the history of the Realms! It will be easy - you can do it in your sleep!

What happened to Alfira?

• What a corpse Alfira left! Blood crusting thick and dark 'round the eyes like a rushed coat of stage make-up. A sigil lovingly painted in blood, as if the killer was hoping to get caught. What visionary could have done this?

What happened to Quil?

• What a corpse Quil left! Blood crusting thick and dark 'round the eyes like a rushed coat of stage make-up. A sigil lovingly painted in blood, as if the killer was hoping to get caught. What visionary could have done this?

Trust the Butler.

• Sceleritas Fel is a murderer's murderer. He will set you right. Don't worry, as I'm sure you can tell, you can't help but be a prodigy spree-killer. It's in your perfect nature. While you may have forgotten your past, you can't forget what you were best at! Just follow your Butler. You can trust him!
• Well, that's embarrassing. Your Butler ended up getting the pleasure of killing the bard instead of you. Given your perfect instincts, this surely won't happen again. With the Butler here to guide you, nothing can go amiss.

Go on! Kill another one!

• You like to indulge those Urges of yours. Good. It doesn't matter that you have amnesia. The instincts in your body are kicking in, and you are behaving like your old sinner self again. The Dark Urge is back, back with bloody style.

Stop resisting the Urge!

• It's been a rough tenday. Everything hurts, your headache is just getting worse, and the tadpole is a nuisance. It's hard to find the inspiration to lift your daggers for pleasure after a long day. But you're denying yourself the one outlet you have: murder! Nothing compares. Try it! After all, you're going to reap death upon the world sooner or later. Make it sooner!
• Kill that sweet cleric!
• Is-o-bel. Cleric of Selûne. Defender of Last Light. Died summer 1492 DR. Slap it on a headstone - doesn't it sound right? The Butler told you to kill her. The Butler knows what's best for you. He knows how to get your old life back. Isn't that all you want? To find out who you were, and get back to being that glorious old butcher?

You met the cleric and you didn't kill her?

• You didn't intend to spare the cleric, did you? Surely not. You're just waiting for the perfect, tragic moment to strike. Build up her trust in you... Then let her fall. Yes, that must be your plan. Go back and kill her. Run along.

Reflect on your misbehaviour.

• The Butler gave you another chance. Kill your darling. But you didn't - you spent the night tied up, playing out a farce as a wriggling, squirming slug. Humiliating. You can be so much more than that screaming heap. Come back to yourself.
• The Butler gave you another chance. Kill your darling. But you didn't - you spent the night tied up, playing out a farce as a wriggling, squirming slug. Humiliating. You can be so much more than that. Come back to yourself.

Await your blood-prize.

• Isobel is a corpse carried away on the wind. Last Light is desecrated. Such a sublime release of all your pent-up frustration. You did well, and this deed will not go without proper acknowledgement.
• So, you killed your dearest. No one will ever love you now. Might as well take pleasure in being feared. You already enjoy fear. Deep down, you know you could have stopped your Urge last night. But it just felt too good - that last moment of fear. That final 'why?' That's who you are!

Enjoy the Slayer. You've earned it.

• The Slayer now ravages your body. When it is dormant, you feel it champing at the bit. When it is summoned, you dissolve into the beast. It is an ancient symbol of hate. Hate well. You've earned it.

Return to the Temple of Bhaal.

• You had a vision divine. The truth is restored: you are a pureblood Spawn of Bhaal. The former head of his Temple. Return, and kill sister Orin who usurped your place. Return, and restore your birthright: to lead the cult of murder until all in this world dies by your hand.

DESTROY THE GATE IN BHAAL'S NAME!

• YOU ARE BHAAL'S DREAD PROPHET, THE CHOSEN ORDAINED TO BE THE LAST LIVING BEING. WHEN ALL ELSE HAS BEEN REAPED BY YOUR HAND, THE FINAL DEATH IN THESE FOUL PLANES SHALL BE YOUR OWN. TAKE COMMAND OF THE ELDER BRAIN. TAKE COMMAND OF ITS POSSESSED ARMIES. SET THEM UPON SLAUGHTER OF USELESS FAERÛN, THEN UPON EVERY FRAIL LIFE IN THIS COSMOS. Congratulations, Dark Urge. You're a champion!

Who am I? I can choose...

• I escaped. The hold that Bhaal had over me is gone. All the voices in my head, and the rushes in my blood - I cured them at last! It's strange to think, but I can do whatever I want to. Be whoever I want to! I'm finally me. These thoughts won't talk to me any longer.
• You believe that by disappointing Bhaal, you can escape him? You bear his unholy taint in your blood. After two hundred years, you are the only pureblood Bhaalspawn left. The Urge is going to eat you right up. Nothing will be left in your brain, but the will of Father dearest. Perhaps if you do what Bhaal would have wanted and follow through with the Absolute's plan to enslave the world, your mind might be spared his sickening lash.

Walkthrough

Discovering the Urge

After breaking free from the Mind Flayer Pod the character realizes that they are suffering from a severe loss of memory. Soon they also realize that for an unknown reason they have violent urges.

Right after escaping the nautiloid, inspecting the corpse of the Mangled Fisher at the Ravaged Beach makes the Dark Urge smile and passing a DC 7 Intelligence check makes them see memory flashes of a thousand different dead.

Alfira

Upon the first Long Rest after crossing the bridge between the Emerald Grove and Moonhaven, a tiefling bard called Alfira joins the camp at night and expresses interest in joining them as a camp follower. Whether the Dark Urge agrees with her request or forces her to leave, it matter little for they wake up during the night over Alfira's corpse, the Dark Urge's hands dripping in blood. Trying to remember of what happened requires an Intelligence DC 12 check which, if passed, shows a glimpse of Alfira as she is being murdered by the Dark Urge's own hands. Another option is to look for signs on what happened which requires an Investigation DC 7 check. If passed, the Dark Urge notices the utter ravaging of Alfira's body which most of it had occurred after she had died, while the Dark Urge's dominant hand aching from stabbing. It is recommended to do the Intelligence check first since selecting the Investigation option moves the conversation forward.

Regardless of whether the aforementioned checks were successful or not, the Dark Urge is presented with three options:

• Option 1: Hide the body. This requires passing a Strength-based DC 12 Stealth check with Disadvantage. If passed there will be no confrontation the next day. Failing the roll leads to the same result as choosing Option 2.

• Option 2: Going to sleep without trying to hide the body or washing the blood. The next day the party confronts the Dark Urge who can admit that they are responsible or say that they saw nothing or blame a wild animal.
  • Saying that they killed her:  +1 -1 They can also make a DC 18 Deception roll to claim that Alfira was the one that attacked the Dark Urge. If they believe them, the matter is dropped. However if the Deception roll is failed it causes:  -1 -1 -1
  • Saying that they saw nothing requires no check to be made but because of the blood on them, the party does not believe the Dark Urge.
  • Blaming a wild animal requires a DC 7 Deception roll to be passed. Failing it causes:  -1 -1 -1

• Option 3: Leaving the body where it is but washing Alfira's blood away from their hands and clothes. This causes a passive Perception check to be rolled while the Dark Urge is washing the blood away. Passing it makes the Dark Urge realize that washing the blood away makes them unhappy while failing the roll causes them to freak out thinking they still have blood on their hands and it cannot be washed away, they could even consider that Alfira's blood is magical. Regardless, they are clean the next day when the party confronts them about Alfira's corpse.
  • The dialogue options are similar to Option 2 with the notable exceptions that the party believes the Dark Urge if they claim that they saw nothing and the option to use Deception has a DC 15 instead of 7. This is likely a developer mistake and the two numbers should had been reversed (DC 15 for Option 2 and DC 7 for Option 3). Failing the deception check causes:  -1 -1 -1

If the Dark Urge is held responsible for Alfira's murder most companions in private conversations will be wary of the Dark Urge and vow to keep a closer eye on them with the exception of Astarion who does not disapprove of their actions. Most companions will also blame the tadpole for the Dark Urge's erratic action. Regardless of which path is taken, Astarion knows what happened and his greeting accordingly changes calling the Dark Urge 'dagger-happy friend', among other remarks.

If Alfira had been killed or was knocked out prior to this Long Rest, it causes Quil Grootslang to show up instead. The scene is otherwise identical.

Achievements

Embrace Your Urge
Become Bhaal's ultimate weapon - become his Slayer.

Sins of the Father
Claim your Throne of Blood: take control of the Netherbrain for Bhaal and break the world.