Astarion

Astarion Ancunín is an origin character and recruitable companion with the Charlatan background. He is a High Elf and a Rogue first appearing during Act One.

Astarion

The Pale Elf

Cover artwork
Portrait

Full Name

Astarion Ancunín

Stats

Size

Medium

Type

Humanoid

Race

High elf

Class

Rogue

Background

Charlatan

Balanced Difficulty Stats

Level

1

Initiative

+3

Proficiency

+2

Movement

9 m (30 ft)

Weight

75 kg (150 lb)

Ability scores
STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
8 (-1)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	13 (+1)	10 (0)

Saving throws
STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
-1	+5	+2	+3	+1	0

Features

Darkvision
Can see in the dark up to 12 m / 40 ft.
Fey Ancestry
Advantage on Saving Throws against being Charmed, and magic can't put you to Sleep.

A vampire spawn previously under the control of Cazador Szarr until being abducted by the nautiloid, Astarion is set on getting revenge on Cazador and becoming free no matter what. He can be first found west of the Nautiloid Wreck during Act One, where he can be recruited into the party as well as romanced by characters of any gender.

“

And to think I was ready to decorate the ground with your innards. Apologies.

„

— Astarion, apologising after a misunderstanding

Overview

Background

Astarion prowled the night as a vampire spawn for two centuries in Baldur's Gate, enslaved by a sadistic vampire lord named Cazador Szarr until he was snatched away by the mind flayers on the Nautiloid and tadpoled. Now he can walk in the sunlight, wade through water, enter homes uninvited, and resist his master's compulsions. Astarion now has a chance at a new life where he can make his own choices, and possibly gain the true freedom and safety he so desperately seeks.

Starting Class

Astarion starts as a Rogue. Upon reaching level three, he will default to the Arcane Trickster subclass.

Special Features

Astarion will receive the Happy (Condition) after using the Vampire Bite ability on a humanoid.
Astarion is immune to conditions and effects that do not affect undead, such as Mummy Rot (Condition).

Companion Quest

Astarion's companion quest is called The Pale Elf. His story unravels as he explores his newfound freedom and how he can keep it, as well as coming to terms with the abuse inflicted on him, and the harm he has inflicted on others.

Recruitment

Astarion can be found standing on a road west of the crashed Nautiloid in the Wilderness. When found, a scene will play where he asks for help defeating an Intellect Devourer. Afterwards, he can be asked to join the party.

Approval

Astarion approves of displays of power and cruelty, and appreciates sarcasm and cleverness. He is inspired when the player character gains access to areas or information by deceiving others, or when they avoid combat through persuasion or deception. The player character does not have to be "evil" to gain his approval, however — he approves when the player makes choices that help him, that support his independence and autonomy, that are understanding toward his past, and that help certain people and animals he is fond of.

Astarion disapproves of displays of weakness and does not like acts of kindness or charity that offer no reward. He also disapproves when the player tries to restrict him or deny him his autonomy.

Romance

Astarion can be romanced by characters of any gender. His romance deals heavily with his personal character growth, his relationship with intimacy, the reclaiming of his autonomy, and his navigation of newly found freedom. Astarion's romance also has different outcomes depending on the choices made at the end of his companion quest.

Description

Appearance

Astarion is a high elf vampire spawn that appears to be in his late 30s despite being multiple centuries old. He is approximately 5'11" tall and has a medium build and sharp facial features. He has pallid skin with dark circles and bags under his crimson eyes, as well as smile lines around his mouth and a faint beauty mark on his right cheek. He also has jaw-length, curly silver hair styled with pomade and curls around his long pointed ears. He has a bite-mark scar on the right side of his neck from when his old master Cazador Szarr turned him into a vampire, and a myriad of scars carved by Cazador covering most of his back. When it comes to clothes, Astarion's choice in attire is usually on the fancier side, wearing an elaborate doublet, leather chaps and embroidered leather shoes when you recruit him. He takes meticulous care to embroider and repair the clothing that he owns, keeping it in good condition as best he can. Astarion is also very mindful of his hygiene and physical appearance overall, especially regarding his hair, nails, skin, and clothing.

Personality

Astarion's personality at the start is very much influenced by his background as a high elf magistrate and his time spent as a vampire spawn slave. Astarion is charming, eloquent, cunning, witty, sarcastic, and practical. But, having felt abandoned by the world and its heroes, Astarion is also very bitter, cynical, self-centered, manipulative, distrustful, prejudiced, and vengeful. His top priorities initially are his own autonomy, his own safety, and his revenge on Cazador, though he also prioritizes the party’s safety as a whole. He is largely apathetic toward the feelings of others and has little interest in helping them for no reward, as he feels that if he didn't get help, nobody else should. He also holds prejudices against the Gur people and small races such as gnomes.

Astarion at the beginning of the game is very fear-motivated and has a low self-worth, despite his confident and arrogant persona. He will attempt to manipulate others with sex and faux-romance to get them on his side so that he has protection from Cazador and other powerful enemies, as he believes that his sexual ability is his main attraction, and sex is one of few ways he knows how to form relationships with other people. He is also willing to do almost anything to gain power or advantage so that he can secure his own safety and avoid being under Cazador's control again, even if it means harming others or doing something he finds personally distasteful. Although, he has reservations about sacrificing his bodily autonomy even if it means he can gain an advantageous power.

However, as the story progresses, Astarion can develop and change his personality depending on how he is guided during his questline. If Astarion's fears, beliefs, and unhealthy behaviors are contested, he will begin to deconstruct his cynical worldview, learning to stand up for himself, show empathy toward others, reconcile with those he has hurt in the past, form genuine bonds with people he trusts, and start to heal from his trauma. But, if Astarion is led down a path where his behaviors, fears, and beliefs are validated and encouraged, he will instead become a fearful, power-hungry, and abusive man who continues to repress his trauma and harm others.

Gameplay

Astarion's default class is rogue. His default high elf cantrip is Fire Bolt, but if selected as an origin, the player can choose any high elf cantrip they wish. As a vampire spawn he has access to a unique Vampire Bite, however this action does not appear as a companion until after the party finds out about his vampirism. If played as an origin, the ability becomes available after waking up from the Nautiloid crash.

Proficiencies

Equipment proficiencies

Save proficiencies

Skill proficiencies

Unlockable bonuses

The following bonuses and actions are unlockable through certain decisions in Astarion's companion quest:

Vampire Ascendant

History

Pre-Vampirism

Astarion was a young magistrate in Baldur's Gate, until one day he was assaulted and almost killed by a gang of Gur because of a ruling he had handed down. The vampire lord, Cazador Szarr, who had taken interest in him, approached Astarion while he was dying and turned him into one of his slaves – a vampire spawn.

Life as Cazador's Spawn

After being turned, Astarion and his vampire spawn "siblings" lived at the Szarr Palace in the Upper City. And being vampire spawn, Astarion and his "siblings" were completely subservient to Cazador, bound to him through the bond of creator and creation. Cazador could use this power to completely control Astarion and the others, and he imposed three main commands onto his spawn. 1. "Thou must not drink from thinking creatures, 2. "Thou must never leave my side, unless commanded," and 3. "Thou must obey me in all things." Astarion and the other spawn could not physically refuse these commands. Cazador would then use this power and these "rules" to physically and emotionally abuse and torture Astarion for centuries, and any form of attempted resistance or escape was met with harsh punishment. For example, Astarion was once sealed away in a coffin, starving, for over a year because he had tried to disobey one of Cazador's commands. Also, the abuse inflicted onto Astarion and the other spawn was brutal and frequent. They were physically tortured and had "poetry" carved into their backs by Cazador, they were frequently emotionally abused as Cazador would play mind games on them, they would be fed dead rats and bugs, they would be commanded to physically torture themselves and the other spawn, they would be starved for long periods of time, and also be forced to venture out into the Lower City to seduce people and engage in sexual activity with them so that they could lure them back to Szarr Palace to later be fed on by Cazador.

However, while out in a city tavern seducing a young noble to bring back to Cazador, Astarion was abducted by the rogue Nautiloid and was tadpoled alongside other victims.

Story Involvement

The Pale Elf

The Pale Elf is Astarion's personal quest. It is added to the journal upon recruiting him, and it spans all three acts of the game.

Act One

Astarion begins the story in Act One on the ravaged beach by the crashed nautiloid, where he beckons the player character over to assist him in fighting an Intellect Devourer that is in the bushes. It however becomes apparent that there is no intellect devourer, just a Boar. And depending on the player character's perception, Astarion will either pull a knife on the player or tackle them down to the ground with the knife at their throat while they are distracted, believing that the player character was in league with the mind flayers on the ship as he saw them walking freely and speaking with the mind flayers while he was tadpoled and trapped in a pod. Astarion will demand answers about what happened on the ship from the player character, who can explain the reality of the situation to him, and Astarion will then back off, apologize for the interaction, and introduce himself. It is after this where he can be recruited as a party member and his companion quest, The Pale Elf, is added to the journal.

A few nights into adventuring, the player character will wake up in the middle of the night to see Astarion hunched over them, preparing to bite their neck. Astarion will stop and try and explain himself, but the player character successfully deduces that he is a vampire. If the player allows Astarion to live after this reveal instead of killing him, he will then ask the player character if they are willing to let him drink some blood to gain his full strength. If the player character refuses, he stalks off into the night to hunt for animals. But if the player character accepts, Astarion will then lay the player character down and begin to drink blood from their neck. The player character must either persuade or shove him off to end the feeding. If unsuccessful, the player character will die and must be revived. But if the player character succeeds, Astarion will stop feeding and thank the player profusely for helping him.

The morning following either the attempted or successful feeding, the player character can talk to Astarion about a variety of topics. He will divulge his past, revealing that he is a Vampire spawn sired by the vampire lord Cazador Szarr over 200 years prior in Baldur's Gate. It was then that he had handed down a ruling as a magistrate that a group of local Gur people took issue with. They attacked him, beating him until he was near death in the street. Cazador Szarr approached him, offering him a second chance at life, which Astarion took in a moment of desperation. Cazador then turned Astarion into his vampire spawn and slave. Astarion will also explain how vampire spawn work, including how they are subservient to the vampires who created them, and how they have all of the weaknesses of a full vampire but few of their powers. One of these weaknesses includes the hypersensitivity to the sun, which Astarion no longer has since the nautiloid crash. He will speculate to the player that the tadpole has given him immunity to the sunlight and to Cazador's compulsion. It is also during this conversation that the player character can discuss how Astarion will feed in the future. They can either agree to let him feed on the player character, let him feed on humanoid enemies, or relegate him to feeding on animals.

In the Sunlit Wetlands (or Putrid Bog,) the party can encounter a Gur monster hunter named Gandrel. If it has been revealed that Astarion is a vampire already, Gandrel will explain that he is looking for a vampire spawn named Astarion on behalf of his tribe, which will make Astarion visibly paranoid. He will argue with Gandrel and insult him, and will want to kill him in an act of self-preservation. The player can either let Astarion reveal himself and attack Gandrel or encourage Astarion to let it go, leaving Gandrel alive. If it has not been revealed to the party that Astarion is a vampire, Gandrel will not mention Astarion by name and will instead simply say he is looking for a vampire spawn. Astarion may kill Gandrel unprompted in this scenario if he is not talked down while agitated. The player character can also turn Astarion in to Gandrel, which will result in him leaving the party permanently.

Act Two

In Act Two, Astarion will begin to ponder the meaning of the markings carved into his back by Cazador long ago. If his approval with the player character is high enough or if he is romanced, he will reveal the scars to them and the player character can possibly identify them as Infernal markings. If the player character does not identify them, Astarion will eventually come to the conclusion on his own that the scars are written in Infernal by feeling them. Either way, he will say that he wants to discuss the subject with Raphael, as he believes he would be able to explain the scars to him.

When talking to Raphael at the Last Light Inn, Raphael will point out Astarion and say that he senses he has something to talk to him about. Astarion will then speak up and confirm this fact. If Astarion has not revealed his scars, Raphael will strip him in front of the party and force him to show his scars before continuing the conversation about Astarion's ask. If Astarion has already revealed his scars to the player character, Raphael will not strip Astarion of his clothes and instead goes right to thinking about Astarion's request. Raphael says he believes that he can help translate and explain his scars, but will need to think of something that Astarion can do for him first. He then departs, leaving Astarion to wait until they meet again.

Astarion will encounter Raphael again in front of the Grand Mausoleum, where Raphael will state that he has thought of a way for Astarion to pay him for his services. Raphael requests that Astarion and the party kill an old enemy of his, the orthon Yurgir, and if they do this, he will interpret Astarion's Infernal scars.

After Yurgir is slayed as per Raphael's request, Raphael will come to the Campsite and interpret Astarion's scars for him. He reveals that his scars are a part of a legal contract that Cazador Szarr made with Mephistopheles, and the scars bind him to the Rite of Profane Ascension. It is through this ritual where Cazador must sacrifice the souls of all of his vampiric spawn, including Astarion to ascend to an existence where he will become a new type of being, the Vampire Ascendant. The Vampire Ascendant will gain a new set of powers and lose all vampiric weaknesses, including the sensitivity to sunlight. However, the rite cannot be performed if any of the carriers of the scars are missing, and so Cazador cannot complete it while Astarion is gone. Astarion knows that Cazador will now never stop hunting him, and will ask the player character to join him in taking the fight to Cazador in Baldur's Gate.

On the road to Baldur's Gate, Astarion will ponder his options that he has after arriving in the city. He will tell the player character that if they are to find Cazador, they should try and find his "siblings, aka Cazador's other vampiric spawn. He states that they will likely be found in the taverns and flophouses of the city, looking for prey for Cazador as per their orders. Astarion will also speculate about his ability to possibly usurp the rite of profane ascension, so that he may gain the power from the ritual instead of Cazador.

Act Three

In Rivington, Astarion and the party may encounter Ulma and the other members of the local Gur tribe. Ulma will recognize Astarion and reveal him as one of the vampire spawn who stole their children away in the night under Cazador's orders. She will offer Astarion a chance at redemption, asking him to help save their children from Cazador's clutches and bring them back home. If Astarion and the party agree to help, this will open the quest Investigate Cazador's Palace. If Astarion and the party refuse to help, Ulma and the other members of the Gur tribe will become hostile.

Later on, in Fraygo's Flophouse, Astarion will encounter two of his "siblings, Dalyria and Petras. Both of them are discussing Cazador's ritual, believing it to be a ritual that will set all of them free. Astarion will interrupt them and call them foolish for believing Cazador's lies, and he will demand to know where the ritual is occurring. Dalyria and Petras will then reveal that the ritual is happening in a secret defiled chapel underneath Cazador's Palace in the Upper City before returning back to Cazador. Astarion will then continue to ponder if he can usurp the ritual for himself.

Upon reaching the Lower City, some of Astarion's other "siblings," Leon, Aurelia, Violet, and Yousen, will come to the party's camp in the night to try and capture Astarion. Astarion will attempt to sway them to his side, lying to them and saying that if he controls the ritual, they can all name him their new master and they will be set free. The player character can intervene and reveal the truth, but either way, Cazador's compulsion takes control of the spawn and they will become hostile. If Astarion is downed in combat, he will be taken to Cazador's Palace and will need to be rescued. But if the spawn are defeated, Astarion will remain with the party and will emphasize the need to find Cazador.

After finding and entering Cazador's Palace through a side entrance protected by charmed guards, Astarion finds out that the ritual is already underway, and he presumes that the way to the ritual will be through the ballroom. However, the ballroom is sealed by an Arcane Lock (Condition) spell that will only open if a key is inserted and a set of words are spoken to it. Astarion then concludes that Godey, one of Cazador's servants, has the key, and he suggests that the party finds him along with something that will help the party discover the passphrase. After obtaining the Szarr Family Ring from Godey and the Kozakuran Dictionary from one of Cazador's guest rooms, Astarion and the party can proceed into the ballroom where they encounter a multitude of lycanthropes, wolves, bats, and rats. The creatures wish to turn Astarion into Cazador to gain favor with him and will become hostile. After defeating them, Astarion and the party can proceed to Cazador's study, where nearby they will find a lift.

Once Astarion and the party take the lift, it will descend into Cazador's Dungeon, which was kept secret from all in the palace, including Astarion. It is in the dungeon that Astarion and the party will encounter a large number of people being held in prison cells. One of the prisoners, a man named Sebastian, will recognize Astarion and speak up. He will say that he remembers Astarion luring him back to the palace, where he was then turned into a vampire spawn by Cazador alongside many others in the cells. In another cell, Chessa, one of the Gur children, will also recognize Astarion and speak of how Astarion and the other spawn kidnapped them from their camp and brought them to the palace where Cazador turned them to spawn. Astarion will then recall that the people in the cells are his previous victims that he brought to Cazador, either through lure or capture, but he thought they were long dead as Cazador told them he was feeding on those they brought back. It is after meeting the people in the cells and seeing how they are marked with the same Infernal runes as himself that Astarion realizes that Cazador intends to sacrifice not just him and his siblings, but the 7,000 souls they brought back to him under his command. Astarion starts to understand the true scope of the Rite of Profane Ascension and begins to struggle with his previous plans of trying to usurp the ritual.

After leaving the main part of the dungeon, Astarion and the party will confront Cazador in his lair where the ritual is being prepared. Cazador will gain control of Astarion through blood magic during the confrontation and force him into the ritual, and combat will begin. If Astarion is not rescued, Cazador will ascend and Astarion will be killed. But if Astarion is saved from the ritual, he will join combat.

When Cazador is eventually defeated and attempts to retreat to his sarcophagus to regenerate, Astarion will rip him away from it and confront him once and for all. It is here that the player character must either choose to talk Astarion down from usurping the Rite of Profane Ascension or choose to assist him in completing the Rite of Profane Ascension for himself. Either choice and its outcome will complete The Pale Elf.

Endings

Zombie Astarion

If he was given to the Gur in Act One or the party failed to free him during the Cazador fight, Astarion is transformed into a zombie with red skin, exposed bones, and all of his defining physical traits gone. Carrying Zombie Astarion back to camp and casting Revivify on him turns him into a camp follower with the same tent and idle animations as his living self; however, he cannot be talked to or re-recruited, and he will not appear in the Epilogue.

Life as a spawn vigilante

If the party stopped the ritual peacefully by persuading him to be better than Cazador or by euthanizing his trapped "siblings" during the battle, Astarion's sunlight vulnerability spontaneously returns to him a few minutes after defeating the Netherbrain, ending the hope that his immunity from the tadpole might be permanent. After quickly saying goodbye he is forced to run away and find shade as another companion calls out to him, but the narrator reassures the player character that he will be safe. Back to a normal vampire spawn, Astarion continues adventuring on his own as a nighttime assassin but a heroic one who only kills "the right people" that deserve it. Instead of grieving over his inability to be in the sun, he develops a renewed sense of self, accepting the dark as a part of him and being driven by his newfound inspiration of hope rather than fear.

If spawn Astarion is romanced, the player character can join him in these adventures and explore Faerûn with him. At the reunion party, he happily encourages the player character to mingle with their old friends and check in on their wellbeing, and he reaffirms to the player character that he loves them and will always be there for them.

If an origin Karlach romanced Astarion, he instead offers to join her in Avernus. If a spawn origin Astarion romanced Karlach, however, he cannot convince her to go to Avernus because he's forced to run away from the sunlight before her ending cutscene, and she dies while Astarion adventures alone.

Life as a vampire spawn leader

If Astarion is romanced and the vampire spawn in the dungeon were released to the Underdark, he and the player character can instead choose to go find the spawn and help them adjust to their new lives. Both of them will act as leaders alongside Astarion's "siblings."

Astarion can also become a vampire spawn leader alone and without the player character, though this requires the player character to suggest that they find the spawn in the Underdark but then break up shortly after. Astarion then goes to the Underdark alone and acts as a leader for the vampire spawn.

Life as a vampire lord

If the party allowed Astarion to complete the ritual, Astarion takes over the Szarr Palace as his own and becomes an ascended vampire lord, rising in status and power in Baldur's Gate. When spoken to at the Reunion Party, Astarion brags about his rising status as the city's "puppet-master" and generally looks down upon the player character. He can be challenged on his new behavior and compared to Cazador, but Astarion brushes off these callouts.

If romanced and turned into a vampire spawn, Astarion asks the player character to talk with the other companions at the Reunion Party, gather information, and share it with him later while he stays behind and drinks wine. He is surprised to hear that the others are somehow succeeding in life without his supervision, but he is uninterested to engage in conversation with them himself. If romanced as a mind flayer, the player character is simply an ally to Astarion, as they can't be turned into a spawn, but his Reunion Party dialogue remains the same as if they were one. If an origin Karlach romanced Astarion, she is unable to be turned into a vampire spawn because of her engine running hot, so he breaks up with her during their next Long Rest.

However, there are a few ways for Astarion to end up as a vampire lord without taking over the palace. Like all other player characters, an ascended origin Astarion has the option to go to Avernus with Karlach in any relationship status, abandoning the vampire lord's life completely to fight demons by her side instead. Additionally, if an origin Karlach romancing Astarion does not rest between fighting Cazador and the Netherbrain (thus skipping the breakup scene entirely), he instead demands to bring her to Avernus himself.

Life still as Cazador's spawn

If Astarion's personal quest is not completed at the end of the story and Cazador is still alive, he will lose his ability to walk in the sun and will have to go into hiding away from Cazador to avoid being found, punished, and controlled by him again. He will be relegated to the sewers and other areas of darkness during the day, and he will return to feeding on animals such as rats. Astarion will then lament to the player character about the life he has to live at the reunion party, and the player character can choose there to promise to help him defeat Cazador for good, which will give him hope.

Quest Rewards

If Cazador is defeated:

High Security Vault n°3 Key
Rhapsody as loot from Cazador
Szarr Family Ring
Woe as loot from Cazador (unless the ritual was stopped by force and Astarion left the party, in which case he destroys Woe)

If Cazador is defeated and Astarion does not complete the Rite of Profane Ascension:

Aid of Ulma and the Gur for Gather Your Allies

If Cazador is defeated and Astarion completes the Rite of Profane Ascension:

Aid of Astarion's servants of the night for Gather Your Allies
Astarion gains the passive feature Vampire Ascendant which grants the actions Ascendant Bite and Misty Escape (Vampire Ascendant) and an additional 1d10Necrotic damage to weapon and unarmed attacks.

Interactions & Scenes

In-Party Interactions & Scenes

As a companion while out traveling, Astarion has unique dialogue interactions available during and after certain events. Whenever one is available, he will have a floating [ ! ] icon above him.