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Picking your character at the beginning of the game is one of the most important parts of a CRPG. Your character will define your path, story, and how you are able to react to the world around you.Baldur’s Gate 3has different options for starting characters. You can either become your own hero or take on the role of an origin character.
Origin characters have a preset physical appearance, class, stats, and personality. While you will be able to control your dialogue, these characters have set intentions and skills. Whether you decide to play a pre-made character or start from scratch is up to you.
Updated on August 01, 2025 by Sharnelle Earle:We’ve updated this guide for clarity and accuracy, as well as providing a list of pros and cons for the choices you may make during character creation.
Picking An Origin Character
There are seven origin characters to choose from as you start a new game. They will come with their own class, butyou can select their Subclass. As they level up within the game, you can choose certain spells and skills for them.
The origin characters areseven of the 12 classesavailable to you. These characters are yourrespective companions within the game.
When starting out as an origin character, you will get a special introduction at the beginning of the game that will showcase that character’s backstory prior to shipwrecking.
If you are a custom character, you must learn about these companions' stories by getting them to trust you instead.
If you start out as an origin companion, you already know their story andcan delve deeper into themthan you would if you were an outsider.
You will not miss out on other charactersby choosing an origin character. You will still be able to group up with the other companions.
TheDark Urgeis the exception - the only way to experience this unique story is by playing as them.
Your race and class allow you to haveunique dialogue optionsas you play the game. These dialogue options could greatly benefit your ability to progress with certain events.
For instance, as a Druid, you will have natural instincts for Nature and Animal Handling that you can use while speaking to creatures and other Druids in the game. As a Paladin, you can have the skills for Intimidation and Intelligence, allowing you to convince guards to get out of your way or to get the truth out of somebody.
The Dark Urge Explained
All of the origin characters have their own physical appearance and class, except The Dark Urge.
The Dark Urge is a unique origin character and theonly origin that lets you customizeyour character completely. You can choose your own race, class, and skills. What makes this origin unique is yourdialogue options.
Similarly to the Ilithid powers you obtain from the Nautiloid worm inside your brain,The Dark Urgeis something inside you thatneeds to do evil. This urge will come up as dialogue choices.
You will have no memoryof your past and feel happy and excited around blood and death. If you give in to this urge, you could end up killing an important character.
This origin story is meant to be a twisted Baldur’s Gate 3 experience.This Dark Urge will sometimespush you to killwithout your consent.
Even if you choose this origin character, you do not have to give in to or agree with the evil deeds. Your choices are still your own to make, but you will beexperiencing things in the game differentlyas you attempt to fight it.
Making A Custom Character
Making your own character from scratch, you get tohandpick your skills and your story. The plus side is that you get to play around with theCharacter Creator screen and all of its 100 skin tones and mythical races.
If you decide to make your own custom character,you will still haveaccess to all of the origin charactersminus The Dark Urge.
Creating a custom character is a great way tobalance out your teamby selecting a race and class that no companions are.
Gaining the companion’s trust and approvalwill allow you to delve into their personal story and side quests. It will just take longer to find out their story than if you were playing as them.
You can alsocontrol your companionsby selecting their icons while they are in the party with you. You can walk around as them and talk to people as them. Because of this, you can have the best of both worlds by choosing a custom character.
Pros And Cons
What You Miss If You Don’t Play As An Origin Character
When playing as your own character, you will miss out on unique dialogue from companion characters that you may not hear if you do not play as them. You will also miss out on dialogue choices they can make that you would not be able to make. Certain parts of quests and the main story offer new scenes if you play as an origin character.
For example, if you play as Gale, his cat will always be at camp. If you do not, you will never see his cat save for a side quest in Act Three.
What You Miss If You Don’t Play As A Custom Character
If you choose to play as an origin character, you won’t be able to create your own story. There is a set story available for that character that they can see through on top of the main story. Custom characters allow you to explore routes the game has not pre-made.
As a custom character, you will still have access to every origin character and can even control them, so you lose nothing by choosing custom.
What You Miss if You Don’t Play Dark Urge
The Dark Urge offers a completely unique experience throughout the entire game. As this character, you will have urges to murder literally anyone and anything. You may accidentally kill a companion or an important person in the main story. This is what makes Dark Urge gameplay so intriguing.
You will not have the same experience if you play an origin or custom character. If you don’t play as Dark Urge, you miss the element of surprise and having to accept your terrible actions.
What Should You Pick?
Because you will always have access to the origin characters and their personal stories no matter what, you should create a custom character. This will allow you to experience the game in a balanced fashion. The Dark Urge is recommended to play when you have already beat the game to see what else awaits you.
