Everything you do in your playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 affects the course of your journey. And it starts at the character creation screen.

Each class, race, background, and Origin character has rippling effects on the world around you, triggering subtle permutations that change the Forgotten Realms in big, small, good, bad, exciting, and sometimes very bad ways.

What is an Origin character? They’re essentially playable heroes, each with their own stories, desires, and attitudes toward the world around you. If you don’t play as them, they each become companions, who you may (or may not) recruit throughout your journey.

You may have already met Shadowheart, Wyll, Gale, Astarion, Lae’zel, and Karlach – heroes with their own tales to tell, driven by your choices as the player. Of course, you can also customize your character and create an entirely new avatar, weaving their story through your actions with the same amount of depth & reactivity.

Today, however, we’re looking at an entirely new way to play Baldur’s Gate 3. The Dark Urge. A completely new customizable Origin, The Dark Urge can be created as any of the 11 races you’d like, but with their own Origin-like Dark Urge story as the backbone of your adventure.

Bringing forth a trove of malevolent reactivity to Baldur’s Gate, let’s talk about The Dark Urge.