Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Baldur's Gate 3 can be a challenging game, but Honour Mode is right there for the truly brave among the community that want that terrifying risk of permadeath for that extra sprinkle of realism. Ever since the mode was introduced, we've seen some heartbreaking stories of players falling at the final hurdle, being killed through no fault of their own, or making a single foolish choice only to be met with fatal consequences. I doubt you'll find a more tragic tale than today's though. Be warned, big spoilers are coming up.
First shared on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit by user Kittykalista, they tell the story of themselves somehow managing to fail their Honour Mode run at the game's epilogue reunion party, essentially the only thing standing in their way on the road to victory. In their run, they explain that they decided to use the Gale nuke (as does everyone in Honour Mode) to finish off the final boss to save them the fear of a potential death so far into the game.
Everything goes as planned. Kittykalista decides to turn their Tav into a Mind Flayer to see how certain scenes play out in the epilogue party, and the game reaches its final handful of minutes with no fuss. It was their decision to become a Mind Flayer that would be their undoing though, as upon meeting and speaking with all their companions, Kittykalista's Tav suddenly becomes hungry, and they find themselves having to roll to stop their character from eating the brain of their companion.
Curiosity killed the cat. Cat being your Honour run. — OblongShrimp
Since you already know how this story ends, you can probably guess how the roll goes. Completely unaware of the danger they're now in, Kittykalista simply assumes that Withers will throw them out of the party for causing a ruckus and that their game will roll credits, perhaps with a special ending for their troubles. Unfortunately, Withers does no such thing, and every member of the camp bears down on Kittykalista with fury in their hearts and strikes them down where they stand.
In a last ditch effort to save their run, they quickly quit their game and reload, heading straight to Withers this time to end things quickly. Unfortunately, the credits roll, and they do not unlock the Honour Mode achievement, meaning they now have to start all the way from the beginning of the game to try again. It's a level of heartbreak that no one should have to endure.
Thankfully, Kittykalista gets plenty of support from their fellow players, who spam F in the replies and share their own tales of painful and embarrassing Honour Mode failures. There have been plenty of those in the past, most of them ending at Moonrise Towers, so you can take solace in the fact you're not alone, Kittykalista. You may have the most tragic tale of them all though.
