Summary
Larian Studios wasn’t shy about including some ofDungeons & Dragons' most iconic characters inBaldur’s Gate 3. For example, we encounter two legendary wizards, Elminster and Volothamp Geddarm. The former has a more fearsome reputation, but Volo hasa sort of divine interventionthat makes him quite formidable.
If you’ve played through Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll know how involved the gith are in the game’s main narrative. In fact, playing as a githyankioffers far more unique dialogue optionsthan any other race in Baldur’s Gate 3.
We encounter several of the most important gith in the race’s history during Baldur’s Gate 3’s narrative. This includes the 157th iteration of Vlaakith, her lieutenant Kith’rak Voss and the imprisoned son of Mother Gith, Orpheus.
The Greatest Kith’rak
Kith’rak Voss was the subject of arecent Reddit threadby the appropriately named IHaveAGithBabe. The poster argues that Voss’s power level is far inferior in-game compared to his lore descriptions.
As time works differently in the Astral Plane, Voss is actually several thousand years old. He was involved in the original rebellion against the illithids, orchestrated by the warrior queen (mother) Gith. After violently earning their freedom from their illithid overlords, Gith insisted they hunt down every remaining illithid in the multiverse before conquering every plane of existence.
The myth among githyanki is that Gith left to serve Tiamat, the evil dragon goddess, to cement a deal where the githyanki could use Tiamat’s red dragons. We find out from Orpheus that Vlaakith tricked Gith into this deal to seize power for herself, imprisoning Orpheus in the Astral Prism, which eventually comes into the possession of Shadowheart.
Voss was the right-hand of the first Vlaakith and is said to have slain Orpheus. However, Voss knows Orpheus was instead imprisoned in the Prism and is seeking to betray Vlaakith and free the rightful leader of the githyanki from his prison. And so begins the events of Baldur’s Gate 3.
However, our original poster contends that the in-game version of Voss is far less powerful than he ought to be.
“Voss is Jhe’stil Kith’rak, the one and only, the greatest kith’rak in the empire, the living legend among gith and second only to Vlaakith and maybe Ch’r’ai,” writes IHaveAGithBabe. “The dude is so old, he actually took part in Mother Gith’s rebellion against illithids, just read his silver sword’s description. He is also among the smartest characters you meet in the game, who was planning the new rebellion and Orpheus' return for thousands of years without any suspicion up until the moment the Astral Prism was stolen.”
Despite his accolades, Kith’rak Voss is only level 12 in-game, the same as the max player level. The poster argues that in tabletop Dungeons & Dragons, Voss’s challenge rating would exceed 14, given that gith supreme commanders tend to have a challenge rating of 14.
Challenge Rating in Dungeons & Dragons is calculated based on how difficult a fight is for a party of four decently optimised characters. So, a challenge rating of 14 would mean that a party of four level 14 characters should beat the encounter, barring massive misplays or terrible luck.
The comments argue that comparing tabletop balance to video game balance is reductive, especially given that Baldur’s Gate 3’s max player level is 12.
However, several powerful enemies in Baldur’s Gate 3 exceed the potential max level of the player. For instance, Ansur is level 17, and the Netherbrain is level 20. Although quite a few humanoid characters seem to cap out at level 12, Sarevok Anchev is level 16.
So, although Baldur’s Gate 3 always has to bear in mind that the player can’t exceed level 12, setting Kith’rak Voss at the same level seems to be downplaying his power. Defeating Voss isn’t particularly difficult, which seems strange considering how legendary a warrior he is among the most legendary race of warriors.
At the very least, Voss should be more powerful than the Emperor. That guy is a chump.
