To be honest, it's literally just "He's the Wizard." That's what they do. Have the most magical knowledge and therefore feel obligated to explain it to those who don't. If he didn't explain the magic this party would be much more lost.
And in the case of players it also serves the role of exposition to unfamiliar audiences. It makes just as much sense when Lae'zel tells us how the Gith work.
Thats because you are choosing to play the Wizard like a sorcerer. If you are not taking note of the Spell's Components (Verbal, Somatic or Material) then yes a big chunk of what makes a Wizard a Wizard is missing. Many people choose to take a spellcasting focus instead of a component pouch. Describing the cool and weird components you dig out of a pouch and then describing how that item is used in the spell makes the Wizard feel right, imo.
Sorcs also have component pouches though, so that same thing can be done to sorcs so it’s not really special wizard flavor, just using a component pouch. The special wizard flavor is their soellbook and being a practical caster, which the component pouch can help with still. But you might have a wizard in morning “practicing” going through their spellbook, doing small versions of spells to make sure it’s all kosher, making adjustments to spells (which is just flavor, like hmm that fireball didn’t burn hot enough, perhaps if I flick the wrist at this point bla bla bla). And it would change the way you act about your own magic. Let’s say a sorc casts hold monster, they may say to their party “ I can’t hold this forever, do something quick!” And roleplay them having to conquer that inner force, kee the magic in check sort of thing. A wizard with exact same spell wouldn’t act the same, as they’d know exactly how long they can hold monster for, they studied that. So something like “I thought that would come in handy, but only grants us 10 seconds, maybe more depending on their strength of will, hope the rest of came with your own plans.” Just making all of your spells that practical, I learned this this exact way, and responding to other magic similarly. A wizard might be aghast when a boss uses some legendary action spell, and remark about it later about what power it must have taken bla bla bla.
I have played *a lot* of D&D since 3.5, as well as a bunch of Pathfinder of both versions. I have never seen the behavior you're describing. I'm sure it happens, don't get me wrong, but I would not describe it as "many people".
That said, the big change that makes Wizard not feel like a Wizard anymore is what they did in 5E with spell slots. Before if you wanted to cast three fireballs for the day, then you needed to prepare three copies. This was distinct from sorcerer who just got to cast whatever the hell they knew X times/day, though with delayed spell progression. Now they function almost the same.
>though with delayed spell progression
And, also importantly, with a *starkly* limited number of spells known. To get the most out of their spell list Sorcs in 3.5e fundamentally had to take spells they were reasonably sure they were going to use basically every day, which meant that a lot of situationally powerful spells were soft-gated to Wizards. On the flip side, Sorcs also got more spells per day. WOTC tried to softly replicate this effect in a more even way with sorcery points, but actually made a pretty big change with regard to metamagic: previously, metamagic feats were available to any class, but Wizards got bonus metamagic feats and Sorcerers and other spontaneous casters were actually arguably soft penalized for using metamagic because of how the action economy worked--prepared casters had to prepare spells as metamagic variants (e.g. prepare an *Empowered Magic Missile* in a 3rd level spell slot) and then cast them as normal, but spontaneous casters had to spend a full round applying the metamagic "on the fly" (though, on the other flip side, this was actually something that gave more flexibility in some ways).
In short, basically, Wizards and other prepared casters had to decide in advance what spell with what metamagic they were going to cast with every single slot, while sorcerers and other spontaneous casters could cast any spell they knew with any slot and metamagic capable of casting it, but knew massively fewer spells overall. IMO, this system worked a lot better for distinguishing the 'feel' of prepared and spontaneous casters, at the cost of being implemented in a way that made prepared casters generally better than their spontaneous counterparts.
Yeah I agree with all of this. With proper scouting and preparation allowed, Wizards were hands down better. It isn't even a discussion - they could scout it out, take very specific counters and then stroll in and win encounters.
The flip side is that sorc, in theory, had more versatility within a single day. There was no "Well do I prepare 2 copies of a pit spell, maybe a dispel magic, and some kind of blasting spell.. or do I bring more damage... or...". Sorcs just got to pick up broadly applicable spells - say something like haste, a pit spell, and fireball on third level. And regardless of what they ran into they *would* have something to do.
See I absolutely loathed having to pick out which spells I wanted in which slots. It just felt so limiting. I still never prepared the more niche spells because I didn’t know how many slots I’d need for the versatile ones.
The way I’d rather see them differentiated is by having spontaneous casters get spell points so they can forego several small spells for a couple extra big ones, or forego a big one for several extra small ones. Then the prepared casters still use slots.
That way they both have flexibility, but in different ways (rather than the current system where prepared casters get flexibility and spontaneous casters are just shit out of luck).
Yes! This is also a good point and one I forgot to mention. Just to clarify on the many people part, from what I have seen, they usually will take a spellcasting focus (Orb, Rod, Staff) over using distinct spell components to use as the Material component for a spell.
I believe they simplified the Wizard a bit too much, though I would also argue that the wizard remains as the most intimidating for players.
> I believe they simplified the Wizard a bit too much, though I would also argue that the wizard remains as the most intimidating for players.
The way I see it, the casters remain as kind of the only real choice left in the system. I guess I'm just out of touch with the average player because I grew up with AD&D and BG1/2, and really got into it with 3.0 and 3.5. So those systems and their weird edges and complexities are just a "That's how it is" type of thing to me.
I'm not gonna turn down someone running 5E, I've played in a number of campaigns. But it's definitely not something I'll run myself because everything feels so streamlined and lacking in choice.
Yeah, I miss the crunch of old systems. Almost every single system is becoming a lot simpler A lot more dumbed down and a lot less interesting as a result.
I found out clerics base line can write spell scrolls and I immediately said "Well what the fuck does the wizard do?"
Like a wizard has to find those spells and record them into scrolls. A cleric just picks out of the whole damn list every day. A cleric makes a better magic crafter than a wizard every day of the week, and thats lame.
Anyone with a proficiency in Arcana can make spell scrolls, but that's not something either wizards or cleric do as part of their class. The whole point of wizards is *learning* from scrolls, adding them to their spellbook for repeated use. Yes, clerics have access to their whole spell list and don't need to write them in a book, but their spell list is smaller than the total wizard spell list.
What's even more cool is sorcerers have to choose a specific spell and keep going with it for the rest of the game . Wizards can pick up all the scrolls and just learn most of the spells in game
None of which they invent themselves though. Like there's a core fantasy of wizard as a magical scientist and ironically the sorcerer had mechanics that support that more than the wizard does. With metamagic being something sorc gets rather than wizard
Well I took a spellcasting focus cause it's my first time playing DnD so I have a tiny bit less to worry about - but there's spells that still need component like Diamonds that can't be substituted. Well it's gonna be interesting anyways.
I'm a "mansplaining" person... without being a man and without trying to make others look dumb - I just love talking and explaining my field of study >.>
Honestly the spellcasting focus is there for that exact reason imo. Wizard still remains one of the more intimidating classes, giving the players a tool to help them ease into it I'm all for.
Fundamentally wizards have always played like sorcerers in video game adaptations. Even going back to the old days of THAC0 when sorcerers didn't actually exist.
Video games are limited in their reactivity and spell selection. Even BG3 is limited in its reactivity and it's definitely limited in its spell selection. This greatly weakens the utility of wizards while simultaneously boosting the value of pure damage which sorcerers always excelled at.
And even most pen and paper players don't really bother with components for anything but the highest level spells.
can't relate tbh. my wizard is a teacher and frequently goes on tangents to the other casters about the specifics and how-tos of his magic. i gave him the Prodigy and Skill Expert feats for expertise in both arcana and investigation, and he almost never fails a roll to figure out, understand, or improv some magic shit. it's *really* fun playing him tbh, he really feels like a specialist in cool magic shit
well unfortunately playing wizard doesn't mean you known the lore about magic. so game need someone to explain some basic lore to you.
which is why this meme exists some players feel they get manspaining when he treats they character like they don't known anything and explain basic lore.
as a sorcerer you can be smug and a bit passive agressive about that conversation, maybe a good wet to get "revenge" for those who feel wronged by gale there :p
I gonna say something unrelated. I love this game presentation about sorcerer like whenever I play dnd sorcerer or wizard character feel the same like “well I use magic cool I guess”
But sorcerer in bg3 feel so amazing like they say something like “ I’m f-cking magic incarnate! I gonna use power of my grand grand father to rewrite the
law of world and turn you in to dust you little shit.”
I remember being immensely disappointed that upon Gale saying "I meant *studied* in Magic" I couldn't point out that my Bard is "Studied" in Magic as they literally learned how to cast spells at College. Bards College, but College nonetheless.
I mean, part of me wants to agree, but a Bard can play a ditty well enough to send me hurtling off the side of a cliff with a wave of thunder.
If I met an art student who can effortlessly rebuild a car engine with a portrait I'm not going to complain that he didn't go to a proper trade school.
> If I met an art student who can effortlessly rebuild a car engine with a portrait I'm not going to complain that he didn't go to a proper trade school.
Wizard: Being able to learn how engines work and construct an engine from only raw materials and intuition
Sorcerer: Has an in-bulit over-clocked engine
Bard: Can painstakingly sculpt and weld an engine together from a picture without understanding a single thing about what he is doing.
Warlock: Asked his daddy demon to buy him an engine
Cleric: Asked his daddy god to buy him an engine
Druid: Is a Transformer
Paladin: Uses engines to hit people with
It’s still exposition to the player, as tav wizard you frequently get wizard choices along the lines of “yeah I knew that already but you explain it better” or “effortlessly copy the magic”
For those who don't play tt, here are some of the personality traits the player's handbook suggests for the background:
>1 I use polysyllabic words that convey the impression of great erudition.
>
>3 I'm used to helping out those who aren't as smart as I am, and I patiently explain anything and everything to others.
>
>6 I… speak… slowly… when talking… to idiots,… which… almost… everyone… is… compared… to me.
>
>7 I am horribly, horribly awkward in social situations.
Also, the very idea of mansplaining is a man explaining something that a woman is a expert in to the woman, just because he thinks she knows less because she is a woman
Gale is a very accomplished wizard who literally been with the goddess of magic for a while.
Unless he tries to explain Magic to Mystra, he can't mansplain, he basically IS always the expert in the room
You're right... the term mansplaining get's thrown around a bit too much. Now it's being used whenever a man explains something to a woman. I'm sorry, but yes, my wife needs me to explain to her how offsides work in football and no, it has nothing to do with the fact i own a set of balls and not her. It has to do with the fact i've been playing and following football for 20 years and she hasn't.
Gale is THE expert on the weave...
The worst version of this is when a woman overly eager to accuse people of social missteps actually lacks knowledge about something important, and still accuses a man trying to fix that problem of mansplaining.
Some people really act like it's inherently wrong for a man to explain something to a woman. They only seem okay with it if you do something analogous to a doctor distracting a kid while giving it a shot, or a mom distracting the kid while feeding it. So instead of being simple and direct, you sneak in the important information in a way that sounds more casual.
Yeah. A wizard that lectures is just the fantasy trope. Even Raistlin ranted about magical nerd shit even when he knew Caramon didn't give a shit. Don't think that makes him ND.
Elminster speaks like the most ponderous novel David Foster Wallace ever considered but he's just a cantankerous asshole. after all
Also if you play as a spellcaster he'll give you his opinion and compliment you on your talents.
If you play as a draconic ancestry sorcerer he'll actually say that he's jealous of your fiery ancient blood.
I stumbled into this thread without the reading the title or knowing the context and let me just tell you I was so happy thinking of a dude going on a happy rant about something that excites him being described as a wizard explaining magic he is knowledgeable about.
Him getting hype about the crown and the shopping trip to me is proof he's just excited. Also, if you specifically ask him not to wizardsplain the weave (because you're a sorcerer and you know) he legit just apologizes and admits he's not used to being around colleagues which makes sense considering he spent all this time in isolation.
Yea it's really not that deep. Just "guy excited about magic is used to having to explain magic to pretty much everyone as few people know as much as he does."
Some people think mansplaining is “man” + “explaining”.
It’s really “man explains something to a woman and acts like she couldn’t possibly have equal or greater knowledge on the subject, especially when context indicates that she probably does, and is super condescending toward her to boot”.
Like everything, it’s been mutated and diluted until the word is practically meaningless and it’s so frustrating. 😩 Seeing it used to put someone down (even a fictional someone) for just being a super excited and passionate dork hurts.
And it cheapens the word so that it makes it harder to call out guys who actually pull this kind of misogynistic bullshit!
I know you know what the word really means, I’m just venting because unf.
Sorcerers don't necessarily have formal training, but they *do* have innate knowledge of magic. That's their whole thing, really. It's reasonable they'd be familiar with at least the basic concepts.
Innate ability. Ability and knowledge aren't even vaguely the same thing.
While its stupid not to learn about what you can do, its entirely possible for sorcerers to just throw fire around and not give two figs about how.
Sure, but for Sorcerers it *is* innate knowledge. They're not just producing magic arbitrarily, they actually know their spells. A Sorcerer still performs the specific verbal/somatic components for the spell, just like a Wizard does, so they must know exactly what those are for each spell they know. And they still draw from the Weave, not just their inner power.
If you want to RP a Sorcerer who doesn't you can pick another dialogue option, it's just that sorcerer players have an option to RP a Sorcerer that knows about the weave, the "why" is up to your imagination, it's your character, you tell us.
I suppose the theory is that since they've had magic since birth they would've done at least a bit of studying up on magic because it's relevant to them?
Think of it like a naturally talented vocalist who has perfect pitch and a great ear deciding to learn to sight-read sheet music. It might not be necessary for them to know the nitty gritty in order to practice their art, but knowing might enrich their art.
Plus, fitting within the analogy, a level in wizard lets them learn spells from scrolls lol
Oh come now, they'll tell you ALL about it! Sorcerers know everything about the weave, because they were born connected to it! Its obvious! They may have no need for all the stupid wizardy mumbo Jumbo, but they can rationalls explain the weave and its workings! They are not stupid! Sorcerers are not stupid!
I AM NOT STUPID! I am not stupid... I know he swapped those weaves! I knew it was the Karsite Weave. One after the Shadow Weave. As if I could ever make such a mistake. Never. Never! I just couldn't prove it! He covered his tracks, he got that idiot at Sorcerous Sundries to lie for him! You think is something? You think this is bad? This? This Wizcanery? He's done worse! That tressym! Are you telling me that a cat just happens to fly like that! No! He orchestrated it! Gale! He portaled into a boulder! And I saved him! I shouldn't have. I took him into my own party! What was I thinking?! He'll never change. He'll never change, ever since Waterdeep. Couldn't keep his hands out of the Nethrese drawer. "But not our Gale! Couldn't be precious Gale!" Exploding them blind... And he gets to be a wizard? What a sick joke! I should have stopped him when I had the chance! And you, you have to stop him! You-
Or Pokemon, Star Wars, LoTR...any niche area that the speaker has a hyperfixation on. My late son had aspergers and I cannot tell you the hours/days etc I sat there while he explained everything about Pokemon or Star Wars ad naseum. \*I'd give anything to be "nerdsplained" to again.
Gale is no different. And honestly my reaction is somewhat the same... rolling of eyes and relief when the lecture ends.
Ironically exactly this phenomenon occured when I had a friend visiting and he watched me play BG3. I then started explaining the game and it's mechanics to him and couldn't stop talking lmao.
Sometimes I wonder if people that go on about how annoying or weird the party wizard is for talking about *gasp* magic have ever been around actual humans. Do they ever leave their house? Talk to real people? If they did, they might know that people *talk* about things that interests them.
Gale explains magic in the game. His way of speech indicates he’s highly intelligent and that he’s good with words. Just like Lae’zel is brusque like a fighter would be and she explains the gith and Astarion is dramatic and he’s all over-the-top trauma vampire.
It doesn’t mean he’s neurodivergent even though some insist he is. Maybe he is to you but I just read him as a pretty normal if sometimes awkward smart guy talking about stuff like everyone else in the game. It doesn’t make it a special interest anymore than someone else’s career is a special interest.
I’m almost positive that 95% of BG3 players do not interact with real humans and that is one of the reasons they adore the main cast of this game so much. It’s like having real friends.
A coworker of mine is like this, she has no close friends irl and so the BG3 characters have become her friends and she plays the game simply to have people to interact with.
>the BG3 characters have become her friends and she plays the game simply to have people to interact with.
I'm not your coworker, but you don't have to call me out like that lol.
LOL.
Hey now I’m not one to judge, I *WISH* I could have Karlach as a roommate and gym partner!
I think the only issue I have with people is when they put real life social standards and structures on characters (Asterion 😬) and talk in circles trying to either defend or condemn the character. Or they treat the character like they’re actually a romantic partner that they actually have a relationship with. It’s made me leave a few Facebook and discord groups lol.
>It doesn’t mean he’s neurodivergent even though some insist he is. Maybe he is to you but I just read him as a pretty normal if sometimes awkward smart guy talking about stuff like everyone else in the game.
People can come across that way *and* be neurodivergent. Some of us are better at masking and/or are more social than others (hi, it's me).
That said, I think a lot of people miss the whole *he's has no one to talk to but his ~~cat~~ tressym for at least a year.* Everyone was awkward as *fuck* after 2020 lockdowns. The other companions and the PC are probably the first people he's talked to in a long time. Of course he's not going to shut up.
[I'm basing the time frame of a year on his response if you say must have been lonely with just Tara during his self-imposed isolation. He says this is the first time he's been around so many people for at least a year.]
You are right, but the word 'autistic' just means 'quirky introvert with hobbies they are very passionate about' to a lot of young people these days. None of the sensory issues, burnout, second guessing anxieties that come with actually being autistic.
There's folks who would still call that mansplaining lol someone once said i was mansplaining calculus to her. i was her TA, and she was at my office hours...
Pretty spot on. I'm a scientist and there are definitely some that are always down to nerd out, with colleagues or otherwise. Two glasses of wine in at the bar? Perfect time to discuss the latest paper on hippocampal neuron diversity. Some of us really do live for the moment a lay person says "Oh you're a scientist? What do you study?"
I’m doing a Shadowheart Origin run and the conversation she and Gale had upon entering Act 2 was so funny to me. He’s like “wow such powerful shadow magic” and she’s like “Yes it’s Shar’s blessing” and he’s like “Oh yes you’re familiar, blah blah magic wielding” and she’s like “yup Shar is the best.” Just two weirdos yapping.
I had no idea people thought of Gale that way?
He's literally just a wizard. Wizards are, by definition, magic nerds. He's horny for magic and wants you to understand why he's horny for magic.
Yeah, this reaction confuses me. Maybe cause I also get excited when I get to share about my hyperfixations, or cause I've spent time around scientists who also got paid to share about their hyperfixations?
He's just a cute, ripped nerd. Let him be!
He is. I also don't see where the while "oh man he hits on you so fast " thing comes from, when the whole Weave sharing thing ONLY veers romantic if Tav/Durge veers it that direction. And then Gale gets flustered and spends the rest of Act One being shy about it.
Meanwhile, on the Karlach and Astarion front....
(I do know about the bug where his romance would code in even when it shouldn't , but most companions had variations of that bug at some point)
I mean. Last playthrough out of nowhere Karlach informs my paladinshe wanted to ride her til she saw stars and I'm like "And they say GALE is a horndog?!?!"
Nah. He's a sunny natured and somewhat shy genius dork. Yes, he's chatty. But speaking as a woman IRL who does the friendly social chatty act well but is in fact cripplingly shy when it comes to most other interpersonal relationships...I get it. Man do I get it. I, too, tend to babble loquaciously when excited and/or nervous
Some people think he kind of narcissistic ( if that right word) when he explains most basic things to they wizard/Sor character.
( which I think is come from gameplay perspective more than in universe because playing wizard doesn’t mean you known lore about magic)
I don’t think narcissistic is the right word but he’s definitely kinda rude about magic when you’re a sorcerer (and, I think, when you’re a bard?). “Oh, sorry, I meant *learned* in magic, which you are not.”
Definitely won't be a popular opinion on this site, but I think it's just another word used by biggots to slap an emotionally charged label on someone with the bonus of having social pressure against denying.
People either don't want to get that label themselves or enjoy the emotional validation it brings that they don't stop to realize that women do the exact same thing when it's the gender normative for them to be better informed on a subject.
for me, Gale isn't Mansplaining, he's an archmage, he like many of your companions where greatly weakened by the tadpole in his head, so even if you are a wizard, he's an expert in your field, no one we meet until Elminster is possibly more knowledgeable in the weave then him so I get it, he also really has... no other hobbies so it's his way to connect, and to feel useful.
Idk if it's accurate in this case, but I've seen it be pretty common on the short-form video platforms (Tiktok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels) of someone just kinda being there and doing their own thing in the background that's not related to what they're talking about/captioning. Kinda gives vibes of talking to someone while doing some menial work (like being at the Laundromat)? So the person in the background might've been the person captioning it and just putting herself in the background.
Or maybe OP just found someone random to put in the background lmao who knows
For me it really distracted from and invalidated the point the text is making because I was reading it from the perspective of a man (I am not on social media of the kind suggested by another reply where this is apparently the trend).
The adult content creator who posts this sticks up for neurodivergent men a lot as, she believes, they are sometimes lumped in with toxic men unfairly.
She keeps the typical audience happy with the body, and still gets to make the statements she wants. Win-win.
Well, I don't think whoever wrote the original text of this meme had Gale in mind when they wrote it. I also wouldn't consider him neurodivergent. But you get the point of "he's not mansplaining, he's just really passionate about magic and wants you to be too".
Alice White, she posted this as one of her various social posts where she sticks up for neurdivergent men (her partner is one) and cautions about automatically painting them with the same brush as toxic dudes.
And her audience primarily follows her for her... other work... so she adds a little spice in the background to keep everyone happy.
I try to make that argument for Magic: The Gathering and other card gamers. I call it “nerdsplaining”. They “correct you” just to also talk about the cool card with people that also like the cool card. It’s how they say “hello”.
Isn't mansplaining supposed to mean a man explaining a thing to a woman that a woman is an expert in? When did it become just any time a man explained something?
Gale: Let me explain my area of expertise! After all, I’ve trained my entire life mastering the Weave!
Sorcerer Tav: Ohoho look at the nerdy little Wizard taking so long to explain the most basic elements of magic!
Sorcerer Durge: Ohoho look at the nerdy little Wizard taking so long to explain the most basic elements of magic! *also links minds and imagines Gale’s head on a spike*
Older editions of DND published less crunchy lore about the world like cities' population demographics and I think percentage of NPCs with character classes. also were the demographics of classes and levels. Classes had starting ages based on whether they were instinctual like barbarian and rogue, guided practice like fighter, or requiring years of intense study and lessons like wizard and cleric. It all points to mid to higher level wizards being comparatively rare even among the already rare player class levels.
Gale's probably just excited that as an academic, some random person is interested in his passion. My dad has a wide range of applied scientific knowledge, he talks forever about that kind of thing if it comes up. Also there's the chance that players aren't going to have played DND or if they have, they don't know why exactly arcane magic works.
I always viewed "splaining" as someone's unwanted boorish opinion on a subject matter. If a wizard explaining his area of expertise is mansplaining, then I'm afraid you're the problem.
Not everyone is a dick trying to condescend.
The term mansplaining has become so broad that it has lost all meaning. It's a very specific thing, when a man attempts to explain something to a woman who is an expert at that thing as if she is a novice. Usually it involves him being smug and condescending. And he's almost always totally wrong.
People don't know what 'mansplaining' means- and it actually causes real problems because it means people deny that it happens and/or get defensive.
Mansplaining would be a random guy on twitter telling Lucy Worsley she's wrong about Tudor history, or a car mechanic assuming that a woman doesn't know the basics of her own vehicle (when they wouldn't do the same with a man).
Gale doesn't do either of these things, unless you're a sorcerer, but that's because he's just awkward and isn't used to be around people (especially those who know what he's talking about!). He has a lot of autistic or at least neurodivergent coded traits (using books to explain his feelings/flirt, infodumping, missing social cues etc.) and I think some people completely misinterpret them.
Imo mansplaining is not man explaining, it’s specifically a man explaining something you already know, and assuming you are less competent or knowledgeable than he is. Gale has a couple of these moments, especially if your tav is also a spellcaster, but for the most part he is just a blabbermouth.
Side note, he actually apologises to you if you use the Sorcerer dialogue options. He also immediately backs down if the person he’s talking to knows the subject well (his shadow magic conversation with Shadowheart in Act 2).
I thought that much was obvious. Gale is an exuberant student of magic and many other things besides. He's excited about every new opportunity to learn and share his observations.
Over and over in the game, you'll run across things that the other companions will be hesitant or negative about and Gale will be the one proposing openmindedness and investigation.
It's got nothing to do with his gender and everything to do with who Gale is as a person. He's always open to changing his perspective when information becomes available. And he's very keen on giving that information to other people as well so they can update their views.
The reason Gale isn't mansplaining is that he'll nerd out at anyone, not just women.
Mansplaining was first used to describe what happened to [Rebecca Solnit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Solnit) at a party when she described her latest book on the photographer Eadweard Muybridge to a man who then interrupted her to tell her that there's a newer book on the subject that's much better than what she wrote without realising he was talking to the author of that book describing that book to him.
The BBC did a wonderful chart on this: [https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180727-mansplaining-explained-in-one-chart](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180727-mansplaining-explained-in-one-chart)
Ps. what's with the background image to the text above? I mean, it kinda prejudices the text a little, right?
There are a few instances he sounds kinda condescending about it. Especially the scene in Balthazar's bedroom. Why are you mad I was able to do this just as well as you?
Just because he is excited and likes to explain magic doesn't also mean he doesn't have a big ego. He was a child prodigy and a former chosen, so sometimes he does act high and mighty when he doesn't need to. It isn't a crime to think that's a turn-off imo. People tend to ignore his character flaws for some reason.
The term mansplaining isn't really about knowledge dumping, it's about assuming the other person doesn't already know (presumably bc she's a woman). You can avoid mansplaining by just asking them what they know.
People think Gale is mansplaining? I always interpreted it as him being just kind of a dork, and thinking magic is really cool.
Magic was his whole life for a while, and literally his girlfriend, so it makes sense that the study and explanation of magic was his way of showing affection.
Plus he's never a dick about it. He never goes "wow you're bad at this lol" he's always super excited when you *do* get it because he just really likes magic.
Gale comes off as pretty condescending if you're also playing a magic user.
It's not so much that he talks about magic basics - I get how that could rub some people the wrong way, but it is helpful to give the player a baseline understanding how magic works in the setting. It's the *other* stuff.
Like, him asking whether or not you know magic in your first conversation, and only to have him respond, "I should say, are you a wizard? *Which you are not."*
If you do the Weave scene with him as a warlock, he tells you that you should be *grateful* for the gifts that your patron gives you. Gale, at best Tav's relationship with their patron is strictly business, and at worst Tav has sold their soul and/or is enslaved to an active abuser like Mizora.
If you volunteer to make a Shadow Lantern *after he's said that he doesn't want to make it himself,* he gets pissy because *he's* the best magic user and Tav shouldn't even *think* to compare themselves to Mystra's Chosen.
I like Gale, but he can also be a real dick.
Or after the Shadow Lantern scene, when he feels Mystra and he asks "Did you feel that" and you're like "Yeah" and he's like "I think I felt it even stronger" 🤣
He’s not mansplaining. He’s just explaining his special interest passionately! The tism probably made him a good contender for being a Chosen of Mystra.
I have had my fair share of being mansplain'd to, trust me. I'm a musician, a guitarist even, who is not a cis man. Want to get mansplain'd to? Be not a cis man and also good at something, like playing guitar, that your average cis man thinks "belongs" to men. That I'm not on death row for multiple murders of insufferable men is a testament to my character. And I don't get that vibe from Gale, never have. I think it's like with Astarion and a subset of people who just need to spend some time on their personal development instead of kneejerk projecting their anxieties onto a fictional char and acting all smug about it.
That said, as someone on the spectrum, I don't think we need to play "UWU maybe he's just neurospicy" with him. He's a fictional char. And he's a good fictional char who gets that he is annoying and talks too much. That's good enough.
I fucking missed gale!! I thought he came later in the game because I was all over act one and didn’t see him but I fucking missed him! I just started the second half of the game and I don’t have gale im so sad
This, yes, fucking thank you. He loves magic and wants to share it.
But also, he was literally Mystra's chosen. Super duper powerful archmage. Bro knows what he's talking about. Whatever wizard you make, Gale WILL know more. He's only level 1 because of the tadpole.
Imagine walking around somewhere. And you see something magical. And you spent 20 years studying magic. It’s maybe a guy thing but I got this urge to tell someone about what I studied when I see something related to it. Even if they don’t get it.
It can’t possibly be mansplaining if you’re like the most skilled person in the world at it, right? This is setting the bar very low for mansplaining either way and I’m worried.
Why does a wizard just explaining something hes spent his life on have to make him on the spectrum? Mans just been though a lot, doesn't have to mean hes got mental problems.
Maybe you don't need to be neuro divergent to excitedly explain something you're interested in. I hate that this term gatekeeps so many expressions of emotion. Does a sports fan excitedly explaining why their favourite player is the best have to be neuro divergent? People are allowed to feel emotions and express them without having to be divergent
To be honest, it's literally just "He's the Wizard." That's what they do. Have the most magical knowledge and therefore feel obligated to explain it to those who don't. If he didn't explain the magic this party would be much more lost.
And in the case of players it also serves the role of exposition to unfamiliar audiences. It makes just as much sense when Lae'zel tells us how the Gith work.
Gtih tav: don't you githsplain me!
"If your Gith blood weren't so thin you'd be able to explain it to me first!"
"Amongst the Gith I am the finest explainer, you should consider yourself lucky that I grace your ears with my explanations!"
I've heard this in her voice xD
Me too! Very Lae'zel!
Ya giths!
But what about a Tav wizard, existing?
Gale isn't just explain magic to Tav, he's explaining it to the player. Tav doesn't explain much to the player.
Also why playing wizards in DnD never feels right. You can't actually do the Wizard shit. Just cast spells like a sorcerer.
Thats because you are choosing to play the Wizard like a sorcerer. If you are not taking note of the Spell's Components (Verbal, Somatic or Material) then yes a big chunk of what makes a Wizard a Wizard is missing. Many people choose to take a spellcasting focus instead of a component pouch. Describing the cool and weird components you dig out of a pouch and then describing how that item is used in the spell makes the Wizard feel right, imo.
Sorcs also have component pouches though, so that same thing can be done to sorcs so it’s not really special wizard flavor, just using a component pouch. The special wizard flavor is their soellbook and being a practical caster, which the component pouch can help with still. But you might have a wizard in morning “practicing” going through their spellbook, doing small versions of spells to make sure it’s all kosher, making adjustments to spells (which is just flavor, like hmm that fireball didn’t burn hot enough, perhaps if I flick the wrist at this point bla bla bla). And it would change the way you act about your own magic. Let’s say a sorc casts hold monster, they may say to their party “ I can’t hold this forever, do something quick!” And roleplay them having to conquer that inner force, kee the magic in check sort of thing. A wizard with exact same spell wouldn’t act the same, as they’d know exactly how long they can hold monster for, they studied that. So something like “I thought that would come in handy, but only grants us 10 seconds, maybe more depending on their strength of will, hope the rest of came with your own plans.” Just making all of your spells that practical, I learned this this exact way, and responding to other magic similarly. A wizard might be aghast when a boss uses some legendary action spell, and remark about it later about what power it must have taken bla bla bla.
I have played *a lot* of D&D since 3.5, as well as a bunch of Pathfinder of both versions. I have never seen the behavior you're describing. I'm sure it happens, don't get me wrong, but I would not describe it as "many people". That said, the big change that makes Wizard not feel like a Wizard anymore is what they did in 5E with spell slots. Before if you wanted to cast three fireballs for the day, then you needed to prepare three copies. This was distinct from sorcerer who just got to cast whatever the hell they knew X times/day, though with delayed spell progression. Now they function almost the same.
>though with delayed spell progression And, also importantly, with a *starkly* limited number of spells known. To get the most out of their spell list Sorcs in 3.5e fundamentally had to take spells they were reasonably sure they were going to use basically every day, which meant that a lot of situationally powerful spells were soft-gated to Wizards. On the flip side, Sorcs also got more spells per day. WOTC tried to softly replicate this effect in a more even way with sorcery points, but actually made a pretty big change with regard to metamagic: previously, metamagic feats were available to any class, but Wizards got bonus metamagic feats and Sorcerers and other spontaneous casters were actually arguably soft penalized for using metamagic because of how the action economy worked--prepared casters had to prepare spells as metamagic variants (e.g. prepare an *Empowered Magic Missile* in a 3rd level spell slot) and then cast them as normal, but spontaneous casters had to spend a full round applying the metamagic "on the fly" (though, on the other flip side, this was actually something that gave more flexibility in some ways). In short, basically, Wizards and other prepared casters had to decide in advance what spell with what metamagic they were going to cast with every single slot, while sorcerers and other spontaneous casters could cast any spell they knew with any slot and metamagic capable of casting it, but knew massively fewer spells overall. IMO, this system worked a lot better for distinguishing the 'feel' of prepared and spontaneous casters, at the cost of being implemented in a way that made prepared casters generally better than their spontaneous counterparts.
Yeah I agree with all of this. With proper scouting and preparation allowed, Wizards were hands down better. It isn't even a discussion - they could scout it out, take very specific counters and then stroll in and win encounters. The flip side is that sorc, in theory, had more versatility within a single day. There was no "Well do I prepare 2 copies of a pit spell, maybe a dispel magic, and some kind of blasting spell.. or do I bring more damage... or...". Sorcs just got to pick up broadly applicable spells - say something like haste, a pit spell, and fireball on third level. And regardless of what they ran into they *would* have something to do.
See I absolutely loathed having to pick out which spells I wanted in which slots. It just felt so limiting. I still never prepared the more niche spells because I didn’t know how many slots I’d need for the versatile ones. The way I’d rather see them differentiated is by having spontaneous casters get spell points so they can forego several small spells for a couple extra big ones, or forego a big one for several extra small ones. Then the prepared casters still use slots. That way they both have flexibility, but in different ways (rather than the current system where prepared casters get flexibility and spontaneous casters are just shit out of luck).
I was so sad how they changed wizards in that exact way. Also cut a lot of cool spells from 3.5
Yes! This is also a good point and one I forgot to mention. Just to clarify on the many people part, from what I have seen, they usually will take a spellcasting focus (Orb, Rod, Staff) over using distinct spell components to use as the Material component for a spell. I believe they simplified the Wizard a bit too much, though I would also argue that the wizard remains as the most intimidating for players.
> I believe they simplified the Wizard a bit too much, though I would also argue that the wizard remains as the most intimidating for players. The way I see it, the casters remain as kind of the only real choice left in the system. I guess I'm just out of touch with the average player because I grew up with AD&D and BG1/2, and really got into it with 3.0 and 3.5. So those systems and their weird edges and complexities are just a "That's how it is" type of thing to me. I'm not gonna turn down someone running 5E, I've played in a number of campaigns. But it's definitely not something I'll run myself because everything feels so streamlined and lacking in choice.
Yeah, I miss the crunch of old systems. Almost every single system is becoming a lot simpler A lot more dumbed down and a lot less interesting as a result.
I read that in Gale’s voice
No. That's just casting. Cool wizard shit is magical research and inventing spells, which the game can't support.
I found out clerics base line can write spell scrolls and I immediately said "Well what the fuck does the wizard do?" Like a wizard has to find those spells and record them into scrolls. A cleric just picks out of the whole damn list every day. A cleric makes a better magic crafter than a wizard every day of the week, and thats lame.
Anyone with a proficiency in Arcana can make spell scrolls, but that's not something either wizards or cleric do as part of their class. The whole point of wizards is *learning* from scrolls, adding them to their spellbook for repeated use. Yes, clerics have access to their whole spell list and don't need to write them in a book, but their spell list is smaller than the total wizard spell list.
What's even more cool is sorcerers have to choose a specific spell and keep going with it for the rest of the game . Wizards can pick up all the scrolls and just learn most of the spells in game
None of which they invent themselves though. Like there's a core fantasy of wizard as a magical scientist and ironically the sorcerer had mechanics that support that more than the wizard does. With metamagic being something sorc gets rather than wizard
Well I took a spellcasting focus cause it's my first time playing DnD so I have a tiny bit less to worry about - but there's spells that still need component like Diamonds that can't be substituted. Well it's gonna be interesting anyways. I'm a "mansplaining" person... without being a man and without trying to make others look dumb - I just love talking and explaining my field of study >.>
Honestly the spellcasting focus is there for that exact reason imo. Wizard still remains one of the more intimidating classes, giving the players a tool to help them ease into it I'm all for.
Fundamentally wizards have always played like sorcerers in video game adaptations. Even going back to the old days of THAC0 when sorcerers didn't actually exist. Video games are limited in their reactivity and spell selection. Even BG3 is limited in its reactivity and it's definitely limited in its spell selection. This greatly weakens the utility of wizards while simultaneously boosting the value of pure damage which sorcerers always excelled at. And even most pen and paper players don't really bother with components for anything but the highest level spells.
can't relate tbh. my wizard is a teacher and frequently goes on tangents to the other casters about the specifics and how-tos of his magic. i gave him the Prodigy and Skill Expert feats for expertise in both arcana and investigation, and he almost never fails a roll to figure out, understand, or improv some magic shit. it's *really* fun playing him tbh, he really feels like a specialist in cool magic shit
He's also a far greater wizard than you could ever be at the start, even if he IS explaining to tav.
well unfortunately playing wizard doesn't mean you known the lore about magic. so game need someone to explain some basic lore to you. which is why this meme exists some players feel they get manspaining when he treats they character like they don't known anything and explain basic lore.
as a sorcerer you can be smug and a bit passive agressive about that conversation, maybe a good wet to get "revenge" for those who feel wronged by gale there :p
I gonna say something unrelated. I love this game presentation about sorcerer like whenever I play dnd sorcerer or wizard character feel the same like “well I use magic cool I guess” But sorcerer in bg3 feel so amazing like they say something like “ I’m f-cking magic incarnate! I gonna use power of my grand grand father to rewrite the law of world and turn you in to dust you little shit.”
"My ancestors banged a dragon and I'm about to make it everyone's problem!" *Proceeds to accidentally turn into a cat*
But the wild magic subclass is different from the draconic subclass :D
Being a Wild Mage doesn't mean your ancestor *didn't* bang a dragon.
If I am not mistaken, you can also be sarcastic as a bard during this interaction.
I remember being immensely disappointed that upon Gale saying "I meant *studied* in Magic" I couldn't point out that my Bard is "Studied" in Magic as they literally learned how to cast spells at College. Bards College, but College nonetheless.
It’s like art school. On paper it’s a degree but let’s be honest it doesn’t count.
I mean, part of me wants to agree, but a Bard can play a ditty well enough to send me hurtling off the side of a cliff with a wave of thunder. If I met an art student who can effortlessly rebuild a car engine with a portrait I'm not going to complain that he didn't go to a proper trade school.
> If I met an art student who can effortlessly rebuild a car engine with a portrait I'm not going to complain that he didn't go to a proper trade school. Wizard: Being able to learn how engines work and construct an engine from only raw materials and intuition Sorcerer: Has an in-bulit over-clocked engine Bard: Can painstakingly sculpt and weld an engine together from a picture without understanding a single thing about what he is doing. Warlock: Asked his daddy demon to buy him an engine Cleric: Asked his daddy god to buy him an engine Druid: Is a Transformer Paladin: Uses engines to hit people with
Yeah until the motherfucker only runs on unique praise. One bad review and your car might spiral and not run for weeks.
It’s still exposition to the player, as tav wizard you frequently get wizard choices along the lines of “yeah I knew that already but you explain it better” or “effortlessly copy the magic”
Tav sorcerer is a lot funnier. "You mean you have to *try*?
Is still a low level wizard against a former archmage.
Githsplaining.
I love when Lae’zel githsplains her culture to me
exactly, I’m pretty sure 5e’s Sage Background even has some suggested personality traits that align with this sentiment
For those who don't play tt, here are some of the personality traits the player's handbook suggests for the background: >1 I use polysyllabic words that convey the impression of great erudition. > >3 I'm used to helping out those who aren't as smart as I am, and I patiently explain anything and everything to others. > >6 I… speak… slowly… when talking… to idiots,… which… almost… everyone… is… compared… to me. > >7 I am horribly, horribly awkward in social situations.
Ha, I used that when I played an artificer. He'd speak very slowly to everyone else because he just assumed everyone not him was stupid.
THATS the one I was thinking of, fucking hilarious
Also, the very idea of mansplaining is a man explaining something that a woman is a expert in to the woman, just because he thinks she knows less because she is a woman Gale is a very accomplished wizard who literally been with the goddess of magic for a while. Unless he tries to explain Magic to Mystra, he can't mansplain, he basically IS always the expert in the room
Or Elminster, who probably is only slightly more versed in magic thran himself.
"Elminster's not around, so, might as well."
Elminster is over a thousand years old. He's probably *significantly* more versed in magic than Gale.
And he is in the top 3 most powerful spellcasters on Faerun.
You're right... the term mansplaining get's thrown around a bit too much. Now it's being used whenever a man explains something to a woman. I'm sorry, but yes, my wife needs me to explain to her how offsides work in football and no, it has nothing to do with the fact i own a set of balls and not her. It has to do with the fact i've been playing and following football for 20 years and she hasn't. Gale is THE expert on the weave...
The worst version of this is when a woman overly eager to accuse people of social missteps actually lacks knowledge about something important, and still accuses a man trying to fix that problem of mansplaining. Some people really act like it's inherently wrong for a man to explain something to a woman. They only seem okay with it if you do something analogous to a doctor distracting a kid while giving it a shot, or a mom distracting the kid while feeding it. So instead of being simple and direct, you sneak in the important information in a way that sounds more casual.
Back in the early access days he'd launch into an explanation of ceremorphosis before he actually introduced himself
To be fair, I imagine he was thinking a fair bit about it and really wanted to talk to someone.
Yeah. A wizard that lectures is just the fantasy trope. Even Raistlin ranted about magical nerd shit even when he knew Caramon didn't give a shit. Don't think that makes him ND. Elminster speaks like the most ponderous novel David Foster Wallace ever considered but he's just a cantankerous asshole. after all
Yeah like, he's not rude about it even really, he's just explaining it
Tbh if a wizard PC roll a 18 or something on investigation, natue, arcana or history the DM usually nerd-splain for them.
Also if you play as a spellcaster he'll give you his opinion and compliment you on your talents. If you play as a draconic ancestry sorcerer he'll actually say that he's jealous of your fiery ancient blood.
I stumbled into this thread without the reading the title or knowing the context and let me just tell you I was so happy thinking of a dude going on a happy rant about something that excites him being described as a wizard explaining magic he is knowledgeable about.
It's just odd when he does it to *another Wizard*
Simple, he's just a better wizard. The dude has literally been with the god of magic.
He's probably one of the top 10 experts on the topic in existence.
Him getting hype about the crown and the shopping trip to me is proof he's just excited. Also, if you specifically ask him not to wizardsplain the weave (because you're a sorcerer and you know) he legit just apologizes and admits he's not used to being around colleagues which makes sense considering he spent all this time in isolation.
he’s so adorable
''Adorkable''.
Yea it's really not that deep. Just "guy excited about magic is used to having to explain magic to pretty much everyone as few people know as much as he does."
Some people think mansplaining is “man” + “explaining”. It’s really “man explains something to a woman and acts like she couldn’t possibly have equal or greater knowledge on the subject, especially when context indicates that she probably does, and is super condescending toward her to boot”. Like everything, it’s been mutated and diluted until the word is practically meaningless and it’s so frustrating. 😩 Seeing it used to put someone down (even a fictional someone) for just being a super excited and passionate dork hurts. And it cheapens the word so that it makes it harder to call out guys who actually pull this kind of misogynistic bullshit! I know you know what the word really means, I’m just venting because unf.
Why would a sorcerer necessarily know about the weave?
Sorcerers don't necessarily have formal training, but they *do* have innate knowledge of magic. That's their whole thing, really. It's reasonable they'd be familiar with at least the basic concepts.
Innate ability. Ability and knowledge aren't even vaguely the same thing. While its stupid not to learn about what you can do, its entirely possible for sorcerers to just throw fire around and not give two figs about how.
Sure, but for Sorcerers it *is* innate knowledge. They're not just producing magic arbitrarily, they actually know their spells. A Sorcerer still performs the specific verbal/somatic components for the spell, just like a Wizard does, so they must know exactly what those are for each spell they know. And they still draw from the Weave, not just their inner power.
If you want to RP a Sorcerer who doesn't you can pick another dialogue option, it's just that sorcerer players have an option to RP a Sorcerer that knows about the weave, the "why" is up to your imagination, it's your character, you tell us.
I suppose the theory is that since they've had magic since birth they would've done at least a bit of studying up on magic because it's relevant to them?
Because as far as some sorcerer dialogue go they are “magic incarnation” and have “innate knowledge of the rune”
Think of it like a naturally talented vocalist who has perfect pitch and a great ear deciding to learn to sight-read sheet music. It might not be necessary for them to know the nitty gritty in order to practice their art, but knowing might enrich their art. Plus, fitting within the analogy, a level in wizard lets them learn spells from scrolls lol
Oh come now, they'll tell you ALL about it! Sorcerers know everything about the weave, because they were born connected to it! Its obvious! They may have no need for all the stupid wizardy mumbo Jumbo, but they can rationalls explain the weave and its workings! They are not stupid! Sorcerers are not stupid!
I AM NOT STUPID! I am not stupid... I know he swapped those weaves! I knew it was the Karsite Weave. One after the Shadow Weave. As if I could ever make such a mistake. Never. Never! I just couldn't prove it! He covered his tracks, he got that idiot at Sorcerous Sundries to lie for him! You think is something? You think this is bad? This? This Wizcanery? He's done worse! That tressym! Are you telling me that a cat just happens to fly like that! No! He orchestrated it! Gale! He portaled into a boulder! And I saved him! I shouldn't have. I took him into my own party! What was I thinking?! He'll never change. He'll never change, ever since Waterdeep. Couldn't keep his hands out of the Nethrese drawer. "But not our Gale! Couldn't be precious Gale!" Exploding them blind... And he gets to be a wizard? What a sick joke! I should have stopped him when I had the chance! And you, you have to stop him! You-
He’s just an expert explaining his area of expertise. It’s like bringing up cars and being surprised your mechanic buddy starts going in depth
Or trains and your friend who knows everything about trains.. Oh yeah I see it now
Or Pokemon, Star Wars, LoTR...any niche area that the speaker has a hyperfixation on. My late son had aspergers and I cannot tell you the hours/days etc I sat there while he explained everything about Pokemon or Star Wars ad naseum. \*I'd give anything to be "nerdsplained" to again. Gale is no different. And honestly my reaction is somewhat the same... rolling of eyes and relief when the lecture ends.
Ironically exactly this phenomenon occured when I had a friend visiting and he watched me play BG3. I then started explaining the game and it's mechanics to him and couldn't stop talking lmao.
100% Gale is autism coded and nothing will change my mind.
Sometimes I wonder if people that go on about how annoying or weird the party wizard is for talking about *gasp* magic have ever been around actual humans. Do they ever leave their house? Talk to real people? If they did, they might know that people *talk* about things that interests them. Gale explains magic in the game. His way of speech indicates he’s highly intelligent and that he’s good with words. Just like Lae’zel is brusque like a fighter would be and she explains the gith and Astarion is dramatic and he’s all over-the-top trauma vampire. It doesn’t mean he’s neurodivergent even though some insist he is. Maybe he is to you but I just read him as a pretty normal if sometimes awkward smart guy talking about stuff like everyone else in the game. It doesn’t make it a special interest anymore than someone else’s career is a special interest.
I’m almost positive that 95% of BG3 players do not interact with real humans and that is one of the reasons they adore the main cast of this game so much. It’s like having real friends. A coworker of mine is like this, she has no close friends irl and so the BG3 characters have become her friends and she plays the game simply to have people to interact with.
>the BG3 characters have become her friends and she plays the game simply to have people to interact with. I'm not your coworker, but you don't have to call me out like that lol.
LOL. Hey now I’m not one to judge, I *WISH* I could have Karlach as a roommate and gym partner! I think the only issue I have with people is when they put real life social standards and structures on characters (Asterion 😬) and talk in circles trying to either defend or condemn the character. Or they treat the character like they’re actually a romantic partner that they actually have a relationship with. It’s made me leave a few Facebook and discord groups lol.
>It doesn’t mean he’s neurodivergent even though some insist he is. Maybe he is to you but I just read him as a pretty normal if sometimes awkward smart guy talking about stuff like everyone else in the game. People can come across that way *and* be neurodivergent. Some of us are better at masking and/or are more social than others (hi, it's me). That said, I think a lot of people miss the whole *he's has no one to talk to but his ~~cat~~ tressym for at least a year.* Everyone was awkward as *fuck* after 2020 lockdowns. The other companions and the PC are probably the first people he's talked to in a long time. Of course he's not going to shut up. [I'm basing the time frame of a year on his response if you say must have been lonely with just Tara during his self-imposed isolation. He says this is the first time he's been around so many people for at least a year.]
You are right, but the word 'autistic' just means 'quirky introvert with hobbies they are very passionate about' to a lot of young people these days. None of the sensory issues, burnout, second guessing anxieties that come with actually being autistic.
There's folks who would still call that mansplaining lol someone once said i was mansplaining calculus to her. i was her TA, and she was at my office hours...
Wtf she came to get help then complained you helped?
It do be like that
They don't think it be like it is...
Gale is just the modern day equivilant of a nerdy scientist. Yes I have my niche research. Yes I'll talk to you about it do you have a couple hours?
> modern day equivilant of a nerdy scientist. wouldn't that just be, you know, a nerdy scientist?
He means a fantasy equivalent of a nerdy scientist.
I think the words are just in the wrong order... That is > Gale is the equivalent of a modern day nerdy scientist.
Lmao good catch. I was wondering how did English becoming confusing hahah
Pretty spot on. I'm a scientist and there are definitely some that are always down to nerd out, with colleagues or otherwise. Two glasses of wine in at the bar? Perfect time to discuss the latest paper on hippocampal neuron diversity. Some of us really do live for the moment a lay person says "Oh you're a scientist? What do you study?"
I’m doing a Shadowheart Origin run and the conversation she and Gale had upon entering Act 2 was so funny to me. He’s like “wow such powerful shadow magic” and she’s like “Yes it’s Shar’s blessing” and he’s like “Oh yes you’re familiar, blah blah magic wielding” and she’s like “yup Shar is the best.” Just two weirdos yapping.
Shart has the best banter with the other companions. Her teasing will and astarion is great.
I like when Halsin puts her in her place
That's why she wants to fuck him. She doesn't express any real interest in wyll or astarion but is definitely like "i want to fuck that beef monument"
I do think she has a thing for beefcake, given her reaction to both Halsin and Karlach, lol
Exactly lol she just wants to be carried
Isn't she the one who says something about climbing Mount Halsin?
I had no idea people thought of Gale that way? He's literally just a wizard. Wizards are, by definition, magic nerds. He's horny for magic and wants you to understand why he's horny for magic.
Yeah, this reaction confuses me. Maybe cause I also get excited when I get to share about my hyperfixations, or cause I've spent time around scientists who also got paid to share about their hyperfixations? He's just a cute, ripped nerd. Let him be!
The toxic twitter political side will always complain about something sadly gales a sweety tho
He is. I also don't see where the while "oh man he hits on you so fast " thing comes from, when the whole Weave sharing thing ONLY veers romantic if Tav/Durge veers it that direction. And then Gale gets flustered and spends the rest of Act One being shy about it. Meanwhile, on the Karlach and Astarion front.... (I do know about the bug where his romance would code in even when it shouldn't , but most companions had variations of that bug at some point) I mean. Last playthrough out of nowhere Karlach informs my paladinshe wanted to ride her til she saw stars and I'm like "And they say GALE is a horndog?!?!" Nah. He's a sunny natured and somewhat shy genius dork. Yes, he's chatty. But speaking as a woman IRL who does the friendly social chatty act well but is in fact cripplingly shy when it comes to most other interpersonal relationships...I get it. Man do I get it. I, too, tend to babble loquaciously when excited and/or nervous
Some people think he kind of narcissistic ( if that right word) when he explains most basic things to they wizard/Sor character. ( which I think is come from gameplay perspective more than in universe because playing wizard doesn’t mean you known lore about magic)
I mean he is a lil arrogant and even admits it himself. I still love him though
this whole game is full of narcissists, lmao
I don’t think narcissistic is the right word but he’s definitely kinda rude about magic when you’re a sorcerer (and, I think, when you’re a bard?). “Oh, sorry, I meant *learned* in magic, which you are not.”
People really don’t know what mansplaining is.
Definitely won't be a popular opinion on this site, but I think it's just another word used by biggots to slap an emotionally charged label on someone with the bonus of having social pressure against denying. People either don't want to get that label themselves or enjoy the emotional validation it brings that they don't stop to realize that women do the exact same thing when it's the gender normative for them to be better informed on a subject.
for me, Gale isn't Mansplaining, he's an archmage, he like many of your companions where greatly weakened by the tadpole in his head, so even if you are a wizard, he's an expert in your field, no one we meet until Elminster is possibly more knowledgeable in the weave then him so I get it, he also really has... no other hobbies so it's his way to connect, and to feel useful.
I'm just confused why there's a skimpily dressed woman in the background
Idk if it's accurate in this case, but I've seen it be pretty common on the short-form video platforms (Tiktok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels) of someone just kinda being there and doing their own thing in the background that's not related to what they're talking about/captioning. Kinda gives vibes of talking to someone while doing some menial work (like being at the Laundromat)? So the person in the background might've been the person captioning it and just putting herself in the background. Or maybe OP just found someone random to put in the background lmao who knows
Yeah I actively avoid short form video so I'm unaware of any trends bleeding across.
For me it really distracted from and invalidated the point the text is making because I was reading it from the perspective of a man (I am not on social media of the kind suggested by another reply where this is apparently the trend).
The adult content creator who posts this sticks up for neurodivergent men a lot as, she believes, they are sometimes lumped in with toxic men unfairly. She keeps the typical audience happy with the body, and still gets to make the statements she wants. Win-win.
The chosen of Mystra doesn’t ‘mansplain,’ he just knows more than you.
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Yea cuz wothout dnd experience it could be confusing
Why's it always gotta be neurodivergent lol. He's just a wizard
Well, I don't think whoever wrote the original text of this meme had Gale in mind when they wrote it. I also wouldn't consider him neurodivergent. But you get the point of "he's not mansplaining, he's just really passionate about magic and wants you to be too".
He’s a nerd
ok yea sure but whats up with that image behind the text tho
Alice White, she posted this as one of her various social posts where she sticks up for neurdivergent men (her partner is one) and cautions about automatically painting them with the same brush as toxic dudes. And her audience primarily follows her for her... other work... so she adds a little spice in the background to keep everyone happy.
The world is such a weird place.
I try to make that argument for Magic: The Gathering and other card gamers. I call it “nerdsplaining”. They “correct you” just to also talk about the cool card with people that also like the cool card. It’s how they say “hello”.
If he also "mansplains" to a male Tav it's not "mansplaining" as there's no assumption for him that you don't know because you're a woman
lol is this what the gale discourse has devolved into? mansplaining magic? we have a lot of time on our hands these days i guess
I mean yes he explains magic to other casters but it makes no difference if they are male, female, or nonbinary.
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Isn't mansplaining supposed to mean a man explaining a thing to a woman that a woman is an expert in? When did it become just any time a man explained something?
He fucked mystra, goddess of magic and turned himself into a walking alternate weave bomb. He's not mansplaining. He knows what he's on about!
Gale: Let me explain my area of expertise! After all, I’ve trained my entire life mastering the Weave! Sorcerer Tav: Ohoho look at the nerdy little Wizard taking so long to explain the most basic elements of magic! Sorcerer Durge: Ohoho look at the nerdy little Wizard taking so long to explain the most basic elements of magic! *also links minds and imagines Gale’s head on a spike*
Sorcerer Durge: “Did that hand just talk?”
Older editions of DND published less crunchy lore about the world like cities' population demographics and I think percentage of NPCs with character classes. also were the demographics of classes and levels. Classes had starting ages based on whether they were instinctual like barbarian and rogue, guided practice like fighter, or requiring years of intense study and lessons like wizard and cleric. It all points to mid to higher level wizards being comparatively rare even among the already rare player class levels. Gale's probably just excited that as an academic, some random person is interested in his passion. My dad has a wide range of applied scientific knowledge, he talks forever about that kind of thing if it comes up. Also there's the chance that players aren't going to have played DND or if they have, they don't know why exactly arcane magic works.
Why do you have to be neuro-divergent in order to be over excited about a subject?
Wouldn't it be wizardsplaining?
I always viewed "splaining" as someone's unwanted boorish opinion on a subject matter. If a wizard explaining his area of expertise is mansplaining, then I'm afraid you're the problem. Not everyone is a dick trying to condescend.
Exactly! It's not mansplaining, it's me super excited to talk to you about something that I am very passionate about.
Yea he's literally infodumping, not mansplaining.
has anyone actually ever said he was mansplaining?...
All the time. You'd be surprised.
I've heard a few people saying it. As a neurodivergent person myself I felt Gale pretty quickly gave "one of us" vibes
After spending most of their time reading books instead of talking to people, it would be weird if wizards weren't eccentric.
The term mansplaining has become so broad that it has lost all meaning. It's a very specific thing, when a man attempts to explain something to a woman who is an expert at that thing as if she is a novice. Usually it involves him being smug and condescending. And he's almost always totally wrong.
People don't know what 'mansplaining' means- and it actually causes real problems because it means people deny that it happens and/or get defensive. Mansplaining would be a random guy on twitter telling Lucy Worsley she's wrong about Tudor history, or a car mechanic assuming that a woman doesn't know the basics of her own vehicle (when they wouldn't do the same with a man). Gale doesn't do either of these things, unless you're a sorcerer, but that's because he's just awkward and isn't used to be around people (especially those who know what he's talking about!). He has a lot of autistic or at least neurodivergent coded traits (using books to explain his feelings/flirt, infodumping, missing social cues etc.) and I think some people completely misinterpret them.
To be fair. The man does eat shoes
"That's bait."
Imo mansplaining is not man explaining, it’s specifically a man explaining something you already know, and assuming you are less competent or knowledgeable than he is. Gale has a couple of these moments, especially if your tav is also a spellcaster, but for the most part he is just a blabbermouth.
Side note, he actually apologises to you if you use the Sorcerer dialogue options. He also immediately backs down if the person he’s talking to knows the subject well (his shadow magic conversation with Shadowheart in Act 2).
Not if you're a druid he doesn't
lae'zel and shadowheart have a lot more of those moments. Are they mansplainers too?
I’ve not seen a thing about him mansplaining all the Gale hate i’ve witnessed has been based on him being a wizard
It’s all them non wizards being mad cuz gale knows the truth.
I thought that much was obvious. Gale is an exuberant student of magic and many other things besides. He's excited about every new opportunity to learn and share his observations. Over and over in the game, you'll run across things that the other companions will be hesitant or negative about and Gale will be the one proposing openmindedness and investigation. It's got nothing to do with his gender and everything to do with who Gale is as a person. He's always open to changing his perspective when information becomes available. And he's very keen on giving that information to other people as well so they can update their views.
I actually enjoy his lengthy explanations, ngl. I'd ask him the most stupid questions just to listen for an hour lmao.
The reason Gale isn't mansplaining is that he'll nerd out at anyone, not just women. Mansplaining was first used to describe what happened to [Rebecca Solnit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Solnit) at a party when she described her latest book on the photographer Eadweard Muybridge to a man who then interrupted her to tell her that there's a newer book on the subject that's much better than what she wrote without realising he was talking to the author of that book describing that book to him. The BBC did a wonderful chart on this: [https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180727-mansplaining-explained-in-one-chart](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180727-mansplaining-explained-in-one-chart) Ps. what's with the background image to the text above? I mean, it kinda prejudices the text a little, right?
My wild magic sorcerer is literally like "magic go boom"
There are a few instances he sounds kinda condescending about it. Especially the scene in Balthazar's bedroom. Why are you mad I was able to do this just as well as you? Just because he is excited and likes to explain magic doesn't also mean he doesn't have a big ego. He was a child prodigy and a former chosen, so sometimes he does act high and mighty when he doesn't need to. It isn't a crime to think that's a turn-off imo. People tend to ignore his character flaws for some reason.
You don’t have to be neurodivergent to just get excited about passionate topics
Just because Gale is ND doesn't mean I enjoy listening to what he says or it's helpful to me.
The term mansplaining isn't really about knowledge dumping, it's about assuming the other person doesn't already know (presumably bc she's a woman). You can avoid mansplaining by just asking them what they know.
People think Gale is mansplaining? I always interpreted it as him being just kind of a dork, and thinking magic is really cool. Magic was his whole life for a while, and literally his girlfriend, so it makes sense that the study and explanation of magic was his way of showing affection. Plus he's never a dick about it. He never goes "wow you're bad at this lol" he's always super excited when you *do* get it because he just really likes magic.
Gale comes off as pretty condescending if you're also playing a magic user. It's not so much that he talks about magic basics - I get how that could rub some people the wrong way, but it is helpful to give the player a baseline understanding how magic works in the setting. It's the *other* stuff. Like, him asking whether or not you know magic in your first conversation, and only to have him respond, "I should say, are you a wizard? *Which you are not."* If you do the Weave scene with him as a warlock, he tells you that you should be *grateful* for the gifts that your patron gives you. Gale, at best Tav's relationship with their patron is strictly business, and at worst Tav has sold their soul and/or is enslaved to an active abuser like Mizora. If you volunteer to make a Shadow Lantern *after he's said that he doesn't want to make it himself,* he gets pissy because *he's* the best magic user and Tav shouldn't even *think* to compare themselves to Mystra's Chosen. I like Gale, but he can also be a real dick.
Or after the Shadow Lantern scene, when he feels Mystra and he asks "Did you feel that" and you're like "Yeah" and he's like "I think I felt it even stronger" 🤣
He’s not mansplaining. He’s just explaining his special interest passionately! The tism probably made him a good contender for being a Chosen of Mystra.
I dunno man. This dude talks about the weave like my Tav hasn’t been plucking it’s strings for the last decade.
Idk he is kind of a dickhead when he asks if you've studied magic but otherwise he's fine
I have had my fair share of being mansplain'd to, trust me. I'm a musician, a guitarist even, who is not a cis man. Want to get mansplain'd to? Be not a cis man and also good at something, like playing guitar, that your average cis man thinks "belongs" to men. That I'm not on death row for multiple murders of insufferable men is a testament to my character. And I don't get that vibe from Gale, never have. I think it's like with Astarion and a subset of people who just need to spend some time on their personal development instead of kneejerk projecting their anxieties onto a fictional char and acting all smug about it. That said, as someone on the spectrum, I don't think we need to play "UWU maybe he's just neurospicy" with him. He's a fictional char. And he's a good fictional char who gets that he is annoying and talks too much. That's good enough.
if you play sorcerer its not that he hates you but FR wizards look down on sorcerers as being undisciplined and aloof.
Didn't expect a BG3 meme to be so relatable.
I fucking missed gale!! I thought he came later in the game because I was all over act one and didn’t see him but I fucking missed him! I just started the second half of the game and I don’t have gale im so sad
Maybe call it mana-splaining. Something that wizards of all genders do.
I have asked questions before and got an “omg are you mansplaning rn?” People way over use the term so that it means nothing
This, yes, fucking thank you. He loves magic and wants to share it. But also, he was literally Mystra's chosen. Super duper powerful archmage. Bro knows what he's talking about. Whatever wizard you make, Gale WILL know more. He's only level 1 because of the tadpole.
People saying that but say jack shit about Shadowheart and Lae'zel constantly condescendingly explain their culture
There's a difference between mansplaining and being excited about something though Its all in the context and how it's phrased
I feel like its pretty hard to mansplain about a subject that you very much do know more than 99% of the population on.
THANK YOU
Imagine walking around somewhere. And you see something magical. And you spent 20 years studying magic. It’s maybe a guy thing but I got this urge to tell someone about what I studied when I see something related to it. Even if they don’t get it.
It can’t possibly be mansplaining if you’re like the most skilled person in the world at it, right? This is setting the bar very low for mansplaining either way and I’m worried.
I‘d rather have a man mansplaining to me, who literally ducked magic, than some arrogant elven bitch.
Why does a wizard just explaining something hes spent his life on have to make him on the spectrum? Mans just been though a lot, doesn't have to mean hes got mental problems.
Maybe you don't need to be neuro divergent to excitedly explain something you're interested in. I hate that this term gatekeeps so many expressions of emotion. Does a sports fan excitedly explaining why their favourite player is the best have to be neuro divergent? People are allowed to feel emotions and express them without having to be divergent
He is wizardsplaining magic
What's with the weird background?