Until I can kiss Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3, I have Coda to warm my monster girlfriend heart
It’s been a good few years for gonzo high fantasy, hasn’t it? The rise of Critical Role and actual-play fantasy TTRPGS generally, a Dungeons & Dragons movie that was actually good, and now the explosive success of Baldur’s Gate 3.
In Baldur’s Gate 3, I find myself patiently wandering around the Underdark, trying to do enough cool heroic stuff to impress Karlach, the tall, buff berserker who used to work for an evil army but just wants to do good deeds now, and hoping that she’ll find room in her heart — whenever she gets a new one — for me, a humble bard. And since Baldur’s Gate 3 characters aren’t as horny as they used to be, it’s taking a while.
Fortunately, in the meantime, I’ve got my other favorite piece of media about a useless bard and their tall, buff berserker wife who used to work for an evil army but just wants to do good deeds now: the Day-Glo, anti-doomer epic fantasy explosion that is Coda. And double fortunately, Coda has a sequel that starts this week.
Coda has everything: A shitty little bard grown tired of heroic tales after magic destroyed the world instead of saving it; a setting with the weird factions of Mad Max and the even weirder bestiary of high fantasy; and a hero slamming syringes full of concentrated magic into the veins of his beloved, monstrous unicorn like so much nitrous.
Where D&D is a series of beautifully illustrated books all about my favorite goobers (whether in my own campaign, Honor Among Thieves, or Baldur’s Gate 3), Coda is airbrushed on the side of an extremely cool van. Both are great, but lots of people read the books, where I’m out here on the street going, “Holy shit, who owns this thing?!”
Writer Simon Spurrier is driving that van, while Matías Bergara furiously paints
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