There are several equippable magic items that can be found across the world of Baldur’s Gate 3. Most of these items won’t significantly affect the player other than determining the bonuses they receive. It’s rare that a player will encounter any armor piece that changes the entire course of their playthrough, though there are a few examples, such as the Whispering Mask causing the wearer to become hostile.

Originally, players could find a magic item that had the potential to alter the course of the game’s main quest, “Find a Cure.” This was rewarded by a fairly hidden NPC interaction, which many players likely didn’t think twice about. The item’s original purpose was removed after early access, but there’s still an interesting discussion to be had about what could’ve been.

Omeluum’s Ring Was Originally Going To Play A More Significant Role With The Player’s Ceremorphosis

Omeluum Could Offer The Player A Different Ring, Which Would Halt The Development Of The Mind Flayer Parasite

Omeluum is a mind flayer, and players can first meet in the Myconid Colony in the first act of Baldur’s Gate 3 by talking to Blurg. As shown in a video by ContentMiner on YouTube, Blurg will call out Omeluum to study the player’s tadpole upon learning about the player’s parasite. This starts the “Help Omeluum Investigate the Parasite” questline, which will always lead to a dead end where the effect of the player’s parasite is actually enhanced – so in an attempt to calm it back down, Omeluum will give the player a ” Ring of Mind-Shielding ” for a price.

The Ring of Mind-Shielding gives the player an advantage on saving throws against becoming charmed.

This ring had a different name in early access, i.e., ” Ring Of Psionic Protection .” This ring would effectively silence the player’s tadpole, locking them out of using any Illithid abilities and stopping their tadpole from growing. However, despite the conversation seemingly leading in the direction of this being how the ring works, the ring of mind shielding will not have any major impact on the player, nor will it do anything to their parasite.

It’s likely that this ring would have tied in more with the original plot of the dream guardian. Instead of being the Emperor in disguise, they were originally going to be a completely separate character called “Daisy.” The dream guardian wasn’t a conscious entity and was representative of the tadpole’s influence, encouraging the player to stay with them forever in a dream-like realm whilst their body became a mind flayer. It’s likely that this ring would have put a stop to the player’s dreams with the guardian in or would have had some interesting effect.

In the current game, embracing mind flayer powers results in no drawback to the player outside vague implications or possible events in the epilogue if they decide to become fully Illithid. This is probably why the function of this ring was changed since there is less threat to the player by keeping their parasite; it’s possible that more content surrounding or similar to Daisy was planned to show its adverse effects. Also, though his morality can certainly be debated, the Emperor acts more like a genuine guide; having the ring possibly interfere with the dreams could complicate the plot.

As Another Rogue Mindflayer, Omeluum’s Character Had Lots Of Potential

Despite Being Illithid, Omeluum Is The Emperor’s Opposite

It’s understandable why this part of the story was cut. Omeluum is a minor character, and it wouldn’t have been worth it to keep the ring’s original purpose when it could clash with the Emperor’s storyline. Assuming that the mind flayer parasite was going to cause more drawbacks to the player, the ring could’ve served as a way for players to back out of their previous choices if they had changed their stance on using them.

It’s still interesting to think that Omeluum could have played a larger role in the story. Though dialogue will reveal that it wants to stay as far away from the elder brain as possible, likely meaning players would never be able to use Omeluum to dominate the brain without siding with the Emperor or Orpheus, it is still one of the only characters that can truly sympathize with the player’s struggle against Ceremorphosis. The only other time players encounter Omeluum in BG3 is during and after saving it from the Iron Throne, which implies it had a similar importance to Ulder Ravengard.

Omeluum could be considered a foil to the Emperor​​​​​​, they’re both mind flayers who went rogue, but Omeluum encourages the player to be rid of their parasite, whilst the Emperor encourages them to embrace it and tune in to their Illithid potential. The Emperor is also known for using others for his own gain, even killing his best friend, Ansur, to save his own. Meanwhile, in the Iron Throne, Omeluum will encourage to save Duke Ravengard over itself. Perhaps it could have been planned for Omeluum’s aid of the player to cause tensions with the Emperor.

Many characters in the game perhaps never met their full potential; for example, Minthara is quite lacking in content compared to the rest of the companions. Nonetheless, with or without the extra story it could have had, Omeluum is a very compelling character. With Baldur’s Gate 3 having a plot such heavily centered around mind flayers, Omeluum could have served a much larger purpose, but perhaps it is better thematically to show mind flayers being able to live somewhat normal lives, away from the drama of the main plot.