You’re wandering through the shadow-cursed lands, feeling pretty good about your build, and then you meet Gerringothe Thorm. She’s literally made of gold. She wants your money. If you’re like most players, you probably tried to fight her the "normal" way—hitting her until the armor plates fall off. But there is a much weirder, much funnier way to handle high-HP enemies in Larian’s masterpiece, and it all revolves around a morningstar called Twist of Fortune BG3 players found early on.
It’s not the highest damage weapon in the game. Far from it. In fact, if you just look at the base stats, it’s a fairly standard +1 morningstar. But it has a specific weapon action called Blood Money. This isn't just a flavor name. It’s a mechanic that scales based on how much gold the target is carrying.
Basically, the more "wealthy" the enemy is, the harder you hit them.
Where do you even find this thing?
Getting your hands on Twist of Fortune isn't too complicated, but it's easy to miss if you aren't looting everything in Act 2. You have to kill (or pickpocket) Gerringothe Thorm at the Reithwin Tollhouse. She’s the boss who looks like a giant, bloated golden knight.
Honestly, the irony of using her own weapon against other enemies is the best part.
Most people just talk her into exploding by using persuasion checks. That’s the "optimal" way if you want to save resources. But if you want the mace, you need to deal with her. Once she’s down, you loot the Twist of Fortune.
The Blood Money mechanic is actually insane
Let’s talk about the math without making it sound like a textbook. Blood Money deals 4 extra Piercing damage for every 300 gold the target has in their inventory.
📖 Related: Steal a Brainrot: How to Get the Secret Brainrot and Why You Keep Missing It
Read that again.
There is no cap.
If you are a bit of a chaotic player, you’ve probably realized what this means. You can pickpocket an enemy, stuff 10,000 gold into their pockets, and then hit them with the Twist of Fortune BG3 weapon action. The damage numbers go into the hundreds, sometimes thousands. It’s a "one-shot" mechanic that feels like a cheat code, but it’s completely legal within the game’s systems.
It’s expensive, sure. You’re literally throwing money at your problems. But in a game where you end up with 30,000 gold by Act 3 and nothing to spend it on because you already bought the best armor from Dammon, why not?
Why it’s better (and worse) than you think
Don’t get it twisted. This isn't a weapon you use for every trash mob. If you're fighting a group of goblins, Blood Money is useless because they’re broke. You’re just hitting them with a regular morningstar.
It’s a boss killer.
👉 See also: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Unhealthy Competition: Why the Zone's Biggest Threat Isn't a Mutant
The strategy usually looks like this:
- Enter turn-based mode.
- Have a high-dexterity character (like Astarion) sneak up and reverse-pickpocket a massive stack of gold onto the boss.
- Switch to your martial character holding Twist of Fortune.
- Use the Blood Money action.
- Watch the boss's HP bar disappear.
The main downside? The gold is consumed. Larian patched the game a while back because people were getting the gold back after the kill. Now, it’s a literal sacrifice. You are paying for that kill.
It’s also a once-per-short-rest action. You can't just spam it every turn. You get one shot. If you miss? Well, you just gave the boss a very generous gift and got nothing in return.
The "Reverse Pickpocket" meta
Community experts on the Baldur’s Gate 3 subreddit and various discord servers have debated whether this is an exploit or a feature. Given Larian’s love for "emergent gameplay," it’s clearly a feature. They knew what they were doing when they put a gold-scaling weapon in a game where you can put items into people's pockets.
It’s the same energy as the "Owlbear from the top rope" strategy.
If you’re playing on Honor Mode, the Twist of Fortune BG3 strategy is actually a bit risky. Missing a 80% hit chance when you’ve just gambled 5,000 gold can feel devastating. But for a fun run or a Tactician playthrough, it’s one of those things you have to try at least once just to see the combat log explode with damage numbers.
✨ Don't miss: Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is Still the Series' Most Controversial Gamble
Is it still viable in 2026?
Absolutely. Even after multiple patches and the release of the official modding tools, the core mechanics of Twist of Fortune remain untouched. Larian has balanced the "economy" of the move by ensuring the gold stays gone, but the raw power is still there.
There are plenty of other ways to break the game. You can use Tavern Brawler on a Monk. You can use the "Wet" condition + Lightning Bolt. But those feel like traditional RPG strategies. Using Twist of Fortune BG3 feels like you’re outsmarting the game’s logic.
It turns the entire concept of a "gold sink" on its head. Usually, a gold sink is an expensive item you buy. Here, the gold sink is the enemy's chest cavity.
How to maximize your "Blood Money" damage
If you’re going to commit to this, don't do it halfway.
- Stockpile Gold: Don't sell your junk for small change. Save up until you have at least 5,000 gold ready for a specific encounter.
- Check Hit Chance: Use Bless, use an Oil of Accuracy, or get Advantage. You cannot afford to miss this swing.
- Target Selection: Use this on high-HP sponges like Steel Watchers or late-game bosses that have annoying resistances. Piercing damage is common, but the flat damage from Blood Money bypasses a lot of traditional "per-hit" reductions.
Honestly, the funniest thing about this weapon is that most people find it, read the description, think "that sounds complicated," and stick it in their camp chest forever. They’re missing out on the most expensive joke in Faerûn.
Step-by-Step Action Plan for Twist of Fortune
To actually make this work in your current save, follow these specific steps:
- Head to the Reithwin Tollhouse in the Shadow-Cursed Lands (Act 2).
- Engage Gerringothe Thorm. You can either fight her or use a character with high Charisma to convince her that her "toll" is unnecessary, causing her to self-destruct.
- Loot the Morningstar from her remains. It’s the one with the distinctive gold-tinted icon.
- Equip it on a character with high Proficiency. A Paladin or Cleric works well, but anyone with Martial Weapon proficiency can use the special action.
- Split your gold stacks. Don't carry all 20,000 gold in one pile in your inventory. Split off a "combat stack" of about 3,000–6,000 gold so you don't accidentally lose your entire life savings on a miss.
- Find a boss. The bigger, the better.
- Reverse-pickpocket the gold. Hide, enter the pickpocket menu, and move the gold from your inventory to theirs.
- Execute the Blood Money action. Ensure you are in melee range and have used every possible buff to guarantee the hit.
- Accept the loss. Once the boss dies, that gold is gone. Consider it a fee for a very easy fight.
This isn't just a gimmick; it’s a testament to how flexible the game's engine really is. While other players are sweating over complicated multiclassing guides, you’re just paying the bosses to die. It’s efficient. It’s weird. It’s peak Baldur’s Gate.