I failed the strength check despite being a paladin and using inspiration. I never saw him again even after getting through nearly all of act 2. I’ve asked this before, maybe even in this community, but no one gave a concrete answer, likely because the game was still new.
It is like that, it’s common DLC to add a new character. It’s like locking DLC behind a roll.
Losing Gale due to a failed dice roll is nothing like a dlc that’s an absurd claim. You can’t just reload a save to unlock a dlc. It was that simple for Gale.