Summary
The ragtag group of adventurers that leads the story inBaldur’s Gate 3is perfectly capable of saving the world, but all of them can also be shockingly incompetent throughout the game. Outside the punishing Honour Mode option,Baldur’s Gate 3is generally forgiving enough of mistakes, so it’s not all that surprising that even buffoonish characters can claw their way to victory. Considering how skilled they all are in some regards, however, the party’s occasional inability to function in pretty basic regards can be a particularly humorous element of the game.
True to its tabletopDungeons & Dragonsinspiration,Baldur’s Gate 3leaves a lot to chance, withdice rolls both visible and invisible determining the course and success of many events. In many cases, this can actually be a generally logical way to resolve events, as swinging a weapon in the midst of combat or venturing a half-convincing excuse under questioning are the kinds of acts that could go either way. For better or worse, however, there’s one particular area whereBaldur’s Gate 3’s random chance tends to often end up simply feeling silly.
D&D Lore Proves How Foolish One Iconic Baldur’s Gate 3 Villain Truly Is
Baldur’s Gate 3 has some powerful foes, but D&D lore shows just how shortsighted one of the most dangerous villains in the game really is.
Passive Skill Checks Reveal The BG3 Party’s Failures
Even Experts Miss Out On Basic Information
Baldur’s Gate 3has a tendency to trigger frequent passive skill checks, and although plenty make sense, there are also a lot that lead to the party looking unrealistically dumb. Reddit userhggniertearscalled out the humor of the feature in a post mentioning a Sharran temple, where a failed religion check leaves the party unable to tell what the nature of their environment might be. Considering the giant statues of the goddess strewn about, it’s something that should be fairly obvious, especially considering that a Sharran devotee is a major part of the party in most campaigns.
This is far from the only example of the game’s sillier skill checks, and a number of comments point out other scenarios that are more than capable of eliciting chuckles when they occur. Reddit usereg1701mentions a similar situation with a cleric of Lathandar failing to identify statues labeled as depictions of Lathander, which is not exactly a shining moment for a follower of a radiant god. Another great scenario comes fromthatonemoze, who encountered a moment whereHalsin failed a history check on a battlefield where he himself once fought.
The Best Main Party Member To Use in Baldur’s Gate 3
Certain party members are more versatile in Baldur’s Gate 3. This makes it easier to place them in more part compositions, regardless of builds.
Not every absurd scenario is this specific, and the ones that tend to crop up the most often deal with spotting traps. While it makes sense that a party could easily miss some hazards, it can feel silly when looking at a clear isometric overview of a scene, where interactions may simply spawn in as options depending on the success of a passive check. Having the whole party fail a passive perception check is also an amusing indicator that something’s being missed, and those dedicated to unraveling every secret might just swap out the active party to try again.
Saving frequently and reloading after failures is also an easy way to dodge the consequences of failedBaldur’s Gate 3checks, although that kind of meta-gaming definitely isn’t for everyone.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Skill Failures Aren’t Quite Like D&D
Rule Changes & A Lack Of Discretion Have An Impact
Silly rolls are a key component ofDungeons & Dragons, but it can be a lot easier to dodge situations this absurd in actual tabletop play. A big part of it lies in adungeon master’s ability to show more discretion. To go back to the first couple of examples,if a party member had intimate familiarity with a religion, a dungeon master would likely waive the need for skill checks. Instead, they could simply inform the player that their character recognized the object or environment related to it, acknowledging that the character’s relevant expertise overrides any need for mechanics.
This isn’t something that just applies to passive checks, and one big difference between an inexperienced dungeon master and a practiced one can lie in understanding when rolls are necessary. Lifting a moderately heavy box might not be easy for everyone, but a barbarian in fine form shouldn’t need to roll a strength check to manage it. Although having a bonus related to skills in an area should make difficult feats more likely through rolls, when it comes to basic tasks, there’s often no need to even deal with the dice at all.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Taught Me One Huge Thing About How To Make D&D Combat Better
Baldur’s Gate 3 goes about Dungeons & Dragons combat in some smart ways, and one particular emphasis has had a big impact on my tabletop campaign.
Baldur’s Gate 3also exacerbates the issue a bit by actually diverging fromDnDrules when it comes to rolling a natural one prior to modifiers, which automatically fails any check in the game.In tabletop play, rolling a natural one only auto-fails on attack rolls, and the popular idea of aCritical Failure on any checkis a house rule rather than a by-the-book demand. A ranger might have a particularly high modifier that makes even a rock-bottom roll work on a nature check, but inBaldur’s Gate 3, that still won’t count for anything.
Party Incompetence Has Its Charms In Baldur’s Gate 3
Making Mistakes Is A Long-Standing Tradition
In a weird way, however,Baldur’s Gate 3does end up looping back around to the experience of tabletop play. MostDnDplayers are prone to taking things in a comic direction, and although dungeon master discretion prevents a lot of mundane rolls from failing, it’s not often that a session goes by without at least one player attempting something fundamentally absurd.Terrible plans gone awry and party members falling flat on their faces are long-standingDnDtraditions, andthe weird disconnect between a character’s skills on paper and their ability to consistently fail definitely unites both games.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s tendency toward silly skill checks isn’t a big problem for the game, as they more often tend to be amusing than genuinely frustrating. Even if some could be handled a little better without much work, some are simply the consequence of converting a tabletop role-playing game to a less flexible medium, and it’s not a big sacrifice to make.Baldur’s Gate 3creates a rich and believable world full of complex characters, and it’s best to just turn a blind eye to those characters' occasionally staggering displays of ignorance.
Source: Reddit (hggniertears,eg1701,thatonemoze)
Baldur’s Gate 3
Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game set to release in August of 2023. Players will create a character to embark on a large-scale journey and can do so solo or cooperatively with a friend. Combat is a turn-based style this time around.
