Baldur's Gate 3: Everything A Tabletop D&D Player Needs to Know (2024)

Baldur's Gate 3 quickly secured its place as one of the best video games in recent years. The sheer breadth of choice and freedom within the game made it an instant fan favorite as millions of people began exploring the world of Faerun and all the ways they could improve or ruin it. As a game that was heavily inspired by one of ' most well-known worlds and gameplay, it is no surprise then that the game would have had a sizable fanbase before its initial release, not including those who already played the first two entries in the series.

That being said, while the game takes clear inspiration from the game, with several of the rules being the same, there are some fundamental differences between the video game and the tabletop version. For players who have experience in Dungeons & Dragons, either as a player or Dungeon Master, this can be a little disorienting at first. These are not insurmountable differences though, but decisions made to make the game more playable without allowing an insane amount of power boosts to the players. To be forewarned is to be forearmed though, so here are some of the major differences between Baldur's Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons.

Character Creation in Baldur's Gate 3 Is Versatile, But Limited

• Players can choose from a variety of origins for their character.
• Stats are assigned by using the point-buy system.
• Ability score improvements still exist and can improve a character's stats or provide them with feats.

One of the main differences players will note right away is how they can level up their characters. For starters, during the process of building the protagonist, the player is given three potential options. The first is to make a fully customizable character. This is where the player truly inserts themselves into the story in whatever way they wish. The second is one that many fans of the game would agree as the true origin story for the character: the Dark Urge.

This is a special origin character the developers included where players can still customize their character's appearance, but there is a subplot laced into the main story where they must either resist or give in to the Dark Urge's inexplicable desire to maim and murder. The last option is to use one of the party members as the main character. Not the most popular of decisions, but certainly one that affords unique dialogue.

Once the origin is chosen and personal touches such as the character's race and appearance have been selected, then comes the matter of assigning one's stats. any Dungeons & Dragons will know that stats determine how good at certain skills a character is, as well as how effective they are in combat depending on their class and the specific stat that relies on. In the beginning, players will need to use a familiar system known as point-buy. This gives the players a certain amount of points to put into whatever stats they desire. However, as players reach higher into stats, the cost will increase. In addition, there is a cap on the amount of points one can put into stats. This guarantees that no player will ever start out with a stat set to twenty. That and players can expect at least one or two dump stats that have a low number in them.

That being said, the game does still follow Dungeons & Dragons' lead and makes use of ability score improvements. These allow players to improve their stats once they hit certain levels or otherwise choose to not improve their stats in favor of taking a feat, a special ability that can come with unique mechanics for players. There is a limit to how high a character can level up. The upper limit here is up to twelve.

This was done to prevent access to higher-level abilities and spells that would completely upset the power balance of the game. It does not mean that players can't build a powerful character, there are several ways to accomplish this. If a player also dislikes their class and appearance, there are ways to alter these things to reach a better playthrough, ensuring that a player does not have to undo all their progress for the sake of better gameplay.

Classes Are a Little Different in Baldur's Gate 3

• Classes differ slightly due to the level cap in this game.
• Level 11 features a unique ability for each subclass.
• Multiclassing is still a thing in Baldur's Gate 3, with no limit to what players can build.

In light of the changes made to the gameplay and leveling, some classes with Baldur's Gate 3 have been altered to adapt to the gameplay. Though they are almost entirely the same as what is found in Dungeons & Dragons, the leveling limit forced Larian Studios to implement new abilities into the classes to make it feel as though leveling up a single class was worth the sacrifice. This is why the eleventh level in a class has a unique ability not found in traditional tabletop. For example, the Draconic Bloodline subclass from Sorcerer grants players the ability to fly once they reach Level 11. In some cases, other abilities have been revamped entirely, such as the Thief subclass' "Fast Hands" ability granting players a second bonus action, something no other class has ever done before.

Fortunately, multiclassing is still an option in this game and players can combine as many classes together as they wish. There is no limitation to what can be put together, but there are certain tradeoffs, as any experienced player will note, some classes synergize better with others. This can cause a multiclass to become absurdly powerful, potentially granting a player multiple attacks and high damage, or even making them an absolute skill monkey, practically guaranteeing successful rolls in most situations. The reality is that it is up to the player's imagination and intuition to figure out what they want.

As stated earlier, classes are also not set in stone. If players explore the first region well enough in the opening hours of the game, they can discover the mysterious unread entity known as Withers. He is one of the first beings not outwardly hostile to the players and actually becomes a camp follower, providing insight into the nature of destiny, but more importantly becoming a magical merchant that players can go to for a variety of reasons, such as to pay him to let them rebuild their classes and stats, resurrect fallen companions, or recruit hirelings to fill in for companions that were not recruited or simply dead.

Improvements Outside of Normal Dungeons & Dragons

• Baldur's Gate 3 offers a variety of ways to increase a player's potency in the game.
• Permanent stat buffs exist that can exceed normal stat limits.
• There are also several items to create powerful builds.

With stats and character classes out of the way, it is important to focus on how Baldur's Gate 3 takes into account that players want to be powerful in a world filled with literal gods and monsters. Stat buffs are a thing in this world, though they are extremely rare, and often come with some strings attached. In many instances, players will either have to make deals with less-than-savory characters for such a boon, with the consequences either being dire for NPCs, damaging relationships with party members, or even having a permanent cost to the players themselves. However, if acquired, these boosts can make the player so much more powerful than before.

There exist several videos online demonstrating how to make absolutely broken builds in Baldur's Gate 3. Factoring in these potential boosts is important, but then there is also the far more common way of improving a character to consider: magic items. There exist several powerful items scattered throughout Faerun that can provide players with various boosts to their abilities. Many of these aren't even items one can find in traditional Dungeons & Dragons. Weapons that can provide additional effects, armors that add more damage to attacks, and some items that even raise stats to certain points if players are willing to sacrifice that slot to maintain a certain standard for the duration of the game.

It is not impossible for tabletop players to quickly adapt to the slightly different rules of Baldur's Gate 3. Many of these people have already played the game enough to know how to game the system to create powerful characters. This is simply a matter of translating those skills over to the video game itself. So, while there are differences between the two, they are so minuscule comparatively that it is almost as if nothing has changed. In some cases, players might find they enjoy Baldur's Gate 3's mechanics even more than tabletop's.

Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 is arole-playing video gamedeveloped and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main installment in the Baldur's Gate series.

RPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:96/100 Critics Recommend:98%

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Engine

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence

How Long To Beat

100+ Hours

Metascore

96

Split Screen Orientation

Vertical Only

Number of Players

1-4

PS Plus Availability

N/A

Local Co-Op Support

1-2 Players