Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Smokepowder Satchel + Smokepowder Bomb

So ...
This two items as you surely know, gives both 3d4+9 "Force" damage.



There are two things i would like to adress here:

1) Damage type:
(Ťhis is major part of this suggestion.)
I must admit that im quite surprised nobody mentioned this earlier, so if im just missing something important, please let me know, it would not be the first time.
From most sites where i checked i get the impression that "Force" is quote: "A raw form of magical energy".

But there is nothing magical on those bombs ... is it? O_o

Therefore i would like to ask Larian to change their damage type to something more fiting ...

Of course, the first option that is there would be Fire ... just as it is with Smokepowder in general.

But i wouldnt quite honestly mind, if this item would have several Damage types ...
lets say: Fire (explosion itself) + Thunder (power of that explosion) + Piercing (as for shrapnels in case of Bomb)
//EDIT: Note ... this apply only in case Larian would update their damage calculation to give only one damage instead of several ... so this bomb dont cause 3 separate rolls for keeping concentration, that would suck.

Obviously, this should be tied to changing walls Vulnerability to Thunder damage ... so bombs can still be used to break them down.

2) Amount of damage:
(Ťhis is minor part of this suggestion.)
This is something im not honestly sure about ... but up to 21Dmg to everything in radius of 4m around place of impact ... while Bombs are often held by common enemies, as Goblins ... seems little too much. :-/

I quite honestly believe that since:
Alchemist Fire gives 1d4 + 1d4 per round for 2 rounds ... meaning up to 12 dmg ...
Acid vial gives 2d6 ... meaning again 12 dmg ...
Holy Water gives 2d6 ... meaning again 12 dmg ...
That should be suficient for Bomb aswell.

Thank you for reading.
And as usualy ... anyone have some thoughts?

//Edit:
One more thing i just remembered!

3) Weight of Bomb
I mean ... i realize it will be a little heavier than satchel ... but 5 Units? O_o
That shit have same weight as Light armor!

And you still can throw it 18meters! :-/

I don't think "force damage" is necessarily something magical. It just means that things get pushed around when the powder/bomb expodes, like from real world gunpowder. From a real world bomb however you would expect piercing or bludgeoning damage from high velocity fragments though, but here they just choose to call it all "force damage". There may be a reason for that which become apparent later on when you find a use for the items beyond just blowing up enemies.

The smoke powder plays a role in the story. I can't say more in case I spoil it for others, but my advice: Hold on to those items until you find a real good use for them. And yes, smoke powder IS a game changer on the battle field, and I think is meant to be. Luckily I have not yet experienced bombs being used against me in combat, so not so worried about that just yet.

You're welcome to think that, but officially Force damage is "pure magical energy focused into a damaging form."

Bombs, as Rag suggests, should do a mix of Thunder ("concussive burst of sound" = shockwave = like real world bombs/gunpowder), fire (fire), piercing (shrapnel), and/or bludgeoning (the shockwave could be given this "blunt force" damage, and large enough shrapnel could also deal bludgeoning).

I agree that bombs seem to have a too-high combination of damage and radius compared to other items. 4m = 13 feet radius is fairly large.

Acording to Jeremy Crawford ... it is:

https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/748905316989841408?lang=cs

I believe this is translation problem ...
Yes, the word "force" would mean that ... but in this specific case, "force damage" is not "force" as physical quantity, or as we know it from real world ...

I agree it should be named differently tho, bcs this may cause some confusion.

As the matter of fact, there is no "pushing" damage at all ... spells do that, but no matter the damage type ...
For example Repelling Blast push your enemy even tho its a Force damage ...
Thunderwave push your enemy even tho its a Thunder damage ...
Arrow of Roaring Thunder push your enemy even tho its a Slashing Damage ...

I believe i have read somewhere on reddit something like: (only paraphrasing)
"People should not switch damage type and spell effects in DnD ... its perfectly possible for spell to do Fire damage, but Freeze water, if the spell description say so."

I was actually investigating damage types recently because I had the same thought. The Forgotten Realm wiki actually says that smoke powder IS a magical substance (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Smokepowder).

"Bearing a resemblance to gunpowder, it was a coarse dark gray powder that exploded when exposed to fire or heat, producing force, noise, and smoke. However, smokepowder differed by being magical in nature."

I know in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist it deals fire damage, but I think force damage is a fine alternative as it's suppose to be an "explosive" substance (magical gunpowder).

I do have a problem with a lot of resistances though (specifically in grymforge), where a lot of walls / obstruction has vulnerability to force but not bludgeoning (I don't see a reason why, aside for Larian to force us to do it "their" way). Even the deep rothe wildshape does force damage outside of combat for some reason.

Also, why the hell do the goblins have these bombs if it's such a rare substance (nothing is more tilting than getting randomly bombed by some goblin for 20 damage each out of no where. I pray larian fixes some of the enemies item lists).

Thats certainly interesting information ...
Even tho im not quite sure how should we grasp the fact that something is "magical in nature" ... i presumed that is for purposes like anti-magic fields (like Sussur Flowers by the way) should make it innert ... i know i have read on that link i have provided earlier that Dispell Magic makes it innert permanently ...

So i guess there was no argument about its magical nature. :-/
Maybe i expressed myself badly once again ...

When i said there is nothing magical about it, i meaned the explosion itself ...
I mean, maybe im overcombinating here ... but this substance seemed like those small blue balls from Arcane (if you seen it) magical in its nature and in early version certainly explosive, but working more like source of power.

I quite honestly believed that in order to deal Force damage (can we call it magical damage?) you simply need some caster, that focuses his will to force this power into that shape he wants.

And the bomb dont have such will ... therefore it would make much more sense to me if it would make Fire+Thunder+Piercing/Bludgeoing damage.