Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Please...let the entire party participate in dialogue skill checks.

Why is Tav the only one who can investigate the book of dead gods in the undead temple when he investigates it? Is he keeping it a secret from the others for some reason? Can Shadowheart just not be bothered to take a look with her Religion skill? It seems like the exact sort of thing she'd be interested in.

When Tav is talking to someone, and a perception check procs, is everyone else just not paying attention? Is something more interesting happening in the background or something?

All I want is an option during dialogue for the speaker to go "Hey Gale, know anything about the arcane stuff he's talking about"?

That's all I ask.



EDIT: Yes I know that you can try again with multiple people on the book of dead gods. Nonetheless, it's an example of how silly it is that you can't just change the active party member on individual skill checks. Failing with one character and then starting over again with a different companion makes it seem like the party members are independently trying to decipher the book instead of working collaboratively.

+1

Okay, I agree in principle, but if your Tav fails with the Book of Dead Gods specifically, did you know you can take control of SH and have her try afterwards? And the rest of your companions too. Admittedly, I’m not sure if the other companions can try to read it once one has succeeded in opening it. If not, then this would only partly address your concern in this instance.

Yep. But it still would be better, if we not have to start a complete new dialogue with the other Chars, if we would have their lines for next tries in case of an fail.

Hence +1

I agree that would be smoother. Just wanted to check the OP was aware of their current options!

Once again, +1. This topic has been brought up numerous times, and each time I want to give my support. Allow switching during dialogue so characters with better skill can use them. Gale does Arcana, SH Religion, my Rogue with +7 Deception handles Deception, my cleric with +5 Persuasion handles Persuasion checks, etc.

It stinks when SH succeeds in Religion and then fails Arcana while Gale succeeds in Arcana and fails Religion and the party is just stuck because they don't hand things off.

+1 to this.

Put another way, I feel like one of the missing elements of a tabletop campaign is the lack of party cooperation on skill checks in situations like this. I want to build a *party* around diverse skill representation, but the way skill checks are presented, I feel like I need a single *character* with high enough skill values in *anything* that might come up in order to have a chance at succeeding. Let my *party* participate in skill challenges, at least giving Support with skills the active character might not be proficient in. It feels like encounters were really engineered for a solo game, and they remembered after doing all the writing that there were going to be more than one person in the party. (See the first encounter with Astarion where he sneaks up on you while Shadowheart stands there, watching him do it)

(That's putting aside my complaint that there are too many repeated rolls in some dialogues that are designed to increase difficulty, when they should just be making a single roll at disadvantage. Like the multiple skill checks to crush the parasite in one scene, forcing you to potentially use multiple resources to get through a single dialogue and potentially STILL failing after spending resources to succeed at one dice roll. That's not a fair approach to the D&D system's skill checks.)

+1

"Because teamwork makes the dream work!"
Sorry...😅
But yeah, it would be nice!

I'm extremely annoyed every time my PC has to make some +0 skill check with his expert companion standing right behind him with a blank expression on their face.

It's often also not possible to attempt a check again with a different character. Finding a mask in Grymforge or reading about Sussur bark, only the first character rolls.

+1. This would also almost completely solve the problem when NPC targets the closest party member for a dialog, like antie Ethel for example.

That was the example that came to mind. We're all plenty aware that there's multiple instances where you don't get an option to just try again with a different companion.

Also +1 this. Trying to navigate the Auntie Ethel situation with RP and/or combat is made more challenging by the interface than it is by the difficulty numbers and/or circumstances.

One thing Solasta did that I liked was it made converstaions a party mechanic, where the types of responses you gave were determined by which character you picked to speak. So, if BG3 worked like this, you could give an Astarion reply, a Shadowheart reply, or a Tav reply, to any given dialogue.

Granted, Solasta doesn't attempt the deep personal relationships that BG3 does, and I enjoy both for their differences, but for these "impromptu" types of dialogue encounters I would like to have all the tools in my party's toolbox at my disposal. It'd certainly be preferable to having everyone line up to take their turns at something, like kids waiting their turn at a water fountain.

I'm not sure about the other stuff but I have used different party members, Gale for certain, to investigate the Book of the Dead. Not sure why you can't.
As for other such things as party members participating in dialoge options, yes they should be able too. I mean if they can contribute a "guidance" bonus from a spell or item, why can't they actually provide any sort of input as well?

I can do that, but each attempt makes you start over from the beginning as if the earlier skill check hadn't been figured out already. It's like if there isn't one character who has all the necessary skills to complete a dialogue in your party, you're just SOL. Which is silly because it SEEMS like it should be so easy to just ask a companion for help.

This would also just be a good idea for the interaction scenes in general. When lockpicking for example I sometimes forget to have Astarion selected, so I need to back out of the dice screen, select Astarion, and then select 'lockpick' again. It would be so much better if you could just switch characters on the dice screen itself.