Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Please Larian, it's a D&D game not a DoS game.

As someone who started playing EA when it first came out, my first impression of the racial bonuses was "finally a game that does fantasy races right".
I know "right" is a subjective statement, but the classic racial ability score system was what got me interested in the DnD ruleset and it led to me exploring countless other (tabletop and digital) DnD products.

I can see that Larian is going for a design philosophy that removes the urge for players to restart their playthrough if they realize they've made a "mistake" in their build.
Personally, I am not a fan of the Tasha's changes, but can see how after you've played enough DnD it provides a breath of fresh air.
Part of me welcomes that and is excited about some of the freedom the floating +2/+1 offers, but really wish Shield Dwarves, Half Elves and Humans got to keep the little something that made them unique and enabled interesting build options.

I think that having one set of expectations for 3 years and then suddenly changing it a month before release (I know it could've happened at any point between Patch 9 and today, but we only found out this month, so that's how it's perceived) comes across as Larian pivoting away from its core "nerd" audience that has supported the game throughout EA in an attempt to cast a wider net on new uninitiated players.

I wouldn't mind if we got Tasha's ASI rules for most races, with +2/+2 for Shield Dwarves, +2/+1/+1 for Half Elves and just kept the +1 all stats for Humans, but instead we got a simplified generic +2/+1 that just makes Race feel like glorified Background choice.

Fun fact regarding Tasha... Tasha's Cauldron racial ASI rules have the "variant human" (+ 1/+1, 1 feat at 1st level) as the default for humans. Which would have been an acceptable compromise (I still despise everything about Tasha's Cauldron though, the worst book for 5E in my not humble opinion).

Maybe (just one possibility, to illustrate), the higher class/ the original class gets spells based on character level, and the other class based on class level. That would prevent the cleric 1/ druid 1/ wizard 10 thing

Either way, it is a bad idea. Multiclassing is only for people with a deep knowledge of game systems, and already allowed you to create characters stronger than most single class builds. It should not be buffed!

That wouldn't be quite as OP, but still - "fun dips" to another spellcasting class and gaining versatility without losing any spellcasting potential from your main class... such a bad idea and makes multiclassing more complicated rather than simpler. What if the casual player this is changed for decides to overtake the original class with the second one? You either lose your best spells, or ruin your character. Messy.

If it's just unlocking everything (which I still think is more in line with Larian's track record) it makes weird multiclasses the norm rather than the exception. Why not also get those heals and Heavy Armor from dipping into Cleric, if it doesn't cost you anything?

I hope they're not going to botch this completely. I can't help getting a feeling the systems dev would much rather replace the entire D&D class system with their own DOS classless class system. I also think the 5e multiclass system is not as good as 3.x was with stacking BAB and ASI's based on character level rather than class level. D&D needs to come up with better rules as well. But Larian is truly like a bull in a china shop imposing their own ideas on top of 5e.

It's also not licensed by WotC and was made using the OGL so it is completely unique and separate from D&D.

Yeah, I also feel that just unlocking everything is more in line with Larian's design philosophy. They really don't want multiclassing to have negatives, just like they don't want you to feel locked in to anything--like how Barbarian can just change what Heart they're using, respecs are available, etc. Ultimately it's going to be fine because of the action economy, spell slots, and concentration, so I'm not too worried even if we end up with much larger spell lists than would make sense by RAW.

Where does TCoE say that variant human is the "default" human, because I'm not seeing it? As far as I can tell, TCoE does nothing to change that in D&D, variant human is officially an optional rule (because Feats are an optional rule), as per the PHB.

That said, it makes no sense to me that Larian didn't follow PnP on this.

To OP, this has been discussed before, suffice to say, you are not alone. I really despise this change they made at the last minute. Was so happy that they actually did it the correct and default way in EA. To then change it at the last minute reeks either of Wotc agenda or to "simplify" things for non D&D players and min/maxers... sigh. Ironic thing is it was easier before :P.

Really wish they re implemented the Racual ability bonuses from the PHB, at least as an option.

And secondly they need to add deity choice for Paladins, they can add none to sattsify ppl who are easily offended. Lorewise for the Forgotten Realms specifically, Paladins are dedicated to deities.

Anyway its too late now. All we can hope is that they add those things as options in future patches. Or that modders make mods for it. I certainly wont play Dwarf, Half elf or humans as my first playthrough because of the change. Nor Paladin.

Thankfully we can still mirror the Racial ability bonuses from PHB for most of the other races.

Sure, all this homogenization is WotC's doing. Look at Monsters of the Multiverse (if you can). If you make a PC using any of the races in there, you get +2 to one stat and +1 to another. And look at TCoE's Custom Lineage option. And it's supposedly getting even worse in One D&D (e.g., all races will have a move of 30', last I heard, but I don't keep up with One D&D, so it might have changed). Race in D&D is now just virtual cosplaying.

Solasta is awesome. It's implementation of 5e rules is some of the best dnd implementation I have ever seen. It has its flaws, but that's not one of them. That gives them super points.

Never heard of Solasta, Just watched a promo video on steam. Lost me at "Where Solasta really shines is its combat." If I want shiny combat, I'll play Gloomhaven.

It shines out if combat. Crafting, dialogue/skills checks, map travel, exploration, it's terrific. Writing is basic, the plot is okay about the same as the DOSes.

I do.wish the city/towns were a lot more devolved. But, still, a very solid rog. Better than either Dos as it's nowhere near as linear or one note.

But, key wise, Solasta's shining grace is that its a dnd game that isn't ashamed of being a dnd game.

I've played BG1 and 2, IwD 1 and 2, PS:T, DDO, NwN 1 and 2, Neverwinter, some god-awful crap that used the 3e rules, Ruins of Myth Drannor. I don't know what you mean by "ashamed to be a D&D game."

Don't forget that it has a dungeon/campaign maker! People have created entire adventures: both homebrewed & adapted from PnP campaigns from various editions.

Agreed, the humorist part is over the top in the game development overall, imho. The famous bethesda's "keep it simple, stupid" just makes me sick. I wish they all ground it down a bit, and stop taking their audience for a bunch of toddlers. Most AAA games feels like a feverish dream of a mediocre stand-up comedian from san francisco.
But on the other hand we got games like elden ring, with very metaphysical, deep, and cryptic narrative, which shows that people are still interested in experiencing something more complex then a comedy show

I expect Solasta 2 (if that ever comes out) to blow everything out of the water. They already have something magical in terms of D&D gameplay. Now they need to get the visuals and storytelling on par.
In terms of pure D&D gameplay its not even close to what little BG3 does. Its (BG3) the D&D game you play when you have no idea about D&D. When you have been gaming for over 30 years like myself, this annoying because Larian offers VERY LITTLE options for US, experienced gamers (particularly regarding these last minute changes to the game, illustrates this point. Zero options to choose).

This is one gigantic back-handed compliment. The way your "recommendation" comes across is "Solasta's D&D mechanics are great, but their storytelling is not." For myself, if I want a game that's all about combat mechanics, I'll play Gloomhaven. If BG3 beats Solasta in terms of story, then BG3 beats Solasta.

Hells, Icewind Dale beat Solaste in terms of story[telling]. And that had three chapters of you looking for the same artifact.

I rather like IwD. It doesn't have the replayability of BG1 or 2, sure.

I don't know, I like them both equally, I think. For story.. I know BG1/2 so well, that I skip through most all dialogue anyway. Slogging through BG1's mines isn't much fun, or walking for miles to go from level 1 to 2...While IWD has *far* better dungeons and is way better early game than BG1. BG2 has better enemies, I guess - but becasue of all the mage fights and having to dispel constantly, you can't really utilize your own Mages for anything other than stacking protections and removing them on others. In IWD you can *really* have your Wizard blow up hordes of enemies and building say, a sorcerer is way more fun. So in a sense, IWD aged better for me.

But. The Enhanced Edition makes IWD such a cakewalk, you have to refrain from using all the kits and dual wielding and so forth, and that's no fun either. I wish there was something like a decent SCS for IWD.