I do want to comment on "the point" of taking high ground even if there was no innate mechanical advantage applied for doing so. Even though it is not 5e, I can see the argument for an increase to the range for crossbows/bows due to simple physics but personally feel/will play with no bonus is needed. Holding a higher position is already a tactical advantage in a few ways.
1. Shoving/blasting an enemy so they take fall damage is obvious and there are multiple ways to do that, everyone gets at least 1 in the form of the Shove bonus action. Changing the Shove option from bonus to full doesn't change the fact that fall damage itself is no joke in BG3.
2. Limited access/choke points. Whether it be a ladder or a stair like structure built into the terrain getting squishy toons to high ground allows you to use a tankier toon or 2 to hold the access route and keep the enemy's melee off your peeps.
3. LoS manipulation. In many places if I'm on higher ground I can fire down at an enemy and then move back out of their LoS so they can not return fire. You can add going into stealth with that but often isn't needed so long as you have enough space on your level to just back up enough the terrain blocks any return fire/spells and abusing the stealth in the game is a bit cheesy to me so I don't bother.
High ground is already the better position before you start adding game mechanical advantages to that.
Good points. Having high ground is beneficial even without mechanical bonuses for these reasons. Especially #1, and I like that it comes with a corresponding risk that you get blasted off of high ground.
The effectiveness of #2 and #3 are reduced since all goblins can disengage and a some other monsters are given a jump+disengage ability. I'm also not sure if you
can physically completely block off a ladder with just a single character. I feel like I've tried to set one of my guys at the top of a ladder, but enemies are still able to climb up past them...? But yeah, one of the convienient things about D&D is that you can split up your move before & after an attack, and thus return to cover.
The effectiveness of #3 is also lessened because ladders take ~0 movement, allowing enemies to reach you more easily. It'd be nice if ladders did cost at least normal movement (double would make more sense); then using Misty Step to reach high ground would be much more useful in getting yourself up to a place where enemies can't reach.
Of the 3 listed options I'd probably be playing on #3 DM mode myself if those were all that was offered. I would love to see a more detailed options menu like that in the post with Solasta's menu though. I would much rather have options built into the base game than have to mod it in later.
I would definitely like difficulty options as or more detailed as Solasta's. Customize your experience, choosing whatever bonuses (or lack therof) you wanted for high ground + etc.
