So, I decided to create three of my characters in Tabletop D&D 5e that I created in BG3. When I did, I noticed some interesting differences. Why have ANY differences? How are the differences hurting the video game?
Here are the differences:
First, as many have noted, no differences in height/weight between any characters, and all characters have the same basic appearances with no variations between races.
Kaedyn - Half-Drow Cleric of Tyr with Acolyte Background
Charisma 12 in the Tabletop vs. 14 in BG3. Not sure why. All other Ability scores came out the same
History Proficiency and Investigation proficiency in Tabletop because of Half-Elf Skill Versatility trait. Kaedyn does not have these extra proficiencies in BG3 because no Skill Versatility trait.
Spells in Tabletop are: Guidance, Sacred Flame, Spare the Dying (Why doesn't this exist in BG3?), Bless, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Healing Word and Shield of Faith.
Spells in BG3 are: Guidance, Sacred Flame, Resistance, Dancing Lights (I'm assuming from the Drow Race Traits), Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Healing Word and Shield of Faith.
So Spare the Dying was replaced by Resistance and Bless isn't even on my BG3 list. Why?
Equipment in Tabletop (this is the big one): Light Crossbow and 20 bolts, Chain mail, Priest Pack, Holy Symbol, Prayer Book, 5 Sticks of Incense, Vestment, Common Clothes, Belt Pouch and 15 GP.
Equipment in BG3: No ranged weapon, Chain Shirt (which isn't as good as Chain mail), 2 Revivify Scrolls and 2 Healing Potions. No GP.
So why not start Kaedyn in BG3 off with a Light Crossbow, Chain mail and maybe some GP? Why start him off with such weak gear? Now, one could argue that he was captured, so maybe he doesn't have all of his gear. That makes sense. Besides, in this game, what good is a Priest Pack, 5 Sticks of Incense, Vestment, etc.? They'd just be useless equipment unless Larian gave them purpose. A Holy Symbol, though, is supposed to be like a Cleric's spell focus, so why not include that in his inventory? They even have a slot to equip an amulet, so shouldn't the cleric begin with such an item?
As for the 2 Revivify Scrolls and 2 Healing Potions, why start characters with these items? Why not find them in the chambers they begin the game in? After all, no characters in D&D begin with such items at Level 1. Also, only a few classes can even use Revivify Scrolls, so why provide them to everyone? Yeah, I know what some will say. It's a video game, so there is a good chance of dying and needing SOMETHING to bring people back with. If you don't play a class that can use these scrolls then if you die right away there is no way to bring you back. But it's a video game. If you die, reload. Why break the 5e rules for that reason? Besides, once you meet Shadowheart, she can use them. Also, how many truly get to the point of dying in the Prologue before you meet Shadowheart? Even in my initial playthroughs, I never got close to dying in the Prologue.
AND...if you give them the right equipment, such as chain mail instead of a chain shirt, the characters will have a better chance of surviving in the Prologue too. So NOT giving them the right equipment seems pointless and giving everyone health potions and revivify scrolls seems out of place.
Vexir - Female Drow Fighter with Soldier Background
Sunlight Sensitivity in Tabletop and no Sunlight Sensitivity in BG3. This I can kinda understand. The game is mostly in broad daylight, at least throughout most of EA. Therefore, a Drow character would be seriously hindered except when in buildings or in the Underdark. However, that IS a huge part about being a Drow. They are hindered by the daylight. Ultimately, it seems to me that Larian did not want to include this because they didn't want to include Day/Night Cycles so players could adventure by night. If they did Day/Night Cycles, this would REALLY make more sense for the game and create a good deal of diversity between Drow and other elves. Without this racial trait, Drow really aren't much different from your standard elves.
Aside from this, there are ways around the whole Sunlight Sensitivity disadvantage that Drow have. You can use certain spells, potions, etc. to offset. So if they actually included this very important racial trait for Drow, it would just add to the overall strategy of the game. They could even have a special Drow tutorial about Sunlight Sensitivity to warn players that it exists and how they might be able to offset for it.
Superior Darkvision (120 feet) in Tabletop. In BG3, it appears as though they have the standard elven Darkvision of 60 feet. Again, this does not set them apart from the standard elves like it should. A Drow should be able to detect things twice as well in the Underdark or in dark dungeons, etc. than a standard elf.
Military Rank in Tabletop because she is a soldier. Although this doesn't really make THAT much of a difference at first, it COULD be used in BG3 later. Allowing the Soldier Background to have a rank could make for different dialogue options depending on the character. A Human Soldier could meet the Flaming Fist, for example, and they could flash their insignia to gain some semblance of respect because they are interacting with other soldiers. If Vexir were to encounter another Drow, she could flash her insignia and determine where she falls within the Drow ranks in terms of command, etc.
Equipment: Chain mail in tabletop vs. the weaker scale mail in BG3. Why? Why not start with the proper chain mail that is better? I picked a greataxe for her and a longsword. BG3 starts all fighters with just a longsword. Again, why not make equipment selection part of Character Creation, like in the Tabletop? Why not let players choose some of their starter equipment? Light crossbow in tabletop versus a shortbow in BG3. Dungeoneer's pack, insignia of rank, a trophy from a previous kill, set of bone dice, common clothes and a belt pouch. All these things are missing from BG3. So same comments as with Kaedyn here. Why not include these starter items instead of 2 Revivify Scrolls and 2 Healing Potions? She should also start with 10 GP.
Ryth-Shan - Githyanki Ranger with Outlander Background
So maybe I'm not finding the rules around Keeper of the Veil or maybe this is something that Larian added to the game, but it really caused a number of character creation differences. For starters, Keeper of the Veil gave him proficiency in Arcana, which in Tabletop he has no proficiency. Somehow, I was also able to give him Nature as a proficiency in BG3, but in Tabletop he has no Nature proficiency.
Then there's Beast Tamer. Isn't that a class of its own? It's not really a Ranger subclass. Right? Well, this also threw off my Tabletop character creation. Some abilities for Ryth-Shan in BG3 don't exist in Tabletop because of this strange alteration to the Ranger Class.
In Tabletop, Ryth-Shan has proficiency with Thieves Tools because I chose that for his Decadent Mastery trait. He is also proficient with the Lute because he gets to be proficient in a musical instrument due to his Outlander background. In BG3, he has neither of these proficiencies.
He has a Favored Enemy: Aberrations, in Tabletop. He does not have this in BG3.
He cannot summon a Familiar in Tabletop nor can he cast Protection from Evil and Good in Tabletop while he can cast both of these in BG3.
Equipment: Scale mail in Tabletop versus Leather Armor in BG3? Again. Why? Scale mail is better and would help a new player get through the Prologue easier. Longbow in tabletop is superior to the shortbow in BG3. 2 shortswords in Tabletop versus 1 shortsword in BG3. Again. Why? Why not give the PC better gear to start especially if the Tabletop would? It helps with the overall balance. Then, of course, there's the other not-as-important equipment. Ryth-Shan in tabletop has a dungeoneer's pack, staff, hunting trap, trophy from a previous kill, traveler's clothes and a belt pouch. In BG3, he has a Grease Bottle (why?) and the standard 2 Revivify Scrolls and 2 Healing Potions.
So all this to say, I am suggesting that Larian implement the ACTUAL character creation rules from Tabletop D&D 5e. It would only make the game more balanced and it can and would work well with the overall game. It would make things easier for Larian, IMO, because they wouldn't have to try to reinvent the wheels for each character race and class. Just use the rules already established with the selections and items already in place in D&D. If my phone app can do these things for all these classes and races, why can't BG3? I mean, I literally use a D&D 5e Companion App on my phone for all character creation, and it has all these things in place very easily and nicely. It takes me maybe 10 minutes to create a character in my 5e Companion App, and ALL of these items could easily be implemented into a video game. There is not one thing that I've found that would break a video game or even cause imbalance issues. In fact, the app allows me to even create a party and it has the ability to track initiatives for all characters, PCs and NPcs alike.
Again, Larian, I think you're making more work for yourself. Just implement the 5e rules as already vetted out, and the game will be just fine. You may have to tweak a few things, like Ready Action, which might be hard to implement in a Multi-Player setting especially, but those are very few and far between tweaks that would be needed. Just take the easy road and make BG3 genuine 5e. Trust the rules, and let the tabletop game carry the video game. It'll work out. Just have faith in WotC.
