Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Owlbear encounter

I admit that I was just messing around with Ragnarok but I think it's fair to say that we are still "on the rails".


This is truly the heart of the matter. Larian is not our GM because they are not with the player; able to customize the experience given the situations as they arise in real time. The developers must anticipate what _could_ happen. What we all have to rely on is the ruleset. It is an anchor that we can all play around. If the rules deviate too much from the source - Baldur's Gate and D&D - then it would be better to call this game something else wouldn't you agree?

Simply put, the issue brought up by this thread is valid and worth discussing. Also, the discussion is much larger than just this one instance - as you, WebSpyder, have already stated.

Well ... yes, but actualy no ... or at least not exactly.

This topic was repeated so many times around here i almost feel like spambot for bringing it up again.
But let me repeat myself:
(just note that im meerely stating my own opinion and if you disagree with me that is totally fine ... but remember that you asked )

Its all matter of perspective.

I mean if you promiss that your game will be "based on 5e" ... you indeed should "base" it on 5e.
Wich is i believe the part you wanted to hear, now for the less popular part:

The important question we need to ask, to underatand it corectly is: what does "based on" even mean?
I mean if you would just litteraly transcript every single rule ... its no longer "based on" ... its just "5e" ... pure, or RAW if you wish.
So from this perspective i dare to say that its quite safe to presume there have to be differences.

And that is exactly the place where developer vision come to play.

In ideal world developer and player vision would be identical and everyone will be happy as a flee. ^_^
But that is not the case is it.
I dont think there is need for some heavy argumenting here, all you need is just read few topics here and it should be clear that there is no unified vision on our side ... therefore its litteraly impossible for Larian to meet our expectations.

Now every time you hear Swen say in some interview that some rules "dont translate well in CRPG" that is conflict between 5e and their vision he is talking about.
And it can mean anything on scale between "there is no way to implement some rule" (or there may be some but we just dont know how) to "we tryed this rule and we dont like the outcome".
Sadly (but understandably) we will mever know both wich case it is and wich rule is he talking about.

That said there is one more important question!
And that is: How much can rules be alterned and game still be concidered "based on 5e" ... and that is the very core of this topic.
Lets be honest witch each other for a second ... we (players) are Gandalf the Grey on king Théodens court ... meaning we have no power here.
Best we can do is offer feedback, suggestions and ideas ... and then hope someone in Larian will see that and think "that actualy sounds better".
And why? Bcs we are trying to persuate Larian that our vision is better.
And why is that? As i said ... bcs its their vision what matters in the end.

Personaly i believe that in full extend (and it is a little at absurdum) you can create basicaky anything and stil claim its "based on 5e DnD" ... on scale from 8bit pokemon to open world real time MMORPG.
Bcs as long as there is any relation to 5e it is "based on".

It appears you have answered your own question. I agree with you.

I did?
Where?
And what question by the way? O_o

Well, it isn't formed as a question exactly...

You were wondering why someone would make an argument against being able to befriend the owlbear. Put another way, why would someone argue to keep to the rules? You suggested that there seems to be no reason for it. You also explained, later, that the idea behind these threads is to give suggestions and feedback.

Aside from that you also suggested that if someone doesn't like the idea that we are able to befriend the owlbear then the player can "feel free to pick any other option". Put another way, would it be so bad if Larian adds features or things that break the 5e rules so long as we have the option to simply ignore them?

If that is actual question ... then no, it would not be bad at all ...
That was my whole message.

I get why people want to follow the rules. Kinda.
What i dont get is why they demand those of us who dont want to follow the rules, to follow the rules ... especialy in single player game, where our gameplay dont affect their in any way. O_o

So as long as they REALLY want to follow the rules ... the option is right there for them.
And as long as we want to bend the rules ... the option is right there for us. :P
The only third case i can honestly think off are people who just cant stand that someone have fun the other way then they would aprove ... im sure there is word for that ... but i cant quite remember. ( :P )

Personaly i simply honor the ideology: "to live and to let live".

So, then, would a good suggestion to this discussion be to have gameplay modes (like Original Sin 2), for example, where "classic" would be strict on 5e rules but "adventure" allows for some extraordinary rule bending?

I think an appropriate word for your third case is a**hole. Interestingly, if I were to tell people that the game is just going to be the way it is and they have to just "deal with it" that word could be applied to me.

Well, i dont think we need gameplay modes ...
But on the other hand, im not the one who is bothered that there *exists* option that i will never use.
So i gues this isnt exactly topic for me.

I dare to presume sooner or later some moder will create litteral mod to make this game as close to 5e as possible in ALL aspects where Larian decided to loose it a little ...
Personaly i would preffer to people who mind existing alternatives, to look there and i believe everyone should be happy.

Yeah, that sounds like appropriate word ...
And sure it can be applied on us aswell, its all matter of perspective.

I gotta say I am interested to see what mods will come out.