The d20 ability checks certainly are not the strongest part of 5e. The d20 roll being swingy is in it's fullest effect here. And skill checks to a lesser degree.
The difference between 8 Str and 20 Str is a 30% probability. A whopping 30%. 80% vs. 50% chance to successfully perform a Strength feat is a laughably insignificant difference when talking about a weak human compared to an Ogre.
That's why some kind of thresholds need to be applied to make some sense in the system. Creative DM explanations for unlikely success or failure only go so far, and in BG3 we don't have that DM.
Same with 8 Int Barbarians somehow acing their -1 Arcana checks when Gale fails with +5. A DM could explain that they found a note on the floor explaining it (which doesn't have anything to do with knowledge, but somehow it needs to be explained rationally), but BG3 can't do that. In BG3 it's just weird.
I think video games should enforce a lot of proficiency requirements and thresholds before allowing a check. Make those ability scores, proficiencies and expertise in a field count for something instead of just spamming Guidance and getting lucky. In BG3 it feels like everyone is an expert in every field and universally able to do anything with only some very minor differences between them.
Last edited by 1varangian; 25/02/22 02:58 PM.
