Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Reaction prompts, but with detailed options to automate them

It just occurred to me that it'd be better to make a thread for this, instead of burying it in the Solasta thread.

So I've been trying to visualize how we could go about having a far more fleshed out reaction system utilizing prompts, but also having additional settings to help automate the frequency of prompts based on player preferences, mitigating the potential issue of 'too many pop-ups'. I'm trying to go for a sort of gambit/DAO Tactics-style system in regards to reactions, and this is what it would probably look like. These options would probably be somewhere in the menu, or a window that can be accessed through a special icon on the hotbar.

It would be assumed that the game will only prompt you for reactions if the reaction will have any effect on the situation, it will not prompt or use them if the use of a reaction will not actually change anything.

Feel free to add to the list for situations I've overlooked.

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Defensive Reaction settings:

* Never prompt for reaction if expected incoming damage is below X amount ('X' being a number you input)
* Always prompt for reaction if incoming enemy attack or spell has a chance to KO a party member (Yes/No checkmark option which would override the first option in the described situation)
* Always prompt for reaction if incoming enemy attack or spell would result in a party member being forced to make a concentration check or break concentration (Yes/No checkmark option which would override the first option in the described situation)
* Always prompt for reaction (Yes/No checkmark option which would override all other options in this category)
* Always use reaction automatically (Yes/No checkmark option which would override all other options in this category)

Defensive reactions would include the following:

Shield, Protection fighting style, Bardic/Combat Inspiration: Saving Throws, Combat Inspiration: AC increase, Cutting Words, Evasion

The above is not meant to be a full list, but you all get the point.

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Offensive Reaction settings:

* Never prompt if enemy HP is below X amount ('X' being a number you input)
* Never prompt for reaction if expected damage without added damage from reaction has a chance to KO the target. (Yes/No checkmark option which would override the first option in the described situation. This only really applies to Smite and Bardic Inspiration: Damage rolls. Let's say you're attacking a goblin that only has 5 HP, and your weapon damage alone already does anywhere from 6-11 damage. There'd be no reason for the game to ask you if you want to smite in that situation.)
* Always prompt for reaction (Yes/No checkmark option which would override all other options in this category)
* Always use reaction automatically (Yes/No checkmark option which would override all other options in this category)

Offensive reactions would include the following:

Hellish Rebuke, Combat Inspiration: Damage Rolls, Smite

Again, not meant to be a full list, but you all get the point. I am certain there are more that would fit into this category, feel free to mention them so I can flesh this out a bit more.

The game would clarify that while Smite is not considered a reaction, the way it is used would utilize the same system for determining whether you want to use that feature or not. The game would also clarify that Bardic Inspiration: Attack Rolls is similar to Smite in that it is not a true reaction, but it will always prompt whenever its use could determine the difference between an attack landing or missing, unless the 'Always use reaction automatically' option is checked.

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Utility Reaction settings: (Utility reactions are handled on a case-by-case basis, since they're potentially on a whole other tier of importance compared to the above two categories.)

Counterspell:

* Never prompt for reaction if the enemy spell being cast is below X spell level ('X' being a number you input)
* Always prompt for reaction if the enemy spell being cast is identified as a defensive spell (examples being healing spells, Shield, etc.)
* Always prompt for reaction if the enemy spell being cast is identified as a utility spell (examples being Darkness, Fog Cloud, enemy Counterspells, etc.)
* Always prompt for reaction if expected damage from the enemy spell has a chance to KO a party member or force a concentration check
* Always prompt for reaction if the enemy spell inflicts a status effect
* Always prompt for reaction if the enemy spell being cast is unknown. (This option assumes that Arcana skill checks to identify enemy spells before you attempt to counter them are in BG3.)
* Always prompt for reaction (Yes/No checkmark option which would override all other options in this category)
* Always use reaction automatically (Yes/No checkmark option which would override all other options in this category)

Feather Fall:

* Never prompt for reaction if expected fall damage is below X amount ('X' being a number you input)
* Always prompt for reaction if expected damage can KO a party member or force a concentration check (Yes/No checkmark option which would override the first option in the described situation)
* Always prompt for reaction (Yes/No checkmark option which would override all other options in this category)
* Always use reaction automatically (Yes/No checkmark option which would override all other options in this category)

Hmm, are there other utility reactions besides these two that should be handled on a case by case basis?

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Attack of Opportunity settings: (Options for this would be character-dependent, because a Wizard would most likely never want to blow their reaction to AoO if they want to save their reaction to, say, Counterspell or Shield. Martial characters like a Fighter that doesn't have much else for reactions probably would want to AoO at every opportunity.)

* Always use automatically
* Never use this reaction
* Always prompt for reaction

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Reaction Override toggle settings: (Basically a way to override custom settings quickly during combat, if let's say there's only a couple enemies left and you just want to get things over with without the game asking you for any prompts, or you're facing a particularly tough fight and you want to see all of the prompts to make sure you don't make any mistakes just because you forgot that you automated something. Think of the practical use of this being like swapping from turn-based to RTwP in one of the Pathfinder cRPGs and vice-versa. This would also be grouped into defensive and offensive categories. Utility reactions and attacks of opportunity will retain their custom settings.)

* Use custom settings
* Always Prompt for Reactions
* Never Prompt for Reactions (do not use reactions automatically)
* Never Prompt for Reactions (always use reactions automatically)

On a side note, I do wonder how feasible it would be to use these settings in regards to multiplayer. Everyone having different settings might throw a wrench in this programming-wise. It could probably just be simplified so that only the host's settings will apply to everyone. It's their room, after all.

Frankly, I'm all for the presets if the scripts were smart enough. It sure would make the combat smooth and fast. My fear, though, is that the scripts would be just as terrible as like Neverwinter Nights 2 or the previous BG games. I had to play around with those stupid RtwP scripts all the time trying to get them to work well with my team. I'm afraid this would be similar.

But, the option to trigger popups or turn on presets means that on baby fights where reactions don't matter as much, I can turn on the basic scripts and not have tons of popups. However, if serious fight, like 3 mage's, I could turn on popups for more control. It's at least something.

I think switching them should be at the Reaction level. That way, I can turn on presets for something like a Rogue's Uncanny Dodge but turn on popups for Counterspell. I might turn off Gale's AOO but have 3 spell reactions with presets and 1 spell reaction set to prompt.

But the presets would need some depth. Uncanny Dodge only triggers if enemy deals X number of damage or it is the last enemy before character's turn

Shield only triggers via preset if Magic Missile or enemy attacking has damage potential over X or both.

Smite 1 only triggers during AOO if enemy has X to X HP.

The presets would need this kind of intelligence to make them even remotely work well.

Yeah, that's why I have them split up the way I do, along with a quick way to override most custom options if you need total control or total automation. This is also designed under the assumption that the pop-up prompts are the default option rather than automating everything. But I guess there should be options to manage them on a per reaction level rather than grouping them into different categories if people want to be more specific.

I'm also pondering a different pop-up situation. Instead of a big window with a message, something more like:

Enemy triggers AOO. Game pauses. Your Melee button appears on the UI flashing. First time this happens, tooltips tells you this means you can use your 1 reaction to trigger that ability. If you click the button, you use the reaction.

So, enemy is casting Fireball. Game pauses and UI jumps to spells and Counterspell highlights. Click it and use Counterspell. No message. No big interrupting sign. Just the flashing button. Don't want to use it? Hit spacebar or End Turn. So it's even faster than a pop-up. Literally, the UI just flashes and shows you exactly what you can do to react by highlighting the buttons.

We could always go for both. Pop-ups can be very helpful for people who have a difficult time understanding what's going on (or know they're going to step away from the computer for a bit and want to come back to a message explaining exactly what's going on), while your solution can be an option for those who already recognize what's happening at a glance.

Any way that this is presented works, as long as the core ability to control how you react is there.