Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Musical instruments proficiency

It's minor, but with the addition of Bard, it's much more pronounced to me. I feel rather frustrated that we can't have more characters playing instruments. There are a few backgrounds that provide the ability for characters to have a proficiency in an instrument. Bards should naturally gain more proficiencies in instruments and such, but I'd LOVE to have some other characters able to pick up instruments along the way in the game and use them.

Examples of Backgrounds that provide instruments proficiency are:

Entertainer
Far Traveler
Outlander

There aren't that many, but it would be nice to have a few who allow you the option to create a non-bard musician. I mean, they can't use instruments to cast spells, but they can still perform. It would make finding instruments more meaningful, and I really don't like having to waste an ASI on learning instruments. That's such a waste.

so just give your entertainer Fighter proficiency in flute as his level 4 feat... its not like they didn't allow the option?

You can learn proficiency with musical instruments by helping Alfira in a certain way. Let her give you the lute and play along, with two performance checks, that are doable, especially with Guidance from Shadowheart. And voila, you get the proficiency and your first instrument.

Agreed with OP ...


That and i also believe that we should be able to equip (and use) instruments without proficiency ...
Not effectively tho!

I would love if my character without proficiency would have option to play for goblins and make them angry with horrible performance.
Have option to create true Bard poser without any skill or talent ... that would be great.

100% agree! That's what I'm talking about.

Well, that and I REALLY don't want to waste a level 4 ASI on something useless just so I can have a band of musicians in the game. That's dumb. And as for the Alfira thing, that's also dumb imo. You get 1 lesson from a bard who is struggling to create her own song - not even really a lesson, mind you - and suddenly you can play an instrument? That seems WAY more silly than to simply allow characters to have proficiency right away when their background in actual D&D 5e allows it.

Yuck. So unrealistic

OP asked for a way to get proficiency in Musical Instruments and I showed one... I didn't say, it was a good way...

It's all good fylimar. I appreciate you letting me know how to get proficiency in musical instruments. That IS kinda the point of the thread, though, that I don't currently like how Larian has implemented musical instruments proficiency. I'd like them to simply add it to the backgrounds that D&D 5e already has it included with so that if I want to have a singing, lute-strumming Ranger, I can do that with the Outlander background... or I can create a drum-beating Fighter with the Entertainer background or Far Traveler background (can't even remember if they included Far Traveler in the backgrounds - I don't think they did, but it'd be cool if they added it).

Whatever the case, I think wasting an ASI on my entire party to have a band just so they can sit in the grove and all play together is a little... well... I don't know how else to put it - stupid and a total waste of an ASI. You literally get nothing from Musical Instruments proficiency other than the ability to just have fun playing music at camp or in the goblin camp or the grove or whenever you simply feel like whipping out an instrument and playing a tune. So why penalize players by making them take an ASI - or jumping through some silly hoop with Alfira which makes no sense at all either? Just give players the ability to have musical instruments proficiency included with backgrounds as in the 5e rules already so it isn't some big deal thing.

Or... as Ragnarok mentioned, I think it'd be cool if they just let anyone play an instrument even if you have no proficiency. They could do something simple like make it so that whoever doesn't have proficiency in musical instruments gets Disadvantage on their Performance check. You MIGHT still succeed in playing the violin for an audience of goblins and have them happy with your performance, but if you aren't proficient, you have a MUCH less chance of rolling a 10 or higher, or whatever.