Frankly, I think the game needs an encyclopedia. And by that I mean, it needs a way for players to read the rules they're playing by, because not all of them are going to be familiar with DnD 5e. As someone who's played a fair amount of 5e, I've spoken with a lot of players who either have never played DnD or only played earlier editions who were quite confused by many of the rules for combat, spells, etc. This could be fixed with two things:

1) Tooltips - the game needs a system that a) actually shows what kind of modifiers players are getting and b) has tooltips for those modifiers that explain what they are. This is implemented in some systems, but hasn't been implemented in some areas where those modifiers can get a bit convoluted and confusing.

2) An option to flip open the BG3 version of the Player's Handbook and see why things happen the way they happen. Basically, give us an in-game encyclopedia. Sure, a lot of players don't use in-game encyclopedias (and they're the ones who will need tooltips), but some players would definitely benefit from having a feature like this.

+ Infinity. There have been so many threads of people asking clarifying questions about the rules or otherwise not understanding game mechanics. I can't imagine how many other confused people there have been who didn't end up posting anything here.

The game should contain all the information necessary to understand it. I don't know why it doesn't. Players should not be required to exit the game and google "D&D 5e rules" in order to understand how to play.

Yes
Yes, with the addition: various terms we encounter while playing (Advantage, Saving Throw, Tiefling, Backstab, Disengage, Nature Check, Baldur's Gate, etc) should be highlighted. When hovered over or clicked, they should either bring up a pop-up explaining them or open the encyclopedia to the relevant page.

Also, the game obviously needs a better tutorial. Maybe a more laid back one, where you're not trying to escape a burning, flying, devil- and mindflayer-infested ship that is in hell and so can focus more on learning the mechanics instead of the spectacle.

Character creation should also be improved.

Just check how pathfinder is explaining those complex rules. It's not perfect but it's way better than the too short description of abilities we have in BG3.

The character sheet should also explain a lot of thing.

Something has to be done and it has to be very consistent.

Pillars of Eternity 2 does this well. There are tooltips all over the place - any word in the text that is related to either a game mechanic or lore has an explanation when you hover over it. I think (it's been a little bit) you can look up the rules if you need a more detailed explanation. And most of the loading screen text is reminders about some of the easier-to-forget keywords, so game concepts get reinforced all the time.

+1 I very much approve of this suggestion.

[q
Also, the game obviously needs a better tutorial. Maybe a more laid back one, where you're not trying to escape a burning, flying, devil- and mindflayer-infested ship that is in hell and so can focus more on learning the mechanics instead of the spectacle.[/quote]


Like maybe the point at where you are about to get captured by the Ghaik ? While running for your life based on your origin trait, or wilderness if you are a Druid, you can learn:

Movement
Camera usage
Skills like jump, hide, shove, help
Skill proficiency checks
Hotbar
Key Terms and definitions
Casting Spells for those that are casters
Cantrips vs spell slots

THAT I think would be an excellent tutorial as it would help tie in the story element instead of you just wake up on the Nautiloid.

Ya +1, there were a few things that caught me off guard for sure.

I'd link the warhammer online book for the 100th time, but I just don't have the energy right now.

As a newcomer to DnD, but not RPGs in general, I would also like to understand just what this 5e rule set IS that everyone is talking about.
However DnD has been around for years so the sheer amount of books and reading material there is out there, is an overwhelming thought. I don't want to delve that deep into the rules and mechanics, but having more basic instructions would be nice. My husband has played the Baldur's Gate games before and some of the other DnD-ruleset-based ones, so he explained it to me, but when I first started playing I was so confused.

+100,000. Especially if they are going to do their homebrew stuff, there needs to be a rulebook for D&D 5e gurus too so they can see, "Here are the rules based on 5e, and these are our homebrew rules." Maybe even color code homebrew to stand out so you know at a glance what ISN'T 5e.

First time I played, the game messed me up because I had no clue what was what. Confused the heck out of me.

There are a ton of books out there, but Player's Handbook gives players all the essentials. So I agree with the OP. That would be the primary guide to use.

I also agree the game should help more with character creation. New players don't typically get why they have a Dexterity of 16 but only get a +3 when rolling. More than a few times I've been asked, "What does 16 even mean then? When do you ever use that number?"

As for the tutorial on the ship, I have wondered about that. I am suspicious of it. I wonder if they are gonna pull something like, "Hah! We didn't really give you a backstory because you ARE the Absolute." I mean, unlike a lot of D&D video games, they don't even give you a space to write your own backstory. Hmmm... Makes you wonder, right?

Yes. Or at least have an option to switch to something more direct. I think Larian is trying to convey DnD mechanics, without having to worry about the specifics (hey, you have more or less that MUCH chance to hit. It gets influnced by those things by SOME amount) but I would rather see details. How much I need to roll to hit. What modifiers exactly are added. At the very least the combat log needs to be better (see: Deadfire). I would prefer, to cut out the middle man - I dont' want the "Larian layer" which uses familiar XCOM-like UI elements to transalate to me completely different mechanics.


Yes. Or at the very least attatch PDF Player's Handbook in game files. BG1&2 had those and they were very helpful.


Nope, D:OS2 works exactly the same way. And all the origins do have fleshed out story. It's only custom character that is devoid of character development and that's because unlike PoE or KOTOR2 game isn't designed with custom character in mind, so we don't get a sequence when we can define him/her. You pick an origin, or you play as Mr(s) Blank.

Much of the 5E rules fall under the SRD, so there would not be much of a problem if they are shown in the game.
But keep in mind, Larian can't simply copy the D&D SRD rules but they need to write their own version of the PHB to account for all the changes they made.

Larian has the license for PHB, if not all of the 5e books. They wouldn't need to limit themselves to the SRD.

And yes you're exactly right. But that makes it even more important that they do write up the rules, so that it's easily apparent what they changed.