Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Please let us set companion ability points

Definitely not a fan of the idea of letting the player customize everything about companions.
Stuff like ability points or starting specialization should be a defining part of who they are.

I know there will UNDOUBTEDLY be mods that will allow to change even more than that, but still, I wouldn't be in favor of making it part of the standard experience.

Fundamentally yes, ofcourse ...

But there is several problems here ...

- For one, there is no deterministic breaking point, that could be seen as "minimal Ability score to speak properly" ...
- For two, any of your characters (basicaly except Wizard) who will dump Intelligence and have score 8 is totally able to create full sentence without litteraly any obstacle ... it would be kinda weird, if your companions would be sudently stupid just bcs their ability score is just as high as yours (asuming you dump your aswell). O_o
- For tree, even tho there are creatures (like those ogres) who speak ... well, the way they do, i dunno how to describe it ... like Tarzan prehaps? We dont quite know if this is bcs common is not their native language and they dont use it well enough, of if their brain (they have Int 7 as far as i know) is simply unable to create anything more sophisticated.
- And last but certainly not least (and that is its own problem) there are beings in this game like Spar ... the squirell that is listening to Alfira ... if you have Speak with Animals active, she litteraly tells you "our brains are melting" ... wich shows both surprisingly well created sentence, and surprisingly deep knowledge of anatomy ... for an animal who have Intelligence 2. :-/

Also, using the same rule for other ability points ...
Take Astarion for example ... with Strength 8 he is are able to drag 48Kg (or up to 80, but encumbered).
While his own body weights 50Kg (acording to his examine tooltip)
That either means that his own muscles are so weak that he is unable to carry his own weight ... or that he is able to carry almost double of his own weight without visible problems.
Since he is totally able to move, and even drag many other things in his inventory ... i would dare to presume that second option is the right one here.

Therefore similar as Str 8 still allows our characters to exists as regular human(oid) being ... move, jump, drag something, etc.
A Int 8 should certainly allow them to act like regular human(oid) being ... speaking, understanding, learning, remembering ... they will simply not reach as great results as character with Intelligence 20 ...

But simmilary as Str 8 does not mean that your character need to spend all his willpower to even make a step ... an Int 8 doesnt mean that your character is mentally retarded. -_-

True, that is the case for every stat. Some rulesets have defined ranges, but I believe DnD doesn't. We still have to make these calls. There isn't a definite threshold where your character becomes a clutz if you dump Dexterity, but that doesn't mean a character with 8 Dexterity and a character with 20 don't have differences in how careful/graceful they are. Same for Intelligence. If it influences language skills, there should be differences between high- and low-stat characters.

This is more of a matter with implementation and resource allocation than what the stat represents. Resources are not infinite, and rewriting every line of dialogue based on different levels of Intelligence is simply not a realistic goal. That says nothing about the system itself though.
Ideally, speech patterns should change both for you and your companions who have dumped the stat, and I see no problem with this. If you're dumping a stat, you're saying your character is worse than average in some way. If your character is worse than average, it should be reflected with an appropriate penalty/drawback. If you don't want to be penalized, don't dump the stat. It's possible to play without min-maxing.

Ogres have Intelligence of 5, and their languages are Common and Giant. Although I don't know if BG3's ogres' ability scores follow the official statblock, there is no reason to believe one of their languages was excluded.

You are using magic to communicate with animals, that changes things. When a bird chirps at you and you cast Speak with Animals to talk to it, the spell doesn't translate the chirping into Common or vice versa. It's a completely different process, or else you'd be able to use Comprehend Languages to understand animals, which you can't. What the animal says to you when you're under the influence of the spell is not a literal translation of the noises it makes, it's magic supplying you with the closest approximation of whatever the animal is trying to express (what it saw, how it feels, et cetera) in a form most natural to you, speech.

Weighing X kg does not necessarily mean you're able to carry X kg on your back. I know I wouldn't be able to lift my own weight, but I have no trouble moving my body around. A better example would be how Astarion, with his 8 Strength, somehow manages to maintain a full set of abs
But yes, I do agree that being able to lug around more than your own weight when you dumped Strength is silly. As I said before, dumping a stat should be penalized accordingly.
None of the carrying capacities are sensible. You can carry multiple sets of armor and a small militia's worth of weapons on you like it's nothing. Where are you putting this stuff? How are you able to fight or stealth in this state? And so on, it's all been said before. Inventory management has been a difficult balancing act for as long as CRPGs existed.

Agreed, a character with 8 Intelligence shouldn't speak like a troglodyte. Intelligence 5 Ogres are a good reference point for caveman speak in my opinion. But you also said
which I disagree with. Compared to a character with 20 Intelligence, a character with 8 should have a smaller vocabulary at their disposal, or if they have the vocab, they tend to use the more complicated words incorrectly. Or some other quirk, the specifics don't matter that much as long as the dumped ability score is reflected.

She is a trickery cleric with an urchin background... it only makes sense for her to be DEX based. They are practically divine rogues. As for using a STR weapon vs a DEX one... she has a 12 STR and a 14 DEX... that's a 5% difference to hit... that's it. 17 is decent but not great? What D&D campaigns are you playing in? For a T1, medium armor cleric, there's not a thing wrong with a 17 AC. Trickery clerics aren't supposed to be front line tanks.

Honestly, I just feel like putting it forward that far too many people put far too much value on AC. I mean, really... in one campaign I'm in at the moment, I play a front-line, dangerously aggressive storm sorceress who consistently puts herself front and centre and in harm's way, and her 10AC (10 dex, no mage armour) hasn't really caused her any problems yet, by level 10 and about two thirds of the way through the campaign. I work on the basic assumption that attacks will hit, and I play accordingly - occasionally something low-rolls badly enough that I can shield it, which is a bonus, but otherwise it's no big deal. AC is really not the be-all end-all that many people make it out to be.

Feel free to corect me but it seems to me that core meaning of this topic is to give us option to play it the way we want to.

Sure Shadowheart can be played as divine rogue ... but if i dont want divine rogue in my party ... if i want frontline high AC tank i see little to no reason why i should get used to anything else just bcs "this is not the way this kind of cleric is usualy played".

I bet you would also dislike if your GM would demand you to take 16Dex and demand that you will keep Mage Armor active all the time.
Bcs in his opinion that is the way Sorcerer is supposed to be played and in his eyes you are putting too much value to sustain a hit instead avoiding it.

Yup i worded that poorly ...
There could be difference (i still dont think it should be forced by rules, it seems better as "advised" but left for people to roleplay the way they want to ... i mean if you know Big Bang Theory, Sheldon is clearly 20Int character ... maybe even more ... and often he is stupidest of them all) ...
I was trying to say that they both should be able of "basic functions".

Simmilar as Dex 8 character dont trip over his own leg with every step, Str 8 character dont have so atrophied muscles so he dont even carry his own weight, as Con 8 doesnt need machines to keep his inner organs working, ... and i dont have any examples for Wis and Cha ... the simmilar Int 8 should not be unable to create full sentence, or use any longer words.
I mean just out of rules, Int 8 character have much less chance of remembering things, or solving puzzles based on this stat ... it allone should be enough. :-/

Seems like waste to be completely honest ...

Last game i remember that implemented changing dialogue options based on your Intelligence was old Fallout (first one, but you were able to get on Int 1 there) ... and while it was funny at first sight, it quite fast become pure obstacle for player and actualy adds nothing to your experience. :-/

I mean if your dialogue options are "hmmm", "ug ug" and "gyah" ... how would you choose?

That is certainly one way to see it ...
In my honest opinion your character is allready penalized enough by the fact that s/he will most likely fail in almost every situation tied to rolling on your dumped stat.

I mean character with Cha 8 is totally able to yell "Fear my blade, foul beast!" on goblin ... just as Cha 20 ...
The only difference is that Cha 20 will seem to that goblin to be so certain about his own power, so he will concider him actual threat ... while Cha 8 will just make him laugh.

Coming back to Intelligence ... i believe Nettie is perfect example here.
While your 20 Int character is able to recognize the plant, and remembered that it is very dangerous for its poison ... your 8 Int character recognize only that Nettie is holding some kind of plant ... hardly surprising, since she is a Druid.

If i wanted to be mean, i would say that people who play low-intelligence characters like stupid morons often lack a sense for complex ideas themselves. :-/
Its easy way, sure ... but certainly not the only way.

You are right, i was looking at wrong row.

Still ... we both know that there is difference between "knowing" the language ... and "using it corectly".
Sometimes even for native speakers.

True ...
It would still feel better if the Squirrel would complain by saying "head hurt" instead of "our brains are melting" tho. :-/

But im not the only one who complained that in this game animals are suprisingly intelligent and able to build quite complex sentences. :-/

I think you took it completely other way around.

That is not exactly what i was trying to say ...

Personaly i believe that "minimum 8" that is included in point buy system, is there exactly to make sure that we will (no matter what) be properly working human(oid) being ... meaning able to carry some extra weight (Str), able to ballance on slippery surface (Dex), will be regulary healthy (Con), able to compele full sentence (Int), will have all or at least most our senses working (Wis), and theoreticaly be able to at least try to represent oureself (Cha) ...
Meaning that if you would like to get under that "basic" level of abilities ... your score (again in my eyes) would need to get under 8.

Raistlin Majere (if you know Dragonlance) is perfect example for some incredibly unlucky person who (despite all rules of probability) rolled 4x 1 on Constitution. xD

That is different topic.

Im glad we understand each other.

Yup ...
I indeed worded that poorly.

Ok, WebSpyder, let me just double check that we are on the same page. I am talking about her current stats compared to the "recommended stat spread", which she apparently had before, and her current gear compared to what she should have going by the rules...

i.e. going by the gear she should start with, and the recommended stat spread, she should have +4 to hit with simple weapons, and +2 to damage, and an AC of 16, with scale mail and a shield, and can get a crossbow with +2 to hit, and +0 damage. However, she doesn't get a crossbow, and has been given chain shirt instead of scale mail (probably because a) they didn't want her to have disadvantage on stealth checks, because she is a trickery cleric, and b) martial classes don't start with chainmail like they should, so everyone gets to jump down a notch on the armor). The effect there was that she only had an AC of 13, 15 with a shield. Then the data showed them that Shadowheart kept dying, so they changed her to dex-based. I assume this is to fix the AC, giving her 15, 17 with a shield (and it is decent specifically compared to what she could have using La'zael's half-plate, that the player has access to at game start, not compared to what she would have at start in a normal 5e campaign), but the trade-off was that they dumped her str stat, giving her shitty melee damage, but better ranged damage, but they haven't given her a ranged weapon. Clearly from an rp perspective she should be a melee character, which is awkward if she gets a malus from her shitty strength. They have tried to fix this by dumping her charisma stat and raising her str to 12, whereas they could have fixed this by giving her elf weapon training, so she'd be proficient with short swords...

That is what I am griping about, the design decisions made to try to fix a problem they originally created, not that trickery cleric makes more sense as a dex build, I have no problem with this, I agree that it does, but then they should have given her elf weapon training and a short sword instead of giving her a mediocre strength score to try to compensate. They should be playing to her strengths, not trying to shore up her weaknesses. If we could customize these characters ourselves to a certain degree, as the OP suggests, we could make better decisions still in keeping with the characters rp theme, that aren't bad.

If you want a front line high AC tank then you don't want a trickery cleric. That simply isn't the role that subclass is designed for. You're wanting to do far more than just change stats at that point.

Where are you getting this extra +2 to hit from? There aren't separate to hit and damage bonuses in 5e. With a 14 DEX and a 12 STR she has either +1 to hit and damage with non finesse weapons or +2 to hit and damage with ranged and finesse weapons. 5% difference between the two. That's it. I haven't the first clue where you're getting +4 with simple weapons from. I will add though that I 100% agree she should just have elf weapon training over the silly cantrip. That's just a poor character choice.

Further: From the description in the PHB for Trickery domain clerics - Sure, you can play any way you like but "fronm an RP perspective" no she should not be a melee character.

Seems to me that you are mixing "asigned job" and "optimal role" ... but quite honestly:
I dont care ...

I got Cleric and i want him to do this job ... thats all i need to know.
Is it ineffective? Maybe ...
Will i find out? Maybe ...
Will i change her job afterwards? Also maybe ...
But until then ... if i WANT to send her in front lines with as much AC as possible, i shall. And there is no rule in the world that can stop me. :P

I suspect they are referring to total attack/damage bonus:

With the starting stats of 14Str and 10Dex;

Attacking with a ranged weapon (with which you are proficient) using Dex when you have 10 Dex, at level one (PB of +2), is a +2 to hit, +0 to your rolled damage.
Attacking with a melee weapon using Str when you have 14 Str, at level one (PB of +2), is a +4 to hit, +2 to your rolled damage.

They changed her to having 14Dex and 8Str, but didn't change her starting load-out, so, still no ranged weapon, and no finesse weapon;

Attacking with a ranged weapon (with which you are proficient) using Dex when you have 14 Dex, at level one (PB of +2), is a +4 to hit, +2 to your rolled damage.
Attacking with a melee weapon using Str when you have 8 Str, at level one (PB of +2), is a +1 to hit, -1 to your rolled damage.

They've changed her again now, giving her 14Dex and 12Str, but still haven't changed her starting equipment, so now her start-up is:

Attacking with a ranged weapon (with which you are proficient) using Dex when you have 14 Dex, at level one (PB of +2), is a +4 to hit, +2 to your rolled damage.
Attacking with a melee weapon using Str when you have 12 Str, at level one (PB of +2), is a +3 to hit, +1 to your rolled damage.

Thank you

Precisely. Thank you. You have to take into account proficiency modifier in the to-hit roll. Currently Shadowheart is dex based, but doesn't have proficiency with any finesse melee weapons except daggers. So if you give her a dagger she has 1d20+4 to hit, and 1d4+2 damage. Damage spread of 3-7, average 5. If you give her a str based d6 weapon she has 1d20+3 to hit, and 1d6+1 damage. Damage spread 2-7, average 5 If you give her a shortsword, which is a 1d6 like the simple weapons that she is proficient with, she gets 1d20+2 to hit, and 1d6+2 damage. Damage spread 3-9, average 6. Her damage spread is higher for a d6 finesse weapon, much like a ranged weapon, however, she has a 10% less chance to hit than with a dagger.

If you use her starting equipment, you have less chance to hit than with a dagger, AND your minimum damage is lower. Clearly dagger is better, but they have not given her a dagger. Both minimum and maximum damage is better with a finesse d6 weapon, but it's even lower chance to hit, because she's not proficient. If you give her a rapier, you have the same to hit modifier, +2, but suddenly it is 1d8+2 damage, damage spread 3-10, average 7. Clearly rapiers do the best damage for finesse melee, but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. But they mean for her to use 1d6 weapons, but have given her stats where they are less effective than a dagger. Give her elf weapon training, so she gets shortsword proficiency.


Damn... I miss my Rogue/fighter shieldmaster multiclass build now... half-plate, shield, shortsword, and shieldmaster feat! <3

Ok, I checked and now I can tell you for sure, that current recommended stats array in character creation for Trickery cleric is exactly same as Shadowheart. So they didn't just change her, they gave different clerics different recommended. Life and Light are also not the same there.

Hard no to this as I'm assuming the companions will all be roleplaying with their given stat spread in mind. . .

Fascinating... I wonder who builds their character statlines.

You keep on acting as if her stats are bad. But they are good enough for Trickery cleric.

And they are god-awful on Wyll. No one in their right mind creates a character with that many odd-numbered stats. Yes, it' is clear that they simply took the standard array and applied the human +1s across the board but that doesn't make it any less gimpy. It turns the one advantage that non-variant humans get into a completely inconsequential "bonus".

You'd give a dex-based trickery cleric 12 strength?


Agreed.

It gives her better jumping distance which is useful for stealth or reaching some values sometimes. So why not? Anyway there are not too many options where you can drop those points while building her. She already has 16 in Wis, she doesn't really need more than 14 in Dex...