I wasn't expecting much more from BG3, but with the announcement of another big patch I wanted to pitch an idea that would make it a lot easier to play out the many, many characters we'd all love to try in BG3 but simply don't have time for, because let's face it - as great as the campaign is, we can't all play through it a hundred times just to try every character build we want.
So my proposal is an "arena mode" - this lets you build or select a character as normal, before throwing you into a camp where resting and re-speccing are free, and your starting level is configurable (for more or less advanced starts). Here you can pick up any party members you want from those available in the game, as well as hirelings or co-op players. Chests contain some basic starting gear based on your starting level (e.g- +1, +2 etc. weapons and armour of various types, with all the dye colours you could want for the all-important styling). If you choose to run a Dark Urge, their bonuses will be determined by their level (i.e- they'll unlock the nightstalker's mantle and Slayer form at specific levels).
You build the party you want, then exit the camp to be thrown into the first of a series of randomised arenas taken from maps in the game – your goal is to survive multiple waves of increasingly difficult enemies until you're allowed to return to your camp to rest. You will get a limited number of turns before each wave to prepare (for the rogue(s) to hide, lay traps etc.).
Depending upon difficulty and level you will face harder and harder enemies, and they will scale beyond their normal limits, gaining increased bonuses to hit, save DC, hit-points, AC and damage. Wave modifiers could also be cool, e.g- a wave might arrive without any setup time (surprise attack), or the wave might have a modifier that has them all on fire dealing fire damage to anything next to them etc. Each modifier in effect will up the difficulty, but also increase the experience gains.
The goal is to have fun testing different builds for yourself and your party, and/or to survive for as long as possible. Maybe with a score (total experience gained?) so you can see how you did?
With this I could finally try out the 500 different sub-class combinations I have on my shortlist. It would also make it a bit easier to play co-op without the time investment of playing through the campaign again.
