Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Mega-threads and Guides The Turn-Based/Real Time with Pause topic

So, this might be a moot argument because it turns out we can have both. Not sure how it was pulled off but Pathfinder: Kingmaker its RTWP and a pretty good one. I downloaded a turn-based mod and it worked nearly flawlessly. Just like you'd expect a turn based to work. As long as Larian implements mechanics in a similar way to that game we should be able to have both.