How Baldur’s Gate 3 Got Me Back Into Dungeons & Dragon After A Months-Long Break

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It’s no secret that Baldur’s Gate 3 has had a massive effect on Dungeons & Dragons and has been the entry point into the world of the TTRPG for many newcomers. In a way, BG3 has had a similar effect on the DnD community as Critical Role, although Larian Studios’ golden goose has proven to reach an even wider audience. Many who have only ever heard of DnD and been curious to try it can through BG3, and while the game’s quality may give some people too high an expectation for their home campaign, it is perfect as an entry point.

What isn’t talked about as much is how great a job Baldur’s Gate 3 has done masking some of the recent controversy with Dungeons & Dragons. This is largely due to Larian’s outlook and how the studio has become an industry darling. It is also due to the game being greenlit years ago, back when Wizards of the Coast was practically a different company, and reflects that version of Wizards’ mentality. Baldur’s Gate 3 has managed to get a few who haven’t played DnD in a while back onto the tabletop and remind them how fun it can be.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Helps Elevate Dungeons & Dragons

But Helps It Rise Above Its Own Controversy

2023 was shaping up to be a bad year for DnD before BG3 came along to save the day. At the start of the year, Wizards of the Coast was knee-deep in controversy surrounding trying to monetize DnD‘s open game license, something that had been free since the tabletop game’s creation. This rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, including me, and I decided to stop playing the tabletop game in favor of alternatives like Call of Cthulhu, Symbaroum, and Vaesen. Then the hype train for Baldur’s Gate 3 began to take off.

Baldur’s Gate 3 had its own controversy prior to release, although this came about because of the quality of the early access material and how other game developers felt the need to say that they should not be held to the same standards. Ironically, this helped hype the game up even more, and as someone who kept coming back to Divinity: Original Sin 2, I found myself excited about the game. Although I had played DnD for six years before BG3‘s release, this excitement came from my love for Larian’s work, rather than the TTRPG.

When I first played BG3, I found that it was a massive step up from Divinity: OS2 technically, but it was also a demonstration of what DnD could be at its best. The story was intriguing and had plenty of freedom, despite the game largely sticking to the material in the first three DnD 5e rulebooks, and brought the Forgotten Realms to life in a way that hadn’t been done prior to BG3‘s release. The changes it made to 5e’s rules added more depth, as I hoped homebrew campaigns would, like with the weapon-specific abilities.

BG3 Lets D&D Players Experiment With Character Builds

It Lets Forever DMs Try Out All The Builds They Never Could Otherwise

Lae'zel and Astarion laughing with the Underdark from Baldur's Gate 3. — By Katarina Cimbaljevic

As someone who has played more sessions as a Dungeon Master than as a player, I haven’t been able to play many characters, and BG3 gave me the opportunity to try a bunch out. Having access to an entire party of characters, I could effectively try a handful of builds all at once, and with Withers, any I didn’t like could be changed into something I enjoyed more. BG3 provided the perfect playground for a forever DM who wouldn’t have had the chance to experiment otherwise, and I began to appreciate the player’s side of DnD more.

quothe the raven next to shovel the quasit

Every Familiar In Baldur’s Gate 3, Ranked

Every option for player character familiars in Baldur’s Gate 3, ranked by how useful they are in exploration and combat.

As time went on and the anger I felt over the open game license controversy faded after Wizards of the Coast backpedaled on trying to monetize it, I found that I wanted to bring my BG3 characters to a DnD campaign. Although BG3 has a myriad of options for building a character, and the faster leveling compared to normal DnD allows for quicker experimentation, there aren’t as many subclasses as in the TTRPG. BG3 is alleviating this, however, with new subclasses in Patch 8 and mod support in Patch 7.

BG3 is adding 12 new subclasses, with each class getting a new subclass.

Prior to mod support, Baldur’s Gate 3 already had a healthy modding community, and while adding mods through Nexus wasn’t the most convenient thing in the world, it did allow those familiar with modding to try more subclasses. It allowed for even more experimentation; however, it also meant that I had even more characters that I wanted to bring to a DnD campaign. Having beaten BG3 three times and started more than a dozen playthroughs, there became less roleplaying and more running through the motions to get the character endings I wanted.

BG3 Inspires Players To Get Into D&D

It Offers The Goofy And Dark Sides Of The Tabletop

Seldarine drow characters in Baldur's Gate 3. — Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

Baldur’s Gate 3 captures the essence of DnD so well with its storytelling, from its goofy and witty dialogue (particularly with Astarion) to some of the dark and heartfelt moments. Although it has almost everything that DnD does, BG3 made me miss playing a campaign with friends, especially because Larian is yet to add crossplay as of writing (crossplay is also being added in Patch 8). It also doesn’t help that I know most of the game like the back of my hand, and although there are still secrets I haven’t seen here and there, knowing all the major story beats makes roleplaying difficult.

Baldur's Gate 3 Minthara looking satisfied

Why Minthara Deserved More Content In Baldur’s Gate 3

Minthara is an afterthought to many players of Baldur’s Gate 3, but her story is very underrated and evidence suggests there was more planned for her.

The best part about roleplaying in BG3, in my opinion, is playing a Dark Urge character and taking them through the trauma of having to deal with that urge, whether that means fighting it or giving in to it. As a fan of dark fantasy, this was up my street, and when a friend invited me to join a Curse of Strahd campaign, all my Durge BG3 playthroughs made me realize that I was itching for a dark fantasy DnD campaign. One of my Durge characters even provided the build I used in the CoS campaign.

Although everyone has talked about how groundbreaking a game it is, Baldur’s Gate 3 is also a perfect adaptation of DnD, taking what it needs while making tweaks to streamline elements for its platform. It stands on its own two feet, but it also provides a great entry point for players looking to get into the TTRPG. The only problem with this is that it can make expectations for a first-time campaign too high, but its quality can convince those like me who haven’t played Dungeons & Dragons in a while to get back into it.

Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game set to release in August of 2023. Players will create a character to embark on a large-scale journey and can do so solo or cooperatively with a friend. Combat is a turn-based style this time around.

Platform(s): PC, macOS, PS5, Xbox Series X
Released: August 3, 2023
Developer(s): Larian Studios
Publisher(s): Larian Studios
Multiplayer: Local Multiplayer
ESRB: M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
Number of Players: 1-4
Local Co-Op Support: 1-2 Players
Split Screen Orientation: Vertical Only

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