“So then it’s onboarding people, teaching them how to play D&D, which is really complex”
I’m just really not a fan over how heavy RNG it is. I have to save scum like crazy.
It’s… it’s based on DnD, a game reliant on dice rolls. The core of it is the RNG that changes the probability of every encounter. I’ll never understand people who keep saying the thing they hate about BG3 is always a core DnD mechanic when Larian has only every been upfront about this being them using 5e as their base to build the game around. This is the closest to a single player TTRPG simulator that we’ve ever had. What kind of game were you expecting?
It’s amazing how stupid some people are. You miss out on some amazing story and interaction by failing some rolls. Just like real D&D.
In fact, you can also miss out on some amazing story and interaction by succeeding rolls. Just like real D&D.
One of the things that’s so impressive about this game is how well it handles and reacts to the variety of different decisions, succeeses, and failures you can make. Failing a roll in one spot likely just puts you on a different path, with a slightly different story.
In fact, particularly in narrative focused games, failure is just as important, if not moreso than success. How interesting is a story, really, if the characters never stumble or face hardship? It’s not nearly as compelling if they succeed at every turn.
I’m very aware of all of that. I still don’t like the heavy RNG lol. I want to save scum less, that’s what I’m expecting. Even if it’s 5e combat. I’m just not a fan of DnD combat, but I still love everything else about bg3.
Not a fan… not the game for you cupcake. Ruin some other game and leave ours the fuck alone.
In combat, I used to hate the fact that I miss very frequently but I realized enemies miss as much as I do. It changed my perspective - I strategize my game plan assuming I would miss rather than assuming I would hit. It improved my game a lot since.
It helps a lot when you start using abilities that gives you advantage, or that deal half damage even when they are saved against.
Of course, it’s still a matter of preference. It’s just how the game is, I guess.
I think lots of people didn’t know what kind of game they were expecting. Some people bought the game because it was popular, rather than because they necessarily like the genre.
I’m not a DnD fan (tried playing a few times, just never clicked) and I find that the same things that I disliked about it are also the things I dislike about BG3.
That’s not to say it’s a bad game, and I’m enjoying it quite a bit, but there’s definitely elements of DnD that I feel are very limiting to the enjoyment of playing.
Might not be the game for you. Part of the appeal of dnd for me is not being to get everything because of the dice. Not every door can be unlocked, not every social interaction will succeed. Even combat, I have to flee with half the party dead and then revive them later because a critical spell didn’t succeed or a concentration save wasn’t made.
Yeah well when I do three 1/20 on a row when using inspirations dice on a roll your character should be a pro at it’s… Frustrating.
I know this will be a very controversial comment, but I actually can’t stand the combat (extremely unfamiliar with the genre as a whole, and I’ve also never been a fan of turn-based systems), but love the game to death. As a result, I’m using a trainer to essentially trivialize combat encounters, because my BG3 addiction stems from the characters, their stories, the incredible world and the exploration it offers, the side quests, the lore, the insane detail in every corner of the map. I also work 80 hour weeks and want to spend the little time I get with the game doing what I love most, which is exploration and delving into my characters’ stories.
I’ve just gotten through Moonrise Towers (and have done all I can find to do in each area so far, although I already know I’ll be doing multiple playthroughs), and it’s one of the most immersive and enjoyable gaming experiences I’ve ever had, despite the fact I’m quite literally cheating my way through combat encounters. I’m basically playing it as a very interactive ‘choose your own adventure’ novel, with weapon and armor pickups being cosmetic-only in nature, and the focus of my playthrough being on exploring the world and delving into its inhabitants’ backstories and the mysteries they hold.
You’re not alone, I can’t stand the combat either, not a fan of turn-based combat in RPGs and DnD rules seem needlessly complicated for a videogame, but I absolutely love everything else about BG3, there are so many possibilities I want to explore.
I’m doing my first playthrough on the easiest setting without mods but from the next I’ll use mods and if there’s something that can reduce combat to a minimum I’ll definitely use it. What trainer are you using?
Then fucking play something else. This game is for fans you stupid small dicked cunt
I don’t disagree with your stance, but I am curious why you decided on a trainer instead of picking the easier difficulty. Did you try it and still find it too much? I have read about the differences between modes but haven’t actually tried anything other than normal, and even though I’m extremely familiar with PF 1e and D&D 5e I’ve struggled with lots of encounters.
I initially started on easy, but just found it far too complex of a system to get my head around, and when my work hours can see me going days between play sessions, any knowledge I do pick up often isn’t retained. I also just don’t enjoy turn based combat at all, so when I enter combat, I just throw on god mode and infinite turns to get it over and return to the story or quest more quickly (I’ll often alter things depending on what’s happening in the game at the time though. For example, I did the Gauntlet of Shar with Shadowheart on her own, as it felt like something she needed to tackle solo, even if I wasn’t in any genuine danger.)
I guess tl;dr - even easy was a bit too much for me to take in given my work schedule, as well as the combat taking a lot of time away from the aspects of the game I love, namely exploration and stories.
Not the one you’re asking but I feel the same as them.
I am playing on the easiest setting with no mods because it’s my first playthrough, I can finish the combat sessions without struggling but I don’t like the combat mechanics at all, this system is just not for me.
Next playthrough I’ll use mods and if there’s something that can make combat finish as fast as possible so I don’t have to deal with it too much, I’ll definitely use it.
What about the combat is so unbearable for you? Is it too complex or too long per encounter? I’ve played a lot of CRPGs so to me the combat is very intuitive and one of my favorite parts of the game.
I’m a different commentor but wanted to reply with my biggest complaint about the combat is that I can’t skip the enemy turns and fast forward through them. It gets real tedious when you get into the encounters with like 20+ enemies. Otherwise I enjoy the combat. Do wish opportunity strikes against me would trigger a warning and ability to cancel my movement though since I often miss the red arrow or I misclick 1mm too far.
I personally love the big encounters with 20+ enemies but I do agree that it can really drag out combat and be unfun just waiting 10 minutes to do something again. I would love to see an option, similar to that in civ 6, where you can skip movement and attack animations to really speed up combat.
I think it mainly comes down to the length per encounter, on top of the turn based system and mechanics I’m very unfamiliar with. I have pretty severe ADHD too, so it’s kinda a perfect storm of combat mechanics I’ve never been a fan of. I prefer real time, “learn the patterns” style combat ala Dark Souls or Sekiro. If I was younger and had more time to play, I’d likely have pushed through and learned the way BG3 plays on a fundamental level, but the reality is, I have 3-5 hours to play once or twice a week, and I just don’t want to sacrifice time in a combat system I don’t find enjoyable when I could be out adventuring and meeting new characters.
Your comment makes no sense. You claim to have ADHD, but prefer to beat your head against the wall repeatedly learning patterns in a FromSoft game? To each their own, but oof.
Playing a game differently to make sure you’re having fun is fine to me (presuming you’re not messing up other people’s multiplayer experiences or something, which isn’t the case here).
Don’t see why this would need to be controversial.
a separate program that allows one to “cheat” (not a bad thing, as long as it’s not done in multiplayer) by scanning and modifying the game’s memory.
for example, it could figure out where your hitpoints are stored and constantly overwrite that value with your full hit points
Good. That’ll help weed out the filthy casuals.
DnD is stupidly complicated and hopefully this is a call out to WotC to realise that their system isn’t the gold standard because of its rules, but moreso out of happenstance.
It’s funny you say this when 5E is considered the “simplified” version, and 6E (One DnD) is suspected to be more complex. Pathfinder 1e(basically dnd 3.5E) is way, way more complex and even pathfinder 2e, which is much more simpler than 1e, is more complex than 5e.
In any case, as TTRPGs go, current DND is quite simple. However, it seems that some people who enjoy RPGs just want a simpler experience I guess.
Eh, there are different kinds of simplicity. My big problem with 5E is that it puts so much at GM discretion without any strong guidance than it feels like a completely different system between one GM and the next. This does in fact make character creation (and to a lesser extent gameplay) needlessly complicated because what constitutes an optimal (or even reasonable) character depends heavily on which rules the GM is going to choose to use.
Stealth is a great example. If you compare the rules involving stealth in Pathfinder 2e and D&D 5e, on the surface, it looks like 5e stealth is simpler to handle. PF2e has a chapter on it, 5e just tells you to roll stealth against passive perception. But the problem is that’s not a complete ruleset, so the DM needs to fill in the gaps, and every DM is going to have their own version of the stealth rules cobbled together from dozens of ad hoc rulings which ultimately ends up being more complicated than if the rulebook just laid it all out to begin with.
BG3’s 5e DnD is very simple compared to Pathfinder. I finished both of the Pathfinder CRPGs before playing BG3 and was shocked at how easy it is to make a good build compared to the Pathfinder games. Throw in [BG3 Spoilers] >!an angry ex god helping you!< you’ll have a lot of room to experiment with your builds.
I quite honestly don’t understand the opinion of DnD being complicated at least from what I’ve played everything runs smooth. It being inside of a video game makes things even clearer with UI.
When you’re playing with paper and dice, things go off the rails real quick. The players can pretty well do whatever they get into their heads to do. One party that I remember decided to start digging a tunnel in the middle of a dungeon. I still don’t really know where that idea came from.
The system I basically started TTRPGs with was Pathfinder. It’s rediculously more complex, but it’s complex for a reason. The rules are created I’m a way that there are almost no limits to what actions you can take that are covered. D&D has a lot of options, but some of it just has to be left the the DM.
Then we have BG3, which removed even more options, though for good reason. Creating a video game that can account for anything the player can do is hard, though some things are just missing and I’m not sure why. For example, no grappling (by the player). My guess would be that may be for animation reason (having to account for non-humanoid grappling) but I feel like they could have done something to make it work.
I learned to play D&D Advanced Ed, TMNT the rpg, Shadowrun 1st edition, GURPS, and others, when I was 10-11 years old.
It’s not particularly complex, you just have to be interested enough to read and take the time to learn the ruleset.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot because I have two weekly games, and both have at least one player who just doesn’t really master the rules.
They’re not stupid people. But they don’t pick up the rules. Ten weeks in and I’m still reminding them about opportunity attacks. One group isn’t playing DND and one player has similar problems.
I don’t know what to do.
What other game is the second group playing?
I found that the idea of “D&D” doesn’t match with the reality of D&D® (or adjacent like Pathfinder and Shadow of the Demon Lord). Like most people think of grand stories with climactic moments and character growth and the modern D&D offers more of a “square - counting, binary pass/fail roll slog, abstract resource management with little character choice after 3rd level, and almost zero risk” experience. Which is great in a video game, but boring at the table.
I’ve ran D&D® (or adjacent) for numerous groups for over 30 years now across multiple editions and the most success in the D&D® framework I had was B/X, but I think the game that comes closest to realizing “D&D” as a concept is Dungeon World. No overwhelming player facing textbooks, and it constantly pushes the narrative forward no matter what the outcome of a roll is. It’s also free.
There’s thousands of different games out there from more complex than D&D to single word RPGs. Find the right one for you and your group 😄
The other game is Mage: The Awakening (2e). It’s very, very, different than D&D. It’s one of my big game crushes that I’ve rarely been able to play.
But the player decision space is pretty huge, and the players have a lot of tools at hand. I don’t really want to remind them every time like “You can use Web Weaver to make the connection easier to work with” or “You can ritually cast instead of instant cast to get more dice and reaches”
It’s perfectly fine to not be a stickler about rules, the real trick is finding a DM who is cool as shit and not all caught up with their own self importance as the controlling power of the game. Play to have fun and roll with it. As long as the group as a whole and the one player is still having fun, that’s all that matters.
“Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?” - Minsc the Great, uh, Philosopher Barbarian Ranger
