I didn't realize a selling point of Baldur's Gate III is that it's really faithful to D&D 5E's actual TTRPG systems. Saying this as someone who wants to play that game, is that supposed to be...good?
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I wrote and directed WE KNOW THE DEVIL and HEAVEN WILL BE MINE. I also wrote for NEON WHITE and I currently work at game company doing game things.
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in reply to @mammonmachine's post:
In my opinion, 5e maxes out as "fine" for a ttrpg experience, and I'd imagine BG3 is probably better with the faith toward 5e wrapped up in video game instead of a ttrpg package.
People have complicated and varied D&D feelings, but yes, I think that it reflects table play (and some of its meta-conceits and rituals - how it uses the narrator, for example), which is an engaging part of it. Lots of folks coming to this from Actual Play stories, and even though the game ruleset differs a bit, it's a fun and familiar framing for folks.
I think it still works with none of that context, but YMMV
That makes a lot of sense! I was genuinely wondering why they went out of their way to simulate real D&D when they have a lot more available to them, being a video game. Makes way more sense than nostalgia for the act of rolling a D20, which as a person old enough to remember THACO does not phase me.
I haven't played enough 5e to tell how much thoughtful adaptation has gone into BG3; it includes some affordances you can do in any tabletop game but which are typically not there in a CRPG (you can throw any object, for example) and some extras that are not from the 5e book but are 'imported' from the Divinity games (like each weapon type having a handful of unique abilities inherent to it, which makes the martial characters a bit juicier).
What I will say is that I've played basically every big 'isometric' CRPG of the last 10 years and this is the best one, and the rules are a big part of that. The tactical combat is great but the encounter design is just exquisite. Every fight in this game feels like a well-designed, thoughtful encounter, especially later on in the game where you have enough resources that the game can start throwing really complex and challenging things at you.
My sense of 5e comes mostly from playing this game and it makes a VERY good impression for the ruleset.
You’ve kinda hit on the crux of 5e here, which is that it sings when you craft really fun bespoke encounters for it. That’s really what the system wants: your characters gain a ton of tools for dealing with them, and combat encounters can be satisfying and puzzl-y without being overbearing. Low level characters are also kinda fragile in a way that mainstream TRPGs seem to be afraid of!
I’m just fatally allergic to prep and gravitate toward systems these days where I can fly by the seat of my pants as a GM. 😅
Wait, what do you mean, "mainstream" TRPGs? It's bloody Dungeons and Dragons, 5e is like the default recommendation for/from most people. (And how is knocking some beginner's first lv1 character off in one unlucky roll from LMOPhandelver's first encounter a good thing, exactly? Other TTRPGs avoid that kind of thing for a reason!)
Put like that it makes a lot of sense why that system would be a good fit for a video game. I don't have a ton of sentimentality for the rules of D&D themselves so it's good to hear it's an additive experience!
Apparently??? Just like the involvement of a dude who enabled a serial harasser and rapist was supposed to be so good they made a big deal of it at the time it was announced. (Mike Mearls is such a creep)