D&D General Drawbacks of a World with BG3 in it

EzekielRaiden

Follower of the Way
It falls on the DM to say "are you sure?" when the players haven't taken into account something that would be obvious to their characters.
Which is something I myself do in my home game. I try not to over use it either, because I don't want to quash player creativity, but it's definitely my "that sounds exceedingly unwise" signal to my players. They always take heed, but very rarely, they'll affirm yes, they are sure. Such things usually lead to a lot of New Story happening! :)

Unfortunately, at least when it comes to 5e, I have...not generally encountered this from DMs. At best, it's "you shouldn't do that, because <house rule never discussed before>." In some instances...it has been less than that "at best" case.
 

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Those of us that have played BG3 are (mostly) in love with it. It is outstanding in quality without rip off pricing, and with an almost unreasonable level of love from Larian in improving it post release. It is one of, if not the absolute, favorite game(s) ever.

HOWEVER ...

There are many ways in which this sonnauhbeyotch has screwed with me. I thought I'd share mine, and ask about any other drawbacks you've seen.

1.) Player Availability: My players are still disappearing on me. I see on Steam that they're playing BG3, but they're missing the start time of games, they're not showing up for board game times, and they're not answering chats/emails/texts. This happens in my gaming circle on occasion - but since BG3 was released, it happens a lot more. And I am hearing this from my friend's spouses, etc... This game is so addicting that people are missing a lot of important things. One mom got caught up and failed to pick her son up from daycare before they closed...

2.) BG3 Stunts in Tabletop: I've always tried to incorporate dynamic environments in my games, but only a small percentage of players really took advantage of it - but now that percentage has grown. The scales have tipped from "I wish my players appreciated the setup I gave them" to "wow, they're looking hard for ways to use the environment and I have to make up a lot on the fly due to weird detailed questions." Pushing, blowing things up, using water to electrify enemies, throwing things down on enemies to add falling damage to the damage inflicted, etc... I loved seeing the increased engagement ... and then I started to get a bit tired of the pushing the envelope and expectations. Example: In an encounter I described that the bad guy was hiding behind a barrel outside a shop (to get cover). One of the PCs cast a firebolt at the barrel with the expectation it would explode. All I did was say there was a barrel. I had no idea what would be in it when I said it ... and it would make no sense to leave an explosive barrel on your front porch - but the player assumed it was a setup for a big explosion. That was deflating in the moment.

3.) Rules confusion: I have really experienced players, medium experience players, and inexperienced players in my games. The medium and inexperienced players in my games are starting to assume the BG3 way of doing things are the actual rules of D&D, and they're using those versions in the game. For example, a ranger with Longstrider had never cast it before. Then they started to cast it "at the start of each day" when the PCs began to travel. I didn't pick up that they thought they were casting it as a ritual and thought that it would last all day - and they were casting it on all the PCs and their mounts. Players also have asked me where to find the rules for thrown weapon damage from throwing the weapons down at an enemy and other Bg3 environment related questions.

4.) Guidance-palooza: This has been a problem for many DMs over the years, but only rarely in my games ... until recently. Players are casting guidance CONSTANTLY now. When they arrive at a new location they cast guidance on the Sorcerer for social encounters. When the rogue goes to sneak off they get guidance. Those are fine ... but when the PCs cast guidance every 6 seconds DURING a CONVERSATION ... it gets weird. They're assuming the guidance might be getting used up on passive rolls, so it is better to keep guiding. OK, KAREN, I KNOW HOW TO SHOP ON MY OWN!!!!

5.) Mind Flayer facination: I had a bunch of hooks related to the Far Relams that the PCs had not been picking up in several games. Guess which threads have been front and center recently? The ones that relate to the Mind Flayers and Aberrations in general. I like variety in my games, but so many sandbox games where I am a DM and wher eI am a player are leaving to the Illithid heavily in the past 3 months...

What else are you folks encountering?
This is kind of wild.

Most of my main group has played BG3.

None of these things has happened to us. If you were a new poster suddenly appearing I might think you were making this all up on the basis of fears about what BG3 might do, but I believe you! I do presume you're playing mostly with non-friends, right, like acquaintances etc.? Otherwise some friends owe you some apologies imho!

1. Is bizarre to me - I've never seen this happen. Even when I was playing Dark Age of Camelot 12hrs+/day in college (don't ask lol) when I had games I turned up to them, but maybe that's because for me, tabletop RPGs are more fun than any game. I've also never had players not turn up because of videogames (drinking, parties, controlling SOs, poor time management, etc. for sure). However it seems like it'll wear off in months at absolute worst as the game gets older.

2. Players can have unreasonable expectations even without videogames. I had a "Black Ambulance" in Conspiracy X, which any sane person would understand to mean "Stealth Ambulance", i.e. a non-descript panel van fitted out internally like an ambulance. I, being an idiot, understood it to mean simply an ambulance painted black, and perhaps with retractable flashers/siren. At one point in the game I said that I turned on the flashers and siren and this devolved into the DM having to explain to me like I was 5 what a "Black Ambulance" was. I guess we may need to be clearer about barrels and their nature for a while!

3. Yeah this is a trickier one. I don't expect to see it as confusion with my players but I have considered and may be asked about changing the rules to be more BG3 like. Which isn't a terrible idea but would be fiddly.

4. I feel like BG3 shows how guidance has always been used in some groups but the real problem here is guidance needs like, a cooldown or something. Like maybe you're winding up your god by casting it constantly - if it was say, 1/hour, it'd be drastically less obnoxious. It is a concentration spell though so presumably as levels increase this heavy use may decrease, as other concentration may be needed?

5. Interesting - I've always used them a fair bit, so not surprised to see them used more.
 

As for casting guidance (or any other spell) during conversation, I make it clear to players that this is a very obvious action, and spells being cast during a conversation will be treated with an appropriate amount of suspicion - after all, most NPCs won't know whether that incantation is going to produce a minor competency enhancement or a fireball.
PC: "Hi, Mr. Merchant, I'd like to buy this nice sword. Do you think we could arrange a discount?"

Mr. Merchant: "Hmmm...I don't know..."

PC Cleric: "MAY HELM GUIDE YOU AND GIVE YOU THE COMPETENCE TO FIGHT FOR A JUST AND WORTHY PRICE!!!!!!"

Merchant: 'Uhhhh...."
 



Starfox

Hero
If it's that common, then every negotiation in the world surely brings their own counter-Priest, and we're back where we started.
Not everyone that calls on a higher power is being listened to.

I'm not saying you have to play it this way, but if you want to, this can be a rationale to use.

Edit: I find how opposing clergy of the same religion in moderna and premodern times would bless the troops on their own side to fight against their coreligionists on the other side rather disgusting. I guess they could say that they blessed the troops to comfort their souls rather than to imbue them with zeal, but still.
 

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