Baldur’s Gate 3is a very impressive adaptation ofDungeons & Dragons, but it’s not exhaustive. While Larian Studios does a fantastic job capturing the essence of the tabletop game, it’s impossible to fully translate to the video game medium. The easiest example to point to isBG3’s level cap of 12, which limits you, in part, from accessing high-level, reality-warpingDnDspells. But even ifBG3improved someDnDspellsalong the way, there is still an unfortunate omission from combat which would have made gameplay more dynamic.
Baldur’s Gate 3excels in its level design for its encounters, and theverticality can help improveDnDcombatespecially. AlthoughBG3can teach lessons regarding scale,it fails to achieve the same level of minutia in combat because there isn’t an option to take the Ready action. Turn order becomes even more important inBG3than it is inDnDbecause it’s more rigid, and even the adaptability of a single action lets the tabletop version of fifth edition’s combat flow more interestingly.
The Ready Action Lets You Anticipate Enemy Moves In Dungeons & Dragons
Prepare An Action To Trigger Under Certain Conditions
According toD&D Beyond’s Rules Glossary for thefree rules widely available from the 2024 revisionof 5e, “You take the Ready action to wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you take this action on your turn, which lets you act by taking a Reaction before the start of your next turn.“This essentially lets you delay your turn to later in the current round of combat, at the cost of a Reaction. Giving up your Reaction to act on circumstances that may not happen is a lofty price that helps keep the Ready action balanced with the fluidity it provides to combat.
Pros & Cons Of Baldur’s Gate 4 Using D&D 2024 Rules
With a new version of D&D ready to take center stage, would it be the perfect ruleset for a potential Baldur’s Gate 4 game in the future?
The Ready action can be as simple as, “if a kobold steps around the corner, I shoot it with my bow,” but through deliberation with the Dungeon Master and planning with the rest of the party,there are endless permutations to give you an advantageous position in combat. There is also a distinct risk in spellcasters using the Ready action, as holding a spell until the trigger occurs requires Concentration, so if it’s broken, you’ve effectively wasted your turn, your Reaction, and any spell slot used.
You don’t have to follow through on your Ready action if circumstances change, according to the 5e rules: “you may either take your Reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger.”
This adds an interesting wrinkle toDnD’s action economy, and, in my experience,really benefits the positional side of combat. Players don’t have to feel like all they’ve done in a turn is move to a more tactical position to wait; with a Ready action, you may anticipate enemy moves and feel confident you’re contributing to the overall encounter by making smart decisions, even if the trigger doesn’t actually occur.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Does Not Have A Ready Action
It Would Be Severely Limited If Implemented
Sadly, there’s no way to use the Ready action inBaldur’s Gate 3.It would be a huge benefit, especially on higher difficulties, since the verticality ofBG3’s environments really emphasizes positional awareness. Most attempts at bottle-necking enemies result in boring turns and a lot of waiting, especially for melee characters. If you retreat through a door to force opponents to come toward the party, there’s not a lot you can do besides end your turn.
Throwables can help mitigate repositioning feeling ineffective – either have a melee character throw a grenade or similar item before moving, or use items like aGrease Bottleon the ground behind them after retreating to force pursuing enemies through difficult terrain.
Basic Ready actions could conceivably be implemented inBG3. Using the kobold example above, it seems relatively straightforward that you could choose an area to cover with a ranged weapon like a bow, thus having the option to use your Reaction to fire at an enemy who steps into the designated location.Issues arise with more convoluted Ready actions, though, since – like many difficulties adapting a tabletop game – there isn’t a DM to deliberate with.
Electing to move into melee range and perform a Sneak Attack with my rogue if the party’s cleric successfully hits a certain target withguiding boltlater in the turn would be far too cumbersome withBG3’s systems. Ready actions can get very creative inDnD, provided the DM allows players the time to scheme mid-combat, anddeveloping a system to give the Ready action even a fraction of the fluidity it has in the tabletop game would be an enormous undertakingin a video game.
There’s also the concern that a Ready action would breakBG3’s game balance. It’s not a particularly difficult game on the normal Balanced setting, but a sweeping change to combat like the inclusion of a Ready action would surely require Honour Mode to be re-tuned.Baldur’s Gate 3already lets you get very creative in combat encounters, and it’s disappointing that something as helpful asDungeons & Dragons' Ready action didn’t make the transition, but it’s understandable why.
Source:D&D Beyond
Baldur’s Gate 3
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.
