Summary
One ofBaldur’s Gate 3’s great strengths is how intelligently it translates the tabletopDungeons & Dragonsexperience to the video game realm, and in some cases, what it focuses on can provide great inspiration for how to makeDnDcampaigns better. I’ve been DMing a multi-arcDnDcampaign since 2020, and that whole period has been a continual learning experience, with every session providing some kind of takeaway on how to make things better. Outside inspiration can be equally important, however, from liveDnDplay to books, films, games, or even life experiences.
When it comes toBaldur’s Gate 3, not everything that the game is doing would be a great idea for tabletop play. Some concepts andchanges serve distinct purposesof working within video game limitations, and in tabletop play, I’m always trying to give my players as much freedom as possible while gently guiding the direction. The video game format also has its advantages, however, and one can be found in howthe environments ofBaldur’s Gate 3battles tend to transcend the average battle map used in DnD.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Cut Content Would’ve Opened The Door For A Major D&D Setting
An interesting Baldur’s Gate 3 idea from development might have been hard to implement, but it would have been cool to see in the final product.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Combat Makes Great Use Of Verticality
Multi-Level Maps Offer So Many More Opportunities
The big word forBaldur’s Gate 3combat is verticality, and when I first jumped into the game after its release in August 2023, I was almost immediately impressed by how much its battles take advantage of multi-level setups. This isn’t as deeply evident aboard the Nautiloid ship whereBaldur’s Gate 3starts, but my first encounter afterward took place in the Chapel Entrance area of the Overgrown Ruins near the beach where the Nautiloid crashes. Several looters lurk here, and the ruins that surround them are complete with huge flights of stairs and balconies with half-crumbled rails.
It’s not a setup that would be all that unusual inDnD, but the possibilities presented by the scenario feel so much more immediately exciting inBaldur’s Gate 3.Shoving is a powerful tacticin the game, reworked to be a bonus action that can be deployed on the same turn as a regular attack. Pushing enemies off of ledges is just the start, however, as the cavalcade of interesting combat areas featured throughout opens up opportunities aplenty for all manner of height-based hijinks.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Is Almost Completely Missing Everyone’s Favorite Part Of D&D
Baldur’s Gate 3 is one big love letter to Dungeons & Dragons, but that doesn’t mean it includes everything that people enjoy from the tabletop game.
Making use of verticality can also come with its drawbacks, and I’ve lost out on some potential treasures by launching a few enemies into the abyss. At the same time,escaping a potential total party kill by rendering a boss’s health pool irrelevant with the right application of Telekinesis is pretty thrilling, and there’s more than enough loot to go around regardless. Whether setting up a stealth attack or finding a safe spot for my fragile wizard player character, I’m always thinking about the height options in an arena as part of the basic strategic equation.
The Thorn Whip cantrip can be an especially fun option to pull enemies off of ledges, and the Sorrow glaive offers an equivalent feature called Sorrowful Lash as a bonus action, something I’ve used a lot.
Verticality Improves My D&D Encounter Design
Baldur’s Gate 3 Helps Push Me To Think Outside The Box
It’s not always easy to bring this same sense to tabletopDnD, as most dungeon masters work with generally flat map-building tools. My group plays online, so I make my maps in Photoshop or employ some of the great community-made options that can be found online. The lack of 3D space doesn’t make it impossible to design multi-level maps, but it does end up being a less obvious option for both DMs and players, and a 2D flight of stairs at the edge of a dungeon room doesn’t inspire the same immediate creativity thatBaldur’s Gate 3tends to.
“Like Having A Very Creative Mental Breakdown” - Baldur’s Gate 3’s Amelia Tyler Interview
Amelia Tyler, the narrator of Baldur’s Gate 3, talks creative insanity, thirst art, and crafting a voiceover that allows for boundless player options.
These challenges are no reason not to try, however, andBaldur’s Gate 3has done a great job of making me try. Whenever I’mdesigning aDnDcombat arenanow,I distinctly think about how I could apply verticality and make it interesting. One recent fraught scenario snowballed into a portion of the party hanging halfway down a cliff while attempting to extract from a fight gone wrong, and another saw the swashbuckling fighter drop a magic ship from midair in a desperate attempt to make a death-defying leap work.
Not every encounter needs to go in this direction, but it’s one of those things that can unlock a whole new element of play for the party. Ensuring that some maps have interesting vertical aspects beyond a singular ledge or balcony gives players more alternatives to their normal attacks, andI’m consistently excited whenever someone asks me if they can attempt some ridiculous stuntthat I would never have conceived myself. Even when people aren’t thinking outside the box, it can help ranged classes like rangers feel more relevant than the average dungeon room tends to.
Designing D&D Combat Can Still Be A Challenge
There’s No One Answer To Great Encounters
I still have a long way to go with making truly great encounter design, and like many aspects of DMing, it’s one of those things that’s easy to fall into a rut with. Time is always a problem, and you end up throwing something together at the last second and thinking you’ll do better next week.Verticality is only one of many components that can elevate things, and it’s important to draw different ideas together to makeDnDcombat stronger.
Even so, I do feel likeBaldur’s Gate 3has helped me make myDnDcombat better, and verticality is one of the biggest components of that. I’ve never been much of a fan of random encounters that are just thrown together, and the degree to which every fight feels bespoke inBaldur’s Gate 3inspires me to focus on reaching the same heights. When I do things right, myDungeons & Dragonsplayers can reach those heights as well, and then they can tie a rope to swing off of them into the fray.
