Baldur’s Gate 3 is helping people with their D&D games

I’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons for about three years now, but I just now finally figured out how spell slots work. Why? Spending hours on it Baldur’s Gate 3Playing as a Wizard and dragging Gale everywhere with me.

In my defense, I’ve never played a D&D campaign as a heavy spellcaster before. As my friends worked on their spells, and counted the slots between each session, I cast Eldritch Blast 10 times as my warlock or prepared sneak attacks with my rogue. I stayed away from any class that required extra homework time of parsing through the D&D 5e rulebook’s pages and pages of spells. When? Baldur’s Gate 3 came out, I decided to embrace my childhood dream of becoming a Wizard, a D&D class I’ve always wanted to dabble in but intimidated myself out of playing.

But finally — I get it. There are more than just two spells at level 4, but I understand what that means. Preparing those spells is something I am familiar with. Hell, I even know how to prepare those spells. do. But it’s more than that. Baldur’s Gate 3 has given me a crash course in a lot of Dungeons & Dragons mechanics that I was unfamiliar with, simply because I didn’t play those specific classes or because those elements just never came up in any of my sessions.

Image: Larian Studios

As it turns out, I’m not the only one whose D&D skills have seen a sharp improvement since playing Baldur’s Gate 3. Many Dungeon Masters and players have shared with me the positive impact the videogame has had on their campaigns. They have figured how to make the most of spell slots and cunning action, strategize in a group, and interact with other players during their tabletop sessions.

A favorite part of Baldur’s Gate 3The cast of characters who become your friends is dynamic. Chances are, you’re taking along your favorite companions as part of the party so that you won’t miss out on their dialogue, which means you’re going to learn about their class, race, and background features. My playthrough, for example, opened up my eyes to some of the cool classes I’d never thought about playing, like Lae’zel’s Battle Master tactics and Shadowheart’s Clerical powers. Kyle Bradford, who’s been DMing for about eight years, tells me that one of his players finally learned how to properly use their Rogue’s sneak attack and cunning actions.

“Wouldn’t you know it, but them romancing Astarion and having him in the party has really helped them figure out how to play a Rogue better and get themselves into better positions just like they would in-game,” he says.

Image: Larian Studios

It goes way beyond simply getting used to different classes. It is important to play. Baldur’s Gate 3 is inspiring people to interact with the world of their own D&D campaigns more. DM Josh Lawson, who’s been running games since 2021, says that understanding each other’s classes has prompted his players to strategize more. It encouraged players to think beyond the abilities listed on their character sheets.

“It was really the goblin camp that really resonated with them,” he tells me over email. “Lots of environmental hazards they were able to leverage, dialogues that changed the experience for each of them, and plenty of enemies to test their abilities on to understand how they would react.”

Anna Hollinrake tells me that their group had been playing for about two and a half years, but the players still didn’t really understand some of the more nitty-gritty mechanics. After the party became really involved, they began to understand some of the more intricate mechanics. Baldur’s Gate 3The world was opened to them, and they were all suddenly invested in the rolling History Checks.

“We didn’t really roll for abilities unless asked. Perception is obvious, but what about Arcana and Insights? I didn’t know what they were applicable for, so I just rarely used them for anything,” she says via Twitter DM. “I didn’t know you could check objects that you received for magic or investigate their purpose. I’ve been carting around a box of unidentified magic sand for so long the DM has forgotten what it was.”

Image: Larian Studios

Even those seasoned in D&D rules are considering adopting some of the Larian-specific mechanics, particularly incorporating “Shove” as a bonus action. (The same applies to the other way around. many people I talked to reported an increase in their party members’ desire to shove enemies for falling damage.) Justin, who’s been heavily involved in D&D for 15 years, also noticed that one of their players has been approaching the game differently.

“[They were]The type of player that rages, then rolls to strike enemies [their] greataxe, no flashy descriptions, just simple combat description,” explains Justin. “They now describe their actions and intentions, they are thinking more tactically, they are using grapples and shove actions instead of just rolling to hit all the time.”

A sentiment shared by many people I spoke with, who were experienced with running a game or were new to the hobby, was that Dungeons & Dragons rules are . The way the handbooks are structured isn’t necessarily user-friendly. There’s just a lot of information to get through. Like many hobbies, a lot of it involves learning by doing — and yet there is only so much you can do as one player in one campaign playing one character.

Kevin Ray, Dungeon Master, and game developer has some more insights into why. Baldur’s Gate 3 is so effective at hammering in D&D rules, particularly the ones that seem intimidating or inaccessible. (Full disclosure: Kevin is also my DM, the one who’s had to put up with me complaining about limited Warlock spell slots for three years.)

“Getting people to remember rules often comes from using multiple different teaching methods,” explains Ray. “You can’t just learn how to play D&D from reading the rulebook alone. “The designers of BG3 reinforce all the rules through their user interface with a visual design that teaches players from doing and explains why whenever you want to ask by pressing the ‘Examine’ button on an enemy, or the ‘Inspect’ button on your abilities.”

Image: Larian Studios via Polygon

This isn’t to say that DMs everywhere need to incorporate a sophisticated user interface to their Roll20 layouts, or that Wizards of the Coast needs to add little icons to spells in order to really hammer in their effects. After all, at the end of the day, every D&D campaign is different. Others may want to stay closer to the original rules. Some players may not want to push enemies (imagine!)).

The passion of people for games is increasing across the board. Baldur’s Gate 3 has given players an expedited way to learn mechanics that might take several actual sessions of playing spread out across weeks — and this is an optimistic view of everyone’s availability, even — to truly understand. After removing the training wheels, you can look forward to a glorious and exciting journey.

“Now they understand the tools in their toolbox, and we can spend more time crafting the story together, and enjoying the game,” says DM Lawson. “It’s made my party much more excited to play, as they know MORE of the possible options, and like to see me squirm as I have to scramble to adapt to their even crazier plans. But it’s all in good fun. I’m super excited that they have a renewed fervor for the game, and seem to be having more fun.”