GB Feature: Baldur’s Gate III Preview

While Baldur’s Gate III has been available as an Early Access title since last October, we wanted to give Larian Studios’ threequel some time to marinate before we properly dug into it. And now that we have, we’re ready to share our thoughts in a full four-page preview. A little something on skill checks:

To offset d20 roll frustration — at least a little bit — Larian uses “inspiration points.” These points can be gained in a few places in the campaign, and you can use each point for a second roll during skill checks. So if you fail to beat a 5 on your first roll, you can spend an inspiration point and try again. Of course, inspiration points are rare, so you can’t use them all the time. You have to pick your spots — which for me means I never use them because I’m always worried I should save them for someplace “really important.”

In my latest game, I played as a druid. I gave him the “urchin” background, which made him proficient in sleight of hand. Since he also had 14 dexterity, that gave him +4 to the skill, making him about as good as any rogue in rogue-like activities. For me, that just felt wrong. Druids and rogues shouldn’t have much in common. I preferred the 2E skill system in Baldur’s Gate II where classes were restricted in what skills they could use, if they could use any skills at all. But then, admittedly, I’m old, and you whippersnappers should get off my lawn.