Baldur’s Gate 3attributes its success to many things, but at the heart of all of that is its ability to makeDungeons and Dragons, what it’s based on, accessible to gamers. From streamlined combat rules to roleplay potential,Baldur’s Gate 3truly lives up to what fantasy nerds love most about the tabletop RPG — including its magic.
In the TTRPG sphere, a loud few have criticizedD&D5e for being too magic-heavy, and theupcoming changes to thePlayer’s Handbooksupport that.BG3, however, expertly uses magic in a way that is much more empowering than it can be at the game table.
BG3 Leans Into D&D 5e’s Magic Focus
Baldur’s Gate Has Mastered its Magic Item Approach
With increasingly magic-focusedDungeons and Dragons, spellcasters can be much stronger than martial characters, or some of the best martial classes are good only due to their magic. At the very least, casters tend to have more utility and aren’t often boxed into one playstyle. It might sometimes feel that players who don’t wish to use it feel left out or forgotten. Even worse, it can make full casters, likethe belovedD&Dwizard class, feel less special when so many builds center around magic use.Baldur’s Gate 3offered solutions for this.
Throughout their adventure,BG3players get access to a large array of magical equipment for all classes, but martial classes are especially spoiled with weapons and armor.BG3’s ringsand amulets provide additional boosts, for which each player has three slots. Both spell scrolls and potions are remarkably abundant, and free to use for all.
When each player has such casual access, all of them will be able to take a mechanic known for its immense power and use it, as opposed to getting bogged down by selective, magic-favoring world-building. Wheremartial classesare lacking,BG3’s equipment more than makes up for it, and it makes for a gratifying gaming experience overall.
Larian’s Forgotten Realms Strikes Arcane Balance
Baldur’s Gate 3seems to master the balance between too much and too little magic. It does not want to oversaturate its game, making the loot feel hard-earned and the setting feel like a complex high fantasy where not everyone is an experienced caster. Even if a region has talented friends and foes scaling alongside the player, it doesn’t encounter theD&D5e complaint that there’s no use in the mundane when high-level magic exists so frequently. But thevariety of loot inBG3still makes it so that anyone can enjoy magic, and usage can be refined to a player’s taste.
Baldur’s Gatealso curiously and generously employs experience points, which many modern and homebrew 5e games have moved away from in their leveling systems. Yet inearlier versions ofD&D, getting loot itself would grant experience as a part of dungeon-delving, and the same applies toBaldur’s Gate. Therefore, to not only use its magic but actively seek it out is deeply rewarding asBG3returns to the TTRPG’s roots.
All of these features advance the larger goal of accessibility. IfD&D5e leans too heavily into magic or away from it, it can sometimes cease to feel like a properly balanced fantasy game, andD&D’s current magic focus is a controversial topic. But, ofthe many thingsBaldur’s Gate 3does right, its understanding of how to distribute its treasure, how to balance the game, and how to make the player, regardless of their magical leaning, feel special are positively unmatched.
