D&D 5E Group Patron Mechanic and BG3

[gyor]

Okay so that next Eberron book mentions a new mechanic called the Group Patron which is like a background for the whole party and I'm wondering if the source of this idea is Larian Studios and BG 3?

As we know Larian Studios has been talking up increasing the importance of the party and the party dynamic to the point of "gather your party" as a slogan.

So does anyone else think we will see this Patron Mechanic in BG 3?

What form do you think it will take and what benefits will it offer, and will a version of this mechanic be offered for FR, Ravnica, and other settings?

 

[Morrus]

It’s an idea that has been in a few games before over the decades, but I couldn’t pinpoint its origin. But it’s not BG3.

 

[gyor]

It’s an idea that has been in a few games before over the decades, but I couldn’t pinpoint its origin. But it’s not BG3.

Okay, but I still think it could make an appearance.

 

[CapnZapp]

Read as group patreon. Was confused

 

[MarkB]

I think it's unlikely to appear in BG3, if the game follows anything like the formula of its predecessors, or Larian's own previous works.

The tradition for these games is that your protagonist character starts out alone in the world (or accompanied by someone you just know isn't going to make it past the first chapter), and then ventures forth into the world gradually gathering allies from a disparate group of potential choices, each of whom comes with their own backstory, allegiences and inevitable sidequests.

That doesn't lend itself well to the concept of a group patron - at least, not the version briefly described in the Eberron hardcover blurb, where it sounds like you get this in lieu of an individual per-character background.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think it's in addition to a personal background (you wouldn't want to give the whole party the same two skills after all). I don't think it has anything to do with BG3. The closest I can recall to this in a CRPG was the Temple of Elemental Evil game, where you created your party then got a different plot hook depending on your alignment.

 

[Coroc]

I do not think it's something particularly new, it might be something like planescape factions which give you a little extra and something to identify with as well as a basic direction of what targets to achieve, a direction in which to go if everything else is unclear.
Sounds pretty useful to me.

 

[MarkB]

I think it's in addition to a personal background (you wouldn't want to give the whole party the same two skills after all).

You may be right, but either way, I'm not just imagining it as being simply a background. I'd think that it would be essentially an entire package of skills, features and traits themed around a specific patron, and individual characters can pick and choose from the package to create their own individual background.

 

[gyor]

I don't know what it actually does yet or what it offers.