D&D General Drawbacks of a World with BG3 in it

[Starfox]

Has anyone experienced the "Critical Role Expectation Issue" with BG3, where players are disappointed because a home game is not a sexciting as the show/computer game? BG3 maps are shock full of stuff, while my adventures tend to be more linear with less distractions than BG3, and I am sort of expecting my players to start digging around for non-existent easter eggs - but it hasn't happened so far.

 

[MarkB]

4.) Guidance-palooza: This has been a problem for many DMs over the years, but only rarely in my games ... until recently. Players are casting guidance CONSTANTLY now. When they arrive at a new location they cast guidance on the Sorcerer for social encounters. When the rogue goes to sneak off they get guidance. Those are fine ... but when the PCs cast guidance every 6 seconds DURING a CONVERSATION ... it gets weird. They're assuming the guidance might be getting used up on passive rolls, so it is better to keep guiding. OK, KAREN, I KNOW HOW TO SHOP ON MY OWN!!!!

I like the reaction version of guidance that was introduced in an early OneD&D playtest packet. Means it's only ever worth casting when you think someone's just barely failed a check - all the utility, without the spamming.

As for casting guidance (or any other spell) during conversation, I make it clear to players that this is a very obvious action, and spells being cast during a conversation will be treated with an appropriate amount of suspicion - after all, most NPCs won't know whether that incantation is going to produce a minor competency enhancement or a fireball.

 

[Rabulias]

Has anyone experienced the "Critical Role Expectation Issue" with BG3, where players are disappointed because a home game is not a sexciting as the show/computer game? [emphasis mine]

Such an appropriate typo for BG3!

 

[Reynard]

Such an appropriate typo for BG3!

I assumed it was intentional.

 

[Velderan]

Guidance spam is not new in my games

Guidance spam has always been a thing in my 5e experiences too. As long as a player could get away with using it (and even sometimes when they logically couldn’t..), they were going to get that free bonus.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Am I the only one who feels like half of this list is a good thing, or at worst only a bad thing because it reveals the places where 5e is lacking?

 

[Velderan]

Am I the only one who feels like half of this list is a good thing, or at worst only a bad thing because it reveals the places where 5e is lacking?

I actually wonder how many rules BG3 has actually clarified because people have been doing it wrong all along. 5e's rule structure isn't always the easiest to parse, but they chose the terms they did for a reason most of the time and sometimes I read arguments about rules online and think "you're doing mental gymnastics at an Olympic gold medal level to read that rule that way".

 

[iserith]

To apply the bonus to guidance in my games, the task must begin and end within 1 minute. This means there's a lot of tasks it simply doesn't apply to because the task takes longer than 1 minute. This means it sees some use, but there's no spamming. That feels about right for a cantrip to me.

 

[Reynard]

I actually wonder how many rules BG3 has actually clarified because people have been doing it wrong all along. 5e's rule structure isn't always the easiest to parse, but they chose the terms they did for a reason most of the time and sometimes I read arguments about rules online and think "you're doing mental gymnastics at an Olympic gold medal level to read that rule that way".

I had this exact thing happen. I was getting super frustrated that the game was treasting party members as difficult terrain and assumed it was a big or changed rule. More recently, another thread pointed out hat that is in fact the rule. I had been doing it wrong for 9 years. Somehow we read "can pass through an ally's space" as it requiring normal movement.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I actually wonder how many rules BG3 has actually clarified because people have been doing it wrong all along. 5e's rule structure isn't always the easiest to parse, but they chose the terms they did for a reason most of the time and sometimes I read arguments about rules online and think "you're doing mental gymnastics at an Olympic gold medal level to read that rule that way".

Natural language to the rescue.

Er, no, not rescue. The opposite of that. Natural language to the hazard, I suppose.