D&D 5E (2024) Wizards of the Coast promises to release more “CRPGs that are going to be as serious as BG3” without Larian

[Gladius Legis]

When asking people why they like DOS2 combat, a lot of people I've noticed tend to mention the action point system and the general execution speed more than anything else. Which I like, too, that's a great baseline.

The overuse of surfaces, physical vs. magical armor system, enemy scaling, item scaling (or notable lack thereof), etc., OTOH, that stuff is not so good.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

general execution speed

Yeah I think that's one thing Larian have done pretty well for three games, and that a lot of developers kind of screw up - including Owlcat.

The action point system I think is a bit of a double-edged sword because it's fiddly and rare enough that I think it is less accessible than systems with separated move and action systems - but people who like it REALLY like it.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The fun fact is the videogames allow a redesign of the franchise. Let's remember for example the current look of Harley Quin isn't the original from the cartoon but from the Arkham videogames.

I don't advice a new online multiplayer. They failed with Dark Alliance and D&D fandom don't trut that kind of projects. The new titles will have to be offline.

A LEGO: Birthright could be perfect if you wanted a paradoy of romantasy genre.

Hasbro had got some game for mobiles studios. What happened to these?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Honestly I'm really hoping Larian is doing something SF - either their own take on a post-apocalypse setting or a grunge-y Firefly/Farscape space deal. I think they'd do a ton better with that than generic fantasy

I think the apocalypse is as overdone as generic fantasy, but I would definitely be excited by gunge-y (one might almost say Traveller-ish) sci fi.

 

[Distracted DM]

Obviously you'll get failures if you try, and one can hope that they'd have learned from failures... but WotC doesn't have a good track record in this. There was a good game inside of their attempt to make a Dark Alliance sequel, but it was shoved out of development too quickly. Half-baked as heck. Probably poor management.

 

[haakon1]

Kingmaker requires a mod to do turnbased mode, which is what you want to be true to the original game.

Hmm, it was turn-based on my Xbox. That was the “Final” version, so perhaps it changed or was a choice in settings.

One of my players and I have been converting the Kingmaker companions to 3.5e Greyhawk characters, as a challenge for the lower level group he’s not in. So far, we’ve done Tartuccio, Harrim, Valerie, and Jaethal, as a party.

Jaethal was mechanically the most interesting - I made her a Hexblade Elf/unique form of undead, with a backstory that she was an inquisitior (as a job, not a class) in the Empire of Ravilla (Chainmail setting, NW Oerik) who was murdered and became a wandering undead. Since she has no need to eat, drink, sleep, or be in normal temperatures, she crossed the almost uncrossable icy mountains and wide deserts between the Chainmail setting and Greyhawk.

Tartuccio is a mechanically straightforward gnome sorcerer from the Bandit Kingdoms. He recruited the others and is manipulating them.

Valerie a human fighter (of course) from Willip, Furyondy who was sent to be a Paladin of Myhriss (goddess of beauty) and ran away.

Harrim is a dwarf cleric from the Lortmils who rejected Moradin and worships Cyndor (obscure god of time and fate).

 

[haakon1]

I played BG 3 once it was out of beta but it's one of the few games I played all the way through that I don't know if I'll ever play again.

It has improved a lot in 8 patches since original launch.

 

[AlViking]

It has improved a lot in 8 patches since original launch.

I'll probably go back at some point, I know they've made a lot of changes and I was kind of waiting until they were done.

 

[haakon1]

About what makes BG3 so great … I’m a lurker in the BG3/DOS 2 group on Facebook and one thing that has come up is WHY people identify so much with the companions.

There was a recent post of an interview with Neil Newbon where he said what he loved so much about playing Astarion is the depth of impact it had on players. He talked about survivors of sexual assault coming up to him at cons and saying his character/performance made them feel “seen”.

Another thread was about identifying with Karlach as someone who also has a chronic medical condition or terminal diagnosis, and that Larian’s courage to not hand wave a cure for her problem (instead repeated surgeries that don’t quite fix it) and make her a character who deeply enjoys the time she has was deeply meaningful to them.

And another thread about an NPC Tiefling kid. The kid never says anything, but you can read thoughts and hear what he thinks. As the OP on that said, it’s clear from his thoughts that he’s autistic and non-verbal. And it’s done as an Easter Egg that only those curious about the named NPC who doesn’t talk would understand. Lots of comments on that one from autistic players and parents of nonverbal children who were amazed at the depth and compassion Larian had in putting that in for them.

I’m not sure if WotC will understand (or go for, or do right) those elements in BG3 that make it art.

“All good literature is about God, love, and death.” - My dad, professor of English

 

[nevin]

May be that is why they are hiring execs out of Microsoft and Blizzard.

Microsoft the company where game studios go to die. Oh boy that ought to be cataclysmic.