The stream aired during D&D Live 2020, during which Baldur’s Gate 3 director Swen Vincke revealed a variety of details about Larian Studios’ highly-anticipated RPG. You can check out the original stream in the video embedded below, which has been uploaded in full to YouTube. The video offered viewers a choice of two paths — you could make your way to the underdark, or take on the hobgoblin Dror Ragzlin. If you’re looking for a summary, a press release from Larian Studios concisely collected all of the most important bits unveiled during the stream. Here’s Larian’s rundown:
The narrator that will lead players through the game has changed to present tense/second person narration. Changes have been made to the initiative system. Previous gameplay showed the side initiative, which has evolved over the past month. Characters with similar individual initiative can now be grouped together automatically, which will allow the player to try out combinations and align their attack in a group initiative system. Other characters and enemies will have individual initiative Vincke showed the inspiration system for the first time. Inspiration points will allow the player to reroll one of their dice - a very valuable asset if the roll of the dice decides over life and death. These points are awarded to the player as a reward for finding special solutions during the playthrough. Reactivity to the player character: During the gameplay, Vincke played as a custom character elf, which showcased how the world reacts to who you are and - more importantly - which decision you have made in the past.
AS you can see, there are some pretty hefty changes in terms of how Baldur’s Gate 3 is gearing up to address storytelling, and it’s playfully toying with some innovative D&D dice-rolling mechanics. Baldur’s Gate 3 is - hopefully! - launching in Early Access in August. You can check out over an hour of gameplay here.
