I am not sure how that works. It somehow happened to me in the aftermath of the Aunt Ethel quest. I was just sort of going along and I met the person I rescued, and in the dialogue it gives me the option of using a wand for her. I had no idea what it was, how I got it, or what it would even do. So I used it, and it animated her dead husband. I was like, WTF was that?

Immediately after that dialogue: OATHBREAKER!

I still have no idea what that means or does. But since I had no clue what was going on, I went back to a save just before that point and instead I broke the wand.

That is one thing about this game. It serves up some pretty dire consequences for your dialogue choices, without making it clear what those might be. Save your game often. For example, the game often gives you the option of trying to read people's minds to gauge their intentions. I tried that once, and the guy immediately went hostile and attacked me. I did not see that coming at all.

In the lore, Oathbreakers are Paladins who, well, break their Oaths. If you perform an action that somehow goes against what your Oath is supposed to be about, then you are considered an Oathbreaker. Honestly I haven’t looked much into it, so am unsure what that entails or if it is reversible. It seems a bit ridiculous that you can do something without being aware of what you are doing and automatically be considered such. I guess with gods it really is that black and white, ey?

I tried reading the Druid leader’s mind and failed. She scolded me for trying it, lol

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Aug 12 2023, 12:34 AM

I have been confused on how the game does armor and dexterity bonuses. I just found this, so I will post it here:

Light Armour: Full Dexterity modifier added to based equipped armor.
Medium Armour: Gain +2 max Dexterity modifier plus equipped armor.
Heavy Armour: No benefit from Dexterity modifier

Khajiit, is this how D&D 5E does it? I have not played since back in the 3.5 days, when it was all over the map what armor allowed what Dex bonus. I remember the Chain Shirt was kind of the sweet spot, giving you a +4 or +5 to AC, but allowing a similar Dex bonus. Now, it's not nearly as OP. But this way is simpler.

Pretty much yeah, but in addition to diminishing dex bonus, the heavier medium armors and heavy armors will impose a disadvantage on stealth checks.

Yes, the stealth penalty is there in BG3 as well. I think a ran across one suit of magical armor where the stealth penalty was removed, as part of its enchantment.

It is nice and neat, so it is hard to complain about. But I do miss my OP chain shirt nonetheless! I just looked it up. It was +4 to AC, and +4 Dex Bonus.

I also just read that there is no arcane spellcasting failure for wearing armor. But you do need to have a proficiency in the armor. So that looks really good for a future playthrough with Blood Raven.

I found an article explaining the Oathbreaker Paladin. It sounds a lot like the old Anti-Paladin/Blackguard class from older D&D. Basically your evil paladin, who looks good in black.

Some notes on Classes.

BG3 is still pretty much the same as D&D 3.x when it comes to the base classes and multi-classing. Every time you level up, you can pick a new class to do it in. From what I read there is no experience penalty for it, and so no favored classes. You can be a level 1 character in every class if you want.

There are no ability score requirements for multiclassing.

Here is a guide someone wrote

There are no prestige classes like in 3.5. But the standard classes do have subclasses.

I have only played a few classes so far. So my observations are limited. However:

Paladins absolutely rack ass in this game! Holy fuck are they badass! They get divine smite at level 2, and it adds a huge amount to your melee damage when you use it. It acts like a 1st level spell, so it uses your spell slots. So you are limited. Not that anything can take more a few of those and remain standing. As you level up, you can upcast it to do more damage.

The Fighter I was not that impressed with. I know they get some stuff, still have good hit points and all the weapon and armor presidencies. But they lack a lot of the really cool Wow abilities that other classes get. Like Divine Smite above.

The Barbarian is also an absolute beast. They don't have to go unarmored, but they start with an ability called Unarmored Defense. When they are not wearing armor they add their Constitution modifier to their armor class. And of course your Dex modifier adds on to that as well, as normal. So really that is the route you want to go. Plus they get the highest hit die, and their Rage is a Bonus Action. So you can Rage out and still attack in the same turn.

There is an Origin companion who is a Barbarian. I did this with her, gave her a pair of bracers of defense, have the cleric cast a shield spell on her, and she has the best AC in the group. As soon as I found her, I stopped using the Fighter and put her in instead.

Clerics start a little slow. But they pick up speed around 4th level and up. They start with a spell called Guiding Bolt, which not only does damage, but it also makes the next attack upon the target have Advantage. That must be some kind of 5th Edition thing. It basically means the target is vulnerable to things like a Rogue's Sneak Attack. It took me a long time to realize this, and was criminally under-utilizing this ability. Use either in combo with a Rogue, or just to set up your tank's next attack.

Inflict Wounds is another 1st level spell that does huge damage, but you have to be in melee range.

Shield of Faith gives the target a +2 to AC until the next long rest. Really good spell. Paladin's get this too.

Create/Destroy Water is handy for putting out fires, which does matter, as people throwing firebombs or acid sprays at you will set the ground on fire or make it acidic for multiple turns, doing damage to you the whole time. Creating water will put it out. On the opposite side, mud will significantly slow your movement, maybe making it impossible for your tanks to close to range. So a Destroy Water will remove the mud (I think, I have not tried it yet). Casting water on someone before they go into a fire will also give them resistance to it.

Silence is one to be careful with. It is an area effect spell, that cuts off all magic use by everyone who is in the zone, friend and foe alike. Since it works a spell, a Paladin's Divine Smite is included in this. So be careful kids!

Spirit Guardians is a 3rd level spell (so you get it a character level 5). It sets up a zone around that does damage to all enemies that come within it, every round. Very handy. You can cast this, be curing people, and still kill the bad guys at the same time.

The Rogue I just could not get a good handle on, so did not keep in the party for long. I could not figure out how to get Sneak Attacks on people. (This was before I figured out the Guiding Bolt spell). I think it is also supposed to be possible if the Rogue is attacking at target that is already engaged with a party member. But that never seemed to work for me when I tried it. Maybe I just never had the right chance, and don't remember.

The Wizard did not do much for me. He kept almost dying too quickly, which is a common thing all around in this game at the start. However, being a wizard seems to work more like a sorcerer did in the old days. All the spellcasting classes choose what spells they are going to prepare. Then they can cast any of them any number of times. So you don't take Identify 3 times, and Magic Missile once. There is a limit to your casting slots for each level, which tops out at 4 per level for everyone. This makes wizards a lot more useful IMHO.

The Cleric works exactly the same way with their spells. They have a large pool of spells to chose from, but they have to prepare a set amount of them between Rests.

I am not sure how Sorcerers work in all this. I suspect that they do not have the big pool of spells to pick from at any time and change out as needed. I *think* on level up you learn a small number of spells, and you can only cast them. So you never go through the preparation phase, but have less to chose from overall.

Sorcerers also get access to something called Sorcery points at Level 2, and can do Metamagic with them. That seems to be things like altering spells' range, how many target's they effect, turning off friendly fire for area spells, etc... I think you can also use these points to get extra spell uses for Paladin abilities like Divine Smite. A lot of guides suggest the Paladin/Sorcerer route, just for the this.

The Warlock is a class I have been having fun with. Their basic Blast invocation does 1-10 damage, so that is a huge step up from the older versions of D&D where it was only 1-6. You can add knockback to it, and extra damage based on your charisma. And at higher level you can multiple beams. At the start of the game, your Warlock will probably be the best ranged fighter you have.

They can also create a magical Pact weapon that they can summon, or turn a regular weapon into one. It makes them work pretty good as a sniper mage/melee fighter. Plus they have some good armor magic. There is an invocation that gives them the Mage Armor spell without using a spell slot. Pus other spells that give them bonus hit points.

Screenshots. These are tough. FRAPs does not work with BG3. I have no idea why not.

However, Windows 10 does have a built in Game Bar feature that you can turn on in your Settings -> Gaming section. You start with Win + G. Then start your game. In game press Win + Alt + PrntScrn to save a picture. It will save it to your Videos\Captures folder.

Here is a screen shot of the game. Your characters get very dirty.

There are some really visually breath-taking places


In other news, I decided to stop using that Level Cap increase mod. My characters are getting too overpowered at this point. I am leveling up twice a gaming session. So I might try that other mod that lets you get up to 12 / 12 level with multiclassing. Or not use one at all. I'll probably start a new game for this, given that now I have a better idea of how the game works.


Oh, and other things the game does not tell you. You will find little crevices and burrows in your journeys. But you are too big to get into them. If you have a Gnome or Halfling you can cast a Diminuation spell or potion on them, and then they can get in. Or a mage can use the Gaseous Form spell. Thankfully I took this with Wyll the Warlock. But I missed a lot of those places before he could get it.

In 5E, there is also the Oath of Conquest Paladin that could suit an evil character. I’m really hoping that Larian will add some of the extra subclasses from 5E. There’s some really good stuff there.

From the 5E player’s handbook:
Sneak Attack
Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
You don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.

The amount of the extra damage increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak Attack column of the Rogue table.

Now, in BG3, there is actually a button on the hot bar you have to hit to activate it, but it *should* work as long as you either have advantage on the attack or have an ally in melee range of the target, and don’t have disadvantage on the attack.


The game really does look beautiful.

I wonder if a Druid could wildshape into a rat or something else that is small to fit through there…

I just looked it up, and there is a Cat wildshape that the Druids can do, and it can get into those little burrows. So you were right.

I got Astarion up to 3rd level, and subclassed him as an Assassin. One of the abilities he got from that gives him Advantage at the beginning of every fight. So that gives him a Sneak Attack right out of the gate now.

I have been playing with him in the party tonight. I found a couple of mods that change his appearance, one that gives him a softer face, and another that gives him long black hair. So now he looks like an androgynous anime hero/villain. Which I find works much better for me.

I am working the sneak attacks better now, getting that extra party member in close to his targets to trigger the sneak attacks. I think it makes the sneak attack automatically, even if you don't specifically click on the button to make it a sneak attack. Or at least that was how it looked when I was reading the combat log.

Yeah I’m not a big fan of Astarion’s appearance or his manner really. The first conversation I had with him at camp was a come on. Like geez dude, we just met!
His skills do make him a star though.


Great pics!

What Oath is January?

My youngest son is playing the game. He tells me that the story is really good. I've watched a bit and aside from some nit-picking details it's a WOW

Khajiit: I am finding that Astarion is growing on me. Having restarted January's game a few days ago, I discovered that one of the recent updates changed your first encounter with him. Originally he ambushes you and holds a knife to your throat, accusing you of being a Mind Flayer thrall. In the new version he ambushes you and pulls a knife out, and accuses you of being a thrall. I think it is because people were just instantly killing him with the original way.

And I think his come on in the camp was something more. I don't think I am spoiling anything when I say that he is a vampire. I mean, the red eyes and fangs that he has are kind of dead giveaways. He is looking for a new source of blood.

January is the Oath of the Ancients I think? Is is the nature-based one, that gives Speak to Animals and other nature stuff. The emphasis on kindness and hope it tenets has is what I thought aligned best with January's own moral compass. It is the same reason she is a Kind Wayfarer in the Pillars of Eternity games.

Macole: It is a very, very complicated game. And it can be very unforgiving. But it is also very addictive. It really draws you in. The story is indeed well done. It starts out appearing simple. You and you party were abducted by Mind Flayers and had their tadpoles implanted in your brains. You escaped, and now have to get them out before the turn you into Mind Flayers. But it very quickly becomes more complicated. There is a lot more going on than originally meets the eye.

Skorge being a Barbarian just head butted him off after the ambush, lol
Teach him to grab us like that. Hrmpf!


I’ll admit, he is very useful to have around.

One of the characters I’m playing in a tabletop D&D game is an Oath of Vengeance Paladin. Paladins in general are very enjoyable to play. So strong.

I think January head-butted Astarion my last time around too!

Skorge has a soul patch!

You can actually talk to the animals you come across in the game, like rats, bears, and the like. You won't learn anything critical from them, but it is cool that they took the time to implement that much in the first place. The same with dead bodies. In some cases they do have things they can tell you that are quest-related.


A note on multiclassing. When you take your second class, you will not get a tab for its spells/abilities on your action bar, like you do with your starting class. So you have to manually put all their actions into the Custom tab.

He do! Fun fact about Skorge: he was originally a character that I played in a tabletop one shot. Lizardfolk Path of the Storm Herald Barbarian. As part of this path, his rage produced an aura of lightning that you could use to damage foes within it (on command, it wasn’t a constant effect).

I’ve been wanting to try a Druid class to try talking to animals. The forest Gnomes come standard with speak to animals.

This game has so much stuff in it that I never would have expected. I did not know that the Forest Gnomes could do that.

Sorcerers have to pick a sublcass at chargen. One of them is the Dragon Disciple (so there is the old prestige class worked into the regular system). When you pick that, you have to pick a sub-sub type, of which kind of dragon your ancient ancestor was. I took Blue for January, because it comes with a lightning spell.

Likewise, Wild Magic is one of the other Sorcerer subclasses. That was in BG1EE as a separate class, one their new NPC Neera was one. So there is that class also folded into the regular structure.

Wizards also have to pick a subclass later on. Theirs are all the standard Wizard specialties, like Evocation, Abjuration, Necromancy, etc.. You get some bonuses with spells in that school. But thankfully you don't get locked out of casting spells from certain other schools, like in the older versions of D&D.

Fighters have something like that too, and so do Barbarians. So it seems that every class has a subclass that you have to pick at Chargen or at level 3.

Yes, this is mostly how D&D 5E handles it. Clerics, Warlocks, and Sorcerers get theirs at lvl1, right off the bat. Then Wizards and Druids get theirs at lvl2. All the others are at 3. The main differences here are Warlocks which I believe get their subclass at lvl3 in Baldur’s Gate 3, and Paladins who also get theirs at lvl1 when they get it at 3 on tabletop.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Aug 15 2023, 11:36 PM