GMs (Game Masters) are always taking inspiration from other media to implement new ideas into their world, and it looks like Wizards of the Coast is no different, because Larian Studios Baldur’s Gate 3 has directly influenced how certain mechanics now work in Dungeons & Dragons.
The news comes from the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel (via Eurogamer), where D&D developers explain the 2024 Player’s Handbook. Lead designer Jeremy Crawford says his time with Baldur’s Gate 3 played a huge part in changing the rules for a few spells, including Cloud of Daggers and Produce Flame.
Now, whenever a spell caster uses Cloud of Daggers, they can move it around the battlefield to ensure it inflicts as much damage as possible. Crawford had wanted to do this for some time, but Baldur’s Gate 3 was the final nail in the coffin that made him pull the trigger on changing the rule.
“Some spells that were really painful to cast in terms of their action economy are far less painful,” Crawford said. “An example of that is Produce Flame, the Druid cantrip.
“That cantrip was really painful to set up–once you got it going, it could be fun to hurl the fire, [but] now it’s way easy to cast it. And that is, funnily enough, another one where it was not only a pain to cast in the tabletop game, but when I was playing Baldur’s Gate 3 [it] was excruciating. And it was while playing Baldur’s Gate 3 I thought ‘We are going to redesign Produce Flame so there will not be as much friction to cast this cantrip.'”
Just recently, a YouTube offered $500 to anyone who can find the secret fourth-wall scene in Baldur’s Gate 3, and Larian Studios announced that Baldur’s Gate 3 will be getting an official modding toolkit in the upcoming patch.