A revised version of Dungeons & Dragons 5E is set to launch in 2024, and it can use Baldur’s Gate 3’s success to propel it to even greater heights.
2023 was an odd year for D&D 5E, as the new books were notably lacking in player-facing content, likely because new versions of the core rulebooks are coming out in 2024. It will be easier for the 2024 books to be backward compatible if the 2023 library is as light on rules as possible.
Meanwhile, D&D has been exploding in other mediums. On the screen, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves might have underperformed at the box office, but it found a huge audience on streaming platforms, with a potential sequel on the way.
The real D&D success story of 2023 was Baldur’s Gate 3, the biggest game of the year, earning an overwhelmingly positive critical and commercial response and sweeping awards worldwide. Baldur’s Gate 3 set a new standard for video game RPGs, with a growing fanbase eagerly awaiting more content.
D&D 5E’s 2024 update should lean into Baldur’s Gate 3 content
Baldur’s Gate 3 has introduced a lot of people to the D&D 5E ruleset, as well as the Forgotten Realms. The game is especially good at updating fans of the original Baldur’s Gate titles, both in terms of the new rules and showing them how much the setting has changed over the past century.
An entire Baldur’s Gate 3 fanbase is primed to move on to the tabletop version of D&D, and what better time to do it than with the release of fresh versions of the core rulebooks?
It’s not enough to just put the books out there; a concerted effort needs to be made to tie them together. Fans worldwide have fallen in love with the cast of Baldur’s Gate 3, both its heroes and villains, and they should be given a big role in the new iteration of D&D.
How D&D 5E 2024 can integrate Baldur’s Gate 3 content
The new D&D 5E books could utilize Baldur’s Gate 3 in a few ways, but the most obvious is introducing the gameplay changes into the new ruleset. Dungeon Masters have complained about players wanting to use Baldur’s Gate 3 tricks, so why not make them canon?
These changes include turning Shove into a Bonus Action, scrapping the Cantrip Bonus Action spell-casting rule, sweeping changes to the Ranger class, and offering a bevy of non-magical items with AoE effects, to name but a few.
Wizards of the Coast has been releasing playtest documents for the new version of D&D 5E, so there’s plenty of time to test out these changes with the tabletop game. They could be introduced as alternate rules for more combat-heavy campaigns if nothing else.
The Baldur’s Gate 3 characters could also be featured in the Character Creation section of the book as examples of how to build heroes, much like how the Drizzt Do’Urden characters fill that role in the current Player’s Handbook.
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How D&D 5E could integrate Baldur’s Gate 3 into the lore
There’s also an opportunity to tie the events of Baldur’s Gate 3 into the lore of the Forgotten Realms. This must be done loosely, as Baldur’s Gate 3 has multiple endings, and there’s a chance the story could be continued in DLC, but there are ways to go about it.
Some of Baldur’s Gate 2 events became canon, such as Abdel Adrian and Sarevok surviving the Bhaalspawn Saga. The same could happen with Baldur’s Gate 3.
The possible outcomes could include Karlach leading a rebellion against Zariel in Avernus, Gale ascending to godhood, and Mizora becoming a prominent fiend, to name but a few. These are potential outcomes in the game but could become official parts of D&D lore.
While they’re at it, make Scratch the Dog canon, much like how Boo became a beloved animal hero in D&D lore.
Tying Baldur’s Gate 3 into future D&D 5E content
Outside of the three core rulebooks, there is also a chance to use Baldur’s Gate 3 to promote the new edition.
The new version of D&D 5E will likely have its own Starter Set, and what better way than one that ties into Baldur’s Gate 3, either allowing the players to use the cast as pre-generated heroes or being set during the events of the game, such as the party escaping the Nautiloid.
D&D 5E has been releasing books centered around characters from the lore, such as Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons. These kinds of books would be a great fit for using a Baldur’s Gate 3 hero as a perspective character, such as Astarion for an undead-themed book.
If nothing else, the characters from the game should appear in any major campaigns planned for release in 2024. Wizards of the Coast hasn’t revealed its full 2024 line-up, but if there are any Forgotten Realms adventures, then tying them into Baldur’s Gate 3 should be easy.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a smash hit in 2023, giving Wizards of the Coast some time to utilize its success for the 2024 D&D 5E update. The characters in the game left an impression on people, and fans would be excited to encounter them again in stories of their own creation.
