Baldur’s Gate 3 players wish the Gods were more useful
Larian StudiosBaldur’s Gate 3 players are complaining about the Gods’ role in the game, as the evil deities spend most of their time messing with mortals and trying to take over the world, and the good deities barely appear.
Baldur’s Gate 3 fans aren’t fond of the Gods in the game, as the ones who appear all have detrimental effects on the lives of the cast, regardless of whether they’re good or evil deities.
The world of Baldur’s Gate 3 is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting called the Forgotten Realms. The Gods of Baldur’s Gate 3 are notorious for being very hands-on in this setting, being quick to appear in avatar form and interfering in the lives of mortals in an attempt to grow their power base. This has changed recently, with the gods becoming more distant in the D&D 5E era.
The Gods’ over-attentive nature actually led to the events of the Baldur’s Gate series, as they were all transformed into mortals as a punishment for their behavior. This led to the death of Bhaal, the God of Murder, who foresaw his own death and created the Bhaalspawn as a means of returning, one of whom grew up to be the protagonist of the first Baldur’s Gate.
Larian StudiosBaldur’s Gate 3 players can’t stand the Gods of the Forgotten Realms
The Gods of the Forgotten Realms have become a talking point in a post on the official Baldur’s Gate 3 Reddit. Fans are complaining about how the Gods who appear in the game are jerks, with the evil ones all acting as major villains while the good ones don’t help out at all. Even Withers (a secret avatar of the former death God in Baldur’s Gate 3) is often unhelpful, charging exorbitant amounts of gold for his services.
One user explains, “I think that the plot should have included more of the good Gods especially since the plot is literally the Dead Three trying to steal worshippers from other gods by reestablishing themselves and deprive all gods of worshippers.” Another user compares the deities to their portrayal in D&D, “Gods in dnd are not all-knowing, all-powerful or completely benevolent. And considering the amount of evil that happens in dnd, it makes more sense that way.”
Ultimately, the role of the Gods is tied to having a narrative. If the good deities had more of a role, then there would be fewer cool things for the players to do. Meanwhile, having the Dead Three and Shar playing such prominent roles means that the protagonist has incredibly powerful beings to defeat rather than mortals.
The Gods also played a huge role in the older Baldur’s Gate titles, with Bhaal’s return acting as the main driving point for the story. Baldur’s Gate 3 could have stuck with Mind Flayers as villains, but fans would have likely complained about it not being connected to the old games enough. Orin the Red’s role in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a huge shoutout to the older entries in the series, and the game is better for it, so the Gods should keep being jerks for the sake of the story.