Why Baldur’s Gate 3’s stats don’t match character appearance

Baldur’s Gate 3 has stats that determine everyone’s abilities, but they go out of the window when it comes to their appearance. For one character, there’s a good reason why.

As Baldur’s Gate 3 uses the D&D 5E rules, all characters are broken down into six stats: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. These determine a character’s bonuses or penalties on certain dice rolls, such as a high Strength providing a buff if you need to kick a door down.

Despite everyone having their own unique stats, a character’s outward appearance doesn’t always match their numbers. A great example is Minsc, who has a Strength of 12 (roughly that of an average person) despite being a powerhouse Berserker in the series’s lore.

The bizarre difference in character stats and appearance was discussed in a thread on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Reddit. The OP brought up how Gale is ripped despite having a Strength of 8, but various players were ready with an answer as to why this particular mage looks like he’s been hitting the ‘roids.

Larian

“Pretty sure all characters would be in reasonable shape with endless walking/fighting/climbing/jumping our characters do,” one user wrote, while another explained, “Haha right. Plus, I always assumed, it’s reasonable to believe spellcasters to be ripped with all the arm movements they have to do.”

The real answer is a meta one. “Larian didn’t bother having the characters match their stats,” one user wrote, “Shadowheart’s Charisma is an 8 – that clearly doesn’t match what we see in the game. Lae’zel has the same Charisma and while she’s abrasive, an 8 doesn’t match her, either.

“Wyll has a Charisma 17 but is the least charismatic member of the party. Jaheira has an 8 Intelligence, but she’s almost never portrayed as dumb. Minsc has a Strength of 12 (a steep drop from his 18+ in the original games). Halsin has a Strength of 10 and Intelligence of 8 – neither fit the character.”

The designs for some of the Baldur’s Gate 3 characters were determined in the Early Access phase, so the developers had an idea of how they would look from the start.

It would have been extremely low on the priority list to ensure everyone’s appearance matches their stats. After all, it’s D&D, so maybe it’s easier to have abs in the Forgotten Realms. In Gale’s case, a Wizard did it… and he was the Wizard.