Highlights
- Baldur's Gate 3 players should consider turning off the default Karmic Dice setting as it may hinder their gameplay experience.
- Karmic Dice is meant to prevent players from experiencing too many bad rolls, but some players believe it actually makes the game harder.
- There are conflicting opinions on whether Karmic Dice affects enemy gameplay, leaving players uncertain about its true impact.
Baldur’s Gate 3 fans may want to consider turning off the default Karmic Dice setting before they continue playing the game. Though this option is supposed to make dice rolls in Baldur’s Gate 3 more fair, some players think it might be doing the exact opposite.
Like the Dungeons and Dragons TTRPG mechanics it uses, Baldur’s Gate 3 runs primarily on a d20 rolling system. The Karmic Dice setting, found in the User Settings of the Gameplay section in the options menu, is a system that is supposed to prevent players from experiencing a series of bad rolls.
Larian Studios director of publishing Michael Douse described the setting as an optional way for players to tilt luck in their favor if they seem to be failing rolls constantly. He described the system as a “friendly DM” who would fudge one’s dice rolls if they have a streak of bad luck, and recommended players experiment with the option, which is on by default, if they find themselves failing too many rolls or getting frustrated with RNG.
However, some players are finding that Karmic Dice seem to be hindering their games more than helping them. In the Early Access version of Baldur’s Gate 3, Karmic Dice would also prevent players from having streaks of good rolls as well as bad. While it seems Karmic Dice no longer do this in the full release, many players are reporting the game seems to be much harder with it on.
This may be because many players believe Karmic Dice affect enemies too. During Early Access, some fans did research and found that players took approximately 400% more damage because of Karmic Dice helping enemies hit more often. While devs from Baldur’s Gate 3 said it fixed this for release, many fans still claim combat seems much more fair without Karmic Dice on.
That said, several players are saying the exact opposite, and that the true RNG experience without Karmic Dice makes Baldur’s Gate 3 much more difficult. Their reports contradict what the others are saying, leading many to be uncertain if they should trust the Karmic Dice system or not. At the end of the day, it may be best for each player to follow Douse’s advice and experiment with Karmic Dice so they can decide for themselves if they prefer the feel of the game with or without the gameplay setting.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now for PC. The PlayStation 5 version will be available on September 6th, 2023. A version for Xbox Series X/S is still in development.
