Karmic Dice in Baldur’s Gate 3, Explained
You win some, you lose some.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the most comprehensive adaption of Dungeons & Dragons ever seen in video games, with a lengthy campaign that feels ripped straight from the tabletop. Just like with D&D, a massive part of Baldur’s Gate 3 is dice rolls, as you’ll have to roll a virtual dice for a variety of
checks, whether you’re trying to persuade someone or investigating a booby-trapped chest. Interestingly, Baldur’s Gate 3 introduces a mechanic called “Karmic Dice” to make rolling more approachable. Here’s what you need to know.
What Do Karmic Dice Do in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Karmic Dice are intended to balance out dice rolls, making sure you never get to lucky or unlucky, both in and out of combat.
Karmic Dice are intended to make Baldur’s Gate 3 more approachable to those that might not play D&D, taking out a bit of the randomness of dice rolls. Keep in mind, dice rolls apply to both Perception checks and combat. Karmic Dice are intended to balance out the good and bad rolls, making sure you don’t have a streak in either way. If you keep failing dice rolls, the game will balance things out and make sure you start passing rolls for a while — but the same can happen if you’re on a good streak.
The thing to keep in mind with Karmic Dice is that they also apply to enemies. When the system works in their favor, they can land critical hits on your party. In some cases, this can make combat a little more difficult than having Karmic Dice off, as it balances things out on both sides rather than being completely random.
Should You Turn Off Karmic Dice in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Turning off Karmic Dice makes for a more “true” Dungeons & Dragons experience, where you’ll need to heavily rely on your stat checks and bonuses.
Having Karmic Dice on or off is really a question of how much experience you have with tabletop role-playing and D&D. If you don’t have much experience, you’re better off leaving them on until you have a firm grasp of the game’s systems.
I you want more of that “true” D&D experience where things are truly random, you can turn Karmic Dice off. As you progress further in the game, you’ll have more bonuses that can enhance your rolls. That means without Karmic Dice, you’ll likely be able to cause more damage during combat, although enemies will as well. Essentially, your success will be greater, but so will your failures.
If you do want to turn off Karmic Dice open the main menu and go to Options, then navigate to the Gameplay tab. Scroll down and you’ll see a checkbox for Karmic Dice, just above the Camera Options.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently available on PC, and launches on September 6 for PS5.
This article was originally published on
