Help:Style manual

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This is BG3.Wiki's style manual. It serves as a style reference for contributors to the wiki, and is regularly updated and maintained as necessary.

Also see the wiki's editing policy.

Bg3Wiki articles use clear and easily understood language that prioritises readability over flair. Editors should strive for clarity, consistency and conciseness – less is more.

Always discuss major changes to the format of well-established articles. When the style guide is unable to provide guidance, follow current wiki convention until a consensus is reached.

Article names

Article titles and headings are usually written in sentence case, with the exception of names (see the capitalisation section of this guide).

Grammatical number

Names of articles are generally given in singular form, with a few important exceptions:

Names of articles about classes of things are generally given in plural form (ability scores, dice rolls).
Names of articles about things which are generally expressed as multiples are also given in plural form (hit points).
Names of categories should always be given in plural form.

Specific guidelines

Characters

Character articles use the character's full name (first name and last name), without any titles, aliases or nicknames. Titles and aliases can be described in the text of the article. If a title or alias is very frequently used in-game, consider adding a redirect for it.

Gut (True Soul Gut, Priestess Gut).
Spaw (Sovereign Spaw).
Roah Moonglow.

Companions should be named after their in-game character name instead:

Astarion (Astarion Ancunín).

Items

Use the name of the item shown on the ingame tooltip, including the enchantment value, if any:

Longbow +1

When an item has both an enchantment and a unique name, use the unique name without the enchantment value:

Lists

Lists should generally be named using the List of ... nomenclature.

List of features and items that affect saving throws

Locations

When a location has multiple names, opt for the name displayed on the minimap while standing in that location. Create redirects for alternative names.

Ebonlake Grotto (Myconid Colony)

If a notable location does not have a minimap name, opt for the name of the nearest Waypoint or fold the location into a larger region or area that encompasses that location (such as The Risen Road).

Subpages

Except when implemented as part of internal navigation on a page (such via the {{CombatTab}} template), subpages should be avoided.

Article layout

Structure

The following is the correct order of elements on most pages (pages using page templates follow separate guidelines):

{{PageSeo}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE}}
{{hatnote}}
Content warnings: {{cw}}
Notices: {{Priority}}, {{Stub}}, {{Under construction}} or {{Rewrite}}.
Infoboxes: {{CharacterInfo}}, {{relative location}}
Images
Tab template: {{CompanionTab}}, {{CombatTab}}
Introduction: A brief and spoiler-free summary of the article's contents that gives context to the article.
TOC template: {{TOC}}
{{SpoilerWarning}}, if applicable.
Body: Most of article's contents (see below).
Achievements: A section with an {{achievement}} template.
Gallery: A section with a <gallery>.
See also: A section with links to relevant articles.
Related literature: A section with links to related books, letters and notes in the game.
Notes: A section with bulleted notes, using the {{notebegin}} and {{noteend}} templates.
Footnotes: A section with a {{notelist}} template (see below).
References: A section with {{reflist}} templates (see below).
External links: A section with external links.
Navboxes
Categories

Body

The body of an article is divided into multiple sections, each with its own heading. The exact sections used, as well as their order, vary depending on the subject matter as well as the needs of the article.

Headings

A page's headings are arranged using a six-level hierarchy. Heading 1 (=Heading 1=) is automatically generated as the title of the page. The highest hierarchy of a section heading is (==Heading 2==), followed by Heading 3 (===Heading 3===), Heading 4 (====Heading 4====), Heading 5 (=====Heading 5=====) and Heading 6 (======Heading 6======).

Section headings should always be used in consecutive order, starting with the largest (Heading 2). They should not skip numbers, for accessibility reasons.

Section order

Generally speaking, sections near the top of an article should cover more broad and contextual information, whereas sections near the bottom should include more specific information. Most spoilers should be centered in the middle sections of the article.

Information that may be difficult to place in the body of an article can be placed either in the notes (see {{notebegin}}) or footnotes of an article.

Characters

Character articles typically have a {{CharacterInfo}} template and a {{CompanionTab}} or {{CombatTab}} template.

Overview
1. Background: Contextual information about the character's role in the game.
2. Description: A basic description of the character, including their personality, appearance and noteworthy traits.
3. Personal quest: A spoiler-light overview of the character's personal quest (if applicable) or involvement in quests.
4. Recruitment
5. Approval
History
A quest section, often named after the character's personal quest, that contains major spoilers.
List of interactions
Loot

Locations

Location articles, with exception of locations within Lower City, usually have a {{Relative location}} template.

Overview
1. Description, or alternatively a sequence of sections named after and detailing specific locations within the location.
2. List of characters: If the article lacks a NavBox, characters in this location can be listed in a dedicated section.
3. Related quests: A list of quests related to the location.
History
Quests: A quest section that contains major spoilers.
List of interactions
Notable loot
1. Quest items
2. Quest rewards
3. Other

Footnotes and references

Footnotes add additional explanations or detail to a statement that would otherwise be difficult to place in the articles, whereas references inform the viewer where the information comes from.

Footnote tags are added using {{note}}, and are listed using the {{notelist}}.

Footnote tags are added using {{ref}} or {{cite web}} (in the case or URLs), and are listed using {{reflist}}.

Footnote and reference tags should always be added immediately after punctuation, with no space or break between the tag and punctuation.

References can, and often should, be added to footnotes as well.

On articles with a limited amount of footnotes and references, the two sections can be combined into a single section, using {{reflist|note}} to list notes.

Page templates

Most action, spell and item pages have three distinct, but similar, fields: summary, description and quote.

The summary field should contain a summary of the subject matter of the article. The description field is a concise but precise description of the what the action, spell or item does. The quote field is reserved for quotes from the game.

Neither the summary nor the description of a page need to be identical to the description used in the game, but it should still accurately reflect the game. If the in-game description is incorrect, the description used on the wiki should reflect the gameplay, and any contradictions noted on the page, such as in a notes section.

"Where to find" sections

When describing where to find an item, include all of the following details:

A description of the location of the item - or the source, if it's a quest reward or sold by a vendor
- Include both broad and specific information in this description, as needed (e.g. "Found in Act One in the Underdark. The sword is near the Selûnite Outpost, embedded in a rock (X:116, Y:-192).")
Instructions for any additional steps necessary to find or obtain the item (e.g. 'Jump up to the ledge behind the purple mushroom.')
Map coordinates of the item, if applicable, in the format (X:123, Y:123)
- This can be done in the form of the 'Coords' template: {{Coords|123|123}}

Lengthy instructions can be formatted with sublists, as necessary:

Can be found near the sign that says "Here Lies Our Dear Leader", after solving the Torch Puzzle.
- By the north end of Pickens' farm, jump across the gap onto the three large rocks, then light the numbered torches in the following patterns: 6, 9, 2, 3. The item will then appear near the sign.

When an item can be found in multiple places, list all known locations. Exception: For common and very plentiful items, don't worry about documenting every location via text. Instead, consider working with other wiki editors to generate a map of all locations or include a link to an external map resource.

Spelling

The wiki, like Baldur's Gate 3, follows British English grammar and punctuation rules. Aim to consistently employ these rules wiki-wide for consistency.

Aim to consistently employ British spelling rules wiki-wide, particularly when copying text directly from the game, as with item, feature, and spell descriptions.

Armour (Armor)
Defence (Defense)
Colour Spray (Color Spray)

Abbreviations

Abbreviations of game concepts

On articles introducing and describing commonly abbreviated mechanics and concepts, the first mention of a word on those articles should use the non-abbreviated version and should introduce the abbreviation immediately after. Uses after this should usually use the abbreviated versions.

Other pages should use abbreviations for game mechanics when they're consistent with the game's usage. The terms AC and DC should almost always be abbreviated.

Quotes should always use the abbreviations (or lack thereof) used by the source they are quoting.

Contractions

Avoid contractions such it's, aren't or doesn't. Instead use it is, are not and does not.

Capitalisation

Articles and their contents, including article names and headings, are given in sentence case.

Capitalise proper nouns and adjectives when appropriate, but avoid unnecessary capitalisation.

Specific in-game items, spells, characters and locations should also inherit the game's capitalisation.

Article names and headers

Use the the same capitalisation as you would for a any other sentence on the wiki.

Game mechanics
Game Mechanics

Game concepts and mechanics

Do not generally capitalise game concepts, mechanics, terminology or rules.

Abbreviations should always be capitalised, such as: AC, DC, HP, STR, DEX, NPC.

Capitalise the following terms:

Armour Class
Classifications of weapons and armour (Longsword, Light armour).
- Exceptions: These terms should not be capitalised when the terms are used descriptively (eg. with no mechanical significance).
Creature sizes (Medium, Large)
Creature types (Aberration, Humanoid)
Difficulty Class
The item categories Consumables, Miscellaneous and Valuables are capitalised.
Specific abilities (Strength, Dexterity)
Specific actions (Attack action, Hide action)
Specific class features (Cunning Action, Rage)
- Subclasses are considered class features, and are therefore also capitalised (Champion, Wildheart)
Specific conditions (Bleeding, Slightly Drunk)
Specific damage types (Fire, Piercing)
Specific difficulty modes (Balanced, Tactician)
Specific feats (Tavern Brawler)
Specific items
Specific skills (Athletics, Sleight of Hand)
Specific racial features (Keen Senses)
Specific spells

Do not capitalise the following terms:

Common nouns such as ability, action, armour, check, class, condition, creature, damage, feat, feature, hit, initiative, item, miss, proficiency, race, resistance, rest, roll, save, skill, spell, weapon.
Compound terms such as ability check, ability score, attack roll, critical hit, damage resistance, damage type, hit points, long rest, saving throw, short rest.
Names of classes (barbarian, fighter).
- Names of subclasses should still be capitalised.
Names of races (elf, illithid, owlbear)
Spell schools (abjuration, necromancy).
Subcategories of Consumables: arrows, camp supplies, coatings, dyes, elixirs, grenades, potions, scrolls.

Exceptions:

Races and classes may be capitalised when used as titles (Gale, Human Wizard).
- This includes specific individual creatures, which may have identical names to their race (which is not capitalised) – eg. the creature Mind Flayer Leader is a mind flayer.
The term attack is only capitalised when it's referring to the Attack action. Otherwise, it is not capitalised (take an Attack action, roll an attack roll)
The first letter in game concept terminology can be capitalised when used as keywords (Type: Condition)

Other capitalisation guidelines

References to other articles

Names of articles should be capitalised on other pages when they referred to as an article, but not when they are simply linked to.

For more information about potions, see Potions.
For more information about potions, see potions.

Cultures, regions and languages

Cultures, languages and regional descriptors should all be capitalised.

Perry speaks Common.
Perry speaks common.

This elf speaks Elvish.
The elf speaks elfish.

It's a Baldurian beverage.
It's a baldurian beverage.

Text formatting

The following text formatting guidelines apply only to textual article contents. They do not apply to templates.

Bold font

Use triple apostrophes '''...''' to highlight the first occurrence article's subject matter (usually its title) in the introduction of its page.

Strong

Strong formatting {{strong}} or <strong>...</strong> should never be used in article texts. It can be used on non-article pages, such as project and talk pages, to denote urgency or importance.

Italicisation

Use double apostrophes ''...'' to style certain terms as cursive text. On BG3Wiki, we style the following terms using italics:

Titles of entries in the Forgotten Realms franchise, including Baldur's Gate 3 and the franchise itself. Other franchises may also be italicised when appropriate.
Names of vessels and ships, but not the nautiloid ship.
When writing about words as words (an ability is a representation of a creature's physical or mental capabilities).
Terminology or phrases that are not in English.
Items or titles that are stylised using italics in-game should be similarly stylised on the wiki.

Semantic emphasis

Use {{em}} or <em>...</em> for emphasis, for example to place emphasis (stress) on a certain word in a sentence, or to clarify the meaning of a sentence. In most cases, you should only use emphasis one one word per sentence. Never use apostrophes for emphasis.

What to avoid

Do note use bold or {{strong}} for emphasis.
Do note use capitalisation for emphasis.
Do not use quotation marks (") for emphasis.

Punctuation

General punctuation guidelines:

Do not use exclamation marks (!), except in direct quotes.
Use straight "double quotes", as opposed to 'single quotes'.
When writing a list, optionally insert a comma before the "and" (or "or") if it adds clarify to the sentence: Fire, Cold, Poison, and Thunder damage.

Colons

Use colons (:) at the end of complete sentences, when it precedes a definition, description, explanation or a list:

Perry looked at all the animals at the grove: birds, bears and oxes.

En dashes

Spaced en dashes (–) are preferred over em dashes (—), and can be used as a replacement for parentheses, commas, colons and full stops, when more than one option could be appropriate:

Lae'Zel has three actions – they are gith, yank and perry.
Perry – a gith of virtue – decided to aid the villagers.
Perry and Lae'Zel were not merely friends – they were allies.

Avoid the use of closed dashes (like—this or like–this). Do not use hyphens (-) to approximate en dashes – instead use the template {{-}}.

Semi-colons

Use semi-colons (;) to connect two independent clauses that are thematically connected.

Perry chose to take a level in barbarian; Lae'zel thought Perry's decision unwise.

Grammar

Grammatical person

Most articles are written in third-person perspective:

This item is bugged in Patch 9.
- We know this item is bugged in Patch 9.
A Bard can use this to inspire allies.
- We can use this to inspire allies.

When writing sections of articles that make frequent or confusing use of terminology such as the player, second-person perspective should be used instead, for consistency and readability:

You cannot enter this location if in a multiplayer session with another player that is controlling Astarion, unless you have the key as well.
- The player cannot enter this location if in a multiplayer session with another player that is controlling Astarion, unless they have the key as well.

Single or isolated instances of the player should still be written in third-person perspective.

The player will always enter this location from the east entrance.
- You will always enter this location from the east entrance.

Never use first-person perspective in the main wiki namespace, even when making conjectures. If a statement is tentative and needs to be verified, that's okay - simply include the {{Verify}} template to let readers and other wiki editors know.

This is also dropped by John Baldursgate. (I think this is also dropped by John Baldursgate.)

Exception for guides: When writing content for the Guide: namespace, feel free to write subjectively and from any perspective. This namespace is your place to interject your opinions and recommendations for players. Additional guidelines tailored for this namespace may be added at a later date.

Tense

Present tense

Use present tense when describing the current state of the game:

Wyll is a Companion.
Mystra is the goddess of magic.

Use present tense when describing potential events and conditional outcomes:

When they accept, they acquire 3000 gold.
When Gale arrives in the city, he discovers that Astarion already bought a house for them.
If you use this spell, you regain 10 Hit Points.

Past tense

Use past tense when describing previous versions of the game:

Prior to Early Access Patch 9, this weapon was dropped by Zevlor

Use past tense when describing past events:

Astarion was a magistrate in the city of Baldur's Gate.

Future tense

Use future tense when describing possible future events:

If Gale accepts Astarion's proposal, he too will become a magistrate.
If you reject Withers's advances, he will later ask you why you are alone.

Pronouns

Mimic pronoun usage from in-game text, where available. Otherwise, maintain gender neutrality when a pronoun is called for, and use "they/them" for both singular and plural cases.

The Paladin can heal their allies. (The Paladin can heal her allies.)

When describing illithids, use the "it" for singular case and "they" for plural case.

The mind flayer leader summoned its allies, and they were up dancing all night.

Terminology

Ability checks

The term "ability check" is preferred to the term "skill check", except when the distinction is important for clarity or brevity.

For example, "Investigate ability check" is preferred to "Investigate skill check", but "skill check" is a useful shorthand for phrasing that would otherwise be overly long, such as "ability check that allows you to add a skill's proficiency bonus to the result of the roll".

Features

Features are unique qualities that set a creature apart from others. They can either be passive (meaning it is always in effect) or active (meaning it has to be activated, and often had limited uses per rest).

Any features from class levels are called class features. Subclasses, class actions, passives, spellcasting and feats unlocked from classes are all examples of class features.

Any features gained from race are called racial features.

Actions

Actions are things that a creature can do. The terminology used on the wiki to describe the activation of actions is take:. A creature takes an action. This is to avoid ambiguity in sentences, as the term action is also the name of the respective resource. In most cases, taking an action uses an action resource. Taking actions that use the bonus action or reaction resources may be referred to as taking a bonus action or taking a reaction, respectively.

The vast majority of actions are additionally classified as class actions. These are actions that are neither spells nor weapon actions.

Spells

When the action taken is a spell, the terminology used is cast:, as in cast a spell'. If a spell uses a bonus action, the correct terminology would be that the creature casts a spell using a bonus action.

Locations

Use the term region to refer to multi-location areas that have their own map (e.g. Wilderness), and the term location to refer to named places within those regions that appear on the minimap or the name of the save file, (e.g. Goblin Camp, Sacred Pool), even if they themselves contain smaller locations (eg. Emerald Grove).

For other places at the lowest scale, describe the place based on what the in-game map calls it, such as entrance, waypoint, or secret, or a similarly descriptive term if it's unmarked.

Acts

Follow the "Act" nomenclature when describing the three acts in the game.

Act 1 begins when the party arrives on the Ravaged Beach at the start of the game. While the game labels the Mountain Pass as 1b, the wiki includes it under Act 1.
Act 2 begins when the party enters the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
Act 3 begins when the player exits the Shadow-Cursed Lands and takes a long rest.

Whether the numerals should be given in letters (Act One) or numbers (Act 1) depends on context.

Use letters (Act One) in the following contexts:

Page names and headings.
Names of categories.

Use numerals (Act 1) in the following contexts:

Infoboxes and Navboxes.
Spoiler warnings and spoiler boxes.
Hatnotes and references.

Only use Roman numerals (Act I) in reference to the Steam achievements.

Images

Images should be in the relevant section, and should never be placed at the bottom of a section.
- Galleries are the bottom of pages are an exception.
Do not refer the positioning of images in textual contents (eg. "in the image on the left", or "the image at the top".
Textual contents of articles should function independently from its images. Images are added as an additional illustrative supplement.
Add alt text to any images used in articles.

Image alt text

When using the File template, alt text (text which appears when the image fails to load) should be added as necessary to improve accessibility. The text should be clear, concise and descriptive.

Alt text can be added to the File template with this parameter:

|alt=

Examples

Good alt text:

{{File:A_Nice_Summer_Stay.png|alt=Astarion flinching in pain after being hurt by concentrated sunlight at the Githyanki Créche.}}
{{File:Gale_Flirting.png|alt=Gale is serenading Tav while sitting on Mystra's picnic blanket at Lake Hurricane.}}

Poor alt text:

{{File:A_Nice_Summer_Stay.png|alt=Astarion discovering the difference between a nice Summer stay and the full concentrated power of the sun.}}
{{File:Gale_Flirting.png|alt=Gale sings while sitting at lake.}}

Links

Be careful not to underlink or overlink on the wiki. Generally, a link to a specific page should only appear once per article. Link the first instance of that word of an article.

Exceptions to this include infoboxes, navboxes, tables, lists and, in some cases, the description of spells or special abilities. In these cases, multiple links per article may be appropriate.

Sometimes it may also be appropriate to link to a subject introduced at the start of a section, even if the target article has already been linked to previously in that article.

Only use links when they're helpful to the reader – every word that has an article does not need to be linked.

Section headers should never have links in them.

Linking to other wikis

The FRWiki template should be used to link to the FRWiki when appropriate.

Templates

Limit usage of unnecessary templates in sentences, such templates that add an icon and a link.

If adding an inline template would violate the capitalisation or linking guidelines if added, it should usually not be used.

Spoiler and content warnings

Spoiler and content warnings should be used in accordance with the Spoiler Policy and the Content Warning Policy. Ideally, they should not disrupt the user experience, but should effectively warn the user of spoilers and sensitive topics.

Spoiler and content warning templates

Spoiler warnings
- Template: SpoilerWarning: Provides guidance to viewers on what part of the game they may expect to be spoiled on if they read the articles.
- Template: SpoilerBox: Intended for sections with major spoilers.
- Template: RomanceBox: Intended for the Romance sections of articles, including Romance encounters with non-companions.
- Template: Blur: Intended for inline spoilers in NavBoxes and, rarely, in lists.
- Template: imgblur: Intended for spoilery images.
Content warnings
- Template: Cw: Used exclusively for content earnings.

Creating a new page

When creating a new page, whenever possible, try and use a Page Creation Template.

Article names

Grammatical number

Specific guidelines

Characters

Items

Lists

Locations

Subpages

Article layout

Structure

Body

Headings

Section order

Characters

Locations

Footnotes and references

Page templates

"Where to find" sections

Spelling

Abbreviations

Abbreviations of game concepts

Contractions

Capitalisation

Article names and headers

Game concepts and mechanics

Other capitalisation guidelines

References to other articles

Cultures, regions and languages

Text formatting

Bold font

Strong

Italicisation

Semantic emphasis

What to avoid

Font size

Punctuation

Colons

En dashes

Semi-colons

Grammar

Grammatical person

Tense

Present tense

Past tense

Future tense

Pronouns

Terminology

Ability checks

Features

Actions

Spells

Locations

Acts

Images

Image alt text

Examples

Links

Linking to other wikis

Templates

Spoiler and content warnings

Spoiler and content warning templates

Creating a new page