Talk:Dice rolls

I'm not sure "random variables" in the opening statement is the best way to explain the importance of dice rolls in the game. Is there a better term? Dice are primarily used for determining success, either in binary terms for d20 rolls, or degrees of success when it comes to damage, so my suggeston would be something along those lines. -- Guybrush42 (talk) 00:47, 30 October 2023 (CET)

"Dice rolls are used to determine outcomes" is maybe better? Or something similar to that. Willowisp (talk) 03:52, 30 October 2023 (CET)

Oh it's what you added. It's perfect! :) Willowisp (talk) 03:54, 30 October 2023 (CET)

Not me; that was Twyrine. But I agree, perfect! (I would say that, it's similar to the version I wrote a while back.) -- Guybrush42 (talk) 08:49, 30 October 2023 (CET)

Weapon Action DC

I examine a weapon, then the weapon skill, then the Save listed. I realized today that all of the skills on all of my various weapons say, "Difficulty Class (Name)" followed by -1 regardless of who is using the weapon. I am wondering if this is some kind of bug or if this is how the developers intend to hide how effective these skills actually are without hours of testing. I was hoping to be able to add a screenshot, but it doesn't look like that's possible. 50.39.122.117 09:21, 22 July 2025 (CEST)

Section: Karmic Dice

Can we get a citation for this information? There’s various sources elsewhere that state the opposite is true. Taps Latinas (talk) 20:06, 28 August 2025 (CEST)

I'd be interested in knowing which specific sources state the opposite is true from what Karmic dice states here.

However, your post inspired my curiosity. From my reading, I did find that "results always skew positive" is not the stated in the design. Larian described it as smoothing extremes, and a much discussed case where enemies hit far more often was tied to a bug that Larian says was fixed before full release. https://www.pcgamesn.com/baldurs-gate-3/karmic-dice-fix

If the above is true (likely, IMO), then fights can feel faster and deadlier since both sides escape bad luck streaks more quickly, but that is an observation rather than an official rule and the assertion that the Karmic Dice setting "makes combat encounters quicker and deadlier for the player character and their party, and their opponents" probably overstates things a bit.

https://www.gamerguides.com/baldurs-gate-3/guide/gameplay/basics/karmic-dice-in-bg3-should-you-turn-it-on-or-off

I adjusted the Karmic dice entry to address this. If you find differently, please let us know. Raelin (talk) 06:00, 29 August 2025 (CEST)

This really got me going, so I made some more changes. Raelin (talk) 05:53, 30 August 2025 (CEST)

I believe that the section on Karmic Dice is currently misleading. Larian's stated design, based on the options page, is "Karmic dice avoid failure streaks, while keeping the results mostly random." and the most recent patch note I am aware of that mentions Loaded/Karmic Dice (early access hotfix #10) says "From now on, loaded dice will only bend RNG in the rolling character's favour. That means you will not be made to miss to make up for a lucky streak of hits. This change also applies to NPC's and enemies, so the effects on the relative challenge of combat should be minimal." To me, Larian's own documentation seems more reliable than the current sources used by this page. AngelEllipsis (talk) 07:20, 11 October 2025 (CEST)

You are referring to an early access statement, which at this point is over four years old and long since no longer accurate. If you're able to provide more recent information that is in conflict with what is provided here, you will have my attention. Raelin (talk) 00:17, 12 October 2025 (CEST)

The main evidence for my argument is the description of Karmic Dice in the game itself, which says "Karmic dice avoid failure streaks, while keeping the results mostly random." That very specifically calls out failure streaks, which is why I believe that it is misleading for the wiki to claim that it also reduces streaks of very high rolls. This is arguably the most recent information, as it remains in the game today.

I mentioned the patch notes because those provide context for the decision to make Karmic Dice work that way. I also think that patch notes should not be dismissed out of hand for being old, because of the nature of the information that they are trying to convey. Game mechanics are only discussed in patch notes when they are changed, so the only implication of the patch notes being old is that they came to a decision early and never went back on it. While it is possible that they changed Karmic Dice as an undocumented change, I think that that possibility is contradicted by the primary piece of evidence, which is the settings page in the current version of the game.

I personally don't believe that external articles are more reliable than the above. Regardless, I can confirm that The Gamer has an article from August 2023 that describes Karmic Dice as avoiding streaks of failures. AngelEllipsis (talk) 02:36, 13 October 2025 (CEST)

I think I understand now. My apologies for the stubbornness. As you say, there is no solid evidence that Karmic dice reduces high roll streaks, and one of the goals of this wiki is to avoid speculation whenever reasonably possible. Additionally, Larian never made statements after early release hotfix 10 to contradict what was said then, which further supports your point. Finally, another gamer article (https://www.pcgamer.com/if-youre-stuck-in-the-middle-of-baldurs-gate-3s-karmic-dice-debate-larian-says-you-should-think-of-it-like-a-friendly-dm) frames Karmic Dice like a "friendly DM" which smooths extremes/bad luck, and does not mention universal downward corrections.

Thank you for being persistent with this issue, and again, my apologies. I have made adjustments to the page. Please let me know your thoughts on them. Raelin (talk) 04:38, 13 October 2025 (CEST)

No need to apologize! Your concern about out of date sources was reasonable, and I could have made my initial comment much clearer. Regardless, I think that your edits are great at balancing what (little) we know with providing useful information! AngelEllipsis (talk) 19:29, 13 October 2025 (CEST)