University Honors

Baldur’s Gate III is a computer roleplaying game based on the massively influential table-top role playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Table-top roleplaying games, or TTRPGs, differentiate themselves from other forms of narratives by embracing emergent narrative through collaboration, where multiple players contribute to a collective story through their actions, akin to improv. Baldur’s Gate III attempts an authentic translation of the table-top system by faithfully adapting the hallmark mechanics of the game, such as turn based combat and the use of polyhedral die, as well as attempting to craft an emergent narrative that allows a large degree of player agency through creative problem solving, expansive dialogue, and a world that responds organically to choices. Emergent narrative in digital games is currently understood as a kind of audience participation, where player choices lead narrative down prescription branches. Agency, in games, by this definition, is seen as the ability to make meaningful choices that impact the digital world. Baldur’s Gate III differentiates itself by promoting not just participation, but active co-authorship between the player and game. This paper analyzes specific gameplay instances from the game and breaks down how previous player action subtly changes potential outcomes in emotionally charged narrative moments. Ultimately, I argue that these game design choices produce a moral ecosystem which demands consistent moral framework from the player, in turn creating a meaningful dialogue between the player’s values and the game narrative. This dialogue becomes a site for introspection for the player, and demands that empathy be considered as a mechanic in the game, influencing player agency as it does in its table-top contemporary.