"Baldur's Gate 3, but Pathfinder, with miniatures": Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights veterans riff on Larian's hit by ditching D&D and going deeper on figurine fantasy

Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights veterans are funding a new RPG that draws inspiration from Baldur's Gate 3 but ditches D&D for Pathfinder and has us control wholesome wee miniatures.

That comes from PCGamer, who reports that indie RPG developer Ossian Studios is launching a Kickstarter campaign for its next project, Pathfinder: The Dragon's Demand, later today.

The short of it is that Ossian is putting together a single-player, turn-based CRPG based on remastered Pathfinder 2E rules that works to the pitch of "Baldur's Gate 3, but Pathfinder, with miniatures." That means no D&D here, and that characters appear more closely like wee figurines.

So what is it taking from Baldur's Gate 3, exactly? Sticking closely to the tabletop vibe is one that's visually apparently from a teaser, though I imagine leveling is another. Baldur's Gate 3 stops you from leveling past 12 because D&D gets pretty funky and broken past that point. The result leaves you at a sweet spot where your magic hits consistently, but you aren't godlike.

Pathfinder: The Dragon's Demand does lean on Pathfinder's rules, though it does something similar by putting the level cap at eight. How that'll work out, though, remains to be seen.

We'll have to wait and see how far Pathfinder: The Dragon's Demand's Kickstarter journey takes them, though there's certainly some talent on board. As PCGamer notes, Ossian Studios CEO and project lead Alan Miranda has racked up experience producing Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal and Neverwinter Nights. Ossian also developed Neverwinter Nights 2's Mysteries of Westgate expansion, its third and last.

You can follow Pathfinder: The Dragon's Demand's journey through Kickstarter when it goes live today.

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

Baldur's Gate 3 returns to the combat roots set out by the original D&D RPGs, as one intrepid modder gets real-time fights working with a nod to Neverwinter Nights.