What is Karmic Dice in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Your entire Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough can change with a single roll of the dice, so why not bend RNG in your favor when it comes to dice rolls? Karmic Dice is a mechanic in Baldur’s Gate 3 that allows you to keep the results of dice rolls random but also avoid consecutive streaks of failure and success.

If that sounds somewhat complicated to you, don’t worry, you’re not alone. I was slightly puzzled at what this meant when I first looked at the in-game description for Karmic Dice, but eventually, I was able to figure out what the mechanic was really doing. To see a breakdown of what Karmic Dice do for you in Baldur’s Gate 3, keep reading the guide below.

How Karmic Dice work in Baldur’s Gate 3

To make things easier to understand, Karmic Dice essentially allow you to avoid failure and success streaks in Baldur’s Gate 3. This means even if you critically fail on a dice roll at a dialogue or combat check, you won’t have to worry as much about your next roll critically failing as well. Of course, the dice rolls will still be random, so you still could critically fail. But Karmic Dice make it so your past failures or successes in dice rolls don’t affect your future rolls.

This works to your advantage most of the time in Baldur’s Gate 3. Though you have to remember that dice rolls apply to enemies as well. If you have Karmic Dice turned off, then an enemy could critically hit you multiple times in a row and deplete your health within a matter of two turns. In exchange, though, you could also critically hit an enemy consecutively and finish them off easily.

Having Karmic Dice turned on or off is a dice roll in and of itself. You are risking enemies going on a success streak with their dice rolls but you could also be rewarded with a success streak of your own. Conversely, you or an enemy could go on a failure streak as well.

Related: How to multiclass in Baldur’s Gate 3

I recommend players who want a balanced experience in Baldur’s Gate 3 keep Karmic Dice enabled, as it is by default. But players who want an authentic D&D experience should leave the option turned off and let the RNG fall where it may.

You can turn Karmic Dice on or off by going to Options and then scrolling down in the Gameplay tab. It is turned on by default.