"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

The miniatures of Pathfinder: The Dragon's Demand
(Image credit: Ossian Studios)

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.

Pathfinder: The Dragon’s Demand Kickstarter Teaser Trailer - YouTube Pathfinder: The Dragon’s Demand Kickstarter Teaser Trailer - YouTube
Watch On

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.

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.

Deputy News Editor

Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.

Read more
The miniatures of Pathfinder: The Dragon's Demand
Pathfinder: The Dragon's Demand devs say Baldur's Gate 3-style level caps help make games shorter, because not everybody has "time for 100-hour RPGs"
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing Astarion, a pale male elf with short curly white hair and red eyes, looking over his shoulder with a smirk on his face
As the "incredible journey" to Baldur's Gate 3 wraps up, Larian Studios has its "full attention" on its next RPG: "The story ain't over yet"
Key art for Solasta 2.
A single D&D spell in Solasta 2's Steam Next Fest demo proved to me that not every RPG needs to be Baldur's Gate 3
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 director's new vampire open-world game sure sounds like it took a page from the D&D and Baldur's Gate playbook: "Sometimes it feels like playing a paper RPG"
Key art for Solasta 2.
If Baldur's Gate 3 left you wanting more D&D RPGs, you won't want to miss the sequel to Solasta: Crown of the Magister when it launches in early access next year
Obojima
This new indie D&D campaign setting brings Studio Ghibli and Zelda: Breath of the Wild aesthetics and worldbuilding to the tabletop RPG, and I'm already scheming hard as a DM
Latest in RPG
Skyrim
Skyrim is still an all-time great for asset reuse: this hunk of human flesh could be some poor guard's glute, or probably just a piece of repurposed beef
Infinity Nikki
Infinity Nikki and The Sims' return are only the start of a retro gaming renaissance for Y2K girlies
Avowed screenshot of the godlike envoy with branch-like antlers, pink hair, and mushroom decals framing her eyes. A bow is on her back.
Some of Avowed's most memorable smaller instances are reminding me of the magic of Red Dead Redemption 2's random encounters
A screenshot from The Witcher 1, showing Geralt slashing at a hairy beast
Netflix's The Witcher casts its first game-exclusive character with a Witcher 1 deep-cut who Geralt first took care of in the 2007 RPG
Deltarune
Undertale's Toby Fox teases arrival of Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4: PS5 testers are "slurping the last drops of soda from between the ice cubes now"
Ghost of Tsushima screenshot of Jin interacting with a fox
Assassin's Creed Shadows' Knowledge system sounds like it's tapping into what I loved most about Ghost of Tsushima
Latest in News
Battlefield Bad Company 2
"I am freaked out by how much might actually have been accurate": Battlefield Bad Company 3 writer unearths forgotten script
Skyrim
Skyrim is still an all-time great for asset reuse: this hunk of human flesh could be some poor guard's glute, or probably just a piece of repurposed beef
best zombie games
"Don't bet on there being more of Last of Us": Asked about The Last of Us 3, Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann says "this could be it"
Liam Neeson in The Phantom Menace
"Wise mentor" or "awful Jedi"? Star Wars fans are debating if Qui-Gon Jinn is to blame for Anakin's turn to the dark side
Persona 5 Royal screenshot
Sega outlines plan to "strengthen" Persona, Yakuza, and Sonic studios, says "Atlus is an important studio for us to expand Japanese IPs overseas"
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows devs added a Canon Mode removing RPG choices after Odyssey fans "expressed their disappointment" over not having a "definitive" story