Baldur's Gate 3 mod extends the level cap to 30, utterly destroying the D&D levelling system

Baldur's Gate 3 DLC
(Image credit: Larian)

A Baldur's Gate 3 mod has taken the level cap even further by extending it to level 30, truly spitting all over the Dungeons & Dragons rulebook in the process.

The 'Level 30' mod for Baldur's Gate 3 over on NexusMods does exactly what it promises - extending the level cap for characters all the way up to 30. That's more than double what the level cap currently is, at level 12, so this mod is really taking the piss with breaking the D&D barriers Larian's game is built upon.

"You can multiclass as much as you want or level the same class all over to 30," the mod's description proclaims. "You need a total of 610000 xp to reach level 30 which is about triple then what you would need to reach 12! All experience gains are doubled except combat experience which is tripled!" Phew, at least there's a helping hand.

Here's where it gets really barmy - Cantrips are increased by six times during the level-up process, instead of by the normal three times. So, for example, a Firebolt spell would go from 1d10 to a maximum of 6d10 damage. Now you're really playing with fire.

Every character class has been accounted for in the mod - Fighters, Paladins, Clerics, and everyone else has level progression from 20 to 30 where each level bonus is spelt out. For example, Paladins get a new Feat choice between levels 21 and 30, while also gaining one level six spell slot between levels 22 and 24, and one level seven spell slot for every level between 25 and 27.

This makes it sound as though you'll need another mod, the Baldur's Gate 3 level 20 mod, to make this mod work, although there's nothing explicitly stating that on the NexusMods entry. 

The Baldur's Gate 3 level cap is set to 12 for a very good reason. Once you go above that, spell levels get downright chaotic, whereby you can transport yourself to another plain of existence entirely. That would be way too much work for developer Larian to incorporate, and considering Baldur's Gate 3 took over six years to develop, we can see why they called it quits at level 12.

Still, that's not going to stop people, hence why we're seeing this experimental level cap mods now. Be warned: if you have a character over level 12 with a mod, and want to uninstall the mod, you won't be able to use that character save, since Baldur's Gate 3 naturally caps everything at level 12. Don't say you weren't warned!

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Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.