Key Takeaways
- The community has devised a “Frodo Challenge,” inspired by The Lord of the Rings.
- Your Tav (Frodo) must survive the events of the game and toss a specific ring into a chasm near the end.
- It’s a fun idea, but ripe for cheesing.
Over one year from release, dedicated Baldur’s Gate 3 players have already completed multiple playthroughs of Larian’s sprawling RPG. The community has rapidly progressed to the stage in its life where they are trying to spice up runs by rolling random characters or adopting rules to inject artificial difficulty into a run.
Although only two per cent of players have finished Honour Mode, a recent popular challenge involves adding another layer of difficulty on top of the brutally punishing mode. The so-called “Frodo Challenge” casts the protagonist in the role of The Lord of the Rings’ unlikely hero, and it even features a ring-destroying side quest.
One Ring To Rule Them
As outlined in Velatieren’s post on the Baldur’s Gate 3’s subreddit, the Frodo Challenge has only a few rules. First, you must play on Honour Mode. This is a high-stakes mission, after all. You need to play as a Halfling Rogue, the closest class approximation for Frodo. Naturally, you’ll have to model your character after Master Baggins as well. Lastly, you’ll only be able to wield weapons with “Shortsword” in its name, a homage to Frodo’s famous Elvish blade Sting. Hopefully it doesn’t glow in the Goblin Camp…
You can fill out your party with any other character you wish, but ‘Frodo’ must remain in the party at all times. Additionally, you may not ‘cheese’ the challenge by leaving Frodo in a different location safe from harm. If Frodo dies, you fail the challenge.
To meet the stipulation of the challenge, you’ll need to acquire the Lucky Magic Ring from Mattis, one of the Tiefling scammers in the Emerald Grove. To succeed in the challenge, Frodo must cast the ring into the chasm before the game’s final fight. Presumably, destroying the Netherbrain and saving Faerun is secondary to this primary, very important task.
It’s a neat challenge if you engage with the spirit of it, but we all know that there are several ways to bypass the ruleset. You could have a magic user constantly casting Sanctuary on Frodo to protect them from harm, or just have him sit in the middle of the fight with a stack of invisibility potions.
As suggested by bristlybits, a Frodo & Sam challenge may be more difficult as your options are more limited and Frodo would need to contribute to the battle for the party to have any hope of success.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.