The writer got mad when a goblin shoved Astarion off a cliff. It reminded me of when I had Karlach shove a goblin in lava, then a goblin ran up and shoved HER in the lava. I didn’t get mad; I took it as a learning moment: enemies can shove me back, so move away from the lava.
I feel like the game really, really, really needs an “I’ve Never Played D&D” mode - one that actually explains what the terms and such means. It took me forever to figure out what things like “1d6” in weapons meant, and I’m still not completely sure what a “cantrip” exactly is.
Cantrips are just spells that don’t use spell slots. No further explanation needed
And this info is nowhere.
It’s in the game, I’ve never played 5e and I knew that since I’ve started playing.
Additionally, it can help to see them as “level 0” spells.
Here is the full description of them in the Player HandBook:
It’s true that mechanics in BG3 could be better explained to people who don’t know dnd. Then again, in RPG videogames, mechanics are usually implementation details that no player gets in details. :) At leat this time, there is an opportunity to understand them (the basic rules are free to obtain on dndbeyond.com, btw)
I agree, I made some leveling choices not fully understanding cantrips either.
Basically, what they are is a spell that doesn’t use your spell slots. So for example, wylls eltrich blast is a cantrip. You can cast it once per turn and it doesn’t cost any resources, just like a regular melee attack or ranged attack, it just uses your attack move that turn.