The new role-playing game Solasta 2 on Steam has decided to implement a 5e rule from Dungeons & Dragons that was not even present in Baldur’s Gate 3. This rule can decide between life and death in combat and primarily relies on one thing: patience.
What is this rule? Solasta 2 explains in a developer update on Steam that they are implementing a rule from Dungeons & Dragons meant to provide a realistic tabletop experience. It is the “Prepare Action” rule, which is stated in the Player’s Handbook of the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons (2024) as follows:
You prepare an action that you execute in response to a trigger that you define.
[…}
You can forgo movement or the performance of an action during your turn or do nothing at all. If you can’t decide what to do, consider the Dodge or Ready action to delay your action.
In simple terms, this rule allows for delaying actions and preparing them in advance to execute at the right moment. The rule can be extremely powerful, as players have come up with ideas like a railgun made from peasants – which, however, is only possible with a bit of rule bending
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What this regulation means for Solasta 2 and how close it will be to tabletop is explained by the team in their community post, but one thing is already clear: They are taking a step further than even Baldur’s Gate 3.
Here you see the trailer for Solasta 2:
Waiting for the right moment with some patience proves to be a tactic
How will “Prepare Action” work in Solasta 2? In the post on Steam, the team explains that at the beginning of Early Access on March 12, 2026, the delay and preparation of weapon and targeted spell attacks should already work. You could wait until an opponent is in sight or range before acting, or wait for a healing spell until an ally can come close enough before finally casting it.
In tabletop, you specify exactly what action would trigger your action to use it delayed when the condition is met. However, in a video game, it is not so easy to provide all possible triggers for this. The challenge of this problem is explained by the team as follows:
In tabletop, you might say: “I prepare a Scorching Ray and fire all three rays at any goblin that puts its dirty claw on that lever.” There are many conditions: First, the spell only activates if someone touches the lever. […] Second: If it isn’t a goblin, there is no Scorching Ray. It might be your (non-goblin) arch-nemesis. Third, your DM, depending on how mischievous they want to be at that moment, could argue that a goblin touching the lever with a tool instead of its claw …
– Tactical Myzzrym on Steam
To still implement this rule, the team wants to start with a very simple mechanic at the Early Access release: It will be triggered when a valid target enters the area of the prepared action. If it is a ranged attack (whether by a weapon or a spell), it will be activated as soon as an enemy moves into range. When preparing a healing spell, it will activate as soon as an ally approaches the spellcaster.
The latter is demonstrated with a clip on YouTube:
Will the team expand this rule further? Based on this explanation, it should initially only involve spells and weapon attacks that affect a target. However, the team plans to implement AoE spells and multi-target spells like Magic Missile in the future. According to the Technical Director, there should be a future function that allows prepared actions to be adapted to advantages and disadvantages, but that will require more time.
Until the game is released in Early Access on March 12, the team also wants to present the character editor to create your own heroes. The classes and subclasses will be summarized here on MeinMMO: New RPG on Steam is just right to fill the void after Baldur’s Gate 3, presents all classes for release
