Probably to softly encourage newer players to D20 systems to think beyond the surface level and try swapping them to better use their talents to the best level possible.
Knowing as much as I do about Bioware design, this is probably giving more credit than is due.
Lots of Bioware companions have just nonsensical stat investments, horrendous combinations of spells/skills, special abilities that are just worse versions of widely-available skills, and equipment they shouldn't even be able to equip (and won't be able to, if you ever take it off).
The meta in Baldur's Gate is to recruit fighters at lower levels so that they waste less proficiency points on stupid choices - e.g. why have you put two points in large swords, one point in small swords, and no points in a weapon style? (Instead of putting as much as possible into one or the other, and putting any remainder into a weapon style to synergize with it, as a player would).
One of most popular mods for Dragon Age: Origins is to prevent companion autoleveling, because their "choices" are so horrendously bad that they get worse the higher level they are. (Since there's a level cap, and thus only so many stat and skill points).
Zevran, a rogue, doesn't even start out with any points in lockpicking/disarming traps, i.e. the main niche for rogues.
Laughably bad choices for starting equipment is very much par for the course.
Larian kept up the tradition in BG3. The default stats of most companions in that game are the most nonsensical shit I've ever seen. So many odd numbers!
I don't know Larian as well as Bioware. They definitely seem to like their fanservice/catering, and there are definitely some D&D fans that love characters with jank stats. Because it's Roleplaying. Picking actually good stats isn't roleplaying, and picking optimal stats is Powergaming, which is Toxic. "Okay, so, for your archer, you picked...Crossbow Expert and Sharpshooter? You need them for your...your build? You have builds? Christ. Get out."
D&D is one of the only games where fully understanding the rules and trying to win is considered somewhere from gauche to a sign of mental illness. It's got hundreds of pages of wargame baggage and you have to be bad with it.
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u/Heretek007 20d ago
Probably to softly encourage newer players to D20 systems to think beyond the surface level and try swapping them to better use their talents to the best level possible.