Avowed has clearly done its tabletop homework

Avowed is a video game deeply rooted in the most traditional of TTRPGs. Its predecessors, the two Pillars of Eternity games, were pitched as spiritual successors to the Baldur’s Gate series, complete with real-time-with-pause tactical combat and explicit dice rolls built into the mechanics. Baldur’s Gate had these features as an officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons CRPG (AD&D 2nd edition, to be specific) and Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire reinforced these links with a big Critical Role cross-promotion. Before PoE, developer Obsidian had released Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2, based on Star Wars D20 and D&D, respectively, and Obsidian’s founders had previously worked on D&D games Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale at Black Isle.

While Avowed may have switched things up, moving to a first person view and more action-packed combat, it’s still drawing on TTRPGs for inspiration — albeit from a fresher source. Much like PoE, Avowed occasionally shifts into narrative sequences that play out in the conversational style of a TTRPG, with the player picking dialogue options in response to GM-like narration. Both PoE games used this to sidestep the limitations of the game engine, allowing for dynamic action sequences that wouldn’t work with a point-and-click interface. In Avowed, however, they’re chiefly used to transport the player to one of their character’s past lives.

(Mild spoilers for Avowed below the cut. You have been warned!)