Reading books and notes

[ChitsaEQ]

Does anyone know if it matters which of the characters reads a book, for example, or does it count if any of them read it as if all of them now have that knowledge?

[[TG] zac]

For adding/completing quests a number of them have checks and if the character doesn't pass the check the quest won't be updated.

But you can pass the books.notes etc... around and have each take a try at the check the same way perception checks are done.

[Brian_the_Brute]

Generally I don't think so , but I typically always have TAV read stuff.

Lae'zel needs to see a few of the Githyanki "books" which are the circular discs that mention Orpheous.
Gale needs to read the book of Karsus
TAV needs to read both the "Necronomicon" and Tharacite book also (or whatever they are called) to get the speak with dead and 4 ghoul summons.

[Punished Jeremy]

I dont know if it matters for quests, but i know certain characters have certain voiced reactions if they are the first

[seeker1]

Actually, anybody can read the Necromancy of Thay and Tharciate Codex. There will be checks they need to pass while reading both so this will factor into who you give those books to.

https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Necromancy_of_Thay

Suffice to say, some classes will have an easier time of those checks, as will any character with high WIS. Also, BTW, Astarion will actually ask to read the book if Tav doesn't want to or doesn't give it to someone else to read, and will be able (even if NOT an arcane trickster or caster) to gain the Danse Macabre spell/ability. You need both books for anybody to get this power, though. Tharciate Codex is in Sorcerous Vaults, you find NoT earlier (which you also have the option to destroy.)

Because many of the Githyanki slates are in the Gith language, only Lae'Zel can read them.

Reading the Annals of Karsus is a personal quest requirement for Gale. It will teach him the Dethrone Spell. Also in the Sorcerous Vaults is the Curricum of Strategy. Gale or another wizard will need to read that to learn Artistry of War. Same with Caution Before the Seelie, which teaches the wizard spell Summon Deva. (NOT the same as the cleric spell Planar Ally.)

For most other books and notes, yeah. Doesn't really matter much. If the book contains an Alchemy recipe (some do), I believe the entire party ends up learning the recipe, anyway.

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by seeker1:

Because many of the Githyanki slates are in the Gith language, only Lae'Zel can read them.

Even a gith Tav can't read them. The in-game explanation is that they are both coded and also in an archaic version that Lae'Zel knows but most gith don't.

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by seeker1:

If the book contains an Alchemy recipe (some do), I believe the entire party ends up learning the recipe, anyway.

You automatically learn the recipes just by picking up the ingredients, so the recipe books are only for color.

Possible exception for the poison you learn from the back room of the Waning Moon? Maybe you can't learn that poison without that book.

[arikel.pv]

There are also some precious books that give the party Inspiration points, like Book of the Dead Gods in Withers' crypt in the very beginning.
Sometime reading books, diaries and notes give you some hint on what's going on around or what to do to move your quest forward (like a scrap of parchment with dwarf poem in the Goblin camp).
And vice versa, if you don't read some books, you can pass by a chance to move painlessly - for example, that comes with poetry books in Arcana tower in the Underdark. Those are even picky about exactly which character in your party has read them
Some of them help to understand the characters (including foes and, in case of DUrge, yourself)
Others are just fun to read and possible to collect. For example, 'Fables of Faerun' series are in fact versifications of several Aesop fables in local realia
To be short: reading in BG3 is quite useful. Just like in real life.

Because many of the Githyanki slates are in the Gith language, only Lae'Zel can read them.

You can find a piece of De Vurst's research on githyanki tir'su in her Arcane tower in the Underdark (already mentioned it). After reading it, any character shall be able to understand gith texts, though the narrative still shall suggest that you show any newfound slate to Lae'zel.