Question about adding mods on an ongoing playthrough

[Is This Your Card? 69]

Title
if I add mods on an existing save file will it break? I know the opposite occurs if you take away mods from an existing save file and then try to boot that specific file.

Thanks in advance

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Life Is Strange Enjoyer 📷 69:

Question about adding mods on an ongoing playthrough
Title
if I add mods on an existing save file will it break? I know the opposite occurs if you take away mods from an existing save file and then try to boot that specific file.

Thanks in advance

Depends on the mod.

[The Big Weeb]

Depends on the mod in question. It's always a good idea to check the mod description, usually the mod author will include a blurb about install/uninstall mid-save.

As a general best practice though, you should refrain from altering any game files mid-save. Always start a new save for new mods.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Depends on the mod. Some will tell you in their description.

[Wuorg]

Besides what other commenters have said, if you don't mind some slight risks, cosmetic and/or UI mods are almost always safe to *add* to an ongoing save. Anything that alters *existing* content or adds new assets is sketchy. I can't recommend ever removing a mod from an ongoing save, with very few exceptions. When in doubt, make a backup first and test the mod(s) to make sure they don't bork the save or anything else.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

I have a semi-related question:

If I start a new game with mods, and then start a second game but with a different selection of mods enabled, does BG3 save/know which mods are enabled for each game, or do I have to manually enable/disable the mods each time I switch from one save game to another?

[The Big Weeb]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Cassandra:

I have a semi-related question:

If I start a new game with mods, and then start a second game but with a different selection of mods enabled, does BG3 save/know which mods are enabled for each game, or do I have to manually enable/disable the mods each time I switch from one save game to another?

The game itself does not remember this dynamically. You'll simply get a warning that X number of mods are missing/newly added every time you boot the game to load a save. You'd have to manually tinker with your mods for each save file (which I obviously don't recommend).

[Lamprey Unbirthing]

I haven't had problems. If you're unsure, make a save, quit, enable mod, load up save. If mod breaks it, you can unenable it and boot the save up fine.

[harken23]

Always risky. Try it and if it works, keep it. If not, Uninstall it and load a save that doesn't include the mod.