Baldur’s Gate 3is no stranger to references. From name-dropping Drizzt Do’Urden to featuring a perpetually angry cabbage merchant NPC in the city, the game is filled with fun Easter eggs for fans of various properties. Now, the latest and final patch forBaldur’s Gate 3brings in a new reference, one which seems to have begun as unintentional but was fully embraced by Larian Studios in the animated short released to celebrate the patch dropping. This new meme, “Pocket Sand,” draws parallels between one of the Swashbuckler Rogue’s abilities and the animated seriesKing of the Hill.
The Origins Of The “Pocket Sand” Meme
The term “pocket sand” originates fromKing of the Hill,an animated sitcomthat originally ran from 1997 to 2009. One of the show’s major characters, Dale Gribble, is a survivalist who often behaves in a paranoid manner and feels the need to be prepared for a wide variety of potentially disastrous scenarios. He often carries weapons or items that can be used as weapons on his person, including filling his pockets with sand that he can throw at people to blind or distract them.
In the episode “Soldier of Misfortune,” which originally aired in 2001, Hank Hill and his friends come up with a fake “secret mission” to cheer up a depressedDale Gribble. During the episode, Gribble is accosted by a man and, rather than fighting, throws sand from his pocket in the man’s face, shouts “Pocket sand!”, and runs away. The phrase quickly became a meme, with videos on YouTube featuring other characters saying the line and Websites purporting to sell “pocket sand” or including instructions on the use of “pocket sand” as a valid self-defense technique.
Baldur’s Gate 3’sSwashbuckler Has A “Pocket Sand” Attack
The Swashbuckler, a Rogue subclassadded as part ofBaldur’s Gate 3’sPatch 8, has access to “Dirty Tricks,” class-exclusive actions learned at Level 4. These include the ability to cast the Vicious Mockery cantrip or attempt to disarm an opponent. One of the Swashbuckler’s Dirty Tricks is Sand Toss, which has the following in-game description:
“Toss a handful of sand at your enemy and possibly Blind them.”
As soon as the Swashbuckler’s class actions were revealed by Larian Studios, players began referring to the Swashbuckler’s Sand Toss as “Pocket Sand.” Fanart and edited images were created showing variousBaldur’s Gate 3companions shouting “Pocket sand,” while some fans expressed their desire to do a playthrough of the game as Dale Gribble in the Swashbuckler subclass. Theorycrafters on Reddit also discussed whether it would be possible to kill some of the game’s toughest bosses, such asRaphael or the Avatar of Myrkul, using the move, or even complete the game in Honor Mode using only “pocket sand.”
Larian Acknowledged The Meme In An Animated Short
Developer Larian Studios acknowledged the meme in the animated short “The Final Patch,” released to celebrate Patch 8. After gaining access to the new subclasses, the six Origin characters show off their skills in a battle against a powerful dragon.Astarion, now a Swashbuckler, throws sand in the dragon’s eyes while shouting “Pocket sand” in his usual dramatic style. Unfortunately, in this case, “pocket sand” is ineffective, as Astarion - and the other five - quickly perish and must be saved by Swen Vincke himself.
This is not the first time Larian has used these animated shorts to acknowledge popular fandom memes. The Xbox release short featured Gale eating a boot, a reference to his need to consume magic items to calm his Netherese Orb, while the “Wizard of Mod” included Astarion as “Handsome Squidward” and Karlach dressed as the iconic player from the"Let Me Solo Her" meme fromElden Ring. AlthoughBaldur’s Gate 3will not have any more major patches, it is likely “Pocket sand” and other memes will live on well after the game’s support.
