Divinity: Original Sin 2 Modding on OpenMods

Larian's pre-BG3 modding showcase

Divinity: Original Sin 2 (2017) is the game that proved Larian's commitment to modding before Baldur's Gate 3 made it visible to the mainstream. Larian shipped The Divinity Engine 2, a full level-design and scripting toolkit, alongside the game's Definitive Edition, and the community used it to build everything from QoL tweaks to total conversions like Epic Encounters.

The modding architecture is similar to what BG3 inherited: a Larian-specific archive format (.pak), a Lua-like scripting layer (Osiris), and a node-graph behaviour editor. Most BG3 modding patterns started here.

The toolchain

• The Divinity Engine 2: Larian's official authoring tool. Free, downloadable from Steam alongside the game.
• Divinity Mod Manager: community-built manager for activating/deactivating .pak mods.
• Norbyte's DOS2 Script Extender (DOS2SE): community Lua runtime, predates BG3SE and shares architectural lineage with it.
• Norbyte's LSLib: toolkit for the Larian .pak, .lsx, .lsf formats.

What you'll find on OpenMods

DOS2 mods live primarily on Steam Workshop (the official channel) and Nexus Mods. GitHub is rare for casual DOS2 modders but standard for technical mods like DOS2SE itself. OpenMods catalogues GitHub-published DOS2 mods, which is predominantly tooling and scripting frameworks.

Practical notes

• The Definitive Edition is the modding target. The original Classic Edition mods don't transfer to Definitive Edition saves.
• Steam Workshop subscriptions auto-activate. No separate mod manager needed for Workshop mods. For Nexus-only mods, install Divinity Mod Manager.
• Multiplayer requires matched mods. All players need identical mods at identical versions. The host's mod list is canonical.
• GM Mode is a modding superset. Game Master mode (one player runs a tabletop-style session) uses the same toolchain. If you're modding for GM Mode specifically, the toolchain references the GM-mode hooks extensively.