Baldur’s Gate III is coming (and other BG news)

I came across this promo trailer for Baldur’s Gate III this morning. The game is being produced by a company called Larian Studies. (I don’t know anything about them, but then I haven’t really followed the computer role-playing scene for the past fifteen years or so.) I hope that it has nothing to do with Bhaal (the Realms’ ‘god of murder’) or the Bhaalspawn—that vein was exhausted by the original series. Perhaps (based on the trailer) it concerns a plot against the city involving mind flayers? That would be interesting.

I’ve expressed my fondness for the Baldur’s Gate series before here. I don’t enjoy most CRPGs that I’ve tried, but there was a batch of these games produced two decades ago—the ‘Infinity Engine’ games: BG, BG2, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment—that were so amazing that I’ve returned to them time and time again over the years (my flagging interest boosted by the recent ‘Enhanced Edition’ versions of the games, as well as the plethora of ‘mods’ that are available for them, especially BG and BG2).

Anyhow, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with this. I don’t think the world ‘needs’ a BG3, but perhaps I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

[Picture of Viconia by Lius Lasahido from Heroes of Baldur’s Gate]

Also in Baldur’s Gate news: this impressive campaign setting and adventure sequence, covering levels 1-6, called Heroes of Baldur’s Gate (written by James Ohlen, lead designer of BG1 and BG2). While it uses the 5th edition D&D rules, it’s set right after the original game (1369 Dale Reckoning), and features many of the key companions, NPCs, and organizations from it: Imoen, Minsc, Viconia, Edwin, the Zhentarim, the Shadow Druids, and so forth. To be clear: the player characters are assumed to have no connection to the original campaign.

Finally, there is the forthcoming Wizards’ campaign set in Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus.

[The alternative cover for Descent into Avernus]

I much prefer Greyhawk over the Forgotten Realms for my D&D games these days (for reasons I hope to explain in a future post). So I was delighted to find that Ghosts of Saltmarsh is explicitly set in the world of Greyhawk. But I have a real soft spot for the city of Baldur’s Gate and the surrounding Sword Coast—pretty much entirely due to those classic Infinity Engine CRPGs. If I ever run a Forgotten Realms D&D campaign again, I’ll almost certain use Heroes for it. (Nostalgia: it’s a hell of a drug!)