I would like to see boo again, except in a humanoid form. If magic can give you a sex change, then it can also make animals human-like as well. This could be either human or anthropomorphic, I don't care. Boo would have his own personality and would recall memories about how he was taken care of after his ranger.
A second fight against kangaxx would also be awesome.
Lastly, I would like to have psionics as my class/primary power.
I believe a spiritual sequel would be best - leave the sword coast and bhaalspawn behind, keep the general gameplay and story style. Something kind of like System Shock vs Bioshock. Well, maybe closer to the old gameplay than that.
Failing that... the bhaalspawn tended to have unique abilities. For example, the one guy who instinctively teleported away whenever he came near another bhaalspawn. Maybe one of them had a special talent for being unnoticed and managed to stay under the radar of all the gods. Settled down, had kids... and a few generations later there's another bhaalspawn ready to shake the world. This way there's no need for a canonical story ending.
Another thing; fast animations. Take, for example, Heroes of Might and Magic 2. In that game, your units practically blitz across the field. Compare it to Heroes 5. Some of the units take several seconds to move and attack, EACH. The mage unit was especially bad. For a less extreme example, look at Baldur's Gate. The pathfinding is a bit glitchy, but when things moved, they had a brisk pace. Then, look at NWN2. Maybe it's just me, but everything almost seemed to be moving through water (they also seemed rather stiff in their animations).
In any case, good animations are don't have to be elaborate. In games I like doing things, not waiting for things to get done. Brevity is the soul of more than wit.
I would also like some level of base/army building, though I'm not sure how well you can retain the BG-style gameplay with a base that is more than a footnote or mini-game. Looking at ToB, it has high-level heroes and mid-level armies. It has hero vs hero and hero vs army, but no army vs army. High-level characters can stomp all over almost any number of sufficiently lower-level characters... but only if they're conveniently gathered together, otherwise it doesn't seem to work so well. Even high-level characters cannot really operate everywhere at once or 24/7. So, you could have a scenario where you play a character who is both a leader and a warrior, and have your army deal with the low-level, widespread enemies while you try to pin down the more dangerous opponents. It would be interesting to see how a D&D-style party would deal with the economics and logistics of such an operation. You have your absurd amount of gold gained from adventuring and who knows how much gold from large-scale operations. You need to outfit yourself with gear to combat high-level enemies, outfit your followers with gear to survive and contend with lower-level enemies and maybe develop one or more pieces of land, whether they be villages or castles or something else. How do you divide your money? You'll probably want to train your followers, but you can't do it yourself because you're gonna be busy. How do you manage that? You'll need captains and such to manage things in your absence. Where do you find them and who do you know you can trust? And you'll likely have your fair share of unexpected events (purple worm in the courtyard!) and complaints (the king of so-and-so does not like your operations) to deal with.
i want bg 3 to take me at least 50-100 hours to beat for the first time, and if some how this game is good enough to play over and over again like bg1 and bg2
We are waiting months for subraces ( which one are VERY easy to made ) and you want BG3 with 50-100 hours ? Ok, give Beamdog 10-12 years, then maybe.
I know English isn't your first language... it's like... painfully obvious, but... he didn't mean he wants BG3 out within 50-100 hours, he just wants a lot of gameplay/replayability.
Whatever ruleset gets used, I agree that the Bhallspawn's story is pretty much done. Time for a new level 1 protagonist.
Still, a new game should be rife with references and contact points with the earlier games. There should be clashes with the Gods and special appearances of familiar faces as questgivers, shopkeepers, or cameos. I want to be manipulated by Harper agent Jaheira and to help Mazzy rescue the halfling village she settled down in.
In fact, I think the Bhallspawn's in an excellent position to be the ultimate antagonist of Baldur's Gate 3.
This is pretty much all I care if there is ever BG3 made. ToB was good closure to the story, if there is ever a new BG game it should stand on it's own two feet(as much as you can say that about game already using the BG name).
The only way I would want to play a level 1 protagonist would be if you could progress to the higher levels of BG2. I don't really care for playing a whole game as a low level character. It's just not that much fun to me.
@RedGuard Agreed. I don't mind BG1 because it progresses into BG2 where I can reach higher levels, but I don't want a BG3 that caps me at level 10. Even if it's setting up a BG4.
Strategically speaking, I think the protagonist from the BG series actually would be the perfect antagonist... creating a challenge that is a CHALLENGE, it has to be since the powergamers out there created such a boss character that they now have to face...
Gives me chills... I think most everyone just wouldn't want to have to kill themselves, although moreover, perhaps they feel like it would kill any type of storyline...
A new or greatly improved engine. My main beef with Infinity (or at least the BG versions) is that each .til chunk appears to be fixed at 64 pixels, making it impossible to create higher resolution .til files. I had started working on a high res Candlekeep until I discovered that, which was a huge downer. I don't know if this is necessarily the case with the BGEE infinity engine, but something tells me it hasn't changed (and even if it had, all the tools used for area editing/creation are out of date and incompatible).
I'm ok with them either carrying on or starting a new story entirely. I'm sure it'll be good either way.
The only thing I would object to is if they acted like the novelization is canon. I've only read bits and pieces of the novel but from what I can tell its just... just awful. Just a horrible thing that tries its best to ruin a great story. You remember that creepy uncle with boundary issues from your childhood that you blocked out? No? Alright well take my word for it, this book with make you remember him and remember him fondly as a time from before you read this book. If they have to make references either have decisions from BG2 that carry over or make the references spectacularly vague so as not to dictate what decisions were made.
On a side note I feel a need to expand on just how awful the novelization is. Anyone ever seen "The Room"? Remember how bad that film was? Its that in book form. It reads like really, really bad fan fiction written by someone who envies Khalid for "tapping dat half-elven ass". The kind that makes you go "Wow... I didn't think it was possible but this is... I don't even know how a literary work can even compete with a man who was responsible for the deaths of millions but somehow... somehow this does the job. Yeah... its official, this book is definitely worse than Hitler."
Thats how bad it is. Consider that my quick capsule review of the novelization; "Worse than Hitler."
I'm ok with them either carrying on or starting a new story entirely. I'm sure it'll be good either way.
The only thing I would object to is if they acted like the novelization is canon. I've only read bits and pieces of the novel but from what I can tell its just... just awful. Just a horrible thing that tries its best to ruin a great story. You remember that creepy uncle with boundary issues from your childhood that you blocked out? No? Alright well take my word for it, this book with make you remember him and remember him fondly as a time from before you read this book. If they have to make references either have decisions from BG2 that carry over or make the references spectacularly vague so as not to dictate what decisions were made.
On a side note I feel a need to expand on just how awful the novelization is. Anyone ever seen "The Room"? Remember how bad that film was? Its that in book form. It reads like really, really bad fan fiction written by someone who envies Khalid for "tapping dat half-elven ass". The kind that makes you go "Wow... I didn't think it was possible but this is... I don't even know how a literary work can even compete with a man who was responsible for the deaths of millions but somehow... somehow this does the job. Yeah... its official, this book is definitely worse than Hitler."
Thats how bad it is. Consider that my quick capsule review of the novelization; "Worse than Hitler."
There were apparently two Baldur's Gate novels. I intend to read them just to see how horrible they are. I heard there is a lot of description all the time of the main character's big, bulging muscles as he does this or that.
I also heard how bad it was... but while looking, I was searching for some reasons as to why. @RaphielDrake I can really feel how horrible you felt the book was from your descriptive imagery, however I don't understand what exactly it was that screwed the book up THAT much from what you said, lmao. Not that I'm trolling you or anything, I suppose I would have like to hear more about why that book is so terrible.
BACK to the particular thread... I think the best thing they should do is import your Character name into some of the dialogue (if you are not playing as that particular character) and speak about exploits and such. If it's just a random new game, I think the best thing to do would be to keep any association to Charname very vague ("the adventurer" or "Amazing Bhaalspawn") and just keep their exploits according to the GAME'S inescapable parts of the story (such as certain deaths, or saving cities or whatnot).
Lastly, (and I just thought of this) I think it would be awesome to incur certain bonuses depending on the class or spell knowledge or whatever your Charname received during the playthroughs; again IF it's a new main player, and not continuing Charname's story.
I also heard how bad it was... but while looking, I was searching for some reasons as to why. @RaphielDrake I can really feel how horrible you felt the book was from your descriptive imagery, however I don't understand what exactly it was that screwed the book up THAT much from what you said, lmao. Not that I'm trolling you or anything, I suppose I would have like to hear more about why that book is so terrible.
Abdel is just a very shallow, boring character. Definitely chaotic, but with absolutely no thought or will power any reasoning ability it seems. He's just... a witless idiot. But I think what disgusted many people even more was the characterization of the NPC's. You recognise a lot of the names, but they seem to be used for totally different characters. Jaheira in particular is just treated like turd throughout; and she's the love interest.
@Coutelier well that's just wrong... I read on a wiki site that she dies in what the timeline says is some point in ToB. What alignment does it say he is?
@Coutelier well that's just wrong... I read on a wiki site that she dies in what the timeline says is some point in ToB. What alignment does it say he is?
She dies in the first one as well, but then is resurrected. He also has a fling with Bodhi, to which Jaheira responds by saying it was fine and the vamp had probably used her charm ability. But Khalid cheated on her before, so I guess she's used to it by now. She screams a lot and needs to be helped out of trouble all the time. I mean, if you really, really hate Jaheira, you might love the novel. Otherwise, it's terrible and nothing like the character in the game.
According to the Forgotten Realms Wiki, Abdel is True Neutral. That's probably because Real Prat isn't an alignment option.
So basically the author made Jaheira out to be a "damsel in distress" type character, and they made Khalid out to be an unfaithful asshole? And since when would Jaheira actually lie to herself?
WTF is wrong with that writer? You were right, and now I'm definitely not going to read it, I like Jaheira as she is now...
We really shouldn't deviate from the OP's Initial post... there is a moderator on here that is a bit whimsical...
A big problem with a far detached sequel is that all the NPCs we've grown to love would not be. playable again.
Some could be. Like Aerie, mentioned before. Avariel live twice as fast as other elves, so usually about three hundred years, and she's probably about fifty to sixty in BG2. But as a powerful witch as well she could conceivably live hundreds more, maybe thousands of years before showing any sign of aging. But, if you're starting over from level 1 again, you'd have to think of a reason why she'd be far less powerful than she should be... maybe being punished by a villain who somehow made her forget all her skills, and she has to start learning them over again.
Similar for lots of other non-human and powerful magical characters; Viconia and Xan could conceivably still be kicking around, as could Edwin and Nalia, although they might have aged a bit. But the thing with fantasy is you could probably come up with a reason to bring back anyone. Maybe Branwen got petrified again.
Similar for lots of other non-human and powerful magical characters; Viconia and Xan could conceivably still be kicking around, as could Edwin and Nalia, although they might have aged a bit.
Putting aside the fact you'd have to ignore almost every single epilogue for every character you'd still have a problem with how they'd refer to the events of previous games. To avoid the risk of ignoring player decisions you'd either have to avoid any references whatsoever or have some kind of carry over which as I understand it would be rather difficult.
Another solution, although not without its own problems, would be to carry on the story by playing as the new deity the main character has become five hundred years after Baldurs Gate 2 in a new "Time of Troubles". A cataclysmic event where Gods become flesh and blood to roam the world to fight each other once again. If the player chose to become mortal he will be summoned by Solar at the point of his/her death, informed that they are needed to restore balance and pumped full of the Bhaal essence with your consent or not. Having such a large amount of Bhaal essence would, of course, not be without complications. Whether the game treats it as though you became mortal or God at the end of the last game could be resolved via various dialogue choices in a dream sequence that looks back in a haze of nostalgia at your mortal origins. Alignment and a amped up class system would also dictate what type of God you are.
As for villains, there are plenty of evil Gods, demons and outer-planar creatures that could fill the role but Cyric seems particularly adversarial. I doubt he will take kindly to one of his offices being swept from under him.
This to me seems to be the method with least complications for carrying on the Bhaalspawn saga but as I've said; a new story in a new location would work too. However I also think we've all covered the grind of going from level 1 to 40 numerous times. We're used to being noob level, mid-level as well as epic level, there is nothing new for us there. We've seen the skeletons, the orcs, the gibberlings, the liches, the arch-mages, the fire giants, etc etc. They're not surprising or intimidating anymore. Its been done, we expect them. Time for something fresh, something new, something unknown. Time to explore Godhood me thinks. Just my opinion.
Similar for lots of other non-human and powerful magical characters; Viconia and Xan could conceivably still be kicking around, as could Edwin and Nalia, although they might have aged a bit.
Putting aside the fact you'd have to ignore almost every single epilogue for every character you'd still have a problem with how they'd refer to the events of previous games. To avoid the risk of ignoring player decisions you'd either have to avoid any references whatsoever or have some kind of carry over which as I understand it would be rather difficult.
The ones who die in their epilogues, anyway; I forgot about them for a second. If they're not ever said to have died, then they're potentially fair game. You could probably get away with just referring to events in the main quest, since most of them are unavoidable. Or otherwise assuming some canon regardless of players choices, as in most video game sequels. Although I perfectly understand why people would have objections to that, since I would myself after putting a lot of time into the previous games.
I just finished ToB for the first time just now so I thought I'll share what I think would be best for BG3.
First I think it should be with a new protagonist starting at level 1. I enjoyed the game more before my party got really powerful starting at a high level will be really boring for me.
Wouldn't mind on the location, return to baldur's gate would be nice but so would a new location. maybe several years from the end of ToB so would be possible to meet old NPCs again and not feel like a new world.
One thing I did think about was when I finished the game having romanced Viconia, the epilogue mentioned having a child so the idea of the protagonist being the child of your old character not sure if the other romances end in a similar way but hopefully it would work for them too. maybe the child could get a few perks from the parents would be nice too
One thing I did think about was when I finished the game having romanced Viconia, the epilogue mentioned having a child so the idea of the protagonist being the child of your old character not sure if the other romances end in a similar way but hopefully it would work for them too. maybe the child could get a few perks from the parents would be nice too
Only Aerie IIRC. But as I was thinking about it, I thought if a sequel does involve children or descendants of the bhaalspawn, maybe it would be best if none of the romances were canon, and the spawn be from someone else the bhaalspawn met on his or her adventures or after ToB. That leaves things as open ended as possible for both the NPCs and for the character creation. Besides, Viccy just vanishes in her normal ending, so in some ways it's a better ending for her than if you romance her.
But even if it's just set some time after ToB but has nothing to do with the bhaalspawn, that might be best. Some old NPC's could be worked into the story in some way, either as cameos, quest givers or even party members.
Here's a brief overview of the endings and so which NPCs could possibly be reused in future games; there's quite a few that are at least a bit open ended. Of course, all the BG1 NPCs who don't reappear or get killed off in BG2 would be possible to reappear later as well.
Aerie - settles in a gnomish village called Understone. No reason why she wouldn't still travel and have adventures across the realms and beyond; in fact, hard to imagine she wouldn't.
Anomen - travels to Maztica and founds a new order there... nothing said about his ultimate fate (I think in the ascension mod he vanishes battling something, but I'll have to check).
Cernd - dies in battle, so we don't have to worry about him returning.
Edwin/Edwina - obviously a bit open ended. He, or she, could still make a comeback.
Haer'Dalis - Rejoins the sigil troupe, so he's still out there, somewhere...
Imoen - Founds a thieves guild. Nothing said about what happens after that. Oh yeah, she is said to have been seen kicking about with Khelben Blackstaff and Elminster.
Jaheira - Nothing said about her dying, but she is said to have never returned to Tethyr or The Sword Coast.
Jan - load of rambling nonsense. He writes his memoirs, but appears to still be ticking in the end.
Keldorn - Glorious death in battle.
Korgan - leads a crusade into the underdark, and is never seen again.
Mazzy - Passed peacefully at a ripe old age.
Minsc - Forms his own adventuring party, and then... disappears.
Nalia - Becomes a member of the Council of Six for many years. Nothing said about her ultimate fate.
Sarevok - Went to Kara-Tur and never returned.
Valygar - Has a son.
Viconia - As mentioned, in her normal ending she just vanishes after being honored by the elves of Suldanessalar. In her romance ending she's poisoned and dies.
The ascension mod might have expanded on a few of these.
We can tie charname into BG3. In fact, we can make him the main character.
Baldur's Gate 3 as envisioned by George Ziets:
"I’ve always thought that the struggles of a new FR deity could be pretty interesting. Think about what the Bhaalspawn would be up against: 1) few or no followers in a setting where a god requires worship to survive, 2) no divine portfolio to speak of, and 3) a fortress / headquarters that is still floating somewhere in the Abyss – not friendly territory, even for an evil PC.
Under those circumstances, I think a divine campaign would be a battle for survival. It’s suggested at the end of ToB that Cyric and his allies will be coming after you (whether the player is evil or not) because Cyric took over Bhaal’s divine portfolio. The player, as a nascent god, would be facing off against some powerful deities.
Terrible odds? Yes. But that’s great for a story hook.
Initially the player may just be staving off imminent disaster as Cyric and his friends move quickly against the player – several strong deities against a relatively weak one. I could imagine the player being forced to abandon the Throne of Bhaal and going on the run across the planes. The player’s goal would be to gain followers (faith=power), usurp the divine portfolio of another god, and carve out a base of power in the wider multiverse. Your journey could take you to some of the planes we’ve never visited in a CRPG – Mount Celestia, Limbo, and Mechanus, for example – as well as revisiting old favorites like Sigil, though seeing the City of Doors through the eyes of a minor deity could be a very different experience. In a divine-level planar campaign, the player might stir up a civil war on Mount Celestia, conquer a layer of the Abyss, or assemble an adventuring party of divine avatars. Ultimately you’d take back the Throne of Bhaal, smack down Cyric and his friends, and establish a place for yourself among the pantheon of gods.
Mechanically, it seems like a critical resource would be your divine power, which would rise with your number of followers (humans, divines, demons, or whatever), the extent of your notoriety and influence, and the importance of your divine portfolio. (The concept of divine rank could conceivably replace character level.) You’d create avatars to go adventuring in the various planes, so death wouldn’t force a reload. And as you travel the planes, you might learn ways to change or improve the traits of your avatar, or to create multiple avatars, each with different shapes and abilities, useful for different situations.
That’s just some quick brainstorming, but I think a divine-level BG3 could be a lot of fun, and the Bhaalspawn’s story could certainly go on if developers wanted to pursue it."
Wouldn't this be amazing? Plus you'd get the political drama aspect of it: Maybe you can side with Shar and piss off Lloth, or ally with Aerdrie Faenya (I suppose romancing Aerie or Viconia might have an influence.) Maybe Demogorgon will remember the beating you gave him as a mortal and your respect on the other Gods becomes better.
Maybe your former companions are being held hostage or fighting a semi-war against Cyric's loyal. Maybe you'll be forced to choose who to save and who to abandon. It would be nice visit Imoen's thieves guild, or Edwina at the bar. Perhaps Elminister will dish out some advice. Hell, let's see what Io has to say.
Lastly, I can see 3 ends: Fuse with Cyric: convince him that a combined power between you two would result in invulnerability. Maybe the WIS skill can influence who is in control: you or him. Usurp Cyric: Kill him and take the plane of death as your own. Give up the throne: Leave death behind you as you return to peaceful days with your former companions.
Can this be implemented into a game? YES! The Novel might have been considered cannon so non-cannon can happen in the game just fine.
Congratulations on finishing. Regarding the Viconia romance I thought the same thing. I also would not mind seeing a new level 1 adventure going up to around level 10 again with scope for sequel.
From level 1? Really? You want to spend your time fetching scrolls and killing gibberlings *again*? I always saw that as the boring, predictable stuff before the real adventure came into play. Seriously, we already looked inside that bag of tricks. That was fine because every story has to have a beginning but seriously; once is enough. The third in the series really doesn't need more of that because... well its not the beginning, its the third in the series. I think thats where Baldurs Gate 2 and Throne of Bhaal got it 100% right in that instead of scaling down the player they just scaled up the challenge. Made it fresh, new while keeping the players character and abilities experienced in the previous game relevant. Isn't that what a sequel should be? A bigger challenge? Not the same one over and over again?
Congratulations on finishing. Regarding the Viconia romance I thought the same thing. I also would not mind seeing a new level 1 adventure going up to around level 10 again with scope for sequel.
From level 1? Really? You want to spend your time fetching scrolls and killing gibberlings *again*? I always saw that as the boring, predictable stuff before the real adventure came into play.
Yes, I envisage a low level game to demonstrate what Overhaul are capable of would work well. For me being god like, easily killing everything that gets in my way is somewhat boring.
Thats why you make the enemies godlike too. I'm talking demons, Gods, outer-planar creatures, the lower planes, the upper planes, the elemental planes. Places where mortals would burst in flame instantly if they so much as took one step in them. THATS the kind of challenge a God would face.
If you want a low level game to demonstrate capabilities well, Baldurs Gate EE has already been done. Baldurs Gate 2 EE is coming up. Considering what has come before should BG3 really be "low-level"?
I've played Fallout and all it's sequels, and Fable 2 & 3; a lot of those sequels do involve doing the same thing, starting over and fighting the same kind of monsters all over again, but it doesn't seem to bother too many people. I think it's the quality of the writing that's most important, making it fresh with interesting characters and quests.
If it's such a big deal, it could be that the events past the ToB were a lucid dream and you have awoken, powerless, depowered and other words that imply you got your ass back to lvl 1.
You could easily reestablish relations through dialogue trees with even flagged goodness.
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A second fight against kangaxx would also be awesome.
Lastly, I would like to have psionics as my class/primary power.
Failing that... the bhaalspawn tended to have unique abilities. For example, the one guy who instinctively teleported away whenever he came near another bhaalspawn. Maybe one of them had a special talent for being unnoticed and managed to stay under the radar of all the gods. Settled down, had kids... and a few generations later there's another bhaalspawn ready to shake the world.
This way there's no need for a canonical story ending.
Another thing; fast animations. Take, for example, Heroes of Might and Magic 2. In that game, your units practically blitz across the field. Compare it to Heroes 5. Some of the units take several seconds to move and attack, EACH. The mage unit was especially bad.
For a less extreme example, look at Baldur's Gate. The pathfinding is a bit glitchy, but when things moved, they had a brisk pace. Then, look at NWN2. Maybe it's just me, but everything almost seemed to be moving through water (they also seemed rather stiff in their animations).
In any case, good animations are don't have to be elaborate.
In games I like doing things, not waiting for things to get done. Brevity is the soul of more than wit.
I would also like some level of base/army building, though I'm not sure how well you can retain the BG-style gameplay with a base that is more than a footnote or mini-game.
Looking at ToB, it has high-level heroes and mid-level armies. It has hero vs hero and hero vs army, but no army vs army.
High-level characters can stomp all over almost any number of sufficiently lower-level characters... but only if they're conveniently gathered together, otherwise it doesn't seem to work so well. Even high-level characters cannot really operate everywhere at once or 24/7. So, you could have a scenario where you play a character who is both a leader and a warrior, and have your army deal with the low-level, widespread enemies while you try to pin down the more dangerous opponents.
It would be interesting to see how a D&D-style party would deal with the economics and logistics of such an operation. You have your absurd amount of gold gained from adventuring and who knows how much gold from large-scale operations. You need to outfit yourself with gear to combat high-level enemies, outfit your followers with gear to survive and contend with lower-level enemies and maybe develop one or more pieces of land, whether they be villages or castles or something else. How do you divide your money? You'll probably want to train your followers, but you can't do it yourself because you're gonna be busy. How do you manage that? You'll need captains and such to manage things in your absence. Where do you find them and who do you know you can trust? And you'll likely have your fair share of unexpected events (purple worm in the courtyard!) and complaints (the king of so-and-so does not like your operations) to deal with.
Agreed. I don't mind BG1 because it progresses into BG2 where I can reach higher levels, but I don't want a BG3 that caps me at level 10. Even if it's setting up a BG4.
Gives me chills... I think most everyone just wouldn't want to have to kill themselves, although moreover, perhaps they feel like it would kill any type of storyline...
The only thing I would object to is if they acted like the novelization is canon. I've only read bits and pieces of the novel but from what I can tell its just... just awful. Just a horrible thing that tries its best to ruin a great story. You remember that creepy uncle with boundary issues from your childhood that you blocked out? No? Alright well take my word for it, this book with make you remember him and remember him fondly as a time from before you read this book. If they have to make references either have decisions from BG2 that carry over or make the references spectacularly vague so as not to dictate what decisions were made.
On a side note I feel a need to expand on just how awful the novelization is. Anyone ever seen "The Room"? Remember how bad that film was? Its that in book form. It reads like really, really bad fan fiction written by someone who envies Khalid for "tapping dat half-elven ass". The kind that makes you go "Wow... I didn't think it was possible but this is... I don't even know how a literary work can even compete with a man who was responsible for the deaths of millions but somehow... somehow this does the job. Yeah... its official, this book is definitely worse than Hitler."
Thats how bad it is. Consider that my quick capsule review of the novelization; "Worse than Hitler."
BACK to the particular thread... I think the best thing they should do is import your Character name into some of the dialogue (if you are not playing as that particular character) and speak about exploits and such. If it's just a random new game, I think the best thing to do would be to keep any association to Charname very vague ("the adventurer" or "Amazing Bhaalspawn") and just keep their exploits according to the GAME'S inescapable parts of the story (such as certain deaths, or saving cities or whatnot).
Lastly, (and I just thought of this) I think it would be awesome to incur certain bonuses depending on the class or spell knowledge or whatever your Charname received during the playthroughs; again IF it's a new main player, and not continuing Charname's story.
According to the Forgotten Realms Wiki, Abdel is True Neutral. That's probably because Real Prat isn't an alignment option.
WTF is wrong with that writer? You were right, and now I'm definitely not going to read it, I like Jaheira as she is now...
We really shouldn't deviate from the OP's Initial post... there is a moderator on here that is a bit whimsical...
Similar for lots of other non-human and powerful magical characters; Viconia and Xan could conceivably still be kicking around, as could Edwin and Nalia, although they might have aged a bit. But the thing with fantasy is you could probably come up with a reason to bring back anyone. Maybe Branwen got petrified again.
Another solution, although not without its own problems, would be to carry on the story by playing as the new deity the main character has become five hundred years after Baldurs Gate 2 in a new "Time of Troubles". A cataclysmic event where Gods become flesh and blood to roam the world to fight each other once again. If the player chose to become mortal he will be summoned by Solar at the point of his/her death, informed that they are needed to restore balance and pumped full of the Bhaal essence with your consent or not. Having such a large amount of Bhaal essence would, of course, not be without complications. Whether the game treats it as though you became mortal or God at the end of the last game could be resolved via various dialogue choices in a dream sequence that looks back in a haze of nostalgia at your mortal origins. Alignment and a amped up class system would also dictate what type of God you are.
As for villains, there are plenty of evil Gods, demons and outer-planar creatures that could fill the role but Cyric seems particularly adversarial. I doubt he will take kindly to one of his offices being swept from under him.
This to me seems to be the method with least complications for carrying on the Bhaalspawn saga but as I've said; a new story in a new location would work too. However I also think we've all covered the grind of going from level 1 to 40 numerous times. We're used to being noob level, mid-level as well as epic level, there is nothing new for us there. We've seen the skeletons, the orcs, the gibberlings, the liches, the arch-mages, the fire giants, etc etc. They're not surprising or intimidating anymore. Its been done, we expect them. Time for something fresh, something new, something unknown. Time to explore Godhood me thinks. Just my opinion.
First I think it should be with a new protagonist starting at level 1. I enjoyed the game more before my party got really powerful starting at a high level will be really boring for me.
Wouldn't mind on the location, return to baldur's gate would be nice but so would a new location. maybe several years from the end of ToB so would be possible to meet old NPCs again and not feel like a new world.
One thing I did think about was when I finished the game having romanced Viconia, the epilogue mentioned having a child so the idea of the protagonist being the child of your old character
But even if it's just set some time after ToB but has nothing to do with the bhaalspawn, that might be best. Some old NPC's could be worked into the story in some way, either as cameos, quest givers or even party members.
Here's a brief overview of the endings and so which NPCs could possibly be reused in future games; there's quite a few that are at least a bit open ended. Of course, all the BG1 NPCs who don't reappear or get killed off in BG2 would be possible to reappear later as well.
Aerie - settles in a gnomish village called Understone. No reason why she wouldn't still travel and have adventures across the realms and beyond; in fact, hard to imagine she wouldn't.
Anomen - travels to Maztica and founds a new order there... nothing said about his ultimate fate (I think in the ascension mod he vanishes battling something, but I'll have to check).
Cernd - dies in battle, so we don't have to worry about him returning.
Edwin/Edwina - obviously a bit open ended. He, or she, could still make a comeback.
Haer'Dalis - Rejoins the sigil troupe, so he's still out there, somewhere...
Imoen - Founds a thieves guild. Nothing said about what happens after that. Oh yeah, she is said to have been seen kicking about with Khelben Blackstaff and Elminster.
Jaheira - Nothing said about her dying, but she is said to have never returned to Tethyr or The Sword Coast.
Jan - load of rambling nonsense. He writes his memoirs, but appears to still be ticking in the end.
Keldorn - Glorious death in battle.
Korgan - leads a crusade into the underdark, and is never seen again.
Mazzy - Passed peacefully at a ripe old age.
Minsc - Forms his own adventuring party, and then... disappears.
Nalia - Becomes a member of the Council of Six for many years. Nothing said about her ultimate fate.
Sarevok - Went to Kara-Tur and never returned.
Valygar - Has a son.
Viconia - As mentioned, in her normal ending she just vanishes after being honored by the elves of Suldanessalar. In her romance ending she's poisoned and dies.
The ascension mod might have expanded on a few of these.
Baldur's Gate 3 as envisioned by George Ziets:
"I’ve always thought that the struggles of a new FR deity could be pretty interesting. Think about what the Bhaalspawn would be up against: 1) few or no followers in a setting where a god requires worship to survive, 2) no divine portfolio to speak of, and 3) a fortress / headquarters that is still floating somewhere in the Abyss – not friendly territory, even for an evil PC.
Under those circumstances, I think a divine campaign would be a battle for survival. It’s suggested at the end of ToB that Cyric and his allies will be coming after you (whether the player is evil or not) because Cyric took over Bhaal’s divine portfolio. The player, as a nascent god, would be facing off against some powerful deities.
Terrible odds? Yes. But that’s great for a story hook.
Initially the player may just be staving off imminent disaster as Cyric and his friends move quickly against the player – several strong deities against a relatively weak one. I could imagine the player being forced to abandon the Throne of Bhaal and going on the run across the planes. The player’s goal would be to gain followers (faith=power), usurp the divine portfolio of another god, and carve out a base of power in the wider multiverse. Your journey could take you to some of the planes we’ve never visited in a CRPG – Mount Celestia, Limbo, and Mechanus, for example – as well as revisiting old favorites like Sigil, though seeing the City of Doors through the eyes of a minor deity could be a very different experience. In a divine-level planar campaign, the player might stir up a civil war on Mount Celestia, conquer a layer of the Abyss, or assemble an adventuring party of divine avatars. Ultimately you’d take back the Throne of Bhaal, smack down Cyric and his friends, and establish a place for yourself among the pantheon of gods.
Mechanically, it seems like a critical resource would be your divine power, which would rise with your number of followers (humans, divines, demons, or whatever), the extent of your notoriety and influence, and the importance of your divine portfolio. (The concept of divine rank could conceivably replace character level.) You’d create avatars to go adventuring in the various planes, so death wouldn’t force a reload. And as you travel the planes, you might learn ways to change or improve the traits of your avatar, or to create multiple avatars, each with different shapes and abilities, useful for different situations.
That’s just some quick brainstorming, but I think a divine-level BG3 could be a lot of fun, and the Bhaalspawn’s story could certainly go on if developers wanted to pursue it."
Wouldn't this be amazing? Plus you'd get the political drama aspect of it: Maybe you can side with Shar and piss off Lloth, or ally with Aerdrie Faenya (I suppose romancing Aerie or Viconia might have an influence.) Maybe Demogorgon will remember the beating you gave him as a mortal and your respect on the other Gods becomes better.
Maybe your former companions are being held hostage or fighting a semi-war against Cyric's loyal. Maybe you'll be forced to choose who to save and who to abandon. It would be nice visit Imoen's thieves guild, or Edwina at the bar. Perhaps Elminister will dish out some advice. Hell, let's see what Io has to say.
Lastly, I can see 3 ends: Fuse with Cyric: convince him that a combined power between you two would result in invulnerability. Maybe the WIS skill can influence who is in control: you or him. Usurp Cyric: Kill him and take the plane of death as your own. Give up the throne: Leave death behind you as you return to peaceful days with your former companions.
Can this be implemented into a game? YES! The Novel might have been considered cannon so non-cannon can happen in the game just fine.
I always saw that as the boring, predictable stuff before the real adventure came into play.
Seriously, we already looked inside that bag of tricks. That was fine because every story has to have a beginning but seriously; once is enough. The third in the series really doesn't need more of that because... well its not the beginning, its the third in the series. I think thats where Baldurs Gate 2 and Throne of Bhaal got it 100% right in that instead of scaling down the player they just scaled up the challenge. Made it fresh, new while keeping the players character and abilities experienced in the previous game relevant.
Isn't that what a sequel should be? A bigger challenge? Not the same one over and over again?
If you want a low level game to demonstrate capabilities well, Baldurs Gate EE has already been done. Baldurs Gate 2 EE is coming up. Considering what has come before should BG3 really be "low-level"?
You could easily reestablish relations through dialogue trees with even flagged goodness.