as someone has said before, i think the big scare of bg 3 is that it wont feel like a baldurs gate game, i remember i played dragon age for a little bit (10 hours or so) and it so didnt feel like a baldur's gate successor to me, i had such a hard time getting attached and i just got bored after 10 hours or so, some things that bg 3 should have is that enemies should like like they did in bg 1 and 2, just with more detail ( kind of like going from super smash bros melee to super smash bros brawl) if enemies look relatively the same, then the feel of bg will be the same, and maybe even keep some of the monster banters/noises for them as well, like having ogres say: me will crush you, crush you to goo, that would be great, i would really hate to play bg 3 and have it where their animations is the 3rd edition style and they just grunt like big dummies, oi that was poo jam, and buildings, i would say as well, keep the same style, but again have more detail, so that feel is there, when who ever is going to make bg 3 they should keep this in mind: bg 1 was like smah bros 64, bg 2 was like smash bros melee, so bg 3 should be like smash bros brawl, when you play all 3 of the smash games, they all feel like smash games, it would suck if bg 3 came out and it was the stinky thumb sticking out because it doesnt feel like a bg game, i kind of like that idea of starting in bg the city for bg 3, that would be neat, as someone else has said if bg is going to be in the title, it would make sense if you were to go there, and since this is 100 years plus or so, they could increase the size of beregost and nashkiel, thats 4 or 5 human generations, theoritically they could be the size of baldur's gate the city now ( as it is in bg 1) so there could be huge potential there, and dont make it like those horrendous sacralidges that were for console, i was so angry when they made a version of baldur's gate for the consoles, those games were HORRIBLE, they had nothing to do with anything, and it sure as hell didnt feel like a baldur's gate game, even though you started in the city, it was just all pooop, but i think the best anology when making bg 3 is think of it as the smash bros series, every game still feels the same, and hopefully bg 3 wont be messed up with a bunch of nonsense, plus who ever is going to make it knows there is going to ENORMOUS pressure on it, and its going to have to be a master piece or else people are going to raid the company office and burn it down, so hopefully that gives them some motivation
I would like the story to take place during the Spellplague, involving some totally random, new protagonist, and the game would revolve around his adventures through the planes.
I don't think it's possible to continue with CHARNAME(edit). You risk alienating anyone that was completely new to Baldurs Gate and/or D&D by starting them at an absurd level with a massive array of spells and abilities which they had no experience with and thereby no/little idea how to implement successfully into all the complicated high level battles they'd see.The game would need to appeal to as mass an audience as possible and not just the mostly cult following BG has now/D&D enthusiasts, is what I'm saying.
@Kilroy_was_here You're probably right. But I didn't want to do the cliché of CHARNAME was your father...
That's actually not a bad idea, however cliche it may be. I'd have no problems with a new protagonist being the child or a student of CHARNAME. The writers would need to somehow have a new protagonist's life be affected by the Bhaal Spawn saga. If they wanted to call it BG3 or have it linked to the BhaalSpawn saga, anyway. Considering the time that's passed, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for a new protagonist's life to have been directly affected by any of the events that took place over the Bhaalspawn saga. I think what makes most sense is having a new protagonist directly connected to CHARNAME. We could say due to CHARNAME's divine heritage they lived an abnormally long time.. or something.
I'm working with the assumption that a BG3 project would be called "Baldur's Gate III" on release. If we don't need to make that assumption - if the project could result in a game that is called "Netheril: Reach for the Sky" - then my vote is substantially different.
I think it would be nice to live in the same world as the Bhaalspawn saga; so that the story keeps the Bhaalspawn saga as part of its backstory and lore, but it doesn't encroach upon the story being told. I would like a fresh story with a new character, set in the same continuity.
If we don't have to call it Baldur's Gate III, I might actually vote for a new story in a new setting. As lovely as Faerun is, it has the same problems as any other world that's been around for decades.
As for D&D Next... I've looked at the beta rules, and it has more in common with 3.5e than with 4e, which should give people some hope. It would lend itself nicely to a CRPG, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.
Although dare I hope for a Pathfinder game? We might not have to go through quite so much bureaucracy with Paizo as with Wizards of the Coast, simply because they're a smaller publisher and not affiliated with Atari or Hasbro (i.e. one company, rather than three).
If the game has nothing to do with BG3, why bother calling it BG3 at all? Since the hero is way too strong to be the character again (unless they pull a Samus Aran on us), I think it would be best if the plot continues the plot of ToB, but with a new character.
I voted for Option 4, but it is very close to Option 2.
I believe using old character would be ridiculous. The story doesn´t have to be totally unrelated to TOB, though, because if the game is going to have Baldur's Gate in name, it should have some strong connection to story AND the place. So it would be strange it the game is taking place on the other side of the realms.
I would vote for the option of new series. You don´t necessarily need to make sequel to BG to get us, fans, back. I think you are going to make your name by these EE projects. Making new series will leave you all the space for the story you need and it´s connection to places, characters and stories of BG and IWD would be a plus.
I would like a whole new game but I would also like to be able to import/export my character from BG into the new game. Okay, I know in story terms it doesn't make much sense, but I always found it frustrating that my character couldn't take a trip from Baldur's Gate and wander round in Icewind Dale for a while.
@Alderon well, phil has already said the problems with this, and WoTC wouldnt let them use the older edition it seems . All we can do is hope that 5E is alot better, and from rumours ive heard (can anyone confirm?), 5e is going back to its roots a bit.
As for the main topic. I feel the story needs to be related to the other games in some relativity, otherwise dont even call it BG3. Even if its set in Baldurs gate, if it has no relation to the originals it should take a spin off name like Baldurs Gate: DA. Frankly, id love a iso D&D CRPG from these guys no matter the name. BG3 would be awesome, but it has to be done really, really well to please fans, though Im sure they know this.
@Zeckul I agree with most of what you said other than the 2D vs 3D thing. Part of me just wants to see really well drawn high res 2D background images in a similar vein to the originals, but maybe 3d paperdolls. Im open to looking at entirely 3d stuff though.
At the moment, 53 % of the voters are playing this game all wrong! The correct answer is of course new unrelated story, new character.. far far away from Amn, preferably in Thay.. or waterdeep
As I have answered, I would like to continue the original saga with the same character. But there is a note to that. I think that making a game with a god as main character, and making it interesting, is probably the hardest choice of them all. To make a game where you have a gods power, and still need a party and will feel challenged, is gonna be near impossible.
But if they can make it, and make it as interesting and challenging as BG and BG2.. Then it would for me be the ultimate continuation of the saga.
Other than that, I think the most logical continuation would be making Baldurs Gate 3 in continuation of the same story, in a new area, with a new player char. fx "Your dad the lord of murder visited Kara-Tur at a time, and he had some fun with a human/elf/dwarf/fox/something horribly with tentacles and you are now trying to find out what the hell happened", etc.
At the moment, 53 % of the voters are playing this game all wrong! The correct answer is of course new unrelated story, new character.. far far away from Amn, preferably in Thay.. or waterdeep
Then why bother calling it Baldurs Gate 3? Im all for your suggestions in a way but theres no reason to call it BG then in my opinion.
The whole Bhaalspawn saga was brought to a definitive conclusion with Throne of Bhaal, and there is no need to extend it any further. In fact, any attempts to do so and reinstating CHARNAME's role in the FR--especially so some 100 years after the conclusion of ToB, whereby CHARNAME may as well have chosen to become a God and good luck to designing a game around a godly CHARNAME--would feel forced and inappropriate (also most clearly a marketing operation aimed at further squeezing profits from the Baldur's Gate franchise).
I absolutely dislike the idea of Baldur's Gate 3 being set in the current Realms timeline (spellplague = epic fail) and with a newer ruleset. The only thing left of Baldur's Gate would be the name (and here goes my "squeezing profits from the Baldur's Gate franchise" mantra again).
If it has relate to the original saga, make it a prequel but tread carefully, as it would have to be 100% credible and consistent with the events we know. Also, a prequel would totally not take place in the current FR timeline and would be better served by 2E AD&D rules (how weird would it be to have previous events unfold according to a newer rules set? Metagaming oddity!).
If, on the other hand, it has to be a completely new game, I would ditch the Baldur's Gate name to avoid creating false expectations and/or spoiling the name of one of the greatest RPGs to date. Don't be afraid to do something completely new and fresh. You don't have to cling onto the past to create a great game.
Pick a fresh title, pick an area of the FR to your liking which may as well be the Sword Coast--including the city of Baldur's Gate--and create a brand new, epic story. It can even be better than Baldur's Gate's. All that matters is that it is new and doesn't mess with what is already finished and awesome.
Also, pre-rendered 2D for the win. Sorry 3D fans, you'll never have me.
@ kilroy_was_here. The proper open ended story would allow for my style. A Harper agent going missions and slowly uncovering a larger plot for instance. Also NWN 1+2 were awful and boring. To make it even slightly challenging I had to crank up the difficulty slider. Maybe it was just 3rd Ed over powering my character but they were crap.
I vote for option 2 but 4 is also good in my opinion. I'd hate 1 and 3, get over it, what's the fun of playing someone so high leveled ? x) You'd need a serious deus ex machina to absorb all your power.
As was mentioned before, an approach like KotOR 2 would have my preference. A new character with maybe a vague relation to the old one, but not required and maybe the option to define the previous adventure through a few question and answer sessions.
Abandoning the bhaalspawn plotline, which is finished, maybe a hundred years in the future, someone has unlocked Bhaal's essence in Celestia (canon wise, there is no new god of murder so Charname is a mortal and the Bhaal essence is locked away) and there might be another ascension on its way. You are the brave young hero sent to stop this terrible thing. Or something.
It could have some cameo's by NPC's (Viconia, Yeslick, Aerie, all live a few hundred years), even if it's only a tale you can hear in a tavern or running into a descendant of the great Cowled Wizard d'Arnise. Some link to the previous games would have to excist, otherwise it has no business bearing the name of its predecessor. The link doesn't have to be the main character though.
New main character, new plot, but with a strong foothold in the original series - everything should exude baldur's gateness. If the game is set a couple of hundred years after ToB, the world should reflect the changes wrought by the baalspawns actions. Also, I really like the basic ideas for the cancelled "black hound" project
If its same/same, then re-appearance of some of old squadmates is a must.
Same/new- worst option for me, really. If we get a fresh start, I'd like to deal with new deities, powers and locations, because The Dead Three and north-west/west of Faerun are overused already.
If its entirely unrelated story, I'd prefer the game to have a different title, related to its setting. Thunders of Thay, for example
Best case scenario for me - old charname gets stripped of his divine powers through conspiracy of other jealous gods, get reduced to lvl 1 while keeping his memory intact, gets forwarded(together with at least 2 companions) ~100 years ahead in time to Thay, where he founds himself in the middle of Szass Tam coup. Short-term goal - get a power in Thay, being able to side with either Tam or zylkirs. Long-term goal - get revenge against gods who wronged you, maybe even battle with Ao and overthrow him.
I believe that the Bhaalspawn saga reaches a satisfactory conclusion with the end of ToB, and any continuation of the story with the same character would result in absurdly high level battles and powerful equipment.
I suppose that BG 3 with a new protagonist could have potential: a low key roleplaying experience set in an age where the name Bhaal has been lost to passage of time. The protagonist has a number of strange events occur around them, and they take up a pilgrimage to discover their true nature.
Still, we're all very familiar with the Bhaalspawn plotline, and it wouldn't hurt to see a new story unfold.
We should remember that a hidden bonus of the D&D editions is that WOTC comes up with a meta-reason why their settings have changed. If I recall correctly, the Time of Troubles was the plotline that led to 3e in the FR universe. In 4e there was the merging of Toril (the planet FR takes place on) with another world, Abeir.
The important thing as far as BG goes is that every time an edition changes the cosmology shifts. Some gods are created, some destroyed, some lost. Others are revealed to have changed identities, like Lathander and Amanautor (sp?) being the same god all along.
This gives an opportunity for a (potentially) divine CHARNAME to have a greater effect on BG3. Maybe they were killed off much like Bhaal himself was. Maybe they went missing like Waukeen. Maybe they were forgotten or had to accept a subservient role to a greater diety (after all in D&D not all gods are equal). This allows a wide latitude for CHARNAME to fill a mentor/advisor role, like an Elminster 2.0 who has a direct connection to the storyline.
It would be really nice if the new adventure is not taking place in the Sword Coast. The Sword Coast is not even a dead horse, it is a skeleton of a horse. It is not a problem, if some of the characters existed in previous games, just the location is a bit trampled. Well, it would be hard to reason why is it called "Baldur's Gate", but still.
Baldur's Gate is a city right? So the game is supposed to be about Faerun and the Sea of Swords for most part. So, something Epic around the Sword’s coast.
Here what I hope to find in BG3;
1. First, you are not an hero, you are not a God or a God's son, it must be a fresh start. 2. You may already be a wise mage, a great treasure hunter or a thief guild master but it’s doesn’t matter. You are recognised because you choose to stay and fight when other leave. (that what make you ‘so special’ (at first). 3. Maybe you stayed for selfish reasons (evil), maybe it’s was for morals reasons (good), here again it’s doesn’t matter, you was there that day, you fought and people love you or respect you for that. 4. Seeing/helping/being helped by a lot of canon characters can be great for the immersion. 5. It’s must be epic; a lot of vampires, werewolf, demons, dragon, etc. You have to travel in many different place.
Maybe something like that:
Your village and the 3-4 nearby are attacked by an overwhelming forces of enemies, they are everywhere, they want to crush you and they will take no prisoners. So here you are, helping people to evacuate, to fortify the area, to regroup those who can fight and send people outside asking for help. At the end, you are forced to charge the monstrous hordes of creatures that besieged you with a small group soldiers/guards/farmer/minuteman/etc. By some means you succeed in your attempt to delay them and the most part of the folks where able to escape and tell their story, you and your ‘unit’ are slaughtered in the process. Days later, reinforcement come and because you were the last to die (it’s was a slow and painful dead for you) the clerics were able to resurrect you, you are now a champion, an hero, something near a legend.
So I don’t know, maybe you stayed ‘a normal champion’ or maybe you become something greater because of X reasons in X circumstances and with the help of X characters.. etc.
Something like that, but I cannot pretend knowing the best epic story of all time so I will wait like everyone else for the game to come out. ^^
The story of Gorion's ward is over, let him/her enjoy his/her life/godhood in peace.
I like the idea of BG3 taking place some 100 years after ToB. The PC could be a young person hailing form fabulous city of Baldur's Gate, setting out to make a name for themselves. They could travel all over the Sword Coast, visiting places like Prism's Cafe, the snobbish spot of entertainment south of Nashkeel, famous for its giant rock face. They could help the construction works on new Firewine Bridge, by getting rid of hordes of undead kobold skeletons. They could try to bring back peace to the den of crime known as Gullykin. They could go out on a exotic adventure to obtain a rare artifact for the thriving Durlag Museum.
In other words, let me visit the places I used to know like the back of my hand, and see how much they changed over the years. Let me meet some familiar faces (dwarves and elves don't age as quickly as humans do, Xan could still be roaming the countryside, seeking his doom ;D ). Add an interesting overarching plot, preferably not related to any divine creatures - more 'human' (or elvish of dwarf of orc or xvart...) intrigues are IMO more... intriguing than otherworldly interventions. Throw in a ton of NPC's to interact, quarrel, romance and befriend with, and a big, explorable world to travel through, and my fifty bucks are as good as yours.
I would like a new story with a new charname, the story of bhaal has ENDED and I see no reason to revive it and stick with it.. The whole charm of Baldurs Gate is that you were just a somebody and found out you are a son of a god. What would you reveal if you continue the game from TOB? another save the world story?
No, I want a new story not related to bhaal, Im sure that in a setting such as Faerun you can come up with tone of new interesting and surprising storys.
I think that BG3 need to take place in Baldurs Gate in the current timeline ( Baldurs Gate now is a different city, much larger... ) and it areas, maybe to the east or to the north ( Daggerford ), BG3 HAS TO BE in the gerographic area of the City.
Also I would like to see some long live NPCS from the first game such as Yeslick, Viconia, etc, just like @Drugar said.
Baldur's Gate saga must be always related with the Throne of Bhaal, otherwise would not be Baldur's Gate. A unrelated story can't be called BG3! Ok, now CHARNAME is too powerful to do another adventure with him, but if from the original story 100 years have passed many other future events can be linked to BG-BG2-ToB.
I would like the story to be mentioned, to have a sense of continuity but not be a direct sequel to Throne of Bhaal. NPCs could be mentioned, you could even meet some cameos, but i want a new player character, a new story, that will have some roots in the bhaalspawn storyline, something basically that is fresh, but has this sweet hint of nostalgia in it from the previous games.
None of the above, I would like the new BG style game to have nothing to do with the city of Baldur's Gate, but another story set in Waterdeep or Silverymoon or if not there then move further away from BG to the Moonshaes. And to be based on the 2e AD&D rules.
If it has relate to the original saga, make it a prequel but tread carefully, as it would have to be 100% credible and consistent with the events we know. Also, a prequel would totally not take place in the current FR timeline and would be better served by 2E AD&D rules (how weird would it be to have previous events unfold according to a newer rules set? Metagaming oddity!).
Comments
new to Baldurs Gate and/or D&D by starting them at an absurd level with a massive array of spells and abilities which they had no experience with and thereby no/little idea how to implement successfully into all the complicated high level battles they'd see.The game would need to appeal to as mass an audience as possible and not just the mostly cult following BG has now/D&D enthusiasts, is what I'm saying.
That's actually not a bad idea, however cliche it may be. I'd have no problems with a new protagonist being the child or a student of CHARNAME. The writers would need to somehow have a new protagonist's life be affected by the Bhaal Spawn saga. If they wanted to call it BG3 or have it linked to the BhaalSpawn saga, anyway. Considering the time that's passed, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for a new protagonist's life to have been directly affected by any of the events that took place over the Bhaalspawn saga. I think what makes most sense is having a new protagonist directly connected to CHARNAME. We could say due to CHARNAME's divine heritage they lived an abnormally long time.. or something.
I think it would be nice to live in the same world as the Bhaalspawn saga; so that the story keeps the Bhaalspawn saga as part of its backstory and lore, but it doesn't encroach upon the story being told. I would like a fresh story with a new character, set in the same continuity.
If we don't have to call it Baldur's Gate III, I might actually vote for a new story in a new setting. As lovely as Faerun is, it has the same problems as any other world that's been around for decades.
As for D&D Next... I've looked at the beta rules, and it has more in common with 3.5e than with 4e, which should give people some hope. It would lend itself nicely to a CRPG, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.
Although dare I hope for a Pathfinder game? We might not have to go through quite so much bureaucracy with Paizo as with Wizards of the Coast, simply because they're a smaller publisher and not affiliated with Atari or Hasbro (i.e. one company, rather than three).
I believe using old character would be ridiculous. The story doesn´t have to be totally unrelated to TOB, though, because if the game is going to have Baldur's Gate in name, it should have some strong connection to story AND the place. So it would be strange it the game is taking place on the other side of the realms.
I would vote for the option of new series. You don´t necessarily need to make sequel to BG to get us, fans, back. I think you are going to make your name by these EE projects. Making new series will leave you all the space for the story you need and it´s connection to places, characters and stories of BG and IWD would be a plus.
As for the main topic. I feel the story needs to be related to the other games in some relativity, otherwise dont even call it BG3. Even if its set in Baldurs gate, if it has no relation to the originals it should take a spin off name like Baldurs Gate: DA. Frankly, id love a iso D&D CRPG from these guys no matter the name. BG3 would be awesome, but it has to be done really, really well to please fans, though Im sure they know this.
@Zeckul I agree with most of what you said other than the 2D vs 3D thing. Part of me just wants to see really well drawn high res 2D background images in a similar vein to the originals, but maybe 3d paperdolls. Im open to looking at entirely 3d stuff though.
As I have answered, I would like to continue the original saga with the same character. But there is a note to that. I think that making a game with a god as main character, and making it interesting, is probably the hardest choice of them all. To make a game where you have a gods power, and still need a party and will feel challenged, is gonna be near impossible.
But if they can make it, and make it as interesting and challenging as BG and BG2.. Then it would for me be the ultimate continuation of the saga.
Other than that, I think the most logical continuation would be making Baldurs Gate 3 in continuation of the same story, in a new area, with a new player char. fx "Your dad the lord of murder visited Kara-Tur at a time, and he had some fun with a human/elf/dwarf/fox/something horribly with tentacles and you are now trying to find out what the hell happened", etc.
The whole Bhaalspawn saga was brought to a definitive conclusion with Throne of Bhaal, and there is no need to extend it any further. In fact, any attempts to do so and reinstating CHARNAME's role in the FR--especially so some 100 years after the conclusion of ToB, whereby CHARNAME may as well have chosen to become a God and good luck to designing a game around a godly CHARNAME--would feel forced and inappropriate (also most clearly a marketing operation aimed at further squeezing profits from the Baldur's Gate franchise).
I absolutely dislike the idea of Baldur's Gate 3 being set in the current Realms timeline (spellplague = epic fail) and with a newer ruleset. The only thing left of Baldur's Gate would be the name (and here goes my "squeezing profits from the Baldur's Gate franchise" mantra again).
If it has relate to the original saga, make it a prequel but tread carefully, as it would have to be 100% credible and consistent with the events we know. Also, a prequel would totally not take place in the current FR timeline and would be better served by 2E AD&D rules (how weird would it be to have previous events unfold according to a newer rules set? Metagaming oddity!).
If, on the other hand, it has to be a completely new game, I would ditch the Baldur's Gate name to avoid creating false expectations and/or spoiling the name of one of the greatest RPGs to date. Don't be afraid to do something completely new and fresh. You don't have to cling onto the past to create a great game.
Pick a fresh title, pick an area of the FR to your liking which may as well be the Sword Coast--including the city of Baldur's Gate--and create a brand new, epic story. It can even be better than Baldur's Gate's. All that matters is that it is new and doesn't mess with what is already finished and awesome.
Also, pre-rendered 2D for the win. Sorry 3D fans, you'll never have me.
Abandoning the bhaalspawn plotline, which is finished, maybe a hundred years in the future, someone has unlocked Bhaal's essence in Celestia (canon wise, there is no new god of murder so Charname is a mortal and the Bhaal essence is locked away) and there might be another ascension on its way. You are the brave young hero sent to stop this terrible thing. Or something.
It could have some cameo's by NPC's (Viconia, Yeslick, Aerie, all live a few hundred years), even if it's only a tale you can hear in a tavern or running into a descendant of the great Cowled Wizard d'Arnise.
Some link to the previous games would have to excist, otherwise it has no business bearing the name of its predecessor. The link doesn't have to be the main character though.
Make our old character a NPC, and the new one get some kind of a Heir from it.. :P
Same/new- worst option for me, really. If we get a fresh start, I'd like to deal with new deities, powers and locations, because The Dead Three and north-west/west of Faerun are overused already.
If its entirely unrelated story, I'd prefer the game to have a different title, related to its setting. Thunders of Thay, for example
Best case scenario for me - old charname gets stripped of his divine powers through conspiracy of other jealous gods, get reduced to lvl 1 while keeping his memory intact, gets forwarded(together with at least 2 companions) ~100 years ahead in time to Thay, where he founds himself in the middle of Szass Tam coup. Short-term goal - get a power in Thay, being able to side with either Tam or zylkirs. Long-term goal - get revenge against gods who wronged you, maybe even battle with Ao and overthrow him.
I suppose that BG 3 with a new protagonist could have potential: a low key roleplaying experience set in an age where the name Bhaal has been lost to passage of time. The protagonist has a number of strange events occur around them, and they take up a pilgrimage to discover their true nature.
Still, we're all very familiar with the Bhaalspawn plotline, and it wouldn't hurt to see a new story unfold.
The important thing as far as BG goes is that every time an edition changes the cosmology shifts. Some gods are created, some destroyed, some lost. Others are revealed to have changed identities, like Lathander and Amanautor (sp?) being the same god all along.
This gives an opportunity for a (potentially) divine CHARNAME to have a greater effect on BG3. Maybe they were killed off much like Bhaal himself was. Maybe they went missing like Waukeen. Maybe they were forgotten or had to accept a subservient role to a greater diety (after all in D&D not all gods are equal). This allows a wide latitude for CHARNAME to fill a mentor/advisor role, like an Elminster 2.0 who has a direct connection to the storyline.
The Sword Coast is not even a dead horse, it is a skeleton of a horse.
It is not a problem, if some of the characters existed in previous games, just the location is a bit trampled. Well, it would be hard to reason why is it called "Baldur's Gate", but still.
Baldur's Gate is a city right? So the game is supposed to be about Faerun and the Sea of Swords for most part. So, something Epic around the Sword’s coast.
Here what I hope to find in BG3;
1. First, you are not an hero, you are not a God or a God's son, it must be a fresh start.
2. You may already be a wise mage, a great treasure hunter or a thief guild master but it’s doesn’t matter. You are recognised because you choose to stay and fight when other leave. (that what make you ‘so special’ (at first).
3. Maybe you stayed for selfish reasons (evil), maybe it’s was for morals reasons (good), here again it’s doesn’t matter, you was there that day, you fought and people love you or respect you for that.
4. Seeing/helping/being helped by a lot of canon characters can be great for the immersion.
5. It’s must be epic; a lot of vampires, werewolf, demons, dragon, etc. You have to travel in many different place.
Maybe something like that:
Your village and the 3-4 nearby are attacked by an overwhelming forces of enemies, they are everywhere, they want to crush you and they will take no prisoners. So here you are, helping people to evacuate, to fortify the area, to regroup those who can fight and send people outside asking for help. At the end, you are forced to charge the monstrous hordes of creatures that besieged you with a small group soldiers/guards/farmer/minuteman/etc. By some means you succeed in your attempt to delay them and the most part of the folks where able to escape and tell their story, you and your ‘unit’ are slaughtered in the process. Days later, reinforcement come and because you were the last to die (it’s was a slow and painful dead for you) the clerics were able to resurrect you, you are now a champion, an hero, something near a legend.
So I don’t know, maybe you stayed ‘a normal champion’ or maybe you become something greater because of X reasons in X circumstances and with the help of X characters.. etc.
Something like that, but I cannot pretend knowing the best epic story of all time so I will wait like everyone else for the game to come out. ^^
I like the idea of BG3 taking place some 100 years after ToB. The PC could be a young person hailing form fabulous city of Baldur's Gate, setting out to make a name for themselves. They could travel all over the Sword Coast, visiting places like Prism's Cafe, the snobbish spot of entertainment south of Nashkeel, famous for its giant rock face. They could help the construction works on new Firewine Bridge, by getting rid of hordes of undead kobold skeletons. They could try to bring back peace to the den of crime known as Gullykin. They could go out on a exotic adventure to obtain a rare artifact for the thriving Durlag Museum.
In other words, let me visit the places I used to know like the back of my hand, and see how much they changed over the years. Let me meet some familiar faces (dwarves and elves don't age as quickly as humans do, Xan could still be roaming the countryside, seeking his doom ;D ).
Add an interesting overarching plot, preferably not related to any divine creatures - more 'human' (or elvish of dwarf of orc or xvart...) intrigues are IMO more... intriguing than otherworldly interventions.
Throw in a ton of NPC's to interact, quarrel, romance and befriend with, and a big, explorable world to travel through, and my fifty bucks are as good as yours.
No, I want a new story not related to bhaal, Im sure that in a setting such as Faerun you can come up with tone of new interesting and surprising storys.
I think that BG3 need to take place in Baldurs Gate in the current timeline ( Baldurs Gate now is a different city, much larger... ) and it areas, maybe to the east or to the north ( Daggerford ), BG3 HAS TO BE in the gerographic area of the City.
Also I would like to see some long live NPCS from the first game such as Yeslick, Viconia, etc, just like @Drugar said.
A unrelated story can't be called BG3!
Ok, now CHARNAME is too powerful to do another adventure with him, but if from the original story 100 years have passed many other future events can be linked to BG-BG2-ToB.
And to be based on the 2e AD&D rules.