WotC Baldur's Gate III Announced; Powered by D&D 5E

The developers of the Divinity: Original Sin series, Laria Studios, officially announced Baldur’s Gate III.

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The new game will use the D&D 5^th Edition rules as the backbone for their system and the storyline will be set directly after the events in the upcoming adventure Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. The game will be released on PC and the new Google Stadia video game streaming service. The announcement came with a teaser trailer below. More information is expected at the video game and electronics conference E3 next week.

The game isn't quite available for pre-order, but you can add it to your wishlist on Steam. The Steam listing also gives some idea of the features and gameplay options, as it lists Single Player, Multi-Player, Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer, Co-Op, Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op, Shared/Split Screen, and Cross-Platform Multiplayer.

The announcement follows a tease last week with an image of the stylized "III" which left the title of the game as part of the filename.

Warning: The trailer features some gruesome imagery which may not be suitable for all audiences and is definitely NSFW.

[video=youtube;OcP0WdH7rTs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcP0WdH7rTs[/video]​

 

[Dausuul]

5E: The edition where everything takes forever to arrive, but it's always worth the wait when it gets there.

 

[gyor]

QC= Quebec City?

 

[ZeshinX]

I can say this...after watching it, I can honestly say that just the trailer is better than Sword Coast Legends

It's a pre-rendered trailer...in no way remotely capable of determining if this is better or worse than any game as of yet. Now if you meant the trailer itself is better than the grand sum of Sword Coast Legends....well then yes, definitely. That said...I am...hesitant about this. Some of Mr. Vincke's comments in regards to using D&D rules in a video game....the whole "missing is no fun"....well, it's part of the game....and the original games, adapted as they were, were pretty damn fun. Hence the rather large fanbase and "classic of the genre" moniker it has. Sword Coast Legends and all its talk of "interpretation of D&D 5e rules" has left me entirely and wholly skeptical of any game with the D&D branding on it, since SCL's rules were D&D in name only. It bore utterly no resemblance, mechanically, to D&D. This is a new game and a new (to making D&D games) studio and a new opportunity, for sure, but...the use of the phrasing "interpretation of" rather than say, "adaptation of"...well, skeptical, as I said. Also, with that stylized, roman numeral '3' slapped on the title, it attaches itself mightily to the legacy of the games before it. Honestly, they'd be far better off dropping that '3' and just calling it "Baldur's Gate: Subtitle" and loosening the hold that legacy imposes. I'll be watching it closely and hope I like what I see in the future honestly...but so far they've sounded an AWFUL lot like nSpace did when Sword Coast Legends was announced. So much so it only adds to my skepticism by implying they and WotC learned absolutely nothing from the train wreck SCL rapidly became.

 

[Parmandur]

[As for the story Larian has in mind, it's clear that Mind flayers will have a big part to play in Baldur's Gate 3. Asked why Larian is focusing on the Cthulu-like brain eaters, Vincke says dryly, "They're Mindflayers, they're cool. They also have an element of Spelljammer to them [a 2nd edition campaign setting], which is a personal weakness."Vincke goes on. "They have a very interesting history. They used to have a big empire before they were destroyed. Now they're in hiding, they're in the Underdark. All of the Mindflayers are after the grand design: how to restore their empire. So you have a very nice storyline there; very easy to understand background for creatures who have a good motivation to do things. But then when you start fooling around with it, there's a lot of things you can start doing with them." ]Calling it now: This game is a sequel to Avernus, and a prequel to a tabletop 5E module based on the Spelljammer Campaign Setting.

Nate Stewart keeps bringing up that Spelljammer isn't coming in 2019. Emphasis on "in 2019."

 

[gyor]

It's a pre-rendered trailer...in no way remotely capable of determining if this is better or worse than any game as of yet. Now if you meant the trailer itself is better than the grand sum of Sword Coast Legends....well then yes, definitely. That said...I am...hesitant about this. Some of Mr. Vincke's comments in regards to using D&D rules in a video game....the whole "missing is no fun"....well, it's part of the game....and the original games, adapted as they were, were pretty damn fun. Hence the rather large fanbase and "classic of the genre" moniker it has. Sword Coast Legends and all its talk of "interpretation of D&D 5e rules" has left me entirely and wholly skeptical of any game with the D&D branding on it, since SCL's rules were D&D in name only. It bore utterly no resemblance, mechanically, to D&D. This is a new game and a new (to making D&D games) studio and a new opportunity, for sure, but...the use of the phrasing "interpretation of" rather than say, "adaptation of"...well, skeptical, as I said. Also, with that stylized, roman numeral '3' slapped on the title, it attaches itself mightily to the legacy of the games before it. Honestly, they'd be far better off dropping that '3' and just calling it "Baldur's Gate: Subtitle" and loosening the hold that legacy imposes. I'll be watching it closely and hope I like what I see in the future honestly...but so far they've sounded an AWFUL lot like nSpace did when Sword Coast Legends was announced. So much so it only adds to my skepticism by implying they and WotC learned absolutely nothing from the train wreck SCL rapidly became.

I think they will be asking for feedback from fans so I don't think getting rid of missing is locked in.

 

[gyor]

It's still a very alien upbringing to say, a dwarf. Most games of this sort have some degree of predefined background for the main protagonist. A gith who was, picking a completely random example, an orphan raised in Candlekeep, would not exactly blend in.Conversely, if the main protagonist was presumed to have been raised in a Githyanki breeding colony, it wouldn't make sense for them to be an elf.

www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-will-combine-the-best-of-divinity-and-dandd-5th-edition/ "Party plannerTo save Baldur's Gate you'll need a party of heroes, and like a typical D&D party they're all the protagonists of their own stories, each with their own motivations and ambitions. When you make a character, you'll be filling in your character sheet, essentially, not just with abilities and skills, but backgrounds, personality traits and ideals. If you make a Mage, you'll be able to look at the last pages of your Players Handbook and find, for the most, exactly same spells. You'll have all the pieces you need to make a D&D adventurer.While he's not ready to confirm that it will feature in Baldur's Gate 3, Vincke's also interested in taking another crack at Original Sin 2's origin system, which gives players premade characters with unique backgrounds, quests and talents. They're better defined than their custom counterparts, and more connected to the world. "I thought the origin stories were a really good addition to the RPG genre, like we did them, and it would be strange if we went back on that," he says. "The ambitions for the origin stories in Original Sin 2 were actually higher than what we managed to do, though we did it well if you think about all that we fit in there, but there's so much more that can be done with it. I'd certainly be interested in exploring it." It sounds like unlike BG 1&2 and NWN1&2 there isn't a singlar protagonist, but rather the whole party is and that the background isn't singularly predetermined, but more like 5e backgrounds. Remember that they have 27 writers alone, with a dev staff of 200 and over 100 external devs. I think the 27 writers BG3 are more staff then most D&D games have in there entire company for employees. That is more writers then many TV shows! The old limitations of previous games do not apply. Do you think Obsidian had a staff that big, or Black Isle Studios, or Owlcat, FOW Studios, Harebrain, ect...

 

[PMárk]

The coolest thing is they said it won't be isometric view. I'm really curious to see what they will be using

Then, it's not Baldur's Gate for me. Beautifully painted backgrounds and the from-above view is essential for me to call it BG. I'd be okay with something like the Divinity series, but if it's something more like NWN, then, it's not BG in my eyes and my interest will drop a lot. Also, really, people nowadays are so squemish about stuff like the intro? I'm just being incredolous. I don't want to be condescending and it's not like I'm a jaded old gramp (I'm 30) but really, don't you ever seen horror movies, or played any video games with horror elements? I'm just baffled.

 

[gyor]

Then, it's not Baldur's Gate for me. Beautifully painted backgrounds and the from-above view is essential for me to call it BG. I'd be okay with something like the Divinity series, but if it's something more like NWN, then, it's not BG in my eyes and my interest will drop a lot. Also, really, people nowadays are so squemish about stuff like the intro? I'm just being incredolous. I don't want to be condescending and it's not like I'm a jaded old gramp (I'm 30) but really, don't you ever seen horror movies, or played any video games with horror elements? I'm just baffled.

I agree the trailer wasn't that gross, I watched it several times and found it cool instead of disguisting. I wonder if it will be possible for our character to end up infected and then play as a Mindflayer? Same with Vampires and werecreatures.

 

[Laurefindel]

Nate Stewart keeps bringing up that Spelljammer isn't coming in 2019. Emphasis on "in 2019."

Oh, so could it be a spelljammer ship we see in the distance then in the last frame of the trailer then? Like a nautiloid or squid ship?

 

[Azzy]

Oh, so could it be a spelljammer ship we see in the distance then in the last frame of the trailer then? Like a nautiloid or squid ship?

It is a nautaloid... A very big one.