Baldur's Gate 3...confirmed!

[LibraryOgre]

Actually getting the Bhaalspawn involved in any real measure means they'd have to account for every class, race and possibly other choices as well. I don't think it's likely.

Or you write it so those things don't matter as much. The 100 year advancement I've seen bandied about removes a lot of characters from immediate consideration... all humans, half-orcs, and halflings are likely dead, unless they have significant magic to preserve them. And that doesn't include the ones who died as part of the plot (Faldorn and Yoshimo, for example).

[Morty]

KOTOR 2 did it right 15 years ago with a smaller budget. Just have a few questions at the start about your Bhaalspawn and change a couple scenes or dialogues based on your answer.

Or you write it so those things don't matter as much. The 100 year advancement I've seen bandied about removes a lot of characters from immediate consideration... all humans, half-orcs, and halflings are likely dead, unless they have significant magic to preserve them. And that doesn't include the ones who died as part of the plot (Faldorn and Yoshimo, for example).

That's what I meant by "any real measure", yes. Just name-dropping them somewhere isn't going to be a problem, but Calemyr's post implied a higher degree of involvement.

[Calemyr]

I didn't mean Abdel, the Scion, Charname, or whatever the heck you want to call them. I meant the Bhaalspawn as a "race".

We are done with Gorion's Ward, I am sure. He is now dead, officially. If he rises from Bhaal in Descent into Avernus, it won't be in any form related to the luckless idiot traipsing up and down the Sword Coast bringing peace to the world one bloody death at a time. If Abdel rises, it will be as something Wizards of the Coast owns, not us. And we sure as Nine Hells won't be playing him.

But the Bhaalspawn could return, conceivably. We could have Sarevok return with the awesome voice of Kevin Michael Richardson and sword in hand, his essence reclaimed from the pit by undefined adventurers but his soul saved by his siblings (or not, as the case may be). Or we could have any number of Bhaalspawn, previously known or unknown, who stole back a spark of their father's essence and returned to the world. Again, Descent into Avernus is supposed to be a game-changing event for the Forgotten Realms and a full entry in the Baldur's Gate Saga. That will be the event that really sets the stage for BG3 and decide whether the city or the blood of Bhaal ultimately define the franchise.

I'll eat my words if it ends up being related, but nothing we know so far has given us any indication that it will.

Well, yes. But, once again, I point to Descent into Avernus, the fourth Baldur's Gate installment and the one before BG3, which has not come out yet. Marvel was not talking about Professor Hulk before Infinity War came out.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I didn't ask you to say anything. I didn't even initially respond to you.

And then I lashed out in a needlessly hostile way. I'm sorry.

[Man_Over_Game]

Holy crap, this has hit 12 pages, almost entirely on the topic of the controversy revolving around the number "3".

Although it did include some really good sideplots. Like the redemption arc about the Archpaladin.

[Cikomyr]

Holy crap, this has hit 12 pages, almost entirely on the topic of the controversy revolving around the number "3".

Although it did include some really good sideplots. Like the redemption arc about the Archpaladin.

That's not true. We talked about Illithid sex too

[Cespenar]

So what's next? What other hearsay do we have to needless theorize upon for days?

[Erloas]

Is there any question that we would have pretty much all the same complaints even if they had named it something else. Most of the time when you have a few numbered games and then go to a non-number it is either a very different type of game, or a reboot of the games. You would still have people saying "they're just saying Baldur's Gate as a blatant cash grab."
As far as mining childhood games, everyone is doing it across every medium they can, and of course the developers are just as much fans of the game as any random person online.

[hymer]

So what's next? What other hearsay do we have to needless theorize upon for days?

I heard that Minsc has joined a tribe of miniature giant space hamsters, and is now a space pirate captain in Spelljammer. Don't tell me you believed that for a second!

[Brookshw]

So what's next? What other hearsay do we have to needless theorize upon for days?

Well, the Nautiloid shown flying way high up is massively oversized so there's that. Doubt it's worth much discussion though.

[Cikomyr]

So what's next? What other hearsay do we have to needless theorize upon for days?

Illithid Sex.

Do you think they use all 3 tentacles?

[LibraryOgre]

Illithid Sex.

Do you think they use all 3 tentacles?

I am reminded of the Centauri from Babylon 5...

[Cikomyr]

I am reminded of the Centauri from Babylon 5...

Vir never went above 2

[Winthur]

Illithid Sex.

Do you think they use all 3 tentacles?

Do they enjoy giving head as much as they do slurping head?

[Narkis]

Illithid Sex.

Do you think they use all 3 tentacles?

This is slander! Baseless slander! No noble Illithid would stoop so low as to debase themselves with what the lesser races call "sex". Every man of education knows that all Illithid begin ou, err, their life as tadpole, spawned from the supreme intellect that is the Elder Brain, and long all of their lives for the time were w, err, they will be deemed worthy to return to the bliss of the collective.

I am sure a brief face-to-face chat would be more than enough to convince to abandon such spurious gossip and embrace your, err, our inferiority as a mammalian humanoid.

[Cikomyr]

I am sure a brief face-to-face chat would be more than enough to convince to abandon such spurious gossip and embrace your, err, our inferiority as a mammalian humanoid.

Ooohhh... "face-to-face", is that how the Octosluts are calling it these days?

Kinky

[Kish]

And then I lashed out in a needlessly hostile way. I'm sorry.

Well, that was unexpected.

I will say that if you're actually having fun--if it's not actually the joyless, compulsive, "I would be happier if I had never heard of this game" thing it looks like from behind my monitor--then yes, you should absolutely go right on doing it and not worry about justifying it to anyone.

[Cespenar]

Illithid Sex.

Do you think they use all 3 tentacles?

I don't think the average skull can comfortably tolerate that much action.

[Morty]

I didn't mean Abdel, the Scion, Charname, or whatever the heck you want to call them. I meant the Bhaalspawn as a "race".

We are done with Gorion's Ward, I am sure. He is now dead, officially. If he rises from Bhaal in Descent into Avernus, it won't be in any form related to the luckless idiot traipsing up and down the Sword Coast bringing peace to the world one bloody death at a time. If Abdel rises, it will be as something Wizards of the Coast owns, not us. And we sure as Nine Hells won't be playing him.

But the Bhaalspawn could return, conceivably. We could have Sarevok return with the awesome voice of Kevin Michael Richardson and sword in hand, his essence reclaimed from the pit by undefined adventurers but his soul saved by his siblings (or not, as the case may be). Or we could have any number of Bhaalspawn, previously known or unknown, who stole back a spark of their father's essence and returned to the world. Again, Descent into Avernus is supposed to be a game-changing event for the Forgotten Realms and a full entry in the Baldur's Gate Saga. That will be the event that really sets the stage for BG3 and decide whether the city or the blood of Bhaal ultimately define the franchise.

It seems I misunderstood you, then. Bhaalspawn as a group appearing is much more possible, I agree, though I don't know if I'd expect it. But WotC does seem to have played up Bhaal in their material, so who knows.

[Rodin]

I don't think the average skull can comfortably tolerate that much action.

I'm just wondering whether the new Ilithid companion will be romanceable by all races, or whether my Miniature Giant Space Hamster Swashbuckler will be out of luck and have to settle for pursuing Boo's great-great-great-great-great-grandkid.

[Cikomyr]

It seems I misunderstood you, then. Bhaalspawn as a group appearing is much more possible, I agree, though I don't know if I'd expect it. But WotC does seem to have played up Bhaal in their material, so who knows.

Hey. Nothing says you cant play the Last of the Bhaalspawn. The last of those who never won the great prize, and yet somehow survived the purges.

I think that would make an interesting continuation.

[Anteros]

Larian Studios absolutely loves writing games about characters ascending to godhood though. I think it's very unlikely that this game won't have a similar plotline.

[Cespenar]

I'm just wondering whether the new Ilithid companion will be romanceable by all races, or whether my Miniature Giant Space Hamster Swashbuckler will be out of luck and have to settle for pursuing Boo's great-great-great-great-great-grandkid.

This is the obligatory, gone-rogue, "I'll betray my race and help you guys" Illithid companion we're talking about, right? Hm, I guess it could be fun if the true end of the romance "path" would be the brain eating and consecutive game over screen.

[Eldonauran]

As someone who finds very little appeal in some (read: most) of the modern video games being released in the RPG genre (and I really don't like any of the other genres, and I LOATHE the mobile games almost entirely), I am quite interested in what Baldur's Gate III has to offer. Whether or not their use of the name is a transparent attempt to garner interest, it certainly succeeded on my end. Having played Divinity II, I can easily say that a Forgotten realms game with a similar flavor to it, that is piggy backing off of the trade mark name, will already exceed my expectations for what is already available on the market. But they are playing a dangerous game because by using that trademark, they are setting my overall expectations high.

I won't dwell on the what-ifs and worrying about what will happen if they fail. I will stubbornly envision a positive experience to come and deal with the disappointment (if any) later. That's life.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

This is the obligatory, gone-rogue, "I'll betray my race and help you guys" Illithid companion we're talking about, right? Hm, I guess it could be fun if the true end of the romance "path" would be the brain eating and consecutive game over screen.

Nah, if we're going for the Drizzt sterotype, it would probably be far too emo and angsty to contemplate a relationship.

Yanno... had an idea. If BG3 does become a big success, it might bring in enough people to warrant a non-horrible D&D movie. If they can get Lucas Arts to do the SFX and CGI, they could probably manage a decent Icewind Dale movie. For those not familiar with the story, it would be a Trope Inversion when the Obviously Elven Ranger turns out to be less 'blonde hair pretty boy that looks like he'd be better suited on a pirate ship' and more 'Thor: The Dark World' drow. With a second Trope Inversion of having a Drow be a not-a-total-jerk. For those familiar with the story, it could be a crowning moment of awesome with the cowl reveal if they built it up right.

I mean, they probably would need a team like the MCU has to do the SFX and CGI done properly, which would probably be out of the budget for anything WotC would be willing to spend on such a risky play, and they'd need to get the right director and writers, so no bets there either. Knowing WotC, they'd probably hire Shama-lama-ding-dong instead of Joss. Which would be a criminal shame. But it would be nice to finally do to D&D what happened with comic book movies (i.e. go from really bad to really good).

[Kyutaru]

If they can get Lucas Arts to do the SFX and CGI, they could probably manage a decent Icewind Dale movie.

Disney presents Icewind Dale! Now with memorable songs like "All We Wanna Do is Eat Your Brains" and a cast of colorful soul-stealing undead horrors sure to give your kids nightmares.

Directed by Tim Burton

[Erloas]

A Tim Burton D&D based movie I think would be fantastic.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

A Tim Burton D&D based movie I think would be fantastic.

I disagree, although I suppose you could go for Guardians of the Galaxy level camp. But Tim Burton's camp just won't fit, I think. I mean, we all remember what happened to the old Tim Burton Batman movies... we don't want that happening again.

[Winthur]

I mean, we all remember what happened to the old Tim Burton Batman movies...

...They became minor cult movies with some of the best comicbook villain portrayals in cinema, great soundtracks and an overall interesting take on a franchise associated with pure camp in the mainstream until the movie franchise was given to completely different directors?

I wouldn't want a D&D movie with Tim Burton at the helm either, but...

[Starbuck_II]

Speaking of Bhaalspawn, do twins share a soul fragment of Bhaal, or does each have one?