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Baldur's Gate is a popular series of Computer Role-playing Game s that take place on Faerûn , the main continent from Dungeons & Dragons 's Forgotten Realms campaign setting, set in the years following the cataclysmic Time Of Troubles (1358 DR ). The original series, developed for ''''' (expansion pack, 2001). The Dark Alliance series '''' and its sequel were produced by Bioware's publisher Black Isle Studios , a division of Interplay Entertainment . Although they take place in the Baldur's Gate rendition of the Forgotten Realms ''setting'', they are not often regarded as a part of the Baldur's Gate ''series'', as the plot is unrelated to previous games, and they were console-exclusive titles - never released for Windows and Macintosh as the original games in the series were. See the Dark Alliance article for more details. OVERVIEW The Baldur's Gate series brought many technical advancements in computer-based role-playing games, such as Bioware's famous '' and the '' Icewind Dale Series ''. The games are based on a real-time modification of the second edition AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) ruleset. The player's party can have up to 6 members, either created by the player according to the AD&D rules or NPCs recruited by the protagonist from the game world. Numerous side quests and plot twists are associated with particular NPCs and can be activated if they are found in the player's party. Through extensive, context-dependent dialogue, many characters inside and outside the player's party are fleshed out and given an added level of complexity. In , perhaps for similarities in dungeon-crawling and the isometric view, but is much more story driven and less Hack And Slash . GAMES ''Baldur's Gate'' See Also: Baldur's Gate The first game in the series had the player character start out as a powerless orphan, raised in the monastery of Candlekeep , to the south of Baldur's Gate and north of the kingdom of Amn . The main character had to examine the death of the fosterfather Gorion as well as the iron crisis which caused metal to crumble, while battling to stay alive. ''Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast'' See Also: Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast An expansion pack for Baldur's Gate, Tales of the Sword Coast did not add anything to the storyline, but presented the protagonist with more areas to explore along the Sword Coast , more powerful enemies and better equipment. It also lets the player character reach higher levels of experience. ''Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn'' See Also: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn The main character is captured by Jon Irenicus , and must escape into the city of Athkatla , the capital of Amn. Here the protagonist faces several ways to figuring out the reason behind the capture, as he or she journeys through the region of Amn, as well as the Underdark . The game presented a number of innovations over the first Baldur's Gate game, including further specialization of character classes, better graphics and even higher power levels. ''Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal'' See Also: Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal Throne of Bhaal was an expansion pack for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and included both an expansion of the original game, including new areas to explore, as well as a conclusion to the Bhaalspawn story arch started in the first Baldur's Gate game. Through the game, the player character reached almost god-like power levels. MODDING COMMUNITY .]] The ability to Modify the resources used by the engine underlying the PC ''Baldur's Gate'' games allows fans of the series to make their own homegrown additions to it. With the right tools, the game is relatively easy to modify. While some projects merely seek to enhance cosmetic attributes of the original games, others exist that improve the quality of the games by adding new characters, quests and alternate endings. A comprehensive list of mods is available. Some of the most ambitious and popular are:
THE BALDUR'S GATE NOVELS Philip Athans , editor of the ''Forgotten Realms'' novel line, wrote the two first novels in the Baldur's Gate trilogy of novels --- ''Baldur's Gate'' and ''Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn'' --- based on the storylines of the computer game series. The novels introduce the basic story behind the City of Coin, Athkatla, but avoid several of the games' numerous subplots and only include a few of the NPCs, which is defendable considering the structure of a novel versus that of a game. The Bhaalspawn main character is named Abdel Adrian in the novels. The third, and final, novel - ''Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal'' - was authored by Drew Karpyshyn .
The novels are often criticized by fans of the series for being inaccurate to the game's original story and spirit, as well as for leaving out or killing off many well-loved NPC's. A series of unofficial and unpublished ebook novels were also written by Rhyss Hess, and are considered to be much better than the official novels by fans. They came in three novels, ''Baldur's Gate & TOSC Story'', ''BG II: SoA & ToB Story (Good Side)'', and ''Baldur's Gate II Story (Evil Side)''. Rhyss Hess also wrote an unofficial and unpublished novelization of ''Planescape: Torment'', which is also considered better than the official one by fans. All of them can be downloaded at Sorcerer's Place . EXTERNAL LINKS Modding
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