D&D 5E Has anybody ever made the story of Baldur's Gate (cRPG) into a campaign?

[Minsc]

I was brainstorming a bit on future ideas for games, and I think this one could really work.

Thoughts?

 

[Leatherhead]

Well, I am assuming this thread is going to be full of plot, seeing as how it's about the plot of an older game.



So here goes:

Do you mean the Highlander-esque "You are all bastard children of the Murder God, and must murder each other in order to claim his throne or be murdered in the process" Plot,

Or the side trip "Good news: You are a demigod. Bad news: Your divine soul has been ripped out of your body by a genocidal maniac, who is using it in a ploy to destroy the world tree. Also: There is some "thing" that has come to reside inside of you to fill the hole your soul left, have fun!" Plot.

I would have a feeling that the later of the two would work better for group dynamics, the first one will pit your PCs against each other and such things tend to go poorly unless the group is tight.

 

[MarkB]

Are you planning on having all the PCs be the offspring of Bhaal? If so, you will eventually run into the aforementioned interparty conflict. If not, how do you decide which one(s) are the Bhaalspawn, and what happens if those characters end up getting killed?

 

[Minsc]

One PC is the offspring of Bhaal.

I plan on following the first BG, with one (or two) leaving Candlekeep and the rest meeting up shortly after (either at the Friendly Arm Inn or on the way).

The one PC will discover his demigod abilities after dreams.

I just thought this would work for me (being a first time DM) since the towns all have names and there are tons of side quests if new players start going off the path.

 

[MarkB]

The game provides a reasonably good structure, but in the first game the Bhaalspawn stuff doesn't really become relevant until very late in the game. I'd strongly recommend starting it out as a generic party meeting up in the Friendly Arm Inn and being hired to investigate the Nashkel mines.

That way you let the players bond as a party instead of being "the hero" and his companions, and you can always introduce the Bhaalspawn angle later, once they reach the city.

 

[Minsc]

The game provides a reasonably good structure, but in the first game the Bhaalspawn stuff doesn't really become relevant until very late in the game. I'd strongly recommend starting it out as a generic party meeting up in the Friendly Arm Inn and being hired to investigate the Nashkel mines.

That way you let the players bond as a party instead of being "the hero" and his companions, and you can always introduce the Bhaalspawn angle later, once they reach the city.

Wow.


This is so much better and easier. Thank you.

Thank you so much!

 

[Minsc]

ZOMG, they're going to hate the iron crisis. LOL

 

[Charles Rampant]

The game provides a reasonably good structure, but in the first game the Bhaalspawn stuff doesn't really become relevant until very late in the game. I'd strongly recommend starting it out as a generic party meeting up in the Friendly Arm Inn and being hired to investigate the Nashkel mines.

That way you let the players bond as a party instead of being "the hero" and his companions, and you can always introduce the Bhaalspawn angle later, once they reach the city.

This is a nice way to do it for two reasons, I think:

1) You don't have to pick the Bhaalspawn right now, which lets you pick the right candidate once the players have all "settled into" their characters. That way you can just select the group's natural leader and it should work well.

2) I'm a big fan of letting the first few sessions/levels be about little things: players take time to learn their characters and how they want to RP their personalities, and the DM takes time to learn what does and does not work for this group dynamic. By starting off with the little things - goblin raids, kobolds in the mine - you don't overwhelm anyone with loads of chat about saving the world, and instead let them focus on having fun and learning the tools of their trade.

Anyway, yeah, my two cents. You can also just quietly drop the Bhaalspawn angle later on, if you get a better idea, and nobody need be any wiser!

 

[Mirtek]

It has been too long since i played BG, did you actually have any special bhaalspawn abilities in the first game? My memory may be wrong, but IIRC you only got special abilities in BG2 and in BG it was all fluff without mechanical impact

 

[Mirtek]

Pretty sure you don't go full bhaalspawn til BG2 though, which in a few encounters was the only way I was able to win.

I remember wiping repeatedly on the stupid pitfiend that you digged out in the underark. After everything else failed I tried the slayer button and watched stupefied how my main char turned slayer single-handedly tore the pit fiend to shreds as if he were a lowly kobold