Baldur's Gate

Lore & Background

Set during the year 1368DR amidst an iron shortage where items made with iron inexplicably rot, the story focuses on the western shoreline of Faerûn. This includes the city of Baldur's Gate, the Cloud Peaks, the Wood of Sharp Teeth, the Cloakwood forest, the town of Beregost, the village of Nashkel, and the fortress citadel of Candlekeep. Factions such as the Zhentarim, Red Wizards of Thay, Iron Throne, Flaming Fist, the Chill, Black Talons, and Harpers feature in the main story.

In Their Own Story

The player character is the orphaned Ward of the mage Gorion, living in Candlekeep. On a night when instructed to leave without explanation, they are ambushed by an armoured figure; Gorion dies urging them to escape. The next morning, childhood friend Imoen joins them. With Candlekeep inaccessible and Baldur's Gate closed due to bandit raids, the Ward investigates the Iron Crisis. Traveling to Nashkel mines, they discover ore contaminated by kobolds led by a half-orc, controlled by an organization.

Reader's Guide

Players create a character or import one from a previous playthrough, determining name, gender, race, class, alignment, ability scores, and weapon proficiencies. Multi-classing is allowed but subject to 2nd edition restrictions. The game features eight parts: a prologue and seven chapters. Players can recruit up to five companions, manage inventory, and use a three-bar UI for actions, stats, and party formation. Gameplay is real-time with the ability to pause. A reputation system affects shop prices and companion loyalty. Time passes in-game, causing fatigue that requires resting at inns or camping, where ambushes may occur.

Did You Know?

• Baldur's Gate was the first game to use the Infinity Engine, which later powered Planescape: Torment and the Icewind Dale series.
• The story is set during an iron shortage in 1368DR where iron items inexplicably rot and break.
• Famous Forgotten Realms characters like Drizzt Do'Urden and Elminster appear as unplayable NPCs.
• A reputation system tracks moral actions, causing evil companions to leave if reputation is too high, while good ones leave if it is too low.
• The game was credited with revitalizing computer role-playing games after its 1998 release.

Origins and Technical Foundation

Released in 1998 by BioWare under Interplay Entertainment, it was the first game in the Baldur's Gate series and the first to use the Infinity Engine. The engine was later used for Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment. An enhanced version, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, was created by Beamdog as the franchise's first new release in nearly nine years.

Gameplay Mechanics and Real-Time Strategy

The game uses a top-down isometric third-person perspective over pre-rendered locations. A pausable real-time mode allows players to set actions or auto-pause at preset combat points. The UI includes three action bars for maps, journals, character records, inventories, spellbooks, portraits, and specific actions. Dice rolling and statistics are computed automatically based on AD&D 2nd edition rules.

Character Creation and Progression Systems

Players define their character's name, gender, race, class, alignment, ability scores, and weapon proficiencies. Equipment is categorized into weapons, armor, accessories, and usable items, limited by a weight score determined by Strength. Characters have default two weapon slots plus an off-hand slot for shields, with some classes gaining more. Colors can be customized, and AI scripts can be switched.

Narrative Structure and World Interaction

The story is divided into eight parts (prologue and seven chapters) requiring specific tasks to advance. Some map areas are inaccessible until certain chapters are reached. Conversations start by clicking on NPCs or occur automatically upon approach. Inns allow resting to recover hit points and memorize spells; temples provide healing and resurrection. A fog of war hides unexplored areas.