Baldur's Gate (game)

Baldur's Gate is a computer role-playing game developed by BioWare and released in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. It is the first game in the Baldur's Gate series, and is set in the Sword Coast region of Faerûn. The gameplay is adapted from 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules, featuring a mixture of turn-based and pausable real-time combat. The game was critically acclaimed upon its release, and as of 2008 it had sold over 2 million copies.

The plot of Baldur's Gate revolves around the main character, Gorion's Ward, and deals with the politics of the city of Baldur's Gate, as well as the aftermath of the Time of Troubles. The game was novelized by Philip Athans in 1999, with a number of discrepancies between game and novel.

An expansion pack to Baldur's Gate, titled Tales of the Sword Coast, was published in 1999. It adds between 20 and 30 hours worth of content to the original game, including four new areas. In 2012, a remake was released under the title Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. In addition to various technical enhancements, it adds several new areas, companions, and quests.

Plot
The great sage Alaundo foretold the death of the god of murder, Bhaal, and also of his many children. The prophet's words rang true as always. Before the Time of Troubles, Bhaal saw his death coming as well and forced himself upon the women of every race in Faerûn, hoping to spawn vessels through which he could resurrect himself. In the year 1368 DR, these children of the dead god are now coming of age, unbeknownst to nearly everyone.

Meanwhile, an iron shortage is crippling the southern Sword Coast region. All of the ore coming out of the local mine near Nashkel rots soon after it has been smelted, turning whatever it is made into, be it weapons or armour, useless. The resulting iron shortage has resulted in items made of iron becoming more valuable than gold. Bandits now plague the roads in an attempt to steal what is left from those who paid far more than usual for it in the first place. The city of Baldur's Gate sends out Flaming Fist mercenaries in a near-futile attempt to police the roads but otherwise closes its gates and harbours to all traffic. Accusations are hurled at the state of Amn despite their pleas of innocence and war seems to be on the horizon while a youngster from the library-fortress of Candlekeep is told to prepare for travel.

You play the youngster and after watching your father, Gorion, die at the hands of a mysterious armoured figure you begin an adventure that will affect the Sword Coast from Baldur's Gate to Tethyr.

After curing the iron shortage and taking care of the bandits you discover that the Iron Throne is the perpetrator of the entire mess in an effort to force people to buy iron from them at hugely inflated prices from an old dwarven mine they found in the Cloakwood forest. Foiling their plans again, you discover the armoured figure that killed your father is taking over the local Iron Throne operations and installing himself as a Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate so he can force a war between the city and Amn that will cause the deaths of thousands which, in turn will cause him to ascend as the next god of murder through the divine blood of Bhaal in his veins. You discover that you share that divine blood and that the armoured figure is Sarevok, your half-brother. You have to either stop him from being apotheosised before you do or simply put a stop to his evil. Either way, you must kill him.

Tales of the Sword Coast
Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast: This is the expansion pack for Baldur's Gate which adds four bonus areas to the existing Baldur's Gate game map: Ulgoth's Beard, a pirate island, an ice island, and Durlag's Tower. These areas provide additional side quests and exploration within the main story line. In addition, it allows the player to reach higher levels of power with increased experience point caps, wielding more powerful spells and better weaponry.

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition was produced by Overhaul Games. This version enhanced the original game to work on newer technology like iOS, Android, and Linux. The game also received a few new features and story elements. It was at first set to be released in September 18, 2012, but the date was pushed to November 30 for quality assurance purposes.

Notable characters
Abdel Adrian/Gorion's Ward • Belt • Cadderly Bonaduce • Drizzt Do'Urden • Elminster • Eltan • Entar Silvershield • Liia Jannath • Sarevok Anchev

Notable locations
Regions: Sword Coast Settlements: Baldur's Gate • Beregost • Candlekeep • Gullykin • Nashkel • Ulgoth's Beard Landmarks: Durlag's Tower • Firewine Bridge • Friendly Arm Inn • High Hedge Woods: Cloak Wood • Larswood • Wood of Sharp Teeth Roads: Coast Way/Trade Way • Lion's Way Ruins: Ulcaster School • Firewine Bridge

Notable organizations
Flaming Fists • Harpers • Iron Throne • Red Wizards of Thay • Seven Suns

Notable creatures
ankheg • basilisk • doppelganger • gibberling • gnoll • goblin • hobgoblin • nymph • sirine • skeleton • spider • tasloi • werewolf • wyvern • xvart

Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate
As well as the instructions for gameplay and controls, the game manual that was included in the original Baldur's Gate game included a section titled "Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate". This was 9 pages of background information on the Sword Coast and monsters found there.
 * You can cite this book with

Reference
Baldur's Gate