A Good Story

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Yeah, but in order to allow the new Charname to choose a clas, it would have to be more of an escort duty as opposed to being an infant Imoen. You could play a Field Harper, helping Kahlid, Jaheira and Gorian to round up the few Bhaalspawn they know of and keep them safe

 

My two cents: How about a prequel that is a sequel? Bear with me, I feel inspired today.

Irenicus likes clones. How about if he had created one of Charname, let’s call it Charclone, to be able to try more sordid or dangerous experiments with it? It makes sense to believe that a clone of Imoen should have also been created. Being clones, they could either have the same level as Charname had in the beginning of BG2, or (preferably) level 1, which would allow us to start from scratch, creating a completely different character.

BG3 starts with Charclone and Immyclone escaping from a different area of Irenicus Chateau, perhaps meeting some new friends. They take a portal that should send them to the exit, but because of the havoc they created to escape, the portal malfunctions and sends them to the past. They appear in the middle of a battle between Gorion and some friends of him, and some Bhaal followers. Because of the distraction caused by their appearance, one of Gorion's friends is killed.

Time stops, and Solar appears. She tells Charclone that Gorion's friend should have survived the battle to be able to help Gorion rescuing the infant Charname. Now history has been changed. Charname was never rescued and the future is in shambles. Charname and Sarevok grew together as friends, and when coming of age they ruled the Sword Coast. Neither Irenicus, nor Melissan or the other 5 Bhaalspawn stood a chance against the might of their combined forces. Then, they started a savage war between the two, to decide who would become the next God of Murder. Being already nearly as powerful as gods, they laid such destruction that there is little of the future world left. The Gods are dying too, because they have not enough followers, while Sarevok and Charname keep their endless struggle.

Charclone is then forced to rally with Gorion to try and save Charname’s infant self and the future, and also to save her/himself from being destroyed when the time paradoxes start correcting themselves (i.e., if Irenicus never captured Charname, no Charclone would have been created).

 

hehe what where you on when you thought of this? but seriously, i think the idea's pretty good except for this part:

while i understand the rationale of this, isn't it reaching a bit too far? but this is actually a pretty good idea except, would it be possible to create clones of imoen and charname? after all, they are bhaalspawn and Irenicus' attempts to clone ellisime who, iirc, was also of divine lineage ended up pretty badly.

 

As much as I'd prefer them to leave BG alone...

I think the idea of somehow ending up with/against the Harpers in or in the direct aftermath of the Time of Troubles sounds good. Flesh out the Gorion story a bit, entwining it around the main plot, which can be some desperate something to do something --> bonus points if they actually make it desperate (eg. You're racing someone to the Artifact of Doom - they can beat you, however, so there is some actual urgancy. So long as this does not mean you have to reload).

 

If I remember my BG history correct, there was quite a struggle going on for Gorion, Elminister and a group of other guys to save the Bhaal Spawns or something before <CharName> entered the picture. Actually, the only reason you entered the picture was because you were saved by that group.

What about making a story about that struggle. Starting with Elminister finding out about all the Bhaal Spawn, and all the chaos that come's with that. And it is your task as the character to uncover and stop the plot to destroy the earth. The story would then end when your character in BG1 is rescued as a child.

Actually I don't care what kind of story they make, aslong as it is good and they keep using the infinity engine. Tweak it all you want, but BG isn't BG without the Infinity Engine.

 

@Colthrun- Its crazy...but that is actually a really great story. Very original, and it makes sense. Yeah...except for the part about the gods dying, I'd revise that part.

 

I think you should play as Bhaal starting all of this.

@hazefire- Seriously, I don't see the problem with the gods dying. That's pretty much what happened to Amaunator.

Actually, except for the clones, I think that it's a great story. Time travel is always great for messing with peoples heads. Sorta like Fallout 2. That was great, getting exp for "ensuring your birth."

 

but how could the story work if you remove the clones? it'd have to be, like, charname is told he has to save himself when he's younger in order to be able to grow up properly to save the future, but while he's busy saving himself in the past, who's going to be busy doing the stuff that he should be doing at present? kinda incoherent, my bad, but do you guys get the point?

 

I don't like the guaranteed ending from a prequel. I don't want to have a slew of adventures (guaranteed to be epic!) as Gorion, knowing the end result will be to be cut down in the woods some night in my dotage after getting off a magic missile and maybe an acid arrow.

If this has to be a prequel, how about focusing on the predecessor of Charname...Bhaal. Bhaal, Myrkul, and Bane had a series of adventures that culminated in ascending to godhood, too. Heck, there could be an expansion called "Throne of Jergal."

Ok, obviously that won't happen, but I really don't like the idea of a prequel. They tend to just lay the groundwork for the real story...which is the story I want to hear. I've never thought to myself "How did Gorion manage to save Charname? What were the specifics?"

I'd prefer a story only tangentially related, if that, to the other BGs than a prequel. I distrust prequels.

Damn you, George Lucas...damn you to Hell.

 

Lets assume that we all took the godly option, I know it's not true because I haven't yet.

Anyways new story, you've become the replacement for the God of Murder in a sense, even though they never say that, but you are a god. After some time like 10-15 years messed up things start to happen. So a new adventure has to rise up, they could be like Imoen's or Sarevok's child or something, and they have to find some relic (a weapon, an amulet, a jockstrap, something of you. But then the new dude learns of another group, the last remaining Death Stalkers of Bhaal are also looking for this relic. So now you really have to find it. Through the quest the new character makes friends and enemies, maybe even some of the original characters around still. It takes you through Baldurs Gate maybe and some of the other cities around there, and the Underdark, and maybe you end up in your original characters realm kinda like where you originally fight Jonn Boy.

It's just an idea.

 

really? afaik the only gods that were once humans are kelemvor, cyric and mystra. in fact, i believe even oghma makes this admission in (iirc its crucible) saying to mystra that their (oghma, talos, etc.) viewpoint is more limited than theirs (mystra,kelemvor,cyric) bec. they were never human.


(spoiler?)


if you were referring to their mortal status during the time of troubles, picking up the avatar trilogy will explain well enough what they were doing at this time so it may be kinda redundant to create a story about it.. thats just imo of course

 

They have already said it's going to be a prequel, so nothing like ToB continuation is going to happen. Sure, it would be nice to see - whether or not Charname would have become a deity. Guess they would go for the ascention variant as the option of staying mortal could cause some real trouble in the realm of NPC romance: just think, most players would have chosen Viconia, but a large group would have gone for Aerie, some would have preferred Jaheira. And now you have to make one opening that would satisfy all. I don't know, killing all the girls or something like that? Getting rid of romance altogether with no hints whatsoever at Charname's (non-) marital life? Heh, that would suck. On the other hand, imagine choosing your girl or guy in character creation. Sucks as well.

 

@Enagonios: It was a really boring day at work and I had watched "The Sixth Day" recently

The idea of the Gods dying for lack of followers is not mine, actually. Remember Amaunator in BG2? And the end of "The Avatar Trilogy"?

 

...and discworld

I've been thinking about this again, so here's a little train of thought that I always end up with. I know it has a little design theory in it, but screw that...

The series needs to feature Bhaal/Bhaalspawn/Anti-Bhaal people at somepoint, otherwise no Bhaalspwan trilogy, right?

The main character needs to be of importance, otherwise a) you have no impact on the world concerning death etc and b) your just following orders, and that doesnt make good roleplaying IMO

You need to be at least remotely good <picking evil sort of cuts your career path off since we know Bhaal dies>.

This pretty much guaruntees that you will be <at least originallY> part of an anti-bhaal organization. Im a little uninformed at this point, but to keep it mainstream <that is to say, not mainstream, but not just for D&D hardcore fanatics>, you will likely be affiliated with the Harpers <other religious orders could create conflicts with certain cleric PCs


If you want to be able to choose your alignment <and lets face it, would it really be CRPG if you couldn't?> then you have to have some sort of breaking away from the harpers <so you can have some slight deviation in how to use your <Insert Plot Critical here>.

(By this point you may be wondering If Im trying to make a point. I'm not really, Im just trying to reason out some things we can expect from the plot)

Oo! I know. Also, thnaks to the Avatar trilogy, you definitely won't be able to kill Bhaal yourself <unless you don't create your own character, something that is really unlikely>. So this pretty much takes away the possibility of Bhaal being one of your Main Enemies <unless of course there is Drizzt Style cameo of that party whos damned name I cant remember>. Which of course opens up the idea of not the man himself <so to speak> but a high priest somewhere. Why do i feel like I'm contradicting myself here?

You will likely meet Gorion at some point, althought it is not actually definite that he could join your party. Really depends on how long ago you meet him. Charname is supposed to be about 20 i think, an I'm guessing that Gorion is about 80 in BG1. Of course, being a wizard means he likely doesn't have to be in too great physical condition. This would also be an excuse to let him earn some of the respect and stuff that he has later on

There should be a city section, maybe two. Waterdeep is a possibility I was thinking of, mainly because just about everything else has been done. Revisiting your old places is fun and all, but if thats where the game is set, then people will likely soon get tired of it.


Well. Thats my thoughts. Enjoy them!

 

I like the idea of having Gorion in your party at some point, and the game ending with rescuing charname.

 

Why do you all love Gorion so much?! I think this game should be more open to playing a truly evil party and having Gorion be a neccisity in the party surely won't help that....
So, it'd be great if he was in it, like was said above, but I still think there should be a lot more options as to which path to take in BG3.

 

Well the only way I feel there is even a reason to continue the BG saga is by having either Charname, or someone incredibly closely related to him/her in the game.

Now there is nothing else s/he should "find to retreive his goodhood", that is made pretty apparent in ToB. S/he would not be consumed by his/her own power either, s/he's a god afterall. Besides which, depending upon his/her alignment, the ToB ending actually says that Charname became a good god instead.

While some guy in the past crucial to the events that lead to Charname's birth and safe growth would be ok, I'd prefer a more direct approach with some room for imagination.

What if BG3 was about Charname's child? Of course the player would have to be given dialogue options in the beginning to "decide" the gender and personalities of both of their parents. But aside from that, the story would be fairly easy to make.

Basically, the essence of Bhaal was still in Charname when this child was made, and so the child has some godly powers to them as well (even when Solar gathered the force together, this child could not give theirs by choice, so the essence within them would transform into whatever form of power the new god, Charname, would come to have), giving them the potential to either rise to the level of a demigod, or even a lesser god. You, Neocharname, could meet numerous of Charname's old allies. Like the now well-known archmage Imoen, legendary warrior Minsc, or the mage Edwin that would be at this point feared even in the most distant corners of Faerún. You could even search for Sarevok for someone to teach you how to bring about, and use your slight godly powers (assuming he wouldn't kill you on sight of course).

It may be this is a lame idea. But if too much of the events and characters in BG2 isn't assumed, and thus proven different from what the players themselves experienced, this could work. It's basically the same idea as before. But it would completely conclude everything connected to Bhaal and his seeds. And in essence, it would be more closely related to the plot and story in BG1-2 than many other potential ideas.

 

its a prequel so this is pretty much out methinks.

 

I heard the storyline has nothing to do wit the past BG games. I guess that' kinda good, to an extent.

There are rumours the stroyline would be back into the past of Baldur's Gate.

 

How about <Cha name> either relinquishing his godly powers to come back down or having another time of troubles and building up their own army to defeat the other gods. Could be a good warcraft map pack!!

Realistically I think that it would be infinitely difficult to make a good prequel. The developers should try to use an entirely different story. A prequel is to predictable and a sequel wouldn't be as fun (you're all ready a god - or near enough to one)