Baldur's Gate 3?

[ShadySands]

41 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Hmm, iirc, Sword Coast Legends was 5e and I don't think I got further than 1-2 hours into the game before quitting.  

The game was also quite terrible. Doubly so if you liked pew pewing things with magic.

[Wormerine]

https://www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate_iii

 

Yup

[Mamoulian War]

Anyway, the question about ruleset is probably answered. Courtesy by GOG:

 

Created in close collaboration with the Dungeons & Dragons team at Wizards of the Coast, Baldur’s Gate III is based off current D&D mechanics and spells and is the official new chapter in the legendary series.

[Tale]

5E I'd mostly describe as a mash of 2E and 3E, but with 4E's resting rules. Feats are rare, only taken in lieu of stat gains, instead of 3E's feat deluge. And there's multiclassing, but I've not played around with it. The Fighter in my campaign took a level of Cleric.

Otherwise familiarity with 3E serves well aside from class changes. Like Warlocks don't do that shape/essence thing at all. It's Eldritch Blast, some utility abilities, and some limited spellcasting. I've got like 8 spells I picked, but I can only cast two a day. And it still likes doing the kit thing that 4E did. My Warlock is Infernal, we've got a Wild Mage (Chaos Sorcerer), and our Barbarian has some sort of elemental rage thing going on.

 

Oh, and you don't assign points to skills at level. You just have proficiency and bonuses.

[ShadySands]

https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-will-combine-the-best-of-divinity-and-dandd-5th-edition/

A little more info in that article

[HoonDing]

lol Bhaal is alive and a greater deity again in 5th edition

good thing i always chose not to become a god in Baulders Gate

[Tale]

Is he stated to be a greater deity anywhere? He was only an intermediate before. And the FR wiki just lists him as a god.

The last two Bhaalspawn killed each other and he came back. Gorion's Ward (though I hear there was some hand wringing about how it might not actually be him) and the teleporting dude, Viekang. No idea why Viekang picked that fight, he was a coward.

[Amentep]

So the Illithids seem to have performed a mass ceremorphosis in Baldur's Gate?  I guess you could make the argument that they're keeping the idea of having the story be about family issues (Bhaal-Bhaalspawn; Illithid-Illithid kids) as the connective tissue of the stories.

[sorophx]

Quote

Those were great games for their time (baldur's gate, icewind etc), but next year is 2020 and you can’t do the same things you did back then. No one would want to play it. Well, people would want to play it, but it wouldn’t meet the expectations of a modern video game

ugh... hard pass 

[Zoraptor]

2 hours ago, majestic said:

As far as I know it's WotC policy to license out only the latest edition.

But who knows, maybe we'll get AD&D back. Bring on the THAC0s baby, screw BABs.

There was Siege of Dragonspear (?) which was 2e, but was a special case I guess. They also dropped strong hints that a new Planescape game could be negotiated and that so far as I'm aware is discontinued/ defunct for later editions.

2 hours ago, Sarex said:

Who even owns the Baldur's Gate IP?

WotC/ Hasbro, since Atari defaulted on their license deal nearly a decade ago. Though there is the possibility of Bioware owning some stuff as they were claiming copyright over the first two games (and presumably their unique characters and events) but then again the copyright database never seems to get updated unlike the trademark one. An indirect sequel would easily skirt any potential problems from that though.

[Tale]

Bioware's copyright is almost certainly with regards to the Infinity Engine. I seem to recall that being brought up around the Enhanced Editions. Minsc has been used so liberally by Wizards and licensors I don't think Bioware kept any rights on characters.

[Zoraptor]

I'd tend to think so as well, but 'software package' is certainly open to wider interpretation- the story text, characters etc are part of the software package, but should be excluded by the IP agreement.

But WotC's licensing had been unusually and unintentionally... flexible, historically.

[AndreaColombo]

37 minutes ago, sorophx said:

ugh... hard pass 

Where's the quote from?

[sorophx]

apparently, from one of Sven's interviews. but I can't find the source, so it could be fake. I saw several people quote it, assumed it was real, but couldn't be bothered to read all of the interviews to check for the source

[majestic]

13 minutes ago, Zoraptor said:

There was Siege of Dragonspear (?) which was 2e, but was a special case I guess. They also dropped strong hints that a new Planescape game could be negotiated and that so far as I'm aware is discontinued/ defunct for later editions.

The 4th and 5th Edition does have a Manual of the Planes and Sigil comes up in them  but the Planescape campaign setting as such is gone. Without details it's hard to tell of course but I seem to recall BioWare no longer licensing D&D due to cost issues and story/edition control on behalf of WotC.

That's not to say that WotC didn't relent at some point. I always found it curious that 4E played so much like it was designed with a much easier adaptation to computer games in mind but there never were any major game releases. Unlike a whole slew of AD&D 2nd and D&D 3d edition games back in the heyday of (A)D&D adaptations.

[AndreaColombo]

27 minutes ago, sorophx said:

apparently, from one of Sven's interviews. but I can't find the source, so it could be fake. I saw several people quote it, assumed it was real, but couldn't be bothered to read all of the interviews to check for the source

Found it:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/06/06/baldurs-gate-3-announced-from-the-creators-of-divinity-original-sin/

[kanisatha]

29 minutes ago, AndreaColombo said:

Found it:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/06/06/baldurs-gate-3-announced-from-the-creators-of-divinity-original-sin/

That's a good article. But I still don't know if it will be TB or RTwP. That's what will decide for me if I consider it a true successor to the first two games or not.

[Zoraptor]

58 minutes ago, majestic said:

The 4th and 5th Edition does have a Manual of the Planes and Sigil comes up in them  but the Planescape campaign setting as such is gone. Without details it's hard to tell of course but I seem to recall BioWare no longer licensing D&D due to cost issues and story/edition control on behalf of WotC.

They certainly complained about some content control aspects of NWN1. I'm less than convinced that was a main reason for Bioware dropping D&D though. If they were worried about content control doing a Star Wars game would also be an odd choice (though of course KOTOR was largely developed contemporaneously with NWN1). I think they primarily made the decision to go for original IP as that gave them more leverage with publishers and a greater share of profits.

Hmm, on reflection the Planescape thing may have been people saying that a Planetscape Tournament sequel was impossible due to changes (end of the Blood War?) rather than Planescape itself being impossible- though WotC did let the trademark lapse for a bit before re-registering it.

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Zoraptor

[majestic]

WotC changed a lot of things with 4E, and yes, the Blood War was axed in the process. Fun fact, The Abyss was listed as Elemental Plane in 4E even though it's still home to creatures regarded demons instead of elementals, how that was supposed to make sense is anyone's guess.

I might have misspoken about 5E having a Manual of the Planes already. Looks like it doesn't. That information appears to be baked into one of the expanded Player Handbooks.

[misterjimmy]

[MrBrown]

I'd say 5th ED is a sort-of streamlined version of 3rd ED. Simple advantage/disadvantage rules, instead of lots of weird bonuses and penalties from here and there. IMO, they didn't take it far enough with some things, but YMMV. Dunno if that would make it better or worse as CRPG.

[algroth]

Some random thoughts on the trailer:

• Body horror-themed main story with a full ceromorphosis sequence and hive mind menaces and Lovecraftian interdimensional threats? Sign me up, that does seem very interesting, if not necessarily Baldur's Gate-esque.
• I wonder how much this new invasion will lean on the illithid content in Baldur's Gate II and so on. Will we see a connection to the Hidden? That sort of thing.
• On the topic of classic "chosen one" narratives and so on that these games tend to love (the Bhaalspawn being one of them far as I see it), I wonder if we'll see the protagonist in this story assume a sort of Adversary role and the likes. I would expect to see as much from an NPC at least.
• The game's set a hundred years after the events of Baldur's Gate II which then more than likely means NO MINSC AND BOO. A travesty, this is! Minsc will live, these temporal bonds will not hold his wrath! Boo is outraged! See his fury! It's small, so look close. Trust me, it's there. We will slay those that need slaying! Butts will be liberally kicked in good measure! And if they are indeed dead, then we won't cry for the dead! We won't! Well, maybe a little... but we will staunch the tears with righteous fury!

[Wormerine]

1 hour ago, kanisatha said:

That's a good article. But I still don't know if it will be TB or RTwP. That's what will decide for me if I consider it a true successor to the first two games or not.

Well, we will have to wait for more details to be revealed. 

I am a bit worried how much Baldur's Gate will be in Baldur's Gate III. I am interested to see what Larian can do with DnD, but will it be Baldur's Gate III?

I don't mind if it is turn based, but it would be a change.
I like that it is not a direct continuation.
I wish coop wouldn't be a big focus, but I doubt that will be the case. 

So unless they really double down on narrative and characters this time around... does it have anything to do with Baldur's Gates aside from the setting? If it is not story continuation, nor gameplay continuation, or even type of RPG continuation, why is it using the IP? Time will tell I suppse. 

[marelooke]

2 hours ago, AndreaColombo said:

Found it:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/06/06/baldurs-gate-3-announced-from-the-creators-of-divinity-original-sin/

From the article:

Quote

Vincke reassures us that “5th edition [D&D rules] is very different to 2nd Edition already, so it is much more accessible — this is also why it’s enjoying an increased popularity.

I thought BG2 was easy to learn, albeit hard to master. It having been my first RPG I had no trouble finishing the game without external help (which was good since I had no internet), something I cannot say from D:OS where I already got a headache at character creation (in a manner of speaking)

Also from the article:

Quote

The originals were also tough games, so challenges are going to be big.

Coming from the creators of D:OS1&2 I find that statement worrying. The type of challenge offered by those games was entirely different from what I experienced in BG2 (much more frustration in D:OS) and I rather have it stays in D:OS.

2 hours ago, kanisatha said:

That's a good article. But I still don't know if it will be TB or RTwP. That's what will decide for me if I consider it a true successor to the first two games or not.

Big focus on multi-player might suggest TB, which would really suck (for a BG game)

41 minutes ago, MrBrown said:

I'd say 5th ED is a sort-of streamlined version of 3rd ED. Simple advantage/disadvantage rules, instead of lots of weird bonuses and penalties from here and there. IMO, they didn't take it far enough with some things, but YMMV. Dunno if that would make it better or worse as CRPG.

So how does it compare to AD&D in BG2 (which I thought to be nice and simple) or what we got in NWN1/2 (where I found character creation to be an overcomplicated mess)

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by marelooke

[Vaeliorin]

Sigh...I hate 5E almost as much as 2E.  It's too simplified and boring.  I really wish there had been a good 4E game.

Still, with any luck, it will be turn-based, so that would be nice.  I'd almost rather have ToEE 2 (I really wanted Against the Giants, which they were supposed to do if ToEE did welll.)

Can't really say if I'm optimistic or not before we know more, though.