Baldur's Gate 3 proves that the Forgotten Realms cannot last forever

Baldur's Gate 3The setting, the Forgotten Realms, is in many ways the perfect home for heroic fantasy. Created by Ed Greenwood as a child and later introduced as an official Dungeons and dragons campaign, the Forgotten Realms now serve as the default home for most moderns DnD contents. Baldur's Gate 3The gripping story and locations are a great reminder of how much the Forgotten Realms still has to offer, but the game also shows how much of what makes the setting interesting to adventurers can spell its demise in the long run.

The general scope of the Forgotten Realms covers many areas, but Baldur's Gate 3 sticks to a small corner of the continent of Faerûn. As one of the main centers of culture and commerce dotting the wilds of the Sword Coast area, the city of Baldur's Gate is a fascinating place that, even on the best of days, is surrounded by dangerous lands. Though Baldur's Gate 3 increases the danger with the arrival of the Absolute, many of the game's challenges come from threats that have been gaining a foothold for some time now.

The city of Baldur's Gate is built on almost nothing

The Critical Foundation is riddled with dungeons

There may be nothing more important to a city than its foundations, but when it comes to Baldur's Gate, they are starting to look very shaky. The situation is nicely described by Reddit user maikol2346, who lists several major locations beneath the city in Act 3. From the Bhaalist temple to Cazador's elaborate dungeons, there's almost as much going on in the Undercity as there is in the city itself, even if the average resident of Baldur's Gate may never know about it don't find out.

While it's possible to build tunnels or catacombs under the city in a way that maintains structural integrity, the sewage system is the only thing beneath Baldur's Gate that seems particularly likely to be cleaned by any experts, and even that seems like it could use some maintenance. From a broader perspective, the situation cannot last forever. Sooner or later, the city will be hollowed out by one dungeon too manyruining the whole, even without the involvement of the Absolute.

Baldur's Gate is not the only D&D location at risk

The Forgotten Realms are structurally unhealthy

As the main destination in Baldur's Gate 3, the city of Baldur's Gate is a great place to start looking at the structural problems of the Forgotten Realmsbut this is not the only place at risk. Gale's home in Waterdeep may be an even better example, as the city's iconic Yawning Portal Inn opens directly into the carved depths of the Undermountain, a gigantic megadungeon that goes very, very deep. The people of Waterdeep clearly accepted this situation, and there was never a mass exodus for fear of collapse.

Back to Act 1 Baldur's Gate 3 points the finger at the most pervasive problem in Faerûn – the Underdark. Cave systems are, of course, a natural part of the world, but the vast expanse of the Underdark puts any cave system on Earth to shame. Baldur's Gate 3 it doesn't even show the full extent of the Underdark, which can be divided into three levels known as Upper Darkness, Middle Darkness, and Lower Darkness, the last referring to a depth of 16 miles underground or deeper.

It's possible to downplay the situation as unimportant in a fantasy setting, as there is no hard and fast rule that the Forgotten Realms must follow the same basic rules as Earth. Many other rules still apply DnDhowever and most would point out that laws like gravity cannot simply be thrown out the window. The calculations for things like running jumps seem to be at least somewhat realistic, although many of the movement rules clearly support the idea that party members are capable of exceptional feats as heroic adventurers.

The Forgotten Realms of BG3 were created with gameplay in mind

Fun matters more than scientific laws

The lack of structural integrity in the Forgotten Realms is not a random choice, and the motivation for designing a world full of holes is quite obvious. Dungeons and dragons it's called Dungeons and dragons for some reason and venturing into the depths has been a core part of the experience even longer than the Forgotten Realms. Dungeons don't always have to be underground, but hiding many of them underground opens up a lot more possibilities, especially when it comes to a metropolis like Baldur's Gate.

Related

In Baldur's Gate 3 Act 3, should you kill Gortash or Orin first?

The third act of Baldur's Gate 3 introduces two main villains for the party to deal with, but it can be difficult to determine which one will lead to the chase first.

It's hard to imagine an Act 3 without the party being sent outside the city with plenty of side quests, and it's especially hard to imagine it being as engaging as the one that exists. Talking to NPCs throughout the city can be one of the greatest pleasures in the game, but it would be strange if dungeon crawling stopped once you reached the city, and placing the darkest and most mysterious enclaves on the surface would be difficult to justify. To experience a truly great adventure, you often need to suspend your disbeliefAND Baldur's Gate 3 is no exception.

Logically, the Forgotten Realms are doomed to decline, but that doesn't mean they will disappear anytime soon. DnD's continues to engage with the setting in current and future books, although the return of the classic Greyhawk campaign setting in the new one Dungeon Master's Guide it's a nice surprise on the side. Getting something new DnD games from other campaign settings would also be cool, but Baldur's Gate the series could never abandon its namesake, and Baldur's Gate 3the journey through an undeniably endangered world is fantastically unforgettable.

Source: maikol2346/Reddit

Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur's Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game scheduled for release in August 2023. Players will create a character that will embark on a large-scale journey and will be able to do it solo or in cooperation with a friend. This time the fight takes place in turn-based mode.

Platform(s)

macOS computer, PS5, Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Studio Larian