The lead designer of Baldur’s Gate has released a new Dungeons & Dragons adventure set in the famous Forgotten Realms’ city. Arcanum Worlds, a new publishing company founded by former BioWare designers James Ohlen and Jessie Sky, has released Heroes of Baldur’s Gate, a new adventure set between the events of Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II. Ohlen was the lead designer of Baldur’s Gate and the director of Baldur’s Gate II, and he’s now brought the famous D&D city to life using the DMs Guild, a publishing platform partnered with Wizards of the Coast that allows creators to release new material that uses D&D intellectual properties. The adventure is set a year after the events of Baldur’s Gate and pits players against the criminal Zhentarim organization as it tries to fill the void left after the events of the first Baldur’s Gate game.
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In addition to containing an adventure that takes players from Level 1 to Level 6, Heroes of Baldur’s Gate also contains a campaign guide for the Baldur’s Gate region, NPC stats for many of the famous characters from Baldur’s Gate, and several new monsters and magic items. The book also contains four Epic paths, unique backgrounds that directly tie into the plot of Heroes of Baldur’s Gate and give players optional goals to complete in exchange for some very powerful boons. The Epic paths are designed to make the adventure feel similar to Baldur’s Gate, in which the player character was literally the child of an evil god, without taking away player agency or choice.
I appreciate how Arcanum Worlds found a way to incorporate their flair for epic stories into Heroes of Baldur’s Gate while also maximizing player and DM options. Players can choose to play as one of the heroes from Baldur’s Gate, create their own character with a variety of epic backgrounds, or simply bring their own character into the game with no consequences. I also enjoyed that Heroes of Baldur’s Gate contained a conversion guide for DMs who wanted to set the story in the current Forgotten Realms era instead of the age of Baldur’s Gate (which took place over 130 years prior to the events of D&D’s current storylines). In addition, the artwork of Heroes of Baldur’s Gate rivals that of an official D&D publication, and makes the book well worth the $19.95 price tag.
Heroes of Baldur’s Gate is available for purchase on the DMs Guild for $19.95. A hardcover print on demand copy is also available for $44.95.
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