Baldur's Gate

Description

The historic fortification of Candlekeep is located along the isolated Sword Coast. This peaceful location, which has long since evolved into a sizable library where men of wisdom and understanding can study in peace, has recently been plagued by unexplainable incidents. Unknown mercenaries attempt to breach Candlekeep's defenses because they are curious in a young man who appears unremarkable and commonplace—an orphan that the magician Gorion adopted and raised as his own. Gorion makes the decision to take his adopted child to a secure location one night by leaving Candlekeep. However, a squad of assassins ambush them as they exit the fortress. Gorion loses his life in battle, but the orphan succeeds in escaping.

Because Candlekeep's residents are terrified of drawing the wrath of the unknown invaders upon themselves, the gates are locked. Only Imoen, a different youngster raised by Gorion and treated like the protagonist's sister, is willing to share the unknown future. The two are alone in a vast hostile planet with nothing and nowhere to call home. There is where a long and dangerous trip starts.

Role-playing game Baldur's Gate makes use of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rulebook (AD&D). The game, which is the first in a series set in the Forgotten Realms realm, allows players to explore various towns, dungeons, and wilderness locations. They can also embark on several side missions and look for allies to help them on their arduous trip. The class, alignment (Good-Evil and Lawful-Chaotic axis), and weapon proficiencies of the hero(ine) are chosen by the player. These options include fighter, thief, mage, priest, ranger, and druid (including sub-classes, dual-class characters, and multi-class characters). The game uses the AD&D 2nd edition rules for combat, character leveling, class limits, etc.

Combat can involve up to six player-controlled characters. Real-time battles take place in the same setting as exploration and can be paused at any point to give specific instructions to any of the characters. When the game is resumed, the last action chosen by the player is repeated by the characters until it is altered or rendered impossible to carry out. During battles, characters are free to wander around; party composition and combat positioning are very important.