Baldur’s Gate 3 has made the setting of Baldur’s Gate more popular than ever, but transferring that hype into a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign can be challenging. The official tie-in adventure, Descent into Avernus, isn’t the easiest set-up for a great campaign. While it features plenty of memorable NPCs and moments, the connective tissue and party motivation are often weak, and a large portion of the book feels like it’s running on rails.s
Of course, there’s nothing to stop DMs from running custom campaigns in Baldur’s Gate (or modifying Descent into Avernus to suit their needs), but that requires a lot more work. I’ve spent years running custom campaigns, and the creative process can be hard to pack into a busy schedule. D&D still hasn’t solved the problem of finding the perfect Baldur’s Gate campaign, but it has finally provided the perfect material for a few fun nights in the illustrious city.
Adventures in Faerûn Features Four Baldur’s Gate Adventures
Lots To Do In The City
The new book Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn contains a chapter on five different major locations in the Forgotten Realms, and at this point, it’s no surprise that Baldur’s Gate is one of them. In addition to details about the city and its inhabitants, the Baldur’s Gate chapter features four adventures set in the city. They’re not exactly substantial, with each adventure taking up exactly one page, but they might still scratch the Baldur’s Gate 3 itch better than Descent into Avernus will.
The first of the four adventures, “Tides of Teeth,” dives into the sort of maritime violence that you can find around the docks in Baldur’s Gate 3. In this instance, Sahuagin have been killing dockworkers, leading the party into a half-sunken ship where the aggressors are holed up. It’s a straightforward level three one-shot that should be easy to run with minimal prep, and it’s hard to imagine any “Tides of Teeth” session going particularly awry.
Adventures in Faerûn‘s Baldur’s Gate one-shots really kick into gear with the level four adventure “Blood Night,” one of my favorites in the entire book. This adventure locks the party into a deadly house party, where the promise of revelry is quickly superseded by the prerogative to survive the night. For anyone disappointed by Baldur’s Gate 3‘s lack of Upper City locales, this delivers a nice foray into the upper crust, complete with the Cult of Bhaal that memorably appears in Act 3.
At level seven, parties can venture into “Clockwork Memories,” the perfect fit for anyone who finds the Gondians interesting. After meeting a Gondian inventor at his Heapside workshop, the party will end up defending him against a strike from Guild agents (and likely fighting some clockwork creations as well). This one’s more about battle strategy than anything else, potentially rewarding parties who get creative in their defense of the workshop.
The last of the bunch is “The Shadow Parliament,” another one of the book’s standouts. Rather than tasking the party with a dungeon delve, “The Shadow Parliament” places the responsibility of winning a debate upon them. There’s still a bit of combat, of course, but this one-shot could be a refreshing change of pace for any groups interested in a roleplay-heavy challenge.
D&D’s New Baldur’s Gate One-Shots Are Strong Offerings
These Feel Like Thoughtful Inclusions
D&D is clearly attempting to capitalize on Baldur’s Gate 3‘s popularity — Karlach and Minsc even adorn the cover of the companion book, Heroes of Faerûn, but the one-shots in Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn feel like more than obligatory offerings.
Each one represents a different side of the city and a different style of D&D play, and “Blood Night” and “The Shadow Parliament” are both among the most interesting in Adventures in Faerûn as a whole. The book packs in 51 adventures, so that’s not a statement I make lightly.
For those still interested in running Descent into Avernus, adding some of Adventures in Faerûn‘s content into the mix could also turn it into a more satisfying campaign. While the party doesn’t venture into Avernus until level five, the time spent in the city can feel quite short. They might not be relevant to the main thrust of the story, but “Tides of Teeth” and “Blood Night” would nicely flesh out the urban portion of the campaign.
Baldur’s Gate Has A Bright Future In D&D
There’s Definitely More To Come
I wouldn’t be surprised if D&D ends up releasing another full-length Baldur’s Gate adventure in the future. A new campaign book could be a more directly satisfying alternative to Descent into Avernus, and it might even shoehorn in some familiar faces from the game. Baldur’s Gate 4 isn’t likely to happen any time soon, so a D&D campaign book might be the best way to satisfy fans’ desire for a follow-up.
For now, however, we have Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn. I’m content with the offerings here, and I’m a lot more likely to run them all than to dedicate months or years to a Baldur’s Gate campaign. One-shots can provide some of the best Dungeons & Dragons experiences, and with a copy of Adventures in Faerûn at the table, those experiences could very well be found within the walls of Baldur’s Gate.
- Original Release Date
-
1974
- Publisher
-
TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
-
E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Player Count
-
2-7 Players
