#but she needs the full spectrum of ranger abilities

[myheartismadeofstars]

For Clover: ✨ and because my weird little mortician brain wants to know all about everyone’s funeral whether they actually exist or not: 🌓

- @heylittleriotact

🌓 - What would your OC’s funeral be like? Would they prefer a tomb, cremation, or to be given back to the earth? 

Okay so first thing you need to understand about Clover is that she's more Druid than Ranger, and her mother is a retired Cleric of Chauntea. She's also half wood Elf lmao.

She's very much a "return me to the earth" girly. Don't even put her in a coffin, she wants to nurture the land with her body. She wants her friends and family to gather to remember her fondly, not mourn. Don't cry because I'm gone, smile because you got to know me, type. There should be music and her favourite foods for everyone to enjoy.

Plant a tree or flowers or something to mark her grave, visit her often and have picnics there.

Honestly she's pretty chill about death as it is, seeing it as just the next part of life. And honestly, presuming this happens a century+ after the end of the game? She's literally fought Myrkul... she's not afraid of death

[vanessawren69]

How Can Parents Help During Children Treatment

Like most parents, we welcomed our first brand new born with all excitement and enthusiasm. We did the regular things parents-to-be do - getting all set a nursery with decorations, furniture, toys and clothing. We read novels and moved to classes about the best way to raise the boy at his first calendar year. Very little did people know none of the would educate us to manage exactly what lay ahead. Vincent was born without problems in the US full-time. We attracted him back to Singapore if he was 10 weeks old. Our purpose was to bring him up in a multi ethnic and multi lingual environment.However, when he had been three months' old, Vincent turned into a normal guest into the doctor's clinic. He was diagnosed with spleen and liver enlargements that required per week, monthly then half a lever work blood evaluations. His receptor was 800+ as the kid ought to be below 50. His receptor level stabilized once he switched three.At 14 weeks', he got an infection from a make-up BCG injection. This required fundamental anesthetization and operation to both remove the pustule. At two, a doctor discovered that Vincent had a heart murmur. Thankfully, it was a benign murmur. Initially, Vincent dropped over a roadside curve which required a few stitches above his right eye brow. In the beginning, he'd high fever for two successive times and must be admitted into hospital. In between, there clearly were the common influenza and colds.I visualize many parents have gone through similar scenarios. However, these are not the challenges that confronted our faith, analyzed our strength, and improved the course of their lives. Until eventually we observed that he had been different at a year and half an hour, Vincent'd met all milestones. He'd no language. This meant he did not complete a single comprehensible word. He'd not call Mum or Dad. The doctor advised us not to worry as boys develop language skills after. We became very stressed if he did not have any vocabulary at a couple of yearsold. This began another flow of consultation with all specialists in ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat), neurology, psychology, and psychiatry. It took us to search, timetable and complete the evaluation. Vincent's hearing was tested. Even the neurologist couldn't get anything strange in your visual test and also called us into some psychologist.The session with all the psychologist has been disastrous. She had been than one hour for its consultation. Vincent lost patience wet and waiting his trousers during the evaluation, nevertheless he'd been toilet trained. The psychologist prescribed him having a"conduct Illness". This brought disbelief and confusion to people. The only positive outcome was a summary of recommended colleges which could accept kids like Vincent.We then sought advice out of a renowned psychiatrist. I still vividly remember the assembly in excess of Vincent's identification: Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (PDD NOS). The health care provider couldn't pin point the cause although in ayman's term, Vincent was delayed in development. The psychiatrist's response that Vincent may well not ever be able to live a completely unaffiliated life throw a dark shadow across the family.In among your many tests, we managed to register Vincent into an exclusive faculty using a special training program starting at age three. This marked the beginning of lasting therapeutic and learning programs for Vincent. To augment the training of language, Vincent has been introduced to sign language and so were that the parents. This had been one among the happiest occasions to hear Vincent telephone out'Mum' and'father' at age of 4 weeks and three years. However his language progressed from one word level at comparative time, the speed of education . The speech pathologist advised he wanted to improve his gross and fine motor skills before language learning could accelerate.At the robust recommendation of their teachers and specialists, we proceeded straight back to US if Vincent was five. This began a brand new chapter of lifetime for both Vincent and the family. Throughout testimonials, we were blessed to come across a pediatrician who specialised in children like Vincent. She'd an exhaustive test of Vincent and recognized him being a kid with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that usually appears in childhood. Vincent was with minimal imagination and common sense, also was stiff to change. He'd no eye could not examine social cues, had Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), demonstrated severe delay in communication, and had gross sensory and motor dysfunction. He exhibited symptoms of a typical unborn child, except he was not hiding in a large part. On the other hand, he had been very sociable. We commenced a series of treatments. He also attended address and occupational therapy for per year prior to the faculty might effectively manage his requirements. He chose herapeutic horseback-riding once a week and swimming two times a week. Riding served calm down him and regulate his mind while swimming improved motor abilities. He did activities for at least five years.During these five decades, we conducted Patricia Wilbarger brushing at two-hour periods to lessen sensory dysfunction, even if we were outside. At an identical moment he had been put below Auditory built-in Therapy (AIT). He paid attention with filtered tune that has been to stimulate brain function in routine audio to Mozart. Later on he had creativity to inspire. He also attended 15 interactive metronome periods to boost attention length. By the conclusion of three weeks' remedy, he could clap 1,500 occasions nonstop as well as always. We also participated a engine pro to improve his design. Even the US law welcomes public colleges to provide aid for kids with special demands. Vincent was incorporated straight into main-stream kindergarten.With restricted language, conventional kindergarten was exceptionally challenging for Vincent. He had been so disruptive and distracted that he had to be brought out of the classroom. Walking at the school hallways or frequent breaks were a daily occurrence. We had to cross our fingers beg and every day he had a superior school afternoon minus incidences. With medication and reliable support, Vincent figured out the routines and commenced choosing up language. Throughout the First Grade language test, '' he performed at 1 percent. That meant in a hundred children , '' he had been the last in language proficiency. At home we functioned with flash cards on cognitive abilities, spatial and basic theories, functions and characteristics, and also a regular follow from the teaching of their school. We also instructed him phonicstime, numbers, size, income, etc.. It had been daunting to teach him 10 cents have greater significance than 5 cents when the 10 pennies coin is significantly smaller compared to five cents. Vincent's language improved to 25 percent by Grade. He progressed it to around 50 percent from the end of 4th Grade, properly beyond some other pro's expectations.Once Vincent picked up languageshe participated in school activity with much significantly less and not as much the help of the distinctive education instructor and the education aide.The target for IEP has shifted to social interaction and communication. Socially we have been through situations compared to speech instruction. During kindergarten, neighbor's children named him idiotic and mad. Since they could not be understood by Vincent, fortunately, the name calling was only hard for us . He was invited into a birthday party by kindergarten to fourth grade. The school address therapist hailed programs for Vincent and returned together with him to coach him. We study books and also wrote Carol Gray's social stories to demonstrate that the broad social policies of behaviour for each occasion and receiving alongside. To get additional details on this please find this. He joined social-skills training in a hospital and also in the summer camp. Nothing came simple to Vincent. Everything had to be educated. He needed - and - needs - published rules and demonstrations to direct him. It had been expected that he could be in a position to implement once he gained broad base foundations. Every one of the clinics and also training dropped off when Vincent lastly produced three friends at Fifth Grade.He was invited to their birthday functions. He encouraged them back over. He made a couple more friends at sixthgrade. He claimed two of them since his friends with whom he spoke during lunchtime and played after faculty. He no longer was a target for bullies or a ranger at school. We're fortunate that Vincent reacted favorably to therapies and interventions. The illness was very delighted about the progress of Vincent. A psychological investigation showed that Vincent continues to function at the average to exceptional selection of brains. He no longer exhibited considerable discrepancy between verbal and nonverbal abilities. The doctor changed Vincent's diagnostic to Asperger Syndrome, the mildest form of this ASD, in the age of nine.After many years of struggles, we began healing Vincent much like a kid. You will find put on television time. He had an allowance to purchase his favorite toys and games. He learned just how to do laundry, use the drier, fold clothing, wash cars and dishes, sweep floors, run the vacuum cleaner, also shift light bulbs, etc.. Recently, he started out preparing his breakfast, cooking minute noodles, skillet and utilizing a knife.He desires these capabilities when he goes to faculty. We expect him to behave appropriately in public and in gatherings. He said was accountable because of his schoolwork so we ceased checking his homework reviewing with him. Maintain his own honor roster and his obligation as a student is to carry out well academically. He's studying voraciously, especially science and nonfiction books. As he isn't athletically likely, he's plumped for fencing as his only form of sport.For many years without changing, his objective is always to become Zoo Veterinarian. He is on course to meeting his fantasy. Soon after processes of rejection, blame, frustration, anger, acceptance and resolution, we have come to terms with his investigation. Even though we search for remedies that best satisfy himwe take, and the majority of the time, that he could be and that which he will eventually become. We've pledged to provide him anything ordinary kids love and we hope to execute no further compared to other children' of the calibre. We know there are more challenges before us and him however we have been convinced he'll direct a lifestyle. Inpatient treatment helps and benefits kids a lot. They've programs that make it possible for children to be dependent together by using their selves. First, the therapist assesses a young child therefore that an appropriate actions or plans will likely probably be given in line with the child's functionality and ultimately, the test made will probably be valid. The overall capability as well as also the wholeness of a kid is aided and improved with a program that is family-approach or baby friendly to make sure the kids are not going to feel nostalgic and only feel comfortable throughout the program.Since occupational treatment revolves across the increase and progress of a young child, therefore each phase is monitored for longer desired consequence. Kiddies who may benefit from occupational therapy are those who have birth injuries or premature, finding out problems or ADHD or developmental/ motor skills handicap, problems with coordination or chronic musculo-skeletal circumstances, any behavioral problems and harms or injuries. Fortunately, occupational treatment does not confine their program to these conditions; nevertheless they extend their own tasks to fine skills, socialization, neural integration, oral or motor skills, harmony , faculty performances and food aversion.Occupational therapy is vital in helping children improve and become independent at all activities they perform. Occupational therapy is not only for adults; nevertheless, it is as well decent for youngsters because they are doing all their daily pursuits and they must have such help make the task simpler to allow them to do independently.This therapy is coping on the little one's activities is it physical or emotional, and even at an simplest action like brushing, talking and eating, they supply this training for much better operation, especially kids who are experiencing trouble doing simple task together by using their very own. Such a therapy is not solely based for house pursuits but at schools because well.After each single task that's assigned to a specific baby, it's then assessed on how they perform on specific endeavor. By way of example, they offer a week to get child to work out to tie his shoe and after one week that the child has to show improvement or also so the therapist may change the approach in order for the child will discover the manner.

[ishunter798]

Baldur's Gate Download Mac

Download Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition for Mac OS. Play a classic old-school PC RPG game on your Windows with Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition. If says your OS is not compatible, double-click “Baldur’s Gate 3” in /Contents/MacOS/. Version 4.1.84.2048: Release notes were unavailable when this listing was updated. MacOS 10.15 or later, 64-bit processor. Screenshots Download Now.

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Baldur's Gate

4.5 / 5 - 8 votes

Download extras files Manual, map and refcard available

Description of Baldur's Gate Windows

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Siana

A dark, slender figure enters. Shafts of daylight flow into the room until the door closes once more with a loud bang. The room is so crowded that making one's way is a delicate task. Commoners run about to and fro, maidens carry large trays with slopping liquid and the noise is almost unbearable. The floors creak, glasses clink together in toasts and patrons scream for ale. The stranger emerges from the crush by a table and sitting herself down glances at the door. The air about her seems to crackle with a form of electricity, she seems almost ethereal, although human.

Moments later, more adventurers arrive. The locals become nervous as the tension in the room rises. A half-crazed warrior speaks, with his sword swung over his back, to a small, furry creature (is it a hamster?) and makes his way to the strangers table. As they begin to converse in low tones, another woman makes her way across the room from the bar. Standing nearby, in a booming voice she speaks to the stranger, 'Siana, isn't it? There is no doubt, you fit the description,' and promptly draws her sword.

The Sword Coast

Welcome to the most addictive realm in the universe: The Sword Coast of Forgotten Realms. How many thousands of people out there have wasted many an hour with paper and pen, or in titles like Pools of Radience, Eye of the Beholder , or any number of campaigns or computer games involving The Forgotten Realms? O.K. don't scream yes all at once! :-). How long have we waited for something new? Something to come along and fill that craving ache that the Dungeon Master can no longer fill because they burned out 10 years ago after running games for 10 more? How long, I say, how LONG? Yes! I hear you, you are shouting across the globe, TOO LONG! How did we all hear that? Easily, by the number of copies grabbed up and off the shelves of the one game to promise it to you once again. Really the first game to sell like seriously tasty hot-cakes. Interplay couldn't burn them fast enough and those who had them were the envy of every group of gaming friends across the world. I still to this day play on a mud located in Finland, there was NOTHING but ' BG ' chat on the wizard channel. What day are you on? Where is that blasted magic ring? I just found Volo, damn that Captain. I just got to Cloakwood!!! Talk about community addiction, no one could stop playing. Even here at GDR almost every editor is playing Baldur's Gate and cannot stop. Is it worthy? Hell yes, how can the whole world be wrong!? But really, let's have a look.

Single Player Mode

My kingdom for Multiplayer! Single player mode in Baldur's Gate is fun, and tough. But it's not as good as multiplayer and there are a few reasons for this, which I will explain presently. Single-player mode allows you to play through the story with one character which you create at the beginning. Your character may then form a party by including NPCs found in the game or just go it alone. Yes, the game is even solvable with a single character, but so far (or as far as I know) only by one particular class. In general, players will instead group with mages, thieves, clerics or whoever else turns their fancy. Each NPC has their own personality, while one may be sniveling and insecure, the other might be half-crazed. A spectrum from good to evil in all the neutral, lawful and chaotic combinations ensures the traditional AD&D; variety.

Single-player mode does have its charms. Creating your character in the traditional way by choosing race, class (dual and multi-classes available), gender, abilities, alignment, proficiencies and spells to start with. You must also select your name and portrait, and your icon appearance and roll for your stats. If you've played any of the old Forgotten Realms CRPGs you will feel right at home with this. Most of the AD&D; 2nd Edition rules are adhered to, with slight changes documented to make the transition to computer game. Bioware have done an excellent job of this, and it may come as a shock to those less familiar with the rules, since progression is slower and more subtle than in other computer games which are loosely related, such as Daggerfall where progression was quite easy.

Once character generation is complete, you begin your story in the town of Candlekeep. 'This citadel of learning stands on a volcanic crag, overlooking the sea.' From the opening animation of a Vader like character beating and torturing a poor knight, you do know that something evil has begun a campaign of some sort along the Sword Coast. In Candlekeep, you learn that you are the ward of Gorion, that you know nothing about your past, and that your peaceful life in Candlekeep, where books are a ticket into the gates, is threatened by some mysterious danger. It is this danger which drives you and Gorion from Candlekeep and onto a journey which will take you across the wilderness and through the towns between Baldur's Gate in the north and Arm in the south.

Go for the eyes Boo!

The story then in Baldur's Gate takes precedent. That is, you eventually progress toward solving the mysteries behind the danger threatening you. There are however, numerous side quests to follow, items to search for and monsters to destroy. Each area is a large 2D map which you can either spend time clearing or move directly through to get to your next destination. A large overview map is used to select the area you want to go to, and time is added (such as 4 days) to the overall game when you move from one city to the next. Sometimes you may be waylaid by monsters or bandits, and this might occur at a map which you normally cannot select.

Communication with characters is the main source of information and story progression. You often can choose a way to role-play through talking to NPCs and it may even affect your reputation. Reputation is related to alignment (if you are evil and doing nice deeds and improve your reputation you may loose your evil party members who think that's a toss). When playing single-player mode, it can be difficult in beginning to sort out a party. You are presented with NPCs of various alignments and skills and must compile a group that will live (literally. Ed) with each other. Since there are not so many in the beginning it can be tough going, especially if you are a mage (generally weak and cannot wear armor) and really need those extra members to survive. If the NPCs do not get along, eventually they will leave or attack you. Even still, I managed to keep good, neutral and evil aligned characters together by playing a lawful evil character and travelling both by day some of the time and by night the rest. They bitched and moaned and were nasty to each other, but with a medium reputation (of 10) it seemed to work.

This is one of the drawbacks of single-player mode however, you really are stuck with whoever you find, rather than creating your own party. In some sense though, this was humorous because they behaved in ways which were totally unexpected and added to the sense of being on a journey. At the same time, it meant that they were not my ideal type of group.

Although it wasn't my group, the role-playing aspect in single-player mode was much more rich. For one game (I have two running), I have the Ranger Chaotic Good leader grouped with Imoen, Neutral Good Thief NPC (childhood friend to my character). They were joined in the woods by a Chaotic Evil Necro and a Neutral Evil Thief. They stayed grouped from the woods to The Friendly Arm. Then, after grouping with the two friends of Gorion in the Arm, we went upstairs and I let the evil thief try to steal first from a chest, he was unsuccessful with lock picking, then attempt a pick-pocket from a noble. Well, the noble caught him and a fight ensued...the characters started shooting arrows at all the nobles. After firing arrows and killing the nobles the characters all started talking. The good chars said, 'I dont think I like how this group is being run!' The evil necro said,' Oh, for the first time this group is becoming palatable!' :-). Anyway, more than half were pissed off and wanted to break group. Worse yet, since Rangers are meant to be doers of good deeds, immediately the reputation changed and my character lost her Ranger status. So, role-playing with NPCs really works.

Bring me some ale!

As you travel, you enter taverns, private houses, farms, woods and meadows. These rooms and outdoor areas are beautifully rendered and are the most unusual to date, absolutely fascinating. Looking sketched or painted, these maps have shadows which change over time, and eventually become dark as day turns to night. Rain or light snow falls and crystal clear rivers are filled with small stones and approachable islands. Your characters move with distinct behaviours and certain terrains, such as mountains and cliffs, are impassable. Actually this provided some problems with path-finding, which has recently been addressed in a beta patch. Both interior and outdoor scenes are augmented by excellent sounds of people moving, shouting, doors opening and closing or birds and animals moving about. The wind rustles, a monster cries, it's all in a days work on the road.

101 Kobolds

Combat in Baldur's Gate is different from its predecessors, as it is in real-time. The combat method is based on AD&D; rules adjusted to real-time, so instead of a 60 second initiative period, each character is given 6 seconds. The speed with which a character attacks is a number between 1/10 and 10/10ths time per round and the initiative is decided by a combination of rolled factors: ability, situation, and chance. Whether a character has a successful attack still depends on their THAC0 (To Hit Armour Class 0) and their attack roll. Critical hits and misses are decided by the attack roll, 20 or 1, respectively. Strength, dexterity, modifiers and weapons all affect attacks. Casting is treated in a similar way, although spells must be previously memorized (rather than being based on the mana of the caster) and can be disrupted in combat if the caster is hit.

This real-time aspect to AD&D; combat takes some getting used to, actually most everyone I know uses either the selection of different types of auto-pause (such as pause after every round for each character) or the space-bar to pause combat. I initially started out with autopause and then switched to space-bar. The reason is that combat is too difficult to control real-time. Firstly, although you control each of the NPCs as well as your character, to play without pause requires using the A.I. scripts provided or making your own. A.I. has 3 different settings for each class, for instance you can play your mage defensive or aggressive. The problem I had with scripts was that they did not control the characters well enough. I often found my mad necromancer in the middle of combat, after he had fired off all of his spells using his piercing weapon. Meanwhile, the warriors ran off, chasing their fleeing opponents, only to run into a nest of new monsters. This led to the group breaking up, and often added too many enemies to the battle at once.

Therefore in single-player mode, I resorted to pause and handled all of the combat on my own. Grouping archers and mages to the back, warriors and thieves at the front. Handling each fired spell, and every attack. Archery was a wonderful tool, and one of my main combat methods. But another problem I had was that archers, when in heavy combat against a large number of monsters, would use up the 3x20 arrows in quivers and then require changes. In single-player going to the inventory window of the interface immediately causes the real-time combat to begin again (a choice Bioware made in order to simulate a change of weapon in combat) and thus things were running in the background behind the inventory screen (which I could not see) while I clumsily made the change to add arrows. Some of the reason for this is that monsters will 're-pop' in an area (pop up again) after you have killed the first batch. This means that you can continue fighting all day, not that realistic and one of the niggles.

On the other hand, Bioware have provided some excellent options settings to ease the difficulty of real-time combat. Almost every spell and action can be mapped to keys using a convenient set of configuration windows so customizing your combat is not uncomfortable.

Finally, this group is becoming palatable

Despite the niggles mentioned above, single-player mode is a more challenging way to play Baldur's Gate. By sticking it out through the first stages, I learned the interface and created my own ways to deal with situations and my NPCs. As the story progressed, and the more involved I became, then the more trouble I had giving up characters that I had gotten used to for new members that came along. It's actually better to make some tough choices early since the characters which join your party gain experience, and therefore levels, along with your main character, building up their powers over time to help with the more troublesome events that come much later in the game.

Aleya

Journal Entry: Day 77, Hour 12 (17 Flamerule, 1368)

It was about noon when my companions and I set up camp in the Cloakwood Forest, giving me my first opportunity to update my journal since leaving Beregost. Strange monsters and human bandits beset the road to this beautiful place and my companions and I are weary from the seemingly endless battles. It is a rare pleasure to be able to stop and enjoy the beauty of nature.

I have to admit that I would have never dreamed myself living this type of life. How could I have predicted it when I was growing up amongst the serenity of the books at Candlekeep? Now my old friends and I are being hunted for reasons I'm not sure of, my foster father slain by a mysterious armored figure. Gorion believed too fervently in the need for the powers of good to prevail, but he was a caring and generous man. Why he or I would have enemies this powerful is a mystery to me. Well, at least I have the comfort of my friends who I have grown up with and trust completely. It would have been much harder had I needed to rely on the strangers I have met in my journeys.

Something out there is tipping the balance of power to the side of evil. I understand the need for evil in this world, but this lack of balance is forcing me to have to tip the scales back through good deeds and heroic actions. To be honest, though, I would much rather stay here with my fellow druids in Cloakwood. It would be wonderful to disappear into these woods and not return to the mess that is human civilization, but I feel something stronger calling me. These strange dreams I have been having would indicate that there is something lurking just over the horizon that I haven't grasped yet. Perhaps I will learn more when I find that mine and talk to whoever is in charge there. Perhaps.

Multiplayer

This game was so big it took two of us to review it - Karen focused on playing the game through in single player mode, and I played the multiplayer mode with my husband over my home LAN. Interestingly enough, Karen and I had two different experiences playing the game although we both shared the same addiction to it. Let's face it, this game is nothing short of incredible. I generally don't play games like these through again, but as I write this, I'm on my fourth full game of Baldur's Gate and still enjoying it as much as I did the first time through.

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While some of the issues Karen had with the single player mode were resolved by multiplayer gameplay, I didn't see some of the interesting NPC features she would have been able to see. Creating six custom characters definitely has its merits, such as being able to create the exact type of characters you want rather than hoping the game will supply them for you. However, doing so prevents the player from seeing the interactions that take place between the NPCs in your party and other characters in the game world. Each NPC has his/her own unique personality and history that affects the way some quests are solved and can even influence the flow of the storyline.

Custom characters do not have much of a personality, nor do they have any sort of history aside from 'you were a friend of the main character at Candlekeep'. These custom created characters are not as likely to break and attack the party for acting outside of their alignment as NPCs are. My husband controlled both a neutral evil Thief and a lawful good Paladin; he enjoyed sneaking away from the rest of the party to take his characters on house raids in the major towns while I wasn't paying attention. Granted, he left the Paladin in the living room while the Thief roamed the house and stole things - but I still would think that a character with a lawful good alignment would have a problem breaking into houses. Nor would a Paladin really be able to tolerate being grouped with an evil character in the first place. These differences aside, the story line and subquest structure of both single player and multiplayer is exactly the same.

Multiplayer mode allows far greater control over the characters, which is why many players chose to play the game in this mode instead of single player. Each player in the game session controls a certain number of characters, and to make up for the fact that there can be up to six people playing the game at once, the game does allow you to enter the Inventory screen while paused. This complete control over the characters meant that I never had to worry about auto-pausing the game in battles as Karen did to ensure my characters were doing the right things. I never ran out of arrows, potions, or anything else. However, I did notice that the character scripts still had an effect if you chose to set them; when I set my fighter to aggressive I had a much harder time controlling him, as he tended to run and attack anything the instant it turned into an enemy. Unfortunately, this meant that if I accidentally made townspeople angry he would generally kill them before I had even realized what happened - but this was easily fixed by turning off the scripts.

Lots of Options

Baldur's Gate offers an amazing amount of control over how the game is played in a game session. It is very easy to set up a multiplayer game, and just as easy to join one in progress over the Internet or LAN. Each game can be protected using a password to keep unwanted players from joining. The player on the server machine (or the 'leader') has the power to decide - on a per player basis at any point during the game - whether or not the other players have the ability to modify characters, spend gold, initiate dialog, view other character records, leave an area, pause the game, or modify permissions.

The leader has the power to kick other players from the multiplayer session instantly or decide, using the Character Arbitration screen, which player controls which character(s). Because of the fluidity of multiplayer game play, characters can be added, deleted, or reassigned during game play on the fly. At any point during the game, the leader can completely change the dynamics of the party, deleting all the old characters and creating completely new ones if he so desires - although any party manipulations mid-game like this drop the party reputation back to 10 or 11. The leader also dictates how player import works. One can choose to import a character into a game with all experience and items, with experience only, or at with no items or experience.

The fact that characters can be imported and exported with full items at any point in the game helps protect players against player killing - the leader can either revert back to a saved game or you can just import your character back in. An added bonus to this import/export option is that it also allows for some interesting cloning experiments in terms of both player characters and items. Just as a test of the import process (it isn't considered 'cheating' when done as an experiment, right?) I managed to clone in five copies of my fighter for an extremely tough battle. I dismissed the other five people from the party temporarily, then had them rejoin after I sent the five 'clones' into battle to be killed. By cloning the fighter, I not only duplicated him but also any items the he was holding when I exported him. I could pick these items up from the bodies of the dead 'clones' and redistribute them within my party, allowing my characters to be equipped with multiple copies of very rare magical items.

The game is designed to run in asynchronous mode, which means that not all computers will show the exact same events on the screen. While this is good in terms of latency issues, it is a little disconcerting during the gameplay. It seemed that whatever appeared on my machine (the server) was 'reality' and whatever appeared on my husband's computer was not. There were many times either my characters or his got killed because of this; to him it looked like the monsters were across the screen, or not there at all, when in reality they were right in the middle of the party. We even had a couple instances where his characters appeared in impossible places, such as trapped behind walls, when the computers would readjust what was on both our screens.

What's that Icon Mean?

The interface is one that takes a lot of time to get used to and has a high initial learning curve. There are several icons surrounding the main game screen, and as is sometimes the problem with icons, they aren't always intuitive. For instance, a mask appears for the thief's 'unlock/disarm trap/pickpocket' button, which doesn't make me think of any of those. Because of these icons, I had to keep the manual handy to keep track of all the different icons and options throughout the game.

In general, the icons along the side are the game management icons, allowing the player access to the character screens, inventories, map, journal, and game options. The character portraits are along the opposite side. These can be moved around at will, including putting new characters into the 'main character' slot. Players can chat amongst themselves using the dialog box, which can be expanded to be bigger or smaller, depending on the amount of conversation occurring. Game text, battle statistics, and conversation with NPCs also appears in this box.

The icons at the bottom for quick items, weapons, and abilities can be confusing at first, as the icons that appear differ depending on the character type. For instance, the screenshot above is taken with my druid character highlighted, so her bar contains spells, items, and two weapons. The thief's bar would contain different icons to represent his ability to hide in shadows, find traps, and disarm/unlock. The fighter's icons are different, as are the mage's, and so on.

For the most part, the game does an excellent job of providing alternate ways to know icons aside from digging out the manual or quick reference guide. Either a mouse click or leaving the mouse over an icon brings up descriptive text about the icon, spell, ability, or item. One other thing Baldur's Gate does very well is map areas and document major and minor quest information in the journal. I did not have to keep manual notes at all, which is a first.

The Game Bible ... er, Manual

A game this large and with so much to learn in order to play it needs a manual that is equally as large, and the one that ships with the game is the size of a short novel - 159 pages of very important information. I must have read through it about three times! I have some experience with playing AD&D; games, so I had a basic knowledge of the character classes, alignments, and spells. This manual, however, greatly enhanced my knowledge of how things worked in the AD&D; world, and contained any piece of relevant information that might be needed to play the game. I always had it on hand when I played the game, and I found myself referring to it quite often. However, I wish it had contained more in-depth information about the pros and cons of the different races and classes. I found myself having to ask friends who used to Dungeon Master in the AD&D; pen and paper days for clarification instead.

However, with as much helpful information this manual contained, I don't think it was laid out in such a manner as to be helpful to new players. The information about character races, alignments, and classes was contained in the middle of the manual under a section about AD&D; Rules. Normally character creation information is at the front. The description about how the statistics for each attribute (such as intelligence, etc) actually affect the character is at the very back of the manual under a totally different section. The manual does have both an index at the back and a table of contents, but these still did not seem to cut down on the amount of time I, and others I know, had to search through the manual for information. I still managed to go almost 75% of the way through the game without knowing how to disarm traps or that I could set spells up in the quick use slots because I somehow overlooked that information in the manual.

Also, not many people even like to have to read a manual, not to mention one this long. Anyone who does not read the manual is at a disadvantage unless they know something about AD&D; rules. The quick reference guide is wonderful for mapping icons to meanings, but does not get into character limitations or detailed spell information. Even if one knows the rules and just uses the quick reference guide, there is a good chance that you will miss a key game option or feature.

The Battle Ends - For Now

Journal Entry: Day 130, Hour 10 (9 Eleint, 1368)

My quest has ended, although I am too weary from battle to recount all the details. Suffice to say my quest was difficult and lengthy, but one the gods surely enjoyed. The ending of my saga seemed somehow anticlimactic given all that I had been through, but I can definitely live with that! I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my adventures, and for some reason, I feel as if this journey was only the beginning of more to come. I will welcome the challenge, and am looking forward to where the fates may take me.

Review By GamesDomain

External links

Captures and Snapshots

Screenshots from MobyGames.com

Comments and reviews

Jayzer2020-04-290 point

Game has been re-abandoned on GOG in favor of the Enhanced Edition by BeamDog.

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Share your gamer memories, give useful links or comment anything you'd like. This game is no longer abandonware, we won't put it back online.

Buy Baldur's Gate

Baldur's Gate is available for a small price on the following websites, and is no longer abandonware. GoG.com provides the best release and does not include DRM, please buy from them! You can read our online store guide .

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Other Releases

Baldur's Gate was also released on the following systems:

Mac

Year:2000

Publisher:Graphsim Entertainment Inc.

Developer:BioWare Corporation

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Baldur's Gate

4.5 / 5 - 8 votes

Download extras files Manual, map and refcard available

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Description of Baldur's Gate Windows

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Siana

A dark, slender figure enters. Shafts of daylight flow into the room until the door closes once more with a loud bang. The room is so crowded that making one's way is a delicate task. Commoners run about to and fro, maidens carry large trays with slopping liquid and the noise is almost unbearable. The floors creak, glasses clink together in toasts and patrons scream for ale. The stranger emerges from the crush by a table and sitting herself down glances at the door. The air about her seems to crackle with a form of electricity, she seems almost ethereal, although human.

Moments later, more adventurers arrive. The locals become nervous as the tension in the room rises. A half-crazed warrior speaks, with his sword swung over his back, to a small, furry creature (is it a hamster?) and makes his way to the strangers table. As they begin to converse in low tones, another woman makes her way across the room from the bar. Standing nearby, in a booming voice she speaks to the stranger, 'Siana, isn't it? There is no doubt, you fit the description,' and promptly draws her sword.

The Sword Coast

Welcome to the most addictive realm in the universe: The Sword Coast of Forgotten Realms. How many thousands of people out there have wasted many an hour with paper and pen, or in titles like Pools of Radience, Eye of the Beholder , or any number of campaigns or computer games involving The Forgotten Realms? O.K. don't scream yes all at once! :-). How long have we waited for something new? Something to come along and fill that craving ache that the Dungeon Master can no longer fill because they burned out 10 years ago after running games for 10 more? How long, I say, how LONG? Yes! I hear you, you are shouting across the globe, TOO LONG! How did we all hear that? Easily, by the number of copies grabbed up and off the shelves of the one game to promise it to you once again. Really the first game to sell like seriously tasty hot-cakes. Interplay couldn't burn them fast enough and those who had them were the envy of every group of gaming friends across the world. I still to this day play on a mud located in Finland, there was NOTHING but ' BG ' chat on the wizard channel. What day are you on? Where is that blasted magic ring? I just found Volo, damn that Captain. I just got to Cloakwood!!! Talk about community addiction, no one could stop playing. Even here at GDR almost every editor is playing Baldur's Gate and cannot stop. Is it worthy? Hell yes, how can the whole world be wrong!? But really, let's have a look.

Single Player Mode

My kingdom for Multiplayer! Single player mode in Baldur's Gate is fun, and tough. But it's not as good as multiplayer and there are a few reasons for this, which I will explain presently. Single-player mode allows you to play through the story with one character which you create at the beginning. Your character may then form a party by including NPCs found in the game or just go it alone. Yes, the game is even solvable with a single character, but so far (or as far as I know) only by one particular class. In general, players will instead group with mages, thieves, clerics or whoever else turns their fancy. Each NPC has their own personality, while one may be sniveling and insecure, the other might be half-crazed. A spectrum from good to evil in all the neutral, lawful and chaotic combinations ensures the traditional AD&D; variety.

Single-player mode does have its charms. Creating your character in the traditional way by choosing race, class (dual and multi-classes available), gender, abilities, alignment, proficiencies and spells to start with. You must also select your name and portrait, and your icon appearance and roll for your stats. If you've played any of the old Forgotten Realms CRPGs you will feel right at home with this. Most of the AD&D; 2nd Edition rules are adhered to, with slight changes documented to make the transition to computer game. Bioware have done an excellent job of this, and it may come as a shock to those less familiar with the rules, since progression is slower and more subtle than in other computer games which are loosely related, such as Daggerfall where progression was quite easy.

Once character generation is complete, you begin your story in the town of Candlekeep. 'This citadel of learning stands on a volcanic crag, overlooking the sea.' From the opening animation of a Vader like character beating and torturing a poor knight, you do know that something evil has begun a campaign of some sort along the Sword Coast. In Candlekeep, you learn that you are the ward of Gorion, that you know nothing about your past, and that your peaceful life in Candlekeep, where books are a ticket into the gates, is threatened by some mysterious danger. It is this danger which drives you and Gorion from Candlekeep and onto a journey which will take you across the wilderness and through the towns between Baldur's Gate in the north and Arm in the south.

Go for the eyes Boo!

The story then in Baldur's Gate takes precedent. That is, you eventually progress toward solving the mysteries behind the danger threatening you. There are however, numerous side quests to follow, items to search for and monsters to destroy. Each area is a large 2D map which you can either spend time clearing or move directly through to get to your next destination. A large overview map is used to select the area you want to go to, and time is added (such as 4 days) to the overall game when you move from one city to the next. Sometimes you may be waylaid by monsters or bandits, and this might occur at a map which you normally cannot select.

Communication with characters is the main source of information and story progression. You often can choose a way to role-play through talking to NPCs and it may even affect your reputation. Reputation is related to alignment (if you are evil and doing nice deeds and improve your reputation you may loose your evil party members who think that's a toss). When playing single-player mode, it can be difficult in beginning to sort out a party. You are presented with NPCs of various alignments and skills and must compile a group that will live (literally. Ed) with each other. Since there are not so many in the beginning it can be tough going, especially if you are a mage (generally weak and cannot wear armor) and really need those extra members to survive. If the NPCs do not get along, eventually they will leave or attack you. Even still, I managed to keep good, neutral and evil aligned characters together by playing a lawful evil character and travelling both by day some of the time and by night the rest. They bitched and moaned and were nasty to each other, but with a medium reputation (of 10) it seemed to work.

This is one of the drawbacks of single-player mode however, you really are stuck with whoever you find, rather than creating your own party. In some sense though, this was humorous because they behaved in ways which were totally unexpected and added to the sense of being on a journey. At the same time, it meant that they were not my ideal type of group.

Although it wasn't my group, the role-playing aspect in single-player mode was much more rich. For one game (I have two running), I have the Ranger Chaotic Good leader grouped with Imoen, Neutral Good Thief NPC (childhood friend to my character). They were joined in the woods by a Chaotic Evil Necro and a Neutral Evil Thief. They stayed grouped from the woods to The Friendly Arm. Then, after grouping with the two friends of Gorion in the Arm, we went upstairs and I let the evil thief try to steal first from a chest, he was unsuccessful with lock picking, then attempt a pick-pocket from a noble. Well, the noble caught him and a fight ensued...the characters started shooting arrows at all the nobles. After firing arrows and killing the nobles the characters all started talking. The good chars said, 'I dont think I like how this group is being run!' The evil necro said,' Oh, for the first time this group is becoming palatable!' :-). Anyway, more than half were pissed off and wanted to break group. Worse yet, since Rangers are meant to be doers of good deeds, immediately the reputation changed and my character lost her Ranger status. So, role-playing with NPCs really works.

Bring me some ale!

As you travel, you enter taverns, private houses, farms, woods and meadows. These rooms and outdoor areas are beautifully rendered and are the most unusual to date, absolutely fascinating. Looking sketched or painted, these maps have shadows which change over time, and eventually become dark as day turns to night. Rain or light snow falls and crystal clear rivers are filled with small stones and approachable islands. Your characters move with distinct behaviours and certain terrains, such as mountains and cliffs, are impassable. Actually this provided some problems with path-finding, which has recently been addressed in a beta patch. Both interior and outdoor scenes are augmented by excellent sounds of people moving, shouting, doors opening and closing or birds and animals moving about. The wind rustles, a monster cries, it's all in a days work on the road.

101 Kobolds

Combat in Baldur's Gate is different from its predecessors, as it is in real-time. The combat method is based on AD&D; rules adjusted to real-time, so instead of a 60 second initiative period, each character is given 6 seconds. The speed with which a character attacks is a number between 1/10 and 10/10ths time per round and the initiative is decided by a combination of rolled factors: ability, situation, and chance. Whether a character has a successful attack still depends on their THAC0 (To Hit Armour Class 0) and their attack roll. Critical hits and misses are decided by the attack roll, 20 or 1, respectively. Strength, dexterity, modifiers and weapons all affect attacks. Casting is treated in a similar way, although spells must be previously memorized (rather than being based on the mana of the caster) and can be disrupted in combat if the caster is hit.

This real-time aspect to AD&D; combat takes some getting used to, actually most everyone I know uses either the selection of different types of auto-pause (such as pause after every round for each character) or the space-bar to pause combat. I initially started out with autopause and then switched to space-bar. The reason is that combat is too difficult to control real-time. Firstly, although you control each of the NPCs as well as your character, to play without pause requires using the A.I. scripts provided or making your own. A.I. has 3 different settings for each class, for instance you can play your mage defensive or aggressive. The problem I had with scripts was that they did not control the characters well enough. I often found my mad necromancer in the middle of combat, after he had fired off all of his spells using his piercing weapon. Meanwhile, the warriors ran off, chasing their fleeing opponents, only to run into a nest of new monsters. This led to the group breaking up, and often added too many enemies to the battle at once.

Therefore in single-player mode, I resorted to pause and handled all of the combat on my own. Grouping archers and mages to the back, warriors and thieves at the front. Handling each fired spell, and every attack. Archery was a wonderful tool, and one of my main combat methods. But another problem I had was that archers, when in heavy combat against a large number of monsters, would use up the 3x20 arrows in quivers and then require changes. In single-player going to the inventory window of the interface immediately causes the real-time combat to begin again (a choice Bioware made in order to simulate a change of weapon in combat) and thus things were running in the background behind the inventory screen (which I could not see) while I clumsily made the change to add arrows. Some of the reason for this is that monsters will 're-pop' in an area (pop up again) after you have killed the first batch. This means that you can continue fighting all day, not that realistic and one of the niggles.

On the other hand, Bioware have provided some excellent options settings to ease the difficulty of real-time combat. Almost every spell and action can be mapped to keys using a convenient set of configuration windows so customizing your combat is not uncomfortable.

Finally, this group is becoming palatable

Despite the niggles mentioned above, single-player mode is a more challenging way to play Baldur's Gate. By sticking it out through the first stages, I learned the interface and created my own ways to deal with situations and my NPCs. As the story progressed, and the more involved I became, then the more trouble I had giving up characters that I had gotten used to for new members that came along. It's actually better to make some tough choices early since the characters which join your party gain experience, and therefore levels, along with your main character, building up their powers over time to help with the more troublesome events that come much later in the game.

Aleya

Journal Entry: Day 77, Hour 12 (17 Flamerule, 1368)

It was about noon when my companions and I set up camp in the Cloakwood Forest, giving me my first opportunity to update my journal since leaving Beregost. Strange monsters and human bandits beset the road to this beautiful place and my companions and I are weary from the seemingly endless battles. It is a rare pleasure to be able to stop and enjoy the beauty of nature.

I have to admit that I would have never dreamed myself living this type of life. How could I have predicted it when I was growing up amongst the serenity of the books at Candlekeep? Now my old friends and I are being hunted for reasons I'm not sure of, my foster father slain by a mysterious armored figure. Gorion believed too fervently in the need for the powers of good to prevail, but he was a caring and generous man. Why he or I would have enemies this powerful is a mystery to me. Well, at least I have the comfort of my friends who I have grown up with and trust completely. It would have been much harder had I needed to rely on the strangers I have met in my journeys.

Something out there is tipping the balance of power to the side of evil. I understand the need for evil in this world, but this lack of balance is forcing me to have to tip the scales back through good deeds and heroic actions. To be honest, though, I would much rather stay here with my fellow druids in Cloakwood. It would be wonderful to disappear into these woods and not return to the mess that is human civilization, but I feel something stronger calling me. These strange dreams I have been having would indicate that there is something lurking just over the horizon that I haven't grasped yet. Perhaps I will learn more when I find that mine and talk to whoever is in charge there. Perhaps.

Multiplayer

This game was so big it took two of us to review it - Karen focused on playing the game through in single player mode, and I played the multiplayer mode with my husband over my home LAN. Interestingly enough, Karen and I had two different experiences playing the game although we both shared the same addiction to it. Let's face it, this game is nothing short of incredible. I generally don't play games like these through again, but as I write this, I'm on my fourth full game of Baldur's Gate and still enjoying it as much as I did the first time through.

While some of the issues Karen had with the single player mode were resolved by multiplayer gameplay, I didn't see some of the interesting NPC features she would have been able to see. Creating six custom characters definitely has its merits, such as being able to create the exact type of characters you want rather than hoping the game will supply them for you. However, doing so prevents the player from seeing the interactions that take place between the NPCs in your party and other characters in the game world. Each NPC has his/her own unique personality and history that affects the way some quests are solved and can even influence the flow of the storyline.

Custom characters do not have much of a personality, nor do they have any sort of history aside from 'you were a friend of the main character at Candlekeep'. These custom created characters are not as likely to break and attack the party for acting outside of their alignment as NPCs are. My husband controlled both a neutral evil Thief and a lawful good Paladin; he enjoyed sneaking away from the rest of the party to take his characters on house raids in the major towns while I wasn't paying attention. Granted, he left the Paladin in the living room while the Thief roamed the house and stole things - but I still would think that a character with a lawful good alignment would have a problem breaking into houses. Nor would a Paladin really be able to tolerate being grouped with an evil character in the first place. These differences aside, the story line and subquest structure of both single player and multiplayer is exactly the same.

Multiplayer mode allows far greater control over the characters, which is why many players chose to play the game in this mode instead of single player. Each player in the game session controls a certain number of characters, and to make up for the fact that there can be up to six people playing the game at once, the game does allow you to enter the Inventory screen while paused. This complete control over the characters meant that I never had to worry about auto-pausing the game in battles as Karen did to ensure my characters were doing the right things. I never ran out of arrows, potions, or anything else. However, I did notice that the character scripts still had an effect if you chose to set them; when I set my fighter to aggressive I had a much harder time controlling him, as he tended to run and attack anything the instant it turned into an enemy. Unfortunately, this meant that if I accidentally made townspeople angry he would generally kill them before I had even realized what happened - but this was easily fixed by turning off the scripts.

Lots of Options

Baldur's Gate offers an amazing amount of control over how the game is played in a game session. It is very easy to set up a multiplayer game, and just as easy to join one in progress over the Internet or LAN. Each game can be protected using a password to keep unwanted players from joining. The player on the server machine (or the 'leader') has the power to decide - on a per player basis at any point during the game - whether or not the other players have the ability to modify characters, spend gold, initiate dialog, view other character records, leave an area, pause the game, or modify permissions.

The leader has the power to kick other players from the multiplayer session instantly or decide, using the Character Arbitration screen, which player controls which character(s). Because of the fluidity of multiplayer game play, characters can be added, deleted, or reassigned during game play on the fly. At any point during the game, the leader can completely change the dynamics of the party, deleting all the old characters and creating completely new ones if he so desires - although any party manipulations mid-game like this drop the party reputation back to 10 or 11. The leader also dictates how player import works. One can choose to import a character into a game with all experience and items, with experience only, or at with no items or experience.

The fact that characters can be imported and exported with full items at any point in the game helps protect players against player killing - the leader can either revert back to a saved game or you can just import your character back in. An added bonus to this import/export option is that it also allows for some interesting cloning experiments in terms of both player characters and items. Just as a test of the import process (it isn't considered 'cheating' when done as an experiment, right?) I managed to clone in five copies of my fighter for an extremely tough battle. I dismissed the other five people from the party temporarily, then had them rejoin after I sent the five 'clones' into battle to be killed. By cloning the fighter, I not only duplicated him but also any items the he was holding when I exported him. I could pick these items up from the bodies of the dead 'clones' and redistribute them within my party, allowing my characters to be equipped with multiple copies of very rare magical items.

The game is designed to run in asynchronous mode, which means that not all computers will show the exact same events on the screen. While this is good in terms of latency issues, it is a little disconcerting during the gameplay. It seemed that whatever appeared on my machine (the server) was 'reality' and whatever appeared on my husband's computer was not. There were many times either my characters or his got killed because of this; to him it looked like the monsters were across the screen, or not there at all, when in reality they were right in the middle of the party. We even had a couple instances where his characters appeared in impossible places, such as trapped behind walls, when the computers would readjust what was on both our screens.

What's that Icon Mean?

The interface is one that takes a lot of time to get used to and has a high initial learning curve. There are several icons surrounding the main game screen, and as is sometimes the problem with icons, they aren't always intuitive. For instance, a mask appears for the thief's 'unlock/disarm trap/pickpocket' button, which doesn't make me think of any of those. Because of these icons, I had to keep the manual handy to keep track of all the different icons and options throughout the game.

In general, the icons along the side are the game management icons, allowing the player access to the character screens, inventories, map, journal, and game options. The character portraits are along the opposite side. These can be moved around at will, including putting new characters into the 'main character' slot. Players can chat amongst themselves using the dialog box, which can be expanded to be bigger or smaller, depending on the amount of conversation occurring. Game text, battle statistics, and conversation with NPCs also appears in this box.

The icons at the bottom for quick items, weapons, and abilities can be confusing at first, as the icons that appear differ depending on the character type. For instance, the screenshot above is taken with my druid character highlighted, so her bar contains spells, items, and two weapons. The thief's bar would contain different icons to represent his ability to hide in shadows, find traps, and disarm/unlock. The fighter's icons are different, as are the mage's, and so on.

For the most part, the game does an excellent job of providing alternate ways to know icons aside from digging out the manual or quick reference guide. Either a mouse click or leaving the mouse over an icon brings up descriptive text about the icon, spell, ability, or item. One other thing Baldur's Gate does very well is map areas and document major and minor quest information in the journal. I did not have to keep manual notes at all, which is a first.

The Game Bible ... er, Manual

A game this large and with so much to learn in order to play it needs a manual that is equally as large, and the one that ships with the game is the size of a short novel - 159 pages of very important information. I must have read through it about three times! I have some experience with playing AD&D; games, so I had a basic knowledge of the character classes, alignments, and spells. This manual, however, greatly enhanced my knowledge of how things worked in the AD&D; world, and contained any piece of relevant information that might be needed to play the game. I always had it on hand when I played the game, and I found myself referring to it quite often. However, I wish it had contained more in-depth information about the pros and cons of the different races and classes. I found myself having to ask friends who used to Dungeon Master in the AD&D; pen and paper days for clarification instead.

However, with as much helpful information this manual contained, I don't think it was laid out in such a manner as to be helpful to new players. The information about character races, alignments, and classes was contained in the middle of the manual under a section about AD&D; Rules. Normally character creation information is at the front. The description about how the statistics for each attribute (such as intelligence, etc) actually affect the character is at the very back of the manual under a totally different section. The manual does have both an index at the back and a table of contents, but these still did not seem to cut down on the amount of time I, and others I know, had to search through the manual for information. I still managed to go almost 75% of the way through the game without knowing how to disarm traps or that I could set spells up in the quick use slots because I somehow overlooked that information in the manual.

Also, not many people even like to have to read a manual, not to mention one this long. Anyone who does not read the manual is at a disadvantage unless they know something about AD&D; rules. The quick reference guide is wonderful for mapping icons to meanings, but does not get into character limitations or detailed spell information. Even if one knows the rules and just uses the quick reference guide, there is a good chance that you will miss a key game option or feature.

The Battle Ends - For Now

Journal Entry: Day 130, Hour 10 (9 Eleint, 1368)

My quest has ended, although I am too weary from battle to recount all the details. Suffice to say my quest was difficult and lengthy, but one the gods surely enjoyed. The ending of my saga seemed somehow anticlimactic given all that I had been through, but I can definitely live with that! I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my adventures, and for some reason, I feel as if this journey was only the beginning of more to come. I will welcome the challenge, and am looking forward to where the fates may take me.

Review By GamesDomain

External links

Captures and Snapshots

Screenshots from MobyGames.com

Comments and reviews

Jayzer2020-04-290 point

Game has been re-abandoned on GOG in favor of the Enhanced Edition by BeamDog.

Write a comment

Share your gamer memories, give useful links or comment anything you'd like. This game is no longer abandonware, we won't put it back online.

Buy Baldur's Gate

Baldur's Gate is available for a small price on the following websites, and is no longer abandonware. GoG.com provides the best release and does not include DRM, please buy from them! You can read our online store guide .

Game Extras and Resources

Download Baldur's Gate 2

Some of these file may not be included in the game stores. For Baldur's Gate, we have the following files:

Other Releases

Baldur's Gate Free Download

Baldur's Gate was also released on the following systems:

Mac

Year:2000

Publisher:Graphsim Entertainment Inc.

Developer:BioWare Corporation

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Fellow retro gamers also downloaded these games:

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Honeymoon: Touchdown

Fluff! I’m tired! Here’s some fluff! Enjoy! Nos-4-a2 and Two’s first moments on Earth together.

deviantART | Archive of Our Own | FanFiction.net

“We’re cleared. Touchdown in five minutes,” Lightyear announced as he walked onto the main deck...

...It looked especially small with all of Team Lightyear sitting around the long table and Nos-4-a2 and Two pressed against the window, ogling the planet below. The couple had been drawn into the presence of the rangers by the violent shaking of the ship as it entered the atmosphere. “Finally!” XR threw his cards on the table and hopped out of his seat, treading to where Nos and Two stood at the window. Booster put his hand down as well to look at the approaching surface of Earth. Two was beside herself, wringing Nos’s hand in both of hers. It had been years since she’d seen her home planet, though she wasn’t quite going home yet ‒ first came the honeymoon. Nos gazed down at what would be his home for the rest of his days, then at his wife. He smiled and tried to squeeze her hands back, though she was crushing his fingers so hard he could hardly move them. “You have all your things?” he asked. “They’re in our room. I’ll go get them!” she replied, relinquishing his hand and bouncing to their sleeping quarters. He watched her go with a soft look in his optics before turning back to the window. “Wow, this place looks just like a dirty Capital Planet,” Mira muttered. The atmosphere was dusty and cluttered despite the clean-up parties that had been working on clearing the debris, and the land only had patches of green where the Humans were settled. “They make up for it with their sweet robotics,” XR smirked, “I can’t wait to meet the locals!” Nos did his best to swallow a distasteful scowl, privately willing that anyone the little robot approached would shoot him down. “Hey, look at all that green!” Booster pointed out to the west at a patch of jungle on the growing coastline. It was just south of the equator, a blob of verdant land glittering with civilization. “That’s where the resort is, out there by the water. The town is a little farther inland,” Buzz announced while reading something off his wrist communicator. Nos-4-a2 turned and bent down to inspect his bag one last time before touchdown. He had a few clokes, a digital card that held their funds, and the few personal items he’d collected (a.k.a. the few things he hadn’t stolen) over the years. Two had an entire storage container full of her personal belongings in Axiom, and when Nos thought about it, he realized that all he had was the ship and its contents, which was practically bare after gutting it of all his old villain tech. A small voice in the depths of his thought processors reminded him that he was originally villain tech himself, but he pushed it away. “Get ready for landing,” the Captain warned everyone as they began to descend. Nos took his bag and put it down by the hatch of the ship, ready to get away from their escort team. “Eve, do you need any help?” he called out in the direction of their room. “No,” her muffled voice replied, “Be there in a minute!” Anticipation surged through the Energy Vampire’s circuits. This was it. The ship landed with hardly a bump, and as the hatch hissed open, he looked out at the place where his new life was beginning. The flood of light was enough to make him squint, scattered amongst all the dust the landing had stirred into the air. As the engines went quiet, a symphony of natural sounds filled the air. Wind rustled leaves, some unseen water source babbled cheerily to itself, and a menagerie completely unfamiliar to him chattered, sang, and whooped. The foliage in their immediate surroundings sported vibrant green leaves and a whole spectrum of flowers, and the snatches of sky that appeared through the dirty clouds were a clear blue. Nos-4-a2 felt completely out of place. Suddenly, a blue streak barreled past that sent the Energy Vampire reeling. He saw his wife’s bag tumbling down the ramp, and right in front of him, her cerulean cloak fluttered down to Earth. Gaping, Nos watched as Two’s aerodynamic frame shot into the sky. She made a wide loop before dipping down, picking up enough speed to break the sound barrier and shooting into the cloud layer. Nos, who was supporting himself against the hatchway, could just barely hear a cry of sheer joy. “What was that?” Lightyear exclaimed in alarm, the rest of his team following as he ran outside. They all traced Nos-4-a2’s line of sight to the sky, where Two’s pearly metal glittered in the sunlight whenever she dipped into view, streaming dusty clouds behind her. “I believe Eve just went supersonic,” Nos mumbled. They all watched her for a while as she twirled and dove and had an all around wonderful time. Her clear, bright laugh occasionally drifted to where they all stood. The estranged feeling that had gripped Nos-4-a2 shifted to the back of his mind at the sight of Two, finally free. Free... he’d done it. Mission accomplished. Everything he’d worked for in the last year had completely fallen apart, but by some crazy fluke, it had all worked out. Two was safe... and, though he couldn’t quite comprehend it, he was too. Nos was brought out of his thoughts when XR wheeled into his line of sight, picking up Two’s cape. “Talk about ‘flying free.’” Snatching the clothing from the ranger’s grasp, Nos snapped, “She knows that her cloak would cause too much drag for her to hit those speeds.” “What’s she doing up there, anyway?” Booster asked, warily eyeing the two robots. Nos turned his attention back to the sky. Two was spinning so fast that her arms appeared to be a propeller. “I have no idea,” he hummed. Until the ecstatic probe returned, Nos decided to get their bags ready for when the shuttle came. A great rumbling filled the air as the Star Command space cruiser escorting their ship landed at a loading area not far from theirs. He took their bags to the mouth of the road and started straightening out Two’s cape, beating of the dust out of it and folding it over his arm. “This is quite an odd planet,” Lightyear commented conversationally to Nos. This prompted Nos to observe an exercise he’d had to do many times over the past week. He didn’t know why Lightyear was so determined to make conversation. Being around the rangers at all, regardless of the circumstances, was nothing less than uncomfortable, and small talk did anything but improve the situation. In order to put on a good face, Nos worked a deep breath through his ventilation system and repeated a mantra in his head: Just a few more hours. Just a few more hours until you never have to see him again, you’ll be alone with Eve for the rest of your life, you can stand humoring him for just a few more hours. Nos pretended to be interested. “Out of all the planets in the galaxy, this one is odd?” Dammit. He still sounded condescending. “Well, sure, there are weirder places around, but that whole deal with the seven hundred year gap in their history is something else.” “Hm. I suppose you’re referring to the gap in the Humans’ history.” “...What else?” the ranger asked. Nos looked to the sky again, catching a glimpse of Two before she passed out of sight. “The Humans might have been halted in their evolution, but their robots had all those centuries to learn on their own. Now they’re working together to make up for the lost time, even after the war,” Nos-4-a2 explained, thinking back to all the late nights Two had spent talking about her home. Just as the ranger opened his mouth to respond, a small metal creature, her speed decreased to considerably less than that of sound, slammed into Nos-4-a2’s side and knocked her cape to the ground again. Her arms clamped around his waist in a crushing hug, her head only coming up to the center of his chest. Two’s sleek metal was dappled with moisture from the clouds and warm with the recent release of energy and exposure to sunlight. “Good heavens, Eve!” Nos laughed. Lightyear smirked and skirted away, having no quarrels with dropping their conversation. The rest of the rangers regrouped back near the ship. Nos-4-a2 returned Two’s embrace and twirled her around. She was smiling so hard that her blue eyeforms practically disappeared into the blackness of her visor. Anyone else would say she was laughing, but Nos knew better: despite her lack of ability to produce tears, she was crying with joy. “Nossy, Nossy, we’re home!” she sobbed. A smile crept onto the Energy Vampire’s face. “We’re home,” he echoed. He lifted her up and pressed his forehead against hers, everything else falling away. She shook in a crazy combination of crying and laughter that reverberated through his frame. He could get used to this. The sense of belonging he felt with Two was almost more than he could handle, so he closed his optic and soaked her in, overwhelmed by the sheer elation pouring from her processors. She held him so tight, he felt like he was floating away, higher and higher... and higher? Nos opened his optic to see the ground falling away below him. He looked down at Two to meet a giddy smile. She was supporting his entire weight at this point as he hung limp in shock. “Eve ‒ Eve, wait, we can’t ‒ we can’t leave the rangers yet, we haven’t ‒ !” “Who cares?” she sang, “Fly with me! Fly with me, we’re free!” She loosened her grip enough that he began to slip, causing his wings to reflexively spring out, crackling with amber light. Her hands slipped to his wrists before he could react, dragging him into a spin. They were hundreds of feet above the ground, the horizon glittering blue to the west, a silvery building standing at the end of the road beneath them, and the jungle sprawling away wild and green. Wind buffeted them from every side as Two let go, spinning around him faster than he could follow. Nos couldn’t help himself. He let go, feeling the rush of the wind against his metal and an unsuppressable laugh rising in his speakers. When was the last time he took a joy flight? Had he ever even felt joy before Two? She spun around and reached under his wings to lift him by his underarms, kissing the back of his neck before looping around over his head and falling toward the ground, her arms spread wide. Nos followed suit, grinning like an idiot, catching Two whenever he could. She never stopped singing, we’re free, we’re home, we’re free, we’re home... The weight of the universe lifted from his shoulders. He’d never had a home before.

[xyouseix]

Arialista’s Journal | Journey to Dalken

Little Village Concept by RavenseyeTravisLacey

c. 1491

I came to Port Hallardim looking for answers to my own questions, but now I find myself entangled with someone else’s. The Greak Kaath Museum wanted someone to retrieve a tomb that holds the either the history or stories of Saint Redchild, I am not quite sure, along with any other artifacts we might find. But when the Museum asked if I would help a man by the name of Jaemyn Williams I could hardly say no. Not when they had promised they would allow me full access to any materials I would need in my own research in return for helping them.

So here I am, in the desert, making my way with a caravan and the other "swords for hire” who were asked to help with this task. Normally I would think that four people would be a bit much to go to some countryside manor house to retrieve a book. But if what we have been told about the place is true, then it is possible there might be something more out there waiting for us besides a book.

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Speaking of the others, one of them, a young golden Dragonborn, goes by the name Reina, I had met on the transport ship coming over from Grey Gate. She does not speak much to anyone. Though she is technically fully grown by Dragonborn standards, she still seems very young. Innocent. She has an innate connection to nature that goes beyond even my own ranger abilities, which is probably why when I met her on the ship I felt a bit of a kinship towards her.

The other one, a human male, I know is a Paladin of Athena. Dan is his name and he was already living in Port Hallardim for some time before mine and Reina’s arrival, at the All Faith’s Temple. I would not say I have an instant distrust of those who worship divine beings, but I am cautious of them. My own past experiences being what they have been, it is safer to err on the side of caution.

It was odd though. When we were being introduced he almost seemed to have a look of recognition on his face when we met, though I know I have never seen him before.

Actually, now that I think about it, he did not give his last name, if he has one... Looking at him now, and from the little I have observed of him, I wonder if maybe his background is much different than mine. It would not be the first time that a nobleman’s son was sent to the clergy for some transgression he has done. Athena though... I feel like there is more to his tale.

The man who is leading this excursion, Jaemyn, is the son of two adventurers, and while his parents are away he also runs the family business, a book store called The Indigo Spectrum. I understand his keen interest for finding this book of Saint Redchild’s, though I wonder if he his hoping we will find something more.

Something more...

Nales Channing, the curator for the Museum, told us that the nephew of the late Argus Pembril, Anton Lemaine I believe his name way, would be meeting us in the town of Dalkin, and the he will go into further detail of what kind of state Pembril Manor is in. Channing’s offhandedness and lack of details makes me curious as to what “other things” might be waiting for us there. The curator refused to say anything more about it even when I tried to ask him. I am not sure if it was because he does not believe the tales told or if it is because he is a superstitious man. Regardless, he seemed spooked and was glad that it was us and not one of the Museum’s staff going to Pembril Manor.

Whatever it is we might find ourselves facing out there, if there is something more sinister in that old manor house, I feel like we will keep each other safe. It is just a feeling, but Jenvyre always taught me to listen to my instincts. “They can make the difference in keeping yourself safe.”

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