With six months sinceBaldur’s Gate 3was released, I think we’re all waiting to sink our teeth into some new content. It’s not something Larian has ever confirmed, though they have given hints here and there, despite citing difficulties with the fifth edition’s (5e) power scaling as a possible challenge: namely, if you’re going to advance past the base game’s level 12 cap and have godlike powers, then you need to fight godlike opponents. There’s also a chance that Larian has moved onto a new project, as evidenced by studio head Swen Vincke’s social media posts.
However, they haven’t ruled it out yet either. So, let’s remain optimistic and assume they’re cooking some sort of follow-up to their critically acclaimed RPG. The studio’s transparency about the potential challengers of an expansion is thought-provoking — what is the best approach to downloadable content in Baldur’s Gate 3?
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A Question Of Power
One of the initial ideas I had after hearing about the problems with 5e was that any additional content should be a series of one-shots, standalone stories about the party or even stories about characters that you don’t get intimately familiar with during the main game. You bypass the power scaling problem because these characters can be at a lower level than the main party.
However, that approach feels a bit inconsequential, doesn’t it? We want to see the story continue; one of my favourite aspects of Baldur’s Gate 3 was how important the player’s story felt to the fate of Faerun.Dragon Age: Originshad these standalone mini-expansions that you could launch separately from the main menu, and while they were interesting, they also felt like fluff content to beef up the game’s DLC offerings during a time in gaming when every RPG on the market had tons of expansions.
An idea sprang to mind, then. What’s something that Dragon Age: Origins did a very good job with? Awakening. Awakening was a robust expansion for Origins that took place after the events of the base game. It was even sold physically in shops, something that doesn’t really happen anymore. Awakening evoked this palpable feeling of stepping into something new, the ‘big expansion’ model is something that developers have stepped away from in recent years, but which I miss dearly.
Awakening sees the Hero of Ferelden travel to the Arling of Amaranthine, an area referenced but not visited in the base game. As the new Arl, you need to navigate the political affairs of your new holdings while investigating a ‘splinter group’ of Darkspawn that haven’t disappeared despite the ending of the Blight by you and your companions.
The narrative is wholly engaging. You discover secrets that underpin the plot of the base game and tackle antagonists that pose a significant threat to Ferelden. Crucially, this is done organically. It’s not just boring ol' power creep, instead you’re simply facing a craftier form of evil. This is an approach that could potentially be applied to Baldur’s Gate 3.
Larian should follow BioWare’s lead and introduce new party members for its expansion.
One need only look at the wealth of existing Dungeons and Dragons source material to see the potential of the medium. There were murmurings of a plot involving the god of lies and trickery, Cyric. It doesn’t even need to be on that large a scale, though. I think the majority of Baldur’s Gate 3 fans would be satisfied with a new map, an engaging narrative and a loveable cast of characters (perhaps including a Dwarven companion?).
This will be controversial, but I think Larian should follow BioWare’s lead and introduce new party members for its expansion. The original party members are very beloved, but remember that these characters were unknown prior to the release of Baldur’s Gate 3. Larian can obviously create engaging characters, so why not let them do what they do best?
you may certainly carry over a couple of characters, even Awakening recast Oghren. Those who have the most lore-friendly reasons to be participating in this new adventure are fair game, but there’s no need to shoehorn in all of the old gang, especially if they have no personal stakes in this new adventure. That’s key: the illithid tadpole was a clever way of binding together the fates of very different people. New characters should have a vested interest in solving the expansion’s major conflict.
Awakening combined circumstantial and personally invested companions to create a compelling party dynamic. New characters like Anders and Nathaniel join the Grey Wardens to leave behind their old lives, while others like Velanna and Sigrun have more personal ties to the Darkspawn and the expansion’s primary antagonist.
That only leaves the question of progression. While those who are more narrative-leaning like me would be happy enough to remain Level 12 during an expansion, there are definitely others who will be put off by it, so ignoring that aspect of the game isn’t a wise choice. There are creative ways around the problem, though.
First, you could develop an alternate progression. These could be powers that only work in the local area; admittedly, you’d have to make them pretty cool to engage players. In the same vein, you could reset character levels because of a lore reason; it’s not like Dungeons and Dragons levels have ever been sacrosanct or entirely logical.
A New Awakening
In the vein of Awakening, which added new specialisations (essentially subclasses), Larian could add new subclasses or even entire classes for people who favour the combat and character-building aspects of Baldur’s Gate 3. None of these solutions is perfect, but we’re not going to let some progression compromises get in the way of an entire expansion, are we?
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening is the ideal model for an RPG expansion. It’s substantial, a worthy follow-up to its base game, boasts a strong narrative, a strong cast of new characters and provides a distinct, new area to explore. It’s a model that Baldur’s Gate 3 should emulate, should Larian choose to pursue an expansion at all.
