Summary
- Baldur’s Gate 3 fans are making a fully-voiced custom campaign that starts out in Athkatla, the same city from BG2.
- Path to Menzoberranzan will feature original story and cast with no ties to BG3. It even has its own Tav.
- The team plans to have a demo out as soon as Spring, or in 5-6 months.
Fans are taking us back to the Athkatla streets from Baldur’s Gate 2, remade from the ground-up in Baldur’s Gate 3, with their ambitious new custom campaign Path To Menzoberranzan.
But what’s especially exciting about this project is that we might get our hands on it incredibly soon, as the team plans to get hands-on feedback from the community in the coming months.
Reddit user Lotrich3 revealed that the team plans to roll out its first beta test in 5–6 months, while the official FAQ reveals that they are “working towards the first playable demo [for] Spring 2025”. Considering that Larian Studios only released the official modding tools last September, that’s an incredibly impressive pace.
Path To Menzoberranzan Will Feature An Entirely Original Story And Cast
This custom campaign will feature a fully-voiced cast, which includes brand-new companions (“due to copyright reasons”). You can technically bring the old cast into the expansion by playing as an Origin character, forcing Lae’zel even further from her creche, but “there won’t be special dialogue because most Origin characters wouldn’t realistically fit into the mod.”
Path to Menzoberranzan will even feature its own, original Tav, as there will be “little to no crossover from BG3”.
We don’t know much about these new characters yet, or the expansion’s story, but its name does give us an immediate clue. We’re headed to Menzoberranzan, ie the City of Spiders. If you haven’t heard of this sprawling underground metropolis, it’s where Minthara hails from, a drow city located in the Upper Northdark, ruled by eight matriarchs from eight respective houses.
Yes, we’re headed back to the Underdark — its “Jewel” no less — and a city full of drow who are constantly at war with one another. Nere will look like a stroll in the Goblin Camp compared to Menzoberranzan.
Right now, the team is focused on Athkatla, building it up “brick by brick”, so it’ll be a while yet before we see their take on Menzoberranzan, but they are making incredible progress nonetheless, which you can keep tabs on in their Discord (or even lend a hand with if you want to apply).
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.