Baldur’s Gate 3 Custom Campaign Releases Prologue With Over 2,000 Lines Of Dialogue

Solo modder u/moezilla-666 just released the first part of their ambitious Baldur’s Gate 3 custom campaign, The Grand Theater – Sell your Lute to the Devil. Set in the outskirts of the city, this lavish hippodrome is operated by the Red Wizards of Thay, who are calling on performers far and wide to “showcase their talents… but at a cost.”

You might recognise them from the recent Dungeons & Dragons movie, where they featured as the main villain. But they also appeared in the original Baldur’s Gate games, with one even starring as a companion across both – Edwin Odesseiron.

These villainous mages were once the ruling class of Thay, but amidst the War of the Zulkirs, they were fractured into two. Some remained with the lich Szass Tam, who led the charge during the brutal ten year conflict, while others fled Thay in search of reddish pastures. They became travelling arcanist merchants, passing the monikre of Red Wizard to their loved ones.

The War of the Zulkirs took place from 1375 to 1385 DR, whereas Baldur’s Gate 3 is set over 100 years later in 1492 DR. Going by their corpse-like design, these could be the same undead necromancers who fled all those years ago, if not their descendants. It’ll be interesting to see how u/moezilla-666 fits them into the world of Baldur’s Gate 3 all these years later.

Everything You Need To Know About The Custom Campaign

In Version 1.0, there are 2,000 lines of dialogue, six new quests (one of which can already be completed), a very rare reward, the Outside Arrival and Entry Hall areas, and eight new NPCs (with new models). Since The Grand Theater is the work of one developer, however, there is no voice acting right now. Instead, the entire mod is text-based.

“It’s a huge organisational effort to find the right [voice actors], then recording everything, aligning it to the text, and implementing it,” u/moezilla-666 explained. “That’s a team sized effort. Further finding the right VAs is a process in itself, you want a voice [to] fit the character and not just have a voice for having a voice.”

Finding the theater itself is fairly simple. There are three lutes hidden in the game, one for each Act, and interacting with these sends you directly to the custom campaign. There’s one in the Nautiloid Ship at the very start, another beneath the tax collector’s house in Act 2, and one more fittingly in the backroom of the music instrument trader in Act 3. For the most authentic experience, u/moezilla-666 suggests venturing to the theater once you’ve reached Baldur’s Gate.

Systems

Released

August 3, 2023

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence