A Knight On The Town
The joys of Baldur’sGateII ’s epic second chapter.
There’s something wonderful about playing an RPG that wants you to be part of its world. That’s what makes Baldur’s Gate II’s second chapter so special. In a game that’s mostly about a journey, it’s a chance to settle down for a while, to make its capital city of Amn your home, and even put down a few roots in a city with a very distinct set of rules and an archly observed sense of culture. The premise is simple. You need to travel to a mage prison called Spellhold, and for that, you need a lot of money. Unlike most RPGs, however, you don’t simply head to a map marker to do a specific quest, but are cut loose in the middle of a thriving metropolis to earn it however you see fit.
This ‘objective’ based system of advancement really should have been ripped off more often. We have seen its like occasionally, most recently in Shadowrun: Dragonfall, where your team of mercenaries have basically the same goal of raising money to get to the boss, and to a lesser extent in Fable 3, which was about funding a counterattack against the forces of darkness. However, nothing’s ever done it better than Baldur’s Gate II, which effectively turned its second chapter into a whole anthology of surprisingly in-depth D&D modules in their own right. These not only offered missions—such as saving new party member Nalia De’Arnise’s family home, or propping up a theatre—but a stronghold, specific to each major character class, for the player to call home, complete tasks for and return to throughout the rest of the game.
Earning your keep
While the strongholds were classdependent, the quests leading to them were open to everyone, and that wasn’t the only choice. There were two factions vying for your attention, and plenty of smaller quests to pick up. Everyone praised The Witcher 2 for having two wildly different second acts to play, but Baldur’s Gate II essentially shoved an entire RPG into one chapter.
You didn’t have to do much of it. Conveniently, each quest resulted in an incredible payout, and you only got the one stronghold per run. Still, every player got something special, plus plenty more.
It’s one of the best chapters in any RPG, both for that freedom, and for its restrictions. Magic, for instance, is forbidden in the city, and casting it will quickly summon some magekillers called the Cowled Wizards to first warn you, then zap you. In keeping with the freeform nature of this chapter, even that is more interesting than it might sound, with a choice to just keep your wand in your proverbial pants, to pay for an expensive licence that lets you practice it—valuable cash that could be going to your Actually Continue The Quest Fund—or fight against them until they accept you’re too tough for them to control and leave you alone. That’s an interesting choice—and the kind that’s been sadly missing even from games like BioWare’s own Dragon Age, which paid lip service to the idea that Mages were illegal, but never actually dared step up and interrupt the fun.
hang your hat
The stronghold quests are the standout part of the chapter. Along with the ones mentioned before, a Mage gets a planar sphere and plucky apprentices, a Druid their own grove, a Cleric their own temple and so on, each with events like putting on a play by choosing the star, writing music, and fighting off invading barbarians. Yes, that’s still during the Bard’s theatre quest. You simply can’t make it in show business without breaking a few skulls!
These events are timed, scattered throughout your journey, and, again, contribute more than just extra content. Instead, they add to the sense that wheels are turning away from your party’s direct actions, as well as giving your hero a second home. It’s easy to get caught up to the point of being disappointed when they’re over, and all that’s left is the matter of tramping across the world to insert a +2 boot into evil’s behind.
Replaying the chapter, however, is much like going back to games like the original Fallouts— a reminder of how much more RPGs can do than we often see, and how many ideas are out there waiting to be dusted off and tried again. Shadowrun: Dragonfall picked up this excellent flag once. Fingers crossed that future games will continue where it left off.
every player got something special, plus plenty more