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Hiya everyone :)

So, I've played probably two hours of Baldur's Gate 2 when I was 9 years old, and I remember enjoying the Character Creation screen more than the game because I had no idea what was going on. Now, more than a decade later, I am ready to finally play through the Baldur's Gate series and go all in.

The problem is that I am a completionist. I am currently reading Raymond E. Feist's novels to prepare for Betrayal at Krondor since I heard that playing through the game is a much more fulfilling experience if one has read at least some of his novels beforehand. The same goes for The Witcher series, which I am currently reading through before jumping into the first game.

So, my question is...

... Are there any books that you'd recommend that take place in the same universe as Baldur's Gate that would really enhance the overall experience? Any previous games maybe? Anything at all?
This question / problem has been solved by CFMimage
There are three Baldur's Gate novels and they all suck. I haven't read them myself, but I hear the author can't even get the characters right.

Read here for more info:

https://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/the_baldurs_gate_novels

As for playing prep material, I'm not sure what to recommend. Baldur's Gate lead me to different games, and I don't know how to reverse that at the moment.

Edit: typos, formatting.
Post edited February 02, 2017 by jsidhu762
No need to read anything, really.
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Karterii93: Hiya everyone :)

So, I've played probably two hours of Baldur's Gate 2 when I was 9 years old, and I remember enjoying the Character Creation screen more than the game because I had no idea what was going on. Now, more than a decade later, I am ready to finally play through the Baldur's Gate series and go all in.

The problem is that I am a completionist. I am currently reading Raymond E. Feist's novels to prepare for Betrayal at Krondor since I heard that playing through the game is a much more fulfilling experience if one has read at least some of his novels beforehand. The same goes for The Witcher series, which I am currently reading through before jumping into the first game.

So, my question is...

... Are there any books that you'd recommend that take place in the same universe as Baldur's Gate that would really enhance the overall experience? Any previous games maybe? Anything at all?
You just need general understanding of Faerun and d&d system.
Can read some Salvatore's/Greenwood novels, if you're really into it. They are set in the same world, but they don't have the same relation to the game as Witcher novels to Witcher games.
Post edited February 02, 2017 by burn
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Karterii93: Hiya everyone :)

So, I've played probably two hours of Baldur's Gate 2 when I was 9 years old, and I remember enjoying the Character Creation screen more than the game because I had no idea what was going on. Now, more than a decade later, I am ready to finally play through the Baldur's Gate series and go all in.

The problem is that I am a completionist. I am currently reading Raymond E. Feist's novels to prepare for Betrayal at Krondor since I heard that playing through the game is a much more fulfilling experience if one has read at least some of his novels beforehand. The same goes for The Witcher series, which I am currently reading through before jumping into the first game.

So, my question is...

... Are there any books that you'd recommend that take place in the same universe as Baldur's Gate that would really enhance the overall experience? Any previous games maybe? Anything at all?
Read the manual.

Seriously, manual for BG1 is the best manual I ever read. It gives a great amount of information about the world, cities, main characters, main factions etc.When I first payed BG I had no idea about D&D, what so ever. But by reading the manual I was able quickly understand the setting of the game and when I played the game it felt like I was in a familiar world.

Also, in the game you can find books. The contain interesting information about the world. Read them from time to time to deepen your knowledge of the world. They are typically quite short so it does not take much time to go through them.

I would not bother reading any books. And as mentioned before, avoid the Baldur's Gate novels. I read BG1 and BG2 novels and they were both really bad.
Post edited February 02, 2017 by Lebesgue
I agree with Lebesque. The manual gives a nice insight about the situation and the books that you will find inside the game will give some side lore. They are usually very short, shorter than your post lets say. And about the real books about BG series? I havent read myself and I hate to make a comment about something I have not read myself but all the people I trust convinced me they are terrible beyond belief.

So, you dont have to read anything outside of the game which is nice because the D&D lore the games are based on is HUGE.
Post edited February 02, 2017 by Engerek01
Thank you guys :) That's really helpful!
I'll just read the manual then. I also already read the first Drizzt book which apparently help understand the context just a tad bit better.
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Karterii93: I also already read the first Drizzt book
well you have some good stories coming... best epic ever imo
Apologies if you know this already:

The Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games take place in the fictional world of Fearun, which is a setting within the Dungeons & Dragons pen-and-paper RPG called "The Forgotten Realms".

I believe "The Forgotten Realms" intellectual property is owned by a company called Wizards of the Coast (or at least it used to be). This company publishes(-ed?) all varieties of D&D material for their various settings (rule books, table-top game accessories, adventure modules, novels, etc.)

"The Forgotten Realms" is D&D's standard fantasy setting. There are also several other D&D settings, each with its own flavor, such as "Dragonlance" (lots of dragons), "Ravenloft" (gothic horror, my personal favorite), "Spelljammer" (a bend towards sci-fi), "Dark Sun", and many others. The PC game "Planescape:Torment", which uses the same (modified) game engine as BG and IWD, takes place within the "Planescape" setting.

Each setting has its own series of published material which expands on its fictional world in great detail. "The Forgotten Realms" is arguably D&D's most popular and most detailed setting, with material spanning the last few decades. You could spend years reading Forgotten Realms material, becoming damn near a Faerun historian. And as ussnorway mentioned above, I've heard that many of this setting's novels are very, very good.

The events of the Icewind Dale games and the Baldur's Gate games most definitely have a set place within the Forgotten Realms historical timeline.

So the more familiar you are with Faerun and its history and lore, the more impact the PC games will have on you when you run into a legendary Forgotten Realms character, or experience an event that is part of the setting's calendar.

But Forgotten Realms lore is vast, and becoming a Faerun historian is one tall task, to be sure. So I'd recommend same as previous posts: read the game's manuals. They are [i]very[/I] well done, and give a nice background of the setting you are about to journey through.

Also, throughout BG you will come across many in-game books and tomes, placed in the game for nothing more than adding additional "flavor". If you are interested in learning more about Faerun, then grab and read these inventory items when you come across them. They help flesh out the world quite well, imo.

Now if I could just kickstart somebody into making a Ravenloft game using the BG2 engine....
Post edited February 03, 2017 by CFM
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CFM: Apologies if you know this already:

The Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games take place in the fictional world of Fearun, which is a setting within the Dungeons & Dragons pen-and-paper RPG called "The Forgotten Realms".

I believe "The Forgotten Realms" intellectual property is owned by a company called Wizards of the Coast (or at least it used to be). This company publishes(-ed?) all varieties of D&D material for their various settings (rule books, table-top game accessories, adventure modules, novels, etc.)

"The Forgotten Realms" is D&D's standard fantasy setting. There are also several other D&D settings, each with its own flavor, such as "Dragonlance" (lots of dragons), "Ravenloft" (gothic horror, my personal favorite), "Spelljammer" (a bend towards sci-fi), "Dark Sun", and many others. The PC game "Planescape:Torment", which uses the same (modified) game engine as BG and IWD, takes place within the "Planescape" setting.

Each setting has its own series of published material which expands on its fictional world in great detail. "The Forgotten Realms" is arguably D&D's most popular and most detailed setting, with material spanning the last few decades. You could spend years reading Forgotten Realms material, becoming damn near a Faerun historian. And as ussnorway mentioned above, I've heard that many of this setting's novels are very, very good.

The events of the Icewind Dale games and the Baldur's Gate games most definitely have a set place within the Forgotten Realms historical timeline.

So the more familiar you are with Faerun and its history and lore, the more impact the PC games will have on you when you run into a legendary Forgotten Realms character, or experience an event that is part of the setting's calendar.

But Forgotten Realms lore is vast, and becoming a Faerun historian is one tall task, to be sure. So I'd recommend same as previous posts: read the game's manuals. They are [i]very[/I] well done, and give a nice background of the setting you are about to journey through.

Also, throughout BG you will come across many in-game books and tomes, placed in the game for nothing more than adding additional "flavor". If you are interested in learning more about Faerun, then grab and read these inventory items when you come across them. They help flesh out the world quite well, imo.

Now if I could just kickstart somebody into making a Ravenloft game using the BG2 engine....
I have a question that is sort of on the same topic and I'm sure it's probably been discussed elsewhere.

I've recently gotten the itch to actually start and FINISH an entire D&D game. I bought all the D&D games years ago, on GOG (except for BG Enhanced which I got thru Steam) and I think I keep looking at all them in my library saying "WHERE DO I START"?

Would you guys recommend Chronological order of release? Should I start out say with Planescape and then jump to BG1? I own: Planescape Torment, BG1EE, BG2, IWD1, IWD2, NVWN1, NWN2, TOEE (with Co8 Mod installed) and I'm probably forgetting something..But you get the idea.

I obviously cannot tackle all of these at once and I have tried a few already but never seem to get far.

I spend a bunch of time creating a character, complete a few quests and end up at "the first big town" and just feel a little overwhelmed with "stuff", if that makes any sense. I really want to play and enjoy the games. Thank u.
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nickaepi: Would you guys recommend Chronological order of release? Should I start out say with Planescape and then jump to BG1? I own: Planescape Torment, BG1EE, BG2, IWD1, IWD2, NVWN1, NWN2, TOEE (with Co8 Mod installed) and I'm probably forgetting something..But you get the idea.
All of the different game series are completely self-contained, so it makes absolutely no difference which separate game you play first. Obviously you should play each series in order; BG1 > BG2, IWD1 > IWD2, NWN1 > NWN2, just to keep the storyline fluid.
Thank you! My ADD gets in the way of my gaming sometimes. ;)
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nickaepi: Thank you! My ADD gets in the way of my gaming sometimes. ;)
I have the same problem, I know what you mean :D I want to play games in the best possible way, which is why I wanted to read everything that leads up to a game's story, or even read books that inspired the game in question. I feel it's just much more fulfilling to play games this way, or consume media in general.
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nickaepi: Thank you! My ADD gets in the way of my gaming sometimes. ;)
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Karterii93: I have the same problem, I know what you mean :D I want to play games in the best possible way, which is why I wanted to read everything that leads up to a game's story, or even read books that inspired the game in question. I feel it's just much more fulfilling to play games this way, or consume media in general.
Note that BG1 and BG2 are huge. So during the first play just go with the flow. Role-play it rather than complete it. It usually took me a couple of playthrough to figure most of the things. And probably there are still things that I do not know despite finishing them countless times.

I like your approach of learning about the world before jumping in. That does increase the pleasure you will derive from these games. On the other hand, don't fall into a trap of creating a perfect character or restarting because you feel your character is weak. These games can be finished with most useless characters. And be warned that in BG1 all characters are really weak initially so even if you follow an "optimal build" suggested in guides you will struggle initially.
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nickaepi: Thank you! My ADD gets in the way of my gaming sometimes. ;)
Me too. I have a specific issue unique to Icewind Dale 1+2. I would make a character and when I'm done I wouldn't be satisfied with how he came out. Whether its the class, stats, or the little back story I came up for him. I call it creation paralysis.

Sometimes this would go on for over an hour.
Post edited February 05, 2017 by jsidhu762