There was an interview about the Dead Three regarding Baldur's Gate on the D&D podcast/RUclips. Ultimately, after the Second Sundering when Ao was reestablishing order, he made an ultimatum to the gods requiring they no longer directly interfere in the affairs of mortals. The Dead Three and Auril are notable for refusing this commandment and so were all demoted to quasi-deities. AFAIK, no publication has made that clear, but the designers/writers have publicly accepted that as the state of things post-SCAG at least as recently as BG:DiA and RotFM. In that same interview, they also stated that Baldur's Gate 3 will at least touch upon the schemes of the Dead Three if not becoming the main plot of the game.
This game is going to be so overwhelming when its released. There's so much lore to cover and explain. its either going to be an rpg player's wet dream or a fever dream for others, and we're here for it!
Thanks for touching upon this. This whole issue has been irritating me for a while because we've never received a plausible explanation as to why he was demoted. I hope that you are right about your theory of joint collaboration between WOTC and Larian...fingers crossed for a grand revelation.
Potential Spoilers for BG3: My theory is that the dead-three quasi-deity status is basically just a reshuffle of powers by the second sundering. Gods overall became "quiter" during that time and withdrew a tad bit. And since all 3 were pretty hands-on in their approach to mortal affairs, the quasi-deity status would make a lot more sense for them anyway. That being said; In BG3 the symbol of the Absolute is basically a combination of the holy symbols of all 3 and since they have been crossed out as dead gods even in jergalite scripture in that game they have either completely perished (which i doubt) or they are no longer dead (highly likely). It could be possible that they are gathering followers and power to somehow "merge" to one being and that the mindflayers are either helping them to identify powerful individuals that can either be used as sacrifices or as "chosen" clerics for their cause. This would also explain why Withers (the undead npc) either might be undercover Jergal himself or a powerful champion of him. He might have a vested interest that these 3 dont merge up, because he deliberately divided his portfolio among them. (So that they couldnt get too powerful?). Shadowhearts Artifact could be an infernal puzzlebox containing the contract between Vlaakith and Tiamat for the Red Dragons. The Absolute might want to use this as a way to blackmail the githyanki or straight up force them to leave the mindflayers alone to create more "true souls". And Shar as the Lady of Loss might see this as a way to cause a lot of havoc in the realms. She's known for stealing artifacts just because it messes with other peoples plans.
Thank you for the video. Even though Bane is no longer a god, I still believe that he still has worshipers. It seems that there are many who worship those that don't have divine status but are wishing that they had divine status.
The games were developed in a time when Wizards of the Coast only considered Forgotten Realms based novels canon, but a few years ago (starting in 2014), they learned to be more open-minded around the same time I realized that just because a game isn't considered canon DOES NOT mean it cannot fit into the Forgotten Realms timeline. Take the existence of Abdel Adrian, for example. He may be an official character (People who have read the awful novelizations of the Baldur's Gate trilogy are mad as hell about that because Abdel is a "Gary Stu" in the novels, a character who is already strong, needing very little character development, like Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy), but that does not mean there is no way the character we create in the games can coexist with Abdel. See, one thing Spell&Shield failed to mention is that with the inclusion of Baldur's Gate 1's new expansion Siege of Dragonspear, it drastically changed the canon the Baldur's Gate novelizations originally set up, promoted the games to canon status, and more importantly, alters Abdel's fate. See, if Abdel really was the true identity of the character we play in the game, after Siege of Dragonspear, there's no way in the Nine Hells the people of Baldur's Gate would welcome Abdel back, figuring out that he is a Bhaalspawn and let him become a Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate 100 years later. And for Abdel to live 100 years after Throne of Bhaal, he should not be put in the position of giving up Bhaal's essence inside his body, which would make him a normal human. Also, his backstory is different, according to the tabletop game "Murder in Baldur's Gate", which is set 10 years before Baldur's Gate 3. When detailing Abdel's backstory, the tabletop game follows inspiration from Philip Athans' novels instead of the games they are based on. Instead of being rescued by Gorion, Abdel was in the custody of Bhaal's deathstalkers, and was rescued by a paladin named Sir Daesric the Pious, and Daesric, who was a friend of Gorion, brought Abdel to Gorion for him to raise. And when Abdel grew old enough, he left Candlekeep to live his life as a traveling mercenary for hire (Unlike the game protagonist, Abdel in the novels did not live his entire life in Candlekeep, he left as soon as he was old enough). As for the game protagonist, Gorion rescued them with his Harper allies in a temple of Bhaal in the Forest of Wyrms (This place can be visited in Siege of Dragonspear). Gorion was forced to kill the game protagonist's mother (who he personally knew), and adopted the game protagonist, not knowing he left young Sarevok behind. In my own novelization of the games (which includes Siege of Dragonspear, I am halfway finished with Shadows of Amn), I made Abdel and the character I customized in the game two different characters. Gorion adopted Abdel first, then my character second, meaning he had two wards, but Abdel being the oldest left Candlekeep in 1360 DR, leaving my character and Imoen the only kids in Candlekeep, and Abdel and my character don't meet again until my novelization of Shadows of Amn, where Abdel becomes one of my character's companions.
I started the Forgotten Realms lore with Baldur's Gate growing up from a kid so it's pretty canon in my mind. In fact it's probably what I know most about that universe lol
Very informative video! If you don't mind the question, what kind of microphone do you use to record? Sounds crisp, even compared to a lot of large channels' audio.
I am by no means a DnD expert, my only real experience being 20 years ago, as a young child, playing Neverwinter nights, Baldur's gate etc... reading up on some lore and watching youtube; so my experience was what? 3e - 3.5? Regardless that being said, The more and more I hear about 5e the more it seems to me that, WOTC, they have been infiltrated by the most unimaginative, uncreative members of every 'ism' group, alphabet crews and blue haired brigades know to modern man and that they are systematically destroying DnD from the inside out.. I've played BG3 beta and although I enjoy the game, it definitely seems like a dumbed down experience from what I remember as a child. Albeit it's a beta but in terms of leveling.
There was an interview about the Dead Three regarding Baldur's Gate on the D&D podcast/RUclips. Ultimately, after the Second Sundering when Ao was reestablishing order, he made an ultimatum to the gods requiring they no longer directly interfere in the affairs of mortals. The Dead Three and Auril are notable for refusing this commandment and so were all demoted to quasi-deities. AFAIK, no publication has made that clear, but the designers/writers have publicly accepted that as the state of things post-SCAG at least as recently as BG:DiA and RotFM.
In that same interview, they also stated that Baldur's Gate 3 will at least touch upon the schemes of the Dead Three if not becoming the main plot of the game.
Its the main plot they just didnt wanna spoil too much.
This game is going to be so overwhelming when its released. There's so much lore to cover and explain. its either going to be an rpg player's wet dream or a fever dream for others, and we're here for it!
Looking forward to it!
I’m going to stream BG 3 as a cleric of Bhaal after Patch 8 drops. I’m hoping to get new dialog as a result
Thanks for touching upon this. This whole issue has been irritating me for a while because we've never received a plausible explanation as to why he was demoted. I hope that you are right about your theory of joint collaboration between WOTC and Larian...fingers crossed for a grand revelation.
Bane hated so much as is his want under his portfolio that running out of things to hate he started to hate himself.
Quite possibly.
Potential Spoilers for BG3:
My theory is that the dead-three quasi-deity status is basically just a reshuffle of powers by the second sundering. Gods overall became "quiter" during that time and withdrew a tad bit. And since all 3 were pretty hands-on in their approach to mortal affairs, the quasi-deity status would make a lot more sense for them anyway.
That being said; In BG3 the symbol of the Absolute is basically a combination of the holy symbols of all 3 and since they have been crossed out as dead gods even in jergalite scripture in that game they have either completely perished (which i doubt) or they are no longer dead (highly likely). It could be possible that they are gathering followers and power to somehow "merge" to one being and that the mindflayers are either helping them to identify powerful individuals that can either be used as sacrifices or as "chosen" clerics for their cause. This would also explain why Withers (the undead npc) either might be undercover Jergal himself or a powerful champion of him. He might have a vested interest that these 3 dont merge up, because he deliberately divided his portfolio among them. (So that they couldnt get too powerful?). Shadowhearts Artifact could be an infernal puzzlebox containing the contract between Vlaakith and Tiamat for the Red Dragons. The Absolute might want to use this as a way to blackmail the githyanki or straight up force them to leave the mindflayers alone to create more "true souls". And Shar as the Lady of Loss might see this as a way to cause a lot of havoc in the realms. She's known for stealing artifacts just because it messes with other peoples plans.
Thank you for the video. Even though Bane is no longer a god, I still believe that he still has worshipers. It seems that there are many who worship those that don't have divine status but are wishing that they had divine status.
I didn't know that the Bhaalspawn crisis wasn't canon at one point. Nicely made as always.
The games were developed in a time when Wizards of the Coast only considered Forgotten Realms based novels canon, but a few years ago (starting in 2014), they learned to be more open-minded around the same time I realized that just because a game isn't considered canon DOES NOT mean it cannot fit into the Forgotten Realms timeline.
Take the existence of Abdel Adrian, for example. He may be an official character (People who have read the awful novelizations of the Baldur's Gate trilogy are mad as hell about that because Abdel is a "Gary Stu" in the novels, a character who is already strong, needing very little character development, like Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy), but that does not mean there is no way the character we create in the games can coexist with Abdel. See, one thing Spell&Shield failed to mention is that with the inclusion of Baldur's Gate 1's new expansion Siege of Dragonspear, it drastically changed the canon the Baldur's Gate novelizations originally set up, promoted the games to canon status, and more importantly, alters Abdel's fate. See, if Abdel really was the true identity of the character we play in the game, after Siege of Dragonspear, there's no way in the Nine Hells the people of Baldur's Gate would welcome Abdel back, figuring out that he is a Bhaalspawn and let him become a Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate 100 years later. And for Abdel to live 100 years after Throne of Bhaal, he should not be put in the position of giving up Bhaal's essence inside his body, which would make him a normal human.
Also, his backstory is different, according to the tabletop game "Murder in Baldur's Gate", which is set 10 years before Baldur's Gate 3. When detailing Abdel's backstory, the tabletop game follows inspiration from Philip Athans' novels instead of the games they are based on. Instead of being rescued by Gorion, Abdel was in the custody of Bhaal's deathstalkers, and was rescued by a paladin named Sir Daesric the Pious, and Daesric, who was a friend of Gorion, brought Abdel to Gorion for him to raise. And when Abdel grew old enough, he left Candlekeep to live his life as a traveling mercenary for hire (Unlike the game protagonist, Abdel in the novels did not live his entire life in Candlekeep, he left as soon as he was old enough). As for the game protagonist, Gorion rescued them with his Harper allies in a temple of Bhaal in the Forest of Wyrms (This place can be visited in Siege of Dragonspear). Gorion was forced to kill the game protagonist's mother (who he personally knew), and adopted the game protagonist, not knowing he left young Sarevok behind.
In my own novelization of the games (which includes Siege of Dragonspear, I am halfway finished with Shadows of Amn), I made Abdel and the character I customized in the game two different characters. Gorion adopted Abdel first, then my character second, meaning he had two wards, but Abdel being the oldest left Candlekeep in 1360 DR, leaving my character and Imoen the only kids in Candlekeep, and Abdel and my character don't meet again until my novelization of Shadows of Amn, where Abdel becomes one of my character's companions.
Cyric is my favorite Forgotten realms character, im still loyally waiting for his magnificent return
I started the Forgotten Realms lore with Baldur's Gate growing up from a kid so it's pretty canon in my mind. In fact it's probably what I know most about that universe lol
Yes, for many people the game was the entry point for them.
Yeah, the whole Bane thing never made sense to me but I think your theory might turn out to be correct
The dead 3 refused to keep their hands out of the cookie jar and so where stripped of their divinity.
The grey box version of the realms is still my fav version
1987. I remember it.
Very informative video! If you don't mind the question, what kind of microphone do you use to record? Sounds crisp, even compared to a lot of large channels' audio.
So who replaced Bane?
WAH YOU SOUND EXACTLY LIKE PETER SILBERMAN
Nothing precludes both good joint cooperation and bad writing.
5e lore is a mess so I'm not holding my breath
I would say that 5E lore inherited the mess that 4E gave it.
Bane is daddy
Especially with that new look in the card's artwork 🥴
I am by no means a DnD expert, my only real experience being 20 years ago, as a young child, playing Neverwinter nights, Baldur's gate etc... reading up on some lore and watching youtube; so my experience was what? 3e - 3.5? Regardless that being said,
The more and more I hear about 5e the more it seems to me that, WOTC, they have been infiltrated by the most unimaginative, uncreative members of every 'ism' group, alphabet crews and blue haired brigades know to modern man and that they are systematically destroying DnD from the inside out..
I've played BG3 beta and although I enjoy the game, it definitely seems like a dumbed down experience from what I remember as a child. Albeit it's a beta but in terms of leveling.