Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 goliath89 Mar 19, 2011 2:42:01	Hey all.  My first taste of the D&D universe was the video game Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, on the GameCube.  While I may not have started playing D&D propper until years later, this has always been one of my absolute favorite video games.  I recently decided that it was time for me to try my hand at DMing, and I knew right off the bat that I wanted my campaign to run in Forgotten Realms, and more importantly, that I wanted my group's "home town" to be in Baldur's Gate.  Just so I have a better understanding of the Dark Alliance games, I was wondering if someone could tell me when exactly in the FR timeline this game takes place?  Much appreciated.
#2 Stigger Mar 19, 2011 7:44:39	Can't say I'm that familiar with that particular iteration of the Baldur's Gate franchise, but as far as I recall the main series took place sometime in the late 1360's DR, though I don't recall any specific dates beyond a mention of Sarevok starting his campaign in 1368, while events mentioned in Shadows of Amn place the game during or just after 1371 DR.  Beyond that, your guess is as good as anyone elses in a lot of respects.
#3 goliath89 Mar 20, 2011 21:53:22	Thanks for your help.  I'm not sure if it'll help narrow it down or anything, but you start the game off in the Elfsong Tavern.  Does anyone know if that was ever included in D&D propper, and if so, what edition?  And speaking of which, does anyone know if the Elfsong still exists in 4e?
#4 sfdragon Mar 20, 2011 22:16:40	dont know if it still exists in 4e or not anymore. as what is known official 4e realms BG is whats in the the campaign guide. and as Silversword says, if its not listed in it assume its still there.
#5 Stigger Mar 21, 2011 4:28:15	The Elfsong included in the Realms proper you mean?  If so, then yes, it has an entry in the Baldur's Gate section of Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast from 2e, which presumably didn't go anywhere in 3e, though the details of Baldur's Gate were a bit sparse compared to the previous edition.  Suppose that should have been our first clue that the lore was going to get rarer and rarer as editions passed by... but that's for another thread. As far as Dark Alliance, I thought it was kind of a port of BG to console, but I'm guessing I'm incorrect in that thought (massively as it turns out...).  I'll look it up I guess and see what it is you're actually referring to. Okay, having looked it up... I have no freaking idea, as I've never seen any references in 'canon' to the events I was reading, though I may have missed something somewhere.  Any way it goes, given the association with BG, if only by name, I'd say it was safe to assume that it took place during the same period, roughly anyway, so I'd stick to my previous timeline placement if for no other reason than convenience.
#6 Calamity916 Mar 21, 2011 21:06:13	Oh, the old Dark Alliance games. Those are fun. The games themselves don't really reference any specific cannon except their own so I would go with Stigger's educated guess of late 1360s early 1370s.
#7 Mirtek Mar 22, 2011 15:53:24	The Elfsong tavern also appears in one of the canon LFR adventures and you can even put the elven ghost responsible for the actual elf song to her final rest (although I don't know whether this was indeed the outcome for the majority of groups and thus became canon or if the FR design team didn't just simply stop to care about even the results of the canon LFR mods altogether while deciding that the newer ones would be un-canon)