I came to Baldur's Gate in an unusual way. I was looking for a way to kill time. Lots of time. I was heading into an orthopedic surgery that I knew was going to leave me off my feet for several months and I needed something to keep me occupied. More importantly, I needed something that would engage my brain at the same time. Baldur's Gate was recommended to me as a challenging game that would take hundreds of hours to finish. Well, that seemed about right to me. So I took the plunge.
When I first opened the game I had no preconceptions. I had never heard of the Forgotten Realms. I had no idea who (or what) Drizzt was. My previous RPG experiences were with the Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger series -- great games, but the mythology behind them was different and took a while to learn. Imagine my astonishment as I worked on creating my very first NPC and discovered a category near and dear to my heart: "Ranger." And then a race that was equally dear: "Elf." Baldur's Gate, as it turned out, was very familiar to anyone who had ever read J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." In no time at all Lorien, my half-elven Ranger, was wandering around Candlekeep beginning the complex journey that would eventually bring her to the Underdark, to the Abyss and even to the very brink of godhood.
All of Dungeons and Dragons is based on Tolkien's work. It's about time we gave a little tribute back to the Master. And that brings us to the challenge of this quiz; finding the traces of Tolkien within our stories. We've already had Laufey's "Whispers in the Dark" and Rini's encounter with an all-powerful drinking utensil. Where else can we find Tolkien? Perhaps a youthful Valygar, disenchanted by his stint in the army, found inspiration when he met a cloaked, pipe-smoking ranger in a pub. Maybe Mazzy's family is worried that her adventuring ways will cause her to end up like that Baggins fellow, stranded on a mythical continent with nothing but a bunch of flighty elves for company. And could it be that Salvanas is driven to flirt with everything that breathes because he is desperately competing with his far-more-famous woodland cousin who doesn't have to lift a finger to get feminine attention? This is a chance for unexpected cameos and unusual twists to established characters. I look forward to seeing what the combination of Tolkien and Baldur's Gate will bring!
