Where (and When) Is Baldur’s Gate 3 Actually Set in D&D?
Baldur’s Gate 3 is set in the year 1492 DR, or Dalereckoning, one of the most common calendars in Faerûn. That places it around 120 years after the events of Baldur’s Gate II, and in the relative current time of Dungeons & Dragons’ 5th edition timeline. An event referenced frequently throughout Baldur’s Gate 3 with direct connections to 5th edition is the recent fall of the city of Elturel into the first layer of the Nine Hells, Avernus, as part of a plot by Avernus’ mistress, the archdevil Zariel.
These events take place during the 5th Edition campaign book Descent into Avernus, and while that campaign can end in myriad ways in the tabletop game, Baldur’s Gate 3 is set with the assumption that Elturel was saved from its translocation into Avernus and returned to its place further into the heartlands beyond the Sword Coast.
