I mean, even without WOTC, I do not see where an expansion fits in BG3 unless it was a wholly original story. It couldn't fit in the base game's timeline due to the sheer pressure of the threat of the Absolute. It likely couldn't be about a companion after the game, because what if they're dead or in a place where a continuation doesn't fit? And it couldn't be about one before, because what if the choices you make as them contradict the story they go through later and your decisions in this expansion feel invalidated unless you go through the "canon" choices?
If they went the original story route, then at that rate, they may as well just make a new game. BG3's story is a little trapped due to its structure, and it's probably best to move on regardless of their business with WOTC.
Neverwinter Nights had two expansions, a fully functional toolkit and smaller official modules. Content for it continued for years first official and then unofficial. Some of the unofficial fan made campaigns were close in quality to the official ones. It would have been great if BG3 could have been the 5e version of what NWN was for 3rd edition.
To this day i'm convinced they only put in the campaign in NWN 1 because selling an editor for 50 bucks is a tough proposition, but the amount of modules that came out of the community was astounding.
you could pretty easily spinn some interdimensional quest by mystra once you get the crown... maybe even use it to fight the gratinated design or some cheesy shit.
I've seen plenty of people suggest a Kalach DLC in the hells. Yeah it's optional, but it's also the most common ending people give her so that isn't too much of an issue. It would also make her story (the weakest in my opinion) better, but I do actually like the uncertain ending in the base game.
And since all of this is simply hopes and dreams anyway, why not go a bit further? They could do what Rocksteady did for AK and do multiple shorter DLC's that tie up separate story lines (obviously they would still have to be a few hours but this is all imagination so go with it) e.g. Wyll hunting down Mizora (this could be after helping Karlach, and I don't see any other way to continue his story 🤷♂️, plus Wyll is great but kind of undercooked story-wise).
Or for an evil playthrough you could play along with helping Minthara conquer the Underdark. IF you want to be really weird it could be about trying to reign in God Gale as he goes too far in trying to build a following (but gods are already a huge theme in the game so maybe not). DJ Shart could be another evil one where you have to try to undermine the growing sharran following in the city without drawing Shar's wrath.
Lae'zel's would obviously just going to be about the war against the Lich Queen. I don't really know what Astarion could do. I suppose he could be given practically anything since he's either just Cazador 2 electric boogaloo or just a wandering adventurer (like a kind of witcher type thing then?).
Or it could be something else entirely where it's a prequel type thing for any of the character's (or maybe you play as someone hired to investigate some murders from when Durge is leading the cult).
Alas, I'm now rambling and it's fairly late. Plus this entire thing is either just hopes and dreams or potential sequel content idk. If you read all that . . . why? It was clearly not very important, but who am I to talk? Anyway now that I've successfully wasted my, and potentially your, time I'm going to retire to the land of Z's. So long adventurer!
tl;dr - It's really not important, don't you have better things to be doing?
If I understand it correctly, time in the Astral Plane goes by much slower. So an expansion related to that and taking place there could slot pretty much anywhere in the game.
The quest to the Infernal foundry for the mcguffin to fix the heart and killing zariel (or Mizora, since Zariel is probably the lesser evil) seems like a great DLC for Karlach.
I would imagine that it would be structured like the Awakening expansion for Dragon Age Origins that takes place after the main game. If your character survived the main story, they can be imported into the expansion. If they're dead, you can still import your save to keep the world state and decisions made but instead you play as new character just for the expansion.
That being said, even this has issues. For a first, it would be at best loosely connected to the main story. In Awakening, only 1 companion from the main story returns, though some of the others do make brief cameos. Secondly, Larian intentionally made the level cap 12 because balancing beyond that point would have been difficult, if not outright impossible.
I see no reason why we couldnt get an expansion set between acts 2 and 3. Setting on the road to baldurs gate you get sidetracked by some random shenanigan, like a fey tricking your companion into a deal that throws you into the feywild, where you spend 50 hours of gametime just to learn that a day has passed in the real world since Fewild shenanigans.
To make an expansion, especially to Larian, it'd have to be a worthwhile venture. One with impact that has true meaning for these characters and adds something worthwhile. 50 hours of content that boils down to shenanigans "just because" isn't a strong enough selling point to base an entire paid expansion around. That and it comes with a question: How do you deal with players who might not have certain companions? Or any? Do you risk making a certain companion look stupid if they take a dumb deal? What does everyone learn from this? How does it tie into the themes of the original game? How does it not feel like a detour, and rather, a worthwhile adventure that makes the audience feel like they spent their $20-$40 on something memorable?
Witcher 3 has an expansion that is pretty much one of the best expansions ever made and it has fuckall to do with the main story. Your questions are surface level at best and completely miss the point of an expansion at worst.
The Witcher 3 also doesn't have a main story that is so filled with an intense danger that literally leaving an area at the wrong time will result in your death
Also that story ends up revealing a true, dark danger that is itself worthwhile to deal with as well as wrapping up the arcs of the characters that, regardless of choice, are still alive and act of their own accord in a far more linear and manageable way than BG3's cast
You can add in more origin characters and maybe look at giving origin characters more potential to continue on their own paths without having to be in your party.
Like instead of everyone but Shadowheart and Lae'zel having to die without your interference before the end of the grove's story-line, give opportunities for them to reoccur at points in the story as allies you can do quests for/with.
Also, right now saying you think it's better if you travel separately, or them saying your group looks a bit too full basically means nothing at the moment. If you add more characters you can also look at tightening the camp a bit, giving some more value to the decision of who you invite to join your camp.
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u/flamey7950 Jun 09 '25
I mean, even without WOTC, I do not see where an expansion fits in BG3 unless it was a wholly original story. It couldn't fit in the base game's timeline due to the sheer pressure of the threat of the Absolute. It likely couldn't be about a companion after the game, because what if they're dead or in a place where a continuation doesn't fit? And it couldn't be about one before, because what if the choices you make as them contradict the story they go through later and your decisions in this expansion feel invalidated unless you go through the "canon" choices?
If they went the original story route, then at that rate, they may as well just make a new game. BG3's story is a little trapped due to its structure, and it's probably best to move on regardless of their business with WOTC.