Although the modding community was prevalent before developer , Baldur's Gate 3 modding stepped up an extra gear when Larian gave players an official toolkit. Now, more ambitious projects are in the works that will make the already massive game even larger, bringing more than just the many cosmetic and quality-of-life mods that have been filling everyone's load orders. Of course, there are gameplay-related mods that add some of D&D's most popular subclasses, and some Homebrew classes like the bloodhunter, but none so far are quite as ambitious as the Curse of Strahd adaptation.

Unfortunately, there isn't a Game Master Mode for BG3, unlike Larian's prior title, Divinity: Original Sin 2, so many players have been unable to port their campaigns into the game. That hasn't stopped one team of fans from trying to recreate Curse of Strahd in BG3, building a total conversion mod from the ground up. CoS is widely considered to be one of the best adventure modules for D&D 5e, having been released in 2016 and showing the darker, gothic side to the Forgotten Realms' lore while giving everyone a classic, vampire-hunting story.

Project Strahd Will Bring Curse Of Strahd To BG3

Bringing One Of D&D's Biggest Bads To The Gaming World

Project Strahd is the working name of the mod that hopes to bring Curse of Strahd to BG3. According to the Reddit post by the creator on r/CurseofStrahd, the mod will stay as close to the source material as it can while telling a compelling story in the mists of Barovia. The development team will be playing the part of the DM, guiding players through the fan-favorite adventure module, and the hope is that the campaign will be told in the same style as BG3's story, although reaching the same level of quality might be too much to expect.

Curse of Strahd takes place in Barovia, one of the Domains of Dread in the remote corners of the Shadowfell.

Still, massive fan projects have matched or sured the quality of the games they're based on before. Fallout: London for Fallout 4 and Enderal for Skyrim are two examples of this, and Project Strahd looks like it could do something similar, given the popularity of the source material and size of the team behind the project. According to the Project Strahd Reddit , the team is made up of over 100 volunteers, which is a good sign considering many projects promise the world but are made up of several burnt-out college students who never had a chance to begin with.

According to the Project Strahd Q&A, the mod will feature new companions, who will be romanceable, each with their own interactions, encounters, and development, similar to the BG3 cast, with Ireena being among this cast. While these characters cannot serve as Origin Characters, like Gale, Shadowheart, and the rest can, Project Strahd will offer players four Dark Urge-style protagonist options to make up for them. Players won't be able to bring BG3 companions or Tav to the Curse of Strahd campaign, and will have to start afresh before they venture through the barren lands of Barvoia.

Fan-Created Content Could Be The Future Of Baldur's Gate

Adventure Modules Could Add Hundreds Of Hours Of Content

With Curse of Strahd taking players to level 10, it is safe to assume that it will be shorter than BG3's campaign (given its level cap at 12), although not by much. If Project Strahd manages to complete its work, the vampiric campaign could take 60+ hours for a single playthrough, and with diverging paths, many will probably end up playing through it more than once, giving BG3 a longer shelf life. Project Strahd could be the start of many projects adapting adventure modules, adding hundreds of hours of gameplay to BG3 and satiating the hunger for a true sequel.

Strahd, the antagonist of CoS, calls himself the first vampire, but his age of around 500 years seems to contradict this.

Fan-created content could be the future of the Baldur's Gate IP, considering how strong the modding community is only after a couple of years. With Larian no longer at the helm of the franchise, it left the perfect gift behind with the modding toolkit in Patch 7. Although consoles have access to mods, projects like Project Strahd won't be available due to the restrictions via Mod.io verification, which stops anything that adds new levels. This makes PC the only home for such projects. However, PC is where BG3 will find extreme longevity, and projects like this are only going to help.

It isn't known how long Project Strahd will take, having been announced in February earlier this year, and it has been made clear by the team that the project is still in its early days and has years left. By the time it comes out, it could come at a time when people are getting ready to move on from BG3 and are looking for a sequel. While not quite the same thing, Project Strahd and other projects could effectively act as sequels, especially for those that have heard of Curse of Strahd but have never got the chance to play it.

There Are Only Questions Regarding Baldur's Gate 4

It Isn't Known Who Is Going To Take The Project Forward

Although Project Strahd has years left in its development, more about it is known than a potential Baldur's Gate 4. With Larian leaving the IP behind for something original, it isn't known who will take over, even if making Baldur's Gate 4 will be the perfect cash grab for Wizards of the Coast. Many have said that Obsidian could be the right fit, considering its proficiency with CRPGs like Pillars of Eternity, although its recent track record doesn't seem like it will recreate Larian's success, especially since the Belgian studio's charm is what made the game so unique.

Another studio that could do a decent job is Owlcat, a recent contender in the RG space familiar with working on big IPs, like with the Warhammer 40K CRPG Rogue Trader and the Pathfinder titles, but taking on a project the size of BG4 might be too much for Owlcat. Larian left massive shoes to fill, and no one can probably fill them, but the fans understand the studio's charm more than any other developer can. While there are only questions around Baldur's Gate 4, there is a visible path forward with mods like Project Strahd.

Baldur's Gate 4 is a title with all the expectations and none of the tools to meet those expectations. The original team at Wizards of the Coast who greenlit the project are gone, the original developer is gone, and no one has been announced to take over. Project Strahd will use the skeleton provided by Baldur's Gate 3 and adapt something that fans already love or at least have heard of. It feels like a project that makes sense, and for the average D&D player who enjoys BG3, there couldn't be a better sequel for the Baldur's Gate IP.

Source: CurseofStrahd/Reddit, ProjectStrahd Q&A