Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, the Mac OS X compatible expansion pack to the Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn role playing game, will be released on Nov. 21 by MacPlay at a cost of US$29.99.
Like its predecessors, Throne of Bhaal uses official rules from Dungeons & Dragons, the pen-and-paper role playing game. Players can import their entire party from Shadows of Amn or create a new, high-level character, as well as have the opportunity to choose a new class, the wild mage. They can also ask any of the non-player characters (NPCs) from Shadows of Amn to join them in their quest.
The story takes players south of the city of Amn, to the country of Tethyr, where the final battle awaits. Players’ characters are now Bhaal Spawn who possess the power to battle dozens of new monsters — including blue dragons, fire giants and magic golems — as they attempt to fulfill their final destiny. As players uncover the mysteries in Watcher’s Keep and other Tethyr locales, they can advance as high as 40th level, amassing up to eight million experience points and picking up new special abilities along the way.
Throne of Bhaal also provides new magic items that players can find or forge from existing treasures, including blue dragon scale armor. At the conclusion of the story, the decisions players made during their adventures determine one of several possible endings.
System requirements call for Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later or Mac OS 9.2 or later; G3/266MHz or faster; 256MB RAM; 56K modem or faster required for multiplayer support. As an expansion pack, Throne of Bhaal requires Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, which is also available from MacPlay.