The location for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves sets up the big-screen debuts for two iconic video game cities, Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter. In an announcement that confirmed the title of Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons movie, it was revealed that the story will be set in the Sword Coast, which is a part of the Forgotten Realms.
Based on what very little is known about Honor Among Thieves, it’s likely that the adventurers featured in the story will all be original characters. Thus far, none have been tied to existing heroes and villains in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. However, it certainly can introduce some familiar locales. Over the years, several campaign settings have been developed for the tabletop game. Each is packed with its own cities, continents, world powers, political systems, and more. One of these settings is the Forgotten Realms, which was originally created by fantasy author Ed Greenwood and used as the backdrop for his Dungeons & Dragons stories. Since then, it’s become the backbone of a long list of D&D campaigns, video games, and novels.
The confirmation that Honor Among Thieves will take place in the Forgotten Realms’ Sword Coast region makes it possible for the film to explore Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter, which are the settings of two of the most well-known video games in the RPG genre. In the Forgotten Realms, Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter are two major cities located on the Sword Coast and the focus of the adventures that played out in 1998’s Baldur’s Gate and 2002’s Neverwinter Nights (as well as other D&D video games). The two BioWare classics (and Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn) have reputations as precursors to popular RPGs from the modern era, such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age. With Honor Among Thieves adapting the Sword Coast, it’s certainly plausible that either city (if not both) will be shown onscreen.
Of the two, Neverwinter is the most likely to appear. Castle Never (its biggest government building) was seemingly teased in a previously-released image from the Dungeons & Dragons movie [via ComicBook.com]. It could be that Neverwinter will even be the primary setting for whatever journey awaits Michelle Rodriguez and Chris Pine’s Dungeons & Dragons characters. Since Baldur’s Gate is so far away from Neverwinter, there’s a chance that their adventure won’t involve both cities, but that remains to be seen. But even if Baldur’s Gate isn’t shown, a reference or two would make a lot of sense, especially since its one of the biggest cities on the Sword Coast and a place that the characters could have visited at some point in their lives.
Exploring either city in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves could open the door for some big Easter Eggs and connections to the classic video games. A trip to Neverwinter could showcase the various diverse districts of the city. Or, if the main characters head to Baldur’s Gate, they could pay visits to important places of interest from the first game, such as the Sorcerous Sundries shop, the Elfsong Tavern, or the headquarters of the famous Flaming Fist mercenary group.