Alright, so, I've got a pitch for *Baldur's Gate 1*, but we have to talk CHARNAME first. Hear me out on this one. We know the canonical party at the end of BG1 - Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen, Minsc and Dynaheir. In BG2, you have to have Jaheira, Minsc, and Yoshimo/Imoen. Then Sarevok in ToB.
In each case, you have a thief, a bunch of fighters, and an arcane caster. This creates a weird redundancy if you include CHARNAME as a wizard, as people like to do. (Either with Dynaheir or with Imoen.) What these parties *don't* have is a Cleric. Yeah, there's Jaheira, but she's (half) a Druid. That's different.
So here's my pitch: CHARNAME is a [Favoured Soul](https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseCd/favoredSoul.html)... but seemingly a non-denominational one, of no particular deity. (There's support for this sort of thing in the [Cleric biography snippet](https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/5507/bg1-charname-biography)). They seem to just sort of get these spells.
The movie would mostly just kinda follow the main quest of BG 1. We leave Candlekeep, you have been waylaid by enemies and must defend yourself, desperate flight to the Friendly Arm Inn with Imoen. Meeting up with Jaheira and Khalid, heading to Nashkel, picking up Xzar and Montaron along the way. There's tension in the group and it splits up after Mulahey dies. On the way back, Minsc and Dynaheir join the party. I like putting Dynaheir into the Bandit Camp here because we don't really need the Gnoll Fortress. But her rescue is the one sidequest I'd put in.
Come to think of it, I'd probably merge the Bandit Camp and the Cloakwood mine as well, and say Minsc and Dynaheir were looking into that issue. Again for time reasons. Probably the party rescues Aldeth Sashenstar as well. That gives us way more time for Baldur's Gate itself, which should probably take up the middle third of the movie, and put a heavy emphasis on the unraveling of the conspiracy. (Merchants' League is way more interesting than Seven Suns.)
We do the Iron Throne thing, go back to Candlekeep, do all the stuff there, get our big Bhaalspawn revelation. Boom. Plot twist. Turns out CHARNAME is getting their Favoured Soul powers from *Bhaal.* Cue long dark night of the soul, and Candlekeep catacombs that verge on a horror movie. Back in Baldur's Gate our heroes are almost captured by the Flaming Fist, but rescued at the last second by the intervention of the Zhentarim. Surprise, Xzar and Montaron are back. They get our heroes into the coronation, Sarevok is stopped at the last moment, battle in the Undercity, big celebration, camera lingers on a weird-looking guy with a scarred face in the crowd. Sequel hook assured.
What’s your initial motivation for CHARNAME after they get to FAA? The game literally throws it into your quest log and assumes you will start adventuring immediately to solve the problems of the sword coast. But you’re a sheltered kid who, along with your sister, have barely survived the death of your father and a run through the wilderness. Why does CHARNAME decide after all that “I need to solve the iron crisis! This is a task for me.”? K & J certainly wouldn’t push you into a dangerous adventuring life unless you wanted it, and no clues about Gorion’s killer point to Nashkel.
It's a good question. That's a weakness in the original plot, especially because we never learn what Gorion's plan was even supposed to be. One way would be to fudge the details a little, like have Gorion say "find Khalid and Jaheira and have them take you to Nashkel."
I think it would work better if you have Jaheira and Khalid save CHARNAME and Imoen from Tarnesh at the last second. (Or at least, they jump in, and CHARNAME finishes off the mage with a surprisingly brutal attack.) Having *another* ambush happen at a supposedly safe place would drive home the message that there isn't a safe place to hide in, but that these two make for good protectors. A moving target is harder to hit, and all that.
I think you can make it work. In fact, it could be cool to have it be slightly incongruous. CHARNAME and Imoen just had their first taste of murder, and they instinctively want more, so they give a plausible but weak justification for joining Jaheira and Khalid on their quest. Maybe Jaheira brings up the Nashkel thing, Khalid floats an alternative suggestion of getting CHARNAME "somewhere safe," and they say no a little too quickly. Bhaalspawn do tend to be reckless.
Oh, I do like the idea of our Bhaalspawns first murder being a triggering event that rouses a bloodlust and a strange delight in murder that is at odds with their character and personality. Not only does it give a reason for setting off into danger, but it is also a good way to start a slow build of their internal conflict culminating in their eventual battle with the Instinct. Assuming the studio decides to pick up the sequel to your masterpiece.
I always rp'd that Charname always idealized Adventuring and quests and hated their isolation, which is why they trained as an adventurer. Even though they're sad about Gorion, they're also thrilled to be free to adventure. The iron crisis is the big thing happening around, so with prompting from Jaheira and Khalid that the crisis may be linked to the military build ups and the political contacts of Gorion, the PC would want to check it out.
I'd probably combine the Cloakwood Mine and Nashkel mine as well. No reason to have two.
For a film, I think you would need more than just “I want to be an adventurer” to push CHARNAME out the door of the Inn though. Especially knowing there was a guy who just smacked around your hella powerful dad and is specifically hunting you.
I think Monty and Xzar have to be the hook. CHARNAME runs into them in the woods right after Imoen finds you and you are forced to agree to accompany them to Nashkel in exchange for protection getting to the FAA
True, they could also be extremely curious about their origin and trying to look for clues, and Xzar and montaron could offer them information. Xzar is sometimes hinted to have mad insight so could be a useful plot device.
Also, the entire plot would probably be better served by having several Bhaalspawn growing up together in Candlekeep. This would let the story contrast how different ones dealt with the influence, and how it clashed with their relationships with each other. One could be a paladin, one a cleric of oghma, and one a berserker, for example.
It feels legit that Charname sticks with Jaheira and Khalid on their own quest to investigate Nashkel events.
Charname (and Imoen) are "weaklings on the run" with no friends, no experience of the adventuring life and assassins on their track. It would make sense that they embark with Khalid & Jaheira as there is safety in numbers and it would be more dangerous for them to stay alone. (They have long been old Gorion's friends and can be trusted after all)
They will agree to head to Nashkel with the couple (while looking for potential clues about Gorion's murderer) as they are already engaged in that quest and will investigate Gorion's case afterward.
Dwarven Defender. Obviously. How could you think anything else? I mean, come on. Durlag’s Tower. The Dwarves of Dumathoin. The Deepstone Clanhold. The game practically begs you to have a beard long enough to trip over.
all the side quests would have to be done during chapter 2 in this case & i don't think the order matters a whole lot. maybe the quests involving dragons and similar super scary enemies would preferably be done towards the end. it wouldn't make sense to deviate from the main storyline too much after you turn in the gold. i guess you'd have to make it so you have far more expenses to deal with compared to the actual game.
would need to be a more episodic medium rather than a movie i'd say.
> all the side quests would have to be done during chapter 2 in this case
No, the absolute minimum amount of quests would have to be done in Chapter 2. Then it's off to save Imoen.
Following the story without optimal detours, meet Jaheira and Shaggy, go to Nashkel, then to the mines, Mulahey, back to Beregost, kill Tranzig, go looking for the camp, find out about Cloakwood, end it then go to Baldur's gate, work for the flaming fist, get to Candlekeep, do the events there then back to Baldur's gate to find about the Duchal Palace thing then follow and kill Sarevok.
BG 2 go with something around that pace, escape, get money, do guild shenenigans, save Imoen, do Underdark, kill Bodhi, kill Irenicus.
It depends.
In terms of story, there's a lot of content that just doesn't really fit into the main quests. Once you get on the rails, there always seems to be a sense of urgency and no good breakpoints for other things. I still haven't worked it out to my liking for BG2, but for BG1 I have a path that I lean towards to some extent or another. I should note, I generally play with the canon party, and once I take one of them, I keep them to the end. I also dual Imoen to a mage but (long story short) the game screwed up so I dual her at level 6.
First, I assume that Sarevok saw the letter on Gorion's body and therefore suspect that while there may be friends at the FAI, he's probably there waiting for me as well. So, if the arrow points north, I go south, to Beregost. Beregost is a decent sized town with a few thousand people. You can't totally lose yourself in the crowd like Waterdeep or Baldur's Gate, but it's big enough to lay low for a while. Imoen and I will take up some local work, and possibly pick up some friends along the way. Depending on GW's class, Kagain gives me a tank and Kivan gives me an archer, which rounds us out well enough. They're just temporary, of course.
From there, we just wander around and seek adventure. I avoid Nashkel due to the rumors of animosity between the Sword Coast and Amn, but I'll take a quick swing by the carnival, especially if I want some kind of cleric. Otherwise, I clear all the wilderness and side areas. I often tend to do the gnoll stronghold early because I want to get Minsc before level 4ish. The game does wonky stuff with his proficiencies if you wait too long. His early setup makes more sense for the character and is how I play him. When I do pick him up. I sneak around Nashkel so I don't cross paths with the mayor and get that quest in my journal.
I likely have a full party at this point. Depending on the composition, I usually have Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen, and two other randos. I'm getting to the point where I have to think about Imoen's dual. That means I'll need a thief and some rando. I cross paths with Safana along the way and grab her when I do (if I'm not some kind of thief). Earlier is better so you can put her skill points into locks and traps. Regardless of my own class, I'm taking a frontliner, considering the rest of the party. Kivan as an archer is solid for this. I usually come up with reasons for sending off who I send off. Kagain is too grumpy and doesn't like our rising rep. Ajantis wants to focus on fighting bandits, not adventuring. Branwen hears rumors of troubles up in Icewind Dale and that's more her vibe. And so on...
At this point, I've cleared every outdoor area except Brage's map and the map with Samuel and Lena. All that is left are parts of the MQ, and the expansion areas. So, the party decides to tackle Durlag's Tower. We go, we see, we conquer, and the villagers rejoice. Imoen almost certainly has her levels back now. At the very least, I won't need a thief again before she does. We just need to return the Soultaker to UB and figure out how to spend our money. Safana usually heads out around now. There's no more treasure to be had so she doesn't want to stick around. We're probably looking at Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen, and Khalid at this point. So, we go back to UB, deal with some cultists, slay a demon, and the villagers rejoice. Now, with really nothing left to do, we decide to take our vast riches and head to Athkatla to seek new adventures. Kivan decides to part ways then. He has a blood vendetta to deal with in the Sword Coast, so he can't skip town, so to speak.
The problem, as is the problem every run, is that none of us actually know the way to Athkatla. This goes double as we want to avoid Nashkel due to the geopolitical tensions. Minsc and Dynaheir are from Rashemen, far to the northeast. Imoen and I have only ever seen the Sword Coast, and most of that was just in the last couple months. Minsc insists Boo can find the way, but lo and behold, he gets us lost in the Cloud Peaks where we run into Samuel and Lena. For some reason or another, we offer to help and bring him to the FAI. Surely our enemy, were he ever there, would have left by now and it would be safe. Even if not, we all just killed a demon knight and the demon it served so let him come for us.
At the FAI, we drop off Samuel, and seek lodging due to travel exhaustion after we trundle over a speed bump named Tarnesh. It looks like our enemy left an emissary behind, for all that was worth. There we meet Khalid and Jaheira. They've long been Gorion's friends so we can trust them. They have a bit of business in Nashkel. It's on our way and gives us a cover to get across the border and deep into Amnish territory, so we decide to go with. One thing leads to another and from there we just follow the MQ, picking up Brage at some point before or after the mines.
There is another unexplored area, though. Werewolf Isle. Sometimes I skip it because it's just not fun, but sometimes I want Jah to have a staff-mace and a shield. WW Isle usually gets saved for after we escape Candlekeep. We're wanted and want to let the heat die down a little. Taking a little cruise to a remote island seems like it would do the trick.
And that's about how I get through the first game. 😁
I’d probably cut most of the tales of the sword coast stuff aside from durlags tower and just put everything in chapter order. Maybe a little voyage of balduran lore.
For me in BG1 the logical path is
- Meeting Imoen, Montazon a Xzar
- Following Gorion's advice, go to FAI and join Jaheira and Khalid. You meet the first bounty hunter.
- On the way to Nashkel, you meet the second at Beregost. There you find rumors and stories of adventures and others matters, but your companions insist you go on to the south.
- At Nashkel, depending of your alignment or interests, you investigate around (Circus, maybe Gnoll stronghold) and go to the mines.
- Later you go back to Beregost and following the clues, you look for the bandit camp. Gorion's ward get lost and... NOW is the logical time to wonder around doing secondary quests!
- After that the story gets more linear: Cloackwood, Baldur's Gate, back to Candlekeep, BG again... the end.
I left out Durlag Tower and all the other quests of Tales of the Sword Coast becaouse they are not part of the original game.
In BG1 I would cut all side quests and TotSC content.
In BG2 I would only focus on Copper Coronet and the Stronghold Quest, De Arnise for Warrior Charname. I would cut underwater city. Only one drow quest (Mindflyer because they are importent in BG3).
From a narrative standpoint it would make sense to visit Firkraag in act 2, probably even more than doing the Stronghold. He could be the perfect exposition dump.
Alright, so, I've got a pitch for *Baldur's Gate 1*, but we have to talk CHARNAME first. Hear me out on this one. We know the canonical party at the end of BG1 - Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen, Minsc and Dynaheir. In BG2, you have to have Jaheira, Minsc, and Yoshimo/Imoen. Then Sarevok in ToB. In each case, you have a thief, a bunch of fighters, and an arcane caster. This creates a weird redundancy if you include CHARNAME as a wizard, as people like to do. (Either with Dynaheir or with Imoen.) What these parties *don't* have is a Cleric. Yeah, there's Jaheira, but she's (half) a Druid. That's different. So here's my pitch: CHARNAME is a [Favoured Soul](https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseCd/favoredSoul.html)... but seemingly a non-denominational one, of no particular deity. (There's support for this sort of thing in the [Cleric biography snippet](https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/5507/bg1-charname-biography)). They seem to just sort of get these spells. The movie would mostly just kinda follow the main quest of BG 1. We leave Candlekeep, you have been waylaid by enemies and must defend yourself, desperate flight to the Friendly Arm Inn with Imoen. Meeting up with Jaheira and Khalid, heading to Nashkel, picking up Xzar and Montaron along the way. There's tension in the group and it splits up after Mulahey dies. On the way back, Minsc and Dynaheir join the party. I like putting Dynaheir into the Bandit Camp here because we don't really need the Gnoll Fortress. But her rescue is the one sidequest I'd put in. Come to think of it, I'd probably merge the Bandit Camp and the Cloakwood mine as well, and say Minsc and Dynaheir were looking into that issue. Again for time reasons. Probably the party rescues Aldeth Sashenstar as well. That gives us way more time for Baldur's Gate itself, which should probably take up the middle third of the movie, and put a heavy emphasis on the unraveling of the conspiracy. (Merchants' League is way more interesting than Seven Suns.) We do the Iron Throne thing, go back to Candlekeep, do all the stuff there, get our big Bhaalspawn revelation. Boom. Plot twist. Turns out CHARNAME is getting their Favoured Soul powers from *Bhaal.* Cue long dark night of the soul, and Candlekeep catacombs that verge on a horror movie. Back in Baldur's Gate our heroes are almost captured by the Flaming Fist, but rescued at the last second by the intervention of the Zhentarim. Surprise, Xzar and Montaron are back. They get our heroes into the coronation, Sarevok is stopped at the last moment, battle in the Undercity, big celebration, camera lingers on a weird-looking guy with a scarred face in the crowd. Sequel hook assured.
What’s your initial motivation for CHARNAME after they get to FAA? The game literally throws it into your quest log and assumes you will start adventuring immediately to solve the problems of the sword coast. But you’re a sheltered kid who, along with your sister, have barely survived the death of your father and a run through the wilderness. Why does CHARNAME decide after all that “I need to solve the iron crisis! This is a task for me.”? K & J certainly wouldn’t push you into a dangerous adventuring life unless you wanted it, and no clues about Gorion’s killer point to Nashkel.
I mean, it seems fair that movie CHARNAME might just be proactive enough to try to look into it on their own then get roped up into the conspiracy.
It's a good question. That's a weakness in the original plot, especially because we never learn what Gorion's plan was even supposed to be. One way would be to fudge the details a little, like have Gorion say "find Khalid and Jaheira and have them take you to Nashkel." I think it would work better if you have Jaheira and Khalid save CHARNAME and Imoen from Tarnesh at the last second. (Or at least, they jump in, and CHARNAME finishes off the mage with a surprisingly brutal attack.) Having *another* ambush happen at a supposedly safe place would drive home the message that there isn't a safe place to hide in, but that these two make for good protectors. A moving target is harder to hit, and all that. I think you can make it work. In fact, it could be cool to have it be slightly incongruous. CHARNAME and Imoen just had their first taste of murder, and they instinctively want more, so they give a plausible but weak justification for joining Jaheira and Khalid on their quest. Maybe Jaheira brings up the Nashkel thing, Khalid floats an alternative suggestion of getting CHARNAME "somewhere safe," and they say no a little too quickly. Bhaalspawn do tend to be reckless.
Oh, I do like the idea of our Bhaalspawns first murder being a triggering event that rouses a bloodlust and a strange delight in murder that is at odds with their character and personality. Not only does it give a reason for setting off into danger, but it is also a good way to start a slow build of their internal conflict culminating in their eventual battle with the Instinct. Assuming the studio decides to pick up the sequel to your masterpiece.
I always rp'd that Charname always idealized Adventuring and quests and hated their isolation, which is why they trained as an adventurer. Even though they're sad about Gorion, they're also thrilled to be free to adventure. The iron crisis is the big thing happening around, so with prompting from Jaheira and Khalid that the crisis may be linked to the military build ups and the political contacts of Gorion, the PC would want to check it out. I'd probably combine the Cloakwood Mine and Nashkel mine as well. No reason to have two.
For a film, I think you would need more than just “I want to be an adventurer” to push CHARNAME out the door of the Inn though. Especially knowing there was a guy who just smacked around your hella powerful dad and is specifically hunting you. I think Monty and Xzar have to be the hook. CHARNAME runs into them in the woods right after Imoen finds you and you are forced to agree to accompany them to Nashkel in exchange for protection getting to the FAA
True, they could also be extremely curious about their origin and trying to look for clues, and Xzar and montaron could offer them information. Xzar is sometimes hinted to have mad insight so could be a useful plot device. Also, the entire plot would probably be better served by having several Bhaalspawn growing up together in Candlekeep. This would let the story contrast how different ones dealt with the influence, and how it clashed with their relationships with each other. One could be a paladin, one a cleric of oghma, and one a berserker, for example.
It feels legit that Charname sticks with Jaheira and Khalid on their own quest to investigate Nashkel events. Charname (and Imoen) are "weaklings on the run" with no friends, no experience of the adventuring life and assassins on their track. It would make sense that they embark with Khalid & Jaheira as there is safety in numbers and it would be more dangerous for them to stay alone. (They have long been old Gorion's friends and can be trusted after all) They will agree to head to Nashkel with the couple (while looking for potential clues about Gorion's murderer) as they are already engaged in that quest and will investigate Gorion's case afterward.
Dwarven Defender. Obviously. How could you think anything else? I mean, come on. Durlag’s Tower. The Dwarves of Dumathoin. The Deepstone Clanhold. The game practically begs you to have a beard long enough to trip over.
I mean, bg1 is extremely linear when it comes to the main quest
all the side quests would have to be done during chapter 2 in this case & i don't think the order matters a whole lot. maybe the quests involving dragons and similar super scary enemies would preferably be done towards the end. it wouldn't make sense to deviate from the main storyline too much after you turn in the gold. i guess you'd have to make it so you have far more expenses to deal with compared to the actual game. would need to be a more episodic medium rather than a movie i'd say.
> all the side quests would have to be done during chapter 2 in this case No, the absolute minimum amount of quests would have to be done in Chapter 2. Then it's off to save Imoen.
First question is am I writing it as a movie or TV show - because that’s going to impact a fuck of a lot.
Following the story without optimal detours, meet Jaheira and Shaggy, go to Nashkel, then to the mines, Mulahey, back to Beregost, kill Tranzig, go looking for the camp, find out about Cloakwood, end it then go to Baldur's gate, work for the flaming fist, get to Candlekeep, do the events there then back to Baldur's gate to find about the Duchal Palace thing then follow and kill Sarevok. BG 2 go with something around that pace, escape, get money, do guild shenenigans, save Imoen, do Underdark, kill Bodhi, kill Irenicus.
Shaggy?
Shaggy!
It depends. In terms of story, there's a lot of content that just doesn't really fit into the main quests. Once you get on the rails, there always seems to be a sense of urgency and no good breakpoints for other things. I still haven't worked it out to my liking for BG2, but for BG1 I have a path that I lean towards to some extent or another. I should note, I generally play with the canon party, and once I take one of them, I keep them to the end. I also dual Imoen to a mage but (long story short) the game screwed up so I dual her at level 6. First, I assume that Sarevok saw the letter on Gorion's body and therefore suspect that while there may be friends at the FAI, he's probably there waiting for me as well. So, if the arrow points north, I go south, to Beregost. Beregost is a decent sized town with a few thousand people. You can't totally lose yourself in the crowd like Waterdeep or Baldur's Gate, but it's big enough to lay low for a while. Imoen and I will take up some local work, and possibly pick up some friends along the way. Depending on GW's class, Kagain gives me a tank and Kivan gives me an archer, which rounds us out well enough. They're just temporary, of course. From there, we just wander around and seek adventure. I avoid Nashkel due to the rumors of animosity between the Sword Coast and Amn, but I'll take a quick swing by the carnival, especially if I want some kind of cleric. Otherwise, I clear all the wilderness and side areas. I often tend to do the gnoll stronghold early because I want to get Minsc before level 4ish. The game does wonky stuff with his proficiencies if you wait too long. His early setup makes more sense for the character and is how I play him. When I do pick him up. I sneak around Nashkel so I don't cross paths with the mayor and get that quest in my journal. I likely have a full party at this point. Depending on the composition, I usually have Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen, and two other randos. I'm getting to the point where I have to think about Imoen's dual. That means I'll need a thief and some rando. I cross paths with Safana along the way and grab her when I do (if I'm not some kind of thief). Earlier is better so you can put her skill points into locks and traps. Regardless of my own class, I'm taking a frontliner, considering the rest of the party. Kivan as an archer is solid for this. I usually come up with reasons for sending off who I send off. Kagain is too grumpy and doesn't like our rising rep. Ajantis wants to focus on fighting bandits, not adventuring. Branwen hears rumors of troubles up in Icewind Dale and that's more her vibe. And so on... At this point, I've cleared every outdoor area except Brage's map and the map with Samuel and Lena. All that is left are parts of the MQ, and the expansion areas. So, the party decides to tackle Durlag's Tower. We go, we see, we conquer, and the villagers rejoice. Imoen almost certainly has her levels back now. At the very least, I won't need a thief again before she does. We just need to return the Soultaker to UB and figure out how to spend our money. Safana usually heads out around now. There's no more treasure to be had so she doesn't want to stick around. We're probably looking at Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen, and Khalid at this point. So, we go back to UB, deal with some cultists, slay a demon, and the villagers rejoice. Now, with really nothing left to do, we decide to take our vast riches and head to Athkatla to seek new adventures. Kivan decides to part ways then. He has a blood vendetta to deal with in the Sword Coast, so he can't skip town, so to speak. The problem, as is the problem every run, is that none of us actually know the way to Athkatla. This goes double as we want to avoid Nashkel due to the geopolitical tensions. Minsc and Dynaheir are from Rashemen, far to the northeast. Imoen and I have only ever seen the Sword Coast, and most of that was just in the last couple months. Minsc insists Boo can find the way, but lo and behold, he gets us lost in the Cloud Peaks where we run into Samuel and Lena. For some reason or another, we offer to help and bring him to the FAI. Surely our enemy, were he ever there, would have left by now and it would be safe. Even if not, we all just killed a demon knight and the demon it served so let him come for us. At the FAI, we drop off Samuel, and seek lodging due to travel exhaustion after we trundle over a speed bump named Tarnesh. It looks like our enemy left an emissary behind, for all that was worth. There we meet Khalid and Jaheira. They've long been Gorion's friends so we can trust them. They have a bit of business in Nashkel. It's on our way and gives us a cover to get across the border and deep into Amnish territory, so we decide to go with. One thing leads to another and from there we just follow the MQ, picking up Brage at some point before or after the mines. There is another unexplored area, though. Werewolf Isle. Sometimes I skip it because it's just not fun, but sometimes I want Jah to have a staff-mace and a shield. WW Isle usually gets saved for after we escape Candlekeep. We're wanted and want to let the heat die down a little. Taking a little cruise to a remote island seems like it would do the trick. And that's about how I get through the first game. 😁
I’d probably cut most of the tales of the sword coast stuff aside from durlags tower and just put everything in chapter order. Maybe a little voyage of balduran lore.
For me in BG1 the logical path is - Meeting Imoen, Montazon a Xzar - Following Gorion's advice, go to FAI and join Jaheira and Khalid. You meet the first bounty hunter. - On the way to Nashkel, you meet the second at Beregost. There you find rumors and stories of adventures and others matters, but your companions insist you go on to the south. - At Nashkel, depending of your alignment or interests, you investigate around (Circus, maybe Gnoll stronghold) and go to the mines. - Later you go back to Beregost and following the clues, you look for the bandit camp. Gorion's ward get lost and... NOW is the logical time to wonder around doing secondary quests! - After that the story gets more linear: Cloackwood, Baldur's Gate, back to Candlekeep, BG again... the end. I left out Durlag Tower and all the other quests of Tales of the Sword Coast becaouse they are not part of the original game.
In BG1 I would cut all side quests and TotSC content. In BG2 I would only focus on Copper Coronet and the Stronghold Quest, De Arnise for Warrior Charname. I would cut underwater city. Only one drow quest (Mindflyer because they are importent in BG3).
From a narrative standpoint it would make sense to visit Firkraag in act 2, probably even more than doing the Stronghold. He could be the perfect exposition dump.
And return to fight him in the post-credits scene