Icewind Dale

In the Northern parts of Faerûn the winter never ends. In this harsh realm of ice only a few tough survivors live, and nowadays even those hardy few find the conditions a tad tougher. A party of adventurers has just arrived at the small fishing town of Easthaven. Its leader Hrothgar organizes an expedition to help a troubled nearby tree-village, Kuldahar. The party joins the expedition, but an ambush by frost giants causes an avalanche, killing everyone but the heroes themselves. Now they must continue Hrothgar's quest and discover the source of the evil that threatens the land.

Icewind Dale is a party-based role-playing game with real-time combat, very similar in visual style and basic gameplay mechanics to Baldur's Gate. The game utilizes the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. As opposed to Baldur's Gate (and similarly to older AD&D RPGs), the player is free to create a party of up to six characters belonging to various races and classes; no characters inhabiting the game world are able to join the party afterwards. Compared to Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment by the same developers, Icewind Dale is more combat-oriented; it has a linear plot advancement and focuses on extensive exploration of hostile areas rather than conversations with characters and quests.