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Locationmajor

Toril

Toril, also called Abeir-Toril in older or more formal usage, is the planet on which the Forgotten Realms setting is based.

Importancemajor

Key takeaways

  • Toril is the planet It is not equivalent to Faerûn, the Sword Coast, Baldur’s Gate or the Wilderness.
  • Faerûn is the principal continent shown in the game The majority of the adventure occurs in a small western section of it.
  • The Sword Coast is the most useful regional label for the game’s setting, although several early-game locations lie inland in Elturgard and the game does not present the entire Sword Coast.
  • The Underdark remains part of Toril It is not another plane, but an enormous subterranean world beneath the surface.
  • Avernus, the Astral Plane and the Shadowfell are not Torilian subareas They are separate planes reached during the prologue or through specific story and quest sequences.
  • The playable map is only a small fragment of the planet Places such as Waterdeep, Amn and Kara-Tur belong to the wider setting but are not explorable regions in the base game.

About this guide

Scope: Base game, including its canonical story locations and named places that are situated on Toril. Important boundary: Toril is a planet, not a single explorable region or map in Baldur’s Gate 3. The game’s playable Torilian content is concentrated in a small part of Faerûn, principally the Sword Coast and the neighbouring lands around Baldur’s Gate. Locations in Avernus, the Astral Plane, the Shadowfell and other planes are listed separately rather than treated as parts of Toril.

Overview

Toril, also called Abeir-Toril in older or more formal usage, is the planet on which the Forgotten Realms setting is based. Faerûn is one of Toril’s major continents, and almost all of Baldur’s Gate 3 takes place there. The game therefore does not provide a “Toril map” in the same sense that it provides maps for the Wilderness, the Underdark, the Shadow-Cursed Lands or Baldur’s Gate. Instead, Toril is the highest geographical layer behind those regions.

The playable story begins on an illithid nautiloid travelling between planes, but the party soon reaches the Wilderness of Elturgard, a region along the River Chionthar and the Risen Road between Elturel and Baldur’s Gate. From there, the adventure expands through the Underdark, the Rosymorn Monastery region and the Shadow-Cursed Lands before reaching Rivington, Wyrm’s Crossing and Baldur’s Gate itself. The game’s planet-scale setting is consequently best understood as a focused journey across western Faerûn, rather than a tour of Toril as a whole.

Toril

Toril is the world or planet of the Forgotten Realms. In older material it is commonly called Abeir-Toril, with “Toril” being the everyday shortened form. Faerûn occupies only part of the planet. Other continents and regions exist elsewhere, but Baldur’s Gate 3 does not allow the player to travel across them.

Toril should therefore be treated as a setting-level entry rather than a normal game region. It has no single waypoint, border, loading screen or universal encounter table. Its importance is geographical and cosmological: it identifies the world where Faerûn, Baldur’s Gate, Elturel and the Sword Coast are located.

Faerûn

Faerûn is the continent containing the overwhelming majority of the game’s story. Its western portion includes the Sword Coast, a long coastal and inland region containing major settlements such as Baldur’s Gate and Waterdeep.

Within the game, the party travels through only a narrow part of western Faerûn:

text Toril └── Faerûn ├── Elturgard and the Wilderness ├── The Risen Road ├── Rosymorn Monastery region ├── The Underdark ├── Shadow-Cursed Lands └── Baldur’s Gate and its surrounding districts

The Shadow-Cursed Lands are geographically connected to Faerûn and are treated as an over-world region in Act Two. The Underdark is also physically beneath Faerûn. Neither is a separate plane.

Faerûn: steps

  1. 01
    The wilderness near Elturel and the River Chionthar.
  2. 02
    The Risen Road towards Baldur’s Gate.
  3. 03
    The mountain route to Rosymorn Monastery.
  4. 04
    The Underdark beneath the surface.
  5. 05
    The Shadow-Cursed Lands east of the first act.
  6. 06
    The settlements and districts surrounding Baldur’s Gate.

The Sword Coast and Elturgard

The game is often described broadly as a Sword Coast adventure, but the early Wilderness is more precisely associated with Elturgard, the realm centred on Elturel. The Wilderness covers part of the River Chionthar and the Risen Road between Elturel and Baldur’s Gate. This distinction matters because Elturel is not the same place as the Wilderness, and the Wilderness is not the same as Baldur’s Gate.

The road network and river provide the game’s principal geographical logic:

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The following regions are the meaningful in-game subdivisions of Toril in the base game. The region list follows the game’s map structure, where regions contain connected locations separated by loading screens.

Act One: Wilderness

The Wilderness is a heavily wooded Elturgard region containing sections of the Risen Road and River Chionthar. It is the main over-world starting area after the nautiloid crash.

The area is not simply “the forest”. It includes several distinct settlements, roads, ruins, caves and hidden entrances. Its central conflicts involve the Emerald Grove’s druids and tiefling refugees, the goblin forces occupying the old Selûnite temple, and the wider influence of the Absolute.

Named locations in the Wilderness

Some of these are map regions, while others are interiors or subareas. The Emerald Grove, for example, encompasses the Hollow, Sacred Pool, Inner Sanctum and Underground Passage. The Goblin Camp includes the Shattered Sanctum, Defiled Temple and Worg Pens. The Sunlit Wetlands become the Putrid Bog when the area’s illusion is exposed.

Access and routes

The Wilderness can be explored directly after the prologue. The principal routes are:

The Underdark entrances are not interchangeable in practical terms. The party can reach it through the Defiled Temple, the Zhentarim Hideout, the Overgrown Tunnel or the Whispering Depths. The Whispering Depths route requires a safe fall, such as through Feather Fall, while the other routes use ladders, portals or an elevator.

Named locations in the Wilderness

Rosymorn Monastery Trail

The Rosymorn Monastery region is a mountain route leading away from the Wilderness. It is a separate Act One region rather than another part of the central forest.

The trail contains the ruined monastery, dangerous mountain paths and the entrance to Crèche Y’llek, a githyanki military and religious facility built into the monastery.

Named locations

The crèche is mission-critical for Lae’zel’s personal story and for investigating the githyanki’s treatment of the artefact. The monastery route also contains the Blood of Lathander quest and its associated temple mechanisms.

Progression warning

Travelling beyond the Mountain Pass is a major progression point. Before leaving Act One, players should resolve time-sensitive or potentially missable situations in the Wilderness, particularly the Emerald Grove conflict and the goblin threat. The game warns the player before some major transitions, but a warning does not guarantee that every earlier quest will remain available.

Named locations

The Underdark

The Underdark is a vast subterranean system beneath Toril. The section represented in Baldur’s Gate 3 is only a small portion of the true Underdark. It is home to drow, duergar, deep gnomes, myconids, kuo-toa and numerous dangerous creatures.

It is not a separate plane. It is part of Toril’s underground geography, reached by descending beneath the surface.

Major activities

The Underdark contains several of Act One’s most substantial optional activities:

The Adamantine Forge is a fixed major landmark with fixed story and crafting relevance. Enemy encounters and some treasure can vary according to route and party choices, but the forge, mithral deposits and mould locations are not procedural.

Named locations in the Underdark

Act Two: Shadow-Cursed Lands

The Shadow-Cursed Lands are a Torilian surface region consumed by a magical curse. The area is geographically part of Faerûn, but its visual and mechanical identity is distinct from the brighter wilderness of Act One.

The curse changes how the party travels and fights. Light, protection and route planning become central. Players may use mundane light, magical light, protective equipment, Harpers, pixie-related protection or other story-dependent methods to move safely through the region.

Named locations

The Gauntlet of Shar is physically located beneath the Grand Mausoleum but is still a Torilian dungeon. The Shadowfell, reached during the Gauntlet, is not part of Toril and should not be listed as a Shadow-Cursed Lands subarea.

Progression warning

Act Two contains several linked states that can change or close content:

Players should explore Moonrise Towers and complete available prisoner, companion and rescue objectives before committing to the end of the Gauntlet of Shar.

Named locations

Act Three: Baldur’s Gate and its approaches

The final major Torilian area is the city of Baldur’s Gate and the settlements immediately south of it. The game divides this approach into Rivington, Wyrm’s Crossing, Wyrm’s Rock Fortress and the city proper.

Rivington

Rivington is a settlement south of Baldur’s Gate, on the southern bank of the River Chionthar. It contains refugees, merchants, the Open Hand Temple and the Circus of the Last Days.

The Circus of the Last Days is an unusual location because it is an extraplanar circus operating in Rivington. Its presence does not make Rivington itself extraplanar.

Wyrm’s Crossing and Wyrm’s Rock

Wyrm’s Crossing is the fortified approach to Baldur’s Gate. It contains commercial premises, Sharess’ Caress and the route to Wyrm’s Rock Fortress.

Wyrm’s Rock Fortress is one of the Flaming Fist’s principal bases. Access to the fortress, the coronation and the city can depend on the party’s political status, disguises, quests and choices concerning Gortash.

Baldur’s Gate

Baldur’s Gate is a major port city on the River Chionthar. In the game it is divided into the Lower City, the Upper City and the Undercity. These divisions are not merely visual: each contains distinct quest chains, factions, businesses, residences and access conditions.

Lower City

The Lower City is the main mercantile and residential district available during most of Act Three.

Some names above describe businesses, some homes, some public facilities and some quest interiors. A named storefront is not automatically a functional shop. For example, certain buildings are decorative, inaccessible or only meaningfully available during a particular quest.

Undercity

The Undercity is a subterranean district beneath Baldur’s Gate. It should not be confused with the Underdark. The Undercity is a city sewer and ruin complex beneath the surface city, while the Underdark is a much larger natural subterranean region reached in Act One.

The Undercity contains major late-game faction and companion content, including the Bhaalist murder investigation, the Guild, the Temple of Bhaal and the route towards the Netherbrain.

Upper City

The Upper City is the wealthy district of Baldur’s Gate, associated with patriar families and the final assault. Its accessible content is more restricted and progression-dependent than that of the Lower City.

The Upper City should not be treated as a freely available early Act Three district. Much of it becomes accessible only during the endgame sequence.

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Several important places appear in the game but do not belong in a Toril directory.

Rivington: Named locations include

Wyrm’s Crossing and Wyrm’s Rock: Named locations include

Lower City: Named locations and businesses include

Undercity: Named Undercity locations include

Upper City: Named locations include

Avernus

Avernus is the first layer of the Nine Hells. The prologue’s nautiloid travels through it, and several later quests involve Avernus or devils. Raphael’s House of Hope is also located there.

Relevant non-Torilian locations include

Astral Plane

The Astral Plane, or Astral Sea in broader terminology, is reached during the story involving the githyanki artefact and later companion events. It is not a region of Faerûn.

Named locations include

Shadowfell

The Shadowfell is Shar’s plane of shadow. It is reached from the Gauntlet of Shar, but the Gauntlet itself is beneath the Grand Mausoleum on Toril.

text Toril └── Shadow-Cursed Lands └── Grand Mausoleum └── Gauntlet of Shar └── Shadowfell

The Shadowfell should therefore be listed as a neighbouring plane, not as a subarea of Toril.

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A planet-wide directory of every resident is not meaningful for Baldur’s Gate 3, because the game presents only a small regional slice of Toril. The useful character divisions are regional.

Major Torilian populations

The githyanki are especially important to classify carefully. They appear in Torilian locations such as Crèche Y’llek, but their wider society is strongly connected to the Astral Plane. They are visitors or occupiers in some Torilian scenes rather than an ordinary local population.

Law enforcement and checkpoints

Checkpoint outcomes depend on story state, passes, disguises, race, class features, prior crimes, dialogue choices and whether the party has antagonised the relevant faction. It is not safe to assume that every checkpoint has a single universal solution.

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Recommended route through Torilian content

A thorough first playthrough can use the following route:

Recommended route through Torilian content: steps

  1. 01
    Explore the Ravaged Beach and recruit available companions.
  2. 02
    Search the Overgrown Ruins and investigate the nearby crypt.
  3. 03
    Visit the Emerald Grove before committing to a faction.
  4. 04
    Explore the Secluded Cove, Forest and Blighted Village.
  5. 05
    Visit the Sunlit Wetlands and resolve the hag-related content.
  6. 06
    Travel along the Risen Road to Waukeen’s Rest and the tollhouse.
  7. 07
    Explore the Goblin Camp and Shattered Sanctum.
  8. 08
    Complete the important Grove, goblin and companion objectives.
  9. 09
    Explore the Underdark.
  10. 10
    Visit Grymforge and decide how much Adamantine Forge content to complete.
  11. 11
    Return to the surface and investigate the Mountain Pass.
  12. 12
    Explore Rosymorn Monastery and Crèche Y’llek.
  13. 13
    Enter the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
  14. 14
    Establish a safe route around the curse and visit Last Light Inn.
  15. 15
    Explore Reithwin Town, Moonrise Towers and the surrounding areas.
  16. 16
    Complete the Gauntlet of Shar only after resolving other available Act Two objectives.
  17. 17
    Search Rivington and the Circus of the Last Days.
  18. 18
    Investigate Wyrm’s Crossing before entering Baldur’s Gate.
  19. 19
    Explore the Lower City systematically, checking businesses, homes, sewers and faction areas.
  20. 20
    Resolve companion quests and major faction quests before entering the final Upper City sequence.

Useful checklist

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Because Toril contains nearly every ordinary item in the game, a single planet-wide item directory would be too broad to be useful. The meaningful categories are regional.

Fixed regional rewards

The exact availability of many rewards depends on whether the party steals, purchases, bargains for, loots or receives them through quests. Some are missable if a faction is destroyed or a region advances to a later state.

Shops and services

The game’s main concentration of ordinary services is Baldur’s Gate. Verified named businesses include:

Not every named establishment offers a purchase menu. Some are quest locations, decorative businesses or restricted-access interiors. Services should therefore be checked against the specific shop or NPC rather than inferred from the name.

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Toril is the stage for the Forgotten Realms, not a synonym for the Forgotten Realms as a whole. The setting contains multiple continents, planes, cultures and historical periods. Baldur’s Gate 3 focuses on a particular period in western Faerûn and uses that regional setting to connect several stories:

The game also contains references to places outside its playable area. Waterdeep is an important wider-Faerûn city, but it is not an explorable BG3 region. Athkatla and other locations associated with earlier games are referenced, but they should not be treated as present-day playable areas in the base game. The earlier Baldur’s Gate games and the new game share the Forgotten Realms setting, but their maps, continuity details and local layouts are not identical.

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Shops and services

Is Faerûn the same as Toril?

No. Faerûn is a continent on Toril.

Is Baldur’s Gate the whole region?

No. Baldur’s Gate is one city. Rivington, Wyrm’s Crossing, the Wilderness, Elturgard, the Shadow-Cursed Lands and the Underdark are separate geographical areas.

Is the Underdark another plane?

No. It is an underground region of Toril, although the game also contains truly planar locations such as the Astral Plane, Avernus and the Shadowfell.

Is the Shadow-Cursed Lands in the Shadowfell?

No. The Shadow-Cursed Lands are on Toril. The Shadowfell is a separate plane reached through the Gauntlet of Shar.

Is Crèche Y’llek part of the Astral Plane?

No. Crèche Y’llek is located in Rosymorn Monastery on Toril. The githyanki, however, have strong connections to the Astral Plane, and nearby story content can involve planar travel.

Does BG3 let you explore Toril?

Only in a very limited sense. It lets you explore a detailed but geographically small section of western Faerûn. Most of Toril is outside the game’s playable map.

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This guide treats Toril as a setting-level location and consolidates the playable Torilian regions beneath Faerûn. That is the most accurate boundary for the base game.

The main unresolved issue is terminology: some sources use “Sword Coast” broadly for the game’s setting, while the Act One Wilderness is more specifically placed in Elturgard, between Elturel and Baldur’s Gate. The guide preserves both labels rather than collapsing Elturgard into Baldur’s Gate or calling every early-game area “the Sword Coast”.

A truly exhaustive directory of every NPC, decorative storefront, container, item placement and quest state would require separate research of all 177-plus location pages and their child pages. The directories above therefore cover the verified named regions, subareas, major buildings, businesses, facilities and non-Torilian exclusions relevant to understanding Toril’s scope in the base game. They should not be read as a claim that every minor object or unnamed background landmark on every map has been catalogued.

Sources