Ethan Crossfield 
Baldur’s Gate 3 continues to expand beyond Larian’s own development plans as its modding community builds new ways to return to the acclaimed CRPG. The latest major addition is The Sunless Citadel, a free custom campaign now available on Nexus Mods. It is not an official Larian release, but it offers a substantial new adventure for PC players willing to explore a more focused and traditional dungeon-crawling experience.
A New Campaign Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons
The Sunless Citadel takes inspiration from the third-edition module of the same name. Modder Batilfly spent roughly six months developing the campaign, which adds an estimated seven to eight hours of gameplay to Baldur’s Gate 3.
Rather than trying to match the base game’s expansive, character-driven structure, the project is designed as a relatively short and linear dungeon crawl. That makes it a different kind of experience from the main campaign, with progression centered more on moving through its custom adventure than on exploring a broad open-ended region.
How The Sunless Citadel Differs From Baldur’s Gate 3
Players should expect several systems to work differently from the standard game. The campaign does not include a minimap, and it uses a custom teleportation system to connect its locations. Because the adventure follows a mostly linear route, fast travel is not expected to be as important as it is during a normal Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough.
The project is playable in co-op, giving groups another reason to experience the campaign together. It is currently limited to PC, and players can download it for free through Nexus Mods.
An Ambitious Release That Is Still in Progress
The Sunless Citadel is available now, but it should not be treated as a fully finished replacement for an official expansion. A camp system has not yet been implemented because it has been more difficult to develop than expected, although the creator intends to add it later.
NPC conversations are included, but the campaign currently lacks journal updates and quest tracking. Those omissions may require players to keep closer track of objectives themselves, particularly when playing with friends. Even with those limitations, the campaign’s length and co-op support give it a meaningful place among Baldur’s Gate 3’s community-made adventures.
Key points
- The Sunless Citadel is a free custom campaign available through Nexus Mods.
- It adds approximately seven to eight hours of primarily linear dungeon-crawling content.
- The campaign is currently playable on PC and supports Baldur’s Gate 3 co-op.
- A camp system, journal updates, and quest tracking are not available yet.
Expert View
The Sunless Citadel highlights how Baldur’s Gate 3’s long-term momentum is increasingly being sustained by its player community. Larian has largely moved on from the game, but the official modding toolkit has enabled creators to produce content that can extend its lifespan well beyond the original campaign. The project also shows that community-made releases do not need to imitate the full scope of Baldur’s Gate 3 to be valuable: a focused, replayable dungeon adventure can provide a clear reason for veterans to return. Larian’s statement that modders are influencing its next game, Divinity, further suggests that this ecosystem could affect the studio’s future design direction.
