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InExile, the team working on WASTELAND 2, have announced their next project. Their new game will be a spiritual sequel to the legendary PLANESCAPE: TORMENT and will bear the TORMENT name (though not the PLANESCAPE one, which is held by WotC). The setting, however, will be Numenera, the new RPG world created (via Kickstarter) by Monte Cook.
The inXile team, containing many veterans of Interplay and Black Isle who worked on TORMENT, are planning a game that will continue the original TORMENT's themes of consciousness, life and death, as well as world-hopping. The game uses new skill and combat rules, inspired by the Numenera P&P RPG.
There will be a Kickstarter for NUMENERA: TORMENT (or whatever it ends up being called), though not for a while. InXile are planning to release WASTELAND 2 in October and will probably move into full production on NUMENERA shortly afterwards.
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I with somebody would have created a computer game for Arcana Evolved or Ptolus setting first. :P
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F.A.T.A.L.: Torment! Oh, wait... that's redundant...
Interesting. Will keep an eye on this.
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I really want to be excited about this project, but the words, "Why can't you just let a good thing be?" keep going through my head.
I loved Torment; it is probably still my favorite CRPG to this day. But it's the kind of thing I cannot see well served by a sequel, spiritual or otherwise. They are also setting themselves up to make a game that people will instantly compare to the original, and the game that's being viewed through the rosy glasses of nostalgia will almost always come out on top. And that means it may never be properly judged on its own merits.
I'd be more interested in an RPG based on a world designed by Monte Cook without prior references to other games.
Also, as far as I'm concerned, if you're calling it Torment, but it isn't written by Chris Avellone, and Annah isn't in it, then I'm probably not going to be interested anyway.
Unless I see something that really shakes my perceptions, I am not going to back this (I'm rather burned out on backing Kickstarter projects anyway). Plus I'd rather wait to see inXile successfully put out Wasteland 2 before trusting them to do another backed project. They're a great company, but this is a brand new kind of thing and there's not been enough time to see an end result yet.
I really want to be excited about this project, but the words, "Why can't you just let a good thing be?" keep going through my head.
I loved Torment; it is probably still my favorite CRPG to this day. But it's the kind of thing I cannot see well served by a sequel, spiritual or otherwise. They are also setting themselves up to make a game that people will instantly compare to the original, and the game that's being viewed through the rosy glasses of nostalgia will almost always come out on top. And that means it may never be properly judged on its own merits.
I'd be more interested in an RPG based on a world designed by Monte Cook without prior references to other games.
Also, as far as I'm concerned, if you're calling it Torment, but it isn't written by Chris Avellone, and Annah isn't in it, then I'm probably not going to be interested anyway.
Unless I see something that really shakes my perceptions, I am not going to back this (I'm rather burned out on backing Kickstarter projects anyway). Plus I'd rather wait to see inXile successfully put out Wasteland 2 before trusting them to do another backed project. They're a great company, but this is a brand new kind of thing and there's not been enough time to see an end result yet.
Chris Avelone is already involved in Project Eternity, so you can't complain too much.
Project Eternity has nothing to do with this. I am however looking forward to that as well as Wasteland 2, which will also have his involvement.
I'm just saying that if it's gonna be Torment-based, it should have him involved. Sort of like for the same reason I prefer to only read James Bond novels that are by Ian Fleming. Sure, sometimes new writers can bring something new to the page that is great, but sometimes a story seems so part of the author it's hard to accept it being in another's hands.
Chris Avellone played a key role on PLANESCAPE: TORMENT (the lead writer, so obviously hugely important) but not the only one. In particular, Monte Cook did a lot of work on the PLANESCAPE P&P game and Colin McComb was one of the key figures on both the P&P game and TORMENT (where Avellone has indicated he was one of the most important writers after himself).
So it's in good hands. In addition, inXile and Obsidian may be talking about terms for Avellone to come on board in some capacity. He's busy on both WL2 and PROJECT ETERNITY (though the writing for the former is apparently done, or just about), but may be free to do some side-work on the game. WASTELAND 2 was under discussion for some time before Avellone joined up. In fact, him coming aboard was a Kickstarter goal, IIRC? The same could be true for this game, when it hits Kickstarter (which I suspect won't be until WASTELAND 2 is out).
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They certainly have an excellent team, no doubt about that. Never intended to imply that they didn't.
I am just (ridiculously overly) picky about what I'd expect from a Torment-related project.
If the announcement was that inXile was going to do a nifty, world-hoppy dark fantasy that took place in Monte Cook's Numeria with the creative team involved that they had, and never ever ever ever ever mentioned the word "Torment" (except maybe to say, "this guy was on the creative team for Planescape: Torment"), then I'd be nothing but enthusiastic about it.
Bringing Torment into it lays on a whole other thick and complicated layer of expectations, ones that may be far too easy to set way too high. That's my main point.
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They've apparently got Colin and Ray on board as well for this, both of whom were on TSR's Planescape team. So yeah, I'm paying attention something fierce.
PS:Torment was one of my first introductions to D&D (it along with Baldurs Gate 2 and really early Endless Quest books) before I ever picked up an actual copy of the RPG. So it was a fairly formative thing for me, and got me into the game, got me into writing gobs of Planescape fanfic, and then to doing RPG freelancing. :)
Numenera is an interesting world, I look forward to it. Tough I think the Great Beyond would be a better choice, or at least a few places from Beyond Countless Doorways.
Bringing Torment into it lays on a whole other thick and complicated layer of expectations, ones that may be far too easy to set way too high. That's my main point.
Agreed. I'm not even sure why they would use Torment as that kind of draw. Let's face it, claiming that you're the next Planescape: Torment is going to appeal to an increasingly small subset of older players who think it's the best game ever.
Odds are you're not going to successfully create the next Planescape: Torment, so it's like you're deliberately setting out to disappoint this small group of older players. While no one else will care either way.
And yeah, claiming to be the 'spiritual successor' to Planescape: Torment is setting the bar ridiculously high. Ambition is all fine and good, but come on. (And while I like most of Monte Cook's work, I don't really consider him the Oracle of Game Design that others seem to.)
That doesn't mean I'm not going to check it out though. The world need more good CRPGs. So I hope they will focus more on making a good game, and less on making a 'new' Planescape: Torment.
Bringing Torment into it lays on a whole other thick and complicated layer of expectations, ones that may be far too easy to set way too high. That's my main point.Agreed. I'm not even sure why they would use Torment as that kind of draw. Let's face it, claiming that you're the next Planescape: Torment is going to appeal to an increasingly small subset of older players who think it's the best game ever.
Odds are you're not going to successfully create the next Planescape: Torment, so it's like you're deliberately setting out to disappoint this small group of older players. While no one else will care either way.
And yeah, claiming to be the 'spiritual successor' to Planescape: Torment is setting the bar ridiculously high. Ambition is all fine and good, but come on. (And while I like most of Monte Cook's work, I don't really consider him the Oracle of Game Design that others seem to.)
That doesn't mean I'm not going to check it out though. The world need more good CRPGs. So I hope they will focus more on making a good game, and less on making a 'new' Planescape: Torment.
I can say torment in any of my friend circles and get people talking about it, 12 years after the game came out. It appeals to people in their late 20s-30s, the primary videogame demographic, a lot. I still tell people who are looking for games to go out and play it, and am glad it is on GOG.
Don't underestimate the cult following of old games. Just look at the Wasteland 2 kickstarter that this same company just did. And that is based off of an even older game that significantly fewer of the primary video game demographic have even heard of. When this game gets closer to production/release, it will be getting rediculous advertisement on videogame/geek websites just because of the team that is working on it.
So I hope they will focus more on making a good game, and less on making a 'new' Planescape: Torment.
This I can absolutely agree with.
I can say torment in any of my friend circles and get people talking about it, 12 years after the game came out. It appeals to people in their late 20s-30s, the primary videogame demographic, a lot. I still tell people who are looking for games to go out and play it, and am glad it is on GOG.
I think both of you have points. "Torment" can indeed used as a buzzword to excite gamers. At the same time, we often overestimate how we and our friends might be represented amongst the gamer populace. Granted, this project will be crowd-funded and thus be aimed at a niche rather than a general audience anyway--they are not overstepping, necessarily.
Don't underestimate the cult following of old games. Just look at the Wasteland 2 kickstarter that this same company just did. And that is based off of an even older game that significantly fewer of the primary video game demographic have even heard of. When this game gets closer to production/release, it will be getting rediculous advertisement on videogame/geek websites just because of the team that is working on it.
There are some differences here, however.
When people talk about RPGs, the phrase "I liked it almost as well as Torment" or "I thought it was better than Torment" with regards to storytelling is generally considered to be high praise (at least amongst those gamers that like Torment's particular heavy narrative style). You suggest this yourself. Torment has a particular weight and reputation that is hard to deny. This is both a blessing and a curse (kind of like not being able to, say, die).
While Wasteland has a good reputation, it doesn't quite have that same prestige factor.
Wasteland is also an even older game, a little fuzzier in everyone's memories (I never got a chance to play the original -- I think at the age I was when it came out, my parents probably decided a mature apocalyptic game was not a good idea for me -- although they did get me Trinity, with its nuclear theme, but it was more educational and there was no apocalypse). It is even, I think, less known than Torment.
Further, Wasteland was designed to be able to a world in which sequels could be built. The only reason Wasteland 2 didn't come out in the 90s was because of rights/trademark issues at the time. (The game we got instead of Wasteland 2 at the time was Fallout.) But its world itself is a fleshed out world able to take sequels.
And here is an important difference: inXile is doing Wasteland 2 now BECAUSE they were able to get the rights back to the Wasteland IP. It IS in fact a direct sequel to the original, there's no spiritual successorship about it. It is very clear cut and dry with people having a much more specific idea of what they are getting--and it's much less of a risk therefore to back.
What inXile does NOT have the rights to is D&D or the Planescape setting, nor any of the characters in the Torment story. It can't and won't be an actual sequel. And furthermore, the story of Torment kind of has a pretty pat ending that doesn't necessarily beg for a sequel (even if there are some questions left unanswered, they're the kind of questions that are sort of meant to be). Yes, you can revisit the themes Torment had in another game. But how or if it might be connected to Torment can only be very broad, which leads to a lot of very broad and varied set of expectations which are a lot harder to meet.
Now: can spiritual successors be successful? Absolutely; I mentioned the Fallout series, which became far more famous than Wasteland itself (many Fallout fans don't even realize the game's roots in Wasteland).
But then Dragon Age was touted as the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, and I think that both undercut Dragon Age's unique features, and while Dragon Age had a strong start, it had a weak finish. And I don't think it accomplished that "spiritual successor feel" very well, even for all its merits. And for what strengths Dragon Age did have, bear in mind it also had a triple A budget provided by one of the biggest game publishers in the world and years of development on its side. And I think ultimately Dragon Age would have fared better (not to say it didn't fare well) without inviting comparison to other, well-beloved games.
The issue here is that unlike Wasteland 2, "Numenera: Torment" has a lot more question marks over it about what makes it like Torment and what makes it unique. I stand by my assertion that inviting comparison to the older game may undercut its true merits.
I apologize if I am being a wet blanket. And I wish inXile every success, and truly hope they do make a good cRPG worth playing. But I also wish that there was more willingness to come out from hiding behind the sheen of nostalgia and get away from the mess that that can entail.
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But then Dragon Age was touted as the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, and I think that both undercut Dragon Age's unique features, and while Dragon Age had a strong start, it had a weak finish. And I don't think it accomplished that "spiritual successor feel" very well, even for all its merits.
I think Dragon Age is a really good example of why you should be wary of this kind of marketing. I liked Dragon Age, but the 'spiritual link' to Baldur's Gate ended at the advertisement.
Even if you do have all the right licenses and are actually making Planescape: Torment 2, odds are that your game isn't going to be a lot like the original Torment. Not unless you're just remaking Torment with fancier graphics (and don't get me wrong. I'd pay good money for a Planescape: Torment remake.)
But then Dragon Age was touted as the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, and I think that both undercut Dragon Age's unique features, and while Dragon Age had a strong start, it had a weak finish. And I don't think it accomplished that "spiritual successor feel" very well, even for all its merits.I think Dragon Age is a really good example of why you should be wary of this kind of marketing. I liked Dragon Age, but the 'spiritual link' to Baldur's Gate ended at the advertisement.
Even if you do have all the right licenses and are actually making Planescape: Torment 2, odds are that your game isn't going to be a lot like the original Torment. Not unless you're just remaking Torment with fancier graphics (and don't get me wrong. I'd pay good money for a Planescape: Torment remake.)
Funny, I know at least 2 people who bought Dragon Age: Origins because it was "like Baulder's Gate" and loved it. The link made sales with those people. I haven't heard anyone complain about the comparison before.
Then again, most people I know who compare things as "like Baulder's Gate" only really care because they like Infinity engine style games.
DA:O doesn't really have much in common with BALDUR'S GATE, save the generic epic fantasy world with elves and dwarves in it. And (not exactly DA:O's fault, given the disparity in time that their respective worlds had existed) Faerun, for all its faults, is a more interesting setting than Felderen and the Infinity Engine's combat was simply better and more tactically satisfying.
I actually got about 15 hours in DA:O and temporarily bailed. It has some good elements, but it drove me up the wall that it has an extremely similar engine to NEVERWINTER NIGHTS but none of the customisation or utility. Not being able to precisely define controls or swing the view round using the side of the screen was quite frustrating when you could do that (and a lot more) in a game seven years older than it. The very ropey dialogue and voice acting didn't help.
The different backstories and Shale were, of course, awesome and will inspire my eventual return to it.
DA:O doesn't really have much in common with BALDUR'S GATE, save the generic epic fantasy world with elves and dwarves in it. And (not exactly DA:O's fault, given the disparity in time that their respective worlds had existed) Faerun, for all its faults, is a more interesting setting than Felderen and the Infinity Engine's combat was simply better and more tactically satisfying.
I actually got about 15 hours in DA:O and temporarily bailed. It has some good elements, but it drove me up the wall that it has an extremely similar engine to NEVERWINTER NIGHTS but none of the customisation or utility. Not being able to precisely define controls or swing the view round using the side of the screen was quite frustrating when you could do that (and a lot more) in a game seven years older than it. The very ropey dialogue and voice acting didn't help.
The different backstories and Shale were, of course, awesome and will inspire my eventual return to it.
Funny. I find Faerun to be a spectacularly bland, uninteresting, and inconsistent setting, while Felderen was an interesting world brought to life for me in a level of detail I enjoyed. I found the dialogue on par with any from Baldur's Gate, and the voice acting much less grating.
I actually got about 15 hours in DA:O and temporarily bailed. It has some good elements, but it drove me up the wall that it has an extremely similar engine to NEVERWINTER NIGHTS but none of the customisation or utility. Not being able to precisely define controls or swing the view round using the side of the screen was quite frustrating when you could do that (and a lot more) in a game seven years older than it. The very ropey dialogue and voice acting didn't help.
I remember hearing somewhere in the months before DA's release that it would have similar customization options to NWN, possibly including the addition of an external Toolset where players could create their own worlds within the engine, but the idea appeared to have been scrapped (presuming of course it ever existed). Which is a pity - I had been greatly looking forward to the game as a replacement for NWN, since NWN2 was sadly poor for online server creation for various reasons, and hoped DA would fill the niche; when it came out that it did not, in fact, have any sort of toolset or server creation function, my interest in the game plummeted dramatically.
I still got it, but rather than spending my own money I received it as gifts from a friend a year or two after it came out, along with the sequel/expansion Origins. I have yet to play either, though.
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I remember hearing somewhere in the months before DA's release that it would have similar customization options to NWN, possibly including the addition of an external Toolset where players could create their own worlds within the engine, but the idea appeared to have been scrapped (presuming of course it ever existed). Which is a pity - I had been greatly looking forward to the game as a replacement for NWN, since NWN2 was sadly poor for online server creation for various reasons, and hoped DA would fill the niche; when it came out that it did not, in fact, have any sort of toolset or server creation function, my interest in the game plummeted dramatically.
Dragon Age: Origins DOES have a toolset. I believe it didn't originally ship with the game, but it is downloadable for free. Some people have done some really cool stuff with it, including a remake of the opening dungeon to Baldur's Gate 2. You can see the cutscene from escaping Irenicus' dungeon here, with the original to compare it to.
I do not believe, however, that it has multiplayer/server capability, but I don't believe that was ever in the plans. The toolset was always meant just to let people create their own modifications and modules. (Although that's all I ever used the NWN toolsets for anyway, myself.)
The original NWN was grandly ambitious with all that it could do -- full game, toolset, plus multiplayer AND GM server support. By the time NWN2 hit, costs versus technology and its complications were already showing that it was going to be hard to sustain that model. I have a feeling it will be unlikely we see something like that again for a very, very long time. Although while I've never cared for multiplayer games myself, I hope I may be wrong.
(I loved NWN and NWN2 and played especially a lot in the NWN2 toolset, but never even touched the multiplayer function. It's funny, but I always think of those games for the single player experience--which is broad and nearly infinite--and nearly forget that there's a whole massive group of people who think of it nearly solely for an aspect which I've never paid any attention to. Which is also perhaps indicative of another problem--it essentially creates a "split fanbase" and also splits the developers' time between supporting the single player aspects and supporting the multiplayer.)
I don't know what plans are for some of these nostalgia-style games coming out. I know there's been numerous requests for a toolset (although I have no clue about multiplayer) for both Wasteland 2 and Project Eternity. I wouldn't be surprised if this Numenera: Torment game had similar requests made for it.
I still got it, but rather than spending my own money I received it as gifts from a friend a year or two after it came out, along with the sequel/expansion Origins. I have yet to play either, though.
Origins is the original game, Awakenings is the expansion, Dragon Age 2 is the sequel. Origins also had quite a lot of DLC with additional content and adventures attached. Plus of course any player made-modules you download for the toolset.
Chris Avellone officially gives his support to the project.
Avellone also lists a number of people involved in the game who also worked on TORMENT, the PLANESCAPE P&P game (like "Monte F*****g Cook", in Avellone's words) and other projects. It's also revealed that the Kickstarter for the game - which will now be called TIDES OF NUMENERA - will commence on Wednesday 6 March.
One of the better Kickstarter pitch videos. They explain immediately why they're doing this now rather than waiting for WASTELAND 2 to come out, the list of things they're trying to do is fairly comprehensible and the amount they are asking for is not outrageous ($900,000).
Also, if you didn't Kickstart WASTELAND 2, several of the lower goals will also give you a copy of WASTELAND 2 when it comes out at the end of this year.
They're just about to hit $600,000. So 2/3s funded in about five hours.
Astonishing. And they've still got 30 days to go. They should hit quite a few of their stretch goals.
I loved NWN and NWN2 and played especially a lot in the NWN2 toolset, but never even touched the multiplayer function. It's funny, but I always think of those games for the single player experience--which is broad and nearly infinite--and nearly forget that there's a whole massive group of people who think of it nearly solely for an aspect which I've never paid any attention to. Which is also perhaps indicative of another problem--it essentially creates a "split fanbase" and also splits the developers' time between supporting the single player aspects and supporting the multiplayer.
Heh, I'm exactly the opposite. SoU was okay, HotU was fun (I think HotU's companions were the best of the bunch, personally - especially Aribeth, who was much, much improved from her personality in the first game), but the first game I found mediocre and I've never managed to play through NWN2 at all. Nor have I ever downloaded any of the single-player modules. My experience is pretty much exclusive to the online play - I've been bouncing from online community to community ever since I got the first game and SoU back in mid-2003.
So yeah. Even if DA did have a toolset, without online multiplayer capability it's of little interest to me. That was the entirety of why I (and most of the people on one of the NWN communities I still hang around in) wanted the game in the first place, and the announcement that it wouldn't have it (whether intended to in the first place and removed or never so) severely lowered my interest in the game as a whole.
I really just don't have much time for those kinds of games nowadays if they don't have some sort of online community option - I keep falling back on NWN for that. Sure, I'll play other games single-player, but those tend to be turn-based RPGs (currently trying to finish Golden Sun: Dark Dawn), console games, or exploration games (Knytt Underground is my most recent interest, though Cave Story and La-Mulana are always gonna be high on that list).
I'll be perfectly honest and say that it's purely Torment nostalgia that's got me interested in this game, but that's just the icing. The presence of a toolset and online multiplayer capability would be the cake that keeps bringing me back to the game, if it has it. Otherwise, sad to say, if I do purchase it it'll likely end up on the shelf next to the original Torment itself (metaphorically speaking, I'll likely get a digital download while I still have my Torment disk somewhere in all my stuff from when I last moved) after playing through it once or twice.
The original NWN was grandly ambitious with all that it could do -- full game, toolset, plus multiplayer AND GM server support. By the time NWN2 hit, costs versus technology and its complications were already showing that it was going to be hard to sustain that model. I have a feeling it will be unlikely we see something like that again for a very, very long time. Although while I've never cared for multiplayer games myself, I hope I may be wrong.
Yeah, I admit that given that NWN is where I started with computer gaming - having played nothing much more complex than Minesweeper prior, not counting emulated SNES games - it has probably set my expectations rather high, if the status of first NWN2 then other games to follow is any clue. The greater focus on DLC and pay-to-play or pay-to-better resources doesn't help, admittedly - one of the things I loved so much about NWN was that, other than picking up the expansions, all you had to do to use it was buy it once, and then if you could find a server you liked you could play it theoretically indefinitely. There was effort cost and hosting expenses on the part of the server owner, true, but those costs weren't generally passed on to the players. So I fully admit my perspective may be skewed.
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one of the locations in the game will be the Bloom
The Bloom is also a predator that feeds on intelligence or intelligent life. At the same time, it’s unpredictable. It’s an enormous, city-sized thing. People build their homes in there. The reason why is because this thing extends its tendrils through multiple planes. You can cross one of its tendrils and find yourself in a place of pure light, where all matter is transmuted to consciousness. You can find something there and bring it back, and suddenly it becomes a physical thing in your hand. But the problem is, you don’t know at what point the Bloom is going to turn on you and devour you. So the people who live there are all just a little bit crazy. They’re extraordinarily paranoid. They’re also extraordinarily superstitious, because they all have their own little rituals… It’s like a tiger defense rock. Do you see any tigers? No? Well, it must be working.
amazing, seems like Lovecraftian Sigil
Backed them for $40 ($20 for my own copy, $20 for a friend). It looks like they're raising somewhere on the order of $1,000 per minute, so I think we can expect full funding by 1 PM PST or so. They'd better have stretch goals waiting in the wings!
Aaaaaand they're funded.
I guess "Torment" is still essentially a license to print your own money. :)
I guess "Torment" is still essentially a license to print your own money. :)
Probably, but keep in mind that the team in question already has a $3 million Kickstarter project under their belt. IPs like Wasteland and Torment are certainly big draws, but they wouldn't generate this kind of buzz if the audience didn't have faith in the development house's ability to deliver.
I guess "Torment" is still essentially a license to print your own money. :)Probably, but keep in mind that the team in question already has a $3 million Kickstarter project under their belt. IPs like Wasteland and Torment are certainly big draws, but they wouldn't generate this kind of buzz if the audience didn't have faith in the development house's ability to deliver.
Oh certainly. They haven't actually delivered Wasteland 2 yet, but people obviously have a lot of faith in them. Maybe Choplifter is really good? I haven't tried it.
I guess one should also not dismiss the splash a name like Monte Cook makes. All in all, seems like something ~30,000 people have been desperately waiting for. Present company included.
Well they're certainly getting some of my money :D
Am I deaf or they didn't mention if it was going to be a turn-based (like Wasteland 2) or pseudo real-time (like Torment) RPG in the promotional video?
Am I deaf or they didn't mention if it was going to be a turn-based (like Wasteland 2) or pseudo real-time (like Torment) RPG in the promotional video?
They didn't mention it. I'd assume that it's going to be phase-based because PS:T was phase-based, just as WASTELAND 2 is turn-based because WASTELAND 1 was turn-based.
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My favourite one is the one where Colin McComb will issue a video apology for D&D 2E's COMPLETE BOOK OF ELVES :)
My favourite one is the one where Colin McComb will issue a video apology for D&D 2E's COMPLETE BOOK OF ELVES :)
Damn that book! I was GMing a D&D 2nd Ed. campaing back in the days and one of the players was playing an elven archer. He decimated all my carefully planned encounters in a matter of seconds.
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Combat was one of the least interesting parts of PS:T so if they'd upgrade it to turn-based and made it more tacticool that'd be great.
Chris Avellone and Pat Rothfuss stretch goals.
If the KS passes $3.25 million, fantasy author Pat Rothfuss will come aboard to contribute about 10,000 words of character and dialogue. If it hits $3.5 million, Chris Avellone (primary writer of the original PLANESCAPE: TORMENT) will hop aboard to create a major NPC character and write their dialogue, as well as serving as a consultant/editor on the rest of the writing in the game.
Excellent - if slightly anticipated news.
I'm really excited to hear that they'll be inviting backers/fans to their KS wrap party in Newport Beach. I live a couple miles down the 55, so I figure why the hell not?
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Damn that book! I was GMing a D&D 2nd Ed. campaing back in the days and one of the players was playing an elven archer. He decimated all my carefully planned encounters in a matter of seconds.My favourite one is the one where Colin McComb will issue a video apology for D&D 2E's COMPLETE BOOK OF ELVES :)
I remember a player using the Bladesinger from that book being way too overpowered. I believe I banned it from my games afterwards.
TORMENT: TIDES OF NUMENERA's vision document. An interesting (and non-spoilery) read.
Early tech test showing 3D characters moving on a pre-rendered background, with lighting.
They're nearly at the end of the Kickstarter now. Bad news is that they're anticipating a delay to Spring 2015. Good news is that this is down to the sheer amount of extra work they can put into the game thanks to exceeding their planned appeal by almost 400% :)
I remember a player using the Bladesinger from that book being way too overpowered. I believe I banned it from my games afterwards.
I remember playing a Kagonesti bladesinger (+2 str took you from Str 17 to Str 19, bypassing the pesky percentile strength) that was just plain ridiculous.
Of course, another character was playing Tasslehoff and was, like, 12 levels higher than the rest of the party, so I wasn't even the most ridiculous thing in that game.
It didn't last long, thankfully. :)
By the by, it ended today. It is now the most successful video game ever on Kickstarter with over $4.25M pledged.
Glad I contributed to it, and to Numenera, the RPG it's based on.
:)
There is also a great Kickstarter project going right now (and for another 25 days as of this post) with a guy that makes exotic wood polyhedral and six-sided dice sets. They are some of the most beautiful dice I've ever seen.
I should note, the total amount pledged via Kickstarter was only $4.19M (which is still the record by several hundred thousand), but the total also includes that pledged via PayPal, which was another option for people.