How Tabletop Gaming Inspires Our CRPG

Dear Pathfinders,

You all have your favourite memorable events in the Kingmaker Adventure Path and many of you wanted to know, if and how they will make it into the computer game and how they will play out. So in today's update, let us tell you about our approach to transitioning events from tabletop to the computer game experience. Every member of our team is playing the Kingmaker campaign on the table to have a first-hand experience of the campaign, its story, NPCs, and events. We are split into several parties, who get together regularly to share their exploits. Each party is excited to share their stories and make sure that their experience will be translated into the game somehow. Let's take Candlemere tower as an example – all our GMs approached this event differently, each of them imagining old gods and faith in their own way. One party experienced it as an underground complex filled with strange devices and substances, while another had a more horror-like experience and tried to deal with a swarm of will-o'-wisps that came to feed on their fears. We discussed those experiences and decided to make Candlemere a more prominent location with ties to the… let’s call it the 'important quest' (to avoid spoilers).

Or take the encounter with a Hill Giant, who is not an ordinary aggressive monster, but a sad creature, who is searching for his mate and suffering from a severe hangover. Players in one of our groups decided they wanted to console him and even hire him to be the kingdom strongman. They brewed a barrel of strong drink just for him! Alas, due to some tragic events, they ultimately found the poor giant dead.

These experiences are great examples for the freedom of choices and decisions many of you want to see in the CRPG, and as players ourselves, we are going a long way to providing as many different options as possible for all of the incredible events from the adventure path. You will be able to decide the fate of the Sootscale tribe or the kobolds on the radish patch, try to save the Jubilost’s cart or talk to a sad giant, avoid cruel spriggan jokes or participate in the Rushlight tournament.

For each of the events, we want to offer many different solutions to you. Do you want to intimidate the kobolds or make a diplomatic arrangement with them? It's entirely up to you. Or just rid them of their miserable existence if bloodthirsty solutions are your forte! Some of the options become available to you only if you met certain criteria (being very lawful for example). Others will require certain skill checks which will vary in difficulty, depending on how you attempt to reach your goal. For example, it is much easier to intimidate a coward than to persuade him.

Be prepared to encounter some of your favourite events from the Adventure Path, as well as entirely new ones, as you experience your journey across the Stolen Lands, supporting and expanding the story of Kingmaker even more!

If you have any questions or comments, why not stop in the comments section to talk to us? Your input and feedback is always appreciated!

Hail to the Kings!

Owlcats