A Game of Thrones RPG

French Cyanide Studios today reminds the hero of the joke, who asks for tablets from greed, but more. For a long time known only to sports and near -sports simulators (_ Pro Cycling Manager_ , Blood Bowl ), today she simultaneously works on four projects. Two of them deserve the most close attention, because these are the first video games in the famous book cycle of George Martin “The Song of Ice and Flame”. We have already talked about strategy A Game of Thrones: Genesis , And now the French shared the details of the role -playing game in the Universe of Songs, which is still known under the working name A Game of Thrones RPG.

Sworn friends

George Martin, one of the most distinctive American science fiction writers, writes "Song" for fifteen years. This is very atypical fantasy: extremely cruel and almost devoid of the magical component. Dragons once really lived, but long ago died out. There were giants, but the last one saw God knows when. In the Academies of Secret Arts are taught spells that have lost the strength. Little by little, magic returns to the world of “Songs”, but against the backdrop of what colleagues in the workshop write, the Martin series still remains defiantly mundane and realistic.

Naturally, the first thing the French faced the eternal dilemma: to repeat the plot known for books or try to come up with something of their own? In the end Cyanide I chose the second option, especially since they had a great example of a series before their eyes "Witcher" , which is also made based on cult books, but offers its own history. A Game of Thrones RPG will be deployed parallel to the events of “Game of Thrones”, the first book of the cycle. “You will meet some familiar characters like the main royal“ Sheptun ”Varis or Mormont Commander, and in general, our story is inspired by one of the key topics. But at the same time, we would like to surprise those players who know the work of Martin by heart. Therefore, the number of locations and heroes familiar from the original will still be limited, ”the authors explain in an interview.

R’gllor is the god of flame and shadows, but not all his priests are interested in dark arts. Alister, for example, chose the way of light.

But the developers borrowed from the writer atypical for computer RPG, but so typical of the “song” narrative manner when history is served by fragments on behalf of different characters. True, there are not dozens of heroes here, as in the source (otherwise the game would have turned into porridge), and only three.

The first is a serious man named Morse. He is a veteran of a night patrol, a border army designed to protect the northern limits of the country. The second is Aester, the priest of the god R’GLLOR. “During Robert Baratheon, 15 years ago, the heroes were friends, but then each went their own way and are now on different sides of the barricades,” Cyanide said.

The game is divided into chapters, each of which is dedicated to one of the two characters and which reflects his view of what is happening. Morse begins his adventure with the search for the escaped deserter, and Aester, after a fifteen -year exile, forcing him to change faith, returns home to his father's funeral.

Then their paths will cross, the heroes will reunite, and we will be able to control both at once. The authors are in no hurry to talk about the third character, but rumors claim that they will be Jamie Lannister, one of the most important and contradictory heroes of “Songs”.

Morse choice

The fact that the story will be quite linear, the developers do not hide. Scriptwriters will not allow you to immediately and without restrictions to explore the game world: we will be clearly told in the plot. Another thing is that periodically the game will make a stop, allowing you to freely study a piece of the card and gain sideways. At the same time, the world can live parallel to the player. For example, if you do not suppress the peasant uprising in time, then the rebels will destroy the weapon warehouse, and then you will not be able to replenish your reserves there (you immediately recall Fable 3 ).

The game will have interactive dialogs where the choice of replica can change the entire course of the conversation.

And most importantly, with all the linearity of history, we will be obliged at key points to make a vital choice. “Each time it is a very serious solution that can have the consequences of either immediately or several quests later. And you won’t be able to evade: you play for both heroes, they are on the diametrically opposite ways – sooner or later you will have to decide with whom you are, ”the authors promise.

Naturally, in the game, according to one of the main books in the genre “Cruel adult fantasy”, the choice simply cannot be limited to the dilemma “kill bad or spare”. Here, as in the same "witcher" and in Dragon Age , In general, there is no clear division into black and white, and each second scene is full of blood, drama and what is usually hidden under the head of “children up to 16”. Suffice it to say that the game will begin with the execution of the deserter, which the fruit on the rights of the veteran who served the 15 years executive in front of the recruits. And Aester, having arrived at the funeral of his father, instead of a happy family, discovers some kind of clip, where everyone hates each other and weaves behind the intrigue. Using the knowledge of the cult of R’glolor, the hero will try to resurrect his father, the more annoying embittered relatives.

Dog heart

Both Aester and Forse are the characters in advance, with their beliefs and the warehouse of the mind. One priest, another warrior. Therefore, the class freemen of the level Dungeons & DragonsNo need to wait. But the place for creativity will still remain. The word to the authors: “At the start, you should choose one of three possible classes for each character – with your skills, as well as active and passive abilities. And you will also have to determine character traits, both positive and negative, which give their bonuses and fines. ".

We will be able to influence the characteristics of the heroes of numerous equipment (both trophy and acquired for our blood). Success in the battle depends on the characteristics and what exactly the hero is dressed at the moment. “We want to make fights visually attractive and dynamic. You will not have to force the keys, ”the French say.

The French want to tell a very strong emotional story and focus on this issue on Planescape: Torment, Baldur’s Gate 2 and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

In the battle, you can use the special abilities of each class, and when you choose and hide them, the game goes into the SLO-MO mode (which again resembles the “Witcher”). There will be both combo-techniques and unique skills for each hero. So, the fruit drink will be able to use in the battle of his dog and, with his help, penetrate inaccessible places, for example, eavesdropping an important conversation. And Aester "possesses some power over the elements of fire". At the same time, according to the authors, there will be almost no magic in the game, as in the book. Well, the more interesting to see how the French will cope with this contradiction.

* * *

It is difficult not to notice that the Game of Thrones RPG is very similar to the two flagship role series of recent years, Dragon Age and the Witcher: a clear orientation to the plot, pre -prescribed and deeply worked out characters, hard and even cruel scenes.

It is clear why this is happening: BioWare employees openly said that when creating Dragon Age: the beginning, they were inspired by the “Song of Ice and Flame”, and Martin’s influence is noticeable in the game version of “Witcher”. That is, the principles by which you need to make role -playing games based on such literature have already been formed and successfully checked in public – it remains not to be mistaken and make the right game according to a proven scheme. For everything else, we are calm – this is George Martin.

What's what

You may not be aware of what Vesteros is, and have never heard such names such as Targaryen, Space Win Casino Baratheon and, say, Stark. Especially for you, we compiled a small introductory course in the "Song of Ice and Flame".

Fire and sword

The main scene of "Songs" is the continent of Westeros. Once he was fragmented into seven independent kingdoms, but the invaders came from the east and with the help of manual dragons united everyone into one large power, which was then ruled for several hundred years. “Song”, however, begins much later – fifteen years after the last king of the dragon dynasty was stabbed by his own bodyguard during the uprising, and the leader of the rebels, Robert Baratheon, ascended the throne.

On both of yours

The basis of the political system of Westeros – division into noble houses, subordinate only to the king. Martin was so meticulous that he came up with his own heraldic system and weaved a network of complex relationships between childbirth (these invisible threads are actually pulling the plot forward). The noble gentlemen, as expected, are waiting for only a reason to cling to each other into the pharynx, and did not completely forget that they once ruled their lands.

Behind the wall

North of Westeros – a source of many gloomy legends. The ancestors of the heroes of the “Songs” were so afraid of the threats emanating from there that they erected a giant wall on the border-“the highest structure ever built by human hands”. They say that wild tribes live on the other side, that giants and mammoths still live in the mountains. Well, the most terrible tales say about the race of “white hunters”, mysterious humanoids who spread the cold around themselves and are able to resurrect the fallen enemies, forcing them to serve themselves. True, hunters seem to have perished thousands of years ago, so the majority considers them a fiction.