Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Bonus post - Destiny Quest RPG

Hello all!  

If you follow this blog, you have probably heard of Destiny Quest, the gamebook series where you wander an open world, battling monsters, gaining powers and taking part in epic stories.

Well, Michael J. Ward. has teamed up with various game designers and artists to make an RPG!

Josh Bixler, the lead designer, answers some questions on it.

What is the planned release date?

We are planning for a December 2022 release.  This is tentative.  Currently, the writing and rules are about 95% done and we will have completed art coming in soon. 

We will do a Kickstarter, hopefully, in the first half of 2022.  The Kickstarter will fund the physical copies of the book.  We will be bringing a virtually 100% complete product to the start of the Kickstarter campaign.  It will be fully written, have the art completed, and should be formatted and ready for printing.

 

Will it cover all the current books?  

Yes, the first four books will be covered in the Tabletop RPG, but the first four books are not even the beginning.  The World Compendium section written by Michael J. Ward will cover so much more than the current series.  He has contributed over 100 pages to DestinyQuest RPG, and his writing digs into the creation of the world, the major factions within Valeron, a world atlas, hero short stories, and he details over a thousand years of history.


What new material will be in it?  

Expanding on my earlier answer, readers will be able to delve into several short stories of the most powerful and renowned heroes and villains of DestinyQuest such as Eldias Falks and Avian Dale and will get to discover new heroes such as Maria Tremalaine.  Michael J. Ward hasn’t merely written a mediocre paragraph or two about these heroes but has written gripping stories that interweave an exciting tale with the character’s biography.

The lore setting is a key feature, and it is massive.  The aim of the game is to have campaigns set in the current timeframe of the gamebooks, but the world he has written is intricately detailed. It includes a timeline of the world and is sectioned off into various ages.  This will help Game Masters set their campaign in different time periods within DestinyQuest, so their RPG games don’t have to be tied to what is currently happening in the gamebooks.

The book will also have an atlas of the DestinyQuest world, complete with maps and descriptions of the major areas in the world. 

I have also written a short starter adventure for the game, so Game Masters will have something to use immediately for a campaign after purchasing the book.

 

Will it have the same system as the books? 

Yes, with caveats.  The core system is still the same: Armour, Speed, Magic, Brawn, different abilities, and plenty of loot that adds new abilities and increased attributes.  The differences lie in how the game has been adapted to multiplayer.  Teams of heroes will be able to face off against multiple monsters.  We are utilizing combat sectors or zones for movement, which incorporates ranged actions, as well as several kinds of support abilities that boost teammates and can cause all kinds of afflictions on monsters.  The base of the game is firmly rooted in the established DestinyQuest rules system, so even with the new additions, a DestinyQuest reader will be able to jump right in and have fun.

 

Will it have details of the creatures in the books?  

Yes, all the creatures in the book’s bestiary will have detailed lore.  I am writing the lore for every monster that will be featured in the game, and I am having a blast doing it.  The team has purposely selected what we feel are the most epic and fun monsters in the gamebooks to bring over to the core RPG book. 

I am a huge fan of the works of Hidetaka Miyazaki (Dark Souls, Bloodborne), and I have pulled some inspiration from his excellent monsters, especially when describing the legendary beasts.

 

What will the game system be like?  

When creating the game system, I established four pillars that the game had to adhere to:

                1) Simple to Play - Players can learn the rules and create a character within minutes.
                2) Easy to run – Gamemasters can have a campaign up and running in no time.
                3) Deep, Varied, Character Customization- The rules may be easy, but there are endless ways to customize your character.  Paths, Careers, Loot, and Abilities mean that everyone's character is        thoroughly unique.
                4) An MMO or Action RPG on Tabletop - Like playing the very best multiplayer action RPGs or       MMOs, but on your tabletop.

In addition to that, the gameplay runs very quickly.  The game does not reward you for hesitating on your turn or trying to cheese monsters with magic or ranged attacks.  If players try this, then the monsters get more aggressive, and the combat sectors can start shrinking.  I wanted to capture the fast-flowing feel of the DestinyQuest combat system present in the gamebooks and convert it to a multiplayer experience.  The end result thus far, is a game that feels very much like an action RPG.

 

What classes are there? 

DestinyQuest features 3 different paths: Warrior, Rogue, Mage.  Each path has three different character trees that players can progress down.  For instance, Warriors can progress on the Feral Tree, the Holy Tree, or the Arms Tree.   Within these character trees, there are a total of 61 careers that players can choose from. 

There are vastly different careers that players can select.  Some of the careers that can be picked are Lich, Pyromancer, Runecaster, Werebear, Efreet, Crusader, Chaplain, Poisoner, Venomancer, Gunslinger, and Witchfinder.

 When combined with all of the different attribute boosting and ability granting loot that can be discovered, players can build highly customizable heroes.

You can find out more about the Destiny Quest RPG on the website.

No comments:

Post a Comment