Good news everybody! Remember the Destiny Quest series, that awesome epic series where you could become a warrior, mage or rogue and equip yourself with loads of cool gear and get loads of abilities and face massive monsters in great quests?
Well, there is a fourth book in the works! Wooo! And it's currently live on Kickstarter! Just 25 Euros will bag you one of these doorstoppers which will give you hours upon hours of fun.
And if you need more information, here is an interview with the author himself, Michael J. Ward.
What can you tell us about
the Dune Sea?
It’s big and full of sand.
Sorry, joking aside, it’s a vast region to the south of Valeron (the
kingdom where previous books have taken place), which has its own capital,
religion and culture. The main hero is a sell-sword who ends up travelling into
these desert lands to seek out adventure… and to settle a debt.
With each book in the DestinyQuest series I try and set the story in
a different type of environment. Since I began the first book I’ve always
wanted to do an adventure that has an Arabian/Egyptian feel – I even allude to
the ‘Dune Sea’ of the title in The Legion
of Shadow, when you meet the ghostly crusader in Act 1. Having already
explored jungles and polar regions, it felt it was high time to take our
adventures to sunnier climes – and it fits in well with the story that I wanted
to tell. A very big story as it turns out!
Each book in the
DestinyQuest series feels as though it has its own tone and feel. The Eye of Winter’s Fury, for example,
was quite dark and adult compared to previous ones. How have you approached the
latest volume in the series? Does it get darker?
I don’t necessarily set out with the goal of making a book ‘darker’,
those decisions sort of arise from the main character and their journey, and
also the type of environment that they are in. I think Legion and Heart of Fire
were very ‘high fantasy’ and probably had quite a ‘gung-ho’ attitude to the
storytelling, whereas Winter’s Fury I
felt that the character was on a much more dramatic and introspective journey –
obviously his circumstances and condition (which I can’t go into cos,
spoilers…) feeds into that. I also had a lot of things going on with my
personal life at the time, which I daresay influenced the more sombre tone of
the writing. I still think Winter’s Fury
is my best writing to date.
I think Book Four certainly has a very adult tone, but I would not
necessarily call it ‘dark’. I think this one is set in more violent world – so
the attitudes of characters are more blunt and pragmatic. Some might label that
as ‘Grim Dark’ and I’m fine with that. But I think the book has not lost its
high fantasy elements, although I do think – out of all the books so far – this
may be the most grounded in terms of characters and their (often broken) hopes
and dreams. I’m very proud of this work, but certainly it’s a gamebook for
adults not children.
As fans of the series will
know, no-one is safe in the DestinyQuest world. Can we expect a high death
count?
Oh yes, the environments and scenarios in Book Four are pretty
brutal. Act One is set around the Badlands, which is kind of a lawless frontier
between Valeron and Khitesh. It’s a place where pretty much anything goes, and
morality is just a word – not a code to live by. Similarly, the Dune Sea is
full of scheming factions that will give no quarter to obtain what they want.
You represent someone who must navigate these dangerous tides and decide for
yourself who you should side with. It’s quite a massive jump from the early
books where choices were relatively simple (and in Legion, some might say lacking entirely!). This is a book about
people. And how you interact with those people. You create your own moral code.
Will we meet any returning
characters – and what can you tell us about them and their involvement in the
hero’s adventure?
This book has many returning characters, mostly from Legion if I’m being honest – and these
are characters that will already be well-known to existing fans. But your hero
(by in large) will not know them or have any previous interactions with them,
so that creates an interesting dynamic. It also throws plenty of surprises into
the mix. Obviously I can’t elaborate without spoiling the story.
Is it helpful/essential to
have played previous books?
Not at all. I have to accept that this could be people’s entry book
into the series, and I am fine with that and almost encourage it – as I feel
the books have improved tenfold with each successive edition. As I mentioned
previously, yes there are returning characters – and there will be many things
referenced from previous books – but they will not disadvantage a new player in
any way, they merely provide depth for those who have read previous books and
are committed to the lore.
For the first time in the
series, you are splitting a single story/adventure into two books. Was this a
difficult decision and what challenges has this presented?
It wasn’t difficult because I really had no choice. I guess this
story has been gestating for many years, so I have had time to develop it and
think about all the twists and turns, the characters, the nuances. Once I
started writing, I did find it tricky to pick a starting point, but once I
began developing the Badlands and Act One, I perhaps got a little carried away
– and once I hit Act Two I realised that I really did not have the remaining
word count and pages to tell the full story, or at least do it justice.
So rather than hack it apart and create something that would be
unsatisfactory, both for myself and readers, I decided to just split it across
two books, so that I could write the story that I want to tell and not
compromise too much. I daresay I will get criticized from some quarters for the
decision, but I feel Raiders of Dune Sea
still has a beginning, middle and end – and segues quite nicely into the next
book.
So, readers will be
carrying their hero from the end of this book into the next one? Will they get
to keep all of their abilities and items?
Of course. I won’t be pulling any tricks to suddenly rob you of all
your hard work. Your character begins the next book with everything that they have
gained and achieved. That also means, for the first time, we will be taking
heroes to new heights of power – as this will be a four act adventure once the
two books are combined.
When writing The Eye of Winter’s Fury, you commented
that you found it challenging to work to a two act structure (as opposed to
three in the other books). What influenced your decision to have a two act
structure in this book?
When I made the decision to split the book, I no longer needed a
third map – so the book became focused around the two environments (the
Badlands and the Dune Sea). I’ve not found this one such a struggle (as I did
with Winter’s Fury), maybe because I
have more confidence in knowing exactly where the story and characters are
going, so I can sort of fashion the story better to give the right beats and
structure.
What is your favourite new
feature of Book Four?
Hmm, good question. That depends. From a narrative perspective I
would say the choices. I’ve tried to offer much more choice in the quests and
adventures, to hopefully throw up interesting dilemmas and challenge readers. Out
of all the books, this one probably has the most complex decision trees.
From a gaming point-of-view, I would probably say the new abilities
and careers. They are much more focused around distinct styles of play. Everything
should feel fresh and new, even when playing around with old abilities and
combos. This book kind of brings everything together then multiples it by 100.
When writing previous
books you have often mentioned the heartache of having to cut out sections and
edit down your work. So far, have there been any parts of this book that you’ve
found difficult to let go?
Because of splitting up this story into two books, there has been
less stress when it comes to fitting everything in, but even so I have had to
constantly pare back on some scenes and decision elements, because otherwise
you would just end up with a 1000 page paper weight. Part of my decision to
divide up the story was to ensure that I could develop the quests and
encounters much more than previous books. I think the average quest in Book
Four is probably at least twice the size of those in earlier books. Sure, I
always wish I could do more, but you have to be realistic.
Is this the biggest
DestinyQuest book?
I haven’t quite finished the writing yet , but I would put my neck
out and say yes – it will be the biggest book in the series. Perhaps not by
much (I hope), but it will certainly be pushing it for biggest gamebook ever.
How have you approached
the different paths and careers in this book? Are there any unexpected
surprises?
I went completely back to basics, stripped back all the paths
(warrior, mage and rogue) and set about working out what makes each path unique
and different. From there, I then worked out how I wanted the paths to play and
developed two key builds for each path; builds that I wanted to fully support
with a plethora of abilities. So that starting point completely influenced the
development of the abilities.
As I near the end of the writing, I still have to fully playtest the
game aspects – and yet I have already seen how there might be other builds and
combos that can come out of the existing ability selection. This book, more
than ever, will give readers the ‘sand box’ tools to make incredible heroes.
Combat has always been at
the heart of each DestinyQuest book. Has it been difficult balancing all these
new abilities?
I’ll tell you when I’ve playtested it all!
I always prefer to write a book first, and fill it with placeholder
enemies (based on what I think would make a challenging encounter at that level)
and stats for items. Once I am happy with the story, then I set aside a heap of
time to get into the nitty gritty of playtesting. I’ve had experience of three
previous books now, so I have a good sense of what is going to work and what
might ‘break’ the game, but you can never tell until you truly get playing.
I’ve made this a difficult one for myself as there are probably more
items and abilities in Book Four than any other DQ book, so the combos and
possibilities are pretty mind blowing. But then, I think that’s a cool thing –
to hand over this over to the fans and be like ‘okay, go for it – show me what
you can come up with’. There will always be some crazy build or combo that you
could never second guess. I don’t mind that. I just want people to have fun and
enjoy the experience.
Players have often
commented that the combats in Book Two and Three are a lot easier than Book
One. How do you decide on the difficulty for each book? How will Book Four
compare?
Book One I made far too brutal, with long combats that I’d almost
describe as a bit of a grind – with a lot of luck required. Since then, I
prefer to write and develop combats that are challenging, but you also have the
tools to win. They are about strategy and item management, rather than being
lessons in patience and torture!
With quest combats, I like to strike the fine line between being fun
and also challenging, but not making them roadblocks that could halt an entire
reader’s progression through the content. However, with legendary monsters (and
the new dungeon delves), you can push the boat out a little and make encounters
that are a little more hardcore. They’re optional, so casual players can simply
skip them if they find them above their patience or skill levels – but for the
dedicated they offer a chance to test out your very best builds and powers, in
an effort to gain that extra awesome piece of loot.
This is the first
DestinyQuest book to have its own Kickstarter. What can you tell us about the
Kickstarter?
The Kickstarter campaign is being run by Megara Entertainment so it
is really their thing, although I will obviously be contributing with lots of
exciting and informative updates to reveal more about the new book and its exciting
features.
There will also be a selection of loot cards available as part of
the Kickstarter, which are collectible cards that each feature a special item
of loot that is not available in the book. I imagine that Megara will have
other surprises in store too – so be sure to check out the project page once it
is live.
The Kickstarter will be running from 10 January to 10 February. It
would be amazing if gamebook fans could get behind the campaign and pledge
their support. I would really love to keep writing these books and finish the
story that I began all those years back with The Legion of Shadow. Here’s hoping!
And finally if you could
sum up Book Four in just a few words what would they be?
Big. Daring. Choices.
Oh and loot! Lots and lots of loot!
You can back Destiny Quest book 4 here: