Game News Project Eternity Kickstarter Update #40: Orlans and Gods

[Infinitron]

Tags: George Ziets; J.E. Sawyer; Obsidian Entertainment; Pillars of Eternity

We have another meaty Project Eternity Kickstarter update this week. This one is written by George Ziets, and discusses a topic that is close to his heart - pantheon design. Have a snippet:

Deities can be a good starting point when developing a world. They reflect the views and beliefs of the world’s inhabitants, and they can inspire ideas for characters, organizations, and conflicts.

You’ve already heard a few of our gods mentioned in passing: Magran, goddess of fire and war; Berath, god of cycles, doors, and death; Eothas, god of light and redemption. Josh invented these gods when he was first developing the world, and they play important roles in the region where the game will be set. But we’ll need a lot more gods to fill out the pantheon.

Here are a few of the elements we consider for each new deity:

• What is the god's name, and what are his/her "aliases" (e.g., "The Twinned God" for Berath).
• What is the god's portfolio? That is, what aspects of life or the world do they represent (e.g., mortality, greed, summer, commerce)?
• What allies and foes do they have amongst the other gods?
• What are their symbols?
• How do they manifest in the mortal world?

We list this information for each deity, as well as providing a detailed description. Players won’t necessarily get to see all this stuff, but it’s useful background for the art and design teams, so that the world feels like a consistent, coherent whole.

One other thing to bear in mind: for the most part, our deities aren’t good or evil. They’re somewhere in between – closer to the multi-dimensional gods of the ancient world. Every deity has his or her own agenda, which isn’t bound by notions of alignment. Sometimes they can be helpful and benevolent. Other times – not so much.
​

As an example, George reveals another one of Project Eternity's gods - Woedica, "The Exiled Queen", who manifests in the world as a leathery-skinned old woman clad in tattered finery who murders those who break solemn oaths. Am I the only one thinking "Ravel Puzzlewell"?

The update also reveals a full-sized portrait of Project Eternity's halfling Orlan detective NPC, which was hidden in the tileset screenshot from last week's update:

You can read the entire update here.

 

[MicoSelva]

Are these hair or ears? Either way it's awesome lame funny. I think. Not sure what to make of this.

 

[Black]

About 50% furry, according to my estimates.

 

[Infinitron]

http://eternitywiki.com/Orlan

Physically, they are notable for their small stature, two-toned skin, and exceptionally large, hair-covered ears.

 

[serch]

The murderer is the butler who did it with this dagger in the living room

 

[Kirtai]

Detective eh? Seems my psychometry comment in the other thread might have been on target.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Yeah but will there be New Orlans?

Spoiler

 

[Scruffy]

 

[Bladderfish]

Love the tone of the Exiled Queen idea. George has some really good ideas, and I hope we see more of his input (and if his god design has some additional originality beyond the usual boring crap of the traditional pantheon that always seem to derive from the greek stuff).

 

[Excidium]

Looks good.

 

[Wise Emperor]

That halfling clearly was inspired by Arcanum portraits

:TimCainbobblinghead.gif:

 

[Rolk's Drifter]

George has some really good ideas... originality...

Bastardising Boudica with grimdark shit like 'woe' is truly awe-inspiring genius. Can't wait to hear about the adventures of Badler, Skullin and Chairman Maooow.

That halfling clearly was inspired by Arcanum portraits

Yeah, that or Jocky Wilson.

 

[Infinitron]

Interesting choice of first post after over two years of inactivity.

 

[Jaesun]

So happy George is working on the Pantheons. <3

 

[Black]

That halfling clearly was inspired by Arcanum portraits

:TimCainbobblinghead.gif:

We can only hope the rest of the portraits are Arcanum-like as well, they are classy as fuck.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

It's interesting that the goddess of law is an outcast whose authority is not recognized by the other gods.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

Represents how the gods are above the laws. Or how power is above the law. Laws are no restriction to those with the power to disregard them.

So not looking like it will be the grand celestial order type of pantheon.

Kind of my thinking as well. The ambiguity about whether she actually held dominion and was deposed or whether she just claims to have done so raises the question of whether the gods are above the law because they have never been subject to it or whether they have actively rejected it. In other words, is law irrelevant to the gods or are they anti-law.

Skulls for the Skull throne?

 

[Severian Silk]

Will we be able to romance any halflings orlans?

 

[Dorateen]

"for the most part, our deities aren’t good or evil."​

That for the most part is pregnant with wiggle room.

 

[Black]

Represents how the gods are above the laws.

Or how gods get pissy when some lawful deity cockblocks them from doing whatever they want because it's against the RULES.

 

[villain of the story]

So what was her story? According to her followers, she had once claimed rulership over all the other gods. But if that was true, she was cast down in the far distant past. Among the other gods, she has no real allies, believing that all the gods owe her fealty. She claims the portfolios of law, rightful rulership, memory, and vengeance. And she manifests in the world as the Strangler, a leathery-skinned old woman, always clad in tattered finery, who appears on an empty road or abandoned alleyway to murder those who break a solemn oath.

Her Aedyran name is Woedica, which evokes the “Old English” feel of the Aedyran language. (Maintaining a distinct sense of national/ethnic language and culture is important to us – more about that in a later update.)

There’s a lot more to tell about the Exiled Queen and the other gods (some of which aren’t even “human”). But that should give you a taste of our creative process. We’ll have plenty more to say about world-building in future updates. As some of the keen-eyed among you noted from last week's update, there was an unfamiliar portrait in our work-in-progress tileset screenshot. We read the debates and viewed the Blade Runner-esque enhanced images that followed with interest. Good work, sleuths, the character pictured is, in fact, an orlan. This orlan is engaged in some important work in one of the Dyrwood's busiest cities. Here's the full-sized portrait for your continued speculation!

It's ironic that they allegedly put this much thought into it because the name "Woedica" is just plain fucking shit and also sounds like a shitty play on the word "woe" and the historical Queen Boedica who somewhat parallels this "Oh My Woes-dica" bitch.

 

[Infinitron]

OBSIDIAN's PROJECT ETERNITY: Real-CRAP with Pause & KOOLaids-downs + Level-Scaling in TITTY angles with SHITTY god names​

 

[villain of the story]

The amblem on the Orlan's vest, fist holding -a dart?-, looks like the logo of some game developer I can't recall. Anyone up to the task?

 

[villain of the story]

OBSIDIAN's PROJECT ETERNITY: Real-CRAP with Pause & KOOLaids-downs + Level-Scaling in TITTY angles and SHITTY god names​

It should be "with SHITTY god names".

 

[Infinitron]

The amblem on the Orlan's vest, fist holding -a dart?-, looks like the logo of some game developer I can't recall. Anyone up to the task?

Sort of like the guy's hand in the Troika logo, rotated 90 degrees, perhaps?