A few of you might recognize the name of Monte Cook. Ok, ok. Settle down. I know you love the guy, so I’m sure you’ll be extra thrilled to know that The Bards Tale IV will have the legendary game designer on the team when the funding surpasses the tempting $1.4 million mark. That’s right. The dude behind the successful Numenera line of roleplaying books and also involved in the upcoming inXile RPG Torment: Tides of Numenera will be helping out with the development of the game by taking charge of an entire dungeon for you to go…well, dungeoneering in.
Just in case you didn’t stop reading and immediately rushed off to raise your pledge for The Bards Tale IV there’s some more news to be had in the update. Mark Morgan, famous composer that worked on some moderately successful games like Fallout, Planescape: Torment, Wasteland 2, and the upcoming Torment: Tides of Numenera, will be composing the score for the game. They provided a sample of what to expect, which you can watch below. If the rest of the soundtrack is as beautiful as this it would be worth playing just for the music alone.
Now, before I get to the lore part of the update, I wanted to briefly bring up the ongoing “Enclave of the Fairy Host” achievement system and “dungeon story”. As of the time of this writing a total of twelve achievements have been unlocked. Which means that the “Red Boots DLC” will be available to all backers free of charge. What is the “Red Boot” all about? Apparently it’s a nod back to Wasteland 2. Don’t ask me as I haven’t had the time to play through it yet. And, for those that actually care about the story and not just the extra goodies, you can check it out on their Tumblr.
Okay, so I promised you some lore and here it is. This is a prelude of sorts to the beginning of The Bards Tale IV. As you know, the old town of Skara Brae has been built over with the new and with it the old superstitions have become taboo. The town is now overran by the church and as religious zealots anything considered heretical in their eyes is wiped out or banished. Including both the “old races” like dwarves and elves as well as practitioners of magic. In a word, it’s a holy inquisition. Plain and simple. The outcasts have been forced literally underground in the sewers and ruins of the old town. Where they need to band together to survive the purge. Sounds like a great start to the new game, no?
If you’d like to learn more about The Bards Tale 4 be sure to check out our previous coverage.
