Silverfall Interview, Part Two

RPG Vault has dished up the second portion of their interview with Silverfall project leader Jehane Steiner.

Q: What about the nature and technology systems? How does each function, how do they differ from each other, and what’s the role of magic?

A: It’s nature that is opposed to technology, not magic. Magicians can choose technology and are not limited to nature. The player’s choice is made step by step through quests that earn alignment points depending on the way they have been solved. After having gained a certain number of points, the player unlocks his first nature or technology skill and so on. To reach the most advanced skills of a path, you need to reach 100 percent of alignment.

The alignment points also determine which specific equipment you can wear and use, as some weapons and armor pieces are linked to technology or nature, and you need a certain alignment score to use them.

The nature skills, for example, allow you to call an animal for help, or to transform into a werebeast (the type of lycanthropy depends on your race, as goblins transform into wererats, elves into werepanthers, trolls into werelions, and humans into werewolves). Technology skills allow you to use firearms, call a mechanical companion, accept implants, etc.

It’s a fairly simple system, but playing a nature or technology-oriented character is a very different experience; it’s more than just the story and the visual aspect.

Some of the companions are already very advanced in one direction, and that’s why they wouldn’t join a character whose alignment is opposed to theirs. Others are neutral, and if the player has a good relationship with them, he can influence them, and they will finish with the same alignment as his.