The Bard’s Tale IV KS Update #13: Chris Avellone and Colin McComb Stretch Goals

The thirteenth update for The Bard’s Tale IV Kickstarter campaign announces two new stretch goals. At the $1.7 million mark, Torment: Tides of Numenera’s creative lead and Complete Book of Elves writer Colin McComb will join the development team and design a dungeon set in the Realm of the Elves.

Should the campaign raise at least $1.9 million, another role-playing veteran will join the fray: ex-Obsidian and frequent inXile collaborator Chris Avellone. The lead designer of Planescape: Torment and Knights of the Old Republic II will apparently design another dungeon, called the Cairn of Horrors.

A slightly more in-depth look at their potential contributions, directly from the update:

Chris’ involvement will be locked in the moment we pass the $1.9 million mark on the Kickstarter, where he’ll be designing the Cairn of Horrors, an all new dungeon built from the worst things that live in the imagination of Chris Avellone. The Cairn has one purpose, and that purpose is to kill you. Here’s what Chris had to say:

“I owe my career to seeing Bard’s Tale II on a Commodore 64 at a friend’s house. When I saw the streets of Skara Brae up and running (gasp – in simulated 3D! And in color!), I suddenly realized I didn’t have to be the game master all the time in order to get my RPG fix, there was finally someone out there who had done the formidable job of creating a digital dungeon master for RPG aficionados with the same amount of lazy players as I had. So I have Brian Fargo to thank three times – first for the game itself (and all the Interplay RPGs I played to follow, including Bard’s Tale I, Bard’s Tale III, and Wasteland), second, for hiring me at Interplay, and third, for asking me to be a part of Bard’s Tale IV – with your support, I hope we can make it happen!”

Additionally, at that funding level we’ll also make representations of your characters in your inventory screen and you’ll be able to see the gear, clothing and equipment they’re wearing, rather than a paper doll.

Along with Chris, we’re also bringing back the second Designer of Planescape: Torment and Creative Lead of Torment: Tides of Numenera, the inestimable Colin McComb! He will join our team at $1.7 million, designing a dungeon set in the Realm of the Elves, because we all know no one has mastered the craft of the Elves as Colin has. We’ll also be expanding the game further by adding another new wilderness area, the Wilds of Lestras.

While this is certainly exciting news, I have to admit that the other additional enhancements that inXile will be able to implement with the extra money are what interests me the most. For all their experience, neither McComb nor Avellone are particularly known for the dungeons they’ve designed during their careers and, to be completely honest, I thought Avellone’s contributions to the level design department of Wasteland 2 weren’t particularly great.