Kickstarter Launched For 'Pathfinder: Kingmaker' RPG

Isometric role-playing games (RPG) are making a comeback with titles such as Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and Divinity: Original Sin 2, and Owlcat Games is joining the group by partnering with Paizo to bring a Pathfinder RPG game to the PC called Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Chris Avellone (notable for his work on Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, and Fallout: New Vegas) as the game’s narrative designer. The game is currently in development, but Owlcat Games put a campaign for it on Kickstarter today to get additional funds to enhance a major gameplay feature.

Specifically, the funds gathered from the campaign will improve the “Kingdom as Companion” feature, which means that it will change depending on your actions. If you play the game as an evil character, your kingdom’s architecture will reflect that, with dark clothes on your citizens and “skeletons as waiters in pubs.” Your kingdom also changes depending on the makeup of its citizens. As you acquire more land, you can recruit specific Royal Artisans to work for you. Based on their traits, these special characters can create powerful pieces of armor or artifacts to aid you on your quest. Other characters can also live in your kingdom and add other pieces to your arsenal. As these people come and go, Owlcat said that numerous events will occur in your kingdom, and you’ll have to deal with each problem at some point. These events will be different in every playthrough.

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The addition of this kingdom is crucial; it, and most of the material in the game, is based on the campaign of the same name featured in the Pathfinder: Adventure Path campaign book. In order to incorporate it into the final version, the studio needs $500,000. According to its Kickstarter page, a majority of the funding from the campaign will be used towards art assets (29%). Other major portions of the development that will receive funding include the UI (18%), overall programming (11%), and level design (6%).

The team also mentioned the addition of stretch goals, but they'll be revealed only if the primary funding goal is reached. At the moment, people pledged over $78,000. The campaign ends on July 11 at 9:59 pm PT. If you want to back the campaign and receive a copy of the game, you’ll have to pitch in at least $25. The estimated time of delivery for the rewards is scheduled for August 2018, but that may change due to potential development issues down the road.

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Name	Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Type	RPG
Developer	Owlcat Games
Publisher	N/A
Platforms	PC
Where To Buy	N/A
Release Date	N/A

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Rexly Peñaflorida is a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware covering topics such as computer hardware, video games, and general technology news.

2 Comments Comment from the forums

alextheblue

I love Pathfinder but I am a bit tired of kingdom management. I avoid it at all costs in pen and paper d20 gaming. Too much work. I'd rather be a roaming problem solver (or creator, depending on my alignment).

So I'll hold off until I know more about the "King" aspect of Kingmaker.
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nitrium

"If you want to back the campaign and receive a copy of the game, you’ll have to pitch in at least $25."

Make that $28. You could actually get it for $20 if you were in early enough (first 300, all gone). The $25 tier was only for the next 1,500 backers (also gone). So it's $28 now - imo at least $8 too much for an unseen shot in the dark (especially if recent Kickstarters are anything to go by).
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