What is a story?

RPGs or role-playing games rely heavily on stories to create a compelling and immersive world. Runemaster is no different but as we are making the game, we are focusing on creating quests and a world that changes with the player’s choices and actions. We take much inspiration from Crusader Kings II’s narrative and storytelling, in that it is the player, not the game, that should create and tell a story. We will make sure that the worlds we create are inhabited by interesting people who you can interact with, do quests for or maybe fight. There is a greater limitation in making a story for a RPG than a grand strategy game, and we need to rely more on the imagination of the game- and quest writers than we have previously done. Quests differ a lot from events and are both more complex to make and to write. Those of you who have played CKII and has come upon the event serie Gate of Hell, imagine that but several times longer, more complicated and perhaps even more interesting. Then you’ll get one of Runemaster’s quests.



Even a game as purely random like Nethack has a story. It has a goal of obtaining the Amulet of Yendor, but nothing else. The story is in your mind as the mechanics fit together to form a story of unexpected encounters.



The Witcher 2, on the other hand, has several minor quests that you might not even think is a quest when you take action. In one region of the game you are able to either aid a couple of guards who are looking for elves or help the elves escape. Your choice of action will affect the game in a small way; if you save the elves you will be approached by someone later on in the game who will thank you and give you a small reward. The Witcher 2 is filled with things like that. It also has a great story with several different paths through it, and depending on which you choose you’ll experience a whole other story. We intend to take it a step further and make sure your every choice will impact the game in some way.



The Start

Each race has its own place in the six worlds of Runemaster. If you are a Human or a Troll, you will start in Midgard. Lightelfs have their home in Alfheim, while Dwarfs and Giants dwell in Jotunheim and Darkelfs reside in Svartalfheim. No matter which race you begin as, you’ll work your way through the game to learn about yourself, the worlds and the threat that lurks at the horizon. Your choice is quite simple, and depending on which race you choose to start as, you will try to free Loki, unleash Ragnarök, see the old world drown and a new world dawn or fight Loki, prevent Ragnarök from happen and be the Hero who saves the world. You will perhaps change your mind, and as a Troll try to gain favor with Thor and prevent Ragnarök. That’s up to you. What will you do?





Side Quests vs Main Quests

There are no sidequests in Runemaster, every quest counts toward the goal at the end and even if you might not know it or realise it, the game mechanics will make sure that no quest is made in vain. Each quest is stored in a database and your choices and actions will trigger different ones. Some are more exclusive ones, perhaps designed based on your class or race, others will change marginally and offer up new options or path through depending on your traits or quests you have completed before. One example is the dragon Fafnir, who once was a Dwarf whose greed turned him into a black dragon. Multiple quests will bring you to him, but you will only see one per playthrough.



The main quest has a quite simple goal: Either defeat Loki, prevent Ragnarök or free Loki and unleash Ragnarök. Each quest you do in Runemaster will bring you one step closer to the end. How you travel through it is up to you. Though the main questline will have anchor points, certain quests that are important for the storyline, they will differ depending on your choices. Are you a Dwarf, friendly with the Giants but hated by your own kind? Then the game will take notice, and make sure your quests will reflect that.



We are working hard at weaving each quest into each other dynamically, and it will be a great challenge for us but a challenge we welcome and look forward to. Our team is growing and many talented people will work hard at making Runemaster compelling, immersive and fun.



The End

There’s always a goal with a story, an end that will bind together all the threads the writer threw out during the storytelling. Sometimes that end has a morality lesson, sometimes it is a great joke, and sometimes it is just an end to put an end to the story. Runemaster’s goal is quite simple, to entertain, to educate, and to be a great game. Our goal is to make a game with great replayability, where the story matters, where each quest matters, and depending on your choices and your path, it will split up into different outcomes. You already know what will happen at the end of Runemaster, but you do not know how to get there, not until you have played through the game.