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TL;DR: A Sample from Mark Morgan. Brian Fargo contributes $100K - Steve Dengler continues the 10% match from $2M to $3M! $3M Stretch Goal – Cults, More Legacies, Companion #7!

The Music of Torment

You heard this theme composed by Mark Morgan in our Kickstarter video, but it had to fight for your attention with Colin’s melodious voice and piercing, soulful eyes. So here is Mark’s composition with a montage of Torment art. Mark is looking forward to using a live orchestra in future pieces, thanks to your enthusiastic support!



Brian Fargo Contributes $100K. Steve Dengler Continues the Ongoing 10% Match!

Brian promised at the outset to match 10% of contributions from $1M to $2M. Having passed $2M, Brian will now be personally contributing $100K to Torment’s development budget. Torment Superfan Steve Dengler (@Dracogen) has picked up the torch and is continuing the 10% match from $2M to $3M! This means that if we hit $3M, we will actually have another $200K in our development budget to further enhance Torment's quality. Thank you, Steve, for your generosity! A world of grateful Torment fans offers you a heartfelt salute!

$3.0 Million: Increased Game Reactivity and Complexity, Cults, New Companion

As we approach our $2.5M Stretch Goal, it’s time to explore what’s next. We're looking into how we might approach having some smaller, more frequent Stretch Goals, but in the meantime, we wanted to share our broader plans for if we reach $3M.

More Legacies, Deeper and Richer Reactivity

We’ve told you a little about the Tides and Legacies already – they are a key component of three of our four pillars, and at $3M we’ll be expanding their impact, especially with respect to our fourth pillar: “Reactivity, Choice, and Real Consequences.” In the upcoming days and weeks, we’ll be elaborating more on the design of the Tides and the Legacy System, but for now I’d like to explain a bit more about how these two concepts relate to each other.

Given that Legacy is the primary theme of Torment, you can imagine that its effects will run deep. Your Legacy depends upon which of the five Tides you favor – as demonstrated through your actions and decisions within the game. At our target funding, we envisioned six Legacies: one for each Tide, and then a sixth for those who have no dominant Tide. Your Legacy (and the Tides) has a variety of impacts on both gameplay and on interactions in dialogue. For example, certain items will provide different abilities depending upon your Legacy, and your Legacy also affects what focus you master. Your Legacy might draw others to you, or make them wary of you. As your actions affect the Tides, you can choose to adopt a new Legacy and embrace your decisions or you can resist their pull – for a while, at least. Some NPCs and creatures will notice and react to the Tidal impact on your Legacy, with some reacting favorably and others... not so much.

Six Legacies yields a lot of potential for reactivity and choices and consequences. But at this Stretch Goal, we take the system much further. Instead of depending only upon one Tide, your Legacy will be based upon your strongest TWO. This increases the number of Legacies to 11 (ten possible pairs, plus an eleventh for when no two reign supreme). By almost doubling the number of Legacies, we unlock many more options for gameplay and opportunities for the world and its people to respond to your choices. Your Legacy can change throughout the game, and doubling the number of Legacies doesn’t double the gameplay time. But it does have a tremendous impact on how reactive and replayable Torment will be. That makes this game a deeper, richer experience and provides you with a host more options to consider and explore as you seek your answer to Torment’s core question. Naturally, this also means that we’ll be creating even more cool, unique items and effects that respond specifically to the paths you’ve chosen.

Cults

We love you all, but it is our responsibility to torment you; that’s why you’re here in the first place. When we reach this Stretch Goal, we will add Cults to bring a little nastiness to your life. Like factions (which we had planned at our initial funding level and will discuss more later), these groups have their own interests, loyalties, and goals. Unlike factions, cults are antagonistic, roving enemies who pick up and move as they will, as the winds blow them, or as rumors of powers, enemies, or wealth summon them. Are they all being manipulated by a shadowy enemy? They might be! They might be entirely disconnected!

Should any of these cults discover who you really are, they'll seek you in accordance with their own principles. But perhaps if you are clever enough, you can discover how to manipulate them to your advantage... and you might need to, if they all descend upon you at once. They will use you as a pawn against the others, and your goals may occasionally align with theirs, with quests and opportunities potentially opening as you interact with them. Make no mistake: they are inexorably opposed to you and your ilk. But if you are persistent, sly, and creative, you might find a way to turn their strengths into yours.

We’ll begin with the following two Cults:

The Children of the Endless Gate: Death worshippers, some call them. They prefer to think of themselves as spirits trapped in flesh, and the horror of their cage pushes them to atrocity. They call themselves liberators and agents of freedom, and when they hunt the slums of the cities they leave no evidence of their passing but a tracery in blood, an ever-wet gate to a realm of pure spirit... and horror.

The Order of Flagellants and Austerities: Once a hermetic and monkish offshoot of the Order of Truth, the so-called Scourges became a mendicant order and set out into the world with the appointment of a new leader a century ago. They are a missionary sect, devoted to cleansing the world of its many sins... among which are a reliance on the numenera, of using powers not rightfully granted with birth, and of pollution of the flesh with extravagances and constructs. A single Scourge alone is no threat, for they act only in communion with their brethren. But a group of them? They feed on the rage of their kin, borrowing strength of will and thew, and run berserk if they are not stopped, laying bare the bones of those who oppose them.

Companion #7

We’ll add another surprise companion, bringing the total to 7. You want blood? You’ve got it.

Miscellaneous

Dreamfall Chapters Kickstarter Final Day

The Dreamfall Chapters Kickstarter is entering its final day, having fully funded some time ago. The third in the series that began with the award-winning adventure game The Longest Journey, its emphasis on story and characters is something we think you might appreciate. It is being developed by Ragnar Tornquist's Red Thread Games in Norway.

Reward Tiers

I should say a few things about our reward tiers. We’ve added in several rewards so far: the Planescape: Torment Developer Retrospective (all Tiers), the Digital Strategy Guide (all Tiers $28+), Colin’s novella (for Tiers $35, $45, and $65), and three more novellas for all who are receiving either the digital or printed novella compilation. These are reflected in the tables and images in the KS page and our tumblr, but not in the sidebar on the Kickstarter page..

Next week, we’ll try to work with Kickstarter to get the sidebar Tier descriptions up to date with the extra rewards we've added, but for the time being, please trust the tables and visualizations. (Our PayPal section also still has the outdated visualizations and descriptions – all of the bonus rewards described on tumblr are valid for PayPal donations, too. Again, we should be able to refresh this on Monday.)

New Wallpapers

Last, but not least, we’ve added wallpapers based upon Chang’s concepts “Sojourner of Worlds” and “Sagus Cliffs at Dawn” to the labyrinthine wallpaper we posted a couple weeks ago. Find them on the media section of our website.

Thank you for your time and for a very exciting and memorable first few days. We are looking forward to sharing more of our design vision with you next week. Have a great weekend!

Kevin