Dead State Interview

After asking the mandatory questions on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and the possibility of a spiritual successor, RPGWatch’s interview with Brian Mitsoda moves on to Dead State, the game he is developing at DoubleBear Productions with his wife Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda. Here’s a snippet:

RPGWatch: Zombies seem to be very, very popular right now, and it seems like there are new games coming out all the time that feature zombies in some way. So tell us, what will separate Dead State from the other zombie games that are out there?

Brian: The focus of Dead State has always been to make a real-world RPG that was less about the zombies and had more of an emphasis on the human survivors. The zombie genre has never been about fighting the undead, but the mindset of the people who survived the initial crisis. The zombies are out there, they’re a threat, but your group still needs to eat and protect itself AND so does everyone else out there. Our game draws from the atmosphere of a natural disaster where no one is coming to restore order and bring relief to the survivors. There’s no law any longer and survivors have been left to do whatever it takes – there’s going to be a lot of people who are going to resort to brute force in that environment.

RPGWatch: For me (and hopefully some of my readers! 🙂 ), deep RPG systems are the most important thing in an RPG, and the more complex the system, the better! What type of RPG stats, skills and perks can we expect to find in Dead State? Can you give us some examples of their design?

Brian: All of our stats and skills are fairly straightforward and have been cut down to be as useful as possible so that you don’t feel like you put points in a useless option. Melee and Ranged are straightforward combat skills, while Mechanical, Medical, and Science have combat and Shelter applications, specifically building upgrades, healing allies faster, and building new armor or items. Survival is all about getting around the map quicker and more safely while also opening up potential wild sources of food. Leadership has dialogue applications, but can also be used to issue commands that can change your odds in combat. Negotiation helps you keep order at the shelter, but also allows you to more successfully deal with the demands of enemies and allies. Each skill has a choice of perks at levels 3 and 6, with a very useful perk unlocked at level 10. Pretty much whatever skill you pick is going to give you better odds of survival, but your specialties and perks will change your game experience quite a bit.

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RPGWatch: Vampire – Bloodlines seemed like it had significant player choices around every corner, and it made for a very re-playable game. What type of choices will there to be made in Dead State, and how heavy will the consequences be? Can you fail some quests because you chose the “wrong” dialog? Will the game adapt to your choices and change based on them? Do quest outcomes differ based on your choices?

Brian: The consequences range from altering an ally’s mood to losing supplies to provoking certain allies to take an action against you. Dealing with certain groups can lead to attacks on your Shelter’s fence or the chance of encountering more enemies out in the world. There’s also Crisis Events – major events or disasters that require a vote by the Shelter’s leadership – that change the entire mood of the Shelter and can have far-ranging consequences when it comes to the respect of the sub-leaders there.

As far as failure, it’s possible to result in less than optimal situations from your decisions, but you’ll never instantly be killed or anything that severe. We always give you the chance to alter the situation inside your Shelter yourself – such as making an ally have a “convenient accident” that day. You’ll never be able to please everyone at the Shelter with your decisions, so the best thing to do is to balance your actions toward the majority or try to tweak the allies in the Shelter to be more likely to side via bribes and negotiation.

There are several major factions you deal with in the game world, and the options you take with them can vary quite a bit. Some of them might even be willing to work with you or at least respect you enough to leave you alone. Most of the day to day in the game is going to be working with your own people and keeping up the morale of the Shelter. The endings of the game will be dependent on the number of allies you have and some other factors ranging from faction relationships to the skills of you and your fellow Shelter residents. Our hope is that every player writes their own story of survival within the actions that they take.