Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen Initial Goal Reached, $113,590 and Counting

With three more days to go and a total of $113,590 pledged, Ceres Games’ tactical turn-based RPG Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen has reached its initial funding goal and now has some time left to work towards its stretch goals.

And now that we can be more or less certain that the game will get made, we can check out the latest campaign update dedicated to all the recreational activities the game’s pubs will have on tap, as well as its character voice sets. Have a look:

Pub Games

At sunset, you and your companions finally arrive in Bridgewater, a famous hub of trade and other, less honest forms of business. Milling amongst the crowds of merchants and citizens, beggars and cut-throats, you slowly wander through the town’s narrow alleyways towards the Merry Hangman Inn, in a district of town known for its pleasures – many of them illicit. You enter the tavern in search for a hearty meal, a warm hearth, and some merry entertainment to lift up your spirits.

As anticipated, you find the place is bursting with laughter, singing and cheer as you enter. The smell of good food and beer, and the sound of merry fiddles and happy folk songs out of tune, quickly overwhelm your senses. As some of your companions proceed directly to their rooms in the second floor, longing for a good bed after the strenuous journey, you manage to spot a small empty table in the far corner. When you finally make your way through the crowd of drunken patrons, the tavern maid brings you a battered pewter mug, and asks you with a smile: “Care for a Game?”

Games to spend your hard-earned coin on

Every adventurer needs some time to relax after a long day, and Realms Beyond offers you plenty of games to pass the time with when you return to town after an exhausting adventure. Cards, dice, pit-fighting and axe-throwing are just some of the many activities your adventurers can take part in, trying their luck or skill against NPCs and even wagering some money on their success.

If you’re on good terms with some tavernkeepers or have some coin to spare, who knows… they might even let you prove what you’re made of in their underground fighting clubs (no arms, no armor, no spells – only fists and the cheering roars of the crowd).

But be careful with your money – many an adventurer has lost the riches he gained during the day in the games of dice he chose to play at night. If you are clever, though, success at gambling is not only a matter of luck. A character with a high skill at bluffing will be an excellent card player, while a dexterous rogue with sleight of hand can attempt to cheat at dice. But beware! If caught cheating, you might be dragged into a fistfight, and once the guards arrive the cheater is the one who has to pay the fine.

You may even catch goblins playing a game of dice in the dungeon, and if you don’t attack them right away, you may even join in! They are, after all, not the smartest creatures nor the most vigilant guards.

Voice Sets

You have already heard the triumphant laughter of a wizard as he fries a horde of goblins with his fireball, but there will be many more occasions when your characters show their emotions or make a comment regarding the current events. Like in many other classic RPGs – Baldur’s Gate, Planescape Torment, Jagged Alliance 2, Wizardry 8, to mention just a few examples – you can pick one of many different voicesets for your character, covering a vast array of personalities.

Whether your character is a lawful paladin or a chaotic barbarian, you can select the voice that fits him the best and hear him commenting on certain situations throughout the game. From a simple laugh, cough, or scoff to exclamations like “Bah, elves…” or “What a nice lady!”, your characters will comment on combat events, conversations, or item interactions when appropriate.

To achieve the best quality for these voice sets, we’re cooperating with professional voice actors like Stephen Chatfield. Stephen is not only a highly versatile and exceptionally talented voice actor but also a huge fan of table-top and computer role-playing games. We’re happy that he will contribute not only one but a handful of character voices for Realms Beyond. Exclusively for this update, Stephen recorded two samples of very different character voices to demonstrate the idea.