The Bard’s Tale IV Update #32: Monsters and inXile Year in Review

We’re approaching the end of the year and have heard plenty of info on Torment: Tides of Numenera and Wasteland 3, two of the projects inXile is working on. The studio hadn’t been nearly as talkative when it came to The Bard’s Tale IV, another franchise they resurrected via crowdfunding, at least until today, given they have just released the project’s 32nd Kickstarter update.

In the update, writer Nathan Long offers write-ups on some of the monsters that will be part of (but won’t comprise the entirety of) the bestiary of the game, together with some screenshots. An excerpt:

Bard’s Tale Monsters

We haven’t kept all of the monsters from the first three Bard’s Tale games. There were a lot – A LOT – and to be honest, some were a shade on the goofy side, but we’re incorporating the coolest and most iconic into The Bard’s Tale IV. And there is none more iconic than our first contender…

Berserker

In the original games Berserkers were famed as much for their numbers as their battle rage. You never encountered just one. In The Bard’s Tale IV, berserkers are worshipers of Vidlsvin the Boar, the Einarr god of War. While the rest of the Einarr people are content to be fishers, farmers, shepherds, and good neighbors to their Baedish and Fichti cousins on the mainland of Caith, the Berserkers crave a bolder, bloodier life. Whipped up to a frothing fury by the priests of their cult, they seek to bring back the ancient Einarr traditions of raiding, pillaging, and slaughter, and thus restore the lost glory of the Jarls of the Stanish Isles.

Dragon

Dragons in the first three Bard’s Tale games came in many colors – blue, green, copper, white, etc. – and there will be quite a variety in the Bard’s Tale IV as well.

Dragons are originally natives of the realm of the Dwarfs, and one of the reasons that dwarfs build underground. (Castle walls aren’t much use when a dragon can drop right into the courtyard, are they?) Unfortunately, a few of these monsters escaped into Midgard, the human realm, during Ragnarok, the war of the gods, and they and their offspring have been menacing humankind ever since.

The dragons of Caith are not, however, sentient beings. They’re just the alpha-predators of all alpha-predators. Fire-breathing, mountain-dwelling stealers of cattle, killers of men, and wreckers of village, town, and castle. They fear nothing, and vigorously defend their territory and their kills. Worse, they are not immune to corruption, and their simple animal minds can be taken over by practitioners of dark magic and made into living weapons. That is when you really need to fear them.

The full update also includes a video from company CEO Brian Fargo, who went over the studio’s output and work over the year. Well worth a watch if you have enjoyed their recent work.