Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Wraps Up Kickstarter Campaign, Crosses $2M Milestone

It has been a little more than a week since we last spoke of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. Since then the Kickstarter Campaign has successfully finished with over 35k backers pledging over $2.05M to the project (the team was looking for $300k initially). For comparison, the studio’s previous project Pathfinder: Kingmaker raised $909k pledged by 18,351 backers while Larian’s co-op RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2 raised $2.032M and had 42,713 backers.

Below you can find the stretch goals unlocked in the last week’s race as well as other posts by the development team:

• x2 Attack Animations. Let your crusaders show off their skill with weaponry of any kind! Double the ways of cutting demons into pieces, stabbing them and beating them to your satisfaction. Enjoy the brutal swings of Seelah’s sword crushing the abyssal creatures, watch the graceful moves of Camellia with a rapier in hand, and hold your breath when Arushalae touches a bowstring.
• More Features for Each Race. What folk would you like your character to represent? Choose wisely, as your character’s origins will have much more influence than you think. Each race in the game will now introduce a unique archetype related to it, providing more variety to character building.
• Tactical Battles for Armies. This new feature allows you to control units’ movements in each battle, issue specific commands and use powerful spells to crush even the mightiest of foes HoMMIII style.
• +10 Special Global Map Encounters. The Worldwound is a dangerous but remarkable place to explore. Anything might happen to our brave adventurers on their travels, and you never know who (or what) you will bump into. Ten new special events will be triggered randomly on the global map, from intense battles with powerful entities to unique discoveries and meeting new characters.
• Riddles of Areshkagal. Areshkagal, the demon lord of portals and riddles, expresses a special interest in you. Will you dare to meet his faceless sphinx with a viper for tail, who is famed for her puzzles that no mortal has yet solved?
• Magic on the Crusade. What’s missing from the strategic side of the crusade? The strategic application of magic, of course! Do you want to use global rituals, changing the rules on a grand scale? To build arcane workshops where golems will be crafted to bolster your front lines? To summon powerful outsiders to your armies? Then this feature is the one for you.
• Intelligent Weapon as a Mini-Companion. There is a weapon in your inventory that starts talking! But do not hasten to throw it away or sell at a flea market. It could become your gossipy mini-companion. And pretty handy when it comes to slaying some demonic spawn. Take it with you, as it is dangerous to go alone, you know.

The last stretch goal, requiring $2.1M, has not been reached as a part of the Kickstarter campaign but do not despair – there is still PayPal pledging by slacker backers ahead as well as pre-orders of the game that might count towards it!

Dinosaurs + Hunter Class: The fierce and mighty giant reptiles may help you in your ventures if you are brave enough to own one as a pet. Improve your bond with a dinosaur or other animal companions by choosing the way of the Hunter, a warrior of the wilds. The Hunter class will let you develop the beast to its full potential, making you and your animal friend the most fearsome duo these lands have ever seen. You will also be able to mount your dinosaur companion and ride it into battle, causing chaos among the enemy troops.

Now that the goals are covered, let’s take a look at other reveals by the team!

Last week Owlcats participated in the Reddit AMA, answering fans’ questions about various things that make up Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, including Mythic Paths, turn-based mode, multiplayer support for the game and more. You can find the full list of questions and answers on the Owlcat forums.

The developers have also outlined what it is like to be a champion of Hope and Vengeance while following the Mythic Path of an Angel:

With wings of gold on your back and a radiant halo above your head, you will be the one to guide humanity to triumph in this holy war. Allies will be bolstered by your celestial aura, while demons will flee before your blinding light. Angelic armies will stand at your side, ready to be called into action at any moment. And your blessings will imbue your friends with protection against the direst of afflictions.

With heavenly healing powers, you can save your companions from even the most desperate situations, or bring them back to life, ready to fight again. Angels from martial classes will learn what it feels like to be a cleric, while powerful spellcasters will have their existing spellbooks augmented with both new spells and heavenly powers.

Last time the team shared how hard it is to work on the in-game events. One of the writers at Bioware once joked about the complexities of writing for games by saying: “Imagine that you have to write a scene where one potentially dead character talks to another potentially dead character about an event that might have happened or might have not.” It sounds absurd but that is the reality of game making.

This time the developers let players sneak a glimpse at the process of creating memorable companions.

But how much does it really take to create a companion? Let’s see. First come the design documents. The character’s appearance, voice, backstory, personality, place within the party, opinions on the events of the story, relationships with the player character and the other party members… These documents are the roots that the players won’t see, but they are necessary to produce the actual text that appears in the game. This includes the character’s personal dialogue (changing over time as the story progresses), calls they make in the battle, and other interface text. Then comes their questline (which includes additional NPCs and events) and possibly a romance. Finally, there are their interactions with the player (the interjections they make during dialogues with NPCs) and the other companions (campfire banter and their responses to others’ interjections). This is one of the most expensive parts, because with every added companion, the amount of interaction grows in geometric progression. All in all, a companion costs at least 2.5–3 months of a narrative designer’s work time. And that’s only the writing—that doesn’t include the inevitable edits, and approvals, and the work done by other teams.

Another Kickstarter update introduces players to translating a Pathfinder Adventure Pass into a cRPG. For those not familiar with Adventure Paths, they are a series of six interconnected modules that take Pathfinder adventurers from Level 1 to… well… a frighteningly high level. A table top playthrough of an Adventure Path can be akin like playing six seasons of Game of Thrones, it’s that epic. And intricate. Also, in Wrath’s case, it also comes with a healthy splash of demons and demon lords.

The last but not the least is a music piece by one of the game’s composers, Dryante.

So… With Kickstarter over, what now? Stay tuned – there is still the vote ahead that will decide which of the three animalistic races will get into the game – Catfolk, fox-like Kitsune or Ratfolk. Additionally, Owlcat Studios is going to be opening the PayPal backing and more. Stay tuned for more information about the game once the developers share it!