Pillars of Eternity might be Obsidian's baby, but the series that most recently spawned Avowed is still inextricably tied to established fantasy fare, particularly D&D and the Forgotten Realms. It's a setting that's closely linked with Obsidian—the studio was founded by Black Isle veterans, after all.
But the decision to include familiar elements, particularly classic fantasy races, wasn't just down to the team's connection to D&D through Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment and Neverwinter Nights; Obsidian was also giving the people what they wanted.
"To be real with you, there's a lot of stuff that we included because people want to see them in fantasy," Obsidian's Josh Sawyer told us at GDC. "I understand there's a benefit to being like, 'Let's turn it on its head', but that's also just one thing you can do, right? Another thing you can do is say, 'OK, well, what if these are aesthetically similar, but for different reasons, or there's like variation, or there's like a different foundation to why they are the way that they are?'"
Sawyer uses Pillars' dwarves as an example. Their ruins can be found all over the place, "because they have an inherent wanderlust and they feel the need to keep exploring and keep moving". This makes them distinct from their more settled D&D or Middle-earth counterparts. Indeed, wanderlust is more of an elven thing in D&D.
"It's less about the sort of, 'We are entrenched and we love mining, and we have Scottish accents' and that stuff," says Sawyer. "But they look like dwarves, and they do create big stone structures. And there are many familiar things about them. But then there are some things that are unfamiliar, the wanderlust, the Romanian sort of aspect to their language and names and things like that."
I do want to say, though, on behalf of Scotland, it's OK if you still want to make dwarves Scots. Dwarves are brilliant, and let's face it, we are a short, hairy, sometimes dour people. We fit the bill. But a bit more variety when it comes to our stumpy pals is still appreciated. I want to see more dwarves like Dragon Age's Varric: a sexy, charming liar.
"So I didn't want to completely flip it," says Sawyer, "and say, 'Oh, you want to play an elf? Fuck you. This isn't your daddy's elf.' It's like, no, no, it's still pretty much an elf. But there are some things about it that are not quite as traditional."
Obviously, though, Baldur's Gate & Co were still a big part of why Obsidian stuck with some traditions. Pillars was specifically a game for CRPG fans who never got over the Infinity Engine games.
"We made it as a spiritual successor to Forgotten Realms games, primarily," says Sawyer. "So there are people who are going to come in and they're going to want to make their alt for their dwarf, probably not their halfling, but they have orlans, probably not their half orc, but they have aumaua. And that's the thing: we got the big guys and we got the little guys, but then with those, we can do something different. That is, I don't want to say even necessarily more interesting, but it gives our setting a little more texture, knowing that we have elves and dwarves in the middle."
As a D&D and Baldur's Gate guy, but one who often finds the Forgotten Realms setting overly familiar these days, I enjoyed the 'same but different' vibes offered by Pillars and Avowed. Also, as someone who thinks halflings are rubbish, I particularly appreciate the orlans—Obsidian's weird little gremlins. They're just different enough to stand out, but sort of fulfil a similar role as halflings. So it feels like Obsidian and Sawyer really managed to thread the needle.
