Part 1 can be found here
This article is also going to contain major spoilers for Wild Arm’s endgame, and focuses largely on the villains.
Near the end of the game, it’s revealed that a major character is not actually human, but is instead an artificial creature made out of living metal, like the demons in the game. They’re originally designed to be war machines that mimicked humans, and are called Holmcrosses. Which is an odd, but unique name – and also a bastardization of “homunculus”. While it has to be used sparingly, taking another name for something, and twisting it until it’s no longer recognizable can create some interesting, unique names for your setting and creatures.
The villains of Wild Arms are really spectacular in their memorability. The primary villains of the game are the Quarter Knights, the four demons who lead the demon armies in trying to take over Filgaia. Each of the Quarter Knights has their own look, powers, and personality. Zeikfried is the leader and wants to claim the planet to replace the demon’s destroyed one, Alhazad is the thinker and just wants to experiment on humans to create new monsters, Lady Harken is a warrior controlled by Alhazad, and Belselk just enjoys chaos and killing. When Belselk dies early on, he’s replaced by Boomerang, who is seeking the ultimate fight. In addition, the demons take control of (most of) the eight legendary golems, each with a different elemental affinity. You hear about the golems in legends early on, and get to see three of them inactive, and the Quarter Knights are introduced early on through a cut scene. Establishing the villains through non-fighting ways is important in tabletop games – if the PCs get into a fight with someone, you can’t guarantee that person won’t die horribly! Doing something simple, like having a group of villains each with a particular favored minion type can work really well. If the PCs know that most undead they fight are being sent by Baron Deathguy, while the elementals and demons are under the command of the Wizard King, then you can recognizably have the bad guys acting in the world without showing themselves, have their seconds-in-command make big speeches about how the PCs are doomed (and then promptly get killed), and even let the PCs suspect that something is up by the presence of minion type X in the area, before anything is confirmed.
There are a lot of little things that go into making each of the Quarter Knights memorable. Their individual goals and personalities are emphasized. Zeikfried wants to claim the planet for the demons, and his original plan to do so is to revive the powerful demon Mother (both a name and a literal description). When he learns in a cutscene viewable by the player that Mother had devoured the demon homeworld, and now plans on devouring the planet, he and the other demons are clearly panicked. So when a mysterious cloaked figure helped the party to infiltrate the demon base, leading them towards killing Mother, it’s predictable – but not TOO predictable – that it’s Zeikfried in disguise. By letting us know what his actual goals are, and having them come into conflict with the goals of other villains, the plot is far more interesting. And later, when Zeikfried is planning on destroying the planet, in direct contradiction to his previous goal, that’s another hint that he’s not his old self, and that Mother is actually in control. All subtleties that only work because who Zeikfried is is well developed.
Sound also plays a large part in helping to distinguish the villains. Two of them, Boomerang and Zed, each have their own unique theme. These two also have the most un-demonic of goals – Boomerang just wants to fight strong people, and Zed just wants recognition. Each also has a strong sense of style – Boomerang is a black clad ninja with crazy attacks, and Zed is a showy, outrageous swordsman who gives his attacks complicated names. The music each fits their style, and isn’t the normal boss theme. If you use music in your tabletop game, consider giving major groups or villains their own theme, something that well suits them, and helps to reinforce who they are to the players, as well as helps them recall all the previous times they fought.
Finally, Mother also has an interesting auditory cue. While there’s no voice acting in the game, Mother has a creepy, ringing laugh that plays whenever she’s discussing wiping out the human race or devouring her demonic children. Small cues like that can easily be ported to a pen and paper game, be it a distinctive laugh or other sort of sound (I had a kobold hunter in one game who had a distinctive ‘eeeeeeeh’), physical movement, habit, or similar.
No comments:
Post a Comment