Path of Exile

Our Senior Narrative Designer, Matt, has taken a moment to reflect on writing for the Settlers of Kalguur League. Here are his thoughts.

Designing the narrative context for the Settlers of Kalguur league was an interesting project. This may be the most 'integrated' a new piece of content has ever been—we know most of the characters already, and anyone who's seen Path of Exile 2 might have noticed players running around Kingsmarch twenty years in the future. This is both an expansion on existing lore, and set up for future stories. With some leagues, the narrative must carve into the unknown, but with this one, I was making a puzzle piece that had to fit exactly on all sides.

There's a tension inherent in the story of the Kalguurans we've met. Ostensibly, they're here to excavate and trade, but there's always been a nervous energy about certain topics. With Settlers, I was able to explore that more organically. Every single Kalguuran character has had their lives influenced by their King, and spending enough time with them or reading their letters slowly reveals each relationship and, perhaps, certain choices they've made. As Faustus says, there's a sinister shadow growing longer with each passing day—and we can be sure it's going to darken our skies sooner or later.

Speaking of Faustus, I was keen right from the start to integrate Kingsmarch with our existing world. Faustus and Isla were perfect for their roles, and their presence begins to answer something I've been hoping to expand upon since Heist: with the world in shambles, who are the rogues actually stealing from? Well, here we are, finally, with a bit of civilisation and rebuilding going on. The ports are growing, trading is profitable, and maybe Wraeclast isn't entirely zombies and wastelands!

The other interesting constraint on this one was the new type of mechanic we'd never tried. We didn't want an overarching quest line for Settlers, because the long-term nature of the city building would surely outlast any quests we made. This would need to be more a 'setting' than an 'adventure,' and so we strove to make it enjoyable to visit and hang around in. That led to idle chatter upgrades, and a new type of greeting we may actually shift toward in the future, where the NPC greets you as you approach, rather than when you open their dialogue box. That felt really natural, but we'll have to sculpt town spaces to accommodate something like that. If they're too close together, or trigger when you're just passing by, it won't feel right.

We also recorded some lines for a conversation system like Trials of the Ancestors had, with the notion that NPCs would sometimes be in the tavern instead, or, perhaps, talk to the other NPCs close to them. Unfortunately, the layout of Kingsmarch, the distances involved, and the realisation that they were probably too far apart made that system problematic. Also, for some of the NPCs, it would be really annoying if they were randomly in the tavern instead. I could already picture the meme: 'Tujen's in the Tavern. Tujen's ALWAYS in the Tavern. But only if you go to the docks first.'

Ultimately, the inter-NPC conversations were scrapped for now. I'm definitely going to try again for future content, and upgrade the systems that did work. I consider something we developed here an opportunity—services that were separated from the NPC and put next to them, such as the Map Device or Recombinator. If their services are available from a device close to them, but still trigger or involve their dialogue, then the NPCs are free to wander or do more lifelike things in their surroundings. We've already done some great work in that direction for Path of Exile 2, and I'm really excited to see how far we can go with it.

Overall, I'm quite happy with how Kingsmarch turned out. There's thought layered into every detail, so the more time you spend there, the more you might notice or understand. I feel that this is a great starting point for telling grand tales, and we're going to need that for what's coming. And, for once, I don't have to say 'stay tuned'—Path of Exile 2 is right around the corner! I can't wait!