Drakensang: Interview @ RPG Vault

Drakensang The Dark Eye Project Director, Bernd Beyreuther, speaks to RPG Vault's Jonric about the game. Here's the first question:

Jonric: Before we get into Drakensang, how would you summarize the Dark Eye universe? What is distinctive about it, and what makes it suitable as the basis for a computer RPG?

Bernd Beyreuther: The Dark Eye is the biggest pen and paper RPG system in Germany and has been in existence for more than 20 years now. The world of The Dark Eye - called Aventuria - is based on classic low fantasy, including elves, orces, dwarves etc. Its setting also bears some resemblance to the historic European Middle Ages. Aventuria is a living, breathing world. Pen and paper players can subscribe to its own newspaper, which reports on all the latest news from this parallel world. New campaigns and quests are part of this ever-evolving storyline, so players are closely connected to everything that happens.

Drakensang puts this extensively developed world to great use, as it provides both a set of rules that is well balanced and tested thoroughly, as well as a vast and rich reservoir from which to draw. The bestiary alone holds hundreds of detailed monsters, the history of Aventuria provides a mythology that goes back thousands of years, and there is a very lively sphere of deities battling the nameless spawn of nether hell dimensions...

Of course, players who are not into The Dark Eye yet will also enjoy Drakensang as a classic PC role-playing game set in a breathtaking world that will feel familiar almost immediately. We sometimes like to describe its unique feel as "European fantasy from its source".