shows the giant bending down to
reach out in a friendly manner to the
players. That reflects the more
diplomatic solutions that will be
available in the final game.
“As much as possible, we want to
offer multiple ways to solve one of
these encounters, right?” says Flynn.
“So in the quest you might choose to
take, the quest might say, ‘Bring me
back [something from] the giant,’ and
perhaps you could trade with the
giant for it, or perhaps you would try
to kill the giant and take it. Again, we
want both options available for
players so that they can choose how
they want to go do it. And there
might even be long term
consequences to each of those
choices in terms of how an NPC
might ultimately act with you.”
HISTORY CHANNELS
Beyond the fantastical, there are
some NPCs in Nightingale you might
recognise from our own history
books. Nellie Bly, for example, was an
American journalist in the late 1 800s
who, among other accomplishments
travelled around the world in 72 days
by steamship and railroad, setting a
world record. (During which she met
Jules Verne, who wrote Around the
World in 80 Days, the fictional record
Bly set out to beat.) A fictionalised
version of Bly is woven into the lore
of Nightingale. “Nellie Bly was an
interesting character in that period, [avery] independent and resourceful
woman at the time,” says Thompson.
“And [meeting her] gives players an
opportunity to just delve deeper into
the world and into the lore. And
obviously, she will give you
information and tasks that will help
you help you further your quest to
find Nightingale.”STARPOWER
A wishlist of other 19 th century celebs we’d like to run intoALEXANDER
GRAHAM BELL
The guy who
invented the
telephone would be
interested in talking
through portals.LOUIS PASTEUR
The other realms are
probably crawling
with strange
diseases. Who better
to develop vaccines
for Realmwalkers?ISABELLA BIRD
The famed British
explorer, writer, and
photographer
wouldn’t hesitate to
visit anddocument
strange new realms.CHARLES
DARWIN
The father of
evolution is going to
have a lot to study,
especially when trees
start walking about.Nightingale
COVER FEATURE
52
“ASMUCH AS POSSIBLE, WE WANT
TO OFFER MULTIPLE WAYS TO SOLVE
ONE OF THESE ENCOUNTERS”
One of Nightingale’s
apex creatures, swamp
boss Ishmael.