I
t’s been a while since
I’ve stuck my nose
into anything related
to Game of Thrones. I
think I just lost
interest, which is what happens
when you spend years invested in a
bunch of books and then more
years invested in a TV show, and
then you get an abrupt and
disappointing end to it all.But just because something ends
badly doesn’t mean you can’t –
eventually, after a long enough grace
period – dive back in and enjoy all
the stuff you liked before it came
grinding to an unsatisfying halt. And
so when I saw a full conversion mod
for Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
called Realm of Thrones, which turns
the world of Calradia into Westeros
and Essos and populates it with
characters and locations from Game
of Thrones, I decided to give it a try
and see if I could still enjoy the
characters and fiction I spent so
much time with years ago.WINTER IS COMING
The mod has been in the works for a
while, and like Bannerlord itself, it’s
now in an Early Access state: notfinished, but plenty to play with.
Along with the map of Westeros and
a considerable part of Essos, there are
hundreds of NPCs from Game of
Thrones, the major cities and families
from the books and show, dozens of
towns and villages, and yes, even
packs of white walkers patrollingnorth of the Wall. That’s where I
start playing, at Castle Black with a
new character named Skip Happyfish
(the last name comes from his
banner, which is a smiling fish, and
his first name comes from what I do
to dialogue in sprawling RPGs). And
then I quickly get to work, doing
what I always do in the various Game
of Thrones mods I’ve played over the
years: I look for famous people and
try to marry them.
That’s sort of the problem with a
world full of fantasy celebrities like
Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei
Lannister, Ned Stark, Jon Snow, and
plenty more besides. I put the
medieval warfare and quests of
Bannerlord on hold and turn the
game into my own version of
Pokémon. I can’t catch most of the
famous characters of Game of
Thrones, but I do want to meet them
all and invite as many as I can to join
Clan Happyfish. I have no time for
anyone else: no B-list characters, likeREALM OF THRONES
Tu r n Bannerlord into A Song of Ice and Fire. By Christopher Livingston
NEED TO KNOW
RELEASE
Mar 30, 2020
PUBLISHER
In-houseDEVELOPER
TaleWorlds Entertainment
LINK
taleworlds.comTAKE A SEAT
Who should sit on the Iron Throne? Here’s how we’re votingT Y R I O N?
Nah. He’s smart and
fair but considering
his messed-up
family, it’s still hard
to trust him.JON SNOW?
Bah! The dude is
such a sulking bore,
the entire kingdom
would be down in
the dumps.DAENERYS?
She definitely put in
the work, but it’s
time to elect a leader,
not just follow a
bloodline.A DRAGON!
It’ll keep everyone in
line. No one would
dare invade. And it
would look great on
a banner.LEFT: (^) I probably won’t
offer to marry anyone
in this crew.
BELOW: (^) The map is,
quite simply, massive.
And this is just part
of it.
THERE ARE
HUNDREDS OF
NPCS FROM GAME
OF THRONES
EXTRA LIFE
NOW PLAYING I UPDATE I MOD SPOTLIGHT (^) I HOW TO I DIARY I WHY I LOVE I REINSTALL I M U S T P L A Y