After the last Firing Squad with Craig Campell, Liz approached me to talk to her about her latest project: Familiars of Terra.
It’s an RPG that, in her words, is a bit of a blend of The Golden Compass and Pokemon. Familiars and spirits exist, and populate a close to modern day world that is emerging from the Vast War. Into this landscape stride the Seekers, who are the main protagonists of the game.
Check out this Firing Squad Interview below!
MP3 Audio File: Firing Squad welcomes Elizabeth Chaipraditkul (Familiars of Terra Kickstarter)
Douglas Cole: Good afternoon and welcome to Gaming Ballistics Firing Squad. I am joined today by Elizabeth Chaipraditkul – did I get that right?
Elizabeth Chaipraditkul: You got it right! Good job. [both laugh]
DC: At any case we’re here to talk about a upcoming Kickstarter and roleplaying game. Elizabeth is the proprietor of Angry Hamster Games and by the time you see this video she will probably have launched her second Kickstarter. Tell me about the game itself. It’s called Familiars of Terra.
EC: Yes. So our game is called Familiars of Terra and the elevator pitch is that Familiars of Terra is a fantasy world where everyone has their own animal familiar and you play a seeker. A seeker is basically a wandering hero who performs epic deeds and adventures along with their familiar. It’s kind of a mix between the Golden Compass and Pokemon if you’re trying to think of genres and themes and where it would fit.
DC: I didn’t read the Golden Compass book, but I did see the movie and I have two children so I simply cannot escape pokemon even if I chose to. The question that I ask is Golden Compass – at least as potrayed in the movie – was kind of a dark tone to it. Lot of shadows and darkness and stuff. Pokemon isn’t. It’s sort of light and fluffy and even the bad guys – Team Rocket – is …you can’t take them that seriously, right? [TERRIBLE RUSSIAN ACCENT] We’re going to take over the world, of course! [TERRIBLE RUSSIAN ACCENT] So what’s the feel of the setting? Epic deeds in a war-torn land seems like it could get pretty dark.
EC: I think its very young adult (the setting). Even though I’m an adult who plays it with a lot of adult friends. Our game is kid-friendly. I think a lot of what you would consider darkness or serious stuff comes from the moral choices you have to make as a seeker. Deciding between what’s right and what’s wrong. How am I best going to approach this situation where it comes out the best for everybody. That’s a common theme in young adult fiction and struggling to discern the right from wrong even though you have adversaries telling you or actively working against you. So in that way it’s a serious game. You have to make those choices. The world is really fantastical. You have all these animals and these cool mutations and there are a lot of foreign places to go. Foreign yet familiar because it’s in a world much like our own. There are cars and radios and TV and internet. There is a Familiars of Terra version of Google, but it is different. You get that really cool, fun exploration kind of cutesy element almost.
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