Nature vs. Nurture

Side Quest in the Emerald Stair Region

The Context

Nature vs. Nurture was originally a simple dispute between two farmers, in which you get to choose who gets some valuable farming equipment. But during polish for the region, we realize the quest wasn't adequately supporting the regional theme of the the land pushing back against oppressive forces, so we removed the second farmer character and revamped the quest.

The Quest

In this quest, a druid hermit has found a way to control xaurips (lizard people), and use them to destroy farmer's animancy equipment (essentially using souls to grow more hearty crops).

There are two main entrances to this quest:

- Talk to the farmers, who note how strange the xaurips were behaving

- Find the hermit in a cave in the region's swamp, surrounded by neutral xaurips

Chekhov's Lizard

My favorite part of this quest is the subversion when you approach the hermit camp:

Usually xaurips are hostile on sight to the player, but when the player approaches this group, they instead fall into formation. I originally wanted them to follow the player in a group, but this proved to be impossible with our tech, so we opted for this formation instead.

But because all xaurips are usually hostile, I wanted the player to feel very uneasy, and appreciate that they are entering peacefully, but that could easily change if they're not careful, resulting in them having to fight their way out.

By having them be neutral instead of hostile, it also allows the player to observe both the number of combatants, as well as the arena that they might be fighting in.

I designed the interior of the hermit's cave to increase this feeling of unease, with very little natural light, with xaurips surrounding the player on all sides, bathed in oppressive red lighting.

By talking with the hermit, the player gets a chance to side with him, in which case the xaurips remain neutral unless openly attacked, but if the player sides with the farmers, then all the xaurips in the whole camp will turn hostile.

If a fight breaks out, the exterior fighting arena is open and wide, with tons of shallow water so the player can use electric grenades to lock down enemies. I wanted the player to struggle against the sheer numbers here and less so with the terrain. More xaurips spawn from the suspended upper huts and jump down to join the fight, so the player is always meant to feel like they're on the back foot.

We also end quest reactivity for the farmers. If the player sides with the hermit, then the xaurips become even more widespread throughout the region. If the player sides with the farmers, the land actually does continue to fight back, completely overcoming their homestead in vines and dreamthralls (essentially mushroom zombies).

I feel like the rework to this quest is much more interesting on every level, including strongly supporting and grappling directly with the regional theme.

Artist: Ryan Powell

Writer: Katie Tenney