Masters of the Broken World Developer Diary

Strategy Informer is hosting a new developer diary for Masters of the Broken World, and this time lead designer Alexey Bokulev and producer Alexander Souslov talk about the game's events, how players can respond to them, and the consequences that can occur based on how you decide to handle each one.
The player's domain consists of separate provinces, each settled by one of the intelligent races of Eador. And in every province there is a chance something may happen each turn, be it a fair, an earthquake, or an undead uprising in a local cemetery.

Being a ruler, the player has to make a decision whenever such an event happens, and his choice largely affects both the outcome of a particular event and the way the local population will treat him. Many events make the player face a moral dilemma, such as a choice between making some profit and doing a right thing for the wrong price. Not every consequence is predictable, some can be quite surprising, and not necessarily in a good way. Even if an event repeats itself, there is no betting the same response will lead to the same outcome.

Besides, the events vary in length. Some are fairly simple, reaching an outcome after a response or two. Others play out for a long time, paving the way to some new event several turns later and so on.

Something of this kind was implemented in Civilization: Beyond the Sword and in the series' by Paradox. These random events add diversity to the game, a certain level of unpredictability, sometimes opening up some new possibilities, sometimes challenging the player with a disaster to avoid. Eador ties these events into role-playing, as well. As the player chooses some option or another, he subtly shapes the personality of his ruler and the way the mortals and the immortals of Eador will perceive him.