{The Companions of the Hall}

Game Concept

Thesis: {The Companions of the Hall} takes the legendary fantasy adventuring party from the world of Forgotten Realms and drops their story – created by renowned author R.A. Salvatore – into a turn-based action RPG reminiscent of Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. Play as Drizzt Do’Urden and his loyal squad of heroes in an epic quest across the landscape, battling monsters, dueling rivals and discovering the truth about each other and their role within the wider conflicts of the realm.

Setting: The Forgotten Realms – an epic fantasy world of elves, dwarves, humans, orcs and monsters and magic far and wide, across planes and peoples in constant conflict. On the continent of Faerûn, in the world of Toril, adventure awaits the heroes in a variety of distinct locales as they embark for and from Mithral Hall, the ancestral home of the Battlehammer dwarves…

“From the bitter, windswept steppes of the Endless Waste to the storm-lashed cliffs of the Sword Coast stretches a wide, wild land of shining kingdoms and primal wilderness, Faerûn is only one continent of the world known as Toril. Other lands lie in distant corners of the world, but Faerun is the center of it all, the crossroads and crux upon which all else turns. Dozens of nations, hundreds of citystates, and countless tribes, villages, and settlements dot its expanse.”

Start your journey in ~ Icewind Dale / Kelvin’s Cairn ~ “The snow-capped peak of Kelvin’s Cairn rises alone above the frozen tundra, the only mountain in a thousand square miles. Because it appears to be a loose collection of boulders piled into a rough pyramid, barbarian legends call it a grave marker, though most likely it is an extinct volcano. Verbeegs make their dens on its rocky slopes, the dwarves of Clan Battlehammer mien a river valley along its south face, and Drizzt Do’urden found a secluded home in a deep cave on its lonely north face.”

Through the Companion’s perilous arc of events, make your way to reclaim the ancestral home of Mithral Hall ~ “a dwarven stronghold beneath Fourthpeak Mountain in the Frost Hills, part of the Spine of the World. It was one of the best known dwarven strongholds in Faerûn. Originally a mithral mine belonging to Clan Battlehammer, this underground town became a safe haven for various dwarf families and even some persons of other races. Mithral Hall had a long history of tragedy and triumph, and was the making and breaking of countless individuals.”

Progress through the realm, interacting in the various kingdoms and conflicts, interweaving The Companion’s own story with the world’s… eventually running into Drizzt’s own past in… ~ Menzoberranzan (pronounced: /ˈmɛnzoʊbəˈrɑːnzɑːn/ MEN-zoh-buh-RAN-zan), the City of Spiders, is a large underground drow city-state in the Upper Northdark. Menzoberranzan was possibly the most well known drow city in Faerûn. It was the home of Drizzt Do’Urden, and many of his early adventures dealt with the political intrigue and characters of the city.

Characters & Story: Layered within the The Legend of Drizzt, the legacy of the Companions is one of adventure and heroism. Their tale begins after Drizzt’s harrowing escape from the Underdark, seeking out some form of a companionship, and a new home. He finds it with a fiery, battlewise dwarven leader, his beauteous adopted daughter, a young, headstrong barbarian, and a clever halfling rogue.

“The Companions of the Hall was the unofficial name for the adventurers who retook and subsequently defended Mithral Hall. They consisted of:

King Bruenor Battlehammer

~ a royal dwarven warrior with an ironclad sense of honor and a heart of gold. Fights with an old many-notched axe and a steel shield with an overflowing mug on its surface (which he can magically have a pint from). He leads his Battlehammer shield dwarves at Icewind Dale, with dreams of one day taking back his ancestral home of Mithral Hall…

Drizzt Do’Urden and his companion Guenhwyvar

~ an exile dark elf with a pair of swords, a cat and a wandering, wondering soul. Wields a pair of magical scimitars, Twinkle & Icingdeath, which have earned him the reputation of master swordsman over the many years of his long-lived life. A fighter for good and a protector of the innocent, he has claimed the role of ranger for himself, in action and morality.

Catti-brie

~ a human archer with an adoptive father in Bruenor, the auburn-haired Catti-Brie is the moral compass of The Companions. Fiery and more than capable of defending herself, she fights alongside Drizzt and her father, comes to romance Wulfgar and befriend Regis, while ultimately falling in love with Drizzt. She carries an enchanted bow called Taulmaril, the Heartseeker with a magic, infinite-arrowed quiver. Later on within the saga, she partakes in the arcane art and trains to become a magic-using wizard.

Wulfgar

~ a hulking barbarian of a man, Wulfgar, son of Beornegar, hails from a tribe of nomads living in and around Ten Towns in the wilderness of Icewind Dale. Though first a foe, he is spared by Bruenor upon the battlefield and later becomes his surrogate son, as he is taught the ways of the dwarves. Impassioned worshipper of Tempus, the god of battle, Wulfgar wields the magic greathammer forged by Bruenor, Aegis-fang, that can return to his hand with a thought.

Regis

~ a jovial and charismatic halfling, the one nicknamed “Rumblebelly” hails from the southern city of Calimport. A city of thieves, assassins and dark magics, Regis used his guile and often nonviolent and deceptive means in order to build his life and escape. Eventually fleeing to Ten Towns in Icewind Dale, this is where he meets the other Companions while his past catches up with him, eventually leading them to come to his protection as one of Calimport’s Pasha’s sends an assassin named Artemis Entreri to take him out… He only carries a dagger, his clever tongue, and a magic ruby pendant that tends to add to his natural charms…

{The Companions of the Hall} takes these five character’s adventure together and forges a game experience out of it in the form of a classical RPG formatting.

In keeping solidarity with the established lore of the saga, the game’s narrative will begin with tracking the adventurous plot of ‘The Crystal Shard.’ From there, The Companion’s saga plays out, book by book, chapter by chapter, with you as the player directing their bows and blades through the realms. Below is the complete history of Drizzt’s canonical saga, with The Companion’s ventures weaving throughout it as the form of the game’s narrative:

~ The Legend of Drizzt saga ~

Drizzt Do’Urden’s origins and harrowing escape from the Underdark ~
Books 1-3: Homeland; Exile; Sojourn (The Dark Elf Trilogy) ~ [in the past, referenced in dialogue and in future events]

*Begin*

The initial uniting adventures of The Companions ~ Books 4-6: The Crystal Shard; Streams of Silver; The Halfling’s Gem (The Icewind Dale Trilogy)

Drizzt’s past catching up with him, leading to conflict between the dwarves and the dark elves ~
Books 7-10: The Legacy; Starless Night; Siege of Darkness; Passage to Dawn (Legacy of the Drow)

Spread around the world, The Companions deal with internal struggles and smaller conflicts ~ Books 11-13: The Silent Blade; The Spine of the World; Sea of Swords (Paths of Darkness)

The delightful and wicked adventures of the drow rogue mercenary Jarlaxle and his cynical assassin, and rival to Drizzt, Artemis Entreri
~ Books 14-16: Servant of the Shard; Promise of the Witch King; Road of the Patriarch (The Sellswords) ~ [Not part of The Companion’s tale but features the intertwining characters of Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle, who play an omnipresent role in events around The Companion’s adventure over time…]

Drizzt and The Companions battle tooth and nail against the orcish hordes in a massive world war event
~ Books 17-19: The Thousand Orcs; The Lone Drow; The Two Swords (The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy)

A variety of landscape shifting adventures for The Companions during The Spellplague
~ Books 20-22: The Orc King; The Pirate King; The Ghost King (Transitions)

*Expansion material* {?}:

~ Books 23-26: Gauntlgrym; Neverwinter; Charon’s Claw; The Last Threshold (Neverwinter Saga)

Book 27: The Companions (Book 1 of The Sundering)

Books 28-30: Night of the Hunter; Rise of the King; Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf (Companions Codex)

Books 31-33: Archmage; Maestro; Hero (Homecoming)

Books 34-36: Timeless, Boundless, Relentless (Generations)

~

Gameplay:

In the vain of classic 2D, sprite-based role-playing games, {The Companions of the Hall} follows our heroes as they travel across the world map of Faerun, encountering friends, foes and monsters in a satisfying loop of challenge, RPG progression, and narrative intrigue.

Overworld adventure ~ Generally following the storyline of the book saga, the bulk of the gameplay in {The Companions of the Hall} involves a action in trio of locales: 1) overworld exploration, 2) interactive turn-based combat, and 3) character dialogue + cinematic cutscenes. Though not unlike the three pillars of the tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons (Exploration, Combat, and Social interaction), the gameplay is primarily inspired by Super Nintendo classic Chrono Trigger (1995).

Exploration ~ progress through the story by traveling between prominent locations within the overworld map of the continent of Faerun, such as Ten Towns, Silverymoon, Waterdeep, Mithral Hall; interior exploration and conversation – meet new characters at these points of interest, who progress the primary storyline, provide side quests, or just gift you with lore to help build out your understanding of the the fantastical world.

Random and narrative encounters ~ in some areas of the overworld or within cities, towns or wilderness points of interest random monster encounters are likely, forcing our heroes into combat. At other points, the Companions will travel into regions or cities where combat is expected via their mission, and combat will be borne as a result of dialogue, cutscenes, narrative compulsion.

Shifting party trio ~ A total of 3 to a party at any one time, over the course of the saga the party structure between the 5 total Hall companions will shift based on the circumstances. Sometimes it will be based on player choice, other times it will be set into place for narrative purposes. At other points, in larger battles, all five of The Companions will be in play and controllable upon the same screen.

Interactive turn-based combat ~ Combat, akin to classic RPG titans Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, is turn-based, showcasing a lateral or vertical view of the action in the form of moving sprites. Featuring the standard array of commands, such as: Attack | Defend | Special / Spell | Item | Flee – {The Companions of the Hall} also utilizes the synergistic combo battling stylings of Chrono Trigger, with each of the Companions capable of teaming their maneuvers together in the form of unique duo or trio combo attacks. ~ Experience points, items, and story-relevant dialogue and events are the ever-present products of combat sequences, which become more or less frequent depending on your stage in the story and the location being traveled through.

Companions Combo attacks examples ~

Bruenor + Drizzt = Duo Strike, Back-to-Back, One,Two Punch

Catti-Brie + Regis = Duo Sneak, Distract + Assassinate

Drizzt + Wulfgar = Fastball Special

Wulfgar + Bruenor = Raging Whirlwind

Catti-Brie + Drizzt = Lightning Blade

Stylized art style in sprites and cutscenes ~ As one of the core ideas of {The Companions of the Hall} is to recapture the narrative magic of ‘The Legend of Drizzt’ and the Companion’s collective action therein, the game features fully animated cutscenes at different stages through the journey. Similar to the way the anime-styled cinematics highlighted salient narrative moments in Chrono Trigger, these cinematic cutscenes will showcase highly detailed action sequences, important dialogue confrontations, and beautiful landscapes, among other such artful moments.

Character progress & story focus ~ In the end, the prime focus of {The Companions of the Hall} is to focus upon the characters of Drizzt, Catti-Brie, Bruenor, Wulfgar and Regis, and their adventures together through the lands of Faerun. There is a focus upon dialogue and the build of the narrative, as much as if not more so than Chrono Trigger, and more akin to a game like Final Fantasy 7 – with each party member’s backstory origins and character development over the arc of the novels explored to their ends.

Resembling the character sheets of Dungeons & Dragons, each Companion’s profile consists of uniform statistics and attributes (such as Strength, Intelligence, Charisma, etc.) and then unique feats and abilities based on their respective strengths and weaknesses.

Characters gain levels in experience over time from defeating monsters and progressing through the storyline, increasing their base stats while also learning and enhancing their special abilities and spell-like attacks. Examples include:

Drizzt — Cross-Slash, Cross-Block, ‘The Hunter‘ ultimate swordsman mode, summon Guenhwyvar

Catti-Brie — bow tri-shot, Scrying, Fireballs & Lightning Bolts via the wizardly arts (later on in the saga)

Bruenor — Rush, Shield bash, Chopper

Wulfgar — Hammer throw, Fist fight, Leap!

Regis — Sneak, Steal, Stab

Intriguing side characters ~ Engage with the lovable and terrifying characters The Companions will meet along the way {http://worldofdrizzt.com/pages/characters.html} as you progress through the saga’s travails ~ dwarven battlerager Thibbledorf Pwent, human wizard Lady Alustriel Silverhand, gnome artisan Belwar Dissengulp, human cleric Cadderly Bonaduce, human monk Danica Maupoissant, the dwarven brothers Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder … mindflayer Methil El-Viddenvelp, orc King Obould Many-Arrows, the wicked drow Matron Mothers. And of course, Jarlaxle and Entreri, among many others.

Inspired by ~

The Legend of Drizzt

Chrono Trigger

Endgame: {The Companions of the Hall}, in a 2D RPG format, is meant to recreate the dynamic condition of a traveling D&D party of allies with diverse skills and personalities. In the consequential landscapes of the Forgotten Realms, The Companions make their way through history, traveling into the wilderness and fighting for good. Their reclamation of Mithral Hall for the Battlehammer clan is just the beginning; the core of Drizzt and The Companion’s questing involves conquests of the heart, moral learnings through harsh experience, and community-building across the worlds of humans, dwarves, elves and all races of the world, even the typically antagonistic orcs and dark elves. Join The Companions on their continuous adventure and roam the realm, fighting the good fight together!

With all of this, here I am. So many battles I have fought, so many obstacles overcome, yet I cannot deny that good fortune has played a tremendous role in leading me to this place and this time. Every man, every woman, will find battles, will find enemies to overcome, be they goblins or disease, an ill child, a wound that will not heal, a dearth of food, the chill of winter, unrequited love, the absence of a friend. Life is a journey from trial to test, from love to hate, from friendship to grief. We each deal with unsettling uncertainty and we each march on, ever on, following the road that will ultimately lead to our grave. What grand things might we do along that road? What side avenues will we build, which might start our children on their own walk, perhaps? So I have found this turn of perspective. I have scaled the peak and look now upon a grand, grand view. I can thank a woman whose warm embrace brings me peace. I can thank the greatest friends any man might ever know. I can thank a dwarf king who found a rogue on the side of a lonely mountain in a forsaken land and called him friend, and took him in.
~ Drizzt Do’Urden