Nessa entrevista exclusiva, ele me guiou pelo seu processo criativo e pelas maneiras surpreendentes como sua equipe partiu de uma Renascen\u00e7a fant\u00e1stica para entender a R\u00fassia contempor\u00e2nea.<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Como revolu\u00e7\u00f5es acontecem<\/strong><\/h3>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
Como escrevi na minha resenha<\/a>, o jogo nos coloca nos p\u00e9s de Brante, cidad\u00e3o de um regime opressivo – o Aben\u00e7oado Imp\u00e9rio Arkniano – nas v\u00e9speras de uma revolu\u00e7\u00e3o religiosa sem precedentes. Cabe a n\u00f3s decidirmos que papel tomaremos nos anos que vir\u00e3o.<\/p>\n
Para um medievalista que ocasionalmente lida com fontes da era moderna, que nem eu, \u00e9 d\u00edficl n\u00e3o encarar Sir Brante <\/em>como uma ref\u00eancia \u00e0 Reforma Protestante e \u00e0s Guerras de Religi\u00e3o. O pr\u00f3prio \u201cAben\u00e7oado Imp\u00e9rio Arkniano\u201d, como seu nome deixa claro, me parece um equivalente \u00f3bvio ao Sacro Imp\u00e9rio Romano-Germ\u00e2nico, onde Lutero viveu.<\/p>\n
De acordo com Slusarchuk, por\u00e9m, a revolu\u00e7\u00e3o de Sir Brante <\/em>foi inspirada por um evento muito mais recente \u2013 e mais pr\u00f3ximo das sensibilidades de seus criadores russos.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir Brante <\/em>foi baseado em uma s\u00e9rie de jogos de LARP<\/a> que organizamos durante um per\u00edodo de 17 anos, de 1997 a 2014\u201d Slusarchuk me contou \u201cQuando come\u00e7amos nossa s\u00e9rie de jogos, a fantasia medieval tradicional era considerada comum demais. Fantasia \u2018sombria\u2019 era um g\u00eanero cada vez mais popular\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mas houve outra raz\u00e3o para situar o jogo na era moderna. \u201cConforme n\u00f3s ficamos mais velhos, n\u00f3s come\u00e7amos a pensar nos processos hist\u00f3ricos por tr\u00e1s da nossa cultura e do nosso pa\u00eds. Na \u00e9poca, eu era um estudante no instituto hist\u00f3rico da nossa universidade e me interessei pelos per\u00edodos revolucion\u00e1rios na Fran\u00e7a e na R\u00fassia \u2013 e em outros pa\u00edses tamb\u00e9m. Mas eu estava particularmente intrigado pela Primeira e Segunda Revolu\u00e7\u00f5es Russas no s\u00e9culo XX.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u00c9 um dos per\u00edodos mais importantes da nossa hist\u00f3ria, o evento que determinou nosso s\u00e9culo XX \u2013 e talvez tamb\u00e9m o XXI.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPara entend\u00ea-la de verdade, eu acreditava que n\u00f3s precis\u00e1vamos ir mais fundo e explorar outros modelos de revolu\u00e7\u00e3o, n\u00e3o apenas a Russa.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
\u00c9 uma inspira\u00e7\u00e3o que se manifesta at\u00e9 mesmo na identidade art\u00edstica \u2013 embora seja dif\u00edcil para n\u00e3o-russos enxergarem.<\/p>\n
\u201cNosso artista \u00e9 muito interessado pelas est\u00e9ticas medievais, coisas como gravuras, e tamb\u00e9m jogos inspirados na Idade M\u00e9dia como Darkest Dungeon. <\/em>Foi muito divertido para ele trabalhar nesse estilo.”<\/p>\n
\u201cMas ele tamb\u00e9m se inspirou em livros ilustrados da R\u00fassia Sovi\u00e9tica. Eles tinham ilustra\u00e7\u00f5es simples e primitivas feitas a l\u00e1pis. Mas eles deixavam bastante espa\u00e7o para a imagina\u00e7\u00e3o. Eu acho que n\u00f3s dois fomos influenciados pelos livros da nossa inf\u00e2ncia\u201d ele ri.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
\u00c0queles que t\u00eam olhos treinados, \u00e9 tamb\u00e9m poss\u00edvel identificar alguns paralelos com figuras importantes da hist\u00f3ria russa.<\/p>\n
A amiga de inf\u00e2ncia de Brante \u00e9 Sophia, uma jovem que eventualmente se torna l\u00edder de um grupo extremista conhecido como “A Ultima Gota”. O artbook oficial menciona que ela compartilha o nome com Sophia Perovskaya<\/a>, uma das mandantes do assassinato do Czar Alexandre II em 1881.<\/p>\n
Mas Slusarchuk me recomendou n\u00e3o prestar muita aten\u00e7\u00e3o nas refer\u00eancias espec\u00edficas.<\/p>\n
\u201cSabe, \u00e9 at\u00e9 dif\u00edcil apontar as inspira\u00e7\u00f5es hist\u00f3ricas das nossas personagens, porque n\u00f3s as misturamos muito bem, eu acho.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNosso objetivo principal, na\u00a0 verdade, era criar personagens que tivessem algum poder hist\u00f3rico, que haviam desempenhado um papel na hist\u00f3ria russa \u2013 seja em movimentos laborais, conservadores, religiosos ou intelectuais.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cN\u00f3s temos tido uma discuss\u00e3o muito longa sobre a nossa hist\u00f3ria; uma discuss\u00e3o que se estende por dois s\u00e9culos ou mais e que continua a ser feita, n\u00e3o apenas em congressos de hist\u00f3ria, mas tamb\u00e9m na nossa vida pol\u00edtica.<\/p>\n
\u201cPara mim, criar um jogo \u00e9 uma forma de continuar essa discuss\u00e3o\u201d.<\/p>\n
Quest\u00f5es de f\u00e9<\/strong><\/h3>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
Um dos elementos mais distintivos de Sir Brante <\/em>\u00e9 sua disposi\u00e7\u00e3o a discutir religi\u00e3o. Muitos jogos retratam a f\u00e9 de uma maneira ou de outra, mas n\u00e3o \u00e9 todo dia que nos deparamos com um em que disputas teol\u00f3gicas ganham os holofotes.<\/p>\n
Ao contr\u00e1rio do polite\u00edsmo de muitas franquias de fantasia, a igreja de Sir Brante <\/em>\u00e9 visivelmente inspirada nas religi\u00f5es abra\u00e2micas \u2013 e, especificamente, em uma intepreta\u00e7\u00e3o particularmente rigorosa do cristianismo. Qualquer a\u00e7\u00e3o que desafie o status quo <\/em>\u00e9 rotulada de \u201cpecado\u201d, e suas divindades \u2013 os Deuses G\u00eameos \u2013 n\u00e3o oferecem miseric\u00f3rdia aos que erraram. Desafiar a elite pol\u00edtica significa condenar sua alma \u00e0 dana\u00e7\u00e3o eterna.<\/p>\n
No in\u00edcio da hist\u00f3ria, por\u00e9m, essa igreja est\u00e1 passando por mudan\u00e7as dr\u00e1sticas. Um cisma p\u00f5e o clero tradicional em confronto com fieis dissidentes. A \u201cVelha F\u00e9\u201d argumenta que apenas membros do sacerd\u00f3cio podem comentar a palavra de Deus, e apenas uma interpreta\u00e7\u00e3o sancionada pelo estado \u2013 escrita por uma figura inspirada em S\u00e3o Paulo, chamada Isatius \u2013 deve ser considerada can\u00f4nica. A \u201cNova F\u00e9\u201d, por sua vez, acredita que todo mundo deve ser livre para buscar seu pr\u00f3prio caminho at\u00e9 Deus.<\/p>\n
\u201cN\u00f3s criamos os conceitos de sinas [ as ordens sociais em que a sociedade \u00e9 dividida ] e deuses inclementes para nossos jogos de LARP, especificamente aquele que foi organizado em 2003, \u201cA Era da Renascen\u00e7a\u201d. N\u00f3s quer\u00edamos um conflito que envolvesse n\u00e3o apenas ordens pol\u00edticas diferentes,mas tamb\u00e9m tradi\u00e7\u00f5es culturais distintas. Minha pr\u00f3pria forma\u00e7\u00e3o \u00e9 em hist\u00f3ria cultural, e eu acredito que a cultura \u00e9 um dos fatores mais determinantes da hist\u00f3ria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA inspira\u00e7\u00e3o mais importante para a religi\u00e3o do jogo foi o cisma entre a cristandade cat\u00f3lica e ortodoxa<\/a>. Nossa f\u00e9 \u00e9 uma met\u00e1fora para a tradi\u00e7\u00e3o russa ortodoxa porque ela era uma tradi\u00e7\u00e3o bastante vinculada ao Estado.\u201d<\/p>\n
Segundo essa met\u00e1fora, qual f\u00e9 representaria a igreja russa no jogo? A Velha ou a Nova?<\/p>\n
\u201cCertamente a Velha F\u00e9. \u00c9 uma religi\u00e3o em que voc\u00ea sabe exatamente o que voc\u00ea deve a Deus e o que voc\u00ea deve\u00a0 ao seu imperador. Seus padres agem como \u201cprofissionais\u201d na vida da sua alma.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cE um dos maiores problemas, da forma como eu entendo, \u00e9 que as pessoas investiram muito em l\u00edderes religiosos, e procurar seu pr\u00f3prio caminho at\u00e9 Deus n\u00e3o era uma ideia muito disseminada.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo in\u00edcio do s\u00e9culo XX, houve uma grande discuss\u00e3o entre Lev Tolst\u00f3i<\/a> e nossa igreja sobre como o cristianismo ortodoxo n\u00e3o tinha experimentado uma reforma. N\u00f3s n\u00e3o t\u00ednhamos tido um Martinho Lutero, n\u00e3o t\u00ednhamos comunidades independentes na nossa igreja. Eu acredito que isto foi muito importante para o caminho hist\u00f3rico que tomamos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nuance e ag\u00eancia do jogador<\/strong><\/h3>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
Nem tudo no jogo \u00e9 uma refer\u00eancia \u00f3bvia \u00e0 Revolu\u00e7\u00e3o Russa. \u00c9 digno de nota que Sir Brante <\/em>tamb\u00e9m introduza muitas sociedades esot\u00e9ricas, algumas das quais t\u00eam papeis importantes \u2013 e sinistros \u2013 na jornada de nosso protagonista. Em vez de mold\u00e1-las em sociedades secretas que realmente existiram, Slusarchuk me contou que as ideias por tr\u00e1s delas vieram da literatura.<\/p>\n
\u201cEu n\u00e3o posso dizer que sou um expert na hist\u00f3ria das sociedades m\u00edsticas. Minha principal inspira\u00e7\u00e3o foi o conto As Tr\u00eas Vers\u00f5es de Judas <\/em>de Jorge Lu\u00eds Borges. Foi da\u00ed que eu tirei as ideias para a Sociedade Markiana [ uma seita hedonista que puxa as cordas por tr\u00e1s de muitas das institui\u00e7\u00f5es do jogo] e os Vontadistas de Ulrich [ uma fac\u00e7\u00e3o extremista da inquisi\u00e7\u00e3o ].\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEu tamb\u00e9m devo muito ao Umberto Eco. A provavelmente todos os seus livros, mas sobretudo O Nome da Rosa, O P\u00eandulo de Foucault <\/em>e O Cemit\u00e9rio de Praga.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cQuando eu tinha vinte e poucos anos, era muito importante para mim entender qu\u00e3o diferentes podem ser nossas interpreta\u00e7\u00f5es de hist\u00f3rias que conhecemos de nossa inf\u00e2ncia. O Borges me ensinou a enxergar aspectos diferentes das rela\u00e7\u00f5\u00e8s entre homem e Deus – e como eles podem ser modificados.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alcan\u00e7ar esse nuance ao lidar com os temas do jogo foi, segundo Slusarchuk, a principal preocupa\u00e7\u00e3o da equipe.<\/p>\n
\u201cNossa tradi\u00e7\u00e3o de RPG tem alguns princ\u00edpios b\u00e1sicos, e um deles \u00e9 n\u00e3o privilegiar um \u00fanico lado; n\u00e3o fazer um jogo de um \u00fanico ponto de vista. Era muito importante para n\u00f3s entender outras posi\u00e7\u00f5es e tentar represent\u00e1-las no jogo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00c9 uma premissa que o jogo cumpre at\u00e9 bem demais. Desde os primeiros cap\u00edtulos que lidam como nossos anos de inf\u00e2ncia, \u00e9 evidente que o Aben\u00e7oado Imp\u00e9rio Arkniano \u00e9 uma sociedade irremediavelmente quebrada.<\/p>\n
Mesmo assim, voc\u00ea n\u00e3o \u00e9 obrigado a dar um empurr\u00e3o final nesse leviat\u00e3 alquebrado. \u00a0Algumas escolhas far\u00e3o com que o protagonista se torne um membro da baixa nobreza, entre para o clero ou continue um plebeu. Embora cada uma dessas decis\u00f5es possa colocar Brante no caminho de um revolucion\u00e1rio, voc\u00ea tamb\u00e9m pode decidir apoiar o status quo<\/em> \u2013 e at\u00e9 mesmo instaurar uma ordem reacion\u00e1ria que far\u00e1 o imp\u00e9rio de outrora parecer liberal em compara\u00e7\u00e3o.<\/p>\n
Como Slusarchuk explica, o princ\u00edpio n\u00e3o \u00e9 muito diferente de um exerc\u00edcio de hist\u00f3ria contrafactual. Para realmente apreciar as implica\u00e7\u00f5es do future que voc\u00ea criou, \u00e9 necess\u00e1rio explorar o que teria acontecido se as coisas tivessem se desenrolado de outra maneira.<\/p>\n
\u201cN\u00f3s desenvolvemos o game de maneira que voc\u00ea tem algumas op\u00e7\u00f5es b\u00e1sicas que determinam seu futuro, mas voc\u00ea pode se deparar com alguma coisa que fa\u00e7a voc\u00ea mudar de ideia. E talvez o resultado disto venha a ser um desastre. Talvez far\u00e1 voc\u00ea desistir ou tentar um outro caminho, mas \u00e9 importante estar em uma posi\u00e7\u00e3o reflexiva, tentar entender o que foi que voc\u00ea escolheu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isso casa com um dos poucos elementos explicitamente fant\u00e1sticos em Sir Brante: <\/em>a pr\u00f3pria morte. No jogo, perder a vida n\u00e3o \u00e9 necessariamente uma condi\u00e7\u00e3o de fracasso. Todas as personagens \u2013 incluindo os NPCs \u2013 podem ser mortas at\u00e9 quatro vezes at\u00e9 que sua alma finalmente abandone o corpo. Sempre que o pr\u00f3prio Brante experimentar uma morte menor n\u00f3s temos de encarar os Deuses G\u00eameos e responder a quest\u00f5es cr\u00edpticas sobre as decis\u00f5es que nos trouxeram at\u00e9 ali.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
\u201cA morte, no nosso jogo, \u00e9 um ponto de reflex\u00e3o. N\u00f3s perguntamos ao personagem, e talvez ao jogador, sobre o que foi sua vida. E n\u00f3s esperamos que jogadores possam ent\u00e3o entender que \u00e9 hora de mudar alguma coisa\u201d.<\/p>\n
A mudan\u00e7a, de fato, \u00e9 talvez o principal tecido conjuntivo que une as pontas de\u00a0 sua narrativa. Do pr\u00f3prio Brante ao NPC menos relevante, suas personagens s\u00e3o pessoas que entendem que o mundo tal como conhecem deixar\u00e1 de existir e est\u00e3o lutando para apressar seu fim, para evit\u00e1-lo, para sobreviver a ele \u2013 \u00e0s vezes, apenas para tirar algum sentido do que est\u00e1 acontecendo.<\/p>\n
\u00c9 uma mensagem que parece super relevante para nosso pr\u00f3prio presente depois de um ano e meio de pandemia de Covid-19. Teria Sir Brante<\/em> alguma coisa a dizer sobre os tempos em que vivemos, atormentados como s\u00e3o pela ascens\u00e3o de populismos radicais, instabilidade econ\u00f4mica e um futuro que parece t\u00e3o cruel e incerto quanto os des\u00edgnios dos Deuses G\u00eameos?<\/p>\n
\u201cEu estaria sendo otimista demais se respondesse com um \u201csim\u201d confiante\u201d disse Slusarchuk. \u201cEra o nosso objetivo ter uma mensagem, embora eu n\u00e3o tenha certeza de que tenhamos conseguido pass\u00e1-la\u201d.<\/p>\n
Talvez, como os mist\u00e9rios da Nova F\u00e9, essa \u00e9 uma resposta que cada jogador ter\u00e1 de encontrar por conta pr\u00f3pria.
\n<\/a>
\n $\"\"$ <\/p>\n
Interview: exploring the Russian Revolution in ‘The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante’\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\nA society uneasily divided into three estates. A multicultural \u201cBlessed Empire\u201d whose very shape brings to mind a certain European confederation<\/a>. A Church that faces a schism between a traditionalist \u201cOld Faith\u201d and \u201cnew believers\u201d who advocate direct access to the scriptures. A distinctive art style that seems to have been plucked straight from one of Albrecht D\u00fcrer<\/a>\u2019s sketchbooks.<\/p>\n
It does not take much to guess that The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante, <\/em>a text-based RPG that hit the shelves last month, was created by artists with a background in history. Dealing with themes such as ideological conflicts, social unrest and authoritarianism in times of unprecedented change, the game seems tailor-made for the unique historical moment we find ourselves in.<\/p>\n
The parallels may be coincidental, but the intent to tackle these questions in a critical manner wasn\u2019t. Thus told me Fyodor Slusarchuk, author of the original concept and setting.<\/p>\n
In this exclusive interview, Slusarchuk guided me through his and his team\u2019s creative process, and often surprising ways a fantasy Renaissance was repurposed as a tool to understand contemporary Russia.<\/p>\n
How revolutions come about<\/strong><\/h3>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
As I wrote in my original review<\/a>, the game puts us in the shoes of Brante, a citizen of an oppressive state called Blessed Arknian Empire at the eve of a epoch-changing religious upheaval. It is up to us to determine which role we will play in the coming rebellion.<\/p>\n
For a medievalist who occasionally deals with Early Modern sources like myself, it is hard not to regard Sir Brante <\/em>as an allegory on the Reformation and Wars of Religion \u2013 and the Blessed Arknian Empire itself as an obvious stand-in for the Holy Roman Empire.<\/p>\n
According to Slusarchuk, however, Sir Brante<\/em>\u2019s revolution was inspired by an event that is much more recent \u2013 and closer to the sensibilities of its Russian-based creators.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir Brante <\/em>was based on a series of LARP games we organized during a period of 17 years, from 1997 to 2014\u201d Slusarchuk told me \u201cWhen we started our game series, medieval high fantasy was considered too ordinary. \u2018Grim fantasy\u2019 was an increasingly popular genre\u201d.<\/p>\n
But there was another reason for setting the game in the Early Modern period. \u201cAs we became older, we started to think about historical processes in our culture and our country. I was then a student at the historical institute in our university, and I became interested in the revolutionary periods in France and in Russia, and in other countries as well. But I was particularly intrigued about the First and Second Russian Revolutions in the 20^{th<\/sup> century.\u201d<\/p>\n}
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most important periods of our history, the event that determined our 20^{th<\/sup> century, and maybe 21^{st<\/sup> century as well.\u201d<\/p>\n}}
\u201cTo fully understand it, I believed we had to go deeper and explore other models of revolution, not just the Russian.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
It is an inspiration that manifests itself in the very art style \u2013 although it might be difficult for non-Russians to spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur artist is very interested in medieval aesthetics, in things like engravings, and also medieval-inspired games like Darkest Dungeon.<\/em> It was very fun for him to work on this style.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cBut he was also inspired by picture books from Soviet Russia. They had rather simple, primitive pencilled illustrations. But they left a lot of room for the imagination. I think we were both influenced by the books from our childhood\u201d he chuckles.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
To the trained eye, it is also possible to identify parallels to major Russian historical figures.<\/p>\n
Brante\u2019s childhood friend is Sophia, a young woman who eventually becomes leader of a violent insurrectionist group known as The Last Straw. The official artbook mentions she shares her name with Sophia Perovskaya<\/a>, one of the masterminds behind the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881.<\/p>\n
But Slusarchuk advised me not to look too closely at the specific references.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, it\u2019s rather hard to tell apart the specific historical inspirations for our characters, because we mixed them very well, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur main goal was to create characters that yielded some historical power, that played a role in Russian history \u2013 be it in a labour, conservative, religious or intellectual role.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a long, long discussion about our history that has been going on for two centuries or more, and continue to do so, not only in historical conferences, but also in our political life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, creating a game is a way to continue this discussion\u201d<\/p>\n
Matters of faith<\/strong><\/h3>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
One of the most distinguishing elements of Sir Brante <\/em>is its willingness to discuss religion. Many games feature faith in one way or another, but it is not everyday we come across one in which theological disputes take center stage.<\/p>\n
Unlike the polytheism of many fantasy games,\u00a0Sir Brante<\/em>\u2019s church is visibly inspired by the Abrahamic religions \u2013 and, specifically, a rather vindictive interpretation of Christianity. Any action that defies the status quo is labelled a \u201csin\u201d, and its deities \u2013 the Twin Gods \u2013 offer no mercy for the wicked. To defy the political elite means to convict one\u2019s soul to eternal damnation.<\/p>\n
At the story\u2019s outset, however, this church is experiencing rapid change. A schism takes place pitting the mainstream clergy against a movement of dissident believers. The \u201cOld Faith\u201d argues that only members of the priesthood can expound on the word of God, and only a state-sponsored interpretation \u2013 written by a St. Paul-like figure known as Isatius \u2013 is to be considered canon. The \u201cNew Faith\u201d, on the other hand, believes everyone should be free to seek their own path to God.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe created the concept of lots [ the estates in which the society is divided ] and unforgiving gods for our LARP games, specifically the one held in 2003, \u201cThe Age of Renaissance\u201d.\u00a0 We wanted a conflict that involved not only different political estates, but also different cultural traditions. My own intellectual background is cultural history, and I believe culture is one of the most determinant factors in history.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important inspiration for the religion of the game was the schism between Catholic and Orthodox Christianity. Our faith is a metaphor for the Russian Orthodox tradition, because it is a rather state-oriented tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n
And would the Russian church, according to this metaphor, stand for the Old or New Faith?<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly the Old Faith. It\u2019s a religion in which you know for certain what you owe God and what you owe your emperor. Its priests act as \u201cprofessionals\u201d on the life of your soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c[And] one of the main problems, as I understand it, is that people invested too much in religious leaders, and looking for one\u2019s own way to God wasn\u2019t something very widespread.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the beginning of the 20^{th<\/sup> century, there was a great discussion between Lev Tolstoy and our Church about how Eastern Orthodoxy had not experienced a Reformation. We had no Martin Luther, no independent communities in our Church. I believe this was very important to the historical path we took.\u201d<\/p>\n}
Nuance and player agency<\/strong><\/h3>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
Not everything in the game is an obvious stand-in for the Russian Revolution. Notably, Sir Brante <\/em>features many esoteric societies, some of which may play important- and nefarious roles \u2013 in our protagonist\u2019s journey. Rather than modelling them on one of many secret societies founded in 19^{th<\/sup> Europe, Slusarchuk tells me the ideas behind them came from literature.<\/p>\n}
\u201cI can\u2019t say that I\u2019m an expert on the historical background of these mystical societies. My major inspiration was the story \u201cThree Version of Judas\u201d by Jorge Lu\u00eds Borges. It was from there that I took the ideas for the Markian Society [a hedonist sect that pulls the strings behind many of the game\u2019s political institutions] and Ulrich\u2019s Willists [ an extremist branch of the game\u2019s Inquisition ]\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m also indebted to Umberto Eco. Probably by all of his books, but specifically The Name of the Rose, Foucault\u2019s Pendulum <\/em>and The Prague Cemetery.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in my 20s, it was very important to me to understand how different can be our interpretations of stories that we knew from our childhood. Borges taught me how to see the different aspects of the relationships between man and God, and how they can be modified.\u201d<\/p>\n
Achieving this nuance in dealing with the game\u2019s themes was, according to Slusarchuk, the main concern for the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur roleplaying tradition has some basic principles, and one of them is not to be one-sided; not to make a game from a single point of view.\u00a0 It was very important for us to understand other positions and to try to present them in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is a premise the game accomplishes to a fault. From the earliest chapters dealing with our childhood years, it is evident that the Blessed Arknian Empire is an irremediably broken society.<\/p>\n
And yet, you are not required to give the crumbling behemoth a final push. Certain choices will cause the protagonist to become a member of the gentry, join the clergy or remain a commoner. While each of these decisions may set Brante on a revolutionary\u2019s path, you may also decide to support the status quo \u2013 and even bring upon a reactionary order that will make the Empire of yore seem liberal in comparison.<\/p>\n
As Slusarchuk explains it, the principle is not unlike an exercise in counterfactual history. To fully appreciate the implications of the future you have created, it is vital to explore what would have happened if things had gone differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe designed the game in such a way that you have some basic choices that determine your future, but you may come upon something that makes you change your mind. And maybe the outcome will be a total disaster. Maybe it\u2019ll make you give up or try out a different path, but it is important to be in a reflective mindset, to try to understand what you chose.\u201d<\/p>\n
This ties in with one of the few explicitly fantastical elements in Sir Brante<\/em>: death itself. In the game, passing away is not necessarily a failure condition. Every character \u2013 including NPCs – can be killed up to four times before their soul finally departs the mortal realm. Every time Brante himself experiences a lesser death, we have to face the Twin Gods and answer some cryptic questions about our previous decisions.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
\u201cDeath, in our game, is a reflection point. We ask the character, and maybe the player, what was your life about. And we hope players can then understand that it\u2019s time to change something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Change, in fact, is arguably the main connective tissue tying its narrative together. From Brante himself to the lowliest NPC, its characters are people who realize the world as they know will cease to exist, and are fighting to hasten its end, to avoid it, to survive it \u2013 sometimes, simply to make sense of it.<\/p>\n
It is a message that seems all too relevant to our own present, one and half year into the Covid-19 pandemic. Does Sir Brante <\/em>has anything to say about the times we live in, beset as they are by the rise of radical populisms, economic instability and a future that seems as harsh and unpredictable as the whims of the Twin Gods?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019d be too optimistic of me to answer with a confident \u2018yes\u2019\u201d Said Slusarchuk \u201cIt was our goal to have some message, although I\u2019m not sure we achieved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe, like the mysteries of the New Faith, this is an answer each player will have to find on its own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Uma sociedade precariamente dividida em tr\u00eas classes sociais. Um \u201cImp\u00e9rio Aben\u00e7oado\u201d multicultural cuja pr\u00f3pria forma traz \u00e0 mente uma certa confedera\u00e7\u00e3o europeia. Uma Igreja que enfrenta um cisma entre uma \u201cVelha F\u00e9\u201d tradicionalista e \u201cnovos fieis\u201d que exigem o acesso direto \u00e0s escrituras. Um estilo de arte distintivo que parece tirado direto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[14,584,580,21],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210407-sir-brante-interview-cover.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rUzW-5V4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22758"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22758"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22775,"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22758\/revisions\/22775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.finisgeekis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}