Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity is getting a companion card game (update)

Obsidian Entertainment's role-playing game Pillars of Eternity, which raised nearly $4 million on Kickstarter in 2012, has inspired another game (and another crowdfunding campaign) of its own. Pillars of Eternity: Lords of the Eastern Reach is a new tabletop card game designed by veteran game designers Chris Taylor and Scott Everts, who have taken their project to Kickstarter.

Pillars of Eternity: Lords of the Eastern Reach is an officially licensed game based on Obsidian's RPG and was developed with the involvement of the Pillars of Eternity video game team. The project's creators say the card game is designed for two to four players, with game length lasting between 20-30 minutes per player. The game appears to work from a finite set of cards, and involve a resource mechanic with cardboard chits as well as a sideboard.

Polygon talked to Obsidian's CEO Feargus Urquhart about Pillars of Eternity: Lords of the Eastern Reach a few months before today's Kickstarter launch. At the time, he said the project grew out of his love for the tabletop genre as well as his lifelong friendship with Taylor.

"I got into all of this when I started playing Dungeons & Dragons when I was in 6th grade," Urquhart said, referring to his career in game development. "Then I moved on to playing CRPGs — so putting the pen to paper, but also playing the computer games as well.

"As I’ve gotten older it’s gotten harder, with a company and a family, to be in a RPG group. I always feel bad when I join one, because it’s hard for me to be there week-in and week-out. So I’ve been playing a lot more boardgames with my friends, and we have a huge board game collection at Obsidian.

"And so it’s sort of seemed like we have our own thing now [with the Pillars of Eternity universe]. We get to do what we want with it, so let’s go do fun things with it."

Here's how the developer describes its card and dice-based game:

Lords of the Eastern Reach is a strategic card game of adventure and empire building based on the Pillars of Eternity video game from Obsidian Entertainment. You must protect and build a city. Hire heroes and troops for defense or to delve into dangerous dungeons for loot and glory. Build towers, blacksmiths and other buildings to gain the advantage and go for the win.

An example of gameplay is shown in the video below with the help of Paul Grogan's Gaming Rules! video service.

"It has that multifaceted feel which is what I've always loved about role-playing. You have choices, and you can kind of decide what you want to do when you want to do it," Urquhart told Polygon.

The creators of Lords of the Eastern Reach are seeking $30,000 to make the game. Backers can secure a copy of the base game with a $39 pledge, or a deluxe version of the game for $59. At the $89 tier they'll get the card game, as well as a digital copy of the original Pillars of Eternity CRPG game. Delivery of all reward tiers is listed as February 2016.

More details on Lords of the Eastern Reach, including more on gameplay, stretch goals and higher-end backer tiers, are available at the game's Kickstarter page.

For more on Pillars of Eternity, read Polygon's feature on the crowdfunded role-playing game and watch our overview video below.

Update: We've updated the article with more information on the game, reward tiers and additional quotes from the team.