Australian indie veterans Tin Man Games are currently developing Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown for PlayStation VR, an adventure RPG that brings tabletop gaming to life in virtual reality. Table of Tales is a true digital tabletop RPG, with the player taking their place at a virtual table and controlling a party of scoundrels as they venture through a world of swashbuckling and sorcery.
Tin Man Games’ history of developing titles that explore the overlap between tabletop and video games comes to a head with this project. Producer Clinton Shepherd said, “Recent projects have seen us go beyond our narrative roleplaying roots and make more ambitious, digital tabletop games. Making a VR title like Table of Tales is exciting as it gives us the chance to tell RPG stories in a totally new medium.”
Table of Tales features tactical, turn-based combat as well as a plot which unfolds differently depending on the choices made during play. Clinton continues: “Table of Tales creates a tabletop roleplaying experience that emerges from a dynamically changing virtual table. The Table of Tales can effortlessly conjure the sort of monsters and environments that would make any Game Master envious, while our narrator Arbitrix weaves a narrative around the events that play out.”
Every tabletop RPG needs a Game Master, thus central to Table of Tales’ is Arbitrix – an unconventional narrator who guides the player through their adventures with the table. Lead Writer Ben McKenzie said: “There have been lots of Game Master characters in games, but many are very antagonistic and only have one goal: to kill you. A big part of Table of Tales is bringing to life a Game Master who is more like real-life GMs: they challenge you, yes, but really they’re on your side. They love the game and want you to have the best and most exciting adventure possible. That’s Arbitrix.”
Table of Tales will be available Q3 2018.