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Tyranny’s player character, the Fatebinder: judge, jury and executioner

Tyranny Fatebinder

The next big Obsidian RPG, Tyranny, will be with us this year. That means developer diaries are in full swing, and the latest details the Fatebinder, the unnamed player character we’ll be dispensing justice with. That is their one job – resolving disputes as dictated by the laws set out by evil overlord Kyros after he took over the world. As you can imagine, that’s not always as simple as it sounds.

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The laws are not simple, and not always sensible. They can be contradictory or manipulatable, with Obsidian’s examples being that any spell cast by a mage does not leave them liable for its outcomes – assuming they did it in service of Kyros. Equally, using Kyros’ name instantly attaches legal weight to a statement, making it risky to even speak it.

Of course, you can’t just do what you want. Pass rulings that aren’t in agreement with the laws, or treat the wrong people too harshly, and they can visit your boss, the Archon of Justice, to rag you out. His name is Tunon and he is basically Kyros’ second in command. Don’t piss him off, basically – he’ll never undermine you or your authority, but he will have you killed.

Equally, anyone can ask for your judgement on an issue. You’re free to punish them for wasting your attention on minor scuffles if you like, or judge fairly no matter the stakes. Dredd with consequences isn’t the most standard RPG setup, as is true for the rest of Tyranny. Some more details over in the dev diary, and we’ll get to see more of Tyranny’s weird world at E3.