Avowed is Obsidian Entertainment's upcoming first-person fantasy RPG. Many fantasy fans were quick to notice the similarities between the game as shown in its reveal trailer and The Elder Scrolls series, leading some to wonder if Obsidian is aiming for Bethesda's spot in the roleplaying market.
There is one key way that the world of Avowed may not be like Tamriel. The game's universe has been shown to have significantly more modern technology than most of The Elder Scrolls' world. Many fans will be wondering, however, if that means Avowed will include guns.
Technology In Pillars Of Eternity
Avowed is set in the same world as Obsidian's isometric RPG series Pillars of Eternity. That world is named Eora, and in Pillars of Eternity Eora resembles the early modern era in many ways. Although there are Dwarves, Elves, the diminutive Orlans, and the giant coastal Aumaua, much of the technology, architecture, and fashion seems like its taken from the 16th through to the 18th centuries.
This is particularly noticeable in the second game, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. The sequel let players get behind the wheel of a galleon and fire cannons, though the first game also had a clear early-modern slant to its technology. In the original Pillars of Eternity, players witnessed the creation of a powerful weapon known as the Godhammer Bomb which combined magical know-how with the expertise of artillery specialists to make an explosive powerful enough to kill a god's avatar.
Technology is been shown to develop over the course of Pillars of Eternity's story, but the lore also indicates that different periods in the history of Eora had different levels of technology. There was an ancient civilization known as Engwith, composed of all of the mortal races of Eora. The Engwithans became extremely technologically advanced, and were able to build giant towers that ran deep underground. They were even able to create machines which allowed them harness souls and create the gods of Eora. Eventually, however, their civilization collapsed and much of their technology was lost.
When it comes to the question of whether players will be able to use guns as a weapon in Avowed, the game's setting in time is key. If the game is set in the same period as Pillars of Eternity the answer is almost certainly yes. However, there are indications that Avowed may be set long before the events of Pillars of Eternity, in a very different period of Eora's history.
Avowed's Time Setting
While Pillars of Eternity's technology and culture resembles the early modern period, many of the visuals in the Avowed trailer appear far more medieval in style. Instead of firing guns or cannon balls, the battle shown in the trailer uses a row of archers on top of a castle wall. There's also evidence that Avowed takes place before Pillars of Eternity based on some of the trailer's narration.
The Avowed trailer's voiceover mentions oaths twice, as well as heroes becoming queens and kings, and says that the player "must face the monsters our sins have borne." All of this phrasing points to Woedica. Woedica is one of the gods of Eora, and aspects of her domain include rightful rulership, oaths, and vengeance. She is even known to appear as "the Strangler," an old woman who murders those who break their solemn oaths.
Woedica appears in both Pillars of Eternity games, but there are reasons to think that the focus on her in the trailer may also indicate the time period in which Avowed is set. Woedica was once the queen of the gods of Eora, but she was eventually overthrown by the other deities in the pantheon. As such she is also known as the Exiled Queen or the Burned Queen, having been burned by Magran, the goddess of fire and war.
Before her overthrow, however, Woedica was the most powerful and dangerous of the gods. The Avowed trailer hints that the upcoming RPG may be set in Eora before Woedica was overthrown. If so, this would explain the difference between the technology seen in the Avowed trailer and the guns and cannons known to exist in Pillars of Eternity. Assuming that technology progressed at roughly the same rate in Eora as it did in Earth's history, Avowed would be set several centuries before Pillars of Eternity.
Avowed's Combat
Ultimately this would mean that there would be no guns in Avowed. That may be for the best, however. While it's easier to balance many different weapon types in an isometric RPG like Pillars of Eternity, balancing the variables in real-time combat between guns, swords, and magic may not work as well in a first-person RPG. A lack of guns may end up making the world of Avowed more similar to Tamriel, but that may be a necessary sacrifice in order to get the first-person fantasy RPG formula to work smoothly.
It is possible that guns may still exist in Avowed, even if the game is set some time before the Pillars of Eternity games. Avowed will be set in the Living Lands, a wild northern frontier filled with competing factions and strange beasts. It may be that the Living Lands are less technologically developed than the heart of Eora's empires, but that more modern technology like guns can still be found.
If nothing else, the fact that Obsidian has shown that Eora has the capacity to change technologically could make it more immersive than many fantasy worlds. The Elder Scrolls Online, for example, revealed that the surface civilizations of Tamriel have been technologically stagnant for at least a millennium. It may be unlikely that players will have access to guns in Avowed, but the full extent of the game's combat system has yet to be revealed. Even without guns the spell system in Avowed has the potential to satisfy the itchy trigger fingers of players with a love of ranged combat and explosions.
Avowed is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.