One of the most important elements to a tabletop RPG campaign is the Dungeon Master (DM) or Game Master (GM). Without a GM, a Dungeons and Dragons party doesn't have a storyteller who can weave adventures for the party to go on. GMs are responsible for bringing NPCs to life, creating threats and villains for the other players to tackle, and building a world for the party to explore. All the while, video game RPGs have explored the RPG genre without the help of a GM figure to lead the game. However, OnceLost Games' newly announced The Wayward Realms apparently uses a 'virtual Game Master' to shape the world.
The Wayward Realms is already a big deal in its own right. OnceLost Games is a studio helmed by developers that worked on early installations in The Elder Scrolls, one of the most influential fantasy RPG franchise on the market. Now those minds are turning toward the creation of their own fantasy RPG. OnceLost promises that The Wayward Realms will deliver an open-world RPG experience like no other, in large part thanks to the virtual GM that constantly manages the game based on player choices. The Wayward Realms' GM is a concept that, if successfully executed, could easily be the next genre-defining innovation.
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The RPG genre is famously choice driven. Lots of games like to tell different narratives based on how players choose to impact the narrative. For instance, Fallout 4's many factions offer a variety of different ways to shape the Commonwealth, all with a breadth of consequences. It's clear that The Wayward Realms intends to be a part of this RPG tradition, but the introduction of the virtual GM suggests the world will constantly change in new ways and at unprecedented depth.
It's not uncommon for an RPG to have an NPC act a certain way or make a certain choice in response to a player choice. What sets The Wayward Realms' virtual GM apart in concept is that it's not just choosing scripted outcomes based on player choices. Instead, OnceLost makes it sound like the GM is generating actions taken by NPCs in the background of The Wayward Realms. That's much more comparable to a tabletop RPG's GM, who writes new events and plot points based on the actions that their party takes during a session of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign or any similar TTRPG.
If the virtual GM can deliver on such a TTRPG-esque experience, it may mean that the teamworking on it has made a game incomparable even to Elder Scrolls. Such a rapidly and somewhat randomly changing world means that no two playthroughs of The Wayward Realms will feel the same. Just like a TTRPG, where every player action can inspire the GM and redirect the plot, The Wayward Realms could be completely mercurial. The virtual GM implies a level of social complexity and realism never before attempted in a digital RPG, resulting in a world that's always worth revisiting.
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There's definitely still a lot of unanswered questions about The Wayward Realms' GM. For instance, one wonders if its description as a virtual GM is just to help players imagine a helpful AI running in the background, or if there's literally a Game Master leading players through The Wayward Realms. There could be an abstract narrator force involved in the game that further simulates the experience of playing a TTRPG by getting some credit for the world's changes. Such a narrator character would be risky to incorporate, but if OnceLost made the character likeable enough, it'd help set The Wayward Realms apart.
The Wayward Realms' GM also raises questions about how far the GM's influence reaches. OnceLost clearly states that the game's factions and significant characters will treat the player character differently based on their choices. That much stands to reason, seeing the standard created by Fallout, Mass Effect, and other faction-driven RPGs. However, one has to wonder if low-level NPCs, enemies, and terrain will change based on the GM too.
Questions like these highlight the importance of execution when it comes to OnceLost's GM AI. Any fan of TTRPGs can corroborate that the mistakes of a DM or GM can drive a TTRPG campaign haywire. The Wayward Realms needs to generate worlds that are meaningfully different, not just aesthetically different. Similarly, player actions need to change the story and game world in noticeable ways without punishing the player for playing a certain way. The Wayward Realms sells itself on player freedom so far, so OnceLost Games has to create a GM that rewards players for doing what they want and provides engaging content in response.
OnceLost has told fans that it can't provide a release date for The Wayward Realms. In spite of new teasers and early images, the game is still in development, and there's no sign of a release window yet. It's hard to say, then, if The Wayward Realms will change the course of development for any major upcoming RPGs. The Elder Scrolls 6, Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed, and the Playground Games' Fable reboot are on the way, but their release dates are also mysteries. The Wayward Realms could release before them and change the course of their development, or release after them and potentially mark a new RPG era.
No matter when all of these games release, there's no doubt that The Wayward Realms aims to compete with The Elder Scrolls and its AAA peers in spite of its independent development. Its virtual GM is a useful tool for competing with these other top-of-the-line RPGs. It wouldn't be surprising if RPGs developed at all levels of the game industry try to mimic The Wayward Realms' GM in their own ways if it succeeds. Procedural generation and player choice are integral parts of the RPG toolbox, but the dynamic virtual GM might be a big step forward for these elements of the genre.
The Wayward Realms is in development.
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