Hey there denizens of fate!
If you’re a writer, artist, or just about any content creator then, you have had to create a character and their backstory or lore. Most of us know that there are only four races that can be chosen in the Wheel of Fate game but there’s not much information regarding these races aside from their general descriptions.
Here’s a behind the scenes look on the inspiration and brainstorming process involved in Wheel of Fate’s four Races. Answers have been provided by Daniel Vivona, the founder of UDX Interactive.
What was the primary inspiration for each WOF race?
Majority of inspiration behind Wheel of Fate stems from the types of games that I liked personally and played throughout my life as a gamer. Although, the inspiration behind each Wheel of Fate’s race differed greatly. We didn't want classic D&D races, so we started our brainstorming process.
For the Ashar race, we knew we needed and wanted a human-ish race as an anchor which led to an ape-kin inspired species.
Notably, the idea of the Rovar race, based on bears came up during one of our brainstorming sessions.
The inspiration for Ikara came from just a unanimous feeling at the brainstorming table and inspiration by real birds in nature. Birds generally allude to freedom, nomadic behaviour from migration patterns, and an element of air compatibility.
Veikar was a compromise. We wanted something that represented power. Initially, we had considered creating an elemental race which changed into the Veikar when someone tossed in the idea of "dragon people". Everyone was on board with this idea and it led to the design we have today.
Why did you choose 4 races?
Even though we wanted to add more options, we decided to pursue 4 races because it was a manageable number to create. In addition, 4 is the party size for Wheel of Fate so we wanted the player to at least have 1 of each race.
What were the key characteristics you wanted in each race's character design?
Rovar was designed with the characteristics of calm, powerful, attuned to the world, and stoic. Although, we did not want this ‘calmness’ to be associated with weakness but instead strength and grounded like a mountain. The type of race where despite their calm nature, they would be a force to reckon with if provoked similar to most wildlife species.
For Veikar’s design, we wanted them to be powerful in arms and in magic and have an ancient feel to them. Their design was based on characteristics of honour, power, and aggression. The Veikar became a race that respects strength (mind or arms) and looks down on or pities other races not as strong as them. The Veikar’s ancient background led to ‘The first people’ lore; they’re strong but diminished and exist in smaller numbers.
Based on birds, the Ikara had a ‘go where the winds take them’ influence on their design. We designed the Ikara with the characteristics of elegance, speed, and agility. Eventually leading to a nomadic type race with strong hunters and mages.
Similar to humans, we designed the Ashar with human characteristics in mind which lead to the traits of Industrious, numerous, and adaptability in their race.
Which race is your personal favourite?
This is a hard question to answer since I personally like them all for different reasons.
Based on my character beliefs and playstyles, I would likely prefer Veikar with their characteristics of power, pride and fierce fighting ability in both combat and magic. But aesthetic wise, I think Rovar and Ikara have really cool designs. However, when I think about my usual choice for games, I usually play human type races which leads to a preference for the Ashar race. So as you can see, I’m sort of at a crossroads here.
What came first when designing the four races? The character design or the character lore?
Technically the character design came first. We decided exactly on the race itself that we wanted to add to our Wheel of Fate world. After deciding on what we wanted each race to represent, we moved onto the concept art and design then wrote the lore from there.
For example, we wanted bears. The bear species in our world. This led to multiple character concept designs which eventually created Rovar in Wheel of Fate.
We hope this answers some of your questions about the game development for Wheel of Fate. In addition, we wish you the best of luck for those of you who are creating your own worlds, games, and stories. You will find inspiration in the weirdest places so continue brainstorming openly and allow yourself to express your creativity.
Cheers!
UDX Team