Gods and Heroes: Myths and Reality

John Danza, Gods & Heroes Quest Lead, promises plenty of both in this Ten Ton Hammer exclusive Q&A

by Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle

Not to be confused with Who's The Boss? star (he probably hates that), John Danza is in charge of the quest design team behind Perpetual Entertainment's Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising (official site), a title that's won our E3 Best of Show award two years running. He recently took some time to talk about the game's mythological backing and gameplay details with us:

Ten Ton Hammer - In the eternal battle between ninjas, robots, and pirates, the heroes of Rome never achieved mention. Are you hoping to change that with Gods & Heroes, or do you secretly pull for one of these other vaunted warrior archetypes?

John Danza, Gods & Heroes Quest Lead: Ninja? Warrior archetype? Bah! Cowards, hiding in the shadows.  Robots? Be serious!  Pirates?  Argh!!!! The Roman Warriors of Gods and Heroes will soon emerge as the archetype to end all archetypes. Wait and see.

Ten Ton Hammer - How does the theme of "Rome Rising" tie into the game? Will the game world change in any way based on player actions? In other words, can you help to conquer provinces and expand the Roman Republic and as you do, will you dynamically see the environment around you become more… civilized?

Danza: No. The title reflects a particular period of the Roman Republic and is represented in the conflicts within the fiction.

Ten Ton Hammer - The Carthaginians of North Africa and Sicily, the Gauls of mainland Europe, and the Samnites (whose warlike tribes were native to central Italy in the days before the Republic, historically) have been mentioned as chief rivals. Will the game's map cover the entire known world at 300 BC? If so, how will the game handle travel across and around the Mediterranean? If not, can you paint us a picture of the game world by region or zone?

Danza: The game map is basically of the Italian peninsula. At ship we will not have the ability to travel to Africa. This is something we are planning for the expansion.  There are four ways to travel across the lands of Gods and Heroes. They are; by foot, by cart, by flying mythological creatures and by Divine intervention.  

Ten Ton Hammer - Sea encounters - mythological and otherwise - were a big part of the ancient stories. Many ancient cultures feared, revered, were fed by and profited from trade over the sea, and their pantheon reflected these feelings. Will Gods & Heroes offer seagoing battles or sea-themed content?

Danza: We have an entire region of the world dedicated to the pirates of the Mediterranean Sea and the wealth they accumulated during that period. A very large portion of our game world is coastal and so stories involving the sea trade abound.

Ten Ton Hammer - Players choose a divinity to serve - a one-time decision that cannot be changed?

Danza: This is true. Once you have sworn your allegiance to your deity, you cannot just abandon that deity, I mean, come on now.

Ten Ton Hammer - In mythology, adherents to one god often paid dearly when the relations between different gods changed - Jupiter knocks boots with an unsuspecting farmgirl and gets turned into a goat by a cuckolded Juno, for example. Will players be impacted by shifting favor among the gods, or will things stay fairly calm up there on Mt. Olympus?

Danza: It is possible that the player characters might do something to offend the gods, thus creating some adverse conditions to overcome, but in general, the player will witness these adversities placed upon many of the NPCs in the world. Thematically, we play on these classic themes and craft quests around them.

Ten Ton Hammer - The Telchines - mentioned as the antitheses of the gods players serve - were an ambiguous lot in recorded history and myth. With links to Atlantis and the raising of the sea & weather god Neptune, some myths speak of creatures with dog's heads and flippers for hands, others of a Rhodesian race of skilled metallurgists and sorcerers who became over-confident in their powers; earning a watery demise from the gods. Can you tell us more about how the Telchines will be portrayed in Gods and Heroes?

Danza: Yes, they were very ambiguous. How fortunate for us! We get to take only the really cool stuff, like their form of sorcery and their shape-shifting and apply those ideas to the recreation of these creatures into our game-world.  I will tell you that they are immortals that the player will encounter in the game, each with their own unique powers and attributes. They each have their devoted followers who have the ability to summon Telchine powers, much the way Roman heroes can summon the Olympian powers.  These followers have begun to undermine the very foundation of the Roman Republic and are basically wreaking havoc throughout the lands. That’s all I’m saying.  

Ten Ton Hammer - My paradigm for understanding the concept of Minions is Guild Wars, and besides the incredible level of customization you have with minion builds and the camp, could minions (like henchmen at times) become a powerful disincentive to group with other players?

Danza: I think it is safe to say that a human playing their Gladiator of Jupiter in your group is always going to be more effective than a Skirmisher Minion, so I don’t see Squad combat as a disincentive towards grouping.  In fact, we have built this game so the players can form a squad and then group with others players who also have squads in formation.  We think it’s the best of both worlds.

Ten Ton Hammer - Most of Gods & Heroes's six classes are intuitive. Could you explain the differences between a gladiator and a soldier? Between a priest and a mystic?

Danza: Briefly, Gladiators are the lose canons on the battlefield, while the Soldiers are the more controlled.  Gladiators fight dirty, while Soldiers retain their honor in combat Mystics are bearers of chaos, while Priests are bringers of light. Mystics rain terror down from the sky above, while Priests raise the dead from the infernal regions. The Rogue is a street thug, while the Scout is Rambo. Poetic enough for ya?

Ten Ton Hammer - Lest I forget my duty to Ten Ton Hammer, I need to know: cake or pie?

Danza: Got to be pie.

Thanks to John Danza and the Gods & Heroes team for their time. We anxiously await the game's release later this year.

Ten Ton Hammer is your source for Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising news, interviews, and exclusives!