The D20 Beat: Re-creating The Bard’s Tale most iconic scene

One of my favorite pieces of video game box art is from Tales of the Unknown, Vol. 1: The Bard’s Tale, the 1985 fantasy role-playing game from Interplay. A bard strums a handheld harp, regaling a rapt gathering near a roaring hearth. It hints at a story of grand adventure, of heroes taking on an epic quest.

Turns out this image still resonates 33 years later at Interplay’s spiritual successor, InXile Entertainment. It’s the studio behind The Bard’s Tale IV: The Barrows Deep, the upcoming RPG (it releases September 18 for PC) that continues the story from the iconic trilogy of the 1980s. But this time around, InXile founder and boss Brian Fargo — also one of the key people behind the original Bard’s Tale so many years ago — had a special idea for a series he has loved for decades.