Audio-based immersion is one of the key tools available to gamers at the table, helping them get into the spirit of the story.
Most people who play TTRPGs are accustomed to using soundtracks and sound effects to determine how the story progresses and the mood of the experience. But some companies are taking it to the next level. look fortune telleris an “immersive experience” provider that creates special narrated programs that can be used to add flavor and character to TTRPGs, as well as dungeon crawler board games like Gloomhaven. The company has been working on this for five years and is slowly expanding beyond sound to create even more immersive experiences and even tell different stories in the tabletop gaming space.
Fandomentals had the opportunity to sit down with Forteller CEO Thomas St. Pierre to talk about the company’s technology, its processes, and some of the new projects it has in store for 2025.
What is Forteller?
We started as an audio engineering provider for any company, whether it’s board games or tabletop engines.
So, on the board game side, there are a lot of story-rich dungeon explorers and explorers. In fact, it is fully produced. Script it. We are working with voice actors. We produce full audio dramas and give everything a full score. On the technology side, we’ve basically built an open platform where you can run your chosen style of adventure, whether it’s a book or a board game. Because technically it’s still the same structure. That is our main product. We have worked with over 20 different companies. We’re about to start our 35th game. Our products range from small to 500,000 words (equivalent to 55 hours of audio). That’s about 27 movies.
On the TTRPG side, we are working on the development of so-called “genre radio stations”, which will contain music and tools that reflect the genre in question, such as sci-fi, dark, fantasy, etc. We can take a selection of music we’ve created over the past five or six years, split it up into seven-minute tracks, piece them together step-by-step, and get started, so it doesn’t repeat itself nearly endlessly. I liken this to a series of Lego blocks that can generate a continuous stream of consistent atmosphere and sound.
What is it like creating sounds for board games and TTRPGs?
We have musicians all over the world who collaborate with us. I’m a musician and the lead sound composer is a member of a major British punk band. We also have contractors all over the world. So it depends on what we are looking for.
In the musical process, you typically start building blocks and stems, and then start using and modifying those stems. Those are the foundational parts of what we build, right? Yes, there are several libraries used throughout Hollywood. But they’re tiny little things that are only used with modifications, right? All of these have to be modified for legal reasons, such as needing to be commercialized. To make it your own, you have to do something with it. So we’re leveraging some of that, as everyone in the industry does. But in most cases, just six years of this work will yield several terabytes of audio. It’s like having a stockpile. So I just create new music from there.
What is the process of working with companies to capture the style and feel of the game?
We work closely with designers. For example, when we read someone’s name in a book, we know how to pronounce that name because we receive a pronunciation guide from that person. We give them the final say on whether it meets their vision.
We also mainly work with independent creators.
Gloomhaven designer Isaac Childress, for example, values ​​his belongings. So being involved in the process gave him peace of mind. Just like we all do, but at the end of the day it got their approval so it proved to be the right approach. But we can capture that vision and share it with everyone. And now everyone can hear part of his brain.
It also helped others get into this kind of game. The COO of Cepholofair Games said he kept trying to get his wife to play Gloomhaven, but she never played it. We sent him a voice-over demo of the game, he played it at the table with his wife, and she fell in love with playing Gloomhaven.
Does Forteller work with an actors guild like the Screen Actors Guild, or does it primarily work with independent performers?
SAG is not affiliated with board games or TTRPGs, so we do open and blind casting globally and work primarily with independent actors. They also can’t afford to pay SAG dues and fees because their revenue hasn’t reached that level yet. We also value independence because it allows us to cast more culturally appropriate performers. For example, if we needed someone with a South African voice, we could hire actual South African actors.
What does Forteller think about AI?
I’ve been very vocal about how much we don’t use AI. We’ve been hosting Reddit AMAs with voice actors about AI and their concerns. Therefore, I am a big proponent and proponent of being a resource for voice actors to know what they should be looking for in a contract. You should be aware of these things before signing anything. If the contract doesn’t specifically support AI models, the signer can just use your voice to train the model, right? So, what can I do with a bad agreement? You’re trying to be a little more vocal so people know about it, right? So that’s a big problem.
How can Forteller’s tools help people with accessibility issues?
Accessibility is one of the reasons we did this. I started this company because of my dyslexia. I became an adult, but I couldn’t reach it. It was challenging. It’s still there. It’s still hard to read, right? I mean, there’s so much writing in these great games, and that means people like me struggle with it. It’s tough. So why? Without all this text, or without someone reading it out loud, you wouldn’t be able to experience those games. Tools like this are great because they help you acquire new players.
2024 was the year Forteller moved beyond audio production into game publishing. What will it be like in 2025?
First of all, deck of many dice. These are basically 60 card decks and are “technically” oracle decks because they use the Minor Arcana. But there are also some dice rolls in there.
we also have sunsetthe TTRPG we’re publishing deals with characters who soon face death. There’s a lot of passion that went into this game and what it was about dealing with death, and it came from a place of trauma and grief. It reflects the fact that we are all destined to die, just as no matter who we are, where we are, or what we believe, we will die someday.
Regular audio narration products will also be available. For example, we are already working on preparing Gloomhaven 2. There were several other games in preparation. A vow to the embers, We helped playtest it at PAX Unplugged.
For more information about Forteller, please visit the website Fortellergame.com.
Image via Forteller
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