Dead by Daylight dev breaks down The Skull Merchant & tech as a \u201ctool for fear\u201d Behaviour InteractiveWith a brand new Chapter on the way in Dead by Daylight, Dexerto spoke to Creative Director Dave Richard to learn more about Tools of Torment, The Skull Merchant, and where this will take the asymmetrical horror in the future. On March 7, 2023, Tools of Torment, the 27th Chapter in DbD, brings a new Killer, two Survivors, and more into The Fog. One of the more controversial parts of the DLC is The Skull Merchant\u2019s technological focus \u2014 something that we haven\u2019t seen explored in The Entity\u2019s realm up until now. Previously speaking with Dexerto almost exactly a year ago about Sadako Rising, Creative Director Dave Richard now gives further insight into The Skull Merchant\u2019s backstory and how \u201chorror can be found anywhere\u201d. There\u2019s plenty of food for thought for fans to mull over here, including what could be on the horizon in DbD after Tools of Torment drops. \u201cIt\u2019s up to us to define and even push the boundaries of the genre\u201d Why did it feel like now was the perfect time to introduce a Killer like The Skull Merchant, and tech itself into DbD? We haven\u2019t really seen something like Drones before. \u201cTechnology as a tool for fear is something that we\u2019ve been thinking about for quite some time. We love this idea of something as omnipresent and inconspicuous as drones are, which when placed in the wrong hands, serve a dark and macabre purpose. It just felt like the right match with The Skull Merchant \u2013 a highly intelligent, apex hunter tinkerer.\u201d What does introducing The Skull Merchant and her focus on tech mean for the future of Dead by Daylight? Does it suggest more tech influences going forward, like killer robots or cyborgs? \u201cWhile I cannot comment on what\u2019s coming to Dead by Daylight, I can tell you that our goal is always to expand on stories. Horror can be found anywhere \u2014 it\u2019s up to us to define and even push the boundaries of the genre.\u201d There have been lots of humanoid Killers introduced as of late, from The Knight to The Skull Merchant and Wesker. Will we see more monster-type Killers like The Dredge anytime soon? \u201cWe love to diversify our offerings, and again, expand what\u2019s considered scary. While I cannot comment on what\u2019s to come \u2013 I urge players to keep their eyes peeled on the game!\u201d Current Perks, like Prove Thyself, feel very much like a Teamwork Perk \u2013 will we see this dynamic expanded from what we have with Renato and Thalita? \u201cYes indeed \u2013 every time we introduce new gameplay, we do so with the intent to reuse it in the future. I think the Teamwork Perks work very well with many other current Perks, and so we\u2019ll be exploring how we can use this in the future.\u201d \u201cAdriana is a complex human being\u201d In regard to The Skull Merchant\u2019s backstory, what was the decision behind such a big focus on, in particular, her parents\u2019 lives and the influences of that in her own? \u201cIt\u2019s important for us to build rich characters in Dead by Daylight. Much like in \u2018real life\u2019, our past informs who we are today. Adriana is a complex human being and her past certainly has played a role in that. Her Dad was a huge influence on her life and we love this meta backstory that perhaps can explain how she got where she is now.\u201d One of the manga Adriana\u2019s father wrote is identical to the kind of Killer she becomes and mentions a \u2018nightmarish realm\u2019 which seems, in essence, The Fog. What was the thought behind her adopting this persona, and her father almost influencing her future? \u201cIn Dead by Daylight\u2019s world, some people, whether characters in game or family members mentioned in a character\u2019s lore, have a connection to other Realms. Indeed, Adriana\u2019s father has a special connection to The Entity\u2019s Realm. He has a vision of this daughter as The Skull Merchant and his manga becomes the outlet for this vision to come to life.\u201d \u201cAnd indeed, in a self-fulfilling prophecy, Adriana reads the manga and becomes consumed with becoming this apex predator, in turn, The Skull Merchant.\u201d \u201cWe just thought it was really interesting to think about what makes a person who they are, and can the future, in a way, inform the past?\u201d The Skull Merchant seems to be the manifestation of killer boardroom maneuvering made physical. Is there a broader point about corporate greed and flipping companies at the core of her character? \u201cI don\u2019t want to make a generalization, of course. But in The Skull Merchant\u2019s case, I think she is an extremely competitive person, and because of her personality, she made it to the top of the business world. Indeed, I don\u2019t believe that she\u2019s been transformed by the business world \u2013 she was able to thrive in it because of who she is.\u201d While Adriana\u2019s Power focuses on Drones \u2014 as does the character in Sonhadores Sombrios \u2014 details on how she learned to build this type of tech aren\u2019t discussed in her backstory. Is this something that will be explored in future Tomes? \u201cWhile I can\u2019t say what\u2019s coming or not, I can tell you that Adriana is extremely brilliant \u2013 she is resourceful and creative and has access to tech. She is a tinkerer, interested in the mechanical aspect of technology. So it\u2019s not too hard to imagine that she is self-taught and very into experimenting.\u201d In Thalita and Renato\u2019s lore, when hiding in the factory from The Skull Merchant, it mentions the forest turning into a sunny beach \u2014 is this a tie-in to Hooked On You to connect the two titles together? \u201cNo, indeed this is purely a coincidence.\u201d Dead by Daylight: Tools of Torment is out on March 7, 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dead by Daylight dev breaks down The Skull Merchant & tech as a \u201ctool for fear\u201d Behaviour InteractiveWith a brand new Chapter on the way in Dead by Daylight, Dexerto spoke to Creative Director Dave Richard to learn more about Tools of Torment, The Skull Merchant, and where this will take the asymmetrical horror in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}