Starting today, inXile’s Kickstarter for Bard’s Tale IV is up and asking for money, already $290,000 into it’s relatively modest goal of 1.25 million. Accompanied by a hilarious video that takes a few jabs at major publishers (and the selling of hats), this long awaited game also comes with one other nice little extra: A free copy of Witcher, Witcher 2 or Wasteland 2 for anyone who donates within the first 24 hours.

As you can imagine, with this campaign being in the works for so long, its introduction is a rather long and detailed affair. Fans of the original games should find themselves pleasantly hyped, however, when they read this first update:

The Bard’s Tale IV allows you to develop, progress and grow a party of adventurers as you see fit. Build a combat-hardened warrior to lead the way, or a spell-flinging Conjurer to provide support from the back lines. A character’s class provides the basic archetype, but as you progress you will tweak and evolve your party to suit your play style.

The original Bard’s Tale games allowed you to evolve your magic class characters from the Conjurer and Magician to the more powerful Sorcerer, Chronomancer, Geomancer, and even the feared Archmage, each providing new spell trees to explore. We’re extending this system to all class types for increased levels of customization and tinkering. As your magic and combat abilities grow, you will combine spells and skills from your different party members for increased effects greater than the sum of their parts. Deciding when to evolve your characters has a major impact on the types of spells that become available.

The eponymous Bard is of course returning. The Bard is an important member of each party, with magical songs empowering the group in combat or providing a helping hand while exploring and solving puzzles. Your band of adventurers will be influenced throughout the game by the Bard’s music. By playing the Rhyme of Duotime, your party will regenerate spell points at increased speed. Switching to The Archer’s Tune will greatly increase your party’s missile damage. Just make sure your bard is well stocked with ale…so his throat doesn’t dry out.

We are also bringing back many popular races like humans, elves, dwarves, half-orcs, and including some newly inspired races like the Trow. The races all have their own unique culture and history, integrating your choices more into the game’s narrative. The world and citizens of The Bard’s Tale IV react to your party’s make-up, branching the quest structure and providing a unique experience depending on who is joining you.

Besides class complexity, the Kickstarter stresses the commitment inXile has to choice & consequence style gameplay and the punishing difficulty they expect to bring back with Bard’s Tale, mentioning that even the town itself will change according to your actions. Perhaps those hordes of 99 berserkers are preventing the further growth of Skara Brae?

One thing to note, the $55 level of the Kickstarter includes both Wasteland 2 and Torment as bonuses. So essentially, giving them the price of one game will in fact net you three. If you don’t have Wasteland 2 and haven’t donated to Torment’s Kickstarter, that would be a great jumping-in point. Overall, the reward tiers look pretty solid and show Brian Fargo & company really know how this crowdfunding thing works.