If you pop open the hood of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, expecting to find the same machinery that drove the first Pillars of Eternity, you would be greatly mistaken. From overhauled art assets to a new faction-focused design, along with improved modding capabilities, it takes a lot to make a sequel to one of the largest Kickstarter RPG successes of the last few years. 

Thankfully, if you were curious about what went into that development process, we've got some answers for you. Over on the Gamasutra Twitch channel, we were happy to be joined by Obsidian design director Josh Sawyer, who led development on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

Sawyer led us on a journey across the Deadfire archipelago (well really more like just a few dungeons), where we discussed everything from new asset pipelines to why using different kinds of dice systems to determine your game logic can produce different results while keeping player expectations in order. 

For your convenience, we've embedded that conversation up above for your viewing. Be sure to follow the Gamasutra Twitch channel for more developer interviews, editor roundtables and gameplay commentary!