 Pillars of Eternity is a role-playing game that features a party-based real-time-with-pause tactical gameplay, fixed isometric user interface for the game-world with two-dimensional pre-rendered backdrops, in a similar vein as its spiritual predecessors Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale series and Planescape: Torment. As the player's characters explore an area map, it is unveiled. There is a fog of war effect on areas the player has already explored and has moved away from. The character classes and game mechanics are similar to Dungeons & Dragons, but are a proprietary system created for the game. The game does not reward experience points for killing enemies, but for completing quests and discovering new areas.
