A dark turn-based RPG with a focus on tactics and the management of your guild within a dynamic world. (Windows, Linux & Mac)
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Character Progression: Part 1
over 6 years ago
– Sun, Aug 27, 2017 at 10:38:08 AM
Now that we’ve discussed the main attributes that make up each character(if you haven't yet, go check out the earlier updates!), it’s time to cover character progression. In part one, we’ll be going over some different ways for your characters to progress: aging, leveling up and ranking up.
Since the game is open ended and multi-generational, your characters will grow older until they either retire or die. But a character’s age is not just a number, and it actually has an influence on their primary attributes too. Every attribute in the game has an age bracket where it’s considered at its peak, and your character’s attributes will shift accordingly every time they grow a year older.
For example, a character’s Dexterity would peak somewhere around 25 years old, but their Wisdom attribute would not hit its peak until 60. This also plays a small part in determining when your characters choose to retire. A rogue class could be recruited as young as 16 but may choose to retire before they hit 50. Conversely, finding a young mage might prove difficult, but the ones you do recruit would likely stick around well into their 70s. I’d also like to point out that this does not mean that a character is useless before and after their peak; it’s best to think of their peak as an added attribute bonus like this:
An example of attribute calculation, not actual game data
The other way for characters to progress is by leveling up. Every level-up grants a character one attribute point and one ability point for you to spend. I probably don’t need to explain attribute points very much, except to say that you are free to spend them on any primary attribute of your choosing.
Ability points have a bit more depth to them and really allow you to customize your classes. Each class has 6 abilities, and each one of those has its own mini skill-tree of augmentations. Each ability tree is unique unto itself, and various augmentation options are available such as increased range, additional targets, lowered cost and even added conditions(like stun, snare etc). With these trees, two characters of the same class could end up quite different from one another, with each specializing in different aspects of their kit. One could be all about raw power and maximizing the damage on their most expensive ability, while the other may be more useful in hindering enemies by focusing on augmenting their utility abilities.
Mock of an augmented ability
Infernal Pillar dispatching some undead
The last point to cover today is ranks and ranking up. There are 4 different ranks for a character to go through: Novice, Rookie, Veteran and Master(names subject to change). A Novice begins with 4 of the 6 class abilities available to them. Upon achieving the rank of Rookie they will earn a 5th, and becoming a Veteran will unlock the final ability. Once the rank of Master is achieved, that character is then able to become a mentor to another character of the same class. A mentor is able to pass on some of their more positive traits to their apprentice, in addition to boosting the rate at which they earn XP.
Tomorrow in part two, we’ll cover some of the other ways that a character’s stats can be temporarily or permanently altered: Traits, Injuries & Illnesses. Hope you enjoyed the write-up, and as always we encourage you to drop a comment below and let us know your thoughts; we’d be happy to discuss things further!
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Finally, we have something a bit different to share with you in today’s update: Gameumentary. A project here on Kickstarter that is raising funds to put together a series of documentaries on the development of many well-known titles such as Battle Chasers, Darksiders, Kingdom Come and much more. All documentaries will be released to the public for free, but they need some help with only 6 days left in their campaign, so be sure to check them out!
We would also like to mention that we’ll be getting interviewed by them shortly, and we’ll be sure to pass along the link once it’s up :)
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Thank you for reading and for your support. We're in the final 2 weeks now, and with under $10k to go we hope things can continue smoothly!
Character Progression: Part 2
over 6 years ago
– Sun, Aug 27, 2017 at 04:04:06 AM
We’re past $36,000 and are steadily approaching our goal, your support continues to be amazing, thank you! Today for part 2 of Character Progression we’ll be talking about Traits, Injuries and Illnesses. While classifying Injuries and Illnesses as “progression” may be a bit of a stretch, they’re still kind of related and it felt necessary to include them here :)
Character Traits can be long lasting(some being permanent) or temporary. For a fresh recruit, most of the traits they begin with will be determined by their backstory, and these traits can be both positive and negative. Let’s say for example that a character’s backstory mentions that their house burnt down when they were young. This could give them the Pyrophobia trait which makes them vulnerable to fire damage, in addition to having a small chance to retreat from their position during combat whenever an enemy uses a fire-based attack. A trait like this is long-lasting but not necessarily permanent, and there would be a chance that they could eventually overcome their fear and lose the trait. A rare trait like Genius(granting a bonus to intelligence) would be an example of something that is permanent. Additionally, it is not one that could be taught or acquired later in life. A character would have to be generated with that trait in order to have it.
Backstory traits aside, most traits will require some sort of parameter to be met in order for them to be applied to a character. This parameter could be something that is capable of being met within a single mission or it may be require the character to continually perform certain actions over a longer period of time. The easiest example of the former would be the death of a character during combat. Depending on Affinity and Spirit levels, most characters will have some type of reaction to this event and it may result in the application of a negative trait for your party members. A temporary trait like Fearful could be applied in this circumstance, but given that it’s temporary, it may not last much longer than a single mission(especially if you are able to power through and “avenge” the fallen character).
While you’re not able to directly control what traits your character acquires, we have a few ways to give you some influence over the process. The first is the Mentor system which we mentioned briefly in yesterday’s update. Once a character reaches the rank of Master, they can become a mentor to a lower ranked character of the same class. By doing this, some of their more positive traits will get passed on to the apprentice, allowing you to sort of groom your characters if you wanted to.
The other method that we’d like to implement is part of the Guild Council stretch goal, specifically involving the Master at Arms and Archmage. Essentially, you would be able to assign each of your characters to study a specific subject, and each subject would have a number of traits associated with it. Over time, and depending on the skill of your Master at Arms and Archmage, your characters would adopt a few traits from their chosen category. So if you had a character with strong leadership traits that was close to retiring, it would be a good idea to task a younger character with the study of “Battlefield Command” so they could eventually serve as a replacement. Overall, character traits help ensure that each character in your roster is unique, while also adding an extra layer of strategic considerations, both in and out of combat.
Injuries and Illnesses function in a similar fashion to traits, in that they can both be temporary or permanent, and require certain parameters to be met in order to fire. They mostly occur during missions, and can come from both combat and non-combat scenarios. During combat, if one of your characters falls to 0HP and gets knocked down(but still survives), they may suffer some internal bleeding as a result. Outside of combat, your party could step on an unstable piece of the ground, fall through to a lower floor and suffer a couple injuries of in the process. Or perhaps you instruct one of your characters to inspect a rotting corpse, and they instead become afflicted with a terrible sickness.
Whatever the case, most ailments will start out as nuisances that your characters will be able to shrug off and continue on with the mission. Afterwards however, it’s important to seek the counsel of your physician and decide the best course of action. Both injuries and illnesses can progress into more serious complications if not treated properly, and in dire situations you may need to send your characters to an infirmary at a nearby city. Of course, you will need to pay fees in order to stash a character at an infirmary, so it sometimes may be worth the risk of letting an injury or illness resolve itself. Characters that are recovering in an infirmary will not be available to you for missions, and only once they recover will they begin to make their way back to your guild’s caravan.
Hopefully you found the two parts on character progression interesting(or enjoyable even lol), we would be happy to discuss things further if any of you have any questions! We have something a bit different planned for tomorrow’s update that we hope you’ll like, and following that we’ll be telling you about character customization and gear. Thanks again to all of our awesome backers, your support means everything! :)
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Be sure to check out Lona here on Kickstarter. They’re nearly at 50% and have some beautiful art to boot.
Lona: Realm of Colors is a heavily stylized adventure art game about Lona, a girl trapped inside her drawings inspired by life hardships.
The core of the game is designed to deliver a beautiful and relaxing art combined with a stunning music that is made exclusively for each scene.
To find out more, visit their Kickstarter page: here.
New Overworld Music + Social Goals Update
over 6 years ago
– Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 04:56:34 AM
Today we’re happy to present to you another track by our awesome composer, Alex Roe. The other tracks you’ve heard so far have all been crafted for use during missions. Today however, we’re going to give you a little glimpse of how the music will sound while you’re in the overworld. If you haven’t yet listened to the other tracks, do yourself a favor and go check them out on the campaign page or directly from Alex’s soundcloud.
The world of The Iron Oath is a somber one, but it is not without hope, and we think Alex’s work on this first overworld track captures that perfectly. We can’t wait to hear what else he has in store and hopefully you feel the same! If you’d like to hear more of Alex’s music you can find all of his work here on Bandcamp.
Social Goals
Yesterday we passed the $30k mark which is pretty incredible and once again we’d like to deeply thank you for your support. As of now we need $13k~ with 19 days to go, and while it seems within reach, success is not guaranteed and we could still use your help to give our campaign a bit of a push! So post on your favorite subreddit or forum, tell your friends or a drop a tip to a journalist, spread the word on Twitter and Facebook; anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated! Every little thing gets us that much closer to being funded and one step closer to unlocking some Social Rewards as thank you from us.
Social Rewards:
4 Goals: We’ll unveil another playable class in a campaign update: the Grappler (ACHIEVED! To be revealed shortly)
8 Goals: An alternate skin for every class will be added to the game
12 Goals: Our artist will create a video tutorial explaining his process and tips for designing & animating characters
16 Goals: Enlarged and improved character portraits will be added for all cinematic & dialogue sequences.
20 Goals: Discover the hidden secrets of our game’s world by completing a multi-stage quest which will unlock an additional character class in the game.
As noted above, the first Social Reward has been achieved, and as a result we will be revealing the Grappler class with Monday’s update! Until then, we hope you all have a terrific weekend, thank you!
Check out Beyond-Human on Kickstarter: Metroidvania Sci-Fi Hack & Slash Platformer
over 6 years ago
– Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 07:22:38 AM
We'd like to point your eyes to another project on Kickstarter that could use your help: Beyond-Human. It's a great looking metroidvania with some solid pixel art and animations.
Beyond-Human is a combination of platformer and hack & slash combat. You will unlock new weapons by defeating bosses and minibosses to improve your arsenal. Beyond-Human builds upon the classic open-world Metroidvania style exploration inspired by Metroid and 16-bit pixel art with modern effects.
Check out their Kickstarter page HERE for further details, where you can also try a demo of the game!
Thank you for your attention! :)
Check out Necrocosmos - There is no god up here. It looks like Shovel Knight and Metroid had a child!
over 6 years ago
– Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 07:22:07 AM
Once again we'd like to help spread awareness of another project on Kickstarter that's worth checking out: Necrocosmos - There is no god up here.
It's an open-world Sci-Fi inspired by the old Metroid games and features some great authentic retro pixel art.
Check out their campaign page HERE. You can also try out their demo and if you like what you see, back them!
We'd also like to briefly mention 2 things: Consoles & Stretch Goals. We've had quite a few inquiries about consoles and all we can say right now is that we're looking into acquiring a partner to help us with that. PS4, Switch & XONE are our highest priorities, and we hope we can work something out before the campaign ends. If so, we'll be sure to post about it in an update.
And lastly, now that we've passed $25k(yay!), we'll be unveiling our first two stretch goals starting tomorrow, so stay tuned for that! :)
