- Joined
- Feb 28, 2016
- Messages
- 133
- Reaction score
- 74
- First Language
- English
- Primarily Uses
- RMMV
Cast down your eyes, oblivious, lightly shaded,
Assuming the shape of a friend, you known to all men, yet
Almost it bends our knees, such loftiness. Nothing in
Your presence I know; but one thing: mortal you are not.
A wise man could elucidate much for me; but where
A God as well appears, a different clarity shines.
- Friedrich Hölderlin, from A Celebration of Peace
I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb.
Perhaps two-thirds of the people of the earth will be killed.
-Albert Einstein
Trigger Warning: This game contains references to homophobia, racism, nationalism, religion and cults, unpopular historical forms of government, prostitution, slavery, extreme wealth disparity, wry takes on philosophical subjects, and gnomes. Continuing beyond this point is to acknowledge your willingness to view these topics. 
Overview
This is a top-down post-apocalyptic/science fantasy game focused on moral ambiguity, forcing the player to make decisions based on their own interpretation of the issues involved, rather than take the meta 'right' answer that the creator wants you to. Towards this end, spellcasting is a tradeoff, there are boatloads of side quests, skills are made to allow for different ways to solve problems (steal, charm, kill, seduce, sneak, etc) and even the main antagonists have very good justifications for why they do what they do. Do the ends justify the means, and what *is* truth, if not a universal force? These are the kinds of questions I want the player to answer as they play.
It is set in a far-future Southwestern Germany, near the Black Forest, and incorporates an eclectic mishmash of cultures, from traditional Swabian (Diligent and hardworking, cuckoo clocks, half-timbered houses) to the remnants of internet culture, to the long-term impact of the European Union. Technology ranges from hovertech, lasers, bioplastics and AIs for the wealthy landowners, down to near-medieval tech in the hands of slaves and serfs. Fairies, demons, vampires and gods are real, though perhaps not quite as one might imagine them to be. Magic can take the form of inventive wit, power over time and movement, and power over the mind, with some of these magic-users lauded and others lambasted.
The protagonist is Nic Andele, with the player able to choose a few starting skills, and define how he progresses over time. Likewise, player choices will help define the character's backstory.
It is set in a far-future Southwestern Germany, near the Black Forest, and incorporates an eclectic mishmash of cultures, from traditional Swabian (Diligent and hardworking, cuckoo clocks, half-timbered houses) to the remnants of internet culture, to the long-term impact of the European Union. Technology ranges from hovertech, lasers, bioplastics and AIs for the wealthy landowners, down to near-medieval tech in the hands of slaves and serfs. Fairies, demons, vampires and gods are real, though perhaps not quite as one might imagine them to be. Magic can take the form of inventive wit, power over time and movement, and power over the mind, with some of these magic-users lauded and others lambasted.
The protagonist is Nic Andele, with the player able to choose a few starting skills, and define how he progresses over time. Likewise, player choices will help define the character's backstory.
Backstory
In the year 2129, nobody had used nukes for over 180 years. Sure, a couple dozen super-massive warheads were pointed at various strategic targets across the globe, but they were more symbols than weapons. The mutually assured destruction they promised allowed globalization to flourish and trust amongst nations to grow. So when the Seventeen Minutes' War began, it was more than a bit of a shock. One janitor in Kaliningrad dusted the wrong control panel on the wrong day, and in less than half an hour, four billion human beings lost their lives. Another billion died within the next year due to nuclear fallout, pandemics, and the constant barrage of tiny moon meteorites and satellite chunks, a constant reminder of the nuked mass driver in Mare Tranquilitatis.
What was most disturbing about this accidental mass-extinction, though, was what it brought forth. Within days of the War, from a long, unbroken scar of radioactive earth reaching from Paris to Moscow emerged tens of thousands of...things. Alien things. Things of black, pagan, folkloric nightmares. And like those peasants of a darker age, the surviving people of Europe bolted their doors. They built walls to keep the things out. They swore their lives and labor to those who could keep them and their families safe. Many saw this as the end times, and by 2168, a disgraced Cardinal claiming to be the risen Christ led an army of thousands into the radioactive zone, calling it the last Crusade. None were ever seen again. The reprisal from the dark things was quick and harsh, ending in the Catholic Church retreating from greater Europe to fortify themselves south of the Alps in Italy.
It is now 2436. Most of the manufacturing technology from a safer age has been hoarded by those with power and wealth. This has the effect of creating fiefdoms and city-states around these few, and dividing serfs and slaves into those valued few who can repair and maintain the aging technology, and those who must gather materials for recycling ...or prove their worth in more degrading ways. It is now known fact that some of the nightmarish creatures that continue to emerge from the rift the locals now call 'Feebrucke' are able to take human guise, and the growing number of half-breeds and suspected half-breeds creates a convenient minority to blame problems on. It isn't a pleasant peace, but it is nonetheless a kind of peace.
Nic is a half-breed, living a cozy, pastoral life as a busboy in one of the many little half-breed villages that continue to pop up on the edge of civilization. That is, until a group of raucous horsemen charge into town and begin to indiscriminately kill and kidnap the village’s denizens, barely leaving Nic with his life. So much for peace. Who were they? What did they want? Where were the kidnapped taken, and for what purpose? Or would he be better off not knowing? Whatever the case, there's not much left for Nic where he's at.
What was most disturbing about this accidental mass-extinction, though, was what it brought forth. Within days of the War, from a long, unbroken scar of radioactive earth reaching from Paris to Moscow emerged tens of thousands of...things. Alien things. Things of black, pagan, folkloric nightmares. And like those peasants of a darker age, the surviving people of Europe bolted their doors. They built walls to keep the things out. They swore their lives and labor to those who could keep them and their families safe. Many saw this as the end times, and by 2168, a disgraced Cardinal claiming to be the risen Christ led an army of thousands into the radioactive zone, calling it the last Crusade. None were ever seen again. The reprisal from the dark things was quick and harsh, ending in the Catholic Church retreating from greater Europe to fortify themselves south of the Alps in Italy.
It is now 2436. Most of the manufacturing technology from a safer age has been hoarded by those with power and wealth. This has the effect of creating fiefdoms and city-states around these few, and dividing serfs and slaves into those valued few who can repair and maintain the aging technology, and those who must gather materials for recycling ...or prove their worth in more degrading ways. It is now known fact that some of the nightmarish creatures that continue to emerge from the rift the locals now call 'Feebrucke' are able to take human guise, and the growing number of half-breeds and suspected half-breeds creates a convenient minority to blame problems on. It isn't a pleasant peace, but it is nonetheless a kind of peace.
Nic is a half-breed, living a cozy, pastoral life as a busboy in one of the many little half-breed villages that continue to pop up on the edge of civilization. That is, until a group of raucous horsemen charge into town and begin to indiscriminately kill and kidnap the village’s denizens, barely leaving Nic with his life. So much for peace. Who were they? What did they want? Where were the kidnapped taken, and for what purpose? Or would he be better off not knowing? Whatever the case, there's not much left for Nic where he's at.
PCs
NPCs
Other NPCS:
Update! A few sprites:
Stats
C.A.L.I.P.E.R.S. attribute system: Charisma, Agility, Luck, Intelligence, Perception, Endurance, Resolve, and Strength.
The hierarchy goes: 8 attributes, 16 categories (2 per attribute), ~5 skills per category, many techniques that require 2+ skills from different categories.
'Buying-in' to a category costs more than buying skills within a category, but each character starts already 'bought-in' to 4 categories out of the 16. Trying something with a category you don't have is possible but unlikely to work well, and is governed by your Luck.
Example: The Melee Category costs 10 skill points. Within Melee, there's Blades, Polearms, Bludgeons, Unarmed, and Exotic skills, each costing 1 skill point each.
Having the Melee:Bludgeon Skill and Ephemera:Elemental Skill would allow you to buy the Elemental Bash technique.
The hierarchy goes: 8 attributes, 16 categories (2 per attribute), ~5 skills per category, many techniques that require 2+ skills from different categories.
'Buying-in' to a category costs more than buying skills within a category, but each character starts already 'bought-in' to 4 categories out of the 16. Trying something with a category you don't have is possible but unlikely to work well, and is governed by your Luck.
Example: The Melee Category costs 10 skill points. Within Melee, there's Blades, Polearms, Bludgeons, Unarmed, and Exotic skills, each costing 1 skill point each.
Having the Melee:Bludgeon Skill and Ephemera:Elemental Skill would allow you to buy the Elemental Bash technique.
While characters will gain in base stats in pre-determined ways as they level, a large chunk of free xp will be allotted for customization to your specifications.
Example: Haas will gain 1 Resolve and 1 Intelligence at level 2, 1 Resolve and 1 Perception at level 4, 1 Resolve and 1 Intelligence at level 6, etc., but she'll get a free stat point per level to do with as she wishes.
Weapons/armor/held items are governed by minimum attributes: A decent two-handed sword might require 10 Strength, a laser pistol might require 10 Perception, a wand of healing might require 10 Sublima.
An item system like Dragon Age, with recipes as general templates, and the raw materials you put in affecting the stats, allowing one recipe to potentially create level-appropriate weapons for you the entire game. [This may be on the chopping block, as the coder who was going to do this has disappeared]
Example: Player finds/buys/receives as a quest reward a recipe/blueprint for a Falchion, requiring 10 metal, 1 wood, 1 leather, and 1 gem. Player's choice in materials affects the stats of the end product, rewarding exploration and experimentation. Gold might give a lower damage output but higher persuasion with nobility. A tiger eye gem might give +20% against blindness and +1 to Luck. Choice of wood might subtly affect chance to hit, etc.
A two-axis reputation/relationship system, with each character rating you on love/hate and comfort/fear based mostly on their own interactions with you, but influenced by how you've acted towards other members of their group.
Example: Haas will gain 1 Resolve and 1 Intelligence at level 2, 1 Resolve and 1 Perception at level 4, 1 Resolve and 1 Intelligence at level 6, etc., but she'll get a free stat point per level to do with as she wishes.
Weapons/armor/held items are governed by minimum attributes: A decent two-handed sword might require 10 Strength, a laser pistol might require 10 Perception, a wand of healing might require 10 Sublima.
An item system like Dragon Age, with recipes as general templates, and the raw materials you put in affecting the stats, allowing one recipe to potentially create level-appropriate weapons for you the entire game. [This may be on the chopping block, as the coder who was going to do this has disappeared]
Example: Player finds/buys/receives as a quest reward a recipe/blueprint for a Falchion, requiring 10 metal, 1 wood, 1 leather, and 1 gem. Player's choice in materials affects the stats of the end product, rewarding exploration and experimentation. Gold might give a lower damage output but higher persuasion with nobility. A tiger eye gem might give +20% against blindness and +1 to Luck. Choice of wood might subtly affect chance to hit, etc.
A two-axis reputation/relationship system, with each character rating you on love/hate and comfort/fear based mostly on their own interactions with you, but influenced by how you've acted towards other members of their group.
Physics
- Magic (and reality) is divided into three categories: Technica (inventiveness, creator’s spirit, science, body, the ‘real’ world), Sublima (mental, individuality, order, soul, rebirth, the collective subconscious), and Ephemera (movement, energy, elements, animation, time, spirit, the place of ‘gods’, ‘fae’, etc.
- In most creatures, the soul and body are tethered together via the silvery cord of ephemera, with each thread of the cord signifying a possible future. As we age, these threads break as the possibilities don’t come to pass.
- Undead, while unnatural, are no more inherently evil than a dam: they found a means of forcing the soul and body to remain together when its tendency is to drift apart after death.
- Sublima, while the magic of soul and healing, is not broken up into the holy/unholy dichotomy, but rather by fervency and belief.
- Snowflake or Geek - Those with hereditary skill in technica.
- Kludger or Hatter - Those with learned skill in technica.
- The Cunning Folk - Those with hereditary sublima abilities.
- Devout - Those with learned skill in sublima.
- Paragnostic or Faeblooded - Those with hereditary ephemera abilities.
- The Wise or Occultists - Those with learned ephemera skills.
- Hexen or Chanter - Those who have learned the Words and thus have access to Spoiling others, a form of curse that unmakes reality the tiniest bit.
The Words - A 'shortcut' to sublima power that almost anyone who can speak is able to wield, but rather than change reality, it simply unmakes it. - The Sold or The Promised - Those who have promised their soul to another entity in exchange for worldly power.
- Goethian - One who acts as a middleman in the exchange of favors between worlds.
And without the menus blocking the screen:
- Need more ways to depict derelict/overgrown houses.
- Sending out feelers as to other people to do a Dragon Age-style crafting system, as no one so far seems to be able to do it.
- I'm so close to being entirely original images, I really ought to go the rest of the way so I can say it's 100% original.
- Trying to plot out the other two games such that I don't need to retcon anything in this one.
None yet!
v 0.1: The approval process.
v 0.11 Approved!
v 0.12 Added a few sprites to the NPC spoiler.
v 0.13 Finally finalized the art style of my main characters.
v 0.14 1/15/17 - First screenshot!
v 0.15 2/8/17 - Posted multiple talking heads of the various characters.
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