Today, Swedish publisher Raw Fury and Norwegian developer High North Studios launched their retro-style RPG, SKALD: Against the Black Priory on PC via Steam, and GOG for $14.99/£12.79/€14.99. To celebrate, players can enjoy a launch day discount, now in effect for 10% off.
Set in a grim-dark fantasy world of tragic heroes, violent deaths and Lovecraftian horror, in SKALD: Against the Black Priory, choices matter as players explore an engaging storyline mixed with crunchy tactical, turn-based combat and character customization.
Inspired by iconic retro RPG titles, in SKALD: Against the Black Priory players explore the thrilling expanse of Freymark and the Outer Isles to uncover the grand schemes of the Gallian Empire. Players will experience an unforgettable story filled with unexpected twists and turns, with a unique mesh of modern storytelling and classic RPG elements, that will seem familiar and yet innovative to RPG fans, old and new.
Players will experience key features including:
Equipping their heroes using a modern inventory system, fulfilling objectives through quest logs, and reading journals to discover hidden secrets.
Unique visuals built from thousands of hand-drawn tiles and images inspired by the legendary Commodore 64 computer, with an optional CRT filter to allow for a true retro gameplay experience.
Fighting their way to Level 20 by choosing a character, selecting their stats and building out a party from a series of diverse allies, each with their own skill-set, agenda and personality. Players will meet and recruit fully fleshed out pre-made characters with unique backstories and handcrafted interactions, as well as have options to fill their party: either with ‘mercenaries,’ blank characters that they can build from the ground up to their exact specifications or mix and match as they go. Players can also decide to travel on their own.
Deciding between a dozen classes and backgrounds, customizing spells and equipment in order to prepare for the journey ahead and uncovering the schemes of the Gallian Empire while exploring the vast expanse of Freymark and the Outer Isles.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is now available on PC via Steam, and GOG for $14.99/£12.79/€14.99, with a current launch discount of 10%. Players can also purchase the Deluxe Edition of the game for $22.47/ £17.68 / €14.99 (10% launch day discount also available for a limited time), which includes the full OST and the Reinforcement Pack, as well as a host of gameplay additions such as:
Three unique backgrounds with additional statistics
Two new wallpapers
A pack of in-game portraits
Golden die to roll, amongst other types, with an all-new animation
An additional vendor: Malachai the Magical Item Merchant
For the latest information about SKALD: Against the Black Priory and to join the community, check out the game’s official website, X page, and Discord page.
Welcome to The Wayward Realms, a Grand RPG by legendary game developers, Ted Peterson and Julian Lefay. A game that aims to bring the “old-school” design philosophies of Classic RPGs together with the latest technology and quality of life improvements, courtesy of Unreal Engine 5.
Get lost in a massive, beautiful open world, filled to the brim with adventure. Explore vast, realistically scaled cities, sprawling towns, deep dungeons filled with untold treasures, and a plethora of diverse environments. Discover populations of warring factions, dangerous creatures, and an expansive cast of characters that come to life the more you interact with them.
Spiritual Successor
In 1996, our founders—Ted Peterson and Julian Lefay—released The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall while working at Bethesda Softworks, pushing the envelope of what was possible with computer games. Still considered one of the largest games ever crafted, Daggerall was massive both in its gameplay mechanics and its potential. Shortly after its release, Ted & Julian pursued other projects and new work, yet Daggerfall's impact and potential stayed with them throughout their careers.
Nearly 30 years later, they have teamed up once again to see that potential realized, bringing along fellow Daggerfall alum Eric Heberling, the original composer, to once again create a memorable and immersive world. Carrying forward everything that worked in Daggerfall, our aim is to refine and expand upon the systems that have kept players coming back to it for decades, as well as introduce new systems and quality of life improvements to create a modern classic – a true successor to Daggerfall.
Why Kickstarter?
We have been working on The Wayward Realms since 2019 and, until recently, our aim was to go a traditional publisher route for funding. However, the Games Industry has seen many changes recently. As a result, we felt that a shift in our strategy was necessary in order to speed up the development process and help prove that we have a game that people want to play.
While we could continue at our current pace—working as a volunteer team—and eventually reach the same state we aim for with this Kickstarter, that process could take several more years of development time. So, we are turning to our community for help to speed things along and give you an opportunity to shape the development of the game.
We have always made a great effort to include the community in the creation of The Wayward Realms; from taking ideas from the community very early in the project’s life, to listening to feedback on systems and worldbuilding, and even letting the community decide on names for characters and places, we have always wanted the community to help bring the game to life. Kickstarter offers another avenue for us to do just that.
Your help here will not only allow us to hire our team members full time, but, depending on the tier, will also afford you the chance to give feedback on the gameplay, and even create items & characters that will go on to be featured in the game or future titles we look to create.
We do want to make it clear, however, that our aim with your pledges is to fund full-time development for one year in order to produce an early access build. We would release this early access build to the appropriate backers and take feedback as we continue to release updates. We also aim to take this early access build to publishers to seek further funding, with the goal of completing the entire game.
The time is finally nigh: we have a release date for Old Acquaintances and a fresh release trailer to boot!
The DLC will drop on the 12th of June, 2024, and those of you who have already played the ‘Pilgrims of the Wasteland’ scenario will surely recall the identities of the two returning companions. For those who do not, the man by the campfire is Javek, a remarkable telepath and sorcerer with unique abilities, while the bony hand that pushes through the black sands of Arenas Negras belongs to Sedarias, a Knight of the Black Sun and defender of the Empire.
How these two companions with strikingly different backgrounds will return, what paths will they take, and what hardships will they face? All of these answers await you in the DLC, along with new enemies, abilities, quests, and locations. Additionally, players will be able to employ new hirelings through the Freelancers’ Guild. For a full breakdown check out our store page.
With that, we must leave you now, for the wasteland beckons; stay safe, stay vigilant, and conquer the wasteland!
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The Clan of Kings, Blue Bloods, Tyrants, Warlords, Patricians, Borgias
Ventrue vampires usually choose their progeny from mortals familiar with power, wealth and influence. Seeing themselves as the rightful leaders of vampire society, Kindred of clan Ventrue take up the mantle of leadership wherever possible, often in the form of high positions in Camarilla Courts.
Playing a Ventrue in Bloodlines 2
Ventrue are blue blooded tyrants who incite obedience in both their allies and their foes. Focusing on the Discipline Dominate, Ventrue forces their prey to obey their command to fight their friends, forget what they’ve seen or even kill themselves. Feeding builds up Fortitude, allowing the Ventrue to soak up more damage in case any enemy is powerful enough to resist their force of will.
Abilities
When you choose your clan, you will start out with a passive ability unique to each clan. You are then able to unlock abilities from the Ability Tree, starting with your chosen clan. Each ability requires spending Ability Points to unlock which are earned from completing missions, combat and exploration. At the peak of the Ability Tree, you can unlock the clan Perk, a reward to those dedicated enough to unlock all of the abilities for a clan, giving a permanent passive upgrade.
Flesh of Marble - Clan Passive: Feeding hardens your skin, making you highly resistant to damage.
Cloud Memory - Cause a target to forget you were there, putting them into a relaxed state.
Possession - Possess an opponent, allowing you to see through their eyes for a period. While possessed, the target can be commanded to attack another person.
Terminal Decree - Use your powers of Dominate to command someone to kill themselves.
Mass Manipulation -Subdues enemies within your gaze, preventing them from attacking. Dominate abilities will affect all subdued opponents while Mass Manipulation is active.
Thirst - Clan Perk: Increases the amount of health restored by feeding.
Customizing your playstyle
There are many different ways to play your character in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Venture rely on the rise-and-fall mechanics of their Layered Fortitude, building up a defense to take on stronger opponents, while using abilities to dominate weaker foes and make them fight their friends or even kill themselves. Each clan has a straightforward way of playing, and does not require ability optimization. At the same time, if you want to, you can customize your playstyle by visiting certain important vampires throughout Seattle, who are sworn to assist you by offering their Blood to help you unlock abilities from their Clan.
Abilities from other clans may cost more AP depending on how well they align with your clans Disciplines. The Ventrue Disciplines are Dominate (the supernatural ability to control others) Fortitude (the ability to resist physical and mental attacks) and Presence (the supernatural ability to attract, awe, or terrify). If a Ventrue would try to unlock the Brujah ability Taunt, which is part of the Presence Discipline, it would cost less AP, than if they attempt to unlock an ability from a Discipline they don’t already have, such as Obfuscate. Unlocking additional Clan Perks will make them stack, so you can collect them all if you wish, elevating your power much closer to elder level.
Activated abilities and the Clan Perks can be learned from the other clans, but your clan passive can not. This means that while you can combine abilities and features from other clans in hundreds of different ways, your Ventrue playthrough will remain different from playing as another clan who branches into Ventrue abilities.
Urgent report from Warhammer Skulls 2024! The whole of the Koronus Expanse is abuzz — encrypted transmissions report that the release date of the first DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader has been uncovered. The Void Shadows DLC will reveal itself on August 8!
Brace yourself, Lord Captain! New adventures await you in the Koronus Expanse — thrilling, bewildering, ominous. Engage with the sinister representatives of an ancient Death Cult, and with their aid, uncover the menacing secrets concealed in the darkest corners of your voidship.
Welcome a new companion into your retinue — Kibellah, a skilled Death Cult Assassin. As you get to know her, you may begin to take a different view of your faith in the Emperor.
Get the Season Pass and don’t miss your chance to acquire your personal Lady Navigator figurine as part of the Collector’s Edition at https://roguetrader.owlcat.games/ . Hurry, the offer is limited!
But the news doesn't end there! Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader has now been verified by Steam and is ready to play on Steam Deck!
The venerable Chris Avellone, who doesn't have nearly as nice hair as I do but still better than Josh Sawyer's hair, has posted the first chapter of his review on the Fallout TV Series. The first part talks about the characters, and gives a few glimpses of what's to come. There's also several asides, like reasons to discount the review, a few things about the original games, some tidbits about who might enjoy this though that may be unintentional, and a whole lot more!
My feeling was, starting with Episode 5, things started going downhill and the problems grew. I think this is natural because the opening episodes focused more on immediate predicaments, but as the series and world opens up and the full motivations for the cast become more apparent, the larger questions start showing up, and those don’t have good answers.
Now, I’m going to talk a little about lore, retcons, and older Fallouts vs. the series, and these don’t have good answers, either — and may be answers you don’t want to hear.
Of course, the lore stuff is teased, but will be in the second part of this review. Why drop the good stuff first, right? Of course, if you're waiting for a massive dump of lore issues, freestyle style, there's this playlist from Creetosis. It's about 16 hours, and there's a lot of mostly reactions to things, but there's some solid lore punching as well. They also talk about how awful the writing is.
Thanks to agris for giving me the push to decide to post this. I was heavily on the fence about it. But then I realized that not all members of the forum have access to the forum where most of this is discussed. For reasons? Who knows.
And on the subject of Oh, for frig's sake news, TheHeroOfTime has run across this Tweet:
So, maybe Fallout is coming to Fortnite, which actually is significantly less enticing to me than LEGO Fortnite. I mean, this can't be worse than Fallout 76, right? RIGHT? I mean, it can't be more canon rapey than everything else in the last decade of Bethesda stewardship. Can it?
We want to share an enormous thank you! We’re releasing Dark Envoy: Director’s Cut using each and every comment, report, and piece of feedback you’ve shared with us over the last six months.
Summary of most important Changes:
Less shy about connections with Tower of Time universe, new main meta level voiced narration
Major narrative changes, reworked main cutscenes, some VO reworked, creating a completely different experience, especially during the first few hours of the game.
Balancing, polishing then reworking again, then repeating the process
Improved Jaan map and unique boss items
further optimization and QoL improvements
And we fixed one major sinister memory leak bug that made us all so miserable!
Instead of pushing the marketing for Dark Envoy, we gave this game 6 months of pure love and improvements. We’re still not done, but want to share this news with you.
If you’ve enjoyed your time with Dark Envoy, please leave us a review and share your thoughts with your fellow players! Tell your friends, sister, neighbor and maybe a hamster or two; HELP OUR LITTLE INDIE STUDIO COMPETE FOR VISIBILITY in this harsh AAA market.
Here is our Socially Awkward Zero Budget Launch Trailer. Brutally honest one, but dire straits tend to create the best anecdotes.
The Director’s Cut update is coming, along with a 40% off Steam Daily Deal starting from Wednesday, May 15th, 2024, which will last for a week.
It was thanks to your immense support and belief in out team that we've managed to complete this enhanced version. We deeply appreciate your ongoing collaboration with us on this world that we love so dearly. We are committed to making this game as perfect as it can be.
Picture a group of stylish, ambitious vampires, each with a hunger for authority that matches their thirst for blood. That's Clan Ventrue for you - vampires with a taste for power, prestige, and opulence. Our team had a blast bringing their aristocratic grandeur and ambition to life in the game. Equally at home in the corridors of corporate power and the halls of high society, the Ventrue embody leadership, strategy, and a refined decadence. Whether they're making deals in the boardroom or dominating the nightlife scene, the Blue Bloods always maintain their iron grip on power.
Designing modern Ventrue for Tabletop
Just like the Brujah, the Ventrue are a foundational archetype both in Vampire: The Masquerade’s clan assembly as well as in wider vampire fiction. They represent the vampire as the aristocratic leader — classy, regal, and inhumanly majestic. Many silver screen depictions of Dracula would fit well in this clan, as would any number of his derivatives. Before Anne Rice, the Ventrue represented what most people would consider a classical vampire.
Taking the Blue Bloods into the fifth edition was therefore comparatively easy, as the clan has had a solid identity from its first appearance in 1991, never relying on gimmick powers or tangled setting elements. Their arsenal of Disciplines paint a clear picture of the kind of ruler they represent: Presence to incite awe, Dominate to enforce obedience, and — if the previous would fail — Fortitude to withstand retaliation. A true Ventrue commands from the front, but that is also their weakness.
While Ventrue vampires are no strangers to hierarchies, their tradition of Embracing mortals already used to being obeyed often creates brittle power structures with too many leaders and not enough followers. To many Blue Bloods the throne is more important than what it represents, and more than one Ventrue Prince has met final death because they would rather lead in defeat than triumph as a lackey.
– Karim Muammar, Designer of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition and Brand Editor for the World of Darkness
Combat Discipline Design
For Ventrue’s approach to combat, we wanted to lean into a feeling of superiority and domination. It means nothing to always be superior, though, so you start off at a disadvantage. Ventrue's capabilities in combat aren’t as strong as some other clans, and so you’ll likely need to start out on the lower end of the food chain, staying out of sight and using spoken commands to keep your hands clean. As they feed, their fortitude strengthens- Ventrue's passive turns their skin to marble, so the more blood they have the more resistant to damage they become. This lets you take much nastier opponents head on and allows the use of Ventrue’s more devastating Dominate powers- where once you were skulking in the shadows, now you are an unstoppable god who can kill with words alone! This rise-and-fall fight mechanic is the main draw of the Ventrue’s playstyle, and should be well suited to players who want to keep things varied, or maybe just seek an absurd level of power...
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Greedfall is one of those underrated games that punched well above its weight with some extremely unique worldbuilding that really made it stand apart. After going hands-on with Greedfall 2: The Dying World, I’m really eager to jump back into the bizarre and magical island of Teer Fradee, which seems like it’ll be retaining all of its wonderful weirdness, while also making a major pivot in the gameplay department. Playing as a supernaturally gifted native belonging to the Yecht Fradi tribe, I got the chance to meet some interesting characters, explore the labyrinthine woods I called home, make some extremely questionable story decisions, and most importantly, take the all-new combat system for a spin. Even in this extremely early state, I see a lot of potential in this audacious and unabashedly eccentric followup.
Developer Spiders has never been shy about its BioWare influences, but while 2019’s Greedfall really pulled off some unique worldbuilding and characters, its combat left something to be desired. The sequel hopes to correct this shortcoming by doing away with the straightforward hack-and-slash bouts found in its predecessor and replacing them with semi-real-time strategic clashes that feel very reminiscent of Dragon Age: Origins. Now you’ll be pausing the battle, assessing the arena, and queuing up a set of actions for each of your characters before allowing the flow of time again and watching your machinations unfold. This similarity to Dragon Age isn’t accidental, as the studio specifically cited Origins as a beloved game it's hoping to emulate with this slower, more tactical combat style.
The early alpha build I played definitely still had its wrinkles, but I could already see the vision for this pivot, which moves it away from the crowded space of fast-paced third-person action games and gives it a much more distinctive, old-school feel. The role-based abilities you’ll unlock and unleash on your enemies do things like cover an area of the battlefield in immobilizing, poisonous bramble like some kind of witchy druid, or let you leap into close range with a melee-based tank character to deal heavy damage, and each has its own cooldown for you to juggle while planning your next set of moves. Meticulously poring over various stat listings and ability effects appealed to the spreadsheet-loving RPG nerd inside me, and the novelty of swapping between characters made me feel like a commander issuing orders to my subordinates from on high. It’s been a minute since I played a game that made use of this type of combat, and it scratched an ancient itch I didn’t know I still had.
Toggling between all the characters in my party also helped me better understand how each of them worked and differed in their fighting styles, and how they could prove useful while out exploring the world. For example, learning that one of my party members had a keen eye for tracking animals through the wild and was adept at disarming traps and picking locks led me to favor them while running around the woods. One of my other allies, on the other hand, was mostly just good at thwacking enemies into pulp with a hammer the size of a child, so I made sure to toggle over to her at the beginning of each skirmish. That’s something that the first game could have benefitted from, since playing as just De Sardet could get stale in an RPG that lasts dozens of hours and has a whole lot of fighting. Not only does this new system inject some variety into the mix, but it also helped me understand the characters better and each of their particular quirks, strengths, and shortcomings.
Thankfully, I won’t have to wait long to play more Greedfall 2, which is slated to hit early access later this year. Here’s hoping they’re able to follow in the footsteps of Baldur’s Gate 3, and turn this ambitious sequel into something really special.
What’s new in v1.0?
Quite a few things. Primarily:
The final floors of the Chimera building are unlocked.
You can now level to 30+ to fully unlock all trees in most build combinations.
New enemies, weapons, gear, quest rewards, and boss loot across all floors.
New sassy UI polish and improved menu functionality.
Achievements are live.
Dr. Cerberus is waiting for you. Good luck.
Where’s my controller support?
It’s on the way! As noted in the Steam forums, it’s an involved process to add controller support to a complex interface that was primarily built around mouse and keyboard input. Adding properly integrated controller support is my top priority for the first systems update.
Will Steamdeck get an official integration?
Yes. This is a two step process that starts alongside adding controller support and ends with Valve reviewing the Steamdeck status of the game. Currently the game has “Playable” status, which is quaint, but I want a nice clean “Verified” status, meaning the game works natively with the Steamdeck controls. This is my 2nd top systems priority after controller support.
When is the game coming to Linux and OSX?
Now that the PC launch is out and the game is (mostly) stable, I have time to look into the Linux and OSX deployments. I’ll provide updates on these when I have information to share!
Where’s ChimeraLinq?
The ambient ChimeraLinq system and ChimeraLinq holoslates can be found on all maps. The (optional) interactive element of ChimeraLinq was very thin on content, so I made the decision to temporarily disable it. I know some of you love you internet drama, and I want to do it justice, so ChimeraLinq will make a triumphant return with a new look and more shade-throwing in the first content update.
The Doors of Trithius combines classic roguelike ruthlessness with the freedom and depth of an expansive, open-world RPG.
Explore a vast, procedurally generated world that doesn't hold your hand. Here you'll need all your skill and strategic prowess to overcome the ancient dungeons, faction armies, and wandering behemoths found in the unpredictable and mysterious realm of Enalia.
Game World
Random Generation: Each adventure is unique as towns, dungeons, and the world map are newly generated on every playthrough.
Exploration: Navigate a vast, dangerous world where survival is key. Establish campsites, forage for sustenance, and manage your weariness to endure the wilderness. Every tile on the world map can be explored and persists across time.
Varied Enemy Types: Over 100 unique enemy types with customized AI challenge your skills and adaptability.
Challenging Dungeons: Test your mettle against 8 unique dungeon types, each with custom layouts and room types, including castles, caves, fortresses, hideouts, and temples.
Combat & Skills
Turn-Based Combat: Our tick-based time system brings a fresh twist to turn-based combat. Turn priority hinges on your movement, weapon speed, and action speed, emphasizing the importance of tactical decisions.
Combat Options: Customize your strategy with over 200 combat abilities, and 12 weapon skill types, each with a unique playstyle.
Skills: Experience 14 non-combat skills such as Medicine, Alchemy, Quartermastery, Athletics, and Reading. Level skills through use and strategic focus point allocation, unlocking abilities and passives to tailor your character to your playstyle.
Progression & Customization
Expansive Loot: Hundreds of items including potions, armor, recipes, and in-game readable lore books. Stumble upon rare enchantments or learn to enchant your items yourself.
Questing: Complete quests for rewards and to increase your reputation among the locals, unlocking exclusive benefits. On top of the hand-designed quests, towns and cities generate dynamic quests based on NPC roles in each town.
In-Depth Crafting: Craft food, potions and medicine; upgrade and maintain your armor with salvaged materials. Enhance your crafting skills by purchasing or finding recipe scrolls.
Character Customization: Shape your character's destiny with 7 background choices and over 30 starting traits.
Early Access
Despite being in early access the game has a significant amount of content already added, with around 12-16 hours required to win. Join the adventure as we continue to develop and extend the world of Enalia.
The Gamer has posted compiled interview with former Interplay game designer John Deiley, the inventor of the Talking Deathclaws in Fallout 2. In it, he goes over various things like his relationship with Monsignor Chris Avellone, why he made the things in the first place, and so, so much more... Like this:
“In later games, the players could meet up with them and they could be a source of support,” Deiley says. “Depending on what the player did, they could say, ‘You’re not the type of individual we want to associate with, leave or we’ll kill you, period.’ I mean, that was their mindset. They were intelligent, but still aggressive.
“There was going to be an internal conflict with them, the devil within. They were planning, once they were more secure, on altering power armour to fit their physique. And then they were going to pay the Enclave a visit and get as many vials of the FEV virus as they could, kidnap a scientist or two, and make some improvements.”
Whoa, Nelly! Now there's a few spicy meatballs in this one. Anyone else think that maybe, just maybe, where we stand today, the FEV should have been a one-and-done thing for just the first game? Instead, it seems to have evolved itself in to the "explain your bad idea" virus.
Welcome to the World of Averon, where science, magic and sky-faring adventure are par for the course. You are to lead an expedition to the centre of a vast cluster of uncharted isles floating high in the sky, the Elyrium Belt. Previously inaccessible, the discovery of a new mineral—Elyrium—has sparked a new era of technological progress and exploration: The Age of Discovery.
Competing factions scramble to construct vast aircraft and launch expeditions into this uncharted and resource-rich region.Your goal is to assemble a team of the toughest adventurers to sail the skies, reach the heart of the Elyrium Belt and unravel its many mysteries
Hidden Pass is a tactical turn-based RPG set in a unique techno-magical fantasy world. Inspired by legendary strategy and tactical classics such as Xcom 2 and Heroes of Might and Magic 3 as well as modern games like Songs of Conquest and Into The Breach, we invite you, as backers, to shape the future of the continent of Averon.
The Game
Hidden Pass is split into two key elements. In its strategic layer, you’ll experience its world as a lightweight 4X strategy game. When you send your units out on sorties, Hidden Pass becomes a turn-based RPG with tactical, grid-based combat. We’re especially proud of the game’s stylized aesthetic and visual effects, inspired most by Divinity: Original Sin 2. Breaking down the core gameplay loop a little, expect to spend around 70% of the game in tactical combat, and the remaining time on the strategic map layer.
That 30% is a very dense part of the experience, though, and full of that crunchy strategic goodness that makes the genre so compelling. Make your story your own by designing your base, levelling your characters, exploring and plotting your conquest of the game world, defending yourself against hostile incursions and interacting with the story as it unfolds.
As you can see, we’ve got strong foundations here, but even grander ambitions for Hidden Pass. With your backing, involvement and feedback as veteran strategy/tactics fans, we can make this the game of our dreams, and yours! Help us improve Hidden Pass, and spread the word.
Key Features
Multi-layered Combat: Combat in Hidden Path takes place across three map layers, each presenting their own tactical challenges, although flying units are free to move between them and outflank more limited fighters. Every battle takes place in a fully three dimensional space, and a single flying unit can turn an otherwise defensible position into a tactical liability.
Elyrium Madness: Magic is your most powerful weapon, and potentially your undoing. Every ability used brings you closer to the brink, the power of Elyrium slowly driving your units mad. There's a potential method to this madness, though - the further you push to the edge, the more powerful your abilities become.
Passing the Baton: Field your four best and brightest units in each battle, but plan for attrition. Casualties can be swiftly replaced mid-battle with reserve units from your Tower - don’t accept defeat!
Automatons: Not all of your units are flesh and blood. Your home base’s Factory can manufacture powerful Elyrium-fueled automatons with unique abilities and strengths.
Wanderer's Tower: Your powerful mobile fortress and home-away-from-home. A flying base where you produce fresh units, upgrade their gear and research new technologies. Your tower can also move between clusters of islands, giving it access to ever-shifting resource pools.
Expertise System: Keep your troops alive and they’ll reward you in kind. Level up your troops to unlock powerful new abilities that might just turn the tide of your next battle. We want every unit to write their own story from battle to battle. The unlucky rookie that rises to become squad MVP - the kind of stories you want to share with other players.
We've reached the final days of the Swordhaven Kickstarter. While the project is funded, we're pretty damned close to the final stretch goal of the campaign. So far, the goals of a Player Base and Cursed City have been met. They're currently at $43,431 of the $44,000 needed for the final goal, which is Festivals and Holidays. So, if you're really wanting to have Christmas in the Cursed City, which I'm guessing is similar to San Francisco, CA or Portland, Oregon, we're within spitting distance of that target.
So, let's GOOO!
EDIT: Apparently I misread, the Cursed City hasn't been funded yet because I didn't notice that the graphic wasn't in dollars. So, let's GOOO harder!
Greetings, Pathfinders! The long-awaited A Dance of Masks DLC will be released on June 13! Wishlist the DLC to be the first to go on this new adventure. And if you have Season Pass 2, the DLC will automatically become available on release day.
A Dance of Masks is the sixth and final premium DLC for Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous in Season Pass 2, one last love letter to the Knight Commander and their loyal companions. Gather all your companions and travel back to where it all started – the city of Kenabres, destroyed and now risen from the ashes. Visit a festival, celebrate your victories, socialize with friends and loved ones, watch the fireworks… And thwart the plans of villains trying to spoil the fun!
What can you expect from the DLC?
A new adventure will take you back to Kenabres and beyond: to a new enemy's stronghold!
Personal events for every companion — you’ve seen them fight, now watch them have a day off;
A new romantic event with every romanceable companion;
An otherworldly arena where you can test your might against some truly mythic enemies;
11 new character archetypes, a new weapon and the ability to switch your grip on the weapon from one-handed to two-handed!
The Clan of the Hunt, Assassins, Children of Haqim, Saracens, Mediators, Lawmen
Cursed with a thirst for the Blood of other vampires, the Banu Haqim stalk the night as judges and lawbringers. To this end, most Banu Haqim adhere to a strict code of conduct - derived from law, faith, or personal ethics - sating their Hunger on those that breach these convictions.
Playing a Banu Haqim in Bloodlines 2
Banu Haqim takes the role of a strategic stalker, using shadows to their advantage.
You are a predator on a hunt, and your discipline powers focus on stalking, assassination, and silently moving faster than your foes can track. These skills are great assets when stalking the city for prey.
Abilities
When you choose your clan, you will start out with a passive ability unique to each clan. You are then able to unlock abilities from the Ability Tree, starting with your chosen clan. Each ability requires spending Ability Points (AP) to unlock which are earned from completing missions, combat and exploration. At the peak of the Ability Tree, you can unlock the clan Perk, a reward to those dedicated enough to unlock all of the abilities for a clan, giving a permanent passive upgrade.
Silence of Death - Clan Passive: All your actions become entirely silent for a period after feeding.
Mute - Silence an enemy/civilian. Any sounds they produce, from screams to gunfire, are completely undetectable to others.
Split Second - Move so fast that time appears to stop around you.
Bladed Hand - Slash swiftly in front of you, beheading mortal opponents.
Unseen Aura - Become temporarily invisible to enemies and civilians. Note: You can still be heard unless combined with Silence of Death.
Prowl - Clan Perk: Can remain crouched whilst sprinting.
Customizing your playstyle
There are many different ways to play your character in Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. The clan Banu Haqim focus on a stalking based playstyle to take out your enemies one by one, and the clan abilities are built to empower that. As we want to make sure this is not a game where you are required to optimize your abilities to the extreme, we’ve focused on making the base playstyles easy and straightforward. But for the players who want their experience to be a bit deeper and more customizable, you will be able to do so. By visiting important vampires who are sworn to assist the Sheriff (you), you can unlock abilities from their clan by drinking a bit of their blood.
Abilities from other clans may cost more AP depending on how well they align with your clans Disciplines. The Banu Haqim Disciplines are Celerity (speed enhancing abilities), Blood Sorcery (the ability to control blood with your arcane knowledge) and Obfuscate (abilities to easily hide, move without being noticed, and cast illusions.). If a Banu Haqim wishes to unlock a Blood Sorcery ability from another clan, it would cost less AP to unlock than an ability for a Discipline Banu Haqim don’t have. Those who unlock all abilities from a clan and get the Clan Perk, are able to stack them and have the effects of them all, elevating your power.
The activated abilities and Clan Perk can be learned from the other clans, but the clan passive can not. Because of this, you combine the clan powers in hundreds of different ways, but a Banu Haqim playthrough will remain its own gameplay experience.
Our boy zwanzig_zwoelf has a new game up on Steam, just released today. Dragon Ruins looks to be a fairly old school blobber. So, if you're looking for a modern take on the games we used to play in the late 1980s, here's your chance! You can pick it up on the cheap, since it's normally around $5US, but it's 10% off that for the next two weeks. Here's the general idea:
Assemble a party of 4 heroes from 8 available classes
Explore the ancient ruins
Fight through automatic battles where you decide whether to fight or run away
Grow stronger via level-ups and equipment enhancement
Purchase medicine to revive fallen party members
Use teleporter scrolls for a quick trip to town and back
Challenge your party with an NG+ mode, where monsters attack in higher groups and the final boss gets stronger
Well, there won't be any bitching about the use of Unity Assets in this one, that's for sure. It's pretty neat that it supports the XBox Controller for you SteamDeckers out there. And me. Embrace the controller. You know you want to.
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