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KickStarter Knights of the Chalice 2 Thread - Augury of Chaos

Rpguy

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Pathfinder: Wrath
Some info from the kickstarter comments:

Will the Augury of Chaos digital guidebook be released right after the Kickstarter ends, along with the game, please?

My apologies! The guidebook will not be ready by the end of the campaign. For one thing, I will not have the time to prepare it while the campaign is running. For another, I do intend to improve Augury of Chaos after the end of the campaign, which means that it's best for me to work on the guidebook once I have finished tweaking the game and adding Steam achievements.
The main point of paying $10 more is that you're helping create a great RPG series. The other point is that you get additional rewards, including a Steam key, a digital guidebook and digital desktop / concept art.
About the guidebook, I will also say this. Maybe you will explore every nook and cranny of the game and discover every secret. But other people may not, and these people may be happy to read the game's guidebook even after playing through the game. After all, KotC 2, just like KotC 1, is a game that people will enjoy replaying, in my opinion.
I read the guidebook for Dark Sun Shattered Lands well after playing the game several times and I enjoyed discovering every secret and finding out about the things I had missed.
Please choose the pledge level that is best for you. Cheers! :)



I was wondering how long The Dark Arena, Forces of Chaos and Heart of Evil will be? You mention that Augury of Chaos is about 40 hours, so do you have any comparison for these (or how long you would LIKE them to be since they aren't fully finished)?

As a guesstimate, I expect each of the new modules to be about the same length as Augury of Chaos. If you don't rush and you have to replay certain battles, the game time in any of the modules can be much longer.

Combat experience awards will be reduced in the trilogy, since I want the party to be able to continue from one module to the next without reaching level 20 by the end of the first module. :)



I noticed from reading the spells in the wiki that you got made all traditionally long-lasting buff spells just last until the end of combat (except for mage armor). What made you decide to go this route? It changes the game a lot since you can't really prep for battle now.

You do have a number of spells that remain until the party rests. For the Wizard, they include Protection from Arrows, Mage Armour, Blur, Mirror Image, Minute Meteors, Water Breathing, Stoneskin Personal, Contingent Break Enchantment, Dispelling Buffer, Foresight, Mind Blank and Contingent Greater Break Enchantment.

All these spells can be set to be automatically recast after resting.

The idea with both KotC 1 and KotC 2 is that it's not very enjoyable to have to cast buff spells like Bull's Strength or Protection from Fire before every fight. Not having many long-lasting buff spells also makes combat more interesting and challenging, in my opinion.
 
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Tigranes

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Not only things like Stoneskin, but Mirror Image lasting until rest & autorecast after rest? Interesting.

Seems to me that mages effectively walk around permanently with those buffs after the first few levels.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-revolutionise-old-school-crpgs/posts/2850099

Update #8: The KotC 2 Campaign Has Reached Its First Stretch Goal! Thank You!

Brave Heroes of the Land, Together we've already Reached the First KotC 2 Stretch Goal and we are well on our way to the Second Stretch Goal!! Incredible Incline! :D

Mighty Warriors and Legendary Bards, let's Keep Spreading the Good Word! Thank you everyone!! :)

68dc909b6276c35d5c4754d76e9bd867_original.png
 

mediocrepoet

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Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
I was leaning this way before, but especially now that I've had the chance to watch the pitch video and the trailer: I like the tokens more than Gold Box or KotC sprites and some other presentations. They're clean, everything happening is communicated clearly, and are detailed enough to still let you be imaginative with what's going on.

The only criticisms I have from what's presented there are basically that the voice acting could be better for what's there and some of the token art isn't as good as some of the rest.

It took a bit for it to grow on me and for me to start to re-check out KotC1, but I think I'm more hyped for this than the other D&D style games that are currently in development. :bounce: Certainly more than most of them.
 

Doctor Sbaitso

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This and realms beyond both are pretty exciting. I agree regarding the tokens but understand why others don't like them. I play Angband and with ANSI graphics so I am accustomed to using my imagination to set the scene, as would tabletop players.

Better visuals are never bad. I find Battle Brothers looks pretty fantastic for an indie game. Maybe we should put Pierre in touch with that artist.

BlueSalamander if you are looking for a 2d artist please look at Battle Brothers. The art is fantastic... Maybe he is available?
 

Darth Canoli

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Seems to me that mages effectively walk around permanently with those buffs after the first few levels.

Mages needed some love, ambushes with archers could be a real pain so a little more survivability for mages is welcome but they still can't buff the party to the teeth.

BlueSalamander if you are looking for a 2d artist please look at Battle Brothers. The art is fantastic... Maybe he is available?

Maybe a bit too fantastic, no ?
Specially with the environment, i'm not sure it'd blend very well.
Actually, i got used to it watching gifs and videos but at first, i thought the scenery and spell effects (all the flashy colors) were way worse than the tokens.
 

Yosharian

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Dear Heroic Fantasy Games,

How easy would it be for you to implement a system where we could have our own music?

For example, if the game's music files were stored in a directory somewhere then we could replace them with our own.

Sorry if this seems like a rude question. I like the music and all, just wouldn't mind putting some of my own music in.
 
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Self-Ejected

Thac0

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I'm very into cock and ball torture
So how much do I have to pay in the Codex fundraiser to actually get the game?

25 USD for the base game.

All tiers from the lowest that gets all modules to the lowest that gets the base game as download.


Still not sure which tier I will go for, Selling future modules before one is even finished doesnt sit all that well with me.
 
Self-Ejected

Thac0

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Still not sure which tier I will go for, Selling future modules before one is even finished doesnt sit all that well with me.

Yeah, that's crazy. What sort of person puts up unfinished projects on Kickstarter?

At least most have the modesty to put one game at a time on Kickstarter, and not 4. It increases the already inherent risk of the developer going bankrupt before finishing the game by a lot.
 

JarlFrank

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Still not sure which tier I will go for, Selling future modules before one is even finished doesnt sit all that well with me.

Yeah, that's crazy. What sort of person puts up unfinished projects on Kickstarter?

At least most have the modesty to put one game at a time on Kickstarter, and not 4. It increases the already inherent risk of the developer going bankrupt before finishing the game by a lot.

1. The first module for the game is already finished. The game releases ASAP once the KS is over.
2. There were Kickstarters before that had future DLC as a backer tier, and they delivered.
3. If Pierre goes bankrupt, he'll just eat roots again.
 

Doctor Sbaitso

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Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Grab the Codex by the pussy Serpent in the Staglands
Seems to me that mages effectively walk around permanently with those buffs after the first few levels.

Mages needed some love, ambushes with archers could be a real pain so a little more survivability for mages is welcome but they still can't buff the party to the teeth.

BlueSalamander if you are looking for a 2d artist please look at Battle Brothers. The art is fantastic... Maybe he is available?

Maybe a bit too fantastic, no ?
Specially with the environment, i'm not sure it'd blend very well.
Actually, i got used to it watching gifs and videos but at first, i thought the scenery and spell effects (all the flashy colors) were way worse than the tokens.

Just dropping sprites BB quality would be too stark I agree, but if he was also doing 2d isometric backdrops, it would be pretty beautiful I bet.

Regarding mage protections lasting until rest, I think he is taking a page from Sawyer in that it reduces "degenerate game play". Were those protections not 'sticky', you could of course keep them up, but it may be tedious to do so.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-revolutionise-old-school-crpgs/posts/2850621

Update #9: How to Create Non-Linear Adventures!

In today's update, we will review various approaches RPG designers can adopt to create intelligent non-linear adventures. This reflection came about with the help of Tiavals and much of the text below was written by him.

Non-linear adventures can be particularly enjoyable to RPG players thanks to the feeling of player freedom they create. Non-linearity itself is seen by many players as something that is very valuable. Non-linearity can also make a game a lot more replayable.

However, non-linear adventures present particular difficulties for map and module designers. If the adventure is linear, the designer knows exactly what level the party is at when facing each particular encounter. As a result, he or she can tailor each encounter and make sure that all encounters are very challenging and interesting to the player.

If the adventure is non-linear, the designer does not know what level the party has reached when it meets a particular group of enemies, and the party's level is likely to be too high for the encounters.

Using a system of automatic enemy level scaling would be unrealistic and wholly unsatisfactory. The question then is how should we handle the loss of challenge that comes from the fact that the party's level is too high for the encounters being faced?

We will now outline seven possible solutions to the problem.

1) Design encounters that present interesting challenges regardless of the level of the party. Surprise the player by having the monsters use level-independent tricks, spells (e.g. Stinking Cloud) and abilities (e.g. paralysing touch attacks) that rely on saving throws rather than Hit Point damage.

That way, it would still be challenging for a party of level 5 to explore a dungeon meant for level-3 characters. However, it can be difficult to implement this solution. Once a party gains access to the spells Fireball and Haste at level 5, many combat encounters designed for a party of level 1 to 4 become much easier, if not trivial.

2) Sub-divide the adventure into a number of parts associated with a particular party-level range. For example, an adventure intended to take characters from level 1 to level 9 could be split into three parts. The first part is associated with party levels from 1 to 3, the second part is associated with party levels from 4 to 6 and the third part is associated with party levels from 7 to 9. Thus, we retain control over the flow of the game while allowing the player to choose the order of his quests within each sub-division.

For instance, the game may start in a small village associated with party levels from 1 to 3. There's an Orc cave intended for a party of level 1, a ruined tower intended for a party of level 2 or 3, and a caravan robbery encounter intended for a party of level 2 or 3. A level-1 quest is necessary because a level-1 D&D party generally cannot handle higher-level challenges. Once the party reaches level 2, it is free to undertake the remaining two encounters in any order.

Once the party reaches level 4, and moves from the village to, say, a fortress, it gains access to three new quests that can be undertaken in any order. A level-4 party can take on level 5 and 6 encounters with some thought and good tactics, so all three quests can be designed for a party of level 5 or 6.

The fortress quests may include a swamp hag, haunted ruins, and a giant bandit with human minions who threaten the fortress. Once the party has completed the area, it can move forward to the next part, associated with party levels from 7 to 9. With this approach, we improve non-linear encounters by restricting non-linearity to a certain range of party levels.

3) Create interdependent areas to offer intelligent level scaling. For example, the party must tackle both the Hill Giants and the Frost Giants. If the player takes on the Frost Giants before the Hill Giants, then once the Frost Giant Jarl is slain, a switch is triggered which spawns the remnants of the Frost Giant army within the Hill Giant fortress, increasing the challenge level of the Hill Giant area. A White Dragon is added to the Hill Giant throne-room encounter, and a single Frost Giant Warrior is added to each secondary Hill Giant encounter.

With this solution, the player is encouraged to play several times. The game world also seems to be more alive, thanks to the visible impact of the player’s actions. For this method to work as intended, dungeons have to be tied together in a meaningful way.

Here is another example. The party is moving against a moathouse infested with bandits. However, because the party has been spending time exploring the caves first, the bandits have now heard about the party and they've taken special measures to reinforce their position. They now have more men and they've recruited some Trolls and Ettins.

Now, if the player has taken out the moathouse first, the evil Druid hiding in the caves has had enough time to complete a summoning ritual, and now the cave encounters include some additional druidic slimes, charmed animals and summoned elementals. It's probably best to limit this idea to two encounters, for simplicity. There should also be a logical reason for ramping up the difficulty of the second encounter.

The main drawback of this approach may be that it requires a lot of additional work. Also, the player is going to miss some of the game’s content, unless he plays several times. The player may remain unaware of the existence of extra content in the game.
4) Establish non-linearity within encounters, not in the order of encounters. With this approach, we do not attempt to make the flow of the adventure non-linear. Most encounters happen one after the other, but the player is given several options for dealing with each encounter.

For example, you resolve the first encounter either through combat or dialogue, and you resolve the second encounter by giving your support to only one of two factions. So the non-linearity comes from the way you handle each encounter, rather than the order in which you tackle each encounter. A linear adventure is fine as long as you can approach it from multiple angles.

A gladiatorial arena scenario is a great example. Potentially, you could escape by fighting the guards, by bribing them or charming them, by becoming the champion of the arena, by fostering a slave rebellion, by using the magic of a Wizard NPC, by finding a secret underground escape route, or by using the skills of a Rogue.

To cross a chasm, you could use a Warrior’s jumping skill, employ a grappling hook, use levitation magic, use a rope to climb down to the bottom, or have a winged NPC fly you across.

In the cRPG Dark Sun Shattered Lands, the way forward is blocked by a fire in Dagolar's tunnels. The game offers four different solutions. You can jump through the obstacle, at the risk of taking damage. You can summon a water elemental to extinguish the fire. You can toss heavy bones on the pressure plate that may be seen behind the fire. You can have a friendly Zombie NPC cross the fire and trigger the pressure plate.

5) Offer mutually-exclusive quests to the party to break linearity. For example, if you have cleared the bandit moathouse, now the evil Druid has run away to another region with fewer heroes, and the player does not even learn about the location of the Druid’s cave. The roguelike-RPG ADOM uses this solution: in the beginning, you can either save the village Carpenter, or slay the evil Druid.

For best results, the mutual exclusivity should not seem to be ‘forced’. There should be a good reason for it and the player should be able to anticipate the mutual exclusivity and understand that he’s going to be making a choice. This can be accomplished with a few lines of dialogue in a few separate places.

For example, the bandit moathouse is under surveillance by the Druid, and he gets scared when it’s destroyed. The bandits were planning to launch a raid against the Druid, and they move on when they hear that the Druid was slain and his riches were plundered.

6) Allow the player to gravitate naturally to appropriate-level encounters and areas without ‘outside’ interference. For example, in Dark Sun Shattered Lands, the beginning is fairly linear, as well as the ending. But the middle part gives great freedom to the player, as dungeons and quests can be tackled in any order. With this approach, we simply accept that a number of combat encounters will not be very challenging to the player.

We keep the player interested through other means: an interesting storyline, choices that have an impact in the later game, or the promise of rewards such as magic weapons that will be useful in tougher encounters. We could even have certain monster groups run away from the party or immediately yield to it due to the heroic reputation of high-level player characters.

Easy encounters may also allow the player to feel like he or she is the glorious Hero that crushes weak foes. Sometimes, you just have to shoot a Meteor Shower on some Orcs to feel like you're playing an epic-level D&D game.

7) Have the player’s decision in one area affect the next area. Here is an example. The player is given a choice to ally either with the King or with an evil Wizard, before taking on a classic dungeon filled with Orcs. Depending on which faction you allied with, the minions of the opposite choice supplement the Orcs. So if you are allied with the King, the Orcs now have Wizard apprentices bolstering their forces.

If you are allied with the Wizard, the Orcs have made peace with the King and several high-level Knights are helping them. Thus, the fairly generic Orc dungeon is transformed into an interesting area that is both challenging in terms of the gameplay and satisfying in terms of the storyline.

In conclusion, I think it's probably best to mix and match these methods where appropriate. Overusing any one of them is obviously bad. Too many ‘weird’ encounters will lead to frustration, too small adventure sub-divisions will just make the game as linear as if there weren’t any, and too much area-interdependence will lead to a massive increase in the amount of work. Still, I think they're all worthwhile and should work pretty well.

Others news about the KotC 2 Kickstarter
As we get closer to the second Stretch Goal, we’re also getting closer to the 96-hour mark. Let’s try to reach the Time-Based Goal, Valiant Knights! To make this possible, I have reduced the goal to £ 32,000 / $ 39,613 and extended the period by one day.

For sprite lovers, I have just uploaded to the campaign page a GIF animation of the existing sprites. We’ll get new ones after the campaign. I'm reproducing the animation here:

11172f7836ea08e29df9528ef482f028_original.gif


I’ve also updated the Social Goals image with current numbers. Let’s reach some of these goals! :)

The first Stretch Goal was unlocked very quickly! A good number of new Epic Feats and Normal Feats will be added to the game. There will be a Kickstarter update about the new feats later on.

Special Thanks
I would like to give special thanks to Matt Barton, the creator of the Matt Chat series on Youtube, for the kind support he's provided. You can check out his Youtube channel at http://youtube.com/blacklily8.

I would also like to give special thanks to Roman Hodek for the awesome artwork and support he’s provided over the years. You can have a look at his portfolio at https://romanhodek.blogspot.com/.

I would also like to give special thanks to Manuel Marino for the great support he's provided and the awesome music he's composed for KotC 2. You can listen to and purchase Manuel's epic music at https://www.fiverr.com/manuelmarino/create-an-impressive-hollywood-quality-orchestral-score.

Finally, I would like to give special thanks to Double Hilt Studios for the kind support and splendid music provided for KotC 2. You can check out their website at http://www.doublehilt.com/.

Next Update on KotC 2 Game Design
The next update on game design will be posted on 31 May. It will focus on the Spell Weaver character class.

Onwards and Upwards, my Dear Knights and Fearsome Sorcerers!! Keep Spreading the Word so that we Keep the Momentum Going! Thank you for your support everyone!! :)
 

Jinn

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While they tend to clash a bit with the backgrounds, I still really like how that classic KotC sprite style looks in movement.
 

Mortmal

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Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but 'ὁμός' transliterates as 'homos'. Is Pierre calling us faggots for focusing on puzzles instead of fights?
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That update gives me even more hope that this will be better than kotc1, I'm extra hyped.

Oh indeed ὁμός , ancient greek for homos, pierre is old school i already told you. In france when you wanted to get into the best classrooms you picked latin option, in the very best college it was latin and ancient greek. That was the language of the kings and so now an high bourgeoisie stigma.Every member of the upper social class practiced it back then.
Ah be careful of the friendly developper, we know how devious he really is now , we know what he's thinking ! Thats the most subtle way to tell us we are a bunch of faggots indeed !
 

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