KickStarter Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones - a Lovecraftian Computer RPG

[GandGolf]

The download link on the game's website is: https://store.steampowered.com/app/779290/



Will there be a non-Steam version?

Following the official full length release, the game will be downloadable in GOG and other such platforms.

In the meantime would you be willing to make the demo available at a non Steam site like itch? It's understandable if the file is too large to host on your page at www.stygianthegame.com

 

[Lurker above]

All right, I just played through the Steam demo 1,5 times (had to see what happens if you do sell the key for a 1000 cigs on my first run). It's pretty good so far, and you deserve to be praised on here. Even so, I still think it has a fair room for improvement. Here's a transcript of some pencil notes I made while playing:

• The intro nightmare is nice, but it could be better. At its core, it's simply clicking to follow a guy you don't logically want to follow (at least, not without equipment and the rest) through the same streets you'll spend the rest of the demo on, sans any other interaction. I know it's going to be ambitious, but how about making the intro nightmare directly connected to the chosen archetype's past?
  • I.e. my "winning" run was as a Thief, so how about when you descend the stairs, the bar wouldn't be empty, but instead is going to be a mix of its usual self, and that nightclub mentioned in criminal's background? There'll be loads of glitzy folk, there would be some incongruous brand-new "roaring 20s-style" interior decorations alongside its normal decay. After whatever happened in criminal's past happens again, he is forced to escape outside, and then finds himself right before that gate, and it ends largely as normal. Academic will find himself in the "frozen wastes", Soldier will find his old buddies in the bar before they get attacked by fishmen, etc.
    • I realise this is likely to consume a load of development resources, but the upshot is that you get to dazzle players with clear evidence of reactivity right off the bat, not several hours later when some might well refund.
• My first run was as an Academic (Physician), who starts with a servo-magnifier, amongst other things. Its description(s) (to those not in the know, Stygian has two item descriptions: a brief one when you hover over an item in an inventory, and a longer one, with stats, when you right-click it. (The latter is also unavailable once you have equipped the item.) have two typos in them: "depths to be achived" and "working on the field"(should be in).
• Brown Fedora (another Academic item) also has an error in the description: "are popular due their" should be "are popular due to their".
• Default revolver Schmut (both Academic and Criminal start with it; not sure about others), is somehow described as a "light pistol".
• Handmade Pistol - "presumable made" should be "presumably made".
  
• .22 ammo: "Used to reload 22 caliber." - 22, not .22, suggesting artillery-grade munitions.
• A Few Cigs: "Twilit dimension" should be "Twilight dimension"
  
• Both prostitutes are said to wear a "provacative" dress. (Should be provocative.)
  
• Nerve Tonic says it cures "nervous diseases" like paranoia, insomnia, etc. Isn't "disease" is nearly always something bacteria/virus/protozoa caused and so contagious? Something like affliction or disorder would be much better.
• Stuff like Whiskey says it lowers Mind and Senses in the description, but doesn't say how long the effect lasts. (Can't be permanent, right?)
  
• When listing "Crafting Traits", I would suggest putting commas between them: "Flammable Metal" creates a rather different picture in mind to "Flammable, Metal".
• The way non-dialogue-tree people respond to you as soon as you click them, even if you are on the other side of the room, is weird. It's common sense that clicking on them should make the player walk up to them first. (Related; some people (mostly Arkham citizens) seem to have rather small click hitboxes, requiring you click them somewhere around the throat to trigger a response.)
  
• Character portraits are cool. (Especially after my brief time playing Numenera on its free weekend, which cost more than $4,000,000, yet couldn't place portraits in the right-hand UI square that cried for them.) Though, is it too much to ask the character model reflects them, and vice versa? The face I chose for Physician had no beard or mustache; model's face didn't change. Criminal's portrait kept displaying a white fedora when I either wore nothing, or had his starting black fedora.
• Related; does any clothing you start with do anything? Or would you be better off selling those fedoras and tweed jackets for cigs immediately? (I would guess they improve your Presence, but nothing in the game seems to confirm that.)
• Physician had 8 Mind (out of the presumed maximum of 10): really wish that unlocked high-intelligence conversation options. The next run as a Criminal had 3 Mind (lowest possible; since each Mind point seems to give you +5 Max Sanity, I suppose anyone with 1-2 Mind would have gone mad a long time ago.) and I didn't notice any difference in the dialogue options.
• Equally, a lot of the questions you can ask seem rather dumb: i.e. Do I really need to ask why a drugstore surrounded by junkies in a town everyone feels they have nothing to lose has armed guards in it? It would be cool if that were a low/medium Mind option, while having high Mind instead lets you ask how much of a cut do they receive, etc.
• A sore point: I am really disappointed Academic in general, and Physician in particular, doesn't seem to get any unique dialogue options. There just seem to be so many moments where an actual Physician (and/or high Medicine character) would have had unique things to say!
  
  • In the drugstore, for instance, I expected the descriptions for all the chemistry/medical stuff to change, and for the player to get a (comparatively) friendly talk with Dr. Richter, as the only other person who knows what he's doing, up to and including an offer to become his apprentice. (Though if your Medicine level is too high, especially if you are also a Physician, he would instead get paranoid the Mob will replace him with you.) Though, I do like how Dr.Richter takes your age into account, saying "You are young, you can adapt." to my young character.
    
  • Getting more detailed comments on drug addicts outside the store with points in Medicine would also be nice.
    
  • With the prostitutes: some dialogue mentioning STDs. In fact, perhaps all characters could mention that, but only those with points in medicine could name the exact diseases. (And high enough Medicine level/Physician subclass should also let you check for signs of syphilis and shit. If you find nothing, you can still try to lie and concoct a "cure" to earn profit.)
  • When the Italian barman tries to trick you into paying, you could say you don't drink because "Medical reason X". (Conversely, Mind 3/4 would be too dumb to remember what happened, and actually has no option but to pay up.)
• I get that The Mob are evil and you'll get chances to kill them, but shouldn't the bar guards recognise you as that place's patron by now, and be just a little bit friendlier, considering you were living there for a whole year? (Equally, Criminal ought to get friendlier reactions from them by default, especially with Hitman background; converse is true for Detective/Ex-Cop/Soldier etc.)
  
• Something really annoying: please ensure the various "junk piles" stop being interactable after you loot them. It's annoying at best to click on one only to find it's already empty; it's infuriating when you spent a Lockpick to loot one of the broken-down cars, then come back and discover the "Subterfuge" option is still there, and still consumes a lockpick, but now gives you nothing. (Does the bus re-lock itself? Is this the greatest ploy of arcane horrors out there?)
• Why can't you ever examine the shitty red tentacles all over the place, and/or get a reason why no-one tries cutting them down? (It reminds me of Octopus City Blues, an adventure game with a somewhat similar premise that got Kickstarted a while ago, and which had fun by explaining the presence of tentacles as a good thing: the giant octopus is so big his body warmth is the only thing preventing pesky humans from freezing to death in that Frostpunk-style last city, so it's only fair to let it spread itself however it likes.)
• The hover description of stuff is as great as ever; I only notice that it's strangely lacking for the half-sunk ship in the background of area outside the pub. A description for those ruined, yet still pretty majestic-looking buildings in the background of "French Hill" would also be great.
  • Tiniest of points: not all Bank windows are shattered, even though the description always suggests they are.
• Disappointed at the prominence of abandoned houses you can't do anything to. I hope you'll get to go inside them in the full version. (In fact, the main reason I went for Thief with 2 points in Subterfuge the 2nd time around is because I thought it might let me lockpick their doors.) I definitely wish the description of an abandoned house doesn't "cover" it all, and doors/windows will be separate hotspots. Even if you can't go through doors because character thinks it's not worth it, you should be told that when clicking on the door; clicking on the windows ought to let you peek inside (especially if they are boarded-up; potential for witnessing horrors and losing sanity ahoy!)
• Both whores seem to offer you to go in the back alley, even though the first one is standing outside a perfectly fine building. (Also, can we have some more questions to them, like how many people can still afford to blow cigs on this, and consequently, how much either one earns per night.)
  • Performer class ought to get extra dialogue with them.
• The 6 or so Arkham citizens with identical dialogue are fine as a placeholder, but that's all they should be. Let's be honest; it's not fun to start talking to someone only to find out they are a complete mind-clone, who all remember the Black Day that torn their old lives apart in the exact same way. There are not that many of them, so can it really be that difficult to write 4-5 more sets of responses to 3 questions?
  
  • Moreover, the questions you do get to ask them are again pretty stupid when taken in context. "What can you tell me about Black Day?" sounds idiotic when your own character lived through it. "What happened to you on the Black Day?" and/or "Who were you before the Black Day?" sounds much better. "What is the Mafia/Cult?" (not exact wording, but meaning's the same) is also pretty bad. Your character lived there for a year: they already know who Wax Face is, for instance, as evidenced when you click on the sign next to the bar. (Apparently they also already know what happened to gun shop's old owner, but it doesn't stop them from asking.) Change the questions to "Had any run-ins with the Mob/Cult" and it'll actually be meaningful, and allow for individual stories and responses.
• Buying from the stores doesn't change the shopkeepers' demeanor in any way. (Or at least, that's the case for the gun shop.) NetHack had shopkeepers say "welcome again to X's Y store" on return visits, and it's older than many people reading this thread.
  
• Do all items cost the same regardless of the store you get them from?
• The way you need to manually count out enough cigs to even the purchase (especially if you are also selling at the same time) is actually pretty cool. However, the inability to directly compare weapons in the shop with those you have equipped is very disappointing. It's a UI flaw on par with being unable to scroll "up" the dialogues to see things already said. (One of the good things about Numenera's dialogues; it's unclear why they made all the "Tell me about X again" options when scrolling up is far easier.)
• Religious characters should probably get more options when talking to Isidore; one when he mentions his dream of golden keys (rational character gets to debunk, so why can't religious one invoke God's will?); another is when Kabbalah is mentioned, and you could contrast it negatively with Christianity, or something.
  • Why can you ask Isidore where the bank is, after your character already talked to its guards and/or went inside?
    
  • Explorer characters should also get extra options in Isidore's shop. (In fact, I suggest restricting all the current fancy environmental description in that shop to Explorer classes and perhaps high Mind characters as well. There's no reason for some two-bit hoodlum or jarhead or a starlet to know statue X reflects Balinese culture, while that monk & lamb statue is Agnes Dei.
  • Come to think of it, why not replace ALL of the highly literate item descriptions with something less imaginative and more down-to-earth for all low Mind characters?
• A shiv is a good combat weapon, but a shovel is not? OK. Also, is it possible to equip rope in the demo at all? I tried clicking on every available slot, but nothing happened. (Similarly; is there any place in the demo where you can dig stuff up with a shovel, open locked boxes with a crowbar, and the rest?)
  
• I just found out from this thread the bandaged Outsider is apparently recruitable. I talked to him once in both runs, and it didn't work. 2nd time around, though, I did get the "lynching" cutscene, and chose to do nothing, after which he kills a guy and the rest disperse. Questions:
  • Why can't I intervene then, and say I'll help the mob bring the foul creature down, triggering a fight? (To speak nothing of having the option to do so immediately.)
  • Why does the corpse of the guy Outsider kills if you do nothing disappears right after the cutscene? I wanted to loot him!
  • Similarly, why can't you loot the body of an escaped Lunatic that gets shot by guards?
• Does taking cover in combat actually do anything? A Lunatic in the bank still managed to hit me with stones twice in the row right after I took cover.
  • Speaking of which: what is the "Throwing" skill for? I couldn't find any weapon that used it.
  • What does "Handling" stat on weapons affect, exactly?
  • I noticed that your character reloads automatically outside of combat. Eduardo, however, does not, which is annoying.
• I like that Lunatics already have a good range of things to do; melee, throw stuff, sanity-reducing screams, Waltz (what does that actually do, btw?), Despair and even attack fellows in the back to "help" them. (That last one really surprised me.) Your own abilities seem a little paltry by comparison, though: since you mention original Fallouts as inspiration, could we also get the Targeted Shots? (Crippling a Lunatic's leg so that they don't cover 2/3 of the screen in one turn, or an arm so they don't melee/throw stuff would be very cool.)
• It would also be cool if you could a) ask mobsters outside the Bank since when there are Lunatics inside, etc.; b) find some more scribbled notes and other paraphernalia alongside normal post-battle loot, giving us more glimpses of their past life and their sad descent into madness, etc.
• I discovered that 2 Persuasion nets you a discount from the Sledgehammer mobster. Apparently, Occult and some other checks make it completely free. However, what if you buy a Sledgehammer yourself from the mobsters' shop? Sure, there doesn't seem to be a rational reason to do so (what with it costing 142 cigs, while paying mobster is at most 50) but still, that would be nice.
  • Perhaps, asking a mobster to break the brickwork down immediately clues them in you are to blame for whatever supernatural shit is about to go down immediately afterwards, while buying it yourself keeps them guessing for a little longer? Doubt many players will think of that on their own, but the reactions of those who will...
  • As far as reactions go: shouldn't mobsters say something in response to you clearing the bank out completely/partially/just sneaking past everyone? (Especially if you manage to do it alone.) Their stunned responses would be even sweeter if they are class-dependent: from grudging respect for soldier/law enforcement classes to shock at dweeb classes like Performer or Academic managing to kill everything in that building.

So, that's all I have so far. While Lovecraftian settings are not my absolute favourite, I wish you the absolute best with this. This all might look very intimidating, but trust me, I wrote down even more stuff for Tides of Numenera yesterday, and I might well find a lot to criticise the same way in the most classical RPGs as well if I were to re-approach them now. You already have a lot of cool ideas (i.e. I liked the early darts encounter with two stat-based ways to win it - at the cost of breaking the poor guy, in keeping with the theme. All the real books you can use to restore Sanity depending on character's outlook were an amazing idea, too.) To me, at least, implementing the stuff above will make the game so far practically perfect.

 

[Roguey]

Make Lurker above a beta tester.

 

[GandGolf]

All right, I just played through the Steam demo 1,5 times (had to see what happens if you do sell the key for a 1000 cigs on my first run). It's pretty good so far, and you deserve to be praised on here. Even so, I still think it has a fair room for improvement. Here's a transcript of some pencil notes I made while playing:

• The intro nightmare is nice, but it could be better. At its core, it's simply clicking to follow a guy you don't logically want to follow (at least, not without equipment and the rest) through the same streets you'll spend the rest of the demo on, sans any other interaction. I know it's going to be ambitious, but how about making the intro nightmare directly connected to the chosen archetype's past?
  • I.e. my "winning" run was as a Thief, so how about when you descend the stairs, the bar wouldn't be empty, but instead is going to be a mix of its usual self, and that nightclub mentioned in criminal's background? There'll be loads of glitzy folk, there would be some incongruous brand-new "roaring 20s-style" interior decorations alongside its normal decay. After whatever happened in criminal's past happens again, he is forced to escape outside, and then finds himself right before that gate, and it ends largely as normal. Academic will find himself in the "frozen wastes", Soldier will find his old buddies in the bar before they get attacked by fishmen, etc.
    • I realise this is likely to consume a load of development resources, but the upshot is that you get to dazzle players with clear evidence of reactivity right off the bat, not several hours later when some might well refund.
• My first run was as an Academic (Physician), who starts with a servo-magnifier, amongst other things. Its description(s) (to those not in the know, Stygian has two item descriptions: a brief one when you hover over an item in an inventory, and a longer one, with stats, when you right-click it. (The latter is also unavailable once you have equipped the item.) have two typos in them: "depths to be achived" and "working on the field"(should be in).
• Brown Fedora (another Academic item) also has an error in the description: "are popular due their" should be "are popular due to their".
• Default revolver Schmut (both Academic and Criminal start with it; not sure about others), is somehow described as a "light pistol".
• Handmade Pistol - "presumable made" should be "presumably made".
  
• .22 ammo: "Used to reload 22 caliber." - 22, not .22, suggesting artillery-grade munitions.
• A Few Cigs: "Twilit dimension" should be "Twilight dimension"
  
• Both prostitutes are said to wear a "provacative" dress. (Should be provocative.)
  
• Nerve Tonic says it cures "nervous diseases" like paranoia, insomnia, etc. Isn't "disease" is nearly always something bacteria/virus/protozoa caused and so contagious? Something like affliction or disorder would be much better.
• Stuff like Whiskey says it lowers Mind and Senses in the description, but doesn't say how long the effect lasts. (Can't be permanent, right?)
  
• When listing "Crafting Traits", I would suggest putting commas between them: "Flammable Metal" creates a rather different picture in mind to "Flammable, Metal".
• The way non-dialogue-tree people respond to you as soon as you click them, even if you are on the other side of the room, is weird. It's common sense that clicking on them should make the player walk up to them first. (Related; some people (mostly Arkham citizens) seem to have rather small click hitboxes, requiring you click them somewhere around the throat to trigger a response.)
  
• Character portraits are cool. (Especially after my brief time playing Numenera on its free weekend, which cost more than $4,000,000, yet couldn't place portraits in the right-hand UI square that cried for them.) Though, is it too much to ask the character model reflects them, and vice versa? The face I chose for Physician had no beard or mustache; model's face didn't change. Criminal's portrait kept displaying a white fedora when I either wore nothing, or had his starting black fedora.
• Related; does any clothing you start with do anything? Or would you be better off selling those fedoras and tweed jackets for cigs immediately? (I would guess they improve your Presence, but nothing in the game seems to confirm that.)
• Physician had 8 Mind (out of the presumed maximum of 10): really wish that unlocked high-intelligence conversation options. The next run as a Criminal had 3 Mind (lowest possible; since each Mind point seems to give you +5 Max Sanity, I suppose anyone with 1-2 Mind would have gone mad a long time ago.) and I didn't notice any difference in the dialogue options.
• Equally, a lot of the questions you can ask seem rather dumb: i.e. Do I really need to ask why a drugstore surrounded by junkies in a town everyone feels they have nothing to lose has armed guards in it? It would be cool if that were a low/medium Mind option, while having high Mind instead lets you ask how much of a cut do they receive, etc.
• A sore point: I am really disappointed Academic in general, and Physician in particular, doesn't seem to get any unique dialogue options. There just seem to be so many moments where an actual Physician (and/or high Medicine character) would have had unique things to say!
  • In the drugstore, for instance, I expected the descriptions for all the chemistry/medical stuff to change, and for the player to get a (comparatively) friendly talk with Dr. Richter, as the only other person who knows what he's doing, up to and including an offer to become his apprentice. (Though if your Medicine level is too high, especially if you are also a Physician, he would instead get paranoid the Mob will replace him with you.) Though, I do like how Dr.Richter takes your age into account, saying "You are young, you can adapt." to my young character.
    
  • Getting more detailed comments on drug addicts outside the store with points in Medicine would also be nice.
    
  • With the prostitutes: some dialogue mentioning STDs. In fact, perhaps all characters could mention that, but only those with points in medicine could name the exact diseases. (And high enough Medicine level/Physician subclass should also let you check for signs of syphilis and shit. If you find nothing, you can still try to lie and concoct a "cure" to earn profit.)
  • When the Italian barman tries to trick you into paying, you could say you don't drink because "Medical reason X". (Conversely, Mind 3/4 would be too dumb to remember what happened, and actually has no option but to pay up.)
• I get that The Mob are evil and you'll get chances to kill them, but shouldn't the bar guards recognise you as that place's patron by now, and be just a little bit friendlier, considering you were living there for a whole year? (Equally, Criminal ought to get friendlier reactions from them by default, especially with Hitman background; converse is true for Detective/Ex-Cop/Soldier etc.)
  
• Something really annoying: please ensure the various "junk piles" stop being interactable after you loot them. It's annoying at best to click on one only to find it's already empty; it's infuriating when you spent a Lockpick to loot one of the broken-down cars, then come back and discover the "Subterfuge" option is still there, and still consumes a lockpick, but now gives you nothing. (Does the bus re-lock itself? Is this the greatest ploy of arcane horrors out there?)
• Why can't you ever examine the shitty red tentacles all over the place, and/or get a reason why no-one tries cutting them down? (It reminds me of Octopus City Blues, an adventure game with a somewhat similar premise that got Kickstarted a while ago, and which had fun by explaining the presence of tentacles as a good thing: the giant octopus is so big his body warmth is the only thing preventing pesky humans from freezing to death in that Frostpunk-style last city, so it's only fair to let it spread itself however it likes.)
• The hover description of stuff is as great as ever; I only notice that it's strangely lacking for the half-sunk ship in the background of area outside the pub. A description for those ruined, yet still pretty majestic-looking buildings in the background of "French Hill" would also be great.
  • Tiniest of points: not all Bank windows are shattered, even though the description always suggests they are.
• Disappointed at the prominence of abandoned houses you can't do anything to. I hope you'll get to go inside them in the full version. (In fact, the main reason I went for Thief with 2 points in Subterfuge the 2nd time around is because I thought it might let me lockpick their doors.) I definitely wish the description of an abandoned house doesn't "cover" it all, and doors/windows will be separate hotspots. Even if you can't go through doors because character thinks it's not worth it, you should be told that when clicking on the door; clicking on the windows ought to let you peek inside (especially if they are boarded-up; potential for witnessing horrors and losing sanity ahoy!)
• Both whores seem to offer you to go in the back alley, even though the first one is standing outside a perfectly fine building. (Also, can we have some more questions to them, like how many people can still afford to blow cigs on this, and consequently, how much either one earns per night.)
  • Performer class ought to get extra dialogue with them.
• The 6 or so Arkham citizens with identical dialogue are fine as a placeholder, but that's all they should be. Let's be honest; it's not fun to start talking to someone only to find out they are a complete mind-clone, who all remember the Black Day that torn their old lives apart in the exact same way. There are not that many of them, so can it really be that difficult to write 4-5 more sets of responses to 3 questions?
  • Moreover, the questions you do get to ask them are again pretty stupid when taken in context. "What can you tell me about Black Day?" sounds idiotic when your own character lived through it. "What happened to you on the Black Day?" and/or "Who were you before the Black Day?" sounds much better. "What is the Mafia/Cult?" (not exact wording, but meaning's the same) is also pretty bad. Your character lived there for a year: they already know who Wax Face is, for instance, as evidenced when you click on the sign next to the bar. (Apparently they also already know what happened to gun shop's old owner, but it doesn't stop them from asking.) Change the questions to "Had any run-ins with the Mob/Cult" and it'll actually be meaningful, and allow for individual stories and responses.
• Buying from the stores doesn't change the shopkeepers' demeanor in any way. (Or at least, that's the case for the gun shop.) NetHack had shopkeepers say "welcome again to X's Y store" on return visits, and it's older than many people reading this thread.
  
• Do all items cost the same regardless of the store you get them from?
• The way you need to manually count out enough cigs to even the purchase (especially if you are also selling at the same time) is actually pretty cool. However, the inability to directly compare weapons in the shop with those you have equipped is very disappointing. It's a UI flaw on par with being unable to scroll "up" the dialogues to see things already said. (One of the good things about Numenera's dialogues; it's unclear why they made all the "Tell me about X again" options when scrolling up is far easier.)
• Religious characters should probably get more options when talking to Isidore; one when he mentions his dream of golden keys (rational character gets to debunk, so why can't religious one invoke God's will?); another is when Kabbalah is mentioned, and you could contrast it negatively with Christianity, or something.
  • Why can you ask Isidore where the bank is, after your character already talked to its guards and/or went inside?
    
  • Explorer characters should also get extra options in Isidore's shop. (In fact, I suggest restricting all the current fancy environmental description in that shop to Explorer classes and perhaps high Mind characters as well. There's no reason for some two-bit hoodlum or jarhead or a starlet to know statue X reflects Balinese culture, while that monk & lamb statue is Agnes Dei.
  • Come to think of it, why not replace ALL of the highly literate item descriptions with something less imaginative and more down-to-earth for all low Mind characters?
• A shiv is a good combat weapon, but a shovel is not? OK. Also, is it possible to equip rope in the demo at all? I tried clicking on every available slot, but nothing happened. (Similarly; is there any place in the demo where you can dig stuff up with a shovel, open locked boxes with a crowbar, and the rest?)
  
• I just found out from this thread the bandaged Outsider is apparently recruitable. I talked to him once in both runs, and it didn't work. 2nd time around, though, I did get the "lynching" cutscene, and chose to do nothing, after which he kills a guy and the rest disperse. Questions:
  • Why can't I intervene then, and say I'll help the mob bring the foul creature down, triggering a fight? (To speak nothing of having the option to do so immediately.)
  • Why does the corpse of the guy Outsider kills if you do nothing disappears right after the cutscene? I wanted to loot him!
  • Similarly, why can't you loot the body of an escaped Lunatic that gets shot by guards?
• Does taking cover in combat actually do anything? A Lunatic in the bank still managed to hit me with stones twice in the row right after I took cover.
  • Speaking of which: what is the "Throwing" skill for? I couldn't find any weapon that used it.
  • What does "Handling" stat on weapons affect, exactly?
  • I noticed that your character reloads automatically outside of combat. Eduardo, however, does not, which is annoying.
• I like that Lunatics already have a good range of things to do; melee, throw stuff, sanity-reducing screams, Waltz (what does that actually do, btw?), Despair and even attack fellows in the back to "help" them. (That last one really surprised me.) Your own abilities seem a little paltry by comparison, though: since you mention original Fallouts as inspiration, could we also get the Targeted Shots? (Crippling a Lunatic's leg so that they don't cover 2/3 of the screen in one turn, or an arm so they don't melee/throw stuff would be very cool.)
• It would also be cool if you could a) ask mobsters outside the Bank since when there are Lunatics inside, etc.; b) find some more scribbled notes and other paraphernalia alongside normal post-battle loot, giving us more glimpses of their past life and their sad descent into madness, etc.
• I discovered that 2 Persuasion nets you a discount from the Sledgehammer mobster. Apparently, Occult and some other checks make it completely free. However, what if you buy a Sledgehammer yourself from the mobsters' shop? Sure, there doesn't seem to be a rational reason to do so (what with it costing 142 cigs, while paying mobster is at most 50) but still, that would be nice.
  • Perhaps, asking a mobster to break the brickwork down immediately clues them in you are to blame for whatever supernatural shit is about to go down immediately afterwards, while buying it yourself keeps them guessing for a little longer? Doubt many players will think of that on their own, but the reactions of those who will...
  • As far as reactions go: shouldn't mobsters say something in response to you clearing the bank out completely/partially/just sneaking past everyone? (Especially if you manage to do it alone.) Their stunned responses would be even sweeter if they are class-dependent: from grudging respect for soldier/law enforcement classes to shock at dweeb classes like Performer or Academic managing to kill everything in that building.

So, that's all I have so far. While Lovecraftian settings are not my absolute favourite, I wish you the absolute best with this. This all might look very intimidating, but trust me, I wrote down even more stuff for Tides of Numenera yesterday, and I might well find a lot to criticise the same way in the most classical RPGs as well if I were to re-approach them now. You already have a lot of cool ideas (i.e. I liked the early darts encounter with two stat-based ways to win it - at the cost of breaking the poor guy, in keeping with the theme. All the real books you can use to restore Sanity depending on character's outlook were an amazing idea, too.) To me, at least, implementing the stuff above will make the game so far practically perfect.

Hopefully Scrawled will see your message and reply to your input. The demo was pretty good and I even completed it with each of the archetypes and was pleased by the various options available to each depending on skill, however I only played as a male character as I didn't think there would be any difference for a female character, at least not yet anyway.

 

[Lagi]

The demo was pretty good and I even completed it with each of the archetypes and was pleased by the various options available to each depending on skill, however I only played as a male character as I didn't think there would be any difference for a female character, at least not yet anyway.

Come one guys! its just a preview. And each second poster here already no-life it.

 

[Lurker above]

Hopefully Scrawled will see your message and reply to your input. The demo was pretty good and I even completed it with each of the archetypes and was pleased by the various options available to each depending on skill, however I only played as a male character as I didn't think there would be any difference for a female character, at least not yet anyway.

In my demo, trying to choose a female character tells you she's not implemented yet, so it seems like you've just gone through all of the available content. Personally, I intend to later play it with an Occultist, to see how much it changes the exploration and combat, and with an Investigator character (probably a Nihilist), to see what's unlocked with Investigate to the (starting) max. (and if I have enough points left, with Persuasion to the max as well. If not, I'll try a Persuasion-focused run as one of the remaining archetype/philosophy combinations.) There's also a some more thoughts/questions about the setting and mechanics I would like to post sometime.

However, I'll only do that after there's a response to what I already wrote above, whenever that may be. I realise that this is almost certainly not what anyone at Cultic Games HQ expected to see out of the blue, so I may be waiting for a while. In the meantime, I am in the mood to similarly analyse whatever the other Codex developers happen to be working on. I even downloaded v.047 of Das Geisterschiff yesterday, even though blobber-style games are hardly my thing.

 

[Roguey]

In my demo, trying to choose a female character tells you she's not implemented yet, so it seems like you've just gone through all of the available content

They mean the character model. Everyone reacts to you as if you were a woman, you just look like a man.

 

[GandGolf]

Did anybody here watch the full hour long video interview? What were the highlights?

 

[FreeKaner]

Did anybody here watch the full hour long video interview? What were the highlights?

I didn't watch all of it but overall it's more about inner workings and intricacies of game development than any information about the game itself.

 

[Child of Malkav]

 

[Zombra]

Cultic Games needs to give us a real update

It takes time to remove all that filler combat.

 

[CryptRat]

New update : Publishing and Crafting: Two Separate Systems of Survival

 

[Infinitron]

Publishing and Crafting: Two Separate Systems of Survival

Greetings Brewers of the Forbidden Recipe!

We'd like to start this update with an announcement. The publishing of Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones will be handled by 1C Online Games the publisher of King's Bounty and Men of Warseries. This cooperation will help bring Stygian to a wider audience, therefore hasten the doom of mankind, although they are not aware of it...

We'd like to thank the 1C Online team for seeing the potential of mayhem in Stygian. As you can expect, Cultic Games will retain its total creative freedom over the doomed town of Arkham and its unfortunate residents.

Now, let's talk about some of the game systems and have a look at the Crafting System.

There are three main skills associated with Crafting: Science, Medicine and Survival.

With the help of your Science skill you can discover (or learn) blueprints of gadgets and contraptions. With the sufficient Science skill value and the right components you'll be able to craft a variety of items from electric lanterns to prototypical weapons.

With Medicine you can discover (or learn) formulas of mixtures and drugs. With the sufficient Medicine skill value and the right components you'll be able to craft a variety of items from cocaine to pheromone cocktails.

And lastly, Survival gradually unlocks new survival recipes which can aid you in your desperate struggle such as ammo belts and handmade backpacks.

You can see the whole system at work in the showcase video below:

Lastly, there are two types of components which you'll be using to produce your much needed items:

• Specific Components: If the plan requires a specific item and that item only, it falls in to the category of Specific components
• Components with Crafting Traits: If the plan requires an item with a crafting trait, any item that bears the same trait will suffice

For example if a plan requires an item with the Alcoholic trait, any kind of liquor or even pure alcohol itself will suffice to fill that particular slot. With this approach, we wanted to open up the way for a flexible system that enables situations like using the clothes you wear to make bandages. And we somehow feel that you'll find yourself in grim situations like this pretty often...

Feel free to throw away any questions you might have ladies and gentlemen!

Until we set sail for the black unknown with the elder race from the stars...

Team Cultic

 

[Child of Malkav]

 

[GandGolf]

Publishing and Crafting: Two Separate Systems of Survival

Greetings Brewers of the Forbidden Recipe!

We'd like to start this update with an announcement. The publishing of Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones will be handled by 1C Online Games the publisher of King's Bounty and Men of Warseries. This cooperation will help bring Stygian to a wider audience, therefore hasten the doom of mankind, although they are not aware of it...

We'd like to thank the 1C Online team for seeing the potential of mayhem in Stygian. As you can expect, Cultic Games will retain its total creative freedom over the doomed town of Arkham and its unfortunate residents.

Now, let's talk about some of the game systems and have a look at the Crafting System.

There are three main skills associated with Crafting: Science, Medicine and Survival.

With the help of your Science skill you can discover (or learn) blueprints of gadgets and contraptions. With the sufficient Science skill value and the right components you'll be able to craft a variety of items from electric lanterns to prototypical weapons.

With Medicine you can discover (or learn) formulas of mixtures and drugs. With the sufficient Medicine skill value and the right components you'll be able to craft a variety of items from cocaine to pheromone cocktails.

And lastly, Survival gradually unlocks new survival recipes which can aid you in your desperate struggle such as ammo belts and handmade backpacks.

You can see the whole system at work in the showcase video below:

Lastly, there are two types of components which you'll be using to produce your much needed items:

• Specific Components: If the plan requires a specific item and that item only, it falls in to the category of Specific components
• Components with Crafting Traits: If the plan requires an item with a crafting trait, any item that bears the same trait will suffice

For example if a plan requires an item with the Alcoholic trait, any kind of liquor or even pure alcohol itself will suffice to fill that particular slot. With this approach, we wanted to open up the way for a flexible system that enables situations like using the clothes you wear to make bandages. And we somehow feel that you'll find yourself in grim situations like this pretty often...

Feel free to throw away any questions you might have ladies and gentlemen!

Until we set sail for the black unknown with the elder race from the stars...

Team Cultic

That's cool. Probably gonna get the science and medicine skill. Hopefully there will be a way to craft lockpicks.

 

[Safav Hamon]

 

[Roguey]

How is that a new trailer? I think all of that has been previously shown in previous trailers or the gameplay demo already available.

 

[Scrawled]

All right, I just played through the Steam demo 1,5 times (had to see what happens if you do sell the key for a 1000 cigs on my first run). It's pretty good so far, and you deserve to be praised on here. Even so, I still think it has a fair room for improvement. Here's a transcript of some pencil notes I made while playing:

• The intro nightmare is nice, but it could be better. At its core, it's simply clicking to follow a guy you don't logically want to follow (at least, not without equipment and the rest) through the same streets you'll spend the rest of the demo on, sans any other interaction. I know it's going to be ambitious, but how about making the intro nightmare directly connected to the chosen archetype's past?
  • I.e. my "winning" run was as a Thief, so how about when you descend the stairs, the bar wouldn't be empty, but instead is going to be a mix of its usual self, and that nightclub mentioned in criminal's background? There'll be loads of glitzy folk, there would be some incongruous brand-new "roaring 20s-style" interior decorations alongside its normal decay. After whatever happened in criminal's past happens again, he is forced to escape outside, and then finds himself right before that gate, and it ends largely as normal. Academic will find himself in the "frozen wastes", Soldier will find his old buddies in the bar before they get attacked by fishmen, etc.
    • I realise this is likely to consume a load of development resources, but the upshot is that you get to dazzle players with clear evidence of reactivity right off the bat, not several hours later when some might well refund.
• My first run was as an Academic (Physician), who starts with a servo-magnifier, amongst other things. Its description(s) (to those not in the know, Stygian has two item descriptions: a brief one when you hover over an item in an inventory, and a longer one, with stats, when you right-click it. (The latter is also unavailable once you have equipped the item.) have two typos in them: "depths to be achived" and "working on the field"(should be in).
• Brown Fedora (another Academic item) also has an error in the description: "are popular due their" should be "are popular due to their".
• Default revolver Schmut (both Academic and Criminal start with it; not sure about others), is somehow described as a "light pistol".
• Handmade Pistol - "presumable made" should be "presumably made".
  
• .22 ammo: "Used to reload 22 caliber." - 22, not .22, suggesting artillery-grade munitions.
• A Few Cigs: "Twilit dimension" should be "Twilight dimension"
  
• Both prostitutes are said to wear a "provacative" dress. (Should be provocative.)
  
• Nerve Tonic says it cures "nervous diseases" like paranoia, insomnia, etc. Isn't "disease" is nearly always something bacteria/virus/protozoa caused and so contagious? Something like affliction or disorder would be much better.
• Stuff like Whiskey says it lowers Mind and Senses in the description, but doesn't say how long the effect lasts. (Can't be permanent, right?)
  
• When listing "Crafting Traits", I would suggest putting commas between them: "Flammable Metal" creates a rather different picture in mind to "Flammable, Metal".
• The way non-dialogue-tree people respond to you as soon as you click them, even if you are on the other side of the room, is weird. It's common sense that clicking on them should make the player walk up to them first. (Related; some people (mostly Arkham citizens) seem to have rather small click hitboxes, requiring you click them somewhere around the throat to trigger a response.)
  
• Character portraits are cool. (Especially after my brief time playing Numenera on its free weekend, which cost more than $4,000,000, yet couldn't place portraits in the right-hand UI square that cried for them.) Though, is it too much to ask the character model reflects them, and vice versa? The face I chose for Physician had no beard or mustache; model's face didn't change. Criminal's portrait kept displaying a white fedora when I either wore nothing, or had his starting black fedora.
• Related; does any clothing you start with do anything? Or would you be better off selling those fedoras and tweed jackets for cigs immediately? (I would guess they improve your Presence, but nothing in the game seems to confirm that.)
• Physician had 8 Mind (out of the presumed maximum of 10): really wish that unlocked high-intelligence conversation options. The next run as a Criminal had 3 Mind (lowest possible; since each Mind point seems to give you +5 Max Sanity, I suppose anyone with 1-2 Mind would have gone mad a long time ago.) and I didn't notice any difference in the dialogue options.
• Equally, a lot of the questions you can ask seem rather dumb: i.e. Do I really need to ask why a drugstore surrounded by junkies in a town everyone feels they have nothing to lose has armed guards in it? It would be cool if that were a low/medium Mind option, while having high Mind instead lets you ask how much of a cut do they receive, etc.
• A sore point: I am really disappointed Academic in general, and Physician in particular, doesn't seem to get any unique dialogue options. There just seem to be so many moments where an actual Physician (and/or high Medicine character) would have had unique things to say!
  • In the drugstore, for instance, I expected the descriptions for all the chemistry/medical stuff to change, and for the player to get a (comparatively) friendly talk with Dr. Richter, as the only other person who knows what he's doing, up to and including an offer to become his apprentice. (Though if your Medicine level is too high, especially if you are also a Physician, he would instead get paranoid the Mob will replace him with you.) Though, I do like how Dr.Richter takes your age into account, saying "You are young, you can adapt." to my young character.
    
  • Getting more detailed comments on drug addicts outside the store with points in Medicine would also be nice.
    
  • With the prostitutes: some dialogue mentioning STDs. In fact, perhaps all characters could mention that, but only those with points in medicine could name the exact diseases. (And high enough Medicine level/Physician subclass should also let you check for signs of syphilis and shit. If you find nothing, you can still try to lie and concoct a "cure" to earn profit.)
  • When the Italian barman tries to trick you into paying, you could say you don't drink because "Medical reason X". (Conversely, Mind 3/4 would be too dumb to remember what happened, and actually has no option but to pay up.)
• I get that The Mob are evil and you'll get chances to kill them, but shouldn't the bar guards recognise you as that place's patron by now, and be just a little bit friendlier, considering you were living there for a whole year? (Equally, Criminal ought to get friendlier reactions from them by default, especially with Hitman background; converse is true for Detective/Ex-Cop/Soldier etc.)
  
• Something really annoying: please ensure the various "junk piles" stop being interactable after you loot them. It's annoying at best to click on one only to find it's already empty; it's infuriating when you spent a Lockpick to loot one of the broken-down cars, then come back and discover the "Subterfuge" option is still there, and still consumes a lockpick, but now gives you nothing. (Does the bus re-lock itself? Is this the greatest ploy of arcane horrors out there?)
• Why can't you ever examine the shitty red tentacles all over the place, and/or get a reason why no-one tries cutting them down? (It reminds me of Octopus City Blues, an adventure game with a somewhat similar premise that got Kickstarted a while ago, and which had fun by explaining the presence of tentacles as a good thing: the giant octopus is so big his body warmth is the only thing preventing pesky humans from freezing to death in that Frostpunk-style last city, so it's only fair to let it spread itself however it likes.)
• The hover description of stuff is as great as ever; I only notice that it's strangely lacking for the half-sunk ship in the background of area outside the pub. A description for those ruined, yet still pretty majestic-looking buildings in the background of "French Hill" would also be great.
  • Tiniest of points: not all Bank windows are shattered, even though the description always suggests they are.
• Disappointed at the prominence of abandoned houses you can't do anything to. I hope you'll get to go inside them in the full version. (In fact, the main reason I went for Thief with 2 points in Subterfuge the 2nd time around is because I thought it might let me lockpick their doors.) I definitely wish the description of an abandoned house doesn't "cover" it all, and doors/windows will be separate hotspots. Even if you can't go through doors because character thinks it's not worth it, you should be told that when clicking on the door; clicking on the windows ought to let you peek inside (especially if they are boarded-up; potential for witnessing horrors and losing sanity ahoy!)
• Both whores seem to offer you to go in the back alley, even though the first one is standing outside a perfectly fine building. (Also, can we have some more questions to them, like how many people can still afford to blow cigs on this, and consequently, how much either one earns per night.)
  • Performer class ought to get extra dialogue with them.
• The 6 or so Arkham citizens with identical dialogue are fine as a placeholder, but that's all they should be. Let's be honest; it's not fun to start talking to someone only to find out they are a complete mind-clone, who all remember the Black Day that torn their old lives apart in the exact same way. There are not that many of them, so can it really be that difficult to write 4-5 more sets of responses to 3 questions?
  • Moreover, the questions you do get to ask them are again pretty stupid when taken in context. "What can you tell me about Black Day?" sounds idiotic when your own character lived through it. "What happened to you on the Black Day?" and/or "Who were you before the Black Day?" sounds much better. "What is the Mafia/Cult?" (not exact wording, but meaning's the same) is also pretty bad. Your character lived there for a year: they already know who Wax Face is, for instance, as evidenced when you click on the sign next to the bar. (Apparently they also already know what happened to gun shop's old owner, but it doesn't stop them from asking.) Change the questions to "Had any run-ins with the Mob/Cult" and it'll actually be meaningful, and allow for individual stories and responses.
• Buying from the stores doesn't change the shopkeepers' demeanor in any way. (Or at least, that's the case for the gun shop.) NetHack had shopkeepers say "welcome again to X's Y store" on return visits, and it's older than many people reading this thread.
  
• Do all items cost the same regardless of the store you get them from?
• The way you need to manually count out enough cigs to even the purchase (especially if you are also selling at the same time) is actually pretty cool. However, the inability to directly compare weapons in the shop with those you have equipped is very disappointing. It's a UI flaw on par with being unable to scroll "up" the dialogues to see things already said. (One of the good things about Numenera's dialogues; it's unclear why they made all the "Tell me about X again" options when scrolling up is far easier.)
• Religious characters should probably get more options when talking to Isidore; one when he mentions his dream of golden keys (rational character gets to debunk, so why can't religious one invoke God's will?); another is when Kabbalah is mentioned, and you could contrast it negatively with Christianity, or something.
  • Why can you ask Isidore where the bank is, after your character already talked to its guards and/or went inside?
    
  • Explorer characters should also get extra options in Isidore's shop. (In fact, I suggest restricting all the current fancy environmental description in that shop to Explorer classes and perhaps high Mind characters as well. There's no reason for some two-bit hoodlum or jarhead or a starlet to know statue X reflects Balinese culture, while that monk & lamb statue is Agnes Dei.
  • Come to think of it, why not replace ALL of the highly literate item descriptions with something less imaginative and more down-to-earth for all low Mind characters?
• A shiv is a good combat weapon, but a shovel is not? OK. Also, is it possible to equip rope in the demo at all? I tried clicking on every available slot, but nothing happened. (Similarly; is there any place in the demo where you can dig stuff up with a shovel, open locked boxes with a crowbar, and the rest?)
  
• I just found out from this thread the bandaged Outsider is apparently recruitable. I talked to him once in both runs, and it didn't work. 2nd time around, though, I did get the "lynching" cutscene, and chose to do nothing, after which he kills a guy and the rest disperse. Questions:
  • Why can't I intervene then, and say I'll help the mob bring the foul creature down, triggering a fight? (To speak nothing of having the option to do so immediately.)
  • Why does the corpse of the guy Outsider kills if you do nothing disappears right after the cutscene? I wanted to loot him!
  • Similarly, why can't you loot the body of an escaped Lunatic that gets shot by guards?
• Does taking cover in combat actually do anything? A Lunatic in the bank still managed to hit me with stones twice in the row right after I took cover.
  • Speaking of which: what is the "Throwing" skill for? I couldn't find any weapon that used it.
  • What does "Handling" stat on weapons affect, exactly?
  • I noticed that your character reloads automatically outside of combat. Eduardo, however, does not, which is annoying.
• I like that Lunatics already have a good range of things to do; melee, throw stuff, sanity-reducing screams, Waltz (what does that actually do, btw?), Despair and even attack fellows in the back to "help" them. (That last one really surprised me.) Your own abilities seem a little paltry by comparison, though: since you mention original Fallouts as inspiration, could we also get the Targeted Shots? (Crippling a Lunatic's leg so that they don't cover 2/3 of the screen in one turn, or an arm so they don't melee/throw stuff would be very cool.)
• It would also be cool if you could a) ask mobsters outside the Bank since when there are Lunatics inside, etc.; b) find some more scribbled notes and other paraphernalia alongside normal post-battle loot, giving us more glimpses of their past life and their sad descent into madness, etc.
• I discovered that 2 Persuasion nets you a discount from the Sledgehammer mobster. Apparently, Occult and some other checks make it completely free. However, what if you buy a Sledgehammer yourself from the mobsters' shop? Sure, there doesn't seem to be a rational reason to do so (what with it costing 142 cigs, while paying mobster is at most 50) but still, that would be nice.
  • Perhaps, asking a mobster to break the brickwork down immediately clues them in you are to blame for whatever supernatural shit is about to go down immediately afterwards, while buying it yourself keeps them guessing for a little longer? Doubt many players will think of that on their own, but the reactions of those who will...
  • As far as reactions go: shouldn't mobsters say something in response to you clearing the bank out completely/partially/just sneaking past everyone? (Especially if you manage to do it alone.) Their stunned responses would be even sweeter if they are class-dependent: from grudging respect for soldier/law enforcement classes to shock at dweeb classes like Performer or Academic managing to kill everything in that building.

So, that's all I have so far. While Lovecraftian settings are not my absolute favourite, I wish you the absolute best with this. This all might look very intimidating, but trust me, I wrote down even more stuff for Tides of Numenera yesterday, and I might well find a lot to criticise the same way in the most classical RPGs as well if I were to re-approach them now. You already have a lot of cool ideas (i.e. I liked the early darts encounter with two stat-based ways to win it - at the cost of breaking the poor guy, in keeping with the theme. All the real books you can use to restore Sanity depending on character's outlook were an amazing idea, too.) To me, at least, implementing the stuff above will make the game so far practically perfect.

You tackle some important issues. All of your questions will be duly answered. Thank you for your feedback.

 

[PhantasmaNL]

Project Update

A One Way Journey into the Unknown: Maps and Travelling Systems
Posted by Cultic Games (Creator)
Greetings Explorers of the Forbidden Realms!

We all love our maps, don't we?

The monsters do exist indeed...
The map system is also an important aspect of Stygian which adds another layer of gameplay to the experience with also the help of some basic survival systems built around it. Whether it's a must-go destination of a quest stage, specific hub or the location of a random encounter, all points of interest in a given instance will be displayed in the maps of the game.

There are two kinds of maps in the game: Area Maps and the Regional Map. A good example of an Area Map is the map of downtown Arkham, which displays various hubs within the downtown area. These hubs will be accessed manually, through regular means of travelling in the exploration screen.

The Downtown Area Map with four different hubs which the party can travel to. Miskatonic University hub will be unlocked at a later stage and will feature its own travel map.

Then there is the Regional Map, which shows the landmarks and hubs in the greater area of the game world. The party is able to travel long distances in the regional map, but in order to do that, the player must acquire the necessary information pertaining to the location and content of those landmarks.

The Regional Travel Map has several features. Over at the lower left corner, there is a text log which conveys information about the state of the party members, modifiers they receive, changes about health/sanity points, general game logs about your encounters and brief notes/descriptions. In the middle there are three indicators, Kerosene meter, Health bar and Sanity bar. Next to it are resource indicators. On the far right there are two buttons. Respectively they are: the Halt button and the Rest button. If the party has in its possession enough resources, the player may wish to rest anywhere he or she sees fit.

Here's how the Regional Travel Map looks like during a journey through the suburbs. Notice how the trip started from the location of a previous encounter and is bound for Dead Willows.

Travelling on the Regional Map takes time and with time, your party gets tiredand hungry. Travelling for too long will eventually deplete your health and sanity so you need to have a rest every once in a while, and to rest property, you need to have possession of sufficient resources. Travelling will also expose the party to encounters and events. Some will be rewarding, some will be harmful, some will be informative and some will be surprising.

There are two types of map encounters: Obligatory and Random. Obligatory encounters are derived from quests and appear at a certain stage during quest progression. They cannot be avoided nor by-passed and are crucial for the progression of some quests.

Random encounters on the other hand, as their name implies, will appear to the player through other variables and luck plays a big factor. Their selection by the game and their content will depend on the area in which the party passes through and the level of the party. The random encounters might take place as one of the many battle scenarios or as challenges in the style of a "choose your adventure" game, where the player will utilize its skills and stats through the selection of various dialogue options.

The player can view the Region Map anytime he or she wishes but the travelling option only becomes available when the party exits a certain hub which has an access to it.

The party is able to have some control over its choices as to how it wishes to approach some scenarios by the use of Sense Threat (Senses + Investigation) and Counter-ambush (Senses + Survival) stats. A successful Sense Threat check will provide information about the encountered situation and will grant the party a chance to engage or withdraw from it. A successful Counter-ambush check will grant the party a chance to avoid a possible ambush.

This takes us t-

(INDISTINGUISHABLE SOUNDS)

Uh, excuse us ladies and gentlemen...

(A BUZZING IMITATION OF HUMAN SPEECH)

We are hearing the call again.

Stygian calls us to do its unspeakab-

(SPEECH CUT OFF BY END OF RECORD)

 

[Blaine]

I got pretty excited when I saw this.

Subsequently, I became noticeably less excited.

 

[Modron]

Subsequently, I became noticeably less excited.

I don't know I like their hand scribbled map of the downtown kind of fits the game world as well considering it's a chunk of earth transplanted into a horrible realm. It would be a while before the deranged start drawing fancy maps.

 

[V_K]

This is pretty cool too though. And arguably more fitting the theme/aesthetics.

 

[Blaine]

I don't know I like their hand scribbled map of the downtown kind of fits the game world as well considering it's a chunk of earth transplanted into a horrible realm. It would be a while before the deranged start drawing fancy maps.

It's all quite serviceable, but unlike the snippet, none of the screenshots do anything for me as period pieces to draw me into the post-Victorian era. The snippet itself is of course Medieval or a faithful reproduction of a Medieval-style map.

This is pretty cool too though. And arguably more fitting the theme/aesthetics.

It's what a 21st-century Starbucks enthusiast thinks a post-Victorian hand-drawn map would look like, which is to say that it looks like nothing of the sort.

I'm fine with serviceable, but whetting my appetite with the real McCoy beforehand is just disappointing. If it looked more like this:

Then I'd be excited.

 

[V_K]

Judging by the characters's attire, it's set in the prohibition era though. And it's not like pictorial maps didn't exist at the time. For example:
http://www.barronmaps.com/products/a-section-of-a-map-of-the-wondrous-isle-of-manhattan-1926/
https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/1926-blake-olsen-boston-pictorial-map/
Granted, the map they've shown is a lot less elaborate, but given that it all happens after the end of the world, it kinda makes sense in-setting.

 

[Sykar]

I just want an option for joining as a servant of the old gods with some of my sanity intact!