Esoteric Ebb - Disco-like using 5e ruleset where you are cleric uncovering political conspiracy with goblin sidekick

[LESS T_T]

https://esotericebb.com

Spoiler

Based on 5e SRD.

Esoteric Ebb is a 5e isometric Disco-like CRPG in which you unravel a political conspiracy in a unique post-arcanapunk fantasy setting. Inspired by classics like Planescape Torment & Baldur's Gate, it features colorful and really weird characters you get to interact with through deep and branching dialogs.

The City of Norvik is holding its first ever election. The tension on the streets is sizzling, and somebody just blew up a tea shop. Great. Since no one else wants to touch it with a ten-foot pole, it's up to you and your goblin companion Snell to unravel the political web of intrigue and shine a light on the secrets hidden within this ancient city. Is it a divine mission? A quest for justice? Or is your first step towards complete political dominion? Only you can decide on your personal & sacred journey as a devoted government employee.

An open-ended QUEST. The tea shop on Tolstad blew up just a week before the election, and nobody is doing anything about it - except you! Solve this mystery in any way you want by exploring the streets, towers, and dark tunnels of Norvik.

A strange fantasy setting. Based on a homebrew 5e campaign of weird fantasy, Esoteric Ebb takes place in a world where mythological creatures sell newspapers at corner shops and ideologies overtake the ramblings of dead gods.

Set-piece combat sequences. Clerics in Norvik are taught to use violence as a last resort only, although not everyone follows the mantra so strictly. When need does arise, a roll of the dice determines life or death.

Deep Cleric Customization based on the 5E ruleset. As a government employee, a helm and uniform is required of course. But no one said anything about accessories! Customize the look and abilities of your cleric as you choose how to engage the many tense encounter in Norvik.

Warp reality to your whim, with MAGIC. As an expert in arcana, your cleric can learn powerful spells during his QUEST. Heal wounds! Detect evil lurking around every corner! Speak with the dead! Speak with cats! They might even respond if you're lucky!

Unique plot mechanic, THE QUESTING TREE. A branching representation of your cleric's goals and ideas, where each node is a unique dialog to be explored and solved. Both useful to keep track of the various leads you'll follow, and also a means to change your cleric's mind... who knows, you might even unlock unique dialog options.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

I see "Disco-like", I add to wishlist.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

TBH fam, I am not big on the art style, but it sure looks interesting. Will keep an eye on.

 

[Eisen]

"Disco-like"

 

[V_K]

I see "Disco-like", I add to ignore-list.

FTFY

 

[Catacombs]

I might be experiencing déjà vu because, I swear, this thread came to me in a dream a few months ago.

 

[Infinitron]

Some videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/Glitch951/videos

 

[Butter]

I think Disco clone is more apt. The UI is identical, and they even have character portraits for your attributes (using Disco's color palette naturally).

 

[Shadenuat]

"Disco clone" isn't really a thing, because what made Disco was budget and A level execution. There's nothing to "clone". To make Disco you need Disco writer, Disco art lead, Disco art and Disco music. There are a numerous amount of examples of such games, like, for example Ori and Blind Forest is just side scroller with A++ level production values.
Developers are a strange creatures though, so they will try to make it look like game, and then be surprised that well, nobody wants Disco without high budget wrapping paper.
Although a parodical game like this might have a tiny little bit higher chance to get noticed.

 

[HoboForEternity]

nobody wants Disco without high budget wrapping paper

i want as long as it's good. Robert Kurvitz isn't the only talented writer in the world, but we will see

 

[Christoffer Bodegård]

I might come to regret using the term 'Disco-like'. Especially since I'm trying to establish what makes Ebb unique. But as you can see, I'm having some trouble, hah!
It started as a writing exercise to see if I could graft 5e onto DE's formula and find some comedy in the ridiculous incompatibility between the two systems. And sure, I might find it funny, but I gotta find a way to market it too.

Although a parodical game like this might have a tiny little bit higher chance to get noticed.

Yeah... I tried leaning into this with the colorful 'artstyle', but drawing isn't really my strong suit. So when it comes to the design I'll probably try to put more focus on the stuff that differentiates it. Which is, I guess, wacky 5e magic encounters, fantasy satire (leaning more towards PS:T), and the 'Questing Tree'. We'll see how well those turn out.
The UI problem is real though. If you look at my older videos, you can clearly see how the old UI was... an exact replica. Almost pixel perfect. On purpose, mind you, since it was just a little personal challenge to see if I could do it at that point. And any attempt I've made to move away from it has been difficult, since I'm essentially trying to improve upon their design. And I'm being serious: if anyone has any tips or opinions on how to change the UI to fit this more colorful wacky 5e fantasy satire, I would LOVE to hear it.
Also thanks for making the thread! I'm a long time lurker, so it was kind of surreal to see my dumb hobby game pop up here.

 

[Infinitron]

Christoffer Bodegård Are you going to release a trailer?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Not an RPG.

 

[lukaszek]

Not an RPG.

5e or this game?

 

[Christoffer Bodegård]

Christoffer Bodegård Are you going to release a trailer?

Yes, hopefully soon! Currently working on animations and voice acting so I have something to actually edit together.

 

[Infinitron]

An early test of the demo for Esoteric Ebb, an Isometric CRPG in the style of Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment.

 

[Shadenuat]

fantasy satire (leaning more towards PS:T)

fitting fantasy satire for "disco clone" would be Pratchett; he even had a cop novel, Guards! Guards!

 

[smaug]

Why not just make a CYOA novel instead, it seems like it leads towards that better than an RPG. The satirical writing looks cringe inducing. Is this what Disco Elysium dialogue was like?

Also, is there any meaningful C&C or is it all an illusion like most games?

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Why not just make a CYOA novel instead, it seems like it leads towards that better than an RPG. The satirical writing looks cringe inducing. Is this what Disco Elysium dialogue was like?

Also, is there any meaningful C&C or is it all an illusion like most games?

CYOAs don't sell as much as RPGs, even if it's a CYOA in essence.

 

[Bigg Boss]

Yeah, you might as well ask him why he wants to make more money.

 

[Christoffer Bodegård]

I don't have any strong feelings on the 'is it an RPG or not'-debate, but it's really interesting to follow. I suppose genre designations should be determined by consumer majority (or something akin), but it's dumb to market a game in a way that causes negative subversion among the target audience. I would be perfectly happy calling it a Point & Click, it's even one of the tags on steam. But also, yes, give me that sweet roleplaying money (in exchange for a finished product in 2-4 years.)

he even had a cop novel, Guards! Guards!

I'm re-reading it now actually. Big inspiration. I'll be happy if I reach a tenth of that quality of storytelling.

The satirical writing looks cringe inducing. Is this what Disco Elysium dialogue was like?

No, they have great writing. You should play it! Also, does your cringing stem from the attempts to be funny, characterization, or like, general tone? I'm doing revisions on the first draft, and I'd love as much feedback as I can get!
Although C&C is so difficult to get right. Especially when working in an open-ended plot, since there are so many variables that need to be accounted for in every conversation. I'm planning on handling it with small amount of strict faction/character-based questlines that intersect at a few points in the story, each giving leads into the 'main quest'. With each minor questline having 'multiple endings'. A few. Too many would be exponentially difficult to get right.
I'm so happy I only have to make sure this 'short story' of a demo is functional for now. Then I can focus more on just getting the characters and tone right.

 

[Harthwain]

TBH fam, I am not big on the art style, but it sure looks interesting. Will keep an eye on.

I am highly skeptical (it will most likely live or die by its writing and writing good shit is harder than people think), but I will keep an eye as well. Just in case.

 

[Stoned Ape]

The design of the cleric reminds me of the avatar in Ultima 8.

 

[MuffinBun]

There's certainly something to be written about the transition from descriptions of the gameworld that are true to the senses and representative of the object, to premade opinions by variety of ironic commentators(here:skills). Like there's no trust in success of autonomous action, so all that information about the world becomes redundant; you may as well get a snarky opinion, since you're not able to do anything with it anyway. This is something you would expect from a browbeaten population, with little place for initiative; placed in a social prison, where there's not a chance of achieving anything through exercising your powers; everything is gained by appeal to authority. Thus it becomes more significant to know what people say about things, rather than what those things actually are. Subsequently this overtakes the entire awareness of reality - description of objects turn from: "square-shaped, heavy; emits a slight humming noise that reminds you of something you've seen long ago..." to "this looks fun. People really like it. But then again, who does not like fun? Heehee" [about the same object]. And that resonates with changes in writing over the years, whether its high-er quality or low quality.

This is all metacommentary, not a suggestion that this particular game needs to change immediately or something. You do you, dev.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

these types of games are what happen when your entire life becomes twitter interactions
unsurprisingly, very popular with twitter addicts