Game News Chaos Chronicles, Turn-based Fantasy RPG Announced

[Brayko]

Another batch of incline with Chaos Chronicles and Underrail, not to mention Planetary Annihilation on Kickstarter.

 

[Grunker]

Bonus Info #2: The Watch is basically The Nice Guy version of The Codex, and no developers ever post there either. Why, I wonder? See reason #4.

Gaider posted at the Watch until he got bored. Patrick Weekes, another Bioware writer, did as well, until they offended him with their anti-Bioware attitudes and he made a big weepy post on his livejournal about how he had to stop visiting another RPG forum because of it.

In other words, no developers post there, just like the Codex (i.e. we also had developers posting off and on).

 

[JarlFrank]

The Codex has devs posting here. Like HobGoblin now. And Anthony Davis. And Annie for a while (now she doesn't cause of being too busy developing).

And don't forget our indie devs who regularly post here and have their own subforums or large threads they regularly update. Yeah, some of them are likely vapourware, but I'd rather have indie vapourware devs with good ideas and an inspirational attitude than Dave Gaider and Todd Howard spewing PR bullshit and acting butthurt or "lol trust us" toward any criticism.

 

[Frusciante]

Also there's the guy from Warhorse who has been posting about their game. Daniel Vevra is his name I think.

Didnt Sven Vincke also used to post here?

 

[JarlFrank]

Yeah, the point is, the devs who prefer to be halfway honest to their customers and who like to hear actual opinions, rather than just wanting to spread PR bullshit and have people fap to it, generally have a good relationship with the Codex.
Those who just want to spread their PR crap and feel offended by people criticising their game avoid the Codex.

 

[Marsal]

You want details about the JA:BIA development? Then find a way how I can bypass our NDAs and contracts, and I will tell you everything. Until then, I can only refer to my previous posts. I came here to ask some core RPG player for their feedback and if you think this is some kind of PR promotion then it's your business. But after working in the games industry for more than 18 years now, it would be a surprising news for me that people from Marketing or PR are posting in a hardcore RPG forum during their weekends.

Prepare to be surprised, because some faggot from Coreplay is posting PR bullshit on the Codex. Are you saying he isn't being paid for it?

Marsal, you will definitely find your way into our game - as malificent troll chief. Feel honored. I think during our combat beta tests, I'll enjoy slashing him and his evil breed again and again (in a turn-based combat of course).

Quite the bloodthirsty fellow, aren't you? Is that a Russian in you talking? At least it's just pixels this time.

You wouldn't be lying again, would you? A low level codemonkey influencing design of encounters? Looking forward to seeing it.

And we will go into details with the combat, but first of all we have to finish the first complete playable version of it. After that happens, you guys will see screenshots of the combat in the first place. We will not promise anything that we can't deliver later.

That's certainly a first for you. And you'll finish the game in 6 months? Right. You didn't learn much in your "18 years of working in the games industry", I see. Will you be releasing it on Thursday by any chance?

 

[Jaesun]

Just give it a rest Marsal. Jebus.

 

[Executer]

Marsal is now raging against possible incline, if fear he's become institutionalised by spending too much in a declining Codex.

 

[felipepepe]

It seems they updated their journal blog with another post:

For most D&D based games resting was very important because it enables you to recharge your spells. Beside this elementary functionality of memorizing spells or powers, members of your party in Chaos Chronicles can use the time during an encampment to cook, eat, hunt, collect food, cure wounds or to identify items.

HobGoblin42, this means you'll only be able to identify "by skill" while camping, while magic identify scrolls/spells are still instant? Also, the game will actually feature enemies that only appear at day or night and/or severe consequences for sleeping at night in "night monsters" areas?

 

[LeStryfe79]

Looks magnificent. Too bad about no multi-classing though. This decision can completely cripple creative party design, since I would expect players will be forced to cover their asses with the basics and are left with only a couple of slots to do with what they wish. In other words, every party will end up looking like Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Cleric, Warlord, Wizard. If noncombat skills are unnecessary or unimplemented, this then becomes Fighter, Fighter, Cleric, Cleric, Warlock, and Wizard. What a shame this would be. Also, I might be concerned about 4ed Warlords and Rangers being overpowered in a game like this.

 

[hoverdog]

It seems they updated their journal blog with another post:

For most D&D based games resting was very important because it enables you to recharge your spells. Beside this elementary functionality of memorizing spells or powers, members of yourparty in Chaos Chronicles can use the time during an encampment to cook, eat, hunt, collect food, cure wounds or to identify items.

HobGoblin42, this means you'll only be able to identify "by skill" while camping, while magic identify scrolls/spells are still instant? Also, the game will actually feature enemies that only appear at day or night and/or severe consequences for sleeping at night in "night monsters" areas?

Oh jolly good! So not only will it feature great graphics, ToEE- or KoTC-like turn-based combat, but also hardcore adventure realism taken straight from Realms of Arkania?

Looks magnificent. Too bad about no multi-classing though. This decision can completely cripple creative party design, since I would expect players will be forced to cover their asses with the basics and are left with only a couple of slots to do with what they wish. In other words, every party will end up looking like Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Cleric, Warlord, Wizard. If noncombat skills are unnecessary or unimplemented, this then becomes Fighter, Fighter, Cleric, Cleric, Warlock, and Wizard. What a shame this would be. Also, I might be concerned about 4ed Warlords and Rangers being overpowered in a game like this.

However, this. HobGoblin42 (or should I write The Brazilian Slaughter?), can you shed some light on character building and development? It's one of the most important things in a roleplaying game - and even more so in one when you build your whole party yourself (see: Wizardries, Realms of Arkania, Icewind Dales). Having no cross-classing or multiclassing (in a D&D or Wizardry way) can severly restrict party builds - but not necessarily so. How does each class look? Is Fighter, for instance, only suitable for bashing goblins and taking hits for the team, or can he gain useable abilities and specialize in, let's say, being a unmovable shieldwall? How much creative development will we have over the characters on start and on level-ups?
Disabled multi-classing does not have to be a blow, there just needs to be some incentive for taking each and every profession. Not having any no-brainers is a start. I suppose cleric's main role is to heal - an indispensable skill, one you can't really live without. So, taking a cleric is a must - but wait. What if Paladin had limited healing skills (coupled with much better strenght and toughness), a Warlock could drain life from opponents and give the energy to his companions, and an Alchemist (not in-game now... but, you know, eight classes is not enough ) was able to distill healing potions wholesale? You wouldn't absolutely have to pick a cleric then.
And please, no randomized attribute rolls on start-up. It only encourages four hours of rerolling.

 

[kaizoku]

And please, no randomized attribute rolls on start-up. It only encourages four hours of rerolling.

Real men use the first roll.

I'm not sure if this was already talked, but will there be feats?
This would give more variety to character build.

 

[Grunker]

LeStryfe79 and hoverdog: Hopefully they'll reply to our interview soon (it will probably take them some time, since it was rather lengthy). We ask about all of the stuff you're concerned about.

I'm personally concerned about those things at well; especially about multiclassing and Fighter only being an auto-attacker. And we have a question specifically about the latter concept.

And please, no randomized attribute rolls on start-up. It only encourages four hours of rerolling.

Let there be both! I personally like to do it like the convention is at our Pen & Paper games: Roll three rows and choose the best, or use points. Once you commit to rolling there is no going back.

I love using rolls.

 

[catfood]

LeStryfe79 and hoverdog: Hopefully they'll reply to our interview soon (it will probably take them some time, since it was rather lengthy). We ask about all of the stuff you're concerned about.

I'm personally concerned about those things at well; especially about multiclassing and Fighter only being an auto-attacker. And we have a question specifically about the latter concept.

And please, no randomized attribute rolls on start-up. It only encourages four hours of rerolling.

Let there be both! I personally like to do it like the convention is at our Pen & Paper games: Roll three rows and choose the best, or use points. Once you commit to rolling there is no going back.

I love using rolls.

I love rolls too, but only in P&P. But I agree that having both options available a la TOEE is the best solution to reconcile both camps.

 

[HobGoblin42]

HobGoblin42, this means you'll only be able to identify "by skill" while camping, while magic identify scrolls/spells are still instant? Also, the game will actually feature enemies that only appear at day or night and/or severe consequences for sleeping at night in "night monsters" areas?

You can use your skill e.g. Knowledge to use the time during camping to identify an item. But that's only one way to identify stuff, usually you use your Identify spell to do so (which works immediately).

At night, your encounters are different and races with Dark-Vision like Dwarves, Orcs or Elves will have advantages in combat. But in general, it's definitely more dangerous to fight at night than at daytime.

 

[HobGoblin42]

However, this. HobGoblin42 (or should I write The Brazilian Slaughter?), can you shed some light on character building and development? It's one of the most important things in a roleplaying game - and even more so in one when you build your whole party yourself (see: Wizardries, Realms of Arkania, Icewind Dales). Having no cross-classing or multiclassing (in a D&D or Wizardry way) can severly restrict party builds - but not necessarily so. How does each class look? Is Fighter, for instance, only suitable for bashing goblins and taking hits for the team, or can he gain useable abilities and specialize in, let's say, being a unmovable shieldwall? How much creative development will we have over the characters on start and on level-ups?
Disabled multi-classing does not have to be a blow, there just needs to be some incentive for taking each and every profession. Not having any no-brainers is a start. I suppose cleric's main role is to heal - an indispensable skill, one you can't really live without. So, taking a cleric is a must - but wait. What if Paladin had limited healing skills (coupled with much better strenght and toughness), a Warlock could drain life from opponents and give the energy to his companions, and an Alchemist (not in-game now... but, you know, eight classes is not enough ) was able to distill healing potions wholesale? You wouldn't absolutely have to pick a cleric then.
And please, no randomized attribute rolls on start-up. It only encourages four hours of rerolling.

Phew, many questions and so little time right now. I think we will answer some of those questions in our interview for the codex soon.
We don't plan to use multi-classing but prestige classes - but currently we are working on finishing the character system including spells and skills for the core classes first. Our future plans are more ambitious, but right now it's more important to get the first version of the game done (core classes it will be).

Soon we will provide more informations about the character and combat system in general. And as I already mentioned earlier, we don't have any ambitions to create our own rulebook.

 

[Grunker]

I can forgive the lack of multiclassing to a degree if you implement prestige classes

 

[Cynic]

Regarding the combat system, ToEE shall be our paradigm.

Take all my jewgold and praise be to zombie Hitler you magnificent bastards

 

[Falkner]

Currently the game I'm looking forward to the most. Don't fuck this up, guys.

 

[DwarvenFood]

Will we be able to throw money at this, or is it a more traditional release without any pre-order/payed beta/funding stuff ?

 

[sser]

Wait, if I shittalk to the developer I can be put into the game?

I want to be Sser the Rat; a nibbling foe that jumps on matted coattails.

 

[Grunker]

Will we be able to throw money at this, or is it a more traditional release without any pre-order/payed beta/funding stuff ?

As far as we know, the game is part publisher funded and part funded by the devs themselves. As it is publisher funded, I doubt it will find its way to Kickstarter or anything like that.

 

[kaizoku]

IIRC there have been a few publisher meddled titles on KS.
But given the JA shitstorm (even though it was already explained here) they would probably face some problems. However, putting a demo out first would likely end the hostilities and appease the crowd.

 

[Grunker]

Codex interview is up: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rpg-codex-interview-chaos-chronicles.75849/

 

[General Maxson]

Man I cannot believe I haven't paid attention to this earlier. Now after reading this thread I'm hyped as fuck. "Darker" version of D&D games and Tolkien with abandoned ancient towns and dungeons (but fortunately not "grimdark" ) for exploring, spending night in a small village inn, because you can't save when you decide to go into a nearby dungeon in the morning, proper classes, turn based tactical hex based combat, and gorgeous graphics, beautiful overland travel map, great role models from the past for the game...

I really hope it won't disappoint. And that it won't become vaporware.