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

[Hydro]

I agree, RPGs aren’t defined by presence of combat and stealth layers. Take BG3 for example, it has all of them, yet it’s shit.

 

[Fedora Master]

If it doesn't have combat it better have massive CnC and reactivity. But it won't. So what's left is an adventure with cringe self-aware writing. Infinitrons Touch of Death won't help.

 

[Lemming42]

No, that's not the only reason. The other reason is that this "Disco-like" blight on the genre deviates from the triple S archetypal solution design. In many good RPGs like Fallout and Bloodlines, for example, quests and encounters can usually be solved via methods that are a certain combination of Sneak, Speak, Slay archetypal solutions with each of these archetypal solution methods having their own dedicated gameplay mechanics. Disco-likes remove the Sneak and Slay archetypal solutions from the equation, leaving you with but a single possible solution: Speak.

How many cRPGs actually have the "three S" design? Prior to Fallout almost none have this - even Fallout itself doesn't have it at all times, there are a couple of quests like the one about cleaning out the raiders from the dude's house in the Hub that can only be solved by combat. Stealth is almost worthless in Fo1/2 as well. I'd also suggest that the way Fallout handles speech is very unimpressive. Cool in 1997, not so much when we're still using the same dumb-as-fuck "click here to win using your designated auto-win skill" design nearly 30 years later.

Even post-Fallout I can't think of many cRPGs that actually exhibit this "sneak-speech-slay" design. At best you're occasionally given a speech option which lets you avoid a boring battle in a game where you're otherwise constantly entering combat (eg every BioWare game). Even BG3 which is pretty comprehensive in letting you find weird systems-based solutions to quests doesn't offer a speech/sneak solution to every encounter.

Either way you obviously don't need this design principle for a good game - many older RPGs are entirely combat-focused and they're fine, I don't see a reason why you can't have a speech-only RPG and have it be fun. The only problem with Disco Elysium is that it's the worst fucking thing in the universe, but that's because the actual writing is insufferable. I don't think that's an indictment of the very idea of branching interactive fiction with skill checks.

 

[lukaszek]

latest play-through of PST, when I thought about how the experience would change if the quality of the interactive writing could somehow be transferred over to the combat

yes, pst should have been cyoa. Do continue your thing

 

[Christoffer Bodegård]

It doesn't really matter whether pickpocketing is done via dialogue or outside of it. At the end of the day you're still pickpocketing.

Fun story: Early in Ebb I actually implemented pickpocketing via the dialog tree. So that, in the 'standard hub' of any given NPC, you'd get some extra highlighted choices for every item you can steal. I ended up moving that interaction out into a separate UI, outside the dialog, which on a functional level changed nothing about the actual design. So I felt silly doing it at the time. But every single player I tested it on found this new implementation much more 'immersive' and 'interactive' (direct quotes from the old survey). I imagine if I took the turn-based encounters in EBB and gave it a new UI, with a new entry-point (press an 'attack' button outside of dialog, or whatever), then I imagine it would feel more like actual combat. Very limited combat, more akin to a bad turn-based JRPG, but still.

So it seems to me like the aesthetics of mechanics, and how the player feels while doing stuff, tends to matter way more than what they actually do. Just like the illusion of choice tends to matter more than the actual choices.

If it doesn't have combat it better have massive CnC and reactivity.

That's my main goal. Hopefully I'll be able to succeed! I've built a system that I call 'StoryVariables', which is just a list with variable IDs + an index. It's very basic, but the way I merged it into Ink script allows me to create choices and dialog lines that are, at the very least, able to react to everything. And it's super efficient to write as well. So my only excuse right now is my own personal ability to design that web of reactivity. I usually split variables into three vague tiers in order to manage them better.

• Branch Variables, that actively alters big pieces of content and changes the story significantly. These are the big choices, mostly the outcomes of quests, and how you choose to complete them.
• Major Variables, that alters everything from character impressions/relations to what you steal and which monsters you defeat (and how). Essentially, all the minor steps you take to complete quests. Every single one of these should get some type of reactivity in the epilogue ending.
• Minor Variables, these alter things more locally. They happen all the time in dialogs, from every little choice you make while talking about lore, or just introducing yourself in a way that temporarily annoys the NPC. These can alter content, but are in a majority of cases only used to alter the DCs of rolls involving the active characters. Major and Branch variables also alter DCs, but in more impactful ways. A minor variable will rarely give you dis/advantage, and will usually be a -1, or +2, etc.

Then there's variables that are hooked into the 5e mechanics, but those are pretty self-explanatory. Basically, the chimes need to able to comment on which spells you have prepared, and how much HP you've got, etc. This also doesn't touch on how I design dice rolls either, which are either Path Rolls (one-time rolls, with permanent outcomes) or Hub Rolls (that you can retry until you succeed). These both interact with any tier of variable, depending on the importance of the roll.

Anyway, I just wanted to make it clear that if the game has poor reactivity, you can lay the blame entirely on me being lazy.

 

[MjKorz]

Icewind Dale 1

Includes stats checks that provide alternative, non-violent solutions in a number of quests. There is also reactivity based on alignment, race and class. All of this contributes to social roleplaying. IWD2 expands on the social roleplaying depth compared to 1.

Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn

Involves plenty of alignment-related social roleplaying and your attempt at singling out a particular case of lack of reactivity means nothing when the game provides other forms of reactivity such as access to different strongholds and their related quests based on the choice of class, cha-based rewards, at least one quest locked behind charisma and more. The game also has plenty of non-obvious stat checks and multi-solution quests such as the Mae'Var related document quest. Nitpicking at a particular example is pointless as no RPG has infinite reactivity or roleplaying depth, you have to judge the game as a whole.

The reason system-based games are better RPGs is because they offer options that aren't scripted (meaning they aren't limited only to things that developers came up with) and tend to resonate with other mechanics (think about freezing a puddle of water, or calling down rain to put out a fire).

Roleplaying opportunities not being scripted means absolutely nothing, if the non-scripted opportunities end up being less complex or poorly thought out in terms of available solutions. Controlling the quality of non-scripted roleplaying opportunities is exponentially harder compared to hand-crafted ones. There is nothing that makes non-scripted roleplaying opportunities inherently better than handcrafted ones except for the number of such opportunities you can insert into the game, but that doesn't mean they will make more sense or have more complexity than handcrafted ones. If system-based RPGs were any good in terms of providing complex roleplaying opportunities, people would be talking about them and their roleplaying depth instead of RPGs with handcrafted roleplaying opportunities such as Fallout or Arcanum.

Streets of Rogue is a good starting point. NEO Scavenger and Starsector

First two games have poor to nonexistent social roleplaying and are closer to roguelikes and roguelites than RPGs. Starsector is not a game I am familiar with so I will not talk about.

Both PnP RPGs and cRPGs are RPGs. Some cRPGs are even based on PnP RPGs.

Both tabletop and computer RPGs are RPGs, but they have entirely different constraints and are played quite differently: tabletop struggles with complex and/or frequent mathematical operations, but provides more roleplaying depth in terms of available alternative solutions to any given problem. CRPGs can have the most complex mechanics since all calculations and checks are automated, but the roleplaying opportunities will always be limited. Some CRPGs being based on tabletop RPGs doesn't mean that both types of RPGs are directly comparable and that their content follows the same design philosophies, because every CRPG based on tabletop content is an adaptation that necessitates the reduction of roleplaying opportunities to a limited number.

Using "Dexterity + Stealth", "Wits + Stealth" and "Wits + Composure" doesn't change the fact all of they rely on math and rolls, so trying to make it seem as if they are "different mechanics" is a ridiculous excuse.

Math and rolls are not mechanics, they are tools. Mechanics are implemented through math and rolls. Social roleplaying and combat are both resolved through math and rolls, yet involve different mechanics. Moreover, the provided WoD example does not only involve different stats used for stealth checks compared to other types of archetypal solutions, it involves unique uses of disciplines for the purpose of stealth as well as well as unique interactions with environment that scale the difficulty (lightning being the main culprit, but not the only one). Trying to deny that stealth has its own dedicated mechanics in WoD immediately outs you as someone who knows nothing of the system.

You're pretty much confirming here what I said earlier.

No, I am completely disproving what you've said earlier: dice and math are not mechanics, they are tools to implement mechanics. What I've provided is an example of a specific solution archetype having its own dedicated mechanics in a tabletop RPG.

It doesn't really matter whether pickpocketing is done via dialogue or outside of it. At the end of the day you're still pickpocketing.

At the end of the day, pickpocketing is an aspect of Sneak so pickpocketing doesn't even matter in and of itself as long as the Sneak solution archetype is represented and developed in other ways. Whether pickpocketing is done inside or outside of dialogue matters when it is reliant on or interacts with stealth and stealth is reliant on positioning and timing. PST may not be an example of such a game, but there are plenty other RPGs such as Arcanum, New Vegas and even BG3.

Apparently what makes an RPG is not having RPG mechanics (such as stats defining what you can do), but shitty combat and shitty pickpocketing done as separate "mechanics". Neither for which the game is renowned for as an RPG.

Character building choices defining your problem solution options is but one thing that defines a RPG, yet alone it means nothing. If what you say was true, any game where the ability to wield certain gear is based on your stat allocation would be a RPG, yet we have an endless list of hack&slash games that obey this demand while offering zero roleplaying depth due to no multi-solution quests. The ability to solve in-game problems in different ways based on your character building choices is another essential requirement and both pickpocketing (Sneak) and combat (Slay) provide exactly that - different ways of solving problems. Remove these types of solutions from Torment and you no longer have a RPG, you have a shitty visual novel where all problems can be solved only one way - through the Speak archetypal solution. Just like DE and "Disco-likes".

 

[MjKorz]

Prior to Fallout almost none have this

Wasteland, Darklands.

even Fallout itself doesn't have it at all times

Don't need to have all permutations of S-S-S solutions to be available in every single quest, that's literally impossible even in tabletop. What is actually needed is the presence of multi-solution quests where these alternative solution methods are present. How many of them exist and how much complexity they have defines roleplaying depth which cannot be infinite in a CRPG.

Even post-Fallout I can't think of many cRPGs that actually exhibit this "sneak-speech-slay" design.

Age of Decadence, Colony Ship, Atom RPG, Deus Ex, VtMB - these are just the titles I can pull out of my head in a couple of seconds, there are way more.

many older RPGs are entirely combat-focused and they're fine

Yes, and how do we call such RPGs? Let me whip out another Gygax quote: "As false to the game form as the pre-scripted "story," is play that has little more in it than seek and destroy missions, vacuous effort where the participants fight and kill some monster so as to gain more power and thus be able to look for yet more potent opponents in a spiral that leads nowhere save eventual boredom. So pure hack and slash play is anathema to me too."

Hack and slash, that's what they're called. They're a sub-genre of RPGs that have the roleplaying system in place, but provide only or mostly just one in-game problem solution archetype - Slay.

 

[Tyranicon]

I'm most interested in the quality of writing when it comes to these games. IMO, if the writing is good and interesting, it'll succeed regardless of everything else.

I forget, is this a solodev project?

Best of luck. Your game looks the most promising of all the "disco-likes" I've seen pop up recently.

 

[Lemming42]

Wasteland, Darklands.

Neither of these have stealth or speech solutions to most encounters or quests. Almost every activity in Wastleand is entirely linear (and typically leads to combat) and the bulk of the game consists of random encounter combat.

I'm also not 100% clear on what you mean by stealth - Wasteland has almost no stealth system (beyond the nigh-useless "Silent Move" skill) and Darklands has no stealth system at all. It does have an option in Raubritter castles where you can sneak out of your room but it's just a CYOA choice; there's no consistent stealth gameplay that you can deploy when faced with challenges.

Age of Decadence, Colony Ship, Atom RPG, Deus Ex, VtMB

AoD and CS don't have stealth solutions to the majority of quests, nor do they have any actual stealth gameplay (beyond CS's minigame that you can't initiate outside a few select locations). They do of course have speech skills and you can play the whole game without combat but then you're essentially playing something akin to these Disco Elysium games, with the possibility of fucking yourself over because the only way forward is some obtuse unexpected check like Impersonate that you never invested in and couldn't have known about and which has no use outside one or two prescribed moments.

Deus Ex doesn't have speech solutions to any quest because there are no speech skills, nor does it have alternate solutions to anything after the very early game. The game's completely linear and you end up doing the same objectives in every playthrough, your only choice being between stealth and combat, which both lead to the same outcomes and the same objectives being completed.

Yes, and how do we call such RPGs?

Well, they were called "computer role playing games" for most of the genre's history. Fallout-style games are my favourites too but the bulk of the genre's history is in linear combat-focused games, including ones you've just named like Wasteland. Using the "three S" thing as a mark of quality is odd because not only is it not representative of most cRPGs, it's also not even present in any meaningful way in most of the games you've cited as examples of it. And of course I think it comes with its own raft of problems - there's a lot to criticise in the very simplistic way Fallout handles speech, for example, and the way that these stealth or speech solutions are often divorced from any actual gameplay.

 

[Christoffer Bodegård]

I'm most interested in the quality of writing when it comes to these games. IMO, if the writing is good and interesting, it'll succeed regardless of everything else.

I forget, is this a solodev project?

Not anymore! I write, program, and design everything myself. And I don't employ anyone - but I do work with a bunch of amazing freelancers on the visuals and audio. Which is why the game looks A LOT better than before.

There's been a bunch of discussion online about what constitutes a 'solo developer'. I think it was Manor Lord that got it started, and they had a similar setup to what I'm doing here. One very lead dev, with several freelance asset producers.

 

[Harthwain]

Includes stats checks that provide alternative, non-violent solutions in a number of quests. There is also reactivity based on alignment, race and class. All of this contributes to social roleplaying. IWD2 expands on the social roleplaying depth compared to 1.

Icewind Dale is pretty much a dungeon crawler with very limited social roleplaying aspect. And that's fine. But let's not pretend there is anything "complex" about it. I do agree Icewind Dale 2 handles this much better though.

Involves plenty of alignment-related social roleplaying and your attempt at singling out a particular case of lack of reactivity means nothing when the game provides other forms of reactivity [...]

In an RPG the reactivity ought to take into consideration your character (such as race or stats). This is a crucial tenet of the genre. Having other forms of reactivity, while certainly very nice, is no excuse for failing here.

If system-based RPGs were any good in terms of providing complex roleplaying opportunities, people would be talking about them and their roleplaying depth instead of RPGs with handcrafted roleplaying opportunities such as Fallout or Arcanum.

First of all - you give people too much credit.

Secondly - do I need to remind you that Arcanum was nowhere near its current status (mostly on the account of being an unfinished buggy mess, something akin to Owlcat games today)?

The reason we have RPGs with handcrafted roleplaying opportunities is because that's what developers got used to creating and can't (for one reason or another) think of doing things differently. This is the natural way of things: it takes a brave or insightful soul to break the mold and show the way.

First two games have poor to nonexistent social roleplaying [...]

I mentioned Streets of Rogue not for its "social roleplaying", but because it is a really good example of a systemic RPG, in terms of giving the player a plenty of options when it comes to accomplishing his objectives. It has the freedom of action most cRPGs can't even dream of. That's why I said Streets of Rogue is a good starting point to building a real RPG.

[...] because every CRPG based on tabletop content is an adaptation that necessitates the reduction of roleplaying opportunities to a limited number.

If you do everything by hand, certainly. That's my beef with heavily-narrative driven games. But it doesn't mean it has to be that way.

At the end of the day, pickpocketing is an aspect of Sneak so pickpocketing doesn't even matter in and of itself as long as the Sneak solution archetype is represented and developed in other ways. Whether pickpocketing is done inside or outside of dialogue matters when it is reliant on or interacts with stealth and stealth is reliant on positioning and timing. PST may not be an example of such a game, but there are plenty other RPGs such as Arcanum, New Vegas and even BG3.

Fair enough.

Remove these types of solutions from Torment and you no longer have a RPG, you have a shitty visual novel where all problems can be solved only one way - through the Speak archetypal solution. Just like DE and "Disco-likes".

I guess you didn't play Disco Elysium, otherwise you'd know how wrong you are here. Do you interact with the world in the same manner all the time? Yes. Does it mean "all problems can be solved only one way - through the Speak archetypal solution"? No. You have Physical Instruments, Hand/Eye Coordination or Interfacing. All these are skills - which are way more than "one way", by the way - are in no way the part of "the Speak archetypal solution".

 

[NaturallyCarnivorousSheep]

So that's the game trve codexers are all the rave about? Really makes you thoing

 

[PunchYouInTheFace]

Take BG3 for example

this cuck cope everywhere, jesus christo lmfao.

 

[Itoh]

It surprises me that people don't consider Disco Elysium an RPG. As a character builder it's probably one of the best examples in the entire genre. You have so much leeway in deciding what sort of person Harry is - an unreformed junkie, paranoid schizo, guy on the mend, incompetent moron, greedy crooked cop, by-the-book asshole, and any combination thereof, plus more. Even if your influence over how the story plays out is mostly illusory (which is true of just about every game), you have nigh-unprecedented freedom over how your character interacts with the story. You're forced to commit to a build with some specific focii - you can't be good at visualizing AND good at intimidating people AND good at asserting your authority. You have to decide what sort of person Harry is and how he approaches problems and these choices have mechanical ramifications that define every conversation and interaction you have. I think this is why the game leaves such a powerful impression on people.

There are countless games that focus on developing combat systems to the exclusion of almost everything else, and even a couple that specialize in stealth. So why is it so terrible for a developer to flesh social interactions out beyond "invest X points in persuasion to get the best reward"? I consider advancement and experimentation in this domain to be long overdue. BTW, good luck to the Esoteric Ebb guy; I just wishlisted your game.

 

[NaturallyCarnivorousSheep]

Read a book if that's what you want. Storyfaggot opinion disregarded head chopped off.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Read a book if that's what you want. Storyfaggot opinion disregarded head chopped off.

Possibly retarded tag checks out

 

[TumblingTorin]

I don't think D&D is a good system for this type of game. D&D have its roots in wargames, their skill rolls have always been a bit of an afterthought. Fuck, it used to be roll under your attribute to succeed as a quick way of doing skill rolls.

A d20 is too swingy for a skill base game. A +1 modifier is just an increase of 5%, so you will have to stack a lot of them to have a meaningful increase of chance. Disco's use of 2d6 for its rolls has their rates lean towards the average roll (i.e. a bell curve meaning you are more likely to get a 6 or 7 then a 2 or a 12). This also make a +1 modifier more meaningful since it's about and 8-10% increase.

Story-based TTRPG often use a dicepools or bennies in order to have a better control when performing skills. Maybe a system like Savage Worlds or GURPS would of been better.

 

[SixDead]

I don't think D&D is a good system for this type of game.

Agree, but D&D is recognisable and game will sell more because of it.

 

[cyborgboy95]

An Esoteric Campaign - Spellcasting
You ever hear about the soft magic/hard magic system categorization? If you haven't, I'll summarize it here: some people like to depict awe-inspiring everlasting wonders and mysteries of the universe. Some other people like numbers.

Personally, I'm somewhere in-between.

Esoteric Ebb is based on the 5e ruleset. This system is built on layers of fantasy tropes and decades of common understanding among players and DMs. But one of the core pillars of my homebrew setting (working title: The Esoteric Coast) is to look at this generic fantasyland aesthetic through the eyes of modernist ideologies and realism. Or at least what I would consider 'realism' to be.

How would a nation be affected if every law-enforcer came equipped with Charm Person? A spell that is, ostensibly, mind control? Or what about Restoration? All diseases and ailments, suddenly gone. And how would the economy be affected by the simple existence of Plant Growth? You know, the spell that could easily allow a medieval farm to compete with genetic engineering of the 21st century? None of this even touches upon the reality-shattering change of removing mortality with resurrection spells, that all have component costs, of course. Suddenly life has a price on it, even more so than in our own reality.

Some of my players often joke about starting up a business, using Create Food and Water, which creates bland-tasting, but nourishing and good-looking food, and then using Prestidigitation to make it tasty as hell. With just a few third level spell slots and a quick cantrip, you can make yourself a food truck with near zero expenditure. If there were any practical ways of 'learning' magic, wouldn't every single political or economic force in the world scramble to exploit them? You could argue that a world with these fairly basic and low-tier magics should (if the spells aren't limited by gods or physical laws or angry DMs) fundamentally change from a fantasyland to... something very different.

I like to call it Arcanapunk. Primarily because it's a very silly title (all 'punk'-titles are). It's a world where the hard magic system of something like 5e has allowed its people to actually just go wild, and rush through an era not too dissimilar to our own industrial revolution. Except powered not only by technology (which is inevitable) but also by incredibly world-breaking magics. On the Esoteric Coast, folk call it the Arcane Era - a couple hundred years where magic suddenly became a commodity. When nations grew powerful beyond their wisdom and men wielded mago-industrial forces into a fiery and destructive climax.

Why am I telling you all this? Because Esoteric Ebb is all about putting a lens to these 5e mechanics and asking, 'Uh... what if that actually happened?'

Snurre Appledent approves of this lore dump.

How does this translate mechanically then? Well, let's talk clerics. In 5e, clerics are objectively subjectively the best spellcasters. They gain access to some of the more unique divine spells, but also gain access to all spells of a given level and simply prepare the ones most useful. Utility, healer, support, damage, etc. They're great.

The Cleric is not a normal cleric. He's a very talented (albeit unstable) Arcane Cleric. That means... a lot of things, but primarily the consequences are:

• He actually studies his spells and memorizes them like a wizard.
• But he also memorizes them insanely quick.
• He has the ability to tap into all three categories of magic (Arcane, Divine, Primal).
• He can regain a small amount of spell slots on short rests.
• Abilities that normally are used through Channel Divinity, are instead used with spell slots.
• Most spells are re-balanced to account for the unique gameplay of Ebb, and how it differs from normal tabletop play.
• With certain feats, he can change the parameters of his spellcasting even further (an example: dangerous Blood Magic).
• He's such a good boy.

As you wake up in Esoteric Ebb, you have one spell on you. Cure Wounds. This is your basic healing spell, and it's the only spell you actually have to have with you in order to play the game in any way that isn't completely broken. How do you get all the other spells?

Exploration! Many can be looted as spell scrolls, either in random containers, or pickpocketed off characters. Those characters can then of course also offer you the spell scrolls if you say the 'right' things. Other spells can also be taught by experts you come across. Since the Cleric is such a BEAST, he can usually pick up new esoteric skills with the roll of a few dice (and perhaps through some deep, spiritual discussions).

Some are more hidden than others, but locating spells is one of the core pillars of the experience.

Once you've collected spells, you need to prepare them. While you're able to learn every spell you come across (and very quickly at that), you can't actually keep that many of them in your head at once. Normally in 5e, you, practically, prepare spells once a day. The Cleric is built different, of course. He can prepare spells whenever he wants - as long as he is at a shrine. These can be found all over Norvik and allow him to quickly and easily change which spells he has available to cast.

The amount of spells you're able to prepare varies however. The calculation is: 2 + your current cleric level + your natural intelligence modifier (if it's positive). This means you'll most likely only be able to prepare three or four spells as you start out. But as you quickly reach higher levels you'll get to diversify your 'utility belt' of magic. Even if you're dumb as a rock.

Reading up on the specific mechanics of your spells can make it a lot easier to understand their benefits and/or social consequences.

Since spells are such a core part of how you make it through Ebb (healing, finding solutions in quests, 'winning' encounters, etc), apart from HP, your second most important resource are your spell slots. Starting off, they're very limited. As you level up, you progressively gain many, many more.

But they're the ones that keep you alive, and spending them on the 'correct' protective spells when you're in trouble, or having one ready for a tense and sudden encounter with a certain assassin... it'll let you actually survive, instead of comically falling apart. You regain spell slots on long rests (i.e. when you start a new day). But apart from that, your main source of spell slot restoration is consumables. Knowing when to burn that incense and when you cast that final Cure Wounds of the day (and more importantly, when to conserve your strength) is essentially the one big mechanical skill you learn over the course of playing Ebb.

Clerics in Norvik are strictly prohibited from indulging in recreational substances. Except esoteric enhancers, of course.

So what happens when you actually cast these spells? Well, there are a lot of different effects, as you can imagine if you've ever looked over the 5e spell list. But I've narrowed down the effects in Ebb to three (somewhat vague) categories.

Concentration spells last for up to several hours, but you can only benefit from one of them at a time.

Buffing spells change your numbers. Prayer of Healing costs a 2nd level spell slot, and restores your Hit Points. Bless is a concentration spell that gives you an additional 1d4 on every single roll you make over the duration.

Unlocking spells open new paths for you. Comprehend Language allows you to read and understand any language you come across. Not too useful in a dialog (you'd need Tongues to actually speak with someone in a foreign... tongue), but casting it gives you access to interesting parts of the story you'd normally be unable to uncover. Speak with Dead on the other hand... is one of those spells that inspired this entire project to begin with. Being able to actually interrogate every single corpse you come across (as long as it has an intact mouth!) adds a ton of interesting scenarios to the experience. Not to mention that it might make solving a mystery a hell of a lot easier...

Finally, there's the active spells, which are a bit more proactive. Similar to unlocking spells, they can only be cast on specific targets. But when they're ready, they hit hard. Inflict Wounds acts as a quick and easy solution to any violent altercation. As long as you can hit it. Charm Person gives you a sinister yet horrifically effective way of getting information out of your targets, or just temporarily making people actually like you. Unless they succeed on their saving throw, in which case you've made an enemy for life. Detect Secret (one of the few homebrew spells in the game!) allows you to explore the ancient halls and tunnels of Norvik, and uncover their hidden doors and traps a lot easier.

Some spells can only be cast when the Cleric determines them to be useful. These are highlighted during dialogs, when the opportunity strikes.

Spells are neat. They allow you a glimpse into this weird realm of esoteric delights where I'm essentially trying to explore this Post-Arcanepunk reality. Norvik is a city filled with the wonders of the Arcane Era. There are potions from the Hexbrew Mega-Coven sold at every corner shop. Every kid hopes for a pocket bike on his birthday. Anyone with a decent salary can afford an Unseen Servant to keep up with chores around the apartment. Esoteric Ebb allows you a glimpse into this weird magical world. And you get to play as someone who has an insanely profound understanding of, and ability to wield, that magic.

Become the World's Worst Cleric, and so on. Hope you enjoy it!
-Christoffer Bodegård

 

[Harthwain]

This can be really, really good use of spells! The potential for interaction here is enormous.

 

[Hydro]

Cool man, tldr though

 

[Salvo]

Looks like this project is branching off into its own identity which is cool, would like to see more

 

[Maxie]

latest play-through of PST, when I thought about how the experience would change if the quality of the interactive writing could somehow be transferred over to the combat

yes, pst should have been cyoa. Do continue your thing

shouldn't have been envisioned
it jump-started avellone's reign of terror ruining the genre

 

[Christoffer Bodegård]

The potential for interaction here is enormous.

That's the scary part too. Since the goal is to simulate the 'experience' of TTRPG freedom, I actually have to implement every reasonable possible interaction with unique content. Just the choice to add Charm Person to the game adds an extra 50k words to write, at minimum. But that's the fun part, same as being able to pickpocket quest rewards, or 'solve' encounters. Creating that simulated sense of 'wow, I can do anything'.

Cool man, tldr though

It's like 5e but dumber more streamlined.

Looks like this project is branching off into its own identity which is cool, would like to see more

Nice! I'll be showing off some more substantial stuff soon-ish, along with the big visual update.

it jump-started avellone's reign of terror

I remember his visit to Skövde back in 2016. A horde of aspiring game writers rushed the stage with unsealed copies of PS:T, begging (praying) for writing advice and autographs. It was a pretty good talk.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Thinking the social impact of magic and other supernatural powers is one of my favorite thing tbh. My personal fantasy world project that probably will never see the light of day has a magic system where people can throw fireballs, create water jet, gust of wind, etc that everyone taken for granted, but one day people just got curious of how it all work and begin to dismantle the "physics" behind mundane phenomenon and magic. What's the difference between making a fire using flint or just make air burst with magic? In which they basically discovered people basically can turn magical energy into matter and energy and simple push/pull aka arcane energy is transmutation of aether into matter and energy. The idea is all forms of life has this ability to use this process and co-evolve to use "magic" unconsciously, making the flora & fauna of the world more like pokemons. The repercussions are basically what if a person can create water, which is just hydrogen and oxygen, what's stopping them from transmuting other elements from periodic table? Gold? If everyone know the molecular structure of gold and can visualize gold and precious metals, then they are worthless, as people can summon them. What about energy? Everyone can basically have the potential to generate their own household electricity, etc.


Thats the rough idea basically, i still have to work on limitations and how to apply a world like this in situation where everything makes sense, etc.

Just good luck on the game