KickStarter Sacred Fire - a psychological RPG about romance, loyalty and revenge - now available on Early Access

[poetic]

poetic which RPG rulesets were the biggest inspiration for Sacred Fire, if any?

Udm, I love this question. It brings back a lot of fun memories. The first inspiration and influence was a funny situation in my childhood: I briefly came into contact with some version of D&D, I borrowed the rule-book from a friend. But the next day, my friend burned the rule-book as he became convinced it's occult literature Yes I, know. But it had the inevitable effect that I started to create my own rulesets as I had no idea as a kid where to buy that rule-book.

Then I came across many system in video games. There were things I liked a lot (Fallout traits and perks) and there were things I felt were missing (e.g. the simplicity of the alignment system in D&D. And it's lack of use of Charisma).

But one influence that stand out in my mind is the P&P ruleset The Riddle of Steel, with its intricate set of detailed combat rules. So the takeaway from it was: it's a source of fun to focus on one area that you are really passionate about.

Then I had some P&P experience. The great thing about P&P is the group of people and the GM. The bad thing about the P&P is the group of people and the GM. So another inspiration was the times when I wanted to do someting out of the box and the GM just wouldn't go for it. Or when someone was out of character and the GM wouldn't call bullshit on it.

Then there was inspiration from books and movies. In fairy tales, the hero wins because he has a magic sword and a magic horse. In serious stories, the hero wins/survives with inner strength: cunning, willpower, beliefs, hope, what have you based on the story.

Then there was the real life experience from rock climbing. Fear affects your performance in a brutal way. Yet all the characters in the RPGs I played perform at peak performance no matter the odds.

My thinking is, the reason why P&P doesn't bring these aspects: personality, emotions, motivation, relations into it's ruleset is that it would bring the live session to a halt for each interaction. So the idea was: with the cRPG experience there would be no slow-down as the computer can run the numbers and determine how likely is it, that you will find the courage to speak up to the bully, and it can crank all the numbers: you predisposition to fear, your history with bullying, your history with this character, his appearance, his renown and allies + the circumstances you are in and who is witnessing the situation.

I really hoped some would make such an cRPG. I remember thinking Peter Molineaux would do it, when he first started to talk about the first Fable. Lol. I got to run around and kick a chicken and fight a dragon, again. Or the next Elder Scrolls would do it. No, I got to listen to the arrow wounded knee and run around a vast and shallow world, again. That being said, I do like the Witcher games and the Shadowrun games. They have serious focus on storytelling and characters, where the devs don't just think about WHO the characters are, but WHO YOU get to be to these characters.

 

[poetic]

You beautiful bastards. Backed twice over.

Definitely shaping up to be unique. I like what i am seeing. Backed this early on KD last year. Good job

Guys, we really appreciate it. It means a lot to us.

 

[udm]

But one influence that stand out in my mind is the P&P ruleset The Riddle of Steel, with its intricate set of detailed combat rules. So the takeaway from it was: it's a source of fun to focus on one area that you are really passionate about.

Heh somewhere at the back of my mind, I suspected TRoS would come up

 

[ERYFKRAD]

poetic which RPG rulesets were the biggest inspiration for Sacred Fire, if any?

Udm, I love this question. It brings back a lot of fun memories. The first inspiration and influence was a funny situation in my childhood: I briefly came into contact with some version of D&D, I borrowed the rule-book from a friend. But the next day, my friend burned the rule-book as he became convinced it's occult literature Yes I, know. But it had the inevitable effect that I started to create my own rulesets as I had no idea as a kid where to buy that rule-book.

Then I came across many system in video games. There were things I liked a lot (Fallout traits and perks) and there were things I felt were missing (e.g. the simplicity of the alignment system in D&D. And it's lack of use of Charisma).

But one influence that stand out in my mind is the P&P ruleset The Riddle of Steel, with its intricate set of detailed combat rules. So the takeaway from it was: it's a source of fun to focus on one area that you are really passionate about.

Then I had some P&P experience. The great thing about P&P is the group of people and the GM. The bad thing about the P&P is the group of people and the GM. So another inspiration was the times when I wanted to do someting out of the box and the GM just wouldn't go for it. Or when someone was out of character and the GM wouldn't call bullshit on it.

Then there was inspiration from books and movies. In fairy tales, the hero wins because he has a magic sword and a magic horse. In serious stories, the hero wins/survives with inner strength: cunning, willpower, beliefs, hope, what have you based on the story.

Then there was the real life experience from rock climbing. Fear affects your performance in a brutal way. Yet all the characters in the RPGs I played perform at peak performance no matter the odds.

My thinking is, the reason why P&P doesn't bring these aspects: personality, emotions, motivation, relations into it's ruleset is that it would bring the live session to a halt for each interaction. So the idea was: with the cRPG experience there would be no slow-down as the computer can run the numbers and determine how likely is it, that you will find the courage to speak up to the bully, and it can crank all the numbers: you predisposition to fear, your history with bullying, your history with this character, his appearance, his renown and allies + the circumstances you are in and who is witnessing the situation.

I really hoped some would make such an cRPG. I remember thinking Peter Molineaux would do it, when he first started to talk about the first Fable. Lol. I got to run around and kick a chicken and fight a dragon, again. Or the next Elder Scrolls would do it. No, I got to listen to the arrow wounded knee and run around a vast and shallow world, again. That being said, I do like the Witcher games and the Shadowrun games. They have serious focus on storytelling and characters, where the devs don't just think about WHO the characters are, but WHO YOU get to be to these characters.

On a scale of 1 to Absolute Storyfag, where do you stand.

 

[poetic]

On a scale of 1 to Absolute Storyfag, where do you stand.

Ok, on a serious note, my goal when designing Sacred Fire was to integrate the story and the gameplay as much as possible, so there's no switching back and forth between the narrative and the combat as you play the game. It breaks the immersion. I want the story and the choices to be the main challenge for the player. This might also offer a lot of opportunities in the future to adapt any story into this format.

 

[anus_pounder]

Dead or alive? This was/is one of the biggest things I've been looking forward to.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

very much alive. they just sent the text based preview to backers earlier this week. it's pure story/dialogue/CYOA, but that element of the game is very good. how the actual RPG mechanics will play out is still an open question.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Is it still possible to back? I missed this until now and it looks great

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

Is it still possible to back? I missed this until now and it looks great

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sacred-fire-psychological-rpg/x/18226420#/

 

[aweigh]

poetic

will the romance part of this RPG be sufficiently red-pilled?

 

[HoboForEternity]

poetic

i played the text based preview and love it. it really is an RPG of emotions. the writing is concise and firm, no need for an elaborate paragraphs of prose, it just do its job quite well. it might be a bit dry for some people, but i myself prefer that style of writing especially in games. characters, atmosphere, etc are spot on and i love the little percentage check.

how much game system is put in it? the text based previews doesnt track any stat yet, but in the full game, when i choose to feel angry at wid or guilty at him will that change anything in my character like stats, or future interaction with the characters involved, etc? will there be a consequence if i flip-flop my emotions like a bipolar dude? will there be more checks on focusing and thinking? will there be consequences when you actually think too much? it really has great potential, the preview is great and the full game wth fully implemented mechanics and system should be a damn lot better. great work.

 

[ga♥]

When is this coming out

 

[poetic]

poetic

i played the text based preview and love it. it really is an RPG of emotions. the writing is concise and firm, no need for an elaborate paragraphs of prose, it just do its job quite well. it might be a bit dry for some people, but i myself prefer that style of writing especially in games. characters, atmosphere, etc are spot on and i love the little percentage check.

how much game system is put in it? the text based previews doesnt track any stat yet, but in the full game, when i choose to feel angry at wid or guilty at him will that change anything in my character like stats, or future interaction with the characters involved, etc? will there be a consequence if i flip-flop my emotions like a bipolar dude? will there be more checks on focusing and thinking? will there be consequences when you actually think too much? it really has great potential, the preview is great and the full game wth fully implemented mechanics and system should be a damn lot better. great work.

Thank you for the feedback, HoboForEternity! We really appreciate it and we're happy you liked the preview.

Also, great questions regarding the emotions in gameplay. I guess the most important thing here is that there are checks to make sure that it's hard for you to act out of character. So for example, if you make a couple of choices that develop jealousy towards your brother Wid (and it's easy, he's your older brother to who the whole village looks up) then it becomes really hard for you to suppress acting jealously (you'll have to spend limited willpower to increase your chances, but still it won't guarantee you pass the check). So one thing is the story which develops based on your choices, but you also have to be careful how you develop your personality. You might become a monster quickly. Almost every decision impacts your psychological attributes and relationships with NPCs. And the attributes then impact the probabilities when making choices.

There will also be checks on focusing and thinking. Sometimes, it's really hard to focus. You can spend willpower to increase you chances to focus, but it might not always work and you fail to focus.


If anyone here is interested in taking a look at the text-based preview, DM me or send me an email to martin@poeticstudio.com. I'll send you the preview right away.

When is this coming out

Thank you for the question, ga♥. It's about 2-3 more months until we have a playable preview for our backers and after that we'll be able to estimate the release date.

 

[Renegen]

game looks like shit, honestly.

 

[Iznaliu]

game looks like shit, honestly.

If you've going to go against the nearly-universal praise on this thread, at least bother to come up with a convincing reason why the consensus opinion is wrong.

 

[LubomiRTard]

Just came across this title, awesome and noveltious, wish it had RtWp combat tho

 

[Lurker47]

wish it had RtWp combat tho

But that's the worst.

 

[poetic]

Just came across this title, awesome and noveltious, wish it had RtWp combat tho

Hey LubomiRTard, happy you've found Sacred Fire and greetings to Czechia (we're based in Slovakia). Thanks for the post and the suggestion, I really appreciate it. Yeah, the cinematic visuals of Sacred Fire are conducive to some real-time action, so I understand where you're coming from. But we think that turn-based combat works really well with our narrative style and creates the player experience we'd like to achieve.

 

[LubomiRTard]

poetic
Děkuji! Sure one day I'll play more turn basised as well, loved Krondor many years ago, I just need a bit more beer :D

 

[Rahdulan]

New update:
https://www.sacredfiregame.com/2018...of-the-preview-what-rpg-rulesets-inspired-us/

Hello everyone,

Here’s our July update regarding the progress of the development of Sacred Fire and a short piece by Andrej about RPG rulesets that inspired Sacred Fire.

We’re almost done coding the preview which is planned to be delivered to those of you in the Firestarter and higher tiers this summer (you can still back Sacred Fire on Indiegogo to receive it). Our coder Blade is putting finishing touches to our narrative/RPG engine and we have done a lot of progress in finalizing the writing for the preview.

Andrej has added unique failure consequences to almost every choice. This makes the whole narrative experience even more special. There’s a different consequence when you fail to quietly pick up your weapons or when you fail to speak up in front of other people.

In the former case, your sword may fall on the ground, make noise and somebody may notice, but definitely your anger rises and you lose your confidence.

In the latter case, nobody knows that you wanted to speak up, so nothing really happens. Although it may have a psychological consequences for you. That’s one of the areas when our psychological mechanics really shine.

Example of a basic failure when you fail to focus and your Anger and Fear increase as the consequence (placeholder art in this build).

Unity has recently added the possibility to use transparency in videos which is good news and it will substantially reduce the size of the Sacred Fire installation.

We’re also working on the final editing and proofreading for the preview. What’s ahead of us is also playtesting before we can send it off to backers. We will have a Discord channel to discuss things with the preview testers directly. After we collect the feedback, we’ll be able to estimate and plan the final release.

Keep your fingers crossed.

And here’s a short piece by Andrej, which was triggered by a question on an RPG forum.

What RPG rulesets inspired Sacred Fire
“The first inspiration and influence was a funny situation when I was a kid and briefly borrowed a D&D rulebook from a friend. I went through it and had to return it soon. The following day my friend told me he had burned it. He became convinced it was occult literature.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯


But it had the inevitable effect of me starting to create my own rulesets. As a kid I had no idea where to buy such a book.

Later I came across different systems in video games. I liked the Fallout traits and perks, but there were things I felt were missing, such as the simplicity of the alignment system in D&D and the lack of use of charisma.

One influence that stands out for me is the P&P ruleset of The Riddle of Steel, with its intricate set of detailed combat rules.

The great thing about P&P is the group of people and the GM. The bad thing about the P&P is the group of people and the GM. So another inspiration came when I wanted to do something outside the box and the GM just wouldn’t go for it. Or when someone was out of character and the GM wouldn’t call bullshit on it.

I was also inspired by books and movies. In fairy tales, the hero wins because he has a magic sword and a magic horse. In serious stories, the hero wins or survives with inner strength: cunning, willpower, beliefs, or hope.

Then there was a real life experience from rock climbing. Fear affects your performance in a brutal way. Yet, all the characters in the RPGs I played perform at a peak level no matter what.

I understood that the reason why P&P doesn’t bring these aspects (personality, emotions, motivation, relationships…) into the ruleset is that it would bring the live session to a halt for each interaction.

So my idea was to implement all this in a cRPG. There would be no slow-down as a computer can run the numbers and determine for example how likely it is that you find the courage to speak up to a bully. And it can crank all the numbers, such as:

– you predisposition to fear,
– your history with bullying,
– your history with this character,
– their appearance,
– their renown and allies,
– the circumstances you are in,
– and who is witnessing the situation.

I really hoped someone would make such a cRPG. I remember thinking Peter Molyneaux would do it, when he first started to talk about the first Fable. Then I thought that the next Elder Scrolls would do it. It wasn’t quite what I had expected.

I used to hope that somebody would make a cRPG with more psychology in it…


That being said, I do like the Witcher games and the Shadowrun games. They have serious focus on storytelling and characters, where the devs don’t just think about WHO the characters are, but WHO YOU get to be to these characters.”

—Andrej

What are you favorite narrative and RPG games, that push the boundaries of storytelling and explore characters in depth?

 

[anus_pounder]

Oof. Seems thats the latest update. Any life in this one? The twitter account seems like it has life in it but...

 

[HoboForEternity]

poetic

Any updates man?

 

[daveyd]

This is the latest KS comment from about 2 weeks ago:

We’ll have another update in September. Andrej has been working on the combat sequences recently and we need to finish adding probability checks and impacts of choices on personality attributes & relationships. I’ve been moving back from Washington DC to Slovakia after my wife’s research ended, which impacted our communications efforts a bit, but things are getting back to normal. Overall, the development is going really well, but it’s a lot of work. Thanks again for reaching out.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Greetings everyone,

How are you doing? We’ve got a bit of catching up to do regarding the updates, so let’s start.

The early preview finalization got a bit more complicated than we had anticipated. Together with adding the RPG mechanics to all the choices, we also decided to properly set up the visual composition of all scenes (although using placeholder art for now - so all screenshots in this update use placeholder art). This has taken up some extra time as there is 7,000 of them. It wouldn’t make sense to serve you a half-baked experience and waste your time giving us feedback to something we would already know how to improve.

.

As we progressed we’ve been learning how to do it faster and there’s a straightforward solution for the future: once we’re done with the Early Preview and know the ins and outs of successfully finalizing a chapter, Andrej will hand over some of the activities to me so that we can speed things up.

We understand that many of you are very eager to get their hands on the Early Preview. We’re sorry for the delay and we really appreciate your encouraging comments over the last few weeks. I can’t stress enough how wonderful and supporting our community is.

So when is the Early Preview coming? We’re working hard to finish as soon as possible but want to be careful after learning that it’s hard to estimate. You’re definitely getting it before Christmas (note to Kamen42: Christmas 2018 ;-) ).

Good news is that we’re also reopening the chance for you to sign up for the Early Preview. All backers in the Firestarter tier and above are eligible and if you’re one of them, you can sign up.

.

Just look up my October email with the “Before the Early Preview comes” subject and fill in the form by December 6, 2018 (you don’t have to do it again, if you’ve already done so). If you can’t find the email and you’re eligible, just shoot me a message (martin@poeticstudio.com), I’d prefer not to spam everyone with the same email again.

DreamHack Art Gallery

Even though our sole focus now is the Early Preview, we’re happy that Sacred Fire is being noticed by new people. Andrej’s art has been selected for the Art Gallery at DreamHack Atlanta and DreamHack Winter in Sweden. The Atlanta event took place in mid November and DreamHack Winter takes place this coming weekend in Jönköping, Sweden so there’s still a chance to check it out. We won’t be present personally, but Sacred Fire’s art will be there. DreamHack is a huge event with tens of thousands of participants. Check out the Art Gallery at https://dreamhack.com/winter/participate/art-gallery/.

.

We’ve also answered a bunch of questions about the game in the comments and I thought it might be a good idea to share the answers with you all. So here’s some background info on the replayability and character relationships in Sacred Fire. The answers are provided by Andrej.

Q: How does Sacred Fire encourage multiple playthroughs?

A: I wouldn’t say Sacred Fire’s design focus is to encourage multiple playthroughs to get through every possible story branch. However, you can certainly play it that way if experiencing all branches is your goal. As you will see in the Early Preview there are distinct paths and endings even in the first chapter already.

Our focus when writing is to encourage a playthrough that feels like your own. So we want to give you the options to act, think and express yourself in a way that puts you in control of the story.

.

The goal is to create the best possible role-playing experience, not necessarily the best possible replay value. This means that ideally replayability shouldn’t come from “collecting” different branches but by assuming different roles and making decisions faithful to those roles.

What we’re really happy about is that there is an intrinsic replay value in the micro sense. With the success/failure outcomes of most checks in the gameplay, you can have a different experience, reading different lines, unlocking different choices, going through the same scenes differently, even if role-playing the same role.

Q: Will NPCs follow you even if you behave in an extreme manner? Will choosing one faction lock you out of interacting with other NPCs?

A: The dilemma between the patriot and warlord factions and the characters who represent them is not as clear-cut as it may seem at first glance. It's a nuanced and rather volatile dynamic and you can lean one way or the other many times and each time the relationships and characters adapt. Not everyone will be friendly, but that doesn't mean you can not work with hostile characters to survive.

That's one of the key things in Sacred Fire design: relationships are not simply friendly or hostile. In every relationship there is friendship (goodwill like sympathy, respect, trust, favors) and hostility (things like mistrust, aversion, revenge, shame) at the same time, all the time.

.

It's just a question of your choices that determine how likely it is a sentiment will manifest itself and how it plays out. Also every one of the key characters may die, every one may survive - so the consequences are not cosmetic. There is a life and death situation in the first chapter too.

And this concludes our update #29. Thank you for your patience and support!

Martin & Andrej

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ogical-rpg-about-revenge-and-lo/posts/2358138

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

Comrades, the demo for Kickstarter backers came out a couple of weeks ago and I’m finally playing it.

Gotta say, I think they’ve done a brilliant job of gamifying psychological decisions and dialogue. Is this the future of social interaction in CRPGs? Can Sacred Fire give Disco Elysium a run for its money?

I’ll do a detailed writeup of my early impressions when I get off work.