KickStarter Solasta: Crown of the Magister Thread - now with Palace of Ice sequel DLC

[Acrux]

any mod to make the campaign butt clenching?

If you want tighter combat in the main campaign, be sure both of the enhanced AI options are turned on. Increasing enemy damage also helps.

 

[Yosharian]

I got very bored of this quickly. The storytelling is really bad.

 

[Artyoan]

I got very bored of this quickly. The storytelling is really bad.

I thought it was okay but both official campaigns have points where they seem rushed. Not finding all gems for the crown and the bizarre faction reputation issues in Lost Valley. Much like D:OS 1/2, I played them to completion due to the combat being entertaining to me. Beyond that, Solasta is the only one with a dungeon maker to my knowledge. Which out of pure selfish interest, should be a standard for all crpg's going forward.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I got very bored of this quickly. The storytelling is really bad.

I thought it was okay but both official campaigns have points where they seem rushed. Not finding all gems for the crown and the bizarre faction reputation issues in Lost Valley. Much like D:OS 1/2, I played them to completion due to the combat being entertaining to me. Beyond that, Solasta is the only one with a dungeon maker to my knowledge. Which out of pure selfish interest, should be a standard for all crpg's going forward.

It's definitely not a storyfag game. Between the dungeon creator stuff, the way the game is presented, and its simulation of 5E it hit a lot of tabletop vibes for me, including the story that's just there to give you a reason to go roll dice and kill stuff. That's pretty great imo, but YMMV.

Not the best game ever, but not bad and it definitely occupies an important niche of the cRPG space.

 

[Shrimp]

The story is just there to provide context for the combat encounters.

 

[lukaszek]

itemisation in lost valey is weird.

Got 2 awesome cloth armors that only casters can use. They got higher AC than leather ones and my rogue and ranger are sad.

Rapier of harmony apparently is bard only weapon, but nowhere its specified. Had to look up forums and shit.

In general this dlc appears bard centric with all the items that im finding. There is some for monk too but they appear to be shit lol

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

I got very bored of this quickly. The storytelling is really bad.

I thought it was okay but both official campaigns have points where they seem rushed. Not finding all gems for the crown and the bizarre faction reputation issues in Lost Valley. Much like D:OS 1/2, I played them to completion due to the combat being entertaining to me. Beyond that, Solasta is the only one with a dungeon maker to my knowledge. Which out of pure selfish interest, should be a standard for all crpg's going forward.

It's definitely not a storyfag game. Between the dungeon creator stuff, the way the game is presented, and its simulation of 5E it hit a lot of tabletop vibes for me, including the story that's just there to give you a reason to go roll dice and kill stuff. That's pretty great imo, but YMMV.

Not the best game ever, but not bad and it definitely occupies an important niche of the cRPG space.

Still not through the OC, but for all its simplicity, it still packs a few surprises in the moment to moment stuff I wasn't expecting. I even laughed out loud in my last session (don't read if you're not through.)

Spoiler

The game teasing that first huge ass dragon boss fight, with the dragon announcing Y'ALL NOW GONNA DIE -- in itself a D&D cliche. Only for the dragon to go down with the first hit. :D

It's even better if you don't try shit and reload (the thing is largely linear, but there are a few decisions to be made). This is infinetely better stuff than, say Neverwinter Nights OC. It's also refreshing that despite the combat focus the locations aren't filled to the last corner with enemies, or worse, paste&Copy mobs. And unlike Temple Of Elemental Evil, even the dungeons aren't populated with hordes of bug bears so far. (Or in DOS' case, those endless waves of Orcs on the second map or such).

 

[lukaszek]

finished lost valley. Dominion troops should be scrapped as my main gripe were trash combat that they involved.

Problem is that end game is only trash combat. It appears that they forgot to place bosses in 2nd half of the game?

More magical devices were added and it makes rogue even more sad as you cant use them. Actually rogue is lacking now after max level increase. Only class in my old party that didnt get dmg increase or any new toys.
Ranger swift blade is a beast and it doesnt lock you into melee really. Movement is usable for everyone and extra attack can be ranged too. Compare it to marskman kit that received only extra ranged attack at cost of free action. Yeah, balance makes no sense in here.
Fighter got extra attack, paladin more smithing damage. Meanwhile my beloved rogue stagnated...

Oh and you can get mace of smashing early, never changed that weapon on both tanks. When finally crafted warhammer of storms game was over.

As far as story goes - we finally get cc. Although at times you have no idea why certain factions become hostile until much later in the game

 

[Larianshill]

Literally can't beat the game, because Lost Valley's final cutscene is bugged and shows nothing but the black screen. Oh well, it's not like there's much to see anyway. Lost Valley turned out to be largely a disappointment.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Literally can't beat the game, because Lost Valley's final cutscene is bugged and shows nothing but the black screen.

No, no. That's from the graphical improvement update.

 

[Lagole Gon]

I really got attached to my Solasta dudes. This janky mess is unironically better than most of Owlcat character writing.

 

[rojay]

The faces on your characters look ... normal-ish? What fiendish mod games are you playing, Lagole Gon?

 

[Fedora Master]

I got very bored of this quickly. The storytelling is really bad.

SORAKS?!?!?

 

[Acrux]

I don't think they exist.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I really got attached to my Solasta dudes. This janky mess is unironically better than most of Owlcat character writing.

 

[Lagole Gon]

The faces on your characters look ... normal-ish? What fiendish mod games are you playing, Lagole Gon?

None.
My art education and long hours spent in japanese boob games character makers gave me an awesome power of making decent looking characters in unmodded Solasta.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I really got attached to my Solasta dudes. This janky mess is unironically better than most of Owlcat character writing.

I can hear the ugly british accent through the screenshot

imagine being a studio full of french people in france and you get fucking brits to voice your female characters

 

[Artyoan]

Everything but the human male has a very workable one or two combinations that won't kill your soul.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

The faces on your characters look ... normal-ish? What fiendish mod games are you playing, Lagole Gon?

None.
My art education and long hours spent in japanese boob games character makers gave me an awesome power of making decent looking characters in unmodded Solasta.

Don't hoard. Share.
Because holy crap if you achieved that without modding.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamer.com/finally-an-rpg-let-me-make-the-weird-dandd-party-of-my-dreams/

Finally, an RPG let me make the weird D&D party of my dreams​

Thanks to Solasta's DLC you can make a properly bizarre party at last.

Dungeons & Dragons evokes a lot of different flavors of fantasy, and there's long been tension between them. You've got the sword and sorcery stories of Conan the Barbarian, Fritz Leiber's thieves, and Jack Vance's wizards and rogues, all of which have human protagonists. But then there's the epic fantasy of The Lord of the Rings, which is full of hobbits, elves, and dwarves, as well as stories like Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions, where a paladin goes on an adventure with a dwarf and a swanmay.

Level limits and class restrictions in some of the early editions of D&D made non-humans a bit of a hassle to play, but by the time 3rd edition arrived in the early 2000s, the typical party had a lot more options. Half-orcs were a default choice, the fiend-touched tieflings from Planescape continued being popular, and anyone could be a member of any class. That kind of diversity became even more prevalent in 5th edition, where I don't remember the last time I saw someone roll up a human. Every party seems to have some kind of bird-person, maybe a goblin, a magical construct come to life, and quite possibly a talking frog or hippo.

Unusual class choices have become normal too, with monks, warlocks, and bards as common as fighters, wizards, and clerics. The end result is that, instead of stories where relatively ordinary people travel the land gawping at odd things, D&D has become better at telling stories where the heroes bring the odd with them—where they feel like they belong in worlds full of magic and wonder rather than standing apart from them.

When it released in 2021, Solasta: Crown of the Magister was a fun distillation of D&D 5e's ruleset into videogame form. Unlike Baldur's Gate 3, which lets you design one player-character then has you recruit a party of pre-generated personalities, Solasta has you design four PCs from scratch. That lets you get your hands right into the guts of the system if you want, assigning backgrounds to avoid having multiple characters who are good at the same skills and making sure you cover all the tool proficiencies.

Though the story was nothing to write home about, Solasta's turn-based battles were memorable setpieces that took full advantage of the tabletop rules. Giant spiders attacked from the walls and vampires encased themselves in magical darkness, while you could respond with a repertoire of familiar abilities right out of the Players' Handbook. (My cleric's daylight spell suddenly became clutch when those vampires ambushed us.)

But at launch, there wasn't much variety in the type of characters you could create in Solasta—and not just because there were only a handful of voices to choose from. It was limited to humans, dwarves, halflings, elves, and half-elves, with the only classes being fighters, wizards, clerics, rogues, and rangers. Though the spells and action economy were familiar, it didn't look much like my home D&D game.

Subsequently, Solasta grew. Sorcerers were added in a free update, and the Primal Calling DLC added half-orcs, barbarians, and druids, while the Inner Strength DLC brought dragonborn, bards, monks, and warlocks. The Lost Valley expansion added more subclasses, and a new campaign.

Returning to Solasta now means that, at last, I can show up to a fight with a dragonborn bard who spits shards of ice when he's not playing inspirational lute jams, a monk who can cross basically any battlefield in a single turn, a warlock who made a deal with a devil for ultimate magical power yet relies on a single cantrip, and a classic half-orc barbarian who would, yes, very much like to rage.

It's wonderful. Whenever the camera swings back to the heroes during a cutscene they look like four people who really did meet by coincidence at a pub. Though the options for voices and faces are still pretty limited, I'm happy to have chosen the goofiest head for my dragonborn, whose dangling facial tendrils droop like a sad reptilian beard.

As a bard, he dances a little twirling jig when he uses his powers, bashing out a tune on his lute or drum. It's delightful. In its own way, so is the animation for the monk's unarmed attack: a full sweeping roundhouse kick. Another post-launch addition means that everyone chants when they cast spells too, no longer waving their arms in silence. Minor things, but they make it feel right.

Not everything about Solasta is 100% rulebook, though. Since it uses D&D's Open Gaming Licence(opens in new tab), only the most basic subclass and feat options are included, with the gaps filled by new inventions. Some of them are quite neat ideas, like warlock pacts that let you earn spells by cutting bargains with an insect hivemind, a magic tree, or a time traveler. Since part of the reason I play Solasta is to keep the 5e rules fresh in my mind for when I'm running my own game, I pretty much stick to the core options, but it's nice to have more there.

It's got some house rules too, like the inclusion of item crafting and the ditching of alignment. Given how important light and darkness are to its combat, there's a new cantrip called sparkle, and a handful of abilities have been tweaked so you can use them more often. The dragonborn's breath weapon recharges every short rest, and Path of the Berserker's frenzy, which normally causes exhaustion, lets you make a Constitution saving throw to potentially avoid that. (I've adopted that house rule in my own game to the relief of the barbarian player.)

These house rules and additions make Solasta seem even more like a campaign being run by an enthusiastic first-time Dungeon Master, which was always its vibe. It feels home-brewed and quirky, and I'm glad to be able to make a party of adventurers who feel just as quirky as the game around them. When I'm accepting a quest from a giant who demands we find a rock large enough that he can carve it into a seat and the camera cuts back to the surprised face of a dragonborn with wilted whiskers, I recognize D&D the way I play it with my friends.

 

[rojay]

I think that's a pretty fair assessment. The fact that there are a bunch of ways to customize the appearance of your character isn't exactly the strongest selling point to me, but what they've added has been good and the tools are getting better and better. Some of the fan-made campaigns are very good.

Looking forward to the next one that Artyoan puts out, because Forsaken Isle was excellent and it was completed before the last update to the tools, I believe?

 

[lukaszek]

Forsaken Isle was excellent

lack of combat where elevation matters

 

[Artyoan]

Forsaken Isle was excellent

lack of combat where elevation matters

Short of having scaffolding or castle walls everywhere, its not all that feasible to make elevation matter in the DM for most fights. Some locales can't support it at all. The props and structure isn't there for it. Nowhere near what the main campaign can do, anyway. If it were, I'd go all out on it. I think verticality is one of the most impressive parts of the game.

 

[Artyoan]

I think that's a pretty fair assessment. The fact that there are a bunch of ways to customize the appearance of your character isn't exactly the strongest selling point to me, but what they've added has been good and the tools are getting better and better. Some of the fan-made campaigns are very good.

Looking forward to the next one that Artyoan puts out, because Forsaken Isle was excellent and it was completed before the last update to the tools, I believe?

The last update added more boss creatures, a pretty minor addition overall. The next one will use most of those bosses though. Probably going to be early January. Debating on releasing a beta branch on the workshop first for a couple weeks prior to a release.

 

[Lagole Gon]

If you keep a hand long anough on the oven, you will stop feeling the burning pain. If you play Solasta long enough, you start to think it looks kind of good!