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

[ERYFKRAD]

Sign me up.

Still not a fan of how they paywalled certain races/classes though.

At this point half of the things that should've been included in the full release have been paywalled...

That's because we're 20 not 200

We couldn't include everything in 1.0 simply because we don't have enough people and money. So we're doing it as we go, but doing so also takes time and money so we have to sell them as DLC. The other option would simply be to say "screw it Solasta is complete enough" and move to another project without adding more content, but we didn't really want to do that either.

Trust me, if we could have had everything from the start we would have done so - game would have been much better to start with, and DLCs could have been simply focused on making new campaigns. That'd been much easier for us.

Maybe, but I suspect the campaign may have some restriction in importing saves if your dudes are higher than lvl 10.

Nah you can import any save below level 12 and it should work. Characters below level 10 will start at level 10, but characters level 11 and 12 just get a small headstart.

Imagine how much money you could have saved if the only playable characters were barbarians and the npcs and monsters were also barbarians.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

the npcs and monsters were also barbarians.

But then you couldn't smash magic queers into a bloody pulp, bro.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

the npcs and monsters were also barbarians.

But then you couldn't smash magic queers into a bloody pulp, bro.

The lack of magefags to bully is a trivial price to pay for their non-existence.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

I'd rather bring about their non-existence with my own absurdly large weapon, but I can see your perspective.

 

[Alienman]

We couldn't include everything in 1.0 simply because we don't have enough people and money. So we're doing it as we go, but doing so also takes time and money so we have to sell them as DLC. The other option would simply be to say "screw it Solasta is complete enough" and move to another project without adding more content, but we didn't really want to do that either.

Is the game an economic success for you guys? Do the DLCs sell enough to justify their production?

 

[vortex]

So are they gonna fix the faces?

For Solasta 2 they should use Unreal and MetaHuman for character faces.

 

[Parabalus]

Sign me up.

Still not a fan of how they paywalled certain races/classes though.

At this point half of the things that should've been included in the full release have been paywalled...

That's because we're 20 not 200

We couldn't include everything in 1.0 simply because we don't have enough people and money. So we're doing it as we go, but doing so also takes time and money so we have to sell them as DLC. The other option would simply be to say "screw it Solasta is complete enough" and move to another project without adding more content, but we didn't really want to do that either.

Trust me, if we could have had everything from the start we would have done so - game would have been much better to start with, and DLCs could have been simply focused on making new campaigns. That'd been much easier for us.

Maybe, but I suspect the campaign may have some restriction in importing saves if your dudes are higher than lvl 10.

Nah you can import any save below level 12 and it should work. Characters below level 10 will start at level 10, but characters level 11 and 12 just get a small headstart.

How many more DLCs are planned?

 

[mediocrepoet]

So are they gonna fix the faces?

For Solasta 2 they should use Unreal and MetaHuman for character faces.

They should make every character have Fedora's face so we can make daily posts about how fugly they are and ask when it'll be fixed.

 

[IDtenT]

So are they gonna fix the faces?

For Solasta 2 they should use Unreal and MetaHuman for character faces.

Tangentially related, I do hope they go for another engine for their future projects.

 

[Mortmal]

Published a six man party version of The Forsaken Isle. Cuz why have only four when you can have six:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2942835978
https://mod.io/g/solasta/m/the-forsaken-isle-six-man-party-version

Made a lot of changes to accommodate this. Custom monsters went from 43 to 163. Lots of areas had layout and prop changes since there are way more enemies per encounter. The witch hut is entirely new, the old one was scrapped. Some battles were combined into one, some areas have new encounters. Only one extra custom weapon, didn't want to go overboard on item/economy changes, so not much of those. I had a lot of fun with it. More than the four man version. Wasn't sure how the difficulty would hold up but at least for me, it was better.

Module is very good so far, but i think some encounters might be overtuned at level 1, the first chest you find and trigger an ambush for exemple, as soon you click it enemies appears out of thin air. It should have been possible to detect them before moving steathily to the chest.They can easily wreck an optimized party, hard encounters are fair later after leveling but at level 1 its die and reload galore.

If I could make enemies hide in stealth I would do that. But I can't for now, and that fight could wreck level 1's in the original 4 man one too. As it is its far too easy to see any enemy behind a bush by pressing a button to show highlighted objects. You can catch the orcs out by maintaining stealth when you get to the treasure too. As long as you recognize you're being set up. For a level 1 its iffy but I don't think it crosses a line too far. If I get more complaints I might either lower the damage or push some of them back farther.

Edit: I should add that I chose to keep most fights true to how they originally were. But many of those early fights are how I made them when I was learning how the DM works. So as the game goes on I do the 'ambush out of thin air' shit less often but still occasionally. I also feel the need to have less mid-fight adds with six than with four man. Might change several of those in Morrows Deep.

Edit 2: What other ones are iffy for early fights? I lowered Orcling damage, ac, and health very slightly and removed one spawn from that encounter. Not patched yet tho.

So far everything else was doable at level 1 with a bit of strategy,i think the balance is fine, not sure my party is as optimized as it should , used 1 paladin 1 monk one dual wield ranger, 1 bladedancer wizard, 1 battle priest. So its melee heavy. At level 3 i encountered much trouble in the orc final fight. I see you can use the palisade to cheese more or less the fight, problem is the shaman cast lightning through cavern walls and thats devastating nothing you can do against that. Unless i had a dedicated counter character.

The shaman can be harassed at range and then he'll do little but heal. Also never casts lightning if he can't hit two or more so not lining up for him means he'll cast that weak ass acid arrow.

Well at level 3 now, and frankly its borderline unplayable to completely unplayable. I mean really 273HP +13 to hit ogre 2D10+3 with a confusion effect to boot thats at least a CR12 encounter means a 2Xdeadly encounter for a group of 6 level 3,it can easily one shot any character, also has range. Still doable with luck and half the party downed, but then i get in the bandit captain fight , too many enemies , some spawning from thin air forbidding you any positioning advantage ,behind your back. Then far too well equiped plate armor bandits with a chill weapon to forbid character healing, and all the range enemies with sleeping arrows thats like a 4X deadly encounter...

 

[Artyoan]

Published a six man party version of The Forsaken Isle. Cuz why have only four when you can have six:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2942835978
https://mod.io/g/solasta/m/the-forsaken-isle-six-man-party-version

Made a lot of changes to accommodate this. Custom monsters went from 43 to 163. Lots of areas had layout and prop changes since there are way more enemies per encounter. The witch hut is entirely new, the old one was scrapped. Some battles were combined into one, some areas have new encounters. Only one extra custom weapon, didn't want to go overboard on item/economy changes, so not much of those. I had a lot of fun with it. More than the four man version. Wasn't sure how the difficulty would hold up but at least for me, it was better.

Module is very good so far, but i think some encounters might be overtuned at level 1, the first chest you find and trigger an ambush for exemple, as soon you click it enemies appears out of thin air. It should have been possible to detect them before moving steathily to the chest.They can easily wreck an optimized party, hard encounters are fair later after leveling but at level 1 its die and reload galore.

If I could make enemies hide in stealth I would do that. But I can't for now, and that fight could wreck level 1's in the original 4 man one too. As it is its far too easy to see any enemy behind a bush by pressing a button to show highlighted objects. You can catch the orcs out by maintaining stealth when you get to the treasure too. As long as you recognize you're being set up. For a level 1 its iffy but I don't think it crosses a line too far. If I get more complaints I might either lower the damage or push some of them back farther.

Edit: I should add that I chose to keep most fights true to how they originally were. But many of those early fights are how I made them when I was learning how the DM works. So as the game goes on I do the 'ambush out of thin air' shit less often but still occasionally. I also feel the need to have less mid-fight adds with six than with four man. Might change several of those in Morrows Deep.

Edit 2: What other ones are iffy for early fights? I lowered Orcling damage, ac, and health very slightly and removed one spawn from that encounter. Not patched yet tho.

So far everything else was doable at level 1 with a bit of strategy,i think the balance is fine, not sure my party is as optimized as it should , used 1 paladin 1 monk one dual wield ranger, 1 bladedancer wizard, 1 battle priest. So its melee heavy. At level 3 i encountered much trouble in the orc final fight. I see you can use the palisade to cheese more or less the fight, problem is the shaman cast lightning through cavern walls and thats devastating nothing you can do against that. Unless i had a dedicated counter character.

The shaman can be harassed at range and then he'll do little but heal. Also never casts lightning if he can't hit two or more so not lining up for him means he'll cast that weak ass acid arrow.

Well at level 3 now, and frankly its borderline unplayable to completely unplayable. I mean really 273HP +13 to hit ogre 2D10+3 with a confusion effect to boot thats at least a CR12 encounter means a 2Xdeadly encounter for a group of 6 level 3,it can easily one shot any character, also has range. Still doable with luck and half the party downed, but then i get in the bandit captain fight , too many enemies , some spawning from thin air forbidding you any positioning advantage ,behind your back. Then far too well equiped plate armor bandits with a chill weapon to forbid character healing, and all the range enemies with sleeping arrows thats like a 4X deadly encounter...

It's a lone ogre. If you're being downed by a lone ogre are you using dodge at all? I didn't have an optimal party during testing and had no serious issues with either encounter. Use things like blind, some form of crowd control, stick somebody out there and dodge. Plenty of positioning in that fight even as a pincer attack. There is one enemy with sleeping arrows and lower health.

I know a guy playing through the six man version with four people right now. He's yet to say anything is unplayable. What is your party?

 

[razvedchiki]

is the inventor from the unfinished business mod good?

 

[Mortmal]

Published a six man party version of The Forsaken Isle. Cuz why have only four when you can have six:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2942835978
https://mod.io/g/solasta/m/the-forsaken-isle-six-man-party-version

Made a lot of changes to accommodate this. Custom monsters went from 43 to 163. Lots of areas had layout and prop changes since there are way more enemies per encounter. The witch hut is entirely new, the old one was scrapped. Some battles were combined into one, some areas have new encounters. Only one extra custom weapon, didn't want to go overboard on item/economy changes, so not much of those. I had a lot of fun with it. More than the four man version. Wasn't sure how the difficulty would hold up but at least for me, it was better.

Module is very good so far, but i think some encounters might be overtuned at level 1, the first chest you find and trigger an ambush for exemple, as soon you click it enemies appears out of thin air. It should have been possible to detect them before moving steathily to the chest.They can easily wreck an optimized party, hard encounters are fair later after leveling but at level 1 its die and reload galore.

If I could make enemies hide in stealth I would do that. But I can't for now, and that fight could wreck level 1's in the original 4 man one too. As it is its far too easy to see any enemy behind a bush by pressing a button to show highlighted objects. You can catch the orcs out by maintaining stealth when you get to the treasure too. As long as you recognize you're being set up. For a level 1 its iffy but I don't think it crosses a line too far. If I get more complaints I might either lower the damage or push some of them back farther.

Edit: I should add that I chose to keep most fights true to how they originally were. But many of those early fights are how I made them when I was learning how the DM works. So as the game goes on I do the 'ambush out of thin air' shit less often but still occasionally. I also feel the need to have less mid-fight adds with six than with four man. Might change several of those in Morrows Deep.

Edit 2: What other ones are iffy for early fights? I lowered Orcling damage, ac, and health very slightly and removed one spawn from that encounter. Not patched yet tho.

So far everything else was doable at level 1 with a bit of strategy,i think the balance is fine, not sure my party is as optimized as it should , used 1 paladin 1 monk one dual wield ranger, 1 bladedancer wizard, 1 battle priest. So its melee heavy. At level 3 i encountered much trouble in the orc final fight. I see you can use the palisade to cheese more or less the fight, problem is the shaman cast lightning through cavern walls and thats devastating nothing you can do against that. Unless i had a dedicated counter character.

The shaman can be harassed at range and then he'll do little but heal. Also never casts lightning if he can't hit two or more so not lining up for him means he'll cast that weak ass acid arrow.

Well at level 3 now, and frankly its borderline unplayable to completely unplayable. I mean really 273HP +13 to hit ogre 2D10+3 with a confusion effect to boot thats at least a CR12 encounter means a 2Xdeadly encounter for a group of 6 level 3,it can easily one shot any character, also has range. Still doable with luck and half the party downed, but then i get in the bandit captain fight , too many enemies , some spawning from thin air forbidding you any positioning advantage ,behind your back. Then far too well equiped plate armor bandits with a chill weapon to forbid character healing, and all the range enemies with sleeping arrows thats like a 4X deadly encounter...

It's a lone ogre. If you're being downed by a lone ogre are you using dodge at all? I didn't have an optimal party during testing and had no serious issues with either encounter. Use things like blind, some form of crowd control, stick somebody out there and dodge. Plenty of positioning in that fight even as a pincer attack. There is one enemy with sleeping arrows and lower health.

I know a guy playing through the six man version with four people right now. He's yet to say anything is unplayable. What is your party?

I did the lone "ogre" dont kid me its a massively overbloated cr12+ monster 2X attacks +13 to hit 2D10+4 damage and confusion on hit . As i said party is one pally with sentinel built as oath of hatred, one ranger with dual wield and favored humanoid as enemy, one rogue with the initiative advantage template, one blade dancer , one battle priest and one monk specced to get enemies prone. And again i did it nonetheless,Your guy got lucky with rolls or bullshiting,lie to brag (its not uncommon here) that thing can down anything in one round with good rolls.Now the bandit captain fight thats another story....
Right now its strictly deadly,2X? 3X? 4X? encounters, one rest ,one encounter. Thats now how 5E is supposed to work , if you get average rolls it will be save and reload all the time.

 

[Artyoan]

Then we have different goals. I'm not concerned with following 5e/CR guidance rules. My goal is to make a tactical crpg campaign. You should have something more like 2.5 encounters per rest by the end. I have the ogre's attack, health, and armor slightly lower for the first balance patch. Some of the conditions like Chilled and Asleep are lowered as to the DC. Various small parameter changes coming.

 

[Artyoan]

is the inventor from the unfinished business mod good?

I haven't played it yet.

 

[Mortmal]

Then we have different goals. I'm not concerned with following 5e/CR guidance rules. My goal is to make a tactical crpg campaign. You should have something more like 2.5 encounters per rest by the end. I have the ogre's attack, health, and armor slightly lower for the first balance patch. Some of the conditions like Chilled and Asleep are lowered as to the DC. Various small parameter changes coming.

It's not tactical, its masochistic and sadistic design, not unlike kotc2, you guys should have a beer together. But you know at some point its better when more than one or two guy enjoy and play what you made.

 

[Darkwind]

is the inventor from the unfinished business mod good?

Quite... it is like an alchemist or kineticist from Pathfinder. Firebomb throwing, magic item making, spellcasting support character. The bombs can be modded to different element types and you can throw multiples of them in a single round.

 

[Artyoan]

Then we have different goals. I'm not concerned with following 5e/CR guidance rules. My goal is to make a tactical crpg campaign. You should have something more like 2.5 encounters per rest by the end. I have the ogre's attack, health, and armor slightly lower for the first balance patch. Some of the conditions like Chilled and Asleep are lowered as to the DC. Various small parameter changes coming.

It's not tactical, its masochistic and sadistic design, not unlike kotc2, you guys should have a beer together. But you know at some point its better when more than one or two guy enjoy and play what you made.

Yes, that would explain why the four man version made by the same guy (me) has 6.5k subscribers with a 98% positive rating.

 

[Mortmal]

Then we have different goals. I'm not concerned with following 5e/CR guidance rules. My goal is to make a tactical crpg campaign. You should have something more like 2.5 encounters per rest by the end. I have the ogre's attack, health, and armor slightly lower for the first balance patch. Some of the conditions like Chilled and Asleep are lowered as to the DC. Various small parameter changes coming.

It's not tactical, its masochistic and sadistic design, not unlike kotc2, you guys should have a beer together. But you know at some point its better when more than one or two guy enjoy and play what you made.

Yes, that would explain why the four man version made by the same guy (me) has 6.5k subscribers with a 98% positive rating.

Have not tried the 4 man version, the 6 man version may be especially busted and reliance on dice rolls is exacerbated.

 

[Artyoan]

Then we have different goals. I'm not concerned with following 5e/CR guidance rules. My goal is to make a tactical crpg campaign. You should have something more like 2.5 encounters per rest by the end. I have the ogre's attack, health, and armor slightly lower for the first balance patch. Some of the conditions like Chilled and Asleep are lowered as to the DC. Various small parameter changes coming.

It's not tactical, its masochistic and sadistic design, not unlike kotc2, you guys should have a beer together. But you know at some point its better when more than one or two guy enjoy and play what you made.

Yes, that would explain why the four man version made by the same guy (me) has 6.5k subscribers with a 98% positive rating.

Have not tried the 4 man version, the 6 man version may be especially busted and reliance on dice rolls is exacerbated.

We'll see. Feedback hasn't rolled in from steam yet. Or really anywhere. More than willing to make changes, but my playthrough was not busted.

 

[Lagole Gon]

Can't wait. I love Solasta and I love snow cRPGs.

 

[Mortmal]

Then we have different goals. I'm not concerned with following 5e/CR guidance rules. My goal is to make a tactical crpg campaign. You should have something more like 2.5 encounters per rest by the end. I have the ogre's attack, health, and armor slightly lower for the first balance patch. Some of the conditions like Chilled and Asleep are lowered as to the DC. Various small parameter changes coming.

It's not tactical, its masochistic and sadistic design, not unlike kotc2, you guys should have a beer together. But you know at some point its better when more than one or two guy enjoy and play what you made.

Yes, that would explain why the four man version made by the same guy (me) has 6.5k subscribers with a 98% positive rating.

Have not tried the 4 man version, the 6 man version may be especially busted and reliance on dice rolls is exacerbated.

We'll see. Feedback hasn't rolled in from steam yet. Or really anywhere. More than willing to make changes, but my playthrough was not busted.

The problem is as you said you dont follow guidelines, but at tactical adventure neither in their official campaign . As i said in real D&dyou are supposed to have a chain of easier encounters and manage your ressources more carefully. If all we do are hard encounters then rest, in your case super deadly then rest, or even 2 encounters , there's no ressources management at all. So a party full of casters will shine as you will use your top spells ad nauseum.
I think the feedback will be just fine for a party of heavy caster and some tank that will just dodge and do nothing else, but a melee heavy party wont.

 

[Grunker]

Then we have different goals. I'm not concerned with following 5e/CR guidance rules. My goal is to make a tactical crpg campaign. You should have something more like 2.5 encounters per rest by the end. I have the ogre's attack, health, and armor slightly lower for the first balance patch. Some of the conditions like Chilled and Asleep are lowered as to the DC. Various small parameter changes coming.

It's not tactical, its masochistic and sadistic design, not unlike kotc2, you guys should have a beer together. But you know at some point its better when more than one or two guy enjoy and play what you made.

Yes, that would explain why the four man version made by the same guy (me) has 6.5k subscribers with a 98% positive rating.

Have not tried the 4 man version, the 6 man version may be especially busted and reliance on dice rolls is exacerbated.

We'll see. Feedback hasn't rolled in from steam yet. Or really anywhere. More than willing to make changes, but my playthrough was not busted.

Don't bang your head against the Mortmal 'there's only one way to make good D&D'-wall. It sounds like you have a defined vision for the mod you want to make, and I'm strongly considering playing it.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Have not tried the 4 man version, the 6 man version may be especially busted and reliance on dice rolls is exacerbated.

We'll see. Feedback hasn't rolled in from steam yet. Or really anywhere. More than willing to make changes, but my playthrough was not busted.

Don't bang your head against the Mortmal 'there's only one way to make good D&D'-wall. It sounds like you have a defined vision for the mod you want to make, and I'm strongly considering playing it.

Which module is it that you guys are talking about? I want to see what made Mortmal cry.

 

[Grunker]

Have not tried the 4 man version, the 6 man version may be especially busted and reliance on dice rolls is exacerbated.

We'll see. Feedback hasn't rolled in from steam yet. Or really anywhere. More than willing to make changes, but my playthrough was not busted.

Don't bang your head against the Mortmal 'there's only one way to make good D&D'-wall. It sounds like you have a defined vision for the mod you want to make, and I'm strongly considering playing it.

Which module is it that you guys are talking about? I want to see what made Mortmal cry.

Just track the conversation. Artyoan made a 6 party member version of The Forsaken Isle, rebalancing maps and enemies to fit with 6 party members.