KickStarter Solasta Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Bara]

Cats are good but dogs are better.

Also did not know those who did not back could still pledge for the physical rewards. My friends lucked out for getting that sourcebook.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

It is a nice game. However i don't like the artstyle much. Many location are crafted following a perfectly geometric grid and you can see it. Pros. Has 5th edition rules well implemented. Cons. Cartoonish design. Story is not compelling at all. World is uninteresting.

It is good for who is interested only at the tactical aspect of D&D for now. But is not a fully fledged D&D rpg.

 

[jac8awol]

This hipster dog and cat posting is lamer than ducks.

 

[Bara]

This hipster dog and cat posting is lamer than ducks.

Indeed ducks are worse than both cats and dogs.

Anyhow for those who bought or got early access hows the setting overall? I know people have said the story kinda weak so far but what of the world itself?

 

[Nortar]

I know people have said the story kinda weak so far but what of the world itself?

To be honest, I did not feel the unique bits of the setting.

It's been so long since the cataclysm that gods and humans seem completely integrated into the world.
Maybe I missed it, but there was nothing to indicate the perception of humans as former invaders refugees bearing a new kind of divine magic.
Gods and their worshippers are as common as in Forgotten Realms, - there are temples in Caer Cyflen and clerics selling stuff on streets.
All races more or less equally represented, if anything the humans are the most numerous, just like in any "generic" fantasy.

There's a number of factions, but not enough exposition of them yet, to make me want to prefer one over another.
Their purpose atm seems to be in throttling player access to higher quality merchandise.

Maybe there's more to come, and I have high hopes for this game.
But currently, lore-wise it's pretty bland and combat is by far the best part of it.

 

[V_K]

It's kinda hard to do interesting lore if you have to incorporate basic DnD races and classes into it. All the interesting DnD settings (Planescape, Dark Sun) did so by deviating heavily from the basics.

 

[Lacrymas]

Eh, it's not that hard to imagine a different generic fantasy setting. Elves are North Koreans, ultra-isolationists within their forests. Dwarves have a theocratic government focused around ancestor worship. Halflings and gnomes consider each other abominations and genetic mutants, so they are at war. Orcs are necromantic desert-dwellers.

 

[Nortar]

Races alone is not enough to make a setting interesting. Arkanum has the same staple of fantasy races, for example.

And Solasta's premise is not bad.
A godless world of nazi-elves, noble dwarven resistance, magical apocalypse, arcane draught,
invasion of otherworldly aliens armed with never-seen-before kind of magic and supported by over-beings.

The problem is, there's almost no indication of the good stuff in the "present day" game.

 

[V_K]

Elves are North Koreans, ultra-isolationists within their forests. Dwarves have a theocratic government focused around ancestor worship. Halflings and gnomes consider each other abominations and genetic mutants, so they are at war. Orcs are necromantic desert-dwellers.

...and then all of them somehow band together in the same party.

Arkanum has the same staple of fantasy races, for example.

Arcanum had homebrew mechanics that accounted for the magic-technology divide - which basic DnD doesn't, you'll have you introduce a lot of home rules for that.

 

[Lacrymas]

Elves are North Koreans, ultra-isolationists within their forests. Dwarves have a theocratic government focused around ancestor worship. Halflings and gnomes consider each other abominations and genetic mutants, so they are at war. Orcs are necromantic desert-dwellers.

...and then all of them somehow band together in the same party.

That's not something that can't happen. A D&D party is a band of individuals after all, and individuals don't necessarily have to be a model example of their race/culture.

 

[Lawntoilet]

individuals don't necessarily have to be a model example of their race/culture.

Tell that to my man Magnus Shalefist

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

Anybody can invent their "generic fantasy" setting, but would be this setting fun to play for people? It depends, but Lacrymas 's variant is not only boring and uninspired, but lacks of even remote understanding what "racial" or "national" hatred means in world which stuck in mediveal times.
Just these words:

A D&D party is a band of individuals after all, and individuals don't necessarily have to be a model example of their race/culture.

Can tell everyone that he either did not think his example through or just naive.
Authoritarian and totalitarian regimes DO NOT appreciate individuality in general and start to hunt anybody who disagree with them and traveling with "heretics/mutants/whateverslur" will be considering as threat.
Party from Lacrymas example has chance to gather, but for the rest of the game/tabletop session they will be either hiding or attempting to overthrow several regimes/cultures in a row and not hunting monsters and seeking treasure.
A party of several Drizzt Do Urdens, but somehow even more boring and without any safe civilized place to set their foot.

 

[V_K]

I mean, DOS2 kinda attempts something like that, but it doesn't really make its setting non-generic - it just makes it nonsensical.

 

[Lacrymas]

Not every German was born in Germany during the Nazi regime or was a firm believer in the ideology. Besides, only the elves are aggressive to everyone in my hypothetical setting. Ideology 101 speeches don't impress me.

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/1096530/view/2899718957476223861

Dev Update #25 - New Content Sneak Peek​

Hey there folks!

How are you all doing? Winter is starting show its nose, it's getting pretty cold here in Paris! However, that also means we're getting closer to the Winter Update, which we will be talking about a bit more in today's Dev Update. But before that...

Sometimes I wish I could swap places with our pets. Sneaking a nap under a sofa sounds pretty fantastic right now.

Remind me what's in the Winter Update?
Worry not, we've got you. After all, it's already been 3 weeks since we first announced the upcoming Winter Update, and not all of us picked Keen Mind during character creation (though I sure wish I did, now where did I put those damn keys again...). So here is a reminder of what you can look forward to:

• An overhaul of the Lighting System, we're going back to the Tabletop Ruleset with no disadvantage in Dim Light and Darkvision working as its name implies.
• A new area and its set of quests, taking place after the Necromancy Main Quest
• The Scavenger System - no more lugging around all the junk you see lying around
• New combat features, such as hiding during combat and applying Poison onto your weapon
• More customization options in Character Creation, and a bit of plastic surgery on some faces
• Inventory and Shopping improvements, hand picked from your suggestions
• Optimization to the Food mechanic, so your party won't end up starving as often

Be prepared, this new location is absolutely gorgeous. Are you ready to enter the Wizard's Tower?

After Necromancy comes... which school again?
We'll talk about the light below, we've been talking non-stop about it these last weeks. What about the new content? Well friends, you're in luck - for I snatched two screenshots to share with you. To avoid spoiling too much, I'll simply show - and not tell.

Spoiler

New monster, coming through!
A new area means new monsters. Today the star of the show is the winner of the February Community Vote, let us give a warm welcome to... the Minotaur!

That's a big boy! You better be prepared, the Minotaur does not joke around.

The Minotaur's Charge, which deals extra piercing damage and can knock you down on a failed Strength Saving Throw.

The Minotaur's Reckless Attack, which grants it advantage on attack rolls in melee combat

Let there be Light, again!
You talked about it, we talked about it - Solasta's Lighting System had quite a few flaws. It wasn't properly explained, meaning a lot of people thought their constant disadvantage was caused by bugs. It was eating into the party's action economy, which was frustrating for some more experienced tabletop players. And to top it off it didn't affect monsters, who happily received a free coupon for a superior darkvision upgrade graciously offered by the MAAA (Monster Association Against Adventurers).

So we went back to the drawing board, and decided that sometimes the best solution is also the simplest - we're reverting the lighting system to the original Tabletop one. For those who may not be familiar with it, this means you will no longer suffer disadvantage to attack rolls while in Dim Light - only Perception Checks will be affected (meaning you're still advised to have a torch out if you don't want to run blindly into traps). Darkvision will also now allow characters to see in non-magical darkness up to a certain range, making it as if it were Dim Light for them (again, it won't help you against traps).

As you may already imagine, this made some encounters quite a lot easier - and some monsters much less scary. In order to rectify that, monsters who specifically relied on the darkness will now get extra bonuses while they remain in the dark. So... you should definitely get some light out, because as a wise adventurer named Zork once said: "It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue". Worry not though, we've added two new cantrips to help with that!

One Goblin, bright and shiny thanks to the new Shine cantrip which lights up an enemy

Light up to three wall sconces at once with the new Sparkle cantrip

For those of you who enjoyed the previous Lighting System, we'll consider adding it back as a difficulty setting. Some people enjoy their dungeons dark. Very Dark. Like, the Darkest of Dungeons (if you never looked at Darkest Dungeon, do yourself a favor and go check it out).

The fun doesn't stop here
There is still plenty of content we're working on for the final 1.0 version that won't be in the Winter Update, but that doesn't mean we can't show it to you! Here is a selection of some of the work our team's been churning out these last few weeks.

Research on armor texture to create magic variant for the Leather Armor (+1 / +2)

Studded Leather Armor Concept Art

Research work on tabards and robes to recognize faction NPCs more easily

Concept Art of a future undisclosed questline. This one is going to be a fun one!

 

[NJClaw]

• Optimization to the Food mechanic, so your party won't end up starving as often

How the fuck do people managed to starve? In all my playthroughs, I bought 8 rations before the first quest and then completely forgot about it, and yet food never became a problem.

Anyways, can't wait to play the new content!

 

[V_K]

I suspect they were doing a long rest after each combat. Otherwise I can't explain it.

 

[Lacrymas]

I'm starting to think Early Access isn't such a good idea.

 

[Nortar]

Sadly, they keep dumbing the game down to the lowest common denominator.
No food management, no light management, because it's too hard.
I also liked the news that a rare magical artifact, required for crafting, will now be sold basically at a grocery stall, because people could not have bothered to check all the merchants in town.

Well, according to one of Murphy's laws - build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will use it.

 

[V_K]

I'm starting to think Early Access isn't such a good idea.

Well, there was too much food in the game in the first place anyway, so it's not like something of value was lost with this change. Just a missed opportunity.

 

[Myzzrym]

Remember that we're mostly doing these changes because there are no difficulty options at the moment. In the final release we'll have some brutal settings for those of you who want some harder challenge.

 

[Spectacle]

I also liked the news that a rare magical artifact, required for crafting, will now be sold basically at a grocery stall, because people could not have bothered to check all the merchants in town.

In my playthrough absolutely none of the vendors sold the Rosary, and it didn't show up as loot anywhere either. So I didn't get to enchant anything. Nice to see this fixed so that players can't randomly get locked out of the enchanting system.

 

[Rafidur]

Tell that to my man Magnus Shalefist

"Morale Item: Dwarven Snuff"

oh no

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Remember that we're mostly doing these changes because there are no difficulty options at the moment. In the final release we'll have some brutal settings for those of you who want some harder challenge.

Blah blah blah when is the Barbarian class due?

 

[Myzzrym]

Blah blah blah when is the Barbarian class due?

WE REQUIRE MORE MINERALS