KickStarter Vagrus: The Riven Realms - post-apocalyptic fantasy caravan master RPG - now with Sunfire & Moonshadow expansion

[jackofshadows]

Is it really similiar to Sunless Sea?

 

[Whisper]

Why this "Sergorod" looks like evil god?
And whole cities and your own empire serves him. Seems oversight on developers part.

 

[fantadomat]

When is Knowledge coming ? i know Wealth is supposed to come in month or so
but is Knowledge like 3 months 6 months ?

Also whats the crystal protection gear and where i do get it ? i got the anti blindness one and i still die so i suspect its two part gear and i only got one piece.

It is sold in lumen,but you need heat protection thingy,you could get it from the crystalmancer in the same city. You have to do a quest for her,to find a white glowing crystal,it could be located in yg nest up north of the city,you have to fight or sneak for it. It is on the south part of the third blue crystal place up north. You have one blue place next to the city on left,on up north and the third is even upper north. Also you could buy it from devin or what eva the city name is,it is north east from Lumen. It cost 15-17 of the biggest coins.

The problem with Lumen is that its only good one-way. You lose most of your profit when going back

No,there is plenty on return missions. You are just doing buy/sell runs and ignore the faction cargo missions which are the main money income in the game. The trick is to get enough house rep to open up good missions,they make the most money in the game. Also you could always fill your free space with products to sell in the city. Also it is more like a triangle with Arkan or what eva the city name to east of Lumen is. The biggest money pit in the game is supplies,it is poorly made system,you just loose too much supplies and need like a full cargo if you decide to explore or do quests.

 

[fantadomat]

Is it really similiar to Sunless Sea?

Hard question......in way yeah. But i enjoy it a lot more than sunless sea. The stories and lore are more coherent and fleshed out. Also it is a bit faster and not an rogue like. But generally it is very similar.

 

[fantadomat]

Why this "Sergorod" looks like evil god?
And whole cities and your own empire serves him. Seems oversight on developers part.

Don't really know,haven't read the whole codex on the gods,they all call them evil but they look like pretty reasonable gods. That dude just sends me to kill criminals and other scum,the undead god sends me to kill unsanctioned undeads and the demon one asked me to convince some dude to go find its destiny.

 

[Zeriel]

Lumen needs to be part of the Arken loop, or hope there are missions there to TZS I guess. But yea, not great on its own.

Sztaszov Is there anyway to gain rep for factions once they've declined below the 0 level jobs, or is that game over for them once they're past that point?

 

[Zeriel]

Why this "Sergorod" looks like evil god?
And whole cities and your own empire serves him. Seems oversight on developers part.

I hope you're being sarcastic. All the "gods" of the empire are evil gods, that's the whole point of the setting.

 

[Whisper]

Why this "Sergorod" looks like evil god?
And whole cities and your own empire serves him. Seems oversight on developers part.

I hope you're being sarcastic. All the "gods" of the empire are evil gods, that's the whole point of the setting.

This means empire is evil also, the one you are working for.

You are supposed to be hero, right?

 

[Whisper]

1) How are combats, i heard that best way is to avoid them. Even pay to avoid. True?

2) If there big plot underneath, ala Underrail? Which you can be part of.

 

[Saark]

No,there is plenty on return missions. You are just doing buy/sell runs and ignore the faction cargo missions which are the main money income in the game.

Not until you reach higher reputation levels. Until you do, there is only a small number of supply missions from Lumen to Torzaghs/Arken, and they barely cover the cost of supplies, especially if you resupply in Lumen and didn't bring enough from the Shelter yourself (which, in turn, means you'll have less space for cargo missions going to Lumen in the first place).
You can get baited quickly into taking 5-6 missions at once for Lumen, and when you get there it seems like a big payday, but it is largely offset (still profitable, but not nearly as much as it seems) once you get back. The best thing to do is to downsize your caravan in Lumen, take the few missions available there, and go to Arkhen to fetch a bunch of Marble before you go back to Torzaghs. That seems to be the "early game" triangle that is somewhat profitable and lets you build reputation.

Don't skimp on hunting either, a successful hunt with a bunch of scouts can bring 150-250 supply a day. I think the amount of supplies needed is pretty well balanced, as theres a lot of considerations to be done when stocking up for a new route or when exploring. It's worth to take a few more days and stop to scout for higher value spots to hunt or forage without losing vigor, if it means you'll recover 50% or more of supplies every day.

 

[fantadomat]

1) How are combats, i heard that best way is to avoid them. Even pay to avoid. True?

2) If there big plot underneath, ala Underrail? Which you can be part of.

Hmmm later on combat becomes fun,but early it is a mess. Once you have like 50 soldiers you have good time. TB is pretty shit because the no animation doesn't work and the enemy takes long time thinking about its move. Also levelling is connected to quests so you could end up with companions that are level 2 near the end game.

 

[Saark]

Hmmm later on combat becomes fun,but early it is a mess. Once you have like 50 soldiers you have good time. TB is pretty shit because the no animation doesn't work and the enemy takes long time thinking about its move. Also levelling is connected to quests so you could end up with companions that are level 2 near the end game.

Certainly seems better once you can more easily afford to lose a bunch of fighters/slaves as even when you're massively outnumbering people you're likely to lose a handful of units.

Will try a slaver/fighter run sometime soon though, some of the fighting contracts seem really solid and you can make back most of your losses by enslaving the survivors and selling them. Will see how that goes.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Is it really similiar to Sunless Sea?

Yes and not, the combat in sunless sea/skies is done in RL, same as moving between various ports and points of interest. But the feel of game is very similar Vargus is less action oriented cause done entirely in turns and from what I seen from demo I played Vargus setting is more to the ground, grim dark and less weird.

 

[Zeriel]

One thing I don't like about large armed crews is the supplies consumption relative to how much is available in settlements. Even in a major city there is only like 10~ days worth of supply. God only knows how imperial armies keep themselves supplied, apparently a small merc group can completely depopulate the food supply in a large city and still starve a week later.

It's fine when you are just looping between big cities, but when you try to go off the beaten path for more than a week it gets really annoying.

 

[fantadomat]

yeah,the supply system is iffy.

 

[Saark]

Somehow I don't really struggle with sustaining a raiding party as much, but I also heavily invested into Hunting and Survival/Foraging skills. Raiding entire caravans or doing some execute/defend missions, you quickly end up with 30-50 slaves that can haul back fairly large chunks of supplies every rest, as long as you make sure to not waste movement too much. You'll get to your target location slower, but foraging/hunting every day is certainly worth it. These results are with a consumption of ~100, 28 Slaves+5 Scouts, in a fairly fresh run. Once you get more companions and equip a few more survival/hunting skill bonus items, you can self-sustain as long as you use these every rest and stay off of main-roads (as hunting chance on roads is 0%)

 

[Zeriel]

When you have to walk 10-12 days into the wasteland and then back and your daily supply consumption is like 300+ it gets a bit ridiculous. You can counteract this out in the wilds by having tons of scouts to hunt, but that is somewhat RNG--swingy between having streaks of getting nothing for days (which can quickly add up to a deficit of 1,000 supplies) or getting extra. The other problem with that is in the most wastelandy areas there are spots where you can neither hunt or forage, so having all those extra scouts and workers/slaves just is soaking your supplies even more.

The game feels balanced for short expeditions into the wilds, or moving over small stretches of wasteland between cities (i.e going over the desert to Avernum/Larnak), but when certain missions want you to go deep into the wasteland for weeks it becomes a massive headache and I find those merc tasks are reeeeeally not worth the pay when you consider you get paid more upright just for ferrying cargo along the easy roads.

I will say that is all thematic and flavorful and fits the setting, it certainly makes sense why people don't want to go into the wasteland, it just becomes aggravating at times when you do have to go out there.

 

[Saark]

When you have to walk 10-12 days into the wasteland and then back and your daily supply consumption is like 300+ it gets a bit ridiculous. You can counteract this out in the wilds by having tons of scouts to hunt, but that is somewhat RNG--swingy between having streaks of getting nothing for days (which can quickly add up to a deficit of 1,000 supplies) or getting extra. The other problem with that is in the most wastelandy areas there are spots where you can neither hunt or forage, so having all those extra scouts and workers/slaves just is soaking your supplies even more.

The game feels balanced for short expeditions into the wilds, or moving over small stretches of wasteland between cities (i.e going over the desert to Avernum/Larnak), but when certain missions want you to go deep into the wasteland for weeks it becomes a massive headache and I find those merc tasks are reeeeeally not worth the pay when you consider you get paid more upright just for ferrying cargo along the easy roads.

I will say that is all thematic and flavorful and fits the setting, it certainly makes sense why people don't want to go into the wasteland, it just becomes aggravating at times when you do have to go out there.

I guess I just haven't advanced that far yet, at least the early stages seem fairly well balanced, and large slave squadrons can get pretty consistent supply income. Not enough to self-sustain entirely, but certainly good enough to allow for longer travels with 20+ days of no city in sight.

It will probably take a while to get a good balance of caravan size, consumption requirements and self-sustain through raiding or foraging/hunting to make it in the wild, but to me that's part of the charm. Then again, I have only played ~30-40hours so far, so I can see how bad RNG streaks might become a bit aggravating later. Or maybe the additional companions and increases to the skills will make up for it, but I'm looking forward to figuring that out.

But feels good getting results like these when consumption is below 100.

 

[Zeriel]

Well, you won't be going out into the deep wasteland as a new player, yeah. You'll get there eventually. It honestly is not a big deal in terms of "can you do it" or monetary balance, you can just bank up thousands of bross and do whatever you want economically, it is more that some major cities don't even sell half your cargo load full of supplies.

But yeah, you're probably right that it is better this way. The game would lose a lot of the charm it has if it was too easy to go anywhere, I guess the supplies balance is one of the only dials they can push since combat is pretty binary, most difficulty is based on attrition.

 

[Saark]

It's definitely a nice feeling not knowing whether the location you wanna check out will be one you will return from. My current game will probably be fucked because I managed to pick up a contract without reading it properly, and am now -130 with both the loaders and carpenters. Fully expecting to get bumfucked while travelling soon enough. Marauding seems like a higher risk/reward gameplay compared to becoming a bigger trader, but I personally enjoy it a bit more as trading tends to be much more limited by supplies and availability of tradeable resources.

Having a good time so far though, and I can only hope that the possibilities of how to conduct my business in the wasteland will keep growing, and won't just continue being the same gameplay only on a grander scale.

 

[Whisper]

Is there big plot, i.e. some big situation happening? You are taking part in big events, or something.

Or just sand-box with quests/trading like Battle brothers but no clear goal?

Are there hidden lore locations/paths/discoveries?

 

[Harthwain]

Is there big plot, i.e. some big situation happening? You are taking part in big events, or something.

Or just sand-box with quests/trading like Battle brothers but no clear goal?

Are there hidden lore locations/paths/discoveries?

You can check Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue demo. It is both on GOG and Steam.

GOG version: https://af.gog.com/game/vagrus_the_riven_realms_prologue?as=1649904300

 

[Saark]

Keep in mind that the prologue has a stronger narrative to it than the "free play" sandbox mode. There's lot of hidden nooks and crannies to explore, locations to discover, companions to recruit etc. It's still a sandbox so theres no "obvious" goal or main questline, you just fuck around and set your own goals, or ally with one of the many factions and support them as best you can while growing your own trading/raiding empire.

 

[Zeriel]

Eh, I'd say it is more structured than Battle Brothers in terms of storyline. There is lots of "developed" storylines, whereas in Battle Brothers almost the only consistent narrative you have is associated with the endgame crises.

 

[Jinn]

There's lot of hidden nooks and crannies to explore, locations to discover, companions to recruit etc. It's still a sandbox so theres no "obvious" goal or main questline, you just fuck around and set your own goals, or ally with one of the many factions and support them as best you can while growing your own trading/raiding empire.

Well, not necessarily. At it's heart it's a free play sandbox, but there are starting ambitions. The only one that is fully implemented right now is the Renown ambition, but the Wealth ambition will be finished up soon, with a History ambition coming in the near future. These all have an endgame event you must achieve within 10 years in game time - which is a long amount of playtime. So there will eventually be three proper full campaigns in the game. I'm of course playing with the Renown option because that's the fully implemented one at the moment, and also probably the one I would have gone for first to begin with. I've enjoyed the loose structure, and it's been obvious which questlines are geared more towards accomplishing my ultimate goal. My assumption is that after you complete your ultimate ambition, you'll be given a sandbox mode to play in after.

So it's kind of like Battle Brothers with its "endgame" crisis, except you tend to interact with your ambition throughout your entire playthrough, with a concrete accomplishment at the end. Just wanted to emphasize this, because it's not a Kenshi type situation where it's like "well, make your own story up/make up an endpoint for yourself." You could consider the game beat upon completing your ambition.