The voting on our
Steam Greenlight campaign is going great, thank you all for your support.
Our first update is about Character Creation, as Sacred Fire is all about building a strong personality. You need both inner strength and social influence to guide the story into the direction you want.
Character creation is our favorite part in any RPG. However, more often than not, the choices we make in the character creation screen are often inconsequential in the game once we start playing. We want to get this right in Sacred Fire and have put a lot of thought into how choices in the character creation screen will have a profound impact on every story scene and conflict you encounter.
Our character creation and writing supports multiple playstyles, and lets the player gain an edge with either force, smarts, skill, looks or empathy in every situation. These represent the five conflict resolution archetypes you can mix and match to create a unique character and take your own path trough the story.
The inspiration behind this was Fallout 2, where you had many options how to approach a situation, how to solve a quest, how to acquire equipment or firepower. This is what we support in our writing and design: many ways how to gain an edge, get to wealth, fame, love, influence. You chose what winning means and how to get there.
Besides extensive visual customization (10 outfits x 10 faces x 10 hairstyles x 10 paint styles) you can choose valuable appearance traits.
Traits like a “Melodic Voice,” “Fragile Figure” or “Vivid Gestures” make everything you do more memorable. They also evoke specific reactions. For example, “Fragile Figure” evokes the instinct to protect and you are less likely to be perceived as a threat.
Beauty helps you win people over but also evokes envy. Menace helps you intimidate opponents and can prevent them from attacking.
The personality and beliefs model represents a mature and nuanced take on the “good” and “evil” meters seen in some games. The goal is to bring over the pen & paper role-playing experience where a Game Master rewards you for staying in-character.
For example, processing failure is easier if you have a strong belief that there is happiness possible in life. But the same belief makes it harder for you to risk your life. Forgiving is easier if you believe there is goodness in people, but you may be prone to being played.
Believing you have the favor of a divinity can make you both courageous and arrogant. Ideals may be impractical in times of war, but being selfless helps you gain allies.
Mood plays an important role in how effectively your character controls emotions and uses skills and judgment under stress.
Mood depends on stress and comfort. Danger, pain from injuries, relationship conflicts, and traumatic memories can all raise your stress. Comfort and safety comes from powerful allies, a trusted blade in hand, luxury items and strong convictions.
Having a high mood helps you win both combat and story confrontations, as it makes you more resistant to Fear and Anger. On the other hand, stress and discomfort make you prone to Fear and Anger.
Using fighting, healing, crafting, and relationship skills develops both them and the associated Attributes: Agility and Strength, Intellect and Empathy, Beauty and Menace. The more intelligence you have, the faster they progress.
Living through both success and failure creates positive and negative memories. It’s up to you to save up enough willpower to process the negative memories and use them to make you stronger.
Story choices strengthen or weaken your beliefs. The pros and cons of positive and negative beliefs are balanced. The goal is to give the player the possibility to freely express different beliefs and explore their consequences.
Authority expresses the inner strength of your personality. It’s the sum of memories, beliefs, skills, and attributes. Gain enough authority to level-up and:
- Strengthen your willpower
- Choose traits like “6th Sense,” “Unstoppable,” or “Stoic” affecting gameplay
- Unlock ideas that represent your fundamental beliefs like “You Are(Not) on Your Own,” “Things Happens for a(no) Reason,” or “There is(Not) Enough to go Around.”
Please let us know what you think!