Hello everyone, I haven't posted here in a while as we've been busy working on a playable preview of Sacred Fire. Here’s a short preview of how the Sacred Fire’s combat looks like. The footage is taken from a visual prototype we developed last year. We have recently distributed a playable text-based preview to our Kickstarter backers.
Just to remind you, this is Sacred Fire, a psychological RPG. It's a narrative game in which your goal is to become a leader of your people through self-control, willpower, and influence.
So here's the combat:
You’re a Caledonian warrior and this is the last phase of your attempt to save a child taken by the Roman forces. If the Roman messenger runs away, Rome will know you attacked and will send reinforcements.
If you do not stop the centurion, an injured prisoner will probably die. And since he managed to protect the kidnapped child earlier in the skirmish, you’ll feel guilty. What do you do?
You succeed in stopping the centurion. Your empathy enables you to use his weak spot, pride, against him. If your empathy was lower, you could have thrown an axe at him. A surefire way of getting somebody’s attention.
Now you enter a turn-based combat mode. A riskier move will win you extra renown. Or you can also choose to intimidate or provoke the opponent. Anger could make him drop his guard.
You’re successful and dodge the attack and that really pisses him off (in other words, his anger rises and your attack chances improve).
Now you hit the centurion in a sensitive spot. He doesn’t like that.
So now he attacks, but because he’s angry, he’s stronger but less precise.
You dodge again but the centurion manages to refocus and calm down. But still you gain renown for getting under his skin.
It’s your turn, but you choose to skip an attack and wait for his move.
You dodge, and counterattack.
And you miss… [oh, crap]
The centurion gets lucky and lands a critical hit. [oh, crap]
You are down, but have one last chance to muster the will to get back up.
Where do you attempt to draw your strength from? This choice will have a strong formative effect on your personality, as this is a near death experience.
You managed to remain conscious.
You secretly draw a blade and dodge the final blow. Now you have an opening to strike, what do you do?
You choose to go for the kill.
The centurion is dead. This wins you renown with your people, but now Rome will seek vengeance. And since your Ideals are high, there is also the lingering feeling of Guilt for taking a life.
If you had chosen to let the centurion live, he would have most likely returned to following orders and fighting against you. But in the long run, he could have helped to tip the balance and make Rome consider peace negotiations.
How do you like it?