SKALD: Against the Black Priory News

Hello!

As I’m writing this, there are 227 hours, 11 minutes and 23 seconds left until launch. That feels surreal, terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. Just like a good cosmic horror grimdark RPG in other words.



The game in question is, of course, “Skald: Against the Black Priory”. A retro-style roleplaying game releasing May 30th for PC and Mac.

The game will sell for 15 USD with a Deluxe Edition priced at 25 USD. This game is VALUE PACKED in my humble opinion so please consider getting the Deluxe edition.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069160/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory/

We’re keeping it safe and saying the game has a core path of about 15 hours but in reality, every single first run I’ve seen has taken 25+ hours and that’s not mentioning replayability.

[h2]Some New Late-Stage Features[/h2]

In the blood-red rush of caffeine fueled crunch madness I decided to add a few nice little late stage features. Rejoice!

[h3]MERCENARIES[/h3]

Do you want to adventure with the pre-made characters? Or would you rather make every character in the party from scratch? Perhaps a combination of the two?

(oops all the new characters!)

Fear not! The Outer Isles is full of “Mercenaries”: Blank characters that you can hire and customize fully.

Up to 18 characters can be part of your group and you’re free to swap them in and out from the party management screen that you get access to when resting in beds or at inns!

(This game suddenly feels a lot more like murder-hobo pokemon!)

You’re even free to leave all your companions in camp and venture forth alone if you want a bit of an extra challenge.

[h3]THE WEATHERMAIDEN[/h3]

As you set sail across the Outer Isles on the fine ship “Weathermaiden” you can use her as a mobile base of operations.



Sleep, cook, craft, socialize, organize your party, trade and store your loot in style as you plow the steel-gray seas of the Outer Isles!

[h3]ULTIMATE MODE[/h3]

Also known as “Nostalgia Mode”! This is a small one but it’s such a sweet little feature I can’t help but show it off! The Deluxe Edition (amongst many other cool things) allows players to activate the special retro game frame!



This is sure to bring back some fond memories for a lot of you! Did I mention that you should buy the Deluxe edition?

[h3]DELUXE MAP[/h3]

The Deluxe Edition will now come bundled with a high resolution version of the overland map! And don’t worry: We’ll include both a spoilery and a non-spoiler version!



[h3]SOUND EFFECT UPDATE[/h3]

I’ve done a MASSIVE overhaul of the sound effects in the game! Hoooo boy let me tell you it makes all the difference in the world to actually hear those guts spill onto the floor!

I didn’t have time to record footage of it but believe me when I say you’re in for a treat!

[h2]In Closing…[/h2]

I’m planning to showcase the pre-made characters and I should also do another feature-focus on advanced combat stuff. We’ll see what I can squeeze in before launch and during the launch week.

In any case I’m BEYOND excited to show you the game. We’ve been sending keys to content creators and press and word is seeping in that they’re having a lot of fun with it. Are YOU a content creator or a Press person? Get in touch for a key to the game:

[email protected]

[email protected]

See you in 227 hours!

AL

Greetings one and all!

Below is a short summary of pricing and versions for Skald once it launches on May 30th. Note that changes may occur before launch.

Also, see the end of the devlog for some info about the incredible people who made our live-action trailer for us!

[h3]PRICING AND PLATFORMS[/h3]

“Skald: Against the Black Priory” will launch on Steam on 30th May 2024 and will be available for PC and Mac upon launch.

The Standard version of the game will be priced around 15 USD and the Deluxe version will be priced at around 25 USD.



[h3]DELUXE EDITION CONTENT[/h3]

We intend to offer a Deluxe edition of the game that will provide you with a bundle of extra content giving you the option of having a slightly different game experience mechanically speaking. It also comes with the OST and a good handful of cosmetic items.

The Deluxe edition will contain the following items (amongst others):

• The Base Game
  
• A pack of extra character portraits
  
• Unique Dice animations
  
• 3 extra character backgrounds to choose from during character creation.
  
• Malachai, the Magical items merchant: A vendor that is available from the mid game and onward that sells a handful of unique magical items.
  
• Two wallpapers from the game
  
• The OST with 38 (!) tracks
  

We’re constantly looking into more cool stuff to add into the Deluxe edition whilst still making sure it does not detract from the main game. The idea is that it should be a value-packed way of supporting the developer (which buying the deluxe edition greatly does).



[h3]Skald at WASD Live 2024[/h3]

The game is being presented at a WASD Live 2024 in London 25th-27th of April along with a collection of other awesome Raw Fury titles! If you’re in the area and you feel like checking out Skald and its awesome siblings, be sure to visit WASD.



[h3]Trailer Credits[/h3]

Our “Release-Date Announcement Trailer” has been getting amazing feedback from the community and beyond. I’m just so grateful for getting to play a part in making such a cool little piece of retro-inspired media.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The credit for the main action scenes of the trailer however, goes to Swedish media production company NAIVE. What you see here is the result of their incredible craftsmanship and attention to detail.

You’ve blown me away with your amazing work and I can’t thank you enough! Now go give these amazing people all the likes and follows!

NAIVE
Web: naive.se
Instagram: @naive.society

Directed by:
Robin Jonsson, @robijons ( instagram )
Oskar Gullstrand, @o.gullstrand (instagram)

Cinematography:
Simon Rudholm, @simon.rudholm (instagram)

Sound Design:
Jakob Oldenburg @oldenburgsound ( instagram)

VFX:
Oskar Gullstrand
Cecilia Azout

Editing:
Robin Jonsson

To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord and wishlist if you haven’t already!

Cheers


AL

The time is upon us, the Dragon has awoken and the LAUNCH DATE IS REVEALED: “Skald: Against the Black Priory” is launching on May 30th 2024!

Check out our AMAZING Launch Reveal Trailer now!

https://youtu.be/PjVrwMYpejM?si=BxIuFudR536UoysE

Did you see all the amazing hidden references?

Once you're done rewatching, head on over to Steam where Skald is participating in the Lovecraftian Days 2024 Steam event and the #TurnbasedThursday Fest.

We've even UPDATED THE DEMO so you can play the latest iteration of the game TODAY!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069160/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory/

It feels amazing to be this close to sharing Skald with you all! Keep your eyes peeled as we go forwards: We'll be posting frequent updates over the next weeks!

To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord and wishlist on Steam if you haven’t already!

Cheers,

AL

Hi there traveler!

It’s time for another feature highlight! This time, talking about combat rules! This is a big subject but I have to start somewhere, so today we’ll have a look at a few core concepts. Forgive me if this reads a bit like a chapter out of the D&D Player’s Handbook (though I suspect quite a few of you like that).

Some dungeoneering motifs by John Henderson!


In case you’re reading this and don’t know what game we’re talking about, you can start by checking out the SKALD demo on Steam (and don’t forget to wishlist):

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069160/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory/




Combat in Skald is turn-based and takes place on a tile grid. I’m a huge tabletop RPG nerd and there is a strong influence from 3rd edition D&D and beyond (including games like Pathfinder and, of course, 5th edition D&D).

At its core, this means that combat in Skald cares a lot about proper positioning and synergies between party members and their different skill-sets.




Once a combat is triggered, you get to deploy your party. Use this phase to make a plan: Set up charges and flanking. Make sure your spellcasters have good angles of attack and take advantage of the terrain when possible (there’s nothing wrong with a good choke-point).



Characters act in descending order of initiative. Agile, lightly armored characters tend to act earlier in the initiative order. You can view the initiative order using the initiative widget on the left side of the screen at any time.



Note how you can also toggle the “tactical overlay” to superimpose a grid over the battlefield. This makes the characters’ exact position more easy to spot.

Also, you should always try to pay attention to the statistics of your opponents and party members (things like damage resistance are great to know about). Thankfully this is really easy with the popup tooltip system!






A character can move a number of tiles each turn equal to their Combat Moves. These are indicated by the yellow pips on the side of the combat map:



The purple pip(s) indicate the number of attacks a character has. A character can forgo attacking and instead spend their attack action to move one extra tile.

Once a character has attacked, it is no longer possible for them to move (in other words, their turn typically ends after attacking).

Some characters have multiple attacks. You cannot move and attack more than once each turn. So to take advantage of your multiple attacks you must dedicate your entire round to attacking.

Moving out of melee (Disengaging) or swapping places with an ally, consumes all your remaining movement and attacks.





At a very basic level, hitting an opponent comes down to the following:

Attacker rolls 2d6 + relevant skill (Melee Attack or ranged Attack) vs 2d6 + defender’s Dodge skill.

If the attacker rolls equal to or above the defender’s roll, a hit is scored and damage is rolled equal to the weapon’s damage score + relevant modifiers (such as a Strength bonus for Melee Attacks) .

If the defender is wearing armor, part of the incoming damage is absorbed by the armor (a random amount from 0 to the armor’s Soak value).




There are hundreds of spells and abilities that can be used in combat depending on your class and build. Today however, I’ll give a very short overview of some of the basic general tactics that help setting up the game’s positional gameplay.

[h3]CHARGING[/h3]

A charge is executed by moving at least 2 tiles in a straight line before executing a melee attack.



A charge attack gets a bonus on the to-hit roll and the damage roll. This bonus increases the longer you move in a straight line before attacking (Momentum builds up).



Classes of the Warrior archetype tend to have feats that improve their charge attacks.

[h3]FLANKING[/h3]

A flanking attack is performed whenever two attackers stand on opposite sides of the same defender.



Flanked opponents are much easier to hit. They also lose the Dodge bonus derived from using a shield. You can spot a flanked target by looking out for the Flanking icon:



Flanking also ties in to one of the Rogue’s special abilities: Backstabbing. I’ll talk more about backstabbing in a later post, but in short, whenever a Rogue attacks a character that is either defenseless (Paralyzed etc.) or flanked, they automatically perform a Backstabbing attack that deals a lot of extra damage.

So for any party with a Rogue in it, setting up and taking advantage of flanking can result in very rewarding tactical play.


[h3]HOLD ACTION[/h3]

Another easily overlooked but vital feature is the “Hold Action” command. This basically moves the current character to the end of the initiative queue (meaning they act last in the turn order).



This is a lot more powerful than it seems as it allows your characters to act with more synergy. Perhaps your rogue would rather wait to attack until after the magos has blinded their target for them, setting up a sweet Backstab attack?


[h3]PASS AND DEFEND[/h3]

No very exciting but also worth a mention. A character may choose to pass their turn without acting. Typically this is done if a character has no relevant action to take. However, this also gives them a substantial bonus to their Dodge score until their next round.

Consider using this tactically to increase the staying-power of your front line fighters whilst your ranged strikers wear down your foes from the back ranks.




Characters in Skald have two “hit point” reserves: Vitality and Wounds.

Vitality is represented by the green bar under the character portrait. Vitality points are numerous, easily lost and easily regained.



They can be restored using healing potions and spells and losing Vitality has no immediate negative consequences. The problems begin once you lose all your vitality points!

Once all your Vitality is gone, damage is dealt to your Wound points. This represents actual, severe physical damage being done to your character. You have few Wound points and they are much harder to recover. Wounds are represented by the purple bar under your character portrait.



When you take wound damage two things happen:

First you sustain an injury. Injuries (represented by red circles in the character portrait) give severe penalties to your character. They can only be removed by resting fully in a camp.

Secondly, the wounded character must make a Will save or begin to Panic and flee.

Unlike Vitality, lost Wounds can only be recovered by resting. In other words, once you start to get party members with lost Wound points and lots of injuries, it’s time to start looking for a camp site (see last month’s devlog).




[h3]GETTING KNOCKED OUT[/h3]

So what happens when you’re out of both Vitality and Wounds? Well, if you’re a player character you’re lucky: You’re Knocked Out until end of combat. Once combat ends, if at least one character is left standing in the party, all Knocked Out characters wake up with 1 Wound point restored.

The only real downside of getting knocked out in combat is that knocked out characters don’t get their XP share after the fight. This may seem harsh and it might change down the line but I do like a bit of stakes in my combat and I think it works well all in all.


[h3]MORAL[/h3]

Finally, I also alluded to the Panic condition above. This is worth a mention as well as it plays a large part in combat. Whenever something traumatic happens, a character must make a moral check (2d6 + Willpower vs a difficulty number). This can be triggered by:

• Seeing an ally get killed / knocked out
  
• Taking Wound damage
  
• Certain spells and abilities
  

A character who fails their moral check will no longer act during their turn and instead try to flee. There is a chance each subsequent turn that they may regain their composure but needless to say, having your party members rout is VERY dangerous.

Thankfully, Priests and Officers excel at boosting your party’s moral. Also actively trying to erode your opponents will to fight through clever use of spells and maneuvers is an excellent tactic.




I think I’ll leave it here for today. This is such an extensive subject and I’ve only just scratched the surface in this post. Hopefully it gives you a bit of an initial impression though. For a lot of you TTRPG fans out there, you can probably start seeing some of the lineage of the system.

I’ll go more in depth on spellcasting and special abilities etc. at a later point (there’s A LOT to talk about) so stay posted!

Be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord and wishlist on Steam if you haven’t already done so!

Much love,


AL