Fabled Lands News

While autumn started knocking on the door all of a sudden, this week I was focusing on adding more content to the Fabled Lands build.

What can I say, I sure did enjoy gathering some scorpion venom from the corpses of my enemies! ːsteamhappyː

Combat at the moment is at a middle stage. This is the biggest gameplay change from the source material becoming a full grid-based combat instead of one vs one melee combat. The first thing I want to mention for sure is the size of the grid.

The size of the grid is really not that big but I can give you my reasoning behind it. The game is PvM as opposed to controlling a whole party. However, real time combat on the world map with monsters appearing and attacking you just wouldn't fit neither the pacing nor the mood of the game. I decided turn-based was the way to go and I wanted to experiment with a hex-based grid as I have experience in that in one of my previous titles. If the grid is too big you just run away indefinitely and recharge your cooldowns/shoot with a ranged weapon and it becomes quite easy.



The absence of a party really is a challenge for the tactical aspects. So aside from terrain modifiers and obstacles, I decided to play around with spell patterns. I.e. you have to position yourself accordingly to be able to gain maximum utilization of your spells' hex patterns. Add on top of that some passive skills that may adjust the effects depending on how you apply them and I feel it starts to be interesting. There are summoning spells as well like the Wayfarer's animal companion or the Troubadour's illusion. These spells instantly elevate the positioning element of the combat as well.

I will talk a lot more about combat in the future updates with the development of active and passive skills and ranged weapons and ammo and how this would affect the gameplay. My biggest challenge would be the emblematic boss fights and how to turn them into challenging and interesting encounters.

Here it is! Fabled Lands' very own inventory equipment window v.1.0 :) An improvement from the demo earlier this summer, you now have a separation of your backpack and equipped items. This gives the desired increase of inventory space. The rework of the item system from last week enabled me to transition to this classic rpg approach.

When I re-read the rules of the gamebooks I am adapting again I saw that most items that modified your abilities required you to select only one of them, i.e. you have to choose either a Mandolin or a Flute to increase your Charisma rather than both. This is a bit underwhelming if you do right click Equip/Unequip on each item that modifies an ability type and there are 6 of them... So a dedicated equipment slot would be a great solution to the UX impediment.

With my reworked combat system I could also take advantage of the usage of different armor types such as helmets, chest armor, rings, etc. for raw defence boost and shields for blocking.



So this brought up the number of equipped slots to a nice number that can actually serve as a proper RPG mannequin.

And I think that the increased inventory space that way for Adventure Gear, Consumable and Quest items is a big quality of life change as I always struggled after 2 hours of game time what to carry and what to throw on the ground. But most importantly the balance with ability checks is kept mostly intact.

My ultimate desire is when I iterrate on my inventory system next time, I'd add stackable items. There are already items with charges that I haven't properly implemented yet. Also, stackable items would allow me to introduce ammo like arrows and bolts for ranged weapons. Aside from loving the concept myself from purely old-school RPG perspective, ranged weapons are a bit OP at the moment. Having arrows that take up your precious inventory space would really help in that area.

It's already September and what better way to start this month of weekly updates than the hand-drawn fantasy map of Sokara, The War-Thorn Kingdom, the first big area you'll be free to roam in the upcoming game!

Sokara is a country torn apart by civil war. Grieve Marlock, the newly self-appointed Protector General of all Sokara, has overthrown and killed King Corin VII; now the country is divided between those faithful to the revolution, and those still loyal to the heir to the throne - Nergan Corin.

No stone is left unturned as you take on a journey through the War-Torn kingdom. Visit the beautiful cities of Marlock and Yellowport, climb the Coldbleak Mountains or walk to the northern mountain range known as the Spine of Harkun. Knights, monsters, royalty and a smouldering city are just a few pieces to be included in your Fabled Lands cRPG experience.

Some of the quests in this area involve assassinating the king of the rat-men infesting the sewers in the city of Yellowport, looting treasure from the lair of Vayss the Sea Dragon, defeating the Black Dragon Knight in combat to the death and rescuing a trapped god from the summit of Devil's Peak.

Fabled Lands has over 100 items that can help you over the course of your adventures. There are skill checks throughout the game like in your classic DnD RPG and useful items like potions can help you twist any unfavorable odds.

This week I brewed some Potions in Blessed Springs' Alchemy shop :)

I needed to figure out a proper way of adjusting abilities temporarily both outside of combat (in story mode) and inside of combat.

I had already coded buffs/debuffs logic for effects like Poisoned or Immobilized in Combat which I extended to story-based statuses and diseases like Ghoul Bite which reduced several of your character stats until you would find a cure.

However, temporary enhancements of a particular ability with the possibility to stack several potions on top of one another (whether this would remain a feature would be debated) were a bit tricky.

The temp effect would last until an ability check is made. I've implemented something partial to make the task progress, but it still needs some code refactoring to make everything align better with the existing buffs/debuffs logic. When I am happy with the result I'll merge into the main dev branch and make a bulk commit update.

I believe it's finally time to refactor my Items' behavior as well, in particular Consumable items haven't been fleshed out and I've hardcoded some nasty stuff for the healing potion and the poison antidote.

I really, really enjoyed Unity's component-based approach instead of typical hierarchical solution, so I am headed in this direction.

Pondering how to tackle this subject, I turn for guidance to my favorite quote from Dave Morris’s Fabled Lands blog:

The players gather around the table. Even as the Coke cans fizz and the bag of tortilla chips is being popped open, somebody looks at the map and says, ‘I hear there’s an abandoned fortress out on the tidal flats.’

The referee consults the rulebooks. ‘Many claim it’s the stronghold of the legendary hero Hrugga – though that’s surely just a myth.’

Plans are made. Ships bought and outfitted. One of the players has the sea captain skill, and he plots a course. Another considers the supplies the party will need. Soon they’re ready to set out on a new expedition. And all because one of the players happened to spot the symbol for ruins in a corner of the map.

[h2]The roots of Roleplaying Games[/h2]
I love playing Dungeons and Dragons. The jump from gamebooks to pen’n’paper RPGs felt like a natural evolution. In fact, soon I’ll write a blog post on how my close friends and I resurrected the nice tradition of playing DnD regularly and how this helped me as a game dev.

Back in the day the thing that came the closest to an RPG were the Bloodsword gamebooks by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson (subsequently I found Jamie Thomson was involved too). These gamebooks were very different from the ones I had. In each one up to four players could take the role of a character from a predefined set of classes. One could be a stealthy Trickster – a master of dodging techniques and archery or an Enchanter with a list of powerful spells like Mists of Death or Nemesis Bolt. Together they read and made choices, fought on battle grids and advanced the plot. These, alongside The Way of the Tiger gamebooks, were undoubtedly the most epic series of interactive fiction for my generation during the 90s.

[h2]Discovery of the Fabled Lands[/h2]
I was flabbergasted when I discovered later that there is another series by British gamebook authors Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson called Fabled Lands. Turns out it never got translated and published in my country. Not only that, it seemed like, although incomplete, the series spawned some of the most faithful fans who cherished the experience many years later.

I am quite a late bloomer regarding the Fabled Lands. I discovered it when the Kickstarter campaign for book 7 was successfully funded. There was a demo of merely 100-120 sections available for download. I grabbed it and gave it a try. I could hardly do anything with it! Completely open world with loads of choices and not a clue what to do. I got frustrated quickly and threw it away. Couldn’t shake the thought of failing a gamebook though so I gave it another try. Oh, boy was I in for a treat! Progressing within the game was a puzzle on its own. Also, it was full of different quests in a gorgeous setting. I kept retelling the stories of my hero’s adventures to all my friends for a whole week. It felt like sharing a roleplaying session with an amazing DM where the story was up to the player to tell.

I quickly got my hands on the aforementioned book 7, The Serpent King’s Domain, and delved into the mysteries of Ankon-Konu, the Feathered Lands. I explored the ruined Tarshesh, the city of ghosts, and wandered into Elaz Carnaquen, the spirit realm. Walked the trails of the Weeping Jungle, a land rarely seen by foreigners, and faced the wrath of the Serpent King, Namagal.

A ship awaited me to take me to the wondrous lands of Harkuna where my small fortune had to be spent…

[h2]Ahead of its time[/h2]
Fabled Lands feels like a computer game on paper. There is no main arc, no plot to advance. Instead, a full-fledged open world which you can roam freely across six books, each of the books representing a single location. When you reach the high peaks of the mountains in the north of Sokara in book one and, for example, you could find a passage to the other side, you would continue your adventure in the Plains of Howling Darkness in book four.

Exploration brought forward many interesting and sometimes bizarre quests. Like releasing the High King from his frozen tomb. Or a city of ghosts that guards the Shadar's treasure vaults. Even obtaining the secret of immortality which is contained in the ancient evil of Kaschuf the Deathless.

There is also a harsh economy based on valuable local currency, namely Shards, obtained through wise trade of numerous items, lofty maneuverers with the local merchant guilds, stashing goods in your own property, or buying and selling cargo aboard a freshly bought sea vessel.

All this felt truly like what cRPGs offer nowadays.

[h2]Naturally, one thing led to the other…[/h2]
In 2017 I founded Prime Games. I started small, adapting short gamebooks, developing my skills. Fast-forward and its 2019 with the studio having a bit of a portfolio built up. I was getting hungry for a bigger title and eager to finally sit down and create a full-blown RPG.

Over the years I followed Dave Morris’s Fabled Lands blog, learned of the anticipation for a worthy digital representation of their series and plotted (as a true acolyte of the dark lord would do). The day to reach out for the license of their work was upon me!

Plans were made. Plane tickets bought and ships outfitted. One of the players had the founder skill, and he plotted a course to the United Kingdom. Another considered the supplies the party would need. Soon we were ready to set out on a new expedition. And all because one of the players happened to spot the email address of the Fabled Lands’ authors…

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