The Necromancer's Tale News

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A major focus of the game is gaining the power to raise the dead, through rituals and spells - and then to use them as your personal army. In order to progress, you will need to explore dangerous crypts, dungeons, and wilderness areas - and for this, skeletons and zombies make ideal bodyguards.

As the game continues, you'll gain access to various other magical and undead allies/slaves, including the ghost of an ancient shaman, a reanimated flesh golem, a wight, and some daemons.

The Royal Ball occurs mid-game, at which point the player has solved the murder-mystery focus of the first half of the game, while gaining their fledgling necromantic powers. Their reality is confused now, as they struggle to come to terms with the duality of the mortal realm and the realm of the dead, while building their power in order to exact revenge on the murderer.



In the Royal Ball, the player navigates the complex social circles of 1730s nobility, while having ghosts and demons whispering lies in their ears. The player is trying to gain evidence to prove their father's killer, and narrative choices offer the risk of exposing the player's rising insanity, and having them ejected from the ball or even arrested. The process is framed as a mini-game where Concern, Suspicion, and Stress rise towards crisis levels…



Lord Richard Carnell is a weaselly sycophant, closest adviser to the Baron, and deeply suspicious of the player. He could have critical information, if he can be manipulated the right way.



Lady Agnes Carnell, the cold, enigmatic wife of Richard: stuck in a loveless marriage and harbouring one or two valuable secrets, and a flirtatious nature…



Marija and Stanislav are a couple from the northern provinces of Rulsthen. New money, newly wedded, and irritatingly in love.



The great English writer Alexander Pope is a guest at the Ball, researching his great Essay on Man, as well as a more secretive work. A useful contact and ally, perhaps, if you can stand his pompous language.



Ali Mustafa Pasha is a vizier from the Ottoman Empire, accompanied by his magical servant, a Djinn, who cannot be seen by ordinary mortals but who can see the player and some of their crimes.



The player’s uncle Jervase Van Elstrik, the Baron himself, is a man under pressure and grieving for his brother (your father).



Mirabel Van Elstrik is the player’s aunt, wife of the Baron. A sad woman haunted by her own ghosts.

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In The Necromancer's Tale, a major focus for the player is building up their army of the dead, to protect them when exploring, and eventually to march against their enemies. This involves researching and practicing black magic rituals as well as a variety of spells that can be cast during combat.

Combat itself is turn-based, and involves a potent mix of undead minions and 18th-century "conventional" weapons.

The game uses a (skippable) Interactive Fiction style prologue to set your backstory and skills, and to let you explore the game's lore and history before beginning the main game-play. It's a 10,000-word, fully-voice acted narration.

Watch some footage here, or try it in the demo!

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The game has over 150 unique NPCs, each with their own portrait art and side quests. Partial voice acting is included. In this clip, meet the shifty and suspicious Haelan the herbalist.

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