Erannorth Renaissance News

Hi folks,

Today, we'll dive deeper into "Erannorth Renaissance" and discuss exploration, NPCs, and random encounters. Feel free to skip right into the latest video where I go into greater detail on today's topics, or continue reading!

"Erannorth Renaissance" is a Choose Your Own Adventure game featuring combat and exploration on a hex grid. Besides offering a story-rich experience, it also provides a sandbox environment where players can pursue their own agendas and explore its vast world.

[h2]Fog of War and Exploration[/h2]

The world is now covered in a dark layer of mist that gets lifted as you explore. I felt that knowing the layout beforehand detracted from the feeling of exploration and discovery and also made it extremely easy to avoid hostile warbands. Now, the world gets progressively uncovered as you explore it, and certain tiles can be revealed after learning about their location from an NPC.





[h2]Roving Bands[/h2]

The roving bands are hostile groups of enemies that may appear in adjacent tiles as you explore the world. While some have their own agenda and may not engage with you, others may seek you out and engage in combat. Alternatively, you can proactively engage them. Roving Bands can't follow you into towns, nor will they interrupt you while you are in the middle of a story, as the story itself could have its own encounters to fight. However, be cautious, as they may now be hiding in the fog of war.





[h2]Random NPCs[/h2]

The residential district tiles, which occupy the largest part of towns, are now populated by both scripted NPCs and random NPCs. All their traits are procedurally generated, and the interactions with them are handcrafted but random. So, how does this work? When you visit a tile with random NPCs for the first time, these NPCs are permanently assigned to that tile and become residents. They are also assigned a schedule, making them interactable in said tile during a specific segment of the day.



Before interacting with any of them, they are considered strangers. After you interact with them, they can eventually become enemies, rivals, acquaintances, friends, or even lovers (if they are romanceable by your character and you have romances active). Each of these categories comes with a very large pool of random interactions or activities to engage with these NPCs, so they'll feel unique and alive, and the towns livelier.





The initial interactions with these NPCs are role-playing, and you can choose to be nice to them or not. And there is no correct or wrong way to go about it, as each choice you make will open up different opportunities for interaction with them. Eventually, impressing them will get harder; you'll start seeing events that require using your skills to impress them, go out on dates, ask for their help, and many other things.



Please note that the video below contains minor spoilers from the very early game.

This is a very early alpha build of the game (version 0.4.52), and there's still much work ahead. Many elements, such as art and items, are currently placeholders. Therefore, everything we'll see today may change by the time you get the game in your hands later this year. However, it will provide you with a good idea of what the game is about.

So with no further ado let's dive in!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

That's all for today. if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments below!

Previously in Erannorth Renaissance:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1580800/view/3877099642482485816
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2657930/view/3895114675655345502
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2657930/view/3861338313340151645
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2657930/view/3861338313380396150
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2657930/view/3969427874540995356
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2657930/view/4048242136836762652

Hi folks,

Today, we'll take a first look at Erannorth Renaissance. Erannorth Renaissance is a Choose Your Own Adventure game with combat and exploration taking place on a hex grid. Aside from being a story-rich experience, it also offers a sandbox environment where you can pursue your own agendas and explore its vast world.

This is a very early alpha build of the game (version 0.4.43), and there's still much work ahead. Many elements, such as art and items, are currently placeholders. Therefore, everything we're going to see today may change by the time you get the game in your hands later this year. However, it will provide you with a good idea of what the game is about.

Please note that the video contains minor spoilers from the beginning of the story. While these are details you'll likely discover early on, they are spoilers nonetheless.

So with no further ado let's dive in!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

That's all for today. if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments below!

Previously in Erannorth Renaissance:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1580800/view/3877099642482485816
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2657930/view/3895114675655345502
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2657930/view/3861338313340151645
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2657930/view/3861338313380396150
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2657930/view/3969427874540995356

Hi folks,

It's been a busy month, with a mix of writing stories and implementing various functionalities. The game is shaping up nicely, and we are currently in alpha version 0.4.33. Please note that the screenshots below are from this early build and may change by the time you get your hands on the game later this year.

Today we'll be briefly talking about progression and other ways to improve your hero.

Erannorth Renaissance is a blend of a choose-your-own-adventure and an RPG, allowing players to role-play their character and build a team of unique heroes, each with distinct abilities and perks.

As you progress in the game, whether you stick to the story or explore the vast sandbox world, you will gain experience and levels. With every odd level, your heroes receive 1 Skill Point, and with every even level, 1 Perk Point. These points can be allocated to enhance Skills and Perks respectively.

You can invest your Skill Points (SP) in any skill to create characters as specialized or versatile as you prefer.



Skills in the game, such as Authority, Subterfuge, or Occult, play multiple roles. They are crucial for skill checks during the narrative, allowing you to glean additional information or handle situations in specific ways. Skills also govern certain active abilities, affecting their usability and enhancing aspects like damage and critical chance. Additionally, the sum of your skills in a given attribute determines your rank in that attribute, and skills can act as prerequisites for unlocking certain perks.

The Intimidate ability displayed here requires Coercion 3, which Janus has and can equip.



Perks, conversely, provide more specific bonuses. They can enhance ability effects, offer passive bonuses, or introduce new rules in the form of passive abilities. Together, skills and perks form the foundation of your character's build.

These perks and their effects are currently placeholders; I haven't actually implemented any of them yet, but all the functionality is in place.



Both the skill icons and their parent attributes can serve as filters.



Unlocked perks appear in the list with a checkmark.



Behind the scenes, I have implemented a set of in-game editors that allow me to easily add and edit new perks, among other things, and export them in JSON format.



Character development isn't limited to leveling up. Equipment also plays a crucial role, granting active abilities when worn, as well as passive abilities and bonuses.

Equipment can provide simple bonus actions, basic passive effects, or more complex bonuses.



This Waraxe deals good damage and grants an additional action as a bonus. I can hover over it to preview it if I like. However, Diana can't equip this axe because she lacks Might 3+.



You can fully customize your character's abilities and build through a combination of skills, perks, and gear. How you build your party is entirely up to you.

That's all for now, folks! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments below.

Hi folks,

Happy new year!

Today's development journal will explore the narrative direction of "Erannorth Renaissance." Picture yourself in 1563, traversing the continent of Elos within the lively and mutable realm of Erannorth. In this mystical place, the remnants of a once-advanced civilization set the stage for a world interweaving intrigue with the supernatural.

Erannorth Renaissance is a narrative-rich, choose-your-own-adventure game where your decisions carve out a unique and evolving story with alternate outcomes. However, whether you pick one of the origin characters or customize your own avatar, you are not playing a blank state character.



Each journey will begin from a common starting point, similar to narrative-driven games like The Witcher and Cyberpunk. The initial setup and a few inherent assumptions about your character are crucial to provide a solid foundation for your story, ensuring the narrative follows a clear direction and intent. But at the end of the day, it's still a game and not a novel. Hence, the main effort is to allow you to experience it your way while immersing you in the story, the world, and its characters.

The continent itself is quite large, and our main campaign story won't be set in its entirety.

Early on, you can choose and dive into an expansive sandbox filled with intricate side quests and clandestine tales or follow the main storyline to uncover the continent's most pivotal secrets. This design empowers you to tailor your journey to be as diverse or focused as you wish, with each route revealing distinct experiences and a deeper understanding of the vast world of Elos.

In the world, tiles can contain stories, locations you can enter, NPCs, and activities.



Romance is also a facet of this world, offering relationships with characters with their preferences and stories. You'll have the choice to make these interactions visible or to disable them entirely. While enabled, romance options are optional and marked to avoid pursuing unwanted storylines. You can also set your preferences on which characters to romance. If you engage, these relationships are designed to provide more than companionship, offer fresh insights, and add layers to your understanding of Elos and its denizens.

Don't like romance? That's the only time you'll know it exists—choosing whether to enable it or not.


When the game ships in Early Access much later this year, it will contain the main story from start to finish and several romantic interests, side activities, etc. Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day. Those familiar with my games will know I follow an iterative process of expanding them, which we'll also follow in Erannorth Renaissance.



During Early Access, one of my primary goals will be to enhance the narrative's depth and permutations, as well as add more illustrations to further immerse you in the story and setting. I want you to feel the weight of the most critical decisions and see the ripples your choices create across Elos. So that your journey is more than a series of events but a personal saga you're crafting with every choice you make.



I can't wait to embark on this journey with you and see the stories you'll tell within the ever-evolving world of Erannorth Renaissance.

Looking forward to shaping this narrative world together.

Hi folks,

In this post, we will be discussing combat. Sometimes, you will find yourself in dangerous situations where defending yourself is the only option. As you move around the world map, you will encounter hostile groups that take their turns after each of your moves and may choose to attack you if they are nearby. However, you can avoid them by maintaining a safe distance or pre-emptively attack them using your Skirmish action. While hostile bands cannot attack you in towns, combat may still occur as part of the story narrative.



Combat is also a very high possibility when exploring ruins, caves, dungeons, and other monster-infested places outside the restraints of the narrative. After all, the game does have an open world, too.

Erannorth Renaissance features a different combat system than its predecessors, which takes place on a tight 5x7 hex grid. The enemies and party are represented by hexagonal tokens, with their Luck attribute determining each character's turn order. Combatants can move on the battlefield, use tactics, or delay their turn once per round. The battles will often be brutal, quick, and unforgiving. But death and reloading aren't necessarily the only outcome of defeat.

Also, you won't be alone. You can meet, recruit, and control a party of additional characters besides your main character. All of whom you can build differently.



Each character starts the game with a set of unique actions that they can perform. You can obtain additional actions by earning perks, acquiring equipment, or trading with other characters. But while you can learn multiple actions, only 12 can be used simultaneously. You can unequip any actions you don't like, even if they are part of your equipment. Choosing these 12 actions thoughtfully is crucial since they cannot be altered during combat.

You can use any actions you have equipped at any time. Still, some have cooldowns that do not reset between encounters, demanding thoughtful use of each ability. Additionally, actions have a specific range, and you'll need a "clear line of sight." Obstacles and barrier tiles can block your actions, emphasizing the importance of positioning on the battlefield. Navigating these obstacles is crucial to use your tactics effectively, making each movement a vital decision.



Actions can combine various effects, such as bleeding, poison, stunning, causing fear, dominating enemies to control them, and elemental damage over time. Other actions can heal, strengthen, or protect characters, weaken opponents, or even summon temporary allies with their own set of tactics.

After defeating all enemies, combat transitions to free-roaming mode, where you can search for loot or explore the battlefield and perhaps have a chance to gather resources.

Erannorth Renaissance's combat system offers a mix of tactical depth, strategic planning, and customization. Whether navigating through enemy lines, planning your next move, or building your party, each decision can shape your path to victory.

That's all for now; if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments below.