Development Diary #2 - An Early Update

Since the last Dev Diary I have done a whole host of things. Most if not all of which are laid out below. While the month isn’t over just yet this was getting in my opinion sort of long and unwieldy so I figured why not just post it mid month. Who’s going to stop me?

I created the basic system for Universal Actions. These are the actions that a player can take on their turn no matter what their job or what equipment they have on.

Then I started working on the basics of world exploration and mapping system. It’s still in a very rough outline phase of development.

Started working on the Tower Map, within the minimum viable game there is a Ground Floor to explore with a settlement and ten other levels above it.

Under Mapping I have started to build out the various randomization tables that players will roll on when exploring the world. This includes but is not limited to the Terrain Table, a Water Feature Table, the Regular Weather Phenomena Table, with the sub-tables of Precipitation, Obscuring Weather, Wind Weather Phenomena’s, and Snow Weather Phenomena’s. This could be all of the ones that appear in the minimum viable game but I am not 100% sure just yet. I still need to go in and write the Mechanical Effect these various Phenomena are going to have on gameplay as I do want them to, to some extent even in the minimum viable game. The Terrain Table also includes a Mechanical Benefit as well, which is something to encourage players to visit different types of Terrain.

Decided that Health Points aren’t determined by a characters Class & Job but are instead derived from the characters Species + the Constitution + a characters Equipment

Attack dice stat moved from being part of the character Class & Job system and is instead derived from the piece of Equipment itself.

Figured out the basic information for the Pugilist class. Both the Pugilist and the Archer class still need flavor text written for them.

Character stats are now broken up into Mundane Defense & Magical Defense. All attacks will effect one or the other.

Within in the various Classes & Jobs changed the Physical Defense Score & Magical Defense Score to bonus. This way its in addition to a number that is populated based on a characters Equipment.

Decided against giving the various Classes & Jobs specific Actions that they can take during the various phases. Instead there are just the Class/Job Actions which can be broken down into, does damage to a foe, improves a characters odds during a future stat or skill check, improves a characters action on a future turn, or debuffs a foe. This might change as there might be some exceptions to this but probably not in the minimum viable game version.

Removed the concept of class specific basic equipment. Equipment has tags, tags have requirements based on character stats. Class actions also have TAGS associated with them and accompanying requirements that are based on character stats. I created an appendix within the document to keep track of all the various kinds of tags, as well as gave them a subcategory so I can remember what types of actions can get what tags.

I started to figure out how Job Ascension works. While it will not fully be implemented in the minimum viable game I do want to have a basic set up for how it will go planned out. I want it to be milestone based not EXP based though there is EXP in Ascent of Crystal Tower it is more akin to a form of currency that players can spend on bonuses and benefits.

I gave epithets for the five included base game deities, it adds nothing to the gameplay mechanics right now but it was just a random lore/worldbuilding thing I wanted to do so I did. There was a consideration to have player characters not know the names of all the deities unless they had divine intervention and that might still become a thing for future deities but the base game deities will all be known entities to the players.

Arbitrarily I renamed Althos to Howse because Althos are a type of bug and the vibes felt off. Also wrote in their flavor text description. Changed Nebet’s name to Nabet because I liked the pronunciation better. Added in the flavor text and description for Pryder as well. All of the deities still however need history and culture notes relevant to them and their pantheon. This information may not end up happening during the current phase of game development because it isn’t really needed for the minimum viable game.

I created two variations of armor for the players to wear, mundane and magical. There was consideration to make it Melee vs Ranged but it makes more sense narratively and mechanically to have it be based on if it adds to your Mundane vs Magical defense.

Broke out Ascent of Crystal Towers in game quest lines into 4 acts. Each act has over arching quest that can be done by the player. These quest are broken into quest that pertain to the characters ambitions which is broken down even further in Fame quest for the Inn Keeper, Fame Quest for the Tavern which both will positively impact the players Reputation bringing them closer to completing their Characters Ambition. There are Ancient Artifact quest for the Riches Ambition which if the player finds certain items out in the wilds of the Tower are worth a great deal of money should they choose to get them appraised and even more money if they sell the items. For the Power Ambition there is going to be a Bounty Board/Monster Hunt system that if the player completes the posted mission they will be closer to finishing the necessary requirements of their Ambition. And finally there are the Deity Quest, each one specific to one of the five base game Deities. They will be geared around upholding the Deities Edict and Evangelize their divinity.

Took the game down from having a 4 act structure for the main storyline to a 3 act structure as it is easier to mange for the minimum viable game. The games story while populated by randomized events and tables still includes a main line story focused around each of the four Character Ambitions within the system, because every character has an Ambition. Act 1 will be the set up of the storyline for the various Ambition quest, Act 2 will start off by pitting the player up against something that they probably can not overcome without exceptional good luck cause a set back and then finally in Act 3 they will have progressed far enough in their journey to overcome the obstacle that they previously could not.

When creating random tables each table gets a 3(or 5) letter code + a number to keep track of them and for easy reference to the various tables. Tables can come in increments of 6 (6d6), 10 (2d10), and 20 (2d20)

Added the skill of Identify under the Perception stat for the minimum viable game. I added the skill back into the mix because it is the only skill under the Perception stat and it is a multi purpose skill for several different phase of gameplay.

Added the Communication stat skill of History to the minimum viable game. I am also considering creating a skill called Lore under either Communications or Arcane but am not sure yet if its necessary.

Changed the Base number of Skills that Human characters start with from 5 to 4. This is because I’ve added in a new playable Species to the minimum viable game in the form of the Fae. I wanted the Fae to be a more skilled Species without completely outstripping every other Specie already in the game. This meant rebalancing the number allocation between the 4 Species so that Humans, Gnomes, and Lagomorph are all better at at least one thing than the Fae Species but the Fae are simply well rounded. Raised the Base number of Skills that Lagomorphs have from 3 to 4 in a vague attempt at game balance. This will probably need to be adjusted down the line and definitely adjusted if and when other Species are added.

For the Species of Fae, I determined the two family orders, the Sidhe and the Piskie. Basically big Fae and little Fae. Considering breaking out the Species base Mechanics by Family Order as it seems narratively weird that Sidhe & Piskie as well as Leporidae & Pika have the same numbers given their vast differences. Something to consider.

Introduced the concept of being and creature sizing. There are six variations, Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Gigantic.

Created a Terms & Definitions section of the Appendix for any terms and definitions that will appear in the game. Just an easy way to keep them all together and be easily referenced down the line.