An open-world, sci-fi/fantasy RPG set on an ocean planet, with a magic system that relies on evasion and persuasion rather than direct combat
***
You're Phillip Cole, a xenologist - or scientist of alien life - sent to investigate the origin of magic on Ur, one of the oldest extrasolar planets in the galaxy. But the surface of this planet is completely submerged in water and covered by superstorms; it's uninhabitable by humans. So your consciousness is irreversibly transferred into the body of one of the sentient, amphibious aliens who live there. You spend the rest of the game exploring the sunken tropics of Ur, home to the ruins of a once-above-water civilization, and investigating the alien societies, which run the gamut from bands, to tribes, to cities.
The gameplay will be unique in that direct combat is totally eschewed, and you dungeon-crawl for spell components, which you can use to craft and augment spells. Spells fall into two classes: evasion and persuasion. Evasion lets you beat levels by sneaking past (and sometimes assassinating) enemies, whereas persuasion lets you walk in through the front door and perhaps even have NPCs hand over the prize. These form two distinct playstyles which can be opposed as well as complementary. The trick, though, is that spells not only transform how you interact with NPCs, but also transform how NPCs interact with each other. Get a warrior into a barfight with the local drunkard at the tavern, and use the distraction to steal something from behind the counter. Make two guards swimming outside the entrance of the dungeon fall in love, and sneak past them when they lean in for their first kiss. Alternatively, become invisible, or disguise yourself as someone else. Etc.
Here's the catch: there are others like you, from other civilizations, sent to find the origin of magic before you do. Race them to the lost city (its abandoned technology is leaking into the ocean, accelerating the evolution of every species on the planet).
Aesthetically, the game would be inspired by art nouveau, which reached its zenith before the horrors of WWI. I think it'd be cool for levels to be populated with sinuous, glassy, blue-green ruins overflowing with coral and water, and for the level design to be fully three-dimensional and combatless. It's sort of like dynamizing the rogue class by re-envisioning it as powered by magic (since there'd be no distinct class or skill system; rather, who you are is what you do).
I got the idea for the game playing Skyrim and finding that every NPC was sort of just standing around waiting to give you a quest. I wished the immersion and exploration were also social. What if you picked up quests by eavesdropping on NPC conversations? What if social interaction were itself a challenge, navigable via a mix of wit and magic? In other words, what if the magic system and reputation system were indissolubly linked? This ties back to the conception of magic as "mana," linked to social status and flowing directly out of the organization of the society.
Link to more AI-generated concept art: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PqhE_XXeCBUWpEukg1tFsFUaxzpmde7n?usp=sharing
Justin S
-
Justin S#2860 (Discord)
-
9/16/2022
view tags
^
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{"owner":{},"game":{"uuid":"a539e5ba-bf8","name":"Sunken Tropics","contact":"Justin S#2860 (Discord)","description":"An open-world, sci-fi/fantasy RPG set on an ocean planet, with a magic system that relies on evasion and persuasion rather than direct combat\n\n***\n\nYou're Phillip Cole, a xenologist - or scientist of alien life - sent to investigate the origin of magic on Ur, one of the oldest extrasolar planets in the galaxy. But the surface of this planet is completely submerged in water and covered by superstorms; it's uninhabitable by humans. So your consciousness is irreversibly transferred into the body of one of the sentient, amphibious aliens who live there. You spend the rest of the game exploring the sunken tropics of Ur, home to the ruins of a once-above-water civilization, and investigating the alien societies, which run the gamut from bands, to tribes, to cities.\n\nThe gameplay will be unique in that direct combat is totally eschewed, and you dungeon-crawl for spell components, which you can use to craft and augment spells. Spells fall into two classes: evasion and persuasion. Evasion lets you beat levels by sneaking past (and sometimes assassinating) enemies, whereas persuasion lets you walk in through the front door and perhaps even have NPCs hand over the prize. These form two distinct playstyles which can be opposed as well as complementary. The trick, though, is that spells not only transform how you interact with NPCs, but also transform how NPCs interact with each other. Get a warrior into a barfight with the local drunkard at the tavern, and use the distraction to steal something from behind the counter. Make two guards swimming outside the entrance of the dungeon fall in love, and sneak past them when they lean in for their first kiss. Alternatively, become invisible, or disguise yourself as someone else. Etc.\n\nHere's the catch: there are others like you, from other civilizations, sent to find the origin of magic before you do. Race them to the lost city (its abandoned technology is leaking into the ocean, accelerating the evolution of every species on the planet).\n\nAesthetically, the game would be inspired by art nouveau, which reached its zenith before the horrors of WWI. I think it'd be cool for levels to be populated with sinuous, glassy, blue-green ruins overflowing with coral and water, and for the level design to be fully three-dimensional and combatless. It's sort of like dynamizing the rogue class by re-envisioning it as powered by magic (since there'd be no distinct class or skill system; rather, who you are is what you do).\n\nI got the idea for the game playing Skyrim and finding that every NPC was sort of just standing around waiting to give you a quest. I wished the immersion and exploration were also social. What if you picked up quests by eavesdropping on NPC conversations? What if social interaction were itself a challenge, navigable via a mix of wit and magic? In other words, what if the magic system and reputation system were indissolubly linked? This ties back to the conception of magic as \"mana,\" linked to social status and flowing directly out of the organization of the society.\n\nLink to more AI-generated concept art: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PqhE_XXeCBUWpEukg1tFsFUaxzpmde7n?usp=sharing","url":"","featured_slug":"d0d3534343062df26713b734fc010e6d","release":0,"_public_reviews":1,"_public_feedback":1,"gsgp_endpoint":"","img_index":"[\"d4821775721c1667f4cb111e91eb130d.png\",\"99283c3c00d9401fe4082661faffedf7.png\",\"98a722d4a70ca33760a676cef0a96b3d.png\",\"807e256b25f3f05fbd060b6abfd3abb5.png\"]","intro_data":"","tags":[{"category_key":2},{"category_key":3},{"category_key":4},{"category_key":116},{"category_key":18},{"category_key":94},{"category_key":26},{"category_key":57},{"category_key":117},{"category_key":124},{"category_key":129},{"category_key":131},{"category_key":130},{"category_key":40},{"category_key":12},{"category_key":19},{"category_key":77},{"category_key":133}],"points":4,"is_MUD":null,"mud_host":"","mud_port":23,"mssp_host":"","developer":"Justin S","stage":null,"team":null,"mssp_data":{},"can_edit":false}}