For anyone interested, I thought I would share some updates on our usable items.
Last month I worked on usable items. This was a pretty big task for us. We have several mechanics that are different than most RPGs, and we wanted to make sure our usable items fit with those themes. On top of all the technical requirements, each item needed to have lore to fit into the game. So even a meager 15 items is now several pages of text.
Rift Shard:
Info: An item used to replenish health and mana of every party member. On death your number of usable Rift Shards is restocked. You can increase the number of uses, amount of health, and amount of mana restored through the use of rituals and other items. (aka Estus Flask)
Design Goal: We want to maintain a level of challenge for each encounter. Most games have trash encounters that whittle away at player resources. We want to respect the players time and ability by offering quick high challenge battles instead of a marathon of trash.
This system would break with the use of 99 items, but the player does need access to healing so they can recover between every few battles. So a replenishing healing item is the answer.
Lore:
A jagged crystal created by pure elemental power.
Use to recover some amount of health and mana for your entire party.
A rift is a breach between two realms of existence. These breaches act as open wounds between worlds and these shards act as the scab preventing further damage. Incarnates can use this as a link to their shattered soul and restore themselves and their allies.
There are several rituals that can be completed by an Incarnate to increase the power of Rift Shards.
Purge Pellet
Info: An item used to restore your character at the last Checkpoint. On death a player will lose all of their experience points, but this item can be used instead to escape battle or to warp out of an area. When the player saves and exits the game, one of these items is automatically consumed, unless they are near a checkpoint.
Design Goal: We have no random battles and much fewer battles than other RPGs, so we wanted to limit the players ability to escape those battles. So we attached the ability to this item, and when used it comes with the penalty of moving them to the checkpoint, not just escaping. The player can "use" this item when they are out, but it is actually a forced death and it is treated as such.
So the item acts as Save Game fuel (think type writer tapes in RE) and a safety net for when they hit a hard encounter (think portal scroll in Diablo).
Lore:
A small sphere that reeks of alchemy.
Used by Incarnates to awaken at a familiar rift without losing experience.
When crushed in the mouth, one's blood will boil, their bones will turn to dust, and their mind will melt out of whatever remains. Originally created by the alchemists of <Eastern Land> to offer a quick way out for shadow agents, but the results were so horrific the agents preferred captivity, torture, and a more humane execution.
Black Wine
Info: An item that fully restores all the hit points of a given target.
Design Goal: We wanted some usable items, but they will be rare, so they need to be powerful. I don't want the player to rely on potions to get through hard encounters throughout the game, but they should serve as a way to swing a battle. So we have a single healing item and it fully heals. It is rare to find, expensive to buy, and it takes up a precious inventory slot.
Lore:
A thick, dark fluid cut with a large amount of honey to mask its rotten copper taste.
Fully restore all hit points of a single target.
In most civilized lands, the item is illegal and the punishment for possession is death. In Bravehn, the liquid is legal and a common export. Its creation is one of the most heavily guarded secrets in hell, but is no doubt a vile process. Just to obtain the liquid requires horrible acts and the promise of souls.
Our encounter balance has changed dramatically after giving the player the ability to heal up. For the better, but it results in some trickle down work in re-balancing some of our monsters.
I'm now working on Spells and the combat changes that go along with them.
