Copper Dreams - Preview and Ruleset Details soon

Silver

Spaceman
Staff Member
Joined
February 13, 2014
Messages
9,312
Location
New Zealand
Whalenought Studios have announced on there website that a Copper Dreams preview will be available February 25th. The ruleset will be pen and paper inspired - details below.

The Candle Burns

On February 25th we are happy to finally unveil our Copper Dreams preview. At that time we will also be starting a series of posts detailing the ruleset and world mechanics we've made that will be used for the game as well as the future Vol campaigns, which to help house their similarities amongst very different campaigns we've decided to name as The Burning Candle ruleset.

Mechanics are designed from aspects of pen and paper we enjoy and thought would synchronize well into various systems that only a computer format can execute on: environmental combat simulations and the use of time on a global and micro level. Time is the focus on a lot of elements, and branches into many of the mechanics we'll be going over.

It's a primarily d8 ruleset that is specifically focused on the adventure part of roleplaying, with an importance on resting and downtime and the repercussions that has throughout. As you progress characters there is less throwing larger and larger piles of dice at opponents and more emphasis on strategic use of items and positioning in an ever dangerous combat mode.

The ruleset encompassed everything from dice rolls, challenge rolls, environmental uses, interactive items, combat, and player management of systems to the implications of the global clock. We're excited to start sharing more on the 25th with our first topic!

Cheers,
Whalenought
More information.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
9,312
Location
New Zealand
I have great expectations for this. SitS was not perfect but showed these people have the right ideas, just need a chance to get it right.
Although I didn't play SitS for more than 5-6 hours I am glad I bought it at full price so to fund their next games which I believe will be better and better.
 
Joined
Oct 3, 2014
Messages
3,819
As Lackblogger likes to remind me, I was pretty harsh in my complaints about SitS, but it did have great rpg mechanics and a wonderfully creative story and world (I played 17 hours, so didn't finish it either). I'm really hoping Whalenought works on their combat and level design, and considers adding a journal. Those were the things that killed their first game for me. There were things that I really liked so I wanted to enjoy it, but couldn't because of other elements.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
2,716
Location
Vienna, Austria
I wanted better combat and more reactivity and quests/options in settlements.
 
Joined
Oct 3, 2014
Messages
3,819
Thanks guys – we know there was room for improvement from Serpent in the Staglands and believe we are addressing that completely with this new system while still playing to our strengths.

From the beginning of development of Copper Dreams and the expansion we knew we wanted to implement a less action focused system with a more environmental focused, low-die tabletop ruleset that would be better suited for our brand of game. It's a very cohesive package that enhances the adventure elements and 3d world movement, we hope and really think anyone who enjoyed our atmosphere and adventure style kind of game will really like the new experience housing it.

and considers adding a journal

From the feedback we've had many fans of Serpent really enjoyed the ability to discover things on their own without a textual or literal compass, which is something that has to be very boolean in implementation. For Copper Dreams however we are introducing a system where a companion in your party can be selected to automatically write down notes post-dialogue or events if the player chooses not to. These are of course unreliable narrators of events and quests, and will be skewing objectives to a companion's backgrounds and goals, but it adds additional importance to who is chosen and a companion's subtle influence on a party.

We'll have more ruleset details in some posts soon, but let us know if you'd like to hear about anything after the preview.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 11, 2015
Messages
22
Wow @ companions writing down journal entries. That is even more work than just having a standard journal/quest progress like in BG game
 
Joined
Oct 3, 2014
Messages
3,819
Sounds good so far. Really hoping for something less combat heavy (i.e., more optional / avoidable encounters) than SitS. I was digging the non-combat portions of Serpents, but there were far too many mobs of enemies to hack through to make it enjoyable... Of course if the combat system is something I enjoy; (i.e. turn-based tactical) that's great too, but I'd prefer less filler / grind overall.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
2,315
Location
PA
Thanks! Hannah and I have only visited Montreal but would like to take a trip to Vancouver soon, we're quite close now after moving to the west coast.

Sounds good so far. Really hoping for something less combat heavy (i.e., more optional / avoidable encounters) than SitS. I was digging the non-combat portions of Serpents, but there were far too many mobs of enemies to hack through to make it enjoyable… Of course if the combat system is something I enjoy; (i.e. turn-based tactical) that's great too, but I'd prefer less filler / grind overall.

The premise of the Burning Candle ruleset is exploring how mechanics can help tell and shape a player's story. Combat is a big part of that, and we also have health and pacing systems surrounding it that are very p&p influenced. Not exactly to the rigidness of Savage Worlds or a D6 Wounds system, but adapted to a crpg format that is still manageable and makes for very tactical encounters and dealing with their aftermath. It's very cohesive with the rest of the adventure-centric package.

After the preview we'll be having a post going more in-depth about the various combat influenced systems, though the first one will predominantly be about the health and rest system.
 
Joined
Apr 11, 2015
Messages
22
Back
Top Bottom