Sacred Fire - Rethinking Choices & Consequences

Sacred Fire has reached 50% of its goal on Kickstarter with 16 days remaining. The latest update talks about the games attitude to choices and consequences.

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So let's dive into what we do differently and let's start with the why: while we love many RPGs, from Fallout to Shadowrun Returns to The Witcher, we think RPGs usually have a pacing problem, where story and gameplay do not support each other, but fight each other.

Either the story is good and you want to flip to the next page, but you need to clear another level of monsters first. Or the combat is fun but you cannot wait to click through the dialogues.

What if the game worked differently?
What if gameplay and story supported each other?

Another issue narrative games have is that they present arbitrary challenges to compensate for the fact, that there is no challenge in clicking on dialogue options. So they use writing that misleads players, obscure the consequences and add time limits, or Quick Time Events.

What if the basic interaction with the story would be tactical? We could write better stories and our players could get satisfaction for succeeding in making a tough choice.

So I've just described 2 typical problems I see in RPGs: disconnect between the story and the combat and arbitrary challenges.

Sacred Fire is using a numeric personality model to connect story choices and combat actions and make them support each other:

In addition, we apply the following 4 principles in the design of choices and consequences to solve the two problems I identified above:

You have to earn the right to make a tough call

If a story choice you want to make is out-of-character for the personality you've developed, you need to pass a probability check. To boost your chances you can use willpower points.

As a reward, making a tough choice develops your personality and helps you level up.

Choices shape your character as much as actions

Story choices shape your character's personality and this way indirectly affect his ability to perform at the peak of his ability.

Furthermore inner monologue gives the player's character the ability to interpret and comment on what's happening in the story. What are your thoughts on failure, injustice, or brutality in a scene?

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