Interview Why you should lub Knights of the Chalice

DarkUnderlord · May 11, 2009

Tags: Knights of the Chalice

If an old school turn-based RPG type thing is up your ally, you may want to watch out for Knights of the Chalice. Local Codexian <a href="http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=190">Andhaira interviewed the game's indie developer, Pierre</a>:
 
<blockquote>Knights of the Chalice is a traditional 2D RPG where you create a party of heroes and embark on a series of adventures in a fantasy world. The game features tactical turn-based combat, a good AI and user-friendly interface. It is based on the Open Game Content 3.5 from Wizards of the Coast.
 
[...]
 
5. What games influenced Knights of the Chalice and how did they influence you?
 
 
Mostly two games: Dark Sun Shattered Lands and Temple of Elemental Evil. Dark Sun has a great interface and fast gameplay which I have tried to replicate, and TOEE has the D&D 3.5 ruleset and a superb help system that records the detail of all dice rolls and modifiers.
 
[...]
 
It is firstly about good turn-based combat. This is achieved, hopefully, through the variety of combat situations (as the party may be ambushed, surprised, fighting with allies, etc) and the variety of opponents, magic spells and tactics. All enemies behave as a group and you will not be able to fight them one by one as in the Infinity Engine games. Dragons are my favourite enemy, from time to time they will reposition themselves in order to blast the party with their breath weapon.</blockquote>
 
Zoink.

Wyrmlord · May 11, 2009

Andhaira's interview! Finally!

Wyrmlord · May 11, 2009

The other game genres just aren't as interesting to me. I enjoy empire games like Civilization, but they have a fundamental flaw, in that as your empire expands, you spend more and more time on unimportant micromanagement. That is not the case with cRPGs since you do not control more and more characters as you progress in the game.

I love this man. This is why I like RPGs. As opposed to turn-based strategy games, RPGs are about working with and controlling a smaller and more specialised group of people, and working within their limitations. Turn-based strategy games tend to go more on the bloated side, where you are doing alot for very little benefit.

It is a fairly generic fantasy game world, similar to the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance D&D campaign settings. The game takes place in the Crimson Coast, where scattered humanoid settlements eke out a living under constant threat from slaver gangs, savage giant tribes and scheming dragons. Each of these groups would like nothing more than to take over the world. If they ever join forces, the world will surely descend into barbarism.

I love this man. All you need to know is that there is a fantasy world and there are creatures to kill. The rest is turn-based combat.

It is firstly about good turn-based combat. This is achieved, hopefully, through the variety of combat situations (as the party may be ambushed, surprised, fighting with allies, etc) and the variety of opponents, magic spells and tactics....
This is also a game of exploration. There are no empty areas. You will discover treasure, decipher secret messages, find unexpected allies and trade with them, choose between factions, negotiate with enemies and expose traitors. It is through the actions of the player, and how he copes with combat encounters, that the storyline unfolds.

Fuck yeah, that is how you do it, my good man, that is how you make a real RPG. Knights Of The Chalice looks like it has far more credence as a RPG than all the other LARPing simulators we keep seeing.

THANK YOU, Andhaira, this man knows what RPGs are.

Andhaira · May 11, 2009

A cool thing is that if the game does well enough then Pierre plans to produce a sequel will stuff like additional classes.

Also, combat is looking pretty deep and tactical with nearly all options of D&D 3e. such as ullrushing, readying actions, etc

Darth Roxor · May 11, 2009

Wyrmlord said:
Knights Of The Chalice looks like it has far more credence as a RPG than all the other LARPing simulators we keep seeing.

But it seems to have a story.

Wyrmlord · May 11, 2009

AndhairaX said:
A cool thing is that if the game does well enough then Pierre plans to produce a sequel will stuff like additional classes.

Also, combat is looking pretty deep and tactical with nearly all options of D&D 3e. such as ullrushing, readying actions, etc

I like how you kept the questions as simple and straightforward, and let this man talk about the important stuff as precisely as possible.

And I have to say, this was a good choice of a game to bring to everyone's attention.

Forest Dweller · May 11, 2009

So how much editing did the questions have to undergo?

Too many modern cRPGs deal with combat as if it was a non-essential part of the game that should be over as quickly as possible.

Come again?

Andhaira · May 11, 2009

Wll the mod team added some questions and brushed up the othes somewhat. And yes, an indie dev working on a turnbased tactical rpg needs all the attention we can give him.

A cool thing he's also doing is that the demo will be an entire self contained adventure thats separate fom the main game.

Major_Boobage · May 11, 2009

A decent interview, a bit bland questions though i expected more from you AndhairaX. (no katanas!!!)

I do wonder who is going to buy this game, the gfx are ugly and have 2 many bright colours.I know gfx arent that important but still.

Starwars · May 11, 2009

Not crazy about how the game looks, and some of the comments in the interview. But I do appreciate the clear design behind the game, and if it provides fun combat encounters then I'll definetely buy this.

Good introductory interview, got me interested in the game. Hope he can pull off a good game.

inwoker · May 11, 2009

Pakistan produces productive members.

Luzur · May 11, 2009

*scribbles the name down on his "must buy" list*

Double Ogre · May 11, 2009

All right, say your party was exploring some caves. You find a passage back to the surface and as soon as you emerge into the light of day, you are set upon by gnolls. As the party is surprised, the gnolls get a free round which they use to rain arrows down on the party and get ready versus spellcasting. One of the arrows hits your fighter: a sleep arrow. The fighter fails his saving throw and falls asleep. The cleric uses his turn to wake the fighter up. The wizard tries to activate his fireball wand, but doing so triggers the ready versus spell action of two of the gnolls. The gnolls fire their crossbows at the wizard who then fails to cast his fireball. Another round begins, this time the gnolls launch a charge. Two of them position themselves in order to flank the party's fighter, gaining combat bonuses. The fighter attacks and kills a gnoll outright. He has cleave and gets a free attack on another.

These are typical actions you will take in combat. Your characters and their opponents have a lot of options to choose from, including five foot step, charge, bull rush, grapple, pin, casting a spell, ready versus approach, ready versus spell, delay, counterspell, using the inventory, whirlwind attack, breath weapon, etc. Ready versus spell is maybe the most interesting. An enemy wizard may use it against your wizard, while your wizard could use it against another opponent; and if that opponent casts a spell it will trigger a chain reaction.

Fucking awesome.

getter77 · May 11, 2009

Yep, tis good stuff indeed.

Stereotypical Villain · May 11, 2009

Holy crap, this sounds great. I'm going to buy it, that's for sure.

JarlFrank · May 11, 2009

So when are we going to reveal that most of the questions were made up in the staff forum because Andhaira's were a little silly?

Oh, oooooops...

On the other hand, the interview was Andhaira's idea and we probably wouldn't have done it without him, so yeah, good job dude.

DarkUnderlord · May 11, 2009

Dicksmoker said:
So how much editing did the questions have to undergo?

1. Knights of the Chalice: Game worth playing or not?

7. How many towns, villages, locations etc do characters visit during the course of the game? Which ones are better and why?

8. Pure old-school turn-based combat, an in-depth story or exploration: Which is better and why?

10. The game only allows 3 character choices from Fighter, Wizard or Cleric: Which is better and why?

11. Turn-based vs real-time combat: Which is better and why?

15. Playing the good guy vs playing the bad guy: Which is better and why?

17. Sequels: Are they something you're planning or not?

Actually half the interview is Andhaira's original questions, we mostly just added some.

Fat Dragon · May 11, 2009

That was a great interview. The developer gives you no bullshit, he tells you exactly what the game is about. And I like what it's about: a simple classic-style RPG with tb combat and enjoyable exploration. Will definitely buy.

Wyrmlord · May 11, 2009

Dicksmoker said:
So how much editing did the questions have to undergo?

Too many modern cRPGs deal with combat as if it was a non-essential part of the game that should be over as quickly as possible.

Click to expand...

Come again?

He is saying that RPGs contain combat encounters with a few generic enemies that never require anything more than a few buffs to beat, at most.

Whether or not you are interactive narrative enthusiast, there is never any justification for filler combat situations. Don't you think that if there's going to be something in a game, it should be worthwhile?

If there is money in a game, there should be some element of being careful with it; or it is a dead feature.

mondblut · May 11, 2009

I wish it had more classes and stuff. The more the merrier.

Other than that, it's a dream of a game.

Wyrmlord · May 11, 2009

mondblut said:
I wish it had more classes and stuff. The more the merrier.

Other than that, it's a dream of a game.

I am afraid that the lack of classes will be an enormous detriment.

Unless the game allows multiclassing.

For me, the fun of party RPGs is in mixing as many abilities in 4-6 people as possible. In a four-party game, if you create a party with a Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Thief, Mage/Thief, and Thief/Cleric, you have created a party with two fighters, three thieves, one mage, and two clerics, within just four people. The test of the player is in diversifying the skills of each member, and balancing out each character in the two professions.

However, when you have three classes, and six party members, it becomes painfully easy, where you can just make two all out fighters, two all out mages, and two all out thieves. That's not nearly as fun.

derpherp · May 11, 2009

Indeed, though I'd be much happier if he just added Thief and multiclassing to the current mix. Just Arcane Spellcaster, Divine Spellcaster, and Not-Spellcaster is probably too plain to make tactically interesting encounters IMO.

Gwendo · May 11, 2009

Looking forward for this game. I'm just expecting a TB combat fest, without any pretentions to be more than that.

WhiskeyWolf · May 11, 2009

JarlFrank said:
staff forum

There is a staff forum here?

Elhoim · May 11, 2009

Pretty cool game, I'll definitely play it.

About the graphics, they are nice and charming, but the font kills my eyes. The old was easier to read. Also it would be nice if it had some filtering options like 2xSai and such. Apart from that, I don't really mind the low res (well, except that everything looks a little cramped up).

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