KickStarter Vampire Syndicate: Gangs of MoonFall

[Tyranicon]

-Me making combat animations by hand-

Ugh, this is like some kind of boutique porn game.

I'm embracing my inner combatfag and I think the new system will be both fun and challenging. I left D&D as a play theory base a long time ago, but I think the philosophy of sticking to tabletop is sound.

The idea is that since it's a video game, Vampire Syndicate should not be bound by the limitations of a pnp game, especially in QoL features.

But, I believe that pnp design has a lot of upsides, especially in the "tightness" of its systems. So I'll be making the combat system one that you can theoretically play on a table.

Also low numbers. My last game got a bit too far into JRPG territory for my liking.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

So, not exactly spoilers, but it won't be revealed until somewhat later in the game.

Neat. I have a few books on vampire folklore and "witches making pacts with the devil to become vampires" go back many centuries.

 

[Tyranicon]

I got bored of doing renders so I made this. It'll be a lore-heavy game if you're into that stuff.

 

[Tyranicon]

Ah, redesigning and recoding my combat system is proving to be every bit as frustrating as I expected. But at least I'm learning more about coding AI systems.

One big change I'll be making is to how hit chance works. I dislike high probability of missing, especially how RNG it can feel at times. So I'm thinking of setting flat rates of 10% miss chance for melee and 20% for ranged attacks. Something you can simulate with a d20. These numbers can also be reduced via the skill tree or cybernetic augments.

To simulate preternatural vampire reflexes and Sandevistan-type bullettime, there will also be evasion skills. And there will be hyperspeed attacks that hit through evasion.

Expect vampire fights to be lightning-fast duels between superhumans.

Speaking of which, Action Points (AP) will be capped depending on a number of things. Since they determine the number of actions you can take per turn/how fast you are, normal unaugmented humans can only go so high. Cyber augments let you stack AP, but so do becoming a vampire. These two paths won't be mutually exclusive, but there will be a point where you choose one or the other.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

One big change I'll be making is to how hit chance works. I dislike high probability of missing, especially how RNG it can feel at times. So I'm thinking of setting flat rates of 10% miss chance for melee and 20% for ranged attacks. Something you can simulate with a d20. These numbers can also be reduced via the skill tree or cybernetic augments.

Assuming we're fielding trained dudes at all times, who are very unlikely to swing badly or shoot too wide in normal conditions, does it make sense to tie the miss probability to the evasion capability of the target instead of fixed 10% and 20%

 

[Dadd]

I got bored of doing renders so I made this. It'll be a lore-heavy game if you're into that stuff.

View attachment 34084

I'd like to learn more about her execution process.

 

[Tao]

Turning a human into a vampire in the setting is also a ritualized process rather than a viral/magic bite, so it's hard to have accidental turnings.

Magic rituals to turn people into vampires? I give you credit for novelty! I haven't seen that done very often even in prose fiction. The only situation I remember off the top of my head is a book about a vampire huntress who underwent the ritual but escaped before the ritual murder step, but she's always at risk of rising as a vampire if she dies. But I can't even remember the title.

Kain in old Blood Omen is the only one i can remember.

 

[Sykar]

I got bored of doing renders so I made this. It'll be a lore-heavy game if you're into that stuff.

View attachment 34084

So in essence, she needed some real private action in her chambers.

 

[Harthwain]

Expect vampire fights to be lightning-fast duels between superhumans.

So what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

 

[Peachcurl]

Expect vampire fights to be lightning-fast duels between superhumans.

So what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

Love, sweet love.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

Why does the art look like fantasy genre when this is a cyberpunk game? Now that I think about it, do these guys have teams of wardrobe and makeup specialists following them around at all times to make sure they look photogenic? Do they wear those impractical costumes all the time or only for photoshoots like real life?

 

[Peachcurl]

I got bored of doing renders so I made this. It'll be a lore-heavy game if you're into that stuff.

View attachment 34084

btw. this reminds me of that Queen of the Damned movie. Not a great vampire movie, though it had decent music.

 

[Tyranicon]

One big change I'll be making is to how hit chance works. I dislike high probability of missing, especially how RNG it can feel at times. So I'm thinking of setting flat rates of 10% miss chance for melee and 20% for ranged attacks. Something you can simulate with a d20. These numbers can also be reduced via the skill tree or cybernetic augments.

Assuming we're fielding trained dudes at all times, who are very unlikely to swing badly or shoot too wide in normal conditions, does it make sense to tie the miss probability to the evasion capability of the target instead of fixed 10% and 20%

There won't be an evasion stat, so there's nothing to compare to. My previous game had an evasion stat, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided it was an inelegant way to simulate hit/miss.

What I have in mind is for evasion to be an active skill, not passive.

Also yes, all recruitable party members, preset or custom, start at least being competent at combat. As they progress, they will eventually reach a point where they land 100% of their attacks on regular enemies, barring protective skills.

This is to reflect the close-quarters nature of combat (not sniping distances), augments, and superior combat prowess.

I got bored of doing renders so I made this. It'll be a lore-heavy game if you're into that stuff.

View attachment 34084

I'd like to learn more about her execution process.

It'll probably be in the game once I make shit up.

Expect vampire fights to be lightning-fast duels between superhumans.

So what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

There won't be too many layers of "chase." A target can use an evasive skill, and their opponent can use hyperspeed attack (name not final) to catch them. That's it.

Why does the art look like fantasy genre when this is a cyberpunk game? Now that I think about it, do these guys have teams of wardrobe and makeup specialists following them around at all times to make sure they look photogenic? Do they wear those impractical costumes all the time or only for photoshoots like real life?

It's cyberpunk fantasy, same genre as Shadowrun. Also a lot of the art depicts events from the past, since vampires are long-lived, and they have history yada yada.

Vampires in the setting have an innate power of glamor, which allows them to change their appearance on the fly. How much they can change depends on their general strength level (in-game as Sanguinity).

As is tradition, older vampires are stronger due to a number of reasons.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

Vampires in the setting have an innate power of glamor, which allows them to change their appearance on the fly. How much they can change depends on their general strength level (in-game as Sanguinity).

So they can conjure wardrobes like in Ron Dee's Dusk or The Hunger episode "A Matter of Style"? Both of those have vampires conjuring whole wardrobes, and the latter has them conjuring entire cars. Yes, cars.

 

[Tyranicon]

Vampires in the setting have an innate power of glamor, which allows them to change their appearance on the fly. How much they can change depends on their general strength level (in-game as Sanguinity).

So they can conjure wardrobes like in Ron Dee's Dusk or The Hunger episode "A Matter of Style"? Both of those have vampires conjuring whole wardrobes, and the latter has them conjuring entire cars. Yes, cars.

I'll probably restrict it to just their bodily appearance. There will be "old school magic" that doesn't make sense logically, but conjuring cars is stretching it for what I need it for.

 

[Tyranicon]

Most of the basic combat system is done. The heavy lifting of breaking down the engine's hard-coded formulas is more or less complete.

It's a system that most of you will be very familiar with, although it does have a few surprises at high levels.

Damage scaling will be primarily off Attributes:

But there will be other ways to increase damage output.


The Attributes remain:

Athleticism (ATH)
Perception (PER)
Willpower (WIL)
Intellect (INT)
Sangunity (SAN)


Sanguinity is the Vampire stat and will be locked unless/until you choose to turn.

I'm thinking of capping them at 20. 5 is the baseline/average for humans in all stats. 10 is about the limit for regular humans, going over 10 is beyond what regular, unaugmented humans are capable of.

That should give you an idea of what the late game encounters are going to be like.

Primary combat resources will be basics like HP, AP and a unified resource pool that I'm simply calling Reserve Points for now.

I originally planned for cooldowns, but I think that's an inelegant/clumsy solution so I'll be removing them.

 

[WhiteShark]

I originally planned for cooldowns, but I think that's an inelegant/clumsy solution so I'll be removing them.

I think cooldowns can work but it should be for a specific type of ability, not universal. Instead of an arbitrary 'cooldown' mechnanic, an overheat mechanic that actually requires your character to cool down before reuse. May be appropriate for cybernetics pushing the body to its limit.

Also, I've been wondering this for a while now: why the switch to 3D(PD)?

 

[Tyranicon]

I originally planned for cooldowns, but I think that's an inelegant/clumsy solution so I'll be removing them.

I think cooldowns can work but it should be for a specific type of ability, not universal. Instead of an arbitrary 'cooldown' mechnanic, an overheat mechanic that actually requires your character to cool down before reuse. May be appropriate for cybernetics pushing the body to its limit.

Also, I've been wondering this for a while now: why the switch to 3D(PD)?

Maybe I'll play around with it more, but I think I'll keep it simple for now. There's plenty of time for experimentation later.

What do you mean by

3D(PD)?

 

[Norfleet]

Also, I've been wondering this for a while now: why the switch to 3D(PD)?

Obviously an attempt to avoid banishment back to Weeb Jail like his previous game.

 

[WhiteShark]

What do you mean by

3D(PD)?

3DPD is a meme about the superiority of 2D. It stands for '3D Pig Disgusting'. Originally it's about anime women vs real (3D) women, so I put the PD in parentheses since your 3D art style isn't real/photographic but it is nevertheless 3D.

 

[Tyranicon]

What do you mean by

3D(PD)?

3DPD is a meme about the superiority of 2D. It stands for '3D Pig Disgusting'. Originally it's about anime women vs real (3D) women, so I put the PD in parentheses since your 3D art style isn't real/photographic but it is nevertheless 3D.

Ah I thought it was that meme thing.

There's a few reasons, and they're mostly business related.

1. There's still going to be animesque art

2. The rest of the game is going to be rendered in 3d and it fits the aesthetic

3. 3d renders are easier for me to work with

4. Readily available assets instead of custom commissions mean they're cheaper

5. So I can make more of them

6. Surviving off crackers and ketchup isn't super fun

 

[NecroLord]

Athleticism (ATH)

Basically Strength + Dex and Con?
Affects melee damage and other physical endeavors?

 

[EvilWolf]

Athleticism (ATH)

Basically Strength + Dex and Con?
Affects melee damage and other physical endeavors?

I would react with excitement, but I feel it's overplayed at this point.

 

[Tyranicon]

Athleticism (ATH)

Basically Strength + Dex and Con?
Affects melee damage and other physical endeavors?

Basically, although I may rename it since it's also the intimidation attribute. Something like Physicality maybe, dunno.

My system will be different than D&D though, and I think in many ways I'm building this to change things from mechanics in TTRPGs that irk me.

 

[santino27]

Everything looks good still. Please ignore the insane people on F95 hoping you'll include whatever their kink du'jour is.