Bx3 - Blood, Blades & Bounty

[Rudolfus 3]

 

 

 

Greetings community

 

Upon finding this website, I decided to post a little project I've been working on the last week or so in RPG Maker VX Ace. Its an RPG with focus on story telling, and what I've posted here for now is the prologue/demo. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour and a half to play through it depending on how fast you are.

 

Index:

1. Story Overview

2. Characters

3. Screenshots

4. Terms

5. Things to keep in mind

6. Download link

7. Credits

8. Update Log

 

Story Overview:

 

 

Bx3 follows the young warrior Thomas who, after the destruction of his village by local Gnoll tribes, meets a mysterious gypsy woman named Felice. Felice introduces the young man to the Sanguine Raven, a company of sellswords lead by the mysterious Jonathan Alphonse Zelim. With nowhere else to go, Thomas joins the group in hopes of finding a new home. What he gets is a journey through a broken world where betrayal and corruption are the rule to which exceptions are made and death is only one mistake away.

 

The setting is medieval fantasy, with a few steampunk elements. However, the story is also quite dark and in certain ways mature. The world is highly corrupt and unfriendly. There is no single ruling government or even nations, but rather small "kingdoms" or independant cities amidst a lawless wilderniss. Everyone is expected to fend for themselves, the difference between poor and rich it large, and mature topics will be adressed such as murder, betrayal, sex and rape. (Hence the Mature Content banner.)

 

 

 

Characters:

Members of the Sanguine Raven:

 

 

The Sanguine Raven is a mercenary company founded and lead by Mr. Zelim. The company is solely composed of outcasts and misfits. They are well-known among the criminal underworld due to their high succes rate and dedication towards their job. They live in caravans carried by horses with which they journey across the world. Their members are as followed:

 

AN: I've only added the pronounctiation in italic with names that I felt would give an English speaker trouble pronouncing. If any other names require pronounciation, let me know.

 

Jonathan Alphonse Zelim:

Last name: zuh-Leem

Age: 34

Height: 6 ft

Weight: 171 lbs

The enigmatic leader of the Sanguine Raven. He is an incredibly skilled swordsman and has an advanced understanding of many kinds of magic. His past is shrouded in mystery. He is known for his love of money, women, fine whiskey and jazz. Shrewd and manipulative, he hides his more ruthless side beneath the guise of an affable gentleman.

 

Thomas Whittaker:

Age: 20

Height: 5,10 ft

Weight: 153 lbs

A young swordsman from a mountain village destroyed by local Gnoll tribes. While the destruction of his village has left its toll on his psyche, he is still a morally just person. He has a strong sense of justice and honor and a fierce heart. He came to the Sanguine Raven looking for a home.

 

Dahlia Voss:

'Da-leeuh

Age: 26

Height: 5,8 ft

Weight: 126 lbs

A civil war veteran and skilled archer, she is one of the Sanguine Ravens' finest fighters. She is powerful and seasoned, but is loved among the Sanguine Raven for her warm and caring personality towards those she calls her comrades. The is undyingly loyal to her cause and to her friends.

 

Felice Hearne:

fuh-'Lees

Age: 22

Height: 5,6 ft

Weight: 124 lbs

A mysterious gypsy woman. Quiet and intelligent, she sticks to herself. She can come off as cold and serious. This is true to a degree; traumatizing events in her past have caused her to close off her emotions. That being said, she is fiercely protective of those few who she warms up to.

 

Vydan Dukest:

vi-'Dahn

Age: 17

Height: 5,6 ft

Weight: 130 lbs

A clumsy but cheerful thief. A talkative young man with a happy-go-lucky demeanor and a perchance for getting intro trouble. He is intimidated by Mr. Zelim. His happy and clownish disposition hide a broken soul wrecked with guilt.

 

Rattleblade:

Age: 40 at time of “death.â€

Height: 5,11 ft

Weight: 35 lbs

One of the Sanguine Raven's warriors, but also their coachman. A skeleton, Rattleblade was formerly a soldier named Justin. After his wife died of a disease, he began dabbling in forbidden magic trying to bring her back to life. The ritual backfired and he was afflicted with the curse of undeath. He is hardened, but wise and down-to-earth. Known for his dry and sarcastic personality.

 

Harrock:

Age: 412

Height: 6,1 ft

Weight: 200 lbs

A demonic entity stranded in this dimension for reasons he refuses to reveal. Foul-mouthed and hot-headed, he is known for his frequent complains and emotional outbursts. He is distrusting of new members of the Sanguine Raven, but loyal to those who have proven themselves in his eyes. He owns a demonic hound, and has developed a spell to make it appear like an ordinary wolf.

 

Mr. W:

Age: 31

Height: 5,7 ft

Weight: 149 lbs

A mysterious masked individual, he is often regarded as Mr. Zelim's right-hand man. Despite his unstable nature, vicious cruelty and open disdain towards the majority of the Sanguine Raven, Mr. Zelim seems to place a great deal of trust in him. He is skilled in various fields of magic, including Animation Magic.

 

Rooga:

Age: 19

Height: 5,4 ft

Weight: 108 lbs

A disfigured young woman. Her entire body is scarred by terrible burns the origins of which she does not reveal. She is a fortune teller and reserves her voice only for her foresights. Due to her quiet nature, her personality remains a mystery to most of the Sanguine Raven. The accuracy of her foretellings are spot-on.

 

Succubus:

Age: 25

Height: 5,7 ft

Weight: 145 lbs (although she claims to be only 122)

A former prostitute turned to demonology. One of the more outgoing members of the Sanguine Raven. She uses an army of imps to do her bidding. She holds a powerful grudge towards the world for the circumstances she was born in, which eventually gave birth to cruelty. She keeps her real name a secret. A method to put her past life behind her.

 

Gary Helding:

Age: 43

Height: 4,2 ft

Weight:

The opportunistic master of coin of the Sanguine Raven. Gary is a dwarf, and doesn't partake in battles. He manages the Sanguine Raven's finances, counts their loot and looks over their supplies. He is a shrewd bussinessman who places his own well-being above all other things.

 

Alfred:

Age: 55

Height: 7,1 ft

Weight: 286 lbs

A Kylrath of enormous proportion, Alfred can best be described as a “gentle giant.†Unlike most of his kind, he possesses a kind nature and will only resort to violence if needed to. Due to his pacifistic nature, he is usually tasked with guard duties in stead of taking the offense. While gentle, he is rather weak-willed. “Alfred†is actually the name of the first human he encountered. He adopted this name because his Kylrath name could not be pronounced by human tongue.

 

 

 

Screenshots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terms:

 

 

The story contains many unique terms, as well as some terms that are used among other works of fiction but have a slightly different meaning in this story. What follows is a list of such terms in alphabetic order along with a short explanation about their meaning. More will be added over time of development.

 

A- Animation Magic: A brand of magic that is as hard to master as it is powerful. It allows users to animate non-living objects. Necromancy is regarded as a side-branch of Animation Magic. Other common results of Animation Magic are puppets, golems and gargoyles.

 

D – Demon: Collective name for all creatures from another plane of existance.

 

Demonology: A branch of magic that focuses on communicating with different planes of existance, seeking contact with demons and making bargains with them. Harrock, a member of the Sanguine Raven, is a demon that got stuck in this plane of existance.

 

E – Enchantment: A type of spell that binds itself to an object or person, granting them qualities that they wouldn't possess otherwise. There exist a great deal of enchantment spells, some being quite common whereas others being as elusive as the people who perform them.

 

G – Gnoll: A race of humanoids characterised by canine features. Many types of gnoll exist. They are known to live in tribal societies away from human cities. They have short life-spans, but are known to breed quickly. Their tribes typically contain around 200 to 350 gnolls. A few of them have made their way into human society, but are treated like outcasts. Barbaric and savage, they frequently wage wars with Kylrath tribes. Unlike Kylrath, Gnoll tribes are led by a shamanistic matriarch.

 

Gypsy: An ethnic group of people commonly looked down upon by society. Known to practice mysterious kinds of magic. Due to their status as vagabonds, most of them live among the lowest reaches of society.

 

K – Kylrath ('Kil-raf): A race of humanoids known for their barbaric, tribal societies and hostility towards all other creatures. Little is known about their culture as their agressive nature makes studying them a dangerous venture. Their livespan is about twice that of a human. A few of them have made their way into human society, but are treated like outcasts. Tribes are led by an alpha male. They frequently wage wars with Gnoll tribes. Alfred, one of the members of the Sanguine Raven, is a Kylrath, and one of the few of his kind with a gentle heart.

 

N: Necromancy: A branch of Animation Magic that focuses on animating corpses of virtually any being that was once alive.

 

O – Ouraboras Contract: An enchanted contract that binds the signer his life force to the parchment. Signed with his or her own blood, damage to the parchment will result in a burst of unbearable pain whereas destruction will result in the death of the person who signed it. Considered a taboo.

 

 

 

 

Things to keep in mind:

 

 

• I'm not much of a programmer or artist, so theres not much uploaded content. Just the sprites, sounds and commands that came with the game along with a few imported and/or edited faces and imported images for lighting.

• I'm a story teller by heart. The focus of this project isn't on programming or art. That being said, while I appreciate all criticism and opinions about all possible things that could help me approve, I know what I'm good and bad at. Most effort and thought went into story and dialogue.

• I'm not a native English speaker. While I consider myself to be quite skilled at English, grammar might not be as good as if it were written by a native English speaker.

• These dots are on the same line as the following text when I edit, but not when its viewed as a post. Sorry 'bout that.

• Enjoy

 

 

 

Download link:

 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yovwh3wc1blcxv9/UeJKOBuJOm

 

 

 

Credits:

 

 

Enterbrain for providing me with RPG Maker VX Ace and everything that comes with it.

BustedEd for the lighting tutorial as well as the images used for the lighting.

Closet for the face used for Gary

Lunarea for the sprites used for Gary

Yanfly for the combat scripts

Ooga-chaka and Pathos Prime for the awesome logo's

 

 

 

Update Log:

 

 

1.1: - Revamped part of the city, gave the Slums their own map.

       - Added a few NPC's

       - Added the Ace Battle System from Yanfly and added him to the credits.

---

1.2: - Updated the logo (added its creator as well as the creator for my current sig to the credits)

       - Added an overworld map

       - Added a quest log

       - I also adjusted the balance of the battles and lowered the amount of random encounters.  

 

 

Edited March 11, 2014 by Rudolfus

[+ Dark Influence 251]

The download you linked to is for the Game.exe file which is useless without everything else.

 

Open your project in the editor, click File and then click Compress Game Data - Make sure you leave Include RTP Data unchecked as that is more or less unnecessary on this site, make sure you check Create Encrypted Archive if you don't want people opening your project in their editor.

 

Upload the file which is produced from this process and then link to that instead.

 

Edit: Problem has been sorted.

[Rudolfus 3]

Edited, hope it works now.

 

- Small edit: Added some last names to some of the characters. I knew I had forgotten something, lulz..

[+ Dark Influence 251]

Apparently it's still the same download link, did you actually change the link in the OP?

 

Edit: Downloaded again to confirm and it's still the exact same thing as before.

 

Edit 2: All is now well.

[Rudolfus 3]

It seems sendspace was being a pain in the ass, but I think its the correct one now.

[+ Dark Influence 251]

It works fine now, played the game for a bit.

 

The dialogue was somewhat amusing at the start, that skeleton is far more clever than most of the others which makes for an interesting change.

 

The battles were rather repetitive and took up most of the playtime, I would have prefered to go through the story more than random encounters - The frequency of encounters was slightly irritating.

 

Overall from what I've played so far this game has a chance to become something quite interesting, whether or not you can make that happen depends on what you do when creating the game further, I'm interested in seeing where you can take this game so I'm going to follow the thread for a while.

 

Not too bad an attempt, good luck moving forward!

[Rudolfus 3]

Thanks for your thoughts. How far did you get exactly? If you felt that there were many battles, then I assume you at least got to the mansion part, am I correct?

[+ Dark Influence 251]

I got into the mansion but decided to stop there for the time being, I'll probably get back to it later.

 

The battles are mostly pretty easy despite the repetition so there's that at least.

[Rudolfus 3]

I see. I'll spend some time trying to make battles more interesting as well as having less forced encounters where you can't escape from.

[Rudolfus 3]

Some updates:

- Revamped part of the city, gave the Slums their own map.

- Added a few NPC's

- Added the Ace Battle System from Yanfly and added him to the credits.

 

I hope to expand on the battle system soon to make the fights seem more interesting.

[Rudolfus 3]

Some more updates:

 

- Updated the logo (added its creator as well as the creator for my current sig to the credits)

- Added an overworld map

- Added a quest log

- I also adjusted the balance of the battles and lowered the amount of random encounters.  

[+ Dark Influence 251]

So, I finally got back to this game - I did a re-download though I didn't see any differences from before, did you actually upload the updated version or are the changes for the developing full version? - Sorted.

 

Interesting way to end the demo, that's all I'll state about that (Don't want to spoil it for anyone else).

 

Something I missed last time: I'd have thought a skeleton would be immune to poison, it's just bones and it's already dead so how can poison affect it?

[Rudolfus 3]

 

 

I did a re-download though I didn't see any differences from before, did you actually upload the updated version or are the changes for the developing full version?

 

Same kind of problem as your first two posts. I've finally figured out that if I copy a new download link over the old one, it still links to the old download. I had to delete the download link, save the edits and edit again to put in the new link to solve the issue. 

 

All should be well now. 

 

 

Something I missed last time: I'd have thought a skeleton would be immune to poison, it's just bones and it's already dead so how can poison affect it?

 

I hadn't thought about it before, but that makes sense. I'll put it in my next update.