The Ruin of Tyrbas

Well met.

The screen shots look really neat, and story sounds like an exciting adventure. So downloaded, and do not think for a moment of letting me really enjoy this, and then finding out that there will not be a chapter two.

Gracious.

All the skills you have learnt with this one, can not be put in an enormous bag of holding, thrown into a corner, and forgotten. I forbid it.

Thank you for crafting.

—

Phyte: My heart has been locked for longer than I can remember.
Sharwyn: Done, and done.

—

It was pretty darn good! Seems short, and combat was a bit easy and hard, depending. But that may have been due to my tactical choices.

Good writing, interesting dialogs. Good use of cutsacene controls.

(v1.1) I'm standig in the cellar, the tunnel is collapsed behind me and no way out? According to the walkthrough I should meet the wizard again ...

Is this possible to play multiplayer? I guess probably not, but it's not stated explicitly.

Thank you for making and releasing this, Shuruga. Truly excellent work! This is an incredible debut.

The good:

- Excellent and sharp pacing, with just the right amount of very well-made cutscenes.
- Wonderful, well-written narration and dialogue.
- Difficult, adrenaline-packed encounters.
- A surprising amount of choice in expressing nuanced characterization options, even with the specific backstory required.
- A strong storyline, told from a particular and personal point of view.
- A grounded, low fantasy vibe throughout, even with all the fantastical things happening.

Some technical stuff:

- Map pin "MN_Rethus1_Up" in area rethuskeep1 has the default map note text.

- The first trigger in area aminor_cellar glitched on me on one attempt (no idea how to replicate). It didn't seem to impact gameplay progression, but the NPC there should probably have the same conversation on clicking him, since that's what the trigger is doing anyway.

- I found no other bugs. I didn't even notice a single typo, which is either remarkable writing or some damn good editing.

Some more detailed feedback on story and gameplay (spoiler-ish):

- On Hardcore Difficulty, the module is very difficult. It would help to have access to just a few more items (particularly consumables or healing), especially since the module is geared towards martial classes. Those classes have so few tactical options available to them at this level range, so there are very few ways to recover from lucky critical hits by enemies. I played as a heavily armored fighter/rogue (heavy on the fighter levels), and the combats were really difficult even then. I don't think I'd be able to successfully complete the module with a pure-class rogue on Hardcore at all, unless there were more items available. I think I'd recommend Normal Difficulty or even Easy for the best experience, but I personally enjoyed the challenge.

- At some key moments, there are dialogue-style story options on how to proceed. That's awesome! However, in some of those instances, there's no real way of even beginning to ascertain what the consequences of those choices could be. So the options are RP choices more than strategic decisions. That's absolutely fine with me, but I'm not entirely sure if that was the intended effect.

- I purposefully avoided a certain side-quest in the first part of the module. It didn't break anything, and I really appreciate that. A good module is sometimes about having content that the player character purposefully chooses not to interact with. And now I want to play again just to find out what I missed out on!

- It would be cool if there were a few more random items or some other bonuses strewn about. Tactical setbacks can occur if the PC doesn't rush to the right places immediately, and this is hard to do to without knowing exactly where to go on the first playthrough. A few more "exploration bonuses" could maybe work to offset the drawbacks of getting lost or dawdling too much. And some players just love exploring every nook and cranny anyway.

- Loot tables for the monsters could be tweaked. There's no real use for gold or gems in the module (and very limited use for the weapons they drop). But there's immediate use for potions, healing kits and other consumables. And with the amount of spawns appearing in certain areas, those loot bags litter the battlefield. In particular, I think I'd rather have no loot bag than one with gold I can't spend.

- Minor story nitpick: The scenes between journal entries Siege 001 and Siege 003 became something of an odd story beat for me (possibly since I didn't pursue what appeared to be a romance). The story is otherwise so tightly paced and well-structured, so this stuck out to me a little. The PC has already spent a few days wounded in bed and finally recovers. Then he/she needs to rest again in order to proceed after a brief and fairly non-interactive scene. Shouldn't he/she already be very well-rested? I get it if it's about giving the player time to prepare spells after leveling up, but maybe there should be a way to progress that makes more sense for a martial character too. I played as a taciturn man of action, not a sleepy mage or talkative bard, so that particular scene sort of gave me nothing to do between two narratively forced rests in immediate succession.

(spoilers)

- For the sequel, I suggest a narrated time skip and just advancing the storyline to the start of a "final act" if time and energy for module writing gets too limited. Just cut out and summarize the middle part if necessary. The first-person narrative style could lend itself to doing that without the exposition becoming too heavy-handed. There's such a strong sequel hook at the end, so it really does need at least one other installment to cap it off. I'll settle for half the length and half the technical standard if the story was just somehow brought to its intended conclusion, haha.

- Alternatively, you could consider taking out the sequel hook and making just a slightly tweaked ending if you end up having to give up on continuing the story altogether. This module could work perfectly well as a finished story, albeit with an ambiguous ending. The tale of the sergeant who saved the baron's daughter doesn't actually have to lead to the same character finding out how or why Tyrbas fell in the first place. I'm not saying I'd prefer this option to a full-blown series, but this first installment already has a strong story, and I think it can be wrapped up in a satisfactory way.

Great module, lots of good concepts. I really hope you make a part 2, and expand upon the existing concepts while not removing any. This is one i'll be recommending to folks.

Great module, lots of good concepts. I really hope you make a part 2, and expand upon the existing concepts while not removing any. This is one i'll be recommending to folks.

I really loved this module! Nice story, nice pacing, nice roleplaying, etc. I especially liked that at no time did I feel bored... I actually finished the game in one sitting.

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Well thought-out and executed story module. Clearly the intro to a larger work so hopefully you can continue it, Suruga. Played through with a cleric and a fighter. The fighter did well, the cleric was very frustrated. So, I'd say follow the builder's advice and run a fighter!

The combat is interesting and requires some thought. A hack and slash, charge-into-combat approach will not work in most cases, except when it's exactly what you need to do, of course. Getting surrounded is a real risk. The battles are well-balanced for the careful player.

A couple of things I noticed:

• A lot of the story background is given in dialogs, which struck me as a bit awkward in places. Putting them in the quests journal for the player to read at their leisure might be better.
• In the room where PC is rests after getting back to the keep with the baron's daughter following her excursion to the lake, it is possible to click the bed trigger again and rest again. After that, the game gave me a black screen. It was not crash, because I could escape to the menu. Perhaps deactivate the bed after the PC rests as instructed.
• After the conversation with the baron where the PC is asked to escort his daughter to safety, my camera controls were altered. Perhaps there was something left different after the cut scene.

All in in a fun short romp with some interesting battles. Thanks for creating it Shuruga.

Thanks for this very enjoyable adventure! The plot and conversation writing are truly excellent and gave life to the major NPCs. I did not have a problem with the extra details of backstory in the conversation, because it is natural during a conversation to think of things related from the past. Maybe add them to the journal for any who want to refer back to them once that node of the conversation has happened. All the cutscenes worked perfectly, which I know from experience means you invested quite a bit of time into them. Ending on a cliffhanger like that had me yelling "Noooo!" at the monitor. I fervently hope a sequel, and dare I say series, is soon to come. I will be waiting eagerly.

My only suggestion is you may want to mention the module is linear as some may criticize the module if they have allergic reactions to that. And this is not really a suggestion but voicing my personal preference... I love brand-spanking new characters and developing relationships with NPCs through simple 1st level quests. Considering the quality of your writing, I wish there had been some of that in this module.

Bravo! More, please!

One minor thing I remember... after being giving two paths to follow I took one but in exploration circled to the other. I must have stepped into a trigger that basically repeated the conversation that launched when I first arrived in the area. Both triggers are probably one shot, but they need to be tied together, somehow, too.

Wavered between 10/10 and 9/10, really outstanding module, especially for a first effort. Great work on the dialogue choices.

Intriguing story, interesting characters. Looking forward to future mods.

I suffer from loot-itis; carrying everything I find so I cen sell it later for better gear. This could be cured by a mention (in Game Tips, etc) that there are no stores/merchants in this module. I think what you mentioned, not having the random loot drops and putting healing stuff in other places, would work well, too.

I'm an explore so seeing map pins for an armory or other interesting places at the Duke's castle, then finding nothing but locked doors was disappointing. Maybe a sign outside saying, "do not disturb, by duke's orders forging weaapons and armor for army" or soemthing like that.

During the invasion, I was a little unclear as to where to go - exiting to the exterior, it is a new map and took a while to find the stairs down the wall. I thnk I was able to get up to the walls by the gate and actually shoot at invaders at the other side of the wall - that should probably be blocked off.

Then, when enough of the defenders had died and it was time to retreat, had trouble finding the door (don't recall if it was because there was no map pin or it was outside of the "explored" area of the map)

Overall, an enjoyable (but too short, lol) story. Thank you for some fun lunchtime game periods.

Finished this on Dec 8th, I can't wait for a sequel! ;)

Cool little linear adventure.

I was also unsure during the invasion part, had to reload a few times there as i was running around and getting swamped by the horde in the wrong place.

I've been meaning to ask, when starting a game you get a Tyrbas Leather but in the armory there are Bas-Tyr Leather and Tyrbas chainmail, their description states "...the barony of Bas-Tyr." should it not be the Barony of Tyrbas instead?

Also in the Armory, in the weapons chamber, the bastard sword is in the 2H Bladed rack when I believe it should be in the one next to it, called Exotic while the Scimitars in the Exotic should be in the 1H Bladed

I've ran into a game-stopper for me.

After I get knighted and rest at the baronial apartments, I get woken up by the siege.

When I'm ready and get close to the door it transitions me outside but it gets stuck there. I see my character, on the rampart but the GUI never appears, I'm just there, unable to move or see my character stats or inventory or anything else. Pressing Esc doesn't help, I switch full screen to windowed mode etc not sure what's happening but on my first playthrough back earlier this month under version 1.01 I don't recall it bugging there?

Gave this a go after getting EE during the Summer Sale, and I have to say I really liked the concept and execution of it. Sometimes, it's better to not let the player get magical up the wazzo and instead limit their capabilities. It's a short module, more of a prologue, but it generally works well for the Fighter archetype it's meant to be if maybe requiring a bit of a different mindset than you usually expect for a fighter-focused module (especially given how Fighter is so badly limited in terms of skills).

The story is linear, but it also works pretty well as this is very much intended as a short module and there is not much to be gained from wandering in this story. And perhaps my greatest appreciation is the nuance available - no caricatures, you aren't locked to being completely stoic despite the story's preferred lawful alignment, and the dialogue is even able to mention tone which can often be a problem in text-based games.

The setting also has a lot of great potential teases, though I'll admit I think that it might have been beneficial if we got to see more of the barony first since as it is, we never really get to see the people at more than a glimpse. If nothing else, it would help us get an idea of what we were fighting for and might have been good for the interludes when we were getting some R&R.

Well worth playing if only to appreciate the clear effort that went into this.

Some more specific comments:

1) A lot of the soldiers looked like the only had shortswords; while I could get it for the initial skirmish (half of them just got out of bed), it leaves them woefully ill-prepared for the second major battle. IMO I would either swap out their sidearms with a halberd, or give them sword-and-board so they at least look like they're ready for a fight even if they're mostly just going to get swarmed anyways.

2) The combat can get brutal, but this is in great part due to being low level. And well, despite being a Fighter you really do not want to engage in every fight. That said, I do think that the lakeside engagement was a bit too harsh on how fast it eliminated your backup, especially since your escort can end up charging into melee and the player almost certainly won't have enough DPS to keep attention. As advice, grab the little explorable bonuses and be ready to pop a buff when a major fight happens - you need it.

3) I know you said you didn't want to have a loot fest, but it might've been good to at some point let the player get some extra gear and have some choices based on playstyle. For example, an opportunity to upgrade your Splint Armor into proper plate harness, or get a composite bow earlier, or perhaps some potions for buffs or healing. If nothing else, if possible it might be a good idea to try and completely purge the treasure table so that it's only useful things like potions or ammo.

Also, a potential bug: during the major battle (in 1.0.2) at the end my character was invulnerable for it, which lasted to the end of the module. Absolutely not complaining as the retreat didn't trigger when it should have (the left flank wasn't engaged until I tried to run around thinking maybe I missed a fallback out the north gate), but I'll admit without that the final scrap would have been a lot more brutal.

All in all, I'm eager to see where it goes. Maybe next time we'll get to tell the horse "Blutcher!" at the end

A really nice little module. Just finished playing with a Paladin who tried to bite off more than she could chew in the final battle (and got stomped a few times before I learned better). I started at level one and got to level 5 by the end. 

As others have said, this functions more as a prologue to a larger campaign, and it's a campaign I'd love to play. The cutscene near the end hinted to villains behind villains, and a potentially plane-spanning saga in the future. 

But that is (hopefully) to come. This module was linear, with some tough combat for a low level and not wonderfully equipped melee character. Not a tone of loot out there. One good weapon near the end when I got knighted. And a pair of amazing weapons at the very beginning (the Offhand Axe: handaxe +3, 1d6 sonic damange, bonus skill two weapon fighting) hiding in the armory. All I needed was a high enough lore to identify them... (so I cheated a bit and summoned up a potion of lore via the command console)

All in all, a fun module to play as long as you don't mind NOT being overpowered.