ANOINTED23, 1/4

January 4, 2023

Three entries so far. Map is going on that first grid for space reasons. I definitely didn't screw up and write Point 1 on Jan 9th already. Ignore that (1) on the map for now. Combat maps for fights go on the grid on the right (they're hexes in the actual game, but the way I have it set up is basically hexes).

So we've got a swamp full of materiel and undying detritus, as per the above idea. The first few entries emphasize that as an intro to the place.

• Monday (1/2), I established a new enemy. ANOINTED has Dregs by default, which are normally fast, easy to kill things (and are unabashed expys of the classic Souls Dreglings). In universe, they're basically the product of desperate attempts at making shock troops at the tail end of a long, bitter war. These are that, but run through the extra grinder of being left here among scavengers and in water: they're half-rotted away. In game this means they're weaker and slower (1 less Health and loses the Dreg's big movement+attack ability) but, crucially, are way more dangerous in swamp areas: they don't care about the swamp depth and gain extra defenses in water. (Right now it's 1, might change that to +Physical Defense = depth if they seem too trivial. They have no Poise so it goes away as soon as they get hit anyway thanks to Stagger.)
• Tuesday (1/3), the first "real" point: (2) the sinkhole's shoreline. (Point 1 is the Sanctuary starting point and like I said, we'll get back there.) This is a good opportunity to "tutorialize" what the deal is with these guys by having them show up in a safe way: so we establish a map where they're crawling out of the swamp water towards you as you arrive on solid ground. There's a lot of them (4 for a solo player, +2 per player past that) but without their extra defense from being in water and without the Dreg's Sprint, it's probably pretty trivial to divide and conquer. You can grab 4 Firebombs after the fight: these are way more helpful when you're knee deep in it and a group of things that aren't terribly strong is swarming (like these enemies, for instance...see the next point). Decrepit walkways go north and west from here - the idea is that it's a very unreliable bridge/boardwalk around and through the sinkhole's center.
• Today/Wednesday (1/4), the second "real" point: (3) the northern walkway in the center of the sinkhole. I'm going by the rough approximation of the Cyclic Generation showcase map for the structure here, so this is the false goal. The walkway theoretically stretches to the "exit" of the area, with a staff stuck in the swamp alongside it halfway down: on approach, the walkway crumbles, leading you to a classic ambush encounter! If you win (or if you do your level best to ignore everything and bum rush the * on that map where the staff is) you can grab a Polished Staff and a Tier 2 short-range rune sorcery, Combustion Sigil - if you're a high Knowledge build or intend to be this is a great find. In either case, you can't continue north afterwards (though once you reach the other side, if you hadn't gotten it yet, you can grab the staff+sigil safely).

Next, we'll go west from (2) and probably introduce another enemy type - most likely the aforementioned scavengers - for variety.

(Read the original on cohost here!)

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