Whalenought Studios' Serpent in the Staglands slipped under a lot of peoples' radars, and that's a crying shame. It's a novel cRPG set in a fascinating gothic fantasy world, inspired by the ahead-of-its-time Darklands—Darklands!—of all things. Not ones to sit on their laurels, the two-person development team is making another cRPG: a "cyberpunk, cybertactical party-based cRPG" no less.
Copper Dreams is a roleplaying game featuring grappling hooks—I think it's important to impart that detail first. Turn-based combat, hacking, stealth and an "open city" also feature. That's definitely a 'throwing money at the screen' type situation. Here's the premise:
"Dumped onto the island world of Calitana, you are one of hundreds drafted to ease the overcrowding that is rapidly miring the citizens of Earth in famine, violence and poverty. Once a beacon of hope, the isolated Calitana quickly devolved from lustrous to disastrous, unable to support its settlers, and overrun with unbridled corruption and lawless syndicates.
"From waterways to rooftops, adaptability on the island means scaling the city heights, be it to avoid syndicate eyes or to explore the depths and secrets within. An isometric, fully 3d world allows for vertical freedom and movement. Traverse through districts by vaulting through windows, grappling hook to decks above, or jumping building to building. There's no way off Calitana, but there are a myriad of ways through it."
Copper Dreams will be heading to Kickstarter soon, but there's a trailer (featuring in-game footage) to whet our whistles in the meantime.
Whalenought has devised a new ruleset for Copper Dreams, and for Staglands' upcoming, free expansion: A Fool's Banquet. There are details of that ruleset here, and of Staglands' expansion here.
