The Skald RPG Devlog

Strum your lutes RPG-fans!

A new major update is out: The Bard class, Steam Deck and controller support, more art, new portraits, raised level-cap and the list goes on (see full version notes at the end of this post).

We’re participating in the Steam Turn-Based RPG Fest this week (starting late September 30). This means we’re going on sale with 25% off both the main game and the Reinforcement pack!

Skald was already value-packed but this is just next level. Buy the game for yourself or as a gift and be sure to take the opportunity to upgrade to the Deluxe edition if you’ve not already done so!

The Update

I’m pretty happy to finally get the bard in there. It was one of the most frequently requested new features of the game and I agree that it really felt like something was missing without it. The class is a Rogue subtype that comes with its own, custom magic-school. They even play their lute while casting spells.

And did I mention that we added a good handful of new backgrounds as well?

And in case you’re tired of looking at the same old faces, we also added 11 new portraits for you to select! Huzza!

In addition to adding new portraits, we also took the opportunity to add a bunch of missing illustrations to the game. These are all by MechaBarbarian and I probably don’t need to tell you, they are stunning. Can you find them all?

This one was another frequently requested matter: Full controller and Steam Deck support! We even got the green checkmark from Valve telling you we’re Steam Deck supported.

All in all, I’m super happy with how the game plays using controllers. There’s still a handful of minor idiosyncrasies but RPGs are complicated and there are only so many buttons! I’m sure we’ll iron it out by the next update.

What’s Next?

We’re aiming for a new major update around Christmas. I can’t say too much about it but it’s sure to make a lot of you happy and to keep you entertained for a long time. More info to follow.

I would also like to ensure all the crowdfunding backers who still have outstanding rewards that you’ll be getting more info on this soon. There’s a lot of moving pieces and I just need to be sure not to screw this one up. More info to follow (I promise).

So, what are all the “moving pieces”? Well I can’t really say anything other than that I’m lining up the next project for High North Studios. Sadly, it’ll be some time before I can tell you what it is, but I’ll say this much: If you liked Skald, you’ll LOVE this (some of you might even lose your shit when you hear what it is). More info to follow!

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Ok, that’s it for now! To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord if you haven’t already!

Cheers!

 

AL

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Version Notes

FEATURES
– There are now a good number of different CRT-filters to choose from
– The game now natively supports controller play on PC and Steam Deck
– You may now use the mouse-wheel to scroll while mousing over menus and text fields
– The game’s playability on Steam Deck has been vastly improved
– You can now use the move-buttons / left joystick to deploy party members in the pre-combat party placement state (until now you’ve had to use the mouse).
– Pressing the “Swap Character” button (‘Q’ / RIGHT BUMPER) in combat, cycles through available targets
– Character level cap is raised to 25
– Certain enemies in the late game will now scale past level 20 making the end-game slightly more difficult
– Added new Bard class. This includes a new school of spells.
– Added new Backgrounds: Entertainer, Laborer, Monastic, Nomad, Snake-Cultist
– Fixed a bug where Horryn Guards roam around after you retake the city

ART
– Added a dozen new illustrations
– Added 10 new player portraits

MISC
– Fixed typos
– Improved font readability slightly
– Song of soothing now heals less HP
– Circle of Healing now heals more HP
– In general, all healing effects now heal a bit more on average

Greetings all!

As summer rolls into fall, it’s time for a sign of life!

First of all, I’ve been a bit quiet over the summer as I’ve taken the time to rest and recover post-launch. Skald took a lot out of me and I was pretty burned out by the end. Thankfully, the game has been a success so it’s been worth it.

However, I have indeed been fully back to work now for a few weeks and things are moving ahead with a new update!

I’ll release more details as we get closer but as a little sneak-peak, I can tell you that I’m doing a huge lift for controller and Steam Deck play!

We’re also adding a good handful of bug-fixes and minor features as well as adding in some character options, portraits and a dozen illustrations that we didn’t have time to get in there before launch.

This update will drop at the end of September (and a week earlier on the experimental branch so stay posted)!

Beyond that, the road-map for the rest of the year is pretty much laid and there is some really cool stuff coming up that I can’t wait to share with you! But one thing at the time…

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To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord if you haven’t already!

Cheers!

 

AL

 

 

Hi there!

We’ve set up an Experimental Branch on Steam for PC. The purpose of this branch is to post builds and updates there for live testing before we make official updates! This is SUPER helpful to us as we are small team and there is no substitute for high volume testing!

We’ll be looking into adding Mac and doing it for GOG as well but one step at the time!

To join the branch:

• Turn off steam cloud saves. Right click on the game and choose properties, then go to General and unclick the steam cloud saves.
• Back up their save data. Found at “C:\Users\USER\AppData\LocalLow\High North Studios\SKALD_ Against the Black Priory\SaveFiles” copy the SaveFiles folder and put it on the desktop for example.
• Go back to steam, right click on Skald and select Properties. Select tab Betas. Type in the pass: experimental and hit the button Check Code. Now select the branch from the drop down list.
• Enter password: “ experimental”
• Restart steam to trigger steam client to download the update
• Please note that going back and forth between the Default and Experimental branch could POTENTIALLY cause issues with save files though we’re of course doing everything we can to avoid that.

Any feedback from playing on the Experimental branch should be reported to the feedback_experimental_branch sub-channel on the Discord.

See you in the Outer Isles!

AL

What a week! Skald went live to sterling reviews from both audience and press! I’ve been working around the clock since then trying to onboard new community members, staying on top of social media and preparing todays Update (Version 1.0.4c). More info below!

Yesterday, we broke 500 reviews on Steam and we’re now “Overwhelmingly Positive”! As the name implies, I’m overwhelmed! Thank you to everyone who’s left a review – It means the world to me.

Due to the amazing momentum we’ve been building since launch, we’ve agreed to extend the launch discount until June 13th. So if you have this game wishlisted, consider picking it up before the summer starts (to help you keep out of the sun)!

Got Bugs?

Do you have bugs?

Discord is by far my favorite community and it’s thriving and very helpful. We have FAQs there as well as a helpdesk and channels dedicated to feedback. If you have very serious bugs that stop you from playing the game, reach out to me personally in a DM in the Discord @SkaldRPG.

We also patrol Steam and GOG forums constantly so feel free to leave questions there.

Finally, please consider reporting to the Raw Fury customer support desk. All tickets there also get consolidated and sent to me.

Version 1.0.4c Drops Today!

As I said, I’m working double time to patch bugs and act on feedback. I’ve also fixed more typos than I thought humanly possible. V. 1.0.4c drops today and is the first in a series of updates intended to consolidate the game after launch. We’ll keep a rapid cadence for now with no more than 2d7 days between updates.

Version notes at the end of this post to avoid spoilers

Experimental Branch

We’ve added an experimental branch for Steam – PC. We’ll be uploading new builds here about a week in advance of the Default branch and I sure would love to have your help in testing it! To join it, read this!

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Thank you all so far! Want a sequel? Spread the word about this awesome little cult-game and consider leaving a review!

Have a great day!

 

Anders

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Version Notes (Spoilers)

=== Version 1.0.4a-c ===

FEATURES: The life-length of combat pop-ups can be adjusted under Settings -> Gameplay -> Combat Pop-Up Length [Needs Testing]

FEATURES: Whether to give XP to downed characters after combat is now a setting in Settings -> Difficulty -> “XP For Downed Characters”. It is now set to “Enabled” for all difficulties except High.

FEATURES: The recipes listed under and ingredients “Use in” entry are now hyperlinked.

FEATURES: When selecting new spells, you can see all the spells in the relevant school. The spells that are currently locked are marked with a gray padlock.

FEATURES: Feats that increases the tier of a spell school now lists all spell available to that school

 

MISC: Added some error checking to achievement setting 

MISC: Fixed about 150 typos

MISC: Slightly improved mouse interactions with multi-tile prop hitboxes.

MISC: Made it so that spell aptitude increases both the min and max value of the damage / healing output.

MISC: Further worked on improving performance and limiting FPS-drops

MISC: Versioning no longer says pre-launch

MISC: Made the breath-holding puzzle under the lighthouse easier by adding 1 turn to the breath holding duration

MISC: Increased the Vitality provided by heal effects.

MISC: I made the ground tiled darker to improve readability and reduce bleeding.

MISC: Removed a few unnecessary uses of the “C-word”

 

BUG: Pressing the button ‘2’ while naming saves caused the dialogue window to close.

BUG: The Steam Cloud file was visible in the save folder 

BUG: Dropping items on tiles like open doors or on tiles with hidden script triggers did not cause the “bag” icon to show.

BUG: Hospitallers could not use heavy armor

BUG: Some players had the game start fine and then made a save and quit. Upon starting again the game would hang after the logo reveal – before the menus loaded in.

BUG: Ilya in Firgol had “Hound” set as her race.

BUG: The issue with the two guards in the cellar under Oleg’s house should not be less pronounced

BUG: Some props (like trapdoors) were missing labels (names)

BUG: Tried again to fix item weight bug

BUG: Circle of mental restoration stunned targets

BUG: There was a formatting issue in the credits menu with the Raw Fury names (the tabulation was too big)

BUG: Selecting a new character with a potential level up while in the Feat screen did not trigger the level up pop-up 

BUG: Certain equipable items (jewelry) would be tagged as stackable and equipping them would cause the entire stack to be equipped. These stacks should now be split up upon loading as non-equippable item can be tagged as stackable.

BUG: In some very narrow cases, if Iago was somehow knocked out in the Father fight, he would occasionally NOT spawn in the sea-cave after leaving the party.

BUG: Fixed a bug where the crafting station in the brewery in Firgol was boxed in.

“Skald: Against the Black Priory” is now out on Steam and GOG!

The game is a retro-style party-based RPG set in a grim-dark fantasy world of tragic heroes, violent deaths and Lovecraftian horror.

 

 

The game sells for 15 USD for the Standard Edition or 25 USD for the Deluxe Edition. There will be a launch discount of 10% so get it while it’s fresh!

If you want to give this project a little extra boost, there’s nothing that helps the product visibility on Steam and GOG more than leaving a positive review!

Now, venture forth and enjoy!

Anders

Skald launches tomorrow (May 30th, 7pm CEST) on Steam and GOG for PC and Mac. It’s priced at 15 USD or as a jam-packed Deluxe edition for 25 USD. 

Reviews Inbound

Today at 4pm CET, the embargo for Skald will be lifted. That means that press and content creators can finally begin talking about the game!

This is an exciting and terrifying moment: The game we sent them two weeks ago has improved on an astronomical scale in the last two weeks and there were of course a bit of rough patches in the press/creator build.

Thankfully people have been beyond helpful in bringing us bug reports and the like and the game has improved vastly because of it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I adore it and I know you will as well!

I’ll post an abbreviated change-log as well as some info for users who have been playing on the press/creator build below. READ IT.

Launch Build Version Notes

The following changes are the major changes that have been implemented since we sent out the press build. 

For players using a Press/Content Build: These changes will NOT automatically be added to the press-branch of the game. That branch will be frozen in time for eternity to ensure backwards compatibility and stability (more below).

NEW Features

• The magic-system has been redesigned somewhat, making spellcasters a lot more powerful and fun to play. Also added a few new spells.
• Leveling up spellcaster Feats allows you to now manually select new spells (it used to be auto assigned)
• The Feat trees for most classes have been reorganized with an emphasis on balance.
• The Rogue’s backstab ability is made a lot more powerful by multiplying backstab damage by the weapons critical damage modifier
• It’s now possible to “abort” leveling up, meaning you don’t have to spend all your development points each time you enter the Feats screen. This makes it possible to take a break, and examine your character or the rest of the party etc.
• Added in the missing end-slide cut-scenes and artwork
• Dogs bark when you pet them (!)

Misc

• Around 100 typos fixed
• Fixed numerous bugs
• Added dozens of minor QoL tweaks
• Made encumbrance more forgiving
• Made the game a little more willing to give out gold
• Added more gold to vendors so it’s easier to sell loot
• Added more sound effects
• Added a few more alternate solutions to combat situations (stealth and diplomacy)

Performance

Thanks to feedback from reviewers, we were made aware of performance issues in certain parts of the game. This has slipped past our QA runs because it seems to be system dependent.

95% of players will not notice this at all.

I’ve done what I can on short notice and the issue should already be better at launch. 

In the case that you still suffer FPS drops, try going into “Settings -> Display” and disable “Fancy Lighting” and “Weather Effects”. This should improve performance on all systems. Beyond that, I have a new patch ready to go on Monday, once it passes QA so I feel VERY confident this issue will be resolved shortly.

If you are currently on the press build, you can improve performance by pressing TAB and entering the console command “{clearFogEffect}”. Note that console commands are case sensitive.

A Note On Press Branch Compatibility

This only applies to Press and content creators playing on the games Beta Branch (meaning you activated a press key).

Once the game launches, you have the option of setting the game to the Default Branch. Doing so gives you the proper, updated version of the game. However it is not compatible with saves made on the press branch.

However, you can stay on the press branch as long as you will and finish your run. Just know that the “real” version of the game will be found on the Default branch going forward. 

Wish me Luck

I have been getting a lot of questions lately of how to support me as a developer beyond buying the game (Ko-Fi, Paypal etc). To that I say: BUY THE DELUXE EDITION. And if you still have money to spend: Buy the game as a gift to your friends.

What’s more: It also helps the project’s visibility immensely if you eventually leave a review.  

I’ve poured my heart and souls into this project and I really hope you all love it as much as I do. Wish me luck and please offer a silent prayer to some Elder God tomorrow at 7PM CEST.

I’ll be here; pacing nervously. 

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To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord and wishlist on Steam if you haven’t already!

Much love,

 

AL

 

 

56 hours and counting!

The hours are passing by in a fever-pitch at the moment. The amount of polish that has gone into the game since we sent out press-keys is INSANE. One one hand, I’m sad that the reviewers didn’t get to see all those wonderful updates, but on the other hand, it’s far more important that you – the community – get a game that looks amazing on May 30th.

I spent all weekend playing through it and let me tell you: If your RPG tastes are like mine, you’re in for a treat. So in other words: you better smash that “buy” button once we go live!

 

Rogue’s Gallery

Today I’ll do a short feature of the six pre-made recruitable characters in the game. There was originally going to be more of them but I landed on the choice of giving maximum attention to fleshing out a handful of them instead of spreading it too thin. 

The upside is of course that you can also recruit fully customizable characters if you want a bit of variation, allowing for endless mixing and matching.

Roland

Roland is a sell-sword veteran of countless bloody campaigns. He carries many a scar both without and within. Mercenary work is cruel and unglamorous it would seem.

Roland is a dangerous and brutal man . He’s also laconic and prone to bouts of melancholy but unerringly loyal.Roland is an Armasmaster who prefers to vade into melee with his trusty “two-hander” sword.

Roland is an Armasmaster. A class that excels in straight-forward and brutal combat.

Kat

Kat is an indentured guild-sailor who was part of the crew of the ‘Zephyr’. She hails from the Imperial mainland where her cut-throat brother sold her into servitude after their parents died. Needless to say they did not part on good terms.

Kat is outspoken and exuberant with a foul mouth that stands in stark contrast to her fair appearance.

Kat is a Thief and excels in stealth and lock-picking. She also employs her deadly Backstab ability in combat to deal large amounts of damage and crippling injury conditions.

Driina

Driina is a cleric of the Sepulchite order, bringing the light of the Golden Dead to the Outer Isles. Imperial religion places great significance upon the dead and the mummified corpses of long dead Magi and Emperors are the Empire’s most prized relics , 

The Sepulchites are the custodians of the Dead. This makes a somber and austere lot but they are also experts of the flesh and great healers.

Driina is a Hospitaller: A front line healer combining the sacred magic of the flesh with a robust combat presence.

Iben

 

Iben is a quiet man with a sharp wit and sharper eye. He’s traveled the Empire far and wide and eventually ended up in the Outer Isles where he found happiness – for a short while. Though he can be humorous and warm when he so wishes, it is clear that he prefers the stillness that only the wilderness can offer.

When pressed about his background, Iben tends to grow distant while he thoughtfully chews his pipe.

Iben is a Ranger. A warrior that combines an unmatched skill in ranged combat with the magic of the natural world.

Iago

Iago is a swashbuckling smuggler hailing from the Ombarian city-states to the south. A man of the world, he’ll tell anyone who will listen (and most who won’t listen) that he owes his legendary good luck to being the favored son of the Blind Maidens.

Iago prefers to never stay in port for long. Something about ‘wronged husbands’ and ‘little misunderstandings’.

Iago is an Officer: A warrior who boosts the fighting prowess of their comrades by issuing orders across the battlefield.

Embla

Running bare-foot through the hedge-maze on the grounds of the Berryn estate. Both of you children: Embla in-front, just out of sight.

That’s how it’s always been. 

All is not well in the house of Berryn and you must venture once more to follow her into the maze. Perhaps this time you’ll finally catch up to her.

In Closing…

We’ve been sending keys to content creators and press and word is seeping in that they’re having a lot of fun with it. Are YOU a content creator or a Press person? Get in touch for a key to the game:

creatorscreators@rawfury.com

presspress@rawfury.com

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To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord and wishlist on Steam if you haven’t already!

See you in 56 hours!

 

AL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello!

As I’m writing this, there are 227 hours, 11 minutes and 23 seconds left until launch. That feels surreal, terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. Just like a good cosmic horror grimdark RPG in other words.

The game in question is, of course, “Skald: Against the Black Priory”. A retro-style roleplaying game releasing May 30th for PC and Mac on Steam and GOG.

The game will sell for 15 USD with a Deluxe Edition priced at 25 USD. This game is VALUE PACKED in my humble opinion so please consider getting the Deluxe edition.

We’re keeping it safe and saying the game has a core path of about 15 hours but in reality, every single first run I’ve seen has taken 25+ hours and that’s not mentioning replayability.

Some New Late-Stage Features

In the blood-red rush of caffeine fueled crunch madness I decided to add a few nice little late stage features. Rejoice!

Mercenaries

Do you want to adventure with the pre-made characters? Or would you rather make every character in the party from scratch? Perhaps a combination of the two?

Fear not! The Outer Isles is full of “Mercenaries”: Blank characters that you can hire and customize fully.

Up to 18 characters can be part of your group and you’re free to swap them in and out from the party management screen that you get access to when resting in beds or at inns!

You’re even free to leave all your companions in camp and venture forth alone if you want a bit of an extra challenge.

The Weathermaiden

As you set sail across the Outer Isles on the fine ship “Weathermaiden” you can use her as a mobile base of operations.

Sleep, cook, craft, socialize, organize your party, trade and store your loot in style as you plow the steel-gray seas of the Outer Isles!

Ultimate Mode

Also known as “Nostalgia Mode”! This is a small one but it’s such a sweet little feature I can’t help but show it off! The Deluxe Edition (amongst many other cool things) allows players to activate the special retro game frame!

This is sure to bring back some fond memories for a lot of you! Did I mention that you should buy the Deluxe edition?

Deluxe Map

The Deluxe Edition will now come bundled with a high resolution version of the overland map! And don’t worry: We’ll include both a spoilery and a non-spoiler version!

Sound Effect Update

I’ve done a MASSIVE overhaul of the sound effects in the game! Hoooo boy let me tell you it makes all the difference in the world to actually hear those guts spill onto the floor!

I didn’t have time to record footage of it but believe me when I say you’re in for a treat!

In Closing…

I’m planning to showcase the pre-made characters and I should also do another feature-focus on advanced combat stuff. We’ll see what I can squeeze in before launch and during the launch week.

In any case I’m BEYOND excited to show you the game. We’ve been sending keys to content creators and press and word is seeping in that they’re having a lot of fun with it. Are YOU a content creator or a Press person? Get in touch for a key to the game:

creatorscreators@rawfury.com

presspress@rawfury.com

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To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord and wishlist on Steam if you haven’t already!

See you in 227 hours!

 

AL

 

Greetings one and all!

Below is a short summary of pricing and versions for Skald once it launches on May 30th. Note that changes may occur before launch.

Also, see the end of the devlog for some info about the incredible people who made our live-action trailer for us!

Pricing and Platforms

“Skald: Against the Black Priory” will launch on Steam and GOG (be sure to wishlist today on your store of choice).

The game will be available for PC and Mac upon launch.

The Standard version of the game will be priced around 15 USD and the Deluxe version will be priced at around 25 USD.

Deluxe Edition Content

We intend to offer a Deluxe edition of the game that will provide you with a bundle of extra content giving you the option of having a slightly different game experience mechanically speaking. It also comes with the OST and a good handful of cosmetic items.

The Deluxe edition will contain the following items (amongst others):

• The Base Game
• A pack of extra character portraits
• Unique Dice animations
• 3 extra character backgrounds to choose from during character creation.
• Malachai, the Magical items merchant: A vendor that is available from the mid game and onward that sells a handful of unique magical items.
• Two wallpapers from the game
• The OST with 38 (!) tracks
• A Special “Nostalgia” frame for the game
• Two high-resolution versions of the game’s hand-drawn overland map

We’re constantly looking into more cool stuff to add into the Deluxe edition whilst still making sure it does not detract from the main game. The idea is that it should be a value-packed way of supporting the developer (which buying the deluxe edition greatly does).

Skald at WASD Live 2024

The game is being presented at a WASD Live 2024 in London 25th-27th of April along with a collection of other awesome Raw Fury titles! If you’re in the area and you feel like checking out Skald and its awesome siblings, be sure to visit WASD

Trailer Credits

Our “Release-Date Announcement Trailer” has been getting amazing feedback from the community and beyond. I’m just so grateful for getting to play a part in making such a cool little piece of retro-inspired media.

The credit for the main action scenes of the trailer however, goes to Swedish media production company NAIVE. What you see here is the result of their incredible craftsmanship and attention to detail.

You’ve blown me away with your amazing work and I can’t thank you enough! Now go give these amazing people all the likes and follows!

Naive

Web: naive.se
Instagram: @naive.society

Directed by:
Robin Jonsson, @robijons ( instagram )
Oskar Gullstrand, @o.gullstrand (instagram)

Cinematography:
Simon Rudholm, @simon.rudholm (instagram)

Sound Design:
Jakob Oldenburg @oldenburgsound ( instagram)

VFX:
Oskar Gullstrand
Cecilia Azout

Editing:
Robin Jonsson

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To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord and wishlist on Steam if you haven’t already!

Cheers,

 

AL

The time is upon us, the Dragon has awoken and the LAUNCH DATE IS REVEALED: “Skald: Against the Black  Priory” is launching May 30th 2024!

Check out our AMAZING Launch Data Reveal Trailer now!

Did you see all the awesome hidden references?

Once you’re done rewatching, head on over to Steam where Skald is participating in both a Lovecraftian Steam event and the #TurnbasedThursday Fest.

We’ve even UPDATED THE DEMO so you can play the latest iteration of the game TODAY!

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It feels amazing to be this close to sharing Skald with you all! Keep your eyes peeled as we go forwards: We’ll be posting frequent updates over the next weeks!

To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter and Discord and wishlist on Steam if you haven’t already!

Cheers,

 

AL