Welcome to the Creatures & Chronicles Help Center!Here you can Seek Guidance and embark on a unique computer role-playing journey that closely emulates the old-school feel and rulesets of classic tabletop RPGs. This is the help center and whether you're an experienced RPG gamer or new to the genre, Creatures & Chronicles attempts to offer you an unparalleled retro gaming experience.
To begin your adventure in Creatures & Chronicles, follow these simple steps:
Create your own custom characters with the "character creator". This is a paid feature, but you are welcome to take advantage of the seven day free trail to create you characters. Hopefully you will find the experience good enough that you will want to continue your support of the development of the game.
This step can be skipped and you can play with the included generic characters.
Set your party of heroes using the Party Members Selector. A party consists of 1-6 heroes that you will be taking on your adventures.
Remember to click the "details" button on all characters, as this will allow you to customize your characters even further and select weapon proficiencies, change names, and select voices
Now try an adventure. Click the "Play an adventure" button from the main menu and browse through the available adventures. Be careful and don't select the toughest adventures for your first encounter.
Most adventures are only single encounters, but there are adventures with multiple linked encounters like "Echoes Of The Frostbound Abyss".
Most adventures have difficulty ratings, but random encounters do not, since there is no telling what kind of challenges and monstrosities your party of heroes might encounter in these random encounters.
Later we will look at how you can build your own adventures and encounters.
Creatures & Chronicles is mainly built on the OSRIC™ Open License and as such follow the rules used in the rule set.
OSRIC provides a set of comprehensive rules designed to emulate the feel of old-school tabletop RPGs. Here's a brief explanation of how some of these rules work in our game:
More information on the OSRIC ruleset
In Creatures & Chronicles, characters earn experience points (XP) by completing adventures, overcoming challenges, and defeating adversaries. It's important to note, however, that, unlike some traditional RPGs, there is no XP for gold. This means that accumulating wealth won't directly impact your characters' growth.
Leveling up isn't automatic in Creatures & Chronicles. Once your characters have accumulated sufficient XP, they'll need to visit a trainer to level up. Trainers can be found in various locations throughout the game world. Interact with them and choose the option to level up. Please note, the services of these trainers usually come at a price, so be prepared to spend some of your hard-earned gold!
Your characters' weapons, armour, and special abilities are vital for survival in Creatures & Chronicles. Characters begin with a basic set of equipment, but as you explore the game world, you'll find opportunities to upgrade their gear.
Abilities and skills, on the other hand, are largely determined by your characters' classes and levels. Some abilities may also be influenced by the characters' races and backgrounds.
Non-weapon proficiencies are a big part of the game. They will let you survive in the wilderness by hunting, appraise gems, gain persuasion bonuses when haggling for better prices with NPCs and many, many other abilities. As your character levels up they will gain even more skills.
If you are courious about a specific piece of armour or a weapon, please refer to the Catalogue. Here you will find the full list of all items, races, classes, spells etc. that are in the game
Combat in Creatures & Chronicles is a turn-based affair that prioritizes strategic thinking and decision-making. Here's a breakdown of how these elements play out:
At the start of a combat encounter, all participants roll for initiative, a dice roll that determines the order of turns. The character with the lowest initiative result acts first, followed by the next lowest, and so on, in ascending order. This means characters with higher initiative rolls will act later in the combat round.
Factors like heavy weapons and armor can negatively impact initiative, adding modifiers to the roll that increase the final result, thus delaying the character's turn. Therefore, it's essential to balance your equipment choices with the tactical needs of each encounter.
On their turn, each character can move a certain distance based on their speed attribute. The battlefield is divided into grids, and characters can move a number of squares equal to their speed attribute. Be aware that difficult terrain, obstacles, or the actions of enemies can impact movement.
The weight of your characters' equipment is also a factor to consider. Heavier equipment can slow a character down, reducing their movement speed and potentially increasing their initiative roll. Therefore, managing your characters' inventory and ensuring they're not overburdened is an important part of strategy.
When a character makes an attack, they perform an attack roll to determine whether the attack hits or misses. The roll's result is modified by the character's attack bonus and any relevant situational modifiers, then compared to the target's Armor Class (AC). If the modified roll equals or exceeds the number needed to hit the target's AC, the attack hits.
Some races of characters have specific modifiers against specific types of monsters, and as all characters level up the number needed to hit specific armour classes will decrease making it easier and easier for high-level characters to hit their targets
An important part of making hits in combat is weapons proficiency. Warriors can excel to the level of expert and earn a +3 bonus, other classes don't get such a high level of proficiency. But common for all classes is that you are heavily punished for fighting with weapons that your character is not proficient in using
When an attack hits, the character deals damage to the target. The amount of damage is determined by a dice roll, which is often modified by the character's strength bonus for melee attacks or dexterity bonus for ranged attacks. The target's hit points are then reduced by the damage dealt. If a character's hit points drop to 0, they fall unconscious and may be at risk of death.
Remember, mastering the mechanics of combat is crucial for your party's survival. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of your characters, the tactical layout of the battlefield, and the capabilities of your enemies to prevail in battle.