Forged of Blood announced

Word reaches me that there’s a new sRPG in development called Forged of Blood, being created by 10-person Indonesian indie studio Critical Forge. (As an aside, I really enjoy the name of the development studio–it makes me think of a talking anvil that’s constantly snarking at its blacksmith owner: “Oh really, you’re going to forge it like that? That’s not what I would have done.”)

Anyway! The premise:

Welcome to the world of Attiras, a fantasy land on the cusp of yet another upheaval in the world order. In this world, magic is fueled by strange stones harvested from mysterious extra-planar creatures and power comes from the blood coursing in your veins.

As the ancient bloodlines that once ruled the lands start waning and new threats loom on the horizon, you enter this world as the second son to the king. Take up arms in your family’s name, fight for the right to rule or for the betterment of the world; your decisions will ultimately forge the future of this world.

Here’s a teaser video showing gameplay–as you can see, Forged of Blood will be attempting another take on the bifurcated strategy-and-tactical-layers approach to things:

Meanwhile, here’s the feature list:

–  Classless Warfare: With 9 unique weapons and a vast magic system, Forged of Blood lets you build your characters any way you want – without being constrained by the typical tank/DPS/healer roles.

–  Science in Magic: Explore the freedom and mysteries of one of the most complex and unique magic systems ever attempted in video games.

–  Kingdom at War: Command up to three parties of heroic characters on the strategic layer in your fight to reclaim the empire you lost.

–  Meaningful Choice: Your choices matter. From character building to your choices in the game narrative, your decisions will reverberate across the Strategic and Tactical layers of the game.

–  Your ends; your means: In a world of grays and unique perspectives, it is up to you to decide what is “right” and “wrong” for the future of Attiras. Forged of Blood will introduce a new Tri-axis Personality Plot system in lieu of the traditional Good vs. Evil scale common in most RPG settings.

Forged of Blood is being developed for Windows, and is planned for release sometime in 2018. It’s currently on Kickstarter, where it now has 51 days remaining in its campaign.