Merlin The RPG - The Retribution of Magic

[Jon Bon 43]

--->OFFICIAL PAGE<---

Back Story:

 

Camelot Kingdom was once a place where magic had no law, and criminals ran ramped doing as they pleased. Lord Uther, and other Nobles of the country, rallied together and drove those of evil magic from the realm mired in chaos. The citizens of Camelot in turn made Uther their king and protector. The new king ruled the land well and those of magic and non-magic lived peacefully together. King Uther eventually fell in love with and married a women named Ygraine de Bois. It wasn't until the new queen became pregnant and gave birth, that the trouble truly began.

 

Becoming gravely ill while nearing the end of her pregnancy, Ygraine looked as though she may not make it through more then a few nights. Uther quickly sought council of the most powerful sorcerers he could find. One sorceress offered up a cure and Uther agreed. Shortly afterwards, the queen regained her health and gave birth to the new prince. All was well for near to a day when the queen quickly fell back into a state of poor health and passed away through the night.

 

Having now lost his wife and the queen to his kingdom, Uther blamed magic for his loss. Anything or anyone affiliated with magic was removed forcefully from the Kingdom of Camelot, by law of the king. He even had the last known dragon, and ancient protector of the land, captured and chained deep under the castle. Overnight the once harmonious magic country of Camelot was turned into a place where even mention of the word may get you imprisoned. Uther now hated magic with every fiber of his being, and all magic users would be hunted down as long as he was king. This time was known as the great purge.

 

Story:

 

The Kingdom of Camelot has been free of magic for 20 years and anyone now caught practicing magic is publicly sentenced to death as an example. Although Uther keeps a tight reign on his kingdom, the number of magic related crimes has been increasing and he has had to double his efforts to stop it. For fear of losing his son Arthur, Uther is becoming too harsh with his punishment for those even suspected of using magic.

 

On the outskirts of the Kingdom of Cenred, near Camelot's eastern border, lies the farm town of Ealdor. In the time of the great purge many sorcerers fled Camelot, one of which settled here. It was this sorcerer who before being found and having to forcefully leave the village, fathered a very important boy. This boy, soon to be man, is named Merlin. The boy's mother is sending him to live in Camelot City for fear that his unique abilities will get noticed in such a small village. Merlin is sent to live with a family friend named Gaius who will be good guidance for the fatherless boy.

 

Gaius, a once powerful sorcerer, will now act as Merlin's mentor and father in his final stages of adolescence. Uniquely born with the power of magic, Merlin has a destiny he cannot avoid. He must protect Arthur and keep him safe from all danger, magic and non-magic alike. At the same time he is destined to bring magic back to the land of Camelot. Reluctant at first, Merlin eventually accepts his destiny and becomes Arthur's man servant in an effort to better watch over him. With any luck, Merlin's carefree and "Do the right thing" attitude will rub off on the prat of a prince.

 

 

Main Cast:

 

 

Merlin

Child of prophecy, Merlin has the ability to use magic with no study since his birth. Born in the farming village Ealdor, of the kingdom Cenred, and knowing very little of his father, Merlin grew up alone with his mother. Fearfull his gift would be found out living in such a small village, his mother sent him to live in Camelot City in the Kingdom of Camelot. Merlin's adventures truely begin as he lives with Gauis, the ex-Sorcerer now Court Physician, in Camelot castle.

 

Gauis

Formerly a powerful and wise sorcerer, now Court Physician, Gauis serves his King Uther as loyaly now as he did back in the days where magic was common place in Camelot. Gauis now serves as a secret tutor, and part time father to Merlin, as he finds his destiny. Although Gauis is well versed in magic, he refuses to use it under even the most dire of circumstances, as is law in camelot.

 

Uther

King of Camelot, he became king when he came to the land and freed it of its plague of magic. Since then, magic has been outlawed in all of Camelot, punishable by death. Although Uther once fought along side those of magic, he will now not hesitate to execute anyone involved with magic. Fearful for the life of his son Arthur and ward Morgana, Uther rules Camelot with an iron fist.

 

Arthur

Prince of Camelot, Arthur has grown up privileged his entire life. The best food, the best schooling, the best fighting, he has it all. As a member of one of the Camelot Knights, Arthur leads with honor and grace, and is said to wed the Lady Morgana, Uthers Ward, when he is of age.

 

Morgana

Lady Morgana is Uthers Ward, the daughter of a great house now fallen. Uther took her in when her father, a good friend, passed away. Morgana suffers from severe headaches and nightmares and is often treated with herbs and tinctures from Gauis, although to little effect. She is also often comforted by her best friend and maiden, Guinevere, who most affectionately call Gwen.

 

Guinevere

Daughter of the Upper Quarter blacksmith, Gwen has been a hand maiden her entire working life. She is lucky to serve only the Lady Morgana with whom she has become friends over the years. Gwen is compassionate and kind, and wishes Prince Arthur would share those qualities if he is to become king.

 

 

 

Game Mechanics

 

 

 

 

Character Play

The only character you truly control is Merlin. However, throughout the game you will be given the opportunity to (and forced to) swap to one of the other five main characters (Arthur, Uther, Gauis, Gwen, Morgana) each with their own unique ability in and out of combat.

There are also a large number (30+) of other playable characters that either temporarily join, permanently join, are recruitable, or you may even get to solo play as. IE: Lancelot, William, Leon etc.

Merlin's Magic

As Merlin adventures through Camelot he must be extremely careful who sees his magic. The answer is no one, ever. In the Kingdom of Camelot magic is outlawed and punishable by death.

When in battle with other characters, Merlin can only use magic when all the other players are afflicted with the 'distracted' state.

In the field , you can press the action button in certain locations to be promoted with choices of magical spells to perform in said location, choose the correct one to proceed/unlock the secret.

 

Arthur's Leadership

As a young knight, the prince, and future king to Camelot and an all around honorable person, he inspires loyalty in his countrymen.

In the field, Arthur can find people of Camelot who are in need and help them where other characters would not be able to.

In battle, Arthur can rally to have the previously saved characters immediately join the fight.

 

Gwen's Empathy

Truly empathic, Gwen cares for all. She acts as Arthur's moral compass and the same for so many others.

In battle, Gwen is aware of the feelings of others, and is able to remedy them.

In the field, Gwen has the ability to convince people to do the right thing.

Morgana's Tenacity

Strong and resilient, Morgana refuses to be played as the damsal. You are more likely to see her saving the villagers then anyone else.

In battle, Morgana has the swordskills of a knight and can battle along side the best of them.

In the field, her quick mind and sharp tongue, combined with her beauty, allow her access into almost anywhere guarded by a man or women.

 

Uther's Dominion

The King of Camelot, Uther demands loyalty in a non-magic kingdom.

In battle, Uther has the experience of a veteran knight, and is not known to be bested.

In the field, Uther has respect if not fear, from his whole kingdom and all do as he says.

 

Gauis' Wisdom

As a former sorcerer of old, Gauis knows many things about many things. Though he now practices science, rather then magic.

In battle, Gauis relies on his abilities as a scientist to remedy ailements.

In the field, Gauis can provide insight on many a things.

 

Gaining Levels

 

Monsters will not reward experience, instead the player will earn experience by completing story line tasks as a whole and side quests.

Fighting random battles wont be considered a nuisance however, because it will reward necessary items and gear required to sell, combine, or wear.

 

Secondary Stories

 

Because Merlin the RPG is based off of a television series it has many scenes without the main characters involved. Rather than having them all be cut scenes that the player watch, this is when the secondary characters will be played and have their own backgrounds developed, with their own unique movesets and combat ability. The difference between the secondary characters and the main characters is that you will not play as them for as long, or as often, and some may only be temporary. On the other hand, some may eventually join your permanent roster of characters to choose from and offer their own advantage in battle.

Side Quests and Chapters

 

The game will be released in chapters which will represent 'micro games' or 'short stories' that are part of a larger story arch. Chapters 1 to 13 make up the first book/story arch. As each chapter is released it will include the chapter previous to it, so new players will be forced to start from the beginning, and old players can continue their adventures.

 

Each chapter is intended to be 3 hours of story line play, with a varying amount of other interactive content depending on the chapter. When a chapter is completed you must return to your home to activate the next chapter. The time after a chapter's completion and before starting a new chapter is considered time in the previous chapter. This is important when doing unlockables, areas, and characters that may only be available during/between certain chapters.

 

Tournaments

 

Camelot City has many citizens who become restless over time and need entertaining. Therefore, King Uther holds many types of tournaments as often as possible. As Arthur, you may enter the tournament and compete against other knights, monsters, even magic, and who knows what else.

The tournament will be a series of battles where the player cannot heal in between and will be rewarded with points at the end when they have completed all battles.

As the player explores new places, more tournaments will become available with new types of adversaries.

The points will be used as currency at a special store located in Camelot Castle.

 

Alchemy

 

As Gauis' apprentice, Merlin has access to one thing many others do not. Alchemy! Use the wonderful science of alchemy to combine many of the items you find in the world of Merlin to make different tinctures, draughts, and tonics to help you along your way.

With Gauis allowing Merlin to choose from 2 to 5 different item combinations per recipe, the results are endless!

 

Storage Space

 

With 6 main characters, alchemy ingredients, battle items, and a plethora of extra characters to equip, you are going to need to store some extra stuff. Luckily Merlin has found a magical spell to enchant his closet to fit all he ever needs, and always appear empty to those of non-magic. With this magic closet at your home base you will be able to stay well stocked without being too cluttered.

 

 

 

 

Screenshots

The following screenshots were made as a staging to show the feel and look of the game. Only maps that were complete were used, however a number of RTP characters were used for filler.

 

 

 

 

Title Screen

Arthur in combat against Kanans men with Merlin and William in Ealdor.

 

Screen shots of the 7 different equipment slots(R/L hand, Head, Chest, Feet, Accessory x2)and 12 displayed stats.

 

World map picture of Camelot Castle and Camelot City.

Camelot City Market Street.

Uther addressing his people, while Morgana watches.

 

Merlin entering Gauis' home for the first time.

Merlin risking the use of magic to save his home town.

 

 

 

 

 

Release

 

 

 

Merlin The RPG will be released in chapters and each chapter will represent an episode of the series(season). The game series will be broken down into books, each book representing a season of the show and one whole game.

Each chapter is intended to have 3+ hours of storyline play, with varying amounts of extra play per chapter. As chapters are released they will include all game data prior to their release, so new players will start at chapter one, and old players can continue their adventure.

Book 1 is set to start launching to coincide witht he launch of Season 4 of BBC's Merlin which is rumored to be launching in fall 2011, so ideally we want to launch at or near the same time as the season premier.

 

Book 1

The Retribution of Magic

Chapters

Prologue The Exile of Magic

1 The Call of The Dragon

2 Not So Valiant

3 The Poultice

4 The Mortaeus Flower

5 Sir? Lancelot

6 Edwin

7 The Sidhe

8 The Druids

9 The Secrets of Uther

10 Kannan

11 Arthur's Folly

12 Gwen

13 The Price of Life

 

 

 

Team Recruiting*

 

The game is being made by a small group of Bon Ink Creations staff, however parts of the game will need to be done by outside talent. Bon Ink Creations will be recruiting for either part time or full time positions for a game making team based on the availability of applicants.The intent is to finish this project then work together to present each others on going projects and pick one to complete as a team and release as a commercial for sale product. This is an excellent opportunity for other talented people in specific fields to join a team and get some work released to the public.

 

*Specifics available here.

Basic overview below(edited as completed).

 

 

Spriting

-LARGE dragon

-1 Unique shield animation for sprite

-Chandelier

-Tapestries

-Beasts(Questing Beast[half snake half cheetah], Cockatrice, Dog Statue)

-Black Knight

 

 

Scripting

-Custom Menus

-Script compatibility/suggestions

 

 

 

 

 

Scripts and Systems:

 

Sideview Battle System Version 2.1xp

Script By: Enu

Conversion By: Atoa

Translations By: Kylock, Mr. Bubble, cairn

 

 

Credits For Work Used:

 

Graphic Design

-Cooltext.com

 

Tilesets

-Inquisitor

-Zanyzora

-Luna's RTP Add-ons

-Sithjester

-ChopSuey

-Ccoa

-Euphony

 

Sprites

-Looseleaf/Kuroro

-Land of Shadows(LOS)

 

Music

-Merlin Season One Soundtrack

 

Theme/Style

-BBC's Merlin

-Athurian Legend

 

 

Disclaimer

The entirety of this project was inspired by BBC's Merlin and Bon Ink Creations holds no copyrights to this in anyway other then creative licence.

This is a fan project created to honor the television series Adventures of Merlin aka BBC's Merlin.

This game is being created with the intent of being free in every aspect on its release and forever after.

Upon release no copyright material from BBC's Merlin or any other work will be used in this product. At current some material owned by BBC may be used by this project as reference only.

 

 

Created By:

Bon Ink Creations

Edited May 30, 2011 by Kiriashi

[FranklinX 37]

Wow! This looks good. Honestly I must admit I don't know much about Merlin. I will play this when it gets released.

[Diademrocks 0]

Cant wait! Im really excited for the game, AND saeson 4 of merlin :D

Edited May 29, 2011 by Diademrocks

[Ragnyrok 3]

Looks very promising. I only saw the pilot of the TV series. I didn't like the Actor for young merlin.

Looks more like Quazimotto to me. But the screenshots from your game look great.

I especially like the shot of the market. :]

[Jon Bon 43]

Cant wait! Im really excited for the game, AND saeson 4 of merlin :D

 

Awesome DD! ill try to help keep the momentum up for the game. I too am excited for season for launch.

p.s. Best fan ever!

 

Looks very promising. I only saw the pilot of the TV series. I didn't like the Actor for young merlin.

Looks more like Quazimotto to me. But the screenshots from your game look great.

I especially like the shot of the market. :]

 

Ha ha Rag, I hear ya, they casting young, which is good. He definitely grows into his body more as the seasons pass. The story is the main point of interest to the show for me and their take on the Arthurian legend.

Thanks for the screenshot compliment, each map is attempted to give the feel of the show without being too exact. The market is also my fave, however the forests of balor was just finished and I must say its pushing for first in my books(screenshots eventually).

 

Cheers, and thanks for the interest!

[Diademrocks 0]

Awesome DD! ill try to help keep the momentum up for the game. I too am excited for season for launch.

p.s. Best fan ever!

Haha, Thanks :)

[Kiriashi 117]

Fixed your title image:

 

Before

After

 

I already change the link. ^_^

 

As for the actual game.

 

 

Seems pretty cool. The fact that you used an IRL picture for the titlescreen is quite neat. I've never seen that before. Good luck!

[kellessdee 48]

Looks great! I love your mapping :) Looks like something straight out of the medieval times (hehehe I guess that's the point, so you do a good job!)

 

Also, if you still need help with menu systems in the future I can help, but right now I am kinda busy workin on some other requests and have promised myself not to take anything else on til i fulfill my promises. But, if you still need help when I am finished I could help with some scripts :)

[Jon Bon 43]

Fixed your title image:

 

Before

After

 

I already change the link. ^_^

 

As for the actual game.

 

 

Seems pretty cool. The fact that you used an IRL picture for the titlescreen is quite neat. I've never seen that before. Good luck!

 

Hey thanks a ton! The image was created using a website called cooltext.com, I appreciate the clean up on the image and thread editing.

The real life picture will not be used in the final launch as it is copyrighted by BBC. It is simply a representation for now, as we are having a contest for a new one to be created.

 

 

Looks great! I love your mapping :) Looks like something straight out of the medieval times (hehehe I guess that's the point, so you do a good job!)

 

Also, if you still need help with menu systems in the future I can help, but right now I am kinda busy workin on some other requests and have promised myself not to take anything else on til i fulfill my promises. But, if you still need help when I am finished I could help with some scripts :)

 

Thanks Kellessdee, I like the maps too hehe.

I saw that status update a while back you had said about taking on a lot of work and needing to catch up. I had planned on approaching and asking for help at some point in the future, but you're such a nice guy a beat me to the punch he he.

Scripting additions and work wont be for a month or two from now, so you have plenty of time. I will definitely be taking you up on that offer though, thanks a whole lot man.