History VideoGame / Incursion

* [[OurElvesAreBetter Our Elves Are Better/Our Elves Are Different]]: Played straight and [[Deconstruction deconstructed]]. Ordinary elves are a mix of FairFolk, tolkienesque elves and ServantRace - humans who got warped by magic and by signing pacts with the fae. Their society ultimately answers to Maeve, queen of the fairies. Since few of them actually like being her puppets, life in elven cities somewhat resembles [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour big brother state]]. On the other half, drow were originally rebels who got sick of their [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen queen]] and escaped underground. Too bad their had to take [[AlwaysChaoticEvil extreme]] measures to escape her wrath.

Incursion: Halls of the Goblin King is a freeware (and newly open source) RogueLike attempting to resemble a solo adventure in DungeonsandDragons, third edition. Incursion is still developed by Julian Mensch for about 10 years. With mechanics strongly based on pen & paper and some unique design goals, Incursion offers a quite different experience than most roguelikes nowadays.

It's widely agreed that the game has a [[NintendoHard steep learning curve]] even for a roguelike, but is still honest (as opposed to early versions which would pit you on the very first level with enemies who you couldn't [[KillerGameMaster see]], not to mention attack). Most of the difficulty stems from the need to read various [[AllThereInTheManual in-game manuals]], item and monster descriptions and knowing how to [[MinMaxing build your character]]. So, difficulty in Incursion is more VideoGame/DwarfFortress than NetHack.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Immotian is the definition of purity in Theyran pantheon, also the god with the most influence. You [[LawfulNeutral can]] [[LawfulStupid guess]] [[TautologicalTemplar where]] [[FantasticRacism abuse]] [[ScrewYouElves of]] [[DrugsAreBad it]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans is]] [[BurnTheWitch going]].
* VeteranUnit: "Using your knowledge about cosmology, you conclude that the thiefling is really a elite thiefling bandit!".

Incursion: Halls of the Goblin King is a freeware (but not open source) RogueLike attempting to resemble a solo adventure in DungeonsandDragons, third edition. Incursion is still developed by Julian Mensch for about 10 years. With mechanics strongly based on pen & paper and some unique design goals, Incursion offers a quite different experience than most roguelikes nowadays.

Incursion: return of the Forsaken - the complete game - seems stuck in DevelopmentHell for something like 3 years. Still, Halls of the Goblin King is playable despite being a beta version.

Incursion design document (available at official website) is an entertaining read for any roguelike developer. If Mensch will [[VaporWare ever complete]] the game, it could be a milestone in the roguelike genre.

Download it from http://incursion-roguelike.net/

* PurelyAestheticGender

!!Examples of tropes appearing in Incursion: halls of the Goblin King

* [[UselessUsefulNonCombatAbilities Useless Useful Non-Combat Abilities]]: Averted heavily. You're on your own. Craft can reproduce your favorite weapon if it gets destroyed. Healing is almost essential. Quelling enemies with Diplomacy can give you more experience than killing them.

While most roguelike gameplay focuses on [[TrialAndErrorGameplay learning to beat many quirks and pitfalls]], Incursion focuses more on player character design, diversity of choices your character can make in regards of development, anti-grinding philosophy not very different from [[DungeonCrawl Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup]] and resource management.

Incursion: Halls of the Goblin King is a freeware (but not open source) RogueLike attempting to resemble a solo adventure in Dungeons&Dragons, third edition. Incursion is still developed by Julian Mensch for about 10 years. With mechanics strongly based on pen & paper and some unique design goals, Incursion offers a quite different experience than most roguelikes nowadays.

Incursion: Halls of the Goblin King is a freeware (but not open source) RogueLike attempting to resemble a solo adventure in the most popular tabletop game in all time. Incursion is still developed by Julian Mensch for about 10 years. With mechanics strongly based on pen & paper and some unique design goals, Incursion offers a quite different experience than most roguelikes nowadays.

Since it's a PnP adventure, Incursion places much more weight on the depth and believability of its fantasy world rather than your usual roguelike rescue-the-world plot; there are very few things expected from the player to do (just kill that goblin), and the game is a mix of WideOpenSandbox and typical dungeon crawler. Very well written in-game descriptions help. In other words, use your imagination.

Not to be [[IThoughtItMeant confused]] with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incursion That]] PnP Incursion.

* FakeDifficulty: Lower levels of the dungeon are !!!ridden!!! with groups of high CR monsters fighting each other.

It's widely agreed that the game has a [[NintendoHard steep learning curve]] even for a roguelike, but is still honest (as opposed to early versions which would pit you on the very first level with enemies who you couldn't [[KillerGameMaster see]], not to mention attack). Most of the difficulty stems from the need to read various [[AllThereInTheManual in-game manuals]], item and monster descriptions and knowing how to [[MinMaxing build your character]]. So, difficulty in Incursion is more DwarfFortress than NetHack.

** "The human paladin is thrown from his mount. [[YouKeepUsingThatWord The human paladin is thrown from his mount]]

What's most interesting, however, are the degree to which skills and feats are essential; they are purposefully more powerful than most magic items, and choosing and using them effectively is vital. Thus, advancing your character isn't just a matter of levelling up plus some lucky magic finds, but is more a matter of consciously and strategically planning the route your character takes.

Since it's a PnP adventure, Incursion places much more weight on the 'feeling' of world and mimesis than static fantasy rescue-the-world plot; there are very few things expected from the player to do (just kill that goblin), and the game is a mix of WideOpenSandbox and typical dungeon crawler. Wery well written in-game descriptions help. In other words, use your imagination.

Incursion design document (avaliable at official website) is an entertaining read for any roguelike developer. If Mensch will [[VaporWare ever complete]] the game, it could be a milestone in roguelike genree.

* DontFearTheReaper: Mara, the goddes of death, is one of the few good gods. She's also about resolving your issues before death, and is very happy to ressurect her followers. Also, she's a goddes of romantic love.
* [[EldritchAbomination Eltditch Abomination]]: Kysul not only is a LawfullGood god, he's bent on saving Theyra from destruction. He's still on the [[BlueAndOrangeMorality multi-hued]] side of morals - he hates demons/devils and celestials alike.

* GlassCannon: Mages die from getting poked with a toothpick from behind, rogues are lousy in fair combat until they gain a few levels, archer-oriented classes have problems when somebody shoots back at them.. all three of them are one of the best damage dishers once you get going.

* LightningBruiser: Rogues when they find some decent equipment and grab many levels, bumping their sneak attack damage and defence to ninja levels. Also shapeshifting druids.
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: More like linear warriors and wizards, quadratic priests, geometric rogues and druids. Doing everything without meat shields breaks the class equillibrum.
* LizardFolk: They're big, strong, lethargic and think in [[BlueAndOrangeMorality alien ways]] compared to humans. They worship nature and benevolent [[EldritchAbomination eldritch abominations]] and aren't bent very much on invidualism. They also have unconcious hive mind, are fond of saving all life from extintion ([[TrueNeutral themselves first]]) and are percieved as ruthless by mammalian species. On the other hand, they think of us as extremely decadent and wasteful and have no strong emotional motivations like greed, ambition or compassion.
* LuckStat: More of it generates better equipment, affects some spells, saving throws of halflings and critical hit survivalability.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Justified to some extend - dwarves HAD to be over-the-top traditional and homongeous to survive harder times when monsters were everywhere. Their conservatism is going to [[CantCatchUp bite]] [[MedievalStasis them]] in the ass if they won't change, though.

* SpoonyBard: [[LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards Warrior]], of all people, can be a better party leader than bard, provided he chooses some feats (which he has too much anyway) and has high charisma. The same for rogue. Both of them don't suck in combat.

* [[UselessUsefulNonCombatAbilities Useless Useful Non-Combat Abilities]]: Averter heavily. You're on your own. Craft can reproduce your favourite weapon if it gets destroyed. Healing is almost essential. Quelling enemies with Diplomacy can give you more experience than killing them.
* UselessUsefulStealth: Backstabbing rogues are one of the most powerful classes in the game. Notable fact that monsters frequently utilize stealth agaist you.

* WeakButSkilled: Rogues, who know every widely used skill in the game sans Concentration and maybe Swimming. They also get so much skill points that they can be more learned than mages, more philosophical than priests and better performest than bards, at the same time.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Immotian is the definition of purity in Theyran pantheon, also the god with the most influece. You [[LawfulNeutral can]] [[LawfulStupid guess]] [[TautologicalTemplar where]] [[FantasticRacism abuse]] [[ScrewYouElves of]] [[DrugsAreBad it]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans is]] [[BurnTheWitch going]].

Incursion: Halls of the Goblin King is a freeware (but not open source) [[RogueLike roguelike]] attempting to resemble a solo adventure in the most popular tabletop game in all time. Incursion is still developed by Julian Mensch for about 10 years. With mechanics strongly based on pen & paper and some unique design goals, Incursion offers a quite different experience than most roguelikes nowadays.

It's widely agreed that the game has a [[NintendoHard steep learning curve]] even for a roguelike, but is still honest (as opposed to early versions which would pit you on the very first level with enemies who you couldn't [[KillerGameMaster see]], not to mention attack). Most of the difficulty stems from the need to read various [[AllThereInTheManual in-game manuals]], item and monster descriptions and knowing how to [[MinMaxing build your character]]. So, difficulty in Incursion is more [[DwarfFortress Dwarf Fortress]] than [[NetHack NetHack]].

Since it's a PnP adventure, Incursion places much more weight on the 'feeling' of world and mimesis than static fantasy rescue-the-world plot; there are very few things expected from the player to do (just kill that goblin), and the game is a mix of [[WideOpenSandbox wide open sandbox]] and typical dungeon crawler. Wery well written in-game descriptions help. In other words, use your imagination.


Incursion: return of the Forsaken - the complete game - seems stuck in [[DevelopmentHell development hell]] for something like 3 years. Still, Halls of the Goblin King is playable despite being a beta version.

* [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Department Of Redundancy Department]]

* [[DontFearTheReaper Don't Fear The Reaper]]: Mara, the goddes of death, is one of the few good gods. She's also about resolving your issues before death, and is very happy to ressurect her followers. Also, she's a goddes of romantic love.
* [[EldritchAbomination Eltditch Abomination]]: Kysul not only is a [[LawfullGood Lawfull Good]] god, he's bent on saving Theyra from destruction. He's still on the [[BlueAndOrangeMorality multi-hued]] side of morals - he hates demons/devils and celestials alike.
* [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Everything Trying To Kill You]]: Played straight when you're evil. When you're good, you can quell many enemies, ask them to join your band, to give you an item, to cast a spell at you, even to take watches with you for a rest.
* [[ExcusePlot Excuse Plot]]: A band of goblins gathers in a war party at the bottom of some cavern in the middle of nowhere. Perform regicide. Overlaps with [[SavingTheWorld saving the world]].
* [[FakeDifficulty Fake Difficulty]]: Lower levels of the dungeon are !!!ridden!!! with groups of high CR monsters fighting each other.
* [[GentlemanAdventurer Gentleman Adventurer]]: You can be one, if you choose such personality
* [[GlassCannon Glass Cannon]]: Mages die from getting poked with a toothpick from behind, rogues are lousy in fair combat until they gain a few levels, archer-oriented classes have problems when somebody shoots back at them.. all three of them are one of the best damage dishers once you get going.

* [[LightningBruiser Lightning Bruiser]]: Rogues when they find some decent equipment and grab many levels, bumping their sneak attack damage and defence to ninja levels. Also shapeshifting druids.
* [[LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards]]: More like linear warriors and wizards, quadratic priests, geometric rogues and druids. Doing everything without meat shields breaks the class equillibrum.
* [[LizardFolk Lizard Folk]]: They're big, strong, lethargic and think in [[BlueAndOrangeMorality alien ways]] compared to humans. They worship nature and benevolent [[EldritchAbomination eldritch abominations]] and aren't bent very much on invidualism. They also have unconcious hive mind, are fond of saving all life from extintion ([[TrueNeutral themselves first]]) and are percieved as ruthless by mammalian species. On the other hand, they think of us as extremely decadent and wasteful and have no strong emotional motivations like greed, ambition or compassion.
* [[LuckStat Luck Stat]]: More of it generates better equipment, affects some spells, saving throws of halflings and critical hit survivalability.
* [[OneSizeFitsAll One Size Fits All]]: Aversion with weapons - there are tiny, small, human-sized, large.. Everyone can also change size via spell for example, further complicating matters.
* [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Our Dwarves Are All The Same]]: Justified to some extend - dwarves HAD to be over-the-top traditional and homongeous to survive harder times when monsters were everywhere. Their conservatism is going to [[CantCatchUp bite]] [[MedievalStasis them]] in the ass if they won't change, though.
* [[OurElvesAreBetter Our Elves Are Better/Our Elves Are Different]]: Played straight and [[Deconstruction deconstructed]]. Ordinary elves are a mix of [[FairFolk fair folk]], tolkienesque elves and [[ServantRace servant race]] - humans who got warped by magic and by signing pacts with the fae. Their society ultimately answers to Maeve, queen of the fairies. Since few of them actually like being her puppets, life in elven cities somewhat resembles [[NineteenEightyFour big brother state]]. On the other half, drow were originally rebels who got sick of their [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen queen]] and escaped underground. Too bad their had to take [[AlwaysChaoticEvil extreme]] measures to escape her wrath.
* [[PurelyAestheticGender Purely Aesthetic Gender]]
* [[RegeneratingHealth Regenerating Health]]: Averted. You regain health only by resting, potions, necromancy, prayers or one specific feat.
* [[ReligionOfEvil Religion Of Evil]]: The Multitude are basically a horde of trigger-happy ghosts who get nauseated from good done by their worshippers. Zurvash puts more philosophy for those worshiping him - he would classify under [[TrueNeutral true neutral]] if not for his sheer selfishness and no regard for consequences of his actions.
* [[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining Sacrificed Basic Skill For Awesome Training]]: Alienists are mages with many cool things that make mages more durable - fatigue regeneration for infinite metamagic, critical hit immunity, overpowered summons.. And they get penalty to Spot, Listen and Searching, one of the most useful skills in the game.
* [[ServantRace Servant Race]]: Elves. Drow can also be this, since they migrated from one swamp to another.
* [[SetAMookToKillAMook Set a Mook to Kill a Mook]]: Show yourself to group of evil guys. Say hello, then let them follow you to that good aligned dragon
* [[SpaceCompression Space Compression]]: Aversion - creatures of size class Huge and larger occupy more than one tile. Still played straight with human-sized and smaller, infinite number of them can occupy the same tile.
* [[SpoonyBard Spoony Bard]]: [[LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards Warrior]], of all people, can be a better party leader than bard, provided he chooses some feats (which he has too much anyway) and has high charisma. The same for rogue. Both of them don't suck in combat.
* [[SquishyWizard Squishy Wizard]]: Problem with playing wizard are sneaking monsters and often inability to spot things you want to blast to oblivion.
* [[SuicidalOverconfidence Suicidal Overconfidence]]: Averted. Having high intimidation skill allows you to strike fear to enemies as you critically hit and kill their buddy.
* [[TheFairFolk The Fair Folk]]: Maeve. All mundane elves are effectively slaves to her. Even those with good standing with her can be screwed up anytime.

* [[UselessUsefulStealth Useless Useful Stealth]]: Backstabbing rogues are one of the most powerful classes in the game. Notable fact that monsters frequently utilize stealth agaist you.

* [[WeakButSkilled Weak, But Skilled]]: Rogues, who know every widely used skill in the game sans Concentration and maybe Swimming. They also get so much skill points that they can be more learned than mages, more philosophical than priests and better performest than bards, at the same time.
* [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well Intentioned Extremist]]: Immotian is the definition of purity in Theyran pantheon, also the god with the most influece. You [[LawfulNeutral can]] [[LawfulStupid guess]] [[TautologicalTemplar where]] [[FantasticRacism abuse]] [[ScrewYouElves of]] [[DrugsAreBad it]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans is]] [[BurnTheWitch going]].
* [[VeteranUnit Veteran Unit]]: "Using your knowledge about cosmology, you conclude that the thiefling is really a elite thiefling bandit!".

* [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well Intentioned Extremist]]: Immotian is the definition of purity in Theyran pantheon, also the god with the most influece. You [[LawfulNeutral can]] [[LawfulStupid guess]] [[TautologicalTemplar where]] [[FantasticRacism abuse]] [[ScrewYouElves of]] [[DrugsAreBad it]] [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight is]] [[BurnTheWitch going]].

* [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well Intentioned Extremist]]: Immotian is the definition of purity in Theyran pantheon, also the god with the most influece. You [[LawfulNeutral can]] [[LawfulStupid guess]] [[TautologicalTemplar where]] [[FantasticRacism abuse]] [[ScrewYouElves of]] [[DrugsAreBad it]] [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight is]] [[KillItWithFire going]].
* [[VeteranUnit Veteran Unit]]: "Using your knowledge about cosmology, you conclude that the thiefling is really a elite thiefling bandit!".

** "Appraising the human cleric, you discern that he is actually a human cleric!"

* [[VeteranUnit Veteran Unit]]: "Using your knowledge about cosmology, you know that this thiefling is really a elite thiefling bandit!".

* [[OneSizeFitsAll One Size Fits All]]: Aversion with weapons - there are tiny, small, human-sized, large.. Player characters can also change size, further complicating matters. Also, many one-sized or smaller monsters can fit in a corridor, for example.

* [[DemonicSpiders Demonic Spiders]]:
** No matter how tough, large and strong you are, you are pretty much over when a kobold immobilizes you with bolas or tanglefoot bag.
** Anything that transmits poison/disease by standing near you, like bone delvers or plagues of Whatever.

* [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned Bats]]: Many
** Shadow Oozes initiate a grapple every time they hit you, which means you can't run, use any large weapon and you get slowly strangled to death every round. They also heal at your cost and when you finally hit them, they just teleport shortly, hide in shadows and get another attack of opportunity against you. If you're a mage or someone else with [[FailedASpotCheck bad eyes]], run.
** Unless you're a priest, undead are resistant to critical hits (and by extension to one-hit kills), often have high natural armour and large hit point pool, so even spells won't get you far with them.
** Kobold-like monsters often wait for you in literall death-zones, have ridiculous dodging ability and throw tanglefoot bags, which means heavy armour classes can start rolling new character sheet once they get stuck.

* [[NoPlotNoProblem No Plot? No Problem!]]: A design choice, that.