Lords of Xulima Developer Blogs
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More in keeping with old-school games like Might and Magic, Wizardry and a few other more modern games like Icewind Dale, are games that allow the player to have full control in creating all of the characters that make up the adventuring party. The benefits of this option are that it lets the player identify more with their self-made characters and opens up more possibilities for the player to develop their own strategic ways to play the game.
The limitations of this style is that less narrative story can be implemented through meaningful conversations between the different characters in the party. Most conversations are instead driven by NPCs with a limited number of response options given to the player character.
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Personally, I have never been a fan of resurrection, not in games, or books. I think that, no matter how fantastic the setting might be, there are certain things that should be unalterable. Otherwise, the player is left with the feeling that (nothing matters and there is nothing to worry about, not even death). For me, time travel can also have a similar effect of removing tension. If anything that happens can be easily undone or changed, then where is the danger? Where is the suspense?
In RPGs, the issue becomes even more absurd. Many times the main conflict in the story revolves around events like assassinated kings, revenge for the killing of a loved one or a quest to end the reign of some terrible sorcerer or monster. Do these things make sense in a world where anyone can simply be resurrected? How can a king, with all his power and wealth, be permanently dead when the characters in your party just need to stop by the local apothecary to pick up a potion or a spell to revive their fallen companions? This is too much of a discontinuity for my tastes.
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We were inspired by Might & Magic VI and have adopted a similar mechanism. We have taken the idea a step further in order to adapt it to our game system. In Lords of Xulima, the fundamental component is Food Stocks. The food level is always displayed on the screen and lets you know how much time (in days, minutes and hours) of rest you can take before you run out of your food stocks.
How can your food stocks be used?
'¢ Resting:
To recuperate all of your hit points and powers and to cure minor wounds, your party will need to rest for 8 hours. To cure the fatally wounded condition, they must rest for 24 hours. This will consume your food stocks if you rest in the wilderness, but not if you rest at an inn.
'¢ Traveling:
While your characters are traveling, time is passing and food stocks are being consumed. The rate at which they are consumed is affected by the type of terrain being traversed. For example, traveling through desert or snow consumes 5 times as much food as traveling over a grassy plain. An Explorer with the ability (Pathfinder) can reduce the rate of food consumed during travel. The more developed the ability the lower the rate will be. The exception to the traveling rule is that when your party is in a village or town no food will be consumed as they move.
'¢ By certain actions:
For example, breaking a lock when you are out of picks takes time during which you consume food. The amount of time depends on the difficulty of the lock. Another example would be breaking through a barrier of ice, which could go a lot faster if only you had the right spell to melt the barrier instead.
'¢ Other methods of consumption:
Some enemies, places and special situations can also cause you to use or lose food stocks.
