Nightingale Legacy Portal
The Bound Part #6: The Accursed
Greetings Devpeoples,
This post is part of the Community Theorycraft Project. Something where multiple members of the community gather together to discuss existing and potential new additions to the different elements of this wonderful game. Things we would like to see, we would like to change, and ways to go about doing so.
This topic of focus is The Bound, the gruesome creatures unleashed by the Pale. We dive into the wonderful theme and flavour presented by them. In fact, so captivated were we by this particular topic, we may have overdone it slightly, exceeding even our own estimates of total content. This has resulted in this submission being the largest one from the CTP to date.
As such, we have decided to split this into multiple separate topics, and link each one within the forewords so those interested can travel from post to post with ease.
As always, we would like to thank you for your time and continued development of this wonderful game.
Bound Posts:
Bound Part #1 - Materials of the Bound
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-416
Bound Part #2 - Corrupt Enchantments
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-417
Bound Part #3 - Existing Bound Changes
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-418
Bound Part #4 - New Melee Bound
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-419
Bound Part #5 - New Ranged Bound
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-420
Bound Part #6 - The Accursed
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-421
Bound Part #7 - Quest 1: “A Shot In The Dark”
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-422
Bound Part #8 - Quest 2: “The Binds That Break Us”
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-423
The Accursed
This particular post deals with a new class of Bound creature, The Accursed. We have supplied a total of 4 Accursed, with the overall goal being that each particular Major Realm Card has their own Accursed-type Bound. It includes a cryptic way to encounter these new Bound, the environment they’re found in, their appearances and combat aspects, as well as their potential loot.
The Accursed are a special kind of Bound variant, more along the lines of Fabled creatures than normal bound spawns. They are special named variants of the Bound, and draw from the more villainous / destructive elements of humanity for inspiration of their potential design art and combat wise.
The Accursed do not spawn like normal bound or Fabled, however. They are instead found inside the Realmic Vaults within each realm (the Fae Portals), as a kind of mini-boss.
Gaining access to the Accursed Vaults of these particular bound only occurs when entering the Realmic Vault of the correct Major card, with the correct Minor Card active within the Realm. For instance, accessing The Ripper’s Accursed Vault, the Player must be within a Gloom Major Realm, and have a Ghost Minor Realm Card actively played when entering the Realm Vault Fae Portal.
Should a Player die within an Accursed Vault, they may respawn, but doing so takes them outside the Vault and back to the Fae Portal in the parent Realm. They may enter again immediately, but the Accursed Vault is reset, and the player must begin it again in a fresh attempt. The Vaults are not long, similar to the normal Fae Portal Realmic Vaults in length, so survival is important.
Note 1:
The Player is guided toward the first Accursed they will encounter, The Ripper, by Bass Reeves, which we describe in Post #7. For gaining access to additional Accursed Vaults, players could find Hope Echoes and other notes which reveal details as to other Accursed Bound locations in each one previous, leading to a sort of chain of progression. Ideally, we would see this as a reward for piecing together a cryptic puzzle, which could be placed within the Realms through different notes and echoes left by Poe, to guide the Player toward them, such as:
“A shining sea of magick blanketing the land, pierced only by bergs of steel, the Accursed sails, forever to dread returning ashore.” to reference the Astrolabe Realm, and Alchemist card, for encountering The Beast.
Note 2:
Each of Accursed Vaults is like stepping into a diorama of their location, but corrupted, wretched and twisted by the Pale. A snippet of time, maintained by the Pale, feeding off the parent Realm, and shaped by the Accursed held within it. Venturing into an Accursed Vault is like entering that world afresh, no matter whether the Player has been there before or not. Each is fully replayable, like stepping back in from the beginning, with the Accursed trapped within their own private hell.
Below, we have listed a handful of Accursed Bound for consideration. Ideally, we would love to see at least 1 Accursed for every Major Realm Card, but we decided to only submit a handful for initial consideration. If this is desired and more are needed, we would be delighted to expand the roster!
Edit - Note 3:
With the release of v0.5 and the new Storied Realms, this presents a wonderful opportunity for Accursed Vaults to be presented in a similar fashion. A dioramic story experience telling the tale of each of the Accursed, in very thematic and engaging ways.
Base Bound Types: Fiend // Assassin
Based On: Jack The Ripper
Physical Appearance:
A grotesque fiend, with long crystalline ragged and claw-like knives, clad in a tattered cloak and ruined Tophat
Combat Style:
The Ripper closes fast with his prey, circling behind them and attacking from behind when able. After striking the Player, The Ripper quickly disengages and vanishes into the mists and darkness, before beginning to stalk the Player once again.
Melee hits inflicted by The Ripper cause their target to bleed, dealing Maleficium Damage Over Time.
Realm Info:
Major Card Required: Gloom, Gloom Ascended
Minor Card Required: Ghost
Vault Appearance:
A mist-wreathed realm, The Ripper stalks within an abandoned 1800’s factory, wrecked and ruined. The boundaries of the Realm are the factory walls itself. From above, faint streaks of moonlight break through the shutters. The realm is covered in perpetual fog from the Ghost Card, and darkened via the Gloom Realm that feeds into it.
The floor of the factory is littered with refuse, piles of crates, broken machinery, etc. Full of things the Ripper employs to break line of sight, and to create a terrifying atmosphere to engage him in.
Recipes Unlocked:
Successfully defeating The Ripper for the first time unlocks the recipe for the following:
Ripper’s Bloodletting
Corrupt Enchantment
This enchantment shrouds the tool in ghost-like wisps of baleful mist, dealing maleficium damage and causes the target to bleed on the next hit, and may be charged for multiple hits. The strength and duration of the damage increases with the caster’s magick power.
Drops:
Blade (Blood Diamond)
Counts As: Blade (Refined Item)
Rarity: 20% Drop
T1 / T2 / T3 Attributes:
+15 % / +20% / +25% Melee Damage
+5% / +7.5% / +10% Critical Damage
Blood Diamond
Counts As: Raw Gem
T1 / T2 / T3 Attributes:
+15 % / +20% / +25% Melee Damage
+5% / +7.5% / +10% Critical Damage
Bound Token
Counts As: Resource (See new Quests in Parts #7 and #8)
Base Bound Types: Sniper // Bandit
Based On: Butch Cassidy
Appearance:
Tattered open duster, with ripped sleeves, the Highwayman cuts a weirdly imposing figure. With ridged skull and jewels bolted into his eye sockets, glittering from behind the iron sights of a strange Winchester-styled variant of the Snipers rifle. Holster bound to each hip with a weird pistol in each.
The Highwayman, whilst not physically imposing in size, still daunts even a seasoned Realmwalker, especially once the bullets start flying.
Combat Style:
The Highwayman keeps the Player at a medium distance, firing at fast intervals using a Winchester variant of the Sniper’s electric rifle. He attempts to stay out of melee, backing up whilst firing, as best able.
When the Highwayman is cornered, he will swap to dual Pistols for close range shooting instead.
Realm Info:
Major Card Required: Provisioner, Provisioner Ascended
Minor Card Required: Dragon’s Hoard
Vault Appearance:
The Highwayman’s Vault takes on the appearance of a train. Multiple carriages long, filled with seats, luggage, and other breakables. Players arrive at the final railcar, and must traverse the length of the train to the Locomotive. Players encounter multiple Bound Snipers and Bound Bandits in the rail cars, who concentrate fire down the cars length. Players can take cover behind the objects within the car, but every object is breakable, and the shots from the Bound shooters will break their cover if the Player does not press forward.
Various containers within the rail cars count as Chests, containing valuable loot (increased by the Dragons Hoard effect of the Realm). However, if a chest is physically destroyed, the floor beneath it breaks, and the loot drops through the floor and is lost. This compels the Player to try to salvage as much loot as possible, whilst progressing forward. Players that step into these holes are knocked prone, but otherwise unaffected.
If the Player tries to hide too long, and loses all their cover, they will have a difficult time avoiding the gunfire directed at them.
The Highwayman runs along the roof of the train, shooting down into it at the player from safety. Pushing forward drives the Highwayman back, eventually cornering them at the Locomotive, where the final fight between them occurs.
When the Highwayman engages the Player at the Locomotive, he swaps to a Pistol for close range shoots, and tries to stay out of melee combat with the Player
Recipes Unlocked:
Successfully defeating The Highwayman for the first time unlocks the following recipes:
Maleficium Ammunition (All Missile Weapons)
Requires:
Bound Metal Ingot + Raw Gem (Fossilised Ichor) + Gunpowder
Effects:
+25% Damage
Maleficium Damage Over Time
Drops:
Highwayman’s Eye
Counts As: Raw Gem
Flavour Text: "A carved facsimile of an eye, looking through It is like looking through a spyglass, enabling easy targeting of even distant creatures."
T1 / T2 / T3 Attributes:
+10% / +20% / +30% Ranged Damage
+10 / +15 / +20 Maximum Stamina
+10% / +15% / +20% Magnification
Bound Token
Counts As: Resource (See new Quests in Parts #7 and #8)
Note: The Highwayman references two terms (Bound Metal and Magnification) we supplied in a separate Community Theorycraft, which we shall link here:
230 GS Resource Revamp: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-14
Base Bound Types: Bruiser // Vermin
Based On: Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde
Defeating The Beast causes him to return to his original form, a man named Dr Jekyll. An Alchemist, Dr Jekyll has been spending time experimenting with the thick ooze-like blood recovered from the various Bound, supplied by a mysterious Fae benefactor.
Appearance:
As the Beast, this creature’s appearance is an extremely muscular upper torso, with massive arms that drag knuckles along the ground. He is wearing a ripped open lab coat, stretched yet semi-ruined scholar’s pants, and torn open shoes. When moving, The Beast seems more like a gorilla than a man.
As Dr Jekyll, we see only a man with a bare upper body, nothing near as muscular. More gaunt, decrepit, weakened through repeated use of ingesting the Ichor. Dr Jekyll presents an almost addicts-like desire toward Bound Ichor, using his knowledge of alchemy to synthetically alter it into something which fuels his transformation into The Beast.
He is bare chested, yet retains the lab coat and pants for decency.
Combat Style:
The Beast is a violent, rage-filled persona, fuelled by the use of alchemically altered Bound Ichor. He attacks extremely aggressively, bull-rushing the Player and attacking with violent combinations of strikes that can knock the Player prone. His strikes are so strong, that he often breaks the bones of those who engage in combat with him. He also rarely stands still.
He has high resistance to physical damage, able to shrug off most damage types. However, magick and magickal damage is very effective.
Realm Info:
Major Card Required: Astrolabe, Astrolabe Ascended
Minor Card Required: Alchemist Card
Vault Appearance:
The Vault of The Beast is located within the belly of an Airship. Players navigate catwalks and railings, coming across various scenes of destruction and damage, growing more complex and elaborate as they grow nearer to Dr Jekyll’s Alchemy Lab.
Bound Strix swoop from above within the frameworks, entering from the sides to engage the player, whilst other Bound climb through gaps within the floors, and dropping from above.
Recipes Unlocked:
Successfully defeating The Beast for the first time unlocks the following recipe, depending on the Tier of The Beast:
Potion of Rage
Moderate (Tier 1+) / Great (Tier 2+) / Prodigious (Tier 3)
+50% / +100% / +200% Melee Damage
150s / 300s / 600s Duration
Craft Requirements:
Bound Ichor / Alchemical Ichor / Monstrous Ichor
T2 / T3 / T4 Essence
Diamond Glass (All Potion Grades)
Drops:
Alchemical Ichor
Counts As: Ichor
Can Drop As: Ichor
T1 / T2 / T3 Attributes:
+15% / +20% / +25% Melee Damage
+10 / +15 / +20 Maximum Health
Bound Token
Counts As: Resource (See new Quests in Parts #7 and #8)
Base Bound Types: Bombardier // Bandit
Based On: Ignaz Semmelweis (Alt. History, Asylum not good) // Plague Doctor
Appearance:
The Scourge retains a lot of physical attributes from that of a Bombardier. Tall, gangly of limb, the Scourges skull looks much more akin to that of someone with a Plague Doctors mask, however made of bone, rather than an actual Mask. Clad in tighter strapped robes, and carrying a strange kind of pistol that seems to have several chemical vials connected to it, which fires chemical-laced needles at their target.
Combat Style:
The Scourge fights by doing hit and run combat, firing their needle gun at the Player whilst seeking cover behind elements of the terrain, and supported by other Lesser Bound, such as the Onager and Bombardier.
When a needle hits the player, an additional affect is applied, a debuff that greatly inhibits the player from fighting the Scourge easily.
Whilst the Scourge is physically a weaker opponent than other accursed, he makes up for it by using the various chemical elements of the room’s gas, Maleficiate card damage, and the chemical effects from his needle gun.
Possible Effects:
Reduce Resistances
Poison DoT
Reduce Movement Speed
Change visual appearance of the room (UI interference, blurry/weird colours etc)
Realm Info:
Major Card Required: Herbarium, Herbarium Ascended
Minor Card Required: Maleficiate Card
Vault Appearance:
The Scourge’s Vault is a series of medical/laboratory rooms. Player’s first arriving here find that they appear within a sealed chamber, slowly filling with toxic gas. This gas should not be able to be 100% resisted, otherwise it becomes a pointless element.
Players must escape this chamber before succumbing to the gas. The more affected by gas the Player is, the more disturbed their screen becomes, blurrier toward the edges, the less focused they are, the harder their character breathes.
Once free, they must escape room to room before the Gas fills each room, killing the player. Each room has a reskinned Bastille challenge (Such as Intellect, Insight), requiring the Player to unlock the means of escape. This could be as simple as “turning valves in sequence” (intellect), for instance.
This succeeds in adding a sense of pressure towards completing these obstacles, since delaying too long will result in death from the Damage over Time from the toxic gas and Maleficiate card, which result in high damage when combined. Within the rooms are also several other Bound, which harass/delay the Players progress, such as Bombardiers, Onagers, etc.
Each room bears the appearance of a medical laboratory. Chemicals in different alchemy sets, corpses in different stages of dissection, Bound floating in tanks of liquid, etc. This should be particularly gruesome when viewed with the screen effects from the gas.
Scattered around the different rooms are various Corpse Flowers, that the player can collect.
Getting to the final room the Player confront the Scourge.
Recipes Unlocked:
Successfully defeating The Scourge for the first time unlocks the following recipe, depending on the Tier of The Scourge:
Toxic Grenade Satchel
Refined (Tier 1+) / Excellent (Tier 2+) / Prodigious (Tier 3)
A variation of the standard Grenade, Toxic Grenades deal poison damage, and unleash a cloud of poisonous gas within the area, dealing poison damage over time to all creatures within it, and for a short duration when creatures leave the area.
Higher tier grenades deal both higher damage and affect a larger area.
Craft Requirements:
Refined - Precious Metal Ingot, Gunpowder, Wick, Raw Emerald
Excellent - Precious Metal Reservoir, Gunpowder, Wick, Powdered Emerald
Prodigious - Fae Metal Reservoir, Gunpowder, Wick, Powdered Abalonite
Note: We suggested this grenade type in a separate Community Theorycraft, which also includes clarifications for the terms Fae Metal, as well as a suggestion of making all Grenades a single-use consumable item (crafted in batches like ammunition currently is), which we shall link here for reference:
230 GS Resource Revamp: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-14
Drops:
Sulphur (Variscite)
Counts As: Mineral, Sulphur
Rarity: 20% Drop
Attributes:
+15% Poison Damage
-10 Durability
Note: Through some strange alchemical process, the stone block form of Variscite has been made into a kind of synthetic Sulphur, doing so has kept the key attribute of poison damage, but values and other attributes have changed due to this process.
Stone Block (Variscite)
Counts As: Stone
Can Drop As: Stone Block (60%), Stone Powder (40%)
T1 / T2 / T3 Attributes:
+10% / +20% / +30% Poison Damage
+10 / +15 / +20 Maximum Stamina
Corpse Flower
Counts As: Flower
Can Drop As: Flower (80%), Seeds (20%)
Attributes:
+20% Poison Damage
+15 Maximum Stamina
Bound Token
Counts As: Resource (See new Quests in Parts #7 and #8)
Contributors:
Apothete, Double Space Su, Kahz, Katari, Phylon, Shrike
