Dev Update - Feb 2023

Welcome to EREBUS' first development update on Itch! I'll be using these logs to talk about planned revisions and expansions to this game as it progresses. Hopefully, development at this point will move at a decent enough pace that I can offer more-or-less monthly updates.

Work has started apace on Beta 6. While the basic framework of the game is complete, there's some rough edges I'm hoping to file down and mechanics that I plan on tweaking to provide a more distinct experience:

• Reworking the Endurance and Wounds system to a system that is more dynamic and player-facing. In Beta 5, your Wounds are a passive resource that is depleted as you take damage; under the revised system, Wounds are something you can decide to take to prevent damage to your Endurance. Doing so grants certain resources and benefits as under the current system, and a PC that has exhausted their Wounds can decide to enter a Blaze of Glory, boosting their combat capabilities and placing them at death's door.
• Weapon classes are being removed altogether, and Tactical Abilities that use weapons are restricted solely by weapon Size. For example, any Light or Main ranged weapon can be used for marksmanship, and any Main or Heavy weapon can be used for suppressive fire. This is a huge improvement for classes like the Ranger, whose optimal play in the past was to ignore 60% of their Abilities.
• Weapon tags are being revised. Some tags are being removed, while others are having their effects adjusted. Notably, Some melee weapons can be thrown in combat, and most area-of-effect weapons have an Ordnance tag meaning they can't be used for reactive attacks.
• Advanced Equipment is being divided into themed packages, reducing the cognitive load involved in acquiring new gear. The tier system still exists, but rather than picking two pieces of individual equipment, each level a PC chooses a package that provides three pieces of equipment.

I'm also in the preliminary steps of getting a professional layout in place, which will be implemented when EREBUS reaches final release. 

The full release of EREBUS will be a paid product, but I plan to keep at least a plaintext version of the player-facing rules free in perpetuity.

-Max