20 Sep Mechanics Mondays #3
Campaign updates
Stretch Goals
Over the weekend you’ve managed to complete a stretch goal for each title. Now we are really getting into some interesting goals. We hope we can get to that next combo goal as well!
6th Stretch Goal – CLEARED!
BOI Special Case Files (Quests)
This stretch goal will allow players to undertake side story quests from the Bureau of Investigation. As the predecessor to the FBI, the BOI served as the foundation for standard investigation procedures still used today, such as crime scene preservation, fingerprinting, voice recognition, luminol reactions, and criminal profiling.
“As they say, truth is stranger than fiction. And sometimes, things happen in our world that defy all explanation. Well, Matthew, what do you say? Mind taking some time off your main mission to help us solve some other cases on the side? We’ll give you full access to all our state-of-the-art technology, of course…”
92,500,000 yen
Call of Baby Cthulhu (Mascot Raising)
This will add a system to the game in which players can raise Baby Cthulhu, Penny Blood’s mascot character. You’ll be able to feed your Baby Cthulhu the blood and flesh of specific monsters as well as minerals to help it grow stronger. The barrier Baby Cthulhu emits has the ability to neutralize the power of Umbra and the Ruinwalkers, giving players advantages in battle. Helping your Baby Cthulhu reach maturity will also guide you further toward the game’s ‘good’ ending.
“What?! That baby octopus went missing? I told you to keep an eye on it… We won’t be able to open the doors without that thing! This will highly limit our mobility… Who was in charge of its food today? Me? Oh, it was me…? ****…”
95,000,000 yen
Extra Language Pack
Chinese and Korean languages will be added to the game.
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HINT: Feeling lucky?
Community Game
Unfortunately, you missed your Twitter and Youtube goals last week so those will remain for this week. Some backers choose one game or the other but ideally we’d all come together and work to defeat these monsters as one JRPG loving community! Remember there are combo rewards for getting as many points as possible so it benefits both communities to work towards clear as many goals as possible!
OK… We’re starting to fight boss level monsters now. That means higher HP, which means you’ll need to clear more goals. You’ve done a great job so far, but this will take everything you’ve got as a collective community. Oh no…we forgot to save! (The golden rule of JRPGs!!) So no resets! We only have this one shot to defeat these monsters!
CONTENT UPDATES
The Sanity Parameter (SAN)
SAN is the parameter we’ll be using in the game to display each character’s sanity level. In real life, of course, there’s no unit of measurement to calculate someone’s level of sanity… But the general idea is that someone who’s calm and collected has a high sanity level, while cowards have low sanity levels. During battle, characters’ sanity levels will drop, and when a character’s SAN reaches zero, they’ll succumb to madness.
When integrating this parameter into the game, we decided to make it a trigger to activate what we call ‘melees of madness.’ In Penny Blood, you won’t be constantly trying to keep your SAN from dropping – the true key to winning will be figuring out the right times to let it drop, and the right times to let it recover.
Now, I’ll give you a brief overview on the ‘melees of madness’ concept.
Melees of Madness
When a character’s SAN drops to zero in a battle, they’ll succumb to madness and go berserk… But players will still be able to control the characters while they’re in this state. The merits of going berserk are that characters will gain attack power boosts and awaken unknown power that lies dormant within their psyche. Basically, you’ll unlock skills that you won’t be able to use when you’re sane, and your characters will experience a rush of euphoria that suddenly enhances their destructive capabilities.
This will also speed up the Psycho Sigil and shrink its hit areas, which will make attacks much more difficult to pull off. But since the characters’ overall attack power will be boosted, players who manage to pull the difficult inputs off will see much better results in battle. The demerit of going berserk is that characters’ defense power will drop, which will increase the amount of damage they take. Characters will also be unable to guard or run away from a battle while they’re berserk.
When a character’s Sanity drops into negative values, they will start to regain 1 Sanity Point per turn. Taking damage will also instantly restore their sanity, which means they’ll lose the benefits of their madness. Thus, the player’s goal while characters are berserk will be to utilize combo attacks and other strategies to prevent the enemies’ turns from happening. Right now, the team is working hard and discussing how to make combo attack activation conditions as thrilling and fun as possible.
This is how Penny Blood’s battles will work – a combination of the Psycho Sigil timed inputs and strategic manipulation of your characters’ SAN.
New Character: Goliath
An android created by Victor Frankenstein in an unknown place in the 1820s, making him roughly 100 years old.
After being found collapsed in the Arctic Circle by some explorers, he was later sold off to a slave trader.
No matter what master he was forced onto, the hideous monster always loyally carried out orders without fail. After many long months and years, Goliath’s body began to show signs of giving out, and he soon became unable to exert even half of his original power. The misunderstandings due to his appearance have caused Goliath to fear interacting with other people, and deep down, he possesses a gentle heart.
After meeting Candy, Goliath began devoting his time to serving her as best he can, despite how often she ends up yelling at him. His weapons of choice are round things.
New Villains: The Hellhounders
After the end of the great war, both Europe and America experienced a slew of assassinations in which wealthy VIPs and governmental officials were brutally murdered in the shadows. Left at every scene was an Electrum coin emblazoned with a dog’s profile and a phrase written in Ancient Greek which roughly translates to: “By my hands, I deliver God’s judgment unto thee.”
While society viewed the work of the Hellhounders as just more mindless violence perpetrated by a new group of insane anarchists, their zeal was still enough to instill fear in the hearts of the shady moguls who continued to lurk in the darkness of the world.
The Hellhounders’ main members are: Sariel, an ex-soldier and their leader; Dr. Eugene, a scientist who possesses horrifying beliefs on eugenics; the Axeman, a monstrous man who commands herculean strength, and Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova; one of the world’s most ravishing sadists.
Throughout Matthew’s journey, the Hellhounders will rise to become his greatest adversaries.
Sariel
Birthplace unknown. In his late 40s. Leader of the Hellhounders, and a taciturn anarchist. He
spends his time planning subversive activities around the world in order to murder those who are in power.
Dr. Eugene
His full name is Franz Eugene. Birthplace unknown. The sub-leader of the Hellhounders, who possess extreme theories on eugenics. He devotes all he has to researching malice.
Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova
Born in Russia. A serial killer who murdered over 100 serfs in the 18th century. Now, through the power of malice, she has been reborn in the modern age.
The Axeman
The infamous Axeman, also known to some as Joseph Momfre. 35 years old, hailing from New Orleans. A monstrously powerful man who loves novels and jazz more than anything else.
New Monster
Pauk Malchik
A witch who once brutally murdered many of her serfs has risen from the dead in the modern age and given birth to the child she’s always dreamed of.
Upon reviving, the witch’s DNA was infused with spider genes which were flawlessly inherited by her monstrous spawn along with her human genes. Aside from possessing cold arachnid instincts and the unique childlike cruelty of never knowing how to hold back, Pauk Maulchik also inherited the hatred that blossomed within the witch’s heart during her 11 years of imprisonment in darkness. The child has now grown into a wholly malevolent creature bent on devouring the entire human race.
Technically, the Pauk Malchik is neither a deity nor a monster, but a foul blasphemy born from the human race’s experiments with science and magic.
New Location
The Accursed Dollhouse
In a corner of the world, in the shadow of the birth of a new nation… Dozens of children were kidnapped from nearby and sacrificed for the sake of the ritual meant to extend the lifespan of a great leader. In the end, the ritual failed, and the leader passed on to the afterlife…
Afterwards, the sorcerer who had crafted the ritual was blamed for the failure and executed in a mansion near St. Petersburg. While everything related to the plot seemed to have been buried in the darkness of history, the sorcerer’s ill-omened legacy was unknowingly inherited by a doll he had once cherished.
Within the mansion, the doll asks Matthew a question: What becomes of those who toy with human life?
Penny Blood Side Stories
These side stories are written tales produced by me (Machida) and written by two translators from the Mamma Aiuto gang (the campaign team): Ari Lee and Donna Grey. I gave them the plot notes and supervised their work as they freely wrote their own stories.
Since I haven’t begun working on the main story for the game yet, the backgrounds and stories featured here may not match up with what ultimately appears in the game. Despite that, I hope you’ll be able to enjoy them as another way to experience the world of #PENNYBLOOD. These stories mainly center around the Hellhounders, the anarchist terrorism group that will serve as the adversaries for Matthew and the BOI. It’d make me happy if you let me know what you thought after reading.
The first story we’ll be presenting to you is “Pleasure Doing Business,” written by Donna Grey. This is the story of Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova, the female member of the Hellhounders.
*This story contains explicit content and is intended for adults.