SheltRPG Devlog 2 - The Setting

The known world of Shelter is split into six countries, each hosting people or different species groups. There is a country of Felines, Canines, Rodents, Saurians, Ungulates and Avians. Traveling between the countries is made difficult by all of them being separated by stretches of land people call Corrupted Borderlands, a home to the Monsters.

As it stands now, the plan for SheltRPG is to contain the story almost entirely in the Borderlands. Those are mysterious, uncharted lands, with death lurking around every corner, and that seems like a great setting for regular battles and the sense of wonder of exploration.

The “life-sucking” aspect of the Borderlands is the one thing in particular that stops people from more thoroughly exploring those lands. Every trip through them is a race against time and the land itself. Only the most narrow parts of the Borderlands are chosen for travel, and even those change as the areas of Corruption constantly fluctuate and expand year by year.

People fear that their World will eventually succumb to the sickness of Corruption in full, and every soul will join the ranks of the immortal Monsters. But how can you fix something you don’t understand? How can you understand the Corrupted Borderlands when any contact with those lands sucks life out of you?

The Supreme Crimson Scholar Burry Tangleroot might not be there anymore to push the limits of understanding of the Corruption, but the Crimson Royal Grove is going to keep the research running til the last dog standing. For the sake of their World, they shall find a way to unravel the secrets of the Borderlands, no matter the cost.

And they might have just done it. With the blood of thousands, the first promising tool for prolonged exploration of the Corrupted Borderlands leaves the capital of the Crimson Royal Grove. Now, by the stroke or chance or fate, it finds its way into the hands of adventurers trapped in the cradle of the Monsters, giving them one unexpected hope of escape.

Or at least that’s our current idea. As always, everything I’m sharing with you is subject to change.

It would be amazing to explore each country of Shelter’s World and get to learn about the wild quirks of their unique animal-like cultures, but I want the first iteration of SheltRPG to be as limited in scope as possible. First, we want to make sure the battle system and character customization are fun to play. That’s the highest priority.

Because of the nature of the Borderlands, the chance of encountering non-Monster enemies is unlikely. That simultaneously simplifies some things for us and ensures that each battle can be designed to utilize that fun rng element of never being sure what mana charge you release when attacking a Monster. We’ll get into the details of the battle system in another devlog, though. That’s the most fun part to me!

That’s it from me for now on the setting. To summarize, the current plan is to contain SheltRPG within the Corrupted Borderlands, fighting a bunch of Monsters and doing the story things that have to be done. Mostly, escaping alive and hopefully uncorrupted.

I hope we’ll manage to create a setting that captivates you!

Next Devlog:

"The Three Modes - Exploration, Battle, VN"

Awoo,

Raus Vuffski