#Avadon the black fortress charms software
#Avadon the black fortress charms plus
#Avadon the black fortress charms series

The sequel increases its number of player classes from four to five: as well as the returning Blademaster (tank), Shadowwalker (rogue/ranger), Shamans (summoners/buffers), and Sorcerers/Sorceresses (magic offense) there's also the new Tinkermage class, who uses mechanical traps and turrets as their chief means of offense and defense. Combat is turn-based with turn order decided by each combatant's speed, and uses an action-point system similar to Fallout: however, one big difference is that using a regular attack or a special ability always instantly ends that character's turn, so movement and other minor actions (like using an item) should be done first before committing to an attack - as long as the player retains at least one action point for the attack itself, that is. Some areas might open up later as part of a quest, and some might prove to be too challenging if you're going there early to reconnoiter. Like Baldur's Gate, each region of the game is a loose combination of separate 'maps,' each of which comprise a roughly square-shaped area of terrain with encounters, hazards, traps, internal areas to explore like caves and homesteads, and treasure to find off the beaten path.

#Avadon the black fortress charms plus

Plus it gives you a chance to talk to your party members while they're inactive.Īvadon 2's structure is similar to the first: teleportation pylons can warp the player's party to and from Avadon itself, which acts as a hub and a means to keep everyone stocked and equipped with the gear they need, before being sent to disparate parts of Lynaeus to resolve issues involving rebel attacks, monster encroachments, Farlander sabotage and subterfuge, dissatisfaction within The Pact member states on how Avadon is handling things, or a combination of the above. ( I reviewed the first Avadon all the way back in 2012, for those curious.) A quick trip back to Avadon is often advised, as there's gear here you can't get anywhere else. It's evident quick that this siege has emboldened a lot of enemies outside The Pact, and engendered some distrust and concern within. When Avadon 2 begins and a new player character is conscripted as a Hand (which can be voluntary or involuntary to the player's role-playing choosing), the Black Fortress is still recovering from this attack not just in the literal sense of rebuilding its fortifications, but in re-establishing its reputation as this invulnerable arbiter of justice despite being given a fresh black eye. With the first game, that discontent eventually lead to an open attack against the Black Fortress where the player could either choose to help the raiders or help defend Avadon. As the player invariably becomes a 'Hand' of this organization (the aforementioned field agents/assassins, sent out to 'solve problems' that threaten the stability of The Pact) internal questions are always raised about the methods Avadon employs, and those you might personally employ, in order to achieve your goals. The authority of Avadon is absolute, which makes it as many enemies as allies (probably far more so the former, honestly), and it inspires a degree of fear in all but the insane when Avadon's Eyes are upon them. Avadon acts as an independent entity where agents, assassins, and spies - bolstered with the best magic and equipment that not even money can buy - are sent out to maintain the peace of The Pact at any cost: an imposing manifestation of the idea that the end (peace) justifies the means (death and oppression).

#Avadon the black fortress charms series

The Avadon series concerns a continent named Lynaeus which has a powerful five-nation alliance in its center colloquially known as 'The Pact.' The peace of The Pact has been fragile at the best of times, but the nation states and the hostile 'Farlander' countries that occupy the surrounding coastal regions have always been kept in check by the administration of Hanvar's Council and the might of the Black Fortress of Avadon.

#Avadon the black fortress charms software

Each game to come out of his studio Spiderweb Software looks more or less identical: axonometric or top-down level design that has small parties with limited skill trees take on carefully considered quests and enemy group encounters in settings with a significant amount of worldbuilding behind them. That's by design, of course, and I'm not using the observation as a pejorative: for genre veteran Jeff Vogel (who has been making these specific types of turn-based CRPGs since the mid-90s) every one his projects is consciously big on mechanics and storytelling and light on presentation. Avadon 2: The Corruption was originally released in 2013, but it looks and plays like a game released thirty years ago, not seven. Sometimes, when faced with a scary new decade, we look to the familiar comforts of the old.