Bane of Antagon

There’s something magical about hexcrawlers, and I’ve always wanted to create a heroic fantasy adventure that can tell a story inspired by Bathory’s Blood on Ice, which was, obviously, inspired by the first (and only?) Schwarzenegger Conan movie.

Finally, I started working on a prototype to make this happen.

After many design iterations, I managed to craft a hexcrawl system that’s scalable and offers features necessary to explore an interesting and dangerous world. I also had to find how best to design and implement a version of dice poker for the game’s combat system that has a very strong tactical aspect but doesn’t require a pilot’s certificate to play.

Currently there is an open, public playtest available on Steam.

I’m hoping you’ll try out the game and let me know what you think.

Inspirations

• Barbarian Prince – the old-school fantasy hexcrawl
• Runebound – the board game
• Judgemint of the Realm Lords – the tiny board game, a love letter to Runebound
• Rune – the soulslike PNP game by Gila RPGs
• Dice Throne – the dice duel game
• Bathory: Blood on Ice – the deeply flawed yet epic masterpiece, my initial spark for this project
• Fire and Ice – the legendary sword & sorcery film by Frank Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi
• Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian stories – the fountainhead

Planned Main Features

• Final Boss encounter: A red encounter that gets more powerful the longer you wander. But you must wander to strengthen yourself, creating a risk/reward loop.
• Clue gathering: Find clues that reveal the Final Boss’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Elite enemies: High-tier foes with unique behaviors and tactical combat abilities.
• True soulslike game loop: Respawn when the hero dies, then try to recover your legacy from your grave. Only the Final Confrontation ends the adventure.
• Gear: Alternative weapons, spells and wearables providing distinct combat actions.
• Consumables: Use items like healing potions to survive.
• Dice manipulation: Nudge dice when needed (e.g., turn a rolled 4 into a 5).
• Exploration: Undertake mini quests and dungeon delving with potentially legendary treasures.
• Multiple playable classes: Choose from options like the ranger, priest, sorcerer, and more.
• Expanded environments: Explore more terrain types and more interesting maps.
• Story chapters: Play through a main story inspired by the Bathory album “Blood on Ice,” set against a highly replayable, procedurally generated world.
• Standalone scenarios: Choose focused, replayable challenges separate from the main campaign.

Secretly Hoped Features

• Proper, commissioned artwork. While I have some artistic skills, my eyesight has been rapidly deteriorating. As a self-funded solo game developer, I can only hire an artist to create the visuals this game deserves if the prototype and demo gain enough attention: feedback and Steam wishlists. I’ve already published games on Steam, and my wallet is getting very thin, as I alone take the risks and always pay comissions fully and upfront. This hasn’t been a financially successful habit, but it’s a principle I won’t compromise.
• Proper, commissioned soundtrack. Reasons as above, except I know nothing about making music. But I know that the metal genre is the one which through our inner selves speak.