Imagine a group of dwarven warriors, battle hardened professional specialists. They get ordered by the Lords of the Deep to retrieve an artifact which is the key to repair an old Digging Machine, which has gone haywire and threatens to destroy your home, the Mine City. After gathering intel about the location and stocking on equipment, they travel to the site of an abandoned ruin. It is an old castle, a remnant of the Old Kingdom of man from before the cataclysmic winter. The group’s scout takes a look at the surrounding area and finds out that a group of kobolds have established a lair inside the old halls. Those critters are not much of  a threat, so the warriors decide to take a head on approach. They charge head on into the entrance hall and surprise a group of scattered kobold scavengers. While the warrior’s fighter draws the attention on him, their wizard prepares a spell to deal quickly with the whole group. Suddenly a rumbling sound. A door leading deeper into the castle bursts into splinters, only to reveal a huge combat drake. It charges the fighter and pins him to the ground. They now have to think fast and come up with a new tactic. The scout scales a half decayed balcony to stay out of melee combat and starts peppering the reptilian beast with arrows. The wizard pushes the beast off their fighter with a thunder wave spell. Now it is up to the cleric to patch the injured companion back up. Only with combined efforts they will survive this.

„Dwarves vs. Kobolds“ (current working title, due to change) is a game about hunting monsters in deep dungeons. The main focus of the game are tactical real time battles in the style of classical table top board games, but with the real time approach of the old Bioware RPGs (Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age: Origins). The player will have a rich variety of classes and abilities to choose from to accommodate different play styles and tactics. Various enemies with unique abilities will pose new challenges and demand new approaches. Together with different battle grounds, obstacles and interactable objects, no two combats can be won the same way.

Unlike other RPGs, the player characters will not only have a range of options in direct combat, but also in interacting with their surroundings. You climb, jump and balance to get to advantageous positions. Interact with your surroundings to get the edge in combat, like luring enemies on a thin sheet of ice, pushing them into a chasm or driving them into a fiery pit. Scout ahead and check out the enemy forces unseen, to prepare your battle plan, adjust your tactics and your equipment. And last but not least: use your enemies to your advantage. Pretend to be an ally to get the drop on them, bully and scare them into surrendering or even convince them of your cause to make them your friends.

Each dungeon is a playground, a huge puzzle for the player to solve, and he is completely free in his approach.