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A Hand From Beyond the Grave
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A Hand From Beyond the Grave
This game, set typically in medieval man’s time, revolves around the existence and influence of an undead race, known as the Lamor’dae. Unknown of their true origin and true purpose as to why they exist or who they were before they were dead, the Lamor’dae simply try to live out their lives. Formations of religion are common, attempting to try and answer the oh so many unanswered questions, but in truth there are no answers. But, one can commend them for trying to find something to do…
The undead capital, Vlan'taieles, houses several million undead, studying the one thing that just might prove their existence fruitful in this world - Necromancy. The alteration and usage of the state of death and such prove the Lamor’dae to be one of a kind in the world of Nagalia, and it is this art that gives most of them the will to live. Whether it is used to torture humans or further advance undead civilization, necromancy has its uses.
As you’d imagine, in the “undead” perspective, there are several groups of people who have different purposes, beliefs etc and form different organizations. Let me list them now.
FACTIONS
Lamor’dae
Basically a general name used toward any undead being that follows the dark arts. Most undead typically attempt to study the ways of necromancy, although there are a few who chose not to. No one is certain how the undead are born; it simply happened (what with a biblical explanation in the game which I wont waste time with here) and soon undead were rising everywhere. When a human dies, he is buried. Other undead usually go grave robbing to gather human corpses for their experiments, and with uncovering some graves they find that some of the rotted corpses still have life, and can walk, as well as do much anything with free will. So simply, it is assumed that the undead are randomly spawned among dead bodies, albeit not all corpses reanimate.
Humans
Your common man. The human is considered ignorant and far below the superiority of an undead being, at least from the eyes of a Lamor’dae. The humans struggle with their own issues; war, resources and the like. Their knowledge of the undead and their abilities and intentions are non-existent, and observation of an undead typically leads the human to think it is only a common monster. Interaction with humans other than harvesting is considered a crime to the undead, as keeping the undead’s secrets safe is top priority. The undead don’t want to have hordes of humans outside their city the next morning because of some idiot’s mistake, and thus political action in terms of crimes as these are high.
Reapers
Usually when we hear the word “reaper” we think of the one and only Death, but reapers are many in Nagalia, and are as much visible as any other existing being. The reapers are gifted with the powers of guiding souls into the Nether World by order of the “nether demons” (more on them later). When a human dies, his soul, the collection of all his mentality, what makes him who he is, is separated from his body. Reapers have jurisdictions over all matters concerning guiding, uncorrupting, and helping souls. They also search for lost souls; souls ripped from a human body prematurely or if the body is utterly decimated in an instant. Their job might seem easy, but by the strict demand of the nether demons, they are required to search for souls 24/7, and monsters also seem to enjoy gathering around the illustrious illuminations that souls seem to emanate.
Undead Government
The main form of government of all things undead. They manage the main income of human corpses for consumption (yeah I forgot to mention this, the undead require human bodies as food, to continue living) as well as for distributing for necromantic practice. They manage the society’s laws and practices, as well as the laws concerning human interaction. Generally the government doesn’t have too high or too low of an opinion concerning humans, rather in the middle between love and hate, as they need to gather from the humans for the sake of the undead population.
Nether Demons(Also known as the Nen’Em Auis)
Only some information is known about the nether demons, at least from the perspective of an undead citizen. The nether demons are like the “2nd layering” of government, in that the undead government must do as they say or else they will kill every undead in the city. Their demands are quite small, although intriguing. They only request that human souls be guided to them. Although, they do request non stop transportation of these souls, but it is still a rather simple request. No one knows for sure just what the nether demons do with or need those souls, but it isn’t really a concern for the undead populace. Nether demons typically don’t wander around in plain sight either of course, but it’s said their monstrous forms are so hideous it can cause any human mind to break upon visualization.
Deathdancers (They also go by several other aliases)
The deathdancers are a secret organization formed despite the hatred and detest of many other citizens. The deathdancers have a strong connection to their past living existence. They have a deep focus to want to aid humans, as well as learn of their own undead pasts, as well as, most importantly, turn themselves back into humans. While its not illegal to have such beliefs and ideals, many citizens detest and hate this form of thinking, as they have grown hatred for humanity and its flaws through their years of unlife. They believe their existence has shown them the true errors of man kind, and that what they currently live as now is man’s true, peaceful form.
Warlocks
Warlocks are like an alternate version of necromancers. They utilize necromantic knowledge for usage in their sorcery. Their arts might not rely directly with human parts, or mangling, but it is still a dark evil. Warlocks are despised by many, having a large government and sect; they are despised for their disrespect of the way of necromancy and the immoderate usage of human corpses. It is unlike the traditions of old. They are at war with the undead, trying to acquire their knowledge to further expand their powers. They say the warlocks have become corrupt, and strive only for power and world domination, who knows if this is actually true, but their actions surely show their intentions.
The way of the Necromancer
When an undead devotes himself to the study of "death magic", he must make a pact; an Oath of Shadow. He must follow the laws to conceal his hideous appearance, and act stealth fully within the domain of humans. His unearthing of undead secrets to human eyes could mean the end of the entire undead race. This oath, known as the oath of shadow, is an ancient pact, that all have been demanded to obey.
The oath is cited once the necromancer achieves the rank of acolyte. The studies of the undead consist of 3 basic ranks. 1. Novice, where they are instructed in basic necromancy. This rank usually doesn’t take long. 2. Neophyte, where they are instructed in more proficient usage and knowledge. 3. Acolyte, where an undead is taught advanced techniques, and soon goes to major in a separate school of necromancy.
Story
So after hearing all this, just what is the story about then? Well, you play as a fresh undead victim, Malaeus, who is met with two undead acolytes gathering resources for their society. Malaeus is taught the ropes of the undead society, and what he has become. (and thus the player learns at the same pace) Eventually Malaeus starts his necromancy training, and he’s become an acolyte before he knows it. Now Malaeus is ready to receive instructions from the government to help further the undead race. While Malaeus may interact with some or all of the factions, there is one thing to realize: the undead are becoming corrupt. No one knows why or perhaps who is behind this brainwashing, but something is definitely amiss, and Malaeus sees to it that justice is sought, whether it is through his large sense of justice, or the fact that he has nothing else to do. (Or maybe because he doesn’t want to live in a city that’s corrupt, maybe that too, who knows)
Gameplay
The most important aspect of any game, what mayhem you cause and how. The battles in my game use the DBS, albeit I try to make it look a little nice; nothing very custom, but I try. Seeing as the game focuses around necromancy, your characters are mostly intelligence mage types who excel with spells but lack in physical attack power. Malaeus is your main necromancer, whom you will teach new spells and skills to. There are a few other necromancers that you can hire as mercenaries, although you can only hire 1 mercenary at a time. Your main emphasis of physical attack power and variety comes from the necromancer’s most noted ability: summoning.
Summoning
Summoning is your bread and butter skill, albeit lacking in flair. There are numerous amounts of monsters that you can create, and through their creation you can create a scroll or an orb for that respective monster. Scrolls lets you summon that monster in as many battles as you want, but cost a lot to make, and you can only carry a few summoning scrolls with you at once. Orbs let you summon that monster only once, though it costs less to make orbs. Summoned monsters can also be dismissed with their scroll.
Monsters level up normally, and get stronger through them. To add to the importance of monsters, each one has a “Skill Tree”. A Skill Tree consists of several “skills” usable or passive, which can be bought to further upgrade and harden your monster. A Life Essence is required to purchase these skills, which are gotten from battles, as treasures or rewards. Blood is also needed, which is fed to the monster and acts as a prerequisite for some skills. Blood is always obtained through battle or as treasures and such. Each monster is unique and different in many ways, whether they are combat oriented or magic based etc. I try to make every monster useful and make their skills interesting.
Ingredients
Of course, one of the more potentially entertaining things in being a necromancer. Gather your ingredients to make your monster allies. There are four forms of ingredients: Corpses, Primary, Secondary and Life Substances. All are needed to properly create a monster, and work in a certain way. (Which you’ll learn) Gathering corpses is probably the more entertaining aspect. Head to a human town and stealth fully kill humans, or go on a rampage and kill everyone. Lure children with candy, or help with a carnival of death.
Speaking of corpses again, corpses can also be stowed in the freezers, to increase their capability. The better the corpse, the more you can yield from it. If you want the organs within the corpse, you can have it shredded at the City’s Tear-O-Matic, which will allow to receive the strong healing items, as well as a few miscellaneous ingredients. Corpses can also be used at the soul trap, where they be used to form a spirit, a very rare item that can permanently increase statistics, give you life essences or be used in strong equipment.
Upgrading Malaeus
Malaeus can learn his necromantic skills and spells by purchasing them with dread. The spells and skills require that you have a high enough skill level in that appropriate class, (skill level max is 33) which can be leveled by using a life essence. Whether or not the skill level can be upgraded depends on Malaeus’s current level. Every 3 levels, Malaeus can upgrade his skill levels by 1. A higher skill level obviously means you can purchase better spells. Purchasing the actual spell costs dread, which is gotten from killing humans or relinquishing spirits to the great beyond. Higher level skills also sometimes require a certain reputation rank. (which is explained below)
Necromancer’s skills are broken down into classes:
-Assassination
-Affliction
-Curses
-Insectism
-Corpse Art
-Seals
-Sorcery
-Nether
-Imitation
You can have two classes worth of spells with you at any time. Each class varies in spells, and has different purposes. Find the ones you like and stick with them.
Malaeus upgrades his stats not through leveling but through battles. At the end of every battle, you receive blood. You use this blood to create blood gems, which can be enchanted to hold spells. But, you can further the ability of these blood gems by enchanting them with a life essence. Once they are enchanted, they become “Hearth Blood Gems” which upgrade a statistic of your choice.
Demo Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/149432056/A_Hand_Demo_RMTooled.rar.html
The demo goes on for less than a half hour if you dont count reading the dialogue. I also forgot to put in the message box that tells you when the demo ends; so i'll tell you that the demo is over once you get past the guy in the undead city asking for a registration card.
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Comments: (8)
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Logan26 (Sun, 31 May 2009 02:59:17 -0400)
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That was a fun and quick demo. Please give the main character a run button though...
Looking forward to the full version! |
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Itatchiwolf (Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:31:45 -0400)
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Nice job, great game! |
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Emilyluvsyou09 (Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:33:39 -0500)
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That was fun!!! Make more please!!! |
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mcb (Sat, 06 Dec 2008 16:26:04 -0500)
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Aw, it ended! Disappointing!
I would like more ^_^.
The battle system wasn't difficult but wasn't easy.
Good story to it. |
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Yourworstnightmare (Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:32:42 -0500)
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this was a relly good demo, for being so short. Can't wait to see the rest. |
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thunderdraco (Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:06:31 -0500)
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"how could he have come back alive? "
Uh thats part of the game, dont worry I cover it. Why wouldnt I? 
"so please add some images that show more of the game's main points, like combat."
Most of the main points are still in development, the game is still early in terms of completion in RPGMaker. And the combat isn't really different from a DBS game; it uses the default battle system, theres nothing really special or visually different. |
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Hiromu656 (Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:26:02 -0400)
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how could he have come back alive? You put a lot of work into it, but appearance is really important to make decisions, so please add some images that show more of the game's main points, like combat. |
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thunderdraco (Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:09:13 -0400)
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no comments |
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Game Details
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Developer:
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thunderdraco
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Platform:
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RPG Maker 2003
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Genre:
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RPG
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Status:
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Demo |
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Last Updated:
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2008-09-29 |
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Views:
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9169 |
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Downloads:
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-- |
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User Rating:
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  9 Vote(s) |
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