Nocked’s second pillar of revised gameplay is its regional mechanics. While the immediate focus of the story is on Robin and his relationships, those actions have repercussions on the larger world outside of Sherwood Forest, and I needed a way to show it; the challenge lay in giving the player some control over those repercussions.
Fortunately, the previous version of the game already had something of a side quest system known as grace points, which you could spend to influence the church, the nobility, the fairies, and the peasants in order to gain rewards. Unfortunately, the implementation was less than ideal, but the points – as placement of in-game rewards – were perfect. I kept the points, converted them to Power, and rebuilt from the ground up. Story actions and granular resources are both means to gain power, which is also modified by your background.
Power can be used to gain favor with the regional factions (the church, nobility, fairies, and peasants). Gain enough favor (thresholds which are determined by your background), and you'll earn influence which can be spent to increase your standing with a given faction. This, in turn, opens up side quests that may take you far from Sherwood, grant you granular resources, and are directly related with issues concerning each faction. The side quests alone constitute an additional 60,000 words of adventure added to the new version.
Power, favor, and influence are also integrated with third pillar of Nocked’s revised gameplay mechanics; join us next time for the examination of structural resources.
Some quests will take you far from Sherwood’s borders.