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Lore: Ability Guild, Anomalies, Hubworld, & RECAP!

July 16, 2025​

  • @Galactic_15
  • @jyu
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  • @maloki
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  • @Sp3cialK
  • @Zing

Ability Guilds​

  • Three ability guilds are fully written and published on Wotr-Docs:

    • Academy of Threads: A school-themed guild focused on teaching abilities and upgrades.
    • Sundered Houses: A competitive guild with a split focus on melee vs. magic, combining lodge and tower concepts.
    • Applied Development Consortium: An engineering-skunkworks styled guild with distinct specialized departments.

  • Guilds have been requested to be moved to Lore Review before being voted on.

Anomalies​

  • Work is underway on a clinical-style lore post for rift lore, particularly for anomalies such as Rift Tears
  • Link will be included for Contributors posts and are asked to give feedback and thumbs up to endorse.
  • Rift Tears serve as one base anomaly type, other types for future expansion.

Anomaly Design Expansion​

  • Discussed new anomaly types to enrich rift gameplay beyond objectives:
    • Altar exchanges (offering → reward).
    • Loot goblin bombs that spawn from huts.
    • Floating pedestals from thorny puffers.
    • Out-of-place creatures like umber plankton.
  • Inspired by shrines from other ARPGs and pylons from Vault Hunters.
  • Some 3x3 POIs may be replaced to improve risk vs. reward.

Hub World​

  • Ownership transferred due to assignee unavailability.
  • A call for feedback and final submissions is ongoing.
  • Intention is to extract common elements and hold votes on specific components rather than whole concepts.
  • Several submissions exist (e.g., nautical cities, floating islands).
  • Leadership delay cited for holding up the vote on game design element; summer availability and process familiarity are factors.
  • Framework will enable progression in other connected features.

Other Updates​

  • Notes on contributor availability and climate-related delays.
  • Brief digressions on Starry Valley crops and contributor errands.
  • Contributors encouraged to read full writeups in Wotr-Docs.

Design Meeting Planning​

  • A design meeting is being rescheduled (likely Saturday) to accommodate more attendees.
  • Goal is to define core game type and major mechanics before lore solidifies too far ahead.
  • Request made to stagger the design meeting to avoid back-to-back burnout with other meetings.

Closing Points​

  • All key topics were covered, including Ability Guilds, Anomalies, and Hub World.
  • Additional clarifications and Q&A were offered after a short break.
  • Next steps include moving forward with Lore Review, resolving votes, and progressing toward game design alignment.

RECAP

Essence System & Force Chart​

  • Essence defined as matter comprising the interdimensional universe.
  • A vote on Essence categorization ended in a tie; it remains unresolved.
  • Three different Essence Force Charts were proposed:
    • One currently in the MVP.
    • One based on block origin.
    • One with a color-coded logic map.
  • Game Mechanic of essence remains undecided (e.g., factory-like usage, crafting systems).

Essence Creation Guild​

  • Guild role includes:
    • Creating rift keys.
    • Explaining how essence is gathered and used.
    • Possibly tied to Sages or Endermen-inspired lore.
  • Alternative submissions and concepts being merged or compared (e.g., Octet guild).

Gem Garner Guild & Greebles​

  • Greebles are being reconsidered in guild design to reduce overuse and typecasting.
  • Proposals include:
    • Greebles as helpers, not loot goblins.
    • New creatures like collector birds or mole miners to lead the guild.
    • Greebles acting as sheep-like creatures shepherded by the guild.

Never People & Rune Gems​

  • Concept introduced of beings who can willingly choose not to exist, confusing the universe and allowing them to manipulate raw essence into rune gems.
  • These “Never People” interact with the underlying structure of reality rather than using magic.
  • Introduced the idea of Void Emeralds, raw essence crystals harvested from rifts and processed into rune gems.

Campaigns​

  • Introduced narrative campaigns akin to D&D arcs: tight, focused stories set within the world.
  • Intended to offer structure while leaving the broader world open-ended.

Additional Guild Submissions​

  • Bright Atelier: Tailor mice guild that fit skills to players like clothing.
  • Ladies of the Line: Magical girl fashion-themed guild using enchanted parasols and dresses as weapons.
  • Felt: A hive-minded Muppet-like species controlled by a fungus brain.

Lore & Material​

  • Ongoing work on Material Lore to justify custom blocks (e.g., “why not use normal gold?”).
  • Aimed to inspire mechanics and crafting recipes.
  • Gathers flavor text and mod-specific context for new materials.

Greebles​

  • Art team expressed concerns over Greebles becoming loot goblins in lore.
  • Plan to decouple them and pursue alternate concepts to realign with original art intent.

Sages​

  • Sages' role remains undefined:
    • Are they gods, spiritual guides, or reincarnated avatars?
  • Deferred to backlog until game design approval is completed.