Susurrus: Season of Tides

Susurrus: Season of Tides is a title featured at IndieCade 2017.

About Susurrus: Season of Tides
Susurrus: Season of Tides is a massively multiplayer work of interactive fiction set in an urban fantasy environment. A player selects one of three starting species (mage, werewolf, or vampire), and later selects one of ten factions, each of which specializes in two out of five spheres of influence around the city (magic, government, criminal, corporate, or intelligence). Individually, a player will be able to level up stats, acquire equipment, and meet new party companions with rich plotlines and possibilities for romance. In teams, players will compete in the spheres of influence to affect the state of the city, which changes according to which influences are ascendant. Depending on the city’s state and your faction’s spheres of influence, the available playable content will change. Further, we intend to introduce plot arcs, which will unfold over the course of a season (~one year). The outcome of those plotlines will depend on the actions of the players. Inspirations for the setting include The Secret World (for the “everything is true” conspiracy aspect, with a dash of horror) and the Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher (for the mages/vampires/werewolves style of urban fantasy). As for the whole concept, some of the inspiration came while playing a game of Arkham Horror (a story-driven board game). In that game, the players encounter and deal with small vignettes, but there aren’t any story consequences or development as a result. For example, the player could encounter a cursed mirror and resolve the encounter by smashing the mirror, which results in releasing a demon into the world. However, that demon has no consequences and is never heard from again. We wanted a world with consequences—where that demon would haunt the player as a result of their choices.

Screenshots
Coverage of Susurrus: Season of Tides on the IndieCade wiki!