Design document
Game Design
Eldren is being designed as a persistent sandbox game that supports both short check-ins and longer active sessions. The game should provide meaningful choices without forcing every player through the same progression path.
Design at a glance
Short check-ins and longer sessions
Classless, skill-based characters
A city built around a massive dungeon
A player-driven economy
Open and risky PvP
Core gameplay loop
Five Minutes or Five Hours
A short visit and a long session should both feel worthwhile. Short visits keep a character developing, while longer sessions open up bigger activities.
A few minutes
A short visit
Train skills
Spend Stamina and Mana
Use food or potions
Manage cooldowns
Check the market
Review recent social activity
More time
A longer session
Exploring the dungeon
Fighting monsters
Gathering resources
Crafting equipment
Trading
Participating in PvP
Working toward larger personal goals
Classless character development
Skills, Not Classes
Characters will not be locked into rigid classes. Instead, players will develop individual skills related to combat, magic, gathering, and crafting. These are the planned skills.
Combat
Swordsmanship
Archery
Other weapon skills
Magic
Fire
Water
Earth
Air
Light
Dark
Gathering
Mining
Lumberjacking
Fishing
Hunting
Herbalism
Gardening
Crafting
Blacksmithing
Other equipment crafts
Alchemy and Cooking
Enchanting
Players will be able to combine skills in different ways, but limited Stamina, Mana, skill points, time, and other resources will encourage specialization. Example builds and the factors that should decide a fight are discussed in Skills, Magic, and Combat in Eldren.
A character may learn many things, but becoming exceptional in every area should require serious long-term investment.
The world of Eldren
A City Above a Dungeon
The game will center on the city of Eldren and the massive dungeon beneath or beside it.
Planned city districts
Market
Adventurers' District
Crafting District
Slums
Noble District
Dungeon Gate
The dungeon will contain increasingly dangerous floors with different enemies, resources, rules, and rewards. Players inside may face threats from both monsters and other players. Dungeon progression will be important, but it will not be mandatory for every profession or playstyle. The design questions behind it are explored in Beneath the City: Designing Eldren's Dungeon.
Concept art: creatures that may appear in the dungeon
Dragon
Goblin
Skeleton Warrior
Resources and limitations
Choices That Cost Something
Several resources will control how frequently characters can perform major actions. These may include:
These systems are meant to encourage planning rather than simply prevent play. Players should regularly decide whether to train, gather, fight, craft, travel, or save resources for another opportunity.
Stamina
Mana
Health
Hunger
Consumable cooldowns
Travel time
Injuries
Daily limits
Items, quality, and crafting
Quality Over Quantity
I
Quality varies
Materials and equipment will have varying levels of quality. A high-quality common material may sometimes be more useful than a poor example of a supposedly superior material.
II
Crafting and salvage
Crafting skill, material quality, recipes, bonuses, and other factors may influence the final quality of an item. Unwanted equipment may also be salvaged for a portion of its original materials.
III
Legendary rarity
Powerful legendary equipment will be genuinely rare. The intention is for the best items to remain notable for years instead of becoming routine rewards that are quickly replaced.
Economy and player interaction
A World Shaped by Its Players
A player-driven economy
Eldren will support an economy built around gathering, crafting, trade, scarcity, and specialization. Players should be able to pursue careers as merchants or crafters instead of treating every noncombat system as a side activity.
NPC shops and independent crafting will provide basic access to necessary items, but the most valuable opportunities should emerge from player activity.
Open and risky PvP
PvP is currently planned as an open and risky part of the world. Location, crime systems, injuries, and other consequences may affect where and how players can attack one another.
Visual direction
Dark Fantasy, Plainly Readable
Early versions of Eldren will be driven mostly by text and interface elements, supported by pixel-art flavor images. Additional maps, environmental artwork, character images, and simple animations may be introduced as development continues.
The style combines dark fantasy backgrounds, violet magical accents, antique gold details, and readable modern interface text. The swatches here are the colors this website already uses, and the thinking behind them is described in Building the Visual Identity of Eldren.
Dark fantasy backgrounds
#100E17
Violet magical accents
#5D3EF9
Antique gold details
#D4AF5F
Readable interface text
#DDD7E8
Fondamento for titles
Source Sans 3 for body text and interface labels, chosen for clear reading at small sizes.
What comes next
See the Plan Behind the Design
Follow the project's phases on the roadmap, or read more about the ideas behind Eldren.