Dear role-playing fan,
I'm Andrej Vojtas, the author of Sacred Fire and I've been a life long designer and gamer of role-playing games. So I know first hand how exhilarating the good parts and how frustrating the bad parts of role-playing games are.
The goal of Sacred Fire is simple: to better recapture in a video game, the experience, and the flow of a Pen & Paper role-playing session. Well, the good parts of it. So while you get all the familiar features you would expect (character creation, choice-making, companions, combat, inventory), the focus is on a fast flow of interesting choices, letting you use your wit to turn the odds into your favor. One scene after the other, in a familiar pen & paper rhythm: this is what happened, what do you do?, roll the dice. This is what happened, etc.
Winning because your grind, or loot dungeons for hours and now have the best sword in the game may be satisfying. But it can never come close to the exhilaration I feel when a flash of genius allows you to outwit an opponent, turn the tide of a lost battle or survive a desperate situation.
I mean, hey game?! How about you let me be smart? The victory of the human intellect and all that.
And this is why Sacred Fire is all about the psychology of the characters. All about the little choice we make, that build-up or deteriorate the will and the strength it takes to be courageous in face of danger. To keep your cool under fire. To overcome pain, aversion, or envy. To not let emotions drive you into stupid choices. For it's your very own heart, that hides all the monsters.
So it costs your willpower to be courageous. To stay clam. To be a bigger person. To perform at your peak. And your choices change who you are. It always matters what you do. It matters WHY you do it. It matters HOW you do it.
This way the game offers unprecedented nuance and self-expression. This way it matters who you, the player are.
This way scenes of inner turmoil, or seemingly low-stakes conflict, like winning over a mistrusting child, standing up for yourself, or interpreting a troubled past, in the end, shift the balance of the ultimate threat. As the fate you are trying to avert is nothing less than the total annihilation of your way of life. For Rome has tried to conquer your lands and claim victory over the whole of Britannia for generations.
Will you transcend your own culture and come up with a solution to break the endless circle of violence? Or will you rise as a leader of the resistance and lead your people to victory against the ruthless enemy?
This story is yours to tell.