D&D: Solasta – Crown Of The Magister’s Major Winter Update
Solasta, Crown of the Magister, built on 5th Edition in the finest traditions, is adding a ton of new content in a major winter update.
Have you been playing Solasta: Crown of the Magister? If not, you’ve been missing out on the most faithful adaptation of the 5E ruleset–moreso than Baldur’s Gate 3, which might have the bigger, rockstar treatment, but it doesn’t quite have Solasta’s heart. This is a game about dungeon crawling in lush environments. It’s truly wonderful.
One of the biggest things going for the games is the SRD. Let me explain. Developer Tactical Adventures acquired the license to use the 5th Edition SRD rules–that is, they can use the rules of D&D but can’t use much of what WotC considers its own proprietary content. So, Mind Flayers, for instance, are right out. A big part of this might be WotC/Hasbro not wanting to put too much onto the market alongside Baldur’s Gate 3, but, in a strange way that opened the door for Tactical Adventures to play in a world of their own creation.
You won’t just be playing in a generic pseudo-Forgotten Realms, you’ll be playing in a world created for Solasta. There are custom backgrounds and all new feats, and entire new subraces and subclasses created so you can play with the full content you expect. This is because the OGL limits certain things–so like you can play a Rogue/Thief, but Arcane Trickster and Assassin are proprietary content, for instance.
With Solasta, it’s different. But the rules are the most faithful adaptation. As we’ve talked about before, this is basically the experience of the tabletop game. There’s a grid, everyone moves along it. You get the full 5th Edition experience. Attacks of Opportunity, reactions, bonus action spells–you’ll find the rules as they are written here in Solasta.
And now, there’s a massive update scheduled for the game, currently in Early Access. Take a look at what they have scheduled:
- An overhaul of the Lighting System, we’re going back to the Tabletop Ruleset with no disadvantage in Dim Light and Darkvision working as its name implies.
- A new area and its set of quests, taking place after the Necromancy Main Quest
- The Scavenger System – no more lugging around all the junk you see lying around
- New combat features, such as hiding during combat and applying Poison onto your weapon
- More customization options in Character Creation, and a bit of plastic surgery on some faces
- Inventory and Shopping improvements, hand picked from your suggestions
- Optimization to the Food mechanic, so your party won’t end up starving as often
And as you can see, the overhaul to lighting looks gorgeous. Take a look at some of the new locations…
Plus, they’ve added a new monster. Check out Solasta’s Minotaur!
And that’s just what’s due out for the Winter update. As Solasta speeds towards their 1.0 release, they’ve been upgrading their armor and working hard to implement new designs. Take a look at some of their latest variants!
Happy Adventuring!
