Category: Chrono Bolt

Fall of Guardia 1005 AD

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Warning: Spoilers to follow.

The original Chrono Trigger ended on a bright optimistic note. Squaresoft being Squaresoft could not let that stand. Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross noted an event that occurred in 1005 AD, the Fall of Guardia. This event was important enough to Squaresoft that they included animation for it in the Playstation re-release of Chrono Trigger. We see the last defender of Guardia fall, Truce is burnt to the ground, and the Masemune was stolen. One hopes that Chrono Break would have let the players do something about this turn of events but…as that was canceled we will never really know.

Chrono Trigger DS included new content that confirmed that Dalton – the gag boss from antiquity who breaks the fourth wall and has a burp attack – was responsible for the Fall of Guardia. Lucca’s fate in Chrono Cross at the hands of Lynx and Harle was unpopular but generally accepted due to the strength of their characters. But Dalton? A boss who the Chrono Trigger group trounced multiple times? How did Dalton, even with an army, defeat Marle and Crono?

An artist named Maggie Karp offered one theory.

By Maggie Karp, check out her Deviant Art page.
https://www.deviantart.com/maggiekarp/art/CTDS-Spoilers-TWIST-108247528

I have my own serious take on this in Chrono Bolt and it starts a long time before 1005 AD. And, yes, the players will have the opportunity to do something about it.

Maggie Karp also had this comic related to the Chrono Trigger DS revelations. https://www.deviantart.com/maggiekarp/art/CTDS-Spoilers-CANON-108246837

First Mapmaking

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In the past I would use programs like GIMP or InkScape to create maps manually. This often led to me perseverating over tiny details on the maps and drained energy that would have been better spent on the game. It was also a pain to track and remember to update things like ‘wall of fire’.

More recently I began to run tabletop games online using Fantasy Grounds Unity. The drawing, grid, and effect tools are designed for this. Plus it comes with a mountain of art assets and it’s easy as pie to add new art assets (like video game sprites). So I decided to try running a play by post game using it.

These are snapshots of the first few maps that I put together for Chrono Bolt.

These serve as teasers for the game but also show what “real” maps will look like. I also wanted to see how well the Fantasy Grounds Unity maps would convert to image. In general, I’m pleased but those grids will need darkened on the lighter backgrounds. The grid also need numbered but since I was going for snapshots I didn’t bother this time.

Fantasy Grounds Unity has support for line of sight and fog of war based on terrain, so I may use them for certain scenarios.

Chrono Bolt: First Chrono Tactics game

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I’m preparing to run the first play by post game using this system, Chrono Bolt, over at the Shining Force Central forums. I considered running it on my own forums – where I can optimize for play by post with custom BBcode and extensions – but decided I’d rather see how well the system works on an unoptimized platform.

Chrono Bolt will be a sequel to Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. It will address some of the major plot threads left hanging by Chrono Break’s cancellation while fielding an original plot that seeks to reconcile Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. Hopefully it will be something fun for the players that evokes fond memories of a beloved setting while enabling them to engage with it in a new way.