Esoteric Ebb

Esoteric Ebb is an isometric CRPG inspired by classic tabletop role-playing games, set in a post-Arcanepunk fantasy metropolis called Norvik. Players take on the role of The Cleric, a government investigator tasked with resolving esoteric incidents, beginning with the investigation of an explosion at a tea shop five days before the city’s first election. The game features extensive branching dialogue, dice-based skill checks, and a setting populated by mythological creatures living alongside humans in everyday urban life.

Core mechanics are built around TTRPG-style dice rolls that determine the outcomes of actions, from combat to social interactions and skill attempts, with failure often leading to alternative narrative paths rather than dead ends. The Cleric’s Ability Stats have individual personalities and can interject during conversations, offering conflicting advice and interpretations of events. Turn-based encounters handle combat situations, which are framed as a last resort within the game’s setting, while reality-shaping magical abilities allow for options such as mind control, secret detection, and communication with the living and the dead.

The game includes a system called the Questing Tree, which combines quest tracking, skill progression, and narrative branching into a single structure that can alter The Cleric’s abilities and playstyle over time. Players navigate shifting factional politics within Norvik, complete open-ended quests of varying scale, and make choices that affect the ongoing storyline and the city’s fate, including their eventual stance in the election central to the plot.