A new turn-based RPG built on 3.5 rules, six-character parties, and reactive tactical battles is now playable on Steam.
If you are looking for a new CRPG to try, I think I have something quite interesting to suggest: Sawtooth Games has made a free demo of its old-school RPG, Revenge of the Firstborn, available.
As stated, the demo was designed to provide a sample of the gameplay experience for Revenge of the Firstborn (a CRPG) while providing a demonstration of how the old-school style tabletop rule system will work within the party-based tactical combat.
It will represent an independent piece of the overall game and not the beginning of the main storyline. At Level 5 when starting play, each member of your party will join forces with a group known as the Lorekeepers to hunt down a vampire that has been connected to ancient books that speak about the mysterious “Firstborn.”
Also, the premise provided an excellent display of how the game is structured, and provides a visual representation of the areas that players will travel through prior to entering into the dungeon, such as outdoors areas with bodies of water to swim across and mountains to ascend prior to descending into a dungeon with traps, darkness, and an epic battle against a powerful boss.
Revenge of the Firstborn is an isometric, narrative-driven turn-based RPG that utilizes the 3.5 SRD ruleset. Baldur’s Gate, the AD&D Gold Box series, and Temple of Elemental Evil were cited as direct influences for the game, with the central theme surrounding the concept of “the Firstborn,” immortal beings created to act as guides for the universe.
These immortals broke divine law by creating new life, so they were subsequently placed into exile and turned into myth. However, based on how the player responds to this newfound power and if the Firstborn are viewed as an opportunity, a threat, or somewhere in between, the story will branch into two different paths leading to two possible conclusions.
The game plans to include six characters per party, multi-classing, over 150 feats, hundreds of spells, and a combat engine based on systems that many modern RPGs either completely remove or greatly simplify, like tripping, grappling, feints, sunders, attacks of opportunity, disarming, and mounted combat with enemies reacting to events occurring within their environment.
Vertical traversal and systematic interaction with elements in those environments, allowing players to interact with elements in those environments in multiple ways (climbing/jumping/balancing/swimming/flying).
Specifically noted in a February developer update is that vertical space will be utilized heavily regarding environmental hazards and additional side spaces accessible via exploration. This supports other elements of the game’s design.
The game also utilizes lighting to add another layer to its tactical component, enabling players to illuminate dark areas using torches or utilize magical darkness to conceal their movements. Similarly, players may destroy doors or burn them down in addition to utilizing wind magic spells to cleanse negative effects.
Dungeons contain hidden alternative pathways or treasures behind traversal tests, combined with an open-world map.
In addition to the main story campaign experience, Revenge of the Firstborn contains an Endless Dungeon mode featuring procedurally generated random dungeons, randomized loot/monsters, and smaller side-objectives with a larger goal to survive until reaching level 20.
A release date for Revenge of the Firstborn has yet to be established on Steam, with the demo now available, which will also be part of the Dark Dungeon Days 2026. Additionally, according to Sawtooth Games‘ statement, they plan to keep the demo running continuously and will not limit access to a limited testing period. Below is the new trailer.
