Esoteric Ebb is an upcoming single-player CRPG that promises an experience blending tabletop role-playing game mechanics with deep storytelling. Developed by Christoffer Bodegård and published by Raw Fury, this isometric RPG takes inspiration from classic CRPGs, immersing you in a post-Arcanepunk fantasy world filled with political intrigue, chaotic magic, and unpredictable dice rolls.
You take on the role of The Cleric, a so-called expert in esoteric events and a government enforcer who might not be entirely up for the job. The game’s premise revolves around the first-ever election in the city of Norvik, an event that is immediately overshadowed by the mysterious explosion of a tea shop.
Your investigation begins under bizarre circumstances—you wake up in a morgue, soaking wet and surrounded by rotting apples, corpses, and a lone zombie. With no official backup, it’s up to you to navigate the city’s tangled web of factions, secrets, and supernatural oddities, all while grappling with your own intrusive thoughts.
Esoteric Ebb promises a highly interactive narrative where choices have lasting consequences. Conversations are not just about selecting dialogue options—your ability stats have their own personalities, frequently interrupting and debating with you in ways that shape the story. Whether you manipulate, bluff, or fumble your way through encounters, every decision feeds into an intricate questing system known as The Questing Tree, which functions as a mix of a quest log, skill tree, and mind map.
The game’s mechanics emphasize the unpredictability of dice rolls. Every action, from combat to persuasion, is influenced by chance, making failure just as entertaining as success. Whether you’re wrestling dwarves, stealing from unsuspecting bystanders, or debating with drunk sphinxes, the game’s dynamic outcomes ensure a unique playthrough each time. Magic also plays a crucial role, allowing you to manipulate minds, uncover hidden secrets, and even converse with the dead—who are often less than pleased to be disturbed.
Combat in Esoteric Ebb is turn-based, but violence is seen as a last resort. As a cleric trained in diplomacy (or at least expected to be), you’re encouraged to find unconventional solutions to conflicts. However, when fighting does break out, strategic dice-based mechanics determine your fate, adding tension and unpredictability to every encounter.
With no official release date yet, Esoteric Ebb is already available to be tried through the Steam demo. Below an overview, and trailer.
About This Game
Esoteric Ebb is an isometric, Disco-like, TTRPG-turned-CRPG set in a bizarre post-Arcanepunk fantasy setting. You are The Cleric, an expert in esoteric events, and a glorified government goon. Inspired by classic CRPG games, Esoteric Ebb features deep and branching dialogs with a staggering amount of choices.
Create the world’s worst cleric. Take on the city through tense TTRPG dice rolls. Struggle to maintain control with your Stats chiming in at every moment. Let the voices guide you into insane encounters and hit that natural 20 right when you need it. Become the most interesting player at the table and completely ruin your DM’s day.
Five days until the first-ever election, a tea shop explodes in the heart of the city. They send you to deal with the mess.
You wake up in a morgue with half the river in your boots, surrounded by ten thousand rotting apples, several corpses, and one zombie. Out of your depth and with no official backup, you delve into your beloved city to investigate the impossible mystery no one wants you to solve. Juggle factions and play them against each other. Explore the streets and tunnels of a fantasy metropolis. Debate devils, drunk sphinxes, and all manner of fantastical fools in a world where mythological creatures sell newspapers at corner shops and ideologies overtake the ramblings of dead gods.
Don’t forget the most important question: What are you voting in the election?
MAKE CHOICES THAT WILL COME BACK TO BITE YOU. Shifting alliances! Risky dungeoneering! Complete open-ended quests, low and high-stakes alike, set in the streets, towers, and dark tunnels of Norvik. Become the city’s savior, its demise, or bumble your way into absolute power.
TRUST THE DICE. Let chance guide you! Roll to wrestle dwarves, steal anything in sight, or to keep yourself from looking like a complete fool. But remember, in true TTRPG fashion, failure can often be way more interesting.
IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD. Debate yourself! Each Ability Stat has a conflicting viewpoint and loves to interrupt important conversations. No matter whose side you fall on, you’ll complete quests in wonderfully ridiculous ways.
WIELD REALITY-SHAPING MAGIC. Use The Cleric’s power for unique narrative choices. Control minds for fun and profit. Detect secrets in the tunnels below or in the thoughts of your enemies. Speak with anyone, living or dead, just to see how they insult you.
TURN-BASED ENCOUNTERS. Clerics in Norvik are taught to use violence as a last resort. When the need does arise, a roll of the dice determines life or death. But you always have a bizarre solution to any problem, don’t you?
THE QUESTING TREE. Your quest log, skill tree, and mind map all at once. Each Quest Branch can take root in your mind and alter The Cleric’s playstyle through game-changing feats.
