Ultima - Forging Britannia

History: Forging Britannia is a fan-made game which is a link between the events of Ultima 3 and 4. It is surprisingly good! It uses the RuneSword Engine by CrossCut games which features an isometric view of the lands and a turn-based combat system. The creator of this scenario borrowed many elements from later Ultimas like the Avatar companions or the spell reagents. Some Midi soundtracks from later Ultimas and Ultima Online are also played during the game.

Britannia in an isometric view. Unexplored areas are marked black.

Hanging around in Lord British's throne room again.

Background: The game attempts to describe the events which lead to the unification of Britannia and the Age of Enlightenment. It still uses the map of Old Sosaria, so Ultima 3 players should feel at home here. Instead of killing a Foozle, the party explores the lands and solves several quests with the main quest of creating the virtue shrines of Ultima 4. There are a few new towns and the events which lead to the disappearance of other towns are mentioned, like the Exodus of many citizens to the Serpent Isle. The dungeons are also still present, each with its own interior like fire pits or abandoned mines.

Exploring the Dungeon of Fire!

The ancient Mines of Morinnia.

Recommended Version: Runesword is a PC game, don't know if there is a Mac version too. I have tested the scenario with Runesword 1 and it worked well, can't say much about the compatibility with the RuneSword 2 engine. Occasionally the game crashes, especially if a monster uses a gaze attack, so save frequently. Both the engine and the scenario are freeware, the author of the engine recommends a donation for charity, however. The version of Forging Britannia which is available for download on the official site may have some bugs like invisible NPCs, ladders leading to nowhere etc. although the author is always working on updates. If you have troubles running the game, ask me for a hacked but playable version.

This game introduces a "paperdoll" inventory system.

The camp and combat screen.

Statistics:

Party with up to 5 created characters and up to 12 NPCs.
11 character classes, 5 races
18 different magic spells for 6 magic classes
Introduction of material reagents for spells
Dungeons/Outdoors/Buildings 2D (isometric engine)
On-Screen-mapping: Yes

Fighting some undead in the streets of Grey.

Here be dragons!

Morale: The game links very well to Ultima 7 and explains the founding of the renegade cities there who don't want to be ruled by Lord British and the "tyranny of virtue". In fact, the rulers of the exile cities turn out to be rather eccentric and egocentric individuals, but it was their own choice. The morale of the game is that even the mildest form of government may be unbearable for some individuals, rather than risking a civil war these persons should be allowed to leave and settle down in areas where they have their own individual freedom. A prominent real-world example is the Exodus of the Mormon religion to the desert of Utah.

Britannia