June 2025 Update
- Adam Donovan
- Jun 30
- 9 min read
[June 2025]
Greetings all, and welcome to the June (2025) update for Roguelike Games!
This month, we will be looking at what sets the Uncanny apart from regular folk in Moralinth: Gothic Horror RPG. Due to their connection to The Dark, these individuals have access to strange and unusual powers collectively known as Talents. Though they are treated slightly differently in the Uncanny, Enclave and Gloom editions of the game, every Uncanny created by players have access to a suite of these Talents which they can use to augment reality in subtle ways in their ongoing struggle against the Creatures of Darkness.
What are Talents?
A "Talent" encompasses the various methods by which the Uncanny (and those with The Spark) can weave and manipulate the energies of The Dark, a capability beyond the reach of ordinary humans, clockworks, and even the enshrouded. Talents differ in power and utility, as well as in their visibility or subtlety when employed, including Talents that enable the Uncanny to temporarily boost their physical or mental abilities, adjust their senses, tap into sudden inspiration, heal the sick, punish the wicked, summon miracles, and even perform potent magic.
Depending on how you choose to build your character in Moralinth, you will have a suite of many different Talents to pick from, tailoring a selection that suits your playstyle and what you feel works best for your character concept.
Talents represent powerful abilities attached to your character that can generally be used a certain number of times per day (though some are permanent passive upgrades), and these finite uses are replenished when your character rests.
The Sight
The most common Talent available to all Uncanny is known as The Sight.
The Sight is a term used among Uncanny Individuals (and those with knowledge of the occult) to describe the ability of someone with The Spark to shift their senses and perceive magical auras, as well as pierce illusory effects. Regardless of their Ancestry, Origin or Calling, all characters possess The Sight as part of their character, which they can use just like any other Talent.
It is identical for all characters and works in the same manner for everyone, with the occasional minor personalisation.
One of the main uses for The Sight is to be able to see through The Delusion, a kind of linked-consciousness barrier of reason that prevents people from seeing the world as it truly is and protects their psyche in the process.
Whether this is a product of an extremely potent social paradigm or a newly developed defence of the mortal mind to keep things they don’t understand safely out of perceptive range, nobody is exactly sure. What The Delusion does do, however, is shroud Creatures of Darkness from the mortal minds’ eye, allowing them to walk unseen among the populace and stalk with little concern of being discovered.
Except for people with The Sight, that is.
The Sight allows the Uncanny to see the world as it truly is for short periods, granting the ability to utilise the following:
Unmasking Creatures of Darkness: Creatures of Darkness use The Delusion to hide their true forms, keeping their identities secret for all manner of reasons. Using The Sight, an Uncanny can pierce The Delusion around a Creature of Darkness and see them for what they are. This revelation is only displayed to the specific Uncanny using this ability, and seeing an unknown Creature of Darkness can often be a harrowing experience.
Sense Magic: Through their connection to The Dark, the Uncanny can send out a sort of pulse, akin to echo-location, that allows them to sense anything within range that is also connected to The Dark in some manner.
Pierce Illusions: Much like unmasking Creatures of Darkness, Uncanny can use The Sight to see through various illusions, whether caused by The Delusion, magical spells or innate abilities of Creatures of Darkness.
Awakening Items: When magic faded from the world of Moralinth over a thousand years ago, magically enchanted items lost their mystical abilities due to being severed from The Dark. Reverting to essentially normal mundane items, these once-enchanted objects and artefacts have lain dormant ever since. Uncanny can use The Sight to identify such items, re-igniting the spark of their magic and awakening them as the enchanted items they were originally meant to be.
Talents in Moralinth: Uncanny Edition
Characters built in the Uncanny Edition of Moralinth choose their starting Talents based primarily on their Type (you can read more about Types here), with your choice of Foci also granting an additional Talent as well.
Talents are Tier-locked, meaning some Talents can only be selected once your character reaches a high enough Tier. When building your Uncanny Edition character, you start the game with a minimum of seven Tier 1 Talents: two are set when you select your Calling, and then you pick four more from a list of available Calling Talents. Your choice of Focus also grants you a starting Foci Talent. As you increase in Tier (From Tier 1 to Tier 2, to Tier 3, etc), you pick two Tier 2 Calling Talents and unlock a Tier 2 Foci Talent.
Talents grant your character special abilities they can use in the game, which are either free to use or fueled by one of your Stat Pools, depending on the Talent. For example, the Tier 1 Explorer Talent Find the Way is a passive upgrade that uses no resources, whereas the Tier 1 Explorer Talent Muscles of Iron requires 2 Might Points to activate.
Talents in the Uncanny Edition of Moralinth come in one of two varieties to show whether they are active ("Action") or passive ("Enabler") Talents, with 'Action' or 'Enabler' denoted in the description of the Talent:
Action: Some Talents have the word “Action” at the end. This is to denote that the Talent is an action unto itself, and using it requires an action.
For example, the Adept Talent “Erase Memories” requires you to concentrate on an individual and erase their memories. You cannot do anything else while doing this, such as running or using a weapon, as it takes an action.
Enabler: Some Talents modify your character in a permanent, passive manner, such as granting a bonus in one area, enabling you to do something, but do not actually require an action to use it. These Talents have the word “Enabler” at the end.
For example, the Explorer Talent “Danger Sense” reduces the Difficulty of Initiative Rolls for that character by one step, which enables the character to make Initiative rolls more easily. This is a permanent adjustment to the character and does not require an action to use.
In addition to the Calling Talents and Foci Talents selected at character creation, all Uncanny characters also get access to a universal Talent called The Sight (see above).
Talents in Moralinth: Enclave Edition
Characters built in the Enclave Edition of Moralinth choose their starting Talents based primarily on their Ancestry (you can read more about Ancestries here), as well as their choice of Calling (you can read more about Callings here).
Though all are called “Talents”, they are defined as Ancestry Talents (Human Talents, Clockwork Talents and Enshrouded Talents), Calling Talents (Chymist Talents, Dilettante Talents, Explorer Talents, Industrialist Talents, Inquisitor Talents, Medium Talents, Mercenary Talents, Occultist Talents, Priest Talents, Rapscallion Talents, Sharpshooter Talents and Sleuth Talents) and Universal Talents (which are not tied to any specific Calling but can be selected by any character).
Each Calling comes with a “Mandatory Talent” which is automatically selected at character creation (much like The Sight), which the Player does not need to choose for the character.
A note about magic: The Medium, Occultists and Priest Callings have a Talent called Spellcasting that they get as a Mandatory Calling Talent. With Spellcasting, these Callings can choose spells from lists, and then they can cast these spells whenever they wish so long as they have the Willpower to do so. Willpower is a special additional resource available only to Callings with the Spellcasting or Judgements Talents. You can read more about Willpower works under the Spellcasting Talent entries.
Characters with the Spellcasting Talent gain 1 Willpower point every time they obtain at least 1 Stress Point.
A note about Judgements: The Inquisitor Calling has a Talent called Judgements as a Mandatory Calling Talent. Judgements operate in an extremely similar manner to spells, including the expenditure of the Willpower to use, but are more specific and focused than spells.
Characters with the Judgements Talent gain 1 Willpower point every time they obtain at least 1 Stress Point.
A note about Mettle: Sharpshooters have the option to select a Talent called Mettle, which gives them a unique resource of the same name, which operates similarly to Willpower. Mettle on its own has various effects, but is also used to fuel certain Sharpshooter Talents such as Trick Shots.
Characters with the Mettle Talent gain 1 Mettle point every time they obtain at least 1 Stress Point.
When creating an Enclave Edition character for Moralinth, you gain one Ancestry Talent (based on which Ancestry you select), one Mandatory Calling Talent (based on which Calling you select), then get to pick one additional Calling Talent from a list. Alternatively, you can choose to swap out the selectable Calling Talent for a Universal Talent.
This means you start with three Talents in total which at first seems considerably less than the seven starting Talents an Uncanny Edition character gets, but due to the fact Moralinth: Enclave Edition allows for players to use XP to unlock Talents and other abilities during play, it is not locked behind the Tier progression that Uncanny Edition uses. This makes Talent acquisition balance out very quickly between the two systems.
In addition to the Ancestry Talents and Calling Talents selected at character creation, all Enclave characters also get access to a universal Talent called The Sight (see above).
Talents and The Delusion
In the May 2025 update, we examined the in-game phenomenon of The Delusion, a quasi-mystical response to fantastical supernatural elements that enables the general populace to perceive a concealed illusionary version of reality, rationalizing anything the mortal mind cannot handle.
In Moralinth, Talents represent a direct and potent connection to The Dark, the very same source that The Delusion protects the mortal mind from. By tapping into these Talents, Player-Characters are manipulating The Dark to create various effects, some of which can have overt fantastical elements.
While numerous Talents exhibit no visible or noticeable effects—such as those that enhance or shield the user, psychic abilities, or Talents influencing skills or languages—many more occurrences are peculiar and extraordinary, crossing into the paranormal or supernatural realm. In these instances, such Talents are directly influenced by The Delusion, similar to how Creatures of Darkness or any other element of The Dark are affected.
For instance, the Tier 1 Adept Talent Far Step (from Moralinth: Uncanny Edition) allows the Adept to leap extreme distances in a single bound, almost like a humanoid grasshopper. This would obviously look extraordinary to an onlooker, so when the Adept uses Far Step, the regular witness instead sees the following:
The far leap that you make in a single movement looks like a lot of precise, coordinated moves akin to parkour to anyone under The Delusion. What you do looks impressive, but plausible.
As another example, the Inquisitor Talent Consume The Night (from Moralinth: Enclave Edition) allows them to suppress a single supernatural ability of a Creature of Darkness, and this is visualised by a wispy red smoke leaving the creature and being pulled into the Inquisitor. To those labouring under The Delusion, the Talent would operate like this:
When “sin-eating”, blackish-red smoke pours from the Creature of Darkness’ mouth and eyes and is inhaled by the Inquisitor. This smoke is invisible to those under The Delusion.
In this scenario, observers might notice the two individuals facing each other, with one appearing surprised or concerned. The exact depiction is decided by the Narrator, although Players can always offer suggestions.
In Moralinth, all Player-Characters possess Talents, signifying their link to The Dark, which stems from an event known as their 'Eldritch Event'. They occupy a special role in the universe of Moralinth, having supernatural abilities while still being fundamentally mortal.
Roguelike Community
The Moralinth Official Facebook Group is the place to visit for quick and concise updates for those who only want the summarised details of what is happening with Moralinth and is a great place to see the artwork, lore snippets, and updates. We're looking to add more to it so that we can add extra information, but we need your help! What sort of things would you like to see included in the Facebook Group that isn't there already? Feel free to leave comments so we can know what is a priority for everyone, and make sure you tell your friends!
DISCORD:
For a more in-depth and interactive playground for all things Moralinth, you can head over to the Morlainth Official Discord Server. We're looking to foster the community and grow it out, and a few of the messages we've received of late have asked for more ways to interact with the game world as well as an increase in setting information. We're looking to try and grant both requests simultaneously, so keep an eye on Discord for more information! Feel free to invite anyone who you feel might want to follow the project but please remember they need to verify their account when they first join the server (you need to click the little "tick" to be granted the Uncanny role and gain access to all the Categories, Channels and Events).
Future Plans
In July, we'll be turning our attention to the world in which the game of Moralinth takes place, specifically the Empire of Estania, also referred to as 'The Known World'. This will be an abridged version of what you can find in the upcoming book, The Imperial Encyclopaedia Estania, using broad strokes so we can fit into a blog update.
....and that wraps up our update for this month! Feel free to drop us a message or come visit us on our Facebook page or our Discord Group if you'd like! Until our next update in July,
Happy Gaming!
- Adam
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