- Raw Fury Publisher Sale - 13 April 2026
It’s Raw Fury Publisher Sale time which means there are some fantastic deals to be had including 50% off SKALD: Against the Black Priory until 23 April 2026! SKALD: Against the Black Priory is a retro-style party-based RPG set in a grim-dark fantasy world. Choose your character, select stats and build out a part of diverse allies, each with their own skillset and agenda, picking between a dozen classes and varied backgrounds then level up your spells and equipment. You lead a company of broken heroes through challenging turn-based combat scenarios where you can cleave, blast or stealth your way through deadly enemies. Venture forth into an unforgiving world of Lovecraftian horrors as you make your way from the shores of Idra to the gates of the Black Priory. Do you have what it takes to lead your party to victory? https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069160/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory/
- Lovecraftian Days Event 2026 - 9 April 2026
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is included in the Lovecraftian Days 2026 event until 16 April with a 50% discount. The event celebrates the influence of the works of H.P. Lovecraft and elements of cosmic horror in video games. SKALD: Against the Black Priory is a retro-style party based RPG set in a grim-dark fantasy world of tragic heroes, violent deaths and Lovecraftian horror. Do you have what it takes to lead a company of broken heroes from the tainted shores of Idra to the gates of the Black Priory and beyond? Gather your party. Adventure awaits! ⚔️ SKALD: Against the Black Priory is out now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069160/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory/
- Skald Modding Now Live! - 24 February 2025
Greetings all! As most of you know, Skald modding has been in beta for PC on the "experimental branch" for the last couple of months! Well, today we're moving it to the main branch so it'll be easier for everyone to enjoy the user-created content or even make their own! The game is also coming ON SALE for a few days, so be sure to point friends, family and small children to our Steam page! Start Brewing! Skald user-created content is hosted on mod.io so find it there today! We already have a good handful of modules from some of our talented community creators! To get started on downloading or creating mods, have a look at our tutorials (also on mod.io): In particular, you may want to have look at the "How to play Mods" tutorial! To stay posted, be sure to follow the Skald Twitter, Bluesky and Discord if you haven’t already! Keep being awesome and have a fantastic week! AL
- Skald: Against the Black Priory review - 6 February 2025
Before playing Skald: Against the Black Priory , I liked the idea of this throwback roleplaying game, but wasn't sure it was for me. I love old-school RPGs, but pre-1997 is too old-school for me, and Skald's primary source of visual inspiration is an era of DOS and Commodore RPGs I have respect, but not much affection for. Skald's gorgeous VGA-inspired pixel art scared me off as much as it enticed me... Read more.
- New Modules and Updated Toolset - 20 January 2025
Greetings one and all! We have some cool news for those interesting in playing or creating mods for “Skald: Against the Black Priory”: A big update to the SkaDE tool and a bunch of new content for you to play! NOTE: The modding enabled build currently exists exclusively on the Steam and GOG Experimental branches. See the guide on how to play here! Module Creator Contest Winners The module creator content has finished with 5 submissions! There is some truly AMAZING work in these modules, and hours of fun, so I highly recommend you go check them out! In fact, I’m so happy with all the great work the community has done that we’ll be awarding a 100 USD gift card to all 5 creators! Raw Fury will be reaching out to you shortly! The submissions, in no particular order: THROUGH THE TEMPORAL GATE By UndeadBus “An old friend’s magical experiment has gone awry, opening a temporal gate that floods…
- The Skald Data Editing Tool - 18 December 2024
Ho ho ho! It's the most wonderful time of the year and I come bearing gifts: The Skald Data Editor tool (SkaDE for short) enters open beta today and YOU'RE invited! What is it? In short, the SkaDE toolset is a bundle of tools that I made to make Skald. In other words, they are the actual tools I used to make the game. What I'm releasing into BETA today is the first step towards bringing these tools to the community. This means that, for now, only a reduced tile-set is available (should be enough to get you started on that Ultima clone you're dreaming about). You can read more about the tools in the tutorials linked below. Modding also has its own subchannels on the Skald Discord. Finally, it is worth reiterating that the current version of the tools and the modding implementation in the game itself is in a very early Beta stage. There are a lot of rough edges so be patient. How to Use t…
- Nominate SKALD for the Steam Awards! - 27 November 2024
Greetings, Firstly, we want to say a massive thank you for all of your support this year. We're now sitting at over 2,000 Steam Reviews, have received amazing encouragement and feedback from the community and are so pleased to hear players are enjoying playing SKALD with Controller and on Steam Deck! We know competiton is fierce and there are so many incredible games that have released in 2024, but If you're one of those players who've loved your time with SKALD, we'd humbly request your support in this years' Steam Awards! We'd humbly like to request your support in the Outstanding Story-Rich Game Awards as we've loved hearing how much you've enjoyed the game's narrative twists and turns and are grateful for all the kind words! Regardless of where you do cast a vote, though, we wanted to express our appreciation. Launching SKALD has been a dream come true and it wouldn't have been poss…
- 1.0.6c Hotfix Patch now available - 1 October 2024
Greetings Adventurers, 1.0.6c Hotfix Patch is now live. Patch notes Disabled being able to change to "window mode" on the Steam Deck Set Bard HP/level to correct amount (3). For already created characters, the HP amount will adjust next time you level up Please note that this patch is currently only available for Windows players. The update will arrive on Mac in the coming days. Keep an eye out for your game to update to version Core 1.0.6c.
- Steam Deck VERIFIED! Controller Support! New Class & more! - 30 September 2024
Strum your lutes RPG-fans! A new major update is out: The Bard class, Steam Deck and controller support, more art, new portraits, raised level-cap and the list goes on (see full version notes at the end of this post). We’re participating in the Steam Turn-Based RPG Fest this week and this means we’re going on sale with 25% off both the main game and the Reinforcement Pack! Skald was already value-packed but this is just next level. Buy the game for yourself or as a gift and be sure to take the opportunity to upgrade to the Deluxe edition if you’ve not already done so! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069160/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory/ The Update I’m pretty happy to finally get the bard in there. It was one of the most frequently requested new features of the game and I agree that it really felt like something was missing without it. The class is a Rogue subtype that comes with it…
- Project Update: Full Control! - 30 August 2024
Greetings all! As summer rolls into fall, it's time for a sign of life! First of all, I've been a bit quiet over the summer as I've taken the time to rest and recover post-launch. Skald took a lot out of me and I was pretty burned out by the end. Thankfully, the game has been a success so it's been worth it. However, I have indeed been fully back to work now for a few weeks and things are moving ahead with a new update! I'll release more details as we get closer but as a little sneak-peak, I can tell you that I'm doing a huge lift for controller and Steam Deck play! We're also adding a good handful of bug-fixes and minor features as well as adding in some character options, portraits and a dozen illustrations that we didn't have time to get in there before launch. This update will drop at the end of September (and a week earlier on the experimental branch so stay posted)! Beyond that, t…
- Get 10% OFF SKALD from August 12 - 19 - 12 August 2024
Hello, Firstly, we want to take a moment to say a massive thank you to everyone for the support! SKALD is sat on Overwhelmingly Positive based on over 1,600 reviews, activity is flowing on our social media channels and the feedback we've received has been incredible. To celebrate, we've taken 10% off SKALD until August 19th! This also applies to the Deluxe Edition which has received a deeper discount, and it means you can get the Reinforcement Pack and Official Soundtrack at 10% off as well! So if you haven't visited the Outer Isles yet, there's never been a better time. We've also put together a brand new video that shows off additional sections of the game. And we'll have more to talk about in the near future! Have fun out there! Got Bugs? Our Discord community is thriving and very helpful. We have FAQs there as well as a helpdesk and channels dedicated to feedback. We also check in o…
- Version 1.0.5 is Live - Patch Notes - 13 June 2024
Version 1.0.5 is LIVE! Our latest update is now live, please see the version notes below for full details. Version Notes MISC Spellburn's damage no longer scales with Spell Aptitude - Attunement gained does. The Herald should now be quite a bit harder to kill The cleric spell Holy Light now purges invisibility If you've started the quest to find Froggert when you defeat the Father, Marsa will show up in Horryn. She's standing on the main square at the western corner. FEATURE Now, by default, right clicking an empty tile does not cause a pop-up to appear with info on the tile's light-level and stealth modifiers. This makes it easier to use the right mouse button to highlight interactable objects. The feature can be turned back on under Settings -> Gameplay -> Show Stealth Info Screen-shaking effects can now be disabled under Settings -> Display -> Screen Shaking BUG Defending condition h…
- Week 1 Updates and Patch Notes - 7 June 2024
What a week! Skald went live to sterling reviews from both audience and press! I've been working around the clock since then trying to onboard new community members, staying on top of social media and preparing todays Update (Version 1.0.4d). See below! Due to the amazing momentum we've been building since launch, we've agreed to extend the launch discount until June 13th. So if you have this game wishlisted, consider picking it up before the summer starts (to help you keep out of the sun)! Also, if you’re enjoying the game PLEASE consider leaving a review. We’re above 700 reviews now and the Steam algo is all about it so please keep them coming! NOTE: Some of you may have noticed that we posted and then removed a post very similar to this on Wednesday. This was because we tried to update the game and were very quickly made aware of a bug that interfered with some people’s saves. As a r…
- Join the Experimental Branch! - 6 June 2024
Hi there! We’ve set up an Experimental Branch on Steam for PC. The purpose of this branch is to post builds and updates there for live testing before we make official updates! This is SUPER helpful to us as we are small team and there is no substitute for high volume testing! We’ll be looking into adding Mac and doing it for GOG as well but one step at the time! To join the branch: Turn off steam cloud saves. Right click on the game and choose properties, then go to General and unclick the steam cloud saves. Back up their save data. Found at “C:\Users\USER\AppData\LocalLow\High North Studios\SKALD_ Against the Black Priory\SaveFiles” copy the SaveFiles folder and put it on the desktop for example. Go back to steam, right click on Skald and select Properties. Select tab Betas. Type in the pass: experimental and hit the button Check Code. Now select the branch from the drop down list. Ent…
- An AMA with the Developer - Wednesday 5 June at 4pm BST/5pm CEST - 4 June 2024
Hello! It's only been a few days since launch but we're so excited about the reception to SKALD: Against the Black Priory from the community, content creators and press. We know that a lot of the community have questions about the game and we've arranged an AMA with Anders tomorrow, 5 June at 4pm BST/5pm CEST over at https://www.reddit.com/r/CRPG/ We hope to see you there! Don't fret if you can't make it for the live Q&A, you can add your questions to the post over on Reddit right now and Anders will answer them during the AMA. Thank you so much for all your support for SKALD, it's been overwhelming in the best way.
- Skald: Against The Black Priory review: the best of 80s RPG design without the baggage - 31 May 2024
I regret not covering Skald Colon Against The Black Priory when its developer told us about it 2019. I'd get to be so smug now. Skald is terrific. I've tried to come up with a clever angle on its journey, but they all wind up saying the same thing: For all its retro stylings (right down to party portraits taking up an unnecessary quarter of the screen at all times), it's an accessible, charming treat, and the best modernisation of 80s RPGs that I've ever played. Read more
- SKALD: Against The Black Priory Is Now Available! - 30 May 2024
Raw Fury and High North Studios have launched their retro-style RPG, SKALD: Against the Black Priory on PC on Steam for $14.99/£12.79/€14.99. To celebrate, players can enjoy a launch day discount, now in effect for 10% off. Set in a grim-dark fantasy world of tragic heroes, violent deaths and Lovecraftian horror, in SKALD: Against the Black Priory, choices matter as players explore an engaging storyline mixed with crunchy tactical, turn-based combat and character customization. Inspired by iconic retro RPG titles, in SKALD: Against the Black Priory players explore the thrilling expanse of Freymark and the Outer Isles to uncover the grand schemes of the Gallian Empire. Players will experience an unforgettable story filled with unexpected twists and turns, with a unique mesh of modern storytelling and classic RPG elements, that will seem familiar and yet innovative to RPG fans, old and ne…
- The best thing about this retro fantasy RPG is that I keep forgetting it's actually Lovecraftian horror - 30 May 2024
Everything about Skald: Against the Black Priory feels crafted to lull me into a false sense of security. With its wonderfully garish retro RPG visuals, familiar classes and character options, and simple turn-based combat, I keep being lured into thinking I'm just on a typical fantasy adventure. That only makes it all the more disturbing when I'm reminded that it's not... Read more.
- Skald Against the Black Priory review - a modern take on retro RPGs - 29 May 2024
Attempting to play the forefathers of the RPG genre in 2024 requires patience steeped in a hefty amount of nostalgia. From the days of Ultima and the first Baldur's Gate, the genre has developed quality-of-life features that have made it difficult to turn back the clock by two or more decades. So when a game like Skald: Against the Black Priory promises that retro RPG feel with enough modern concessions to make it fun to play, I jump at the chance to get my hands on it. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: This old-school RPG looks like a retro Baldur's Gate
- Setting Sail - 29 May 2024
Skald launches tomorrow (May 30th, 7pm CEST) on Steam and GOG for PC and Mac. It’s priced at 15 USD or as a jam-packed Deluxe edition for 25 USD. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069160/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory/ Reviews Inbound Today at 4pm CET, the embargo for Skald will be lifted. That means that press and content creators can finally begin talking about the game! This is an exciting and terrifying moment: The game we sent them two weeks ago has improved on an astronomical scale in the last two weeks and there were of course a bit of rough patches in the press/creator build. Thankfully people have been beyond helpful in bringing us bug reports and the like and the game has improved vastly because of it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I adore it and I know you will as well! I’ll post an abbreviated change-log as well as some info for users who have been playing on…
