A Mage Reborn, Book Two (WIP) - UPDATED August 7th | Book One Released!

[quote=“Parivir, post:1715, topic:95149”]
Is this a good time to mention that Saine is in the next update? ehe.
[/quote]

IM ENTIRELY TOO EXCITED FOR THIS

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oopss sorry, probably misread that two after staring at the screen while reading the story tens of times lmao :rofl: :v:

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Is it possible to make an option to start at beginning of book 2 for easier testing and replaying? Thanks! (Btw this is my fav WIP, can’t wait)

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I finished the game yesterday and I just have to say: Thank you so much for this story! When I play these types of games, I usually enjoy playing a charismatic, lying, selfish character only in it for himself (and maybe, just maybe, some of his friends). And that’s precisely what I went for originally, with my character only helping Leon and Saine in the forest because the beast could later end up being a threat to HIM. He joined the White Fangs for money.

But then came the choice of either rushing in to save the kids or waiting, and damning them. Overconfident in his abilities more than anything, he chose to try to save them all instead of making the “smarter” choice of retreating. And perhaps here began the start of his change. A cutlass cut him across the cheek and he learned he would never be as charismatic as he once was. But it was worth it, he thought, as he’d saved as many kids as he could.

As the story progressed, I personally grew to love the characters. And my MC grew to love them too, along with what they stood for. So that when he learned that they were all at risk, he was willing to die to save them.

Again, I have to say that I really love the characters. I was annoyed when Ante appeared, that emotion shifted to sadness as I understood the tragedy, that the only conclusion she could come to of my MC’s actions was his betrayal. And that she, like all the characters, was HUMAN. How could I hate her when as she lay immobile, she begged, not for her own life, but for the life of the saintess? How could I hate Leon when my MC could do nothing to indicate his innocence? When he made the right decision as a King and representative of his subjects?

I knew my MC would die. He knew it too, understanding the damning circumstances. If it were me, I would’ve begged for my life. But my MC was not be, he was driven only by love. So he simply said it was for the good of Param, told Leon he forgave him for what would happen, and waited.

My favorite moment was when Illya appeared. As much as the MC loved his friends, his friends loved him. And knowing that was enough to motivate him to try to get them to stop. To say even though it wasn’t true: I have betrayed you. You should not try to save one such as me at the risk of yourself.

An attempt immediately rebuffed by Illya, who easily caught that someone as evil as the people believe wouldn’t say such a thing. It felt good, for both my MC and myself, to be truly believed in. To know that it was worth it, that these friends were worth the sacrifice. He asked Illya to go and thanked her and Saine for their faith, knowing he would die and accepting it because in his last moments he wanted to protect them.

I don’t know why exactly wrote this. I’d just like to say that I loved the game, loved the characters and their depth, that they weren’t just robots either for or against the MC. That they stood for things and were their own people. Thanks for making a game in which the characters deserved the angelic MC they were given.

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I just saw your post about the game being updated soon, and though you would probably not see the emotion radiating off of me right now, I can assure you that I am very excited for this. I love the characters, they all have their own unique and distinct personalities, the plot is good, and the ending made me feel sad despite knowing that I would live again. The prose was oddly poetic, which I like very much, and didn’t feel flowery. I’m pretty sure your a newbie writer, and if so, then damn! Your a natural at storytelling! I look forward to the update that I hope is soon to be. And also, there can never be too much Saine. Anybody who doesn’t love Saine, I will revive Stalin and have him send you to the gulag.

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Haha, I promise you it isn’t by intention! My writing capacity hovers in the 20k-25k word per month region, and oftentimes cliffhangers are just where the axe falls. x)

Probably a personal preference of mine for it to be done that way–vague so as to let the mystery build as the book progresses. I did try to hint in the direction of wrongful execution through options such as ‘their ignorance makes me want to hurl’ and ‘they need an outlet for their anger’. Further hints in this direction are given in most of the options, and I currently feel pretty good about how much light the scene sheds on the situation!

Book I has 5 main chapters + 2 Prologue/Epilogue; Book II currently has 4 chapters, but with the latter 2 being massive enough that I’m contemplating splitting them into two. Another 2-3 chapters are planned for Book II, and Book III is malleable enough at this point of development that I couldn’t give you a number if you had a gun to my head. x)

You’ve probably figured it out by now, but the four scenes transpire at the beginning of the Jiasei chapter, with three varying based on your choice of Arcadian division. The last one is accessible only if you choose to break out of Arcadia.

It’s definitely in balancing right now, as I’d been very ‘relationship %+ 15’ happy while I wrote Book II just because my brain’s in writing mode instead of game design mode. I will probably cut their relationship gain by a third or even half, as there’s still plenty of Book II left to go and they commonly outscore the White Fangs in relationship gains.

Just in case you didn’t catch this a few posts up - there will be a whole new slew of ercei spells available for casting soon! It will mark the beginning of the [Ercei - Arcana] red/blue stat, and will play a role in determining which routes you’ll be able to take near the endgame.

–and now we take a break from the past, and return to the present!

Apologies! Probably more of a personal preference here–I’d written several thousand words (perhaps upwards of 10k? I can’t remember) of the rebellion arc and find that it’s too much of a slog action-wise with not much forward momentum in terms of plot. It took all the strength I had in me to purge the thing from my documents, but I find the timeskip much more effective whilst still fully showcasing the end of the war (retaking Sienan, that is).

Also, the timeskip is one of my favorite parts of Book I, prose-wise. I’d be hard-pressed to let it go! x)

You and me both! Though I should probably mention that one of the endgame routes soft-locks you into one of the eight personality types. It’s less of a requirement in terms of stat-checking, and moreso that you’re required to pick specific options, all of which push you in that stat’s direction. You’ll see what I mean, uh, in a couple of years maybe?

Happy (early/belated) birthday!

I probably will soon, courtesy of my plans to submit Book I ahah. I’ll probably model it after Fallen Hero 2’s character creation segment, which involves a dragon’s hoard of variables that will probably take my head some time to wrap around.

Thanks for the suggestion!

I really enjoyed reading your character’s journey! I knew going into the game that a path like this would have been playable, and I wrote options specifically designed around it–but the degree to which it is playable surprises me, and seeing it put into such poignant words really drives the point home. Thank you for enjoying AMR!

Sonboy’s as popular as ever, I see! Glad to hear it x)

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I’m glad my word vomit was was actually enjoyable!
I was wondering if there would be more nuanced reactions during MC conversation with Leon when they realize they are definitely going to die. I personally enjoy the choice in which the MC forgives Leon and has no hard feelings, but I feel like resignation could take more forms than one. One MC may say something along the lines of, “I am angry that you don’t trust me but I understand. Do as you must.” They may ask: “Why do you think I did what I did?” Another might just stop talking out of frustration but still not want to say anything hurtful. They might break down crying, or just be silent but filled with sorrow. Emotional intensity may vary. There are more possible reactions than being entirely accepting or going ballistic. Or maybe there’s a specific reason for the limited reaction. As I said, I definitely enjoyed the resignation choice for my initial MC, though I personally. wouldn’t react exactly like that. There are more options for reactions in the prologue, I realize, but we don’t really know anything at that point and the MC probably would react differently in front of a crowd than they would before a friend.

I also sort of found it weird that if Ante shows up to stop Illya from saving you, she just vanishes immediately after during the next Illya scene. I think it’d be cool to show her reactions to the last words you exchange with your friend/lover, though that might make the scene less heart-rending.

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With how long it takes for submissions to be published these days you could leave the current, unpolished version up for beta testing, unless that is actually against the rules.
As it can take almost a year right now to reach the end of the release queue.

With any luck you’ll have finished book 2 too, by the time book 1 reaches the publication stage and you can take everything down in one fell swoop then.

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I dunno if I just missed it or not but was there and Aunt Bess reaction to the MC’s death/letter reveal in the epilogue?

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There is a reaction to the letter, but not to the execution.

Basically, she’s crying in front of the graves of her husband and son.

It’s literally, like, two lines. While I DO think the game is worth a replay, I don’t think it’s worth it just for THAT.

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ugh… I guess i’ll have to wait for the update and give this a read from the start again, just to see that scene :man_facepalming: :joy:

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Oh wow my heart is so happy! I can’t wait to see my White Fang babies again❤

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My god this story is amazing, i first came across this back in june of last year and i thought its gonna get the same treatment as anything i end up liking ( forever WIP ) but coming back to it now and seeing the progress made on has put smiles on my face

ill definitely be buying it once its complete. and to save myself from future spoilers i shall refrain from playing the demo :smiley:

this is the first WIP / text game that actually managed to reduce me to tears Twice at the end of book 1

My character perspective is as follows
shes done everything to save everyone and even played the role of the villain all the way to the bitter end however that all changes after that and now she will never put herself in a position that disregards her own life again, shes back with a cold heart towards the King that betrayed her trust in him and was supposed to be one of her best friends / only friends she ever made during her harsh life
( she isnt supposed to know about their reaction after finding out the truth since yknow she was dead ) and after seeing the memories of the discrimination against her kind with the help of the these memories left behind by a certain someone in a certain tomb and experiencing it first hand at her death she is siding with her kind for now.

i legitimately cant wait to read the reactions of White fangs when / if they see her again especially Leon ( i plan on doing a playthrough dedicated to just force a lot of guilt down his throat during the confinement and after the resurrection )

my only gripe so far is the lack of badass moments for my character, and my stats dont reflect the reputation of “demon / Hero” at only 77 Alchemy and 75 Enchantment and 86 Spiritism and Thaum always getting the shaft XD we definitely need more opportunities to boost our stats ( me personally ? i want my stats at 90-95 for 3 stats after the 3 months time skip scouring through the tomes and massive knowledge pool while looking for a way to break the ritual )

alas this is the look of my character by the end of the current demo

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This is probably not going to happen, especially considering that the higher a magic stat is, the less it increases with a specific choice.

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it makes sense for your specialty to be at 95 or even 100% after your seals get undone which leaves room for the other 2 stats to be grown
this way they could reach 85%

I have no idea why you’d say this. Your specialty appears to be unrelated to anything other than the initial stat boost.
Here’s my stats at the start of Ch.9:

When I said “your specialty” I didn’t mean YOUR specialty, specifically. I meant that the MC’s specialty choice doesn’t affect anything that I could find, besides the initial stat boost.

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yeah because i was focusing on growing my specialty and Alchemy + Enchantment

i did another playthrough and it went over 90% but then my other stats get tanked

oh i was under the impression that your arcana is related to your specialty but it seems thats not the case

so in this situation what happens if my Arcana was the Thaum entity while my Thaum is at 30%

You can’t. Your active arcana options are limited by your skill in magic - you need a certain % to be able to pick one. I EXPECT that percentage to be 75%, so that the existence of the specialty pick at the start ensures that when you get to arcana choice you always have at least one option available, even if you never raise a magic skill, ever (somehow).

I had two viable options at that point, Enchantment and Spirit, because I start with Ench specialty, then keep picking Spirit options until it’s at about 80%, and then go back to Enchantment picks, so I get my favourite magic (Enchantment) and I have a “punch people in the face” option if I happen to be alone (Fist of the Dark God) plus the awesomesauce that are spiritgates (incidentally, this route also lets me save all the kids at the start and enables me to pick the “save everyone” option at the village).

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UPDATE POST

Hi, everyone! Demo ver 8.0 is officially live!

This update contains 26k words’ worth of new content, but the demo file has a technically higher wordcount due to the newly-added feature for Book I: achievements! I had a lot of fun creating them as well as attaching the associated flavor texts, and they should bring a breath of fresh air to replays for those who are so inclined. They are available in both the public and Patreon builds.

Other than that, the update focuses very heavily on arc setup and Yotai worldbuilding, and also on relationships with four members of the core cast. It is impossible to experience the entire update in one go, but the way to get the most bang out of your playthrough would be (mild spoilers!) to go to the festival when offered the choice, and when it ends either watch the fireworks with F or go back to the inn for a special scene.

In the current build, F has the most complete path comparatively at 2/3 scenes, with Yu at 1/3 and Eli at 0/3. The polyamory kick-off scene is also currently pending. The next update will bring Yu and Eli up to 2/3 at the very least, though hopefully there will be more to it than that.

Also in this update: fixes to the long-standing cave collapse bugs in Chapter 3! Hopefully. I’m pretty sure. Crossing my fingers.

Link is in the OP. Your old saves should still work! But please remember that if you get a game-breaking error relating to the evar variable, or if Eli is missing their pronouns, you will need to load a Post-Demo 2.5 save.

Thank you for your patience and support!

New in this update:

  • New story content (+26k words, now 295k words).
  • 50-something achievements for the entirety of Book I.
  • Various bug and grammar fixes.

Coming next:

DEMO ver 8.5

Release date: Late January (Patreon) / Mid-February (Public)

Planned features:

  • Anywhere between 10k-20k words of new content.
  • Progress in the Yotai festival scenes for Eli and Yu.
  • Hopefully more? It’s a bit of a break month, so please don’t expect too much aha.

As always, thank you for following the development of A Mage Reborn!

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