Yes, there will be more romance. Check the FAQ at the top post, it has a link to an RO list.
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Ok that makes more sense.
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… I’m a lot more interested in how you handle the bits you aren’t familiar with. 
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I gotta wonder about how barren the Xaos lands really are (assuming we can stop the storms). On the one hand, there’s shit like mercury in the soil which… complicates things. On the other hand, Horion mentioned specifically that they tried extending the wards to reclaim Xaos land, so I imagine someone’s got to have done something with it.
I’ve seen some of the responses saying that it takes around “an hour or two”. But for me, my first playthrough is 6-7 hours, probably because my mc tries to get to know everyone (and every group) she encounters.
For me, I feel like the Hegemony tops the Halassur in term of awfulness/atrocity, and I say that as a woman who is firstborn and do not want to marry or have children.
Also, I would appreciate it if anyone could answer my previous questions about XoR cuisine:
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I’ve heard people argue that from a numbers perspective, but I feel like tossing babies into a woodchipper is just… not something you can top with quantity alone. It’s honestly impressive that the context means that I can believe they do it. In any other circumstance these people would be absurd. “Uses baby blood as a power source” sounds like a parody of fantasy villains.
I really hope our options aren’t all down to “either farm babies or keep slavery, otherwise the Hegemony breaks up” like some were speculating on the Discord. I get we’ll have to make sacrifices but that’s just… absurdly depressing. Too edgy to be realistic even.
Thank you! I completed my first playthrough just now and it came out to about 5-6 hours - and it would have been more if my character weren’t passing rapidly from “learn all the things! study all the cultures! teach alphabeta to starving peasants!” to “so swiving done with humans, ouch my head.”
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I’m not arguing that from a number perspective, but from my strong feeling that I would rather be Harrowed (at any age) than live a helot’s life. For me, Harrowing 10 babies is a lesser evil than to raise one person as a helot from their birth to their death in adulthood (whether that death happens naturally or in a Harrower).
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When we’re at the topic of Harrowing, may I ask @Havenstone that, comes the inevitable famine, would the mc has an option to voluntarily sacrifice themself in a Harrower (and ending the game prematurely)? I understand it if you would prefer not to include that option since it may have an unfortunate implication regarding real-life suicide, though, in the context of the game, I think it’s reasonable to assume that some mc (especially the highly compassionate and devout ones) might consider it.
Still, when there are real-life depressed people who ‘hear voices’ urging them to suicide, I’m not sure we should allow an Inner-voice mc to “follow the angels’ guidance into the Harrower”
Edit: Just to be clear, I think the self-Harrow option is realistic yet could be potentially problematic for all kinds of mc, but the Inner-voice self-sacrifice variant could be especially problematic since a parallel could be drawn with real-life hallucinations (regardless of how rare the phenomenon is in real life).
I’m hoping that Sarcifer and or the Diadoch/e will have some breakthrough that will help at least mitigate the famine. I expect there will be ways to address it that will unfold as we move on in the story. The MC has only just become aware of the problem in Chapter 5.
Perhaps the MC and Cerlota and their new magic cadre can help find solutions as well. I expect any possible solution will need to involve magical and non magical tech developments being used in conjunction.
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I know you mean well, but I can’t help finding this a bit paternalistic. Depression with psychotic features is very rare, and usually involves delusions rather than hallucinations; so no, “real-life depressed people who ‘hear voices’ urging them to suicide” is not a statistically significant phenomenon.
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This feels like a weird thing to single out. If you’re going to say an Inner voices MC shouldn’t be able to take a hypothetical self-harrow option, because there are real life suicidal people who hear voices, then why not just go all the way and say a self-harrow option shouldn’t be a thing at all because real life suicidal people exist?
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@Someboodyi @AletheiaKnights Thank you for your comments. Just to be clear, I think the self-Harrow option is realistic yet could be potentially problematic for all kinds of mc, but the Inner-voice self-sacrifice variant could be especially problematic since a parallel could be drawn with real-life hallucinations (regardless of how rare the phenomenon is in real life).
My question is why would the MC ever do that. Statistically it provides such a minuscule amount of blood that it may as well be a drop in the ocean when it comes to combatting the famine, and you are depriving the world of a leader with skill that are guaranteed to be world class at that stage.
I’m new to this franchise so maybe there’s something I’m missing, but I got the “Inner Voice” achievement in Uprising and my character never heard a literal voice. Are there circumstances in which the Angels have actual spoken dialogue that the PC experiences as a literal auditory phenomenon?
Some of the mc (especially the non-violent high CHA) might want to mitigate the famine by urging people to self-sacrifice, probably promising them some Elysian rewards (or the equivalent thereof in the mc’s newfound cult/religion). And one way to increase the number of the follow soldiers of Angels who lay down their lives to protect the world from Xaotic famine is to lead by example.
(And I could very well see my 6 CHA mc potentially doing that…)
I think “Inner Voice” means the voice of conscience like you said, not the auditory voice. Yet imo the phrase “Inner Voice” could be interpreted either way, and, regarding the suicide/sacrifice option, the unfortunate implication is there whether it refers to auditory voice (which would be called ‘hallucination’ in real life) or the ‘inner conscience’ (or, more neutrally, ‘subconscious thoughts’)
And to be honest I don’t see much difference whether the ‘inner voice’ is a literal voice or metaphorical. Maybe that’s due to my experience of telling my friends/family that “a voice tells me that …” (in my native language), intending the metaphorical meaning, but get misunderstood that I mean literal voices so often to the point I just stop explaining. Whatever, ‘the voice’ comes from within anyway.
That’s the opposite of my own position. I’d far prefer a helot’s life to instant death. Nothing I wouldn’t take over that. Especially instant death by harrowing.
I phrased my comment the way I did because, so far as I know, we as players don’t know what’s objectively true in the world of the game. If Angels do actually exist and are actually communicating with the character, then no, it wouldn’t be a hallucination at all.
If the character in this game doesn’t ever hear a literal voice, then the relevance to people in real life who experience auditory hallucinations is nonexistent.
If we take the perspective that the Angels do exist and provide guidance to the devout, the real-world equivalent is people who pray or otherwise engage in religious practice meant to bring them closer to a higher power. Most religions do believe that there are circumstances in which self-sacrifice is laudable and in accordance with benevolent divine will, and outside of those circumstances suicide is generally considered a bad thing, possibly an affront to God.
If we take the perspective that the PC isn’t in communication with actual Angels and what they perceive as Angelic guidance is entirely the product of their subconscious or superego or whatever you want to call it … well, suicidal people don’t need to be protected from the idea that suicidal ideation comes from their brains. They know this.
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Thank you for your insight and thorough comment. In truth I happen to agree with what you said, and will be more careful from now on before using negatively loaded words to prevent misunderstanding.
I’m sorry that my comment comes out that way to you, but both my mc and me in real life believes in God/Xthonos in which everything (including people’s minds/brains and Angels) is a part of Them/It. So, the idea that a guidance comes through God/Xthonos/Angels and also comes through the ‘subconscious’ is not contradictory. If the wisdom of God/Xthonos is like an infinite ocean, to be found deep within humans’ souls, then when a drop of such wisdom wells through the subconscious into the conscious mind, that’s when, in the language of XoR, “the Angels have spoken”.
In my controversial opinion, such extrasensory true perception might be possible in our real world also, but that doesn’t change the fact that most people are still going to call that “hallucination” unless it’s definitely proven true.
Then there is no need for us to discuss more about auditory hallucination. I just suggested that at first to cover all possible interpretations, but now I see that I have made a mistake.
Again, I am sorry for phrasing my comment/response in a way that did not reflect my position and may have offended you.
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