@Elfwine Believe it or not, some people like to play sulky, withdrawn, or apathetic Guens. I track that behavior with hidden variables, so the consequences aren’t as obvious as getting an extra leadership point.
Looking at the part 2 skill selection again, I’m reminded that the secondary skill chosen at the beginning of part 2 doesn’t actually have a reputation bonus (only the primary skill does). So I was theorizing about a problem that wasn’t there…
Clearly I need some sleep… goodnight, all. 
My primary concern with the (lie) options has to do with hidden variables and the availability of a particular escape plan shortly after that scene. I don’t even neccessarily want to use that option, but I’d like the opportunity to be recorded in the code as deceitful even if I’m not utilizing those abilities against my inner circle of allies.
@Wonderboy That makes complete sense, and I agree that it’s a significant opportunity to recognize Guen lying to an “outsider.” A Guen who has always been honest with her allies could have a moment of character development there. And, as you say, certain deceptive options will only be available later on if Guen has already lied at some point, so this gives her a chance to get those options without lying to her allies. I will definitely make that change. Thanks again!
Oh my gosh I was so happy when I saw the changed title saying part of book 2 is up for playing. I have had a blast playing it. On my first play through my character loves Arthur, Lancelot was just too good in the sack, I can’t have my guenevere unsatisfied.
When I did a play through of guen in love with Lancelot, it was incredibly satisfying to see them finally together. I love their “I love you,” confession. Three years is an incredibly long time to wait. Especially in early medieval times.
Replaying Part 2 (again), and I wondered something. I’m not sure if it’s been asked, but what would the other main characters’ stats look like?
Morgana has a high dark magic skill, and Lancelot is obviously an expert at combat, but where would you say their skills are, using the numeric system Guen uses? I was wondering about the main three, of course, but also Merlin. Will there ever be a chance for her to catch up, or even surpass them in their fields?
About the decission at the end ,like i said the first thing coming to my mind is a strategic approach, utilizing best asssets of my Guen and her friends (look for Morgana with Lance, send Lance to Frankmarch, Morgana to save Athur and leadership Guen to Camelot defend country), but this may be partly because I know that Arthur can’t die. My Guen doesn’t know that so her first notion would be to save the person she love. In that case she would go to Michaelsmount and save Arthur, so then both of us could get back to Camelot and save the country from invasion. At the same time i would send Lancelot to find Morgana and tell her i’m okay (since she is already free from our captors and with how wise and resourcefull she is she isn’t in any imidiate danger) and then they both can try help Tilda with dissasembling Grimalds plan (which would best help Camelot in a long run).
So those are the two choices i’m trying to decide for my “main” playthrough. Try to save everyone and end up in Camelot branch, or try to save Arthur first and end up in Michaelmount branch.
As for what i want to see happen…well i think maybe in Cmelot branch some battle that will show people that my Guen is brilliant strategist herself and not only rely on Arthur and that will make people love her even more for standing there to lead and protect her country (someone kind of like Elizabeth I ). And in Michaelsmount branch probably i just want to protect Arthur from any harm and maybe also talk to Meligaunt and get him to our side. Then ride back to Camelot together and save the day (even if a lot of country was raided already) while hoping Lancelot and Morgana will provide us with longer peace with Franks.
@Victoriya Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 
and to think I was originally going to have five years between part 1 and part 2!
@OtherGrimm So I don’t really want to give numbers, because I’m not 100% sure what “really high” will look like by the end of the series, but you’re right that Lancelot’s sword skills are really really high (he’s been training full-time since childhood) and same for Morgana with dark magic. Arthur’s high stat is leadership; for all his flaws, he’s great at winning battles, and his soldiers love him because he treats them like actual people. Merlin’s high stat is light magic, but he’s also strong in dark magic (having both is unusual), and I think in his case the stats aren’t even numerical; they’re just, like, letters or something.
But more importantly, will Guen be able to catch up to or surpass them? Yes, that’s the plan. If she specializes and sinks a lot of points into a skill, I would like to recognize that, probably in part 5. So, for example, if her sword skill is really high, we might see her in part 5 getting knighted and invited to join the Order of Boudica, and winning against Lancelot in a practice duel.
@Ponku Thanks for thinking about this. Your planning makes a lot of sense, only I’ll tell you now (just so you won’t be disappointed) that it won’t be possible to send someone from one of the three main branches to another one. So once Guen is on the Michaelsmount path, for example, she and Arthur wouldn’t be able to get to Camelot in time to deal with the first attack of the Frankish army. That means there will be at least one branch which you can’t cover directly, so part of the decision is figuring out which possible bad outcome you’re most willing to deal with. And I’m a terrible person. As for Arthur, you’re right that he can’t die, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences for not helping him. (Wow, I really am a terrible person.) That said, if you chose the paths you’re talking about, I think you should get most of your wishes (other than going from one branch to another). My goal for part 2 is that, by the end, Guen will be able to feel like she’s accomplished something important.
Side note to everyone: What is with the change in emojis? 
Those eyes, they haunt me!!! Why do they all look so hyper and overenthusiastic? Why am I not allowed to express a simple, pleasant, closed-mouth, non-bulging-eyed smile? I am seriously considering going back through all of my old posts and editing out the emoji so I don’t look like SpongeBob.
Ohh i knew that we probably wouldn’t be able to get to Camelot in time to prevent the first attack. I imagined it will be more like the Frankish army already advanced and devastated the lands and now is besieging camelot and me and Arthur arrive with succor and drive away Franks.
I haven’t managed to read through the whole thread so I apologize if what I say has already been addressed!
I really love this game and its characters. It really got me invested in the story that you’ve created and I played through the whole thing in one sitting. I really like the life you’ve breathed into Arthur and Lance and Morgana. However, I still feel like the game is pretty heteronormative (there’s a huge difference between how A&L interpret Guen’s flirting and how Morgana does even when Guen is being really blatant) and while I understand that love triangles are a thing, I wish there was a way to skip all the unnecessary pining. I should contextualize this by saying that I’m queer and poly so I go into these games with the intention to play them as queer and poly as I can.
My Morgana completely shut off any romantic discussion after my Guen told her that she liked both Arthur and Lancelot. I’m not sure if this is a bug. I did not select any options indicating monogamy with Lance but Morgana’s response was still the one to bow out in favour of Lance.
I am excited to see where you take this in the next books!
@mesmur Thanks for playing, and for the comments! I’m really sorry that the game isn’t providing the representation you were hoping for. I think what you’re running into is a problem of having so few characters, along with the need to give them distinctive personalities regardless of gender or orientation. I try to write characters about whom I can say, like Cosima on Orphan Black, that their sexuality is not the most interesting thing about them.
Morgana isn’t less flirtatious because she’s the f/f option, she’s less flirtatious because that’s just her personality – more reserved and practical, not especially romantic, and slow to trust people or make herself vulnerable. That’s just who she is, first and foremost. Lancelot, on the other hand, has a flirtatious personality and acts that way toward just about anyone.
Morgana will shut down a romance if she has even the slightest suspicion of anything between Guen and Lancelot. That’s partly to do with her own complicated feelings toward Lancelot, and partly because she’s already feeling strained by her relationship with her husband and Guen’s with Arthur, and she’s just not ready to have yet another person in the mix. She needs to feel like she’s in control of things.
She’ll have opportunities to change eventually. Poly relationships will be possible, but for these particular characters, with their histories and personalities, it’s going to take some time. I’m sorry about the pining not being your thing; I can understand that. I’m just glad you’re willing to give the game a chance anyway! I do want to add better opportunities for Guen to acknowledge, to herself, that she’s interested in a poly relationship, just so the reader knows it’s a real possibility in spite of Morgana’s current resistance.
In any case, these characters are in no way meant to be representative of all queer or poly people; and the only way I can think of to compensate for the shortcomings in representation is for all of us to write a ton of stories with a ton of different queer, poly, etc. characters – which I very much hope will happen.
@jeantown, thank you for the reply! I’m glad to hear that this is something that’s already on your mind and I look forward to where this project goes.
Bless you, Jean!!! I’ll be sure to use this cheat sheet wisely 
and by that I mean annoyingly 
Omg hahahahaahha! Well I guess you never know when you need to tell someone that they’re about to consume virtual 
non-potable water ! Maybe Neopets if they ever integrate emojis into their message boards?
But what’s up the emojis today? They look horrible 
True, which is why I’m grateful for Guen/Morgana whether it’s platonic or romantic!
Well I’m pretty sure you’re the expert on that, Jean 
Looks like waiting for the second half of Book 2 just got more excruciating! I love how you’ve constructed everything and are giving us the chance to possibly change their personalities! Will Arthur be the only one we can affect for now or would we have the chance to “harden” [fourth grade giggle] or “soften” Morgana and/or Lance?
Thanks, I just got it! I really like it when they talk afterwards 
I’ll have to play my cards right then! Is there a hidden persuasion stat to convince Arthur lmao 
Okay, I’ll I’m doing right now is reiterating myself, I probably sound like a broken record but SO MANY CHOICES I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO MAKING, I CAN’T WAIT! (I can but I’ll die a few more times along the way tbh) The list of difficult decisions just keeps getting longer and longer.
I just meant that Morgana is their go to gal when it comes to dark magic is all! I see, thanks for clearing that up! How is magic inherited?
Also this is just a thought but would Guen helping Morgana with her dark magic (like preparing the potions in Book 2) increase Guen’s DM stat? I know that it isn’t technically a choice since we help either way but I was wondering if simply helping would increase her stat? Although, it wouldn’t really be of use for Guens who don’t put any points to that skill.
And when they’re on Grimald’s ship and Guen decides to stay, when Morgana asks if she’s sure, could we get the option to tell her “yes, I want to gather what I can find first.” because I noticed that she could tell Lance that that was her plan but she didn’t mention it to Morgana?
Got it, thanks for reviewing my strategy. I think I’ll stick with it for now, until I play Book 2 and completely mess things up
Will the choice of sending Lance to Arthur and telling him to get the sword be our only way of obtaining it? That and other than going to Arthur ourselves?
Following Wonderboy’s question about refashioning the sword, to what extent could we refashion it? Assuming the sword isn’t a DM!Guen exclusive, would a LM!Guen be able to remove/substitute the dark magic properties with light magic so whoever wields the sword has maybe a healing boost or an aura of courage around them + a speed buff? Maybe she could acquire Merlin’s help when he gets back from the druid convention?
Thank you and I’m so sorry for my wall of text!
PS, considering you were on the topic of choices that increase Guen’s leadership stat, I’d say that Guen ordering Arthur around before sex deserves a +10 lmao
PPS, every time I type ‘Morgana’ I almost keep typing ‘Morrigan’.
@Ponku Sorry I didn’t reply to you before… Things might indeed work out that way; I’ll have to wait and see exactly how events progress on each branch. 
(Why do I keep typing these horrible new emoji??)
In other news, @everyone:
I think I fixed the bug where Lancelot could end up giving the I-love-you speech twice. If anyone feels like playing through the Lancelot kiss scene a few times to help me make sure there aren’t any more continuity errors, or just to help me improve the flow (I’m still not 100% happy with it), you can skip straight to it: Start the game normally, and then enter the fae pet’s name as bugtest. You’ll skip to the kiss, and Lancelot’s trust stat will be set to 14, so he’ll be willing to have sex or whatever else you’d like to do with him. (Also if you didn’t want to be mean to him in your real playthrough, you can try it this way and see what happens.)
(There aren’t any other pet name easter eggs, by the way, but that’s something I will probably add someday.)
This post contains only praise. I wanted to give constructive criticism but each time I went back in the game to see where I could have been put off, I found that it was alright. So I guess I will try it again later, when the charm spell has worn off. XD
I liked to play a Guen that wants to be faithful but can’t help herself and is possessive about Lance. Made me laugh when I imagined Arthur and her spending their days lamenting about the wandering knight that abandoned them.
I always like it when Merlin is here. The little story about the badger for example. And the carrot. Oh my. I laughed the first time because Guen threw it immediately. Then I tried all the variations I could find. Hehehe. And it seems that you know a lot about sheep… And about the habits of some ambassadors when they get lonely… XD
I do love when Meligaunt tells Guen she could have been given to any king of Britain. What if it had been him? Made one wonder how lucky she was Arthur took out the sword. And remind another of her “old” grudge against the marriage. It went smoothly with the story.
About the doppelgangers. As someone else said, it is fun to see the different Guens invading Camelot. Made me think about the thread and all the personalities discussed here. What a deliciously chaotic morning! And I am okay with Arthur not recognizing her even if they just slept together, and overracting instinctively (NB: I liked the “classy” choice speaking of the human being behind the clone). It felt frustrating but it’s the good kind of frustration because it shows that the NPC has his own thoughts and takes his/her decisions too.
The confusion of the attack is really well described. It feels like a terrible mess. But, come on guards, even if your orders are to get Guen in another place, you shouldn’t wait for her to tell that you have to help Morgana. -_- And another thing: there is only one fae cat/dog for all the Guens and it seems to be known by everyone so I would say that the only Guen with it takes the prize. Come on Sir Erec, you have decided to be clueless too? The good frustration is back again, I am torn in half: do I have to pout or to congratulate you? ^^
Sir Maris and Sir Bretta, duchess Tilda are badass. Grimald and Meligaunt are impressive. Secondary characters are gud gud gud!
Love that you take the time to explain why the fae cat/dog and Morgana are still alive and in the ship too.
The choices for the second part are, I don’t know how to say it, excellent? You give us the possibility to play a large panel of Guens. From (what I consider) an emotional Guen that would go to Morgana or Arthur and f— everything else, to a very responsible or intelligent or insert adjective one deciding to do otherwise. Felt good.
By the way I am amazed when I read some strategies very logically explained in this thread. Makes me wonder if my intelligent/tactical Guens are that much good. -_-
To answer your question posted about 100 posts ago, I remember that on the first playthrough Guen decided to go to Grimald’s castle and to secure an alliance with queen Radagund because of what she overheard on the boat, and couldn’t be parted with her Lancelot (speaking of this I would have liked for a Guen to be able to ask Lancelot to flee together. After the sexy time. Like “Yeah we can do this.” But in fact they can’t.). And I was like:“No no no don’t do that, why would you do that? Did you listen to what Tilda said?” and this kind of pressure is great in a game. Now, I tend to let them go and help Arthur or Morgana then deal with the rest. And I don’t really know what I want to see in the different paths yet. Who to trust, what to decide? It’s exciting!
Typos: …I’ve watched him accepting a burden he never saw coming: [He] knows, consciously or not, that he’s deeply attracted to his best friend’s wife. → he
"I don’t need to be reminded of how different this situation would be if you were my vassal, Sir [Meligant]. → Meligaunt
Linky link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/248628703/web/mygame/index.html
@ceecrab Yeah, I was just getting used to the emoji and then they changed them… now my previous posts make me look like a raving idiot. 
Look at that thing! That is not cute; that is deranged. Even the camels changed, and now they’re all flat. 
Poor flat camels.
Wait, what am I the expert on?!?!? hardness scales? non-Dragon-Age hardening? 
(for once the bug-eyed emoji is appropriate) I would love for all of the main NPCs’ personalities to be changeable, but I have no idea if I could pull that off. I’m going to start with Arthur and see what happens. If I can make it work without loads and loads of time/effort, I’ll see what my options might be for the other characters.
Not a hidden persuasion stat, just a particular choice. It was originally going to be less ethical than in my current plan (potentially done without Arthur’s knowledge), but I’ve decided that was a bad idea and he’ll know what’s going on.
I have a feeling that by the time I’m done, people are going to hate me for how difficult some of the choices will be. The one in the middle of part 2 is only the beginning… It’s not the first time you’re going to be told “Here are multiple bad things, and you can only deal with one or two.” That said, the failures are a way of making each playthrough different, and there won’t be any “perfect” ending – just different ones. Sometimes there are even hidden advantages to the failures (starting with Bretta’s possible death, which may or may not have an unexpected benefit in the second half of part 2, depending on circumstances).
Magic isn’t really inherited; it’s just taught to people who are smart enough to learn it, or preserved in books. In that sense, it’s a little like learning high-powered physics.
That’s a great suggestion re: the no-escape plan, and I’ve already added it locally, so it will appear with the next update. (btw the typos you found should be fixed now, since I updated a few hours ago.)
LM!Guen won’t be able to any good use out of Meligaunt’s sword; she should really just destroy it and wait for the appropriate high-powered LM item to come along in part 3.
Text-walls are beautiful. I wonder if it might be possible to raise each skill stat in the bedroom somehow…? And I’ve made the “Morrigan” mistake too, once or twice.
I imagine the court ladies trying to make him fall in love with them and flirting with him and Guen, Lance, and Morgana are shooting each other exasperated looks 
(my favourite emoji so far.)
A while back, you said we could indirectly cause Merlin’s death so I’ve been worrying about that! What would my Guen do without his cheese-wheels and carrots?
Oh yep, this last post reminds me of a question: I’ve read your approach of royal extra marital relationships and some articles on the web about royal mistresses in the legend and in actual history and I wanted to be sure: would it really be frowned upon if Arthur had mistresses (official or not)? I mean there is no threat to the bloodline if you claim that a child conceived by him and another had less rights on the throne than a legitimate one, or no rights at all. Or something like this.
If so I would guess that a “fanclub” would be an interesting add-on because these ladies could really hope to seduce the king for any reason. And Guen could feel threatened (or not). If not and you still want to carry on with this, please, make it really optional because I’m not sure I want something so anime-like in the story. :-/
@Tehani Thank you! It’s very helpful to me to know exactly what seems to be working, so I’m grateful for any positive feedback! If you think of some constructive criticism later, I will be happy to hear that, too.
I like the idea of Guen and Arthur mutually lamenting Lance’s absence. (: Arthur would be so pleased to know that Guen understands how he feels.
With the carrot, I’m deliberately trying to tempt the reader to get rid of it on the first playthrough, so there’s something extra to do on a second time. Depending on circumstances, the carrot can continue to be useful on each of the three major branches in the second half, so it’s worth hanging on to.
I did a lot of reading on sheep before I wrote the sheep scenes, and I have spent some time around them, but there’s a lot I don’t know, so I’m hoping maybe someone with some real sheep-knowledge will let me know if I’ve gotten anything terribly wrong. They’re supposed to seem a bit cartoony, to fit with the spirit of the story, but I don’t want them to seem completely unrealistic. As for lonely ambassadors… I knew if I didn’t put that line in there, someone would ask for it.
I’m glad you’re okay with the frustration; a story has to have some adversity to overcome, after all! The guards are indeed rather dense, but to be fair to them, it’s an unprecedented situation. Maybe if the pet wasn’t busy fighting Meligaunt, he could have stayed near Guen, and some people (like Maris and Bretta) would have seen it as proof that she was the real one… but the pet was busy, and there were several Guens nearby to confuse everybody.
I’m glad you like the secondary characters. I’m regretting making up so many original characters that aren’t connected to traditional Arthurian legend, but I’ll try to keep integrating them with the traditional characters… and in the future, almost all of the secondary characters will be from Arthurian legend in one way or another.
Also glad you appreciate the complexity of the Big Choice! I too am impressed with the strategies people are coming up with – I look forward to seeing how their plans work out (or don’t).
Oh! That’s a good idea about Guen suggesting that she and Lance just run away together. I like it a lot, and I’ve added it to my list of things to consider. That dialogue is SOOO stupidly complicated – it took me hours to fix the double-love-declaration bug – so I might not be able to make it work, but I’d like to give it a try.
Thanks for the typo reports, and for the link, and for all of your generous comments! (:
@Princess I can picture those exasperated looks very clearly! (As you can see, I’m giving up on the demented-looking official emoji, but that blue cat one isn’t bad.)
You should have a pretty good idea of when Merlin’s possible death is coming; it won’t be an accident. There are also two different ways in which he can survive, so if saving him is your priority, you’ll have options. And even if he does die, you never know what sort of cheese-wheels and carrots he might have left behind, to be discovered later. (:
@Tehani I’ve decided to go anti-historical on that point, and say that in my fantasy-Britain where people worship a female deity, opposite-sex royal extramarital relationships are considered treason, even in the case of the king.* That’s not to say they don’t happen, or that they don’t sometimes get handwaved if discovered, but I just felt like being perverse and taking a huge turn away from “real” history there. (:< Could Arthur ever be tempted by someone else? Not if his personality doesn’t change, but if he’s “hardened,” and his relationship with Guen isn’t good, I’m not going to rule it out completely.
*Which means it’s going to be an even bigger problem than usual if anyone finds out who Mordred’s real father is!
@jeantown I think this might be favourite wip on the forum (the only other contender being choice of rebels.)
I really liked the choice at the end of part 2 and look forward to seeing how those decisions play out.
I did have a couple of questions about the magic sword though.
Also here are my stats if your interested.
TRUST:
Arthur: 20
Lancelot: 19
Morgana: 22
SKILLS:
Sword: 0
Leadership: 6
Light Magic: 18
Dark Magic: 34
REPUTATION:
Kind: 14
Brave: 10
Convivial: 5
Stubborn: 6
Intelligent: 24
Responsible: 1