Okay, yes, unfortunately the âall-rounderâ build isnât terribly viable at the moment. As soon as you reach Chapter 3-4, anything below mid-50s isnât going to help. There are a couple of later stat-boost choices as you progress, but probably not enough to make that set of stats really work. Scrutiny of 58 will serve you well, but not much else, sorry!
The second spread is more what I have in mind. Two very solid stats ⌠although there, I think Iâd ideally like one of Accusation/Occultist to be closer to a viable 50-ish, and maybe have the main two a touch lower at first.
Iâll work on that for the next update.
This is why I like doing early testing 
@PParrish so I only need to be above 50 to pass stat checks? Im just worried that I couldnât pass some stat checks that required above 60.
The highest talent (the main skills) stat checks in the game at the moment should be 60, and those only show up in Chapter Six.
There are some harder personality stat checks, but itâs much easier to boost those numbers (as I can see from the 70-80s in the shots above!)
I think I have a few which combine a talent and personality check, but those are rare (and itâs often an either/or kinda thing).
I tried your suggestion @PParrish but I canât possibly lower both solid stats. I at least need 1 solid stat to pass some stat checks in main skill. I was hoping that you will add something in your next update for boosting talent stats. For example, find some hidden items in castle or whatever place that can give you talent stats or have my mc practice pistols and whatever it is or read books in library to gain informations and talent stats before traveling.
Great to see an update!
New Additions
I noticed the change to the discussion about charms in C2, I think the new skeptic choice âUntil the objects in question can be proven to produce their claimed effects, the point is mootâ and the resulting response fits much more with the world. In general, the choices in the new chapters definitely seemed to fit in quite naturally compared to the slight awkwardness in the earlier demo.
The biggest change to the earlier chapters is the revelation that Hopequins was a former MP and informant to the Royalists. I didnât see it coming, but it definitely adds a new facet to his character, concerning his convictions, loyalties and ambitions. That being said, I donât think it had much impact here; that Hopequins was important to the Royalist victory is significant, but that only comes into play when the Traitor/Naseby plot shows up. At this stage Iâm not sure whether someone whoâs unfamiliar with the English Civil War would think that particularly significant. But I guess itâs also foreshadowing that nothing in politics is as it seems â just as the later ritual scene in C3 shows that not everything in hexfinding is as it seems.
I liked Chapter 4. Given the type of hexfinder Anna is, Primkins shows what the other hexfinders are capable of. As of this point all you get (at least with a merciful PC) is Hopequins burning books; Primkins finally shows the uglier side of the hexfinders, but thatâs nothing before the execution scene. I think that really establishes the weight of the hexfinderâs duty which wasnât necessarily present before, especially for a character who isnât so much a zealot and didnât arrest Ursula.
Chapter 4âs also really where I think the âbattle linesâ for the political and religious conflict gets drawn up. Henri Marriete establishes themselves as a potential Pontifex influence over Charlotte, and the break-in establishes how tenuous relations are between the 3 denominations. The main takeaway for me was just how stability lay on a knife edge, how war could so easily flare up again when my prior assumptions were that the most that could happen is a minor insurgency. You see the physical scars of the war from the earlier chapters, but how the crowd can explode into storming the gallows is another thing entirely. As the chapters go on, the shattered nature of the country really sets in.
In the previous 3-chapter demo and so far up to C4, I think Iâd largely operated under my preconceptions of similarities to the English Civil War. Hunt the hexcrafters, restore parliament, establish a constitutional monarchy. The revelation in C3 about the spy didnât really click back then for me. The interrogation of the thief was what really got me clued-in to the bigger picture. For me, I think it was also a pretty good way to show the theological disagreements between the 3 denominations, but I was familiar with their IRL basis in the first place.
The PCâs decision to intervene at the gallows coming to affect them in C5 in the way it did was somewhat unexpected, but definitely appreciated; I like seeing consequences to the PCâs âcareerâ as a result of their actions. Though this chapter in hindsight seemed to be building up for C6, I did like how Anna got developed if you could take her along to Bletchingdon, and also how a Parliamentarian PC can reveal their prior cause to Fairfax. It was a bit of a surprise that she wouldnât go to Cold Ashby too. In hindsight it makes sense she would go back to report, but I picked the choice âI believe Fairfaxâs story. But without further proof, others never will.â and somehow I interpreted her response as still coming along but being unwilling.
I think I enjoyed Chapter 6 the most, especially the start. Coming off the confusion and suspicion of C5, the dread built up nice and steadily. Richard showing up, the refugees, the race to get there before nightfall, and Cold Ashby itself. By that point Iâd been prepared to shoot Richard and wishing my PC had a brace of pistols and a sword. Then after Dorty shows up, discovering the Circle.
Meeting the Herald seemed almost a little underwhelming given that. While the confrontation and resulting attack was properly alien, the peril faced by the PC is a little undercut by how a single successful skill check ends it. The ranks of the dead of Naseby and the weird hole thing seem like they would pose at least a more protracted threat. It was a bit over-and-done-with.
Sure, Dortyâs sudden reappearance later doesnât help with the unease, nor does Hopequinsâs interrogation of the PC, and I finished the chapter even more unsure of whoever to trust. But, the last half of the chapter seemed to pass in a blur, a bit rushed. The fightâs over, then Dorty shows up, then youâre back in Oxford, and dealing with Hopequins seems to take longer than dealing with this inhuman devouring thing which is linked to the death or disappearance of thousands and the profane, powerful circle from earlier. I feel like it was a bit of a missed opportunity, given the earlier interactions with Satiaâs heralds; indeed, the dream-confrontation at the start of C5 seemed to be longer.
Aside from the dread, the main strength of the chapter for me was the decisions over whether to withhold information or not, especially to Dorty or Hopequins. I did like the interrogation at the end, but I feel its impact was a bit lessened by the quick transition from Naseby to his office. I was kept on edge, but didnât really have that much time to process everything.
General Comments
I like the attention given to the other characters in the new chapters. Anna especially, as her background starts to unravel. Her not being there in Chapter 6 definitely contributed to the unease; she and the PC have definitely developed an âinvestigator duoâ act. I liked Dorty too, and especially enjoyed the banter and references to the shared past she shares with an experienced PC. Theyâve worked together in the past and the ease between them shows, compared to Anna whoâs dealing with her own stuff at the same time. C6 puts no small amount of doubt over her, but I hope Dorty shows again and more.
My impression of Charlotte definitely switched about quite a bit throughout the chapters. It was initially positive, though I could see where the allegations of her being the puppet of Henri came from. Iâd briefly wavered on aligning with Parliament for my PC after meeting her for the first time, and after she expressed regret for the bloodletting, but I moved back onto aiming for the restoration of Parliament after the stuff she expressed before the Jewell portrait. Charlotteâs inherent confidence in divine right and her authoritarian tendencies seem only to be exposed if you press against it, while if you encourage it she seems to downplay it. While Laud, Henri and Hopequins seem like the big players, Charlotteâs clearly an adept player of the game too.
I look forward to Laud and Henri getting some more attention in the later chapters. So far Hopequins has gotten the most screentime (much of it negative, and especially after Naseby he and the hexfinders seem to be in an especially poor light), which makes sense as heâs the PCâs boss, but it will be nice to see the schemes of the other two.
Regarding the wording of the choices in later chapters, I found it quite easy and reasonable to justify a switch in my PCâs personality over the course of the chapters. I started out as an indifferent, confiding skeptic, but throughout the chapters I could easily justify radicalisation and increasing zealotry without it seeming too out-of-character. It would be clear what personality slider would change, but the text of the choice would be more weighted towards the middle rather than an extreme, so it would make sense for both changing views as well as someone set in it.
Also some of the stuff the zealot PC shouts and the imagery they get is just great. Screams Biblical, fire and brimstone and all of that.
âDespicable creature!â you shout, expelling spittle as you denounce your onrushing opponent. âUnholy and pitiful beast! My form is as a shield, shaped by the Churchâs righteous hands. Turn back, 'lest you suffer the fate of all devils who would try to best me!â
The blazes are quenched. Clouds of smoke part and lift. And you find yourself once more, clear-eyed and zealous, within a field of golden wheat.
A side thing is that the playerâs lack of a second name â especially if theyâre an experienced Hexfinder â seems a little weird with every chapter. This is especially the case as every incidental character seems to have one as well. It feels a bit off that Anna gets called âStrodeâ often, but the PC just gets their given name. Itâs less jarring for Dorty if the PCâs experienced since they seem quite familiar, but for the others â or even how Anna introduces the PC â it seems a little strange.
Bugs & Typos
Chapter 4
If you choose the option âI keep word of a traitor to myself, but describe seeing sinister acts of probable hexcrafting.â, thereâs a continuity error when Charlotte speaks to Hopequins in Oxford, saying that
Wheatley was declared free of hexcrafters, and so it proved.
âWe spoke to Isaac, the gardener,â Dorty says. âHe was quite forthcoming about an attempted theft of his keys, right outside this establishment Said there were a pair of hexfinders here too. I thought that was worth pursuing.â She pauses, smiling to herself. âAnd behold, here you are.â
Missing full stop between âestablishmentâ and âSaidâ.
Chapter 5
Charlotte says, adjusting the lace cuffs of a white linen jacket embroidered with bright silks. âWe may hear further account of how our fair cathedral came to be breeched.â
I think itâs meant to be breached?
âIn my discussions with the Archbishop it seemed clear that the woman we have detained is a devout member of the Godly Covenant}, yet you have made scant mention of them,â the queen says. âWhy is this?â
Bracket appears in the text
Chapter 6
âIt may have been a calculation, provide a sliver of truth in order to satisfy your questions. The agent could be sacrificed, if it meant buying more time for herself. OrâŚ.â He places the bowl down with care.
I hadnât told Dorty about the bowl, and the option âI should reveal that I have the vessel, and hand it over.â is available. A continuity error?
Definitely enjoyed the update, keep up the good work!
Thank you for another comprehensive set of thoughts! Iâm glad youâre still following this WiP, your comments on the first chapters gave me quite a bit to work with. Looks like the same will be true again.
The bugs and typos are fixed up at my end. Next time I update the Dashingdon version, they will be in place. Took me a while to figure out the continuity problem in Chapter Six, everything seemed to be in order ⌠and then I noticed the multireplace texts for âwithheld_dorty_bowlâ on that line were just the wrong way around, hah.
Iâm greatly encouraged that a lot of the political/religious/character tension is landing. Quite a few times where youâve noted that âx thing in y scene made me think z,â itâs absolutely what I was hoping would happen when people reach those parts, so thatâs terrific.
Hopequins as former MP and Royalist informant: Yeah, my intention with this is to give him more of a direct political dimension than real life Matthew Hopkins. I want to show heâs always had a grudge with Parliament (so does he really believe theyâre all hexcrafters, or is that just a convenient fiction heâs fallen into), and provide an explanation for how he obtained and held a position of such power. Even though Charlotte finds him distasteful, and is losing patience, he has been very useful in the past.
It is somewhat directed at those who know about the real Hopkins, to show my version is a bit different.
Chapter Six pacing: I can see how the switch from Naseby back to Oxford feels a bit abrupt. In part, I think thatâs a result of that herald section having (in retrospect) far, far too many possible choices in dealing with the situation. You can be there with Nico or Richard, AND you can either pass or fail the Resolve check. There are about sixteen different choice versions of how that plays out (most of them different enough that I had to write unique sections) and oh my god that took a long time to finish.
Once Iâd worked out the aftermath (tell people about the bowl/donât/etc), I was ready to get everybody back to Oxford asap 
Iâm also a big believer in only doing travel scenes when necessary (so, usually only once, one way.)
However! It may be that a scene in between leaving Naseby and being stood outside the office is indeed necessary for a bit of breathing room. Something Iâm keeping under consideration, anyway. It may hinge on whether I can think of useful conversation or character development to put in such a scene.
Mini status report time! Chapter 7 crested the 50k word mark last week, and is looking set to be a beast of a section (Iâve still got a good third of it left to write). I knew this was coming. It was going to happen from the second I decided that chapter 7 and 8 would be the player visiting a pair of locations in (sometimes) an order of their choosing, with events unfolding differently depending on which place was visited first. But I did it anyway. Iâm not quite regretting it, yet.
Chapter 8 should at least go a little bit smoother, since Iâll already have established the key characters and done all my research on castle layouts and the like.
Anyway, I never got around to sharing the third of my main research books for this project. It is the strangest one, by some distance.
Carlo Ginzbergâs The Night Battles!
This book is wild. Iâm pretty sure some of Ginzbergâs approach/claims have since been disputed, but the details contained within are nonetheless fascinating. It is about ritualistic folk traditions among the people of Friuli (Italy), who called themselves Benandanti and claimed to be fighting witches in odd visionary journeys during which their souls (probably?) left their bodies. Fun stuff!
Those whoâve read the early chapters of Hexfinder, will recognize the character of Nico from the above description.
If you needed somebody to stop witches peeing in the wine in your cellar (and letâs face it, who doesnât?), then you called the Benandanti.
I got a lot from this one. Depictions of 16th century rituals (all the fennel and sorghum stuff is from this book). Little snippets of small town politics (quite often, it seems, people got annoyed about the Benandanti offering their services to heal cursed children and the like, regarding them as a nuisance). And, most especially, how the Catholic Church dealt with this group.
Early on, they didnât really seem to know what to do with them. What they were describing sounded positively witchcrafty - and yet they always claimed to be fighting AGAINST witches. So the person investigating would often just let the Benandanti go, or make some half-hearted order that they present themselves in front of the inquisition (and then never follow up when they didnât). That was a pretty big influence on my zealous-indifferent personality binary. As it turns out, sometimes the priest just didnât want to have to deal with this problem, so just kind of ignored it.
Later on, however, when under far harsher interrogation and torture, the Benandanti started âadmittingâ that yes, in fact, they did worship the devil and so on. And the sorts of stories they would tell the church started to change (to what the church wanted to hear).
The book has a full text of an (earlier) interrogation/interview with a self-confessed Benandanti, which I found very useful as further background.
So yes, much about Nico and many of the more mystic aspects of the game are references right out of this book. The goddess Satia makes a brief appearance, too.
Short, post-Equinox update to confirm proof of life (or proof of ongoing writing, anyway)!
Chapter 7 came in at a quite weighty 92k words in the end. Thatâs now with CoG editorial, and Iâm in the midst of Chapter 8, which is already close to 40k - and will probably be a similar length to 7 in the end. So yes, many words arranged these last few months. Much potential zealotry. Plenty of plotting. Minor smattering of supernatural elements. Hats.
I also re-balanced the talent distribution in Chapter 1, so it should be somewhat harder to create a character with uneven abilities. Might still need some more work, but itâs improved. There are no new Chapters uploaded (as yet!) but that stat rejig is in the version on DashingDon.
While Iâm here, an anecdote about research and staircases.
If youâve played far enough to reach Bletchingdon Park (where Fairfax is held semi-prisoner), you might remember that the house has a weird staircase that I spend a bunch of words describing. That staircase was (probably) real, and for the longest time the only thing I could find out about Bletchingdon Park in that period (it was damaged in the real Civil War and rebuilt) was a reference to it having âan unusual staircaseâ.
Fair enough, I thought, Iâll invent an unusual staircase. But then! Thanks to the diligent and specific research of local historians and the magic of the internet, I came across an entire, in-depth article, published in 1996 in a periodical about Oxfordshire history, speculating as to the nature of those stairs. As a result, the stairs in the game are my attempt to do them justice. Thank you, Hilary Louise Turner, for your devotion to that staircase.
Iâve had similar luck with period-appropriate floor plans for various buildings, but the Bletchingdon article was the most satisfying find. A bit self-indulgent, really, but I think it adds some historic flair.
Iâm still trying to go for a Sherlock Holmes kind of bulid(Or Batmanđ) like last time I tried the game so good at crime scenes and at beating the crap out of people or in this case shooting at people but bad with people and this is a lot better stat wise then last time.
Does the demo currently end right after being approached by the messenger bearing the consorts seal?
Ive reloaded several times but always run into an endless loading bar when reaching that point.
It does, yes. Thatâs the end of Chapter 6 and the current cut-off point 
Sorry if this has been asked before, but who are the RO´s?
Wait there are romance options in this one?
I believe I promised heretical smooching 
There arenât really any romantic scenes in the Chapters shared to date (just a light hint, here and there), but yes, youâll be able to share some ~moments~ with Richard, Anna and Nico. In addition, there is one path where you can become a particular favourite of Queen Charlotte.
Iâm a little wary of over-promising here because romance isnât really my main thing - but I do like to include it and test my range. Plus itâs fun, and can add more depth of character! If youâve played Mask of the Plague Doctor you can expect a similar degree of romance here, I think
Does having a older character prevents you from romancing them?
No, not at all! In general, the thing that would prevent a blossoming romance would be if the character doesnât like you all that much (as a result of things youâve done in the game). Or if you get propositioned and just choose to turn that person down, of course.
In honour of the final Ember Day of 2022, the upcoming December Solstice, and any new visitors from the Upcoming CoG Releases 2023 thread - itâs new chapters time!
Hexfinder: December 17 2022 Edition
What do these two add?
Chapters 7 and 8 form the bulk of the Second Act, where your intrepid hexfinder has been sent to Broughton Castle. Or Ipsden. Slight spoiler about destinations: Youâll go to both, but the order changes how things play out.
When I planned this game and added a branching path in the central act, I didnât quite realise it would take me 200k+ words and more than a year to resolve. But here we are, lessons learned 
This portion of the game is wrapped up in Chapter 9, and I originally intended to wait until all of that was done before updating the WIP. But since itâs been over a year since I shared anything, I want to get more words out there in the world.
What kind of feedback would be most useful here?
As usual, most comments are helpful and welcomed. But what Iâm especially hoping to get ironed out is instances where it seems like the code may have redirected you somewhere incorrect. There are LOT of semi-overlapping parts and moving pieces in Chap 7-8, and plenty of spots where one or more characters may or may not be present in a scene. So if somebody shows up who shouldnât be there, or it bounces you to a point in the story that makes no sense, let me know! Such bugs need to be squashed.
I keep succeeding/failing at everything I try, whatâs going on?
Stat boosts/checks are not at all final, and probably only semi-balanced. They shouldnât be TOO weird though - so if anything seems egregious, do mention that. In general, I intend to tune things to the more forgiving side.
Will my old dashingdon save work?
I doubt it! The earlier chapters have a few minor changes as well. Save system is implemented again though (with three slots).
Hey nice you are back will play the update in a bit
I appreciate the wonderful Winter Solstice gift.
Thank you @PParrish