One Knight Stand - King Arthur x Among Us Apocalyptic Road Trip (WIP 900k, Patreon 1M+)(UPDATE 10/25/24 + 84k - Duel of AoE Spells)

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Sooo I was finally able to look away from the demo (for now), and daaamn I don’t have enough words to describe how awesome it is!
The horror kept me up all night and thinking back to the humour almost made me choke on my coffee the morning after :melting_face:

I think this is the only IF I’ve read that actually used the zalgo text effectively? The images were a nice touch too, the eyes zooming in may or may not have made me squeak like a penguin getting strangled in the middle of the night :upside_down_face:
though looking at them eyes closely they’re kinda round and sparkly and… cute? like they look like they’d belong on one of those squishy plushies of undeterminate species with really long eyelashes

The funny death quotes were funny all on their own but the fact that they’re immortalized on your stat screen forever had me rolling :joy:

“delete my browser history!!” LMAO

And I really appreciate you giving us the option to hold Adrian’s hand in the apartment scene bc that was all me and my phobia-ridden MC could think about while hobbling up the stairs in the dark like PLEASE HOLD MY HAND PLZ IM KINDA DYING IN TERROR OVER HERE.

I’m on a quest to find all the routes and flavour text available but the variations just keep on coming!
My playthrough count is well in the double digits, heck it might even tip over to the triple digits before I see most of the variations available!
Well… maybe not even then since I’m having a hard time picking options to be mean to the ROs, I like them way too much already :crazy_face:

Are you sure you’re just one person and not a team of full-time writers?? because dang this is insane it’s like a bottomless gift that just keeps on giving!
It took me several playthroughs to find out you can be chased all the way up to your apartment if you injure your hand and don’t bandage it + dither on the 2nd floor!! Seriously, how many variations ARE there???

And can I just say how I love the fine little details, like:
-Adrian’s relationship points going up by 7 pts after talking about the number 7
-the many, many, MANY ways you can fluster Adrian with your choice of attire
-that Narnia closet comment if you’re a guy
-that text with Merlin if your name starts with a ‘C’
-Adrian’s reactions if you filch his last name :hugs:
-how the ‘stopping the guard’ option actually works if you’re in your police uniform!
-I found swearing in my native language and laughed way harder than I probably should, did you really look up all the swear words in the world or are you just fluent in like 200 languages?? kudos to you either way!

And the myriad of flavour text like ALL the flavour texts like wow it seems like there’s flavour text for literally everything you choose and I’m all for it!

Man I love Adrian already, he puts up so nicely with my crazy cloudcuckoolander MC, I can’t stop being weird bc his responses are too entertaining :rofl:
Appreciate him taking the initiative to potato-sack carry (or literally kidnap) us away from danger, my sweet, naive, cloudcuckoolander, thrill-seeking serial killer fairy prince(ss) MC who thinks eldritch abominations are oh-so-sexy certainly needs saving from themselves :smiling_face_with_tear:
I don’t think this MC would mind at all if Adrian actually turned out to be an obssessed stalker

Happy to see FGO Merlin was one of the options since that was exactly how I was imagining Merlin would look like after reading their descriptions. similar personalities too!

I was fully ready to go tldr with Merlin’s wall of text but ended up reading everything somehow, it was so entertaining for whatever reason??
And the replies and emojis and spelling variations and wiki links and like that’s so cute for Merlin and also I’m so impressed with YOU like were you a major in Arthurian lore??
I know jack shit about knights of the round table but I do know that summarizing stuff like that requires geek-level understanding of the source material and there are a LOT of source material!

There’s one con though. I’m sad that you can’t pack your demonic alarm clock. You could’ve had your own cream-of-the-crop demonic hellhound (sound only) to drive off the obviously lesser demonic hellhounds like ROAR in Pokemon. Clearly a loss of the ages.

I really wanna go code diving and see what you’ve named all the variables etc and find out all the little secrets I’m missing but alas I don’t know how to do that :smiling_face_with_tear: so I’m just gonna go right back to my nth playthrough digging for more secrets and theorizing if you won’t mind!

Here's the stats from one of my favourites if you're still looking for some:

https://u.cubeupload.com/nairnine/medicskillerthrillle.png

Weird bug I found, it was the knife that shattered not Excalibur but the option says otherwise:

https://u.cubeupload.com/nairnine/brokenotbrokeexc.png

Weird.. bug? I found, tbf I WAS serenade-ing Adrian at every opportunity:

https://u.cubeupload.com/nairnine/serenadestranger.png

All from serial killer/accident/thrill-seeker/paramedic background, Adrian saved Pippa, MC left early and serenaded Adrian in the streets, took the stairs, got inside the apartment and fought the 'mon with my knife if that helps.

Also, not sure if it’s a bug or not, but in all playthroughs Adrian’s text messages are sent twice, right after you pick your phone and right after Adrian shows up.

Sorry for the rambling, I usually just lurk but man I couldn’t help myself with this one. You’ve got a way with words that just sucks you in, I can’t wait for all 4 books to be available already so I can throw my money at you and find out what the mysteries are all about!

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I would reread this again, but apparently I keep making the same decisions anyway with only slight variations. :sweat_smile:

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Whoops, sorry about having to redo your MC. It looks like everything is fine then. I was worrying that True Bold or True Pessimist might’ve been bugging out since they haven’t showed up in anyone’s stats.

Ward status was keeping track of the state of Merlin’s protective ward over your apartment complex (which set the end state of the building).

I’ve never watched/read ToAru (just a couple eps of Rail Index), but that sounds similar(ish), although perhaps a bit more widespread if everyone is forcing their own reality (instead of forcing the reality of the Otherworld in OKS). Although I wouldn’t be surprised if different fantasy series use a similar take on magic.

Most of the MC’s stats are set in the customization phase. You can also bulk them up a bit during the Free Time periods if you choose training over everything else. The big stat increase will trigger upon regaining your Camelot memories/powers. (There’s a reason that even people who’ve been min-maxing their stats are topping out at ~50 since the stat screen is on a sliding scale from normal mortal to godly supernatural).

Yeah, having the fear phobia is a direct conflict of interest with being a security guard since that’s a position that can put the MC in dicey situations. Fear should definitely be the most difficult phobia to manage in the game, meanwhile the security guard is recommended for the trauma since they’re always going to eventually fail the possession check. You can get a similar experience by taking a different career and then sticking your head outside the trailer during the attack.

Conversely, if you want to see the security guard’s extra special recollection of “what really happened last night”, the phobia that has the greatest effect in Chapter 1 would be fear of the dark. And overall, fear of death will probably have the second most impact throughout the book (after the fear phobia).

All the variations! Which people will probably never see (except perhaps for you.) I’m actually not sure how to read the code for a compiled game that’s been uploaded to a different website either (not without having to download all the files first). Might have to wait until the updated version is uploaded to Dashingdon.

Glad to see someone managed to trigger some of the more obscure stuff like the Benoni flavor text. And whoa, you actually got ‘Take Your Achievement & Get Out of Here!’, ‘Just According to Keikaku’, and ‘I’m Petty…’… no one else has come forward with those achievements yet.

Thanks for the stats and comments! I’ve fixed the three bugs you reported in the next version of the game (Adrian texting twice was definitely a bug too). It seems I really screwed up that ‘I’m sleepy. It’s time to go to bed.’ part when I switched the variables from temp to permanent at the last minute.

The hellhound eyes are actually super-magnified fly eyes (since I described its eyes faceted like a fly). I’m sure all the house flies appreciate you thinking their eyes are cute.

The MC who chose the Shakespeare quote for their final words will definitely be enjoying some extra vertical space on their stats screen until the next dying opportunity pops up.

One of the myriad various ways that encounter can go. And surely spending a week looking up curse words in various languages will come in handy during my life!

Also, yes, all the Merlins! (Except the ones from Guinevere Jones and Mr. Merlin which I pruned because I didn’t want the option to go over 13 choices.

However, if I allowed the MC to take the demonic alarm clock with them and they used it in the motorhome, one of their new roomies would probably murder them. And it might not even be the saboteur this time.

But yes, let the cloudcuckoolanderness flow through you.

Well, you never know which “slight variation” might actually trigger a cascading avalanche of changes in the narrative. But if you don’t usually replay, you might want to wait until the next Chapter 2 update. (Although I think I’ve got the checkpoint set up properly where you won’t have to replay from the start even if I add in new variables.)

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Oh? Alrighty; sounds like a plan to me. I’ll wait for the update of Chapter 2. Thanks!

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I always love it when a game lets me be a complete nerd.

Final stats

Magic : 14 Physical : 10 Intelligence : 51 Charisma : 15

Bold : 42 Sweet : 86 Sassy : 3 Optimist : 33

Health(at Climax) : 74 Health(Final) : 99 Wound : healed Serious Injuries : 1

Caution : 37 Will : 2 Apathy : 0 Purity : 2 Cloudcuckoolanderness : 0 Denial : -2 Coward : 0 Silent : 13 Mute : false Pottymouth : 0 Intimidation : 24

Arthurian Lore : 3 Serenades : 0 Interpretive Dances : 0 Crimes : 1 Known Crimes : 1 Reject the Call : 0 Ward Status : 7 Lore Dump : 0 Lore Dodge : 0

Tech : 60 Medical : 10 Internet : 30 Criminal : 0 Botany : 0

Club : polo Job : computer programmer Hobby : gadget Talent : tactics Using Pseudonym? : false Pet : None Dibs : Morgana le Fay

Childhood : accident Secret : inhuman Crazy Theory : None Crazy Theory Level : 0 Two-Faced : True True Timid : True True Serious : True

Vice : sloth Addiction : internet Fear : attention Fear Level (at Climax) : 21 Corruption : -2 Mindcontrol : false

Random Appearance: false Attractiveness Level : 4 Striking : 1 Body Type: 1 Height: tall Best Feature: legs

Tattoos : 0 Striking Tattoos : false Scars : 1 Striking Scars : true Piercings : 0 Striking Piercings : false

Striking Clothes : false Heavy Clothes : false Long Clothes : false Flashy Mask : false Haircolor Striking : false Eyecolor Striking : false

Merlin Affinity : 63 Merlin Flirt : 40 Merlin Bond : 1 Merlin Gender : female

Adrian Affinity : 54 Adrian Flirt : 1 Adrian Past Bond : 4 Adrian Current Bond : 2

Weapons :

Inventory : wardrobe | picture of family | laptop | Gawain figurine | pearls of protection | Arthurian Lore guide | tech repair kit

Achievements : Take Your Achievement & Get Out of Here | Insomnia | Nepenthes | Lore Dump Connoisseur | BBQ Deferred | One Small Step…

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Review cross-posted from the IF forum:

What it is about: You’re headed to polo club practice when something unsettling happens… wait, why is Merlin here… the apocalypse is now… A crossover between Arthurian legend, Among Us, Spirited Away, Resident Evil, and more. My final stats:

Magic : 12 Physical : 12 Intelligence : 33 Charisma : 32

Bold : 70 Sweet : 95 Sassy : 1 Optimist : 53

Health(at Climax) : 52 Health(Final) : 91 Wound : healed Serious Injuries : 2

Caution : 18 Will : 0 Apathy : 0 Purity : 1 Cloudcuckoolanderness : 10 Denial : 6 Coward : 0 Silent : 7 Mute : false Pottymouth : 0 Intimidation : 0

Arthurian Lore : 2 Serenades : 2 Interpretive Dances : 2 Crimes : 0 Known Crimes : 0 Reject the Call : 0 Ward Status : 6 Lore Dump : 0 Lore Dodge : 0

Tech : 10 Medical : 25 Internet : 50 Criminal : 0 Botany : 0

Club : polo Job : wildlife biologist Hobby : internet Talent : tactics Using Pseudonym? : false Pet : None Dibs : None

Childhood : accident Secret : inhuman Crazy Theory : None Crazy Theory Level : 0 Two-Faced : False

Vice : lust Addiction : internet Fear : fear Fear Level (at Climax) : 23 Corruption : 5 Mindcontrol : true

Random Appearance: false Attractiveness Level : 1 Striking : 2 Body Type: 1 Height: average Best Feature: figure

Tattoos : 0 Striking Tattoos : false Scars : 0 Striking Scars : false Piercings : 0 Striking Piercings : false

Striking Clothes : false Heavy Clothes : false Long Clothes : false Flashy Mask : true Haircolor Striking : true Eyecolor Striking : false

Merlin Affinity : 61 Merlin Flirt : 41 Merlin Bond : 1 Merlin Gender : female

Adrian Affinity : 86 Adrian Flirt : 3 Adrian Past Bond : 0 Adrian Current Bond : 1

Weapons : squirt gun | iron lamp |

Inventory : wardrobe | laptop | Magic 8 Ball | bible | pearls of protection | Arthurian Lore guide |

Achievements : Possessed | Nepenthes | BBQ Deferred | One Small Step…

The good: Plenty of humor and pop cultural references abound. Despite the horror and fantasy themes being the two pillars of this piece, there are just so many appropriately and sometimes weird references. There is just so many things to do, so many different ways to respond, so many items you can use (I didn’t get the fake Excalibur, for instance). Even your final words can be direct or Shakespearean. Since it is only the first chapter, there is plenty to build on, but the bar is already set very high.

The bad: The length- the first chapter is equivalent in length to several chapters from other ChoiceScript games. The stat-intensiveness- there are plenty of things to keep track of, with a lot of details being introduced over the course of the game, making it easy to forget about what exactly is happening right now. The flashback in the prologue could have been inserted elsewhere.

The Huh: What’s with the Corruption stat? And what do the other tracked stats mean? And where are we headed next? Can we have other hobbies?

Grade: 82.7%

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I’ll be honest - you are batshit insane hahaha. There’s so much customization options, also characters react to my trench coat (!!!) [I love this]

awesome, I’ll be following your progress. good luckkk

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I keep being corrupted :sob:

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Nah, it’s cool. Losing them was my fault anyway. Plus this isn’t the first time I’ve played a WIP IF (Dashingdon or otherwise), so these days I make sure to write down the endgame stats and major choices on games that I’m invested in just in case the save data gets lost for one reason or another.

I can verify that you’re able to see True Pessimist (at 100%) on both your stat screen and in the ending page after you make the choice, and seeing as the “average MC” has a Bold stat of 107.5, that might be why it’s never been seen before.

Ah, that makes sense. Since it was next to the stats for your journey progression I thought it had to do with Adrian’s protectiveness over you at first.

Well those types of Espers are only about a city’s worth but yeah, the slight similarity is what made me remember it (and Reality Marbles) once you talked about imposing reality on another reality.

Got it. Thanks for telling me, as I enjoy min-maxing my characters in games as well. I’m surprised you can make it up to 50 though; the most I’ve been able to hit were the 40s.

On a related note, just how strong were the people of Camelot? From the way you describe it, it sounds like once you remember everything you can turn into someone who can punch out a T-rex, which makes me wonder just how overpowered the populace was.

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Amazing. Showstopping. Incredible. Magnificent, etc. I haven’t got anything more eloquent in me at the moment but a like isn’t enough. I’m already a huge fan.

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Thanks for all the comments and stats!

Unfortunately it seems that the Checkpoints are a no-go. I had it all set up nicely too where you could have four separate playthroughs saved at each checkpoint and then return to whichever one you’d like from the Stats Menu. And then I tried to load all the variables in the game and the code choked and died after 100+ variables.

So hopefully CoG will be implementing their own checkpoint/save system before OKS gets finished.

Meanwhile, I’m back to working on Chapter 2. I should be posting a sneak peak of the first route in the Camelot flashback section within a couple days.

Yeah…you might want to work on that. :rofl: Although running around possessed can be ‘fun’ too.

Basically since their apartment has become a literal gate to Hell, the MC will always get corrupted to some degree or other. To stop from getting too corrupted, it’s best to look over each decision and think “Is this something that the demons would like me to do because it’ll make me more vulnerable to their influence or not?”.

Oh yeah, I forgot that Reality Marbles do something like that too. I was just thinking about how there’s little True Magic left in the Nasuverse since it gets demoted once science is able to replicate a similar technique.

It’s actually possible to push a single skill stat quite a bit above 50+ but it’ll completely gut your other stats (for little benefit considering the stat checks don’t go that high at this point) and it requires quite a bit of “luck”.

Regarding Camelot… let’s just say we’re leaning into the OG Welsh legends where a single battle took place from coast to coast and a mountaintop can be wiped out with a sword swing.

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Awesome! Who doesn’t love some large scale chaos!

Also that’s too bad about the checkpoint thing. I wouldn’t worry too much about the checkpoints not being possible for now since you have way too many different paths and reactions to not replay anyway lol.

If you don’t mind an idea though, I think you could basically save some space by only recording the important variables that are triggered by earlier stuff and lead to unique paths (major stuff like if you stayed entirely silent or brought certain items, got possessed, etc.) while instead having choices to quickly set the other variables with some questions (though you would have to be careful to not allow weird inputs that break the game I guess) such as favoured stats or the like kinda of like how demos for sequels here have you set certain things in the beginning.

I have no idea what’s going on with the code though so I may be greatly underestimating just how many special triggers you’ve got in the background or how complex the tracking that’s happening is. In which case the above is a terrible idea and I apologize lol.

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And by “a few days”, I mean “tomorrow” (aka today). First path is done at 9600+ words leaving 2 more paths to go until the next update will be ready.

Normal MC (by varying definitions of ‘normal’)

Summary

merlin_normal
merlin_normal680×889 49.4 KB

versus Lucid Dreamer MC

Summary

merlin_ludid
merlin_ludid680×1062 50.8 KB

I know some characters who’d agree with you. (And some who’d be screaming in horror in the background.)

Yeah, the checkpoints won’t really matter much at all during beta testing since I have 100 save slots initiated from CJW’s save system, but it’s going to be brutal during actual publication way down the line.

Regarding the variables there are… *whispers* over 1000+ of them which is why the checkpoint code is choking. The game remembers everything. That offhand comment that your MC made a couple hundred thousand words ago? It remembers. And will bring it up when you least expect it.

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How do we escape the monster without Merlin?

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First of all, there’s only one option that gives you the chance to escape from the monster under the bed (just think of how to deal with a threat that’s on floor level).

After that, it’s a multi-layered stat check with several fail conditions and several ways of passing. (The flavor text you get when you fail the stat test will actually clue you in on whichever stat did you in. Like if you failed the fear check, then it’ll mention fear strangling in your throat etc)

I posted the actual code for the stat check in the spoiler section of this reply. (Unfortunately the forum isn’t letting me copy & paste the spoiler text itself.)

Be aware, escaping the monster right now is the hardest stat check in the game. In the new update that I’m working on, I’ve made it slightly easier, but going by the way people have been building their MC’s, this is probably going to remain a hard stat check.

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Magic : 12 Physical : 24 Intelligence : 35 Charisma : 30

Bold : 103 Sweet : 179 Sassy : -22 Optimist : 68

Health(at Climax) : 89 Health(Final) : 100 Wound : healed Serious Injuries : 0

Caution : 16 Will : 8 Apathy : 0 Purity : 1 Cloudcuckoolanderness : 6 Denial : -3 Coward : 0 Silent : 23 Mute : false Pottymouth : 3 Intimidation : 98

Arthurian Lore : 3 Serenades : 2 Interpretive Dances : 0 Crimes : 1 Known Crimes : 1 Reject the Call : 0 Ward Status : 7 Lore Dump : 0 Lore Dodge : 0

Tech : 40 Medical : 50 Internet : 0 Criminal : 0 Botany : 0

Club : polo Job : paramedic Hobby : gadget Talent : tactics Using Pseudonym? : false Pet : cat Dibs : Merlin

Childhood : amnesia Secret : amnesia Crazy Theory : None Crazy Theory Level : 0 Two-Faced : True True Timid : True True Pessimist : True

Vice : sloth Addiction : smoking Fear : storms Fear Level (at Climax) : 15 Corruption : -3 Mindcontrol : false

Random Appearance: false Attractiveness Level : 1 Striking : 5 Body Type: 2 Height: short Best Feature: smile

Tattoos : 0 Striking Tattoos : false Scars : 4 Striking Scars : true Piercings : 0 Striking Piercings : false

Striking Clothes : false Heavy Clothes : true Long Clothes : false Flashy Mask : false Haircolor Striking : true Eyecolor Striking : true

Merlin Affinity : 77 Merlin Flirt : 44 Merlin Bond : 1 Merlin Gender : female

Adrian Affinity : 67 Adrian Flirt : 2 Adrian Past Bond : 4 Adrian Current Bond : 2

Weapons : Excalibur | squirt gun |

Inventory : wardrobe | autograph | pearls of protection | tech repair kit

Achievements : Insomnia | Nepenthes | Lore Dump Connoisseur | BBQ Deferred | One Small Step…

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i LOVE how in the guard scene and the MC pulling out a literal sword to stop anyone from hindering merlin yet what they say depends on your personality stats🤣 I assume that a “sour” or scarier MC would definitely be commanding and intimidating, while my MC here was literally pleading for the guard to just stop like they’re in the battlefield

and merlin!! sighs they have my entire heart…

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I love this game because of the detail each decision has, even if it’s just for flavor, so I’m curious about something:
What are the differences between each job that the MC can have? Will it be something important in the future (In addition to making changes to the MC’s statistics, of course)? I’ll probably play a character who works at a fast food place, it seems cool for a serial killer MC lol

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Now that’s how I like my horror - deliciously creepy, packed with occasional action and spiked with unhinged humor, great demo so far!
The dark secrets choice came as a surprise to me even though I’ve read description so my rather nice character ended up being a serial killer because of course he did. MC gathering knives scene is my favorite lol.
Edit: read the FAQ and I’m missing only wrath vice and fear fear for my clusterfuck experience bingo uh oh I am lucky indeed. Hope MC can be as much of a menace to other characters as he is to himself :'D

Stats (WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY PURITY OH MAN OH GOD XDDD)

Magic : 7 Physical : 44 Intelligence : 22 Charisma : 25

Bold : 108 Sweet : 67 Sassy : 64 Optimist : 43

Health(at Climax) : 51 Health(Final) : 92 Wound : healed Serious Injuries : 1

Caution : 11 Will : -2 Apathy : 0 Purity : -999 Cloudcuckoolanderness : 8 Denial : 6 Coward : 0 Silent : 9 Mute : false Pottymouth : 1 Intimidation : 12

Arthurian Lore : 2 Serenades : 1 Interpretive Dances : 0 Crimes : 0 Known Crimes : 0 Reject the Call : 0 Ward Status : 7 Lore Dump : 0 Lore Dodge : 0

Tech : 10 Medical : 10 Internet : 30 Criminal : 30 Botany : 0

Club : polo Job : security guard Hobby : criminal Talent : luck Using Pseudonym? : false Pet : None Dibs : None

Childhood : accident Secret : killer Crazy Theory : None Crazy Theory Level : 0 Two-Faced : False

Vice : lust Addiction : internet Fear : storms Fear Level (at Climax) : 19 Corruption : 12 Mindcontrol : true

Random Appearance: false Attractiveness Level : 1 Striking : 3 Body Type: 2 Height: average Best Feature: smile

Tattoos : 0 Striking Tattoos : false Scars : 2 Striking Scars : true Piercings : 0 Striking Piercings : false

Striking Clothes : false Heavy Clothes : true Long Clothes : false Flashy Mask : true Haircolor Striking : true Eyecolor Striking : false

Merlin Affinity : 66 Merlin Flirt : 43 Merlin Bond : 1 Merlin Gender : male

Adrian Affinity : 52 Adrian Flirt : 1 Adrian Past Bond : 0 Adrian Current Bond : 4

Weapons : XM556 Microgun | hunting knives | iron lamp |

Inventory : picture of family | laptop | Magic 8 Ball | bible | pearls of protection |

Achievements : Possessed | Nepenthes | BBQ Deferred | One Small Step…

P.S. I get that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I liked all the sounds effect, good job! Also I really appreciated all the flavor text connected to some minor details. I don’t think I’ve read a lot of (or possibly any) IFs where something as diverse in options as MC’s hair color was described in some unique way after character creation part.

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Petition to change Purity to -666 for memes.

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