Pactbinder (Dark / Eldritch Fantasy University WIP, 292k words, UPDATE APR-26 [+124k words])

[Hamartia]

Hey guys, all well? Travels are going great so far - having a lot of fun and managed to get a ton of reading done, which I’ve been neglecting in favour of writing and work lately so the journey has been good for Pactbinder long-term I think.

Thought I’d get some responses done ahead of my next flight…

@Adam_Cay

Is it intended that saving money in chapter 2 doesn’t do anyting yet? The knife is purchased using an entirely different variable to the octoberReserve variable created when choosing to

Great catch - this was a victim of some variable renaming that led to a bug. Fixed in my working draft, thanks!!

@Adam_Cay

I assume that should be an increase to carcer rel rather than kingston?

Yep - typo, many thanks!! Also fixed in my version.

@Navient

Love the chapter! My MC’s charisma is really doing the heavy lifting to avoid any suspicion being casts upon them. The amount of different variables in this game is actually crazy, the replayability factor of this game is so impressive with only 3 chapters out! I was tempted to show off… But decided against it (at least for this particular MC). I’m so curious about what Revenants are, so I also need to dig around for that later…

Thanks so much - very glad you’re enjoying the game and the branching / variable tracking so far, and thank you for sharing your stats! I think the structure of the game is fun in that it allows for a ton of branching without compromising the integrity of the core narrative - between Societies, Masteries, free roaming and social scenes, plus the MC’s varying attitudes, I think it’s possible for two different runs to feel very different despite the game’s central narrative running through everything…

@Adam_Cay

Will mind mastery be easier to hide as a second one? Becuase its probably the most subtle mastery it might not be obvious we have access to it if we’re careful

Depends how / where you’re planning to use them, and who you’re planning to hide them from, really! E.g Matter might still be quite usable beneath Hightower.

Though Mind is definitely subtler than most…

[Iukan]

@Hamartia

These numbers line up with the stat sheets I’ve received so far too, roughly - I was surprised by just how dominant Explorers’ Society was. I did expect it to be the most popular, but in my mind the distribution was going to be like 40% Explorers, 30% Duelling, 20% Skimming, 10% None (crudely), with more people experimenting with Skimming and None on second playthroughs…I underestimated the Call to Adventure versus the appeal of combat and / or making connections, clearly!

For me it just feels like explorers being the right choice. Is the best option for us to hide our power, even if we show off affinity, dueling and skimming would expose us too much, and none would be like boring and not open doors. While exploring it’s a secret society, so it’s easier to hide our power, and let us find clues about what the fuck is our patron and opportunity for more power for the same reason. Conections we can get later, but finding out what the hell is our patron feels paramount. None has like, the library, but if anyone knew wtf is our patron they would know that we’re in some strange shit, and good luck trying to hide your patron in the library while reading the fucking Necronomicon.

[Kamato243]

Read Babel by RF Kuang recently and so this WIP has got my full attention ngl. Very excited to see where it goes from here!

[Navient]

Not to mention it’s great for gaining favours with Eleanor!

[GenericUsername]

I could see mind major/skimming club having some worth if you just want to get in good with the most influential types I guess- Just can’t see it really competing with the other options unless you really want to play a manipulative/sneaky MC. Or maybe just a friendly, remorseful one.

[Ava_Xx]

Is it just me or that the free roam section can’t be seen in the code?

[Nyahaha101]

Free roam content is located in its own game file, not in the chapter 3 file.

[KZV]

The only real complaint I have about this game is that I don’t like the layout of the stat screen because it does that thing where it loads up the first screen of it with relatively static things like name/description/story summary/etc.

Most of the time when I am going to the stat screen it’s to check stats or reputations, and it’s irritating when the first tab is filled with descriptions and summaries.

Stat Block

Stats

Might: 30 Finesse: 24 Charisma: 12 Intellect: 15 Reputation: 38

Personality

Sec/Dar: 32 Rat/Pas: 48 Cru/Emp: 38 Out/In: 35 Dbt/Cnv: 32 Inf/Fam: 48

AntiochRels

Alice: 62 Eleanor: 67 Finlay: 67 Layla: 68 Marcus: 66 DancePartner: Ellie Friendship: 3

OtherRels

Julian: 58 Hawthorne: 56 Fausett: 44 Silas: 26 Lizbet: 40

Plot Notes

Murderer?: false phantomOutcome: Won solo Society: Duel soc1Outcome: Win mistsOutcome: 1 ChosenMastery: Life worldScore: 0 dormScore: 0 aScore: 1 tScore: -1

Other

-Wondering how deep your patron’s influence extends. -Went shopping for a new knife

I think I might be the only person who went with high might, from the looks of things.

[Hamartia]

@Iukan

For me it just feels like explorers being the right choice. Is the best option for us to hide our power, even if we show off affinity, dueling and skimming would expose us too much, and none would be like boring and not open doors.

@Navient

Not to mention it’s great for gaining favours with Eleanor!

Interesting - makes sense! I can certainly see the rationale. I’m definitely curious to see how people’s thinking on each Society evolves over time. I certainly did assume exploring buried ruins with Ellie would be a big hook, though!

@Kamato243

Read Babel by RF Kuang recently and so this WIP has got my full attention ngl. Very excited to see where it goes from here!

Oh, interesting! I’m glad that you’re enjoying things so far - hope to keep you engaged as we progress…

@GenericUsername

I could see mind major/skimming club having some worth if you just want to get in good with the most influential types I guess- Just can’t see it really competing with the other options unless you really want to play a manipulative/sneaky MC. Or maybe just a friendly, remorseful one.

I’m pretty confident all of the options (including no Society) will have their uses…But I certainly think that they suit different MCs differently, and I’m curious to see how the views on them all develop over time.

@Ava_Xx

Is it just me or that the free roam section can’t be seen in the code?

Nyahaha101 is correct!

@KZV

The only real complaint I have about this game is that I don’t like the layout of the stat screen because it does that thing where it loads up the first screen of it with relatively static things like name/description/story summary/etc.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I’ve made a note of it. I think the front page is fairly functional overall (Reputation actually is added to the front page once the Pactbinder hits a certain threshold, but that threshold is basically impossible to hit right now I think), it’s just designed intentionally to build slowly to avoid overwhelming people (as well as Reputation, from the end of C3 on it starts tracking Masteries, for example).

I’ll have a think though - especially if other people mention they share this concern. One thing I might do is add the Antioch first-year reputations to the front page, and keep the reputation tab for Other Relationships (Professors, the older Antiochs, Silas, Lizbet)

Thanks so much for sharing your stats too - you’re definitely a rarity with high Might. Of the 30 players who’ve submitted so far, only 4 players total have Might as a highest stat!

[Adam_Cay]

Will a duellist who picked spirits just have to win fights via beating up their opponents? Because that seems really funny ngl, like no fireballs, no wind blasts, no strength buffs, no illusions, just catch these entirely unaugmented hands

[RandomString]

I mean Anzu will probably still be at least somewhat useful in a fight even if he isn’t as powerful outside of Elsewhere.

[Hamartia]

@Adam_Cay

Actually, just had a thought about the explorers society, if the main dangers in the ruins are spirits, surely a spirit mastery is best for dealing with them? So spirit would be good for explorers the same way matter is for dueling

@Adam_Cay

Will a duellist who picked spirits just have to win fights via beating up their opponents? Because that seems really funny ngl, like no fireballs, no wind blasts, no strength buffs, no illusions, just catch these entirely unaugmented hands

@RandomString

I mean Anzu will probably still be at least somewhat useful in a fight even if he isn’t as powerful outside of Elsewhere.

Depends on the fight, but yes, when a Spirit-mage Pactbinder wants to solve a non-Spirit problem with violence, they’ll have to rely on Anzu and their knife (knives are allowed in Duels, and commonly used by non-Matter mages-fists aren’t damaging enough for a proper duelling uniform to even feel the impact).

It’s mainly an issue against older students though - the average first-year student can’t reliably cast effectively under pressure, even if they’re a Matter mage, so relying on knives and Anzu is probably enough for a physically capable Pactbinder to be able to take on all but the most dangerous first-years in a duel.

You’re right that eventually Spirit mages get to be as good as Matter mages when fighting Spirits (and thus other Spirit-reliant combat mages) specifically, if not better - exorcism is pretty OP for Spirit fights, though it’s easier to learn how to shoot a bolt of flames with Matter than it is to exorcise enemy Spirits.

@Dragonlord943

Use life to heal a critical wound after getting stabbed? “Oh, what a miracle, that knife must have missed my vital organs. Oh, the cut on my uniform? Well, it must’ve just grazed me.” Use life to boost my physical strength in a burst? “Man, adrenaline’s a hell of a thing.”

One thing I will say is that mages are competent at recognizing this sort of thing – they’re very familiar with what it looks like to use magic. There are a couple of passive tricks that might go unnoticed (e.g. surface thought reading from Mind, and a specific Life magic technique some Pactbinders have already discovered). In general, though, a mage who sees someone do something that looks like casting magic is going to assume that they’re, well, casting magic - even if it’s not a Mastery that person should be capable of.

What conclusions they draw from that and whether it’s possible to cover up varies, of course, depending on the person and context…

[Adam_Cay]

@Hamartia

and a specific Life magic technique some Pactbinders have already discovered

Cycling? Not sure I can think of any other somewhat hidden life techniques

[Hamartia]

Correct, though I won’t elaborate further!

[Dragonlord943]

@Hamartia

What conclusions they draw from that and whether it’s possible to cover up varies, of course, depending on the person and context…

Ah, I see…so I have to hope that a majority of people at this school are stupid…or blind.

[arktown]

Hello! Enjoying the demo so far, just wanted to check on a possible continuity error with coding. Right after the dance (danced with Eleanor if that matters), MC left and encountered the Thing, chose to run back to the dance hall, MC encountered Julian and Finlay and Layla:

It’s Finlay and Layla, closely followed by a furious-looking Julian.

Then Julian zaps the Thing, MC recovers after a little bit, but suddenly Eleanor is present and no mention of Layla:

Before you can respond, he shoots a frustrated look at Finlay . “Though you wouldn’t think it, seeing as these two wanted to go running out to go looking for you the moment I dealt with the first one.”

“Julian wouldn’t leave Finlay.” Eleanor explains tremulously. “Even when I pointed out that you were probably alone out here. So we figured that we’d just come to you.” Though she’s unconsciously wringing her hands, you can’t detect a trace of regret in her voice as she looks proudly towards you. Finlay nods in agreement.

Did Eleanor join when MC was momentarily incapacitated, or did the scene redirect incorrectly?

One other feedback comment (though is personal preference), characters are frequently reference by their hair colour; Alice in particular with white-haired girl, which is a notable feature but can be used a bit repetitively across pages. It makes sense to reference her that way when she’s standing out, or otherwise MC is looking at her appeareance, but sometimes it’s used just as like “the white-haired girl said” or similar, and her hair colour doesn’t have much impact on the circumstance. It’s not necessarily a problem, but can feel repetitive or excessively descriptive for the sake of it, when her name or pronoun would suffice for ease of sentence flow.

I started off with what seems like critiques so just want to balance out with the note that I’m really loving the setting so far, and very intrigued by the magic Masteries. Pactbinder is such a fun MC to play, and the introductory scene/character creation was super strong. I haven’t caught up to the most recent demo update yet, but I’m excited to get to it!

[Hamartia]

@Dragonlord943

Ah, I see…so I have to hope that a majority of people at this school are stupid…or blind.

Best of luck…!

@arktown

Hello! Enjoying the demo so far, just wanted to check on a possible continuity error with coding. Right after the dance (danced with Eleanor if that matters), MC left and encountered the Thing, chose to run back to the dance hall, MC encountered Julian and Finlay and Layla:

Thanks so much for the detailed message, hugely appreciated and glad that you’re enjoying things overall so far.

@arktown

Right after the dance (danced with Eleanor if that matters), MC left and encountered the Thing, chose to run back to the dance hall, MC encountered Julian and Finlay and Layla:

I took a look at this - it’s a coding error / typo - Eleanor should have been accompanying Finlay and Julian, not Layla. So the follow up stuff is right, but the opening line was wrong - thanks for spotting! Now fixed in my working draft.

@arktown

One other feedback comment (though is personal preference), characters are frequently reference by their hair colour; Alice in particular with white-haired girl, which is a notable feature but can be used a bit repetitively across pages.

Thanks - this is super helpful feedback. Partly this is probably a stylistic difference as you say, I like the visual descriptor to mix up direct name allusions, but I suspect I possibly do overuse it when it comes to Alice specifically.

Were there any scenes where you remember feeling like it was particularly overused, out of curiosity, or scenes where you felt another character was over-repetitively referenced in a similar way? No worries at all if nothing comes to mind - I’ll look through the code myself in my own time in any case.

@arktown

I started off with what seems like critiques so just want to balance out with the note that I’m really loving the setting so far, and very intrigued by the magic Masteries. Pactbinder is such a fun MC to play, and the introductory scene/character creation was super strong. I haven’t caught up to the most recent demo update yet, but I’m excited to get to it!

Thanks! Really glad to hear it, and I don’t mind critique at all, especially when as constructive as yours - feedback and criticism is essential to make Pactbinder the best story it can be, which is something I’m serious about, so I’m always grateful for critique.

[Nyahaha101]

Bugs

Ellie’s surname is Whitwell here, but Whitworth elsewhere.

Repetitive line.

Discovered that Julian is keeping an eye on Finn + works for the Third House. Rumors & Mysteries (stat) page doesn’t update to reflect this. I suspect this is due to julsecret1 still being set to false.

Other Feedback

When I got to this part, I was grinning like in that Sickos meme “Yes…hehehe…fall in love with me >:D”. That being said, I’m kinda surprised that neither he nor anyone else reacted to my male MC dancing with him, considering Finn being closeted + general heteronormativity/homophobia of Hightower.

Wanted to answer in the affirmative but none of the options really fit my PB. Could we please have a more neutral “yes” option? Either a simple '“yes” without elaboration, or something akin to “yea, life’s hard and I’ve done what I had to to survive” without the shame/guilt, defensiveness, or playing it off.

~

-After seeing (and maybe asking about) the fresco, and learning about the supposedly divine origins of the Kingsgift + the flexibility of the Kingsgift vs magic of typical mages, would it be possible to ask our patron about the relationship/similarities of Pactbinder’s magic and the Kingsgift?

-After discovering that Julian is visiting Witch’s Hat, could we tell Marcus about our findings? I feel like that’s something some PB’s might want to share.

-Similar to ^, after investigating the events surrounding Hightower, perhaps we could bring that up with Layla? Since she seems the most keen to look into things. Could lead to minor flavor text later in the chapter, when she brings up prepping for the familiar hunt.

-If it’s not too much trouble, could we get a couple more clothing options please? Whatever lets my PB wear a leather jacket or look like a lumberjack some other options might include practical/military (cargo pants, sturdy boots, lots of pockets) or artsy/eccentric (colourful, funky prints and silhouettes).

-I’ve been skimming the code and it’s funny how easy it is to make Adelais suspicious of PB. Why does she think it’s suspicious that my PB declined to join a society, what kind of nonsense does she think he’s getting up to in his extra free time? Like she’s 100% right to squint at any PB, but mine has no suspicion up to that point. Maybe PB just wants more time to do homework or read, is that really so odd? Maybe they’re just a big nerd Same with the fresco, a bunch of people are looking at it but somehow it’s shady for the PB to ask about it? Smh

-‘Dark’ magic and magic that falls outside the main masteries is very intriguing to me and I look forward to learning more about them.

~

All in all, this is one of my favourite school-themed wips I’ve played in a long time. Lots of fun little mysterious to explore/solve, the cast is interesting (I love antagonizing Silas into attacking me, only to kick his butt, then being friendly/smug around him later on ), we get fun lore tidbits without the large info dumps, and the stats are straightforward

[Uriel224]

Has been a great read so far and I for one cant wait to See how it continues!

I really enjoy how you handled the options on how your Character can behave and the nods from the narrative to that.^^

Only thing I can think of improving is the Following:

Could we get an Option to give Daphne a hug or something? Maybe some encouraging words? Anything? Poor girl gets to suffer at every opportunity, its almost comical. ^^’

[Annaranthe]

I’m surprised no one has thought of the reason Silas holds animosity towards the MC being the possibility of the original being a bastard of the Holst family, maybe even his future prime minister uncle’s illegitimate child,or some other affluent powerful family. He says we can’t change what we are…