Hi everyone, just popping in to let you know that there will be a Holiday Fan Contest (open to everyone, from now until December 20th) running for Shepherds of Haven!
Shepherds of Haven Holiday Fan Contest
How do you enter?
Make a fan creation for Shepherds of Haven!
Fanfiction, fanart, or fan-anything is welcome: if you’re more musician or crafter than writer, that’s amazing! All ShoH-related creations are welcome!
If you don’t feel like submitting a creation, you can submit a post about your favorite thing about Shepherds of Haven; a favorite character and why you like them; or something else that would be the good subject of a short “essay”!
Post your fan creation or essay to one of the methods below!
Platforms for Posting
Here in this forum thread
On Patreon, either as a link in the comments of the pinned contest post or as a PM
“Steamy” contest entries are allowed, but no hardcore NSFW. This is a public contest, so please exercise best judgment!
Light alpha spoilers are allowed, if applicable; check with Lena if in doubt.
You can discuss the progress of your entries in our Discord’s #haven-holiday channel.
One prize per winner.
Prizes
1st Prize: An exclusive, curated Shepherds of Haven gift box loaded with ShoH merchandise, character treats and goodies, and even the Official Shepherds of Haven Cookbook!
2nd Prize: A Shepherds of Haven T-shirt (winner’s choice of color, size, and design)
3rd Prize: 3 Shepherds of Haven magnets, bookmarks, or stickers, selected by the winner and sent in a special themed wax-sealed envelope
Honorary Prizes: One to a few participants in each category (Fanfiction, Fanart, Fan Creations, and Fan Essays) will receive 1 ShoH magnet, bookmark, or sticker as a prize (winner’s choice)
Participation Badges: Anyone who participates in the contest and submits an entry will receive a special role if they’re a member of our Discord!
That’s all for now! I hope you will participate in this fun community event and contest, and have a happy beginning to the holiday season!
Oh, and we’re also running a holiday raffle on Tumblr as well! If you:
Follow the Shepherds of Haven Tumblr blog.
Like and reblog this post with the tags #Shepherds of Haven and #havenholiday2020.
You’ll be eligible to win a ShoH magnet, sticker, or bookmark just by sharing this post! This raffle also runs until December 20th, and 3-5 winners will be randomly drawn then.
Since I’m always game for any reason to go on long drawn out reasons I love someone, I decided to participate in the character contest.
If I had to choose a favorite character it would have to be Blade. I find myself envisioning him with a troubled past so I sort of relate to him on an emotional level. While it’s rare to see his soft side whenever I do I just want to grab him and hug him because he’s such a sweet man. As I recall the moment when he asked if he was wrong for scolding the two lazy guards, was the moment I became emotionally invested in him. Your writing showed the heavy burden he carries on his shoulders. Ever since then I’ve been affectionately calling him Atlas. Blade is a very emotionally complex person and I love him for it. One layer he’s a commanding leader the next he’s telling you he’d die for you. The depth of his character is astounding considering how much we know about. I think Blade is the sort of person I try to be; fair and unbending in his loyalties and morals. I love that he likes gardening and poetry since they clash so harshly with the stereotype you assume he is before you start to get to know him.
Thank you so much for being the first forum entrant for the contest, @K_T! Your essay is amazing and so detailed and on-point! Thank you again for writing it, and have a great rest of your week!
Hello! Once I have more time, I’d like to leave an in-depth review of Shepherd of Haven but for now, I just wanted to ask if we can enter more than once? For example, if I’d like to submit both fanart and a short essay about what I like about the game, can both count?
Hi there, I look forward to your review of the game! And yes, you are totally welcome to submit both fanart and a fan essay! I’d like to limit official entries to the contest to 5 per person, but you are of course welcome to post as much as you want outside of it, as well!
Oh my gosh, I’m so late to the game but I absolutely adore it! And I’m dying because this is the end of the public demo, but also happy that I got this teaser.
I think it’s extremely interesting that each character likes you romantically a little more if you’re of a particular gender. But I was wondering if there were any characters who are pan in the way that we’ll get all the extra romanceflags without having to switch up our genders? I think I wouldn’t mind playing as an NB character (anything for Trouble) but not a male character. Alternatively, if eventually our romance points with someone determine whether we can be together or not, then I’d much rather prefer that these characters not be romanceable to begin with. Or at least that they let you know about their preferences but that they are flexible.
I adore how every character is so incredibly fleshed out. I was afraid of the staggering number of ROs but it makes perfect sense, given that we can spend lots of time with them! I cannot freaking tolerate Prihine and I love Caine and I know that’s largely due to your writing. Speaking of your writing, whistles, that’s some good shit right there! And the branching is crazy. I played as a charismatic, intelligent and compassionate Wildmage of norm heritage, but I can’t wait to play as a charismatic, callous and cunning elven Conjurer next! And then maybe a bold, rebellious Ket Elemental ist and then…anyway you get the point.
I noticed a few small errors but am not sure if they’ve already been corrected in the alpha?
Hi there, thank you so much for all of your kind words regarding the game!
I admit I’m not totally sure what you mean by this; the character romances are gender-locked, and each character has a particular sexuality of their own! You can find these at the top of the thread under “Character Profiles” or on the game’s Character Page on Tumblr!
Thank you so much, this is so kind! I hope you continue to enjoy the demo and the different ways it can branch!
Definitely let me know about any errors you catch! They may have been corrected in the alpha, but if they were, I don’t remember lol, so erring on the side of caution is always best!
Yes, I’m so sorry! I checked the character information and realised that every character has a certain preference when it comes to gender. I just got confused because I had the opportunity to flirt with Trouble before heading to kill the first demon in the catacombs but this just makes me appreciate the whole thing more. It feels so real, given how I tend to flirt shamelessly with gay men and straight women myself, just to build relationships. This means that I’ll have to restart to romance Blade. Ughhhhh there goes another night of sleep. No regrets though, haha. :DD
I’m not sure about this one mostly because I haven’t heard this phrase before. Normally I’ve only heard and read “let loose”. So I thought I’d bring it to your notice regardless!
So in my playthrough, we overheard the innkeeper tell the Rat that the only reason he’s allowed his activities is because he’s his sister’s husband. I feel like that should be addressed?
So in this choice (of listening through the door at what the Equalists are saying), you fail if your sneaky is high and succeed if it’s low. Should it maybe be the other way around?
Here, I was thinking that if we’ve read the newspaper (newspaper = 2), we should remember the name. Moreover, when I was reading the newspaper and heard of the drug problem, I realised it was behind the listless folks. I was wondering if maybe an MC with high intelligence would be able to at least formulate a theory regarding this?
Oh, thank you so much for pointing out those errors, I’ll get to fixing them today! Those last few seem to be coding errors rather than spelling errors, though; your weapon and attached verbs are supposed to show up there! Do you remember if those screenshots came from a loaded save or a fresh playthrough? Thank you again so much for the detailed eye!
You’re not alone in noticing things like this: I’ve had a few comments where people were confused they could flirt with people who aren’t actually interested in their gender! Some of the flirt options can be mistakes on my part, but most of the time I intend for them to be there as a personality option too, as you said–playing as the kind of character who flirts shamelessly with people regardless of actual romantic interest, or as a way to just have fun or even connect with others in a different way!
I was playing as female! I saw that it was the only way to romance her in the list of ROs lol
And yeah! I’m fine with slow burn but I went for a lot of the ‘friendly’ choices instead of sort of ‘flirty’ ones.
Happy new year, everyone! May 2021 be kind, creative, and hopeful to all of us!
To celebrate the new year, I’ll be updating the demo soon… Keep your eyes on this thread around January 6th!
Also, the Shepherds of Haven Holiday Contest entries are now up on the contest page if you would like to see everyone’s incredible, talented, and creative contributions! Voting is taking place on Patreon. Thank you to everyone who participated, you’re all amazing and mind-blowing!
Thank you again for writing it, and have a great rest of your week! 
I hope you continue to enjoy the demo and the different ways it can branch! 
Shepherds of Haven Holiday Contest 
Keep your eyes on this thread around January 6th! 
