(Formerly “Haven and Hael”!)
Hello, all!
I’m trying my hand out at my first CSG game. It’s adapted from a fantasy series I considered sending to my agent, but which I decided was better (and more fun) as a game. Thanks for your support: please enjoy!
Story
Premise
Two hundred years after a cataclysmic war, the world of Blest has been segregated into a ruthless hierarchy. On the bottom are the Diminished: those possessing magical powers and supernatural gifts, now treated as second-class citizens after losing the war. On top are the Norms, power-less but technologically-advanced humans who have established a tyrannical government–the Autarchy–in the wake of their victory.
For centuries, the Autarchy has attempted to corral the Diminished and stomp out their magical gifts, jealous of the powers the Diminished have been granted by “the gods.” But with the abrupt return of demons to Blest, suddenly everyone discovers that they need those same gifts in earnest… and that magic needs to return to the world.
The Autarchy establishes a fighting force in Haven, Blest’s capital city: a regiment of fighters and investigators meant to protect the citizenry from demonic invasion; an order comprised of the very people the Autarchy once oppressed and reviled. And you, a Mage living in a land where using magic will get you executed, find that your only chance at freedom is join this supernatural police force: the Shepherds.
In Shepherds of Haven, you’ll solve magical crimes and slay demons to protect Haven’s citizens. You can explore the world of Blest, recruit allies and factions to join the Shepherds’ cause, and find answers to the crises plaguing the world. Where are the demons coming from? Where have the gods or God gone, if they ever existed? And in a city of hidden monsters, who do you consider your true enemy—and who is really your friend?
Warnings
This novel features:
- Strong adult language and fantasy profanity
- Fantasy violence
- Death (avoidable NPC deaths as well as mentions of victim death during investigations)
- Mentions of victim kidnapping and torture during crime investigations
- Discrimination in a fantasy race context
- Optional sex implications (non-explicit, fade-to-black ‘candlelight’ scenes)
Rating: This story would likely be rated T for teens or PG-13.
Gameplay
General Features
- Play as male, female, or non-binary; play as straight, gay, bi, pansexual, as well as asexual, aromantic, or aromantic asexual.
- Customize your own appearance, magic specialization, education, weapon, and racial heritage.
- Choose your personality, values, traits, skills, and responses: are you a charismatic team player or a ruthless lone wolf? An impulsive scholar or a cunning and street-savvy manipulator?
- Recruit, befriend, and even romance up to twelve possible allies, each with their own personal story and character arc.
- Solve supernatural and arcane crimes—not all of them demon-related—as well as the mystery of your own origins.
- Build your reputation and prowess in the city. Will you use it to become Haven’s greatest champion against the forces of Hael—or use your newfound power to overthrow the Autarchy once and for all?
- Explore countless branching paths and dozens of different endings!
Other Mechanics
The game is planned to be 1 prologue, 11 main chapters, and 1 epilogue. It will include:
- 10 romance options and 12 recruitable characters. Each recruit comes with their own individual character arc, motivations, special scenes, friendship and romance routes, and character-specific endings.
- LOTS of complex choices that will test your morals, loyalties, and role-playing skills.
- An ever-changing and adaptable codex that changes with the paths you take, unlocking special documents and entries as you play.
- A hubworld-esque “day off” system where you can interact with the city, train, shop, pray, explore, go on dates, and spend time with NPCs in between story missions.
- A new game+ system to reward replays.
- 100 hidden achievements to unlock and discover.
- Much more!
Characters
Character Profiles
There are 12 possible recruitable characters and 10 possible romance options, some of which are gender-locked. Below is a very brief list of the people you can recruit or romance.
Name | Gender | Race | Romanceable By | Introduced | Summary |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blade Bronwyn | Male | Ket | Female MCs | Yes | The enigmatic and cold commander of the Shepherds who comes burdened by a mysterious past. |
“Trouble” Alder | Male | Norm | Male and Female MCs | Yes | Blade’s second-in-command; a good-hearted but hot-tempered Norm gunslinger who can never walk away from a fight. |
Tallys Ironwood | Female | Elf | Male, Female, and Non-Binary MCs | Yes | The Shepherds’ reasonable and level-headed Elven archer who holds a secret hatred in her heart. |
Shery Acquell | Female | Norm | Female MCs | Yes | The Shepherds’ chief of staff, who is almost cripplingly shy but extremely kind-spirited. |
Riel Syndran | Male | Norm | Male MCs | Yes | The businesslike and logical leader of the Merchants’ Guild who dabbles in inventing and history. |
Chase Trinaeste | Male | Norm | Male, Female, and Non-Binary MCs | Yes | The mischievous and impulsive leader of the Thieves’ Guild who struggles with his morality. |
Halek Prince | Male | Hunter | ![]() |
Alpha-only | The serious but lazy chieftain of the Hunters who feels locked into a lifelong prophecy. |
Briony Stormbreaker | Female | Mage/Ket/Hunter/Elf | Male and Female MCs | Alpha-only | A cheerful and high-spirited Diminished gladiator who has lost her memories. |
Ayla Aescar | Female | Mage | Male, Female, and Non-Binary MCs | Yes | A nomadic and flighty Wind-Mage who searches for a family. |
Liefred “Red” Antiqua | Male | Mage | Male, Female, and Non-Binary MCs | Yes | An honest and charismatic teleporter who wants to resurrect a long-dead society. |
Lavinet Naveen | Female | Norm | Male MCs | Alpha-only | A beautiful, noble-born Norm aristocrat who harbors good intentions but is out-of-touch with the ways of the world. |
Prihine Naveen | Female | Norm | Male, Female, and Non-Binary MCs | Yes | Lavinet’s spoiled younger cousin and your charge at the beginning of the story. |
Caine Tavadon | Male | Norm | ![]() |
Yes | A precocious merchant’s apprentice who worships the ground you walk on. |
Mimir Esthin | Female | Mage | ![]() |
No | A mysterious and enigmatic Seer who claims to see the future. |
Croelle | Male | Unknown | ![]() |
Yes | A strange “watcher” who seems preoccupied by questions of free will. |
Character Art
You can view official character art here.
Disclaimer
The below portraits were made in Artbreeder, an AI program that combines images together to produce new, computer-generated approximations. As such, some details (such as skin tone, freckles, scars, and eye color) may not be accurate; these images are intended to be approximations only. Rely on your character guide and the game text for accurate and intended details.
Blade
Trouble
Tallys
Shery
Riel
Chase
Red
Ayla
Halek
Briony
Lavinet
Prihine
Caine
Mimir
Croelle
Miscellaneous
Fan Art
Fan Art on Tumblr
Fan Art on Discord
By @terrafallen
By @rose-court
By anonymous
By @Dagguro
by @smod (not technically fanart since I requested it)





by @wings-on-earth


by @JMH
by @rosemary_and_sage

by @caspierasan

by @lilown

by @sulkcubus
by @owletOwO
Fan Fiction
Tumblr
Fan Fiction Master Post on Tumblr
Fan Fiction Tag on Tumblr
AO3
reflected light, a hollow moon - @rose-court
You Shouldn’t Have Gone By Yourself - @steph_writing
Quizzes
Can’t decide which heritage you should choose at the beginning of the game? Never fear, this personality quiz is here to help you out!
If you want everything about your MC to be random, here’s a fun little character generator for you!
And here are some quizzes to help you decide which male or female RO is your perfect match! (For fun only)
Links
Tumblr
Like, follow, or send in asks! There’s a ton of extra information about the characters and world here!
https://shepherds-of-haven.tumblr.com/
You can also go here to organize posts/questions by individual characters, romance options, or all characters!
FAQ
There’s a FAQ here on Tumblr. Future guides and walkthroughs to follow. If you think of any commonly-asked questions that I haven’t put here, please let me know!
Discord
You can join the Shepherds of Haven discord and chat with other readers!
Demo
Current demo length: ~250,000 words
Total project length: ~460,000 words
Demo last updated: 7 January 2021
Updates
Changelog
19 January 2018
Demo posted!
21 January 2018
- Added a few more Prihine scenes (accessible only if one chooses to avoid Caine)
- Added an option to initially turn down the Shepherds (you still ultimately have to join them, no matter what, but this route can provide a way to be reluctant about it)
- Fixed a bug that occurred when fighting the demon with magic/regular weapons while running away
- Added cosmetic customization during the Flower Day/Wreath Day flashback (iffy on whether or not this will stay)
- Working on fleshing out father and background story/hometown more
2 February 2018
- Added chapter title images
- Implemented day off and romance flag system
- Implemented prayer, shopping, and other activities
- Added a rough draft of the first day off and a little bit of chapter 1
5 February 2018
- Added brief mentions of the MC’s weapon abilities in some day off interactions
- Fixed repeating dialogue when returning to the store on day off
- Removed an error that came at the end of the demo and just made it a *finish command
11 February 2018
- Tweaked some lines in Blade and Tallys’ day off scenes
- Tweaked some lines in the conscription scene
- Removed most achievements to avoid spoilers in the code…
27 June 2018
- Fixed some grammatical errors in the prologue that were bothering me
- Removed individual weapons stats and character training sequences (the weapon skills system will be revamped entirely down the line)
- Added strength and magic training to day off activities
- The first NPCs day off scenes will most likely change in the future, though not unrecognizably
30 June 2018
- Added notifications for unlocking codex entries throughout the story. You can toggle them on or off through the codex menu.
- Tweaked the “running away” scene after the church so that the MC uses magic or a Word of Power.
4 July 2018
- Added an appearance area under stats. Please report any bugs that may have come from this!
- Added more content under Tallys and Trouble’s routes.
27 July 2018
- Added a brief change to the conscription scene. Will change achievements in the demo (as most have been deleted to make room) soon.
1 August 2018
- A calendar has been added in the codex.
- Going through Blade’s dayoff sequence will unlock a new document in the codex about the Ket caste system.
- There’s now a chance for you to randomly encounter another Shepherd while strength-training. In the future what your relationship is like with that Shepherd will matter.
- Going back to Chandry’s shop a second time has new dialogue where he asks you a riddle. Giving answers he likes will net you a discount (up to 50% off!). In the future more dialogue will be added so he tells you a different riddle each time.
14 August 2018
- Changed the weapons system slightly to make leveling up the weapon skill more related to strength training or buying upgraded weapons than training with NPCs.
- Changed the MC’s starting gun to a one-shot pistol.
- Changed the magic system: players can now choose what kind of Mage they think they would have been before the Castigation (there are 9 main schools of magic to choose from). This will affect new invisible magic stats: psionic magic, astral magic, and arcane magic, which will help add diversity to spell-casting and stat checks but keep the options believably concise.
- Added another scene where you can be a dick to Chandry.
- Rewrote Tallys and Trouble’s day off sequences, completing rewrites.
19 August 2018
- Added a potential pet for a recruited Caine.
- Added a command activity in the day off hub in case the MC ever becomes Commander.
- Tweaked the day off system with *gosub to refine the system and prevent events from accidentally appearing as selectable for repeated use (excluding shopping).
- Added new names and aliases to appear in the stat screen.
- Added a legendary tier to the weapons system.
18 September 2018
- Moved the inventory to a separate screen from the stats and made it look much more organized and aesthetic.
25 September 2018
- Added scar and tattoos to character customization.
27 September 2018
- New stat names! New stat hints! New chapter headers! New everything headers!
27 August 2019
- Prologue updated
- Day off scenes updated
- Character guide, stats screen, codex system, etc. updated
- Non-binary pronouns and options added
- Much more
6 January 2020
- Public demo updated with Chapter 1 content
- Added a recap section under the “journey” tab on the stats page
- Added a newspaper function in the day off hub
6 July 2020
- Public demo updated with ‘complete’ Chapter 1 and 2, along with new day-off scenes
7 January 2020
- Public demo updated with first half of Chapter 3, new day-off scenes, new codex documents, and a save system skeleton for implementation after publication.
Coming soon
- The story up to Chapter 5 has been released to the alpha build. I am working hard to finish Chapter 5 (Briony’s chapter) in a timely manner!
Thank you for your time and feedback! Enjoy!