Aren’t those some mumbo-jumbo bacteria that help converse with the force? Not creating power themselves, but channeling it.
So, the Echo World provides power to its creatures via microorganisms in blood, they try it on mc and detective simply nullifies it. Oh, boy.
IIRC, isn’t the MC the last known carrier of the mutation? If so, anyone who wanted your blood would have a way more lucrative deal by keeping you alive, if with less blood than what’s usual for a human at that.
An average adult human has about ten pints of blood at any given time–supposing, of course, that they don’t have any disease or something similar that alters that. Ten pints of blood would be about 4.730 litres of blood, and, again, IIRC, Murphy needed less than a pint to single-handedly beat four better-trained vampires.
Assuming then, that they could stretch out that pint of blood for at least a week, they could get a pint to use and another pint to store for when needed. The body takes about a week to replace the lost blood, so as long as Murphy kept the MC well fed and took care of them so that they didn’t become anemic, he’d have quite the supply of blood. More than enough, I’d wager, especially if he started storing blood before he began using it to power himself up–that way he’d always have a few more blood bags if the need arose.
Your CC process is pretty different from mine in a lot of ways. It’s interesting to compare them. Also, I agree with this:
XD Quite suave, indeed.
So, I had two MCs when the demo existed, both of whom were templated off of older characters, and both of whom underwent some changes and revision in the time between the demo and actually getting to play the game. I also maybe kinda sorta acquired three more in the process because I must explore everything. Anyway. Since we’re discussing the character creation process…
For me, the character begins with a concept. Examples:
Ilya Reynard
(Talia during the demo - the original Ilya got something closer to her original name, and I liked Ilya)
Ilya is a faux-confident genius who struggles with intimacy and trust.
Vera Vidran
(Originally named Ilya - Vera’s closer to her original name)
Vera is an emotionally-fragile ball of curiosity who genuinely wants to help.
Ian Thane
Ian is an efficient, dispassionate, goal-oriented man who fights to avoid emotional connections and has a giant soft spot for kids.
Maya Trevan
Maya is a flirty, playful adventure-seeker who is terrified of being “trapped”. (Don’t ask her what that means, as she cannot tell you.)
Dax Albrecht
Dax is an angry, aggressive workaholic with severe self-esteem issues.
Once I have these basic concepts, I can start building on them. My building process basically means beginning with these core concepts and using them to construct a character’s life, partially through logic (Ilya’s a genius who had an absent mother, so as a young child, most of her approval-seeking was directed at teachers, ergo, she got good grades when she was young and was kind of a know-it-all teacher’s pet) and partially through what-ifs (What if Iain did find himself getting invested in another person? How would he deal with that? When did it happen, and what were the consequences? How has that shaped him?). By the time I’m done getting them up to Detective Reele’s retirement, I have a pretty fleshed out character.
Appearances are partially about what fits the character’s personality (a practical character like Ian isn’t going to have extremely long hair, but probably rarely takes the time to get it cut, either, so it hits around his shoulders most of the time, while a fairly vain character like Maya loves the way hers looks long and everything she can do with it, so hers is about halfway down her back when she doesn’t straighten it), partially about what I want. (I like variety in my characters’ appearances. Ilya’s hair is long and ash brown with a very subtle wave, and her eyes are very dark blue. She’s corpse-pale, and at some point between when she was the demo character and now, she’s lost her glasses and acquired a pretty notable scar. Vera’s hair is very short - she calls it boyish - and has historically been either extremely pale blonde or black. Because I brought Dax in, it became black for Wayhaven. Her eyes are grey, she has a light complexion, and she has a billion freckles because freckles are adorable. Ian’s hair is thick, fluffy, and red, because I like red hair, and his eyes are light, icy blue. He’s usually fairly well tanned despite his red hair. I would not want to have to find a face for him, because the genetic combination it would take to get his hair and his skin is not super likely. Maya’s hair is black with a million thick curls that let her have a big, soft cloud of hair because I’ve always wanted hair like that and I decided Maya should be pretty, so she got it, and her eyes are green, because I love green eyes. Can you tell I think Maya’s the prettiest one? Not sorry. Her skin is a soft, warm, coppery colour, and sometimes I sneak some freckles on her, too, because, again, freckles are freakin’ adorable. Dax also has green eyes, because see above, I love them, and has long blonde hair because short hair was just one more thing for her to be insecure about, which she couldn’t deal with, but she always keeps it up in a tight bun, because she doesn’t want it getting in the way. Dax is fair.)
Things like fashion and tastes are pretty easy to extrapolate from here, for the most part. At this point, they have developed personalities, appearances, histories, all things that help tell you what they like. Ilya is faux-confident, so while she acts bold, she’s actually very fond of muted colours, and she likes cooler shades. Her favourite colour is grey, but she’s fond of blues, as well. Her home is on the spartan side, other than a megalithic monstrosity of a computer, because she does most of her living through the machine when she’s at home. The rest of it is just a place. She dresses practically, because fashion is a lot of work and there are other things she’d rather do with her time, and besides, her job benefits if she’s practical - she’s cargo pants and a leather jacket. She’s a coffee drinker. Hates the taste, loves the kick, so she drowns it in milk and sugar until it tastes like a dessert. Vera likes pretty things, warm things, and feeling safe, so her favourite colours tend to be pastels. Her home is decorated accordingly, cozy and warm, and if F thinks it looks like a granny’s house, well, she’s pretty okay with that. She likes dresses, soft, flowy, cute ones that make her feel pretty, and she likes green tea (it’s good for you) and pastries (which are not, but every now and then, it’s okay, right?). Ian will tell you he doesn’t have a favourite colour, but he’s lying (he does that a lot). He actually loves purple, a dark, rich, intense purple, because he’s closet pretty intense himself. Dark is kind of his watch-word, and his home is pretty dark, too, as are his clothes, because, despite being short (he’s only 5’6") and on the slim side, he’s actually pretty intimidating, and for that to happen, it takes some planning. He’s not a psychologist by any means, but he has taken the time to study up on things that humans react to, and it has altered how he presents himself. It’s all very cultivated. He drinks mostly whatever’s on hand that’s going to wake him up, because, like most of my characters, he doesn’t sleep enough. Maya is chic and vibrant in every possible way. She loves yellows and oranges but will wear most bright or intense colours, and her entire home reflects this: the whole place is kind of intense and eye-burny. She’s fashionable, sharp-looking, and classy, pretty much always dressed to impress. She actually doesn’t care for either tea or coffee, but she’ll drink either one if she doesn’t get enough sleep, which has been kind of an issue since the whole “murder” thing. Dax is sort of a ball of internal contradictions. She has this entire front of being tough-as-nails, no-nonsense, and hyper-practical, but a lot of that is a forced facade because she hardcore denies all the more human parts of herself. If she’s actually being honest, though, she likes seafoam green and earthy colours. Her home is all sleek and modern-looking because anything else would be too personal if anyone does come over, but her bedroom is actually done up in all those earthy colours she likes, and there are half a dozen stuffed animals hidden in the corner. Her self-presentation, like her home-presentation, is sleek and modern-looking, with too much thought put into how others think of it; she never looks less than perfectly professional at all times, and tends to be devoid of the personal touches that might betray who she actually is in her appearance. She is a tea drinker, with milk and sugar.
As I did with the above, I usually can extrapolate things like their favourite musics, but a lot of that is played into as well by my feelings on various types of music. I don’t really have a favourite genre, but I do get feels from different kinds of music, and that helps influence what I think my characters like. Since it was asked:
Ilya’s a fan of rock and never really outgrew cartoons, so she listens to a lot of music from some of the better musical cartoons and rock covers thereof - think Jonathan Young and Nate Wants to Battle, for examples.
Vera likes classical when she’s working and has a soft spot for ballads, though she gets awkward and blushy about admitting it. A lot of things make her awkward and blushy, though.
Ian doesn’t think about music very often, but can pretty much enjoy anything with a solid beat, when he’s going to bother - he’s not picky.
Maya loves anything she can dance to. Electronica is probably some of her favourite, but she’s more interested in the movement it can inspire than in the sound itself. Maya likes to move.
Dax insists vehemently that she doesn’t care about music. She is, of course, lying, and enjoys both metal, which makes her feel more like the person she wants to be and much of which she just finds enjoyable (plus, she loves the makeup and costumes a lot of metal bands do, though, again, she’ll deny it), and love songs, regardless of genre - pop, rock, country, she’s not picky. That little gem, she’ll deny to her grave, and if anyone ever finds the collection buried deeeeeeeeeeeeeep inside her computer, she might die of mortification.
So, I guess I’d say the main process is:
I know that’s kind of vague, but I tried to give more detail in my huge, gigantic tag block above. If anyone’s curious, btw:
Ilya is with A.
Vera is with N.
Ian is with M.
Maya is with F.
Dax is the A/N triangle.
Ironically, most of them ended up with the “home” style that their partner liked, quite by accident. All of them are bi/pan/otherwise indifferent to gender, because 99% of my characters are. That’s just a reflection of my own general indifference to gender, and I know it, but honestly, I kinda don’t care.
For the longest time I only had one detective, but since I went into this game knowing I’d want to try all the routes at one point or another, I wanted each playthrough to feel unique and memorable.
My MC from the start was Surina Batra. I liked the idea of playing someone who was more into the investigation side of things and followed the rules properly. Later I gave her more depth by making her a bit of a workaholic with a realistic outlook on things. She doesn’t have extreme reactions to things, which does make teasing her a little difficult. The exception would be Bobby, her ex, and Adam, who kept challenging her authority and basically annoyed her to no end. Her highest skill was definitely investigation/logic.
Other than this, I wanted characters that would have interesting dynamics with the LI of choice, but also be someone outside of their romances. I knew that for Morgan, I wanted someone who was a lot less experienced and more likely to blush at her advances. Thus, Emma Paxton was born. I also wanted to have a detective who was a lot nicer and focused on team work and gettng along. She’s also the one with the best relationship to her mother. Her best skill is people. She’s much more of a sociable and friendly MC.
Last I wanted someone for Farah. Here I wanted someone who was closer to her in personality. Casual, humorous, not against a bit of flirtation. I also knew I wanted someone to explore the more aggressive options with, which resulted in Wren Hawley: former delinquent, emotional and rough around the edges, but very honest and committed to what she does. She’s definitely been my favorite to play so far because 1. Farah’s route is adorable and 2. She goes from being very independent and neutral towards the team to being very angry with them and her mother to slowly getting used to the idea and wanting to get through it. I made her best skill combat, which I loved in the final when she kicked Murphy in the head.
When I really want to try out different personalities and routes, I always have three types of people in mind. A logical, thinker type. A gentle and nice type. An emotional, sarcastic (maybe a bit aggressive) type. Sometimes I combine them or only try a few of them. I never have specific people in mind for playthroughs, but I start with concepts and go from there. 
Wow, you guys have such well thought out and complex MC’s, I’m really enjoying reading about them! It makes me even more excited about the game than I already am and motivates me to want to go back and develop my MC to figure out what makes her tick! 
The process for mine was literally I had her face claim, her name, and then went “okay let’s pick all the snarky replies and go for the angsty one because pain and suffering and denial and lingering looks!!!” 
Ok, I’ve tried romancing everyone, and I gotta say, A is my favorite. They’re just the right amount of tsundere, and them being so flustered trying to deny their feeling is just adorable. On the other side, M is way too callous for my liking. N and F are fine, although I think the most we can have out of this slow burn start is F’s romance ending where they kiss you on the cheek.
I agree. A is bae. Ahahahaha…
I would have gone the love triangle route but I didn’t want it to be a vampire diaries reboot
So, after going for Felix’s route… I like him but it really was surprise to see how serious he can be. I likes this kind of character but maybe some people will get disappointed by that? I mean, probably a few people will go after Felix because they like funny people and he’s funny, but then they’ll see that he’s not exactly like that… inside? (does this count as spoiler?).
I had only one detective by the way, Alex Batra. I thought about making a new one to go after Felix but I don’t usually create a new MC for a new route, besides I got attached to my Alexy 
I think my MC can deal well with both N and F, as I made them after myself. So if I had to put them on a char alignment, I’d say they’re true neutral: follow the rules but doesn’t really think much about breaking them if they don’t make sense (nowhere in hell I’d throw away a simple water bottle just because it’s forbidden) and usually is sitting on the fence about moral questions, not being a lawfull nor a chaotic. In personality, however, I’d say they’re good with Nat because they’re more a lone and quiet type, so N’s calm and sweet personality can give them a good companionship. Felix reminds me of an old friend of mine (even in size and appearance) before he went to the cool kids side, so I guess it makes me feel nostalgic by interaging to him. He’s the right dose of comedy and, ironically, “light” (besides being pretty serious too) that my MC needs, even just as a friend too. I guess my MC could be friends with A, but she seriouslly annoyed me most of the game. I hope in the 2nd book I can know her better.
By the way, I finished the game with 8 love points and 9 friendship points with Nat. At a point I got mad and wondered if I’d have to write on my face that I was flirting with her, haha. But it’s a good score I guess. Being lovers and friends sounds perfect. At this same gameplay I got 6 friendship points with Felix and no love points at all, even being “honest” on how I felt about him, so going for his romantic route was somewhat hard as we look better being friends. Because of this I’m not sure if I’m going to continue his love route starting from the 2nd book.
How did the points thing went for you guys?
I find it’s really easy to get friend points with N. My first play through with A I got, iirc, about 8 or 9 with him? I think I got only 4 with M and 3 with F, and one lone flirt with M.
My second playthrough with F I actually did better balancing it all out. I got 6 friendship points with both A and M and maybe 7 with N? With F I don’t think it’s hard to get friendship if you spend time with them, I think I ended up with 9 flirt and 8 friendship.
I know the game said that, but that does not mean that it is true. 
That was just from their perspective. Many times, games present things as one way, only to find out in sequels and so on that what characters believed to be true was not quite right. Both Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect games have done things like this (Grey Warden lore and Ardat-Yakshi).
But that whole premise was a response to @2xs who said he would off himself to keep people from getting his blood. I agree that most villains would want to keep you alive so that they could take max advantage of your blood, but I’m sure if you were too much trouble or you offed yourself, they’d use what they could and try to make it last as long as they could.
Finished my latest Ava Playthrough with:
Ava: 9 Flirt 12 Friend
Nat: 0 Flirt 9 Friend
Farah: 0 Flirt 6 Friend
Morgan: 0 Flirt 4 Friend (why you so cranky, yo?)
Thinking of going after Nat again soon.I do need to flesh out my MC for Nat’s route anyway…
In both playthroughs I got only 3 friendship points with Ava and 2 with Mason and no love points at all. However I wasn’t even expecting to get friendship points with them, so I guess it’s a lot, especially for Mason.
Even on their route M’s kinda a pain.
I agree. And I love it.
Unless I romance M, I always get 1 flirt and 3 friend for them.
I find that when given the choice, I always decide to spend time with our RO instead of building up my relationship with the rest of the team. Hopefully I’ll learn to balance it out soon or we’ll have more default scenes with specific characters so I can build friendships and not miss a single chance to flirt with our ROs!
I don’t want to end the game with 100 flirt with my RO and like 8 friend with the rest of the team lmao. Don’t wanna miss the little nuances in interactions when you have higher relationships with them too like M holding the branch so it doesn’t hit you in the face as opposed to them letting it swing and almost hit you.
I forgot to save stats for my Adam playthrough but the good news is, I finished Mason’s and I have my stats save so yay!
I would probably do a second playthroughs for each ROs with a balance relationshio stats.
Here’s my M route relationship stats:
Adam: Flirt 0 Friend 2
Nate: Flirt 0 Friend 11 (I really now how to befriend them)
Felix : Flirt 0 Friend 6
Mason: Flirt 8 Friend 9
So, I open a topic for fanart of Wayhaven, it would be nice to have all the amazing collaborations of this community in one single place, so they don’t get lost between the thousands of messages
Stats for my Morgan playthrough:
Ava: Flirt 0 Friend 5
Nat: Flirt 0 Friend 10
Farah: Flirt 0 Friend 6
Morgan: Flirt 8 Friend 7
I, too find it hard to balance the “one on one” scenes with the agents.
However I did always choose Morgan in this run(except the first choice, just after meeting Unit Bravo in your office) and am pretty happy with the distribution.
So I think the game is coded in a way, that lets you pursue the romance of choice, while still giving you oportunities to bond with the rest. Still I would like to be forced to spent time with the other agents in future books^^
I had a busy couple of days and while I did buy the game on release, I was only now able to play it. I loved the demo so I was really ecited and I absolutely loved the final product. I’ve always liked vampires but Twilight kind of ruined it for me, luckily these vampires are the badass smooth seducer types, just how I like them.
My favorite character/ love interest is Nat by far. I loved everything about her personality and her difficulties with being a vampire/blood make for some awesome future drama (telling MC their blood smells intoxicating is like the most vampiric thing to say). Bonus points for mommy dearest not liking it when Nat gets close to her precious child.
From my understanding, Nat is trying really hard to supress anything about her vampire side. I’ve read several stories where those actions don’t end well, the ’ vampire side’ might just pop up when you least want it to. With MC being around all the time, it makes it even more difficult toto ignore their blood. I’m predicting a very dramatic transformation where Nat no longer has any control over her vampiric urges (and hurts MC in the process). Like a ’ this beast inside me’ sort of thing. Ah, the drama. I love it!
Farah and Ava get a shared second place. I liked some of their personality quirks while I disliked others but in the end I still think they’re both awesome. However, Nat’s still the best. I didn’t really like fighting with Ava all the time, I just got tired of her after a while. She means well but her behaviour irritates me more than I’d like. As for farah, the constant flirting was a bit much for me. I prefer a sweet romance as opposed to the ‘hot and steamy’ ones.
As for their backstory. I’m not sure what happened to Ava in the past, I didn’t get enough information to form a solid theory. With Farah, I think I might have something. She’s the weakest vampire of the group despite being the only natural one. She also tells MC that she’s good at running away. Combined with her fear/dsilike of demons I think that she might have lost some people dear to her who were killed by demons. She than ran away and got into our world. Now the question that interests me most, would be whether she ran away from the fight or people sacrificed themselves for her and told her to run (coward vs only survivor so to speak). It gives her some extra depth and I really want to know what’ll happen in the future
Fourth place would be the Ava/Nat love triangle. I usually don’t like these sort of things because I believe it is only possible to love one person fully, when there are two or more I believe it’s better to pick one instead of keeping their hopes up (or sharing, but I’m not comfortable with that at all).
However, this route was very well written and didn’t feel as uncomfortable as I thought it would. I just felt sad for the one that’s left behind. Especially consedering nat and Ava have been best friends for a long time, must hurt a lot to see your bestie pining after the same person as you do.
Lastly is Morgan, I didn’t like her at all. I tried her route in the demo and I just got so angry at her actions/reactions that I was completely done with her. I haven’t finished her route in the completed version yet. Might use it for my ‘I hate everyone’ route (bad relationship with everyone, just to see what happens in future instalments).
While not a love intrest (that would be awkward), I really liked Rebecca’s potrayal in the game. She felt like an actual parent, supportive, loving and really sad when you reject her. It’s nice to see a parent in a game for once, rather than those ’ sad orphan’ background stories for most games. I did my best to keep MC alive so Rebecca din’t have to worry.
Also, I totally don’t trust that Elidor guy. I bet he’s keeping some of MC’s blood to sell on the black market or something. It’s so odd that he takes MCs special blood so casually ’ for emergencies’. Uh-huh, not fooling me mister fairy.
Keep up the good work, I loved your first book and I’m pretty sure I’ll love the possible future instalments as well.