Update: I have completed Chapter 5, which is approximately 26k words in length! It covers your MC’s first descent into the Leivy. All of the ROs will either have had a direct or indirect appearance after this chapter.
Chapter Features:
- If you choose to, the chapter opens with the MC being given the opportunity to look into the mind of one of two deceased Leivyans, as a trade-off for the storytelling they’ve done thus far…
- There are two distinct routes to entering the Leivy-- find them on your own or be taken. Each mini plotline has its own unique encounters and exposition.
- Properly meet several new characters, including Queen Ishtah
- Learn the answer to a question that has haunted you for years… you know the one.
Additionally, I’ve set up a stats system. Here are the bare bones of it:
Summary
There are three main “families” that each ability stat falls into: Brains, Brawn, and Charisma stats. Your MC will be able to choose a natural affinity for two of these three via their chosen extracurricular in high school and their career field/college degree as an adult. Each extracurricular/college major/career path is associated with one of the three stats “families” (Charisma, Brawn, and Brains) and will result in a boost in stats scores for each stat in that family if chosen. Your MC will also choose a stat family that they struggle with, which will decrease their base scores for each stat in that family.
There is also a fourth category for stats, which are “combo” stats. Your MC’s base affinity with each of the combo stats is determined by their strengths in two of the three stats families. There is one combo stat for each combination (ie, one ability each that is tied to brawn/brains, charisma/brains, and charisma/brawn).
The base for each stat is 20, so an MC with a Power stat of 20, for example, has an average amount of physical power. At various points in the story, the MC will be rewarded for their progress with additional EXP points, which they can directly use to increase each of their stats. You can also choose to spend your EXP any way that you would like-- for example, maybe your MC has low Brains overall, but you want to give them kickass codebreaking abilities. That’s totally possible, it just requires earning and spending more EXP points.
Finally, if you have EXP points, the current plan is that you can spend them at any point in the story simply by going to the stats screen. This means that you won’t have to get to any particular checkpoints to increase skills in a particular area, and the narrative won’t take any breaks to provide those checkpoints. Hypothetically, I guess that means that your MC can suddenly decide that they’re kickass at science the second a perceived science stat check comes up, but… I figure that I’ll leave that up to you as the player. Cheat a little if you want to, or don’t, it’s all about your playing experience after all. I will also let the players know when they’ve earned for EXP points throughout the game so they can immediately go to the stats page and spend them, if that’s their style.
The stats are listed below:
Summary
Charisma:
Intuition:
How well can your MC discern the feelings of those around them? This is useful for gauging another character’s trustworthiness, receptiveness, and feelings they may be trying to hide.
Deception:
How good is your MC at concealing their emotions, or their intentions? That’s what Deception is in a nutshell.
Persuasion:
Can your MC easily get others to see things their way? Can they talk themselves out of bad blood? If so, they have high Persuasion stats.
Gravitas:
How is the MC’s command of a crowd? Do they get stage fright, or can they rally hundreds of people together? All of that falls under their Gravitas stat.
Brawn:
Agility:
How fast is your MC? How are their reflexes? Agility measures speed-- physical, as in running, and reaction time.
Stamina:
Agility informs speed, while Stamina informs endurance. How long can your MC keep up their sprint? How long can they keep up a fight? That’s Stamina.
Power:
In essence, Power is all raw strength. How hard can MC punch, how much can they lift?
Resilience:
This is like Stamina, but specifically involves how hardy the MC is. Everything from withstanding blood loss to surviving poison and other intoxicants (will those be the in the story? Hmmm…) falls under Resilience.
Brains:
Science:
First of all, forgive me for trying to boil all the diverse scientific disciplines down into a single stat. For fiction reasons, it’s much easier to do so. If your MC is high in this stat, they have high general knowledge of the major disciplines of hard science, ie. biology, chemistry, and physics.
Strategizing:
How good is your MC at Chess? Can they corner the cleverest opponent with cunning tactics, or do they go in blindly and follow no strategy besides “punch stuff?” A high Strategizing stat implies the former, a lower one the latter.
Mechanics:
How good is your MC at understanding machinery? Can they try to intuit how something works by taking it apart? That’s mechanics.
Codebreaking:
In essence, is your MC good at pattern recognition? Can they notice similarities between symbols, and deduce the meanings of messages written in unknown codes? The Leivyans have their own common and ritual languages, so this stat is pretty useful!
Combo stats:
Intimidation (Charisma + Brawn):
Sometimes, you don’t even have to fight your opponent. You can make them imagine your victory, and cow in fear. You can defeat them with a hard look before they even lift a finger against you, if you have the right combination of social savvy and muscle.
Intrigue (Brains + Charisma):
This is sort of like applied Intuition. Not only can the MC discern emotional states, but they can also sense relationships between others, who has power and who does not, and what specific weaknesses someone else may have. MCs high in Intrigue can paint an accurate picture for themselves about the social networks they find themselves in, and plan accordingly.
Combat (Brawn + Brains)
Even hand-to-hand combat and isolated fights require a mix of athleticism and quick thinking. MCs with high Combat stats can quickly discern their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses and quickly apply that to their fight.
Finally, I’ve included a new backstory option for your MC. They can now be the child of parents who they never knew, which was the default backstory, but they can also have run away from a bad home life or have been put into foster care after their parents died. This will be referenced a few times in the subsequent chapters.
Hopefully, I will be able to make sure that the chapter is up and running by Monday. I still have a lot of editing/playtesting to do, but so far I’m happy with the progress and hope that the chapter plays out well!
As I’m in the late editing stage right now, it would be awesome if you guys had any further questions or requests for MC customization/flavoring, stats checks, or anything else mentioned. I’m super excited to share this!!
