(WIP) Scales of Justice - WRITING FINISHED, DEMO CAPPED TO CHAPTER 5 (26/09/2023)

(This is an open thread, for I do not hold the privilege to amend my posts otherwise. Please, I kindly ask you not to edit this first post by yourself unless you’re a moderator, as it’s my book’s first line of presentation, as well as a diary on the updates! Thank you, now, enjoy this game and its discussion, I’ll be keeping in touch down below ^^)

AUTHOR NOTE:

Hi!!

At last, we’re here, my dear reader. After more than two years of sweat and tears, you and I are witnesses to this book’s full release, the end that lays foundations to the fresh beginning of a bigger journey. I cannot express just how grateful I am to everyone who’s been supporting me throughout this time, to each who wrote their lovely messages and useful advise that helped me keep improving with my every chapter. The road ahead doesn’t look long, now - there’s only some re-writing left, and then, I’m submitting this project to the judgement of Hosted Games. If we’re lucky, this is but a step in a story that has not yet seen its rightful end.

FULL BETA-BOOK IS NOW UNAVAILABLE: A DEMO VERSION HAS BEEN ENABLED UP TO CHAPTER 5.

Now that the long weekend has ended, I’ll begin with my thorough re-read of the book, a re-write of some sloppy scenes and a proper check of stats and their effect on your experience, to make sure this game is enjoyable and worthy to be officially released. I thank you all again for your patience, for your support and love - I’ll do my best to bring you a good final product.

This is a fantasy story that takes place in a world far away from Earth – a place called Therania. Albeit there was some interaction between Therania and other worlds a long time ago, now it’s solely a tale from their lost past… or at least, that is the most common belief. Regardless, this story does not focus on extraterrestrial connections: its plot revolves around the people of Therania and their lives, their history and – what’s more important – their ‘determined’ future.

IMPORTANT : This is a story about people, their wishes and perceptions, their love and suffering. It does not intend to lecture, nor it tries to convince anyone. The characters around you will have their thoughts and defects – however, just like in the real world, the beauty resides in that difference.

TRIGGER WARNING : This game contains scenes of violence, including sectarian ceremonies and fight descriptions: please be careful if violence, kidnap, cult sects, death or murder (inflicted both by your MC and other characters) is a trigger for you.

KNOWN BUGS:

Sometimes, the image for Chapter 5’s title doesn’t appear at the beggining of the chapter. I’m unsure why, and thus the bug still persists.

THINGS TO DO IN THIS DEMO:

  • Set off on a new adventure towards Neutral Lands, to meet a mythic creature of all answers - The Visionary. 
    
  • Gather up to 3 companions to help you in your quest - befriend, romance or rival them, the choice is yours. 
    
  • Buy a horse - we know you want one. 
    
  • Fight, conjure, support, speak or think - choose your way of handling a tricky situation. 
    
  • Explore the kingdom of Hero up to Menai's shore, in search for someone - or something - to aid you in your journey.
    

The DEMO version of the book runs up to Chapter 5 and contains 276K words overall. I will be putting up updated versions of the first chapters as I work my way through them, so expect the DEMO version to become a polished reflection of what the final book will look like!

SCALES OF JUSTICE

LINKS

DEMO (Current update: chapters 1-5) → https://dashingdon.com/play/myimaginedcorner/scales-of-justice/mygame/

TUMBLR (the anonymous ask option is on, in case you prefer to ask me something that way) → Scales of Justice on Tumblr

EMAIL → feedbackscalesofjustice@gmail.com

SUMMARY

Rumours circulate around the streets of the Capital, the main city of Hero Kingdom. Rumours of an artefact, as dangerous and powerful as one can only imagine. Some claim it’s capable of twisting one’s true nature, shaping it good or bad much to the owner’s whim. Others say that it can identify a soul’s essence, putting the Ritual tight spot for the first time in centuries. The mage that made it is unknown: whispers in shadows only talk about a labyrinth, set somewhere hidden to protect its power. Many want to get it; many others, to destroy it. You, however, are none of those – you just want to live.

You’re an adventurer, a mercenary without a father who lost their noble title to Hero’s ‘best’ after your mother’s death. Left with nothing else than a few personal belongings, you had to learn how to survive; lucky you, you prevailed under the Guild! Now, you live a humble life sustained by quests that earn you gold. Not the best life, and certainly not one that you were planning living… but still, a life.
And yet, that (almost) safe and peaceful existence gets threatened by a letter, saved among your belongings with this year written on it by your mother’s hand…

FEATURES
  • Choose your character’s gender (male, female or non-binary)
  • Choose your preferred class: fight, conjure, heal, plot or avoid fighting (maybe, the world’s a cruel place) with your charisma.
  • Choose the gender of the 4 potential RO’s.
  • Romance, befriend or rival… discover the virtues and the vices of your companions.
  • Fight Fate or embrace it.
  • Get yourself a horse. I know you want one.
  • Begin the journey that will bring big changes to Therania.
ROMANCE (SPOILERS)

All 4 romance options are introduced in this first game, some earlier than others (don’t worry, you will have plenty of time to get to know them now, and enjoy their constant company later!):

  • Shoren/Seile → Heir to the Hero kingdom’s throne, right where your journey starts. Also, your old friend who’s very attached to you. Likes to read and practices magic, enjoys adventure and heroic deeds. A recognised “hero”, with blonde curly hair, pale skin and a pair of beautiful blue eyes.
  • Robert/Reina → Order’s Paladin, defender of Hero and Knight of Fate. Brave and honourable, determined to protect the people of the kingdom. Very loyal to friends and very dangerous as an enemy. Has short brown hair, tanned skin and an athletic build.
  • Valerius/Venis → An Outworlder, who was caught by cultists from the Wicked Woods. Gracious, elegant and charismatic. Has long dark brown hair with a silver streak, olive skin and golden eyes.
  • Arion/Aria → Leader of Vannais, a recognised “villain” who escaped from Hero and now rules the enemy kingdom. Serious, reserved but temperamental. Prefers action over words and so is always present on battlefields and amidst negotiations, even though never in official manner. Has short blonde hair, pale skin and emerald eyes.

Be careful! These characters have their thoughts and opinions on the world and your actions: if you want them to support you, convince them or take their side… or neither. That is your choice after all!

CLASS

This game focuses more on the story than the stats, thus if you wish to make an easy run that is easily achievable. At the same time, if you want to make your fights more interesting, there is an option to learn a second skill from 0 and risk the skill checks!!

  • Combat → you are a warrior and specialise on close combat. You can use a sword or a bow in your fights.

  • Offensive magic → you understand the nature of the world and make it bend to your will. You can use offensive magic in combat, yet be careful: your protection is not as good as one that a warrior wears!!

  • Healing → you learned the path of magic, yet you are not a fighter, quite the opposite: you do not wish to harm, but to heal, thus you stay behind and support your companions by scaring Death away. Or do you?

  • Strategy → although you do like war, you do not like to execute it yourself: your skills allow you to become the one that guides the others, quickly formulating plans that grant you advantage during battles.

  • Persuasion → you are not a fighter, nor you like to resolve conflicts through bloodshed: your charisma and oratory skills allow you to end battles even before they start, and your speeches help you during negotiations.

559 Likes

So much potential! I hope to see more of this!!

2 Likes

Very interesting start!
A bit too short for me to give really constructive feedback, but I like the premises, and I can’t wait to meet Arion! :heart:

Three small things that bothered me:
  • The name of the game in the save plugin was not customised, and thus the saves overlap with another game. I would suggest naming it something unique, derived from your game’s name (though I can’t tell you how to do that).
  • Would it be possible to get some premade names to choose from, in addition to the input option, please? It’s quite annoying to be forced to type in a name. :rofl:
  • The choice of equipement for a charisma based character is weird. The way MC talks about how important that first purchase was for them, saying “nothing” afterwards is awkward.

I think that’s it! I’ll be eagerly waiting for more!

3 Likes

Thanks!! Positive messages are such a big motivation for a new writer like me! :blush:

2 Likes

Wow, thank you so much for the feedback, those are really good points!!

A is a REALLY interesting character to write, so I’m very eager to present him in the story too!!

Feedback
  • Yes, the save plug is something absolutely new for me which I am also unsure how to customize, but I will try to solve it asap!!

  • You caught my attempt to avoid the one thing I’m bad at XD! But sure, I will definitely think about some premade names for the MC!!

  • Wow that’s actually a really good point!! I will fix it as soon as possible, thank you for making me notice that!!

I’m really happy you liked the first chapter: it is still a small portion of the tale, but I really wished to see how people will respond to it to be motivated to write more after my exams😊

6 Likes


Bit of a misspelling here in the second option, “him” should be “her” and “his” should “her” since seile is female in my playthrough

2 Likes

Will there be a villain path per say, like instead of listening to his father and using the artifact to protect the world like it says in the note, will we able to destroy it, or at the very least destroy the current hero rituals?

2 Likes

Bit of a misspelling here in the second option, “him” should be “her” and “his” should “her” since seile is female in my playthrough

Wow, thank you!! I’ll fix it asap :grin:

Will there be a villain path per say, like instead of listening to his father and using the artifact to protect the world like it says in the note, will we able to destroy it, or at the very least destroy the current hero rituals

Well, I’m planning to write it as an extensive project of at least three books: I thought to do so because I want to provide an extensive range of choices and paths to follow, as well as to allow the 4 companions to have their stories developed and affected by the MC. Overall, the answer is YES! “Scales of Justice” will be designed with the aim to provide as many endings as it will be possible, as I want to create a world whose future will be completely in your hands and subjected to your will: thus, there will definitely be quite villanous and rebellious possibilities! (Maybe even attached to certain ROs…)

11 Likes

As Leonardo DiCaprio once said in the movie Django, “You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention”

13 Likes

Interesting premise. I like the world you build in your work. Will definitely keep an eye on this.

3 Likes

Interesting premise. I like the world you build in your work. Will definitely keep an eye on this.

Thank you! I hope it won’t disappoint you :grin:

2 Likes

Wow this is lit :fire:…waiting for more updates

Thanks author and take care

2 Likes

I will admit, this was an incredibly interesting read. Few books have been able to pique my interest before this easily. I like the worldbuilding you have so far and the premise is very interesting. Im curious after having read all the comments, will race play a big part in the story?

3 Likes

Wow this is lit :fire:…waiting for more updates.
Thanks author and take care

Thank you so much!! I am really happy to hear you liked it and are waiting for more :blush:

I will admit, this was an incredibly interesting read. Few books have been able to pique my interest before this easily. I like the worldbuilding you have so far and the premise is very interesting. Im curious after having read all the comments, will race play a big part in the story?

Wow that’s so motivating to hear, thank you!! I will work hard to keep it as interesting in the future.

As for the species, yes, it will play a part in the story, but it is more linked to the engagement and immersion of the reader rather than the plot. Your race will affect how you perceive the world and how the world perceives you, so it is a mechanism that hopefully will make your experience more unique each time you create an MC!!

3 Likes

Oh my god, it’s just the prologue and chapter 1 but bloody hell I am already in love with this story​:heart_eyes::heart::100:. And correct me if I’m wrong but, is this book will be free​:thinking:?

PS: Sorry if I’m wrong grammar, 'cause english is not my first language hehe😅.

3 Likes

Oh my god, it’s just the prologue and chapter 1 but bloody hell I am already in love with this story​:heart_eyes::heart::100:. And correct me if I’m wrong but, is this book will be free​:thinking:?

I’m so happy to hear you liked it so much! :grin:
Yes, I am not planning to make the access to each released chapter paid at any moment: I want to make it free until the very end of the book, and it will stay free for some time until (hopefully) I am able to release it officially on Hosted games!! This is my first book, so I really wish to make it accessible at the beginning to see how people react and enjoy my writing before planning anything paid!
I am still unsure how it will work with Hosted games and how I will manage it when it will be complete (I am new to the world of publishing, so excuse my vagueness), but at least those are my plans for the future of SoJ!

4 Likes

The premise of the story is pretty good indeed

1 Like

SCALES OF JUSTICE UPDATE - CHAPTER 2 RELEASE AND SOME OTHER THINGS!

Hi there, it’s me again!! After all this time, I’m happy to announce that Scales of Justice Chapter 2 is now available for you to enjoy!!

Again, I’m open to any feedback that you want to give me: You’re welcomed to leave your notes in the comments below, or you can use one of the links to go to my Tumblr or text me to my feedback email. I’m more than happy to listen to your opinions: your support is what makes me keep working on this project!!

NEW THINGS IN THIS UPDATE:

  • Added a new TRIGGER WARNING for violence, murder, cultist sects and fighting: please, be careful!!
  • Added a new character: meet V, the mysterious victim of a cult’s ceremony.
  • Added World Lore to the Stats page.
  • Visit the Wicked Woods, a gloomy forest that surrounds the Capital.
  • Learn about the fight dynamics of SoJ: the first battle of your journey is closer than you think.

ALL LINKS ARE IN THE FIRST POST OF THIS TOPIC: I REALLY HOPE YOU’LL ENJOY THIS NEW PART OF MY STORY!!

35 Likes

woooo!

1 Like

Hi!! Loving the story so far! Wanted to ask,Kyle the former mercenary, he’s not trying to flirt with us, is he?
““Good girl,” he purrs with a smile,”

The word “purrs” used here is usually used when someone is speaking in a lower/lowered voice in order to be flirty/seductive, but based on the choices and dialogue surrounding this, I don’t think it’s meant to come off that way? Thought I should ask just in case!

6 Likes