Welcome to my first CoG game, Zeus’ Dilemma. For any parent questions, please refer to the FAQ. If you still have suggestions, leave them down below! Also if you ask me anything spoilery, I’m really bad at keeping my mouth shut, so ask at your own risk.
Current Update: Chapter Two (02/01/21)
Includes:
- All four ROs! How surprising.
- The truth about Rayne Bowe.
- A Big Bonfire Party where you can be as social or anti-social as you like.
- Your three favourite demigods go BOOM in the sky.
- Finally actually start your Big Bad Quest Thing ™.
- Learn more about what life is like at MOA on an everyday basis, and get to interact with a few characters that you’ll probably never see again (as well as your sibling).
- An added 40k words with code, 35k words without code, and about 7-8k words per play-through, for a total of 64k without code, 76k with code, and about 15-16k per play-through
really bad Description:
You’re not supposed to be here. You’re supposed to be back in Mount Olympus, where it’s safe. Demigods die all the time out in the real world. The ones too arrogant to ever believe any misfortune might befall them, the ones too passionate to leave their loved ones behind. The ones that go on quests. All different types of demigods with the power and will to leave. Most often the children of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, even other children of your own parent go out and explore the world. But never you. Until now.
Thrust into a quest that you may or may not have wanted to be a part of, you must navigate the scary, new world outside of your home, Mount Olympus. Who will you ally with in a battle between the gods? Which demigod will warm your heart (and maybe your bed)?
Zeus’ Dilemma is the first in a trilogy and can be read as a standalone plot-wise (for the most part). The romances, on the other hand, might be a touch slower than they would be in a singular novel. I made everything this way so that I can end the story after one or two books with just an extra few chapters, if I can’t do all three. However, I think that for immersion’s sake, I want a series because people grow attached to characters they see more often. I am people in case anyone was wondering.
Features
- Play as male, female, or non-binary, and choose the gender (male, female, non-binary) of your four ROs.
- Choose your godly parent or let fate decide!
- Fight a deity.
- Try not to get bucked off a centaur.
- Live on Mount Olympus. I mean what more could you want?
- Find out your non-godly parent.
Your ROs
…but only the “visible” ones. Yes, the format was stolen from Mind Blind, because I am in love with my soulmate Kent.
Alya/Ajax/Al Papadopoulos (m/f/nb)
Age: 25
- Appearance: With dark skin, dark eyes, and dark dreads that reach to about their shoulders, A always stands proud and tall, seemingly bigger than they really are. In truth, Ajax clocks in at about 5’11, Alya at 5’6, and Al at 5’8, although they all overstate their height by an inch (Ajax more often than the others). They’re very muscular and bulky, due to hours spent training their physical prowess.
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About: The child of Zeus that takes after their mother, i.e. they’re approachable, calm, and loyal to
their partnera fault. Their exterior is hard as diamond, but once you break through it’s more like silicon carbide. A natural born leader, almost everyone at camp knows them as at least an acquaintance, but the list of people they’d call their friend is increasingly short. However, they have deathly amounts of pride, and if you decide to challenge them in anything, or if they ever lose in anything, well, good luck. - Rivalry: With M, for no reason other than the fact that neither can deal with losing. They’re constantly trying to one-up each other to almost toxic levels. In truth, M is one of the only people A actually respects on Olympus.
Cyrus/Cyra Masumura (m/f/nb)
Age: 19
- Appearance: The first thing one normally notices about them is their height. Cyrus stands at 6′5″ and Cy at 6′2″, both of their once-blond hair now grown out to display their roots, reaching around their shoulders. Cyra stands at 6′ exactly, her once-blonde hair cascading down to her mid-back. C has dark eyes, and pale skin, occasionally giving off the impression of a human toothpick because of their skinny frame. They have large doe-eyes, and often bite their nails, leading to chewed-up nailbeds.
- About: The child of Apollo with an intense dislike for poetry. They’re soft-spoken, and always attempting to smooth over any disagreement or issue. The most reliant of the ROs, they have a perfectionist complex, needing acceptance and respect from everyone they know. They attempt to become friends with everyone they can, and although they appear outgoing, they shut down and become shy very easily. They’re also easy to fluster, blushing vividly at almost any minor embarrassment.
- Aspirations: To meet their aunt face to face, as they’ve only seen her in their dreams.
Mor(gan/timer) Bid(en) (m/f/nb)
Age: 25; one day younger than A
- Appearance: Dark blonde hair that flops in front of their face because they’re too lazy to cut it, skin tanned from hours spent practicing their powers under the hot sun, and bright blue eyes that sparkle when they smile. They’re basically a golden retriever, if a golden retriever were to begin wearing black nail-polish to look more “edgy” (they don’t pull off the edgy look well). Although a day younger and with more lean muscle than bulk, they’re 3/4 of an inch taller than A (no matter the gender), something that they take great pride in.
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About: The child of Hades that takes after Zeus, i.e. they’re turbulent, vengeful, and not the best at
commitmentforgiveness. They try keep to themselves, but their presence takes up whatever space they enter. If you want to approach them, you need to prove yourself worthy by withstanding their death glare. Not many do. Because of that, they make a powerful leader, and they do soften when speaking in front of crowds, having the uncanny ability to say what needs to get said. - Rivalry: With A, for no reason other than the fact that neither can deal with losing. They’re constantly trying to one-up each other to almost toxic levels. In truth, M actually really enjoys the challenge that A offers, and would be sad if A ever decided to stop their rivalry.
Kai Iosua (m/f/nb)
Age: 22
- Appearance: With heterochromatic eyes (one a pale blue as turbulent as the ocean and the other a dark green and intricate as the ocean’s depths), dark auburn hair, medium brown skin, a jawline to cut glass, and a largish nose, K’s an amalgamation of traits that seem to work together perfectly. NB!K stands at around 5’6", F!K stands at around 5’2", and M!K stands at around 5’8", making them the shortest of the ROs, although they’re perfectly happy with not dying as early as the taller people, thank you very much.
- About: M’s best and only friend, K’s naturally laid-back and funny. They’re very open and confident, although watch out because they can also display very manipulative tendencies. They love a good dad joke, bad joke, and tease their friends relentlessly. That said, they’re also loyal and will defend their friends against anything. They can be stubborn, very rarely, and if they’re set on an idea even M won’t argue with them. Unlike their dad, Poseidon, Kai’s not very vengeful or vindictive unless harshly prompted, but they will defend their honour. Probably the most book smart of all the ROs, they do very well in academics, and plan to pursue a career as something in that type of field once they graduate MOA at the end of the year.
- Beefing: With Hermes after the Incident.
Your Questions
How many chapters will this be?
Twelve, I believe, with about half of them in the open demo.
When is the next update?
Whenever I can, I am a full-time student, after all. I’ll make sure to add monthly post-updates of where I am, and also update this post whenever I actually do get around to writing another chapter.
How important are stats?
Not super important, but there are a lot of different small branches that change scenes and wording occasionally. The most major choices will test the demigodly stats, but even if you “fail”, you just alter the content slightly.
Can I have [insert-god-here] as a parent?
Probably not. I have set paths for Apollo and Hermes, and I’m not going against canon myth for Artemis. Furthermore, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are so overused in media, that I really wanted to place emphasis on someone who was not related to them while not so subtly expressing my grievances with how they’re normally portrayed through their children. As for minor gods, they will be included in the story, but I won’t make them parents because they’re not well-known enough.
What are the problems/weaknesses that every different demigod has?
Each godly parent has a different thing that your character has that doesn’t fit with the stereotype. If you want more information, it’s in the stats screen. That being said, the problems aren’t there to be problems, they’re there to be quirks to your personality that you might want to “overcome” or not want to overcome. I answer Tumblr asks about this more in depth here, here, and here. I’d also like to add that it’s all relative, and although some quirks are less extreme than others, they all effect the story in a small way.
How are parent-child relationships, other sibling relationships, ect. ect.?
These will mostly all get answered in-game.
Stat Explanations
Personality Stats
- Extraverted/Reserved: Basically tracks who you’d butt heads with more, A and M or [redacted] and [redacted] ;).
- Emotional/Stoic: How other people see your facade. Do you cave at the slightest pressure, or have the slightest pressure cave to you?
- Hardworker/Slacker: How other people see your participation in events. Do you do your essay the night before, or two weeks in advance?
- Aggressive/Peaceful: How other people see you on the outside. Tiger or kitten? Wolf or puppy?
- Manipulative/Straightforward: How you play other people. Do you kill them with the truth or hide the truth and still bury the body Yeah, I don’t understand the analogy either, but you get the gist, right?
Demigodly Stats
- Combative: How good you are with physical strength. Works with the aggressive/peaceful stat as flavour text.
- Intellectual: How well you use your brain when you can. Works with the leader/follower stat as flavour text.
- Persuasive: How able you are to convince others of things. Works with the manipulative/straightforward stat as flavour text.
- Sly: How cunning and deceitful you can be. Works with the emotional/stoic stat as flavour text.
- Your Power: How adept you are at harnessing your power. Words with the hardworker/slacker stat as flavour text.
Relationship Stats
- Friendship/Romance Points: Track how close you get with other demigods both platonically and romantically. Now updated to only trigger romance if you’re attracted to that gender.
- Godly Relationship Points: Track how close you get with the other gods. Higher relationships mean greater chances for help from them, lower relationships mean the ability to turn to other sources for advice.
Update Log
12/07/20: Made this post, uploaded chapter one.
12/28/20: Updated chapter one and the tiniest taste of chapter two.
02/01/21: Uploaded chapter two. Switched POV to second.
Next Time
Early/Mid March: Upload the entirety of chapter three and incorporate any suggestions from the peanut gallery (you).
Play the demo here.
Keep updated with my Tumblr here.
Finance my need to write meet-cutes with patreon here.
Currently, the game is at 64k words, although probably about a quarter of those are seen per play-through (especially since there’s a lot of differences between the six godly parents).
In particular, please, please let me know how you feel. How’s the pacing, what do you like and dislike about my writing, where do you think I can improve, is there anything you think I really need to add or really need to remove. If anything doesn’t fit your character or your godly parent (either in the narration or in the choice options), or if there are any bugs, please let me know as well!
Of course, letting me know about any grammar, spelling, syntax, typos, gender switches, coding issues, etc. are also all appreciated (English isn’t my first language and it shows sometimes). I also write with my voice (like right now) and it doesn’t go well within the confines of an interactive novel, so please let me know if you see any parts where the writing sounds too me and not enough you.
ANYWAY, I love your WiP so far, looking forward to more!