The Last Sovereign [Updated 10/25: 200+ ILLUSTRATED SCENES!]

[Flamingkilla]

In the inn, sleep on the bed. (Inn which you recieve a coupon for by the female merchant who you help with the slave people earlier...) You'll meet your daughter who is a Mage. And it will unlock the Academy (Which your daughter is at)

Thank you so much!! I can't believe i never tried sleeping in the bed (dumb me)

[Chan]

Thank you so much!! I can't believe i never tried sleeping in the bed (dumb me)

No problem.

[Sierra Lee]

Version 0.6.0 is here:
http://thelastfucklord.blogspot.com/201 ... lease.html

Another standard update: new segment of the game with another chapter of the plot and new scenes. See link for downloads and more notes.

[Commodus]

I completed two complete playthroughs with version 0.6.0. In both playthroughs, I completed every quest I could find, so both parties entered the Devil's Gate at the following levels:

• Simon 17
• Yarra 16
• Aka 16
• Qum D'umpe 15
• Robin 12
• Hilstara 15

The difference between the two parties was equipment. The first party, which I shall henceforth refer to as the Hoarders, do not buy anything not quest related, they merely equip what they find. So they have one steel armor, one steel helmet, one set of sexy lingerie, etc. Hilstara's axe is the only steel weapon, although they completed Aka's quest, so she has her custom dagger. The other party is the Shoppers. They sell everything they find unless it's better than what they currently have, and buy as much equipment as they can afford. They can't afford to be fully equipped, but they're better armed than the Hoarders. There is a reason for these playstyles, which I meant to touch on in my last post but I ended up leaving a paragraph out due to being half asleep (friends shouldn't let friends post while sleep deprived). Due to the design of the game, where there is limited loot and purchases must be carefully considered, it's often better to hold off on buying anything, especially since you only get half the money back selling an item than it took to purchase it. Why buy something in one town, when a better version will be available in the next, especially if you'll be unable to afford the better one if you buy then sell the first one? If I may make a suggestion, you may want to give some thought into what you want to be the top-tier items in the game and perhaps start offering them fairly early in the game so players can start saving up. Now, I've always felt the best items should be uniques which are only received as treasure and quest rewards, but you need the store-bought equipment to round out the ensemble. Completionist players are going to want to have all their party members equipped with the best equipment, even the ones they never use. While it may not be possible to do with limited funds, which is a valid design choice, they'll want to get as close as possible. The problem will only be exacerbated as Simon adds more members to his harem. Every new party member will be one more that needs to be equipped. Also, while you've joked a couple of times in the game about hoarding potions, the Shoppers are actually selling every potion they find. They're not necessary to win fights. Since money is limited, it isn't worth buying any, and a good piece of equipment is worth more in the long run. I apologize if you've already considered this; I just wanted to bring it to your attention if you haven't.

As for the balance of the skills, here are things I noticed:

• Simon's silencing attack seems a bit nerfed. Some of it is enemies now being immune, I believe, but he still seems to miss more now. Not a huge issue except in the more difficult dungeons.
• Aka's poisoning attack seems to hit much more often. I think she missed only once on an enemy that was not immune. This may be too powerful.
• Stuns have been nerfed, inflict stun less often and the stun status only lasts a turn now. Given that the character using the attack may move after the target, such as Hilstara, it makes the attack useless since the enemy never loses a turn.
• You mentioned how you didn't like what you did with Qum, so this is perhaps moot, but her Orgasmic Thoughts should heal herself as well as the party, I think.
• On the other hand, Yarra's Shared Fantasy should not be able to be used on herself. Shared implies multiple participants, plus it raises her health, lust and defense.
• Masturbate seems to restore less health, although I may have been spoiled by using Masterbate+ with the vibrators.
• I'm not sure how you have threat established in the game, but Qum seems to be the favorite enemy target, even though she should be low threat. This is a very PC thing to do, targeting the healer, but seems strange from monsters.
• Hilstara's Shieldwall only seems to draw a little over half of the attacks. That is perhaps your intent, but it seems low for such an ability.

Overall, combat is still fairly easy. Neither party had any difficulty getting through the core quests. The only difficult areas were the spider house and the new optional dungeon, and, navigational issues aside, the spider house was more difficult than the new dungeon. While the Shoppers did have an easier time of it than the Hoarders, neither was very difficult. The only time the combat got frustrating was when the Hoarders were fighting the one group of spiders near the table where the silk is found, the one with the two poison spiders. That encounter took multiple attempts and a bit of luck. Only succeeded when I luckily got Simon to successfully silence twice in a row. This is also the encounter where stun was sorely missed. Otherwise, the combat still flows well with the narrative. I've already shared my thoughts on that, so I'll just say I'm still happy with the combat, and I hope you are as well. As a random tangent, I do like the new look of the party window at the bottom of the screen during combat. It looks very crisp. Anyway, I hope this fulfills your request and helps.

I do have a few more random thoughts. The first is on the recent rebranding. While I understand the importance of branding, it might be better if you didn't exclusively use the term Incubus King. I bring it up because you've done a remarkable job creating an interesting world, and the use of euphemisms and alternate titles can help expand it. Look at the real world. If the President of the United States makes a statement, he might be referred to as The President, The White House, Washington or The Leader of the Free World, depending on context. When dealing with religious figures, such as Jesus or Satan, there are copious euphemisms. In the case of the Incubus King, he's both, a sexual god to his followers and an evil incarnation to his enemies. His followers might refer to him as He Who Gives Us Pleasure or He Who Pleasures the World or He Who Can Go All Night Long. His enemies might refer to him as The Great Rapist or The Renthnorian Plague. The point I hope I'm making is that you shouldn't feel shackled by the name for which you patron's voted. If there are other names you like, you should feel free to use them at points in the story. Your world will only benefit from it.

During one of the sex scenes, Simon refers to the succubus language as succubus. I know it is intended as a joke, but wouldn't the succubus language be succubese or something?

I think Heal and Cure should be swapped, since one heals wounds and cures diseases. Right now, there names are opposite their functions.

There was at least one reference to succubi in the plural which used succubus instead, but I can't remember where.

After the mine quest, Simon says, "...move that pile of gold nearby...." I think that should be "...nearby pile of gold...." Perhaps I'm wrong, but the former implies, to me, move it to a place which is nearby while the latter implies that pile of gold which is nearby. If that's what you meant, then ignore this comment.

Hilstara refers to the Ardoheim army. Heim is Norse for home. So, Ardoheim would mean home of the Ardo people. The army should probably be referred to as the Ardan army. I noticed a few others, but these are the ones I remember. I'd offer to proofread, but I need to fulfill other commitments I've promised but haven't found the time for. Don't want to take up more when I haven't even finished those.

There was a comment about the war, 10 years of war followed by 20 years of peace. Well, Simon was 15 when the war started, and he's 55 now, so that was 40 years ago, not 30. Also, if they war was only 10 years long, that would make Simon 25 at the end and Hilstara 10. That's a bit too young for her to have spent much time serving in the army. It would work better as 20 years of war followed by 20 years of peace. Admittedly, I'm not sure if I'm remembering this correctly, so maybe it isn't actually an issue.

Some equipment, such as vibrators and buttplugs, do not have icons next to their names. Looks out of place with everything else.

Thaumaturgy mean miracle working. Does anyone ever refer to Thaumaturgical Mold as Miracle Mold? Okay--bad joke.

By the end of this update, Simon is now level 21. Kai, "the most powerful Chosen" Simon had ever met, only made it to level 19. Is this cause for celebration?

Also, in the Academy library, orcs aren't listed as one of the races in the world. While Simon and Yarra admit they know little about them, and they may not have an entire section dedicated to them, it seems odd they aren't mentioned at all in those conversations.

While I don't want to be spoiled and will avoid asking questions about major characters, I do wonder, will we see Altina again? I know she was a throw-away, stereotypical character, but I hope we'll see her again for a few reasons. For one, in the opening scene with the Incubus King, he's told that they don't have anymore elves. Maybe I read too much into it, but that implies that Riala may not have passed her along. Given Riala's original plans, she may have meant for Altina to been given back to Simon fairly quickly. We've heard a decent amount about elves, so it'd be nice to get an elf party member to have their perspective, although any elf would do for that. As a character we've already met, it would be interesting to explore the changes that occur in those captured by the forces of the Incubus King. The final and most important reason--she has a history with Simon. Despite the way she stupidly became immediately enamored with Kai, it is clear she and Simon knew each other and had worked together for a while. During the prologue, I find myself more interested in that than anything Kai does. I would like to see that fleshed out later and see how she reacts to Simon's new condition. I can see many different interesting narrative possibilities there, depending on what direction you wanted to take it. It may not happen, but I would be very interested if it did. Anyway, sorry for taking up so much of your time. Thanks for reading.

[ThatOldFart]

Just finished the new update; sorry it took so long for me to get back to you but I had a rough week(and weekend) so it took until just now to finish. I may expand upon my thoughts later but the tl;dr is below. Also, do you prefer comments here, PM'd somewhere, on the forum or on your Patreon page?

So, props to Commodus for making the rest of us commenters look bad. :p As far as combat goes, the majority of the game is a cakewalk as long as you're playing intelligently and not just trying to hit everything until it dies. I feel like Qum is largely useless, especially since she can't heal herself without using items and I don't feel like Hilstara is worth including in the active party currently - she's a tank but her defense isn't high enough to warrant usage without, say, that steel armor we can barely afford. That being said, this is largely a playstyle choice: I have long held that if you NEED to heal during a fight it's taking too long and you are DEFINATELY doing something wrong(especially when your party has the skills needed to shut down mages, tanks and physical brutes alike).

My dreams of being gifted with the Berserkergang aside, the optional dungeons were -deliciously- tough, to the point where I actually felt like I sucked at the game.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

I'm not ashamed to admit I cheeseballed the fell spider house and just avoided the little bastards, while I'm realizing that I just can't beat the boss of the ancient-whatever it is dungeon. There's not much I can do with the equipment and people I have, all of whom are about as high as they can be. Simon's 19, Yarra and Aka are 18, Robin's 16(awwwyeah), Qum is 17 and Hilstarta's 15. That fuckin' Heart of Horrors destroys my ass in fairly short order, even with mage/slave pins. He seems immune to poison and the fight never lasts long enough for poison to do much good anyway, despite having good overall equipment for everyone. I can usually get 'im down to about 1/6th life before he wipes me out.

To paraphrase Commodus, I'm more of a hoarder than a shopper though I splurged on a few accessories and hats.

Optional stuff aside the balance is fantastic and combat flows smoothly, with the incremental difficulty increases appropriate. Sometimes it can catch ya off guard but really, it just falls back on using your resources well and it all works out. The free inns were a nice touch, also - since we're dealin' with large sums of money and cheap hotels are as good as expensive ones, it'd be kinda dumb to haveta pay for one. I did find myself making liberal usage of the inns, however and with an absence of easy access to them reliance on those oh-so-sparse items becomes a bit of an issue. Once you make it to Stinefort it's less of an issue but still a consideration - I imagine folks would have fairly different opinions if the inns were more difficult to access or more expensive.

Otherwise, really enjoying the story(see:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

making Robin uncomfortable and listening to Qum make everyone ELSE uncomfortable)

and terribly eager for the next update. If I had to make any suggestions, right now it'd be to leave the balance issue alone for now - the core system/abilities work well enough that I don't think it's worth spending time to tweak them unless you feel strongly that you want to try something COMPLETELY new which we'll all be eager to try out. Honestly, I love the approach you've taken and would prefer that you stay the course. I do disagree with Commodus about the nitpickin' on phrases(not many people read/speak enough old Norse or Proto-Norse these days but that's a lamentation for another day, ja?), as well as Altina -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

I'm pretty sure we already knows what happens to ditzy little airheads like her in the presence of the Fucklord, whether or not Riala handed her off like she was "supposed" to. Given her mind-fuck/corruption/she's now a slut for the Fucklord - and the lack of any indication that she had much going on between those adorable little pointy ears of hers - I'd prefer we get the Alfr perspective from somewhere a little more reliable. Even if Riala "spared" her, she wasn't terribly bright(or useful) to begin with.

Sorry if this was spammy, rambling and/or incomprehensible but I think I put words together in a sensible enough fashion to get my point across and would be happy to clarify or extrapolate if need be. Lastly, thanks again for such awesome work and have yourself a good one!

[Commodus]

So, props to Commodus for making the rest of us commenters look bad. :p

That wasn't my intent. Sorry. I shall stand in the corner and hang my head in shame. :p

As far as combat goes, the majority of the game is a cakewalk as long as you're playing intelligently and not just trying to hit everything until it dies. I feel like Qum is largely useless, especially since she can't heal herself without using items and I don't feel like Hilstara is worth including in the active party currently - she's a tank but her defense isn't high enough to warrant usage without, say, that steel armor we can barely afford.

While I agree that Qum is now less useful as a healer, I still found her pretty useful overall. My party for the majority of the latest update was Simon, Aka, Qum and Hilstara. Simon would silence, attack and use Battlefield Medicine on Qum if she got too hurt. Aka would poison and attack. Qum would buff Simon and Aka with Arousing Kiss and heal and cure as necessary. Hilstara would use Shieldwall and guard. Worked great for everything but the Incubus King's cache and the Heart of Horrors. For those, I switch Robin for Qum because her fire attacks are the best against the undead and Fire Lance is essential for defeating the optional boss. There's a Steel Helm and Steel Armor in the Stineford mine, just be sure to flip the second switch before removing the barrier. Hilstara can be equipped with these. Other essential items for the frugal player is a Slave Pin in the Stineford slavers' warehouse, a Mage Pin on the body in the tunnel leading to the Succubus Hideout and another Slave Pin on a corpse in the deep tunnels. If you equip Robin with the Mage Pin and Yarra and Qum with the Slave Pins, they all become immune to stun effects. The Mystic Sphere from the corpse at the Devil's Gate also gives Robin a nice power boost. If you kill the ogre before doing the optional dungeon, you can also get the Dwarven Helm off the dead knight. It should also be noted that Qum's Little Death, which should unlock around the ogre, is the only ability that can revive a fallen party member during combat. It is very useful in the optional dungeon.

My dreams of being gifted with the Berserkergang aside, the optional dungeons were -deliciously- tough, to the point where I actually felt like I sucked at the game.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

I'm not ashamed to admit I cheeseballed the fell spider house and just avoided the little bastards, while I'm realizing that I just can't beat the boss of the ancient-whatever it is dungeon. There's not much I can do with the equipment and people I have, all of whom are about as high as they can be. Simon's 19, Yarra and Aka are 18, Robin's 16(awwwyeah), Qum is 17 and Hilstarta's 15. That fuckin' Heart of Horrors destroys my ass in fairly short order, even with mage/slave pins. He seems immune to poison and the fight never lasts long enough for poison to do much good anyway, despite having good overall equipment for everyone. I can usually get 'im down to about 1/6th life before he wipes me out.

To paraphrase Commodus, I'm more of a hoarder than a shopper though I splurged on a few accessories and hats.

If you're willing to splurge a little, a very good option is a Tower Shield for Hilstara. It will reduce her agility to 1, so she'll always act last, but it does make her a more effective tank. If you want tips for the more difficult areas, click the spoiler:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

For the fell spiders, undead and Heart of Horrors, the best party I found is Simon, Aka, Robin and Hilstara. In the first instance, Simon silences the poison spiders and attacks; Aka poisons everything and attacks; Robin throws fireballs and cures/heals as necessary, while Hilstara uses Shieldwall and guards. With the undead, I can't remember if they are immune to silencing, but the zombies are immune to poison. Still, it's basically the same thing, just don't waste attacks on things that are immune. The Heart of Horrors is different, though. As mentioned before, Robin's Fire Lance is essential. Also, while it is immune to silencing, it is not immune to poison, so it is extremely helpful to have Aka poison it in the first couple of rounds. Robin is the key, though. It's a race to kill it before it kills you, so don't waste too much time healing, but you need to keep Robin in the game as long as possible, so I'll heal only her. Hilstara uses Shieldwall, but instead of guarding, she attacks. We want to do as much damage as possible, but any attacks drawn away from Robin is wonderful. So, Simon attacks and heals Robin as necessary. Aka poisons and then straight attacks. Hilstara draws agro and then attacks. Robin uses Fire Lance and heals herself if Simon goes down. Using this tactic, I've beat the Heart of Horrors 5 out of 8 times, and I've never lost twice in a row.

Optional stuff aside the balance is fantastic and combat flows smoothly, with the incremental difficulty increases appropriate. Sometimes it can catch ya off guard but really, it just falls back on using your resources well and it all works out. The free inns were a nice touch, also - since we're dealin' with large sums of money and cheap hotels are as good as expensive ones, it'd be kinda dumb to haveta pay for one. I did find myself making liberal usage of the inns, however and with an absence of easy access to them reliance on those oh-so-sparse items becomes a bit of an issue. Once you make it to Stinefort it's less of an issue but still a consideration - I imagine folks would have fairly different opinions if the inns were more difficult to access or more expensive.

Otherwise, really enjoying the story(see:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

making Robin uncomfortable and listening to Qum make everyone ELSE uncomfortable)

and terribly eager for the next update. If I had to make any suggestions, right now it'd be to leave the balance issue alone for now - the core system/abilities work well enough that I don't think it's worth spending time to tweak them unless you feel strongly that you want to try something COMPLETELY new which we'll all be eager to try out. Honestly, I love the approach you've taken and would prefer that you stay the course.

Agree with everything here, so I'll move on.

I do disagree with Commodus about the nitpickin' on phrases(not many people read/speak enough old Norse or Proto-Norse these days but that's a lamentation for another day, ja?), as well as Altina -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

I'm pretty sure we already knows what happens to ditzy little airheads like her in the presence of the Fucklord, whether or not Riala handed her off like she was "supposed" to. Given her mind-fuck/corruption/she's now a slut for the Fucklord - and the lack of any indication that she had much going on between those adorable little pointy ears of hers - I'd prefer we get the Alfr perspective from somewhere a little more reliable. Even if Riala "spared" her, she wasn't terribly bright(or useful) to begin with.

Unfortunately Sierra Lee committed a cardinal sin. You see, I really don't play that many of these games. I lurk and browse, but only a handful are interesting enough to me to try. Of those, there are only a few that I really enjoy. I'll admit that I'm strange. Much like Simon and population studies, some of the things that interest me are etymology and world building. Sierra Lee succeeded in creating a very interesting world, and, for her crime, she shall be subjected to the punishment of me occasionally trying to "help" her. I know; I know. Such a punishment seems way out of proportion to her crime, but these things are out of my hands. Still, it's often the small things that make the difference between a good world and a great world. For example, in Tolkien's Middle Earth, the elves speak Sindarin and Quenya. In a generic fantasy setting, they speak Elvish. Now, when you help Megail break up Reval's slave ring, she refers to sending the Ardoheim slaves home. Just to put this in perspective, let's put these together using real countries. The England army had France slaves that spoke the England language. It just strikes me as strange. I'm not looking for linguistic perfection, but I do think the names of countries or whatever should have adjectival forms. Let's look at Aram. It could be Aramite, Aramian, Araman or whatever. It isn't a huge deal. In fact, if nobody else has noticed it, it's probably less of a deal than I thought. Still, Sierra Lee must be punished, so my "helping" will not be denied, even if it is completely ignored and nobody else cares. :p

As for Altina, I'll put my response in spoilers:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

I know Altina is a throw away character, but that's the reason I asked about her, and, perhaps the reason I find her interesting. Whatever she might end up doing, if she came back, probably won't have a great impact on the story, unlike Riala or Wendis. If nothing ever happens with the character, it won't change a thing. Still, the character has caught my imagination, and I see a lot of potential there. One of the things you mentioned is that we know her fate, but one of the themes in the game is diversity. Succubi are not all "identical little sex kittens," and orcs aren't all "rape monsters." Are all the fuck slaves the same? How much of themselves to they keep? Do they all just surrender to their fate, or do some plot escape? Eventually, if Sierra Lee wants to carry the story that far, Simon is going to have to confront the current Incubus King. Part of that will perhaps be dealing with the fuck slaves currently in his domain. How will Simon deal with that? Dealing with an Altina who was one for a few weeks/months could be used to foreshadow future interactions with members who may have been enslaved for decades. How would Altina escape? Perhaps Riala let's her escape so she can go to Simon. Perhaps Riala turns her and sends her as an agent to help Simon. Perhaps Altina actually does escape. Maybe she learned at least some of the details of Simon's condition and is a ticking time bomb that could spill Simon's secret at any moment. As for Altina being an airhead, I've seen mature, competent, intelligent women go to a New Kids on the Block concert and suddenly it's "Wooh! I can't believe it. He looked at me. Oh my god he touched my hand! I love you, Danny!" Right now, Altina is an idiot, but she doesn't have to be. Her behavior could be explained as hero worship/the power of celebrity. Maybe, if she had spent more than an hour with Kai, the luster would have faded, and she would have felt contempt for him. Ultimately, you are right. Altina is an unimportant character. That's why I chose to ask about her specifically. Still, I can't help feeling that she has potential and can be used in ways to benefit the story. If she is never heard from again, it won't hurt anything, but she may still be of some use to the narrative. I don't disagree with you, I just thought I should clarify my view on the character.

On last thing for Sierra Lee to consider. I don't know what timeframe you're considering for a return to Stineford, but the work of clearing out the mine would probably create a small economic boon for the town. While it wouldn't be fully recovered, Simon might notice some signs of greater economic activity when he next passes through the area.

[Sierra Lee]

No worries about writing a lot, I like hearing from people. Just... give me a while to get back to you. >.< Going to try to hit all the main topics that need a response.

Funds/equipment: I'm trying to balance for people buying some equipment now. Don't worry, you won't be this cash-strapped the entire game and will be able to equip your party with uniques and top tier stuff. I'm a completionist myself, so I'm trying to set up for this.

Altina: She will be an optional character several updates ahead, so you can regain her or not as you desire. There will be other elves too, further down the road.

Threat: It seems to be a pretty weak mechanic based on my calculations. I've actually set front line fighters with higher threat and mages with lower, but it doesn't seem enough to overcome the RNG much of the time.

I do have a few more random thoughts. The first is on the recent rebranding. While I understand the importance of branding, it might be better if you didn't exclusively use the term Incubus King. I bring it up because you've done a remarkable job creating an interesting world, and the use of euphemisms and alternate titles can help expand it.

That's a legitimate point. I didn't go for this simply because fantasy games already require people to keep track of a lot of names, but I may ease into it over time if it seems appropriate.

Hilstara refers to the Ardoheim army. Heim is Norse for home. So, Ardoheim would mean home of the Ardo people. The army should probably be referred to as the Ardan army. I noticed a few others, but these are the ones I remember. I'd offer to proofread, but I need to fulfill other commitments I've promised but haven't found the time for. Don't want to take up more when I haven't even finished those.

I can be pretty serious about worldbuilding, but as I mentioned above, I feel like gamers have a slightly lower tolerance for this compared to fantasy readers. As such, my initial plan was to keep all these forms straightforward so there could be no confusion. I already broke that rule with "Aramite" and "Yhilini", though, so perhaps now it's just inconsistent.

Anyway, anyone who wants to proofread, wait for version 0.7.0 - I've caught a lot of little things since this one.

There was a comment about the war, 10 years of war followed by 20 years of peace. Well, Simon was 15 when the war started, and he's 55 now, so that was 40 years ago, not 30. Also, if they war was only 10 years long, that would make Simon 25 at the end and Hilstara 10. That's a bit too young for her to have spent much time serving in the army. It would work better as 20 years of war followed by 20 years of peace. Admittedly, I'm not sure if I'm remembering this correctly, so maybe it isn't actually an issue.

Tell me which general section has all the numbers and I'll check them with the timeline. May have just screwed up with Hilstara, though, this may get tweaked.

Some equipment, such as vibrators and buttplugs, do not have icons next to their names. Looks out of place with everything else.

Wish I had icons for them.

Just finished the new update; sorry it took so long for me to get back to you but I had a rough week(and weekend) so it took until just now to finish. I may expand upon my thoughts later but the tl;dr is below. Also, do you prefer comments here, PM'd somewhere, on the forum or on your Patreon page?

Anywhere is fine, but I'm partial to the threads for general stuff. I tend to lose comments in other places.

If I had to make any suggestions, right now it'd be to leave the balance issue alone for now - the core system/abilities work well enough that I don't think it's worth spending time to tweak them unless you feel strongly that you want to try something COMPLETELY new which we'll all be eager to try out.

I want to get Qum's skills balanced, but I hope to be done tweaking this soon.

On last thing for Sierra Lee to consider. I don't know what timeframe you're considering for a return to Stineford, but the work of clearing out the mine would probably create a small economic boon for the town. While it wouldn't be fully recovered, Simon might notice some signs of greater economic activity when he next passes through the area.

I definitely want to do this kind of stuff for multiple areas of the game. Ideally it will help the world feel a little more realized and make the things you do feel like they have some real weight.

Anyway, thanks for all the feedback, sorry if I missed something!

[ThatOldFart]

Whew, lots to respond to!

So, from the top down:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The "problem" I have with Qum is that her skills aren't really offensively-oriented and as previously mentioned I dislike having to keep anyone who doesn't do damage or negative status effects in the active party but I should have clarified, as a healer class I can see the usefulness in keepin' her around. Now, as far as this "Fire Lance" I keep hearing about...what, now? I'm guessing I must have missed a quest or an object or something(even I forget to click on everything sometimes) because Robin's still never learned that ability on her own and I've yet to encounter any in-game hints of it. Knowing what's coming I'd certainly feel a little better about splurging on a few odds and ends, certainly, though on my initial playthrough I was playing "naturally" and hoarding all of my hard-earned coin; because of this I'm pretty confident that I could take it out on the next playthrough. Margr thokk for the assistance, either way!

I have to admit to a certain fondness for population studies and world building, though etymology for me is usually just a fling - once I get my fix, the convoluted mess which can language can become tends to overshadow any enjoyment I'dve derived from the experience. THAT bein' said, the disagreement note I'd made was more along the lines of what SL herself said - gamers tend to care less about certain (operative phrase, that) aspects of minutia and since so few people would make the heim connection it didn't seem like a productive expenditure of energy or time. I don't disagree that there may be better ways of wording/phrasing some locations/people/populations/adjectives but it doesn't seem useful to question fantasy names(which may not necessarily be based on real Earth languages).

I appreciate your insights and thoughts on Altina and apologize for using such broad, sweeping terms - generalization IS a dangerous path to tread, though the cynic in me tends to do it anyway just to spite the rest of me. That guy is an asshole. >.>

Whelp, now I find myself anticipating 0.70 that much more havin' talked about it and hope the discussion has been conducive to spurrin' ya along, SL. Also, when in hell did my drawl sneak back in there? Ah, well. Take care, kids an' have a good one!

[Commodus]

Altina: She will be an optional character several updates ahead, so you can regain her or not as you desire. There will be other elves too, further down the road.

Those are two of my favorite words in a game: optional character. I also like multiple paths and multiple endings. While there are players like myself who will try to see everything in a game, at least if it's a good game, I know there are many who will play once and never again. Many creators understandably want to showcase all the hard work they've put into their creations, so they make it all mandatory. I have a great deal of respect for creators willing to put things in their games knowing that some players will never experience it. Also, I'm happy to hear that Altina will return. I eagerly anticipate seeing what you do with the character.

I can be pretty serious about worldbuilding, but as I mentioned above, I feel like gamers have a slightly lower tolerance for this compared to fantasy readers. As such, my initial plan was to keep all these forms straightforward so there could be no confusion. I already broke that rule with "Aramite" and "Yhilini", though, so perhaps now it's just inconsistent.

I suppose this ties into the last comment. While I tend to view small details as treats for those who are looking for them, which are unnoticed by many, it never occurred to me that they might annoy some players. It's perhaps another case of balancing how much work one has put into something and avoiding beating the player over the head with said work. I suppose it's a fine line of which one must be mindful.

Tell me which general section has all the numbers and I'll check them with the timeline. May have just screwed up with Hilstara, though, this may get tweaked.

The reference to Simon being 15 at the start of the war is from the conversation between him and Aka at the start of the infested pass between Feroholm and the trader camp. Hilstara mentions she was just old enough to fight towards the end of the war during the first meeting in the tavern. The fact that Simon is 55 and Hilstara is 40 is revealed during the conversation between Yarra and Hilstara in the deep tunnels. The fact that Hilstara was attracted to Simon but too intimidated by Wendis to approach him is learned when she finally goes to him, which would fit if she was 20 when the war ended but not 10. Although there is a certain logic in having soldiers that young being in the army in this context. Historically, what is considered an adult fluctuates over time, dropping to the low teens at some points in history in some cultures to the modern first world where the structuring of advanced education delays financial independence possibly into the thirties. Given the nature of the Incubus King and his forces, having an army composed of prepubescent levies might be a viable option, if it renders them less susceptible to their lust-based attacks. As for the last fact, I can't remember where. I think the exact quote was something like, "10 years of war followed by 20 years of destitution." I didn't really make much note of it until I learned the characters' ages, that's what caused alarms to go off in my head. Next time I play, I'll poke at the various NPCs and see if I can find that conversation again. For all I know, I made it up in my head for some reason or at the very least misremembered it.

Wish I had icons for them.

I don't know too much about the intricacies of making a game in RPG Maker, but could you repurpose some of the tiles used in the sex shop in Stineford for that?

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The "problem" I have with Qum is that her skills aren't really offensively-oriented and as previously mentioned I dislike having to keep anyone who doesn't do damage or negative status effects in the active party but I should have clarified, as a healer class I can see the usefulness in keepin' her around. Now, as far as this "Fire Lance" I keep hearing about...what, now? I'm guessing I must have missed a quest or an object or something(even I forget to click on everything sometimes) because Robin's still never learned that ability on her own and I've yet to encounter any in-game hints of it. Knowing what's coming I'd certainly feel a little better about splurging on a few odds and ends, certainly, though on my initial playthrough I was playing "naturally" and hoarding all of my hard-earned coin; because of this I'm pretty confident that I could take it out on the next playthrough. Margr thokk for the assistance, either way!

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You can think of Qum's Arousing Kiss as a force multiplier. It doesn't directly damage the enemy, but it can raise Simon's and Aka's damage to scary levels. As for Fire Lance, Robin learns it when she reaches level 17. I blame the British Parliament. They probably passed legislation that Fire Lance is too dangerous to be wielded by someone who isn't an adult, so Robin has to wait until she's 17 to use it. Joking aside, when I started the optional dungeon, Robin was 16. She learned it while in the dungeon. So, you basically have to kill everything you can, including the fell spiders, before that point in order to use the tactic I gave you. You don't clear the spider house, you don't learn Fire Lance in time to use it on the Heart of Horrors. I should have thought of that before I offered my suggestion. The next time I play, I'll try developing a tactic that doesn't rely on that ability for defeating that boss. Although, I know now without Fire Lance getting Aka to poison it in the first round is probably a necessity. It might be necessary to buy Fighter Pins for Simon and Aka so that they are more resistant to being silenced. I'll experiment and get back to you. Ekki at þakka.

I appreciate your insights and thoughts on Altina and apologize for using such broad, sweeping terms - generalization IS a dangerous path to tread, though the cynic in me tends to do it anyway just to spite the rest of me. That guy is an asshole. >.>

There's certainly no need to apologize. While Altina may have captured my imagination, that doesn't mean others have to feel the same. Most minor characters in fiction are stereotypes or fit certain archetypes for the simple reason that it allows audiences to recognize them without the author having to spend time fleshing them out. Even main characters tend to be introduced in such a way, which allows the audience to immediately identify with them. It's only later that the author is able to add more detail and make them unique. Also, going back to the first two comments, it does come back to the point of when does too much detail get in the way. I know there are authors who completely develop every single minor character including their motivations and schedules. Some do it successfully, adding dimension and breathing life into them. Others get so focused showing off their work that it ends up hurting the narrative. As I mentioned before, it can be a very fine line indeed.

Also, a couple more things I noticed for Sierra Lee. In the Fucklord's Castle (and yes, it's still uses Fucklord), there are a couple of green sprites involved in the orgy. I assumed they were goblins, but those aren't listed among the world's races, like orcs. Ogres also aren't even though they are mentioned along with succubi during the intro and we fight one in the last update. Although, both goblins and ogres could be considered types of orcs. In Tolkien, goblin is just a synonym for orc, so there is precedent in fantasy if you want to streamline it. There is also the lamia. Given that Zirantians seem to be a catch-all race for furries, it's possible that the lamia is just a corrupted Zirantian. Speaking of which, what happens to humans, elves, etc. when they reach a certain corruption threshold? It's possible that is the origin of certain races/monsters. I just wanted to point out some things you may not have considered for your world. If you have already thought of this, please ignore this comment.

[Sierra Lee]

Whelp, now I find myself anticipating 0.70 that much more havin' talked about it and hope the discussion has been conducive to spurrin' ya along, SL.

I love hearing from you guys! I said I'd make the game, so I plan to finish it regardless, but discussions like this really keep my enthusiasm up!

Those are two of my favorite words in a game: optional character. I also like multiple paths and multiple endings. While there are players like myself who will try to see everything in a game, at least if it's a good game, I know there are many who will play once and never again. Many creators understandably want to showcase all the hard work they've put into their creations, so they make it all mandatory. I have a great deal of respect for creators willing to put things in their games knowing that some players will never experience it. Also, I'm happy to hear that Altina will return. I eagerly anticipate seeing what you do with the character.

This game will be about 90% mandatory, I think, for the reasons you stated. A handful of optional characters, a few branching sections, a few ending variations. I like big epics that tell a unified story, but optional stuff adds some spice. ^^

I don't know too much about the intricacies of making a game in RPG Maker, but could you repurpose some of the tiles used in the sex shop in Stineford for that?

In theory, but all the icons need to be in a single file, so I have to be careful about editing it. I hope to get this done when I have more time making 0.8.0 - there will be a variety of cosmetic improvements then.

Also, a couple more things I noticed for Sierra Lee. In the Fucklord's Castle (and yes, it's still uses Fucklord), there are a couple of green sprites involved in the orgy. I assumed they were goblins, but those aren't listed among the world's races, like orcs. Ogres also aren't even though they are mentioned along with succubi during the intro and we fight one in the last update. Although, both goblins and ogres could be considered types of orcs. In Tolkien, goblin is just a synonym for orc, so there is precedent in fantasy if you want to streamline it. There is also the lamia. Given that Zirantians seem to be a catch-all race for furries, it's possible that the lamia is just a corrupted Zirantian. Speaking of which, what happens to humans, elves, etc. when they reach a certain corruption threshold? It's possible that is the origin of certain races/monsters. I just wanted to point out some things you may not have considered for your world. If you have already thought of this, please ignore this comment.

I haven't thought of everything (for example, Hilstara's age was just me screwing up the timeline when I made her young) but this is one that I've considered. You'll get your explanation eventually!

[Commodus]

Okay, ThatOldFart, new tactic under the spoiler:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Tested with a party consisting of a L20 Simon, L18 Aka, L18 Qum D'umpe and a L16 Robin. The only mandatory purchase for this tactic is either a buttplug for 1,000 Sx or a dildo for 2,500 Sx. Qum needs to start the battle with a decent amount of SP, I'd say 65+. Both Qum and Robin should have pins, which make them immune to silencing. Since Hilstara is not in the party, you can give the best defensive equipment to Simon, but he's the only one who can equip Lustplate anyway. Simon should mostly attack. The only exception is maybe a Battlefield Medicine on Robin if she gets paralyzed and Simon hasn't been silenced. Aka starts by poisoning the Heart of Horror. Now, poisoning is mandatory for success. Also, I may be imagining things, but the L18 Aka in my test had a much lower success rate poisoning than the L19 Aka in my original playthrough. Once the boss is poisoned, Aka switches to pure attack which she maintains for the remainder of the battle. Qum uses Arousing Kiss twice on Aka, who is the main damage dealer. With two boosts, Aka can do almost 2,000 damage on a crit. If possible, she then uses it twice on Simon. If the entire party gets low on health, she uses Orgasmic Thoughts. If Aka dies, Qum can use Little Death if she knows it. Robin is mainly there to remove status effects and keep Qum healthy. If Aka gets silenced before successfully poisoning, Robin uses Heal. If someone else gets paralyzed, Robin uses Heal. If Qum's health get's low, Robin uses Cure. If only one party member's health is low and you don't want to waste an Orgasmic Thoughts, Robin uses Cure. If everyone is good on health and status effects, Robin can use Fire. Don't worry about any status effects on Simon except paralysis. Only worry about silence on Aka until she's poisoned the boss, afterwards, only paralysis should be treated. Since neither Qum nor Aka can be silenced, paralysis is the only worry with them as well. Using this tactic, I went 4 out of 8. Everytime I successfully poisoned the Heart of Horror, I won, including the time it took 4 rounds. Everytime I failed to do so, I lost. It might be better to save scum to avoid frustration. Save before clicking on the boss. If Aka succeeds the first round, victory should be in the bag. If she fails, reload the save and try again. I hope that helps.

This game will be about 90% mandatory, I think, for the reasons you stated. A handful of optional characters, a few branching sections, a few ending variations. I like big epics that tell a unified story, but optional stuff adds some spice. ^^

That sounds wonderful. I love big epics, but it's always a treat to go back and see the variations different choices cause. As you said, it adds spice.

I haven't thought of everything (for example, Hilstara's age was just me screwing up the timeline when I made her young) but this is one that I've considered. You'll get your explanation eventually!

I did have a thought of how to keep idiots like myself from asking, "Why wasn't race X mentioned in the library?" You could make humans, elves, dwarves, Zirantians and halflings be The Five Civilized Races or something. Conventional wisdom holds that those are the only races that have a culture worth studying, so the others are largely ignored. Perhaps add a line about how there are other races out there, but they generally aren't considered worthy of study. It doesn't even have to mean that the uncivilized races don't have any culture of their own, it's just that the bias of the civilized races means they get ignored. That way, you're free to introduce gnomes or whatever you feel like in the future, and the explanation for the lack of mention in the library could be a bigoted, "oh, they don't really have a culture worth studying." It would probably require a bit of a reworking, since I doubt succubi would be considered a civilized race, but, as I said, it would shut up idiots like myself and give you maximum freedom to include anything you feel like in the future without requiring you going back and doing a rewrite. Just a suggestion. Sorry to keep "helping."

[Yamemai]

Cuz I'm bad at quote, I won't be doing that (sorry). Anyways;

@Commodus,
If I remember correctly, it was stated that she had been 40/41 for 2 years lol, but yeah the age thing is still there.

As for mandatory purchases, I didn't bother and just doped -- it's a game term, so most of you should know it, but a hint is: Most leaders would rally their subordinates before battles. Worked pretty well, as it got both Simon's Piercing and Aka's Lunge to the same margin as Robin's Lance. -- The tactic works for both Spiders and Heart, didn't bother with the other horrors as MP was limited.

[Commodus]

@Commodus,
If I remember correctly, it was stated that she had been 40/41 for 2 years lol, but yeah the age thing is still there.

Yarra asked Hilstara how old she was to which she replied that she was 39. Yarra then asked how long she had been 39. Hilstara admitted that it had been for 2 years. So, that would make her 40 or 41, depending if it was currently the 2nd year or if 2 complete years have passed. At least, that was my interpretation of the information.

[Dead2112man]

I have no Idea what you guys are talking about, I found nothing in this current version that I can say needs fixed, tell me if you want me to play a previous section to find anything possible broken

[ThatOldFart]

Thanks for the tip, Commodus, I'll give that a try next run through. And it's good to know I'm not the only one havin' trouble with the poison attacks - my level 18 Aka never poisoned the HoH in 6 or 7 attempts. :/ As for the number of years bit, I DO remember that conversation between Aka and Simon, but I don't remember where it was. I seem to recall an even greater difference in the years listed(ten of war and thirty of strife) but my memory's pretty awful and that may not have appeared in the most recent version. And let's face it - it's not like I'll need any encouragement to start v 0.70 from the beginning.

Skål!

[Commodus]

In case anyone here needed any proof that they should take everything I write with a huge grain of salt, I just did a new playthrough and realized that you don't have Hilstara for the Devil's Gate and Incubus King's cache sections of the most recent update, which I completely forgot. I hate my memory, or lack thereof, sometimes. While on the topic of my being stupid, I decided that the people of Ardoheim should be called Ardonians not Ardans. I know it doesn't matter, but I was embarrassed by my linguistic faux pas and wanted to correct it. Okay, now for some, hopefully, worthwhile comments.

I found the passage I referred to before. In the Academy library, bottom row, fourth shelf from the left:

There's more than can ever be told. Ten years of solid war, then thirty years of backstabbing and dissolution.

So, I did misremember. You were right, ThatOldFart. It was thirty years of "peace," not twenty, but it still leaves the issue of Hilstara being ten or eleven when the war ended.

I noticed a typo during the scene with Tal and the flower. At the end, it says:

A few seconds later he came loudly, flailing on top of the plant before falling to the side and lying there with a lazy expression on this face. The others stared.

This should be his.

Playing around in Stineford, while the armorer will only sell one ore, the potion seller will sell multiple ore. The blacksmith will forge as many ore as you have into incomplete daggers. I have only been able to get one enchanted, though, which can leave the player with ore and/or incomplete daggers in your inventory. So far, I've only found two places to purchase ore, one place to forge the dagger and two places to enchant it. I was originally surprised you could not have it enchanted at the Academy, since the female administrator in the faculty area mentions paying for Academy services, although Aka did say that everything should be available in Stineford.

Anyway, onto the main reason for this post. As may have been obvious to anyone who isn't me, Robin and Hilstara do not gain experience before joining your party. Originally, they were levels twelve and fifteen respectively when I finished in Stineford and levels seventeen and eighteen when I finished the latest update. I decided to recruit them both immediately this last time, before killing a single monster, and they had reached levels fourteen and sixteen before leaving Stineford. Robin reached level seventeen and learned Fire Lance after the antepenultimate fight in the deep mines, without having cleared the optional dungeon but having cleared the fell spider house. Hilstara achieved level nineteen and learned Tactical Eye after the penultimate fight of the update. Robin became level nineteen and unlocked Ice Lance after the final fight, which I really now want to try out in the next update. So, for anyone having any difficulty, recruiting those characters earlier might help.

Okay, I'll try to shut up until the next update, when I might actually have something useful to contribute.

[Sierra Lee]

Unfortunately, looks like the rescripted version of the game has some bugs. I did a lot of rewriting that I think really enhances things, but the new scripts made the game a little unstable. While I work on that, I'm completing version 0.7.0 in completely stable mode, without any of the enhancements.

The Plan:
Remake Demo* - April 1
Version 0.7.0 Patreon Release - April 4
Version 0.7.0 Public Release - April 11

*Maybe it will be bug-free by then, maybe not, but I don't want to jeopardize the next chapter with last second major changes. But if you're familiar with the game, give it a play to see the rewritten dialogue and graphical improvements.

[ThatOldFart]

O.O Holy SHIT! I -remembered- somethin'? What in hell is -wrong- with this world? I'm, -old-, for fuck's sake!

Also lookin' forward to the remade demo - as a patron, was lucky enough to try the original demo and found it to be amazingly balanced. I wasn't one of the folks that had those bugs but with all the improvements I'm not surprised that it'll take a little tweakin' to get it stable. And the new dialog was REALLY impactful, can't WAIT to see how the rest of the story goes now! You've outdone yourself, SL! Keep it up!

[Sierra Lee]

EDIT: This was an April Fools Day joke. ^^ I'm glad most people were amused by it, and grateful to everyone who played along - love you guys! You can still play it if you want a laugh, but the real next version is out now.

The remake demo is up, get it here!

This version of the game has significant rewriting, some new gameplay scripts, and some graphical improvements. Unfortunately it's still too buggy to really play. If you haven't played the game before, play version 0.6.0. But if you've already played the full game, give this one a try for a taste of my true vision of the game.

Feel free to report any bugs you encounter. Meanwhile, the completely stable release of version 0.7.0 is scheduled for April 4th on Patreon, April 11th everywhere. I'm scrambling to do final balancing and testing of non-critical stuff, but the core of the update is solid.

[Wonderful Hawk]

It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Can't wait for the full version - if the demo's anything to go by, it will be amazing.