Mortish
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Tendencies, What are they for?
🕑 Added 2025-04-18 23:12:16 +0000 UTCWith the last couple of polls I've realized that not everyone understands what the purpose of the tendencies are apart from unlocking choices sometimes. Which as the writer/developer is totally my fault so let's demystify them.
Tendencies are personality traits that will add shades of distinction to your MC. Apart from merely unlocking different options, I want tendencies to also be hidden in the narrative, changing details within your scenes. With the Week One update, most of the tendency choices will be open and there will be a lot more choices woven into the narrative. Once you reach Night VIII, your personality with be (almost) fixed. You'll have very few opportunities to gain new tendencies, but you will instead have dynamic scenes which change based on your tendencies. Let's have an example.
As I mentioned in the last poll, we'll likely be transitioning to opposed stats. So let's look at the opposed stat of Pious and Irreverent. Let's say your MC is 70% Pious and 30% Irreverent. Here's a totally random scene for her on Night VI:
"What if..."
You struggle to wrap your tongue around what you're about to say. It's been an hour since you lost your faith, and already you're about to propose utter degeneracy.
"Hypothetically, if I were to be indiscreet with Valdricht, would that not bother you? Seeing as how we're traveling in close quarters."
Something dark passes over his eyes, but then he smirks. "I could always join the two of you in your indiscretions."
You blanch. "I fear there's been a miscommunication. I am not proposing that—"
"Stop with this tedium," he interjects. "You'd end up being indiscreet even if you weren't obsessed with one another. Duvkrovyr can be very... stimulating, as you might have noticed."
"Obsessed? I am not obsessed with Valdricht."
"Of course not," he mutters, once more flinging his arm over his face. "But he's certainly obsessed with you. Ever since we found you, you're all he talks about, all he thinks about. It's like his whole existence revolves around you."
You chew on your bottom lip. "I certainly haven't gotten that impression, nor have I done anything to merit such attention."
"On that, we agree," he says. "Unfortunately, Valdricht's tastes defy reason. You're not the first female he's fixated on."
"Oh?" you ask, leaning forward.
Serax cracks open an eye to regard you. "He had a slave once. Long before my time. He was obsessed with her. He married her, had a castle built for her, gave up lands and titles so he could devote all of his time to fretting over her."
Your stomach is in knots. "Valdricht was married?"
It's absurd that this should come as a shock to you. If a man has lived even half a century, one would expect he'd have picked up a wife along the way. It's difficult to reckon with the reality that either of them had a life before their lives collided with yours.
"At least twice," he says. "The first time was more a diplomatic marriage."
"What happened to her? The one he built the castle for?"
Now, he pins you with a full stare. "Nythara happened to her."
And now let's read that one again with a 70% Irreverent and 30% Pious MC. I'll bolden just a few of the changes that way you can reference them quickly.
"What if..."
You pause, aware you’re tiptoeing toward something scandalous.
"Hypothetically, if I were to be indiscreet with Valdricht, would that not bother you? Seeing as how we're traveling in close quarters."
Something dark passes over his eyes, but then he smirks. "I could always join the two of you in your indiscretions."
You squint. "That is... a creative interpretation of my question."
“Don’t act so shocked,” he says, waving a hand. “You’d end up being indiscreet whether or not you’re obsessed with each other. Duvkrovyr has that effect. You’ve felt it.”
“Obsessed? That’s a strong word. I’m not obsessed with Valdricht.”
"Of course not," he mutters, once more flinging his arm over his face. "But he's certainly obsessed with you. Ever since we found you, you're all he talks about, all he thinks about. It's like his whole existence revolves around you."
You chew the inside of your cheek. “He certainly doesn’t act like someone that loves talking about me.”
“Doesn’t mean he isn’t doing it. And you haven’t exactly done much to earn that kind of devotion.”
“Thank you for the confidence,” you say dryly.
"Anytime," he says. "Fortunately for you, Valdricht's tastes defy reason. You're not the first female he's fixated on."
“Oh?” you ask, arching a brow.
Serax cracks open an eye to regard you. "He had a slave once. Long before my time. He was obsessed with her. He married her, had a castle built for her, gave up lands and titles so he could devote all of his time to fretting over her."
You blink. “Valdricht was married?”
It’s not that it shocks you. It’s more the visceral realization that these men had full lives—whole histories—before yours ever crossed theirs.
"At least twice," he says. "The first time was more a diplomatic marriage."
“What happened to her? The one he built the castle for?”
Now, he pins you with a full stare. “Nythara happened to her."
See? Essentially the same scenes, but a different vibe and even the banter is affected a bit. Rest assured, I will not be writing the scenes differently for every 10% of personality traits. Rather, when I feel like, for example a Romantic MC may react differently in a scenario than a Practical MC, I will make some minor tweaks to the scene and create a hidden conditional link. You'll be reading as normal, not knowing that a skill check shifted you into a particular version of the scene. This way, your MC behaves in a manner which better aligns with your perception of her. One more example, this one shorter.
Here is a scene from the Heretic, Night IV:
Inside the tent, Serax has already changed into his silken small clothes. Your gaze lingers on his bare chest as you remove your boots. He stares back knowingly.
"Off praying to heathen gods, Sister $name?" he asks. "I hear they cut out your tongue for that."
You stiffen. "Only if you speak the blasphemy aloud."
"And what do they do to vestals who fornicate?"
"Depends. Usually they get sent away. Which I suspect means confinement to ensure no child will come of the union, and then..." You draw your finger across your neck.
"Glory to The Merciful Mother," he says wryly.
Indeed.
You shrug off your coat and then fall to your knees before the fire, warming your frigid fingers.
Serax asks, "Are you hungry yet?"
You're not, but you aren't about to turn down the opportunity. "For blood?"
He grins. "I wouldn't offend your sensibilities with anything less."
The finger over the neck? Rather cynical, no? Let's crank up the romanticism.
Inside the tent, Serax has already changed into his silken small clothes. Your eyes catch on the lines of his bare chest as you unlace your boots. He notices—and doesn’t look away.
"Off praying to heathen gods, Sister $name?" he asks. "I hear they cut out your tongue for that."
You stiffen. "Only if you say the blasphemy out loud."
"And what do they do to vestals who fornicate?"
"Depends... Usually they get sent away from the sanctum. Removed from service. It's meant to protect them... and the child, if there is one."
You don’t say what else you’ve heard. You don’t want to believe that part.
"Exile and silence—the cornerstones of any good faith."
You peel off your coat and lower yourself beside the fire, grateful for its warmth on your fingers. It’s easier to focus on the heat than the lingering discomfort in your chest.
Serax asks, "Are you hungry yet?"
Hope flutters in your chest. "For blood?"
He grins. "I wouldn’t offend your sensibilities with anything less."
So there you have it. Generally, the changes will be subtle and hidden, though on occasion you'll have major choices that will be dependent on certain personality traits. I hope this clears things up!
A final note on content bloat, what I like about using the tendencies in a subtle manner is that it'll give me the ability to tailor chapters for different MCs, while not necessarily creating different branches/storylines. Particularly in cases where there may be an arbitrary choice, rather than writing out tons of passages just to arrive at the same conclusion, I can write your MC such that she makes the choice in a single passage, but in a way that feels natural based on her personality.
Using this kind of conditional writing will also allow me to more easily add our upcoming feature, which will be Motivations. In the prologue, you'll be able to select what will motivate your character. This is a fixed stat that will subtly shift the narrative of your storyline, allowing you to focus on what most interests you, be it the sex, the pregnancy, the romance, or your own personal coming of age story. Primarily you'll see it affecting your unstructured nights. An MC motivated by having a family will have more conversations about her pregnancy, child, and the LI's in their parental roles. An MC motivated by passion will have more opportunities for spicier NSFW content. This won't bar your MC from the other content, but rather emphasize your interest in your storyline.
-Mortish
Comments
Ro
Ngl, the biggest plot-twist would be Nythara is actually an innocent bystander in all this, trying her best, just no one listens to her and keeps mistrusting her... for some reason... 😇. And ah, such a good question! And at least one of us can code-dive without wanting to break something 😂 🩷.
ayesleigh
An interesting and informative breakdown! Thank you for taking the time to make it. I love seeing differences between routes laid out like this; one could technically go code-diving to see stuff like that, but trying to follow narrative and dialogue in code is always a headache. I do appreciate you taking so much time and trouble to add depth and flavor to the game, so I hope I don't come across as negative or super critical when asking questions! In cases where one stat isn't higher than the other, will the narrative be more neutral in that instance or will it default to one of the traits? Or will tied/neutral stats be an unlikely scenario after the Week One update? Also: "Nythara happened to her." I'm just gonna sit here and feel smug for a moment, don't mind me~ 😏☕ ("When you spitball theories like that, at least one of them is probably gonna be correct --" Shhhh, just let me have this.)
sunday
Oh that’s so funny because I had the EXACT same thought about humble and that’s why I wasn’t interested in it. I don’t think my zealot cares about expensive things at all - my heretic tho? She’s the "get in the drivagn, we’re going shopping!! 🛍️ 👗 " type. My zealot will dress very unassuming and wear her veil and mind her business. But she has a LOT of pride while my heretic has very little so humble didn’t work for either of them.
Ro
Listen, I know that man has a breeding kink he's barely keeping under wraps and wants the babies so badly, and that's 100% why I find him so attractive, BUT. I want our little humans to have a chance at being self-reliant and/or upstanding citizens 😂 😭. They can't rely on Serax to always clean up their mess, because, lbr: If Val makes Serax do all the chores now, he's 100% going to make Serax an overglorified babysitter, so the parents can have alone time and make more babies 😂 😭. The humbleness is needed for Serax's sake (and sanity)! Also, funny you should say that about humble and pride, because for me, my Zealot is 100% both—pride is her one true love, but she's also humble in certain things, like materialism, so 😂. I think those two tendencies would make an interesting combo, too!
Melody
Ahhhh, this explains a lot. Originally, I chalked up these differences to heretic vs zealot path, and it still might contribute to it via starting stats, but this is great. I'm gonna have so much fun replaying this 🥳
sunday
Nooo Ro, he waited 2k+ years let him spoil those babies!! Also, I just had a Thought, because I wasn’t interested in humble in the last poll (perceptive truther) but if it wins the next poll and we got an opposing tendency like "proud" or something? Oh, that’s SO fun. The opposing stats opens up so much room to play with stuff.
Mortish
I finished this post and then saw your comment and I was just like "yesss, instant validation" lol
Mortish
I justify all Serax contradictions as Serax saying whatever he thinks will best help him to manipulate a version of your MC. Also, sometimes he's just a petty jerk :)
Ro
It's so interesting to see how this works behind the scenes and so intuitive! Also, thank you for the breadcrumbs as we wait for the feast. That said, two things. One: Serax: As if Valdricht would marry you. Also Serax: He's obsessed with you like the wife he had years back, who he married and built a castle for and everything. Also Serax, in the future, when Valdricht marries us: Pikachu face. Two: Wow, Val takes being a good provider seriously 😂. If this is how he treats his wife, I'm afraid of how much he'll spoil the children. Here is hoping we get the humble tendency, because if we don't... RIP, Val's kids are going to be the most spoiled human beings on Earth 😭.
sunday
Oh wow. Welp. This was basically exactly the idea I had just posted so please disregard that lolol!! You’re always 20 steps ahead. I’m so excited that the tendencies will be opposing now, that simplifies things and makes building distinct mc personalities much easier. You could make multiple heretics or zealots with unique voices and I think that’s so cool. Ahh romantic heretic is basically a secret 3rd RO to me, she’s too stinking cute I’m swooninggg. I love that the changes affect even tiny scenes like that, it makes everything more personal. Also, the fact that I’ve read that scene so many times I didn’t need the bold font to tell what was different though… I have a problem 😵💫 The week one update is going to be so good, I love that it adds so much flavor to the girls’ already awesome and distinct personalities <33 Motivations sound interesting! This game gets more and more replayable all the time. Both of my mcs will have like 4 canon routes at this point hehe. I think the motivation choices will be the hardest ones to decide between for me each playthrough. I want all of them all the time but that’s what replays are for ~
Vincentvanohno
The replay value you’re trying to give this game is incredible I can’t way to try all the different branches
Mortish
Last thing I forgot to mention. My reasoning for having your MC's personality mostly fixed by the end of Week One is so that I can maintain a consistent narrative vibe. I don't want you to have a character that feels erratic, constantly changing how she speaks and reacts because of small variable shifts. Although it might be annoying to have an MC that has a static personality, there will be opportunities for changes in response to major plot events. Additionally, it'll make for great replay value. Say you want to play as a Tender and Pious MC motivated by Family and have a sweet narrative for one playthrough, then you want to be a chaos gremlin and become an Irreverent Cynic who wants to thoroughly explore her sexuality. There will be a playthrough for both!
