Guestbook

1. The backgrounds to both Scott and Jimmy are not so plot important. TCOD is not about their entire life stories. 2. We do learn - confirmed later on during the dialogue with High Priest Isaacson - that they are petty criminals who were poking around in the ruins of a once old, possibly wealthy estate. Word of the great fire got around and somehow reached their ears. Again, it should be enough that they just happened to be in the area at the right time, or heard about it on or in the local news. Both saw the opportunity to hunt for antiques, had already made a start but shifting the heavy door required extra tools and expertise. Both men knew the player was the man for the job. However, by the time he does arrive, both Scott and Jimmy have incurred the wrath of the Brotherhood and been captured. 3. The player character has arranged to meet the friends at the ruins. Why is that idiotic? For the time being, he is unaware of the demonic dangers - as were his friends before being captured. Perhaps they didn't know the full truth of their plight? That they were simply at the mercy of a mad cult with no real power? Who can say? Even the author themself doesn't ponder over every little detail. However, one clue is: how does Jimmy react to the animated zombies and skeletons? Has he (and Scott) seen similar things already? 4. Although the Hero - himself a criminal - 'blurts' out the planned meeting location, then why should it matter? How would the locals know he is of criminal background? Strange as it sounds, he could simply be a tourist keen on exploring the ruins, a contractor hired to assess the damaged site for clearance, or even a photographer going after that special atmospheric location. And even if they suspect he's up to no good, then how are they going to respond to a possible threat to the Drumer estate? Indeed, why should they care about the preservation of Drumer's valuables when obviously they care more for the life and soul of a human being who so far has done them no harm? Saying it out loud shocks them, yet the player character is straight up being honest; attempting to hide the truth or simply shrug and stay silent can backfire with an adverse effect. Furthermore, he is a stranger to those parts, and needs directions. It is also equally possible that they suspect he is a friend of Drumer's, come to visit, but again: saying it out loud at least calms their suspicions. Even if the player was followed by some of the curious locals, what are they going to find? The player cursing and shouting as he makes his way down into the old cellar; hardly very inconspicuous. The meeting wasn't secret because, if anybody had followed them, they would have been chatting in a wide open space, or even the confines of the landrover. If the conversation was overheard, then it would be about looting the ruined house of Drumer, and nothing whatsoever regarding demonic worship or raising Drumer himself. Again, Terry might have followed the player from the Goat and Knife there and then - but then that wouldn't have made exciting material. Besides which, Terry (having already warned the player character who was too stubborn to listen) meanwhile went to Richard for his help in rescuing the Hero and Jimmy, by which time during the graveyard scene.

1, 4, 7, 14, 17, 20, 23, 24, 25, 31, 37, 41, 43, 51, 52, 55, 78 – extra spaces before question marks.

14, 16, 19, 20, 38, 39, 43, 45, 47, 58 – lack of punctuation after direct speech.

17 + every ref from 80 to 86 - "Will you also take :"

14
" to that?"

23
one calls out "Halt!" as they rush to apprehend you.

39
a quaint old sailing ships tiller wheel

58
They are dressed as ships stewards,

That is, the ability to accurately judge what a person would see and know at any given point, and make your own decisions based on that. I think this goes to the root of where I find issue with the scene.

1) As a reader, the main thing I know at the outset is that the player character obviously has to get to where he shouldn't for one reason or another - else there's not much of a story, but those reasons can still be good or bad, and it's up to the writing of the scene to make the difference. Here, your character effectively insults well-intentioned villagers there and in ref 1, which instantly creates a negative impression. In horror movies, characters who behave like that usually get themselves killed soon after.

If I am to believe that him driving to that ruin after everyone tells him not to go is worthwhile then yes, giving us a single reason to care about Scott and Jimmy from the outset, to know why it's worth risking life over them, is not a bad idea. As a writer, you might care about them as your creations by default, but I, a reader, do not.

2) Here is the really big inconsistency between player character's knowledge and behaviour.

"Indeed, why should they care about the preservation of Drumer's valuables when obviously they care more for the life and soul of a human being who so far has done them no harm? "

This is the thing. He has NO way to know what any of the patrons "obviously" care about until AFTER he had already revealed where he's going to them. As an out-of-towner, for all that he knows, people in the tavern could well be fans of the "late" Earl and NOT take kindly to him messing about there. (In fact, with how large the cult apparently is, it seems all-but-inevitable that cult members would have visited the place before, probably repeatedly (its name making itself appear Satanism-friendly would have only helped to make that a near-certainty), and the odds that at least one patron present at that time would have been a cultist actually don't seem all that low? Sure, Sid would not have taken kindly once he understood, but the corollary is that the cult could have then identified him as a target a lot earlier?)

Really, looting of recently abandoned estates tends to be frowned upon A LOT - you probably know that plenty of people think using lethal force on anyone looting someone else's property in the wake of a natural disaster is outright commendable. Plus, locals could also suspect them of other undesirable things, like drug smuggling. So, it really doesn't matter if he has no idea about the cult - it only takes ONE patron to call the police and say, "Hey, there are some suspicious blokes from out of town meeting up at the burned-down ruins, mind checking in on that place?" to TOTALLY ruin whatever all three were going for and potentially land all of them in jail as soon as the guns and the lockpicks are found. It may not be a VERY likely risk, but it is still an ENORMOUS downside with basically no upside.

Why can't we try attaching power packs to the Screwdriver BEFORE we step away from the locker? (Just like here, YOU CAN'T ACTIVATE THE WHIP YOURSELF - only the spider handmaiden can.) Or indeed, why can't we place our things INTO the locker to free up pocket space? Of course, the whole series is absurdist BS aiming for Hitchhiker yet landing somewhere closer to Rick and Morty, so unlike the other stories, there's not much point in asking these questions.

Literally the only thing which even remotely counts as a hint that the "right" sandwich at the end is salad is getting that one VERY UNLUCKY roll on the false path, I suppose. Otherwise, it is in fact basically Rick & Morty prank: "Starving guy who wants solid food really likes salad the most! Didn't expect that, did you! Gottem!" I also semi-hoped you would have the option to give him those 5 credit crisps but haha, no.

And once you already know that you need a minimum of 100 credits to get any chance of winning, it's asking for a lot to guess that spending 10 to be able to beat the arachnid without a blaster (once you even figure out that's how it works, that is) will end up giving you 50. For a while, I was convinced the whole thing with the music was a trap option as much as being able to use the blaster at any point was.

The spirit guide reroll also seems to be next to useless. It doesn't work when you REALLY need it, which is either if you lose the final fight, or turn out not to know the answer to the last question. When it does get triggered, it seems that you'll most often end up thrown to the lift, with the whip but WITHOUT the ability to visit the barbican (presumably, to stop you from constantly inputting the code?), which ALSO means you cannot get to the vending machine, and so you are not only thrown into another reroll, but get your stats drained as well.

1, 5, 11, 20, 27, 45, 63, 76, 81, 83, 93, 112, 115 - extra spaces before question marks.

26, 100 – no question marks at all

2 - a tree growing out of the ground!" you say.

46
which you failed to see previous + "Let me do the talking!" your lawyer-bot hisses at you,

57
An arachnaphobic!

62
But all means + lack of

63 - Such people have been sent of for fluid extraction

65
a satisfied 'Ahhh!' Soon you are feeling great! + by a regal looking spider queen.

71
she is saying : 'It's your life.'

72
you eat it , stealing glances

76
the official sudden calls out your number

80

as you pull it tight as you can.

88
a levitation red orb than ducks and weaves randomly. + You flop over the spiders head + right down in from

100
then take and experimental sip

102
looking gup and down

112
"You?" the Arachnonan looks at you sceptically. + wrapped in the cacoons of death that they perished in.

118
reaches your ears "Make way for your masters, or be crushed!"

134
Nice Suit is priced in just Roubles, not Galactic Roubles (The implications inherent in the word Galactic Rouble make me experience so many feelings.)

That is, that the blaster is actually useful this time, and not a total waste and a sign you are doing things wrong and are destined to fail, like in the previous two.

Violence and cruelty you can avoid in the moment being ultimately necessary to win. Granted, Hellfire also placed a lot more gravity on those slayings than this does when it comes to those two poor tribesmen, but then again, the series has an altogether different tone, and all that. Though, refs 32 and 76 compensate for that, with some standout writing for what are ultimately trap options, and not even particularly compelling ones.

Raft remains in your inventory even though 37 says that it floats away?

At 227, trying to talk immediately locks you out of using the smoke bomb?

The ref shown when you equip the Comet for the first time says it does 4 damage, yet it actually seems to be 5?

Background
you were blinded by love.Upon arrival + thank-you note.As you + lord Gablentite.If you + That Pomplompotom become your girlfriend!
2, 224, 248 – no question marks after options?
4, 10, 11, 24, 41, 46, 51, 64, 107, 113, 116, 126, 127, 128, 135, 148, 149, 150, 176, 177, 186 188, 194, 202, 220, 222, 241, 244, 255, 277 – occasional issues with punctuation & direct speech
At 175, why are you at -2 even if you do have a laser knife?
At 179, we are only allowed to use a blaster on our counterpart if we also have an energy whip?
4
you first saw the pirates on deck C , and so
27
After you unappetising meal
30
You are awakened from your peaceful dozing see something ahead. + down the swift flowing canal.
42
the large purple leaches
64
presumably the space-pirate's own. + Just follow the space pirates shuttle + a fee of 50 galactic Roubles (capitalization).
70
you have to pull off the large purple leaches
76
technological superiority you posses in the form of the blaster. + half vaporised + a number of golden skinned fruits
79
Fear of consumption proves the greater motivator that desire to consume
83
the large purple leaches
95
across the leach-ridden waters.
105
"That is almost 2 years from now!" you exclaim (missing period.)
107
it's a Comet : a wi-fi-controlled
114
for more combinations that you can punch
116
into the Pirate's shuttle.
130
and light candles on then other side of the room
144
You sit up in alarm, but it is just your fried. + She is brought to sit at your side.Suddenly, something clicks in your mind

165
has seared closed the wound
187
but it seems you have out paced them!
209
fragments of bejewelled goad leaf

246
just as it has you in its' sights

21
A few are locked, but in the one the space-rat emerged from you find a blaster. – And yet, that blaster is NOT added to our inventory?

5, 7, 11, 17, 21, 36, 45, 56, 59, 60, 68, 70, 85 – occasional issues with punctuation & direct speech

13
more resourceful that I was expecting.

23 - to see more catfish-man

46 - quickdraws his blaster and shots you down

68 - But your wilfully inflicting suffering

That the electronic strait jacket is not just actually useful in the first place, but happens to be the best way to deal with the Death Bot?! I thought that tossing a smoke bomb and then relying on your luck was the best option available to you.

This is certainly NOT what I expected the strait jacket would be for. My first guess was that you would throw it at the burly man who is "owned by Harry" and beat the right combination to the safe out of him, because come on, that seemed like an obvious use! (And certainly more obvious than just having to restart, one way or another, until you stumble upon the right combination)

The other guess was that you could use it on the pirate leader on the path where you kill the shuttle guard and take his place, thus getting to stay alone with the leader for a while, and this was how you would get the daughter's location. Oh well.

Everyone dies. :'(

Like "going to hell the second time", which can end up completely impossible if you do the Groat fight, which seems like the thing you SHOULD be doing narratively, and get too many guards killed randomly, which then leads you past the town where you can get the rat. Not to mentuon you have to first replay enough to know the right person to talk to, then guess the right chemical combination, THEN fight the demon and lose (itself not very likely, as a character strong enough to find the demon in the first place is likely to be strong enough to avoid a hit) THEN pass that skill check.

Guess that knocking out the priestess would be a GOOD thing to do, even though everything you taught by both Kianmay and the Darken Wood is about staying away from unnecessary violence AND because talking to her normally clearly shows her to be good and discourage violence against her - AND then FAIL a luck check - a luck check which is technically difficult, sure, but a luck value of ~18 is also easy to get to by that point, even reasonable to shoot for if you aim to get the Firesword. If you first pass the luck check, guessing that you'll see something far more interesting if you fail is really difficult.