(NOTE: These devlogs usually lag behind our official updates. The latest up-to-date information about the game can be found on our team's Patreon page!)

Hello everyone, we're back with another devlog! :)

We've wanted to cover the mechanics of Captain Hale's Retinue for a while now since it'll be such an integral part of the game... So what exactly is the Retinue? Where is it used, what does it do?  And most importantly, how will it help you navigate the world of ToLLA?

To explain some of that, here's an excerpt straight from the game's lorebook:

"Captain Hale commands the 1st Company of the Ninth Legion, and it is elements of this force that serve as a personal entourage to the Player's party (in addition to the many specific, unique companions like Meredith). The Troops, Materiel, and Supplies attached to Captain Hale's squad are collectively referred to as the Captain's Retinue - they're under his command, to do with and make use of according to his judgment. As a sort of Force Commander, Captain Hale has both the burden and privilege of leading and commanding these elite soldiers! The Troops/Materiel/Supplies are resources which model the size and preparedness of this strike-force, and are represented in-game by a Helm, Shield, and Grain Sack, respectively."

In simple terms, your Retinue is your extended entourage - a group comprised of a couple dozen loyal soldiers, alongside all their wargear and supplies. The Retinue itself is on permanent loan to the Captain from the Ninth Legion, for use in dangerous missions and important sorties, and its usefulness (or lack thereof!) will depend solely on the Player's own (mis)management of it! It's up to the Player to recruit, outfit, and supply elements of the Retinue, because they're used to solve the diverse Text Adventures and Perilous Undertakings needed to progress throughout the game! It's also up to the Player's discretion when/where/how the Retinue is used, mainly by navigating the unique CYOA storybook-encounters, and making intelligent use of the limited Retinue resources to do so...

Within the game world of ToLLA, the Retinue in particular (and questing in general!) is more focused on local events and problems than global war maneuvers and army encounters. ToLLA is not a country-management sim, which is why the Retinue doesn't take part in massive land battles, but is rather used for local, tactical maneuvers and skirmishes which provide room for and let the Captain accomplish his primary/story objectives!

Thematically, the troops travel alongside you, but always fan out and flank, tying up enemies and providing distractions so the Captain can lead a small group of elite companions (the core party) into combat against important enemies. As a seasoned adventurer, Captain Hale and his party infiltrate deep behind enemy lines, using the small size of their squad to slip in unnoticed and accomplish missions that serve as force multipliers in the greater theatre of war!

As the Player, you'll be able to field 6 characters in combat (Captain Hale + 5 Companions), all of whom will serve as your traveling party during exploration segments of the game. But any time you invade hostile, multi-level fortifications, you'll need your Retinue! To this end, your Troops, Materiel, and Supplies are important to provide diversions, bypass various environmental obstacles, navigate specific group events, and allow the Captain to accomplish his goals while pursuing various story missions!

In friendly areas like allied towns and villages, the Retinue is used to solve local problems and help townsfolk with whatever they may need (for a concrete list of examples, see the Fort's Text Adventures that we'll be writing about in an upcoming devlog). And all this happens in exchange for ample in-game rewards, of course!

All of the aforementioned resources can be gained or lost by participating in various encounters on the playable map, triggering interactable icons, disarming/bypassing environmental hazards, completing quests, etc. Once the World Map is implemented, the 'Troops' will consume 'Supplies' while the party moves from one location to the next. If 'Supplies' falls to 0, the 'Troops' will start deserting, and might even help themselves to some of their equipment before leaving!

A capable Captain will need to balance the use of his Retinue in order to accomplish his goals, expending its precious resources when necessary, and conserving them when not!

Mechanically, these 3 meta-resources serve the Player in a variety of ways:

• during Encounters: these unique events are diverse in type/challenges/reward, and require the Player to commit a portion of Troops/Materiel/Supplies to successfully complete!
• inside Text Adventures: non-lethal text adventures are solved via using Troops/Materiel/Supplies, not through the additive use of the primary party's (Player + Companions) combined attributes!
• in Perilous Undertakings: lethal undertakings can only be solved by committing a portion of Troops/Materiel/Supplies, with the foreknowledge that most won't be coming back, and suffering a -Morale hit!
• through Deployments: these are located inside various buildings/structures in friendly quest-hub areas, and offer a wide variety of expeditionary deployments which make use of Troops/Materiel/Supplies! (ex: treasure hunts!)
• for Storylines/Arcs: each Chapter will present a progression choke point in the form of a certain amount of Troops/Materiel/Supplies needed to proceed forward! (ex: building up your Retinue before leaving the Prologue Fort)
• World Map: not implemented yet since there's no World Map at the time of writing this, but when it's included the Player will be able to solve various pop-up World Map events by expending Troops/Materiel/Supplies!
• Dungeons: not implemented yet since there's no dungeon-delving at the time of writing this, but when it's included the Player will be able to solve various random dungeon events by using Troops/Materiel/Supplies!
• Combat: not implemented yet, but when it's added the Player will be able to field a massive combat miniature representing their entire Retinue! (unit's stats: HP = Troops; Armor = Materiel; Stamina/Mana = Supplies)

We'd also like to add a special 'Retinue' partymember/follower which would represent the combined assets of your strike-force for those situations when you want to make use of it in direct combat encounters. As mentioned above, its Health/Armor/Stamina would be taken from the Troops/Materiel/Supplies values, and its combat miniature represented as a giant-sized amalgamation of various soldiers, scouts, and mages which make up the group's composition! The 'Retinue' partymember would have its own unique spells and abilities (covering the many diverse types of soldiers serving within it), as well as 7-8 unique equipment slots for special Retinue Wargear! This Retinue Wargear would be a parallel type of itemization (to match the regular items you'll be able to find/loot/purchase for your core Companions), equippable only on the Retinue's paper doll! Things like bulk infantry armor and weapons, squad accessories like flags/banners/standards, mass consumables like bandages and unguents, and so on, all of which come in bulk quantities!

Retinue Wargear items should cost thousands of gold, because they represent enough items of a certain type (armors, weapons) to equip dozens of individual soldiers! These items would also be available only at special merchants who equip entire armies, or could be found/looted in heavy vaults and armories/treasuries of hostile fortifications! This is a 'luxury feature' we have planned for the future, but it'll have to wait until we have the core functionality implemented and debugged.

And that brings us to the end of this devlog...

The Retinue mechanics are an important pillar of ToLLA's gameplay loop, and we'll touch upon them again in the future.

As always, we hope you've enjoyed reading, and that you'll return next time for more! :)

Until then...

~ Crimson Delight Games