(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!)

Hey folks, we're back again with another devlog! :)

This time we'll be talking about a very cool feature coming to ToLLA: its unique Text Adventures and Perilous Undertakings!

As touched upon in the previous devlog, unique CYOA encounters involving your Retinue come in 2 main flavors: Text Adventures, and Perilous Undertakings. We'll do a full post about these in the future once we've fleshed out their art a bit more, but for the time being just know that Text Adventures are found mainly in allied/neutral locations (towns, villages, exterior wilderness areas, etc.), while Perilous Undertakings appear in hostile or dangerous areas (subterranean caverns, enemy camps and fortifications, hostile cities, and so on). Both are storybook events with multiple choices and many branching outcomes that determine how you get through the encounter!

Most of these CYOAs are optional, and can be completed for extra rewards (gold, treasure, magical items, experience, lore, info, etc.), but some will be tied to the story and will block progression until successfully completed! The biggest difference between them is that failing to pass Difficulty Checks in Text Adventures carries no extra penalties apart from losing out on their rewards, while failing DCs in Perilous Undertakings means your Retinue loses soldiers, equipment, supplies, and usually imparts heavy Morale penalties as well (which impact not only the Retinue, but your core party's performance in combat!). A Text Adventure might be something like breaking up a mass brawl using your authority and soldiers, while a Perilous Undertaking would be something like trying to sneak your whole company through the lair of a sleeping dragon!

Here are just a few examples that will be present in the Prologue Fort:

• Palisade Repair: mend the weakened part of the Fort's palisade the orcs broke through during their recent raid... requires a certain amount of Troops to attempt, and will lower the party's Supplies to feed the soldiers while they're working!
• Secure the Watchtower: send your men to navigate the partially crumbled and heavily dilapidated Watchtower as they climb its rickety stairs towards the top, evading loose debris and unsteady footing... once atop it, repair the spyglass to boost morale!
• Cavern Excursion: repel down a ravine/chasm, and take geological readings, then reinforce the decayed support beams anchoring the above-ground scout towers... while there, discover and loot an ancient equipment cache left buried decades ago!
• Crane Repair: repair and re-fit the broken Warehouse crane... but first, the replacement parts must be obtained and/or found (pristine rope, reinforced pulley, crux/rose mechanism), stashed around the Fort as they are...
• Well Purification: de-clog and purify the congested well that's been backlogged by muddy weather over the past year, and then poisoned by orc shamans during last week's raid...
• Wagon Woes: help fix the gypsy merchant's broken cart-axle (thus opening her inventory!), by first scouring the Fort for a possible replacement part...
• Broken Ballista: repair the Fort's broken ballista wrecked in the orc attack... doing so requires visiting the Workshop and requisitioning a few items (new bolts, rope, logs, pulley, etc.), then incorporating them into the ballista itself!
• Dummy Range: re-fit the training range decoys/dummies that were burned in the orc attack... have your men cut lumber into humanoid shapes, fill burlap sacks with straw, put armor on them, etc. (once done, you can train vs. dummies!)

The cool thing about these side-missions is that they involve the Captain's Retinue, which adds another layer of immersion and fun to the game! You'll not be able to navigate these special encounters with your core party, no matter how high their level, nor how powerful their wargear! Repairing buildings and crossing environmental hazards will require groups of soldiers to tackle successfully, so you'll have an additional incentive to take good care of your Retinue by recruiting, outfitting, and feeding the soldiers who comprise it!

And with that we'll end this particular development blog...

We hope you've enjoyed reading, and that you'll return for more in the future.

In the meantime, take care, and stay safe out there! :)

~ Crimson Delight Games