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Virtue's Heaven

A game about Infinite Dogs, Radical Friends, and the End of History

NPCs

Rhi

Goal:Set the general tone of the game, give players information about their next goal.

Execution:

(When she first meets the players:)

"When the Enlightened Monarch realised that the World was not compatible with his vision of endless growth and profit, he took drastic measures."

"If the world was too irrational to comply with the Age of Reason, then it too should be punished, erased and re-made."

"And so he imprisoned the future at the center of the Earth, and drove gigantic towers into it. In these towers, everyone who has already proven themselves to fit the Age of Reason, would take shelter. "

"Those who were refused, should waste away under the unrelenting Light of a permanent Day, until nothing was left."

"Then the Enlightened would re-emerge, and create a world in their image."

"To prevent the Slow death of everything, the Future needs to belong to everyone, and the Age of Reason must end for good."

"If you want to help me, descent down into Virtue's Heaven, fight those who proclaim to own this world's Future."

"And bring me their hearts."

Vale, Discible of Reason

Goal:Have a recurring character, who has completely bought into the Enlightened Monarch’s ideology, act as the player’s main antagonist.

Execution:

(Before their second Fight)

"I really underestimated you."

"I did not expect that someone could be so desperate and violent, and try to destroy the only thing that is keeping humanity safe."

"But then again, there's a reason why you are stuck outside and are not part of this world's future."

"You are just too violent, too irrational to become human."

"But of course, you believe that this is all a grave injustice that is being done to you and your "friends"."

"Maybe once I've finally disposed of you, you will understand that you only ever had yourself to blame for your own situation."(Fight starts)

(After he lost)

"Try as you might, but you will never become Human!"

Narrative systems: Convictions in Virtue’s Heaven

Goal: Create a reason for players to explore the areas in Virtue’s Heaven, provide them with a customisable upgrade system, make sure that it is connected to the game’s overall theme (you can’t create a future for an entire world on your own).

Idea: Connect every upgrade that the players find to a different character, give every upgrade two different, situational effects to encourage experimentation and increase potential for systemic interactions between different upgrades.

Execution: Players will find special stages in which their Friends are imprisoned. In freeing them, players will get access to that specific NPCs “Conviction”, an upgrade that reflects parts of the core beliefs of the NPC in question. Every conviction has a passive and an active state, the latter oftentimes being incredibly powerful. The players might be alone while exploring Virtue’s Heaven, but they carry the beliefs and hopes of their friends with them at any time and draw strength from them.

Examples:

Conviction of DR Jay: "We should not adjust our bodies and identities to better fit a world that is hostile towards us, but instead change the world to be more welcoming for us."

Passive Effect: Take less damage from stage hazards

Active Effect: Ignore stage hazards entirely

Conviction of Radical Moon: "The more our enemies try to suppress us, the more certain we can be that we’re on the right track."

Passive Effect: When at 0 hp, get revived and immediately enter ‘Radical Mode’ (special state that activates all of your convictions)

Active Effect: Deal and receive more damage