Lost Rambler

Update

The last chapter of the book (Rewards and some other stuff) is tomorrow. It might be two chapters so I can set up the start of Book 5. Either way, it's tomorrow.

If any of you are interested in Dina's aspect, there is still a vote going on, and it looks like things are leaning toward Stranger, but Criminal is not too far behind if that interests you.

Reward Poll: Riley, Bobby, and Cassie

Just like the previous poll. Read it to learn the guidelines

If you think I posted this before without the multichoice option... I did.

Rewards Poll: Dina, Isaac, Kimberly, Antoine, and Ramona

Welcome to the first Patreon Rewards vote!

I may have gotten carried away.

Today, you'll get the chance to vote on the potential rewards that each player will receive.

Here's how it works:

Each Player will be assigned a list of potential tropes. First, vote on which rewards you believe that player should receive. Remember, the amount of rewards you give a particular player should reflect how well you think they performed based on the Performance-Difficulty-Novelty sche...

Debrief

I will be getting the rewards chapter out soonish. I am investigating the possibility of having you all vote on specific rewards, but that is not set in stone. If you have ideas of tropes or other rewards certain characters should have, feel free to let me know in the comments.

On a story note, I am going to rewrite the reveal chapter to try to make it more natural instead of a big speech. I know it may not seem that way, but this tutorial gave the players some useful information that t...

Arc II, Chapter 83: The Narrator Part Two

When we first read through the accounts of Project Rewind in the Carousel Atlas, we had to take what we had read on faith. We knew we had not been “brought on” to the broken Throughline that had doomed so many of those who had come before us, but we never knew why.

We assumed, as the architects of Project Rewind had implied, that we were not incorporated into the broken Throughline because we had not learned some crucial piece of information.

Now, if he could be believed, Sila...

Arc II, Chapter 82: The Narrator Part One

We stood there as the words from the tape echoed in each of our minds.

“Featured” Throughline? That had to mean that there was more than one. The tone of the tape, the way it was phrased, it almost seemed like there were lots of Throughlines that players could go on. It was hard to separate reality from the strange, game-like façade that obscured everything in Carousel.

Had we nearly signed on to Silas Dyrkon’s own personal Throughline in his “employ,” whatever that mea...

Arc II, Chapter 81: The Tape (unedited)

Kimberly and the monstrous Lillian were back Off-Screen for a moment.

Before I could even yell with Flashback Revelation, Kimberly pointed to the Die Cast and said something.

On-Screen.

Lillian looked confused at first. She saw the buildings and booths around the Centennial burning, and the fire reflected in her crazed eyes.

“You!” she screamed. “It’s you.”

The Deathwatch screen on the red wallpaper flashed back. Some fancy editing between shots of Lill...

Arc II, Chapter 80: The Lillian Scorned Contingency

What had the Stranger said to us? What truths had we been forced to ignore?

I remembered he said this was a trap. He said it was a trick.

He said those things to our faces.

We thought we weren’t affected. We believed we knew what he was talking about, that Carousel was a trap, and that we had been tricked.

Suddenly, the veil lifted from my eyes, and I realized that The Stranger was telling us that we were currently being trapped—that some other trap was in the work...

Arc II, Chapter 79: The Cynic

Ramona becoming a player was a curveball but a welcome one. I didn’t predict what Archetype she would be in the slightest.

She pressed the red button and grabbed the handful of tickets as they came out. Suddenly, she grew weak in the knees, and her sister rushed to grab her before she fell.

Silas disappeared, and I started reading her tropes on the red wallpaper.

The Hysteric

Minor Archetype

 

You are the Hysteric—a maelstr...

2024-06-11 03:41:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Doing some rewrites.

This means the chapters will roll out ASAP over the next few days. I wish I could have finished it to my liking already. I don't want to release it until it is right, and I would not delay it if it wasn't crucial.

Endings are hard.

Chapters Tomorrow

Thank you for your patience.

What to expect.

I will post all of the remaining chapters for book four at once. I need to get them all done and look at them together, which will take a few days. Sorry for the wait and the irregular schedule.

The Tutorial was a bit different from the rest of the series. I wanted to try and see what it would be like if the players were at the mercy of a pre-planned adventure where they had to intuit the way to the true ending. I think it was a little rough getting there. I know I will be shaving off s...

Read the Chapter Before You Look here (with Multiple Votes Allowed)

Change of plans. There is only one chapter today because I decided to give you a poll.

Choose Ramona Mercer's Archetype!

Your choices are all of the classics but with a twist.

I have included all applicable Archetypes (based on her personality).

I have also included Advanced Archetype options. I reserve the right to decide when these will be awarded. It could be immediately, but probably won't. I just need to know now so I can design her progression.

After this, ...

Arc II, Chapter 78: Late Casting

"Having a conversation with ghosts makes me feel like a crazy person," Dina said as she sat back on the concrete ledge next to the river. She wasn’t wearing her usual leather jacket and cut-up jeans. She wore a loose floral blouse tucked into high-waisted mom jeans, reminiscent of a housewife in the early nineties. Her hair was styled long and straight, with a hint of makeup that made her look like a hippie who grew up.

I was sure that look was Carousel’s idea. Or maybe it wasn’t....

The End (Of Book Four)

The Die Cast storyline ends tomorrow with the publishing of the final two (or three because I sometimes get carried away) chapters.

Shortly after that, Book Four will be over and Book Five will begin! Thanks for reading.

Dina's Aspect

The vote for Dina's Aspect is live on Discord https://discord.com/channels/1094353914054328360/1117499810426126497

If you are interested in the outcome, go check it out.

This vote is for everyone, but the next vote is Patreon exclusive.

🧳: Newcomer: This aspect highlights the Outsider's status as a newcomer in unfamiliar situations or environments....

Arc II, Chapter 77: The Outsider Returns

When we arrived back at the mansion, I expected to find Bobby’s ghost. He was fatally injured; surely, he would join us on the other side soon. He had to have burns to much of his body and was missing chunks of skin.

But he lingered.

His Grit, I noticed, was through the roof. I couldn’t figure out why until I realized what had happened.

Cassie had done it.

After he was injured, Cassie had accidentally activated her Empathic Shield ability when she showed such genui...

Update

I am aiming for two chapters tomorrow, one guaranteed. I just need to edit it. Thanks for reading.

PS: I am developing the TTRPG based on the series. If you find that interesting, I'd like you hear your thoughts in the comments.

Arc II, Chapter 76: Double Team

Lillian was supposed to be in the secret passage, injured but not dying. If she succumbed to the smoke or if the Die Cast injured her further, Doctor Halle would not transform her into a monster, and, to my understanding, we would not get the true ending of the storyline.

I could do nothing for her. I was a ghost.

I looked around. The air was thick with smoke. I ran outside right through the wall. I needed someone, any of the living players to help. There was only one left.

...

Arc II, Chapter 75: Mirror Match

I found Kimberly and Antoine. They must have met up and split back apart to look for Gray. I didn’t know where Bobby and Cassie were. They had only just noticed me when I used Flashback Revelation to say, “Follow my voice.”

I should have been more cautious about using that trope. At some point, it could run out, but I needed to get their attention.

I had to walk slowly so that they could follow. Even when I was trying to avoid running into people, I could move through the cr...

Arc II, Chapter 74: Gray

Roderick was now officially a threat. I didn’t like that wrinkle. Most of our plans assumed that future mayor Gray would be a pushover.

I rushed in through the wall. Being able to phase through solid objects was quite handy. I was getting used to it.

On the other side of the wall, I looked to where I knew Gray was supposed to be, and… he wasn’t there. He had seemingly vanished into thin air. I looked all through the crowd and I couldn’t see him.

There must have been ...

Update

All three of this week's chapters will be published this weekend. I appreciate your patience, and thanks for reading!

A note

I realize that the tutorial has been long. I don't want to miss anything. I promise the next book will start soon. I appreciate your patience.

Arc II, Chapter 73: Hard Mode Initiated

On-Screen.

“So let me get this straight,” Isaac said as we stood outside the Geist Mansion, “We’re sending them to a place we know the Die Cast is going to strike because we think Roderick will be skulking around outside with the flask because the psychic who got us into this mess believes that throwing the flask into a river will stop the Die Cast from being summoned?”

“That’s the long and short of it,” I said.

Isaac sighed. “And we’re here because you t...

Arc II, Chapter 72: Manor's Blaze Eve

Two bodies.

I had died twice in less than a few minutes. First, I got electrocuted. I couldn’t blame anyone but myself for that one.

Second, I got placed in another body and propped up in a theater. That body died of… something. Magic? Evil? Convenience? And suddenly, I was a ghost.

I had to sit and think through everything I had just experienced even to comprehend it. My body—my real body—was still smoking when a bunch of NPCs started to haul it away.

That who...

Arc II, Chapter 71: Them

This wasn’t a heist movie. There would be no repelling down from the ceiling to get past a laser beam security system. We weren’t going to grift our way past the five or so police officers in the building. We wouldn’t replace Isaac with a holographic replica.

But we weren’t without options. The jail was small. There was an office of sorts with a uniformed officer at reception. There were desks for the officers, an interrogation room, and an entire room devoted to phone banks and...

Arc II, Chapter 70: The Secret Sixth Principle

I liked to read the Carousel Atlas when I was doing anything else. I had brought it with me during our month-long holiday as we portrayed our characters' lives.

The knowledge inside was always qualified with disclaimers. No matter how much our predecessors knew about Carousel, they never really believed they knew anything. The history of the book was marked with change.

Rules that had been placed inside the book years earlier were liable to be crossed out, with long ...

Arc II, Chapter 69: A Slight Change of Plans

Moonlight Morrow was a Paragon, the Departed Paragon, but in this story he was acting as a player.

That made some sense. Advanced Archetypes like the Departed change the nature of the stories they enter. Detectives like Grace made things into murder mysteries. Monster Hunters like Arthur made things into hunts. A story filled with spirituality like this one could have certainly been the result of some Advanced Archetype rearranging.

Isaac, caught off guard, watched as Moonlight Mo...

Opinions

Can I get some feedback from the Patrons on some things?

First, what are your actual opinions on Riley dying in a story? I understand that some don't like it, but I feel if he never dies that is too much, ahem, Plot Armor. Do the tools he has to mitigate his loss of agency work well enough for you? (Deathwatch and Off-Screen Death)

Second, what are your opinions on the chapters that Riley does not narrate?

PS. The next two chapters will come out tomorrow and Saturday. I mean...

Arc II, Chapter 68: Moonlight

This wasn’t the kind of story where slumber parties made sense. Our characters were bound together by having some connection to the Die Cast. Some of us had helped summon it; others had merely witnessed it. Still, hanging out in a giant glass house together was probably not completely in character.

It didn’t matter. We needed it. Spending time alone in Carousel was grating, even with Carousel moving you forward days at a time. It was easy to get lonely even with so many unseen eyes ...