Meet the Characters of Netoria: Carwyn (Patreon)

We're still about three and a half months away from Netoria coming out, but let's get this hype train rolling! I won't be putting out a first preview build until after The Monster Within's big final update (the 22nd!) but for now how about some character previews. So first off, it only makes sense to talk about the game's protagonist, Carwyn.

Carwyn kicks off the story of the game, descending into the dark caverns to secure medicine for his sick family. This is no ordinary voyage however, it's a suicide mission. No one returns from the caverns, the further someone gets the more rewards are sent up to the surface for whomever they embarked on the journey for. Who is behind this terrible quest? You'll find out later.

Carwyn is followed into the caverns by the love of his life, Gwenivier. Despite his objections, she forces herself into the journey, refusing to let Carwyn go to his death alone. But much to her dismay, Carwyn insists they must put their romantic feelings to the side, what matters is them getting as far as possible to get their loved ones as much medicine and comforts as possible. Anything that could distract from that must be put out of mind. So he pushes down his feelings and readies his sword, focused fully on the deadly quest ahead.

Carwyn's starting class is fencer. He has a powerful rapier that has low damage but penetrates enemy defenses, and a parrying dagger that gives him boosts to speed and evasion, but is pretty weak. He has has pretty lackluster stats with only 4 strength, 3 defense, and solid speed of 6. (I know you have no context for these stats right now, but if you've every played Fire Emblem it's basically the same)

So I guess Carwyn just sucks? Not so fast, he has two skills that are crucial to defining his role on the team. The first is Lone Wolf. Carwyn is not a team player, he likes to work alone, so if you put him at least three spaces away from any allies, he gets a heap of buffs. +3 attack, +10 hit/avoid/crit, and +3 to defense/resist. Suddenly that defense piercing rapier of his is doing heaps of damage.

His second skill is Watchful Eye. Carwyn is a wary, suspicious kind of person. He keeps a close eye on friend and foe alike. If Carwyn is next to another unit, that units personal skills are negated. What this mostly means in practice, is that if he's next to a character who might try to grope Gwenivier, they won't be able to as they'll lose the Lustful skill that activates groping. Of course, all beneficial skills will be turned off too, and he'll lose his Lone Wolf bonus as a result of being too close to someone else, but Gwenivier will be protected.

Carwyn also has another special ability, transforming into a girl mid combat (this game is for the TFGamessite contest I'm running after all). About 1/3 through the game, Carwyn is "cursed" with the ability to turn into a female form. This form turns all of his (or rather now her) skills on their head. Lone Wolf becomes Pack Hunter, which raises Carwyn's stats even higher if next to two other people. But she loses Watchful Eye, as well as becoming a groping target for the other men on the team. Will you embrace the new form, as well as the inevitable corruption that comes along with it, or refuse to use it and protect Gwenivier, at the cost of combat ability?

I think I know what most of you will choose. The whole game is full of mechanics like that. The less you fight the NTR, the easier the game is. You can keep keep everyone pure and cockblock all the people trying to ruin Carwyn and Gwenivier's relationship, but the game will be a good deal harder.

There's three main paths Carwyn can go down for his relationships. If he and Gwenivier avoid getting groped, they'll end up together. If he gets groped in female form, he'll end up the plaything of the three main NTRing men. There's also another woman in the party, Nymue, who Cawyn rescues near the end of the first release. She'll try to grope male Cawyn, trying to win the romantic favor of her savoir. So even if Gwenivier stays safe, Cawyn can be stolen away from her too, it's NTR all around.