Anathema (previously known as Never Mess With a Warlock) starts with a simple premise, a warlock has taken something you desire, and you aim to get it back. He seeks to transform you in different ways to weaken your resolve. In a land of his domain, you must regain your abilities, and find several gems in different areas to reach the warlock and defeat him. Your changes will effect how the ending plays out in different ways.

Several goals in mind:

No early bad ends, I just don't like how they effect gameplay. I also like the idea of a transformation messing with you, but not being your downfall.

Transformations should mean something, as in, it shouldn't just be something you look at yourself.   NPCs should react, and ways to get a gem might change.

You should be free to go where you want in whatever order. Alright this one isn't entirely true, but it's kept most of that ideal.

Not all information in this section will be reference completely, this is merely if you want more background on the setup.

The character starts off in the lands of Arendel. While this is minor as far as the extent of how little time you spend here it is important to note a few things. First is that monsters(orcs, werewolves, giants, etc.) are an extreme rarity in this world, mostly appearing due to a summoning or by some other botched experiment. In another category is demons (imps, succubi, incubi, etc.) which are next to non existant in this world. The main character is an adventurer of sorts, so he has seen these creatures before, but maybe only once or twice.

Gods/goddesses exist, it is best to think of them as something akin to greek gods, or kami/shinto mythos. Essentially beings with power that help regulate the world before them, but can be flawed like humans.

The character ends up in what is known as the warlock's realm, it's best to think of this as a pocket realm. Essentially, it exists by itself outside of Arendel. As such the warlock can bend the rules of how things work in these lands.

You(the hero)

The Warlock

The Wizard

Your Lover(if chosen)

The Farmer

Mysterious Woman

The Rich Man

The Druid

The Halfling

general notes:

To unlock the rpg mechanics and regain your class, go to the appropriate area.  Mage is at is the wizard tower, rogue is at the mansion, and warrior is at the farm.

side quests open up after doing the main job at each area, side quests are a good way to get new special items.

easy way to get money early on is at the inn doing the waitress job

Transformation locations:

catgirl: during the initial task given by the wizard

cowgirl: at the farm

bunnygirl: at the lodge

wolfgirl: involves the werewolves you fight at the swamps

succubus: at the mansion

dragongirl: during the druid/shapeshifting area

orcishbreeder: involved with the orc chieftain

bimbo: at the inn

kobold: easter egg on, just keep going to the crossroads and the way will open up.

Update: 0.7.7d 89,240 words, 238 passages, 431 variables

*Waitress scenes go a bit further for non-bimbo version
*you can now engage in combat right from the start. Going to locations based on your class still boosts stats a bit though.
*You now name your character
*changed the halfing side quest reward
*changed symbols used for jungle puzzle
*Fixed it so that if you still have stat points to spend in the levelup menu, you can go back and spend them.
*updated it so if enemies have multiple attacks, they display them on the same page(this is seperate of whether they go two turns in a row).
*Disabled side menu buttons during combat to avoid exploits.
*fixed bug that made levelup menu dissappear

Update: 0.7.7a 83,451 words, 232 passages, 423 variables

• Fixed some bugs
• updated chimera fight
• added health and mana bars
• removed magic eight ball menu thing
• sorta kinda added an achievement thing that is in early stages.

Update: 0.7.7 81,077 words, 230 passages, 389 variables

• Fixed Bugs
• Exp required per level increased by 10 for each level up.
• Did some spellchecking on older stuff.
• Living armor strength lowered, can still be upgraded with levels to be stronger though, also requires a few levels to see the event.
• Skills detail more mp info(how much mana they cost, and stating when you don't have enough mana to cast)
• Side jobs and events are at least in outline or rought draft form, in that they can at least be completed.
• Cursed enemies to fight before fighting the warlock. Tried to make their fights uniquely interesting.
• Added some additional monsters to fight in the swamps.
• living armor pregnancy scene at night added.
• slashed a 0 off all gold earnings and costs.
• added keyboard functionality to the rpg combat. space bar will roll through the turn actions, and the basic attack. z,x,c,v do the power attack and class abilities. the a key does any abilities from transformations.
• Changed it some you can sleep at the inn past 5 days, although the only real purpose is to see certain night events through their full process.

Update: 0.7.6 69,247 words, 212 passages, 343 variables

• Groundwork laid down for future updates.
• Fixed some bugs in the shapeshifting section, altered innkeeper and farmer dialogue colors to not be so bright.
• Simple combat icons added to combat menu.
• Warlock's mirror move capped.  You can no longer run from the warlock fight, but you can survive one defeat from him.
• Small text animation to damage roll text.  Wanted something a little extra without being intrusive.
• Random events have started being added.
• Sidebar menu fixed up (thanks to cevrik777 for info on that)
• Went back to various pages and updated descriptions or dialogue slightly for them in different ways.  Kind of all over the place, so hard to summarize.
• Outlines for random events and new side jobs added
• setup for new reputation system

Update: 0.7.5 51,925 words, 184 passages, 261 variables

0.7.5a fixed combat bug, and form issue leavig druid cave

• New dragongirl transformation which can be acquired in the shapeshifting section. Combat ability is: Dragonbreath which does some basic fire damage, but continues to damage the enemy for two additional turns.
• More dialogue/scenes based on transformations
• Cleaned up spacing in various areas, and a bit more visual design. Also corrected a bunch of spelling mistakes.
• Minor tweeks in various passages. This is actually bigger than it seems, I went back to a lot of passages and added in details.
• Lowered how powerful the mithril armor and master crafted mace were, still strong, but not as balance breaking as before.
• Fixed a bug where going to get different transformations didn't remove stat buffs from previous transformations.
• Gave the giant a skill so that he can be a little bit tougher, 6k gold should be harder to earn after all. I might bump his stats more in the balancing phase down the road as well. Also gave bunk and grunk another skill, I mean if they are going to yell out combo numbers, they should have more than one right? :P

Update: 0.7.1 46,679 words, 175 passages, 249 variables

0.7.1a fixed bugs regarding combat, and night scenes, also adjusted inventory box

• Fixed bugs reported, and ones I found.
• Worked on night scenes.
• little bit more work on dialogues based on transformations.
• Little more work on ending stuff(granted people won't have noticed the difference due to the previous bug =X )
• small balance changes, tuned down the damage of the orc guards, and upped the stats of bunk and grunk
• Transformations now overwrite each other, but it is now possible to go back to the area where you got said transformation to reacquire it. Keep in mind it might have changes to the ending since you are essentially going to back to force a change on yourself.(depending on where the ending is going too of course)(I did get a bit lazy and just copy and pasted so stuff, but I'll work on making it fit better down the road).

Update: 0.7 41,856 words, 169 passages, 248 variables

0.7a- fixed bug not allowing shapeshifting section to work.  Also updated so that the new transformations show the new form on the sidebar.  Minor text updates in various passages.

• Fixed bugs reported, and some I found myself (I must admit there was more broken than I thought)..
• Small detail, but added a side detail to track how many of the gems you've acquired.
• Added further bunny transformation, and orcish breeder transformation that have pregnancy stuff. These are rather new, so people won't note your appearance yet. Worth noting that while specific sexual scenarios can impregnate you as orc breeder, in particular losing to orcs will cause a special scene.
• Updated the rpg section so that the enemies in the orcish village have some skills to use.
• One of my favorite new additions to be used in the rpg combat: Transformation specific moves/abilities! Examples: bunny transformation? Deliver a powerful kick! Catgirl? Claw the fuck out of them! Cowgirl... milk them to death?(j/k)
• I should actually break down what these new moves do actually: keep in mind these like other abilties do not use your weapon damage, but are guaranteed to hit. Claw(cat): perform several small attacks, Rip and Tear(wolf): ignore enemy armor, Bunny Kick(bunny): minor damage, with chance to stun target for a turn, Charm(bimbo): I wanted to come up with something better, but for now reduces enemy damage by 2 for rest of fight (1 use), rage(orc breeder): increase damage by 2 for the rest of the fight.(1 use), Headbutt(cow): I uh, was a bit short on ideas at the time, so for now does some damage, plus extra based on your strength+dexterity. 
• Polished up various pages. (part in wizard section, had to detail some stuff in the shapeshifting section, added descriptions of what skills do in the scroll shop)
• The Endings are coming in! The baddest of bad ends are starting to come in. Some of the other ends are starting to be detailed out, but are still in progress. Some parts involve fighting the warlock, get ready to be drained, cursed, and even use attacks based on your transformation(only 2 moves based on transformation currently). Mysteries to be revealed! Will you come out a hero, or a fool? Endings are not be final as there are certain values I have not added yet.

Update: 0.6 36,134 words, 158 passages, 226 variables

• Fixed bugs reported, and some I found myself.
• Added run(Haven't fully detailed so it currently just sends you to the crossroads if you succeed) and surrender options.(since some transformation is on a combat loss, decided to add this) 
• Updated the retraining scenes a bit more so that they aren't just one liners. Still not fully done with them yet though.
• Updated the maid section, made some specific scenes based on certain transformations. (Actually spent a lot of time with wolf transformation setup...)
• Updated the shapeshifting section, it will now be required to reach the end.
• Updated the rpg section, it's rather basic right now, but leads into fighting through an orc village for the purple gem. Future updates will work on adding a transformation to it, and making the fights more unique. Right now it's just a bundle of stats to fight through.
• Various things to prepare for next update.

Update: 0.5.5 28,927 words, 135 passages, 196 variables

• 2 new skills, one for rogue which is smokescreen which lowers enemy attack for 2 turns. The other for warrior which is defensive pose which increases armor by 4 for the remainder for the battle(1 use per battle).
• Ogre boss added, shows up as an option after exploring into the swamps enough.
• Money is lost now for losing combat, currently takes a flat 100 gold.
• Removed farm text game, for the time being added a memory type game instead. Will keep, change, or remove based on feedback. Main thing is on how hard or easy it is. As long as you get 2 correct you get the gem, any extra is money earned.
• Updated farm section in general as well in terms of text.
• People now react/comment to your transformations more.

Update: 0.5.4 25,512 words, 138 passages, 187 variables

• fixed bugs relating to mystery box scene being broken, and infninite exp/gold issues
• farm minigame now just involves typing the full sentence out to complete. Added some gold earned for the effort to mess with it.
• added new spells and moves you can buy, frost ray has a 25% chance to freeze the enemy, lightning bolt damage is amplified by intelligence, backstab does extra damage if enemy is at full health, smash reduces enemy armor.
• added new enemy that can cast spells, and one that can transform you if you lose.
• Lowered the exp/gold rewards from enemies

Update: 0.5.3

0.5.3a-fixed some bugs 22,602 words, 136 passages, 168 variables

• A good part was focused on adding rpg elements
• This includes the blacksmith having weapons/armor that auto equip on purchase.  At least until I further develop it.
• There is an apothecary that will also sell potions.
• There are several enemy types, currently they have their gold and experience rewards jacked up for testing purposes, on top of that losing really has no detriment right now.
• The lodge job is at least finishable right now, though there is a powerful enemy at the end.
• mystery box now has results for buying it.
• Strength, dexterity, intelligence, and vitality stats added, they are rather basic for now, strength increases damage on attacks, dexterity increases the chance to hit, intelligence increases spell damage and mana pool, vitality increases health pool.
• See that inventory option that makes a special box?  mmm I love it.

Update: 0.5.2 20,482 words, 128 passages, 143 variables

• Basics of shapeshifting section implemented, but is very basic.  It mainly shows off the concept I have in mind of using different forms for different advantages.
• been working on developing a sort of challenge for the maid section, but it's not done yet so is just optional.
• detailed the intro some more.
• various bugfixes

Update: 0.5.1 

• Some background stuff to implement a rpg mechanic, currently a combat test section early on
• some background stuff to implement a shapeshifting mechanic
• fleshed out the wizard section a bit
• Added more to bimbo transformation scene, and bimbo specific dialogue with other characters.
• starting to add a milking system to the cowgirl transformation

Upcoming:

0.7.7: succubus transformation, events fully added, side jobs fully added and enemies to fight before reaching the warlock. Also likely to be removing back button at this point.
0.7.8: endings, endings, endings!
0.7.9: Working on anything that's been left unfinished, or needs a rework.
0.8: going into beta! From here on it will be balancing, and bug fixes. Is getting gold or leveling too easy? Are certain enemies too hard, or not hard enough? 
0.9 - 1.0: develop stuff based on any suggestions or feedback.