Fallen Hero Retribution: The Complete, Unabridged Guide
9½ months. 650 pages. 75,000+ words. Pages of notes, countless sleepless nights, and one Revelations demo later- Finally, here it is. Our answer key to all things Retribution. Enjoy.
So, You Want To Be A Villain?
As of posting this has not been play-tested. If you notice an issue, feel free to let me know.
You keep staring at the picture, rigid lines, shifting organic paint layers, clashing bright orange and mustard yellow against a black that's not black as much as deep greens and blues masquerading as buildings. Oppressed. The sun hangs too low and heavy, pressing down on the buildings like a hand on a heaving chest. Pretending to be still. Pretending to be dead.
I was very fascinated by this description of the painting, so...
POV your sidestep and you've just gotten back to Los Diablos from a traumatic stay at the farm and the first thing you see in the city is a blown up picture of the man you believe abandoned and forgot about you after your death.
Oh the comedy and irony of Marshal Steel being on the breakroom fridge! Karma really does come for everyone.
Julia is honestly living her best life after years of Chen's dissaproving looks. Argent will never let Steel live this down (and also happy that this 100% makes people forget that she also kissed Sidestep). Herald probably regrets ever taking the hero drug rn.
And Chen? well he's just going to have to find more subtle places to kiss his villain boyfriend - the papparazi is truly everywhere.
meanwhile, at the Sidestep base:
(you're lucky River likes you so much Nehal or your ass would be fired)
Hey you sittin' there with your smug fuckface, will anything ever be good again?
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still enamored with the @infamous-if / au where we are currently hashing out If Rue Was A Famous Angsty Rockstar tm version of them, so here's a little personal jam sesh with Polly
Sup gang! Here are some guides I made back during alpha/beta season, mostly just notes about what choices affect certain hidden stats you can use to craft your Step.
I highly recommend playing blind a couple times first just to see how consequences play out naturally before diving in. These obviously contain huge spoilers.
They should be mostly up to date, but I may have missed one or two things. Feel free to drop me an ask with any questions/issues. These guides just show dialogue choices and the affected stat. Everything is more or less in chronological order outside big sprawling areas (therapy/auction/endings).
Scar Guide - Remember setting your Heartbreak scar in Rebirth? In Retri, it's now a hidden variable that essentially tracks how well your Step is dealing with their trauma. Affects some flavor/variables at this point. Please see the last section for notes about the Suicidal scar, it's very different in Retri. Scar and scar level affect flavor throughout the book. <50 is considered low scar. Scar cannot get below 0 or above 100, it will revert to either if it escapes these bounds at the end of every chapter.
Clue Guide - For Rebirth and Retribution. Tracks how well your Step is doing at staying under the radar. Please note Ortega has 3 separate variables, Sidestep clue (oc), Puppet/Sidestep connection clue (ortega pup), and Puppet criminal clue (pup proof) . Herald does not have a clue stat at this time, he's too good for this world. Also includes clue for Special Directive. This stat affects flavor throughout the book and endings. 40 seems to be the magic number for most changes in flavor/consequences for Chen and Ortega.
Rangers Doubt Guide - hidden stat that tracks how much the Rangers are starting to chafe at the status quo. Does not have any pay off yet, will be used more in the future. Some Rangers will be easier to convince than others.
Puppet Variables Guide - Covers Puppet Comfort Variable, Puppet Individuality and Puppet Precognition. PCV is how comfortable your step is in their puppet body and it affects which body you end Retri in. Puppet Individuality tracks how much your Step treats their puppet persona as its own individual personality. Precognition is how much you lean into your puppet’s boost powers.