Chapelwaite

Chapelwaite Game Manual

Chapelwaite is not your typical RPG Maker game. It's most heavily focused on atmosphere and exploration, and of course story, but it has some unique gameplay mechanics, some of which are not exactly intuitive. So this is somewhere between an actual manual and a 'hints & tips' kind of thing.

In no particular order:

• If either Charles or Calvin die, the game is over.
  
• The events of this game are mentally taxing. Each protagonist starts with 250 Sanity. As they hear, see, and experience worrisome things, their sanity will gradually erode. SAN only goes down, never up. At below 200 SAN a character becomes Rattled, at below 150 SAN a character becomes Shaken, at below 100 SAN a character is Unraveling, and at below 50 SAN a character is Traumatized. 0 SAN for either character is game over. These status effects progressively worsen your accuracy, Intelligence, and Charisma. There is no way to restore SAN. This is intentional. Once your Sanity dips below 200, you will begin to hallucinate, but the frequency of the hallucinations depends on your SAN. Higher SAN, less frequent hallucinations.
  
• Firearms need ammunition to function. Duh. Ammunition is scarce but explore thoroughly and you'll find some.
  
• Character statistics are Savagery, Toughness, Intelligence, Willpower, Dexterity, and Charisma. All stats except for Intelligence and Willpower are on a range from 1 to 100, and cap at 100. Intelligence and Willpower cap at 24. Some of these stats will be tested outside of combat: the game rolls a d100 and if it's equal to or less than your Savagery you break a lock, roll a d20 and if it's equal to or less than your intelligence you solve a cypher, and so on.
  
• There are only 6 fights in the game, and four of them are avoidable. The final boss battle is really freaking hard.
  
• There are two instances in the game where if you fail to flee from an enemy, it will outright tear you apart, no battle system about it. It should be dramatically evident which enemies these are, because they're huge and terrifying.
  
• Departing from most RPGs, there are NO (0) items you can use in battle. You can, however, change your equipment in battle, which is crucial for situations like ammunition running out and needing to switch to a backup melee weapon.
  
• Strange Candles will be useful in the endgame phase and only then.
  
• You can create illumination by igniting candles and lamps which will increase the brightness inside the house. Sometimes it's necessary to fully illuminate an area before you can investigate all the objects there, such as bookshelves and paintings.
  
• You save the game by corresponding with your pen-pal, Everett "Bones" Granson. You'll also be allowed to save at certain important moments in the story.
  
• Even if an area or object contained nothing the first time you checked it, it might be worth checking again later on. Chapelwaite is a strange old house.

Upon request from a player, I will post up a walkthrough page. My testers were able to get through it without a walkthrough, but I'm not sure everyone will be.