r/ScarletHollow

We all know how Mystical lets you say stuff that is batshit insane, we love it for it. We also know that it also lets us resist and expand on some of the supernatural elements of the game. And for my final assertion, the animals with eggs in them also go batshit insane.

The question is: how will Mystical interact with an MC that got got by the Ditchlings? Will it have MC lucid with the only caveat being that there are some parasitic lumps in them, or will they be unable to go a single interaction without spouting some BS about how patterns will repeat until they devour themselves or smth to that effect. Maybe secret third option?

A bit unrelated, but how would this affect an aged MC? They take two steps and collapse, no matter what ig.

PS: If this needs the spoilers tag I'll add it.

I feel like I've done everything I could have, I flirted with him at every point possible and had the "kiss" but I never actually went into a romance? Is there a specific thing I have to do or is it just not possible

If I recall I somehow managed to mute the doorbell when waiting for Tabitha and Sybil inside the general goods store, allowing me to go out, do something else and then go back without them noticing. I think I played with KE and SS that time.

Am I remembering correctly? I want the extra interaction for a romance, but I don't want to make half a playthrough in vain and I can't find any guides detailing how to do this.

And once it's out, the first five episodes of Scarlet Hollow will be a combined one-million words long!

On that note, we've wrapped up writing work on our planned expansion to Episode 5, which means we're moving on to art. We'll be looking to get a build of this update out to testers in about a couple of weeks, so if you're interested in checking it out early, you can sign up for our Patreon and get access to exclusive Discord channels on our server.

Here's (some of) what you can expect from this upcoming expansion:

Episode 5:

• About 70,000 words of new and remastered content, with most of it expanding some of the shorter sections of the chapter.
• Visit the church for spiritual guidance!
• Chat with Avery and Doctor Kelly while driving to the farms.
• Talk at Franklin from the back of the squad car after you've been arrested.
• The transition to the farms should be smoother and more drawn out across most playthroughs, including longer interactions with Reese, Wayne and Irma.
• Players romancing Reese with the Hot trait will have the ability to more thoroughly explore the town, though this might come with its own set of consequences.
• Going to the farms with Stella will have more route-unique content, including some entirely new backgrounds.
• Most routes through Episode 5 now contain more background context for Julius, helping bring players who skipped Julius-relevant scenes in previous Episodes up to speed.
• The Tabitha office confrontation scene has been rebalanced. Overall, the "best" outcome should be harder to obtain, without making it easier to trigger a hard failure. The "most powerful" strategies for this scene have been nerfed, and the weakest strategies have been buffed.
• Keen Eye has been given a number of buffs. Notably, it now gives the player warnings ahead of major relationship checks that the player is likely going to fail before the player locks in to an attempt. This further cements its role as a powerful trait for first time players, while falling off for players with significant game knowledge.
• Reworked the farms ending where the player transfers the baby to a wounded Avery to communicate what's going on more clearly, and bring it in line with our original vision.

Earlier Episodes:

• Added a confirmation screen before taking The Roads Untraveled route in Episode 2, with in-universe narration suggesting that the player might miss out on things by staying at the Estate. We think this route provides a compelling perspective on certain characters and events, but it also makes the game’s social elements harder to navigate, and it makes it easy to miss context around Avery and Julius. We think it’s best to take this on a second playthrough, but we also don’t want to fully restrict players from taking options that feel correct for their characters. Hopefully this nudge balances things out!
• Expanding on the above, the player now has the option to return to the Estate in Episode 2 after visiting town, allowing for more exploration (General Store + Diner) without committing to the Stella/Kaneeka library route. This opens up Avery’s content and Julius’ introduction in the diner while still allowing the player to roleplay as avoiding danger and respecting Tabitha’s wishes.
• Removed the Street Smart requirement for giving Isaacs the player’s contact information specifically for The Roads Untraveled mines route. This should both open up more story avenues for players taking this path, and serve to boost player relationships compared to the default route. Snitching on the strike should give the player an opportunity to avoid Tabitha’s hangout without taking a further penalty to her relationship, and also opens up an opportunity to take a hangout with another character.
• Avery's scene in the general store in Episode 3 now occurs across all playthroughs, instead of just serving as a catch-up scene for players who didn't meet Avery in previous episodes.
• New rare resolution to the clinic in Episode 4.

There'll be more to find than the above, but we'll leave of that to fan discovery :]

Writing for Episode 6 is also well under way!

Cheers,
Tony and Abby

I’ve been thinking a lot about the many unkown fathers in scarlet hollow. Tabitha, Reese, and MCs father, to be specific.

We know that Reese is a product of the vitality seal, impregnating Dr. Kelly. It has been theorized that MC was also created this way, Vivian possibly getting randomly pregnant, and seeking Sybil’s guidance, knowing the fate of her child if she stayed, and getting the hell out of town.

But what about Tabitha’s father? From the birthday cards we’re able to find out that he lives in, or at least has visited, eastern NC and hasn’t seen Tabitha in a very long time. So I’m curious - why was he allowed to leave Scarlet Hollow?

No one is allowed to leave without serious consequences, so what was the price he paid? Considering that he was able to send Tabitha cards well into her 20s, he obviously didn’t pay with his life. What was the cost and why did he leave in the first place? He obviously has a lot of love for Tabitha and wants to be a part of her life. Was he forced out?

I know we don’t have this information and we’re just going to have to wait to find out, but I’m curious if you have any ideas.

I've been messing around with different routes and have a run where in chapter 5, you keep choosing to leave town, avoiding the farm. You reach the town limits and are swarmed by ditchlings. They surround you and overtake you, injecting you, making you an incubator. The scene fades out and that's it; you never learn about the pumpkin or about Sybil and Kaneeka, you don't wake up in tetanus lake.

This ending is incredibly interesting to me and I'm so curious how the player is going to be able to navigate the final 2 chapters in this damaged/incubator state. Especially because we aren't there to intervene, I assume this means Carmilla comes.

What are your thoughts on how that run might go if this has happened to you?

I mustve done like 6 playthroughs by now, my first one i has a great relationship with Stella and Kaneeka, while a bad one with Tabitha, and all the following playthroughs i had a great relation with Tabitha and Stella.

After my last one (Hot, Book smart), I >! managed to get to the ending without police intervention (surprising since i thought that you could only do that with street and book smart), and got an ending where Tabitha actually backed me into rescuing Kaneeka, unlike my previous games where i either had mystical, or she said that the sacrifice was necessary (my guess is that since the police didnt arrest me, she had more time to think about Kaneeka and Sybil) !<, During this ending scene >! Sybil heavily implied that something might happen to Stella (only playthrough where gretchen died, RIP) and thatr something would DEFENITELY happen to me, which greatly upset Tabitha!<.

This ending got me thinking, it is very obvious that crucial decisions are locked behind smart choices, and more improtantly, traits, but it also got me thinking that I dont want to die or have scarlet hollow suffer eternally just because I didn't pick mystical (for example).

This is my opinion, and even if for some reason it truly is the case where good endings are behind certain traits, im sure this game would still be an even greater masterpiece than it is now.

Perhaps my explanation is poor, but my point is that all traits deserve to have a good* ending more oriented towards smart choices and use of traits rather than the traits themselves, a Hot + Powerful build cousin deserves as much of a chance against the oncoming doom as a Mystical + Talk to animals cousin, ans with it, as much of a chance to save their loved ones.

Sacrifice is necessary, and I'm not arguing againts that, im just hoping that I hope smart choices are able to make those sacrifices worthwhile regarldless of traits.

Maybe this is an obvious thought, but it is also a fear i've had, not because it would be a bad mechanic, not at all, I would fear it because I have to save all of Scarlet hollow and my friends......

Regardless, this game is a masterpiece, its truly, possibly, the best game ive played, ever.

(*good enough of an ending, obviously without >! book smart for example, oscar cant get his house back, but this is still a good enough ending compared to scarlet hollow or you suffering a horrible fate !< ).