I don’t think robes and armor are going to be separate, because that would make it so you could stack tons of enchantments. If that were to happen, I’d at least have to make it so they have different enchantments available on them.

There should definitely be more physical skills, I have vague plans to add special learnable spell-like abilities for physical attacks at some point but haven’t really planned them out too much.

I can definitely add tables to the mechanical workshop. Being able to change the floors of rooms seems like it’d be pretty easy to add too.

This was answered in the discord, but reposting here to so anyone who comes across it has the same questions.

1. Currently there’s no way to stop paying upkeep for a room, but the next version will probably have a way to deconstruct rooms you don’t want anymore.

Just re-uploaded it and it should launch now. Sorry about that.

There is not at this point, unfortunately, but adding sounds is on my list to work on soon!

Guess it was one of those embarrassing nicknames that stuck.

Or maybe he found a very different way of paying off his Wizard School debt.

Below are my plans for things to work on in the near future. This is all subject to change, and something being on the list isn't necessarily a *promise* that it will actually make it in the game, but everything below is, as of now, part of what I'd like the game to look like soon.

I've got more stuff I'd like to add and ideas to explore besides what's below, but they're further-out and even more subject to change as the game develops.

New Arcana

• Air - (Added in Preview 3)
• Earth - Rounding out the four classical elements. (Added in Preview 9)
• Nature - Adding some classic plant/animal magic.
• Celestial - Harness the overwhelming power of the sun.
• I've got more Arcana types planned like Mind or Blood, but they'll be a bit more complex or niche and are further down the line.

New Locations

• Mansions - Full of valuables, but heavily guarded. (Added in Preview 4)
• Ruined Towers - What happens when magical research gets out of hand. Corrupted wizards, hazards, more monsters, but higher chance of finding powerful cursed items. (Added in Preview 6)
• Other ruins of various types
• Mines - A good place to stock up on crystals, but don't delve too deep.
• Non-vampire crypts - Perhaps inhabited by necromancers, liches, or an undead army.
• Town near the tower with friendly NPCs and stores.
• Undercity Dwellers town.

Other

• Player ancestries - I want these to bring unique abilities, rather than simple modifiers. (Mutant added in Preview 6, but obviously more to do here)
• Tower management - Repairing trashed rooms and turning them into rooms that give bonuses or offer additional downtime activities. (Initial implementation in Preview 5)
  • Tower Residents: Recruiting others to live in the tower permanently who can accompany you on adventures. (Added in Preview 7 and 8)
  • Tower Resident Jobs: Beneficial activities that tower residents can perform. (Added in Preview 7 and 8)
  • Residents crafting items.
  • Customize resident spellcasters' spells, rather than them upgrading randomly.
  • More things to do with prisoners. Interrogate them, convert them to your side, captured animals needing taming, etc. (Stealing their blood added in Preview 10, but more to come)
  • Build and customize automatons and constructs. (Building added in Preview 9)
  • Tower Raids: If a faction gets angry enough at you, they'll attack you directly.
• Expand corruption system.
  • Mutations: Rather than just increasing modifiers, gaining corruption should give thematic mutations both harmful and helpful. (Added in Preview 6)
  • Additional sources of corruption, like cursed items or spells. (Added in Preview 6)
  • Dangerous upgrades: Powerful upgrades for spells that use Forbidden Knowledge, with a negative effect.
• Events - Magical and mundane events that change what's going on at a location. From simple stuff like rain (or raining fire or blood!) to things like riots, demonic invasions, or magical catastrophes.
• Spell levels above 3 - Giving players more powerful spells that they have to work for in-game rather than the current state of being able to start with the most powerful spells available. (Added in Preview 6)
  
• Possibly adding a "suspicion" system, where stealing and breaking stuff while Authorized/Disguised causes suspicion to build up over time, eventually causing people to become hostile. (Added in Preview 10)
• Selling too much of an item to a store/faction causes the price to go down. Random events causing prices to go up or down. Basically making it more dynamic so the "best" things to steal change at times.

UI/UX/QOL Improvements

• Add a manage rooms screen similar to manage residents screen. (Added in Preview 11)
• Make recipes purchasable like spells (Added in Preview 9)
• Better control over followers while on a heist.
• Expand and improve the study items screen. (Added in Preview 10)
• More reference screens: Items, Creature Types. (Added Items to Preview 10)
• I should probably actually add sound to the game at some point.

Ongoing

• More monsters, rooms, items, tower jobs, etc.
• In particular, more higher-level monsters that show up later in the game and have more abilities rather than just increasing the stats of the monsters that are there.
• More factions and more interactions with existing factions.
• More missions, including missions that have you traveling to specific locations.
• More non-hostile interactions and options - eg Bribe guards to look the other way while you steal stuff, listen in on the lectures in the tower. (The specific examples mentioned have been added)

Glad you like it, thanks!

I think I see what you mean on the craft page. If the ingredient list is long, you have to scroll down then back up for the Craft button. Yeah it should stick at the top even if you scroll.

I fixed that and the error you posted in the preview 5.4 version I just released.

Were there some key presses in particular that didn't seem to work?

I work on UI issues if I notice a problem or better way of doing something or if it's brought to my attention. What other parts in particular have you had an issue with? 

For accidentally selecting the robes, I'll add a notice that the item is equipped, like in the shops.

The fullscreen bug should be fixed in preview 5! If you're not marked as Full Screen but it's still showing, you might have to toggle it on and then off, but it should shrink the window back to its default size.

You're talking about the initial message when the game is opened, right, not any in-game messages? Found that, so that'll be fixed next update. (Also found that "enter or escape only" in-game messages weren't working with escape, so that'll be fixed as well)

I've played this with two different groups, once as a player and once as a GM. Everyone's had a blast both times.

I'm getting the full screen bug in Windows 10, too, so it's not a Windows 11 problem. I'll look into it, thanks for letting me know - even if it is relatively minor I still want to get it fixed.

Thanks for playing, and for the feedback! Glad to hear you like Possession so much!

1) Are you on Windows or Linux? If Windows, 10 or 11?

2) You can delete save files on the Load Save screen. If you select the file, a "Delete" button shows up in the right hand section above the screenshot and other information.

3) The default is that game over occurs after 3 deaths, but you can set that to anything you want (including zero if you want pure permadeath) when starting a new game using the "Customize Difficulty" button on the screen where you put in your name. It's called "Emergency Teleports."

Some morgue information from dead characters is saved, but I haven't gotten around to fixing the display of it yet.

I've created a couple of surveys for people who've played the game. I'd appreciate your feedback!

The first survey (and the biggest focus, at the monent) is focused on debt and item value. The next release is going to feature mansions, which have a lot of valuable-but-not-useful loot, so I'm looking to take this opportunity to rebalance the values of items and the debt, and I'm curious what people's experiences have been with them so far in play.

Debt survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScU3Jp1TMIjd_OLSj3z-_vigCyYDScOlvhJD8_0...

The second survey is more general questions about what you like/don't like about the game so far. It's less directed, but if I see that a multiple people saying the same thing, it might give me an idea of things to focus on that I might not otherwise have thought of on my own.

General survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZ2QNd6UilvPeeCzFhzY14dVrnB6d0W40GQ1NU...

Unfortunately, I doubt I'm ever going to offer an official Mac build. The only Mac I have is very old and out of date, Steam doesn't even launch on it anymore (which isn't an issue right now, but I do plan to eventually release on Steam), so I can't guarantee I'll be able to build for modern Macs on it going forward.

Plus Apple has gotten increasingly draconian about launching software on Macs from anyone but their registered developers, and registering with them is a yearly cost that I don't think is worth it to pay. Breaks my heart because I grew up gaming on a Mac, but the Apple of today isn't the Apple of the 90s.

But, I did just put the .love file up for download. so you can run that with https://love2d.org/

I try to get crashes and other blocking bugs fixed ASAP!

Just uploaded 1.6, which fixes this!

For future reference if you are interested, though, save files are stored under:

Windows: C:\Users(YourUserName)\AppData\Roaming\wizardschooldropout\

Linux: ~/.local/share/wizardschooldropout/

No need, I was able to reproduce it, thanks! Will get this fixed.

Yeah I don't do social media much. Or websites apparently.

There is a new discord at https://discord.gg/2cjZ4kuFJU

If you're interested in discussing the game, there's a Discord server available at https://discord.gg/2cjZ4kuFJU

Brick walls can be destroyed, so on some maps you could technically destroy all the walls (though realistically you probably wouldn't).

Pretty much anything wooden can be lit on fire, sometimes explosively. Fires can spread, and can be put out with water.

There are a wide variety of liquids that can form puddles, either spilled from barrels or from thrown bottles. Some of those are flammable or hazardous, and can also be washed away or cleaned with water magic.

Water can be frozen, ice can be melted. There's a water spell that lets you create deep water that would need to be swam through or flown others.

Unfortunately there's no electric magic in the initial release but that's the next element I plan on implementing, which will definitely involve electrifying water.

As to how much it will come into play, a lot of that depends on what spells you have and how you use them, but I think the most likely to happen no matter what is causing incidental fires with fire magic.

I do plan to put it on Steam once it gets to the point it’s developed enough I feel comfortable charging for it.

Rudimentary versions of all of these will be available in the initial release, except upgrading your tower. That’s a bigger project that will need some time dedicated to it that I just wasn’t able to get to yet. Some of these things are intended to be discovered through play so I may stay a little vague on them.

You can upgrade and learn new spells by studying magic tomes, spell books, and other magical items you find out in the world. There are other methods of gaining power you might come across that are more quick or powerful, but at the cost of gaining various types of corruption. There are a few types of corruption, which all have both positive and negative effects.

One of the factions you can trade with is The Most Ancient and Sublime Grand Feline Order, who barter in secrets and knowledge. You can trade secrets of magic with them for other types of secrets and knowledge, such as them revealing the layout of a location you visit.

It’s possible to gain a following of cultists that will follow you on your adventures. In addition to fighting for you, their worship will enhance the power of your spells.

Brewing potions and crafting magic items are fairly straightforward, though one difference from traditional game crafting is that rather than have a set list of ingredients for each item, you can use any item with a given set of properties. For example, to make a potion of fire resistance, you can use fire herbs, dragon scales, or other fire-aligned items you might come across.

Just posted an announcement - releasing January 1st, 2025!

I don't want to give a timeframe yet because I'm very bad at estimating, but I think it's getting close. I recently finished all the spells I want to have in the initial release, so I'm mainly tying up loose ends, fixing bugs, and balancing right now.

Downloads appear to be working now!

https://weirdfellows.itch.io/possession

The just-released version 20 should fix this lockup problem. The save is now playable.

Can you send the save file to contact@weirdfellows.com?
Also, do you remember many times have you "killed" the other ghost before the freeze?

The newly-released v19 should let you load the save, at least. Let me know if the frozen issue still persists.

https://weirdfellows.itch.io/possession

Mac version is now uploaded.

Sure! Email me at contact at weirdfellows dot com, with a screenshot of the bundle purchase page with your account name on it.

I released a new update that should fix the achievements crashes, anyway.

Messing around with your save file I couldn't get any silent crashes to occur, though. Do you happen to remember what you might have been doing or what might have happened soon before the crashes? Your save file was on level 3, were they any more/less frequent on any of the levels?

Thanks, I'll take a look at it.

Let me ask you this, to confirm a suspicion I have:
Have you seen a popup for any achievements received? And if not, can you check out the game stats page and see if there are any achievements it says you've received?

Weird. You're on v13, right?
Was there a blue screen with an error when it crashed or did it just crash to desktop?
Also, are there save files that were autosaved when it crashed? (They'll be called something like CharacterName-error-2020-03-01 13-30-56.sav)

I decided not to do it. I think had I released it shorter it would have been fine, but the general reaction I got to shortening it once it was already released was negative.

Could you post the crash logs or send them to me at contact -at- weirdfellows.com? They should be in C:\Users(YourUserName)\AppData\Roaming\possessionroguelike\

https://weirdfellows.itch.io/possession

tl;dr:

Very few people have reached the halfway mark, let alone the end of Possession. The game is 10 levels plus the surface, and I'm considering shortening the game to be only 5 levels plus the surface. The current level 5+ creatures and levels would be rebalanced and added to the earlier levels. Would anyone actually *dislike* that? Are there any major disadvantages to this that I'm missing?

Longer Explanation:

I'm looking into making more content for Possession, but I'm wondering about where to focus my energy.

Right now, the game has 10 levels plus the surface. 64% of people have made it to level 2. I'm mainly concerned with the experience of these players, since anyone who hasn't probably either decided they weren't interested in the game, or just hasn't played it much yet.

14% of the people who made it to level 2 made it to level 5. Fair enough.

3% of the people who made it to level 2 made it to the surface, and 22% of those who made it to level 5 made it to the surface.

Unfortunately, I don't know more specifically how far most people are getting, or how often people are making it to level 5 but no farther, etc. But for 86% of the players who've put any amount of time into the game, half the content might as well not even exist, and for 97% of players, they've never made it all the way through the game.

There are a couple of reasons this might be the case:

1. The later levels are too hard.
2. The game's too long.

My suspicion is that #2 is the issue. Although there's a lot of variety in creatures and levels, there's not really a ton of variety in the way you play the game as you get further on (besides maybe needing to be more conservative with bodyswapping), so it's very possible that the game outstays its welcome.

So, I'm considering shortening the game to be only 5 levels plus the surface. The current level 5+ creatures and levels would be rebalanced and added to the earlier levels. In addition to making the game shorter, this also has the advantage of adding more variety between playthroughs, by expanding the possible content you could see at any given level (I'd probably also make it so that the first level isn't *always* the Graveyard, to make the beginning less repetitive as well).

I guess the major question is, would anyone actually *dislike* that? Are there any major disadvantages here that I'm missing?

It's not as though it would make the game "too easy," since only 14% of players are making it to level 5 anyway. If you've beaten the game as is, maybe it'll cheapen your feeling of achievement, but there's not a ton of people who have done that (but if you have and dislike this change, please reach out and let me know your thoughts).

For what it's worth, the original 7-Day Roguelike version of Possession was only 5 levels, and didn't have nearly the variety of levels and creatures this one does. If you've played both, I'm very curious what your thoughts are comparing the two.