VN Ren'Py Karlsson's Gambit [v0.8.2B Final] [Grym Gudinna Games]

[Silver_Crow117]

I was just about to post about this but you beat me to it (see below). This is a universal conversation (screenshots below taken from Dom path) with only references to Kane's rank being altered.


I see there are 3 major puzzles that remain aloof in Ep. 8, or because of Ep. 8.
1)
View attachment 3412584 View attachment 3412586
Why is Kane's ignorance of his heritage and his full place in the Gambit so necessary for his success in it? If Alexander's main lesson to his daughters was to always aggressively seize power, shouldn't informing Kane, who has lived a life that has taught him "only the rich can have power", that power is attainable if he is willing to take it be in Alexander's best interests? If Alexander is effectively hedging all of his bets on Kane being his continued image/legacy for a generation, shouldn't he be pushing SubKane to "snap out of it, and act like a man"?

2) Here and all of Cynthia's earlier conversations highly suggest that the DeKocks will win something in the Gambit, totally separate from whatever Kane's final fate will be. But what, and how? It's clearly not an assets acquisition should the Gambit fail again, and KG dissolve, else they would not be wanting Kane to rise above K4. It also cannot be a hostile takeover with Kane at the helm, else there is no "ticket" with a SubKane, and Delilah would be trying to get Kane promoted, and fast. Sure a SubKane could take Delilah up on her offer to cross over to DS and save himself from a life of misery, but that is effectively quitting the Gambit, leaving both Kane and DS without reward from the endeavor.

3) Seth. A) Why does Veronica feel the need to torture Seth, B) What is her cover story to the Board on why Seth is there, and therefore what Alexander had planned for him? I had previously thought that Alexander did want him for Astrid, but Ep. 8 reveals that Alexander figured she was dead, has no idea where she is, and would definitely be blocking any efforts to try to save her, so Alexander didn't want Seth, Veronica did. His presence is entirely her project, therefore torturing Seth was pointless and only served her own sadistic pleasure (as demonstrated by Astrid's opposite treatment of him).

So, if Veronica is the one truly running the Gambit, to the point where she is able to add aspects to it that are explicitly against Alexander's wishes (in Ep. 5, she claimed that all 3 siblings being brought to JF was necessary for the next Gambit Phase to begin, so she's lying about Seth), and she is actively rigging the game to ensure that only Olivia can win (whom she might be grooming as a puppet), then can we truly believe her that Kane needs to be kept in the dark, or is that just her sadism again (physical for Seth, psychological for Kane)? She seems to be the only one saying this, and Elena enforces it [but just barely] because she listens to Veronica. We have seen a template with Katsumi, who confessed that while physical sadism was fun, that she preferred the mind games of giving her victims (Seth) a ray of hope, having them cling to it, until the right moment when she crushes them, citing that the despair they exhibit is the greatest exhilaration she can experience.

I would say Alexander, has taught his daughters directly that power is everything and takes precedence over anything/anybody… Since Kane is from a background of (obviously not of power), it’s up to the player to either change his fortune for power (and use it for good and evil) or be in a place of “submission” where you can either become a Slave and or Servant (technically very two distinctive paths) some of the females one of those paths… there’s also the romantic options for sub Kane (and ironically Veronica is one of those characters)… so in that regard there isn’t really a canon Kane, it’s what the player chooses in a sense and the world adapts to it… we know that Alexander wanted a Heir who’s male from his blood and Callista’s (his preferred lover) or just technically a male heir, so either way, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind Kane taking over, but something says to me he would preferred one of his “daughters” birthing a Heir… how that happens who knows… that’s the point, the choices change the story, what’s canon is what you want it to be… either way I’m excited for both dom and sub players!
2. The Role of the Decocks is unknown, but they have been meddling to get information on Veronica’s secret project… in which Veronica found out, but still offers a ticket to Nadia and presumably the others… tho Decocks are also interfering with Veronica’s plans with trying to rescue Cole, which is on the request of Callista.. which may cause a fallout the the Decocks and the Karlssons (Veronica) depending on what happens with Cole … and if he does Escape, it wouldn’t surprise me For Cole to do something drastic too…Miss Tess reacted positively to my statement that Cole is the type of father to save Kane no matter what his statutes is.. For Sub Kane specifically, there is a route for Delilah, which makes me think that to “Save” Sub Kane, they would use Delilah to keep him as a servant (heavily hinted at in the beginning of sub Kane part 1 by Delilah) but will have to see… Miss Tess said for both Dom and Sub, there would be 3-5 factions for him to choose, and one of the was introduced at the end of part 1 - Olivia faction (with Elena’s sponsorship) which Miss Tess surprisingly said that we could “betray” later to join another faction)
3-She doesn’t have the “Need” to Torture Seth, it may be in a sense unethical in her practices, but in the grand scheme of things, she was trying to help Astrid with her disease… and at the same time, would most likely benefit Seth as well… I

 

[Silver_Crow117]

Hmmm I don't think Nadia will participate per-se (though we know she kinda does in the back rooms of Olivia's welcome party don't we)...doesn't really seem her MO...but then again, she does have her slave called Nova locked in a cage so *shrugs*...dunno hehe...she a peculiar character that way. Seems a decent sort...but still does weird slave/depraved shit also....is that just to keep up appearances perhaps?

Cynthia...yeah Otto does...I suppose depending on exactly 'what' Island 4 is (other than a end of world gone to shit last chance home)...would Cynthia have anything similar? The resources for anything similar? I think it's unlikely...and Nadia probably knows this. I do wonder if in all Nadia's hacking of the facility, whether she has found out about the Island...and her silence gets her the ticket? More interesting is, other than to not start a war (which shouldn't a concern of Veronica's as most of the family is under control..in her domain)...why even make a deal at all? What does V get out of this deal?

I mean… she may partake in it to maybe interfere (help sub Kane in some aspect)… in a sense, or she’ll probably be doin stuff with Jake… tho I do see Nadia indulges in pleasures… it’s been shown before for a reason… so until otherwise, I’d say she’s a little “crazy” in the head Hahaha
And I will say this ticket exchange to Nadia from Veronica may me feel like this is a back up plan to if the Decocks plan doesn’t work out… and the Decocks have a plan with Kane no matter what his statues is.. so it’ll be interesting to see what it is

 

[YuNobi1]

4. Not entirely accurate. She point blanks tell Dominique that once she sees a committed woman in front of her, that woman will have her vote. She hedging her bets, and she has never once said Olivia is the best, only that she is interesting and an unusual/exciting addition. She will quite happily support Dominique if Dom can prove to her she is single-minded and no longer conflicted (unless we go with an assumption Veronica is point-blank lying to her?). I personally think she is also playing Callista....but then I think Callista playing everyone and everyone else is trying to play everyone else lol.

It does leave the big question of: How much of what is happening, what is being said (or not, as the case may be) attributed directly to the Gambit and it's conditions compared to how much Veronica is skirting the lines of the rules for her own interests?

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[Maviarab]

Everybody holds information to themselves, but she's the only one who lords it over him.

Seth is her guinea pig to fix her sister, the more she finds out about the disease through Seth, the more she can apply to use towards helping her sister. She may be unethical about the things that she does but it makes sense. I doubt the board cares as long as she works for them. To them, Seth is nothing, so allowing her to experiment on him is no skin off their tits. As for Alexander, Im guessing it was one of the conditions she had for following the rules to his gambit.

2. The Role of the Decocks is unknown, but they have been meddling to get information on Veronica’s secret project… in which Veronica found out, but still offers a ticket to Nadia and presumably the others… tho Decocks are also interfering with Veronica’s plans with trying to rescue Cole, which is on the request of Callista.. which may cause a fallout the the Decocks and the Karlssons (Veronica) depending on what happens with Cole … and if he does Escape, it wouldn’t surprise me For Cole to do something drastic too…Miss Tess reacted positively to my statement that Cole is the type of father to save Kane no matter what his statutes is..

I mean… she may partake in it to maybe interfere (help sub Kane in some aspect)… in a sense, or she’ll probably be doin stuff with Jake… tho I do see Nadia indulges in pleasures… it’s been shown before for a reason… so until otherwise, I’d say she’s a little “crazy” in the head Hahaha
And I will say this ticket exchange to Nadia from Veronica may me feel like this is a back up plan to if the Decocks plan doesn’t work out… and the Decocks have a plan with Kane no matter what his statues is.. so it’ll be interesting to see what it is

Out of shinies so...

If what you're saying about the ticket indeed being safety from the end of the world, then Veronica is even more evil than we thought, as she will make sure that only her candidate will win, and take the lead of the Remnant, and she is more than ready to make Kane die if she doesn't get her way.

I firmly believe Veronica would happily let the world burn if it aligned with what she wanted. Other than her looks, there's a reason I don't really like her as a character and bottom of the sister list.

 

[YuNobi1]

Out of shinies so...




I firmly believe Veronica would happily let the world burn if it aligned with what she wanted. Other than her looks, there's a reason I don't really like her as a character and bottom of the sister list.

Great! She's the biological version of HAL 9000. This is making me doubt Callista's intelligence after saying that she knows the "Ice Queen" is not an accurate moniker... no, Callista, it very much is, Veronica's justifications are cold logic, the world be damned, literally.

 

[Maviarab]

Great! She's the biological version of HAL 9000. This is making me doubt Callista's intelligence after saying that she knows the "Ice Queen" is not an accurate moniker... no, Callista, it very much is, Veronica's justifications are cold logic, the world be damned, literally.

On this one Yu, we for a change are definitely 100% aligned

 

[Silver_Crow117]

Well, actually, Nadia is a VIP by default, just like all the DeKocks who came in their submarine to Karlson's base. I never doubted that Nadia would be on the show. The only question is whether she would prefer the tranquility of the VIP rooms with panoramic screens, or whether she would want to participate herself in the various "fun" activities that are expected, such as the slave hunt.

I personally think she’ll be watching on the screen but I definitely can see her interacting with Kanes pod specifically in the guise of helping Kane in a way (when she’s interacting with Jake)… but I think it’s the former… and Delilah’s the participant for the Decocks in the gameshow… and the gameshow looks like it’s sectioned into 3 sections technically… the Gentler VIPs first with the hunting party being in the middle to waste time/injure pods before reaching the Harsher VIPs at the end… tho it seems entirely possible for Kane to lose/waste time before even getting to the hunting party!.. Also apparently some of the Karlsson will be participating…

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[Stan5851]

Well yeah of course...as you say, invited by default...so the ticket cannot be for that. That's also what I was getting at, she doesn't strike me as the type to want to 'get involved'...if she can avoid it she will...but then she does things that make you question just how nice she actually is...or is it just for show to not be seen as weak?

About the ticket, I agree with you and think exactly the same thing. It is the ticket to the ark of salvation (Island 4). There can be no other interpretations. As for Nadia's own personality, that's an interesting question...On the one hand, one could accept the theory that she just sometimes does the necessary cruel things to avoid appearing weak in the eyes of others. So far, she can only be blamed for mocking a dying servant, who was killed not even by her, but by Cynthia...but yes, I suppose it could be an element of pretense...Who knows? I guess we'll find out when the show starts and when Nadia probably has to open up and show her true self...

 

[Maviarab]

I personally think she’ll be watching on the screen but I definitely can see her interacting with Kanes pod specifically in the guise of helping Kane in a way (when she’s interacting with Jake)… but I think it’s the former… and Delilah’s the participant for the Decocks in the gameshow… and the gameshow looks like it’s sectioned into 3 sections technically… the Gentler VIPs first with the hunting party being in the middle to waste time/injure pods before reaching the Harsher VIPs at the end… tho it seems entirely possible for Kane to lose/waste time before even getting to the hunting party!.. Also apparently some of the Karlsson will be participating…

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Yup....gonna be a bloodbath!

Agree on sub path Nadia is likely to try and help Kane, think you have that right.

So the real question is...screw Jakey and Zahiepoo over....or help them for pod score? Decisions decisions...

About the ticket, I agree with you and think exactly the same thing. It is the ticket to the ark of salvation (Island 4). There can be no other interpretations. As for Nadia's own personality, that's an interesting question...On the one hand, one could accept the theory that she just sometimes does the necessary cruel things to avoid appearing weak in the eyes of others. So far, she can only be blamed for mocking a dying servant, who was killed not even by her, but by Cynthia...but yes, I suppose it could be an element of pretense...Who knows? I guess we'll find out when the show starts and when Nadia probably has to open up and show her true self...

 

[Sharpshooter890]

This is what happens when a bunch of hens run a henhouse - it all goes to shit. What they all need is a big juicy cock to put them into their place, and WE are that cock. And if they get out of hand - just slap the bitches and tell them to go make you a sandwitch. We are trying to save the world here ffs, and those sluts are complaining!

 

[Maviarab]

This is what happens when a bunch of hens run a henhouse - it all goes to shit. What they all need is a big juicy cock to put them into their place, and WE are that cock. And if they get out of hand - just slap the bitches and tell them to go make you a sandwitch. We are trying to save the world here ffs, and those sluts are complaining!

We can't!!!...Svetlana needs to make a list of food we need for Mia to get

 

[Silver_Crow117]

Yup....gonna be a bloodbath!

Agree on sub path Nadia is likely to try and help Kane, think you have that right.

So the real question is...screw Jakey and Zahiepoo over....or help them for pod score? Decisions decisions...

It’s interesting… cuz there’s pod scores and then individual game point for each member of a pod… and Kanes pod is already down to 3 members because Kwame isn’t a participant… so there already at a disadvantage there in a sense.. then to gain favor with Juliette and (go down the path of being Juliet’s slave… aka get Kyle killed) or just in general… you can get Jake and or Zach to k1 or even death… or both if ur crazy Hahaha a lot of decisions… There’s also the prerequisite of having Juliette and or Dominique having sub Kane as a sponsor, which they’ll help him in the show but now’s there’s also Elena that you can have a sponsorship ( she’ll help you in the show) with if you agree to join Olivia’s faction… which turn you can betray Olivia’s faction to join another… so many…variables as well like the tongue alteration and the dexterity… UGH SO MUCH STUFF! ITS GREAT BUT ITS ALOT

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[Maviarab]

It’s interesting… cuz there’s pod scores and then individual game point for each member of a pod… and Kanes pod is already down to 3 members because Kwame isn’t a participant… so there already at a disadvantage there in a sense.. then to gain favor with Juliette and (go down the path of being Juliet’s slave… aka get Kyle killed) or just in general… you can get Jake and or Zach to k1 or even death… or both if ur crazy Hahaha a lot of decisions… There’s also the prerequisite of having Juliette and or Dominique having sub Kane as a sponsor, which they’ll help him in the show but now’s there’s also Elena that you can have a sponsorship ( she’ll help you in the show) with if you agree to join Olivia’s faction… which turn you can betray Olivia’s faction to join another… so many…variables as well like the tongue alteration and the dexterity… UGH SO MUCH STUFF! ITS GREAT BUT ITS ALOT

Very fair points but think of dom path. Only 2 of the pod in there...I wonder what we can do/get any choices to help them (if we want to)...Jake and Zach together in the maze...on their own... ...Oh my...as for yourself, pledge your life to your Goddess Delilah, you'll be fine, send the other two to to the pit!

I agree, the complexities of the game show (with the dom/sub paths) is a little mindboggling really....it is great I agree! Really looking forward to it even more now.

 

[Fred52]

walkthrough for part 8?

 

[Sharpshooter890]

Very fair points but think of dom path. Only 2 of the pod in there...I wonder what we can do/get any choices to help them (if we want to)...Jake and Zach together in the maze...on their own... ...Oh my...

I'm just there to keep an eye on my girls from WPod, they are my responsibility after all. So if some evil bitch decides to go overboard with Amy/Kelly, we're gonna have a problem. Angelica/Chloe will be fine regardless, so i'm not worried for them. As for the boys, well - Zach is a waste of organic matter with no redeeming qualities, and Jake - well, he's got a tongue operation incoming in his near future. I enjoyed advising Olivia to demote him to K3 , and I'll make sure he fucks up in the maze as well so that he can meet the good doctor of K2! And with said tongue alteration he's one step closer to embracing his inner self - a human pet (doggie points in ep.7).

 

[YuNobi1]

walkthrough for part 8?

Tess is taking this week to write it. Wait for the next Dev Memo to be leaked and hope the walkthrough is included.

 

[Maviarab]

I'm just there to keep an eye on my girls from WPod, they are my responsibility after all. So if some evil bitch decides to go overboard with Amy/Kelly, we're gonna have a problem. Angelica/Chloe will be fine regardless, so i'm not worried for them. As for the boys, well - Zach is a waste of organic matter with no redeeming qualities, and Jake - well, he's got a tongue operation incoming in his near future. I enjoyed advising Olivia to demote him to K3 , and I'll make sure he fucks up in the maze as well so that he can meet the good doctor of K2! And with said tongue alteration he's one step closer to embracing his inner self - a human pet (doggie points in ep.7).

Oh yes...our girls will always come first.

Hehehe...yeah I've only demoted Jake twice...but it is funny doing it...and yes...always send Jake to Eloise hahaha

 

[Stan5851]

Great! She's the biological version of HAL 9000. This is making me doubt Callista's intelligence after saying that she knows the "Ice Queen" is not an accurate moniker... no, Callista, it very much is, Veronica's justifications are cold logic, the world be damned, literally.

I can't agree with that. I remember exactly how she could be. And I don't remember anything like that from any of the other Karlsson sisters. Olivia I'm leaving out, since we were close to her from the beginning.

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Another thing is that in Ep8 (if we give up the show), we will have a not very romantic scene, in this aspect much inferior to the previous one, although from the carnal point of view and much more frank...On the other hand, it is worth remembering that with a high probability, we will have another scene in the same secret place V.
V: But I will say this Kane...if I bring you here again, I have a feeling the experience will be much more...carnal.
And that's one more reason not to give up the role of co-host in the game show. As for the cold logic and calculation.. For such work, which Veronica does, you need a person with a technical mind, who can, when necessary, put aside emotions and be guided by precise mathematical calculations and logic (while the rest indulge in debauchery and doing nothing). And in that sense Veronica is perfect, no one else could have done it. Nevertheless, as you can see, she is not always so scientifically detached and cold. Aand to her too can find an approach and make her open up..

Whoever says what, but a truly serious and deep relationship should only be expected from Olivia and Veronica. I don't know what other skeletons V. has in her closet (I think it will become clear when Kane and Olivia become more involved in the flora and fauna restoration project (where Veronica and Dominique invited them) and get access to even more secret closed underground levels), but in any case, V. is a living person with not the worst ideas, not a soulless machine, as some people try to convince themselves. You may disagree, but that's what I think at the moment.

That being said, I don't deny that Veronica has her flaws (like any of the sisters), and in her case it's the very pretentiousness that was mentioned earlier in this thread. However, she's the only one (besides Olivia) who had the courage and desire to kiss Kane and open up to him, rather than just using each other as fuck buddies... Even with the good Dominique you won't see anything like that (although I like her good and evil ways)... So it's still a question of who in this environment is a soulless sadist and who is a person capable of having warm feelings for another person..

 

[Josie5213]

Just a quick question I just played this game recently and just finished version 0.8. Doesn't Elena have any romantic content in the Dom path? Is she an optional LI in the Dom path?

 

[Jacowboy]

I would encourage you to do a speed run, but pay attention to a few things:
1) Is Veronica's claims matching her actions?
2) Is Veronica transparent on how she's running the Gambit (where she's getting instructions, timetable)?
3) With Veronica running the Gambit, is she enforcing fairness: ensuring that everyone has an equal playing field, equal information, and is she disciplining cheating? Is one candidate/team receiving favorable treatment due to Veronica's actions/inaction?
4) Does she have a favored candidate, and possibly rigging the game to ensure only her desired candidate has a chance of winning?
5) Is this candidate completely independent of Veronica, or has she been directly and indirectly influencing/maneuvering her candidate's direction
6) Would this "influence" disappear once the candidate wins, or will she be an effective puppet for Veronica?
7) If Alessandra kills Veronica during the Gameshow, will Veronica's candidate become the most powerful? Will she keep the power/advantages she had while Veronica was alive, or will those evaporate?
8) Veronica claims that she doesn't want the power, but who inside KG is more powerful than her, and would she become more or less powerful if her chosen candidate wins?
9) Is Veronica truly capable of allowing anything to go outside or contrary to her will? If not, what does she do to ensure it bends so, and how does she react when it doesn't?
10) Who does everyone fear (both within and without KG), and why would all of these people fear such an "honest" person?
11) Despite departments and loyalties, how many of the staff never report to Veronica, or otherwise never fall under her chain-of-command?

Oh man, you have a hate boner for Vernoica huh??

Okay, so keeping in mind I only played the dom/good MC path, let me try to answer...

I was gonna answer point by point, but forget about that because you are looking at the whole thing from a distorted perspective and asking a lot of weird and irrelevant questions, so let's get to the heart of it: What is going on in the story?

Well, there are two basic "problems" in the story, the first and direct one is the power struggle for succession of the Karlsson Group's leadership. The second one, that has been revealed little by little, is that the world is basically fucked, and they need to find a solution for the survival of the human race at this point.

Veronica is basically trying to either fix the world (which she calculates is pointless) or save humanity with her secret island project... she's playing for MUCH bigger stakes than just the fate of the KG (Karlsson Group). Is she manipulative?? Well, yeah, of course she fucking is, she needs to be if she's gonna have a chance of pulling off her true goals, specially when she has to basically fight against a bunch of power hungry evil people.

We're still not a 100% sure of what the Gambit really is or how it was stipulated or how "honestly" is it being run to really question what Veronica's role is and how well she's behaving I guess... but like I said, she obviously has ulterior motives, everyone in the board does, and they are ALL involved in the Gambit... EVERYONE is trying to manipulate the outcome in their favor, so trying to paint Veronica as an evil manipulator honestly rings hollow in light of the circumstances.

Yes, there seems to be a desired outcome that is shared by many players/factions in which either Olivia, Kane or both take over, and Veronica seems to want Olivia to take over at the very least, Kane's role is a bit more complicated.

But anyways, the point is, while everyone else is playing Game of Thrones, Veronica is basically trying to save humanity, and so of course yeah, she will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals... does that make her evil though?