Quests and choices you can't undo
Quests carry most of the story, and they're also where you can lock yourself out of content for good. This guide explains how quests start, move forward, fail and reward you, without spoiling any of them.
Every quest starts in a conversation
In the current version of the game, every quest is started from dialogue. No quest switches on by itself when you reach some condition. If a quest hasn't started, the question is always who do I need to talk to, and when?
- The conversation that starts a quest often has its own requirements. The most common are relationship thresholds, such as "business above 3" or "romance at least 5" with a particular character.
- Some conversations only happen at certain times. Some can't happen at night, and a few quests need a specific time of day or a particular day.
- Some need you to have certain items, enough money, or to have been somewhere first.
Relationships
Each character's relationship with you has four sides, each from 0 to 10: friendship, romance, business and hostility. They change through conversation choices and quest rewards. Many quests are gated by one of them, so if a character "has nothing for you", a low relationship is the usual reason.
How a quest moves forward
- A quest is a chain of steps: talk to someone, bring items, travel somewhere, cook or serve something, hire staff, and so on.
- Some steps are "pick one". Finishing one removes the others.
- A step can pause when its condition stops being true, and resume by itself once it's true again. A typical case is a step that needs you to have more money than a certain amount. If a quest seems frozen, check whether one of its steps is paused.
Failure and choices you can't undo
In the current version, 39 of 113 quests have at least one failure ending. Failures are triggered in conversations, mostly by what you choose to say; missing a time window is the other common cause. The kinds of decisions involved:
| Kind of decision | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A character's fate | Whether someone survives changes which later quests can start or succeed |
| Faction or moral leaning | Some quest lines need a strong leaning one way, which rules out the other |
| One-off decisions | Hiring someone or not, making a deal, a theft, telling the truth or lying |
| Relationship gates | If a relationship is too low when the moment comes, the quest may fail or never start |
| Time windows | Some steps only work at certain hours; missing them may mean waiting, or failing |
| Money and minigames | A few quests check your money or the result of a match |
Because of character fates, faction leanings and either/or choices, you can't finish every quest in a single playthrough.
How not to lock yourself out
- Back up your save before an important conversation. Copy the
.savfile somewhere safe. It's the only real undo. - When a character asks you something that sounds like a judgment call (support or discourage, trust or refuse, truth or lie), stop and think. Those are the branches that most often end quests.
- Build relationships early. Many gates are a few points of friendship or business, and they're much easier to reach before the moment arrives.
- If a quest is waiting on a time or a place, check the step's requirements before assuming it's broken.
Rewards
- Most rewards come through dialogue: items, new recipes, money, relationship gains, and sometimes a venue.
- Completing a quest usually gives 1 achievement point. Points from all your achievements (quests, places, venues, crops, fishing and more) unlock new travel destinations.
- Rewards can depend on which dialogue branch you take, so the reward list for a quest is "possible", not guaranteed.