History VideoGame / Roadwarden

** High Island is inaccessible for most of the game due to the deadly, rocky waters surrounding it. To reach it, [[spoiler:the player needs to buy a boat or convince Aegidia to lend them her own.]]

* HonorAmongThieves: Glaucia’s bandits are a good example of this. [[spoiler:Having been driven from their long-destroyed hometown, the bandits live in a close-knit band deep within the forest. Though they prey on merchants and outsiders, they are loyal to one another and have helped those close to them.]]

*** Later in the game, [[spoiler:the fort is attacked by a troll during the roadwarden's absence, killing Tulia's partner and leaving her bedridden.]]

** [[spoiler:Should the player succeed in looking for Asterion, the previous roadwarden, all they find is his zombified corpse in an empty treasure room. At least they're able to finally put him to rest and give closure to his family.]]

* MirrorCharacter: [[spoiler:If you ask Glaucia about Asterion's motives for going to High Island, his goal for coming to the region ends up mirroring whatever you chose at the beginning of the game.]]
* ModularEpilogue: The ending is split into several short scenes; the first few deals with the roadwarden's return to Hovlovan and their meeting with the merchants' guild, and the rest describe the fate of the various settlements and noteworthy characters along the peninsula.
* MultipleChoicePast: At the beginning of the game, the player gets to pick the roadwarden's backstory and goals. Throughout their adventure, they are also presented with multiple-choice options that let them shape certain elements of Hovlovan, and how the roadwarden spent their time there.
** Notably, along with their task to make connections for their home guild, the player chooses the roadwarden’s own [[TheQuest personal quest]] at the beginning of their adventure. Fulfilling it during the game offers extra bonuses.
** At the end of the game, [[spoiler:when the player returns to Hovlovan, its current state reflects the dialogue options chosen about it over the course of the game.]]

* {{Necromancer}}: Orentius, the priest of White Marshes. He uses a small army of undead corpses both to protect the village, and to help them with tasks such as farming. The undead put the village in conflict with both the roadwarden and other settlements, as they are seen as a threat to the safety of the North.
** The roadwarden can try to deal with the necromancer by either [[spoiler:convincing him to give up his ways]], or [[spoiler:leading a raid on White Marshes with the peninsula’s other towns]]. The former is much more difficult to do without the correct magical knowledge.

* NotUsingTheZWord: Undead are referred to as “shells”.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Anyone who dies without their body being burnt is destined to have their corpse change into an undead “shell”. This change is linked with the fogs that drift over the peninsula at night, making nighttime travel even more dangerous.

* ThePlague: The western settlement of Old Pagos was stricken by an unknown disease, leading its population to impose a self-quarantine on the entire village. The player may try to assist them, or they may leave the town to its fate.
** Quintus, the town’s watchman, was the only one not infected by the plague. He is stuck at his guard post, unable to return due to the village’s self-imposed quarantine.
** Eudocia may ask for news about her parents residing in the village, [[spoiler:but they have already died from the plague prior to the roadwarden’s arrival]].
** The roadwarden can help by informing other settlements of Old Pagos’ plight.
** [[spoiler:The plague can only be cured with the help of the mysterious hermit living near Howler’s Dell, who can expel the disease with the exposed fruit of the Beholder tree. It takes a lot of effort to force the fruit to bloom, and Howler’s Dell’s residents won’t be happy. However, Old Pagos’ residents will quickly recover, and the village will get back on its feet by the following year.]]
* PosthumousCharacter: [[spoiler: You only get to know Asterion via second-hand sources: what other characters have to say about him, his actions and his impacts to the peninsula. By the time you get to encounter him in person on High Island, his soul has long left its shell.]]

** Health can be lowered in combat (and obviously, if you run out, it's GameOver). It can be recovered through resting while well-fed, or by drinking a rare health potion.

* TimedMission: The roadwarden is given forty days to accomplish their mission (though this differs between DifficultyLevels: Restrictive mode gives you a 30-day limit, while Casual mode removes the limit entirely).

* {{Unicorn}}: These exist deep within the woods, though they subvert common tropes by being both aggressive and very deadly toward perceived attackers.

** [[spoiler:You can cure the plague of Old Pagos by giving them the fruit of the Beholder tree, only obtainable by sacrificing your own blood and magical items.]]
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The game also offers plenty of opportunities to leave the peninsula worse than you found it, often to your own advantage.

* YouAreInCommandNow: Tulia became a lieutenant in the field after the deaths or desertions of nearly her entire squad.

* GaiasRevenge: Settlements that expand too quickly in the Nameless Peninsula will attract the ire of beasts, which will attack and destroy the settlement in retaliation.
** [[spoiler:In most endings, the local Order of Truth monastery, built into a mountain cave system, is destroyed by an earthquake after the roadwarden's trip through the peninsula.]] Subverted if you [[spoiler:recommend the merchant guild set up in Old Pagos and they heavily colonize the peninsula, in which case the city artisans reinforce the monastery enough to survive the earthquake]].

** [[spoiler:The local Order of Truth monastery, built into a mountain cave system, is destroyed by an earthquake after the roadwarden's trip through the peninsula.]]

** The quest to hunt the bird

** Armor can be damaged in combat, and must be repaired by a tailor.

* SelfCareEpiphany: If the roadwarden completes their personal quest of helping the peninsula and its people, they realize during the night that they've done a lot of good for the peninsula and can take a break to prioritize their own well-being.