Choose Your Own Adventure

The Guidelines

Well hello there, lovely reader. Welcome to this little adventure, or should I say welcome to YOUR adventure? Was that too much? Whatever, let's just get to it.

This is different than the many other stories and things that I have written. It's in second person (like usual) but it's a Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) style story. Although, if you've gotten this far then you probably already knew that, hm?

Anyways, this is just the guidelines.

For those of you that are not aware, a CYOA is a story where you as a reader get to make decisions. Do you choose to run down the left hallway or the right? Do you save the stranger or save yourself? You get to choose and shape the story as you read. Exciting, right? Well to fully enjoy this excitement there are some guidelines you should know and follow and here they are:

Making Decisions

As you read this story, you will reach sections where a choice can be made. Either you do one thing or the other. These sections will look something like this:

Choose a Path:

[Path #1] (Go to the picture of ____.)

[Path #2] (Go to the picture of ____.)

To begin with, these decisions will usually have two options, but as we get further into the storyline there will be more and more to choose from. Once you make a choice on which path you want to follow, you have to find that section to read. I'm making this easy by applying a picture of a specific color to the text (Thank you, Watty) so if it says 'Go to the color  red' then you just scroll down the story until you reach the picture of the color red (it's gonna be a big block of red you can't miss it) and then start reading there. I won't make any of the pictures similar so you never have to worry about figuring out which picture it is (In other words I'm not going to make you differentiate between the color aquamarine and turquoise, it'll just say blue and there will be only one blue). There could be multiple decisions to make in a single chapter, but with the way I'm organizing it you will never have to scroll back up to anything. It will all go downwards until you reach the end. Okie dokie? Cool.

Building Relationships

In this story, you'll be able to form relationships with the characters around you. What you choose to do or say will impact the relationships you gain or lose. This will be seen throughout the story in this format: (+# relationship points with [Character Name]) or (-# relationship points with [Character Name]). They will be italicized and bolded so you don't confuse it with the actual storyline. Now here's the kicker, you have to keep track of these points yourself. I suggest having a piece of paper (or word document or notes on the phone, whatever) nearby as you read to keep up with the number of points you have with each character b/c there will be sections in the story where you can only choose an action if you have a certain number of points with a character. For example:

Choose a Path:

[Go into town to salvage supplies](Required: At least 10 pts. w/Glenn Rhee)

[Stay at camp]

So based on the example above, you can choose to go to town rather than stay at camp but only if you have at least 10 relationship points with Glenn Rhee. Make sense? Good. Let's move on.

Gaining Items

As you go throughout the story, you will come to parts where the main character, [Name], gains an item. It will look a lot like the Relationship Notification:

(Item Gained: One Flashlight)

So it will be bolded and italicized so you can tell it apart from the actual storyline. It will say 'Item Gained' then whatever item you picked up. Just like with the relationship points, you HAVE to keep track of these items. All of them. Something you picked up in the first chapter could come in handy in the ninth chapter. Ok? Also, many paths will require an item to choose it. For example:

Choose a Path:

[Go inside the building.]

[Take the car to the outskirts of the city.] (Required: Car keys)

Some items you'll be able to keep throughout the entire story where as some items are a one time use type deal. I will let you know in the story if you have to cross that list off your inventory:

(Item Lost: One Flashlight)

If I tell you that you lost that item you will not be able to use it again if the need arises. However, if I say nothing and the story just continues then you can assume that the item is still in your inventory and can be used. Got it? Great.

_____________

That's it. Really. Those are the three main things you need to know to read and enjoy this story.

Now the story itself goes in a strange order. Every reader will read the Prologue. At the end of the Prologue is the first decision and that will decide whether you read one of two branches, either 'The Evolutionary' or 'The Defender'. From that point, you just read the 'Episodes' for whichever story you ended up choosing. Be aware that each branch is a whole separate story basically with it's on separate plot line.

One thing to mention I guess (it's kind of obvious) is that if you're reading both branches of the story and keeping track of two or three different paths then an item you gain from one path can't be used on the other path. Does that make sense? Basically, if you're reading 'The Evolutionary' and 'The Defender' then something your character got in 'TE' can't be used by your character in 'TD'. That clear it up?

I think that's really it though. You guys are now ready to start reading, and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed planning and writing for this. If y'all have any questions then ask me in the comments below and I'll answer them for you! Thanks!