Chapter One

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #6: Protagonist has a vision of the future

Ethan - #10: Global catastrophe

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Overall we were pretty excited about these rolls! The protagonist having a vision of the future in the very first chapter is an instant way to set up foreshadowing and gave us a clear direction for the plot moving forward. Introducing a global catastrophe right away forced us to jump directly into conflict and action and decide right from the beginning what the main obstacle for our characters was going to be. With the little bit of wiggle room Jeff was afforded by our initial roll of a 2 in adherence, he decided he was justified in making the ocean of our water-based adventure disappear as his global catastrophe in the very first chapter. Cleary, this decision will affect every aspect of the book from here on out.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 003.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #6: Flashback episode

Replacing #10: Something consequential turns out to be an illusion

 Chapter Two

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #1: Protagonist dies

Ethan - #16: Permanent transformation

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Brutal rolls! It only took two chapters for Jeff to roll a critical fail, forcing Ethan to either kill the protagonist introduced in the first chapter or create one of his own that was instantly doomed to die. He chose to move away from the perspective of the crimson woman and open up the world a bit, introducing us to the ill-fated Morwell, an ex-soldier who spent his days fighting Magis and mechs. Left to our own devices, neither one of us would have killed a character that we introduced as a protagonist in the first two chapters of the story. Additionally, permanent transformation was a tricky roll paired with killing the protagonist, and Ethan definitely thought out loud about how death was in and of itself a permanent transformation and that killing Morwell satisfied both outcomes. The fool! The Fate Index cannot be sated with cut corners! Instead, the permanent transformation occurs to the fiery form, which has all of its primordial magic permanently leeched away as it incinerates poor Morwell.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 005.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #1: Kill co-writer’s protagonist

Replacing #16: Goonie squad

 Chapter Three

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #3: Protagonist meets first love

Ethan - #2: Someone important to the protagonist dies

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Jeff had fully assumed that he was going to pivot back to the crimson woman with this chapter, but the roll of the protagonist meeting their first love really screwed that up. Either chapter 3 was going to take a very strange pivot with our seemingly ageless superwoman, or we were going to have to bring Laureena into the fold and introduce someone for her to get a big ol’ crush on. Unfortunately for dear Calix, Ethan’s roll made it pretty much inevitable that just like Uncle Morwy, this character’s time in our story was not destined to be particularly storied. Two consecutive chapters with death rolls. Pretty bleak there, Fate Index! Somehow, only three chapters in, we were forced to write something not so terribly distant from The Fault in Our Stars. We definitely didn’t see that coming.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 007.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #2: Character loses a limb and has it replaced with an unexpected alternative (thanks to @nljberlin on Twitter)

Replacing #3: Protagonist has/develops some incurable urge they must sate daily (thanks to @noahpepexburns on Instagram)

 Chapter Four

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #20: Protagonist becomes infamous

Ethan - #1: Kill co-writer’s protagonist

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

God damn it, Ethan. After two consecutive death rolls in Chapters 2 and 3, Ethan went and completed the hat trick by rolling himself a critical fail, forcing him to kill off yet another protagonist. Specifically, Ethan had to kill off Jeff’s protagonist, as we opted to make the next critical fail a vengeful one to appease the ghost of Morwell. To lead us towards the untimely demise of the crimson woman, Ethan had to shift the public opinion of her so that the people of Koa now feared and despised her. When paired with the faltering of her powers, the infamy roll (a natural 20, to complement the natural 1) played nicely into setting up the crimson woman’s execution by the chieftain and an unidentified Iso soldier who mistook her as part of the crimson beings ravaging the island.

So, with the crimson woman gone, the book is over now. Hope you enjoyed it! We were expecting this project to go a little longer than four chapters, but apparently the Fate Index is only interested in killing off the characters we lovingly create.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 009.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #1: Antagonist gains immense power (thanks to @spazzio_mazzio on Twitter)

Replacing #20: Ancient deity decides to walk the mortal realms (thanks to Joe ThatGuy on Jeff’s D&D Slack channel)

 Chapter Five

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #14: Protagonist discovers great power

Ethan - #18: Protagonist becomes antagonist

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Since everyone else in the story was so thoroughly dead, these rolls fell to Laureena by default. We had already set up in chapter 3 that it was possible Laureena was being deceived - or was at least misguided - as to how her friends died in regards to the orb and the flame creature, so the roll to turn her into an antagonist thankfully already had some legs. After all that character assassination, these rolls also seemed like a good opportunity for a little reset within the story, so Jeff decided to jump everything ahead a couple years and focus the direction for things moving forward. Instead of dealing with the dreadful task of describing Laureena escaping the sand ocean and becoming corrupted by the orb, he chose instead to drop the reader into a future where she’s already successfully hunting the Touched and is capable of controlling the fire monster, which she has tragically nicknamed “Morwell.” Turning Laureena into a super-powered antagonist seemed like a weird stretch at first, but we actually like this unexpected twist quite a bit.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 011.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #14: Magic finger traps, but for the brain or heart (thanks to @TCurdler on Twitter)

Replacing #18: Super intelligent magical infant (thanks to @wiljamius on Twitter)

 Chapter Six

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #11: Shift in power

Ethan - #9: Protagonist leaves home for the first time

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Finally, we address the big question that has been on everyone’s minds: What happened to Danvers? We were curious from the start about how were were going to have to deal with a protagonist leaving home for the first time if that roll showed up later in the story. Ethan decided to tell the story of Danvers’ first time leaving Delvorn as a child and then tie it in to present events after the Shift. Always aching to add government intrigue and men in suits into his stories, Ethan was also able to achieve this due to the ‘shift in power” roll, with the Capital Islands deciding to pull the Touched and orbs of power away from individual islands to concentrate their effectiveness on the mainland. Overall these rolls allowed us to progress the story nicely while offering some fun backstory on Danvers and introducing some new powerful allies. The rolls were kind of boring, but it was nice to continue building something without immediately having to tear it down.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 013.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #9: A great artifact of the past is found, calling to a new owner (thanks to @HazelWinston14 on Twitter)

Replacing #11: Shrek and Donkey cameo (thanks to @funkybasslines on Twitter)

 Chapter Seven

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #7: Protagonist learns unsettling information

Ethan - #15: Semi-permanent transformation

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

These were pretty broad outcomes, so there were a lot of choices on the table in which to fulfill them. With many of the rolls to this point, it has felt that there was a clear path that needed to be followed to fit the Fate Index’s whims, but this time the possibilities felt practically endless. This resulted in the first chapter of the book where the story directly followed up on the one before it, with Jeff choosing to continue exploring what’s happening with lovable ol’ Danvers. He also chose to satisfy the dice rolls in pairs, with relatively minor discoveries and transformations followed up by much more consequential ones. The Capitol Islands are transporting the Touched against their will, which is bad; the whole world is built upon a forsaken hellscape and a new world is being constructed above the current one: much worse. Danvers also gets super memory powers from the Sea Mother, giving him a much fuller understating of the current situation, but in order to put that new knowledge to work, he has to transform into a fish man. The unsettling information roll was great for moving the story forward and revealing a big piece of important information, and the transformation roll was a fun excuse to turn an otherwise normal fisherman into a telepathic sea creature. What kooky adventures will Danvers get into next?

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 015.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #7: A utopian world is described or created by an adolescent (thanks to Laura Wadsworth, Ethan’s mom)

Replacing #15: Millions of insects start their march to devour everything in their path (thanks to Dennis Kirby, Jeff’s dad)

 Chapter Eight

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #4: Protagonist has great power but loses it

Ethan - #2: Character loses a limb and has it replaced with an unexpected alternative

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

The unexpected limb replacement was our first reader submission to the Fate Index, and Ethan got so excited about it that he went and chopped off the crimson woman’s arm in chapter 4 in preparation, even thought it hadn’t actually rolled yet. We both kind had an understanding that at whatever point a 2 did roll, that was going to be time to bring the crimson woman back into the fold. Surprisingly, it didn’t take too long for it to show up, with only three chapters spanning the time in the book between her death and rebirth. Having the protagonist lose great power was an excellent second roll to go along with her return, as it became instantly clear how the chapter should unfold simply by seeing the two outcomes paired together. Having the limb replacement be “unexpected” was also perfect for Ethan to lean into adding some creepy crawlies to the story and move the plot to the Outer Rings, which he had wanted to explore but hadn’t had a set of rolls that justified it until this point.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 017.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #2: Protagonist’s hangover leads to some incredibly fortuitous turn of events (thanks to @irunindy on Twitter)

Replacing #4: Unknown blind wanderer somehow related to a protagonist enters the story (thanks to selective_stimulus on Instagram)

 Chapter Nine

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #18: Super intelligent magical infant

Ethan - #4: Unknown blind wanderer somehow related to a protagonist enters the story

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

This was the first time we rolled the same number in back-to-back chapters, which meant it was the first time an entry was used the very same week it was introduced. Both of these rolls required the creation of new characters with very specific traits, which was a fun way to continue on with Elinea’s quest on Vlyk. We were always going to need other people on the island for her to interact with, and the rolls shaped exactly what that was going to look like. Ethan never imagined or intended for Corrilous Hallister to be a telepathic and telekinetic infant with the mind and voice of an old Magi, but with the help of the Fate Index, we ended up in that fun place.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 019.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #4: Someone gets refueled (thanks to @39kfm39 on Instagram)

Replacing #18: Razor clams (thanks to Becky and Brian)

 Chapter Ten

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #8: Protagonist joins or befriends powerful creature

Ethan - #20: Ancient deity decides to walk the mortal realms

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

This might have been the most exciting pairing of rolls we’ve had so far, but Ethan decided to play it relatively safe, choosing to reign the story in a bit instead of going completely over the top. That said, this chapter was basically an anime episode full of one-liners and glaive fights, even if the powerful creature doesn’t show up until the very end and the ancient deity turns out to be an already-existing villain. With endless possibilities, sometimes the most enticing road is the one that just moves forward.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 021.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #8: A character begins to doubt reality (thanks to @yawnsport on Instagram)

Replacing #20: Improbable infant survival (thanks to Scrat)

 Chapter Eleven

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #16: Goonie squad

Ethan - #7: A utopian world is described or created by an adolescent

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

It’s only fitting that Jeff - who does not particularly want to write about children or include them in the story - keeps getting saddled with rolls that force him to center on their inclusion. It was high time that we had another chapter from Laureena’s perspective though, so figuring out how to use these rolls to fill in her backstory, reveal her state of mind in the present, and expand lore/foreshadow Danvers’ new life under the water was a fun challenge. Mostly, Jeff was just excited to have an excuse to singlehandedly reenact a 4-person dinner conversation from happier times in the Danvers household.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 023.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #7: Protagonist gets overzealous and makes a major mistake (thanks to @agirlherflatandcat on Instagram)

Replacing #16: After a long string of losses, a character begins to succeed only to jeopardize someone else's success (thanks to Skull)

 Chapter Twelve

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #11: Shrek and Donkey cameo

Ethan - #20: Improbable infant survival

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

At long last, the dreaded “Shrek and Donkey cameo” roll showed up, yet somehow Ethan figured out a way to a) keep it truly a cameo, and b) have it actually work into the narrative of the story without the whole thing getting completely derailed. Bravo! That said, he loses any bonus points he gained there by not actually performing the Hallister voice after bringing back the character from possible death with roll of “Improbable infant survival.” You said you had a terrible British accent, Ethan, and we all wanted to hear it! There were a lot of threads getting tied up in this chapter, and other than Hallister now being part of “the plan,” these rolls didn’t necessarily seem to help or hinder that progress.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 025.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #11: An antagonist is offered a moment of possible redemption but must decide to act on it (thanks to Hittle)

Replacing #20: Nothing happens when something is supposed to happen (thanks to Chuck Struggler @strugglers_band on Instagram)

 Chapter Thirteen

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #19: Protagonist becomes famous

Ethan - #1: Antagonist gains immense power

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

From the outset, these rolls seemed like they were asking for something BIG, which naturally seemed to lend itself to action and excitement. Someone was going to get famous, and someone or something was going to gain immense power. Elinea felt like the natural choice for the fame, as she’d hate it the most. Choosing which antagonist to give immense power was a bit more tricky. In the end, the power was essentially given to two antagonistic forces: the other imprisoned deities besides Värlof and whatever nasty things were still buzzing around in the underworld. On the podcast, we talk a lot about using our chapters to send volleys over to our co-writer, and in this chapter, Jeff set Ethan up perfectly to create monsters to his heart’s content.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 027.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #1: Interspecies relationship becomes a little one-sided (thanks to Peebs @seadubzez on Instagram)

Replacing #19: Virtue of protagonist is tested by an ally (thanks to Cream)

 Chapter Fourteen

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #3: Protagonist has/develops some incurable urge they must sate daily

Ethan - #8: A character begins to doubt reality

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Ethan’s a lover of horror, and it’s October, so it’s not particularly surprising that these rolls led to a spooky chapter full of spectral nightmares and insatiable urges to kill. These rolls seemed to pair nicely with one another; the doubting of reality was a natural side-effect to the corruption that urged Finnegan to murder his Irapa bunkmate. This chapter jumped back often to Finnegan’s past but didn’t move very far forward in the present, and because of this, two key aspects of #3 remain unexplored: the fact that the affliction is incurable, and the fact that it is going to show up every day henceforth. The Fate Index will not let us forget that these conditions are part of the deal.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 029.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #3: Extended stream of consciousness (thanks to Mark the Composer)

Replacing #8: A creature’s weak spot gets found by accident (Thanks to Mäx)

 Chapter Fifteen

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #6: Flashback episode

Ethan - #4: Someone gets refueled

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Jeff was initially pretty bummed to roll “Flashback episode” this deep in the story, as we are actively trying to move this thing towards a conclusion and didn’t want to spend another entire chapter fixating on the past. But it actually ended up being a fairly useful roll, as it was an excuse to tie all up all of the loose ends regarding lore once and for all, finally offering a definitive picture of the history of this world and how all of the groups fit together within it. With the other roll, Jeff bestowed magical refueling to not one but two characters, effectively removing a child from the story and possibly giving the two of us (and everyone listening) a permanent reprieve from Danvers’ squeaky dockhand voice.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 031.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #4: Fantasy deathmatch (thanks to @scam_dnb on Instagram)

Replacing #6: People begin to question their belief system (Thanks to Bariş)

 Chapter Sixteen

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #2: Protagonist’s hangover leads to some incredibly fortuitous turn of events

Ethan - #11: An antagonist is offered a moment of possible redemption but must decide to act on it

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Ethan made a fun decision to have the protagonist’s hangover which leads to some incredibly fortuitous turn of events occur in the past in a flashback, with Morwell only possessing the avtimag bombs he used way back in chapter 2 because he got super wasted on his final night as an Iso. Having those bombs may have saved Laureena from Värlof in the long run, but the choice of redemption was then offered to her by the Remnant, and Ethan decided to have her continue on being true to her character: a headstrong teenage idiot with literal inner demons. Will she ever learn?

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 033.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #2: The world’s problems are a projection of one character’s mind (thanks to @julytel on Instagram)

Replacing #11: The inevitable end is actually a rebirth (Thanks to Alex)

 Chapter Seventeen

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #15: Millions of insects start their march to devour everything in their path

Ethan - #10: Something consequential turns out to be an illusion

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Boy, the roll to have millions of insects devour everything in their path didn’t show up at a very fortuitous time for the poor people of the Central Islands. We knew we had to have a chapter that finished up all our business in the Capital, and these rolls definitely helped us bring civilization as the Callans knew it to an end. Figuring out exactly which consequential thing was going to be an illusion proved particularly tough, as it was a golden opportunity to really turn things on their head, but Jeff decided to go with shattering the Nemarus’ blind faith in the Settlers and having that be the catalyst for bug apocalypse. One thing is for certain: the Remnant isn’t going to have any super-cool church camp songs like “Our God is an Awesome God” written about it anymore.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 035.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #10: Social faux pas has serious consequences (thanks to Bobby Savage on Facebook)

Replacing #15: Current location revealed to be (a) hell (Thanks to John)

 Chapter Eighteen

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #17: Protagonist takes up cause of beleaguered

Ethan - #18: Razor clams

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

At this point in the story, is there any other roll as anti-climactic as Razor clams? Thanks, Becky! As a result, Ethan didn’t even really try to work them into his narrative, and as far as he got was a clam that acted as a giant purple smoke vacuum. The real meat of the chapter was due to the other roll of the protagonist taking up the cause of the beleaguered. Jartow and the Irapa are on a mission to save everyone they can from what they believe is a big deception from the Remnant, and Finnegan joins in for their mission. We’ve got people trying to live underground, and in the sky, and all over the dang place. Who knows if any of them are going to survive.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 037.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #17: Protagonist reveals a secret (thanks to Kevvy)

Replacing #18: Someone dies trying (Thanks to Charlie)

 Chapter Nineteen

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #18: Someone dies trying

Ethan - #7: Protagonist gets overzealous and makes a major mistake

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

Jeff was pretty excited for these two outcomes to roll for the climax of the story, as they both seemed appropriate for the occasion and helped dictate the way the action would unfold. “Someone dies trying” ensured that not everyone was going to make it out alive, and it was honestly a hard choice deciding which one of the major players was going to bite the dust (Ethan did send Jeff a private message after reading the chapter thanking him for not killing off Finnegan). Hallister seemed the most logical choice to get overzealous, as he was the only one with any real power to diffuse the Immured Eight, and once he was obliterated and neutralized, it became clear that the only way for Värlof to be dealt with was through Laureena’s sacrifice. Fittingly, the outcome of this story was fundamentally shaped by our rolls from the Fate Index. We had a general idea of how things would end before the rolls, but it wasn’t until after they tumbled that we really understood how it was all going to work out.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 040.

New Outcomes:

Replacing #7: A lesson is not learned (thanks to Missy)

Replacing #18: Holiday Episode (Thanks to Ben)

 Epilogue

***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***

What did we roll?

Jeff - #7: A lesson is not learned

Ethan - #19: Virtue of protagonist is tested by an ally

Our thoughts on these outcomes:

New submissions to Fate Index were immediately rolled into the story for each of the final two chapters, and both had enormous impacts on how everything came together. Jeff couldn’t have been more excited about rolling “A lesson is not learned,” and Ethan used that roll to circle back to the theme of Capital elites being a major reason why the world fell into disrepair before the Shift, and why it’s all threatening to happen again 20 years later. Ethan decided to weave the virtue testing into all three vignettes in the epilogue, with Elinea, Finnegan, and Danvers all being tested in one way or another by Caldwell, showing exactly how they fundamentally have or have not changed as characters over the course of the story. We were both immensely happy with the rolls that showed up for the finale of the book and really believed that they pushed the story towards a satisfying conclusion.

You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 040.