Iron Man or Not-Iron-Man?

Playing Iron Man and Getting to The End is better than backtracking and trying out new things. I suggest you do 3 iron man runs, each run picking one different path: Noble, Priest, Lotless.

Hidden Result or Show Result

If you want to immerse in the story, you might think it OK to pick the option to hide what option will result in what happening.

I suggest you don't. Leave the option to "Show results" on and be conscious about all the options you could've chosen as well as what option will affect what.

Sometimes it's not clear right from the option text what will happen! An option you thought was safe could actually be leading you to betray your closest friend or him/her dying.

Save yourself the trouble of rage-quitting: LEAVE THE CONSEQUENCES DISPLAY ON

You might try a hidden-result on a later run if you really enjoy the story.

There are multiple things happening in the story, which I'll write in the next sections.

First is your chosen path. You can choose to follow the Noble way, the Priest way, or the Lotless way. There are story twists along all routes.

Noble is rather straightforward and there's nothing too surprising. You can have a sub-story about Octavia and a weird Cult in this branch. Your love interest in this branch is Octavia.

Priest allows you to explore more of the strange ways the world Brante lives in manifests itself. You have some sub-stories that allow you to explore what the Twins are, the History of the Continent, the cult, and a lot more encounters with Magicians/Sorcerers. You will also see that the Church has many sects: New Faith, Old Faith, Willism, ... Your love interest in this branch is Jeanne.

Lotless is the one that is most surprising. I suggest you leave this after you've done the other two paths. I won't spoil it but it's not as straightforward as you think. Your love interest in this branch is Sophia.

Then, second, is what happens to your Family. A lot of your decisions will affect Robert (your Father), Lydia (your mother), Stephen (your elder brother), Gloria (your elder sister) and Nathan (your younger brother) in different ways. Your grandfather is also present in the first few chapters but isn't an important factor in the later ones. There are a few things that can happen to your family so beware of: Relationships between the family members, your Family Wealth, and your Reputation.

Finally, third, is what you do once the last chapter, Revolt, kicks in. You can pick sides (or be a coward). This will be affected by all the stats on the Power scale as well as some other things that will be required depending on which path you chose: Church, Magra Wealth, Order, ... and the specific duality stats of each pathway.

There is a fourth storyline that is always around, and that's the weirdness of the setting. Arknians. The Twins. The Elder. The Younger. Living by your Lot. Peak or Foot of the Pillar. What's the Cult. Who are those yellow reptilians and what can a Magician do.... it's all very intriguing. Especially when you die your first death.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD -- BE WARNED

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD -- BE WARNED

Noble

• If you want to be the heir yourself, remember that you need to get rid of Stephen somehow...
  
• If you adopt Gloria into your house, either through plotting with her or through Unite the Family, your reputation will drop down to 0 and your family will be Dishonored. Remember this if you're trying to have your bloodline ennobled.
  
• If you have 10 Family Wealth, there is a decision that grants Reputation. This can lead to a chain reaction that allows you to gain enough Reputation for the next events to kick in (10 Reputation). It is hard to gain 10 Wealth on this storyline but doable.
  
• If you enter into the Romance story with Octavia there are two ways it can go: a better way and a less good way. You need to be aware of that. When she asks you to be with her is when this decision kicks in.
  
• Octavia is the leader of the reptilian cult. There will be events on that. This is a sub-story.

Priest

• If you adopt Gloria into your house, either through plotting with her or through Unite the Family, your reputation will drop down to 0 and your family will be Dishonored.
  
• If you have 10 Family Wealth, there is a decision that grants Reputation. This can lead to a chain reaction that allows you to gain enough Reputation for the next events to kick in (10 Reputation). It is very difficult to gain 10 Wealth on this storyline. I haven't been able to do this.
  
• There is no romance option with Octavia but you'll still infiltrate the cult. By having that storyline advance to the end will grant you a lot of stats and a bonus option later.
  
• Following Ulrich to the end is also a fun storyline to read.
  
• Be wary of Jeanne, either you devote yourself to her, or you don't; being in a middle-ground option will have consequences later on.
  
• There is no hidden grand plan in this. You're still going to get a Revolt in chapter 5 and you're still going to have to choose things. You can however be a martyr and die so that the revolt fails.
  
• The Shadow (from klozen) - "If you max out inquisition stat and let Ulrich become your master. You will die at the end with Ulrich himself and face Twins judgment, but if you have Willpower of 30 and also have theology of 20 you will realise that Ulrich wasn't wrong and only make one mistake to still acknowledge the Twins. Then you renounce the Twins and Younger will swing sword at you, but it will fail and Twins no longer can do anything to you.After then you become shadow rivaling size of Twins and then you see a baby" (this is the scene at the start!)

Lotless

• There is a hidden requirement if you want to go Defender of the Empire route and win Peacefully (apart from the Power +3..+4 and other requirements listed): SOPHIA NEEDS TO BE ALIVE. So DON'T KILL HER in chapter 5.
  
• If you have 10 Family Wealth, there is a decision that grants Reputation. This can lead to a chain reaction that allows you to gain enough Reputation for the next events to kick in (10 Reputation). It is very easy to gain 10 Wealth on this storyline if you choose the right things. Investing in the printing house for example.
  
• Felipe will always have an event where he denounces you if you tried to weasel a way around him with either of the 3 conspirators (Sophia, the Mayor, or the influential Noble). You can talk your way out of it but it has some requirements to bluff out.
  
• If you get to Spy Network +10, there is an event to find out a mole in the party.
  
• Gunpowder is required later on when you find a crate of Weapons if you want to have a better own army in Chapter 5.
  
• Romancing Sophia is not difficult. But be aware of what's going to happen in Chapter 5 (she's leading the revolt army).
  
• Power level for Peaceful resolution (from Nyarlathotep) - Something that isn't really mentioned is that you should pay attention to the power level if you want a peaceful resolution. Although it might sound like a good thing to have it min/maxed it actually locks you out of the peaceful endings. (I assume this is because if one side has enough power, it doesn't really benefit them to make peace with the other side)