Video Game / Love of Magic

Love of Magic is a harem H-Game Visual Novel by Droid Productions, based on a modernized version of Arthurian Legend.

The player-named protagonist is flying to Scotland for graduate school in magic. His mother, Jannice, tells him to look up her friend Chloe when he gets there. Chloe, a young-looking woman with glowing purple eyes, is a Sorceress trying to turn her pub — the Aleister Crowley — into the premiere drinking establishment for the magical world.

He encounters Princess Emily Pendragon, great-granddaughter of King Arthur, and they fight a Minotaur Lord together. They meet again at school, are assigned homework together, and end up falling in love. Meanwhile, the protagonist (hereafter called MC) finds himself involved with a large number of other characters, mostly female, as his legacy turns him into something considerably more than just another Evoker.

In addition to the main plot and side quests, there is a complex combat system built around a 5x5 poker solitaire game. Multiple types of gems can be slotted in for different hands, allowing for large amounts of flexibility - lightning gems can cause opponents to miss turns, fire gems will cause lingering damage, ice gems will decrease damage opponents can cause, rage gems will build up the damage you do while also doing a small amount of damage to you, poison gems do higher damage that doesn't apply until the board clears, and more. Different companions can have different effects, ranging from Emily's shield to Katie's fire damage to Dylan's healing to Chloe's ability to replace a card with a Joker.

And, as a harem H-Game, MC has the option to have sex with just about every woman he meets. However, there's a lot more story than sex in the game.

The game falls more into the ADV style of Visual Novel, with a linear storyline. While the player's choices can affect details of the game, they will not cause a story branch or anything similar; they will mostly affect the reactions of other characters and may gain the character stat or money bonuses for making the 'right' choice.

Three "Books" are planned:

• Book I: The Crown (released)
• Book II: The War (under development)
• Book III: The Return (planned)

As Book II is still in development, this article primarily covers Book I.

The game is available on Steam, on Itch.io, and from the developer's page on Patreon. It is available for Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Linux, and Android.

Tropes found in Love of Magic include:

• A-Cup Angst: Emily isn't quite an A cup, but she's smaller-chested than many of the other women in the game, and is a bit self-conscious about it. Nimue calling her a "flat-chested tomboy" doesn't help matters.
• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Excalibur. MC uses it to, among other things, cut through the door holding Katie.
  X: You're using me as a can opener?
• Achievement System: In addition to the usual achievements for progressing the storyline, completing sidequests, and doing certain actions a number of times, there is an achievement for declining optional sex scenes (labeled as "stay as true as you can to Emily").
• Adjective Animal Alehouse: The King's Dragon. Which has a literal undead dragon head on the wall.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Emily refers to MC as "my heart", or "beloved pervert", depending on circumstances.
  • Katie and Bella, as cousins who've known each other since they were kids, initially greet each other as "coppertop" and "ass sniffer".
• The Ageless:
  • Chloe, who looks exactly like she did when MC was conceived twenty-plus years ago. She's much, much older than that.
  • Sarah, who is 95 but looks like she's in her mid-20s.
  • Nimue, who has been preparing the Glade since just after Arthur's death.
  • Fia, Katie and Keith's grandmother, who looks no more than 20. Her exact age is unknown, but her sister was Bella's great-great-great-great grandmother, so she's probably well over 100.
  • Available to anyone willing to sink magic into it, more or less, but the amount of magic required goes up over time. Chosen can draw upon their God for it, as Nimue does.
• Always Save the Girl: MC makes it clear that if he has to burn down the whole world to save Emily, he will burn down the whole world. When facing certain death, given the knowledge that he can shield Emily, Dylan, and Bella, or he can shield himself, he doesn't hesitate before shielding Emily and his companions. The Horned Lord agrees.
  The Horned Lord: You did the right thing, for the right reasons. If we can't protect those we care about, fuck destiny. No victory is worth losing yourself for.
• And Now You Must Marry Me: Lord Jerkow is considering forcing Emily to marry him to claim the throne.
  I guess the only question is if I will decide to chain you with steel or with a ring of gold.
• Angels Pose: Molly, Akane, and Emily, defending Kitsune and Dylan from the Big Bad at Mitburgh. A variant, as Molly (in the center) is facing away instead of in silhouette, making it also Back-to-Back Badasses.
• Arc Words: "The Paths Lead All Places".
  • When Jannice hears it, she disagrees, saying "The path leads to where we were meant to go, as always."
• Armor-Piercing Attack: Pierce attacks do triple damage against shields but less damage than a pure damage attack of the same level. Bella eventually gets a special crossbow bolt that will let her completely remove shields, once per expedition.
• Arranged Marriage: What Emily expects before she meets MC. Erec plans another one for her, with Lord Jerkow, but it doesn't even get formally arranged before his death.
• Asian Fox Spirit: Hakone no Kitsune, Akane's bodyguard, is a three-tailed fox spirit.
• Assassin Outclassin': The various assassins that attempt to take out MC and/or Emily. Of particular note is the Cambion who comes to the attention of a Blessed by the Voices; he falls off the roof on top of Bella, who promptly splatters him.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: When Emily, now Queen of Camelot, marries the dying MC, the Mantle of the Once and Future King fills him with glowing power and heals him.
• Badass Boast: Many, as MC and the Knights of the Lake grow in power.
  MC: I am the Sword of Mankind, Matthew. Merlin and the Horned Lord tinkered and plotted and crafted me for this. I'm not supposed to be... safe. I'm supposed to meet the Outsiders face to face, and show them that there are scarier things than them in this world.
  
  Bella: I'm a Chosen Werewolf. There ain't anything meaner than me on the streets of Edinburgh.
• Badass Teacher: Matthew, who taught Emily swordsmanship. He's good enough that he recognizes that Emily taught MC from the way he moves.
• Barrier Warrior: Emily's initial use in combat is to provide a shield; once MC gets to choose his own gems, he can put in ones that create shields as well.
• Battle Harem: All of MC's companions except for Dylan. (And other males added in Book II, such as Matthew and Scholar.)
  • Katie is an Evoker, overly fond of fire.
  • Emily is an Enchanter, heiress to the throne of Camelot, and skilled with both magic and sword.
  • Akane is a Seer, able to control the flow of magic.
  • Chloe and Molly are Sorceresses, able to twist probability.
  • Bella is a werewolf armed with a crossbow.
  • Kitsune is a fox demon.
  • Kath is a werelynx.
  • Book II adds Fia, another enchanter (and Katie's grandmother), and Xochi, a goddess of healing.
• Battle Trophy: The King's Dragon pub has a dragon head on the wall. The head is undead and talks to Molly.
• Beach Episode: The Knights gather at the Glade to swim and play. Later, an optional scene has MC teaching Emily to swim there.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, famed British civil engineer, also created the modern summoning portal used in Ceremonial Magic.
• Berserk Button: Katie really doesn't like Scotland being called England.
  Katie: Ah'm fecking Scottish, okay. If ah close mah eyes and think of England, that ain't gonna make me any less angry.
• Big Fancy Castle: Camelot.
• Bland-Name Product:
  • Starcucks. Lampshaded - they used to be Starbucks but lost the franchise rights.
  • Others that play the trope straight: "Facial" for Facebook, "DeNile" for Amazon, "DemonFox" for Mozilla Firefox, and QuackQuackGo for DuckDuckGo.
• Blessed with Suck:
  • Being a werecreature. Superspeed, superstrength, regeneration, and the ability to transform and become even better at all of those...and a lifespan in the 30s because your body wears out too fast.
  • MC's opinion of his situation.
    MC: And as long as I'm useful, the Voices will keep me around. But I'm a tool. You keep a wrench around, in case you need it. But if you need to jam it into the gears to save your kid, you don't hesitate. Even though it might be rough on the wrench.
• Blind Obedience: Discussed with regard to sorcery; while the Voices can guide you, it's imperative to pay attention to more than just them.
  Chloe: Any idiot that relies on Sorcery to tell them everything they need to know deserves what happens to them.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: A variant, with MC's Chosen. Molly's the blonde, Bella's the redhead, and Akane has black hair.
• Body Backup Drive: Common among Lords of the Cult, and one reason they're so hard to kill permanently.
• Bodyguarding a Badass:
  • Bella bodyguards Emily, as Emily's powers are great but are more defensive and require preparation.
  • Bella, Kath, and Jalsa all act as bodyguards for MC at various points, because his powers are immense but some assassins may be fast enough to get to him before he can react.
• Born Lucky: The key ability of sorcerers. The Voices tell them what they need to do, and things just happen to break the way they want them to. Exaggerated Trope for the "Blessed by the Voices" (Jannice) who have this to such a degree that they don't need to try - their lives work out perfectly without any active effort. MC has it as well, except his life is working out exactly as it needs to become the Sword of Mankind.
• Brainless Beauty: X's opinion of Emily's armor.
  X: In this case I was busy chatting with your girlfriend's armor. Not the brightest bulb in the box, but she looks smoking.
• Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Nimue's dismissal of Emily at the Glade leads to a temporary breakup until Emily confirms that neither of them is under any sort of compulsion. Technically a Second-Act Breakup (the breakup begins Act II, and they get back together halfway through the act) but due to Our Acts Are Different it's not the second of three acts. (There are six acts in Book I, for example.)
• Britain Is Only England: Conversed. Book I takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland, but various people (notably Jannice) call it England. Scots like Katie do not take kindly to this.
  Jannice: Katie, Bella, it was so nice to meet you, and to know my son has found such nice new friends here in England.
  Katie: (after leaving the pub) Bloody yanks; the difference between Scotland and England ought to be clear to anyone.
• Bullying a Dragon: Lord Jerkow, after Emily and MC spring his trap, does not realize just what he's gotten himself into.
• Cassandra Truth: Pretty much everything you tell Olivia.
• Cat Girl: Chloe comes into the bathroom with MC, shapeshifted into a cat. MC buys her some cat-themed outfits afterwards, and she provides the tail.
• Catchphrase: MC's pre-combat line: "Deal cards."
• Cernunnos: The oldest of the gods, leader of the Celtic pantheon, father of the other pantheons, and MC's father.
• Chainmail Bikini: Downplayed. Emily's armor covers all of her except her midriff.
• The Chains of Commanding: Discussed. In an early conversation, Molly doesn't understand how Emily can't just do whatever she wants, not understanding the obligations her position places on her.
• The Chessmaster: Merlin. Exaggerated Trope: he's planned out everything 1500 years after his own death. However, he does have failsafes in place in case things don't work out as planned.
• The Chosen One: MC was specifically bred to be The Once and Future King.
• Conspiracy Theorist: Olivia believes that she can't find any magic because the ancient order is hiding it from her.
• Could Say It, But...: The email from the developers of "Landlady & Flatmate" talks about how they'd never include incest, that sort of thing is only in unauthorized patches (which it provides pointers to).
• Cryptic Conversation: Molly and Akane provide these after becoming Chosen, typically listing off what MC needs to do.
  Your senses are weak, MC. Rely on them and you will fail.
  Your eyes see nothing. You must find one that can peer through the darkness for you.
  You are scentblind. You must find the one that will follow the trail.
  Your arm is too weak. You must find the one that can make you strong.
  Your hearing is flawed. You must find the one that can track your prey.
  Your heart is too soft. You must find the one that will guard it with naked steel.
  Your mind is closed to the voices. You must trust the one that will help you understand.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The rescue of Emily. She's being held at a castle in the real world, guarded by non-magical mercenaries. They never stood anything resembling a chance; the biggest danger is that she doesn't believe it's a real rescue at first, and has been preparing magical constructs to attack whoever tries to claim her.
• Decadent Court: Camelot has been in decline for centuries, and the decline has been accelerating over the last decade since Emily's mother's death.
• Decapitation Presentation: When Bella beheads Sir Tomas, she catches his head in mid-air and holds it up.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Jalsa Dahiya attacks you to see how good you are, and after you defeat her, she joins your side.
• Defiled Forever: Camelot's views on premarital sex for noble women, but not for men.
  Chloe: Erec is furious. And under intense pressure; he has promised Emily's hand to Lord Jerkow, as a bribe to gain his support. To fob him off with pre-used goods would be an intolerable insult.
• Did You Actually Believe...?: Nimue, dismissing Emily.
  What a simple-minded child. Did you truly think he was attracted to you? You plain faced, flat chested tomboy. All of this was planned before your great grandfather was even born.
• Disappeared Dad: MC's father apparently died in a car crash when he was young. His father is the Horned Lord, and faked the death.
• Disposable Fiancé: In backstory; Emily's first fiancé got himself killed by being found in bed with a Council Battlemage's wife.
  Emily: And the head of the Army, Lord Morris, resigned in disgrace after scattering my late and unmourned ex-fiancé across the duelling grounds.
• Disproportionate Retribution: MC brushes the Mantle just a little to set the castle holding the treasonous nobles on fire, incinerating all of them, and any family and retainers they had brought along.
• Either/Or Prophecy: Akane sees cities in flames and millions dead...and that's if MC succeeds. She sees much, much worse if he fails.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Outsiders.
• Empathic Weapon: Excalibur. He can talk to Emily's armor and sword, and flirts with the armor, which he considers beautiful if a bit vapid. MC's armor is too new to have a personality.
• Empty Piles of Clothing: Arthur's armor was found after the battle. No remains of Arthur himself were ever found. This is more a testimony to Schwartalf armor quality than anything else.
• Evil Teacher:
  • Sarah is a 95-year-old Ceremonial Magician who attempts to cause trouble by throwing MC and Emily together in ways likely to cause Emily's father to want MC dead. She then attempts to blackmail MC, gets her mind blown, and eventually becomes a necromancer.
  • Torman is Thor, Katie's grandfather. He tries to kill MC in an attempt to cripple the Courts in order to make them a more tempting target for the Outsiders. He got the job by ambushing Booker, the actual Evoker professor.
• Exact Words:
  • Powers are not supposed to lie, so they are fond of this. Chloe, especially, is a master of this, and uses them to get Erec killed, promoting Emily to reigning Queen, and get MC almost-killed, leading to his ascension to Once and Future King. She says that Erec has called the Hunt, and that the Hunt is a great danger to MC...but never says that the Hunt is being called on MC.
  • Molly tells the previous owner of the King's Dragon pub that she will let him go. She does; Bella, on the other hand, doesn't.
• Excalibur: MC's weapon after the first time he almost dies; an Empathic Weapon who has been wielded by historical greats through the ages and can talk about them. MC nicknames him "X".
• Fantastic Measurement System: MC refers to amounts of magic in terms of what level of poker hand they're equivalent to.
• Feed the Mole: Emily sets up Sir Tomas to leak information to the treasonous nobles.
• Fell Off the Back of a Truck: Referenced; "Fell off the Back of a Lorry" is the name of the achievement for selling gems back to the quartermaster.
• Fictional Videogame: "Landlady & Flatmate" is a fictional H-Game that MC is a fan of, but the gameplay is never actually seen, just discussed.
• Fiery Redhead: Literally in Katie's case; she's an Evoker who specializes in fire magic. Bella is a downplayed version, as she keeps herself under tight control.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Downplayed. After Mitburgh, MC and Kitsune come to respect each other more, although they still don't much like each other.
• First Girl Wins: Emily is the first (eventual) member of the Knights of the Lake that MC meets; however, the first girl he meets would be Chloe, who is an optional fling.
• Flexibility Equals Sex Ability: Ceremonial magicians practice flexibility and pole-dancing as part of teasing beings from Elsewhere. Molly likes to show off her flexibility, and it's the trigger that starts the sequence leading to her becoming a Chosen.
• For Your Own Good: Molly's justification for coming between MC and Emily; by making Emily jealous, she ties MC and Emily more closely together and makes them actually discuss their relationship.
• Foreshadowing: See the page quote? MC gets burnt by a dragon and smashed by Thor's hammer in order to come into his full power.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: Not quite the fourth date, but MC marries Emily on day 76.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Kitsune. She clearly hates MC, calling him "abomination" and "mongrel", and doesn't really care for any of the rest of them. However, she is sworn as Akane's bodyguard, and thus will accompany Akane everywhere she can.
• Funetik Aksent: Some of the Scottish characters have this, especially Katie, and most especially when she's drunk or angry.
• Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Glad You're Alive Sex. After the first time MC almost dies, Emily decides that life is too short to wait.
• Glamour Failure: The first time MC tries using Sight, he accidentally burns away Kitsune's glamour.
• Glowing Eyes: The sign of a Power. When someone is channeling more magic than their body can handle, some of it leaks out the eyes as a glow. The reason Chloe's eyes always glow is that she's old enough that just keeping herself alive requires that much magic.
• Going Commando: Played for laughs. The first Ceremonial Magic homework involves stripping down to underwear; after the fact, you find out that neither Molly nor Katie was wearing any.
• Good is Not Nice:
  • Arthur was a charismatic leader, willing and able to do whatever was necessary to protect people. He was a jerk of a person, though, and the sacrifices required for his victory were immense.
  • Emily is his great-granddaughter, and it appears to run in the family. She's fond of reminding people of the oath she swore: "I promise to reward Loyalty with Trust, Service with Honour...Treason with Death."
• Healing Factor: Common for Evokers; MC's gets stronger as his powers increase.
• Hearing Voices: The sense that guides sorceresses is called "The Voices". Molly thought she was going mad until she learned what was going on.
• The Hecate Sisters: Discussed. Someone points out that the Sorceresses they have are maiden (Molly), mother (Jannice), and crone (Chloe), but it's pointed out that the first is no longer a maiden and calling Chloe a crone would be hazardous to your health.
• Hammerspace: Where evokers store their focus items. Katie has a small locket with fire gems on it; MC has a staff that starts with junk gems, and later replaces it with Excalibur.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: Most significant characters, including the protagonist, his companions, most women he can get involved with, his first Evoker teacher, and Emily's father. The player's companion group, the Knights of the Lake, can also be renamed. All names can be tweaked during the game via MC's computer. (For purposes of this page, all characters will be described with their default name except the player, who will be called MC.)
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Nobody's armor includes helmets; when asked about it, Katie's comment is "Helmets are for pussies."
• History Repeats: Emily's mother was killed by a dragon, which was then killed by Chloe's anti-tank rifle; if Chloe had gotten there an hour earlier, Emily's mother would have lived. Emily's father is killed by a dragon, which was then killed by Chloe's anti-tank rifle; if Chloe had gotten there five minutes earlier, Emily's father wouldn't have been killed by the dragon, although he was about to get into a fight with MC before the dragon attacked.
• Home Base: The Crowley, for most of Book I. The Grove takes on some of this role, and Camelot becomes home base for Book II.
• Honor Before Reason: Emily tends toward this, saying things like "Duty is heavier than a mountain; Death is lighter than a feather." This leads to her finding most of MC's harem acceptable; they've devoted their lives to him, and her honor requires her to allow him to reward that devotion.
• An Ice Person: Ice gems reduce the damage that your opponent does, but do less damage than other attacks.
• In-Series Nickname: MC starts referring to Lord Jerkow as Lord Jerkoff, and others pick up on it.
• Interface Spoiler: If the game offers the option of renaming a female character, odds are very good that you'll be able to have some sort of sexual experience with her eventually.
  • Sarah strips down for you while trying to blackmail you, but you don't actually have sex with her. Olivia is naked in DGN1 and about to be raped by a tentacle monster when you save her. The sole exception is Aoife, who has not had any sort of sexual contact with MC by the end of Book I. The exception on the other side is Bella, who becomes a Chosen but cannot be renamed.
• Interrupted Intimacy: MC and Emily, when arriving back at the Crowley after Emily's rescue. They've been talking about the "rewards" Emily wishes to give her husband, only to get to the pub and find MC's mother waiting.
  • Later turned about when MC returns to the Crowley to find Chloe and Jannice making out.
• Invisible to Normals: A lot of the magical creatures appear to just be ignored by the population.
• Ironic Echo: A construct of Merlin repeats your line about "Overkill is something only the other guy worries about," then notes that in this case you are the other guy.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: By the end of Book I, MC has been almost killed twice, once by Thor and once by a dragon.
• Kukris Are Kool: The Gurkhas battalion that is sworn to Camelot carry kukris.
  Emily: You do not disarm a Gurkha. You merely convince him to temporarily give you some of his weapons.
• Land of Faerie: Parts of Elsewhere are like this, especially over by Tir na nOg.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: Emily gets pregnant the second time she has sex with MC.
• Limited Wardrobe: Discussed and lampshaded (but ultimately averted) for MC, who wears a black T-shirt and jeans whenever possible; however, he has two sets of armor, plus a couple nice outfits to wear. Most of his companions have at least two outfits, their normal wear around Edinburgh and whatever they wear to fight in Elsewhere.
• Living Memory: Merlin's tower contains a construct that Merlin created that can talk to MC.
• Loyal Phlebotinum:
  • Subverted Trope: MC uses his Reality Warper abilities to steal Mjolnir from Thor and give it to Bella.
  • Played straight for Excalibur, which is loyal to MC as it has been loyal to its previous wielders.
• Lured into a Trap: Thor uses Katie to lure MC out somewhere in an attempt to murder him.
• Magical Land: Elsewhere is a land of magical creatures of various kinds.
• Male Gaze: A given for this type of game, but particularly the first time Emily strips down around MC, where the camera pans from her feet to her head after she removes her bra, then back down and back up again once she's naked.
• The Man Behind the Man: Lord Jerkow is working with Sarah, the newest Lord of the Cult.
• Masquerade: It's unclear just how it's maintained, given how blatant magic use is. The attack on Mexico City at the beginning of Book II shifts it to The Unmasqued World.
• Match-Three Game: How Katie sees her powers, as opposed to the poker game MC sees. Where MC's strongest attack is a royal flush, Katie's is a match-7.
• Meaningful Name: Lord Jerkow. It's obvious he's going to be an enemy even before MC starts calling him Lord Jerkoff.
• The Medic: Dylan, the only other male member of the Knights of the Lake.
• Military Mage: Keith is an Evoker who's part of the military; Katie is part of the militia, and MC ends up joining the militia as well.
• More Despicable Minion: The Outsiders are giant monsters bent on destroying the world, but Sarah wants to make people suffer in the process.
• Morph Weapon: Excalibur can change form to the type of sword its wielder expects.
  I've been a Spatha and a Kopis, a Katana and a Khopesh, a Talwar and a Scimitar. But I am always Excalibur.
• Mrs. Robinson: Diana, if you manage to complete her storyline. One of the dialog tree options is even "Diana, you're trying to seduce me!"
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Chloe, among others, can sense the coming of the Convergence, but nobody's sure what it is. It's Nimue bringing MC the Grove that will become his base in Elsewhere.
• My X Is a Y: MC can buy Emily a T-shirt that says "My real boyfriend is an evoker battlemage".
• Naughty Tentacles: Tentakun, one of the easier monster types to kill. The only times you see one even in contact with a human female are Molly and Olivia, before you rescue them.
• Necromancer: Lords of the Cult. They create various forms of Liches and other evil undead.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: MC breaks Sarah's mind...leaving her ripe for the Outsiders to take over.
• Nice to the Waiter: Molly treats Chloe poorly when she stops by the Crowley.. Comes back to bite her when she realizes that Chloe is a Really 700 Years Old sorceress.
• No Hero Discount: Even once you're the King of Camelot, the Quartermaster charges you full price for your gems.
• No Poker Face: MC is absolutely awful at lying.
• Of Corsets Sexy: Bella's default outfit has a black corset on top. One of the outfits you can buy for Emily is a white corset.
• Off with His Head!: Bella beheads Sir Tomas mid-sentence.
• Oh, Crap!: Several times.
  • X, when he realizes just how much power has been given to MC, and how little control he has.
  • Word-for-word by MC when he arrives back at the Crowley after saving Emily, only to find his mother waiting there.
• Only Shop in Town: Diana mentions that there are other bookshops around, but you always go to hers, which charges 100 pounds for every book but one. But, the books are always exactly what you need. An Exaggerated Trope when MC pays 100 pounds for a pad of paper to leave a note with.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: MC is unable to pull Excalibur from the stone, but Emily (as Arthur's heir) is able to help him. This was a safety valve created by Merlin — for MC to come into his full power without Emily's moderating influence could doom the world.
• Our Mages Are Different: There are multiple types of mage. Having a Spark is generally required to cast spells, but there are people without Sparks who can perform some sorts of magic.
  • Ceremonial magicians are (mostly) female virgins who titillate beings from Elsewhere in exchange for magic, which they can use to extend their lifespan, among other things. They have no Spark of their own, and are looked down upon by 'real' mages, who refer to them as 'thots' and 'camwhores'.
  • Sorcerers and sorceresses have no Spark of their own, but instead are guided by Voices toward things that they want. Particularly strong ones are "Blessed by the Voices" and basically are able to subconsciously transform reality to what they want it to be. They're descended from the Chosen of the Mother, the first Goddess...or, in Chloe's case, were actually Chosen of the Mother.
  • Seers have no Spark of their own, but are able to prophecy and create wards against being found. They seem to come in lineages; the Takashi clan is a well-known and powerful one.
  • Esoteric mages are hedge mages with quirky abilities that don't quite fit any other category, and are the largest subgroup of mages.
  • Battle healers have a Spark they can use for magical healing. They are able to heal some damage, but within limits. The one battle healer we see had a Faerie mother, but we don't know more than that on where Healers come from.
  • Enchanters have a Spark they can use to create magical constructs, including shields. The Enchanters we see come from a lineage of Enchanters, in general.
  • Evokers are the most powerful, and have a Spark they can use to inflict large amounts of damage. They are generally direct descendants of the Gods, within a few generations.
• Our Mermaids Are Different: The mermaid met in Book II considers humans to be prey.
• Our Presidents Are Different: One of the books Diana can sell you is the lost manuscript of Vice-President Schwarzenegger's book, Big Muscles, Gut.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: Kath is a werelynx. Jalsa is a weretiger. There is mention of werebears, but they haven't shown up yet.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Bella is extremely strong and fast even before becoming MC's Chosen, even in normal human form. Afterwards, she's doing presses with a 60-ton Challenger tank and beheading people in the time it takes MC to say her name.
• Painted-On Pants: Katie and Kitsune's default outfits. MC comments that Katie couldn't hide a credit card in her pants, and later explicitly says Kitsune's pants must be painted on.
• Paperworkaholic: Henry Archer, Emily's chamberlain, is known for his attention to detail and ability to do the hard work of running the kingdom.
  Emily: Because keeping a Castle humming requires an anal-retentive monomaniac with a passion for office politics.
• Parental Hypocrisy: Erec is adamant that Emily must have a political Arranged Marriage, when he ignored the political issues to marry for love.
• Permanently Missable Content: Optional sidequests that aren't sorted out before early in Book II can be missed entirely.
• Physical God: All gods in this setting. We meet Thor and the Horned Lord; MC becomes one after marrying Emily makes him the Once and Future King.
• Plausible Deniability: Thor wants to be able to say he didn't kill MC, so he breaks MC's staff to let MC die of a magic overload.
• Playing Card Motifs: Obligatory for a poker-themed game.
  • At one point, MC and Emily do a reading with playing cards to test his abilities. Emily comes up as Queen of Diamonds, Katie as Queen of Spades, Dylan as Jack of Hearts, and MC as a Joker, indicating his sorcerous heritage - notably, it's a 52-card deck with no jokers in it.
  • MC sees his powers in terms of poker hands, and combat as a 5x5 poker solitaire game.
• Playing with Fire: Katie's primary form of attack; MC can use it as well once he learns to customize his gems. Fire attacks cause lingering burn damage that reduces by 10% each turn.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Discussed; when trying to convince Dylan that he's not going to die, MC tells him that "Humorous sidekicks are immortal." However, Dylan isn't really an example himself; if anyone is, it's Molly.
• Pointy Ears: Generally indicates Fae blood. MC, Dylan, and Emily all have prominent ones. Aoife's are more prominent than others, indicating that she's a full-blooded Fae lady.
• Porn with Plot: If the large list of non-porn tropes didn't tell you that already. The plot-to-porn ratio is high enough that it's arguably Plot With Porn, and there have been suggestions made that a Bleached Underpants version would be possible.
• Portal Door: The gateway in the basement of the Crowley that leads to Elsewhere.
• Power Crutch: Evokers have an object in that focuses their power, typically stored in Hammerspace. Katie's is a heart-shaped locket; MC's is a staff, later replaced with Excalibur. Breaking it leads to the evoker dying of a magical overload.
• Power Crystal: Magic is controlled with gems of various levels and types. MC, because his view of magic is poker-based, ranks them all by the poker hand they correspond to. Gems can be placed in slots higher than they are rated for, but not lower. Each type of gem has a different effect; rubies are fire attacks, emeralds are poison attacks, and diamonds are pure damage, for example. Pure flawless gems are level 9 and cannot generally be bought, but must be gained through story or side quests. So far, MC can have pure flawless gems for pure damage^note obtained from Chloe by trading for 50 ingredients, shielding^note obtained from Emily as a gift, taken from Guinevere's crown, rage^note obtained from Bella once she becomes a Chosen, lightning^note found in Mjolnir the first time Bella uses it, and poison^note found in Merlin's tower, and can buy a pure flawless ruby for Katie's fire attacks.
• Power Incontinence: The fate of an evoker whose Power Crutch is broken, dying of an overload of magic.
• Pregnant Badass: Emily is revealed to be a Power after the fight with the dragon, which is also when MC realizes she's pregnant.
• Pretty Princess Powerhouse: Emily looks like a Princess Classic, beautiful and innocent. She's also a powerful enchanter and a trained warrior.
• Psychic Link:
  • Between a God and their Chosen. The Chosen can pull power across the linkage and detect where the God is and how they are feeling. Val is a Chosen of Freya; Chloe was a Chosen of the Mother. Nimue is a Chosen of the Horned Lord. MC makes Molly, Bella, and Akane his Chosen.
  • To a lesser degree, MC seems to have one with anyone he considers "his". When Emily is kidnapped, he puts out a call that brings in all of the Knights of the Lake, plus Booker and Keith. And his mother.
• Psychic Nosebleed: Akane gets one after breaking through an enemy Seer's ward.
• Public Domain Artifact: Excalibur, of course. But, also, Emily wields Secace (Lancelot's sword) and Thor has Mjolnir.
• Public Domain Character:
  • Many of the characters come from the Arthurian Legend, including (but not limited to) Arthur, Merlin, and Nimue. Some of these are only in backstory.
  • The Aesir are around and present, represented by Odin, Thor, and a Valkyrie Chosen of Freya.
  • The Fae are from Celtic Mythology, led by the Horned Lord and including Lugh and Cu Chulain.
  • Book II introduces Aztec Mythology, with Xochiquetzal and Quetzalcoatl being the only known survivors of the Aztec gods.
• Pushed at the Monster: Thor's plan; by killing MC, he weakens the Court, in hopes that the Outsiders will just take out the one pantheon.
• Readings Blew Up the Scale: When Booker tries to get MC to max out his power into a thaumometer, the meter catches on fire.
• Reality Warper:
  • The Blessed by the Voices are so Born Lucky that they warp reality without even noticing. When one wants to fly from America to Edinburgh, the flight to London gets redirected to Edinburgh due to weather.
    Chloe: [This is] what usually happens to things trying to screw up a Blessed by the Voices' day. Reality and probability ganged up on him; his legs slipped and as he fell he landed on a Chosen Werewolf.
  • MC, in Book II. He can look through alternate versions of reality to find the one that he needs, and uses that ability to take Mjolnir and give it to Bella.
• Really 700 Years Old: Many characters in Camelot. Chloe is over 1800 years old, the last Chosen of the Mother and the only one still around.
• Redemption Quest: Thor, after the summit. He goes to Mexico to take on Outsiders, and helps defeat one.
• Removable Turret Gun: Exaggerated Trope. "Greg" the Orc tears the GAU-8 out of a downed A-10 Warthog for use as a Chainsaw-Grip BFG.
• Rescue Romance: How Keith and Keira met; she wandered away from camp in Elsewhere and got attacked by Defilers. Keith rescued her from them and returned her to camp unharmed.
• Right in Front of Me: The first time you meet Ricky, he's complaining about Katie making him get stuff ready for the stuffed-shirt King of Camelot.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Erec was trying to prepare for the return of the Outsiders until the dragon attack that killed his wife (Emily's mother) and Katie's father, which made him lose hope. Emily and MC then take on that job.
• Running Gag: Whenever MC tries to turn a meeting with Emily at the lake into a make-out session, X interrupts them to tell them there's somebody at the gate.
• Save the Princess: Twice, once to rescue Katie from the Farm, and once to rescue Emily from Lord Jerkow.
• School of No Studying: MC is nominally in graduate school, for which he attends two classes a week (lowered to one halfway through). Justified Trope: his official advisor is in the hospital, and the substitute advisor has no interest in actually educating him.
• Screw Destiny: Discussed. The Horned Lord explicitly says this when telling MC he made the right choice to Always Save the Girl.
  The Horned Lord: You did the right thing, for the right reasons. If we can't protect those we care about, fuck destiny. No victory is worth losing yourself for.
• Secret Legacy: MC's parents are the Horned Lord and a sorceress so powerful that reality itself bends to her whim.
• Seemingly Hopeless Boss Fight: Several of the storyline battles are of this type - the player cannot lose (remaining at 1HP however much damage they take) and after several turns, something happens to trigger a new ability. Examples include:
  • The Minotaur Lord that is your first fight in the game; Emily triggers an ability that gives MC massive shields and a large amount of rage.
  • The fight against the dragon, leading to MC's almost-death, marriage, and ascension to Godhood.
  • The fight against the troll liches that can regenerate faster than you can kill them, leading to MC's first use of Excalibur as a weapon in battle, as opposed to a magical focus.
• Seers: Akane is the scion of the Katashi clan, a powerful clan of Japanese seers.
• Sent Into Hiding: MC's aura has been hidden by his father, not breaking through until a mind-controlled vagrant tried to kill him.
• Sex God: MC, and his father. Deconstructed; the end of the Jenny storyline involves her preaching MC as the Messiah, and him having to order her not to.
  Chloe: Your father could make a woman drop her soaked panties from thirty meters away with a single look.
• Shout-Out: Many.
  • Given the game's basis in Arthurian Legend, there are many quick shout outs.
    MC: I believe that makes you Lancelot. No lusting after Emily, remember.
  • The thaumometer from Discworld. Also, Dylan gets a copy of Lords and Ladies that was signed for him by an author who's been dead for years, and several lines are quoted.
  • Assorted quotes from Monty Python.
  • One of the books you can read is The Art of War (Sun Tzu), although it's not quite the original version.
  • A portrait on the wall in Camelot is Sean Connery as King Arthur in First Knight.
  • "You're not the Messiah, MC, you're a very naughty boy."
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Chloe and Torman both act like this for MC.
• Slipping a Mickey: How Emily was captured, with drugged food.
• Soul Eating: Excalibur does this. He gains a spark of energy from ending an enemy, and can remove the animation spell from undead.
• Spy Catsuit: Molly's Elsewhere outfit, even when she isn't acting as a spy.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Keith and Keira. He's an Evoker who's a captain in the British Army; she's a Fae noble. Aoife, Keira's guardian, considers Keith completely unacceptable.
• Static Stun Gun: Electric attacks can cause the target to miss a turn.
• Strip Poker: Despite the game being a poker-themed adult game, this is not a major factor. However, there is an optional scene where MC can play strip poker with Katie and Bella.
• Super Breeding Program: MC's birth was a plan by Merlin and the Horned Lord to create an evoker with incredibly strong sorcery.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: After Olivia makes a bunch of wrong guesses about what MC's magical talent is, he decides to agree when she guesses he's impossible to scry.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: The email from the developers of "Landlady & Flatmate" that discusses how there is of course no incest in their game, unless of course you install a patch.
• Team Power Walk: After Emily is kidnapped, MC and all of his Companions walk as a team toward the camera.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: MC's modus operandi once he gets access to the Mantle, as shown at Mitburgh.
  MC: My coach used to say that overkill is something only the other guy complains about. But he was an old Marine, so that probably had something to do with it.
• Thicker Than Water: The Scottish clan members are intensely loyal to each other. This doesn't even necessarily apply to their ancestors if the ancestors weren't part of the clans.
  Katie: [My grandfather] ain't family, just someone that used to screw Gran.
• Third Party Stops Attack: After MC is attacked at the summit in Book II, his finishing blow on the attacker is blocked by Odin and the Horned Lord.
• This Is Reality: "Stay focused, MC, this isn't one of your porn games."
• Three-Stat System: Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma. Strength increases how much damage you can take, Intelligence increases how much experience you earn, and Charisma boosts the strength and recharge rate of your companions' abilities. There are also various conversations that test particular attributes; for example, your Charisma needs to be at a certain level to bring Chloe along as a companion.
• Thunder Hammer: Mjolnir, the weapon of Thor and, later, Bella.
• Time Stands Still: One of X's powers, for communicating with his wielder.
  X: I once had a philosophical discussion with Rao that took place between an arrow launching from his bow and the moment it impacted the eye of an enemy.
• Too Dumb to Live: Emily's Disposable Fiancé.
  Emily: I can forgive the infidelity, there were no emotional strings between us. But I cannot forgive stupidity in my future consort, and trying to cuckold a Council Battlemage was not a great sign of intelligence.
• Too Kinky to Torture: MC tries spanking Molly to punish her. It doesn't work as expected. Later, he threatens not to spank her if she misbehaves.
• Top Wife: Emily; the rest of the harem is not officially married to MC, and all acknowledge Emily as having first claim on him.
• Trap Is the Only Option: Emily uses Feed the Mole to set up a counter-trap for Lord Jerkow, gathering all the treasonous nobles in one place so they can all be dealt with together.
• Trapped in Another World: Referenced; Dylan says he'd like to live in an isekai.
• Universal Poison: Poison attacks do more damage than normal attacks, and ignore shields, but the damage doesn't take effect until the board clears after 8 moves. Bella can fire poison crossbow bolts that do twice the damage of her normal explosive ones. Quetzalcoatl can add poison to the counter, or double your poison total.
• Unlockable Content: Multiple card backs are available, unlocked by completing certain scenes. (For example, buying Emily the "My Real Boyfriend Is An Evoker Battlemage" T-shirt unlocks a card back with her wearing it.)
• Unperson: Camelot uses this for particularly vile traitors.
  • The fate of Arthur's nephew, now known only as "The Pretender".
  • The fate of Lord Jerkow and his family.
    Emily: As of today, his name is no more. Clan Jerkow has been dissolved, any survivors exiled, their holdings forfeited to the Crown. He shall henceforth be known only as the Traitor. Their names are struck from the rolls; to refer to them is treason.
• Unskilled, but Strong: MC has access to incredible amounts of power, but can't do anything subtle with it.
• Unusual Euphemism: "Cucumbers" is how Emily refers to oral sex, after how Molly taught her the basics of it.
• Valkyries: Val is a Chosen of Freya, and notably not a character who can be renamed - Chosen don't stray.
• Virgin Power: Ceremonial Magic is built around virgin women dancing and teasing extradimensional beings in exchange for magic.
• Walking Tech Bane: The Outsiders mess with high technology near them — computers, in particular, can't work, which means much modern military technology is useless.
• Warfare Regression: Because the Outsiders disable high-tech weaponry around them, military forces fighting them shift back to simpler arms. One project that can be undertaken is producing enchanted ammo for the A-10 Warthog, which can fly without computers. (Unfortunately, that plan doesn't work as well as hoped.)
• Weirdness Censor:
  • Olivia has a very bad case of this, Played for Laughs: she's a Ph.D student in Thaumaturgic Anthropology, at a school where the Masquerade is paper-thin at best, and she's completely incapable of recognizing magic. MC tries to tell her he's an evoker and she refuses to believe him.
  • Jannice also has issues with this, refusing to believe in magic until MC drags her through the portal in the basement.
• Wham Line:
  • Chloe, starting the end of Act IV. "Erec has called the Hunt. They ride on Sunday. I told you a long time ago, MC... the Great Hunt is a bad enemy for a God, never mind a young Evoker. The Embassy just got orders to escort Emily back to the Court, where she'll be married to Lord Jerkow as soon as possible."
  • And then Emily, finishing the Act. "I'm completing the Mantle, my love. All hail the promised one. All hail King MC the First."
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Asked by MC just before the Confluence shows up and causes a Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario with Emily.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: The ultimate fate of most immortals is to decide there's Nothing Left to Do but Die. Chloe talks about how she finds things to keep her interested in living, most of the time.
  Chloe: I've always been quite good at keeping it at bay: taking pleasure in the small things, because I know all I'll ultimately find in the big things is frustration. Over time every brilliant political scheme looks the same... but there is always new joy to be found in a perfect glass of Scotch, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, or the beauty of an exquisite sculpture.
• Wizarding School: Downplayed. It's a department of Edinburgh University.
• Wonderful Werewolf: Bella is a werewolf, and only changes if she loses control of her emotions, which she generally keeps a tight rein on. She also handles logistics for the Knights of the Lake, and is bodyguard for MC or Emily as needed. It is theorized that the encroachment of civilization has had a moderating effect on werewolves over the past few centuries, with the wilder weres not surviving to breed.
• Would Hurt a Child: We don't know exactly what the previous owner of the King's Dragon was doing, but it involved a young boy and shackles.
• Xtreme Kool Letterz: Excalibur is just referred to as "X".