How would be House Of Ashes but without Plot Armor?

I actually love House Of Ashes, it's my favorite game in the anthology and probably
one of my top 3 favorite "interactive movie" or "interactive adventure" games.

Still, I'm someone who really likes to imagine their own stories or paths in this
kind of thing, for example I wrote a whole concept for an entire Until Dawn / The
Quarry style game with its characters, chapters, endings and deaths. But this time
I want to imagine a bit what House Of Ashes would be like, but if we remove the
plot armor of certain characters, as well as proposing a couple more scenarios that
would happen in the game according to certain moments.

The Main Cast Characters can die in:

Eric - 7 Chapters
Rachel - 5 Chapters
Nick - 2 Chapters
Salim - 2 Chapters
Jason - 2 Chapters

But im going to add some new events, deaths and paths in other chapters to change
this numbers a little to make the game less drived by the Plot Armor. The only
deaths that would prevail the same are Clarice, Dar and Joey, because i think they
are necessary for the plot to develop the same way.

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Chapter: The Signal.

In this chapter the biggest change would be: If Merwin is alive and Salim has a bad
relationship with Dar, Eric would get captured, but Merwin would have time to hide
and don´t be shoot by Dar. If Salim joins Dar, Dar will shoot Merwin in the head as
it happen always. Then we would have the QTE of Nick/Jason, if they fail the QTEs
then Dar will shoot Merwin when he was trying to reach towards them. If they don´t
fail the QTEs, then Merwin will take cover with them. After that the events are
practically the same, but Merwin can still be alive with the group since here, he
isn´t becoming playable but is going to have more time on screen and is becoming a
possible member of the crew to save (Like Junior in Man Of Medan).

Chapter: The Assault.

If the player managed to keep Merwin alive he would be part of this chapter and
would have a moment where he can use the Vickers Gun or escape (The choice is made
by the leader of group in that moment, Jason / Eric). If he uses the Vickers Gun
then the others would not need to do QTEs and would not be injured anytime during
this, he would stop the Vampires until the gun end with empty ammo, Merwin will
shout to the Crew that they need to escape, Nick then would need to choose between
abandon him or go to save him if he goes to save him he need to succeed on 3 QTEs,
if he fails the first one he would end injured, if he fails any of the other 2,
Merwin would die before Nick can save him. If Merwin escapes he can go with Eric,
Rachel and Clarice (If alive) to the trapwires, where he can die with the others.
Also in this chapter Jason would have a QTE where he can die if he fails it when
facing the Horde that comes to them, if he fails the QTE, A Vampire will intercept
him and destroy his eyes.

Chapter: The Horror.

When the Americans meet the Iraqis, if Dar killed Merwin in the Signal, Jason will
threaten to shoot him and make tension in all moments, If Jason has the worst
relationship with the Iraqis, he will shoot Salim and kill him in spot, Dar then
would give his weapon, Nick would react with anger against Jason saying they need
all the help, if Merwin is still alive he finally would get a weapon to protect
himself the Dar one. The chapter then would have a conversation with Jason and Nick
about trusting or not the Iraqis. Then the big fight with the Vampires will began,
Jason is dragged by one of the Vampires and will end almost falling to a pit, here
Eric/Nick need to succeed a QTE to shoot the Vampire in movement, but if this is
failed, Jason then would be ripped in half by this creature, the superior part of
his body will fall to the Pit. If it´s succeed then the Vampire would be repelled,
Jason will try to react but will be attacked By the creatures and dragged to the
darkness. Here the path would start to change to more new variations. Then we would
have a decision where Eric can choose to save Nick from the Ancient One or not do
it, if he chooses to not, then is going to escape and survive the chapter, but Nick
would die when the Ancient One break his neck. Then the chapter would be almost the
same as usual, but Salim also can die if he fails a QTE when a Vampire attacks him,
being devoured by a ton of them. In the end if Nick, Jason and Salim are alive.
Nick will try to escape with a last QTE, if he succeed he would flee from the
attack escaping the room, if he fails he´s pushed by a Vampire to a pit. (If Jason
is dead, then he will always will be pushed to the pit, If Salim is dead then he
will always escape the room.)

If Eric, Rachel and Jason are dead before this chapter, and Nick is the only
American alive, the standoff would not end, with Salim trying to convice both to
put the guns down, but with Dar and Nick aiming at each other, until they hear the
Vampires and everyone runs to the Sacrifice Room to the shooting segment. No matter
what happens here, Nick and Salim will only get injured and not die if they fail,
and both will survive the chapter when Salim saves Nick from the Ancient One. If
Merwin is alive then he would join them, he will survive this chapter no matter
what. Dar would always die right at this chapter no matter what.

If Eric and Rachel are dead and Jason survives falling on a pit, Nick can be saved
or abandoned by Salim, if Salim abandons Nick he would die, and the Jason/Salim
story would start as always, but if Salim saves Nick, he would fall to a pit to
later meet him, giving Nick.

This is the chapter where everything changes a lot, because all the main cast could
die on it. If u do the right things: Eric is dead > Rachel is dead before this
chapter > Jason kills Salim in the standoff > Jason gets killed by Vampires > Nick
is killed by the Ancient One, then the game would end with a new cinematic scene,
where the Vampires are devouring everything inside that place including Merwin who
tried to escape, and with the choppers arriving the nex day to see the hole on the
ground, giving the information that they are going to send people to search for
survivors and giving a cliffhanger to the game, like a REALLY BAD ENDING, then the
Curator appears to laugh at you with all, almost crying and closing the book ending
the game.

Since here the paths would be different. the groups could be: Jason-Salim and Eric-
Rachel-Nick or Nick-Salim and Jason-Merwin and Eric-Rachel or Jason-Nick and Salim-
Eric-Rachel.

This paths would help to improve some new views of the characters and how they
develop on the game with others, also having the Salim/Jason friendship but with
Nick because he always seemed more open to it or having a Jason and Merwin where we
explore more on Jason and why is like that, but not evolving as much without the
relationship with Salim.

With this outcome the next chapters could be something like this:

Enemy Of My Enemy| Salim (Theatrical) | Jason/Nick (Curator´s)

Marines (Replace Enemy Of My Enemy) | Jason (Theatrical) | Nick (Curator´s)

The Ancient One | Eric/Nick (Theatrical) | Rachel/Nick/Salim (Curator´s) | If Salim

survived and Jason and Nick are together, then Salim will join them replacing the
Nick part and giving new dialogue options and outcomes | Rachel can die on this
chapter if the QTE fail in certain moments | Salim CAN´T die on this chapter.

A Way Home | Salim (Both Versions) | This chapter will only happen if Rachel and
Eric are Dead | In this chapter Salim is chased by the Ancient One and he can die
if fails a certain QTEs being impaled by the Ancient One

Lieutenant | Jason (Both Versions) | In this chapter Jason explores alone (If
Merwin is alive, he will joing him) and we learn more about him and his past | This
chapter will only happen if Nick and Salim are together and Jason survived The
Horrors

Brothers | Jason/Nick (Theatrical) | Salim (Curator´s)

Always There | Jason (Theatrical) | Nick (Curator´s) | This chapter only happens if
Nick and Jason are together

To The Deeps | Rachel/Eric (Theatrical) | Jason (Curator´s) | This chapter only

happens if Rachel or Eric are alive and Nick/Salim are together | In the chapter
Rachel and Eric travel to the deeps finding Jason and Merwin, the group merges and
they go to the deeps of the City.

Memories | Rachel/Eric (Theatrical) | Nick (Curator´s) | This chapter only happens

if Jason and Salim are together and if Rachel or Eric survived to here| This
chapter is one relaxed more based on the relationship of the characters and
discovering secrets abouts the Vampires and everything about them, finally the
critic point is where Rachel decide between Eric and Nick or no one | If Eric is
dead then Rachel/Nick remember their adventure with flashbacks about how it happen,
until in the end she can be honest with Nick if she wants to be with him or not |
If Rachel is dead, Eric and Nick can decide if they bound together to leave that
place in memory of Rachel or they can antagonize each other.

Nothing Personal | Rachel/Eric (Theatrical) | Salim (Curator´s) | This chapter only

happens if Rachel or Eric are alive and Salim is with them | In the chapter they
talk about a lot of things about the war and the past, Salim talks about his dead
wife and can help the romance of Rachel and Eric if they have a big relationship |
If Eric was killed by Salim at the end of the chapter, Rachel kills Salim with a
shoot in the head (If they are the only 2 alive, she just punches him) | If Eric
died Rachel will remember him and the good moments, Salim will try to be nice to
her, but she will focus on survive | If Rachel died, Eric and Salim will bond
together with the death of their wifes and Eric will cry his death with Salim, then
Salim will make him promise they will survive for his lovers...

The City (v1) | Jason/Nick (Theatrical) | Salim (Curator´s) | If there is at least

another playable character alive besides the 2 on the chapter, then when the
cocoons start to open a QTE sequence will begin and if failed the playable
character will die shoutin to the other one to escape and he will do it. If the
player succeeds on the QTE, then a shooting QTE will start and if he fails the
other character will die.

The City (v2) | Jason (Theatrical) | Nick (Curator´s) | This only happens if Salim
is with Rachel/Eric or alone | If there is at least another playable character
alive besides the 2 on the chapter, then when the cocoons start to open a QTE
sequence will begin and if failed the playable character will die shoutin to the
other one to escape and he will do it. If the player succeeds on the QTE, then a
shooting QTE will start and if he fails the other character will die.

Strange Aeons | Rachel/Jason/Nick (Theatrical) | Nick/Eric/Salim (Curator´s) | In

this chapter the group finally merges together if they are still alive having
different outcomes in all the exchanges | If one character died in the City the
surviving one will inform the crew | If Nick was with Jason or Salim, is on this
chapter where Rachel finally chooses between him or Eric or no one | If Merwin is
alive he will join alone (If not with Jason), and he will be there doing some jokes
and understanding more of the music alien divice.

The Vault | Salim / Nick / Eric / Jason / Rachel (Both Cuts) | If Nick died before
and Eric is alive he proopose himself to put the charges because he put them all
there and he don´t want anyone else to die because of him. Eric can die on this
chapter if he doesn´t have the UV Light or if he fails the QTEs for the Ancient One
fight, if he dies he can get impaled with a Spear that throws the ring of her
wedding | If both Nick and Eric are alive, they can decide who is going to the
vault. | If both are dead, then Jason is the one that will propose himself to plant
the bombs. Jason can die in this chapter if he is injured, Salim try to advice him,
but Rachel lets him do his final job before he is killed by the Vampires or the
Ancient One | Depending on relationship status, the characters can decide to go and
help the ones that propose themselves or to leave them behind | If there are only 2
Characters alive they will say that the place need to be destroyed, and they put
some charges but not enough, the Vault starts to crack and open and they will run
to the exit trying to leave that place | When finally leaving if the Ancient One is
still alive he will throw Merwin the spear killing him.

Semper Fi | Jason/Nick/Rachel (Theatrical) | Salim/Nick/Eric (Curator´s) | The

biggest change in this chapter is that it could lead to only 1 character surviving
if they decide to abandon the other one | This chapter is based on the groups of
the characters | It can be Jason coming back to save Salim or leaving him | Nick
coming back to save Salim or leaving him | Jason coming back to save Nick or
leaving him | Rachel coming back to save Eric (If Jason, Nick and Salim are dead) |
Both characters (The Savior and Saved) can die in any of the possible outcomes |
All the final dialogues on the Elevator change according to how the relations
happened

Survival | Rachel/Eric/Nick/Jason/Salim (Both Cuts) | This chapter only happens if

the last survivors don´t have the ones that were in "The City", for example: Jason
and Eric with Salim | In this chapter the survivors need to succeed on the QTEs or
they will die by the Vampires | This chapter reeplaces Semper Fi. | All the final
dialogues on the Elevator change according to how the relations happened

Daylight | Rachel/Eric/Nick/Jason/Salim (Both Cuts) | This chapter ends like always

with all his outcomes and endings | Merwin dies if The Ancient One is still alive,
being thrown by a window and devoured by Vampires or if one of the playable
characters fails to save him on a QTE.

The final scene can end with a handshake between the survivors of The City, and
with a the smile of the end of love triangle | If Eric and Salim survived alone and
talked about their wifes, Eric will let Salim escape, even if the helicopters are
there | Rachel can finally see the sun if she dumped both of Eric and Nick or kiss
the one that she choose | Jason can say goodbye to Salim in a good friendly way or
in a cold way | If Nick and Salim are friend they hug in the final goodbye | If
Merwin is alive the helicopters will come to save them from the Vampires. | Salim
can leave if there are no Helicopters or if Eric let him escape by orders.

The final cutscenes change a bit according to the new relationships and status.

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Final Playable Characters can die in:
Eric - 9 Chapters
Rachel - 7 Chapters
Nick - 6 Chapters
Salim - 7 Chapters
Jason - 7 Chapters
With this there is no plot armor but a good ways to deliver the story, and also new
chapters to discover how everything goes. Also it helps A LOT to develop all
relationships and would make the replay MUCH MUCH better trying to search every new
outcome. (Also it helps on the character of Nick and makes Salim interact with new
interesting ways with Eric and Rachel. Or the Jason character being kind more a
dick or growing but with his best friend Nick, many ways to look at the outcomes of
all this)

And Merwin being hard to save is actually more to the experience :D

And with LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG rewritting i think the game would probably

be 1000 times better than it already is.

And that was it for this mega post, sorry if it's too long or too silly, I'd like
to know your opinion on it or your own ideas. Thank you very much for your
attention :D