We already talked about the Personality and Traits of the heroes in King Arthur: Knight's Tale, and we touched upon the Morality Chart, a system that indicates your standing between ideologies. These various factors will influence your relationship with your heroes as well.

You can take many paths, but your decisions will shape what kind of king you will be in the long run. It’s safe to say that not every hero is going to admire the way you lead, but they will show camaraderie or distrust towards other heroes.

The loyalty of heroes depends on many factors. Each hero has a distinctive personality, and they will always act consistently. To ensure your heroes’ loyalty, you have to be mindful of this. You can settle disputes and grant favors to mitigate some of the wrongs you do with your decisions. It is your job to select heroes that are the best fit for your goals (and each other) at the Round Table.

Decisions that affect the loyalty can emerge from the story or various events: let’s say there’s a dispute, and by supporting the hero, you can gain their trust and loyalty. You can also strengthen loyalty by granting heroes pieces of land (represented by points of interests under your control) or various titles. You can also hold feasts and jousts or assist with wedding ceremonies!

Be mindful when going on a mission as well! Some heroes’ loyalty is perhaps strengthened by not sending them on certain missions.
Learning about the personality and traits of a hero will help you navigate this intricate web of relationships, and you can also find out what kind of artifacts you should gift to them. Some of them will be happier if they can take some of the treasure gained on missions, and some of them will be content only when they’re well equipped.

But what does this all mean? Well, loyalty has implications in the gameplay as well. Your most loyal heroes will receive various combat advantages and bonuses during quests. But if they have their doubts about you, it will be reflected in combat, at first with minor disadvantages. Heroes with more severe distrust can refuse to go on certain quests, some of them will even leave the Round Table permanently and turn against you!

So, there you have it: being a king is a harsh business! You have to nurture relationships in order to thrive. Find the right balance, but know that you can’t please everybody at once. Because of this, you can explore multiple „what if” scenarios with each playthrough.Work towards the loyalty of different heroes next time, and see how the shape of your story is altered with it!

King Arthur: Knight's Tale is now fully funded on Kickstarter, and in this final week we hope to unlock our stretch goals as well. Please share the news, and look forward to our Q&A session next Tuesday 4PM CET / 10 AM ET on Twitch!