Geneforge 1 Ending Chart

[Slawbug]

GENEFORGE I ENDINGS

 

I haven't tested all of this, but based on what I can find, I think this is accurate. If you have information to the contrary, please share it and I'll try to fix things.

 

Mechanically, there are four completely different ending categories:

 

1) Use the Geneforge

2) Don't use the Geneforge, don't empower Trajkov or Goettsch

3) Don't use the Geneforge, empower Trajkov

4) Don't use the Geneforge, empower Goettsch (which also requires killing Trajkov)

 

 

Each category except 4 has several details that can change it in minor ways. 1c and 3b are significant departures from their main branch, so I consider them fifth and sixth major endings.

 

1a) Did not destroy Geneforge, did not kill Trajkov

1b) Did not destroy Geneforge, killed Trajkov

1c) Destroyed Geneforge after using it

 

2a) Did not destroy Geneforge, killed Trajkov

2b) Destroyed Geneforge without using it, killed Trajkov

2c) Destroyed Geneforge without using it, did not kill Trajkov

 

3a) Allied with Trajkov

3b) Not allied with Trajkov

 

4a) Goettsch in power

 

 

Additionally, each servile sect gets a page of the ending. Each sect has four possible endings: one for categories 1 and 4; one for category 2; one for category 3; and one for any category which is used if you have slain the sect's leader.

 

As far as I can tell, what sect you are allied with has no direct impact on the ending. It may have indirect impact if it influences what you do with Trajkov or causes you to kill another sect leader.

 

Because of this last bit, there are technically 80 different combinations possible. But I would say there are six major endings grouped into three and a half clusters, with variations for each dead servile leader.

 

 

CLUSTER 1: SHAPER VERSUS SHAPER

 

Major Ending 1: Use the Geneforge yourself, then destroy it

 

The Shapers distrust you. You are power-hungry. You destroy Dillame. You build an army and a dictatorial nation in the wilderness, with no plausible opposition. You live a long time.

 

Major Ending 2: Use the Geneforge yourself, but don't destroy it

 

The Shapers distrust you. You are power-hungry. You destroy Dillame. You build an army, and so do the handful of other Shapers who use the Geneforge. You all fight. You survive, but there are great wars.

 

Major Ending 3: Allow Goettsch to gain access to the Geneforge

 

Goettsch builds an army and fights a long, bloody war against the Shapers. You are conscripted and die.

 

Awakened fate:

Found New Vakkiri and support the Shapers in their wars through trade and paid work.

 

Obeyer fate:

Journey to the Shapers to offer support in their wars; are ill employed as cannon fodder.

 

Taker fate:

Gnorrel leads infelicitous guerilla campaign against the Shapers. Eventually they give up and start new lives in the wilderness.

 

 

CLUSTER 2: LOYALIST PEACE

 

Major Ending 4: Destroy the Geneforge without anyone using it

 

The Shapers investigate Sucia, and slay the upstart serviles and Sholai. Diplomatic relations established with the Sholai. You have a very successful life as a Shaper but are never completely trusted.

 

Awakened fate:

Go into hiding, then return to their poor but free life in Vakkiri.

 

Obeyer fate:

Shapers are impressed and place Obeyers in charge of dumber serviles as "a useful and human buffer."

 

Taker fate:

Kazg overwhelmed and razed; Gnorrel killed; the Shapers suppress all information about the Takers.

 

 

CLUSTER 3: TRAJKOV VICTORY

 

Major Ending 5: Ally with Trajkov and help him gain access to the Geneforge

 

You are jailed until Trajkov attacks, when he frees you and makes you his second-in-command. He totally defeats the Shapers, and offers equality to serviles.

 

Major Ending 6: Don't ally with Trajkov, but allow him to gain access to the Geneforge anyway

 

You are jailed until Trajkov attacks, when he executes you.

 

Awakened fate:

Granted a small colony by Trajkov, where they trade and farm. Ellhrah mourns the Shapers.

 

Obeyer fate:

The Takers bring a massive force back to Sucia and destroy the Obeyers.

 

Taker fate:

Takers rewarded by Trajkov as promised, and are made the chief administrators of his empire. They treat Shapers with bitterness.

 

 

FACTION ENDINGS WHEN LEADER IS DEAD

 

Awakened fate:

The Awakened dissolve, though some return to Vakkiri after many years and dream of the future.

 

Obeyer fate:

Unable to reconcile their beliefs with the PC's actions; they barricade themselves away from the world, nobody cares about them, and they never receive clarity.

 

Taker fate:

The Takers lead a mad attack on Dillame and are completely destroyed.

[Slawbug]

Contrary to what you sometimes hear, it looks like the Obeyers do best acting like true loyalists, while the Takers do best if you ally with Trajkov. The Awakened arguably do the best, personally, when you use the Geneforge (or when Goettsch does), but their ideals are best realized by Trajkov, and they have relatively OK results in any ending where Ellhrah lives.

 

EDIT: Hey, look, 13,000 posts. What a lovely time for a milestone.

[Alberich]

My baby brother tried another possibility I didn't..."get on the boat and leave before you even reach Trajkov." From what he tells me it's basically ending #6, though I don't remember if you are jailed.

[Slawbug]

That makes sense. I've rephrased #6 to encompass that option. I suppose that makes #6 the default ending, actually.

 

Hmm. One possibility I still don't have covered: what happens if you kill Trajkov and Goettsch, and don't use the Geneforge, but also don't destroy it? Presumably a variant of major ending 4, so I might need to rephrase that one.

[Lilith]

That makes sense. I've rephrased #6 to encompass that option. I suppose that makes #6 the default ending, actually.

 

Hmm. One possibility I still don't have covered: what happens if you kill Trajkov and Goettsch, and don't use the Geneforge, but also don't destroy it? Presumably a variant of major ending 4, so I might need to rephrase that one.

 

As I recall it's actually closer to ending 2 or 3, with the shapers who were sent to investigate the island basically taking the place of Goettsch.

[Blxz]

This was a brilliant breakdown to help me more easily understand the options.

 

I hope you will consider putting your analytical mind to some of the subsequent games in the series where relevant.

[Slawbug]

Thanks Blxz.

 

The subsequent games are all A LOT less complicated. You pick a faction, and the bulk of the ending is just based on that. The amount of variety in G1's ending is unusual. Only A6 is really like that that I can think of. But who knows what the future holds.

[Owenmoz]

I never realised it was this complex.

I wpuld very much like to see it done with A6 im curious on weather gladwell's quests hold any influence.

Geneforge 3 has some interesting alternations too. Not as many as this.

And one big question i have is, what happens if you kill goettsch take his gloves and leave sucia? Because technically no one would be able to use the geneforge.

Also what happens if you kill gornel but ally with trajkov?

[Slawbug]

A6:

 

https://docs.google....d=0&single=true

 

Looking back on that I guess A6 is actually one main ending with some major variations. The main thing it has in common with G1 is that the ending depends on overlapping factors rather than on one multiple choice question of which sect you join. The other Geneforge games definitely have nuances depending on how much you help your sect (especially G4) but there's still one main ending per sect.

[idonotexist42]

Yeah, I was curious about joining Trajkov and killing Gnorel, do the obeyers get spared? Do the Takers perish but Trajkov still gives the serviles equality? I'm curious because I like what Trajkov does, but the takers still piss me off.

[Triumph]

You're saying which servile faction you ally with, or whether you choose at one all, has no bearing on the ending? All three factions will always get some kind of ending, and the ending they get is not directly affected by whether you became allies with them? Very interesting. This is fantastic work, Slarty.

[Nim]

I'm curious because I like what Trajkov does, but the takers still piss me off.

So you like innocent serviles dying in minefields and to spawned rogues

[Alberich]

Exactly, Triumph. It's what you do, not what you say. (The Shapers aren't going to listen to your views anyway.) I was as pro-Awakened as you please, but I destroyed the Geneforge instead of using it...so the Obeyers came out as the winners.

[Slawbug]

You're saying which servile faction you ally with, or whether you choose at one all, has no bearing on the ending? All three factions will always get some kind of ending, and the ending they get is not directly affected by whether you became allies with them? Very interesting. This is fantastic work, Slarty.

Note that this still needs verification, as the main thing I'm going off of is the way the ending is stored, and what the text itself is. These are very clear indicators but it's always possible Jeff just did something really weird in one ending for no apparent reason. I can understand why people associate them with sects though, as the Takers do push you into allying with Trajkov, while the Obeyers obviously want you to respect the True Will of the Shapers and destroy the Geneforge, and I *think* Ellhrah sees some potential for good in the Geneforge, although he obviously has a lot of mixed feelings about it.

[Alberich]

The Awakened pretty explicitly tell you to go use the Geneforge...but when you come back all glowy and arrogant, they start to have misgivings. Or my memory fails me.

[Dragonboy]

I'm a little confused how you get ending 2c. How do you destroy the Geneforge without killing Trajkov? The only way to open the door to the Geneforge is to either kill him or hand over either of the gloves in which case he uses them (and either dies or becomes all powerful depending on which one you gave). I wouldn't think destroying the Geneforge after he uses it would accomplish anything. Maybe it's possible to race ahead of him, destroy the Geneforge, and get out of there before you kill him?

[idonotexist42]

So you like innocent serviles dying in minefields and to spawned rogues

 

I like what he does in the ending, rather. Where he takes over the world but then is a fairly benevolent and egalitarian ruler. The whole lead up to that seemed a little needlessly Dickish, since most of the serviles didn't even know he was there and didn't' wander into the northern wastes anyways. I assume he must have done so out of paranoia or at the behest of the takers. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but isn't there a journal entry or something where he notices he's going a little canister crazy and backs off on them and just waits to use the geneforge? Most of my early play throughs I'd already allied with the Awakened or Obeyers and met with the other Sholai by the time I ran into him and just assumed he was a generic bad guy. He could certainly have stood to be a bit more communicative about what his endgame was, I might have hesitated before hacking him to pieces if he'd gotten more screen time earlier in the game.

[Slawbug]

I'm a little confused how you ending 2c. How do you destroy the Geneforge without killing Trajkov? The only way to open the door to the Geneforge is to either kill him or hand over either of the gloves in which case he uses them (and either dies or becomes all powerful depending on which one you gave). I wouldn't think destroying the Geneforge after he uses it would accomplish anything. Maybe it's possible to race ahead of him, destroy the Geneforge, and get out of there before you kill him?

I'm not familiar with the precise mechanics of all that, but there is entirely separate page of ending text that is almost identical to 2b except for the mention of killing Trajkov.

 

That, btw, is one of the reasons I'm more confident of these endings... it looks like the game only swaps pages of ending out in G1, rather than picking and choosing individual paragraphs as in later games. (There are 7 pages, as documented elsewhere, and I believe every ending has 7 pages. 2 static, 5 for your major ending, of which 3 are for the 3 servile sects.)

[Randomizer]

I think the only way to destroy the Geneforge without killing Trajkov is to flee the zone without fighting him or at least before killing him during combat.

[Nim]

Does the door to the Geneforge even open that way ?

[Dragonboy]

I imagine it'd go something like this: Persuade Trajkov to dismiss his creatures (to make fleeing easier) give him the bad gauntlets, let him proceed toward the Geneforge room, rush ahead of him (the door will open before he gets there), throw the real gauntlets in (or use the control key), and run out of there as fast as possible. Maybe you could hit him with Terror as he walks to the Geneforge to gain some more time. Although, I got to say, I can't imagine anyone either using or destroying the Geneforge and running away!

 

I'm also a little curious about 1a's ending. Trajkov would still have the Geneforge but wouldn't be able to use it because you stole the gloves. I would guess the text would just skip mention of his name with no other change in the, "Used but didn't destroy the Geneforge," ending. And what happens in 1d? Using the Geneforge, destroying it, and leaving Trajkov alone? It doesn't seem to be one of the options listed above.

[Slawbug]

The option you listed is part of 1c, which doesn't specify whether Trajkov is alive or dead.

 

1a and 1b are nearly identical, the only difference is whether the PC speaks up about having defeated the Outsider threat.

[Dragonboy]

Eh, that's little disappointing.

 

Thanks for clarifying everything.