Placing a star between two signs for a combined bonus
Replacing the point-based character upgrade system from the beta version of The Consuming Shadow, when the player levels up one of the game's playable characters by gaining enough Experience, they will earn a Birth Star for that character. At the beginning of each new playthrough, the player can choose to place a Birth Star somewhere in the randomly generated night sky. The placement of these stars confers a bonus or bonuses to the player depending on which constellations are close by.
If there is a region of overlap between two constellations, the player can place a star somewhere between them, receiving a bonus from each one. In this way, one single Birth Star might confer two or three upgrades to the player's various stats.
There are eleven known constellations which can appear in the sky, though their placement is randomised and not all of the constellations will always be in view. Some characters always have a constellation in their sky, which may or may not be unique to them.
Constellations[]
| Name | Effect | Single star max benefit | Total max benefit | Character association |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alchemist | Bonus effect and duration to drugs | 10% | 100% | Wizard (unique) |
| Bull | Bonus to player's melee damage | 40% | 100% | Warrior (always appears) |
| Chariot | Bonus to the player's car speed (default 30 mph). | 8mph | 20mph | None |
| Crab | Bonus to the player's Health | 25 HP | 100 HP | Appears in all characters' skies |
| Emperor | Bonus discount on ammo, items, and hospital services | 20% discount | 70% discount | Ministry Man (unique) |
| Hunter | Bonus to the player's maximum and starting Bullet capacity | +3 capacity | +8 capacity | Will not appear when playing as the Warrior |
| Lion | Bonus to the player's Sanity | 25 sanity points | 100 sanity points | Appears in all characters' skies |
| Magician | Bonus to the player's Random Spell Chance | 3% | 9% | Scholar(always appears) |
| Priest | Bonus to the player's Research rate, which is how quickly the player fills the bestiary with information on the game's monsters. | 3% | 6% | Scholar (unique) |
| Serpent | Bonus to the player's Medkit capacity | 25 hitpoints | 100 hitpoints | Wizard (always appears) |
| Smith | Bonus to the player's random chance to find equipment | 4% | 9% | Warrior (always appears) |
| Thief | Gives a boost to Lockpick Chance | 15% | 60% | ? |
Trivia[]
- It is possible to get the melee damage bonus the Warrior gives you for completing his job while the player has +100% melee damage from the Bull, giving a huge melee damage bonus.
- It is possible to get car speed upgrades through random events while the player already has a speed upgrade from the Chariot.
- Strangely, if the player's discount benefit is high enough from the Emperor, bullets can appear in the shop for free, even though the player cannot get 100% discounts from the constellation.
- Regardless of extra ammo capacity achieved with the Hunter, the player will always start with a full magazine.
- A medkit's size does not change refill costs at the hospital.
- The Chariot and the Hunter are the only two constellations that aren't guaranteed to appear in any of the characters' night skies.
- The Warrior is the only playable character without a unique constellation.
- The Emperor takes the appearance of a trilby, which is the signature attire of the character it is unique to, that being Trilby (aka: The Ministry Man).