So this was a test thing I put together that gives a good idea of a different direction we were thinking of going for a bit. The player would get a choice of skins from the start and the each skin had certain powers - depending on the skin you could do different things. Things got very unmanageable very fast, and so we moved on to something more streamlined and linear. You can still see vestiges of this plan with the superpowered ugliness of the donkeyskin and the superstrength of the bearskin.
I found it surprisingly fun to just click at random through this. If the "Donkeyskin" level is a bunch of dinosaur bones this is, like, a really crappy impression of a fern leaf reproduced in plaster.
[[escape]]
ugly enough that no one wants to look
[[life as a lowly scullery maid in the neighboring king's kitchens]]
Frightening enough that no one dares to touch you
[[obscurity in the wilderness]]
Common, plain, invisible
[[forgettable woman far away]]
Makes you quick enough to run away
[[life of obscurity]]
[[a brave prince discovers you while hunting]]
[[a thoughtful prince finds you cowering under a bush]]
[[even ugliness is no protection]]
[[forgettable women shouldn't make such good food]]
[[roar and rear to frighten him->kill the prince]]
[[stare at him to unnerve him->he thinks you're friends]]
[[run away->winter comes]]
[[he looks so lonely->sit with him]]
[[massive bear hunt, your father is invited->your father kills you]]
[[he captures you for a pet->in a man's palace again]]
your father killed you.
[[try again?->escape]]
[[live as a circus bear]]
[[take off the bearskin]]
[[seek warmth in the palace]]
[[die in the snow]]
[[he scoops up his new friend to take home]]
[[life in a cage]]
[[take off the rabbitskin]]
[[make the prince good soup when he asks]]
[[poison it]]
[[who made this soup?->One of the many]]
[[accidentally drop in your poison ring]]
[[prince becomes ill with 'love']]
[[ he spies on the maids to discover the sorceress]]
i don't know, someone who seems immanently forgettable?
[[show me]]
[[Come, Deerskin]]
[[what is under that strange skin->no one ever looked at you]]
it felt good to be looked at
[[take off the deerskin]]
[[Such a beautiful woman in such plain clothes->holy matrimony]]
[[discovery]]
well, looks like you're a princess. we all know what that means...
[[Princesses get married.->escape]]
the little hats are so degrading
[[wow, being a bear really stinks.->escape]]
[[so beautiful. must marry]]
"i think my favorite thing about you is that you're a bear sometimes but not at all times"
[['you're a married woman now'->escape]]
the prince finds a rabbit in the hall
[[he scoops up his new friend to take home]]
you reenacted "the little match girl" and nobody noticed.
[[try again?->escape]]
it's not roomy enough in this rabbit enclosure to take of the skin
[[nobody puts Princess in a hutch->escape]]
"all that cuddling??"
[['my dear fuzzy friend was a beautiful woman all along!'->we're married now]]
i must marry you, dearest bunny friend
[[no one had a good time->escape]]
just imagine the gift registry
[[it's what all the cool monarchs are doing.->escape]]
[[discovers you combing your hair and remembering the good times]]
[[i think attempted murder is very attractive, you know->marriage]]
i'm sure this will work out great
[[turns out marrying someone who wants to kill you isn't that awesome.->escape]]
choice of skins:
[[donkey]]
[[bear]]
[[deer]]
[[rabbit]]