The next thing Dave saw was confusing, to say the least… an army of strangers, all humanoid, slight variations between them, some with scales, some covered in fur… but all felt like him.

Looking over all of the "people" standing before him, looking them all over, getting close to them each had a small window that would pop up with a familiar stat block.

[ Orc: Strength +2, Constitution +1, Darkvision]

"I am the patron of humanity and adventure, I see over the humans from your realm and all those with a similar spirit to you from the realms over, and as such, you may choose a body from those here to take up as your own." The silence settles on Dave as he looks at each of the "people" with a new light.

"Each of the races have different skills and abilities to add to your own, and I will add a little of my power to help you along, the "stats" that your mind puts on each of them is due to your understanding of what this world means. There are many to choose from, and you have all the time you need, feel free to ask me any questions that come up."

"Can I stay as me?"

"What do you mean as you?"

"I mean, can I keep this form?" with that Dave gestured to himself, and looking down, "maybe with a little clean up first."

"I don’t see why not"

"Okay, then I'm ready"

"What do you have in mind for this cleanup?"

"Can I mess with my stats? What about a bit of age adjustment?"

"Oh, that is all rather easy, and since you didn’t choose a race, I can offer you a few extra points to spend and we can look at a perk for you to help you compete"

"Compete?"

"We can go over that part later, we still have much to do"

With that a perfect copy of Dave appeared before him, looking exactly as he last remembered, and admittedly, it was a strange sensation to see oneself in that way. Reaching out to touch the form familiar sliders popped up, allowing Dave to start shifting things around, mainly removing the "dad bod" he'd acquired over the last few years, rolling the clock back to when he was in his 20s, and once he was happy with that, a new window popped up, and it showed his current base stats when thinking about it, were much higher than he would have expected, but he did have a physical job, so it made some sense. Looking around and then asking, "What classes are available?".

The voice hummed softly before answering "Not many ask that question, but I guess it depends on you, your stat points are more so you can properly understand what your strengths will be, anyone can be anything that they want, it's just if it's what you're meant to do."

This information was both helpful and confusing since that means that his stats didn’t lock him in or out of anything, and he started thinking about the role he wanted to fill in this world, and what he wanted to do. One thought that kept coming back to him was "adventurer" which to him meant a few different things, there was the Indiana Jones style, which explored, solved puzzles, and got into trouble, this one also included the ones that looked for new lands and new civilizations. Then there were the ones from anime, books, and games, that worked as a part of a guild and were soldiers of fortune. So, the real question is, what kind did he want to be… "How do I pick a class" Dave questioned.

"You don’t pick them, you have to train for them, that is the entire point of this bastion, to train and make those who are willing ready for the Afterlife" the voice responded with a slight confusion in his tone.

"So, I could be any class?"

"If you found someone to teach you, yes."

"No limits, no restrictions?"

"Just your stats, or lack thereof in most cases."

"Multiclassing?"

"Multi-what?"

"Multiclassing is where I could have multiple classes that synergize together to make more interesting combinations, like a monk and a rogue, and be an uber ninja."

"What is a ninja?"

"A made-up thing from my world that mixes stealth and martial combat and some other skills that to some come across as magic."

"That sounds interesting, how have I not heard of them?"

"Don't know, they’re a pretty popular genre for pretty much any type of media."

"But no, there is nothing to stop you from doing such things, many just don’t since the training for each class isn't easy."

"How will I know what will be best for what?"

"Most just go with their guts I guess?"

With that Dave set to work, looking over the stats he'd carried over from life and balancing his bonuses to what he thought would be the best for what he wanted to be, the idea of a ninja was pretty tempting, but he didn’t feel that it was for him, but the rogue class did have a spark of desire for him, not for the robbery and assassinations that they're normally portrayed in media, but for the explorer aspect of them.

"I feel that you have made your choices, did you have any questions?"

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"No, I think I've got a good handle on it if these stats work the way I think they do based on what I've seen so far anyway.

"Mhmm, yes, they do, and based on what I can glean from your mind, some of the things are a little different."

"Oh? like what?"

"Simple things, like age, time in that way is meaningless here, you won't age, unless you will it so, the only way to truly end here is if you lose your sense of self."

"So, I can't die?"

"Not in the way you could on earth, but it is possible in very specific and rare circumstances."

That statement alone was a weight off Dave, letting out a sigh that was far larger than he was expecting.

"Now, as a human, I grant you a skill on top of that that you bring here, as well as a small gift to help you on your way, and you still have my boon that I grant all of those that I watch over."

A small window popped up, just like when he was making his stats "you have been found worthy and have been granted a boon by the one that watches over humanity. You gain access to the guidance cantrip, the skill survival, and the lucky feat"

"Lucky?"

"Felt it could give you an edge."

Shrugging, "Works for me, now how do I look at everything?"

"You think or say [Character Sheet] and it will appear, it will be invisible to all unless you share it with them, I am the only one that can access your sheet anytime I wish."

"Huh, that’s handy" with that Dave opened his [Character Sheet]

Character Sheet

*David "Dave" Wilson*

Human: (classless)

Patron: Compass (adventure, compassion, and wonder)

Strength

10

Dexterity

16

Constitution

12

Intelligence

14

Wisdom

13

Charisma

12

Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion, Survival, cooking tools, basic crafting tools

Feat(s): Lucky

Spells:

Cantrips: Guidance

"More will fill out as you earn it, but these are your basics."

"I thought I would have had more skills."

"You do, these are just the ones that will matter here, the knowledge that you have from your world only limitedly translates to this one, so they just aren't accounted for here, and many of your skills didn't have enough invested into them to make an impact."

Nodding along "makes sense honestly, how do I look at what stuff does? Like my lucky feat?"

"Concentrate on it and it should open a second window with a breakdown for any feat, skill, or condition that you may come across."

"What about items?"

"Only if they are truly yours, and if they have been identified, but that last part only matters when the item is more than what it seems."

"Do you mean if it is enchanted?"

"Or items that need details, like potions"

With those last few words, Dave became more excited, "enchanted items and potions" Dave thought to himself, wondering what was out there in this world.

"What do the stars mean around my name?"

"The stars mean that you can change them if you so choose, this is a new world for you, why not start with a new name?"

Dave's eyes widened at that "I can have a new name?" the thought rattled around in his mind, he could be anyone, a hero, a villain? Shaking his head as the thought of being a bad guy made his skin crawl.

"How do I pick it?"

"Similarly to how you can look at your feats and skills, you just concentrate on it, and it should open up."

Concentrating on his old name, it did open up a new screen with his name at the top with "select a new name" blazing at the top. Dave looked at it in amazement and thought again "any name I want" thinking about all the characters he’d played over the years, and what he would want as a name. "Something that nods at my regular name" he'd thought "dav...Davin…wil…wild… Davin O'wild".

"Davin O'wild" he stated proudly.

"Davin? I like it, I feel it will suit you well"

With that a new screen popped up, "this name will be permanent unless you unlock a new name or feature that lets you change it, do you accept"

"Yes!" Dave almost yelled in excitement.

At that point, the name on his status page changed and he got a notice. "welcome to the afterlife Davin O'wild."

At this point, Davin spent a little more time looking over his status page, looking over the skill descriptions that he had.

Insight, your ability to read people, as well as how well you can detect lies and intent, involves how well you can read body language and other subtle hints about a person.

Persuasion is your ability to convince people with earnests, good faith, and usually the truth.

Survival is your ability to survive in natural environments, hunting, tracking, and avoiding natural hazards.

Lucky (feat): 3 times a day, you can alter your luck, when making an action, you can spend one of these points to put things in your favor, when being attacked, you can use this feature to turn an attack against you into a miss.

Spells:

cantrips: guidance: casting this spell turns an action to your favor granting a small boost to succeeding in ability-based actions.

"What do we need to do next?" Davin asked as he looked around in the space that he was in "where are we anyway?"

"We aren't anywhere, you are still in the room that we first met in, this is purely a space in your mind to commune with me so that we can get you ready to enter The Rainbow Bastion."

"Then I think I may be ready."

"I do believe you are right."

With that last word, Davin’s eyes opened, and he could move, the group he had been with was also left changed.

“And it looks like everyone is ready, are there any questions?” looking around the room seeing a lot more people than Davin was expecting, and he was only mildly surprised to see not a single other human among the group. Raising his hand, "yes, you with your hand raised" the cute attendant pointed at Davin.

"Where do we find trainers? And do we start with anything?"

"Good questions and everything you need to start your adventures will proceed after we finish here, you'll get some basic supplies, and we will aim you towards individual trainers after that." the attendant said smiling widely."Okay! Follow me, now that you're in charge of your bodies, those of you with new appendages, be warned, when you chose your race you were instilled with the knowledge and skill to use them, and any unsavory behavior will not be tolerated." the last few words taking a harsher tone than anything else that the attendant had said previously. At that, she started walking through the room to another doorway that had gone unnoticed previously.

Passing through this new doorway felt like diving through water, the sense engulfed and overwhelmed Davin's senses feeling like he was drowning. All of a sudden the sensation and the darkness melted away and the bright colors that he'd seen before were alit before him being such a vast contrast from the darkness that a warmth engulfed him like that of a warm embrace.

"Wow, it's even more beautiful than before" talking to no one in particular.

"I feel that way every time I make the transition from that realm too, like everything is more alive, more vibrant, which is ironic since we are all very dead…" The attendant walking alongside him, a melancholic tone to her voice.

"Been at this a while?" Davin said curiously.

"Sir, you never ask a woman her age" clearly said in a tone of sarcasm.

Chuckling and waving his hands in a placating gesture "that was not what I meant by it at all, you just sounded sad… or jaded by the whole thing."

"Hmmm, jaded is a good word for it," she said with a touch of a chuckle in her tone. The attendant pulled herself back to the front of the group "Okay this will be where we part ways, in this hall, you will get some basic gear and we will aim you to your first trainers, and if you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask." in a whisper as she passed Davin "Good luck, Davin, I hope you do well here."