Name:

Braza

Class:

Architect

Level:

3

Race:

Lizardfolk

Derived Attributes:

Defense:

Health:

Attack:

7

29

2

Primary Attributes:

Strength:

Agility:

Toughness:

Intelligence:

Wisdom:

Willpower:

8

10

20

16

13

13

Languages:

Common

Draconic

Goblin

Giant

Orc

Canid

Special Qualities:

Cold Blooded

Night Vision

Claw

Bite

Natural Armor

Exceptional Lungs

Natural Swimmer

Exceptional Balance

Simple Weaponry

Medium Armor

Architectural Comprehension

Disable Traps

Variable Item Creation

Scroll Manufacturing

Potion Brewing

Craft Miscellaneous Magic Items

Magic:

Imbuement:

4

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Skills:

Operate Magical Devices

Spellcraft

Investigation

Arcane

Architecture

Engineering

Concentration

Appraise

Blacksmithing

Weaving

Stonemasonry

Leatherworking

Carpentry

Weapon Smithing

Armor Smithing

Bowyer

Fletcher

Open Locks

Balance

Sculpting

Cobbling

Poison Making

Alchemy

Herbalism

Talents:

Efficient Architect

Craft Schematics

Equipped Items:

Studded Leather Armor

Heavy Wooden Shield

Sling

2 Potions of Healing (T1)

After being able to spend some time digesting and mentally unpacking my improvements, I'm better able to summarize what the new special quality does. Craft Miscellaneous Magic Items allows me to craft magical items that are not in a different category. For instance, magical weapons and armor is a category, wands is a category, potions are a category, schematics are a category, and so on. The things that do not belong somewhere else can be found here, like boots of flying or a tunic of protection since there is no "clothing" category for magical items.

Craft Miscellaneous Magic Items is an extremely flexible special quality which opens up a significant range of magical items for creation. At present I am too low in level to craft the majority of what this makes available, but even now I can think of many things that I could start crafting immediately and which would be helpful to have around. Although my concerns relating to raw power will remain, I think from here on it will be time, money, and materials that serve as the primary limiting factors on my capabilities moving forward.

To summarize what the new talent does, Craft Schematics allows me to craft reusable scroll like items. Now that I have and can use it, I am also given the understanding of how it works. These schematics are not inherently Arcane, Divine, or Natural, they draw on the fundamental forces of magic itself for their power, and their nature adapts to fit the method of expression used while casting them. As a result, if your class would allow you to cast the spell you see on a schematic, you can cast the spell that is on the schematic. What truly surprises me is that even if a person does not have the spell a schematic uses on their class list, if they have Operate Magical Devices as a skill, they can attempt to use any schematic I create, though doing so would likely be difficult. What disappoints me to discover is that since I am not an actual spell caster, I am included among those who must use the “Operate Magical Devices” skill to successfully cast from the schematics that I create. Even with that limitation though, this is still far better than I had been mentally prepared for, especially since I can use schematics to make me better at using the Operate Magical Devices skill, so I am downright enthused with this selection.

The degree of rarity of materials required to make schematics, and consequently the gold cost and difficulty of working those materials into the desired spell, are based on a combination of the level of power of the spell itself, also known as the spell tier, and the level of power the spell will be emulated at. In other words a cone of flame would be inexpensive if I elected to craft it at the lowest power level it can be cast at, because it is a low tier spell. I can increase the power to match my own if I take the extra time and money to make it happen, though the costs will increase considerably as the power increases. I can also emulate spells that are comparable to a proper spell casting at my own maximum class level, but I wouldn't be able to make a schematic of, say, a level 20 Mages “Wish” spell, which is considered to be tier 9. Not only do I lack access to high level magical tiers, I am also well short of level 20.

Even if I were level 20 though, the rarity of materials involved and the difficulty associated with creating a level 20 schematic of "Wish" would be insanely expensive and time consuming when compared to a level 20 version of the Cone of Flame, because the Cone of Flame is a tier 1 spell. Still though, this talent brings a powerful and versatile new capability in my arsenal, even if the items crafted this way are static in strength and don’t automatically scale with my level the way normal spells would. The end result of this is that directly offensive spells will still be comparatively poor choices to craft, but there are many ways to improve combat effectiveness without throwing fireballs everywhere.

Finally, a look at the new Imbuements that became available.

[Magical Natural Weapon:

Imbue a natural weapon, such as a claw or a bite, with an offensive enhancement. Duration 10m per level.]

[Magical Defense:

Imbue apparel, armor, or shield with a magical defensive enhancement. Possible effects limited by class level. Duration 10m per level.]

The magical natural weapon imbuement would help with a claw or a bite, but honestly since it would need to be cast on each of my 3 natural weapons separately, combined with the rather limited duration, it sucks in basically every way. The “Magical Defense” imbuement is a bit different. Whereas “Magical Armor” lets me imbue something to provide some extra defense, reflected directly as an increase to my defense rating, Magical Defense would let me tack on special qualities. For instance, if I wanted to be able to resist flames better, I could add that on, or if I wanted to be sneakier, I could tack on a shadow enhancement, and so on. Casting time and duration limitations aside it is fairly flexible, so even though I doubt I will be able to make effective use of it under most circumstances, I quite like this one.

And finally, although there is nothing anywhere on my status screen to reflect it, I can now emulate the spells that a third level spellcaster would have access to, both for crafting purposes and with my spell release imbuement. This would be a big deal even if that were the only thing new this level. Since it is not the only improvement, and since both Schematic and Miscellaneous Item access would also merit being a big deal if there were nothing else, this level was a very big deal for me. I can hardly wait to get back to Diamond Lake and start picking up the materials to etch schematics with.

If you were curious, schematics are generally etched onto hard substances (which is for the best, it would be horrible to spend tons of time and gold to have your product fall apart in the rain). Some examples of acceptable materials include specially cut gems, certain bones from certain breeds of monsters possessing special traits such as being celestial or fiendish in origin, and so on. They are typically shaped like a triangular prism, only about 2 to 3 centimeters wide but about 20 centimeters long; with the schematic itself etched into the base material using acids in much the same way one would etch a decorative glass mirror, but with mystical symbols running along each of the faces of the finished product. The required etchings vary greatly in complexity based on the power of the spell you are providing the schematic of, the specific materials required for the base material, the acid, and even the stencils used to hold the place for the runes as determined by the special preparations which are needed to reflect the power of both the spells inherent power as well as the strength of the specific application of the spell. I might be limited by both my gold and what I can find for sale in the city, but my party is going to see a whole new side of me starting the next time we go out, I think.

There is one thing I want to point out that I immediately took advantage of. Now that additional spells at a higher tier are available to me, aside from using magical tool to supplement my nightly armor production, I also begin to use a spell release to cast the “magical helper” spell. This spell allows you to summon either an invisible butler who can perform simple tasks such as cleaning for you, or a ghostly crafter, who can autonomously craft and whose summoning duration is measured in days per class level. Meaning each time that I succeed at casting this spell, I am able to put an extra crafter to work for 3 full days. Space in the carriage is at a premium so after the first day where both me and the summoned helper worked from within the carriage, on subsequent days I left 2 crafters inside the carriage brewing potions, while myself and another helper worked from the drivers bench or the roof to create basic crossbows for myself and Joaqim.

By the time we reach Diamond Lake, it has been a month of total travel time since we ran into that Orc patrol. Bucky must be going mad with desire to level up, but he keeps it well hidden, despite being very close to reaching his next level. In this time me and my average of 3 helpers have continued to work on the first set of armor while we are at camp; I also average a potion every other day until leveling up, and about 1.5 potions per day after, as well as managing to complete 2 functional light crossbows for myself and Joaqim. It’s worth noting that I can create slightly more powerful potions now, though the difference in time to and effort to craft them won't make that a worthwhile endeavor until our next trip out. I am planning to sell excess potions to fund the creation of nonrenewable magic, so having a higher quantity of potions to sell is my immediate priority.

Finally, I ask Regina some detailed questions about the amount of strength she can currently apply to a bow, her developmental plans, and so on. I have never explicitly asked before because asking for class details is typically seen as rude, it's very personal information, but she reveals that she is a "ranger". According to her she will be focusing more on agility than strength, but needs both as well as toughness and willpower to stay on her current development path. When asked about her fighting style, I had assumed she was an archer, but it turns out that she is competent in melee as well. She is not as capable in melee as a fighter of her level, but one of her class features allows her to fight with a weapon in each hand, and as a result she is about as capable in melee as she is at a distance. She carries a dagger in her boot but when forced into melee she usually tries to reveal only a one weapon style, because her melee fighting style would be a dead giveaway for her class. This leads me into another series of questions which reveal little except that fighters tend to be competent but not exceptional in the use of all but one weapon style, and she is better than a fighters general skills when using her preferred styles, while falling a little shy of a same level fighter in their specialized style.

I think she might be a bit too inclined towards secrecy considering that Rangers are nowhere near as rare as a mage, but I suppose Rangers must have some form of weakness that can be exploited… Though if they do have a weakness outside of swarming them being effective, I haven't seen it. Despite being comparably skilled both at range and up close, Regina's preference is still the bow though, because getting stabbed is no fun.

It is not possible to make a “perfect” bow for someone, nor any other weapon for that matter, because we are constantly developing new capabilities or reinforcing old ones through our classes. But for Regina I think that I have a good idea as to what to do, it will just require materials that I do not have on hand. I let her know what I have in mind, and she agrees to purchase the materials, despite the commission requiring quite a long time to complete. She is over the moon at my suggestion. She even hugs me.

I'm a bit self-conscious when it comes to physical contact of any sort; since being born into this world, the only times I remember someone touching me is either completely incidentally, or when it's part of some form of attack. You might think it's weird for someone to flinch at something as basic as a friendly hug, but it has been over 10 years since the last time I can remember any form of physical contact ending in something other than pain. Flustered, in part because I recognize exactly how insane it is to react so oddly to something so innocuous, I make my way back to my carriage and pretend to work for a while.

When we reach Diamond Lake, I have crafted a total of 12 new potions, I leveled not long ago after all. Counting the ones we had before, each party member is back to 2 potions, and I sell the remaining 7 potions to supplement our earnings.

The Orc captives, perhaps believing that they have a chance to survive if they cooperate and feeling that the information they have is sufficiently incomplete to avoid causing real harm to their own people, have not caused us any trouble while in route. I believe they have been tempted a number of times, but probably in part because of how low their health started out and how long it took them to recover without any magical aid, and in part due to the continuous restraints they had to deal with, they simply never committed to an insurrection. I'd say that I definitely would have in their shoes, but I don't actually know if that is true. I might be completely mistake about the reason for their lack of resistance, too. Regina is quite good at applying restraints, so perhaps it's not that they believe in human magnanimity, perhaps they never came close to being able to make the attempt because they were thoroughly stymied by Regina's proficiency with bindings.

We collect the full reward of 500 gold, as well as a 50 gold bonus. Despite our group not bothering to have learned their actual purpose; we provided Diamond Lake with captives who could answer to their purpose, as well as provide additional information for any follow up questions. Diamond Lake actually prefers that over just coming back with the bare minimum of information.

Finally, I convince the party to sell the dragon materials. They might be useful in crafting, but there is nothing I can do with those right now except make armor, and the armor I am working on now is a higher quality and generally better in every way compared to what can be crafted from Dragon bone or scale armor. Dragon bone and dragon scale armor are famous, and certainly prestigious, and for Druids it is a good way to bypass an oath that they make regarding equipment they can use which says they must wear only "natural" armor, but no one in our group is a druid, and we all prioritize surviving over looking like heroes, so for us the quicksilver armor will simply be better. Some of the bones would end up being good for schematics, too, but for the most part it would just be more cost effective if we sold the bones I could use while I used alternate materials for schematics. It would also be more fair to the rest of the group if we sold it off and then I used my portion of the profits to increase my personal power rather than claiming it all for myself. All in all, considering how limited of value that dragon corpse is to us in its current form, we might as well make some money off of it.

To my surprise, we don’t split everything. We split the 550 gold reward, but the sale of the Orcish equipment, the potions, and the dragon corpse lead to an encounter, practically an intervention, where the rest of the group ambushes me and claim that they are giving me the gold to make equipment that they can use. I’m flattered by the message, but when I ask if it’s just because they don’t want to have to hunt around for the materials to get equipment they would want, Regina laughs and says she’d won a wager because she didn’t think I’d fall for it. Joaqim and Bucky both pay her 5 gold each on the spot, and Regina clarifies that she will be counting on me to pick up the materials for her bow after all.

Honestly, it was a pretty heartwarming encounter from start to finish. The more time I spend with them, the more I find that I want to do everything I can to keep these people alive. This is a world of magic, and fireballs, meteor storms, magical wishes, and much more are all real here. Significantly, resurrection in this world is real too; it just requires more power and money than most people ever have access too. Maybe, just maybe, at some distant point I’ll be able to bring Jim back to life. I would like that.