Jacob rocketed towards the earth-like planet through the void of space. Propelled like a comet towards the planet, flashes of light and wisps of dark energy crackled across his vision. Light and energy flashed around him, coalescing into a protective bubble as he reached the stratosphere.
Jacob drifted to the planet below and caught sight of the three major land masses of the game. He gazed to the southern hemisphere of the planet Moirai as the continent Atropos began to fade from view. Atropos looked like a clawed left hand grasping at the second continent, Lachesis, that occupied the central portion of Moirai near the equator. Jacob admired the plains and mountains that spiraled out from the center of Lachesis. The entire continent had the faintest resemblance to a shield, a resemblance that was reinforced by being a natural barrier between the southern Atropos and northern Clotho.
Jacob was beginning to lose sight of Clotho as his descent brought him closer to Lachesis’ highest peak, Origin. All Jacob could see of Clotho was a mass of green and white scattered about a landscape shaped like a human heart. He could scarcely take note of much more his descent sped him towards Origin. Jacob plummeted closer to the ground barreling through low hanging clouds to reveal a pristine marble temple.
His face split into a wide grin as his destination grew closer. He accelerated faster as if the game had responded to his glee. There in the court of Origin’s marble temple was an intricate circle diagram inlaid with gold and obsidian spiraling to a single fine point. Just as Jacob was about to slam into the circle, he felt his descent unnaturally slow to as sudden stop. There he hovered in the air for a few seconds. A clap of thunder echoed out shattering his bubble of light and dark energy.
Fortunately for Jacob, the game assisted him in landing gracefully upon the center of the circle where his light and dark energy pooled and radiated outward along the spiraling gold and obsidian. Jacob's grin remained plastered on his face as he drunk in the sights of the courtyard. Hundreds of marble statues depicting various races of the game in poses of fighting, crafting, and commanding surrounded him. Jacob moved one foot forward to take a step only to stumble to a halt as he noticed that his current body consisted of the same crackling energy that now radiated out from his feet.
“Welcome to the Origin Temple, Traveler!” echoed out an ethereal and feminine voice. “You have been drawn to our world. Called to guide the mortals of Moirai!”
Jacob turned in place seeking the owner of the voice as he called out, “Indeed I was drawn to this world, but to whom do I speak?”
“I am simply known as the Oracle.” replied a gray-robed figure that stepped out from behind an elven statue. “I provide guidance for those who shape the fate of mortals.”
Oracle glided slowly to the edge of the circle coming to a stop. She cocked her head to the side, “Are you of the light or the dark? I see that your travel here has left you wrapped in the energies of both.”
Jacob was about to respond when a notification window popped up before his eyes causing him to take a step back in surprise. He took a quick breath to recover and stepped forward again to examine the window.
Starting Origin:
Welcome to Choice of Fate! Please choose your starting Origin. Note that this choice will affect your first character’s starting continent and initial available skills. As you progress through elements of the game you will have opportunities to modify your Origin.
Light
Dark
Jacob brought his right hand up to his chin as he thought, Normally I would choose the Light and play a support character, but I always do that. This time I’ll start with Dark and unlock Light options later. Aim for a mercenary style character that plays both sides.
Jacob nodded to himself as he brought down his right hand selecting the Dark option and said, “I am of the Dark!”
Oracle raised her hand and grasped towards Jacob drawing in the light energy that had been radiating off him. As she drew her hand in towards her belly dozens of statues in the courtyard flashed with a brilliant white light. The statues that flared with brilliant light faded from existence with the passing of the light.
Jacob looked down at himself seeing only a black void of energy wrapped around his body. The sound of marble sliding on marble drew Jacob’s attention back up towards Oracle as the statues slid into a new formation. Jacob scanned the statues thinking, These must be my available races.
“Choose the mortal you wish to guide, Traveler!” declared Oracle as she gestured with both arms to the surrounding statues.
“Show me all races related to demons or devils.” said Jacob.
Oracle waved her arm causing the statues to rearrange themselves in front of Jacob. Before him stood a bulky demon, a slender devil, a beautiful incubus, human hybrids of each, and an ugly imp. Jacob moved closer to examine the bulky demon first.
Demon:
Demons are known for their battle prowess and resilience. They are treated with hostility from all mortals of the Light Origin.
Bonus per Level: +2 Strength, +1 Endurance
Static Trait: -50% Reputation with Light Origin mortals. +50% Reputation with Dark Origin mortals.
Jacob shook his head and moved over to the slender devil and said, “I don’t want that reputation modifier if I’m going a mercenary route.” He leaned forward to examine the devil coming to a stop.
Devil:
Devils are known for their skill in magic as well as their ability to twist fate into their favor. Many devils take on an advisory capacity.
Bonus per Level: +1 Knowledge, +1 Spirit, +3 Fate
“Maybe…” muttered Jacob as he moved towards the incubus. He paused in front of the incubus admiring the aesthetics of its form. After admiring the trim figure, he leaned in to examine the race details.
Incubus:
Incubi are known for their ability to charm others. Many Incubi act as ambassadors, merchants, and diplomats.
Bonus per Level: +2 Social, +1 Spirit
Static Trait: +10% Reputation gains.
“I can work with that.” exclaimed Jacob as he moved onto the human hybrids. He dismissed the half-demon after seeing that it was a weaker version of the demon without the static trait. Next, he looked at the half-devil.
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Half-Devil:
Half-Devil are rare but versatile human hybrids taking the best from both Devils and Humans. Half-Devils tend to look human with a few devil traits. As such they tend to be mistaken as half-elves.
Bonus per Level: +1 Knowledge, +1 Social, +1 Fate
Static Trait: Neutral starting reputation with all mortals.
“Hmm… Not as heavily focused as Incubus, but that neutral starting reputation could give me more flexibility.” pondered Jacob aloud. He moved over to the half-incubus and quickly checked the stats.
Half-Incubus:
Half-Incubus are natural merchants and diplomats. Though many despise them upon first meeting, a skilled half-incubus can quickly change their mind.
Bonus per Level: +3 Social
Static Trait: +5% Reputation gains. Wary starting reputation with all mortals.
Jacob let out a chuckle as he declared, “I found my merchant race for later!”
Jacob let the mirth slip from his face as he moved on to the last race, the imp. He had to crouch down closer to the imp for the race screen to pop up. He then frowned as he read the details of the imp.
Imp:
Imps are tiny, agile, and skilled in magic. Though they are viewed as disgusting pests, their use as familiars has continued.
Bonus per Level: +2 Agility, +2 Knowledge
Static Trait: All weapons have -25% reach and damage. -10% Reputation gains.
“Nope! Not using that one.” said Jacob as he pondered his choices. He turned back towards the Incubus and Half-Devil weighing their potential. I want to be able to unlock the Light Origin later, so both would be able to pursue content that would normally be difficult for Dark Origin mortals. Half-Devils have flexibility thanks to their static trait while Incubi have that bonus to reputation. The only problem with Incubi is the lack of a combat stat, which the Half-Devils have through Knowledge. thought Jacob.
Jacob stopped in front of the Half-Devil and declared, “Flexibility then! Oracle, I choose to guide a Half-Devil!”
Oracle nodded and dismissed the other statues with a wave of her hand. Jacob then stepped closer to the Half-Devil causing several orbs to appear mid-air. He reached out and experimented with each orb to determine how they affected his chosen character. After a few minutes practice, Jacob got the hang of manipulating his initial appearance.
He started by shifting the skin color from a dark red to a normal tan tinged with the barest traces of scarlet. Then he moved on to his hair choosing wavy shoulder length raven hair. He selected a smaller orb to change the style to that of being slicked back. Next, he adjusted his pointy ears so that they stuck out only two inches holding his hair out of his face.
Jacob peered at his character’s eyes changing them to a light gray and moved on to body type. Here he selected an athletic build with the slightest hint of thickness in the torso region. The last part to be modified was changing the claw like hands to a more human looking one with razor sharp nails.
Jacob stepped back to appreciate his design. Satisfied he let out an appreciative sigh. “This is the mortal that I will guide Oracle”
“What name shall this mortal be called?” inquired Oracle.
A transparent keyboard materialized in front of Jacob allowing him to type in his character’s name. “Veralic.” spoke Jacob.
“And what abilities shall Veralic have?” asked Oracle.
A new notification window popped up in front of Jacob. This time Jacob held his ground avoiding the shock of appearing windows.
Abilities:
In Choice of Fate every character begins with abilities to help shape the type of character they will play. Though you are limited in which abilities you may purchase at character creation, many skill oriented abilities can be earned throughout your adventures. If you are a beginner to online role-playing games, then we highly recommend selecting a pre-built class template. If, however, you find that you want more creative control, then you can go the advanced route selecting abilities using a point buy system.
Please Select Your Choice:
Class Templates
Advanced Point Buy
Jacob had no hesitation as he selected Advanced Point Buy. I’m too much of a control freak and mathematician to pass up the opportunity to build my own class. thought Jacob.
A new window had popped up in front of him showing several tabs sorting abilities by type. The first tab that caught his eye were the level stat bonus abilities. These were all abilities based around awarding strength, endurance, agility, knowledge, spirit, social, and fate as your character levels. After reading all the abilities, Jacob was a little disappointed in how linear the options were. He did perk up a little when he realized he could select the same stat level abilities multiple times to get a scalar multiple on specific stats.
Jacob swiped the window to his right and brought his hands together forming a rectangle. “Notepad” barked Jacob causing a digital notepad to appear. With a swipe to his left, Jacob brought the abilities window forward again. He then fell into silence as he studied the abilities.
He wrote one hundred total points at the top of his notes followed by a notation of twenty points for each stat level ability. He then tapped a new tab and examined various skill abilities. These he noted as requiring ten points for basic physical and magical oriented skills. He tabbed over to another list of abilities, these he noted as being Origin specific and ranged in value from ten to seventy-five points.
From the Origin list of abilities, he wrote down and circled one called ‘Gifts of the Dark’ worth seventy-five points. Next, he scanned through the race specific tab of abilities. These too were a collection of abilities unique to humans and devils, all of which ranged from ten to seventy-five as well. From the devil side of the race list he found another ability worth seventy-five points called ‘Dealmaker’.
The last tab Jacob explored was titled negative traits. These were traits that one could take in exchange for more points. Most of the traits that Jacob noted would give twenty to fifty points if taken. The negative trait, ‘Bound by the Light’, awards fifty points and caught Jacob’s attention due to preventing the character from gaining experience from defeating or killing enemies.
Jacob smiled as he thought, I could take Gifts of the Dark, Dealmaker, and Bound by the Light. Gifts will allow me to purchase my future stats and experience using my Potential Points which gives me a way to overcome the lack of experience that Bound by the Light enforces. Though I’ll still have a limit through how fast I can earn Potential Points. Dealmaker also gives me flexibility and room for future growth through contracts.
Jacob pursed his lips as his internal debate continued, My growth is going to be slow though. But this build is so thematic. I can play the wheeling and dealing devil mercenary. The only real question I have is if I’ll be able to survive long enough to start the slow growth process. This will be even harder because I’ll be starting with zero combat skills due to this build. So, do I go for potential? Or do I go with some security?
Jacob grinned to himself as he thought back to his reasoning for being a teacher. I teach because I believe in the potential of others. Why shouldn’t I try and maximize the potential of my character? The journey will be difficult, but I know I can get there with a bit of grit.
Jacob selected the necessary abilities and finalized the point buy. A few more windows popped up prompting for some more information and choices to confirm. With his selections done, Jacob reviewed his Character Screen and clicked the final confirm button.
Character Screen: Veralic (Pythag3)
Level: Contractor 1 /Experience(EXP): 0
Race: Half-Devil
Origin: Dark
Base Stats:
Strength (STR)-10
Knowledge (KNO)- 11 (+1/Level)
Endurance (END)-10
Spirit (SPI)- 10
Agility (AGI)- 10
Social (SOC)- 11 (+1/Level)
Resource Stats:
Potential Points (PP) - 100
Fate -11 (+1/Level)
Abilities:
Bound by the Light – Prevented from gaining experience from defeating/killing enemies.
Gifts of the Dark- Able to exchange your PP to the Dark for stats, EXP, abilities, and resources.
Dealmaker- Able to create contracts allowing the trade of stats, EXP, abilities, and resources.
“Once you are ready to guide Veralic, step into his statue and you will be able to choose his fate.” announced Oracle.
Jacob’s grin widened as he extended his arm forward and pressed his palm into the statue. His haptic suit hummed in response sending a tingling sensation throughout his body while his vision swirled down a tunnel. Mere seconds later, the tingling stopped, and his vision snapped back into focus as Jacob found himself in a dimly lit stone room with one wooden door in front of him.
Jacob took a moment to examine himself and his surroundings. He found that he was alone and in the body of the character he just designed. He looked to the door, the only exit out of the room, and strode forward.
“Time for the tutorial phase!” proclaimed Jacob as he reached for the door handle. He attempted to turn the handle only to meet resistance. Confused he attempted the other direction only to find more resistance. Frustrated he attempted to push and pull on the handle hoping that would open the door instead. Despite his efforts the door remained locked refusing to budge.
Jacob then bent over to examine the handle closer only to be shocked by the lack of a keyhole. “What!?” exclaimed Jacob. “Why is the door locked? And why's there no keyhole!?”