Chronicles of the Shifter:The Forest
Chapter 0 - Introduction
Alrighty then. This is my Story. I have been called many names on my myriad journeys. ‘Skinstealer’, ‘Faceless One’, ‘Furwalker’, ‘Randy’, and a lot of times simply ‘Shifty Bastard’. Although my original name was nothing so pompous. My parents called me James. No last name, because … mediaeval times, you know?
I was born in the then Capital of a kingdom named after some dead bigshot. I frankly can’t remember all the names this piece of land had throughout my childhood. Also I can not be bothered to look it up. It was on like the sixth revolution that decade anyway.
Anyway, there was a revolt of some description going on, so my parents fled to the countryside. Or rather, into the middle of bumfuck nowhere deep deep inside a forest. A forest which I have never left before this Story begins
Sidenote-On the Situation:
At the time of my birth the industrial revolution, as you know it, was just kicking off. Turns out intricate technology and magic don’t mix well. Magic allows mages to change the laws of nature for a short period of time with the help of mana. Technology really needs those laws to stay the same.
Example: A wizard wants to ignite a candle with a simple cantrip. He never bothered to learn what the spell actually does, but he knows the candle will ignite. The clock next to the candle starts melting, the spell increased the thermic energy given off by friction in the area, because of this a lot of moving parts in the clock suddenly need water-cooling to funktion. The Wizard didn’t intend this, as he simply communicated his intent to the Mana and let it do the work.
The consequence of this in a practical sense is that a mage working with or near tech needs to be skilled in both magic and technology to communicate clearly how he wants to achieve an effect to the mana and to know which kinds of magical effects ruin which kinds of tech. A single misstep usually means death, as most spells aren’t as simple as igniting a candle and most machinery isn’t as forgiving as a clock, when it catastrophically fails.
The political consequence of this is that the world has erupted into tech-fanatics, conservative Wizard lords and the crackpots that want to combine both. That last one has proven to be especially deadly for anyone trying it so it isn’t what you would call a well studied field.
Anyway, that is broadly why the average ruler in my days had a life expectancy of a decade at most. Usually more like 2-4 years. End of Sidenote
The other thing we have to talk about before we start is the System. Apparently some Worlds don’t have one, which is weird to me but I am not one to judge. Now my publisher told me to breeze through this explanation as most people know the gist of this stuff. Weird but OK.
So … The system. Everyone can get classes, classes can level up, leveling up can give you class perks and always give you stat points, some free to distribute, some fixed. You can renounce your class at any time, losing all the stats and class perks associated with that class. Every living animal larger than a bug starts with the [Kid] class until they reach maturity. It varies based on species, in the case of us humans it is around the 16th birthday. Also Classes can evolve. The circumstances for this vary wildly. And I mean wildly I once knew a guy with a Class based on giving misfortune to its enemies. He evolved his class only on multiples of 13. On the other hand any kind of [Cavalry] or [Rider] class can evolve to [Dragon Rider] the moment you get on a dragon's back and survive. Most classes do multiples of ten or five or 25 though. Oh and you can have as many classes as you like, but the more you have the slower it is to level.
Also I wanted to include some different perspectives in my book, so I did some research and asked around among those who were there and are still alive. Everything that isn’t in first person is researched, not remembered. All those bits that aren’t from my Point of View(POW) will be markeds as such
Chapter 1 - The Beginning
So I had a relatively normal childhood until I turned 17. That is obviously a lie, but I am not going to tell you every detail of my life. Anyway 17 was when I had to start earning my keep, as my Father had just passed away from some mysterious illness (It was stomach cancer, but no one knew that back then). My Mother had died a few years ago in the forest, she was a [Ranger]. Also at that time I finished what we used to call ‘school’ - basically just some ‘wise man’ with a [Teaching] skill and two hours of free time every day, talking to us kids about the world - so I joined the local rangers as a trainee. Gaining the [Ranger Trainee] class. I hadn’t planned to be a [Ranger], I was satisfied with doing odd jobs, until I found a trade I liked, but my then Girlfriend broke up with me, because quote: “You are doing nothing with your life and going nowhere.” I realise in hindsight she was a bitch for breaking up with me, just after my only remaining parent died, but I didn’t quite get that back then. I joined the [Rangers] to show up my EX.
Congratulations! You just gained a Level in the [Ranger Trainee](lvl 1) class. You have gained the class Perk [Trainee in Training]
[Trainee in Training]
As a newly minted Ranger Trainee, Skills related to the [Ranger] class will be easier to learn for you, so that you can get out there quicker and do [Ranger] things.
Agility+3=>
13
Constitution+1=>
12
Endurance+2=>
13
Willpower+1=>
11
Free Points+3=>
3
After distributing my free points my sheet looked like this:
Name: James
Race: Human
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Age: 17 Years
Class: [Rainger Trainee](lvl 1)
Statistics:
Strength
10
Agility
13
Constitution
11
Endurance
12
Intelligence
11
Willpower
11
Wisdom
11
Charisma
11
Free Points
0
Perks:
Personal:
Class:
[Curious Child]
[Trainee in Training]
In a small village the difference between guard, hunter and scout are kind of blurry. In essence we were people with bows going into the woods everyday. Best case: we come back with some fresh game. Worst case we come screaming about an attack/ large monster to rally all capable fighters in the village.
One Month later:
Skills:
Archery+2=>
2
Athletics+3=>
6
Forest Movement+4=>
4
Gymnastics+4=>
6
Knives+3=>
3
Perception+6=>
11
Stealth+5=>
7
Tracking +5=>
5
Unarmed Combat+5=>
7
Training went well-ish for the most part. Turns out I am quite capable as a scout, but my aptitude for Bows and Knives was really lacking. Overall my skill growth was within accepted range, so I was allowed to go out in the Forest with the proper [Rangers].
Sidenote-On Skills:
Basically Skills are just a numerical representation of how good you are at something. There aren’t really milestones in skills, but they are still categorised in such terms.
0-9
Unskilled
10-19
Novice
20-29
Beginner
30-39
Apprentice
40-49
Adept
50-59
Expert
60-69
Master
70-79
Grandmaster
80-89
Sage
90-99
Savant
There are skill Ranks above 100 but those are Pipedreams for any mortal to achieve. Also after you reach Rank 70 you are probably famous for your skill so an additional name seems moot.
Breaking a new tenner doesn’t give any concrete advantage. Each level is progressively harder to achieve, so every rank means more than the last, but the round numbers don’t carry any special importance in themselves. The exception to this is in the requirements. Some Perks/Classes/Evolutions have requirements like ‘[Horse Riding] in the Apprentice Rank’ or something like that.
Now on Evolutions, Mergers, and Supplemental Skills: Skills can evolve e.g. most Knights choose to evolve their [Riding] into [Horse Riding], giving them a bonus to horses, but making them worse at riding Bulls, or Mules or Dragons (Fat chance!).
Skills can also merge with one another, making a more general Skill that is much harder to level, but will give you a general instinctive knowledge of the field e.g. Someone skilled with Axes, Swords, and Daggers may Merge them into [Blades]. Someone with [Blades] could pick up a Halberd and know how to use it, because he just understands bladed weapons on an instinctive level thanks to his skill.
Finally supplemental skills. They are halfway between a normal skill and an evolution. Like my [Forest Movement] Skill, they help certain actions in certain situations. In this example it helps with my [Athletics], [Gymnastics], and [Stealth] while I am in the Forest. This may sound better than an evolution, but make no mistake. Evolutions make the focus of the skill much, MUCH stronger. If I fight someone with [Boxing] on the level of my [Unarmed Combat] I may technically be better at Kicking and Grappling than her, but I will not be able to land any solid hits with my fists and she would be able to destroy me with a few good punches.
Lastly you should know that Skills are a representation of knowledge and training, which goes both ways. You can gain Ranks through study, you can lose ranks through a brain injury or just the passage of time. When the example Guy with the [Blades] skill got it, he actually gained more knowledge on the subject of bladed weapons in general. Similarly the Woman with [Boxing] - assuming she evolved it from [Unarmed Combat] - actually forgot stuff about Kicking and Grapples.
One thing to add on the side: Everyone has hundreds of skills at a low level. I am going to ignore those mostly. No one needs to know how good I am at cooking, swimming or arts-and-crafts.
End of Sidenote.
So there I was with my comrades in Arms. About to go out into the Forest, simultaneously determined and fucking terrified. But I tried to remember that I was surrounded by the best [Rangers] of the Village so I steeled myself.
The first 30 minutes of our tour was a very tense kind of boring. I was on edge like crazy, but the Seniors had everything under control. Any threat was identified before I even saw it. I was actually kind of proud of the fact I was the only Trainee who occasionally got to see an animal getting taken out with my Novice [Perception].
About an hour in, it was decided that we were going to split up, one senior with one Trainee.
All in all it was rather pleasant, after I got over my terror. She showed me a lot of things and tried to teach me in the field. I actually got a Rank in [Stealth] and [Perception] from it.
As we were about to return my Senior apparently heard a Noise somewhere in the distance. She told me to stay put and to wait for her, while she checked it out. As the Idiot I was, I of course tried to see where she was going. We were sitting on a tree when she left and I tried to scooch forward on a branch to get a better view of what was happening. The last thing I heard was the crack of the Branch. The last thing I saw was the pile of leaves on the ground I was headed towards. The last thing I felt was the severe lack of impact as I fell through the leaves. The last thing I thought was Oh fuck everything as I realised the leaves were covering a hole which lead to a cave of utter darkness. In which I was now plummeting seemingly forever. But I didn’t realise that, because apparently my mind decided to shut off as the depth of my fall became redefined.