One of the interesting things about having access to the atemporal, potentially multiversal Akasha was that pretty much any potential variant on a path had been attempted somewhere, by someone. A wizard with sword training? It had been done. Wanted a sorcerer that raged like a berserker? Done. How about a thief that telekinetically picked pockets from across the room? It had been done multiple times! What about a special type of caster that synchronized their soul with a giant stone simulacrum of themselves and used it to fight in gladiatorial combat? That had also, in fact, been done.
So when I went scouring the Akashic record during multiple sessions looking for the path of a martial scholar, one with understanding of the body, ki and the soul, focused on both meditation and empirical understanding of the body and its profound forces?
It had been done.
The Scholars of the Unified Mind were a sect of martial artists that dedicated themselves to understanding how the body shaped the soul, and how the soul shaped the body, and theorized that one’s ki and chakra - apparently ‘the light of soul made manifest’ - worked in tandem to form our body from matter. They trained their body rigorously and studied medicine, anatomy and biology relentlessly in order to understand the limits of the human form and break through them. Through a series of specific meditations, practices, and techniques, they were able to unlock various chakra points on the body and use their souls’ energy through those points to varying effects, with the ultimate goal naturally being perfection of self and immortality. Ki essentially acted as a carrier wave and buffer to protect the soul as it navigated physically through the body and was expressed externally. It was an incredibly cerebral form of martial arts, and involved a lot of understanding of the physics of combat as it applied to the human body in order to try to perform at peak efficiency.
Fascinating stuff.
I settled down for my second meditation session for the day, and pushed forwards on this new path. Once again I felt a thrum of energy as my body and the Akasha synchronized, this time as a new instinctual understanding of my body and ways to manipulate it flooded into me, and I pushed the output into my “Sheet”.
Monk 1
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Stamina: */10
Martial Attack Bonus: +1
Saves:
* Fort +2
* Ref +2
* Will 0
Feats 3
* Improved Unarmed Strike
* Versatile Unarmed Strike
* Pick 1
Skills: Pick 4
* Acrobatics
* Athletics
* Covert
* Craft (Any)
* Insight
* Intimidation
* Lore (Anatomy)
* Lore (Medicine)
* Lore (Biology)
* Lore (Applied Mathematics)
* Lore (Applied Ki)
* Lore (Theoretical Ki)
* Lore (Applied Chakra)
* Lore (Theoretical Chakra)
* Perception
* Perform
* Profession (Any)
Qualities:
* Calculated Defense: Add Intelligence Bonus to AC
* Martial Artist: Add Class Level to Martial Level
* Martial Defense: Add (Martial Level/4) to AC while unimpeded by armor.
* Flurry of Blows: Make One Additional Attack when making a Full-Attack Action
* Martial Fist: Reinforce your body with Ki in order to treat it as a lethal weapon.
* Ki Pool Unlocked
* Add (Martial Level/2) to Ki Pool
* Add Wisdom Bonus to Ki Pool
* Add Improved Unarmed Strike to Feats
* Add Versatile Unarmed Strike to Feats.
* Human Racial Akashic Resonance: Add (Martial Level/4) to ki pool.
* Chakra Awakened
* Add Monk Class Level to Shaper Level
* Unlock Chakra Pool
* Add (Shaper Level/2) to Chakra Pool
* Add Constitution Bonus to Chakra Pool
* Sahasrara Chakra: Shape to your crown chakra for +2 to Concentration, Meditation and Lore Checks per point, max (Shaper Level/4)
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The knowledge poured in - ways to train my body, to refine my combat skills, to unlock my ki and soul essence (or chakra, it seems) - and begin circulating them through my body for various benefits, as well as a new set of skills to potentially unlock.
There was also the introduction of a new concept - Martial and Shaper Levels. It seemed that these referred to the ability to manipulate Ki and Chakra, respectively. It made me wonder what the impact of other classes would have on that, and whether my larger plan would work.
As mentioned, overlap in classes was supposed to largely be detrimental - I was probably going to see lots of what my previous life would have seen as bonuses slip through my fingers: health or stamina, attack bonuses, and saves that wouldn't stack as I might wish. That wasn't fine per se, but I had accepted it. On the other hand, there was some overlap that I could benefit from - skills I already had the potential to access, but wouldn't have fit into the limited amount a specific class could focus on were often available in others, for example. We would see if stacking values for things like Martial Level would be another potential benefit.
The monks also had some techniques to boost my fortitude that I could combine with my Half-Giant physique. That was another exception: a racial bonus and a class bonus for a given level could stack, representing the combination of physique and skill, but those two were the limit, barring specific qualities.
That was expected based on the way this world worked - overlap rarely stacked. It was an exception when it did, and the trick to true growth was trying to find and benefit from those exceptions - well, either that or just bull your way to higher levels on a single path and rely on that to beat out those with broader foundations who hadn't unlocked the “higher mysteries”.
Some things didn't overlap but supported each other, like Health and Stamina. Health was primarily based on the physical body, while Stamina was based on technique. One came from your racial levels, the other from class levels. Obviously exceptions existed - techniques that would boost your physical Health, intrinsic aspects of the body that could support your Stamina - but the division between the two was a generally accepted rule.
I had exhausted my advancements for the day, at least as far as class or racial levels were concerned. I would begin again tomorrow, unlocking more of my heritage and another class path, and until I was finished with unlocking my primary paths and racial heritage, I was going to hold off from deciding what further skills or feats to choose. I had until I started training in earnest to solidify my initial choices, so I would take my time. Who knew what would be unlocked by the other paths available to me at this point?
For now, I decided to turn in. After unlocking the mysteries of both my genetics and my future, I was a little sleepy.
—
The next morning started with another bout of meditation. This time, I would be pushing for another racial heritage. I got into position and pushed against that particular path. That quickly becoming familiar thrum of energy rang through me and I shunted it to my sheet.
Human 1
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Health: ––
Attack Bonus: ––
Feats: Pick 1
Saves:
* Fort –
* Ref 0
* Will +2
Skills: Pick Any 4
* Unlock any 10 skills.
Qualities:
* Adaptive Learning: A skill unlocked can be grown from all race and class levels. Skill bonuses from different sources stack.
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The benefits this time were a little confusing. The bonus to Will made some sense - apparently the indomitability of the human spirit was actually genetic! - but I was a bit confused by the quality I had gained. It took me a while to process it into something that made sense. First off, I could choose any additional 10 skills to unlock, though lore, craft, performance and profession skills all had to be unlocked individually - that wasn't a huge surprise. What was a surprise was the fact that apparently skill growth was initially more complicated than I thought?
Apparently it was unexpected to be able to apply learnings concerning a skill from one class to its applications in another. That just seemed so strange and awkward to me. Maybe it was my spirit resonating with my humanity, both from my origins in this life as well as from my full first life, but I couldn't imagine being so… rigid when it came to applying things I had learned. Regardless, I was glad that I wouldn't have to deal with that headache thanks to this quality. The free 10 skills was a boon - it should be able to fill any gaps after I finished opening the rest of my paths in a few days.
I decided to eat breakfast before I attempted my first physical training session. Hopefully that wouldn't be too painful - it would be a lot of trial and error to begin with, as I had no teachers, just books and generations of ancestors in the Akashic record.