I open my eyes and I’m in character creation. Just like from fourth age, but a little different. So this is real? I’m kind of nervous but also kind of excited. Or really excited. This is just like the game!

Is this really real?

This is so weird. I kind of didn’t believe anything was going to really happen. Usually when I get excited about something it never happens.

YES! This is so awesome! I always wanted us to enter the pods, but my parents were dead against it. They’re against anything fun or exciting. And even kids get paid UBI for joining a pod. And I could do whatever I wanted after school. School is so dumb. I hate it so much.

Okay, let’s do this.

My parents already decided what classes and builds we’ll take. My father will be a human taunt-tank. My mother an edylin monk. Or maybe half-orc monk for the extra bite attack, I forget. My older brother Carlos will be a halfling cleric with a splash of another class that lets him get a feat to use darts and slings with his wis instead of dex. They are making me become a halfling rogue using bows. At first it was an elf but they changed it to halfling, like Carlos, for some reason. I liked being small when we played fourth age for practice so I don’t mind. I can’t wait to customize my looks. That is so much fun! And way better than real life where you just look like you look.

We’ll wait for Joey to turn 12 to take the fifth spot in the party. I think. No one knows what this contest is or how long it will last. Or what happens to kids like Joey with special needs.

Fourth age has parties of up to six people, but for some reason this contest – or whatever this is – only allows parties of five. I’m 12. Joey will turn 12 in a little less than two years. Kids under 12 years old can’t play, but they have to go. Everyone has to go. Their HPs are set to 1,728 and they get free food every day. That’s what the nanites said. At least until they come of age. But the UN secretary lady said we will beat the contest quickly and they will do everything they can to get everything back to normal super-fast, so we shouldn’t have to worry about Joey turning 12. But mom still didn’t want to have anyone else with us. Just in-case.

My first choice is alignment. I pick true neutral, as my parents told me to – I’m not sure why. I think something about equipment. My second choice is race, and I pick rusk valley halfling – the default halfling. Third is class. I pick rogue. Fourth is background. I look through the list and start worrying. The one I am supposed to take, nine lives, is gone. I get nervous I’ll get in trouble for not taking it. But I can’t. It definitely isn’t there. Nine lives background saves you from death. If your HPs go down below negative 10 it nullifies the damage and resets your HP to negative 5 and stabilizes you. Works once a day. Game day, not a real day. Like every four hours is a game day I think. My parents demanded both me and Carlos get nine lives as a background.

So now I have a choice. There are a lot of good backgrounds. Full of beans would be nice, but unless Carlos gets it too it doesn’t matter if my land speed is higher. I didn’t like being so slow when we played fourth age together, but I probably shouldn’t get that one. I could take an upbringing and open up more crafts or professions. But I’m training survival so I doubt that is a good idea. Street kid would give me +2 to hide, move silently, sleight of hand, disguise, and bluff. Not bad. But the big draw of that background is it makes those skills class skills instead of cross-class skills, and they’re all already class skills for me as a rogue. Lucky duck looks like it would help the most with my role of scouting and spotting traps, and disabling traps, and opening locks and stuff. It says a natural 1 won’t be an automatic failure besides for attack rolls. And it gives +1 AC too!

I don’t think mom and dad can complain about that, so I pick lucky duck. I really like the name of it. It sounds silly.

Next are ability scores. They all start at 8, besides con, which is 10. Halfling gives me -2 str, and +2 dex, but that applies after. Con can’t be below 10 for anyone for some reason. I have 30 points to spend. Every ability costs 1 point to raise until it hits 14, then 15 and 16 cost 2 points, 17 and 18 cost 3 points. 18 is max unless your race bumps it up to 20. Or lowers an 18 to a 16.

I set everything as I’m supposed to. Str to 10, dex, con and int to 16, and leave wis and cha at 8. I hit accept and it shows my final scores of 8 str, 18 dex, 16 con, 16 int, 8 wis, and 8 cha.

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Next is deity selection. This is different too. Fourth age allows you to select “no deity,” old gods, Layla, or Pekar. But this says atheist, agnostic, and a big list of religions that are real. Well, a bunch I have heard of. That’s kind of neat. A lot I haven’t though. They even have favorite weapons and domains. I was supposed to pick the old gods so we could join the open fist faction. I’m not sure what to pick. My parents are atheists so I just pick that.

I am presented with feats and hope there hasn’t been more changes that throw off the build I am supposed to take. Nothing jumps out. I pick point blank shot like I am supposed to.

Now skills. I have 44 points. Hopefully I remember all this right. I put 4 points, the maximum at level 1, in disable device, hide, move silently, open lock, search, and spot. I put 4 points in the cross-class skills heal and survival, which only raises them to 2.

Now for the group skills. I put 4 points into acrobatics. With an int of 16, I can pick four skills under it. I think one of them should be sleight of hand, but my parents said no to that. They probably think I’d have too much fun with it. Can’t have Kim having fun now, can we? I pick balance, escape, fall, and tumble.

I put 4 points in athletics and pick climb, jump, run, and swim. I put my last 4 points into knowledge and pick arcane, dungeoneering, geography, and nature. Just as I was told to.

Next is my first specialization point. I get one point at level 1, and then again at level 5 and every 5 levels after that for a total of seven at level 30. You also get three racial specialization points. One at level 8, 16, and 24. When we were playing fourth age as a family, I got to mess around with how I used specialization points. There are a ton of fun things to specialize in. My first one went into the jump skill and it allowed me to double jump. You usually can only put one specialization point in a skill. I think tumble can take two. A ton don’t take any specialization points at all, like heal. A lot are boring, but some can be a lot of fun. Like, a specialization point in stealth let me move at full speed while stealthed. Stuff like that.

My first choice was already picked for me – I specialize in point blank shot. You can usually put two specialization points in most feats. The first point in point blank shot increases the range from 30 to 40, and gives me +2 to shots within 20 feet, and +1 to shots from 21 to 40 feet. My next two points, at level 5 and 10, go to precise shot, but at level 15 I put a second point in point blank shot. That will increasing range to 60, and give +2 to shots within 30 feet, and +1 to shots from 31 to 60 feet.

Next should be languages, but it isn’t there. Maybe I’m just remembering wrong? I’m on the screen for hobby, crafts, and professions. Crafts and professions have kind of been reversed. The craft listed for all characters in the SRD is now called a hobby, but only for your first class. And hobbies level with your character and not your class. You can pick any profession as a free hobby choice. Crafts are focused on making things and selling them. Professions are focused on gathering mats or doing something that helps only your character, like tinker, porter, and gambler. Classes listed as having a profession now get to pick a craft or downgrade the craft to a profession. Since I trained in the survival skill, I get a bunch of free professions from that. Such as butcher, forager, hunter, and skinner. If I was a class like ranger or bounty hunter, or I had the track feat, it would also help with tracking. Survival also gives a resting xp bonus, puts a compass on the minimap, increases my speed through certain terrains, and also a bonus to weather saves. But everyone said weather saves aren’t important in fourth age. Or not super important. Or something. And I set the minimap to always face north and not rotate so the compass is useless. I think so at least.

I pick tinker as my hobby, which lets me repair some durability to my equipment by myself for free. For my craft I pick culinarian. Dad only gets the hobby since his class is fighter, and he is getting tinker too. Repairing gear is expensive. Mom is getting herbalist as a hobby and alchemy as a craft. Not herbalist, the other thing. I think herbalist is for growing herbs. Well, whatever the one is called that lets you pick them. Eh, could be herbalist. Carlos is picking either mining or gemologist as his hobby, and instead of a craft is picking up whatever one he doesn’t pick as a hobby as his downgraded craft to profession choice. Ores and gems sell for a ton.

Next should be where I pick my gender and customize my character’s looks, or was in fourth age at least. Instead, I have to pick an equipment kit. This is new. After going through them all I pick the hunter kit. I get leather armor, leather boots, leather gloves, belt, a short bow, a spear, and a dagger. When I try to click on a skill or profession kit I get a message that I automatically get all relevant kits for all opened skills, crafts, and professions. Nice. But what about food? And thieves’ tools? I see a tab for inventory and click on it. I have a ton of skill and crafting kits and also a thieves’ tool in it, plus three rations.

I don’t see a way I can equip anything here, and I am excited to customize my looks, so I hit next.

What is this? It is just an overview page of my character asking me to finalize my choices. Did I mess up? Where can I customize my looks? That is what I was most looking forward to. Can I not even pick a name? Ridiculous! Does it just randomize my looks? What about languages it never let me pick?

This better not make me a stupid boy. I better look cute too!

A little angrily, I click finalize and my vision fades.