Words glowed in front of my eyes.
Welcome to the Game of Life.
Soon they disappeared and were replaced by the following screen.
Please Allocate Attribute Points (40 remaining)
Physical/+2
3
Mental/+2
3
Strength/+1
1
Intelligence/+1
1
Dexterity/+1
1
Willpower/+1
1
Endurance/+1
1
Charisma/+1
1
Constitution/+1
1
Perception+1
1
Luck/+1
1
A quick trial let me discover that putting a point into say Strength would increase it’s value by one as well as increasing my overall Physical Stat by one. Alternatively I could place a single point into Physical to increase its total by two. As I struggled to decide where to allocate my points I started to feel that maybe I should have read the Instruction Manual, I had absolutely no idea what the specifics of each attribute were.
Figuring I’d never been one for either physical exertion or for people, I placed 14 points into each of Intelligence and Willpower bringing their totals to 15 each. I wasn’t sure of the relative benefit of placing points into the aggregate Mental attribute and figured I would leave it for now. That left 12 points to distribute. I’d never been a big believer in Luck but somehow having a stat for it made it seem both more real and more important. I therefore brought it up to 10. I also placed 4 points into perception, so I could spot anything dangerous and put another 5 each in endurance and constitution, just in case I needed to run away for an extended period of time. This left me with one point remaining, I added it to Charisma without much thought.
Please Allocate Attribute Points (0 remaining)
Physical/+2
12
Mental/+2
27
Strength/+1
1
Intelligence/+1
10
Dexterity/+1
1
Willpower/+1
10
Endurance/+1
5
Charisma/+1
1
Constitution/+1
5
Perception+1
5
Luck/+1
10
I looked over my stats again and sighed. I really had no idea if I’d made a good choice or not, I suppose it could be a bit more balanced but I wasn’t very keen on needing any of the physical attributes. I was here to throw fire and summon lightning not flail around with a sword. I shook my head and confirmed my choice.
The attribute table was quickly replaced by a full-size replica of myself, together with the words please choose your appearance. The model reacted to my thoughts, changing however I wanted. I tried adding wings, thinking it would be fun to have a pair, however I found I was limited to a basic human shape. I pondered what kind of appearance I should choose. I could be tall, muscular, have a perfect jawline, I could be anything I wanted. Anybody I wanted. After some thought I came to a conclusion; I didn’t want to be someone else. What I wanted was to be me, only better.
With that in mind I returned to my original self. After removing a few blemishes, trimming a little around my stomach and adding some muscle, I was human after all, I once again confirmed I was happy with my choices. When this failed to have an effect, I realised I had missed a box above my model asking me to input a name. Shrugging, I entered my own name Jason Nemin and tried confirming my choices again.
My doppelganger to disappeared and was quickly replaced by a huge line of copies. They were dressed in a huge variety of outfits and stances. One copy, dressed in a huge loincloth with muscles that seemed to bulge out of his body as he held a huge double axe in one hand like a toy. Above him floated the word Barbarian. To his left was hunched a robed figure. Despite having the same proportions as the Barbarian he seemed to take up half the space, though his eyes glowed with a fierce intensity and intelligence. Or at least, they glowed with something and I assumed it was that. This copy of me was labelled Warlock. These versions of me stretched off into the distance. As I looked closer I was confronted with a variety of numbers and figures.
I sighed once more, looking up and down the queue of classes with exasperation. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, nor what any of these things meant. After a few minutes trying to make heads or tails of the situation, a new message appeared in front my eyes.
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Did you read the Instruction Manual?
I shook my head and thought obviously not.
Would you like a short guide?
Yes, yes I thought in reply. A million times yes.
Suddenly a small impish creature appeared next to me.
‘Hi, I’m Fred. I’ll be your guide today.’
I looked towards him in surprise. It wasn’t quite what I expected. ‘Err what are you?’ I asked, confused.
‘I’m a guidance imp, we provide our services in most dimensions and several alternate universes as well as most black holes, plus a few high profile imaginary lands.
‘This world and its system is one of my specialties, I’ll be happy to answer all your questions.’
I had a million questions, I picked the most pressing. ‘Fred doesn’t seem like a very impish name?’
‘Ah of course, of course. My real name requires several senses you don’t have to fully comprehend, its pronunciation is completely beyond you. Fred will do.’ He replied without a hint of condescension.
‘Errr ok then I guess. Fred it is. Could you tell me how these classes work? And what do all the numbers mean?’
‘Sure thing boss. First we’ll need to cover the basics of growth within the Game of Life. There are three main paths to expanding your power. First is levelling and experience gain. As you complete quests, discover new places and vanquish your foes you’ll gain experience and level up. Each level comes with several class points. The number of points depends on your class, for example the Warlock class receives the maximum 5 points per level, Barbarians receive only 3. These class points can be either spent on attributes with a default conversion rate of one class point to one attribute point, though there are several mechanisms by which this can be changed. This is further complicated by your class’ attribute bonus. As you can imagine the strength of a Wizard or Archer grows more slowly than say a Knight’s. These modifiers can be found here.’ He pointed to one set of numbers on the class description.
‘Class points can also be traded to a class trainer for skills and occasionally items. That brings us to our next avenue for growth, skill growth. Once a skill has been learnt it starts at level 1 from there you level it by practicing with or otherwise making use of the skill. The rate of skill growth is again governed by your class. Furthermore your skill levels cannot exceed your class level.’
He pointed to the Warlock.
‘This one experiences rapid growth in summoning, eldritch and casting skills. However it experiences a decreased rate of growth in elemental spells and physical skills.
‘Finally we have milestones and achievements. These typically offer small multipliers or in-world effects. Milestones are rewards for progression, for example killing 100 of an enemy will normally reward you with a 5% damage boost against that kind of enemy. Achievements are similar but as the name suggests they are typically more difficult to earn and involve less repetition. Winning a one on one duel for instance will reward an increase to damage in single combat. While they don’t make a huge difference individually, accruing a large number of such bonuses is key to long term growth.’
‘Phew ok, that’s a lot to take in.’ I replied, increasingly glad that my hangover had not accompanied me into the game. ‘Ok so it seems like the classes both govern the speed at which I’ll progress in particular areas as well as the access I’ll have to certain skills?’
‘Precisely’ Replied the imp, jumping up and down in a strange dance. ‘What’s more not all classes experience growth equally, some are focused on a few key skills which grow quickly. Others offer a larger number of skills but they grow more slowly. Yet other classes are focused on attribute growth and raw power. Finally classes also determine your initial equipment and relations with several major organisations. Most magic classes start as members of the Mages’ Guild with all the benefits that involves, some like Necromancers are automatically despised by the guild.’
‘Sweet Lady of Light, how on earth does anyone decide what to pick?’
‘Ahh well, most people are offered only a few choices of class. Normally variations on a theme. A typical player might be given the choice between some combat classes like Solider, Knight and Mercenary say, in addition to a selection of non-combat classes like Blacksmith or Bard. As a VIP player you are offered a level of choice others can only dream of.’
‘Yeah... Lucky me’ I said, groaning internally. I was hoping to kill monsters and throw fireballs, not crunch numbers and make long term strategic decisions. If I chose wrong however, I was in danger of being in Derik’s shadow in this world as well as the real one.
‘What if I can’t choose a class?’
Fred thought for a moment. ‘You don’t technically need to choose a class, although there are currently no Classless Heroes.’
‘What happens if don’t choose a class?’
‘Well rather strangely, you actually receive a bonus to the growth of all skills. Either because the system actually defaults to the highest growth level and classes cause some to grow more slowly. Or perhaps it is to balance out the huge number of drawbacks, most notably the lack of class trainer. In fact this second seems more likely since your attributes grow at the standard rate.’
I was caught. On the one hand the rapid growth sounded amazing, on the other the lack of class trainer could prevent me from ever acquiring skills worth growing. Especially in the beginning. That being said, I had real choice anxiety and had no idea how I was meant to pick otherwise. Obviously I wanted magic, but I had no idea what kind of magic class.
As I walked up and down the queue looking at different classes I realised just how many options I had available, even if I insisted on a purely casting based class. I could be a standard Mage. Or go for utility as an Elementalist. If I fancied I could even make use of others as a Summoner or Warlock. Alternatively, I could also choose something more subtle such as the Wizard class, giving a boost to magical theory and control instead of specific schools. It was all too much. I shook my head, ‘Classless it is’.
The queue of classes dissolved into the darkness. They were replaced with a new system message.
Choose your Allegiance.
I turned to my imp guide, ‘Allegiance?’
With infinite patience he replied, ‘Time for a history lesson.’
Suddenly a giant mobius strip appeared floating in front of us, mostly covered in dark cloud. In the center was a small, glowing white orb.
‘This is the game world. The residents call it Vinculum. The religions of the world teach that it is the last battleground between light and darkness. They differ in the exact nature of that conflict however. The Vitalists say that the glowing orb in the which the world surrounds is the egg from which the Light Goddess will be born. Her coming will herald the return of Light, and until then the inhabitants of Vinculum must protect her.
‘The Mortists say almost the opposite, that this orb is in fact the corpse of the Light Goddess, who has already been vanquished by the dark. What is left of her power protects Vinculum, giving them the chance to fight back against that darkness in the hope that they would succeed where she had failed.
‘Finally there are the Phoenexica. They believe a bit of both, that the Light Goddess had sacrificed herself to give the inhabitants Vinculum the ability to fight the darkness. However they also claimed she would one day rise from the dead reborn to join the fight. Naturally there is all out war between the Mortists and the Vitalists. The Phoenexica on the other hand are universally disliked, but just about tolerated. Regardless of religious disposition, most people refer to the orb as the Body of Light.’
He pointed to the two places on the band not covered by the dark cloudlike substance.
‘Whatever your beliefs about its nature, the war with the darkness is not going well. These are Principium and Fintasia, the last bastions of light in this world. They’re on opposite sides of the band, fortunately, else they’d have destroyed each other by now. Principium is ruled by the Vitalists, whereas as Phoenexica follows the faith of the Mortists. You must choose a city to pledge yourself to.’
Before I had a chance to reply, he continued
‘You mortals are all the same. When will you learn that it’s not your thoughts and beliefs that define you, but your actions? They work toward the same goal, but instead of being united by a common purpose they instead squabble over petty differences and deviations in scripture.’
‘That’s err, very insightful.’ I replied.
Fred shrugged, or at least I think it was a shrug. ‘My cousin is an Idiot Guide to Philosophy. Most of what he says is a waste of the demonic essence its imbued with, but you pick a few things up.’
Rather than continue this strange line of conversation I returned to the question of my allegiance. I thought for a second, but my choice was clear. Derik would definitely choose to side with the Vitalists, leaving me to choose Fintasia. I wanted a chance to find my feet before I had to deal with him. ‘I choose Fintasia.’