6] Interview with a Game Wizard:

I received my a copy of Level Up: Roleplaying in a Isekai World in the mail along with an invitation to set up an interview with it’s writer.

According to the preface, the writer claimed to have spent a three hundred and seventy seven years in a world that resembled a LitRPG novel setting. One in which you had a virtual character sheet, gained experience in various ways, and leveled up. Gaining bonuses to the ability scores on your character sheet and special powers based on your class.

The people of Ederone had developed a role playing game based on the rules that governed their world as a training aid, so all the writer had to do when he came back to Earth was translate it.

As neither of us were in a position to pay for me to fly to France where the writer lived, the interview was done on a social site. The log of which I have copy and pasted here.

Donner has entered the room-

Brenner: I assume that’s you Mr. Bennot?

Donner: Please call me Don, I used the name for a much larger portion of my life then the one I was born with back here.

Brenner: Why don’t you tell me about your game Don.

Donner: Well to start with, the game was a cheap alternative for a training aid for people to simulate builds for what classes they planned on taking in the future. On Enderone it’s mainly played by children who can’t take a class until they reach the age of maturity for their race.

Brenner: Which is?

Donner: 15 for humans, 77 for elves, and 42 for dwarves. That last one there I took to have greater meaning then it really did since I was a Douglas Adams fan.

Brenner: You said it was a cheaper alternative?

Donner: Think magical Holo-deck. Most universities had at least one, as did some of the wealthiest families and the big guilds. Although Syndicate might be a better name for them. Me, bitter? Yep.

Brenner: Let’s come back around on that in a bit. What was so involved in these classes that you had to plan ahead.

Donner: Well you have Basic classes, think fighter, adept, seamstress, black smith. Those classes you could finish up in 3 levels, or about a year of time invested. Above that you had Advanced classes which took 6 levels to finish, but took more effort to advance, and then you had Master classes above that which took 9 levels and might take up most of you lifetime to finish.

Taking even an Advanced class that would be hard for you to level up in could end up wasting a major portion of your life struggling to advance it if you picked the wrong one. And you normally only picked your Master class near the mid point of your career to work on until you retired.

Brenner: Was their a limit on how many classes you could take.

Donner: Nope. Some people spent the first several years of their adulthood gaining 5 or 6 Basic classes to figure what they wanted to do before settling down into a real job and an Advanced class. I had 24 basics by the time I came back to Earth. But some of those were retirement classes I took after completing my third Master class.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Brenner: Why did you come back to Earth?

Donner: It’s a little personal, but I don’t mine. I got my intuition score up high enough that I figured out why my girlfriend was acting so flaky just before I got Isekaied, or Vanished, in a magic school accident. She was freaking out over telling me that I had gotten her pregnant. Since I had only been gone a few months Earth time and a divination spell showed me she had decided to keep the kid, I wanted to do the right thing. Besides I missed Earth.

Brenner: So considering how long you were there, you weren't human?

Donnor: Nope, I was human. Same body as I had here, but adventuring got me into shape pretty fast. But when age caught up with me and my body started to fail, I went undead. Some nations are cool with undead like Liches and other types that don’t prey on people. A few are even okay with the ones that do.

Brenner: So you’re a Liche?

Donner: Nope. My deal with the gods to allowed me to come back included returning the same way I arrived. Human, 23, and out of shape.

Same ability score as I started with. No classes, no powers. Only my memories.

And my cheat.

Brenner: Okay, I’ll bite. Cheat?

Donner: Sublime Memory. A gift from the goddess of magic as an apology for her people accidentally kidnapping me and not being able to send me back. It’s like photographic or Eidentic memory on crack.

I remember everything I did and saw during my entire life, both before I got to Ederone, while I was there, and everything since I’ve been back.

Once I learned that I could come back and that taking a dozen or so years to catch up with my reading was only going to cost me another two days Earth time, I went on a reading bender.

Brenner: Anything… Practical?

Donner: I have a lot of theoretical knowledge about a lot of subjects, and I still remember a lot of practical knowledge from my various classes.

Learning how to do the magic I learned before again would be hopeless though, I would need a class to use it.

There’s an online class that is giving me some hope. It all seems to align with some theoretical stuff on classless magic I’d read up on.

Brenner: I’m familiar with the class. Haven’t been able to do anything with it yet.

So how did turning your past experiences into a game work?

Donner: Well, all I had to do was translate the Basic rule set and add some fluff like “What is a Roleplaying game?” It took me some time to do it, so I’m holding off on the advanced books to see if I manage to get a market base before I commit to spending so much more time and effort.

Brenner: Are these books going to be all that useful? I’ve spoken to several returnees, and none of the places they went to worked like a game.

Donner: Ederone was one of only hundred of known world with similar RPG systems running them.

While only a few people from Earth might end up in one of them, even if they end up in a more normal magic fantasy world, playing the game might help them think in practical terms of what they can do in such a world.

At least it can’t hurt.

Brenner: Finally, you mentioned Guilds?

Donnor. From what I understand, they started off as mutual support systems for people leveling up as adventures and problem solvers. But as time went by they became more like the soulless corporations we all know and love here on Earth. Everything became about profit, and anyone not willing to sell out to them not only had a hard time trying to be an adventurer, they could even end up in real danger just for being successful as an independent.

Someone even told me once to know my place.

Outlived the bastard and pissed on her grave.

Brenner: Would you ever go back?

Donnor: In a heartbeat, but only after I’ve lived a long human life with my family, my friends, and taking the chance to enjoy everything Earth has to offer. If I do get another chance I think I would go with a warrior priest build.

Kaja1869 has entered the room

Kaja1869: Earn thousand of dollars working at home.

Brenner: That seems like a hint to bring the conversation to close. Thanks for taking the time for the interview Don. And thanks for the free copy of your game, both it and this interview has given me some new thoughts.

I will include some links to your store website for your game in the blog.

Donnor: Thank for having me.

Addendum:

Brenner has ended the session.

Donnor did in fact inspire me. I need to pick up some practical skills in case I get taken to somewhere I will need them. No one is going to take me from another world to live a peaceful life for my dish washing skills..

I’m going to need some wilderness survival skills for one, and how to fight.

No, more then that. I going to need to learn how to kill.