Okay, what now? Everything is still basically nothingness except for the awareness of me. I wonder what the ‘karmic choice’ option is. The system didn’t say anything about that. Maybe I got it for being polite and not whining.
Ah, the blue screen.
I am your interface, and an asshole to be honest. You can be snarky if you want, but I am the asshole. How is this knowledge helpful? It is not, so let us begin.
Roll for number of remembered lives:
1d1 + 1d1 + 1d1 + 1D1
[Roll]
Since this is your first reincarnation under the new system, you do not really have an option. Only the memory of your baselife on Earth will be available, as it will continue to be.
During your next three reincarnations one each of the other three die will activate. After that, the individual die begin having more sides, one higher at a time. After your 18th reincarnation, all three 1d1s will have a value of 1d6. They are stable after that. Their rolled sum will represent how many consecutive previous lives you will remember. Under special circumstances the “1D1” might increment.
…
You going to roll, or what?
“Seriously? I roll.”
Congratulations. You will remember your baselife during this incarnation.
It’s very likely a good thing that I won’t remember every life. After 50 lives, hell even after 20, that seems like it would be too much. Way too much. Let’s see, this is set up so I’ll generally remember at least my last three lives, plus my human life. With an eventual 3d6, it could go up to 18+baselife. (Let’s forget about the baselife; it is just complicating my thoughts.) Depending on how long the lives are, that’s really a lot. Geez, I hope my INT stat builds up to handle it. The peak of the curve for 3d6 is 3 times 3.5, or an eventual average of 10.5.
Not bad for a newbie. You gamed, didn’t you?
“Yes, during my teen years before college, I gamed a lot.”
That makes things easier for me. For you too. Let me emphasize, though. Your incarnations will not be games. They will be very real, and people will be hurt and sometimes die. Same with you, perhaps at truly tragic times. You may think, “I could have saved them.” And maybe you could have. When that happens, do better next time. Choosing immortality means you get that next time, and know it. If you manage to get back to where you were, people won’t recognize the new you. You might try to convince a few that “you” are back, but you will look different, have different skills and stats, and be a newbie. Don’t expect to reincarnate and be useful anytime soon. You won’t be. If something killed a Level 20 you, it sure as hell can kill you at Level 1.
Better, but still extremely frustrating, will be when you don’t die, managing to live the full day. You will then be absent for six days, and what happens during that period, happens. However, on return you will be the same as you were and be recognized. You can try to explain your ‘tuesday’s wildcard’ nature to your friends, and some might even understand.
Dammit, I am coaching, not interfacing. Still, it is vitally important that you adjust to your archetype as soon as possible. That said, it is going to take multiple reincarnations before you really get it. Being immortal makes you fundamentally different to anyone mortal. Understand that, at least.
Let’s establish who and what you are.
[Name]
(A new name must be chosen following each death.)
“Should I use my original name?”
… The text remains unchanged.
“Okay, then. Let’s go with ‘Forrest Rhodes’; I used to use that sometimes while gaming. No one could ever pronounce my real name, ‘Jacques Leidestrar’.”
I wish I had a nickel for every time I said, “Just call me Jack”.
“Forrest Rhodes”, accepted. You will now choose an age in human years, which will be scaled to that of your race. As an immortal, you will age normally up to 27 and hold. If you choose something older, you will maintain that chosen age.
[Age 14-54]
I had been 57 when I died, so whatever I choose is a gain. Do I want to start out as a teenager? Hmm, maybe not this first time. I can imagine societies where that might socially cripple me for years. On the other hand, I’m going to arrive as an ignoramus. Wouldn’t a teen ignoramus be better than an adult one? How much of an ignoramus?
“Hey Interface, will I start with the knowledge to read and write?
That is a good question, and I will entertain it. The answer is “yes, when applicable”. Not all races have writing systems.
Let’s split the difference. A human at 16 is not expected to know as much as an adult, but he might still hold a job and be able to support himself. If I end up a “he” …
“I choose 16.”
“16”, accepted. Before you choose your biological sex, you must choose a race. The options may not be simply “male” and “female”. And before I let you choose a race, you need to make your “karmic choice”. Few people get the option; the system must have liked you. Big picture: you will be choosing to be in a world where it is easy to be a “good guy”, a “bad guy” or neutral. Most everyone begins as neutral. This choice needs to be made before race, because some races are uncompromisingly evil or good. Choose up to five parameters to bind your karmic choice. Not selecting an option indicates you do not care sufficiently for it to matter.
Karmic Choices. Will your race and society generally
* Oppose murdering and/or eating sapient beings (y/n)
* Oppose murdering and/or eating sentient beings (y/n)
* Oppose chattel slavery of sapient beings (y/n)
* Favor educating the young in more than survival (y/n)
* Favor supporting and honoring the elderly (y/n)
* Favor honesty (y/n/bounded)
* Be prideful (y/n/bounded)
* Strive for personal honor (y/n)
* Strive for society’s honor (y/n)
* Respect other races (y/n/bounded)
* Sacrifice personal wealth for benefit of others (y/n/bounded)
(“Bounded” establishes a baseline of your own personal feelings on the matter.)
Embrace your karma.
The words used are quite specific. First, I will consider sapient and sentient. “Sapient”, like “homo sapien”, would signify human intelligence and above. “Sentient” signifies animal intelligence, especially the ability to feel emotions. And I note that it says “murder”, not “kill”. Warfare in defense of your people is not generally considered murder, nor is depriving an animal of its life so you might eat. “Chattel slavery” is like we had in the Americas, the literal owning of other humans, depriving them of rights, and forcing them to do your bidding regardless of supposed morality. Slavery historically did not always follow this pattern. Serfs and bonded servants had rights. Some forms of true slavery granted slaves rights, such as the right to own property, even own their own slaves. I guess those differences don’t matter, because I definitely oppose chattel slavery, and none of the other types are mentioned.
“No to the murdering and/or eating of sapient beings.”
“No to chattel slavery.”
“Yes to educating the young.”
Let’s see, supporting and honoring the elderly. Honoring, yes. But supporting? Are there very poor societies that lack the resources to support those who can no longer contribute to that society? Probably, and I don’t feel that would make them evil. I can only choose 5 traits at any rate, and not responding to this will leave my choice neutral, as it was for the one about sentient beings.
Favor honesty? Thieves and rogues have often been played as not actually evil. Even by me. So let’s not waste a choice on this one.
I don’t want to be associated with a deeply racist race or society. But if the opposing society or race were truly evil, I can understand and even forgive a degree of racism.
“Bounded” to respect for other races.
I can choose one more trait. “Sacrifice personal wealth” – hell, taxation should cover that. I suspect taxes are a given anywhere in the galaxy. So no choice need be made there either. That leaves personal honor, society’s honor, and pride. I cannot choose them all, so what is the most important? Since pride has both positive and negative aspects, perhaps I can kill three birds with one bullet. A bounded pridefulness might lead me to a degree of honor and, ideally, by example, to society at large. At least I hope so.
“Bounded” to being prideful.” Smiling to myself, “final answer”.
Forrest, I have a full database on your planet, and I am aware of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. I am the smartass in this relationship, and you are the dumbass. That said, your close was kind of funny. Anyway, it is clear you want to be a “good guy”, and you have established some karmic boundaries encapsulating that preference. You can finally choose your race.
It is a huge galaxy, but the only places immortals will not be sent are Earth and other starter worlds. I know you are thinking, “What is a starter world?” It is where a new soul can be born, and a place of simplicity. They have very limited magic and ki, and there are very few sapient species, usually just one. Everyone starts at birth, never as a 16-year old like you. The only people with interfaces are the awakened, and those few who do, do not even know it. Most of the people on starter worlds are not new souls, though. If you had chosen to be a mortal, you might well have incarnated on one. Think of them as a place for pre-existing souls to chill out and not concern themselves with the mechanics of magic, interfaces, monsters, etc.
Earth was a “starter world”. That explains a lot. Perhaps a lot of what we thought was fantasy and RPG mechanics resulted from fragmented memories of reincarnated folks. And I note he said “very limited magic and ki”, not “no magic and ki”. Interesting.
Even excluding the starter worlds, there is a huge choice of races to choose from. You won’t know them all, but simply use terms you are familiar with. I am sure we can come close. Consider elf, half-elf, human, dwarf, beastman, plant elemental, or whatever. If you are feeling lucky, I will allow you to choose not to choose. Your race would be randomly selected within your karmic guidelines. Next reincarnation, you will know more.
“Okay, cool. Please let me think for a minute.”
Hopefully my game knowledge will hold up here. Depending on what class I want, race could be very important. Why didn’t Interface have me choose class first? Oh, that’s right. I mentioned sex, but it couldn’t offer that choice until I have a race. This is more complicated than I thought. Okay, let’s think about general classes first, and make a racial decision based on that. Pure classes could probably be summarized as warrior, magic user, and craftsman. Hybrid classes would be combinations of those three. If I really wanted a complex life, maybe I could choose all three. I don’t, so no more complex than a dual hybrid. Wait! I am making assumptions.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“I know I am getting ahead, but how many classes can someone have?”
Two. Having both primary and secondary classes is standard.
Good, I understand that kind of environment. But even pure classes have fundamental distinctions. A warrior could be primarily melee or ranged, with or without shield. They might primarily use a weapon or be a bare-handed martial artist. Race figures into all those cases. A pure magic user might be a glass-cannon offensive specialist or a fairly rugged cleric with both healing and some martial capabilities. And a tradesman could be just about anything – blacksmith, tailor, herdsman, alchemist, etc. Tradesman could ease me into this whole deal, possibly quite safely. But do I want to spend the next 10,000 plus years as a peaceful tailor? No, eventually I’d rather die and move on. Maybe once I’m soul-sick of blood that would be a good choice.
I usually played hybrid classes of some sort. Bards are rogues whose magic is primarily accomplished with music. Jacques sucked at music, though; maybe Forrest can learn. Dunno. There are martial artist types who use ki as essentially a warrior’s magic. And some of them can heal also. Healing would be good, for both others and myself. Do I want to be something like a Paladin, a warrior-cleric? Or a mage-blade, a swordsman who also uses magic offensively. Damn, what feels right? Heck, there are also tamers and summoners. I sometimes liked to play those. But, that’s right, I will be absent six days out of seven. It wouldn’t be fair to impose that on an animal partner. Maybe they would disappear with me? I could ask, but when I think about it, those don’t feel like good choices for me starting out.
Geez, decide already Jacques. I mean Forrest. Someone who can heal. Do I want to submit to a god of some sort to empower me? Isn’t System essentially a god? He is fully automatic now, which sort of implies he took over from a god. And I did not mind interacting with System. Would a god require ongoing devotion and regular rituals? If it were not a high-maintenance god, I could handle that. But I don’t think that is a choice I would be given. So western-world clerics and paladins are out. How about an eastern martial artist with healing skills? I’ve always thought fighting with a bo would be cool, as are bare-handed martial arts. Maybe I could also learn the bow for when range is necessary. Along with the ability to use ki to enhance me offensively, defensively, and hopefully have some degree of general healing. That’s what I’ll go for.
My actual choice right now is race. I guess “species” really. I need a race that is agile, dextrous, modestly strong, and wise. Humans are jacks of all trades, but I have already been a human. That would likely lessen the learning factor, but realistically I’m going to have so much to learn, being human-like should be fine. Two arms, two legs, two eyes, etc. Pure elves are not known for strength. A half-elf would be better, but would it be good at ki instead of mana? Is there even a difference? Let’s skip any type of elf. Dwarves are generally not agile or quick, although one could likely be a great paladin type. An elemental of some sort? Probably too focused. A martial artist needs to have a broad skill set, especially if that includes the ability to heal. I’m not thinking it would be a really strong heal, but if he could patch over organ damage and keep someone alive until a strong healer were available, that would be very useful. Is there a kind of beastman who could fit – a wise, agile, dextrous, fairly strong and not-stupid beastman?
A cat-person might not be wise and smart enough, though likely excelling in everything else. A bear-person might be wise enough, but I’m not sure if they are known for intelligence either. An owl-person? A large one could be wise, intelligent, and strong enough, and have sufficient agility to fly. But I cannot imagine an owl doing kung fu. Wings would likely be too awkward. There has to be something that would be a good fit. I should have watched more of the Nature Channel. I wonder if I could be a half-wolfman, with the other half being pure human. So a mostly human beastman. I like wolves, and that’s the best I can come up with. Let’s give it a shot.
“Hey Interface, are you still there?” A blue screen pops up again.
I am always here. I may not respond right away, but I am part of you now. Have you decided on a race?
“Can we call it ‘species’? The term seems better suited.
Whatever.
“Is there something like a half-beastman, half-human hybrid? Let me be male if possible. I was thinking about being like the son of a wolfman and human. The significant attributes I would like to be relatively high are wisdom, agility, dexterity, along with decent intelligence and strength. The reason for being an extra-human wolfman is to hopefully shore up any of those qualities where a true wolfman would fall short.”
Those are some very specific desires. How did you come up with that?
“I realized whatever class I chose could either be a bad or a good fit with my species. So I thought about class first, and chose one. I’d like to be an Asian-style martial artist who could use ki to help in his offense and defense. And he would also have some significant healing capabilities. Sort of like an Asian version of the western-world Paladin, or the lord class in the Wizardry games.” If that is all possible, the best species I could come up with was a wolfman-man.”
“Well, I would not object to the capability to change form at will, unless it somehow limited something else. But I was not expecting that kind of skill either. I imagine a martial artist would be focused on who he is, not what else he could be. Eventually I see skill with the bo, bow, and bare-handed forms. Hopefully this would be accompanied by some significant healing capability for both others and himself. I don’t think any of that would need to involve multiple bodily forms.”
You could not be just a talented dwarf cleric who fights well, could you? Your specificity requires me to do some searching and investigation. It is my turn for that minute.
…
…
…
Good news, sort of. What you are asking for is doable. But, there is a pretty big “but”. To gain what you have stated, would you be willing to start out with low charisma and luck? These would advance at half the rate of your other attributes. Two points in would be one point out. It is just not possible to have everything you hope for without sacrificing somewhere else. Do you choose to be a male wolfman-man martial artist with the ability to heal?
“Uhh, wait, please! I don’t need to be a wolfman-man. That was just the best I could come up with which fits my character concept. Is there another species which would be a better fit?”
Wolfman-man is a significantly good fit. Human attribute distribution would not have the drawbacks, but lack in strength. His gained attributes per level would not be as good. In the long run, going with a specialized beastman is a good choice. But whether you choose a catman-man, a bearman-man, an owlman-man, or a whatever-man, there are trade-offs. Yes, being a wolfman-man will be a permanent hit on your charisma and luck. It could be much worse, though. Would you like to limit your endurance? Your vitality? Your perception? I am not saying charisma and luck are unimportant, just that a martial artist who heals could do a lot worse.
Do you choose to be a male wolfman-man martial artist with the ability to heal?
That is twice he has asked me the same exact question. I’m probably being way too picky. He clearly went out of his way to investigate this combination, and it sounds like he could even be recommending it. Maybe he has restrictions concerning direct recommendations. Is this a bad choice? No. Do I have infinity to make better, more knowledgeable ones later? Yes.
“Yes.”
Name: Forrest Rhodes
Race: Covargh (“wolfman-man”)
Sex: male
Age: 16 (Earth years)
Year of Incarnation: 15 (NIS galactic)
Primary Class: Martial Artist
Secondary Class: Ki Healer
Level: 1
Base Attributes (including level 1 bonuses):
Agility: 14
Charisma: 6.5
Dexterity: 14
Endurance: 13
Intelligence: 12
Luck: 6.5
Perception: 12
Strength: 12
Vitality: 13
Wisdom: 14
Free Points: 3
Note: For immortals, the level 0 attribute values for all races and classes are 10. You sacrificed 4 points each of charisma and luck to gain 1 point each of agility, endurance, strength, and dexterity. You will also receive an additional free point each level (normal is 2). Fractional values round down.
Level bonuses
Race: +2 Agi, +2 Dex, +2 Str, +2 Vit
Primary Class: +1 Agi, +1 Dex, +1 End, +1 Int, +1 Per, +2 Wis
Secondary Class: +1 Cha, +1 End, +1 Int, +1 Luc, +2 Wis, +1 Vit
Stats
HP: 135/135, max = (Luc + Str*3 + Vit*6)*(1+lvl/10)
SP: 145/145, max = (Per + Agi*3 + End*6)*(1+lvl/10)
Ki: 152/152, max = (Int + Dex*3 + Wis*6)*(1+lvl/10)
Note: Ki builds do not have mana.
Karma: 9241
Granted Skills
HP Regen, D
SP Regen, D
Ki Regen, D
Ki Punch, E
Dodge, E
Heal Other, E
Learned Skills
New Capabilities
Covarghic speech
Covarghic literacy
Basic knowledge of Covarghic society
Wow, impressive karma. “It’s over 9,000!” That must be why you were granted a karmic choice. That in itself tells me you have a very good soul. It would not change our relationship if you had a low karma, but my personal preference is for the positive as well. At a guess, anyone with over 5,000 would have likely received the choice.
“So, 9,000 is a lot? How much is normal?”
You are my first and only client, so I do not have direct knowledge of other incarnates. But interaction with other interfaces leads me to believe about 3,000 is normal. You know that the reincarnation system is “new and improved”, right? You are one of its first generation. The previous System Manager chose not to keep track of previous lives, tracking only karma. I do not know how many total lives you have already experienced. “Finitely large” would be my vague guess. To get to 9,000 means you have had a lot of lives, with a large majority of them achieving net positive karma. Knowledge of those lives is not completely lost; it remains buried in a soul’s personal quantum spirituality. (And no, I am not going to explain what that is. I don’t know everything, and you lack the background to understand what little of this I do know.) Anything prior to your baselife is beyond what either of us can access.
To understand how impressive your karma is, imagine the person who accomplishes nothing particularly good or bad in their life. They will have very little or even no change to their karma. A person who has accomplished a lot of good or bad would typically see their karma change by up to 50. You, Forrest, increased your karma during your baselife by 278. Simply put, you were an exceptional person, admirable by almost any standard. I am impressed. But understand I am not honored – you are still a dumbass.
“Heh, thanks, I think.”
What the heck did I do that was so impressive? I was a fireman, sure, but a lot of people have jobs that help people. I don’t think those final months of soul-numbing pain should have significantly added to my karma. I would have done just about anything to have avoided that. I did nothing but wish to die. There have been millions of people whose lives ended in extended suffering.
Forrest, you are both over- and under-thinking it. What is likely most impressive about your life was not that you accumulated a large amount of positive karma, but how little negative karma you counteracted it with. For example, a net 0 karma day occurs when someone earns both 2 and -2 karma during it. Imagine the long term effect of having a lot of net 2 days paired with very few -2 days and no -10 days. Plus, your suffering did build up positive karma. It wouldn’t surprise me if you earned a point a day on your deathbed. I know you did not accumulate hate in hoping for revenge. Ignorance is bliss, and your ignorance of both how the fire started and the details of the explosion gave you no target. You were almost completely focused on the “Woe is me” of it all. In your circumstances, wishing to die was not a negative, but simply human. You literally could not not wish for it to be over.
“Thank you for the karma lesson. One more thing. Could you explain the difference between Granted Skills and Learned Skills? Also just to confirm my guess, what are the letter values?”
That is two things, but okay. Have you never been fed seabass? You must have, right? The letters signify how proficient you are in a skill. F is the lowest, and usually where new skills begin. You have quite the boost with your tuesday’s wildcard archetype. But then, you will be absent 6 days out of 7, which will most certainly lead to undesired consequences. “Immortality is a bitch”; that was not an exaggeration. Accept any advantages you have with grace. You have no skill below E, and your regens are all D. For a level 1, those are way ahead of the curve. C may be considered competence, with B and A tending to excellence. A skill might never reach S, even after 1000 years. If it does, you have achieved a level of high superiority, matched by few others on the planet, if any.
Is “FED CBAS” really a necessary mnemonic? As a former Seabee, I guess I don’t have much room to gripe. Is there a word for something which has qualities of both a mnemonic and an acronym?
Granted Skills are, well, granted when you achieve certain thresholds. In this case you gained all of them for achieving level 1. Everyone has the three regens, with mages and clerics regenerating MP instead of Ki. Ki is more central to one’s body, while mana is most typically for external magic. It is rare for a healer to be Ki-based, but you wanted to avoid the whole deity thing, necessitating the Ki. Not to mention Ki is essential for your martial arts. Fitting everything into your build took a lot of talent. (Mine, not yours.) Not all grants occur from leveling, and not all levels will grant you skill(s).
Learned skills are those you learn by doing and studying. Skills you know from your previously remembered life (eventually lives) are currently nascent, and will not count unless you begin using them in your new life. Establishing and learning them will be easier, though, depending on how well you used to know them. Neither Granted Skills nor Learned Skills will necessarily be better than the other. Ki is accessible to both types, though it sometimes will be inapplicable.
Each regeneration has a ‘controlling attribute’ which substantially affects the given skill. HP and SP regens have, as you might expect, vitality and endurance, respectively. For a Level 0 person, whose skills will be at Rank F, these two regenerate at about the same rate as a human’s. The controlling attribute for ki is wisdom. If Forrest had any mana, for magic it would be intelligence. All the regeneration rates suffer a 50% penalty when their given stat has fallen below 50% of its maximum value. As a regeneration power’s rank increases, the penalty lessens, and its overall regeneration rate improves.
Be aware that there are other derived stats, such as temperament. Few sapients focus on more than the “big three”, though. They are the ones whose current value is most important. (Really it is the “big four”, but no one has both ki and mana.) The derivation formulas are all similar. Each has a *1 flavor attribute, plus a *3 secondary attribute, plus a *6 primary attribute. Max temperament is Int + Wis*3 + Cha*6, all times the level scaling factor. With your low charisma, do not be surprised by a tendency toward grouchiness or sometimes unwarranted anger. It is in the numbers, but you can fight it.
“Speaking of numbers, do half-points count? I don’t remember games ever using half-point attributes.”
Alone, no they do not. The 6.5 you have in both charisma and luck will mostly affect your circumstances as if the values were 6. When you reach Level 2, though, each will increment by another point via your Ki Healer bonus. Only half of that will count, so both values will only end up as 7. At that point those circumstances shall improve. The derived attribute formulas do count your half points, though. Note that you can survive (completely paralyzed) with 0 hit points, but not -1. So 124 damage will kill you either way, while 123 will not.
Time to finish up your leveling. How would you like to assign your 3 free points?
“Add 1 point each to intelligence, perception, and strength. Generally I avoid thirteens, but that will all be fixed at Level 2. I’ve never been a min-maxer – more of a balancer, really. I’ll just have to live with low charisma and luck, though.”
Done. Off we go to Heere. Anticipate our arrival soon.
“‘Heere’, really? That’s the name of their planet?”
The name of your planet. I don’t name ‘em, kid. I just land on ‘em.