Second Skin: Fractures

by M Damon Baker

  Looking over my body I could clearly see not just my chest, but my entire, very feminine, form. From its thin waist, my body flowed into the gentle curves of my pronounced hips, and below those hips, I could see a pair of long, shapely legs. Almost as a final bit of confirmation, a thick lock of long, dark hair fell across my vision as I stared down in disbelief.

  I have no idea how long I stood there in total shock. Finally, I got the idea that I should check my character sheet. Perhaps there was an explanation there.

  Dreya Dae

  Human Female

  Level - 0

  0/200

  Health 120/120 Aura 280/280 Endurance 120/120

  Class – Warden

  Specialization –

  Mastery –

  STR - 12

  CON - 12

  DEX - 14

  INT - 12

  WIS - 12

  CHA - 16

  Abilities

  Spells

  Skills

  Oh, fuck! I’m Dreya!

  2

  P erhaps that statement requires some background information.

  When I started playing online games, I did what most people do—I created a character to be my avatar, and I played that avatar as a representation of myself inside the game environment. The usual stuff.

  Then there was this one game; I don’t recall the name. Dungeon something or other, I think. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you could not create your own custom character, you were forced to play as the game’s pre-made protagonist. Not highly unusual, except that the protagonist was a woman.

  I didn’t think much of it at first. However, as I played the game, I soon found that I began to think of the character not as my avatar in the game, but as my companion. The gender difference created a sort of separation for me. I had stopped viewing the character as a representation of myself and instead saw her as a separate person. The change in perspective altered the entire game experience for me. The game no longer represented me going on a journey by myself; instead, it became an adventure that I was sharing with someone else. This made the experience even more exciting for me. The protagonist’s dialogue became more like commentary from a friend rather than a monologue, which made the adventures that I used to undertake alone feel more like a shared experience. It brought a whole new level of enjoyment to my gaming, and I found myself thinking of my characters as actual people, rather than mere pixels.

  After that, whenever I played a new game, most of the characters I created were female. While there were many people who made female characters to fool other players into believing that they were women in real life, or for other tasteless reasons, I was not one of those. There was nothing sexual or inappropriate in it for me. I viewed my characters as companions, not playthings. I didn’t create my characters to fool people or play mind games. Having female characters as companions in the game just made the experience more enjoyable for me. And in my favorite game of all time, Scourge of Ashes, Dreya Dae was the character I had played the most.

  She was a human ranger, and we had not only beaten the game together but also crafted legendary items and slain gods and monsters with abandon. Together we had done it all and done it well. Although it had been many years since I had played Scourge of Ashes, I still remembered the adventures we had together fondly.

  And now I was her.

  What the fuck!

  My apprehension at the inability to create my own character seemed to have been well-founded. Although I enjoyed female characters when playing MMORPGs, this was very different. This wasn’t some mere video simulation; this game was practically real. I wasn’t manipulating some character or even an avatar—this was me!

  I would have rerolled immediately, or at least contacted customer support for some help, but all the icons on the Community page were still greyed out. I wondered if the ‘anomaly’ I experienced earlier might have been a bit more significant than I had initially thought.

  While the game itself seemed incredible, I was starting to feel a bit frustrated by my circumstances. I had logged in to Second Skin to find something to motivate me, to help me enjoy my life again, but it was nothing like I expected. Then a thought came unbidden to my mind. Just roll with it. It can’t last more than eight hours. Think of it as a tutorial, it said. That voice sounded a lot like my Sarah. And I knew it was right. I was certain I didn’t want to play Second Skin in Dreya’s body. That would be too weird. But I figured I could deal with it for eight hours and get something more comfortable later.

  So, I resolved to just deal with the situation, and since I already had my character sheet open, I figured it would be a good time to take a closer look at what I was dealing with.

  The name, race, and gender entries were fairly self-explanatory. Health, Aura, and Endurance corresponded to the red, blue, and green bars on my UI. And now I had the numbers to go with them.

  Class… Warden? Hmm, I focused on that, and it pulled up a description.

  Warden – The Warden class is focused on Nature and Natural environments. Some would call them Rangers. Others may label them as Druids. Neither would be right, but neither is completely wrong. Wardens wield Nature magic and may use a variety of weapons and armor, but abhor heavy armor and shields, as these interfere with their magical and nature-based abilities. The Warden’s ability to utilize both strong magic and a wide variety of weapons makes them powerful allies (or enemies)...

  I found the description very interesting. I had always liked the idea of the Druid class. The natural magic appealed to me, but the class always seemed somewhat lacking and vulnerable. I frequently wound up playing a Ranger-type for this reason. Yet I had often missed the ability to cast powerful spells. The game might have screwed up big time on my body, but this class seemed like a great fit!

  Specialization and Mastery were blank. From my past experience, I assumed that these were class advancements that would come later in the game. I tried focusing on them to confirm my suspicions, but no information came up. It seemed like the game was holding out on me. I assumed the developers wanted to have some secrets to reveal later on.

  Next, I looked down to the Attributes. They appeared typical: STR, CON, DEX, INT, WIS, and CHA. These should correspond to Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. The actual numbers were unimpressive, except for my Dexterity and Charisma. Dexterity might make sense as a key stat for my Warden class, so that seemed logical. And Charisma? Well, I did design Dreya myself. While I meant it when I said I gravitated toward female characters as companions, and not for ‘other’ reasons, that didn’t mean I wanted my companions to be unattractive. I mean, seriously, given the option, who wouldn’t prefer traveling with a hottie? Right?

  Deciding to investigate these stats a little further, I attempted to focus on each one for a description, and they all popped up at once.

  Strength – For the Warden, Strength determines not only the ability to wear and effectively use armor and weapons but also how much you can carry. Strength may provide a boost to weapon damage, and is a modifier for certain abilities, determining whether you can perform certain acts. Strength requirements are cumulative. For example, to wear armor with a Strength requirement of (50) and wield a sword with a Strength requirement of (40), a base Strength of 9 is required. Cumulative Strength requirements also include items carried. See, Encumbrance for more information.

  Constitution – A Warden’s Constitution is a measure of overall physical well-being and fortitude. Constitution determines your Health, Endurance, and various resistances.

  Dexterity – This attribute measures the Warden’s overall nimbleness and fine-motor control. Dexterity is a modifier for the Warden’s Dodge ability and is used in conjunction with Intelligence for many Subterfuge skills, e.g., Detect Traps.

  Intelligence – A Warden’s Intelligence enhances the ability to gain proficiency in known skills. A high Intelligence may also provide a bonus to earned experience, in addit
ion to acting as a skill modifier for various learned skills.

  Wisdom — A wise Warden can more easily discover unlocked skills and be taught locked skills. Wisdom also serves as a modifier for Perception skills, among others, and contributes to the strength of the Warden’s Aura.

  Charisma – The Charisma of a Warden not only determines overall attractiveness and appeal, but it also serves as a modifier for Manipulation skills, such as Barter or Persuade. Charisma is also integral to many Nature magic spells, summonings, and interactions with various beasts and animals. Charisma, along with Wisdom, provides the basis of the Warden’s Aura.

  Holy shit!

  I wasn’t sure whether the developers of this game were geniuses or masochists. Every Attribute was important. A few were even linked, like Wisdom and Charisma for my Aura stat, and Dexterity with Intelligence for trapping.

  In my past experience, every class had a primary stat, or sometimes two. Since additional stat points were typically rare, or at least difficult to gain, having a limited number of stats to focus on was a good thing. While there might be secondary stats that it would be helpful to put a few points in from time to time, it was usually manageable. However, there were always a few attributes you could pretty much ignore, like wisdom for melee classes or strength for casters. This was a good thing, and it let you focus on your strengths in developing a more powerful character.

  Based on the open-ended descriptions of these attributes, each individual stat seemed to have a broad impact on multiple skills and actions. The developers had made every single stat important by linking them together or making them skill modifiers. Incredulous, I looked at each skill again more closely.

  In addition to being skill modifiers, Charisma and Wisdom made up my Aura pool. There was no way I could ignore either of those. Intelligence was not only a skill modifier, but it also seemed to increase proficiency gains in addition to giving an XP boost. That was definitely a must-have. Dodge, detect traps, and all the other obvious benefits of Dexterity couldn’t be passed on either. Did I want a bigger health pool? Strong resistance to poison and status effects? I couldn’t very well ignore the Constitution stat then. Then there was Strength. I mean, what the actual fuck?

  I had seen strength requirements for weapons and armor before, there was nothing new there. But making them cumulative was a brand-new sort of fresh hell I had not experienced before. Maybe some other sadistic bastards had made it part of a game somewhere, but damn that was a bitch. And what was that last bit about Encumbrance? I remembered seeing encumbrance listed on my Inventory page but hadn’t paid it much attention at the time. I focused on my Inventory to bring it up, and then pulled up the Encumbrance tab.

  Encumbrance – Encumbrance is a function of Strength and measures your ability to both carry and use items. Exceeding Encumbrance limits will result in severe penalties. Movement can be drastically limited, and weapon or item use may incur extreme penalties. An armor’s Encumbrance value applies immediately when equipped. Full weapon Encumbrance values take effect in combat or with weapon usage. Out of combat, weapon Encumbrance values are based only on weight. Total Encumbrance is cumulative and includes armor, weapons, and carried items. For example, to wear armor with an (80) requirement, wield a (60) requirement weapon while carrying 40 pounds of equipment, a minimum 18 Strength is needed. In this example, with 18 Strength, Encumbrance in combat would be 180/180. This same scenario out of combat would have an Encumbrance of 124/180, due to the reduction in the effect of the weapon.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckers!

  These developers were some sick assholes.

  Not only was Strength cumulative for weapons and armor, but for all the shit I would need to carry as well. If I understood correctly, actually using either of my weapons would require 50 of my Encumbrance points. I didn’t currently have any armor, but even if I used something with a requirement as low as 40 or 50, that would take up 90 to 100 of my meager 120 Encumbrance in combat. Leaving me a mere 20 to 30 pounds of gear that I could carry at maximum Encumbrance. Even that would leave no extra room for loot. It seemed extremely harsh.

  I had to admit that analytically, it made sense. Simply wearing armor did take strength, and actually using a weapon would require a much greater effort than merely toting it around. And of course, in combat, one could not simply ignore the effect of all the items you happened to be carrying. But damn, to actually deal with all those stark realities was going to be a bitch.

  With a sigh, I closed all my open tabs and returned to the virtual world around me. I was once again struck by how vivid and hyper-real everything was. The effect of it all was almost overwhelming. And on top of the sensory overload, I was having to adjust to the very different body I was now inhabiting. Dreya may have been quite familiar to me, but not from this perspective.

  I cast aside my reservations and committed to my decision to just go with it for now. I fully intended to reroll a more comfortable character later, whenever the anomaly that had created this mess was resolved. And to be honest, what other option did I have? The communication and logout options were both still disabled as were the wiki and forums. Other than sitting in this clearing for eight hours, I didn’t seem to have much choice.

  The dazzling effects of the sights and sounds faded to a more tolerable level after a few moments, and I looked around to try to decide which direction I should head off in. A sense of awareness came to me, I guess it was some sort of helpful hint from the game, and I suddenly knew that off to my right there was a road not too far away that would bring me to a small town. That must be the path that led from my initial spawn point to the first starting town. I tried to concentrate my thoughts on the surrounding area to see if I could discover anything else, but no additional information was forthcoming. I was grateful for at least that small bit of help from the game gods. I knew that bad things could happen to a lowbie like me if I wandered in the wrong direction.

  3

  As I set off out of the clearing and into the surrounding forest, I couldn’t help but continue taking in my surroundings. Everything was so vivid; so much more alive than the real world. The colors were somehow brighter and clearer. The sounds felt as though they were alive in my ears. Even the smells of the forest evoked primal thoughts of the earth and nature. Just the feel of the slight breeze over my skin brought a tingle to my flesh. It was so much more real than anything I had ever known before. It was almost as if my entire prior life had been perceived through a gauzy filter, and that filter was suddenly gone.

  Ding!

  A small icon flashing in the lower right of my vision broke me from my fascination.

  Unlocked skill discovered! You have discovered the Perception skill tree and the Environmental sub-skill. Perception is the ability to notice subtleties in the world around you. The Environmental sub-skill relates to your Perception of such subtleties in a natural environment.

  Note – Most skills are locked, meaning they must be specifically taught to be learned. Certain skills are unlocked, and these are independently discoverable. Unlocked skills are determined by Class, Specialization, Mastery, or Race. An unlocked skill has a chance to be discovered via performing associated actions. For the Warden class, this discovery chance is modified by the Wisdom attribute.

  The notifications told me that I had just gained my first Skills. From the descriptions provided by the game interface, it seemed that most of the available skills would have to be taught, but there were others I could open up myself. Quickly re-reading the note, I realized that the ability to discover these unlocked skills was not automatic. I only had a chance of discovering them while performing the appropriate actions, and that chance was modified by my Wisdom stat.

  As I took a moment to ponder this, something about the phrasing struck a chord. It sounded vaguely familiar to some of the stat descriptions. Pulling up the stat information, I quickly reviewed the information there.

  Strength – For the Warden…

  …A Warden’
s Constitution

  A Warden’s Intelligence…

  The Charisma of a Warden…

  Just like the Skill discovery information, the Attributes information emphasized my class specifically. I wondered why the Attribute descriptions referenced my class so frequently. Could the Attribute effects be different across the different classes?

  It made a certain amount of sense. I didn’t know all of the available classes in Second Skin, but I could imagine some generalities. A caster class would certainly utilize Strength differently than a melee class, for example. And Wisdom for a tank would be a greatly different stat when compared to a monk or priest. There was nothing I could do about it then, but it certainly was something I intended to look into when I had the opportunity.

  Closing the prompts, I started back on my trek towards the road. I was getting closer, and while I was still enthralled with the vibrancy of the world around me, it was time to pay a bit more attention to what I was actually doing. I would have felt really stupid if I finally reached the road only to die in an ambush.

  The forest ahead thinned out slightly, and the clear impression of an open road came into view. I stopped for a moment, crouching down low and remaining as silent as possible. Several minutes passed while I listened closely and searched about as best I could for any signs of danger. After some time, having seen nothing and noticing no change in the sounds of the forest around me, I stood up slowly and approached the narrow road.

  Much to my delight, once I reached the trail I was not immediately pierced by dozens of arrows, nor did a horde of raging ogres burst forth from the brush to pummel me mercilessly—at least not yet.