by Dawn Chapman
“As you can see, you can apply unlearned Abilities immediately,” the tutorial continued, ignoring my surprise. “Abilities give you a better chance of rolling a higher number. If you look closer at the die, you will find that the side where the one should be is blank. When rolled, the value is taken from the Aptitude’s governing Aspect. In the case of two Aspects, the values are averaged. You can see the governing Aspect or Aspects underneath the name on the tab.” Sure enough, under Endurance was Body/Soul. I thought about it, and it made sense. Mind over matter.
The eight-sided die suddenly changed to have ten sides. “If you have more than one die, you can combine them to produce a Mastery die. Both the one and the two are blank on this die. And three dice”—the die took on twelve sides—“will give you a Legendary die, with the three blank. To combine dice, just put more than one in the same slot.” The die turned back to its original eight sides.
“Every time you use an unlearned Ability, a Learning check is made, just like for Actions. In this case, however, a failure does not subtract the Learning Curve from the challenge roll. Instead, the Ability die is replaced with a four-sided Fumble die. The game always makes the Abilities Learning check first, before the roll.”
I wondered if I’d see all of this when I was in the game. Or would this be happening in the background while I was knee deep in trouble somewhere?
“The other side of the self-improvement coin,” said Tutorial God, the sarcastic A.I., “is Advantages.” It pressed on quickly, not letting my thoughts wander anymore as if daring me to interrupt.
It wanted to get through all this exposition as much as I did, it seemed. Or was my impatience to get in showing too much. “I’m sorry,” I said and focussed my attention back to him.
“Advantages also help you out, but they’re static traits. Like a ruggedly handsome face or a melodious singing voice. Advantages are discovered, as you found out, but instead of being learned, they need to be bought with Karma points before they have an effect.”
“Karma points?” I couldn’t help myself, they sounded important.
“I will get to that. Patience, Grasshopper.” The A.I. didn’t seem as displeased with me anymore as if letting it get through the Ability explanation had mollified it somewhat.
“They are still considered learned and unlearned, and will show up bright or dim, but they do not have a Learning Curve. The associated number is the amount of Karma you need to purchase each specific Advantage. You can see what the Advantage does by selecting it on the Advantage screen.”
That was surprisingly straightforward after all the complicated dice stuff thrown at me so far.
“That’s why I saved it for last. No need to go to the screen just to look at one Advantage. Let’s have some fun!”
I could just picture the A.I. rubbing its digital hands together maniacally as it said that. A rack of weapons emerged from the ground. I closed my eyes, swallowed hard.
Ping! “You have discovered the action Choking it Down!”
I walked over to the rack of swords, hammers, maces, and other dangerous-looking hand weapons.
“Choose a weapon, and I’ll explain the battle system.”
I picked up a short sword that looked to be just about my size.
In a flurry of pings, I discovered the actions Horizontal Slash, Vertical Slash, and Stab. I turned around, and a mannequin of a dwarf stood a few feet away holding a club. The phrase ‘Pain hurts’ shot through my head again. Even as a tutorial, this was starting to feel uncomfortably real. What would it be like in the game?
“Most of the way we track damage is way too complicated to bother you with,” said the A.I., almost sounding gleeful. However, that side of things interested me more, but so he wouldn’t get annoyed with any questions, I kept quiet. “Think of it more or less like real life. Things in here ultimately work the way they do out there. There are no hit points like in other games. A strong club to the arm could very well break your arm. Sure, there is a bunch of dice rolls involved, but you only need to worry about one dice roll—your action.”
It paused. I’m sure it thought it was being dramatic. I didn’t.
“Now,” it said, “show me what you got.” I could have sworn the voice came from the mannequin. As I watched it, the mannequin lifted its free hand and gave me a ‘come on’ gesture. I sighed. This was supposed to be the fun part of these games, right? Maybe for the boys!
I ran in and slashed at it. It dodged out of the way and gave me a hard tap on the butt with its club. I stumbled and sprawled onto the ground, and discovered the action Taking a Fall. I let myself just lie there for a moment, stunned. That really did hurt. I’ve never been whacked in the ass by a major leaguer, but I would have guessed it felt like that. I decided immediately to never buy a piñata again.
The phrase ‘Pain hurts’ came rushing back and solidified itself in my mind. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to play anymore.
In the bottom right corner of my vision, like a heads-up display, a red splotch appeared with a black one in it. The splotch looked uncomfortably like a blood smear.
“That number you see is your Debilitation. It’s sort of like hits points, but it goes up instead of down.” The Tutorial God’s voice was definitely taking on a note of glee now. “This is a quantification of how damaged you are. Pain, bruising, cuts, broken bones, internal bleeding…” it paused, and I imagined it was salivating. “You don’t have to worry about that number by itself. While it does factor into calculations for the more serious damage, by itself, it does nothing. It’s just a reminder of how big our world is.”
“World?” I couldn’t help myself.
“World of hurt,” it took the opening. “The number doesn’t just represent pain, but weariness as well. Fatigue. Your Debilitation value is divided by ten and then subtracted from all of your rolls. As you get hurt or tired, your performance suffers. Don’t get hurt or tired.”
I finally stood up. “I think I get it,” I grumbled.
“Yes,” it said, the voice coming from the mannequin again. “You do. That’s all you need to know about battle. Treat it like it’s real.” That thought alone worried me more than anything else did. Ever.
The mannequin waved and melted into the ground. I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed muscles I didn’t even know I had.
“After that poor performance,” the Tutorial God snickered, “I suppose you might be wondering how you can improve yourself.”
“The thought did cross my mind, yeah.” Asshole.
“While there are many ways to improve in this game—better gear and reliable allies, for instance—the chief among them is Karma. You can spend your Karma on a variety of things. First, you can spend a Karma point for a temporary boost to all rolls. The boost itself varies depending on your Faith, your Soul, the time of day, your social standing at the pub, and other random things.” Now it was absolutely just messing with me. “It is guaranteed to last long enough to get you out of the proverbial hot water, however.
“You can also spend Karma to reduce Learning Curves at a one-to-one ratio. This is also how you buy Advantages. You do not need the full amount of Karma. You can set up a payment plan, if you will, and reduce the Advantage’s Learning Curve slowly over time.
“Lastly, you can spend Karma to raise your Aspect and Aptitude stats. The cost to get to the next level is equal to the current level. So, if you want to increase your three to four in Endurance, you need to spend three Karma points.
“Beware, though, that Karma does not grow on trees. It is a valuable commodity not given out lightly. The game will reward you for super-duper achievements and outstanding performance.” Like that wasn’t super-duper vague. Outstanding.
“You can also give away one Karma point per day to another player. You will not get it back, but the game will take note.
“Just remember when dealing with Karma, what goes around comes around.” Another nugget of wisdom like pain hurts. But then again, the pain really did hur
t.
“So how do I—?” I started to ask.
“To spend your Karma points on stats, the command is Spend Karma on and finish that with whatever stat you want. It will automatically deduct the correct amount of Karma if you have it. To reduce a Learning Curve, the command is Reduce [insert Ability or Advantage name here] by and how many points. For that temporary Karma boost, say the command Karma boost and one point will be deducted for a crazy awesome increase in ability.”
It paused as if taking a breath. I was certainly left speechless.
“Now. Any questions?”
I thought about it. That was a surprisingly comprehensive tutorial, but it was rather nice that the designers wanted to make sure the players knew how the system worked so they could strategize appropriately. Of course, in the future, there would be entire websites devoted to the inner workings and in-depth strategies behind this game. But still, knowledge is power.
“I’m pretty sure you haven’t told me everything, but I’m satisfied for now,” I said.
Another door of air opened, and I saw those expected grassy fields on the other side.
“Then welcome to Puatera,” the Tutorial God said in his booming voice that he had begun with. “Remember, this world is a journey and not a destination. “There are many surprises to discover. Good luck, and choose your Karma wisely.”
On the whole, I was excited. Still a little puzzled about the pain settings, but excited nonetheless.
Was I ready to see the world I’d be living in for six months? I had no idea what I could do in-game in that time. All I knew was I wanted to shove this up Andy’s backside and be the best gamer I possibly could.
I sucked in a breath. “I’m ready,” I said, and I stepped through the door.
The room vanished from my sight, and I felt my body stiffen, and something else took hold of me. Was I falling? Then blackness came once again, but there was something else. The air had changed, and it was cold.
Then I felt the hard ground beneath my body. Was I lying down? I blinked. There was light. Did I really just need to open my eyes once more. Of course, I did. When I looked up, all I could see was blue sky and trees. Lots of trees.
The air had a sweet smell to it, and I rubbed my hand along the dirt beneath me. Everything looked so real, it felt so real. I pushed myself up and suddenly heard the pounding of horses—a wagon train.
“Get off the road!” someone screamed at me. The sounds grew to a thunderous level. And I looked forward... There was a huge wagon train hurtling my way!
Within seconds, I managed to roll away.
Ping! “You have discovered the action Tumbling!”
What the hell? I pushed the darned pop-up screen out of the way as a horse and wagon ploughed past—at a speed that would have surely killed me.
What the hell was this? Why put me in such a dangerous starting position!
Chapter 6
The wagon wobbled, and one of the wheels hit something and splintered. I saw it happen in such slow motion that I couldn’t react quickly enough.
The young man on the wagon tilted forward then toppled off. What I heard was a sickening crunch, uncertain whether it was the breaking of the wagon wheel or something a little more horrid like his bones.
I quickly pushed myself up and ran over. He was sprawled on the ground with a gash in his head, and he wasn’t moving.
What the hell do I do?
“Help!” I shouted, but there was no one else around me. I moved to the wagon, which had stopped about forty feet away, and found some old cloth.
I returned to the man and placed the cloth on his head. The least I could do was stop the bleeding for a while.
Ping! “You have discovered the action Bandaging!”
Was this going to happen for every little thing? These pings were going to get distracting very quickly.
I saw something from the corner of my eye, but I dared not look away from him. He looked human, possibly in his early twenties with a stubbly half beard. It didn’t cover the whole of his jawline, but the patches were definitely red in colour.
After sitting with him for quite some time, I finally noticed that the flashing images from the corner of my eye were coloured.
The closer I looked at him, the more I could see.
Ping! “You have discovered the action Diagnose!”
Then another pop-up appeared, but this time, over the man’s head. It was a black four in a splotch like the one I saw in the tutorial. This must be his Debilitation value.
I did think the system was brilliant, but then I panicked—This guy was severely injured, and it was my fault.
I caught his name—Ferris Jovah—floating over the top of his head. I watched the debilitation splotch. It wasn’t going any higher, so maybe he’d stabilised.
I returned to the wagon, making sure it wasn’t going anywhere. Guess not with a broken wheel, but it was also starting to go dark. I had no idea what the conditions were going to be here at night, but this was an exposed road, and I was with an injured man. I could only guess it was going to get cold, and maybe there would even be predators about. I shivered at the thought.
Reaching up, I hauled my body into the back of the wagon to find boxes of stored goods and other items. I also saw a bag or satchel in the corner. I moved to the bag checking it out—
Ping! “You have discovered the action Search!”
—finding food and water, exactly what I wanted. I returned to him with the bottle in my hand. Once closer, I could see he’d moved, not much, but he was coming around. “Easy there,” I said kneeling before him. “You took a horrid tumble and have bumped your head pretty badly.”
I held the canister to his lips and allowed him to sip it, discovering the action Caregiving. His eyes weren’t focused, and his complexion paled.
“We can’t stay out in the dark,” he said with worry in his voice. “Help me to the horses. We need to tie them up securely off the road and stay inside.”
My first night in the game, and I was going to be spending the night with some random stranger. I totally freaked out, watching as once again he fell back unconscious.
That was when I had to push the panic button. I quickly found it in my vision and pushed exit. Within seconds, I was back inside the black room, floating. It was dark, and something was holding the back of my neck as Jane had said there would be.
Jane’s voice came to me then. “You’re doing great. What made you panic?”
“Mm, the fact I nearly killed someone on my first outing! That I’m going to be stuck with them for the whole night!”
I almost heard Jane’s grin over the mic. “Everything is working amazingly well, Emma. You’ll be fine with this. I think you should carry on right now... Don’t let him die because you left him at the side of the road.”
I swallowed. “What? He could die because of me? I thought all NPCs respawned?” I felt myself float back to the floor, feet planted firmly on solid. “Jane, please tell me he won’t die?”
The door slid open, and the light filtered through from my room. “Emma, step in here for a moment.”
I followed the voice and entered my quarters. Jane stood with Miles. “Doctor Duo left to start with the next few trainees. It’s just us.”
“I don’t understand all this with NPCs. They’re so real.” I started to tear up. “I don’t want him to die.”
Miles motioned me towards a screen. I looked out to where there was a frozen shadow of me by the road and the young man lying there. “It’s not paused, but you are for a few minutes. That’s all I can give you. What I really wanted to show you was this. I’m not supposed to, but I really believe you can play this game.”
When I glanced back to the screen, I saw a reporter who had a picture of me on her screen. Underneath it was the caption from a betting shop.
Place your bets! Will Akillia be dead by the end of the week?
The top bidder was Andy.
A slew of other names followed his.
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br /> How could he know so fast? I let out a sigh. My sister. She knew my nickname through playing games at school. It was one always picked.
“You’re kidding me?” I looked to Miles.
Jane shook her head, and her ponytail swished along with it.
I balled my fists, wanting to hit something. Miles touched my arm. “The best way of beating him is to play the game. Do everything he thinks you’re not capable of and become the best you can be.”
He was so right. “You have access to my bank accounts, don’t you?” I asked looking to Jane.
She nodded, and I smiled at her, feeling the euphoria of what I was about to do as it rushed through my veins. “Then counter bet for me, half my savings.”
Jane’s placid face turned to the biggest grin. Miles coughed. “Are you sure?”
“And I also want you to message Beth too. Tell her to do the same.”
“That’s what I call fighting spirit.” Jane laughed.
I turned around and was about to walk back into the game room. “I’m good to carry on now, right?”
I watched as Jane closed the door behind me. A confused Miles stared at me through the window.
When I placed my feet in the glowing foot spots this time, the sensation I felt indescribable, I lifted into the air. It wasn’t weird or off. It felt right.
Within a second, I was back on the roadside, looking down at the injured man. My first job was going to have to be securing the horses. I had no clue whatsoever on these animals. As I approached them, though, their braying and bouncing around slowed.
I reached out and managed to follow the bridle down to where it connected to the wagon. I wasn’t sure what I would need to tie them off the road, but looking back and into the woods to my side, I was more than sure it would be a bad idea.