by Rachel Aaron
If late 2018 is too long to wait, why not check out one of Rachel’s other completed series? Just click over to the “Want More Books?” page in your eReader’s table of contents or visit www.rachelaaron.net for the full list of Rachel’s novels complete with their beautiful covers, links to reviews, and free sample chapters!
Thank you again for reading, and we hope you’ll be back soon!
Yours sincerely,
Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach
Glossary of Terms
Forever Fantasy Online is a full-immersion Virtual Reality game. It uses the proprietary Sensorium Engine to hijack players’ senses and convey a fake world to them. For safety and health reasons, players can still feel about 10% of their normal senses (sans sight) while in VR.
FFO is a massively multi-player game set in a high-fantasy world involving millions of players across the globe. Though once the unrivaled juggernaut of VR gaming, eight years after its launch populations have declined in favor of newer full sensory VR games. The active player-base of FFO is now estimated to be around 5 million with about 200,000+ players online at any one time.
Unlike some MMOs, FFO doesn’t have its player community divided up across multiple servers. Instead, it favors a dynamic zone-based system. Whenever there are too many people in a zone (like the Deadlands), the game will load another zone-server and start assigning newcomers to that version of the zone instead. So a million players could all be in the Deadlands at the same time, but the game would split them across 10,000 different servers to keep the load down.
Game Terms
HP & MP - Health Pool and Mana Pool, aka Hit Points and Mana Points. Damaging attacks reduce the health pool. If HP hits 0, the character is killed and must either be raised by an allied healer’s spell or they must relinquish their current location in favor of respawning at a safe graveyard or shrine. No matter where they pop up, dead players always respawn with all of their gear and inventory.
Mana points are used to fuel magical abilities and are only possessed by the spell-casting classes (Sorcerers, Naturalists, and Clerics. See below.) Casting spells uses up mana. When a character is out-of-mana (aka OOM), they must wait to recover before casting any more.
Character Class - All players in Forever Fantasy Online must choose from one of seven classes: Knight, Berserker, Assassin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Cleric, and Naturalist.
Each class has a fixed set of abilities and equipment they have access to. For example, all Berserkers have the same stun abilities and use two-handed weapons, while spell-caster classes such as Sorcerers must wear cloth armor and use caster weapons such as staffs or wands.
While abilities and equipment vary, character classes all fit into the three general roles of FFO combat.
Tank (Role) - Heavily armored characters whose job it is to keep enemies from attacking less durable players. Tanks are not good at dealing damage, but they take it very well, making them hard to kill and easy to heal. To keep enemies on them, and not attacking the more vulnerable players, Tanks have abilities called “taunts”—such as Roxxy’s Ground Stomp—which force monsters to attack them.
Healer (Role) - A magical character who specializes in healing spells. They can also remove status effects such as poisons, curses, diseases, bindings, and even bring players back from the dead. Healers do have some damage-dealing abilities so that they can quest and level on their own, but while they aren’t completely helpless, they will never do as much damage as the specialized damage-dealing classes.
Damage / DPS (Role) - Damage dealers are the most numerous classes of character in FFO. Berserkers, Sorcerers, Assassins, and Rangers are all high-damage classes. Tanks can keep monsters at bay while healers heal them, but it is the damage dealer’s job to actually kill the attacking enemy.
Group / Party - a small team of two to five players. Used by friends to play together or strangers to tackle challenges too great for a solo player to handle. There are many dungeons and quests in Forever Fantasy Online which require five players to beat. (Ex: The Red Canyon’s Lich Lab dungeon.)
Raid – a group of up to fifty players. Typically subdivided into ten parties of five, raids are basically player “armies” created to fight massively epic battles against foes no small party could hope to handle.
Raiding is a big part of the FFO endgame since the coordination required to get fifty players together and to fight well together is very hard. Because of all that work, the rewards for killing raid bosses are among the best in the game.
NPC - non-player character. Any computer-controlled character in the game. NPCs can be friendly or hostile and are generally humanoid and/or intelligent. Note that this term is not usually applied to monsters.
PVE - Players vs. Environment. PVE content is any gameplay that involves the players fighting computer-generated enemies. Completing quests, fighting through a dungeon, and participating in a raid are all examples of PVE content.
PVP - Player vs Player. Some players consider fighting computer opponents too easy. They prefer to fight other real human players in specialized combat called “PVP.” FFO has a couple of options for those who wish to only fight human-controlled opponents, including dueling, and participating in ranked gladiatorial combat leagues for special PVP equipment. (There’s also an opt-in system for conducting PVP in quest zones.)
Dungeon / Instance - Dedicated group content is often arranged in self-contained areas called dungeons or instances. When a party or raid enters such an area, usually marked by a portal, the game will create a unique instance of that dungeon just for them. So 1000 groups can all be in the Red Canyon dungeon, but it will be a fresh storyline and battle for each and no group can see another in there. The same goes for the Dead Mountain Fortress and other raids.
Aggro - A term used to mean “a monster’s attention.” When a monster is attacking a player, that player is said to have aggro. Tanks have special abilities to draw monsters’ aggro, or attention, to themselves to prevent the monsters from attacking more vulnerable classes.
Levels - Every monster and character in FFO has a power level. Player characters can range from level 1 to level 80 depending on how much they’ve played the game. Some monsters can be above level 80, such as the skeleton knights of the Dead Mountain Fortress and other monsters in the Deadlands. This is to provide a stiff challenge for powerful veteran players.
Skull Ratings – In addition to levels, all monsters and NPCs in FFO have a skull rating. The number of skulls a monster has beside their level shows how many players the developers think it will take to kill that monster. All beings in FFO are one-skull by default, meaning they can be killed with moderate ease by one same-level player, but there are many harder enemies that require coordinated player effort to take down. For example:
- Two-skull monsters are designed to be a challenge for two players.
- Three-skull monsters are designed to be a challenge for five players.
- Four-skull monsters are designed to be a challenge for ten-player raids.
- Five-skull monsters are for fifty-player raids only.
Two-skull monsters are often called bosses or sub-bosses. Four and five skull monsters are called raid bosses since any group larger than five players is considered a raid.
Gear / Loot – To help them master the world of FFO, player characters have magical equipment, which gives them about 90% of their power. Gear can be looted off the corpses of defeated enemy monsters, earned through completing quests, or won from defeating dungeons or raids. Magical equipment comes in the form of rings, amulets, weapons, and armor. Armor is broken down into nine different “slots” - head, shoulders, chest, belt, legs, feet, bracers, hands, and cloak. Player characters can equip one of each type of gear, but they can’t wear more than one piece in the same slot at a time.
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The Heartstrikers Series
As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: stay quiet, don't cause trouble, and keep out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn't cut it in a family of ambitious predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience.
Now, sealed in human form and banished to the DFZ--a vertical metropolis built on the ruins of Old Detroit--Julius has one month to prove to his mother that he can be a ruthless dragon or lose his true shape forever. But in a city of modern mages and vengeful spirits where dragons are seen as monsters to be exterminated, he's going to need some serious help to survive this test.
He just hopes humans are more trustworthy than dragons.
"Super fun, fast paced, urban fantasy full of heart, and plenty of magic, charm and humor to spare, this self published gem was one of my favorite discoveries this year!" - The Midnight Garden
"A deliriously smart and funny beginning to a new urban fantasy series about dragons in the ruins of Detroit...inventive, uproariously clever, and completely un-put-down-able!" - SF Signal
Want to read more? I’ve included a free sample of the first Hearstrikers book, Nice Dragons Finish Last, in the back of this ebook!
Just keep paging forward to read it, or click here to learn more about all 5 books in the award-winning Heartstrikers series.
The Legend of Eli Monpress
Eli Monpress is talented. He's charming. And he's the greatest thief in the world.
He’s also a wizard, and with the help of his partners in crime—a swordsman with the world’s most powerful magic sword (but no magical ability of his own) and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch through walls—he's getting ready to pull off the heist of his career. To start, though, he'll just steal something small. Something no one will miss.
Something like… a king.
"I cannot be less than 110% in love with this book. I loved it. I love it still. Already I sort of want to read it again. Considering my fairly epic Godzilla-sized To Read list, that's just about the highest compliment I can give a book" - CSI: Librarian
"Fast and fun, The Spirit Thief introduces a fascinating new world and a complex magical system based on cooperation with the spirits who reside in all living objects. Aaron’s characters are fully fleshed and possess complex personalities, motivations, and backstories that are only gradually revealed. Fans of Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) will be thrilled with Eli Monpress. Highly recommended for all fantasy readers." - Booklist, Starred Review
Click here to read more about The Legend of Eli Monpress, Rachel’s debut Fantasy series, complete at 5 books!
The Paradox Trilogy
(written as Rachel Bach)
Devi Morris isn't your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of ambition. It's a combination that's going to get her killed one day - but not just yet.
That is, until she just gets a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn't misnamed: it likes to get into trouble, so much so that one year of security work under its captain is equal to five years everywhere else. With odds like that, Devi knows she's found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn't give up its secrets without a fight, and one year on this ship might be more than even Devi can handle.
"Firefly-esque in its concept of a rogue-ish spaceship family... The narrative never quite goes where you expect it to, in a good way... Devi is a badass with a heart." - Locus Magazine
"If you liked Star Wars, if you like our books, and if you are waiting for Guardians of the Galaxy to hit the theaters, this is your book." - Ilona Andrews
"I JUST LOVED IT! Perfect light sci-fi. If you like space stuff that isn't that complicated but highly entertaining, I give two thumbs up!" - Felicia Day
Click here to read more about the Paradox trilogy, now complete!
2,000 to 10,000: Writing Better, Writing Faster, and Writing More of What You Love
(nonfiction)
"Have you ever wanted to double your daily word counts? Do you sometimes feel like you're crawling through your story? Do you want to write more every day without increasing the time you spend writing or sacrificing quality? It's not impossible; it's not even that hard. This is the book explaining how, with a few simple changes, I boosted my daily writing from 2000 words to over 10k a day, and how you can too."
Expanding on Rachel’s viral blog post about how she doubled her daily word counts, this book offers practical writing advice for anyone who's ever longed to increase their daily writing output. In addition to updated information for the popular 2k to 10k writing efficiency process, 5 step plotting method, and easy editing tips, the book includes all new chapters on creating characters who write their own stories, plot structure, and learning to love your daily writing. Full of easy to follow, practical advice from a professional author who doesn't eat if she doesn't produce good books on a regular basis, 2k to 10k focuses not just on writing faster, but writing better, and having more fun while you do it!
"I loved this book! So helpful!" - Courtney Milan, NYT Bestselling Author
"This. Is. Amazing. You are telling my story RIGHT NOW. Book is due in 2 weeks, and I'm behind--woefully, painfully behind--because I've been stuck...writing in circles and unenthused. Yet here--here is a FANTASTIC solution. I am printing this post out, and I'm setting out to make my triangle. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" - Bestselling YA Author Susan Dennard
Click here to learn more about Rachel’s bestselling writing book!
Enjoyed FFO? You’ll love
As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: stay quiet, don't cause trouble, and keep out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn't cut it in a family of ambitious predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience.
Now, sealed in human form and banished to the DFZ--a vertical metropolis built on the ruins of Old Detroit--Julius has one month to prove to his mother that he can be a ruthless dragon or lose his true shape forever. But in a city of modern mages and vengeful spirits where dragons are seen as monsters to be exterminated, he's going to need some serious help to survive this test.
He just hopes humans are more trustworthy than dragons.
Keep reading for the free sample!
Chapter 1
“Get up.”
Julius woke with a jump, toppling off the slick modern couch. He landed face down on hard white carpet, smacking his knee painfully on the corner of his sister’s abstract coffee table in the process. When he reached down to clutch his smarting joint, his sister kicked his hand away again with the pointed toe of her black leather flats.
“I have to be at the hospital in thirty minutes,” she continued as she marched across the room to yank open the hanging blinds. “That means you need to be out of here in ten. Now get moving.”
Julius rolled over and sat up, squinting against the bright ray of sunlight she’d sent stabbing across her ultra-fashionable, ultra-expensive apartment. “Good morning to you, too,” he said, furtively rubbing his injured knee, which was still throbbing.
“Try afternoon,” Jessica snapped. “Honestly, Julius, it’s nearly five. Is this when you got up at home?” She turned with a huff, walking over to the marble breakfast bar that separated her immaculately white kitchen from the other immaculately white parts of her apartment’s open floorplan. “No wonder Mother kicked you out.”
Mother had kicked him out for a whole host of reasons, but Julius didn’t feel like giving his sister any more ammunition, so he spent the energy he would have used explaining himself on standing up instead. “Where’s your bathroom?”
She stabbed one perfectly manicured nail at the hall, and he
shuffled as directed, though it still took him three tries before he found the right door. The others led into beautifully furnished bedrooms, none of which looked to be in use.
Julius sighed. Two guest bedrooms, and she’d still made him sleep on the couch. But then, Jessica had always been very conscious of where she stood in the pecking order, which was usually directly on top of Julius’s head. The only reason she’d let him sleep here at all was because he was her brother, and the consequences for not helping family were dire. In any case, it wasn’t like he was in a position to complain. When you found yourself shoved off a private plane into a strange airport at dawn with nothing but the clothes on your back, you took what you could get.
He found the bathroom and showered as fast as he could only to get right back into the same faded T-shirt and jeans he’d slept in, because what else was there to wear? He didn’t even have a toothbrush, and he wasn’t about to risk Jessica’s wrath by using hers. In the end, he had to settle for mostly clean, raking his shaggy black hair into some semblance of order with his fingers and wishing he’d had a chance to get it trimmed before his life had gone down the drain. Of course, if he’d had any advanced warning of last night’s personal armageddon, he wouldn’t have wasted it on a haircut.