by Charles Dean
Piranha's Blessings: If Preston, the first one to ever discover one of the piranha’s sacred, blessed necklaces, had known exactly what it was capable of imbuing the wearer with, he might have considered selling them. And if he had, then he probably wouldn't have had so many of them. He also might have realized he should take them when punishing his only son Brandon with a stick. Sadly, he didn't know they were special, he didn't understand their value or what they imbued, so he didn't sell them, and he didn't ever bother taking them off. Which, for poor Brandon, spelled out certain doom to his ability to ever sit down again.
Piranha's Blessing of Beer Commercial Promises: +2 Vitality. May be combined with up to four Piranha Blessings.
Piranha's Blessing of Caffeine-Covered Candies: +2 Speed. May be combined with up to four Piranha Blessings.
Piranha's Blessing of Radioactive Bug Bites: +2 Power. May be combined with up to four Piranha Blessings.
Piranha's Blessing of Riddle-Out Distraction-Proof Coffee: +2 Concentration. May be combined with up to four Piranha Blessings.
Places/Things/Companies/Et Cetera:
G.O.R.N.: Gamer’s Official Review Network.
Sine Nomine: Capital of the Naga kingdom.
The Path of the Alchemist (Choices Locke has to make)
Apothecary: Apothecaries draw customers of all sorts and sizes, constantly harassing them to make a potion for everything from a blister on their foot to unmentionables on the backside. That’s why the Apothecary spends most of his time learning how to make the one thing he really wants to give his customers: Poison. An Apothecary has bonus options for each of their damage-inflicting poisons.
Pharmacist: People often complain that they are assaulted outside of or near a good Pharmacist’s shop. It’s gotten to the point that, in some towns, they’re labeled as locations of especially bad luck. All that should be ignored, however, because, whatever the reason people find themselves injured, the Pharmacist, no matter how high-priced his goods, will always have the appropriate remedy for their troubles. A Pharmacist has bonus options for each of their health-restoring potions
Zymurgist: If there was one potion that, when drunk to proper proportions, could dispel all sincerity and manners, it would be beer. But let not the drunkards in the tavern rave about its benefits when the Zymurgist hasn’t even begun to recount them all. The Zymurgist gets bonus properties to all ‘Buff’ potions and ‘Debuff’ poisons.
Deadly Poison: Apply to weapon to add +1 Damage (effect expires after 5 minutes). Ingestation will cause 10 points of damage unless the user is undead.
Health Potion: Upon ingestion, restores 10 points of missing health and increases the maximum health of the user by +1 (effect expires after 5 minutes).
Growing Ambition: Increases the base damage of weapons to which Deadly Poison is applied by .25% per skill level of poison.
Sticky Solution: Adds a +10% per poison skill level increase to the duration of the poison’s effect for augmenting weapons.
The Persistent Client: Adds a lingering effect on the ingester of Deadly Poison or victim of a weapon with Deadly Poison applied. Over 10 seconds, the ingester or victim will receive an additional 50% of the Deadly Poison’s base damage. This effect may stack infinitely.
The Bombardier Class:
The Unlit Fuse: May modify concoctions to create an explosion on impact when thrown. The effect of the explosion will be:
Deal 100% of the ingested effect to all individuals within a one-foot radius of the explosion.
Deal 75% of the ingested effect to all individuals within a two-foot radius of the explosion.
Deal 50% of the ingested effect to all individuals within a three-foot radius of the explosion.
Deal 25% of the ingested effect to all individuals within a four-foot radius of the explosion.
Molotovs: No longer just for angry Russians or Bostonian rioters.
Notes: Modified concoctions will not work if anyone but a qualified Bombardier throws them.
Gaming Terms:
Aggro: The proclivity of a monster or NPC to attack a player or another creature. Often used within the phrase ‘draw aggro,’ which basically means to get a monster’s attention or force it to attack a certain target.
AOE: Area of Effect. This term refers to skills that affect multiple targets simultaneously, whether friendly or not. Typically, the particular skill being used determines the range of affected targets.
Buff: To increase or augment the abilities of another player or character in a game. When someone “buffs” another person, they’re making them better at their job.
Drive: (as in VR drive) The device used to access a virtual reality world.
EXP: Experience. Gained from killing monsters, completing quests and assisting other players. Necessary for increasing one’s level within the game.
LOS: Line of sight. You can’t attack what you can’t see.
Nerf: A dreaded term for many avid gamers, this is the word used to describe when a game manufacturer makes a class less potent in its field.
NPC: Non-Playable Character. Characters within games that are controlled by the computer (artificial intelligence).
PK (RPK): This term can be used interchangeably as either a noun or a verb. Thanks, 1337 sp34k. As a noun, it refers to a player killer, someone who participates in actively killing other players. As a verb, it means ‘to have been killed by another player.’
RPG: Role Playing Game. Often used as MMORPG.
VR: Virtual Reality.
MMO: Massive Multiplayer Online (game).
Boss Book:
Bishopotamus: If there is a flock, there is a shepherd, and everyone knows that the shepherd may protect his flock, but he will shear it and eat it too. With a flock so large as the multitude that make up the order of Piranha Priests, it’s only natural that the one eating them would have to be even larger. Thankfully the Bishopotamus was kind enough to lend his belly to ‘take one for the team.’
Mohawktopus: One might imagine that a sushi chef is a well-mannered, quiet and respectful individual. One might also imagine that an octopus would never grow hair. Yet, the Mohawktopus has managed to defy both of these stereotypes, sporting an amazing mohawk as it flexed its delinquent side with multiple knives thrown in for added flare.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Bonus Chapter: Memories of Eliza