D&D In Another World - Thokk_Smash

[Rizban]

Avery never had a day of luck in his life. His father was a deadbeat who gambled and drank away any money they made. His mother eventually gave up and ran off with another man. Eventually he ran away and began a new life as a pickpocket and orphan. In order to survive he ran with a bad crowd--when he wasn't in an orphanage, he stayed with local gangs. The only thing he was good for was fighting: brawls, ambushes, he fought other gangs and groups, sometimes for no reason. He killed his emotions; his eyes, lifeless as he moved through life.

Then he was saved by an old man he robbed. A cantankerous old man named Vincent Riley caught him red-handed...and beat him black and blue in the process. Vincent was the owner and teacher of a martial arts dojo, and even in his older years he could still kick Avery's butt. But instead of allowing him to go back into the foster system, Vincent took guardianship of him. He saw something in Avery that no one had thought to look for, as if he saw a spark of light in his eyes. Vincent beat the "might makes right" mindset out of Avery. He tried to teach the boy that he should use his strength, use his fists, to protect and help others.

It was the first time anyone had shown him such unconditional kindness. And in return, he vowed to make Vincent proud. He learned Vincent's martial arts style, and in doing so learned restraint and a calmness of mind he had never thought possible. And he owed it all to Vincent...and he would do anything for that old man.

Look, Avery isn't the most creative bulb in the bunch. And he had never played a video game before the VR MMORPG Vincent got him. It was a pretty great introduction to them, though. He mostly used it as an outlet to vent his frustrations--punching the sh*t out of monsters. He did choose a unique class, however--the Cultivator, a class that focuses on improving one's body via meditation and tapping into the energy of the universe. It sounded pretty damn cool. When he asked around online, it was said the Cultivator was an extremely rare class to show up in one's game. Avery Riley, the character, mostly just hung around and did quests. He joined a guild called Dragon's Descent mostly because guild membership was forced with his package, and it sounded the coolest.

Importantly, Vincent made a character and account mere days before the incident that occurs below. He made an elf wizard (because he said "that's what all the cool kids play, right") named Silcado Hajezad.

Over the years, Avery had grown far separate from his previous "friends". They did not take kindly to this, and one person in particular wanted him back no matter what--Jason Biphan. After years of Avery refusing to rejoin and not talking to them, they decided to take away the new home that Avery had found. In the middle of the night, a gang of ne'er-do-wells broke into the dojo-slash-home Vincent and Avery lived in, and trashed it. Avery was playing the MMO, and came down with the headset on his forehead. A fight ensued. During the fight someone knocked over an appliance and caused a huge fire, but Jason Biphan would not stop fighting. Vincent came down at this point and started getting the downed teens out. In a climactic moment--the last moment Avery remembers--Jason went to stab Vincent in the back as Vincent was dragging an injured teen out. Avery threw himself in the way--and got stabbed straight through the heart. His last memory was of Vincent calling his name, and Jason's manic laughter.
Avery collapsed to the ground, jostling the headset loose and causing it to fall over his eyes as he quickly bled out. The last thing he sees is the title screen of the game he was just playing.

As everything starts to go black, the screen flashes a brilliant white. Avery's fading senses come roaring back as he gasps for breath and finds the pain of a certain death completely gone.

System Notice

Welcome Back to The Realms!
Error:No saved character profile on file.
Action:Contact Realm for character data.
Error:No associated Realm on file.
Action:Load recent player data.
Error:No player record on file.
Action:Read embedded player data.
Error:No player data embedded within this entity.
Action:Begin player integration system.


System Notice

Welcome to Creation and Integration!
Would you like to customize your integration options?
If you decline this choice, your starting choices will be randomized based on your lineage, past deeds, and projected development path. If you fail to make a choice, you will be deemed non-sapient and treated as if you had declined this choice—options for non-sapients may become limited.

Yes
No
Representative

[Thokk_Smash]

It all happened so fast. He had just been in the middle of a quest with a group, for once, and he was actually enjoying himself. Then he heard a crash, and someone cursing, and realized something was wrong. He hadn't even taken the time to take off his VR headset, so he can only imagine what the other players were thinking as he fought, IRL as it were, for his life.

Jason wouldn't answer when he asked why he was doing this. Avery was desperate to protect the one place he had found home and safety. So much so that it was without a second thought that he threw himself in front of the blade that Jason stabbed at Vincent's back.

It didn't hurt as much as he'd thought dying might. As the headset fell over his eyes, he could almost forget and ignore his lifeblood dripping from his chest. Burbling out, he tries to call out...

"O-old man..."

"O-old man..."

"Please God...save my dad..."

He whispers out the old man's name, and he expects it to be with his last breath...and yet it isn't. He's back looking at the loading screen for The Realms. What? Was that all a dream? But it felt so damn real! And this log-in screen doesn't look familiar. He touches--or tries to touch--his head and chest with one hand, and his off-hand idly presses the "Yes" button.

[Rizban]

Your head and chest feel completely fine. Looking down, however, you find only a bizarre, green wireframe model approximating a humanoid form.

System Notice

Player Registration
Name:Avery Riley_
Age:19
Occupation:{Select One}


You find that you can edit your name but not your age. When you focus on Occupation, you get a selection of three possible options: Bandit, Guard, Nomad.

You feel an overwhelming sense that any decisions you make here will be permanent and irreversible.

[Thokk_Smash]

"Holy crap. They really changed the user interface," he mutters to himself, or at least tries.

But is this really the game? Is this Heaven, or Hell, or someplace in-between? He had never been truly religious, but this whole situation is making him rethink many of his life choices.

In order to keep himself distracted from his existential dread, he looks at the options for Occupation. As he considers them, he adjusts his Registration Name to Avery Riley, without the underscore. Why did it even put that there, he doesn't know.

Now, which occupation to choose? He doesn't like "Brigand", it has way too much of a negative connotation and he wouldn't want others to see him as a bandit looking for an easy robbery target. He likes Guard much, much more. It gives him a sense of importance, and feels like it would make others more naturally nice to him. So it's between Guard and Nomad...

The image of a solitary figure, wandering the scenes with just his wits and strength ultimately wins out. With only some indecision, he presses Nomad.

[Rizban]

Despite your best attempts, you are unable to delete the underscore. It seems that it's going to be a permanent part of your name. Forever. Just "Avery Riley_" for all time...

Oh No. Wait. That's just the cursor on the text prompt. That explains why the underscore is blinking...

You select Nomad as your Occupation.

System Notice

Player Registration Complete

System Notice

Beginning Integration
Action:Selecting starting Realm.
System Message:

Welcome to Endless Acres
Action:Loading Realm attributes and requirements.
Action:Integrating attributes with player.
Error:Realm-Entity Attribute Incompatbility. ERR_012a.
Action:Rectifying . . .

Intense pain flows through your body and mind, like fire burning away the impurities. Spasms wrack your body as little bits of what make you yourself are ripped away, foreign energies jammed in to fill the tiny voids left behind.

You gasp one last time, struggling to resist blacking out. Then the pain is gone.

System Notice

Integration Complete

Begin Character Creation


Realm Notice

Welcome to Endless Acres!
As a recently established Frontier Realm, Endless Acres is largely unknown and unexplored. This Realm contains many of the standard fantasy elements one would expect from a High Fantasy Realm, but there seems to have been a significant divergence from the norm at some point in the not so distant past.
Warning! The rules and conventions of Endless Acres are in flux as the Realm continues to be established by The System. Players may be presented with System Choices that modify the underlying systems governing the Realm.


[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Rizban]

Realm Notice

Congratulations!
You have received two (2) Moderate Boons
You have received one (1) Greater Boon
You have received one (1) Epic Boon


A representation of the major races appears standing nude in front of you. Or rather, you see yourself in front of you, altered to appear as each of the major races but still clearly yourself.

Realm Notice

Select Your Race


Armad
Elf
Gnome

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information

Human
Kobold
Moreau

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information
_
Apply Boon to Race

[Thokk_Smash]

Riley laughs out loud as he realizes his mistake. Gosh, if only he'd finished high school, he might have figured that out.

He looks at the races, and the boons. The boons seemed new. And he isn't nearly qualified enough to consider what changes could possibly be made to the "underlying structures" of the game. The hell is that?

He presses the Information button for each race to get more info on his choices.

[Rizban]

Realm Notice

Select Your Race


Armad
Elf
Gnome

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information

Human
Kobold
Moreau

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information
_
Apply Boon to Race

Armad
The Armad are a naturally curious and philosophical people, though they often express their philosophy through martial prowess. Armad value life experiences and earned wisdom over all other pursuits.

Elf
Elves are the longest lived mortal race in the Realm. They have a trace of fey blood in their veins, which leads them to be chaotic and haughty. All elves must select a subrace. While elves tend to get along well with members of other humanoid races, they are almost always hostile towards other elven subraces.

Gnome
Gnomes are brilliant tinkers, builders, engineers, and artificers, always seeking to discover the underlying principles that govern the world around them and then using those principles to create something new.

Human
Humans are the most common race through most of the Realms. They are far more adaptable than any other; however, they tend to have poor relations with the non-human races.

Kobold
Kobolds proudly claim kinship to dragons, but the comparison often leaves them with a profound sense of inadequacy. Though they are hardworking, clever, and blessed with a natural talent for mechanical devices and mining, they are known spend their days nursing grudges instead of celebrating their own gifts.

Moreau
Moreau are known by many names: called Shifters, Hengeyokai, or even Weres by those who mistake them for lycanthropes. Though they often appear human, all moreau are intrinsically linked to a single type of animal and gain traits of that animal, carrying some minor animalistic features. Some moreau may even learn to take animal form.

[Thokk_Smash]

Avery looks over them all with interest. They all just sound so cool, really—though the Armad’s whole “martial prowess” thing looks the best. Seeing his Boons, he selects Greater Boon for his race.

[Rizban]

The forms of the 5 races fritz out, the models replaced by slightly different ones.

The Armad's natural armor thickens as its musculature becomes more defined to support it, yet the muscle is more sleek than bulky. The figure bounces idly from foot to foot as if ready to get moving.

The Elf's eyes grow slightly, and small antennae sprout from its forehead. Its stance shifts just slightly, becoming slightly more inhuman and reminding you vaguely of a praying mantis or other predatory insect.

The Gnome's skin darkens to a brown reminiscent of tree bark as his hair takes on a greenish hue. Though still rather bookish in appearance, the gnome seems as if he would be equally at home tromping through dense jungles in search of lost lore as he would locked in his study poring over dusty tomes.

The Human's brow furrows as he seems lost in deep contemplation. His eyes take on a faint glow just as sparks of energy manifest in the around around his head. Flickering power of some sort occasionally dances around him.

The Kobold shifts from suspicious and skittish to having a warm, welcoming smile with a guileless joy shining in his eyes. His scales transform from a murky brown-green to a brilliant iridescence. The impression you get from his countenance changes from its original shifty sneakthief to adorable puppy excited to take on the world.

The Moreau doesn't visibly change at first. It still appears like an ordinary humanoid with dog ears. You look away, and when your glance back, the dog ears are gone, replaced by human-like ears, but the legs are long and powerful, like a wild hare. Then later, the figure's legs have returned to normal, but his nose has grown hawkish with a smattering of feathers in his hair. You realize that each time you look away and back, the Moreau has given you a different glimpse at the different animal kinds it can be related to, and you get the sense that the animal aspects are more powerful.

Realm Notice

Select Your Race


Armad-Errant
Feytouched Elf
Jungle Gnome

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information

Talaire (Human)
Prismatic Kobold
Wildkin Moreau

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information


Armad-Errant
The Armad are a naturally curious and philosophical people, though they often express their philosophy through martial prowess. Armad value life experiences and earned wisdom over all other pursuits.

Armad-Errant is a Tier 2 race. Less focused on philosophy and eligntenment, their desire to just go often makes them impulsive and prevents them from settling down while often giving them improved physical abilities.

Feytouched Elf
Elves are the longest lived mortal race in the Realm. They have a trace of fey blood in their veins, which leads them to be chaotic and haughty. All elves must select a subrace. While elves tend to get along well with members of other humanoid races, they are almost always hostile towards other elven subraces.

Feytouched Elf is a Tier 2 race. Elves who have manifested aspects of the fey seen only once in a generation are known as feytouched. Your fey attributes are more powerful than normal, and you are treated as a fey for most purposes.

Jungle Gnome
Gnomes are brilliant tinkers, builders, engineers, and artificers, always seeking to discover the underlying principles that govern the world around them and then using those principles to create something new.

Jungle Gnome is a Tier 2 race. Hailing from some of the wildest parts of the world, Jungle Gnomes love exploring ancient ruine and have physical advantages over their more sedentary counterparts.

Talaire
Humans are the most common race through most of the Realms. They are far more adaptable than any other; however, they tend to have poor relations with the non-human races.

Talaire Human is a Tier 2 race. Descendants from the ancient Talaire bloodline have innate psionic talent. They receive a randomly selected bloodline from the six available to their race which determines the exact nature of their psionic powers. Beyond their mental prowess, they are indistinguishable from a normal human.

Prismatic Kobold
Kobolds proudly claim kinship to dragons, but the comparison often leaves them with a profound sense of inadequacy. Though they are hardworking, clever, and blessed with a natural talent for mechanical devices and mining, they are known spend their days nursing grudges instead of celebrating their own gifts.

Prismatic Kobold is a Tier 2 race. Having taken on dragon blood, Prismatic Kobolds have become true dragon kin. Their entire outlook on life is upbeat and cheerful, far different from their lesser kin.

Wildkin Moreau
Moreau are known by many names: called Shifters, Hengeyokai, or even Weres by those who mistake them for lycanthropes. Though they often appear human, all moreau are intrinsically linked to a single type of animal and gain traits of that animal, carrying some minor animalistic features. Some moreau may even learn to take animal form.

Wildkin Moreau is a Tier 2 race. More in tune with their animal side, wildkin moreau have greater powers when calling on their wild nature.

[Thokk_Smash]

Avery reads it all over, but after the first entry a wild grin had begun to split his face. Throwing away all that philosophical bull and just wander and punch? Sign him the hell up! The other races seem too thinky-focused like the Talaire, or just don't fit what he wants to play, like a small dragon or beast-shifter. And playing an armadillo-person just seems hilarious to him. So he presses Armad-Errant.

[Rizban]

The other races disperse into mist, which beings to swirl around the Armad-Errant. A powerful force draws you inexorably into the armad, until you find yourself looking out through its eyes. Intense body dysmorphia makes you incredibly uncomfortable for a few seconds, made worse when the body becomes pliable and... fluid. The flesh warps and shapes itself to match your internalized ideal for the character until you find yourself perfectly at home in your new avatar, perhaps even a bit more comfortable than you ever were in your own skin.

Realm Notice

Assign Your Ability Scores

You have two (2) Ability Points.


Strength8
Dexterity11
Constitution11
Intelligence10
Wisdom10
Charisma10

[Thokk_Smash]

Avery grits his teeth and tenses himself for the surge of discomfort as his body literally molds into a new shape. All of his muscles relax simultaneously, it seems, and he suddenly feels better than ever before. it's like his awkward teenage years never happened! And all it took was to get into the body of an armadillo-man.

Part of his mind pipes up, asking whether this is too realistic. Since when has VR made him feel like he's literally in another body?

But if this isn't reality, he wants to believe it is. If only for a little while.

Anyway, he looks at his ability spread and grimaces. These scores are, just, stupidly low. Like, damn. He pokes around on the UI, in the box, to check if he can use a Boon on his ability scores.

If he cannot, he puts a point in Dex and a point in Con, to boost his survivability a bit.

[Rizban]

You place your points into Dexterity and Constitution, raising the score in each to 12.

Realm Notice

Select Your Class


Aegis
Bard
Guru

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information

Rogue
Sorcerer
Wilder

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information
_
Apply Boon to Class

[Thokk_Smash]

Avery presses the Information button for each of the classes before making any rash decisions.

[Rizban]

Aegis
The aegis uses psionic power to form ectoplasm into a suit of astral armor, granting unparalleled defense.

Bard
A musical performer who uses their talents to benefit their allies or harm their foes. An arcane spellcaster whose very music is magical.

Guru
These monastic philosophers weave akashic magic into powerful veils as they seek enlightenment.

Rogue
Thief, trickster, assassin. All of these stem from the rogue class. Their deft use of skill complements their stealth abilities nicely.

Sorcerer
Sorcerers inherit their arcane magic from a powerful magical ancestor. Their magic is literally in their blood. Some sorcerers, however, develop their magic through other means.

Wilder
Through strength of personality and somewhat unstable emotions, a wilder unlocks raw psionic potential which can be harnessed to great effect.

[Thokk_Smash]

Avery immediately dismisses several of the options immediately, but presses "Apply Boon" and applies his Epic Boon to the classes.

[Rizban]

Realm Notice

Epic Boon Applied
You will select a linked class in addition to your primary class, gaining the class features and class skills of both. You will gain the chassis of your primary class.


Realm Notice

Select Your Class


Aegis
Bard
Guru

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information

Rogue
Sorcerer
Wilder

Select
Information
Select
Information
Select
Information

[Thokk_Smash]

"Hmm, you can get the benefits of two classes at once? That seems pretty powerful for sure."

As he continues to ponder his two choices, he presses Information for each class to see if anything else has changed.

[Rizban]

Aegis
The aegis uses psionic power to form ectoplasm into a suit of astral armor, granting unparalleled defense.

Bard
A musical performer who uses their talents to benefit their allies or harm their foes. An arcane spellcaster whose very music is magical.

Guru
These monastic philosophers weave akashic magic into powerful veils as they seek enlightenment.

Rogue
Thief, trickster, assassin. All of these stem from the rogue class. Their deft use of skill complements their stealth abilities nicely.

Sorcerer
Sorcerers inherit their arcane magic from a powerful magical ancestor. Their magic is literally in their blood. Some sorcerers, however, develop their magic through other means.

Wilder
Through strength of personality and somewhat unstable emotions, a wilder unlocks raw psionic potential which can be harnessed to great effect.

[Thokk_Smash]

Avery takes a step back from the floating hologram and takes a second to look at his surroundings, then at himself. He laughs, a bit manically, at the insanity of this all.

"Damn, what is happening. Okay, let's see here. Bard? I was never great at singing or playing instruments. Rogue...I mean, it sounds less-bad than Bandit, but still, I'm not thrilled with that. Sorcerer, Wilder...those descriptions sound so similar, what's even the difference? Psionics and magic always confused me," he ends with a whine.

"So I guess it comes down to Aegis and Guru. Aegis sounds super badass, for sure. And while Guru doesn't sound as badass, the enlightenment thing really seems to mesh well with the Armad's general...ish. And it feels the most similar to the Cultivator I played before..."

[Rizban]

You're not entirely sure, but you feel like something about your new race is drawn to the Aegis while something else within you is drawn to the Guru. You don't feel anything from any of the other choices.

You also recall that you're supposedly able to pick two classes.

[Thokk_Smash]

”Okay, okay, now we’re talking here. Okay, get these others outta here.”

Avery tries to shoo away the other options to just leave Aegis and Guru. The newly-minted armadillo-man sits cross-legged, as the self-reflective scared part of him starts getting more excited about this too. He considers them with a “hmm”, raising a hand to cup his chin in thought. ”Now, it seems I don’t get the best of both worlds, is that right?” he asks the world at large. ”Aegis seems the more…fight-y of the two, better at throwing hands straight away. The Guru seems less fight-y but maybe smarter? Or worldly? Which one would be best as my main class…”

He trails off, trying to get a feel in his soul and mind of which class might resonate best with him as a full class. If the System wants to hint as to what he’ll miss out of the secondary class, that would be cool, too.

[Rizban]

The Realm Notice adjusts to will, discarding the excess options.

Realm Notice

Select Your Class


Aegis
Guru

Select
Information
Select
Information


You don't sense that one option is better than the other, only that they seem linked in some way to different parts of you. Aegis is clearly linked to your body and mind while guru is linked to something else... Your spirit maybe? You don't seem able to grasp the concepts necessary to put into words exactly what you're feeling with that one.

[Thokk_Smash]

"Bah, overthinking things is never worth it," he says to himself with a slap on his knee. "Aegis sounds the coolest, so let's make that the main class." And he reaches forward and presses "Select" under Aegis.

[Rizban]

Realm Notice

Character Creation

Name:Avery Riley_

Race:Armad-Errant

Class:Aegis


You find that you are able to edit your character name at this point, if you so desire.

Realm Notice

Select Your Linked Class
Barbarian Bard Fighter Guru Mystic Rogue Sorcerer Soulknife Summoner Wilder

[Thokk_Smash]

Aha, his dreaded nemesis--the blinking underscore returns. Luckily, he knows how to deal with it this time.

"Why can I change my name again?" he thinks out loud. "Like, what's the point? So you can make the name more specialized to the race you chose?"

Whatever the reason, Avery keeps his name his own. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. He turns his attention to the other class choices. Some of them are new, and apparently some option are mutually exclusive with the Aegis? More things he doesn't know about.

"So, new classes. Are any of the new ones as good as Guru? Barbarian and Fighter...could be, if I wanted to stay a pure beatstick. What's a Mystic? And a Summoner? Could I get things to help me beat the crap out of people?"

He tries to get a feel for if any of the new classes speak to his soul better than the Guru. He also tries to feel or sense for a place to dump either of his remaining Boons into the linked class.

[Rizban]

Barbarian seems to Resonate with your desire to roam as a Nomad.
Guru continues to Resonate with... something.

You don't find a way to apply a boon or to gain any additional information on the classes listed.

[Thokk_Smash]

"Hmm...well, as much as I like to beat the everloving stuffing out of things, I'm not sure how much more being a Barbarian would do for me. And hopefully, choosing Guru will reveal what it is Resonating with. So..."

He looks at the word "Guru" and thinks "Select".

[Rizban]

Realm Notice

Character Creation

Name:Avery Riley_

Race:Armad-Errant

Class:Aegis↔Guru


Realm Notice

Select Your Skills
You have four (4) Skill Points
Class Skills: Acrobatics Athletics Engineering Heal Insight Natural Lore Perception Persuasion Profession Psi Lore StealthCross Class Skills Academics Arcane Lore Arms Lore Deception Handle Animal Intimidate Linguistics Perform Streetwise Theology
_
Apply Boon to Skills

Poking around, you discover that the maximum skill rank is 1. One rank in a class skill costs 1 skill point while it costs 2 skill points for a rank in cross class skills. Perform and Profession have a seemingly endless list of sub-skills for nearly every imaginable possibility.

[Thokk_Smash]

"Damn, nothing on what is Resonating within me? C'mon, System, not even a hint?" Avery tries to feel within himself for a sign of what is Resonating within.

Then he sighs, and considers his new options. "Lessee...two boons left, and I don't know if they're 'use or lose'...let's see what a Moderate Boon will do for Skills." He presses the Apply Boon button and spends one of his two Moderate Boons.

[Rizban]

If Avery had to guess... he'd likely say it's his bowels.

You gain the Skilled racial trait, gaining two additional skill points at 1st level.

[Thokk_Smash]

Avery barks out a laugh and shakes his head. "Damn System's got a sense of humor. Who would'a thought?"

He continues snickering as he puts his skill points into: Nature Lore; Perception; Athletics; Insight; Persuasion; Psi Lore (why not?); and a point into Acrobatics.

[Rizban]

Realm Notice

Your Nomad Occupation provides a +1 bonus on the following skills

Athletics, Insight, Natural Lore


Realm Notice

Your Nomad Occupation provides one of the following as a bonus feat:
Endurance, Healer, Naturalist

Your Guru Class provides Stunning Fist as a bonus feat.

You gain one (1) Feat.
_
Apply Boon to Feats

The list of possible feats is... extensive (https://aldhaven.com/feats/). In fact, it seems that new feats are added to the list as you consider possible feats. You can select any feat you can meet the prerequisites for.

[Thokk_Smash]

"I was wondering whether my Occupation would give mechanical benefits, aside from Resonations and whatnot. Damn, this is a ton of feats..."

As he scrolls through the gigantic list, he Applies is final Moderate Boon to his Feats.

[Rizban]

Realm Notice

Moderate Boon Applied

One of your selected feats with receive a Moderate improvement.

[Thokk_Smash]

"Ho-lee...how many are there? I didn't even know half of this sh*t existed! Time to find out if I can still get headaches in this place..."

Avery spends the next who-knows-how-long looking through the lists and checking them twice (not really, you think he has the attention span for that?). Finally, he narrows the lists down...but even that list is gigantic. Finally, he throws his hands up in frustration and says, "I don't know enough about optimization to care about it right now. This one gives me the most potential sh*t, so why not." And so he chooses the Aberrant Bloodline feat. He also chooses the Endurance feat for his Occupation feat.

[Rizban]

[roll0]
Realm Notice

You have Mutated

You gain the Mutant Subtype.

You gain the Lethargy Drawback.

You gain four (4) Mutation Points.

You must spend at least 1 Mutation Point now.
Select your mutation, or one will be randomly selected for you.


Realm Notice

Moderate Boon Applied

Aberrant Bloodline receives a Moderate improvement.

Drawback penalty reduced to 1/2 normal.

[Thokk_Smash]

"Mutant, eh? I did like the X-Men. And looking at the list of drawbacks, 'Lethargy' ain't so bad. Now let's look at these mutations..."

"Only four points doesn't get as much as I'd thought it would. Some of these are so badass, but they cost so much. And I can't change the points once I spend them. So...I'll start with something small..."

He ultimately chooses the "Tail" mutation.

[Rizban]

http://threenineart.com/armadillo.htm
Your existing tail lengthens and grows more muscular as new synapses form in your brain, giving you better motor control of this new appendage. Within a few minutes, you find yourself able to manipulate it as well as your arms and legs, though it still feels incredibly weird.

After getting a better feel for your tail, your vision goes completely black, and you feel a intense sensation of vertigo which passes quickly.

You feel something cold and hard on your back, the air around you damp and cold.

You hear the sounds on animals in the distance. Are those cows?

You realize that you are lying on the ground, your eyes closed.


Status Update

You have awakened from a Long Rest.
You are Well Rested.
You are currently fully healed.
You recover all daily abilities and may prepare your esoteric abilities.
You have three (3) Customization Points for your Astral Suit (https://aldhaven.com/class/base/aegis/astral-suit/).

[Thokk_Smash]

Again with the blacking out and sensory overload-slash-deprivation. That's the biggest thing pointing to this being Hell. But Hell is supposed to be hot and burning, and right now he feels cold and wet. He feels around himself--what clothes is he wearing? What does the ground beneath him feel like? He opens his eyes as he feels around.

"I hope no one's around to hear me talk to myself," he mutters with irritation. "Customization points, eh? Let's have a look at this whole 'Astral Suit' thing." He wills the HUD to display the Astral Suit information with his mind even as he looks and feels around himself.

[Rizban]

You find yourself wearing a sleeveless tunic of roughspun wool, a matching pair of roughspun pants held up by a simple cord, and... the slight breeze reveals that you're wearing not much else.

You open your eyes to find yourself sprawled on the floor in a small stone chamber. Standing proves to be slightly difficult, as your right leg is still twisted up in the sheets and half on the bed you appear to have fallen out of... which might explain the slight headache.

The room is about 10 ft. by 10 ft. with a rough cot and footlocker style chest on one wall with what's left of a small, rickety crate serving as a nightstand crammed in the corner. A flimsy looking wooden door is in the wall near your feet.

The only light in the room comes in from under the door and through cracks between the boards, but it's sufficient to see somewhat clearly.

[Thokk_Smash]

"What, am I supposed to think my life before now was just a dream? Does the System want to ease me into this whole thing?" he asks the air as he kicks off the tangled-up blanket. Out of curiosity he tries to use his tail to help him as he stands up. It makes him wobble a bit, but it's such a unique experience that he can't help but chuckle.

He finalizes his Astral Suit's customizations: he definitely needs a ranged attack option, and he feels that having a climb speed is the most generally useful--between walking speed, burrow speed, and a climb speed, he should be able to evade most enemies if he can't overcome them. Then he summons his Astral Suit: ectoplasm bubbles up from the center of his chest, translucent, and spreads to cover his whole body. It covers only his skin, leaving his tunic alone, and provides him some much-needed protection for his lower-bits. After all is said and done, his Suit covers him from the neck down, transparent but with a slight earthy-brown that mimics his skin.

Feeling just a little bit safer, he goes to the footlocker-style chest. He notices something interesting on his character sheet, and so he says, "Inspect." As he does, he wills the System to Inspect the footlocker for him and give him some information about it.

[Rizban]

Inspect

Footlocker

This storage container is in Dilapidated condition.
Excessive use could cause this item to be destroyed.

Bulk0/100

[Thokk_Smash]

"Okay, cool cool, I have a place to store items...if I had any. And there's nothing inside of it, either, so I can safely ignore it for now, I think.

"Anyway. So I have the Inspect option, but what's this Hearthstone thing on my sheet...?" Avery pulls up his sheet and presses the "Hearthstone" icon to try and get more information about it.

[Rizban]

Realm Notice

Realm Ability: Hearthstone
This ability allows you to soulbind yourself to a spawn point, allowing you to revive upon death.

Available Binds: 1/1

[Thokk_Smash]

"Okay, that makes sense. I better find a spawn point quick, just to make sure I have it. But first I probably should get out of this room..."

Avery moves towards the door and gently opens it, hoping it's not flimsy enough to break so easily.