Portal to D&D IC - Deadguy

[Rizban]

Discord, if you're interested.

Spoiler: Background

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Spoiler: Application

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Eli Moore had always considered himself normal. Average family with him as the only child. Average grades in high school, decent at sports. Got into state college, played on the football team as second string. Moved to the city and got a job as a personal trainer at one of the Crossfit gyms. A small apartment. A simple life.

Then the quarantine happened. The gym closed. So did just about everything else for that matter. He was getting unemployment, which was more than enough to get by. No car meant no car payment or insurance. His friends used to laugh at him for biking everywhere, but it just paid off. Stuck in his apartment, he had begun to go stir-crazy. Everything on the television was terrible, so was social media. He couldn't work out, he couldn't work. He needed an outlet.

After reaching the end of the internet several times over, he had started watching some of the e-sports streams. It was about the only 'sport' that hadn't been cancelled. Eli was surprised how intense it could get. He had never even owned a home computer, just a phone and tablet. Still, it looked like something to do. So when his stimulus check came, he ordered one of those fancy gaming systems and the most anticipated game.

It all came quicker than he expected. Everything was suppose to be going so slow with the shutdown. Boxes, wires, manuals... an organized chaos of electronics. The result seemed pretty good. Nothing like those streamers had set up, but he thought it was pretty respectable.

Firing up the game resulted in a massive load screen, there seemed to be plenty of updates since the release. Bugs It wasn't any different than when he had first got his phone. It updated like 14 times in the first day. He went out and got food while it did it's thing. When he got back, the account number prompt was flashing. He entered the info and walked through the registration.

Character generation. He had flipped through the game guide while eating. The choices were a bit overwhelming to someone who had never played a game like this before. He stuck with the guide's suggestion. Warrior. The character features came up next. It was easy to just make it look like him. Blonde, tall, athletic. Human. The next part gave him pause. A name. He couldn't think of anything clever. His knowledge of anything fantasy related ended at the Lord of the Rings movies. To be honest, he hadn't even finished those. Maybe just mixing up his own name, since the program seemed to deny any attempts at those crazy names like 'Leetsauce' or 'Pwnstar'. He settled on Moeril.

The game finally launched. Eli put his drink on the desk and pushed his chair back far enough to give him some room. The VR direction said about 6 feet of space. He put the headset on. The sensation was overwhelming. He felt almost nauseous at first. Still the introduction was pretty slow and the controls seemed intuitive. Swinging his arms to use a weapon could almost be considered a work-out. Nearing the end the starting area, he had one more quest to complete. Even someone who didn't have experience with these games could tell some kind of boss was coming.

The battle scene was intense. He was spinning and dodging and striking. It was fun! Lost in the virtual reality, Eli had completely forgotten about real reality. The reality where he had put his large glass of water on the desk. The reality where he hit said desk with his foot, causing the water to spill and drip down onto the computer case and tile floor. The results were electrifying. Arcing and sparking, convulsing and collapsing. Eli had no idea any of it had occurred. Like some unexplainable freak accident from the Final Destination movies. The monitor that covered his eyes had gone blue. The blue screen of death. Coding flooded the screen as he finally came to, seeming to scroll down endlessly. Until it didn't. As suddenly as it had all happened, his vision was cleared and he was looking up at the game sky from his back. The gnoll boss lay dead next to him.

The blue screen slowly fades, and you find yourself unable to open any menus. You can't seem to reach up and remove your headgear either. You start to panic as everything begins to grow cold. "Cold as the grave," passes through your mind, making you tremble slightly in fear.

Suddenly a popup message fills your vision.

Ş̸̧̟͕̙̪̋͌̎̒̽͛̏̏̐͜͝ý̸̩̼̫͚͕̺̱̫̽̓̈́̄͌̒̄͗́s̸̡̡̺̜̜̬̺̟̞̀̄̀̈́̄̎̓̚͝ṱ̸̨͑̃e̸͙̹͗̊ͅm̷̻̭̱̲̣̮̾́̊̍̽̂͝ ̶̧̢̩̲̙̣̳̩͓̞̎Ë̷͈̩̥͍̮͔́̈̑̓̒̑̚͘͝ͅr̵̨̖̖͇̤̘͖͉̘͒̌ͅr̶̛̻̘̩̀͂ǒ̴̡̩̫͚͚̝͉̭͆̂̚r̸̨͕͙̘̜͊͑̇͐̃͠

It blinks out and returns again.

Ş̸̧̟͕̙̪̋͌̎̒̽͛̏̏̐͜͝ý̸̩̼̫͚͕̺̱̫̽̓̈́̄͌̒̄͗́s̸̀̄̀̈́̄̎̓̚͝ ̡̡̺̜̜̬̺̟̞ṱ̸̨͑̃e̸͙̹͗̊ͅm̷̻̭̱̲̣̮̾́̊̍̽̂͝ ̶̧̢̩̲̙̣̳̩͓̞̎Ë̷͈̩̥͍̮͔́̈̑̓̒̑̚͘͝ͅr̵̨̖̖͇̤̘͖͉̘͒̌ͅr̶̛̻̀͂ ̘̩ǒ̴̡̩̫͚͚̝͉̭͆̂̚r̸̨͕͙̘̜͊͑̇͐̃͠

That disappears and then once more, a popup fills your vision.

Welcome, Player!
You have been selected as worthy to remake yourself anew!
Do you accept this offer?
| Yes | No |

Spoiler: If Yes

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The popup closes, a second taking its place.

Warning!
This action will delete your current character, forcing you to restart at level 1.
Do you wish to continue?
| Yes | No |

Spoiler: If Yes

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The popup closes, as a third popup appears.

Final Warning!
Note that this action cannot be reversed.
Are you ready to leave your life behind and enter a new realm?
| Yes | No |

Spoiler: If you select No at any point

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You awake from the game just long enough to remove your gear and realize you are dying.

Game Over

[Deadguy]

System error. Oh man, did I break something? I just started.

Bugs. Something had glitched out. Eli had seen a few videos of people making games do crazy things. Most of the time it was on purpose, but doing it for the first time was probably an accident too.

Once the prompt appeared, he gave a sigh of relief and selected the Yes. The second Yes didn't give him any hesitation either. Why not, he had only been playing for maybe an hour.

A third prompt. He hadn't had this many attempts at changing his mind since the time he cancelled DirectTV. The wording seemed a little strange, but this was a virtual roleplaying game. Maybe it was just trying to set the mood. Eli selected Yes a final time and waited to see what would happen.

[Rizban]

Pain courses through your entire body, pain which should be blocked or at least reduced by the game's pain filters. You have them set to minimum, after all.

The taste of rainbows fills your ears as the sensation of being turned inside out and sucked through your toes overwhelms your senses, causing you to black out.

You awake an unknown period of time later and find yourself numb, completely unable to feel your body. Your ears hear nothing, and only a black emptiness meets you as you try to open your eyes.

Just as panic begins to set in, a popup appears. You feel relief at knowing that you're still in the game. You attempt to open a menu to determine your status, but nothing happens. The popup vibrates at you, as if somehow angered that you're ignoring it.

Welcome to your New Life+
Click below to begin character creation.
| Below |

You find yourself unable to do anything but interact with the popup mentally, just as you would with any popup in the game.

Spoiler: After clicking the button...

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After clicking the button, a series of numbers, symbols, and random words fly across your vision faster than you can read. You feel an almost intrusive sensation in your mind, as if someone or something is peering deep within.

Suddenly, a visual representation of dice scatter across your screen. The final result of each becoming large enough to fill your vision for a brief second.
(1d100)[23]
(1d100)[4]
(1d100)[37]

(1d20)[16]
(1d20)[13]

[Rizban]

Congratulations!
You have received one [1] Minor Boon.

Please choose your race.

A representation of the major races appears standing nude in front of you. Or rather, you see yourself in front of you, slightly altered to appear as each of the major races. A hazy line of individuals stretching off into the distance, which you intuit to be subraces that would be available for selection after making your choices.

Your available choices are

Human

__

Elf

__

Lizardfolk

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Orc

There is a pair of buttons hovering in front of each which reads

Select Race

Information

Almost obscured near what you would expect to be the floor, if such a thing existed, are two nearly invisible buttons which read

Apply Minor Boon to Race

There is no further information about the two buttons, nor do you notice any button related to the Least Perk.

Before you click anything, you feel a foreboding sensation that any and all choices you make at this time will be permanent.

[Deadguy]

Ugh... why did that hurt so much? I really must have broken something not even the standard settings for beginners was saved.

Eli cringed as the dice appear and disappear. Oof, man that's a terrible random generator.

Eli looked over the choices, knowing next to nothing about any of them. He assumed they were all the same as his previous character choices, but he hit information just to be sure.

While human was the safe bet, he couldn't help but be drawn to the idea of a lizardfolk. Scales and armor seemed like a great combination. That button hiding on the bottom by the feet was also interesting. The original game had made selections of things stand out so they wouldn't be missed.

[Rizban]

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

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.

Lizardfolk
Lizardfolk are thought to be, in some way, descended from dragons. Although that is many, many generations past, if true at all, they take pride in their heritage. They are an industrious people known for building massive cities in the jungles and plains of their homelands and for having a fiery temper that often leads to war.

Orc
Orcs are thought to be brutish thugs, but that's because most orcs encountered by other races were driven from their homes for that very behavior. Orcs have less developed industry than most other races, as they tend to prefer to honor the old ways and live as one with the land.

[Deadguy]

Yeah, I think the lizards look cool! The description made his choice even easier.

Eli mentally selected the little hidden option at the bottom of the feet and then selected the reptilian race.

[Rizban]

Spoiler: OOC

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Just to be clear, are you applying your minor boon to race?

[Deadguy]

Spoiler: OOC

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Yes. Sorry, I could have been clearer on my post

[Rizban]

When you spend your minor boon, the races available to you become fuzzy before returning with only the slightest tweaks to them. You feel a sense of loss as your minor boon is consumed, forever gone.

The names of the races all now have very small plus signs after them.

You select Lizardfolk+, and all of the race representations disappear. You are presented with the choice to select a heritage, showing you precisely two options.

Scaled One

__

Dragonkin

There is a pair of buttons hovering in front of each which reads

Select Heritage

Information

The button which denoted your minor boon is gone.

[Deadguy]

That might as well be Latin... Eli hit the information button and hovered over the choices to see each description.

[Rizban]

Scaled One
Lizardfolk arose through an interbreeding of the amphibious Scaled Ones and the Dragons. Your Scaled One heritage runs strongly in your veins, giving you many traits of amphibians, including the ability to eventually metamorphose into a greater form.

Dragonkin
Lizardfolk arose through an interbreeding of the amphibious Scaled Ones and the Dragons. The blood of dragons flows strongly within you, giving you access to innate magics and the ability to grow only stronger with advanced age rather than more frail.

[Deadguy]

Oh man, this is hard. Scaled Ones sound like they go through evolution, and Dragonkin are like Clint Eastwood, just getting more awesome with age...

Eli pondered for several moments before selecting Dragonkin. Can't go against Clint in the end.

[Rizban]

As soon as you touche the button for Dragonkin, the Scaled One representation disappears. You find yourself able to customize the appearance of the Dragonkin Lizardfolk to you liking, including changing the sex.

When you're finished, your point of view shifts instantly, and you find yourself in the character you just shaped. You once again have feeling, the numbness gone. However, you still feel weightless in the black nothingness around you.

An extremely sparse character sheet appears in your vision. (Link sent to you via PM)

You find yourself able to fill in a few minor blanks. You also have 2 points to spend on your ability scores, increasing any chosen score by 1. However, you can't assign more than 1 point to the same ability.

[Deadguy]

Eli kept the sex matching his own. It just felt strange to change it. He adjusted the height and weight until achieving a large muscular frame. The white scales seemed most appealing, especially with the addition of blue highlight patterns available in the customization. There wasn't any kind of information regarding how old the race lived, only that they grew stronger with age. He recalled everyone saying his dad was over the hill when he hit 40, so he decided to go with that.

Once that was complete, he tried to recall the character creation from the beginner's guide. He knew strength and constitution were important to a warrior, so he put a point into both.

The name was the hardest part. AGAIN! He wished he could close out of this and open up Google for some kind of draconic search. Without that, he did his best using syllables that he thought a reptilian race might use.

Clicking on all the other blocks of the sheet, he noticed the exp was editable. With a shrug, he tried to change the numbers to 10000.

[Rizban]

Your attempt to give yourself experience points produces an obnoxious error tone as it resets to zero, and you feel like trying to cheat the XP system again could have negative repercussions.

---

As you finalize your point distribution, you receive a notification that you will receive 2 points to spend on any ability score at each future level, but you'll always need to spend them on different ability scores.

Your vision blurs again as you are given a choice of classes, basic gear sets appearing before you, representing each class option.

Barbarian

__

Fighter

__

Ranger

__

Sorcerer

__

Warblade

Select Class

Information

[Deadguy]

Hmm... I've already done fighter in the normal game before it broke. I remember sorcerer being all about spells, ranger was about nature and ranged attacks, barbarian was more offensive than fighter... bah, why am I trying to figure this out on my own. Information!

Eli selected the Information button and hovered over each of the classes in turn.

[Rizban]

Barbarian
A warrior often hailing from a primitive society, barbarians use raw bloodlust to fuel their strength but can quickly exhaust themselves.

Fighter
Skilled combatants, fighters have access to additional feats as most levels. They also have several benefits when performing special maneuvers in combat.

Ranger
At home in the woods, rangers are a type of warrior specialized in the tracking and eliminating of a particular type of target.

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.

Warblade
The warblade was born for conflict. Swift, strong, enduring, and utterly confident in his martial skills, he seeks to test himself against worthy foes.

[Deadguy]

Despite having no prior attempts at the magic system, Eli was really considering selecting sorcerer. The idea of a dragon-blooded mage seemed really cool. He had been right about the other classes, but paused when seeing the warblade. If I had a coin right now, I'd totally flip it...

A bit unfortunately, he had already put stats in melee combat abilities, but that was fine. Odd numbers bothered him. He recalled the dragonkin get some inherent magic anyway, so he'd have to deal with the system no matter what. Might as well dive in! With that, he selected Sorcerer.

[Rizban]

You select Warblade, and the starting gear appears equipped on your body. You attempt to change your choice to Sorcerer, but the system had already recognized and processed Warblade, even if the choice confirmation hadn't appeared yet. You did receive a warning that all choices made would be final...

Your character sheet appears again, and begins to fill itself out.

You have the option to select two feats for your first Hit Die. Your choices are any feat you qualify for from the Player's Handbook or Tome of Battle.

In addition, you gain Least Dragonmark (Ray of Frost) as a bonus feat from your race.

[Deadguy]

That's really annoying... at least the regular game let me go back if I didn't like my choice. Or even start over.

At this point, Eli was all but fed up with the whole process. This was suppose to be something that distracted him from being stuck in the house. Now it felt like he was stuck here too. He decided to just call it a day. He could log back in if he felt like it later to continue.

He reached his hands up to where he believed his head was in order to remove the VR headset.

[Rizban]

Your hands brush against only rough scales and the raised ridges of your ear canals. The level of detail on the haptic feedback is significantly higher than you thought your VR gloves were able to provide.

[Deadguy]

Ok... it doesn't matter how it feels. I know the headset is there. Just pull it off.

Eli dug into the sides of the scaled head, trying to drag his hands over where the visor surely was resting. He had taken enough biology in college to know that the nervous system could be tricked.

[Rizban]

You tug on your face a bit, but the visor doesn't budge. You also feel your fingers digging into you face through where the visor sit, which shouldn't really be possible. It should be blocking your fingers, and the visor itself only gave small puffs of air for haptic feedback.

[Rizban]

The system issues a popup notice.

System Notice
Please select two [2] Feats to continue character generation.

[Deadguy]

This doesn't make any sense. I'm not even in the game yet. My cheapo VR equipment can't come close to doing this.

Eli was growing frustrated. He looked down at the hands, claws... whatever. He tore at the sides of his head. If he couldn't take the stupid thing off, he'd rip it off!

Why did I ever think playing a stupid video game would be fun?!

[Rizban]

You make no progress at removing the VR hardware.

System Notice
Please select two [2] Feats to continue character generation.

The system notice seems to somehow have more weight to it now, almost becoming insistent in its request.

[Deadguy]

Stupid thing can't even follow it's own rules! It says I have claws, why didn't I just cut myself?

He raked a claw across his arm to prove the point before giving a heavy sigh. Why was he raging against a computer program. It was almost funny, considering how many times he had watched videos of kids melting down while playing the game, all while thinking how they lacked discipline and self-control.

Eli opened the feat menu again and made his selections without further fuss. It didn't matter anyway, the program had obviously high-jacked his synapses. It was the only way to explain being stuck, or feeling this type of feedback. He wondered if it was some kind of terrorist or government plot to leave people helpless. Lord knows there were plenty of videos about the virus being manufactured.

[Rizban]

You seem completely unable to deal damage to yourself while floating in the black void of character generation.

Your interface freezes before you can select feats.

System Notice
It appears that you are attempting to disconnect from the System.
Note that disconnecting will result in immediate and permanent deletion and/or death.
Do you wish to permanently Disconnect?
| Yes | No |

[Deadguy]

Now it doesn't want me to select the feats... What the hell? Permanent death?! I don't care if the character is deleted, but the game is now threatening my life? I knew it did something shady.

Eli's attempt to calm himself had all but completely failed after this realization. So he had basically hooked himself into the Matrix. Good job moron. You're screwed now. He selected 'no' and selected the feats again. Let's just get this over with.