Portal to D&D IC - In4Dimensions

[Rizban]

Spoiler

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True Name: Juli Goldblum
Profession: College Student
Character Name: Aja (eye-uh) Windcutter
Character Overview: A curious, bookish erudite

Spoiler

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If Juli could be summed up in 1 word, it would be “curious”. Ever since she can remember, she’s been infatuated with the idea of acquiring new knowledge and discovering new experiences. In school, this mindset translated to a student who was very bright and intelligent, but who sometimes had trouble staying on task. Regardless, she did well enough to get into her dream college, Boston College, at the end of her senior year.

Juli adapted quickly to college life. She soon became good friends with her roommate, a Midwestern girl named Celia. The two of them could hardly be any more different; Juli spent nearly all her time in the library, doing classwork or surfing the web, while Celia was a phenomenal hockey player who practiced for hours every day.

It was towards the end of her sophomore year when she first came across the new full-immersion D&D RPG. Suggested to her by a friend, Juli tried it and instantly fell in love. The quality was top-notch, the character generation was detailed, and the world was fully fleshed-out. Thus was Aja Windcutter born; Juli loved the concept of a wizard-like class who didn’t need to rely on words or gestures, and she thought that if she herself existed in the game, she’d want to be an erudite.

She started to spend a good deal of her free time on the game, and she loved every minute of it. She didn’t really have any friends to play it with— none of her IRL friends were interested in RPGs— but that didn’t bother her. She could adventure just fine by herself, and it was easier to work towards her own personal quest— accumulate knowledge of every psionic power in existence.

Recently, she has been coming up to the end of a major quest— a buffed-up mind flayer was threatening the nearby area, and her job was to track it down and kill it. She fought through its traps, thralls, and underlings, and then finally reached the illithid. The battle was tough but exhilarating, and she triumphed in the end. Among the creature’s loot was an old and weathered scroll that radiated a psychic aura so strong it gave not just Aja but Juli a headache. As she picked up the scroll, her headache increased to mind-numbing levels of pain. She decided it wasn’t worth it, whatever it was, and started to put the scroll down. As she did so, she unconsciously translated one of the words on the scroll— an ancient inscription for the word “power”. As the word flashed into her mind, everything went white, and she ceased to feel.

Here’s my entry, Juli/Aja.

Raw, undiluted Power flowed through you, making you feel like you wield the powers of a god... only you soon realize that the Power is only wearing you like a suit, a mere conduit, and you have no control over it. Your sense of the world is overwhelmed by an unbearable bright white until, like a light switch being flipped, it is replaced by a an all consuming darkness. The Power has left you.

Greetings, Player!
You have been offered the chance 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

Show

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 ever select "No"

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You awake with a mild headache and an unusual debuff. You sit up and realize that you are back at your bound respawn point. That scroll was a trap! It almost got you, but you thankfully had stashed most of the drops into your inventory before examining the scroll. You've got a death penalty and a a bit of XP debt, but you're otherwise unharmed.

Soon, the debuff timer expires, and you're back to normal. The whole thing slowly fades from your memory, becoming just one more in a long line of tough boss battles. Your life goes on, unchanged by the experience.

Game Over

[In4Dimensions]

Owwwww... what the hell was that? And where am I?

Juli notices the pop-ups appear in front of her.

Huh, I’ve never seen this before. “Remake myself anew?” I mean, I guess... It can’t hurt, right?

Juli hits yes for all three pop-ups.

[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.

(3d100)[95][16][99](210)

(2d20)[16][8](24)

[Rizban]

Congratulations!
You have received two [2] Greater Boons.

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

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Elf

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Golem

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Halfling

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Lizardfolk

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, is a nearly invisible button which reads

Apply Greater Boon to Race

There is no further information about the button.

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

[In4Dimensions]

Ow ow ow ow ow! How painful is this going to be?? I deserve a refund, or at least a bug fix!

After the pain fades and Juli clicks begin, she sees her choices of races appear in front of her. She’s deciding between Human and Elf when she notices the Apply Greater Boon to Race Button at the bottom. On a whim, she presses it, just to see what happens.

[Rizban]

You feel a significant sense of loss as your Greater Boon is consumed, forever gone.(1d20)[20]

The race representations in front of you change drastically and have new names appear along with them.

Dusk Era Human

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Feytouched

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Dual-Purpose Golem

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Wispling

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Ophidian

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Drake

Strangely, the Lizardfolk option has split into two different options, which appear distinctly different.

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

Select Race

Information

The boon button is no longer visible.

[In4Dimensions]

Interesting...

Juli selects Information for each race.

[Rizban]

Dusk Era 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. Dusk Era Human is a Tier 2 race. You are everything that a human is, but with significant influence from an ancient time. Your adaptability and potential for growth is greatly improved.

Feytouched

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 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.

Dual-Purpose Golem

Golems are servitors created by the other races for menial labor or as guardians. Sometimes through chance, mishap, great skill, or a dark ritual, a golem becomes sapient and, it is argued, acquires a sole. These lone creatures often have a sad fate, dismissed by the mortal races as a mere object. However, the benefits of agelessness and the potential to upgrade themselves is unparalleled. A dual-purpose golem was crafted by the very wealthy, very powerful, or very lucky. It was not designed or built with only a single predefined role.

Wispling
Haflings are a small and oft overlooked race. They are jovial and friendly travelers, but they are also skilled burglars. Wispling is a Tier 2 race. Wisplings are halflings touched by Shadow. Their stealth abilities are greatly enhanced, but their soul is touched by Darkness.

Ophidian

Lizardfolk are said to be descended from dragons who mated with primordial reptilians. Although mere mythology, 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. Ophidian is a Tier 2 race. Lizardfolk arose through an interbreeding of the amphibious 'Scaled Ones' and the Dragons. Your Ophidian heritage runs strongly in your veins, giving you many traits of amphibians, including the ability to eventually metamorphose into a greater form.

Drake

Lizardfolk are said to be descended from dragons who mated with primordial reptilians. Although mere mythology, 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. Drake is a Tier 2 race. Your draconic heritage is true, and you manifest some of the traits of your ancestor. The most common traits are wings and the ability to breathe fire.

[In4Dimensions]

Well, usually I like humans, but fire breath and natural flight? How could I pass that up! I wonder if that means I’ll get to metamorphose into a true dragon later on.

With only a hint of regret, Juli selects Drake as her race.

[Rizban]

As soon as you touch the button for drake, all of the other race representations disappear. You find yourself able to customize the appearance of the drake to you liking, including changing the sex. As for the color of your scales, you seem able only to choose bright colors or some various opens that look somewhat like natural metals. (5d4)[1][3][1][2][2](9)

The only trait you seem to have unusual to a humanoid is a powerful looking tail.

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 3 points to spend on your ability scores, increasing any chosen score by 1. However, you can't assign more than 1 to the same ability.

[In4Dimensions]

Ugh, damn! No wings! Maybe I should have picked the human after all.
Ah well, I’m sure I’ll get more than just a tail at some point. Just gotta be patient.

Juli fleshes out her character, noticing that her ability scores aren’t very high. She names her character Aja out of a force of habit, and slaps on a generic honorific. If a last name becomes necessary, she can probably just make one up later on. Once she finishes, she sits back to the best of her ability and waits for the next prompt.

Spoiler: DM

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I’ll give her white scales; there just wasn’t a place to put that in the sheet. Turns out I’m just blind.

[Rizban]

As Aja confirms her name, a slightly queasy feeling fills her gut. Motion sickness. Definitely some sort of motion sickness. Maybe.

Anyway.

You finalize your point distribution and receive a notification that you will receive 3 points to spend on any ability score at each future level.

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

Duskblade

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Lurk

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Psion

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Scout

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Totemist

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Wizard

Select Class

Information

Apply Greater Boon to Class

[In4Dimensions]

Three points at every level? That’s pretty good, but starting at 1st level won’t be fun in that department.

Juli looks over her class choices. She rules out Totemist (too confusing), Scout (why would I play a martial when there are so many more options?), and Lurk (who even plays that class?) before noticing that the Greater Boon button has returned. She presses it, and waits to see what will happen.

Spoiler: DM

Show

I apologize to any and all Lurk players out there

[Rizban]

You feel a deep sense of loss as your Greater Boon is consumed, forever gone.

Your class choices go blurry for a moment before reappearing seemingly unchanged, at least at first glance.

Duskblade/?

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Lurk/?

__

Psion/?

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Scout/?

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Totemist/?

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Wizard/?

Select Class

Information

The button for your boon has disappeared, this time for good.

[In4Dimensions]

Huh, that’s new. Is this like gestalt or something? That would be nice.

Juli clicks on the Information button for Psion, Duskblade, and Wizard, and also taps around randomly on the edges of the screen for a couple seconds to see if there’s any little hidden bonuses or additional information.

Let’s just see if there’s any little Easter eggs...

[Rizban]

Random poking! (3d100)[58] Sad trombone

An intense feeling of dread settles around you as you find a spot that feels... "squishy." You think poking around more might be... "bad."

Duskblade
The duskblade specializes in merging the arcane arts with physical prowess, charging his weapon as he charges into battle. After selecting this class, you will be able to choose a linked class.

Psion
Harnessing the strength of his will, a psion uses the power of thought to reshape reality to his whims. After selecting this class, you will be able to choose a linked class.

Wizard
Through great effort and study, a wizard learns to cast arcane spells. Though their potiential for growth is neraly unlimited, the time dedicated to research often seems overwhelming. After selecting this class, you will be able to choose a linked class.

[In4Dimensions]

Ah, so it’s at least similar to gestalt. Well, psion it is!

Also, euch. Probably shouldn’t try to mess around with character gen anymore than I need to. And yet, I just want to try one more thing...

With that, Juli selects Psion as her class, but she holds the button until something happens instead of just tapping it.

[Rizban]

You find it impossible to hold the button, as it vanishes the instant you touch it. You realize with a slight panic that simply brushing against a button accidentally might count as making a selection...

Select your discipline.

[In4Dimensions]

Huh. Okay, good to know, this plays by a “you touched it” rule. Let’s be careful from here on out.


Does it just want me to... think of the discipline I want?

Juli looks around (carefully!) for any sort of information, or even just a button.

[Rizban]

You're aware of the six psionic disciplines and know you need to select one of them. There's no further obvious interface to do this.

[In4Dimensions]

Alright, well, if I’m going to be alone at level 1, I might as well have a friend with me, especially one who can fight.

Juli thinks of the Metacreativity discipline and waits to see if anything happens.

[Rizban]

The psion gear appears on your body, and you receive another notification.

Choose Psion (Shaper) linked class.

You don't seem to have received any additional information or a new interface beyond the notification.

[In4Dimensions]

Oh, I get to pick any class? Alright, let’s see...

Dragonfire Adept would be thematic, but it doesn’t pair very well with Psion. Warblade could be fun, or Factotum. Let’s go with, uh, Factotum.

Juli selects Factotum as her linked class.

Also, I wonder if I get to choose acfs? Poking around last time didn’t work out, but maybe since this is for a specific purpose it’ll work better.

She also spends a couple moments trying to find or create a “Select Alternate Class Feature” button, or something similar.

[Rizban]

When you select Factotum as your linked class, you sense it merge with your previously chosen Psion class. Your psion class gains the Inspiration and Cunning Knowledge class features at 1st level, though you only have 1 inspiration point rather than the expected 2.

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

You have the option to select two [2] feats from your first Hit Die. Your choices are anything you qualify for from the Player's Handbook, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Dungeonscape, or a Draconic feat from any WotC source.

[In4Dimensions]

Juli winces as she sees some of her stats fill out, particularly her HP. Ooh, that’s bad. I had hoped I’d get the Factotum’s hit die, but I guess not.

As her feat options come up, she frowns.

Okay, let’s see. Boost Construct is a must-have, so that’s one out of the way. As for number two, maybe Psionic Body? An extra 4 HP will probably save my ass at least once, and I can eventually switch it out with Reformation if I want.

Yeah, let’s go with that.

Juli selects Boost Construct and Psionic Body as her feats.

[Rizban]

Spoiler: DM

Show

Feel free to add things to your sheet as you make decisions. You should be able to edit it, well, most of it.

Also, I forgot your psion bonus feat.

You also get one [1] bonus feat from your psion level.

[In4Dimensions]

Right, the bonus feat! A Psicrystal wouldn’t be a bad idea— I could use it as a scout. An initiative bonus can’t hurt as well.

Juli selects Psicrystal Affinity - Nimble as her psion bonus feat.

Spoiler: DM

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I don’t want to mess up your formula for the HP box; should I just add a +6 on the end for Psionic Body?

[Rizban]

Your selected feats populate to your sheet, changing other values that they affect automatically.

When that completes, a selection of skills appears, and you are informed that you have 8 Skill Points to assign. Clicking through a few of the skills, you discover that the Psion (Shaper) has the same class skills as usual but all cross class skills only cost 1 skill point, despite retaining their maximum of only half the ranks of a class skill.

[In4Dimensions]

Ooh, cross-class skills don’t cost double! Nice. I need full points in Concentration for sure, and then how about...
Juli thinks for a moment or two.
Let’s go with Psicraft, UMD, Listen, and Spot.

Juli finishes adding her skill points to her sheet, and waits for the next prompt.

[Rizban]

You gain three [3] psionic talents (0-level powers) and three [3] 1st-level powers.

You can choose any power from the provided link or the Expanded Psionics Handbook. Some 1st-level powers have become psionic talents and are no longer available as 1st-level powers. You may, however, choose to sacrifice a normal power known to gain two additional talents known for each power known sacrificed.