A/N: Hello, so I am the author. Hi. So I've been a long time reader and never actually posted anything, so I thought 'Hey why not?'. So here I am. Umm...reviews are nice? I want to know if I have messed up anywhere so if I have please PM me or something? Bye-bye~
"Where the fuck am I?"
These elegant first words were the first that poured from my mouth as my eyes trailed my surroundings.
A great expanse of white, with no perceivable boarders, stretched out infinite in length before me, unchanging even as I slowly spun on the spot.
"This uh, r-really doesn't look like my bedroom", I muttered uneasily to myself.
Releasing a shaky breath as I finished my slow spin, my right hand rose to rub my jawline, a nervous tick I had developed as a teenager. My muscles locked in place, however, when instead of meeting the familiar resistance of own body my hand passed through my skull. A tingling sensation assaulted the offending limb and a vaguely elbow shaped amalgamation of multi-coloured geometry filled my vision.
Breaths came in increasingly shaky as I slowly moved my 'elbow' back, eyes locked onto its form. 'Elbow' led to a forearm and eventually to a 'hand'. Unbidden my left 'hand' curled and my 'index finger' stretched out, shakily pointing at my technicoloured 'arm'.
"This, uuhhh, this is not okay. Umm, o-okay what the fuck? Is this a dream, or? Certainly doesn't f-fucking feel like one, umm"-at this point a burning, heavy sensation made itself known at the bottom of my stomach.
"No A-, Ale-, Ala-, A-A-...uh..."-my breath became more noticeably ragged, air desperately attempting to flood my system. My hand once again attempted to run my chin only to pass through it-"f-fuck, just ignore it. Just~ ignore it. Name, focus on your name. Oh god, what is my name?"
Violent shakes began to wrack my body, the shapes that composed my very-being, began to twist, quiver and malformed before my eyes-which had developed a light burning sensation and pushing feeling behind them.
My thoughts began to twirl, passing faster and faster in time with my gasps for air; 'Do I even need to breathe? Where am I? Who am I? How the hell did I get here? Oh, fu-fsdjkluihcsa'.
*DING*
Then, just like that, it was gone. My breath evened out, my body lights stopped deforming and only pure, unadulterated calmness remained, alongside a small little outline of a bell in the top right-hand corner of my vision,
I picked myself off the floor(?) and looked around. Nothing notable had changed, just...the bell icon appearing.
"What just happened?", I questioned, head swerving before my eyes locked onto the new addition to my field of vision.
As I narrowed my eyes and focused on the bell, expectantly a blue screen appeared in my vision, causing me to flinch.
Gamer's mind activated: Fear(Panic/Dread), nullified.
Press [OK] to continue
My head cocked to the side, heart pounding as I read the text.
"Gamer's mind? Why does that-? Oh, ohhhhhhhhhh, okay. No, yeah I uh, I am now more than okay with this."
I reached out and tapped the screen with my knuckle, pointedly ignoring the tingling of my arm as it once again failed to rub my chin.
Welcome to The Gamer, player [Unknown].
Would you like a tutorial?
[YES] [NO]
I pressed [YES], after all not doing the tutorial to your new life seems pretty dumb.
'Huh, that is odd. No +1 to wisdom or intelligence,? Breaking tropes already are we?'
I pursed my lips as I read the new screen before me.
Please enter your name below:
"My name huh?"
You have chosen: My name huh.
Would you like to finalise this choice?
[YES] [NO]
I very slowly, calmly reached out and pressed [NO], and deliberated internally.
'That was almost really, really bad. Definitely need to be much more careful in the future, just in case. So a name huh? Hmmm, well I think my old one started with an 'A', so let's start there. Alex, Alexander, Aldric, Andrew...Alaron? I mean, Aldric is a name I suppose, and sufficiently fantasy enough-just in case you know? I have seen enough isekais to know where this is going and it is better safe than sorry... God feeling entirely calm but scared is such an odd feeling.'
"Aldric-"-'oh crap I need a last name, think, think'-"-Tealeaf?"
You have chosen: Aldric Tealeaf.
Would you like to finalise this choice?
[YES] [NO]
'I wonder if it works with verbal commands too?'
"Yes please."
'Never hurts to be polite', I thought as the screen faded from view, bringing a smile to my face.
My smile somewhat dampened when I did not get another screen immediately, a few seconds rolled by, then a minute and just as I was about to start panicking again, a tremor shook the abyss, knocking me on my hands and knees.
Seven pillars of glass rose from the depths, each around hip height and possessing raised lips on the edges of the pedestal's top. I pushed myself to my feet as another message appeared before me.
Approach the pedestals and roll the dice upon each one.
[OK]
'Demanding, but fine.'
I walked up to the first pillar and saw upon it a collection of four, six-sided dice, or '4d6', each similarly glass-like. As I picked them up they were cold to the touch, yet strangely warm. The small cubes in my palm filled me with a sense of...reverence? I somehow knew, deep down that what I held was very old, very powerful and very dangerous.
Scanning the room one last time I rolled the dice across the top of the pedestal. I watched as the dice eventually stopped rolling and was taken aback when 3 of the four dice immediately glowed a pleasant green colour and the other a very deep, angry red.
14
From nowhere a status screen hovered above the pile of dice, and I quickly realised that the number I had from the dice corresponded to the number on the screen before me. I looked at the dice numbers I had gotten; 6, 3, 5, 2. The three highest were green and the lowest red.
'This really reminds me of rolling for ability scores in Dungeons and Dragons', I thought as I went about rolling the other 5 groups of dice. The final rolls I got ended up being:
17, 14, 13, 10, 9, 7
In my Dungeons and Dragons (DnD), experience this was a pretty damn good ability score spread. I had all but confirmed that these were for my ability scores at this point and the screen that appeared after finishing confirmed my suspicions.
The final pillar was odd, however, it only contained a single, five-sided die. This one felt different than the others, extremely familiar yet a complete stranger at the same time. I was...reluctant to even roll it, more than content to just hold it in my hand and...exist.
Gamer's mind activated: Fear(Content), nullified.
Just like that, it was gone, and I felt little for the die. It tumbled from my hand, unnaturally slow and tumbled gracefully, landing on a four.
'Content was nullified? That is disconcerting, to say the least.'
Please assign your Ability Score points into the Ability Scores below:
Str:
Dex:
Con:
Int:
Wis
Cha:
A small smile crept across my face as I read the sign and the following statistics it presented.
My smile became contemplative as I contemplated about Ability Score assignment.
'Will I be getting a class? I mean I assume so...also do all these Abilities work the way I think they do? Let's ask the System? Administrator? Whoever is in charge.'
"Hey, uh, help?", I called out.
There was no response for a few seconds before another screen appeared in my vision.
Help Menu
Input question: _
I breathed out a sigh of relief, and quickly set about asking questions.
"What are ability scores?"
'Let's start small.'
Ability scores are scores that determine the potency of the ability score or 'stat' they represent. The average human has 10 in all stats and every race has a natural limit, for humans, it is 20. The minimum score required for an ability score is 3, bar no outside sources and a score below 3 can and will have serious repercussions.
'Surprisingly informative. Next question.'
"What does each stat represent?"
Strength (Str): Damage of strength scaling weapons, carry capacity, athletic ability, and physical intimidation.
Dexterity (Dex): Damage of dexterity scaling weapons, reflexes, acrobatic ability, flexibility and gives a bonus to avoid being hit (see AC for more information).
Constitution (Con): Health and stamina pool, immune system, poison resistance, health regeneration and sometimes a bonus to avoid damage.
Intelligence (Int): Arcane magic casting stat, memory capabilities, problem-solving skills and ` reading speed.
Wisdom (Wis): Stamina pool (mental fortitude), decision making, exp modifier, divine casting stat, mental fortitude and aura pool.
Charisma (Cha): Innate mana casting stat, one's force of personality, linguistic aptitude and aura potency.
'Aura? Aura as in aura from RWBY? Or as in like that one I read from that web novel? RWBY though huh? That's gonna be...awesome? Terrible? Terrifying? I know enough about it that I should be good, but then again...I know more about damn fanfiction than I do the actual show..'
"System, will I be going to the RWBY universe?", I voiced my prediction aloud and waited for a response.
Affirmative.
A smile crossed my lips before a question came to mind.
"Why?"
User has been used in a trade alongside several other souls.
"So wait, there will be other people from Earth?"
Negative. User is the Dominant Soul.
'Is it bad that I feel relieved?'
"Dominant Soul? What do you mean?"
[Classified]
"That seems really bad, like really bad. System, what happened to all the other souls?"
[Classified]
'Let's move on. This is making me uncomfortable.'
"System, are you based on the DnD system? If so which one?"
The System has based itself on your memories on 'Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. Changes have been applied, however.'
'Changes huh? I will just have to ask about stuff I don't understand when it's relevant I guess.'
"System will there be classes and race bonuses?"
Affirmative.
Classes are chosen next. Followed by race.
'Good to know. So what class do I want to be? A barbarian or pure caster class is definitely a no. I do not wanna have to charge into battle shirtless or be screwed when someone gets within melee range of me. So I need a sort of mixture of both...a rogue would be good. They dodge everything and are able to land hits and get out unscathed, which is pretty important for huntsmen I believe. Speed that is. Rogues also get some skilled specializations. Are there archetypes? I assume so, and either way, rogues are my best bet. Sneaky, fast and effective. A damn good combination if I say so.'
I deliberated a while longer but ended up with the following stat spread:
Str: 7
Dex: 17
Con: 9
Int: 10
Wis 13
Cha: 14
Now, my reasoning for what I chose I feel is pretty solid. Dexterity was obvious-avoiding damage in the first place is better than taking the hits and from what I can remember rogues rely heavily on it for their attacks. Aura, from what I understand is also vital for where I am going, without it you are pretty much dead if you get into a fight. So following that train of thought I made charisma, followed by wisdom my next highest stats.
Charisma I decided was to be the higher one, having friends is almost always better than going at it alone after all. I also had pestered the system about multi-classing and it said it was possible but specific ones would need specific triggers to unlock them. My plan is to multi-class as a rogue and sorcerers are like wizards but instead of learning spells from book s they instead use their natural talents and draw power from their bloodline. Sorcerers were better in this scenario due to my high Charisma-which Sorcerers use for their magic.
Intelligence was going to be 10. I refuse to have it any lower. No telling what it would do to my psyche if I had it any lower, the System did say that 10 was the baseline for humans. I would prefer it higher in all honesty, but wisdom seems better-'experience modifier' called to me as well as the whole 'mental fortitude' thing. I would much rather not be charmed thank you. Actually, that reminds me...
"System what is Gamer's mind?"
Gamer's mind is a skill bestowed upon the player. It negates unnecessary emotions to increase player efficiency.
"Oh, that's...worrying? So no negation of mental effects?"
Affirmative.
Wisdom is definitely going to be high then.
Constitution was at 'nine' because if I am right about race bonuses, it should hopefully become a 'ten' soon enough.
Strength was my lowest. The reason is pretty easy to explain, alongside constitution I feel strength will be the easiest to train and I am setting up for more of a finesse fighter. Avoiding one on one fights on even footing is what being a rogue is all about after all.
"System, I'm done."
Affirmative.
Chose a class from below:
[Barbarian] [Bard] [Cleric] [Druid] [Fighter] [Monk] [Paladin] [Ranger] [Rogue] [Sorcerer] [Warlock] [Wizard]
'Wait for a second, I forgot about Monks, Rangers, and Fighters. Rogues usually get sneak attack, which gives a hell of a lot of damage and depending on archetypes I may even get more chances to do it. Ranger is tempting, but I remember preferring rogues. Rangers most likely only use bows too, which are almost certainly worse than guns. That leaves Monks and Fighters. Monks are out, purely because I refuse to have my life turn into a Wuxia Novel. Having to constantly meditate and find my 'inner peace' would get old quick'.
'Fighters are your stereotypical melee bois. Well, not really. They can use pretty much everything. Outside of a fight, however? Much like a barbarian, not much they can do aside practice. I will save fighter for later, maybe take a few levels in it when I get the chance. I have no clue what I will be dropped into and rogues have a lot of survivability need be.'
"System I choose [Rogue]."
Affirmative.
Chose a race from below:
[Human] [Faunas] [Half-breed]
"System what are the benefits of each race?" I questioned.
Human: +1 to all Ability scores.
Faunas: +2 to relevant Ability Score, +1 semi-relevant Ability Score, and race-specific bonuses.
Half-breed: +1 to a relevant Ability score, +1 to Proficiency and +1 Feat.
'Hmmmm, time for more questions I suppose.'
"System, what is a 'Proficiency' and what is a 'Feat'?"
Proficiency: Being proficient means that one is trained and able to utilise the skill or item in question. Proficiency eventually becomes expertise should adequate skill or training be met. Proficiency scales in proportion to level, meaning that higher leveled players are often more skilled than their lower-leveled counterparts.
Feat: A feat represents a talent or expertise. Feats are skills or capabilities that can be obtained regardless of race as long as relevant conditions are met. Feats can be taken in replacement for ability score increases on relevant levels.
"God I love info-dumps"-I groaned as I attempted to massage my temples, failing to do so as I went through my own body.
Shivering in disgust I considered my options.
'Human seems good, a +1 in everything rounds out a lot of my stats to nice, even numbers. A bit boring and plain though. Faunus...they get discriminated against don't they? That +2 bonus is looking really nice though. 20 dexterity is nothing to scoff at, and the potential for race traits could be interesting. Night vision would be pretty damn good for a rogue. Half-breed seems pretty good, almost like a Variant Human, just dependant on a few things. Will say, they do seem like the best option, but there has to be a downside. Maybe even worse racism? I can't know until I get there, and I don't think the System will be willing to answer that.'
"System I choose [Half-breed].", I finalised my decision; the Proficiency and Feat called to me, what can I say?
Enter sub-race based on an animal:_
'What's something speedy, has night vision and could bring my wisdom or constitution up? A lizard? No, cold-blooded could be pretty bad if I got that as a trait. What about a cat? Like a panther or something? No, I am realising Wisdom is more important than Constitution. I will most likely be like Lie Ren for a while...An owl wouldn't work, would it? They are pretty fast, hunt at night and are seen as smart and wise. Also, I can't really think of anything aside feathers that would be a demerit of having the race. Let's try it.'
"Owl"
Generating benefits...
Benefits generated:
+1 Dexterity or Wisdom
+1 proficiency: Flight (Wings)
+1 Feat: Owl kin
+5 perception
+5 to hit a target with a melee attack when airborne
Grants trait: [Claws] in addition to other race-traits.
Faunas traits:
[Claws] (Granted by Feat: Owl kin)
[Owl eyes]
[Night-vision+] (36.5m/ 120ft)
[Nocturnal]
'Shit, I was hoping to choose the Feat and Proficiency myself would have been smart to ask before choosing. Wait for a second...I have flight Proficiency with wings, but I don't have wings...*groans internally*. [Claws], could be useful, never being unarmed is always a bonus. [Night-vision+] is better than I had hoped for, but what exactly does [Owl eyes] and [Nocturnal] mean though?'
"System, before we continue can you explain [Owl eyes] and [Nocturnal] ?"
[Owl eyes]: Eyes look and function similarly to that of an owl's. -10 to perception when exposed or looking into 'bright light'.
[Nocturnal]: Biological clock set to be awake during night-time hours. Grants [Nightvision]or improves [Nightvision] to [Nightvision+]. -(18m/60ft) of vision in bright light.
'So I am worse than a human by day and better by night. Don't know if I like that.'
"System, put the point from my race towards Wisdom, please."
Affirmative.
Choose four proficiencies from the following list:
Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance. Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth
'Jesus, how much more is there to go? So I have high charisma, dexterity, and wisdom, so should I focus on those stats or even out my lower ones? The System did say that proficiencies scale with level, so committing and specialising is probably a smart idea. What the heck am I even going to do with my life? Am I going to fight Salem? Join her? Make a separate faction and do whatever like Raven is? I...I don't want to kill humanity, that much I know...Humanity and Faunus kind. Gotta be inclusive now, right.'
'I don't trust Ozpin. At all. That much I know. I also am not exactly what one would call a 'competent leader'-I can probably make some hard decisions and advise others but managing large amounts of people is something I cannot do at all. Period. Going to Beacon is paramount. Its where it all goes down, which means interacting with Ozpin in some way shape or another. So Deception and Persuasion? Maybe Insight?'
"System what is Insight?"
Insight: A Wisdom-based skill that is used to determine the intentions of another.
'Ozpin is a master of Deception and Insight I imagine-age brings about experience with it and he has been in his little game for a long ass time. Let's get the essentials out of the way first: Acrobatics; flips and moving around uses this, so this one is obvious.'
"System I choose Acrobatics."
Affirmative.
Choose three proficiencies from the below list:
Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance. Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth
'From what I know of DnD, Investigation is trap checking and clue searching. Not the most useful in my scenario. Oh, Stealth. That should have been more obvious.'
"System I choose Stealth"
Affirmative.
Choose two proficiencies from the below list:
Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance. Persuasion and Sleight of Hand.
'Two left. It's a toss-up between Perception, Deception, Insight, and Persuasion. Why aren't there any weapon Proficiencies here? Or armour ones?'
"System, why are there no weapon or armour proficiencies here?", I voiced my thoughts aloud.
Class and background determine armour, weapon and tool proficiencies.
"What are my current Proficiencies?"
You have Potential Proficiencies for Light armour. Daggers, rapiers, small arms weapons, sniper rifles, short swords, and bows. Thieves tools.
Player background has not yet been lived.
"What do you mean not yet lived? And what is 'potential proficiencies'?"
Background start is determined through the player's stats, to justify them. The player must live their own life and make their own choices.
Potential Proficiencies are not yet learned Proficiencies, they simply make the skills much easier to learn. The player's background will grant a minimum of 2 extra proficiencies.
"Oh. Okay then."
'That's useful to know. Still need my last two proficiencies, however. If I am going to be at Beacon and dancing around Ozpin's influence, Insight is probably essential-though I don't know how useful it will be against the man.'
"System I choose Insight."
Affirmative.
Choose one proficiency from the below list:
Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance. Persuasion and Sleight of Hand.
'I am Charisma stacked but have no Charisma-based skills, so that needs remedying. So what is better, Deception or Persuasion? Lying or convincing? Avoiding questions is probably pretty important for my class. Rogues are known for being thieves and the likes after all. So I guess it's Deception.'
"System I choose Deception."
Affirmative.
Choose two of the following to gain expertise in:
Acrobatics, Stealth, Insight, Deception or Thieves' tools.
'Expertise is like, double Proficiency if I recall correctly. Thieves' tools are almost defiantly things for traps and breaking and entering. I am going to definitely take Stealth, and maybe Acrobatics or...God, I have no clue. Acrobatics would directly influence my fighting style...and the others would just be, nice to have? So Acrobatics then? Screw it, yeah, sure. This has gone on long enough anyway. '
"I choose; Stealth and Acrobatics"
Affirmative.
Would you like to see your character sheet before continuing?
[YES] [NO]
"Yes"
Health points(HP): 7
Mana points(MP): LOCKED (No spellcasting class selected).
Aura points(AP): LOCKED (6)
Physical Ability Scores: Mental Ability Scores:
Str: 7 Int: 10
Dex: 17 Wis: 14
Con: 9 Cha: 14
Potential Proficiencies:
Acrobatics(Expertise), Sneak(Expertise), Insight, Deception,
Light armour.
Daggers, rapiers, small arms weapons, sniper rifles, short swords, and bows.
Thieves tools.
Proficiencies:
Flight (wings).
Feats:
[Owl kin]
Traits:
[Claws], [Owl Eyes], [Nightvision+] and [Nocturnal].
"So that's me huh? Hey System, how do Insight and all that work? Like how do stats affect it and all that?"
Ability modifier is added to your proficiency and that is added to any attempts at relevant skills on top of your situation. Example:
Player[Aldric Tealeaf], sneaks by a guard poorly. Say a 7/20. Your total sneak value will become: Situation bonus + Dexterity modifier + Proficiency bonus
7 + 4 + 2 = 13
This raises your Stealth value to be three above the average human's best attempt at stealth (ten).
"Neato? Um, so my proficiency bonus at the moment is 2? And what is an Ability Modifier?"
Affirmative.
Ability score modifier = (Ability Score – 10) / 2.
"Thank you. So um, what's the next portion of the tutorial?"
The tutorial has been completed. Next stage is prologue: Birth.
"Birth?"
Affirmative.
Prologue beginning in 30 seconds.
"Birth? Birth!? Oh shit, I really should have expected this. System can't we like, I dunno? Skip this part?", I pleaded.
Negative.
Prologue beginning in 10 seconds.
"..."
Prologue beginning in 5 seconds.
"Will it hurt?"
Affirmative.
Good luck player[Aldric Tealeaf].
Beginning tutorial now.
And then, I screamed.