Overlord: The Exiled
Notification of Status and Progress Report
Is this thing working? Testing . . . testing 1, 2, 3 . . . (taps microphone).
Hey! I hope as many of you out there as possible are having a good Christmas or Winter Holiday if you're not a person who celebrates Christmas.
I'm sorry that this is not a chapter proper, but I did want to notify everyone who has been following "The Exiled".
First and foremost. I AM alive and while not in Tip Top Form . . . surviving the year of crap that is 2020 . . . I agree, we need a refund for this year. I'm not a year older, I couldn't use it . . . BAH! I'm sounding like the old man with a shotgun on the rocker on his front porch.
I am working on the next actual plot chapter of "The Exiled", but with as heavy as it will get, and Christmas and this year's load of dung, I'm not really driving through it like I would like to for a battle and combat laden installment.
With that out of the way . . .
I feel with a recent influx of both reviews and mainly Private Messages, that some hard clarification is needed before I lose my gods, thrice damned mind over it.
I'm also getting very tired of repeating myself despite Post Chapter Author's Notes and other notifications despite this fic exceeding the 40 chapter marker, which most fics on the site never get to.
Firstly. I believe the vast majority of you reading "The Exiled" are at least somewhat aware that the Light Novels, even though they are far more comprehensive than the anime ever will be. What anime EVER covers all the nitty gritty that a Light Novel can?
Answer: None of them. You might as well just make an anime documentary with all the exposition that happens in written form media to convey thoughts and emotions that do not happen in visual only media entertainment.
Secondly: I admit that much information and reference material I am making use of will not be explored or explained fully in "The Exiled".
Let me say this upfront: I will never fully just outright information dump everything on every character this fiction is going to introduce. That defeats the purpose of even writing the fic! I will present information as it becomes relevant to situations. Like the weaknesses Draconis Brightblade DOES possess that he will suffer for. Even characters like Deidre of Crystal Tear will not be fully explained.
Shoot, look at a huge portion of the cast of characters in canon for Overlord's New Worlders . . . I'd LOVE to have a full spread out of stats and powers and skills for Brain Unglaus, Fluder Paradyne, even Remedios Stupidios. We don't have them. Just enough to kinda make us picture them more or less.
Some of you already have realized what it is that I'm pulling from. Congratulations! You lot are ahead of the curve by a massive margin.
The rest of you. I am pulling from Table Top RPGs: Dungeons and Dragons version 3.0 and version 3.5 as well as Pathfinder. I am also making use of elements from MMORPG aspects from things like [World of Warcraft] and [Final Fantasy XIV]. Both of which I have played and continue to play quite a lot. Even mobile games like [Girls Frontline], [Azur Lane], and [Arknights]. So I get the mechanics of the Gacha style games all too well.
Goodbye wallet for rare characters and perks~~~ T0T
That being said. With Kugane Maruyama, he has openly told interviewers and tweeted as well that he was inspired by his gaming with Table Top RPGs. Dungeons and Dragons and others like them that inspired things like the ever classic Anime Silver Age [Record of Lodoss War] back in 1989.
A Dungeons and Dragons game session is NOT something that is: Play and hour and done.
You meet with friends (pre-2020 Covid-19) at a table (preferably one that let's your dice bounce and just sliiiiiiide, when thrown), with drinks (Yes, the Mountain Dew trope is a thing for a reason) and food, and play for the majority of the day or night . . . or BOTH. Longest session I played took us ten hours . . . boss fight marathon~~~~~~!
Now with the advancements of the Internet and online sites for gaming and talking, we do it online via things like and discord or some other voice chat room system (b/c Covid-19 and 2020 in general).
All of that to say: I know that blending the two aspects of a Table Top RPG and an MMORPG takes creativity that may not be understood by what we call "Rules Lawyers" who cannot be flexible with aspects that most people would find off-putting or "scene killers". Like knowing the ratios of damage for the Attack Stat VERSUS Defense Stats, and the Dungeons and Dragons concept of Saving Throws vs Spell Effects or Area of Effects. Doing so is like explaining in words the algorithm for calculating whether or not the spell affects him/her/it. Few readers want to slog through such information in the middle of an Action Scene.
Dungeons and Dragons has a few simple, universal rules. 1. The books are all guidelines. Sure all the hard rules are there for gameplay, but anyone running it can make adjustments as they wish to create a fresh experience against an otherwise cardboard, cookie-cutter monster or even Player Class. And 2. Have fun. Simple.
Of course there is unwritten Dungeons and Dragons Law 0: The Dungeon Master (DM)/Game Master (GM) is the god of the table. He/she can overrule anything or let anything slide for the sake of the narrative. Now, this can be good and bad, but I won't go into that discussion here.
Third: "There is no way for Draconis to have Tier X much less Super Tier Spells, your character is Bullshit. Etc., etc., etc."
Go Back to the above point. Everyone involved in some form or fashion in Dungeons and Dragons has done comparisons and builds for Ainz and all of the Guardians of Nazarick and even New World residents into the Dungeons and Dragons scheme of rules, classes and levels and even for some of them. The equipment and magic equipment and items.
Draconis is absolutely no different.
I know I'm not the only one who gets messages like this, but the level it's getting taken to in Private Messages is absurd.
Some would say I'm "feeding the TROLLS" doing this, but whatever.
If you send this kind of stuff to me and I look and see that you: A. Don't have a single fiction to your own name that you've posted to this site, and yet have more than 500+ Favorite Stories and/or Authors . . . OR B. Don't have a single fic more than 100,000 words in count.
I'm really, really not going give it weight. There is a distinct difference between constructive criticisms and trash.
I write for the enjoyment of it to help vent the stress of the workday. And gods above help me, this year has been utter garbage for EVERYONE across the globe.
So if you're doing this just to vindicate your tough year . . . you are not the only one so stop spreading the crap.
I do not take "payments" or "Patrons" via , or any other cyber media outlet to write my fic unlike a few other authors I've noticed online doing so. Which is both sketchy and riding the line of outright plagiarism. Which is why I will never do so. Fanfiction is a finicky beast that straddles that line already. I will not state names and it is NOT something limited to just the Overlord section of the site.
There is NOTHING against doing such a thing in the Fanfiction site's Rules and Guidelines, but I find the practice extraordinarily shady.
Fourth: An addition to the Third Point. "Self Insert" commentary.
Where do you people who megaphone decry this accusation come from?! Now, to be more specific, this is (thankfully) a minority of reviews, but the Private Messages is another matter for a few of those out there in cyberland.
More than one PM'er said that he/she "won/wins" the argument by the very nature of this being Fanfiction . . . And in their opinions, a crappy, or bullshit fanfiction . . .
Uh . . . you also LOSE that argument due to it being fanfiction. Fanfiction by its very nature can be practically anything . . . tasteful or not. Whether or not you enjoy it is entirely up to yourself. I don't force you to read any of it. I don't have a hitman behind you at the desk or in your seat or in your bed as you read on your laptop/tablet/phone/device making you read the fruits of my work.
Honest to gods? I don't want to be in half the worlds Isekai Anime though their MCs into. They're pretty shitty circumstances and worlds. And I wouldn't be out saving everyone I could for free if at all. I rather like keeping to myself with a small group of friends and my family. I sure as hell would not throw myself into the political arenas. I love food and cuisine, I'd be learning to cook everything I could, not on the frontlines. I have immense respect for the sacrifices and horrors of those in any armed forces have to go through on the battlefield. I admire and am utterly fascinated by the engineering and technologies that have resulted from military applications that have transformed the everyday living (cell phones, GPS, even the Internet itself). I am in no way Draconis, nor is he 100% me.
But I DO place myself in the characters that I'm writing's shoes and ask myself, "What would this character do in X situation with Y circumstances and Z knowledge?"
Is it perfect? Hells no. Are they me? No, no they are not.
As I've stated before on SEVERAL occasions. I'm not making Draconis be a "Ooh, Ainz is so great, let me do everything like him." He's to be a counterbalance in a world where honestly? The everyday is pretty SHIT. But executed in a manner that is radically different from Ainz's Plot Armored LUCK STAT.
Now BEFORE you rake me over fiery coals. I like Ainz/Momonga as a concept and initial execution of character up to the Lizardman Heroes Arc in the LIGHT NOVELS. Heck I even understand the execution of that section of the storyline. You're an EVIL character, who's evil nature for this comes in the form of not doing "good" deeds for the sake of it, but for the promise of "Quid Pro Quo" via FORCE. POWER and MIGHT MAKE RIGHT. That's sound for Evil Characters.
Even the occasions of purely dumb luck I do find amusing when it's done SPARINGLY. But it happens EVERYTIME. Comedy done via the ignorance of one party and the misunderstanding of the others is good when executing it well, but when it becomes the butt joke of the series it's like stale popcorn after only an hour.
And even Evil has to answer for KARMA. Which isn't happening in the Light Novels.
What? You want me to slap the [Alternate Universe] tag on "The Exiled" to cover my ass from "Dragons cannot be a Player Race in Canon" complaint? That I'm not following all the rules of YGGDRASIL that aren't concrete rule-by-rule, play-by-play, hard numbers on stats and all estimates to begin with?
Race Change items are a thing. I could just as easily just use one that makes the Player a Dragon . . . Draconis found one . . . 'nuff said. It's that easy to alter things. I mean c'mon, Renner is an IMP Race now . . .
Even the MP rule that gets a mention in the Light Novels isn't giving hard numbers of MP count and HP totals. Only examples for "getting the mileage" of spell cost vs MP potential max.
A vast majority of the information is "inferred" leaving true numbers completely up to the reader and fan base. It could be mere hundreds as the max with maybe something like old RPG "999 HP Max, and 100 MP Max" or more Golden Age RPG "9999 HP Max and 999 MP Max" or something more current like "Several Hundred Thousands of HP depending entirely on class and race builds and Several Tens of Thousands MP based on class and race builds". We don't know because actually listing all those details in a Light Novel would burn anyone out just writing it the first time, much less keeping up with it over the course of 14 Light Novels.
Sigh.
Final Point.
If you don't like this fic, don't read it. Once again: I am NOT MAKING YOU READ THIS. I have more respect for those of you who have read the fic, not found it to be to your tastes and left a message saying that you were wishing me well and not continuing to read it because it just didn't strike your fancy.
Thank you for giving "The Exiled" a shot at the very least.
For everyone sticking with me on this journey. My heartfelt thanks and gratitude.
I'm sorry for a post like this on Christmas Day of all things.
I'm not with family this Christmas at all this year b/c 2020 strikes again and puts all my family in quarantine due to Covid-19 exposure. So I'm not in the best mood . . . have care and stay safe.
Merry Christmas . . . and let's hope we can make it to the New Year . . .
Let's hope that 2021 is better . . .
Speaking of! Given the nature of the next chapter and it's following content, here is the roster for the following Chapter(s).
Chapter 41: War of the Dragon Kingdom 4 – The Scarlet Hill Final
Progress: 70 Percent.
Chapter 42: War of the Dragon Kingdom 5 – Evil Rising
Progress: 40 Percent.
Chapter 43: War of the Dragon Kingdom 6 – The Seven Days War
Progress: 20 Percent.
Chapter 44: War of the Dragon Kingdom 7 – [Title Status: In Brainstorming]
Progress: 10 Percent.
Chapter 45: Avalon Perspective Return . . . picking up at the end of the Leviathan Oceanis fight.
Progress: 10 Percent.
I have not been idle, but 2020 has been frustrating beyond belief. Stay safe everyone.
Reis Nailo . . . Signing Off.
