4 Stats and Talents

I close my eyes and proceed to call up my stats screen. Apparently, I am the only one that's capable of doing this because when I first described it to Candy, she looked at me like I had two heads. The process doesn't feel like anything special though, a bit like envisioning yourself from a third-person point of view.

As the process takes hold, my vision flickers momentarily before a large white screen appears in my mind's eye, filled with text and numbers. It starts with some basic character information:

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Name: Ash Kesirenna

Titles: King of Lakeside Castle

Race: High Elf

Sex: Male

Age: Unknown

Height: 5'11" (1.8m)

Weight: 130 lbs (59kg)

Class: None

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As I "scroll" down, my character's stats come into view:

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Level: 4 [Lvl. up +1!]

HP: 10/10 (+5 from crude leather armor) [+0]

Mana: 0/100 [+10]

--Strength: 2 [+0]

-Constitution: 3 [+0]

++Dexterity: 7 [+2]

~Intelligence: 5 [+1]

+Charisma: 5 [+1]

~Luck: 3 [+0]

Talents: Cosmic Insight (SS), Tactile Feedback (A), Cheat Code (SSS)

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Let me give you a quick rundown on what it all means. The numbers in the [square brackets] represent the stats I just gained from leveling up, while the numbers in the (parenthesis) are stats I gain from my equipments and items. You'll also notice a symbol before each of my stats (+, -, ~). These represent my affinity for the given stat. Since I belong to the high elf race, I receive a major penalty (--) to my strength and a minor penalty (-) to my constitution. I am neutral (~) when it comes to intelligence and luck, and I receive a minor boost to charisma (+) and a major boost (++) to dexterity.

You might also have noticed a line at the bottom called "talents". These are genetic traits that an individual is born with and which endows upon the holder a particular power, good or bad. Unlike skills, talents cannot be learned or unlearned and will persist with an individual throughout his or her lifespan. The number of talents an individual may have greatly varies, with some having no talents, while others, like me, have several. Talents are also ranked according to a tier system depending on their rarity and effect. As you can see, I have an A-tier talent called, "Tactile Feedback", and a SS-tier talent called, "Cosmic Insight". I'll describe what these do at a later time, but what I really want to talk about right now is my SSS-tier talent, "Cheat Code".

Being the highest tier talent, "Cheat Code" is amongst the rarest, most powerful talents an individual can possess. And I have to admit, this particular talent certainly does live up to its namesake. What "Cheat Code" does is, once every twenty levels, I am able to completely rearrange my stat distribution, allocating points into whatever stats I see fit. To understand why this is so broken, you first need to understand the way stat gains works in this world.

Unlike many RPGs, which provide players with a pool of points to allocate with upon leveling up, the system in this world doesn't normally allow an individual to pick which stats to increase. Of course, there are items which can be used to increase particular stats, but these are exceedingly rare and extremely expensive. For most, stat growth is based purely on random chance after level up, with probabilities of a particular stat increasing- called the growth rate- determined by your race's affinities and your innate genetics. This creates two problems.

First, as I'm sure everyone knows, RNGesus can fuck you over big time. A ninety-nine percent chance of success means shit if you land on that one percent. And because there is normally no way to redistribute your stats, a bad roll of the dice can fuck you over for life. Second, because racial affinities play such a large part in the probability of a particular stat increasing, members of a given race are often locked into a particular archetype. Dwarves are always front-line melee warriors, due to their high strength and constitution, but make crap mages due to lower intelligence and mana pools. Elves, on the other hand, tend to be archers or rogues, due to their high dexterity, but make god awful tanks because of bad constitution and poor HP pools. The one-dimensionality of the different races greatly limits an individual's combat potential, a problem which I can bypass completely using "Cheat Code" and stats redistribution. Bored of being a mage? Let me just move all my intelligence points to strength and become a melee, spear-wielding frontliner. Simple.

Oh, and did I mention that I get an additional two stat points per level up, to allocate however I want? Broken as fuck, right?

But cheating ain't all easy, you know. Despite how it sounds, it's a tough life. Unlike the vast majority of this world, I actually have to make decisions about where to put my stat points. It's a bit nerve wracking, I have to admit, because it'll be on me if I build my character wrong. I mean sure, I can always reset it after twenty levels, but that is still quite aways, and I don't want to have the wrong build for sixteen whole levels. It'll make the grind that much more painful. No, I need to think carefully about this and make the right decision.

At the moment, I have accumulated six extra stat points, from leveling up three times, that I need to allocate.

Should I allocate my points into strength? Because of my major penalty in this category, I will need to spend four stat points to increase my strength by a single point. The benefit here, however, is obvious. With more strength, I'll be able to "thrust" harder. Oh, and it might be useful in combat as well.

Maybe I should add to my constitution? Because of my minor penalty in this category, I will need to spend two stat points to increase my constitution by a single point. While this stat will not necessarily make me last longer, it will allow me to recover faster and perhaps go multiple rounds in a row. It will also make me more resistant to diseases. Oh, and it might be useful in combat as well.

I could increase my dexterity even further. Because of my major boost in this category, every stat point I spend will increase my dexterity by four points. Having a high dexterity may be important, as it will allow me to adopt all sorts of interesting body positions. My hands will also become more nimble and able to reach and manipulate all sorts of hidden areas. Oh, and it might be useful in combat as well.

Perhaps the stat to increase is intelligence. Because of my neutral affinity for this category, every stat point I spend increases my intelligence by one. With greater intelligence, I will be able to learn all sorts of charms and hexes for use on potential targets. I have also seen a variety of spells for self-enhancement available for sale, which I can learn if I have a higher intelligence. Oh, and it might be useful in combat as well.

Charisma might be the way to go. Because of my minor boost in this category, every stat point I spend will increase my charisma by two points. With higher charisma, I can unlock new speech options that may lead to all sorts of new and interesting situations. It will also be easier to get others to fall in love with me. Oh, and it might be useful in combat as well.

Lastly, I could just increase my luck. Because of my neutral affinity in this category, every stat point I spend will increase my luck by one. What will that do? Well, it'll greatly increase my chances of getting lucky. Enough said.

Reviewing my options, I'm still a bit hesitant as to what to do. Like I mentioned, at the moment, I have six extra stat points to allocate. I will probably want to focus on a single stat for the next few levels and use all my points towards that particular stat.

The real question then is, which stat should I pick?