Bending the Rules: A Playtester in Avatar 1

[QUOTE][center]CONGRATULATIONS LOSER, YOU DIED!

YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MILLENNIAL ROB-PG PLAYTEST!

THE SYSTEM TO BE PLAYTESTED HAS BEEN DESIGNED BY ROB-23019119, AND DESIGNATED MIGHTS

PROCEED TO CHARACTER CREATION?[/center][/QUOTE]

I woke up in a featureless void to see the following text floating in front of me, when I went to sleep bundled up in a sleeping bag and another six blankets over top. I hadn’t had any colds or other bugs, and I never had dreams this vivid.

“How’d I die?” I asked the text, not sure if I’d get an answer or not.

[quote][center]IRRELEVANT

PROCEED TO CHARACTER CREATION?[/center][/quote]

“Not until I get some answers, first: where am I? Second: the fuck is going on? Third: the fuck are you?”

[quote][center]IRRELEVANT

PROCEED TO CHARACTER CREATION?[/center][/quote]

I remained silent, arms crossed, and glowered at the text doing a piss poor impression of a video game prompt. And glowered. And glowered. And glowered some more.

“So… about my questions?” I asked after what felt like an hour.

[quote][center]QUESTIONS IRRELEVANT

SYSTEM HAS INFINITE PATIENCE

PROCEED TO CHARACTER CREATION?[/center][/quote]

Right, I apparently wasn’t going to win this, so I reluctantly agreed. A new box of text appeared in front of me, this time with what looked like my ability scores.

[quote][center]FREE STAT POINTS AVAILABLE: 6

MIGHT: < 5 > d8

INTELLECT: < 5 > d8

GUTS: < 5 > d8

HASTE: < 5 > d8

TENACITY: < 5 > d8

SPIRIT: < 5 > d8[/center][/quote]

I see where the name of the system came from, it was like a cheap knock off of Fallout’s SPECIAL array. Still best to make sure, “How does the system work?”

[quote][center]SUCCESS/FAILURE DETERMINED BY A ROLL OF A DICE POOL. THE DICE POOL IS DETERMINED BY THE SKILL BEING ATTEMPTED AND THE RELEVANT STAT. ALL ROLLS ARE OPPOSED, AND THE LOWER RESULT SUCCEEDS.[/center][/quote]

“So I want smaller numbers to improve my chances of success? Can you give me an example?”

[quote][center]CORRECT.

EXAMPLE: LEE SENDS A BLAST OF FIRE AT AN OPPONENT WHO ATTEMPTS TO DODGE OUT OF THE WAY. LEE’S DICE POOL IS HIS SPIRIT PLUS HIS ATTACK SKILL PLUS HIS RANGE SKILL. THE THREE SKILLS USED RESULTS IN A DICE POOL OF 3D6+5D8. HIS OPPONENT’S DICE POOL IS THEIR HASTE PLUS THEIR DODGE FOR A DICE POOL OF 8D8. LEE’S DICE POOL RESULTS IN A ROLL OF 46 WHILE HIS OPPONENT’S RESULTS IN 32; THUS LEE’S ATTACK MISSES.

EXAMPLE: ROHAN ATTEMPTS TO SEDUCE A GUARDSWOMAN TO AVOID PAYING A FEE. ROHAN’S DICE POOL IS HIS INTELLECT PLUS HIS SEDUCE SKILL FOR A FINAL DICE POOL OF 2D4+3D8. THE GUARDSWOMAN’S DICE POOL IS HER GUTS PLUS HER WILLPOWER SKILL FOR A FINAL DICE POOL OF 9D8. ROHAN’S DICE POOL RESULTS IN A ROLL OF 24 WHILE THE GUARDSWOMAN’S DICE POOL RESULTS IN A ROLL OF 33; THUS THE FLATTERED GUARDSWOMAN LETS ROHAN’S FEE SLIDE.[/center][/quote]

Right, so smaller numbers good. I had six points to use… “What do each of the stats do?”

[quote][center]STATS FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES: PHYSICAL/MENTAL AND STRENGTH/SPEED/TOUGHNESS.

MIGHT: PHYSICAL STRENGTH.

INTELLECT: MENTAL SPEED

GUTS: MENTAL TOUGHNESS

HASTE: PHYSICAL SPEED

TENACITY: PHYSICAL TOUGHNESS

SPIRIT: MENTAL STRENGTH[/center][/quote]

“Do I get a clue as to where I’ll end up? Because it matters if I make a build thinking I’m going to be in Dragon Age only to find myself in the Star Forge.”

[quote][center]PLAYTESTER’S DESTINATION IS A WAR TORN FANTASY SETTING FEATURING WIDESPREAD USE OF THE SETTING’S MAGIC AND ONE FACTION UNDERGOING INDUSTRIALIZATION[/center][/quote]

“So no guns?”

[quote][center]CORRECT.[/center][/quote]

Viking war mage build it is! Drop Might down by two, Spirit by two, both Guts and Tenacity by one. Now, for the rest… “What’s the skill list; are there classes; how do I get magic, and how can I get more points for my stats?”

[quote][center]PROCESSING… PROCESSING…[/center][/quote]

My head suddenly throbbed as there was a deluge of information dumped into my brain. Right, glad as I was not to have to read all that, it was still a heck of a headache. Okay, let’s focus. I had 70 experience points to buy Perks and buy down my skills, but I could take Flaws to boost that up. A quick skim through of the Flaws, and I settled on Bad Rep, Gigantism, and One Eye. Imma be a viking, and all three practically screamed viking! I also took Enemy three times to give me some more points to work with, bringing my total up to 78.

A look through the Perks had me immediately grabbing Magic Adept (it was noted as necessary for access to the Magic Skills), then also grabbing Battle Rage and 360 Vision (I’d flavor it as magic based). I read through the Stat and Skill focused perks, before grabbing Do You Lift?, Strong Spirit, and MAD SKILLZ (Melee - Two Hand).

Up next were skills. I needed to be good at fighting, but I also wanted to have some social skills and needed to make sure to buy some magic skills if I was going to be a war mage. Athleticism was the only General Skill that stood out, of the Social Skills I grabbed two ranks each from Deceive and Intimidate, while grabbing three for Seduce and Willpower. What? Willpower was listed as the social defense skill and sex is good. Combat skills had me grabbing a rank for Melee - One Hand and Ranged - Thrown, two three for Unarmed and Dodge (I’d primarily be relying on my magic, but never a bad idea to have a backup, and three for my primary fighting skill of Melee - Two Hand.

Now for my magic skills. From the looks of it, instead of types of magic or specific spells, there were two types of magic skills: Effect and Augment. If I understood it correctly, to cast a spell I’d take the relevant stat, the effect skill I was after, and any augmentations. So for anything other than the most basic spell, I’d be making a dice pool out of at least three sources.

Sighing, I focused on the sort of magic I wanted my viking war mage character to do. Defense was going to be my best, at three ranks. Attack and Control both got two ranks, letting me attack and manipulate the battlefield. For the augment options, I only took three ranks of Range, so I wouldn’t be limited to myself or what I could touch.

“Okay, I think I’m done with the skills and perks. What about gear?" I asked.

[QUOTE][center]EQUIPMENT IS STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT.

PLAYTESTER WILL RECEIVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OUTFIT THEMSELVES PRIOR TO DANGER[/center][/QUOTE]

"Really? You're yeeting me into an isekai and you don't even have the system finished?" I asked incredulously.

[QUOTE][center]IT IS CALLED PLAYTESTING FOR A REASON[/center][/QUOTE]

"Touche," I muttered. "What about hit points? How's that going to work, or is it still under development too?"

[QUOTE][center]A HEALTH BOX SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY IN PLACE.  WHETHER IT REMAINS SO WILL BE DETERMINED BY PLAYTEST FEEDBACK. [/center][/QUOTE]

"Fair enough, I suppose. So is there anything else I should know about?"

[QUOTE][center]DO NOT ASSUME THE SETTING IS THE ONE YOU WATCHED[/center] [/quote]

"Wait wha…"

That was all I got out before it felt like my legs dropped out from under me.

[hr] [/hr]

"Hey, you, you finally awake?" a man's voice pierced through the black haze in my mind. For a moment, I was afraid I'd been dropped into Skyrim, that overhyped piece of garbage. But when I opened my eyes, it was to the stern expression of a tanned man with the sides of his head shaved and asian looking features.

"Guess so," I  said with a grunt as I pulled myself into a sitting position. The rattling of chains made me look at my wrists. Sure enough, my hands were cuffed.

"Good, even traitors should have the chance to walk to their trial."

Traitor? Trial? Da fuq is going on? A glance around showed me to be in what looked like a canoe filled with a bunch of other scrubs in chains and two men paddling us towards what looked like a city made out of ice. It was at that point that the 360 Vision perk I’d purchased kicked in, and I could suddenly sense every breeze, every air current, every little twist and eddy in the atmosphere around me.

Instinctively, I knew air. I understood the winds. The cliche of a butterfly’s wings causing a hurricane half a world away made perfect sense, with my new comprehension of air. It was then that my body’s memories started trickling in.

Oh, oooh. Huh, I admit, when I made my build with viking war mage in mind, ending up the grandson of a survivor of the Air Nomad Genocide wasn’t anywhere close to what I was expecting. Gramps was eight or nine when it happened, and he found his way into one of the smaller Water Tribes in the North Pole. Which, contrary to what the show implied, was not a single unified city. The city just happened to be the largest, and thus they felt they spoke for every tribe of the North.

Not a single one of the other tribes liked them, which led to my current predicament. I’d been talked by several others in the tribe to take part in a raid, or to “go a’viking” as I’d called it as a kid. The name stuck, and by the time I’d hit puberty everyone in the tribe called those who went on raids vikings.The fact that those on raids favored axes as the weapon of choice did nothing to dissuade the image of us being waterbending (and airbending once Gramps and the other survivors we took in started having children) vikings.

We were one of the tribes that actually lived on solid ground instead of ice sheets, which gave us access to metal for both weapons and everyday use. Taking another look at the cuffs and chains holding my wrists together, I couldn’t help but snort in amusement, even as we entered the city that the rest of the world thought of when they thought of the North Pole. I recognized the metalwork, Daras made them. Probably traded during one of the more peaceful periods.

I was taken out of my thoughts as our little paddle boat came to a stop, and I was shepherded out with repeated thwacks against my side and back with the butt of a spear. I looked the man up and down, and the memories of living this life told me with a high level of certainty that I could take him. But I wanted to see where this went, so I went with the other youths that had gone on the raid with me (those still alive at least, Barrun had bled out from an icicle to the neck) to stand before the stoic Pakku, the furious Arnook, and the lovely visage of who could only be Yue.

Despite the circumstances, all three had brief expressions of surprise as I stood to my full height. Gigantism didn’t lie, I was easily two feet taller than pretty much everyone in the vicinity. As they regained their composure, Buk, the oldest of us, rolled his eyes and stepped forwards.

“We demand the Rite of Anguta,” he loudly declared, projecting his voice so that everyone in the vicinity could hear him. I blinked, racking my brain and new memories to see what he was talking about, and came up empty.

Arnook, only occasionally glancing my way, turned his glower to Buk, “You no longer have that right, Buk of the Blood Eagle Tribe. As you and most of your fellows have already completed the Rite of Anguta, you do not qualify.”

“Most of us have, that is true,” Buk agreed, a confident grin on his face. “However, as this is Vonrir’s first raid, he has not. It would be such a shame if he were denied the opportunity to fight. What would the spirits think, depriving a young man of his right.”

I straightened up, figuring out that the Rite of Anguta was probably the local version of an Angi Kai or Trial by Combat from Game of Thrones. Flexing my muscles to make myself look bigger, I glared down at Pakku and Arnook, before sending a wink Yue’s way.

[quote][center]INTIMIDATE - PAKKU (21 VS 9) FAILURE T2

INTIMIDATE - ARNOOK (26 VS 20) FAILURE

SEDUCE - YUE (14 VS 24) SUCCESS T2[/center][/quote]

To be honest I wasn’t really expecting the attempts at unnerving the master waterbender or chief to work, but I got a lot closer than I was expecting. Plus, Yue’s downright cute when blushing.

We were taken to some prison cells made entirely out of, you guessed it, ice, at which point I turned to Buk and asked the most important question on my mind, “Is the white haired girl taken?” Dammit brain, that’s not the question I wanted to ask! There was a round of chuckles, but they were subdued, and Buk was giving me a resigned smile.

“Thanks Vonrir, and sorry for getting you caught up in this mess on your first raid,” he said, running a hand over his head. “We should fill you in on what to expect. The Rite of Anguta’s a special trial, if you pass you are cleared of any and all crimes ever committed as far as the blue bloods are concerned. The catch is, you can only do it once.”

“Which is why the rest of you don’t qualify?” I asked for clarification, receiving a round of nods. “Alright then, what’s this rite involve?”

“Surviving a night in the lair of a very powerful, very dangerous spirit. Half a day’s journey away is a cave, and inside is a spirit named Anguta that was trapped in there by the last Water Tribe Avatar. Most who take it don’t survive, and are eaten by the spirit. The best chance at succeeding is to avoid it, because anyone who has tried to fight it…”

I blinked, before giving him my best deadpan stare, “You expect me to spend a night sneaking around?”

He shrugged, “This way you have a chance, instead of getting summary execution with the rest of us. Besides, you're easily the toughest bastard I know. If anyone has a chance at actually killing the thing, it's you.”

[hr][/hr]

Looking around the cave entrance, I couldn’t help but whistle. They really went all in on the ‘Cave of Certain Doom’ decor, skulls, broken bones, and spiky bits all over. I was just glad I was allowed to pick my own weapon, gimme a good two handed ax over those bone spears any day. I wasn’t the only person being brought out to this cave though, there was another scrub, maybe half as tall as me, who was going through this particular trial. Didn’t catch his name, didn’t really care either. All I knew was that I had to make it a full night without getting dead.

“Yo,” the scrub whispered as Pakku and some other waterbenders formed an ice barrier over the front of the cave, locking us in. “Gimme your ax.”

I turned to face the scrub, an eyebrow raised. Actually, now that I was getting a look at him, tweaker would be a better description than scrub. Curious, I asked, “Why would I do that?”

“It’s a nice ax, I could trade it for a dozen doses of Moon Tea.”

Yeah, no way I was giving my ax to Tweaker. “Fuck off,” I told him before walking past him.

“No, no, no, haven’t had Moon Tea in days, need more Moon Tea, ax will get me Moon Tea, GIVE ME AX!” Tweaker shouted, moments before there was the sound of shattering ice and my lone eye widened in surprise.

Turning around, I swung my ax in a two handed grip, the wooden haft sliding through the upper hand to give it more speed and sending a blast of air, knocking the shards of ice off course. Lovely, I was trapped in an ice cave with a drugged out waterbender going through withdrawal.

[quote][center]DEFEND VS ICE (13 VS 34) SUCCESS T3[/center][/quote]

There was a deranged look in Tweaker's eyes, bits of what looked like foam at the corner of his mouth, and he continued muttering something about Moon Tea. Note to self: punch anyone who tries to offer me Moon Tea. Rolling my neck, I pushed off the ground, bringing my ax down in a quick overhead chop.

[quote][center]MELEE - TWO HAND (21 VS 38) SUCCESS T2[/center][/quote]

He managed to get a small ice barrier between him and my blade, but the polished blade shattered his flimsy barrier, sending him flying back before I followed up with a wide sweep, meant to facilitate my airbending rather than actually hit him.

[quote][center]ATTACK - RANGE (27 VS 30) SUCCESS[/center][/quote]

The veritable scythe of air slammed into him, dragging him along and impaling him on one of the very ice spikes he’d tried to kill me with. His hands clutched at the sharpened spike of frozen water, moments before my ax came down on his neck and ending him.

Catching my breath, I swallowed the lump in my throat before asking, “I don’t know if you’re listening, but that seemed a bit too easy.”

[quote][center]PLAYTESTER FEEDBACK NOTED. ENEMY CLASSIFIED AS LACKY CLASS WATERBENDER. ENEMIES CLASSIFIED AS LACKY, MODERATE, MAJOR. LACKIES MEANT TO PROVIDE LARGE NUMBER OF ENEMIES TO BE DEFEATED QUICKLY, SUCH AS SQUADS OF STORMTROOPERS. MODERATE MEANT TO REPRESENT MORE CHALLENGING FOES, SUCH AS SILVER TIER ENEMIES IN MMOS. MAJOR ARE BOSS CHARACTERS ON PAR OR SUPERIOR TO PLAYER CHARACTERS.[/center][/quote]

“The spirit here’s going to be a Major enemy, aren’t they?”

[quote][center]OF COURSE[/center][/quote]

“Oh goodie.”

[hr][/hr]

[Spoiler=Character Sheet (incomplete)]Character: Vormir of the Blood Eagle Tribe

Age: 15

Height: 7’3”

Weight: 370lbs

[hr][/hr]Might: 3d6

Intellect: 5d8

Guts: 4d8

Haste: 5d8

Tenacity: 4d8

Spirit: 3d6

[Spoiler=Skills]Athleticism: 3d8

Melee - One Hand: 4d8

Melee - Two Hand: 2d6

Range - Thrown: 4d8

Unarmed: 3d8

Dodge: 3d8

Deceive: 3d8

Intimidate: 3d8

Seduce: 2d8

Willpower: 2d8

Attack: 3d8

Control: 3d8

Defend: 2d8

Range: 2d8[/spoiler]

[Spoiler=Perks]Magic Adept: Gain access to Magic skills.

360 Vision: Maintain visual-level awareness of your surroundings in 360 degrees.

Battle Rage: While Active, reduce the dice size for melee Combat skills, Intimidate, and Willpower. You are unable to use social skills except for Intimidate and Willpower while this perk is active.

Do You Lift?: Your Might score uses d6 instead of d8.

Strong Spirit: Your Spirit score uses d6 instead of d8.

MAD SKILLZ (Melee - Two Hand): Your chosen skill uses d6 instead of d8. Can be taken multiple times, applying to a different skill each time you take it.[/spoiler]

[Spoiler=Flaws]One Eye: You are missing an eye, this has the effects you would expect.

Gigantism: You’re a giant, this makes you stick out like a sore thumb and if you thought being six feet tall was annoying, you’ll only wish for that.

Bad Rep: People have heard of you, and what they’ve heard isn’t positive.

Enemy III: You have an enemy. At Rank I, they’re just a rival. At Rank II, you’ve earned their personal enmity. At Rank III, they hate you enough to put a bounty out on you.[/spoiler]

[/spoiler]