Amendment Proposal One:
Meat For Dinner.
Monster corpses will not disappear after 30 minutes, but disappear after 24 hours, or upon a dungeon reset. This will allow monster corpses to be dissected and even eaten. Monster corpses can still be disposed of manually by destroying the head, heart or equivalent.
Voting begins now!
I rush out into the hall and find the rest of the Pathbrea...
2024-11-18 19:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostI wake up with a start. Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr. is in my lap. My leg is back. Mercy is asleep in a chair next to me. I'm in a bed in the medical bay of one of the Navy vessels. Jose is wearing a Navy uniform. Huh.
“Fuck, I'm seeing you as a ghost. That's not cool, man.”
“Oh, sorry, I'll haunt you quietly though,” is Jose's answer. He's standing, leaning against the far wall over in the shadowed corner of the room.
“Mr. Han?” it's the nasally voice of a docto...
2024-11-15 19:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostNote: Misspellings and grammatical errors in this chapter are purposeful.
I honestly wasn't thinking about my brother when I was designing the Dracosys. That he got trapped in a dungeon was apparently fluke. That he took the ONE OPPORTUNITY for anyone to get Synergist on day one was sheer luck. Or maybe Luck. I don't know his Luck stat. That was how my brother screwed me.
Because of that, I struggled in the beginning. I had to use a damn gun, A GUN, to kill Buffado...
2024-11-13 19:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostNote: This is just stats and can be skipped. It doesn't count as one of the chapters I'm releasing for y'all this month.
Jun Kyung Han
Pathbreakers Founder
Lupus Rex squad leader
Title: Trailblazer. +25% XP when killing a new type of enemy. +25% XP When fighting in a new location.
Calling: To Stop The Dracosys
Current Calling Charge: 0%
Total Level 145
Avg level 4.56
1st Step Classes
Mage, level 1
<... 2024-11-12 19:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe cannon of the USS John Finn turns, aims at the winged monster, and fires a 50 foot wide bolt of lightning so bright that it lights up the dark night. The bolt slams into the winged half of the monster and electricity arcs across its now grey body. The creature lets out a wheezing gasp. More missiles blast into its now blast resistant body. Jose opens up again with a weaker, yet still massive bolt from his cannon. The monster's flesh turns yellow, I'm assuming to resist the lightning bolts...
2024-11-11 19:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe monster that shimmers into existence is as tall as a skyscraper. No, scratch that. Mt. Erebus is around 12k feet tall so that thing has to be... Fucking 1500 feet tall? Jesus. It's made of orange, bioluminescent, gummy flesh that stretches as it moves. Lights run across its body like amber emergency lights in a movie theater. It has six legs and four arms. It has no nose or eyes on its wide, shark-like head. Its mouth could swallow my house whole.
Esoterica 1. Tier 7. You know ...
2024-11-08 19:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostFor the Amendments we settle on the Adventurer's Guild, Etheric Elementals and two different versions of Dungeon Break Scaling. We're hoping the first makes it past the Dracosys's scrutiny, because it actually would make dungeon breaks pretty easy to manage. The second is a more “fair” version, which we're pretty sure should pass muster.
We're not 100% on when the next “system update” will be (when we get to use the Amendments), but good guesses are either before or after the r...
2024-11-06 19:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
October was not what I expected.
I got writer's block for a couple of weeks. Knowing that I've got to keep being creative some way or other, I decided to go back and edit book 1 of Pathbreakers. With the eventual goal of releasing it in paperback format. It's mostly just reorganizing the old, tiny chapters into newer, longer chapters. Plus minor edits here and there. Nothing major, but work all the same.
Don't worry though, I did get the November chapters for y'all finished, a...
7/6
Jun's House
3:05 AM
4 days until the raid boss.
“He's moving far south,” Jose tells me after I open the door.
“Uh, it's 3 AM Jose.” I'm in my boxers, having just been woken up by banging on my front door.
“Your brother, I think he's on a plane.” Jose closes his eyes. “I think he's heading for Australia.”
I attempt to rub tiredness from my eyes. It does not work. “That's where we're doing...
2024-11-04 19:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostKailani Haku and Cappy Williams do indeed leave the Pathbreakers. I can't blame them. With their shares of Rutger's Millions, they're both set for life.
Days begin to fly by again. Travel, fight, travel, rest. Travel, fight, travel, rest. It becomes a cycle, a loop.
7/1
9 days until the raid boss.
We have to spend a few off days working, going through possible recruits. The military is still sending us potentials, but so are other...
2024-11-01 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post6/22
Washington D.C.
3:00 PM
The Secret Service takes things very seriously and doesn't like it when Jose tells them exactly how many guns he's packing in his inventory. It is a lot. They make him unload them all into a big Rubbermaid tub, along with our various other weapons. Altogether we fill three big tubs. I try to reassure the agents that the guns don't matter, since we have magic. This does not calm them down.
...I might be bad at calming people...
2024-10-30 18:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostWe wait 30 minutes for the “monster” to disappear, and then we have to scour the area around the Washington Monument for the real loot, because the place is now covered in Sacagaweas. Biscuits is swimming in them like Scrooge McDuck. There's another Amendment Proposal (nice!) and three other items.
Gavel Of Order. Becomes a regular hammer, war hammer or maul at the wielder's whim. When striking a foe they will become Silenced for 10 seconds. 2024-10-28 18:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Turns out that Biscuits clawing at a blob of detached flesh counted as her participation in the fight, so she got two level ups. Yay.
Also, we got good loot from the boss.
Signing Pen. Documents you sign with this pen become binding contracts. Those who break the contract (including you) become randomly cursed. When used to scribe runes the effects are increased by 25%.
Red Tie. Power, authority, but also anger. While weari...
2024-10-25 18:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostWe storm into the building in full SWAT mode. In the entry hall are 12 demons dressed like secret service agents. They have handguns that shoot dark red flames. Their eyes seem to be missing, but they have no problem seeing us. I switch to Solar Mind to make shields to block bullets and protect my team as they quickly overpower the demon agents. From the halls to the left and right, dozens more guys pop out, each firing wildly at us.
Double Secret Service. Tier 2. It's ...
2024-10-23 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostWe have to wait a while for me to recharge after dropping to near-zero AP and KP. That suits everyone just fine.
Madeline approaches me. “The fuck was that?” She seems both annoyed and curious, an interesting combination of emotions.
“My 6th Step class, Astral Pathbreaker, gives me Star Swarm, a probably unique power. It burns through both Arcana Points and Ki Points really quickly so I don't like to use it unless I have to.”
“Yeah,...
2024-10-21 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post6/22
Washington D.C.
4:20 AM
Stone Stag. Tier 5. Fast, strong, tough. They can also break off bits of their antlers and throw them at you. Their antlers regrow in seconds. They're centaurs. Why? Because something something horses, Revolutionary War, soldiers, yadda yadda. Look, sometimes there's not a deeper meaning to these creatures. Sometimes they're just here to kill you.
Possible loot: antlers, peanuts, commemorative pint glasses. 2024-10-18 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
We sweep the loot. Some of the imps had digital cameras on them. The cameras contain pictures of imps posing in front of Washington DC landmarks. Dungeons are weird.
Golem Jefferson dropped a model airplane.
Jefferson Airplane. This model grows into an airplane when activated with the phrase “one pill makes you larger.” It shrinks back down with the phrase “one pill makes you small.” You'll need a pilot and FAA clearance, but the tank refuels ...
2024-10-17 04:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post6/22
Washington D.C.
2:40 AM
“The dungeon reset happens at 10:42 AM,” I say to the team. “We have eight hours to clear five floors.”
“Jun,” Jose whispers to me. “Your watch is on Central time, not Eastern.”
6/21
Washington D.C.
3:40 AM
“The dungeon reset happens at 10:42 AM,” I say to the team. “We have seven hours to clear five floors.”
Mercy yawns and stretches, reaching her arms u...
2024-10-14 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“Alright, so what's your desert island book?” I ask.
Madeline is clapping a recently burned, then healed, Henry on the back. She shoots me a “not the time, Jun!”
I look around. Why doesn't this feel like normal? Or at least what's normal for us. People look strained, stressed. There's fear in some eyes.
That's when I get it. We have five more floors. Five more places trying their damnedest to kill us. Five increasingly dangerous fl...
2024-10-11 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post6/21
Washington D.C.
11:15 PM
We all slide into the room and as soon as we do the door swings shut behind us, then has some magical seal appear on it. An identical seal is on the far wall. I'm assuming that's the door forward.
The room itself is a flat field covered in waist-high green grass. There seems to be sky overhead, complete with sun and big cumulus clouds. The room must be a mile wide circle, ringed with the tall wooden fencing that looks like...
2024-10-09 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post6/21
Washington D.C.
8:00 PM
The big Atmos beam attack was useful, sure. But beating pig men to death with ten storm fists felt good. I wonder about that. What is it about me that thinks that the most efficient way to kill isn't the most satisfying way? The most satisfying way involves repeated punches, cleaving swords, thrusting spears. Weapons and fists that suddenly fire off spells, rather than just me doing it. That way feels right. That way feels like ...
2024-10-07 18:00:23 +0000 UTC View PostThe gymnasium-sized room had a pyramid built into the far wall, with that all-seeing-eye carved into it. Sure, why not? Fucking Freemason conspiracy bullshit now. What are we fighting this time? Guys in robes with funny hats?
Ahhhhh, no. No, they're not guys in hats. They're giant pig-men. Dozens of them down below us, talking to each other in some kind of oinking language.
P’Orc, Initiate. Tier 3. The most common type of P’Orc, these g...
2024-10-04 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSo I realized today that you guys can't see my release schedule, unlike on Royal Road.
So I want to let you that yes, every chapter for October is already written and queued up, waiting for release!
I'm already working on November's chapters, and have made a good dent into them already. My plan is that if I can crunch through some extra chapters this month, I'll be pushing forward some release dates and give y'all some extra chapters, pushing the Patreon further ahead of the Roya...
2024-10-04 05:19:45 +0000 UTC View PostLook, so I was the one who saved Rutger, really. And Jose saved the day with a Seer chant that let him track the dragon. But nobody cares. There's a talking kitten so that takes priority.
Jose and I, ignored by everyone else, go and prod the dragon until it turns into loot. It becomes several thousand Sacagaweas, a green glowing crystal and a scroll.
Scroll of Draconic Flight. You gain the chant “Draconic Flight.”
Green Drago...
2024-10-02 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post6/21
Washington D.C.
7:15 PM
“Users recover Ki, Spirit, Faith and Arcana upon using a level up.” Mercy says this apropos of nothing as we climb the stone stairs down to the green dragon's deadly, fog-filled lair.
“What?” I ask, thoroughly stumped.
“A new rule we could add with the amendment scrolls. Point recovery on using a level up. It wouldn't contradict the humans should die angle of the Dracosys rules. It be...
2024-09-30 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post“So, what did we learn?” Henry asks the group as we recover, regenerate and reload. He's taking on a coach role.
Madeline was pulling the dragon man's chest and shoulder armor over her head. Once it was on it resized to her. Well that was neat. She also took the greatsword and sheathed it on her back. The tip scraped the ground.
Sky Dragon Steel Armor. The metal this armor is made of is incredibly strong, but also fairly light for its defe...
2024-09-28 02:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post6/21
Washington D.C.
5:45 PM
It took almost two hours to clear the 8th floor. Almost two hours of constant fighting. We all (aside from our snipers) took damage, most of us multiple times. Big Mama Kailani used some chants to heal us, though. I didn't need to fly and catch any one falling down the ravine. Ah well, there's always next time, I guess.
We finally get to the bottom of the ravine where we find... Piles of lizard man loot. I know we knock...
2024-09-26 02:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post6/21
Washington D.C.
4:30 PM
We're gathered in a circle talking fervently about the new rules we could introduce. Monsters can't kill people? People killed by the Dracosys are revived? Cancer is cured? Everyone forgets the fourth and fifth Indiana Jones movies exist? The possibilities are endless.
Unfortunately our closest thing to an expert on the Dracosys rules and regulations is Mercy, and she's only been scrubbing through the rules file for a coupl...
2024-09-24 02:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostI tap the button on the side of the lens which causes half of it to slide over and turn the mono-eyepiece into binocs. My heat vision is flooded with red splotches signifying chameleonians. Because the binocs give me Predator vision, I can't make out much more than general shapes. Despite this, Jose and Quins seem to have no trouble at all making head shot after head shot.
Scarlett Fletcher's magic falcon Jeff is circling above, shooting thin white lasers from his eyes. Jeff l...
2024-09-21 02:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post6/21
Washington D.C.
2:50 PM
We do indeed get through the first 5 floors without getting our boots wet. The locals here patrol inside the dungeon itself, and have set up trails and paths. Short, makeshift bridges dot the massive, dense swamp. Overhead is pure fog, though which pale shafts of fake moonlight occasionally pierce through. The locals have electric lanterns hung from trees along their trails, so you can get around without stumbling over the roots of the...
2024-09-19 02:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post