Barton Martinez:

  Meddle not in the affairs of wizards, for they are soggy and hard to light, Barton thought.

  He was still scared. Terrified down to his bones. But a part of him was proud of himself. He had actually picked up a spear and fought a rat-man! Sure, he wet himself (nobody had noticed, he thought/hoped), but he still did it.

  Proud or not, he didn’t want to be a spear-carrier. Wizarding was the way to go. He couldn’t grow a beard to save his life, but he still pictured himself in a robe, hat, and long droopy facial hair, built along the lines of Gandalf or Dumbledore but with D&D flourishes. He wanted to be the guy who dropped the nukes while tanks and healers kept him alive.

  When he saw his Affinities, he was a little disappointed. He didn’t qualify for any of the classical elements. Fire or Earth would have been nice. But after giving it some thought, he realized that Magick was better. If the Concept worked anything like the way he envisioned, Magick would give him power over all elements. He’d be a Wizard, who could cast a fireball and a lightning bolt if he knew the spells.

  Rules as a Concept made a lot of sense. He loved learning the rules for everything. That was how he had been able to function in society.

  It was very difficult for him to do things most people took for granted, like gauging someone’s emotions from their facial expressions. Barton still had trouble looking people in the eye, let alone watching their faces.

  So, he learned the rules of proper behavior. Knowing the rules let him fool people into thinking he was like them. Normal. Rather than what he usually felt like, an alien trying to pass himself off as human.

  As long as he knew the rules – how to make small talk, how to avoid making blunt comments about certain subjects, how to behave when in a crowd, how to control himself when sensory input became overwhelming – he would be okay.

  The System was a game overlain on reality. And games had rules. Barton had been the bane of many a Dungeon Master with his encyclopedic knowledge of every game system he cared enough to play. And he was willing and able to become the System’s resident rules lawyer.

  He suspected that getting a handle on the System’s rules would make him more powerful than a standard nuke-flinging wizard. It would be like being on the other side of the Matrix – tweaking things here and there, until he could reprogram reality itself.

  All I have to do is live through a little pain. I can do that, he told himself as he went over his choices:

  You have chosen your Affinities: Magick and Rules.

  You have chosen a Role: Caster

  You have unlocked two Skills before induction: Ritual Magic (Uncommon, Proficiency, Beginner 2) and Spear Proficiency (Common, Proficiency, Beginner 1).

  You have unlocked three Rare and one Epic Classes!

  Does anybody not pick the Epic Class, ever? Barton wondered as he made his choice.

  Hex Wizard (Epic)

  Your deep understanding of games and their methodologies has allowed you to adopt a rules sub-system and adapt it to the current Iteration (Iteration 78.2).

  You have unlocked Hex Wizardry. Hex Wizardry is not part of the current Iteration but has been found in worlds under different Systems and implemented in earlier Iterations. You are the first Ascendant on your world to wield its power (Epic Achievement unlocked).

  Requirements: Magick and Rules Affinities, at least two Epic Titles, extensive knowledge of magical systems (real or imagined).

  Note: Your Rules Affinity has given you Skill choices that meddle with the System itself. To begin with, your influence over the System will be minor and short-lasting, however. Beware that your reach does not exceed your grasp. If you focus on this part of your Class, your Class Evolutions will reflect on your choice.

  Advancement in this class requires the expenditure of 350 Unbound Essence.

  Attribute Bonuses per Level: +1 to Strength, +1 to Dexterity, +3 Constitution, +5 to Willpower, +5 to Intelligence, +3 to Perception, +1 to Charisma, +5 Free Points.

  Characteristic Bonuses: +20 Health, +35 Mana and +20 Endurance per level.

  Affinity Perks:

  * Magick: You can identify any Mana-based Skill, Spell or Ritual used in your presence with a simple Perception check, and you can attempt to block any such ability (after it has been identified) by spending more Mana than its activation cost. This is resisted by the target’s Willpower, modified by level or rank differences.

  * Rules: You can identify the underlying System mechanics of a locale, Skill, monster or item trait, or System directive or Quest. Hidden and complex mechanics may require the use of Skills to identify.

  Affinity Liabilities: None.

  Affinity Skills (Select Two):

  * Mana Blast (Rare, Action, Beginner): Fires a powerful beam of unattuned Mana that inflicts (Arcane Rating + Skill level) points of damage. Range: 150 feet. Cost: 5 Mana. Pure Mana attacks count as Concept-attuned attacks for defensive purposes.

  * Reverse Effects (Epic, Action, Beginner): You reverse the effects of an ability mechanic you have identified. A damage effect will become healing, a Buff will become a Debuff, a protective shield will turn into a damaging field, and so on. Cost: Double the normal Energy Pool cost of the affected ability. Duration: Instant in the case of single-action abilities, or 1 second per Skill level otherwise. Cooldown: None.

  * Rules Change (Epic, Action, Beginner): You can alter a single variable of a Skill, Spell, Technique, or Trait. You must already know the mechanics of the targeted ability.

  Variables include damage, range, area of effect, damage resistance, number of targets, cooldown times, and any other variable along those lines. The Change can add or subtract 20% per Skill level. Only a single use of the target ability is affected but Maintained or Toggle abilities will retain the Rules Change until dispelled. Cost: 10 Mana per 10% change applied; this Mana cannot be regained until the altered effect is used up or dispelled.

  * Rules Exemption (Epic, Action, Beginner): You can briefly stop a System-based effect (such as a Skill, Technique, Formation, or magical item Trait) from working. The effect’s mechanics must be known beforehand. Only one specific effect will be affected.

  The targeted effect will stop working for 1 second per Skill level. Damage, debuffs and other modifiers will remain deactivated for the duration of the Skill.

  Debuffs will be suspended temporarily but will resume if their duration exceeds the Dispensation effect.

  Cost: 15 Mana or double the Mana or Endurance cost of the ability affected, whichever is greater. Range: Line of sight. Cooldown: 5 seconds.

  * Spell Copy (Epic, Action, Beginner): You can ‘copy’ a Skill, Spell or Technique that has been used in your presence within 1 minute per Intelligence point. The copied ability can be used once, with an effective Skill equal to your Spell Copy Skill level; your own applicable Attributes or Ratings will dictate the effects. Ongoing or Toggled abilities will last for 1 second per Skill level or the normal duration of the ability, whichever is lower.

  * Wizard Shield (Epic, Toggle, Beginner): Creates a personal Mana-empowered skin-tight shield that surrounds you and reduces physical damage by (Arcane Rating/3) points and Concept-attuned damage by (Arcane Rating) points. Cost: 10 Mana, which cannot be regained until the effect is dispelled.

  Class Perks:

  * Hex Capacity: Hexes are powerful magical constructs, different than Skills or Sorcery Spells. Their complexity requires the user to memorize a complex multisensory pattern for each Hex. The minds of Ascendants below C-Grade can only use a memorized pattern once; after use, it is forgotten and must be committed to memory again. Hexes have Tiers (Current Available Tiers: I to III), with power increasing with each Tier.

  You have a Hex Capacity (the total number of Hex Tiers you can memorize in one day) equal to (Intelligence/2) + level. For example, with an Intelligence of 30 and a level of 2, you could memorize 17 Tier I Hexes, 5 Tier III Hexes and 1 Tier II Hex, or any other combination that added up to 17.

  Memorizing a Hex for use takes (60 - Intelligence) seconds per Hex Tier (minimum of 5 seconds per Tier).

  * Hex Casting: Casting Hexes is an action but does not require either Mana or Endurance to activate. The time to cast is usually instant for Tier I Hexes and 1 second per Tier for more advanced Hexes. Some Hexes may have different casting times.

  * Hex Grimoire: You have received an Epic Quality Grimoire, a book where any Hex you know is contained. Hexes must be written down and memorized before being cast; once cast, the Hex details are forgotten by the caster and must be re-memorized. A Hex can be memorized multiple times, but each one takes a number of slots equal to its Tier.

  At level 1, your Grimoire contains (Intelligence/4) Tier I Hexes, (Intelligence/5) Tier II Hexes, and (Intelligence/6) Tier III Hex. You can select Hexes from the attached Hex List or attempt to create your own Hexes based on your knowledge of magical mechanics (real or fictional). Every level, gain additional Hexes for your Grimoire equal to (Intelligence/20) Tiers.

  Automatic Class Skills:

  * Improvised Hex (Epic, Action, Beginner): You can attempt to cast a Hex you haven’t memorized. The base percentage chance of success is equal to (Intelligence + Perception + Willpower + Skill level), -10% per Hex Tier. If the attempt is successful, the Hex will work at 50% of its normal strength (this affects all variables). Cost: 25 Mana per Hex Tier. Adding additional Mana increases the chance of success by 1% per 5 Mana used.

  * System Analysis (Epic, Active/Passive, Beginner): You can uncover the rules governing Skills, items, Dungeon Locations, and any other System-generated effects or constructs. The depth of the information will be determined by Skill level and relative power of the subject of the Analysis.

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  Cost: 5 Mana per Analysis. By spending Mana, you may gain extra information; the information revealed will depend on your respective power, Perception, and Skill level.

  Used passively, the Skill operates like the standard Identify Skill but will provide additional information.

  Class Skills (Select Two):

  * Additional Affinity Skills: You can use one or both of your Class Skill slots to select an additional Affinity Skill.

  * Hex Blast (Epic, Action, Beginner): You can sacrifice a memorized Hex and use its store energy to a pure Magick attack that inflicts 30 points of damage per Hex Tier and Skill level. Range: 300 feet. Cost: None. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

  * Hex Shield (Epic, Action, Beginner): You can sacrifice a memorized Hex and use its store energy to create a defensive shield that will stop 50 points of damage per Hex Tier and Skill level. The Hex Shield will last 10 seconds per Hex Tier and Skill level. Cost: None. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

  Picking specific Skills was painful, since there were far more good choices than slots available. It was even worse with Hexes. For Skills, he picked Reverse Effect, Rules Change, Rules Exemption, and Wizard Shield.

  The Hex ‘subsystem’ reminded him of D&D magic, and the Hexes packed a lot of punch. Even better, the Hex list included not just what he thought of as wizard spells but also cleric and druid versions, including a few heals. He took one of the latter, because you could never have too many healers in a party.

  After he made his choices, he felt, not just happy, but powerful. For the first time since his world had turned upside down – and before that too, to be honest – he felt like he was in control.

  Wendy:

  Wendy Hennessy turned out to be the one exception to the rule: she set aside the Epic Class she was offered and made do with a Rare because it would help her do the most important thing of her life.

  Save Josh’s life.

  It was funny, how her sense of responsibility was a burden she couldn’t set aside.

  Josh and Wendy didn’t even like each other that much. Her brother was... dumb. Not slow, not really, but he just didn’t like thinking at all, and when he did, he usually jumped at the first shiny thought that crossed his mind and held on to it like a dog with a bone.

  On top of that, he was lazy, always seeking shortcuts. Only the Army had kept him under some discipline, but he got in trouble even there. And as soon as he was out, he reverted to his old ways.

  He had been getting in trouble for as long as she could remember. He was five years older than her, but she always ended up taking care of him. After her parents threw him out of the house for taking dad’s car without permission and running over a skunk, she kept an eye on him.

  Her only break from that tense routine happened when he was stationed overseas. A blessed few years where she had no visions about him. Not even when he was in Afghanistan. He was safe then.

  When he mustered out, her visions became stronger and more frequent. Most of them involved Josh getting hurt. Getting in trouble with the law. Getting killed. Only her warnings kept him in one piece.

  Her life became a sad, wan existence, punctuated by terrifying visions. She was estranged from her family, lived alone, and held only menial jobs. Never went to college. Never made friends. One of Josh’s friends had tried to force himself on her, and she’d shot him. Her relationships afterwards weren’t any better.

  One boyfriend had been abusive; Josh had broken his nose and that had been that. The next one had told her one day that she was ‘too freaky’ and left. There had been no others.

  Then came a new vision. A dream where Josh tried to fight it out with a group of DEA agents and local police – and was cut down without mercy. She called him and they fled Ohio, seeking help from a friend Josh had made in the Army.

  A friend he’d done some work for, work that involved driving suspicious packages from Chicago to Connecticut.

  Bob had taken them in and heard Josh’s story without comment. He told them he knew people who could get them somewhere safe. “Canada or Mexico; those are your choices. The paperwork for new identities will cost you, though.”

  She had surrendered every penny she owned without thinking twice, despite her senses telling her that neither of them would be going to Canada or Mexico. That something else was in store for them. The expense didn’t matter, because she also sensed that money would soon have no value.

  When Roland had arrived – a terrifying figure, with Death looming behind him – she had known that if she and Josh didn’t follow him, Death would claim them both.

  Not because of Roland but because Josh was dumb and unlucky, and dumb and unlucky would be a lethal combination when the System arrived.

  She’d seen Josh die in six different ways over the past two nights. In four of those visions, Josh had been alone; in the others, Wendy had been there, unable to help him or herself.

  Wendy had seen him get arrested by Connecticut’s state police, doomed to be torn to pieces when a horde of hideously deformed things stormed the jail he was in. In another dream, the System’s arrival found them on a highway, and they were hunted down by monsters that had once been normal dogs.

  And so on. Vicious nightmares. All horrible. All ending in death.

  Death everywhere, and their only hope was following Death incarnate, or the closest thing to it she had ever seen. Joining Roland was their best hope. Which showed just how desperate their situation was.

  Bloodline Revealed: Veela (Cloud Faerie).

  You have embraced your Bloodline! You have accepted an Epic Evolution (Veela). You are now a Demi-Fae! You have earned a Legendary Title (Demi-Fae) and a World First Achievement (Epic Evolution).

  You have chosen three Affinities: Life, Lightning, and Second Sight.

  You have chosen a Role: Caster

  You have gained three non-Class Skills: Gun Proficiency (Common, Proficiency, Beginner 2), Precognition (Epic, Passive, Beginner 3), and Ritual Magic (Uncommon, Proficiency, Beginner 1)

  Congratulations! You have unlocked two Rare and one Epic Classes!

  When Wendy looked at her Epic Class – Fae Oracle – she knew in her bones that choosing it would lead to Josh dying in the Dungeon.

  Instead, she fully embraced her Bloodline and picked a Rare Class associated with it. She found it mildly amusing that, despite being three-quarters Irish, her Fae heritage came primarily from her Polish grandmother.

  Veelas were Slavic Fae known to live in clouds or mountains: they could send storms or bolts of lightning against those they disliked and were also known as prophets and healers. Her visions came from that Bloodline, and it was strong enough that awakening it triggered an Evolution.

  To save Josh, Wendy became something more – and less – than human.

  Fae Cloud Maiden (Rare)

  You have awakened your Fae Bloodline and chosen a Class granted as your bloodright. As a Demi-Fae, you have gained some of the physical traits of your heritage as well as the knowledge of a Cloud Maiden. Fae Cloud Maidens are seers, healers, warriors and wisewomen, able to call upon the sky itself to smite those who offend you.

  Your Fae blood is not without faults, however: you will find your moods and impulses far harder to control. And the gift of prophecy dooms you to see terrible things that you will not always be able to avert.

  Requirements: Epic Evolution (Veela), at least two Epic Titles.

  Advancement in this Class requires the expenditure of 300 Unbound Essence (250 for your Class, 50 for your Evolution).

  Attribute Bonuses per Level (Class): +1 to Strength, +3 to Dexterity, +3 Constitution, +4 to Willpower, +4 to Intelligence, +4 to Perception, +3 Free Points.

  Attribute Bonuses per Level (Evolution): +3 to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Perception.

  Attribute Bonuses per Level (TOTAL): +4 to Strength, +6 to Dexterity, +6 to Constitution, +4 to Willpower, +4 to Intelligence, +7 to Perception.

  Characteristic Bonuses (Class): +20 Health, +20 Mana and +20 Endurance per level.

  Characteristic Bonuses (Evolution): +5 Health, +10 Mana, +5 Endurance per level.

  Characteristic Bonuses (TOTAL): +25 Health, +30 Mana, +25 Endurance per level.

  Affinity and Evolution Perks:

  * Demi-Fae: You have a small Glamour that allows you to hide your Fae features and pass yourself off as human. This is a Toggle ability that costs no Mana or Endurance but must be consciously activated. Beings with high Perception have a chance to sense or see through the Glamour.

  * Life: All healing, taming, nurturing or rearing Skills have their beneficial effects increased by 30%.

  * Lightning: You can infuse an applicable offensive Skill or melee attack with Lightning-attuned Mana, inflicting (Willpower/4) additional points of Lightning damage per action (or ‘tick’ for ongoing effects). This costs 1 point of Mana or Endurance (your choice) per use or per second in the case of Toggle or Passive Skills.

  * Second Sight: You can sense imminent danger up to (Perception/3) seconds before the source of the danger strikes or makes itself apparent. The exact source of the danger will not be revealed but the most likely beneficial action (duck, stop moving, backpedal, and so on) will be.

  Affinity and Evolution Liabilities:

  * Demi-Fae: You have poor control over your emotions, urges and instincts. Your Willpower has a penalty of -3 or 30% (whichever is greater) when resisting those effects, whether they are natural or imposed externally.

  * Life: Death and Undeath effects (including damage, duration and debuffs) are 25% more effective against you.

  * Second Sight: Your premonitions can happen unexpectedly and have a chance to inflict a Stunned Debuff for 1-6 seconds.

  Affinity Skills (Select Two):

  *Extended Senses (Rare, Action, Beginner): You can project your sight, hearing and sense of smell and taste to a point up to (Skill level x 100) feet away. You don’t need to have line of sight of the location you choose, enabling you to place your senses on the other side of walls or other obstacles.

  You must specify the direction you are ‘aiming’ your virtual eyes when activating the Skill. While the Skill is active, you will see in that direction and hear or smell anything within the normal range of those senses. If the point you select is inside a solid object, you will see little but may taste, hear or smell your surroundings. Cost: 12 Mana. Duration: (Skill level x 3) seconds.

  * Fae Shield (Epic, Toggle, Beginner): Creates a skin-tight shield that surrounds you and reduces all forms of damage by (Arcane Rating/3) points and also makes you more difficult to see as it projects a Glamour construct that matches colors between you (and any belongings on you) and the environment while also reducing the sounds you make, reducing the chances you will be spotted by (Arcane Rating)%. Cost: 15 Mana, which cannot be regained until the effect is dispelled.

  * Fae Verdict (Epic, Action, Beginner): Conjures a bolt of Life- and Lightning-attuned Mana and sends it at a single target. Hostile targets will be struck for (Arcane Rating) points of damage. Friendly or Neutral targets will be healed for (Arcane Rating/2) points. Range: 100 feet per Skill level. Cost: 15 Mana.

  * Fortunetelling (Rare, Ritual, Beginner): Attempts to read the subject’s fortune. The ritual requires you to touch the subject and concentrate on a specific event or a planned course of action in the near future (within (12 x Skill level) hours from the start of the ritual). At the end of 10 minutes, you will receive a vision revealing the most likely event or outcome. If two outcomes are equally likely or if there are too many factors at play for an accurate prediction, the vision will be muddled or show multiple possible outcomes in an unclear or confusing vision. Cost: 15 Mana. Cooldown: Fortunetelling cannot be used for the same or closely related situation for 24 hours.

  * Healing Touch (Rare, Action, Beginner): Restores up to (Arcane Rating x 3) points of Health to one subject. Must be in direct physical contact with the subject. Cost: 10 Mana. Cooldown: 5 seconds.

  * Lifegiving Nimbus (Rare, Toggle, Beginner): You project healing energies through your aura, that will restore (Skill level x 3) Health points per second to any nonhostile living being within (Aura Rating + Skill level) inches of you. Cost: 6 Mana or Endurance, which cannot be regained as long as the Nimbus is active.

  * Reveal (Rare, Action, Beginner): You extend your senses toward an object, person or location and uncover one or more secrets concealed in the target. The number of secrets revealed is equal to Skill level. Secrets include System information such as hidden identity, power level, or abilities in people, or traps and hidden doors in places, and the true nature of an entity if it is being concealed.

  If there is more than one secret in the target, one will be selected at random and there is a chance equal to your (Perception + Skill level) % that you will realize more secrets remain to be found.

  Multiple castings on the same area or object will not reveal new secrets.

  Range: 100 feet. Area of Effect: Either a single target (living or inanimate) or a volume with a maximum radius equal to (Skill level x 5) feet.

  Automatic Class Skills:

  * Analyze (Active, Uncommon, Beginner 1): This Skill allows you to see additional information beyond the regular identification tags displayed by System-integrated objects and individuals. Using Analyze will reveal additional data about the subject, including notable Attributes, strengths and weaknesses, and some insights on their history or background. Each use of Analyze costs 1 Mana point. The amount of information displayed will depend on your Perception, Skill level, power differential between you and the subject, and any defenses the subject may have against observation.

  This Skill replaces Identify and does everything Identify does in addition to the above.

  * Melee or Ranged Weapon Proficiency (Common, Proficiency, Beginner): Gain proficiency with a melee or ranged weapon of your choice. Increase the chance to hit, parry and block (depending on the weapon type) by 1% per level, and damage by 2% per level.

  Class Skills (Select Two):

  * Additional Affinity/Evolution Skill: You can use one of your Class Skill slots to select an additional Affinity or Evolution Skill.

  * Lesser Healing (Uncommon, Action, Beginner): Restores up to 10 Health points per Skill level on the target or yourself. The effect is instant. Range: 50 feet per Skill level. Cost: 5 Mana. Cooldown: (10 - Skill level) seconds.

  * Lightning Bolt (Uncommon, Action, Beginner): Fires a single bolt of Lightning-attuned Mana that inflicts (Arcane Rating + Skill level) points of damage. Range: 250 feet. Cost: 5 Mana.

  * Resuscitate (Rare, Action, Beginner): You can stabilize a subject that is at the brink of death (Health reduced to 0 or below) or even clinically dead. You must touch the subject. The Skill will heal 50% of the subject’s normal Health pool and will bring them back to life if at least the brain is relatively (more than 60% of its volume) intact and the time of death is no more than (Skill level x 20) seconds before you activate the Skill.

  Activating this Skill requires (10 - Skill) seconds of concentration.

  Cost: 50 Mana and Unbound Essence equal to 50% of the subject’s Health. If you don’t have enough Unbound Essence, the Skill will fail.

  * Revitalize (Rare, Action, Beginner): Place a regenerative blessing on a subject up to (50 feet per Skill level) away. The subject will regenerate damage at a rate of (Arcane Rating/5) for (10 + Skill) seconds. Cost: 15 Mana. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

  Wendy chose Extended Senses, Fae Verdict, Lifegiving Nimbus, and Resuscitate. Each choice was made after she felt it would help with situations in the party’s near future.

  She just hoped it would be enough.