Taylor scanned through the list of Drew's potential classes and then turned to their game guide. "Got a few questions for you, Levi."
"It's what I'm here for," Levi said, waving his teacup in a 'feel free' gesture. "Keep in mind though: So long as I'm a game guide, there are some sharp restrictions on what I can tell you. There are other kinds of hirelings and associates that can help you more."
"Sure," Taylor said. "When it says 'mobs', does that include bosses?"
"Generally," Levi said. "The answer to almost every question is going to have an 'it depends' tacked on. Basically, dungeon magic works the way the AI says it does. There are generally rules that apply in the majority of cases, but there's always going to be exceptions."
Taylor nodded. "Makes sense. What about our gear? If Leo takes a race that's much larger or smaller than her current body, will her skateboard resize itself?"
"I'd be shocked if it didn't," Levi said. "The vast majority of gear does, and the skateboard is part of her signature look. The AI has already given her a Legendary box for the skateboard, so it's unlikely to make her abandon it."
"Cool," Taylor said, relieved.
"I've got one," Drew said. "This Former Child Actor class...it basically lets me choose a new class for each floor, right?"
"Sort of. You're still a Former Child Actor, not whatever the new class is. You'll have some or all of the actionables from that class, but you won't actually be one of them. For example, if you chose to get the Democratic Senator's abilities then you would not be able to exempt yourself from the taxes, because that requires that your class have 'Senator' in the name."
"Okay. So I pick a class and I get some of its stuff, which lasts the rest of the floor. When I go down the stairs it all disappears, right?"
"It disappears when you arrive on the next floor, yes."
Taylor cocked his head. "Hang on. That was very specific. What's the difference between 'go down the stairs' and 'arrive on the next floor'?"
Levi smiled slightly. "I'm afraid that I can't answer that as long as I'm bound by the game guide rules."
"While I've got those abilities, I'm going to be using them and leveling them up," Drew said, ignoring the interruption. "Do I just lose all that XP when I lose the class?"
"I'm afraid that I can't answer that as long as I'm bound by the game guide rules."
Drew glowered and grabbed a chocolate-covered macaroon off one of the trays of refreshments in order to crush his aggravation under a tidal wave of deliciousness.
"How about the items and stuff?" he asked. "There's all kinds of upgrade potions, coupons, memberships and stuff. Do those count as actionables?"
Levi rocked his head in a so-so gesture. "It's complicated," he said. "Suffice to say that you would have a shot at getting them and I don't know for sure which of them you would keep. My guess is that you would lose the memberships and any physical objects that you still had on you, but not the effects of those items. That means that if you still had an upgrade coupon you then you would lose it, but if you had already spent it then you would keep the upgrade." He shrugged. "Can't be sure, sorry. And, of course, I'm not allowed to tell you about personal spaces or what sort of upgrades those coupons might get you. I'm currently under game guide rules, so I'm heavily restricted."
"Speaking of game guides," Taylor said. "Charlie and his people all had the same guide. There's about 200 of them; if it's taking this long for the three of us to get through path selection, what's going to happen to them?"
Levi scratched his neck in thought for a moment and, when he spoke, his words were careful. "It depends on the guide. The most common solution is that the guide's training hall is temporarily expanded with booths for each of the party members so that they can make their choices in parallel."
"Sounds like there's more there," Taylor said, raising his eyebrows.
"It's...complicated," Levi replied. "Like I said, it depends a lot on the guide. Let's move on."
"Okay," Taylor said after a moment. "How about spell casting? Some of what's on Drew's list mentions 'spells you cast' or 'your spells'. How does that relate to things like our Confusing Fog scrolls?"
Levi seemed grateful at not being pushed. "The fancy term for that is 'item-based spell abilities'," he said. "Something like a scroll or the Gravity Anvil spell that Drew can generate because of his hair gel. Those things usually say 'you can cast...', but that's an oversimplification. It's really the item casting the spell, not you. Drew, if you choose Wizard Supremacist then the Empowerment spell will have no effect on your Gravity Anvil."
