You've been waiting eagerly all week and finally, the day is here. A small white box is waiting...
A Reality of a Different Color
- Thread starter InspectorCaracal
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Statistics (16 threadmarks, 13k words)
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Introduction
- Location
- USA
You've been waiting eagerly all week and finally, the day is here. A small white box is waiting for you in your mailbox, the blocky PlanarGames logo printed across the side: it must be the new phone accessory you ordered, for Chromata, PlanarGames' brand new science fantasy ARG game - or as the PR copy calls it, "Meta-Reality Game". The box - if it's what you ordered, which of course it is - contains a bluetooth-enabled "meta-reality" headset that lets you see the game as a real-world overlay.
You're not sure what makes it different from "augmented reality" or "virtual reality", but the idea sounds amazing. Loren - your best friend, even though you only talk online - already got one and says it's exactly as amazing as it sounds, so of course you went ahead and bought one. (They're not even that expensive, somehow.)
By the way, you are a:
[] Him
[] Her
[] Them
and your current employment is:
[] College student
[] Retail clerk
[] Office worker
[] Unemployed
...but that's not important right now, is it? Hurrying back inside, you tear open the packaging and retrieve what looks like a small, translucent over-ear earbud with a small wand thing sticking off of the front and a tiny power button in the back. There's no instruction booklet - and you already installed the Chromata app on your phone, but all it indicated was that you needed an MR device attached.
Now, you have your MR device and can hopefully get past that error message. You open the app on your phone and try pushing the little power button on the earpiece, then when nothing happens, hold down the power button for a couple seconds. A little light blinks a couple times at the end of the probably-an-eyepiece, then the "No MR Device" screen disappears, replaced a moment later with "MR Device connected".
Then nothing.
You wait a couple moments longer to be sure, then shrug and put the thing over your ear, adjusting it a little until it sits comfortably in place. The little wand-stick isn't nearly long enough to be visible while you're actually wearing the thing, and you start to doubt that maybe this thing really was a scam… for maybe two seconds after you stop fiddling with it, before you feel a tiny zap and find yourself staring at a Character Creation screen.
In mid-air. Right in front of your face.
It is, as Loren said, exactly as amazing as it sounded.
After you spend a few minutes oo-ing and aa-ing over the MR display - it stays fixed in one place in the room! you can turn a full circle around and it stays in one place, just like your table! - you start to look at how character creation actually works.
The first section is for your Class, which determines your available pool of abilities and avatar outfits. There are three character classes available: Astralist, Martialist, and Spiritualist. You take a look at the descriptions for each one. (Which takes another minute to figure out how to do until you realize that yes, you do just poke the virtual buttons floating in mid-air. That tiny headset must have an amazing motion detector, too.)
Astralist looks like it's the Mage type of the three, focusing on casting spells that have direct effects on your target. It would be good for a high-powered glass cannon build, or a support healer - but you don't have a group to party with. The example character is a woman wearing a knee-length slim-fitting dress under a long swooping cloak, in red with orange trim.
Martialist is definitely the Fighter type. Its abilities all look like physical attack moves and self-buffs. You're not sure how that's going to work with the whole system being some kind of virtual reality ARG, though. Actually punch at imaginary things floating in virtual space? The app on your phone doesn't seem to be an interface at all, just a link-up to the MR headset. The example character is a man wearing a jacket styled like leather armor, tall leather boots, and a pair of brass knuckles, in white with purple trim.
Spiritualist, on the other hand, you can't decide if it's more like a spirit summoner or like a monster trainer. The abilities seem to be for improving and commanding companion creatures to do stuff for you and you start out with one for free, but it's not clear if you're supposed to capture new companion creature spirit things, or if new types of summons are abilities you can earn later - or even if you only get the one and are supposed to train it to be more powerful. The example character is a woman wearing a pair of leather trousers, a lace-up vest and heavy leather gauntlets, in blue with black trim.
Besides your character class, there's also seven different Colors - which it takes you a good few minutes to realize are the equivalent of character stats. They appear to determine your strengths, weaknesses, and types of abilities you can use, but it's not that clear what exactly they do.
For one thing, you start out picking only one color for your character, instead of the more typical method of having points distributed between them. The info box also says you'll get to pick a secondary color at levels 5 and 10, and tertiary colors at levels 15, 20 and 25. (That makes you wonder what kind of a level cap this game has, if it's unrolling your basic stats over the first twenty-five levels….)
And for another, the colors don't have any text description, just icons. The game's too new to have a fan wiki yet, or at least you can't find anything with an internet search, so you're just going to have to guess at the symbolism or whatever.
So! What kind of a character do you make?
Class
[] Astralist. Hell yeah, let's do some virtual magic!
[] Martialist. You do like punching and stabbing your virtual monsters, like a badass.
[] Spiritualist. Supporting and commanding a loyal companion sounds ideal.
Color (Primary)
[] Red - A fist wreathed in flames
[] Orange - An arrow with swirled lines trailing off the feather
[] Green - A tree growing from a rock
[] Blue - A head in profile with small bubble-like circles within it
[] Violet - An eight pointed star with sparkles
[] Black - A black cat in shadow
[] White - A quartz-like crystal spar
This is my first quest ever as QM so please forgive me for flailing around while getting the hang of things!
You're not sure what makes it different from "augmented reality" or "virtual reality", but the idea sounds amazing. Loren - your best friend, even though you only talk online - already got one and says it's exactly as amazing as it sounds, so of course you went ahead and bought one. (They're not even that expensive, somehow.)
By the way, you are a:
[] Him
[] Her
[] Them
and your current employment is:
[] College student
[] Retail clerk
[] Office worker
[] Unemployed
...but that's not important right now, is it? Hurrying back inside, you tear open the packaging and retrieve what looks like a small, translucent over-ear earbud with a small wand thing sticking off of the front and a tiny power button in the back. There's no instruction booklet - and you already installed the Chromata app on your phone, but all it indicated was that you needed an MR device attached.
Now, you have your MR device and can hopefully get past that error message. You open the app on your phone and try pushing the little power button on the earpiece, then when nothing happens, hold down the power button for a couple seconds. A little light blinks a couple times at the end of the probably-an-eyepiece, then the "No MR Device" screen disappears, replaced a moment later with "MR Device connected".
Then nothing.
You wait a couple moments longer to be sure, then shrug and put the thing over your ear, adjusting it a little until it sits comfortably in place. The little wand-stick isn't nearly long enough to be visible while you're actually wearing the thing, and you start to doubt that maybe this thing really was a scam… for maybe two seconds after you stop fiddling with it, before you feel a tiny zap and find yourself staring at a Character Creation screen.
In mid-air. Right in front of your face.
It is, as Loren said, exactly as amazing as it sounded.
After you spend a few minutes oo-ing and aa-ing over the MR display - it stays fixed in one place in the room! you can turn a full circle around and it stays in one place, just like your table! - you start to look at how character creation actually works.
The first section is for your Class, which determines your available pool of abilities and avatar outfits. There are three character classes available: Astralist, Martialist, and Spiritualist. You take a look at the descriptions for each one. (Which takes another minute to figure out how to do until you realize that yes, you do just poke the virtual buttons floating in mid-air. That tiny headset must have an amazing motion detector, too.)
Astralist looks like it's the Mage type of the three, focusing on casting spells that have direct effects on your target. It would be good for a high-powered glass cannon build, or a support healer - but you don't have a group to party with. The example character is a woman wearing a knee-length slim-fitting dress under a long swooping cloak, in red with orange trim.
Martialist is definitely the Fighter type. Its abilities all look like physical attack moves and self-buffs. You're not sure how that's going to work with the whole system being some kind of virtual reality ARG, though. Actually punch at imaginary things floating in virtual space? The app on your phone doesn't seem to be an interface at all, just a link-up to the MR headset. The example character is a man wearing a jacket styled like leather armor, tall leather boots, and a pair of brass knuckles, in white with purple trim.
Spiritualist, on the other hand, you can't decide if it's more like a spirit summoner or like a monster trainer. The abilities seem to be for improving and commanding companion creatures to do stuff for you and you start out with one for free, but it's not clear if you're supposed to capture new companion creature spirit things, or if new types of summons are abilities you can earn later - or even if you only get the one and are supposed to train it to be more powerful. The example character is a woman wearing a pair of leather trousers, a lace-up vest and heavy leather gauntlets, in blue with black trim.
Besides your character class, there's also seven different Colors - which it takes you a good few minutes to realize are the equivalent of character stats. They appear to determine your strengths, weaknesses, and types of abilities you can use, but it's not that clear what exactly they do.
For one thing, you start out picking only one color for your character, instead of the more typical method of having points distributed between them. The info box also says you'll get to pick a secondary color at levels 5 and 10, and tertiary colors at levels 15, 20 and 25. (That makes you wonder what kind of a level cap this game has, if it's unrolling your basic stats over the first twenty-five levels….)
And for another, the colors don't have any text description, just icons. The game's too new to have a fan wiki yet, or at least you can't find anything with an internet search, so you're just going to have to guess at the symbolism or whatever.
So! What kind of a character do you make?
Class
[] Astralist. Hell yeah, let's do some virtual magic!
[] Martialist. You do like punching and stabbing your virtual monsters, like a badass.
[] Spiritualist. Supporting and commanding a loyal companion sounds ideal.
Color (Primary)
[] Red - A fist wreathed in flames
[] Orange - An arrow with swirled lines trailing off the feather
[] Green - A tree growing from a rock
[] Blue - A head in profile with small bubble-like circles within it
[] Violet - An eight pointed star with sparkles
[] Black - A black cat in shadow
[] White - A quartz-like crystal spar
This is my first quest ever as QM so please forgive me for flailing around while getting the hang of things!
Character Sheet
- Location
- USA
You're a woman in your mid twenties. You have a job doing email customer support for a small company and you live in a single-bedroom apartment, on the edge of downtown.
Annabelle Marie Jones
Class: Violet Spiritualist
Level: 1
XP toward level 2: 34%
EP: 10
AP: 5
Attack (Ability) - Command your companion to attack your target.
Flare (Ability) - Use your companion as a focus point to create an AoE blast of your own Violet energy. EP: 3 Range: 5m
Swap (Ability) - Change places with your companion.
Class: Violet Spiritualist
Level: 1
XP toward level 2: 34%
EP: 10
AP: 5
Attack (Ability) - Command your companion to attack your target.
Flare (Ability) - Use your companion as a focus point to create an AoE blast of your own Violet energy. EP: 3 Range: 5m
Swap (Ability) - Change places with your companion.
Nebula Violet Sprite
EP: 10
AP: 3
Shine (Ability) - A Violet light beam strikes your opponent. PWR: 3
Mirage (Ability) - Create an AoE environmental illusion to confuse your opponent.
EP: 10
AP: 3
Shine (Ability) - A Violet light beam strikes your opponent. PWR: 3
Mirage (Ability) - Create an AoE environmental illusion to confuse your opponent.
Chroma Coins: 20
1 Small Vial of Smoke
1 Ember Stone
1 Small Vial of Smoke
1 Ember Stone
Last edited:
Article excerpt on Chromata, Pre-Launch
- Location
- USA
I'm currently planning to leave the vote open until after my dinner (so about 4 more hours) and then close it to write up and post the second stage of character creation tonight. In the meantime, I wrote up a bit of an extra!
An excerpt from an article about Chromata, dated a week before release.
...
The secret, of course, is no secret at all. Chromata and VR are being mentioned in the same breath wherever you go, with advertisements and hopeful players alike enthusing over the low price tag of this new "meta-reality device" - the key ingredient and selling point for the new ARG. But information about how this "MRD" works is non-existent, even this close to release day. What we do know is it's a small device - small enough to fit in the palm of your hand - that fits over your ear with a headphone speaker for game audio and some kind of visual projector.
Even without the virtual reality, however, what we've seen so far of Chromata is visually impressive. Characters wear detailed, vividly-colored outfits that range from classic fantasy robes with detailed embroidery, to sleek futuristic catsuits sporting glowing cyber-stripes. And the monsters in the world come in just as wide a range - a pack of fiery hell-hounds leaping out from a man-hole, a crystalline wyvern diving between skyscrapers, and a lethal-looking many-limbed robot assembling itself out of a junk-yard are the most notable examples from the recent trailer. The monsters and fantasy outfits all have a faint glow of color to them, like holographic projections, which in the trailers proves effective at countering the inevitably awkward "CG over real footage" problem of VR overlays.
But while it looks impressive, that's all we have to go on. PlanarGames has been notoriously closed-mouthed about the mechanics of the game. Nothing about classes, stats, mechanics, or even the game's final interface are anywhere to be seen. With the unbelievably low price of the MRD and the free phone app, however, that mystery seems less of a risk and more an added spice of anticipation. How will this new VR headset work? Will it work? Whether it does or not, what kind of game will it be?
An excerpt from an article about Chromata, dated a week before release.
...
The secret, of course, is no secret at all. Chromata and VR are being mentioned in the same breath wherever you go, with advertisements and hopeful players alike enthusing over the low price tag of this new "meta-reality device" - the key ingredient and selling point for the new ARG. But information about how this "MRD" works is non-existent, even this close to release day. What we do know is it's a small device - small enough to fit in the palm of your hand - that fits over your ear with a headphone speaker for game audio and some kind of visual projector.
Even without the virtual reality, however, what we've seen so far of Chromata is visually impressive. Characters wear detailed, vividly-colored outfits that range from classic fantasy robes with detailed embroidery, to sleek futuristic catsuits sporting glowing cyber-stripes. And the monsters in the world come in just as wide a range - a pack of fiery hell-hounds leaping out from a man-hole, a crystalline wyvern diving between skyscrapers, and a lethal-looking many-limbed robot assembling itself out of a junk-yard are the most notable examples from the recent trailer. The monsters and fantasy outfits all have a faint glow of color to them, like holographic projections, which in the trailers proves effective at countering the inevitably awkward "CG over real footage" problem of VR overlays.
But while it looks impressive, that's all we have to go on. PlanarGames has been notoriously closed-mouthed about the mechanics of the game. Nothing about classes, stats, mechanics, or even the game's final interface are anywhere to be seen. With the unbelievably low price of the MRD and the free phone app, however, that mystery seems less of a risk and more an added spice of anticipation. How will this new VR headset work? Will it work? Whether it does or not, what kind of game will it be?
Character Creation, Stage 2
- Location
- USA
After poring over the options for a while, you settle on Violet Spiritualist. Having a summoned companion to do the fighting for you sounds safer than melee fighting or traditionally low-defense spellcasting - especially if you're going to be playing solo. Choosing between Blue and Violet was harder - but while you're pretty sure Blue is a mind or intelligence kind of stat, the star icon for Violet is impossible to figure out and you're intrigued. Maybe you'll pick Blue as your first secondary in five levels.
The interface in front of you dissolves in a curtain of sparkles, reforming with an image of… you. Well, someone that looks a lot like you, in a vague kind of way. Your build, your hair, your face shape - and currently wearing an outfit a lot like the example Spiritualist character. Leggings, a laced-up vest (it's really more like a bodice that actually covers your shoulders), a pair of boots, all in a bright violet.
As a matter of fact, the whole interface has turned violet, although a pale, less vibrant version. And next to the image of you-as-your-character (you think that's what it is) are three empty boxes, labelled Abilities.
You look between the two for a moment, then nod to yourself and decide to check out the starter outfits first. Besides the Renn Faire get-up it gave you to start off, there's also a lighter violet fitted jacket that flares out in long panels to the back of your - your character's knees and a low V neck, and a darker violet leather jacket with matching leather pants and glowing violet star emblems on the shoulders - it looks more Matrix than Lord of the Rings.
There's no indication that the choice of outfit has any mechanical effect in the game, it's probably just aesthetic.
[] [Outfit] The lace-up vest.
[] [Outfit] The low-cut long jacket.
[] [Outfit] The leather jacket.
That done, you go through the available starting Abilities. It looks like you can pick any combination of three that you want, instead of having to pick, say, an attack, a defense, and a support move. As you expected, most of your abilities are really for your summoned creature - which you don't have yet. Maybe you won't get to see it until you've finished character creation, since you don't get to choose it.
Choose three:
[] Attack - Command your companion to attack your target.
[] Shield - Command your companion to summon a defensive Violet shield.
[] Beast - Transform your companion into a Beast. Beast form cannot use energy attacks but is immune to them.
[] Wisp - Transform your companion into a Wisp. It cannot attack or be attacked in Wisp form.
[] Astral - Transform your companion into a Spirit. Spirit form cannot use physical attacks but is immune to them.
[] Flare - Use your companion as a focus point to create an AoE blast of your own Violet energy.
[] Swap - Change places with your companion.
Judging by the way the ability descriptions use Violet, colors aren't just stats, but also elemental types. Some of them are obvious in retrospect - Red is fire, Green is probably some kind of earth or nature thing, Black is clearly darkness - but yours? Violet? What kind of an element is a sparkly star? It would be way too overpowered of them to offer something like a celestial element right at the beginning.
Besides, you were pretty sure that your color choice was supposed to affect what abilities you get - and you got several transformation options. Maybe that's the Violet thing? Werewolf master, element of… transformation? You know what, you're going to leave the speculation until you start actually playing.
Once you've picked your outfit and your abilities, there's only one thing left to choose…
A name.
[] [Name] Write-in
The interface in front of you dissolves in a curtain of sparkles, reforming with an image of… you. Well, someone that looks a lot like you, in a vague kind of way. Your build, your hair, your face shape - and currently wearing an outfit a lot like the example Spiritualist character. Leggings, a laced-up vest (it's really more like a bodice that actually covers your shoulders), a pair of boots, all in a bright violet.
As a matter of fact, the whole interface has turned violet, although a pale, less vibrant version. And next to the image of you-as-your-character (you think that's what it is) are three empty boxes, labelled Abilities.
You look between the two for a moment, then nod to yourself and decide to check out the starter outfits first. Besides the Renn Faire get-up it gave you to start off, there's also a lighter violet fitted jacket that flares out in long panels to the back of your - your character's knees and a low V neck, and a darker violet leather jacket with matching leather pants and glowing violet star emblems on the shoulders - it looks more Matrix than Lord of the Rings.
There's no indication that the choice of outfit has any mechanical effect in the game, it's probably just aesthetic.
[] [Outfit] The lace-up vest.
[] [Outfit] The low-cut long jacket.
[] [Outfit] The leather jacket.
That done, you go through the available starting Abilities. It looks like you can pick any combination of three that you want, instead of having to pick, say, an attack, a defense, and a support move. As you expected, most of your abilities are really for your summoned creature - which you don't have yet. Maybe you won't get to see it until you've finished character creation, since you don't get to choose it.
Choose three:
[] Attack - Command your companion to attack your target.
[] Shield - Command your companion to summon a defensive Violet shield.
[] Beast - Transform your companion into a Beast. Beast form cannot use energy attacks but is immune to them.
[] Wisp - Transform your companion into a Wisp. It cannot attack or be attacked in Wisp form.
[] Astral - Transform your companion into a Spirit. Spirit form cannot use physical attacks but is immune to them.
[] Flare - Use your companion as a focus point to create an AoE blast of your own Violet energy.
[] Swap - Change places with your companion.
Judging by the way the ability descriptions use Violet, colors aren't just stats, but also elemental types. Some of them are obvious in retrospect - Red is fire, Green is probably some kind of earth or nature thing, Black is clearly darkness - but yours? Violet? What kind of an element is a sparkly star? It would be way too overpowered of them to offer something like a celestial element right at the beginning.
Besides, you were pretty sure that your color choice was supposed to affect what abilities you get - and you got several transformation options. Maybe that's the Violet thing? Werewolf master, element of… transformation? You know what, you're going to leave the speculation until you start actually playing.
Once you've picked your outfit and your abilities, there's only one thing left to choose…
A name.
[] [Name] Write-in
One Last Infodump
- Location
- USA
Deciding against the transformation abilities, you go for a head-on attack strategy. The Attack ability, of course - you guess your companion doesn't automatically attack opponents? That sounds annoying, but you kind of get it. Flare, because it's not only an AoE blast, but also the only direct attack option you have. And Swap for the strategic options (and because teleportation is awesome and you're just dying to know how that's going to work in an ARG game).
And of course you go for the Matrix-y leather. Wizards and dragons are cool, of course, but what really caught your eye in the ads were all the futuristic science-fantasy parts.
Satisfied with your choices, you tap at the floating Create button. The interface dissolves into violet sparkles.
The almost melodic voice startles you until you remember that you are, in fact, wearing an earpiece with a speaker.
A violet-hued HUD shimmers into view, showing what looks like a couple of status indicators and a skill bar with your Abilities. Unlike the character creation screen, this interface stays in the same place in your field of vision instead of in space - which you'd expect from a HUD.
The empty vertical bar along the side glows brighter for a moment.
The large violet circle at the bottom of it glows brighter for a moment, this time.
This time, when the voice pauses, the icons representing your Abilities glow, along with the five dots lined up under them.
The smaller circle below your Energy Pool glows for a moment.
The HUD disappears in sparkles.
You wait a moment longer just to make sure it's actually done, then tap your MRD. The HUD comes back up into view, and you select your companion's EP circle to see what it's got.
Mirage, huh? You're not sure which parts are from your Color and which are from your Class, but illusion and transformation seem like the start of a pattern…
Now that you know that "your own Violet energy" basically means sacrificing health for damage, Flare seems a lot riskier than you were expecting. Still, a five meter area of effect attack is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you wind up in a mob.
Annabelle Marie Jones
Location: Your Safe Zone, in your apartment
Class: Violet Spiritualist
Level: 1
EP: 10
AP: 5
Attack (Ability) - Command your companion to attack your target.
Flare (Ability) - Use your companion as a focus point to create an AoE blast of your own Violet energy. EP: 3 Range: 5m
Swap (Ability) - Change places with your companion.
Chroma Coins: 20
Inventory: Empty
Well! You're in the game. What do you want to do first?
[] Head out to the nearest park to look for other players.
[] Wander around your neighborhood looking for something to fight.
[] Write-in
And what will you want to name your companion?
[] [Sprite] Write-in
And of course you go for the Matrix-y leather. Wizards and dragons are cool, of course, but what really caught your eye in the ads were all the futuristic science-fantasy parts.
Satisfied with your choices, you tap at the floating Create button. The interface dissolves into violet sparkles.
"Welcome to Chromata."
The almost melodic voice startles you until you remember that you are, in fact, wearing an earpiece with a speaker.
"You are currently in what is called a Safe Zone. No enemies can enter a Safe Zone or attack through the boundary of a Safe Zone. Each character has their own Safe Zone. Since you have just completed character creation, the game has created one at your current location. You may reset your Safe Zone to another location later if necessary.
"Safe Zones are also the only locations where you can log in or out of the game. If you disconnect outside of a Safe Zone, the game will treat your character as logged-in until you reconnect and log out correctly.
"Chromata is an open-world game, with creatures of all strengths and sizes roaming in all areas. This is why the Relative Level System is in place. Creatures which are more than ten levels lower than you will flee on sight, and creatures which are more than ten levels higher than you will ignore you - as long as you don't attack them."
"Safe Zones are also the only locations where you can log in or out of the game. If you disconnect outside of a Safe Zone, the game will treat your character as logged-in until you reconnect and log out correctly.
"Chromata is an open-world game, with creatures of all strengths and sizes roaming in all areas. This is why the Relative Level System is in place. Creatures which are more than ten levels lower than you will flee on sight, and creatures which are more than ten levels higher than you will ignore you - as long as you don't attack them."
A violet-hued HUD shimmers into view, showing what looks like a couple of status indicators and a skill bar with your Abilities. Unlike the character creation screen, this interface stays in the same place in your field of vision instead of in space - which you'd expect from a HUD.
The empty vertical bar along the side glows brighter for a moment.
"This is your experience bar, indicating your progress towards the next level. You will notice later that the quantity of experience required to level is the same for each level. This is because experience gain is based on level difference. The amount of experience a level three character gains for defeating a level nine creature is identical to the experience a level thirty character gains from defeating a level thirty-six creature."
The large violet circle at the bottom of it glows brighter for a moment, this time.
"This is your Energy Pool. It represents the amount of Violet Energy you have available. Damage from attacks will deplete your Energy. If your Energy Pool reaches zero, your status is set to Defeated. You will experience a permanent defeat penalty and your game interface will locked while you are Defeated. Retreating to a Safe Zone will automatically remove the Defeated status, and your Energy Pool refills over time while you are within a Safe Zone."
This time, when the voice pauses, the icons representing your Abilities glow, along with the five dots lined up under them.
"The Abilities you chose each cost one Ability Point to activate. As a level one Spiritualist, you have a maximum pool of five Ability Points. You will regain one Ability Point every fifteen minutes, except for when you have the Defeated status."
The smaller circle below your Energy Pool glows for a moment.
"As a Spiritualist, you have a Companion. Your Companion has its own Energy Pool, abilities and stats, depending on its type, but it will always be the same Color as you. Summoning or desummoning your Companion is a free ability, and your Companion's Energy Pool will refill when it is desummoned. Your Companion regains Ability Points at the same rate as yourself.
"As a Violet Spiritualist, your starting Companion is a Sprite. You can view your Companion's status and abilities by selecting its Energy Pool indicator, below yours. Touching the indicator again while selected will summon or desummon your Companion. You can purchase additional Companions or improve your existing Companion later on."
"As a Violet Spiritualist, your starting Companion is a Sprite. You can view your Companion's status and abilities by selecting its Energy Pool indicator, below yours. Touching the indicator again while selected will summon or desummon your Companion. You can purchase additional Companions or improve your existing Companion later on."
The HUD disappears in sparkles.
"The MRD interface can be toggled on or off by tapping your MRD. You may view your current inventory and access game shops with the Chromata Mobile App. The game currency is Chroma Coins. As a new player, you have received twenty Chroma Coins. Active players receive a weekly allowance every Saturday based on their level. Enemy creatures will drop items when defeated, which can be used or sold to the shops for Chroma Coins.
"Once again, welcome to Chromata. Enjoy the game."
"Once again, welcome to Chromata. Enjoy the game."
You wait a moment longer just to make sure it's actually done, then tap your MRD. The HUD comes back up into view, and you select your companion's EP circle to see what it's got.
Unnamed Violet Sprite
EP: 10
AP: 3
Shine (Ability) - A Violet light beam strikes your opponent. PWR: 3
Mirage (Ability) - Create an AoE environmental illusion to confuse your opponent.
EP: 10
AP: 3
Shine (Ability) - A Violet light beam strikes your opponent. PWR: 3
Mirage (Ability) - Create an AoE environmental illusion to confuse your opponent.
Mirage, huh? You're not sure which parts are from your Color and which are from your Class, but illusion and transformation seem like the start of a pattern…
Now that you know that "your own Violet energy" basically means sacrificing health for damage, Flare seems a lot riskier than you were expecting. Still, a five meter area of effect attack is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you wind up in a mob.
Annabelle Marie Jones
Location: Your Safe Zone, in your apartment
Class: Violet Spiritualist
Level: 1
EP: 10
AP: 5
Attack (Ability) - Command your companion to attack your target.
Flare (Ability) - Use your companion as a focus point to create an AoE blast of your own Violet energy. EP: 3 Range: 5m
Swap (Ability) - Change places with your companion.
Chroma Coins: 20
Inventory: Empty
[] Head out to the nearest park to look for other players.
[] Wander around your neighborhood looking for something to fight.
[] Write-in
And what will you want to name your companion?
[] [Sprite] Write-in
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To the Park
- Location
- USA
[X] Head out to the nearest park to look for other players.
The first thing to do, you decide, is head into town to look for other Chromata players. The game's been out for a few days so far: maybe someone there will have some tips to give you about how the game works. Plus, you don't get a lot of chances to hang out with people who share your interests and hobbies these days.
The best place to start, you decide, is at Ferriman Park, the closest park to your apartment. Plenty of people hang out there, and if there's one thing you've learned, it's that open park spaces tend to be hot-spots of ARG activity. Anyone playing the game there is probably going to be younger than you, but that'll be true just about anywhere. And hey, you're not that old yet.
You start to head out the door - then hesitate, realizing that even if you're not looking for a fight, there's no guarantee one won't find you. It's better to be safe; you don't want to be caught out without your Sprite companion, since without having it summoned, you literally can't do anything.
Selecting the companion EP circle, you "tap" it again. A pop-up appears in front of you.
Oh, right, it still needs a name. You think about it for a moment, but the only thing that really comes to mind is the star icon for Violet. They're going to be the same color as your character, so that's all you really know for sure about it, anyway.
Going through all the star-related words you can think of, you settle on Nebula and enter it in.
Your Sprite appears in a swirl of violet sparkles and hovers in the air next to you: an entirely androgynous pixie-like fairy about two feet tall, with translucent insect-like wings and features that remind you of a chibi-style anime character. It's watching you expectantly with large, shining eyes.
It's adorable.
"Hi, Nebula."
Nebula replies with a completely incomprehensible string of musical chirps and flutters around you in a circle.
Right, you're going to the park. You head out the door and out to the nearest bus stop to wait for the Route 12 - that's the one that goes to the park. The wait is uneventful, and at first it seems the bus ride will be too. Halfway there, you're sitting there, staring out the window, when you hear a muffled roar in your earpiece. Turning reflexively towards the sound, you catch a glimpse of a giant, glowing white leonine monster on top of the fire house - ironically, being set on fire. The stream of flames is coming from the sidewalk across the street and you crane your neck around just in time to see someone in brilliantly red, slightly glowing mage robes shooting flames from their hand before the bus turns a corner.
They must have been an Astralist. You still can't believe how real it all looked.
The woman across the bus from you is looking at you oddly and you realize you're grinning like an idiot. Coughing into your hand, you spend the rest of the ride trying to get your expression back under control as Nebula chimes happily in circles around your head.
The first thing you notice when you get off at Ferriman Park is a glowing rainbow C floating above the picnic area. You're not sure what it means, but it's obviously a major part of the game so you head over there.
The picnic area is pretty popular at dinner time on a summer evening; half of the tables are occupied and the grill is in use. Two of the tables look like Chromata players, marked by the holographic outfits overlaying their real ones. Aside from the quick glimpse out the window, it's your first good look at how the game graphics interface with reality. And you're impressed by the result; it looks like the character's outfit is what they're actually wearing.
You take a quick look down at yourself and realize, yeah, you're dressed like your own character in your own view, too, although you can see your jeans and shirt faintly through the projection.
But you came here to talk to people about the game, not just wander around staring. One of the player-occupied tables has three people: one in dark red Harry Potter-like wizard robes, one in black… something, it's hard to tell the details of something that dark from a hundred meters away, and one in the lace-up vest and trousers you had as an option, but green. A green cat-like creature is lounging on their table. You're pretty sure they're friends and are playing the game together, what with each having a different class and color.
The other table only has one person, wearing orange robes a lot like the Red Astralist setting that lion thing on fire. But his robes are detailed in blue instead of a different shade of orange. If he has two colors, he must have gotten to pick a secondary color already - which makes him at least level five, and the highest level player you've seen so far.
Who are you going to talk to first?
[] The lone Orange Astralist
[] The three-player party
[] Sit at a table by yourself and see if someone approaches you
The first thing to do, you decide, is head into town to look for other Chromata players. The game's been out for a few days so far: maybe someone there will have some tips to give you about how the game works. Plus, you don't get a lot of chances to hang out with people who share your interests and hobbies these days.
The best place to start, you decide, is at Ferriman Park, the closest park to your apartment. Plenty of people hang out there, and if there's one thing you've learned, it's that open park spaces tend to be hot-spots of ARG activity. Anyone playing the game there is probably going to be younger than you, but that'll be true just about anywhere. And hey, you're not that old yet.
You start to head out the door - then hesitate, realizing that even if you're not looking for a fight, there's no guarantee one won't find you. It's better to be safe; you don't want to be caught out without your Sprite companion, since without having it summoned, you literally can't do anything.
Selecting the companion EP circle, you "tap" it again. A pop-up appears in front of you.
First Summon
Enter name:
Enter name:
Oh, right, it still needs a name. You think about it for a moment, but the only thing that really comes to mind is the star icon for Violet. They're going to be the same color as your character, so that's all you really know for sure about it, anyway.
Going through all the star-related words you can think of, you settle on Nebula and enter it in.
Your Sprite appears in a swirl of violet sparkles and hovers in the air next to you: an entirely androgynous pixie-like fairy about two feet tall, with translucent insect-like wings and features that remind you of a chibi-style anime character. It's watching you expectantly with large, shining eyes.
It's adorable.
"Hi, Nebula."
Nebula replies with a completely incomprehensible string of musical chirps and flutters around you in a circle.
Right, you're going to the park. You head out the door and out to the nearest bus stop to wait for the Route 12 - that's the one that goes to the park. The wait is uneventful, and at first it seems the bus ride will be too. Halfway there, you're sitting there, staring out the window, when you hear a muffled roar in your earpiece. Turning reflexively towards the sound, you catch a glimpse of a giant, glowing white leonine monster on top of the fire house - ironically, being set on fire. The stream of flames is coming from the sidewalk across the street and you crane your neck around just in time to see someone in brilliantly red, slightly glowing mage robes shooting flames from their hand before the bus turns a corner.
They must have been an Astralist. You still can't believe how real it all looked.
The woman across the bus from you is looking at you oddly and you realize you're grinning like an idiot. Coughing into your hand, you spend the rest of the ride trying to get your expression back under control as Nebula chimes happily in circles around your head.
The first thing you notice when you get off at Ferriman Park is a glowing rainbow C floating above the picnic area. You're not sure what it means, but it's obviously a major part of the game so you head over there.
The picnic area is pretty popular at dinner time on a summer evening; half of the tables are occupied and the grill is in use. Two of the tables look like Chromata players, marked by the holographic outfits overlaying their real ones. Aside from the quick glimpse out the window, it's your first good look at how the game graphics interface with reality. And you're impressed by the result; it looks like the character's outfit is what they're actually wearing.
You take a quick look down at yourself and realize, yeah, you're dressed like your own character in your own view, too, although you can see your jeans and shirt faintly through the projection.
But you came here to talk to people about the game, not just wander around staring. One of the player-occupied tables has three people: one in dark red Harry Potter-like wizard robes, one in black… something, it's hard to tell the details of something that dark from a hundred meters away, and one in the lace-up vest and trousers you had as an option, but green. A green cat-like creature is lounging on their table. You're pretty sure they're friends and are playing the game together, what with each having a different class and color.
The other table only has one person, wearing orange robes a lot like the Red Astralist setting that lion thing on fire. But his robes are detailed in blue instead of a different shade of orange. If he has two colors, he must have gotten to pick a secondary color already - which makes him at least level five, and the highest level player you've seen so far.
Who are you going to talk to first?
[] The lone Orange Astralist
[] The three-player party
[] Sit at a table by yourself and see if someone approaches you
A friend! A mentor? A source of information
- Location
- USA
[x] The lone Orange Astralist
You came here to learn more about the game, so what better way to do that than talk to the highest-level player around? And you don't really like butting into conversations people are already having… so you aim towards the Orange Astralist.
Once you get within about fifty feet of him, white light coalesces over his head into some text.
That's definitely over level five - so if nothing else, he'll know about level rewards and how having two colors works. He probably won't know much about the Spiritualist abilities, but you can figure that out as you go. And he looks like a college kid, not a high schooler, so the age gap isn't too bad.
He's busy doing something on his phone, so you get all the way next to the table and stand there awkwardly for a moment without him noticing you.
"Um, hey. Mind if I join you?"
He looks up at you, glancing at the space over your head for a moment and then at Nebula before he nods. "Yeah, I was just checking… uh. Doing some inventory management. You're new?"
"Just started playing today." You sit down across from him at the picnic bench. "Half an hour ago, to be honest. So, um… do I call you Kaius?"
"Oh. Yeah, go ahead. Annabelle?"
"Works for me." You're really glad you picked a normal kind of name, now, instead of something like Strawberry Shortcake or PokeMaster. "You've been playing a while?"
"A couple days." Kaius looks up at where you're pretty sure your name and level are floating. "You want some help, I'm guessing?"
"Information," you admit. "I know half the point is figuring things out, but this game is pretty cryptic even for an ARG."
"That's true." He puts his phone down on the table and frowns. "I don't usually do… mentor stuff? But uh, I can tell you some basics and answer questions, I guess. Like that." Kaius points up at the big glowing C slowly rotating in the air above the area. "That's a beacon. You can save it and the HUD'll point you to it from anywhere else. It keeps monsters from spawning in the area around it, but it's not a safe zone, they can come in if they're chasing someone."
"So it's mostly a good spot for meeting up with people." You look over at the other group of three, then off at the rest of the park. It looks like someone else in green is fighting some... shadowy thing, out by the pond... It's good to see there's active players actually doing stuff out there, but you have information to gather before you go out exploring, yourself. "For basics, how does combat work? How hard is it to level?"
"Well, um, I'm not a Spiritualist like you, so I'm not sure? For Astralists, you get a maximum range for your abilities. If something's in range, I get an EP circle on my HUD for and I can select it, then the ability I want to use."
The only one of your abilities that involves selecting a target enemy is Attack. The rest of them don't mention a target at all, but you assume if they need one, they automatically target Nebula.
"There's a hundred XP per level," Kaius continues, "and you get more XP from monsters that have a higher relative level. Right now I get thirteen XP from level eleven monsters and only three from a level one."
You're definitely going to do the math for that later. (Or ask Kaius if he's done it.) But there's still a lot of really basic things you don't understand about the game that you should ask about first.
Choose one. Close but non-winning results will affect the conversation.
[] How do I get new Abilities?
[] Is there a partying system?
[] Should I worry about earning Chroma Coins yet?
[] What do the Colors actually do?
[] Write-in
You came here to learn more about the game, so what better way to do that than talk to the highest-level player around? And you don't really like butting into conversations people are already having… so you aim towards the Orange Astralist.
Once you get within about fifty feet of him, white light coalesces over his head into some text.
Kaius Keen-Eyed
Level 8 AST
Level 8 AST
That's definitely over level five - so if nothing else, he'll know about level rewards and how having two colors works. He probably won't know much about the Spiritualist abilities, but you can figure that out as you go. And he looks like a college kid, not a high schooler, so the age gap isn't too bad.
He's busy doing something on his phone, so you get all the way next to the table and stand there awkwardly for a moment without him noticing you.
"Um, hey. Mind if I join you?"
He looks up at you, glancing at the space over your head for a moment and then at Nebula before he nods. "Yeah, I was just checking… uh. Doing some inventory management. You're new?"
"Just started playing today." You sit down across from him at the picnic bench. "Half an hour ago, to be honest. So, um… do I call you Kaius?"
"Oh. Yeah, go ahead. Annabelle?"
"Works for me." You're really glad you picked a normal kind of name, now, instead of something like Strawberry Shortcake or PokeMaster. "You've been playing a while?"
"A couple days." Kaius looks up at where you're pretty sure your name and level are floating. "You want some help, I'm guessing?"
"Information," you admit. "I know half the point is figuring things out, but this game is pretty cryptic even for an ARG."
"That's true." He puts his phone down on the table and frowns. "I don't usually do… mentor stuff? But uh, I can tell you some basics and answer questions, I guess. Like that." Kaius points up at the big glowing C slowly rotating in the air above the area. "That's a beacon. You can save it and the HUD'll point you to it from anywhere else. It keeps monsters from spawning in the area around it, but it's not a safe zone, they can come in if they're chasing someone."
"So it's mostly a good spot for meeting up with people." You look over at the other group of three, then off at the rest of the park. It looks like someone else in green is fighting some... shadowy thing, out by the pond... It's good to see there's active players actually doing stuff out there, but you have information to gather before you go out exploring, yourself. "For basics, how does combat work? How hard is it to level?"
"Well, um, I'm not a Spiritualist like you, so I'm not sure? For Astralists, you get a maximum range for your abilities. If something's in range, I get an EP circle on my HUD for and I can select it, then the ability I want to use."
The only one of your abilities that involves selecting a target enemy is Attack. The rest of them don't mention a target at all, but you assume if they need one, they automatically target Nebula.
"There's a hundred XP per level," Kaius continues, "and you get more XP from monsters that have a higher relative level. Right now I get thirteen XP from level eleven monsters and only three from a level one."
You're definitely going to do the math for that later. (Or ask Kaius if he's done it.) But there's still a lot of really basic things you don't understand about the game that you should ask about first.
Choose one. Close but non-winning results will affect the conversation.
[] How do I get new Abilities?
[] Is there a partying system?
[] Should I worry about earning Chroma Coins yet?
[] What do the Colors actually do?
[] Write-in
Elemental Rainbows
- Location
- USA
[x] What do the Colors actually do?
With the basics of combat and levelling out of the way, your next question is clear. The mechanics of the game are cryptic at best, but for the most part sound like your typical RPG kind of things. Except for these Colors.
"What do these Colors actually do? Do they determine your stats? Your attack's element?"
"Both. Well," Kaius hedged, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, "I think. Most of the colors system is pretty deep under the surface, but I've figured out a few things. Each color has a different element and a different set of attributes that it's… good at, I guess? The elements I figured out so far are fire, air, earth, water, dark, light," he counts them off on his fingers. "And each one is stronger against and weaker to the usual opposite. Fire and water, dark and light. Violet, though…" He looks at you in curiosity. "I haven't figured it out yet."
"Great. I was hoping you could tell me that one," you say, jokingly. Mostly joking. You're not really joking at all, if you're being honest. "It's all transformation and illusion stuff so far."
"Interesting." He frowned in thought. "Anyway, the attributes are harder to pin down. Orange seems to have a lot of focus on speed and movement. Blue is mind, I think."
"You think? Didn't you pick it as a secondary?"
"You picked Violet as your primary," he mutters, visibly stung. "You're not one to talk."
"All right, fair." You shrug, not really feeling repentant even if he does have a point. "Then why did you choose blue?"
"Because it was my second choice when I was making my character. Besides, the Blue Abilities it gave me as swap options looked interesting."
"Swap?" You lean forward. "You got to swap in different abilities? Did you get any new ones yet?"
"Yeah, it gave me some options when I reached level five, one of them was swapping one of my abilities for a new one. I decided to increase my energy pool instead, since Astralist spells use color energy to do damage, but it sounded like I'd get the choice every five levels."
Hey, that using-energy part sounds familiar. Does that mean your Flare ability works like an Astralist spell?
But a bright flash of red light, coming from a distance behind Kaius, distracts you momentarily from the conversation, and draws your attention towards the Green player you saw fighting a minute ago.
They are no longer out towards the pond, you realize. They're being chased by the same black shadow monster, an orange cybernetic dog, and something that looks like it's made entirely of fire. And heading straight for the beacon.
Which means straight towards you.
"…um, Kaius, you said monsters don't spawn near a beacon but can run into the area, right?"
"Yeah? What—" He notices you staring past his shoulder and turns around to see what you're looking at. "Oh."
[] There's no way you can take on three unknown level creatures in your first fight! Flee!
- [] … to the other side of the picnic area. It puts the other four players near the beacon between you and the fight.
- [] … far away. You have no idea what the range on those things is.
- [] … under the picnic bench. Does the game care about physical obstacles? You're about to find out.
[] Stay and help Kaius and the others fight the monsters. Maybe you'll learn something.
- [] Go for the throat! Attack the strongest of the monsters!
- [] Let the big guns take the big 'uns. Attack the weakest monster.
- [] Take a support role. You and Nebula have some non-attack abilities.
(The readers are encouraged to suggest combat or flight strategies.)
With the basics of combat and levelling out of the way, your next question is clear. The mechanics of the game are cryptic at best, but for the most part sound like your typical RPG kind of things. Except for these Colors.
"What do these Colors actually do? Do they determine your stats? Your attack's element?"
"Both. Well," Kaius hedged, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, "I think. Most of the colors system is pretty deep under the surface, but I've figured out a few things. Each color has a different element and a different set of attributes that it's… good at, I guess? The elements I figured out so far are fire, air, earth, water, dark, light," he counts them off on his fingers. "And each one is stronger against and weaker to the usual opposite. Fire and water, dark and light. Violet, though…" He looks at you in curiosity. "I haven't figured it out yet."
"Great. I was hoping you could tell me that one," you say, jokingly. Mostly joking. You're not really joking at all, if you're being honest. "It's all transformation and illusion stuff so far."
"Interesting." He frowned in thought. "Anyway, the attributes are harder to pin down. Orange seems to have a lot of focus on speed and movement. Blue is mind, I think."
"You think? Didn't you pick it as a secondary?"
"You picked Violet as your primary," he mutters, visibly stung. "You're not one to talk."
"All right, fair." You shrug, not really feeling repentant even if he does have a point. "Then why did you choose blue?"
"Because it was my second choice when I was making my character. Besides, the Blue Abilities it gave me as swap options looked interesting."
"Swap?" You lean forward. "You got to swap in different abilities? Did you get any new ones yet?"
"Yeah, it gave me some options when I reached level five, one of them was swapping one of my abilities for a new one. I decided to increase my energy pool instead, since Astralist spells use color energy to do damage, but it sounded like I'd get the choice every five levels."
Hey, that using-energy part sounds familiar. Does that mean your Flare ability works like an Astralist spell?
But a bright flash of red light, coming from a distance behind Kaius, distracts you momentarily from the conversation, and draws your attention towards the Green player you saw fighting a minute ago.
They are no longer out towards the pond, you realize. They're being chased by the same black shadow monster, an orange cybernetic dog, and something that looks like it's made entirely of fire. And heading straight for the beacon.
Which means straight towards you.
"…um, Kaius, you said monsters don't spawn near a beacon but can run into the area, right?"
"Yeah? What—" He notices you staring past his shoulder and turns around to see what you're looking at. "Oh."
[] There's no way you can take on three unknown level creatures in your first fight! Flee!
- [] … to the other side of the picnic area. It puts the other four players near the beacon between you and the fight.
- [] … far away. You have no idea what the range on those things is.
- [] … under the picnic bench. Does the game care about physical obstacles? You're about to find out.
[] Stay and help Kaius and the others fight the monsters. Maybe you'll learn something.
- [] Go for the throat! Attack the strongest of the monsters!
- [] Let the big guns take the big 'uns. Attack the weakest monster.
- [] Take a support role. You and Nebula have some non-attack abilities.
(The readers are encouraged to suggest combat or flight strategies.)
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Bam! Zap! Pow! Sparkle?
- Location
- USA
[x] Stay and help Kaius and the others fight the monsters. Maybe you'll learn something.
- [x] Let the big guns take the big 'uns. Attack the weakest monster.
There's no way you're going to miss out on your first combat opportunity! Not that you're going to be much help, probably, but you can let Kaius do the heavy lifting and try to get some experience (and experience) by picking off the weakest of the lot. The fleeing player and their entourage are rapidly getting close enough for their information show up in your HUD, and the three players at the other table have noticed the fight and are hurrying over towards you and Kaius.
Based on the enemy EP circles that popped up, the lowest-level of them, the Shade, already took some damage from when the… the green Martialist, you're not going to call her The Boulder, was fighting it. You'd already decided to focus on the weakest monster, so you target it as you back away a few steps from the picnic bench, keeping it between you and the fight.
"Orange and Green are strong against each other," Kaius calls over to the other three, moving a hand in what looks like some kind of arcane gesture, but you realize after a moment must be him using the MRD interface. It looks much less stupid than you were afraid it would.
"What about matching colors?" That was - you're not going to call him Shadowninja either, but Shadow is okay, you guess? That was Shadow, from the group of other level ones.
"Let's do this, Leafy!" Jade, the other Spiritualist, points dramatically at the fiery Elemental. "Ground it!"
You experience a small amount of second-hand embarrassment (and although you wouldn't admit it, envy) over the teenage girl's enthusiasm - but not for long, because the battle is already getting underway. Jade's companion - a leonine creature with rocks for a mane - is running towards the fire Elemental. A bolt of orange lightning crackles down from the sky, hitting the Canoid as it leaps for the green Martialist and knocking it to the ground.
The Canoid is over ten levels higher than you, you realize. The introduction said that anything with a relative level more than ten won't attack you unless you attack it first, so you can probably safely ignore it. One less thing to worry about. Which is good, because right now you're trying to figure out how to attack at all.
You already have the Shade selected, so you glance down at your Abilities. You have Attack, Flare, and Swap. Flare isn't useful unless Nebula is near the monsters, since it's an AoE. Swap, no way that'll be useful with the sprite still right next to you, either. So you tap Attack and hope for the best.
Nebula darts forward a few feet, trailing sparkles, then points its tiny hands at the Shade, shooting a beam of violet light at it. The light beam disappears into the formless shadowy cloud - which immediatelychanges direction towards Nebula and shoots out several tendrils of inky… whatever it is. Nebula dodges, but one of them catches it in the leg and your sprite cries out in a discordant chime.
The Elemental is currently being punched by Shadow - you are impressed by the guts it takes to hit a glowing ball of fire with your hands, even a virtual one. Kaius is leading the Canoid to the side, which is considerate of him, considering how many of you are total newbies, and Green Martialist is doing something that involves being covered in glowing white plates.
What next?
[] Let Nebula do its own thing; maybe the sprite will keep fighting the Shade its own.
[] Make Nebula attack the Shade again. It's almost down, no reason to take chances.
[] Let the shade get within range of Nebula and use Flare.
[] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
[] Write-in
QM note: Combat is not turn-based, but things do take time. A multi-step write-in strategy may not survive the encounter with the enemy, so to speak.
- [x] Let the big guns take the big 'uns. Attack the weakest monster.
There's no way you're going to miss out on your first combat opportunity! Not that you're going to be much help, probably, but you can let Kaius do the heavy lifting and try to get some experience (and experience) by picking off the weakest of the lot. The fleeing player and their entourage are rapidly getting close enough for their information show up in your HUD, and the three players at the other table have noticed the fight and are hurrying over towards you and Kaius.
Kaius Keen-Eyed
Level 8 AST
The Boulder
Level 7 MRT
Flamebringer Jordan
Level 1 AST
Jade
Level 1 SPR
Leafeon
Level 1
Shadowninja
Level 1 MRT
Level 8 AST
The Boulder
Level 7 MRT
Flamebringer Jordan
Level 1 AST
Jade
Level 1 SPR
Leafeon
Level 1
Shadowninja
Level 1 MRT
Canoid
Level 13
EP: 20/20
Shade
Level 5
EP: 6/15
Elemental
Level 11
EP: 20/20
Level 13
EP: 20/20
Shade
Level 5
EP: 6/15
Elemental
Level 11
EP: 20/20
Based on the enemy EP circles that popped up, the lowest-level of them, the Shade, already took some damage from when the… the green Martialist, you're not going to call her The Boulder, was fighting it. You'd already decided to focus on the weakest monster, so you target it as you back away a few steps from the picnic bench, keeping it between you and the fight.
"Orange and Green are strong against each other," Kaius calls over to the other three, moving a hand in what looks like some kind of arcane gesture, but you realize after a moment must be him using the MRD interface. It looks much less stupid than you were afraid it would.
"What about matching colors?" That was - you're not going to call him Shadowninja either, but Shadow is okay, you guess? That was Shadow, from the group of other level ones.
"Let's do this, Leafy!" Jade, the other Spiritualist, points dramatically at the fiery Elemental. "Ground it!"
You experience a small amount of second-hand embarrassment (and although you wouldn't admit it, envy) over the teenage girl's enthusiasm - but not for long, because the battle is already getting underway. Jade's companion - a leonine creature with rocks for a mane - is running towards the fire Elemental. A bolt of orange lightning crackles down from the sky, hitting the Canoid as it leaps for the green Martialist and knocking it to the ground.
The Canoid is over ten levels higher than you, you realize. The introduction said that anything with a relative level more than ten won't attack you unless you attack it first, so you can probably safely ignore it. One less thing to worry about. Which is good, because right now you're trying to figure out how to attack at all.
You already have the Shade selected, so you glance down at your Abilities. You have Attack, Flare, and Swap. Flare isn't useful unless Nebula is near the monsters, since it's an AoE. Swap, no way that'll be useful with the sprite still right next to you, either. So you tap Attack and hope for the best.
Nebula darts forward a few feet, trailing sparkles, then points its tiny hands at the Shade, shooting a beam of violet light at it. The light beam disappears into the formless shadowy cloud - which immediatelychanges direction towards Nebula and shoots out several tendrils of inky… whatever it is. Nebula dodges, but one of them catches it in the leg and your sprite cries out in a discordant chime.
The Elemental is currently being punched by Shadow - you are impressed by the guts it takes to hit a glowing ball of fire with your hands, even a virtual one. Kaius is leading the Canoid to the side, which is considerate of him, considering how many of you are total newbies, and Green Martialist is doing something that involves being covered in glowing white plates.
Enemies
Canoid
Level 13
EP: 15/20
Shade
Level 5
EP: 3/15
Elemental
Level 11
EP: 16/20
You
Annabelle Marie Jones
EP: 10/10
AP: 4/5
Nebula
EP: 7/10
AP: 2/3
Canoid
Level 13
EP: 15/20
Shade
Level 5
EP: 3/15
Elemental
Level 11
EP: 16/20
You
Annabelle Marie Jones
EP: 10/10
AP: 4/5
Nebula
EP: 7/10
AP: 2/3
What next?
[] Let Nebula do its own thing; maybe the sprite will keep fighting the Shade its own.
[] Make Nebula attack the Shade again. It's almost down, no reason to take chances.
[] Let the shade get within range of Nebula and use Flare.
[] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
[] Write-in
QM note: Combat is not turn-based, but things do take time. A multi-step write-in strategy may not survive the encounter with the enemy, so to speak.
Well, that was easy
- Location
- USA
[x] Make Nebula attack the Shade again. It's almost down, no reason to take chances.
The Shade only has three EP left and Nebula's last attack did three damage; if you attack again, you're sure it'll go down. You decide to just get it over with as quickly as possible and just tell Nebula to attack again. Your hand hovers just above the Attack button as Jade's earlier theatrics come to mind. You could… no. No, definitely not. You just tap on Attack in a perfectly normal kind of way.
Nebula circles around the Shade, dodging more shadow tendrils, and fires another beam of violet light. The beam vanishes into the nebulous black cloud - and the Shade makes an eerie hissing sound before dissipating into nothing. There's a little musical tone, your phone vibrates slightly, and your experience bar fills up a small but significant fraction.
You did it! You defeated the Shade. Your victory has you feeling pretty confident about things and you look around to see how the other five are doing as Nebula flies back over to you.
"Not so close!"
You look to Kaius first, only to realize he's talking to the red Astralist, from the group of teenagers. The two Astralists are harrassing the dogbot - you mean, the Canoid. The orange Canoid is not doing great; it's limping and on fire and it's almost down. Flamebringer Jordan is grinning like a kid in a candy store as he backs away from the robot, giving Kaius a thumbs up.
Looks like they're doing fine without any help, and Jordan's even getting some lessons in Astralists. Astralizing? You should think of verb forms for the classes later. With you taking care of the Shade, that's two enemies down. (Assuming the mages don't fuck up at the last minute. You feel like that's a reasonable assumption.)
The Elemental, on the other hand… Leafeon is gone. You assume it got KO'd and Jade had to desummon it, but you have no idea. Shadowninja is currently a person-sized blob of shadows and the green Martialist is now sporting a set of translucent white crystalline armor. Jade has ducked behind one of the nearby picnic benches.
The Elemental explodes in fire.
After a moment of panic, you realize that the flames fizzled out a good ways before they reached you and Nebula. Jade is still sitting on the ground behind the picnic bench, looking relieved. The two Martialists… not so much relieved. You can't tell how much damage they've taken, but the Elemental is still over half health.
The three - well, two, now - fighting the Elemental could probably use some help, and higher level enemies do get you more experience. On the other hand, you don't really want to find out what being Defeated does just yet, and that fire elemental looks like it hits hard… And the two Astralists are almost done with the Canoid, they'll be able to help with the Elemental in maybe thirty seconds, tops.
What's next?
[] [Action] Make Nebula attack the Elemental.
[] [Action] Send Nebula over to the Elemental and use Flare.
[] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
[] [Action] The rest are doing fine, honestly. Check why your phone vibrated.
[] [Action] Write-in
[] [Move] Stay where you are
[] [Move] Take cover with Jade
[] [Move] Write-in
The Shade only has three EP left and Nebula's last attack did three damage; if you attack again, you're sure it'll go down. You decide to just get it over with as quickly as possible and just tell Nebula to attack again. Your hand hovers just above the Attack button as Jade's earlier theatrics come to mind. You could… no. No, definitely not. You just tap on Attack in a perfectly normal kind of way.
Nebula circles around the Shade, dodging more shadow tendrils, and fires another beam of violet light. The beam vanishes into the nebulous black cloud - and the Shade makes an eerie hissing sound before dissipating into nothing. There's a little musical tone, your phone vibrates slightly, and your experience bar fills up a small but significant fraction.
You did it! You defeated the Shade. Your victory has you feeling pretty confident about things and you look around to see how the other five are doing as Nebula flies back over to you.
"Not so close!"
You look to Kaius first, only to realize he's talking to the red Astralist, from the group of teenagers. The two Astralists are harrassing the dogbot - you mean, the Canoid. The orange Canoid is not doing great; it's limping and on fire and it's almost down. Flamebringer Jordan is grinning like a kid in a candy store as he backs away from the robot, giving Kaius a thumbs up.
Looks like they're doing fine without any help, and Jordan's even getting some lessons in Astralists. Astralizing? You should think of verb forms for the classes later. With you taking care of the Shade, that's two enemies down. (Assuming the mages don't fuck up at the last minute. You feel like that's a reasonable assumption.)
The Elemental, on the other hand… Leafeon is gone. You assume it got KO'd and Jade had to desummon it, but you have no idea. Shadowninja is currently a person-sized blob of shadows and the green Martialist is now sporting a set of translucent white crystalline armor. Jade has ducked behind one of the nearby picnic benches.
The Elemental explodes in fire.
After a moment of panic, you realize that the flames fizzled out a good ways before they reached you and Nebula. Jade is still sitting on the ground behind the picnic bench, looking relieved. The two Martialists… not so much relieved. You can't tell how much damage they've taken, but the Elemental is still over half health.
Enemies
Canoid
Level 13
EP: 3/20
Shade
Defeated
Elemental
Level 11
EP: 11/20
You
Annabelle Marie Jones
EP: 10/10
AP: 3/5
Nebula
EP: 7/10
AP: 1/3
Canoid
Level 13
EP: 3/20
Shade
Defeated
Elemental
Level 11
EP: 11/20
You
Annabelle Marie Jones
EP: 10/10
AP: 3/5
Nebula
EP: 7/10
AP: 1/3
The three - well, two, now - fighting the Elemental could probably use some help, and higher level enemies do get you more experience. On the other hand, you don't really want to find out what being Defeated does just yet, and that fire elemental looks like it hits hard… And the two Astralists are almost done with the Canoid, they'll be able to help with the Elemental in maybe thirty seconds, tops.
What's next?
[] [Action] Make Nebula attack the Elemental.
[] [Action] Send Nebula over to the Elemental and use Flare.
[] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
[] [Action] The rest are doing fine, honestly. Check why your phone vibrated.
[] [Action] Write-in
[] [Move] Stay where you are
[] [Move] Take cover with Jade
[] [Move] Write-in