Deedeequest or The Wonders of Mundus: Be Careful Who You Pretend To Be - A Genderous Isekai Quest

[Talia B]

On the Shores of Awakening

You groan and pick yourself up off the sand, pushing down on the wet clumps with your powerful, muscular...

...clawed hands...?

Wait.

That can't be right, can it?

You were, not to sugarcoat it, way the hell out of shape. A sedentary, low-paying job like dronelivery service for a Tote-Em-Snax will do that to you, especially when most of your diet needs to be the shit from the heat lamp display and slush dispensers that the konbini would otherwise throw out. You were fat; your roommate Jules got lean from getting around on a bike. Self-deprecating jokes about how "round is a shape" aside, even through the brainfogging, hangover-like fatigue you feel right now, you absolutely should not be as strong as you feel; you bring a hand to a belly you could grate cheese off of and can feel core strength you didn't even have during a misspent youth on a basketball court.

You rock back to kneeling, then hoist yourself up, shaking sand out of long red hair you think you shouldn't have and furry red tails you're sure you shouldn't have and look up, shielding yourself from the too-bright rays of the sun. You glance left and regret it, white reflecting off of endless rolling glass-green waves. You smell sea-salt and grasses and coconut and palm, hear the skittering of crabs.

And you snap to. This isn't Earth; this isn't even IRL. This is a place in Mundus, in Another World Online. You must have fallen asleep with your 'Helm on after the DLC release party with DC/AC, and the haptics went a little nuts.

You are - you're playing as - Deedee Yeowoo, a Vulpecian Cleric.

(And yes, your friends gave you shit for a dude going straight for the 6-foot plus shredded foxgirl, but given that the options were two furry species, one scaly one, the flying potatoes, the elementals and boring old humans you're not terribly ashamed of embracing the AWO(o) spirit and going full gumiho.)

You bring up your own character sheet - which you can still do, apparently - and frown. You shouldn't be first level.

Your equipment loadout and starting god are correct -

----

Vote for one in each category. You will always be primarily a healer and support; this determines secondary focus.

Equipment:
[ ] Twin claws, prayer beads, and a monk's robes. (frontline DPS focus for a highly mobile glass cannon build.)
[ ] A glaive, breastplate and chain skirt over a tabard. (backline aggro management, good at counterattack tanking.)
[ ] A sword and shield with heavy infantry plate. (frontline offtank, with high survivability and many disable tools.)
[ ] A staff, an aegis talisman, and full clerical robes. (backline magic burst, emphasizing buffs and crowd control.)

You'll also get camping equipment, some rations, and a few consumable healing items.


God:
[] Io, the Worldsculptor, God of Space. (Stasis spells, haste and slow, teleportation. Teaches masonry and architecture. Grants a perfect sense of direction.)
[] Gnomon, Who Knows All That Is Written, God of Memory. (Metamagic, divination and prognostication. Teaches random smatterings of Deep Lore. Grants a photographic memory.)
[] Mutan, the Shifting Dreamer, Deity of the Night. (Sleep, illusions, and inspirations. Teaches acting, costuming and drama. Guarantees restful, dreaming, sleep.)
[] Flamma, the Black Cat of the Cauldron, Goddess of Fire. (Passion, madness, carousing, and flame. Teaches alchemy and brewing. Grants insight into others' motives.)
[] Thorne, Fae Warden of the Wylds, Deity of Wood. (Woodcraft, animal friendship, archery. Teaches hunting, gathering and cooking. Helps you find food in the wilderness.)
[] Sylphan, The Trickster-Fox, God of the Winds. (Wind, travel, luck and wits. Teaches overland travel tips and etiquette. Makes you disarmingly charming.)

In addition to the grab bags of powers, your clerical religion naturally also has major story implications.

----

...And your stats are correct for first level - max Vigor, max Spirit, dumpstered Resolve because you didn't need the extra HP - but you and your friends in Dungeon Crawling And Chill were a raiding guild, this can't be right.

You try to log out so you can send a support ticket.

Emphasis on try.

*****

(Well, I'll never learn how to do quests if I don't try, and this has been in the planning stages long enough, so.

Later chapters may contain blatant FF14 references discussions of homophobia and transphobia (internalized or otherwise), the culture war in gaming/reprehensible fashy villains, poverty, sex and romance, and the violence inherent in a game where you murder dragons as part of the premise. I'll expand these content warnings if needed.

And yes, Deedee is a tremendous egg.)

 

[Talia B]

Deedee Yeowoo
Class: Cleric
Subclass: Pilgrim Monk of Sylphan
Kith: Vulpecian

Server: Chimera (NA/West)
Faction: Unaligned
Free Company: Dungeon-Crawling And Chill (DC/AC)
Party:

• Alesha Herezhade, OTH/ANDRX 5
• Deedee Yeowoo, CLR/VULPE 5
• Hikaru Aosora, WIZ/PIXIE 5
• Sekhmet Clanclan, ROG/UBAST 5
• Ace Striker, WAR/VULPE 5
• Siobhan Greenwood, RNG/PIXIE 5

LV: 5

Health: 210/210, Critical 84, Rest Regain 42.
Stamina: 58/58, Rest Regain 12.
Damage Increment: +14 damage
Tension: X X X-O O O-O O O-O OVERDRIVE READY

Defense: 27 (including equipment)
Resistance: 25 (including equipment)

VIG: 12 (Mus+9)

34 base melee physical damage, +6 from equipped weapon.
+60 Health.
+12 Defense.​

AGI: 5 (Dex+5)

22 base ranged physical damage.
Movement: 8.5 meters/turn.​

SPI: 12 (Aura+9)

34 base magical damage, 15 base healing.
+24 SP.
+12 Resistance.​

MND: 3 (Int+5)

+6 SP.
+3 Resistance.​

RES: 5 (Guts+5)

+50 Health.
+5 Defense.​

Skills:

• Athletics 1. +2. Athletics is the skill of endurance and physical fitness; for running, jumping, swimming, and lifting. Generally, it's tied to Vigor.
• Healing 2, +3. Healing is a combination of medical skill and bedside manner, and in Mundus, includes herbal and magical healing techniques as well. It's used to diagnose and treat diseases and wounds. Generally, it's tied to Mind.
• Empathy 1, +2. Empathy is the art of discerning what other people are thinking and feeling through observation of their body language and choice of word and deed. Generally, it's tied to Mind or Aura.
• Fellowship 1, +2. Fellowship is the skill of making and keeping friends, and of persuasion in good faith. Generally, it's tied to Spirit.
• Lore-Wise 2, +3. Lorewise is your pool of knowledge, lore, gossip and rumors gleaned from talking with the people of Mundus - the Mundanes. It overlaps with Wikiwalk, but there are some things you can't learn from a meta perspective. Generally, it's tied to Mind.
• Deception -1. Your vulpecian body language is unusually - and involuntarily - expressive, making it difficult to hide your feelings. You are at a -1 penalty to lie to people or to conceal your emotions.

Least Boons (5/5):

• The Least Boon of Sylphan - The trickster fox grants His wandering faithful a measure of His disarming charm. Once per scene you are at +3 to come off as good-intentioned and of good cheer. This is a self-buff, not a hostile mental compulsion, and is not on it's own detected or resisted by protections against mental compulsion (such as the Least Boon of Flamma.)
• The Least Boon of Eranda - Oft called "The Midwife's Touch," though it is more than that; it is her compassion manifest. When comforting someone in emotional distress, touch them to grant +3 to resolve rolls to overcome or manage their pain.
• The Least Boon of Mutan - Night's repose grants rest, healing, and insight to those who walk within the dreamlord's realm. Your sleep is always considered to be uninterrupted so long as you get 8 hours of it. You are at +3 to wake up if you would be interrupted. Finally, your dream becomes lucid.
• The Least Boon of Flamma (granted from equipped Relic) - The Black Cat of the Cauldron grants insight into what burns in the hearts of others. You automatically make Empathy rolls to determine what people want from you when they talk to you, at +3.
• The Least Boon of Ubasdjet - The Guardian of the First and Last Breath knows all the maladies and illnesses that can befall someone. You are at +3 to diagnose and treat wounds, illnesses, and curses and can tell when they are magical in nature.

Perks:

• Lifted By The Wind - You can infuse Pneuma into your legs to leap incredibly high. For 2 SP, you gain the ability to trade horizontal Move for vertical Move, allowing you to strike flying creatures in melee and overcome some obstacles. This also grants you a +2 bonus to Athletics skill checks where your ability to jump is relevant.
• Healing Touch - You can infuse Pneuma into your hands and arms to heal through the laying on of hands. By forgoing your Stamina recovery during a short rest, you may double any ally's Health recovery through a combination of massage and conventional medical treatment.
• Mouse-Hunting Ears - You have exceptional hearing and situational awareness. You cannot be surprised in combat, though your allies can without enough warning from you. You are also more attuned to danger in general.
• Trickster's Revenge - Foes who underestimate you soon learn that you are the switch that sets a Rube Goldberg machine of hurt into motion. Your Damage Increment is at +4. You deal your Damage Increment by knocking foes into obstacles, when foes parry non-melee attacks, as a bonus when Feint procs, and as a bonus to launched targets.
• Quicksilver Nerves - You are preternaturally graceful with incredible combat reflexes. You have +2 Initiative and faster mental reaction time.
• Winds Under Your Feet - You are emotionally resilient and recover quickly from broken morale. At the start of a turn where you have negative Tension, you gain +1 Tension.
• Physical Attacker (from equipped weapon) - Your weapons are optimized for dealing physical damage, and you gain +6 damage with all physical attacks.

Flaws:

• Despair - You suffer from impostor syndrome and constant doubts. In addition to the narrative effects, you lose Tension the first time an ally falls in battle, once per battle. Additionally, this makes you more susceptible to Dark damage.
  • On current medication: Brainfog - You sometimes have difficulty with focus or keeping a train of thought, and can only use a Support action every other turn. You may spend 1 Tension to use a Support action on off-turns.
• Violent - You are fiercely, rabidly protective of friends and innocents. When in combat with a foe threatening these, you must attack at every opportunity, or else lose 2 Tension. If your Tension goes into the negatives, you become Demoralized. If your tension hits -10, you are Routed.

Equipment:

• Writ of Commendation from Captain Miles Diez Caballaro Valencia.
• Twin Gauntlets (equipped).
• Prayer Beads (equipped).
• Monastic Robes (equipped).
• Silk Slippers (equipped).
• Iron, cauldron shaped libation bowl (flammite relic, equipped).
• Rations sufficient to recover stamina for 6 days worth of rest.
• Healing potions and oils sufficient to recover health for 6 days worth of rest.
• Incense and perfumes holy to Sylphan.
• A walking stick and travellers backpack.
• A bedroll, blanket, and miniature tent.
• A money bag containing 20 golden Crowns, 5 silver Frigates and 5 copper Sheaves.
• Potionmaking ingredients and local spices.

Techniques:

• Basic Unarmed Attack - Attack. Deal 46 physical Crushing damage on hit.
• Basic Claw Attack - Attack. Deal 56 physical Slashing damage on hit.

• Whirlwind Claw - Attack, 6 SP. This is a sweeping cleave attack that targets all foes in melee range, dealing 76 physical Slashing damage and pushes or pulls your opponents up to 6 meters on hit. Requires an equipped Claw.
• Gryphon Talon Kick - Attack/Move, 7 SP. This is a ramming, flying kick that deals 66 physical Crushing damage before Throwing the target, in addition to any damage caused by knockback or environmental effects. Thrown targets may hit targets, dealing the same base damage as this Technique.
• Gale Blast - Attack, 3 SP. This spell blasts a 4-meter radius with gale force winds, shifting foes position by up to 4 meters. On hit, deals up to 60 Wind-elemental damage, in addition to any damage caused by knockback or environmental effects. 8-meter range. Immobile while casting.

• Cleansing Wind - Support, 5 SP. Target a hostile, persistent effect within 5 meters and make a contested Spirit check to dispel that effect.
• Healing Zephyr - Support, 4 SP. Target a blast radius of 5 meters within 8 meters; any creature including yourself in the blast is healed with an infusion of Pneuma, for up to 21 damage. (You are assumed to be using this as part of the party's health recovery during short rests.)
• Zephyr's Haste - Support, 4 SP. Touch yourself or any ally to infuse them with the speed of the zephyr; they gain the Swift Step technique and retroactively improve their Initiative by 2 until the end of your turn, two turns later. Cooldown 2 turns.
  • Swift Step - Support. Spend up to 4 Stamina, and move up to twice that movement in meters; this is not teleportation, merely very fast movement.

Tension Breaks:

• Unlocked. Unleashing the DESCENDING CRIMSON PHOENIX KICK requires training.
• (unlocked at Lv 10)
• (unlocked at Lv 15)
• (unlocked at Lv 20)

 

[Talia B]

]Chapter 1:

• You arrived on the Shore of Awakening.
• Your best friend in the Company is Alesha.
• You made a good first impression on Ace Striker.
• You're getting over yourself about using Healing Touch.
• Hikaru trusts you.
• Ace trusts you.
• You remembered the face of your father.
• You earned the trust of Captain Miles Valencia.
• You saved Costa Dulce from pirate attack.
• You raided the pirate base and got slaves to safety.
• You saved Shadi bin'Tayeb Rahman from a life of slavery, and she invited you to the house of her father for dinner.
• You fought rogue Adventurers.
• You fell unconscious from Stamina deprivation.
• You dreamed of a Questing Beast.
• You're beginning to realize you prefer piloting Deedee's body over your own.

Chapter 2:

• You got a bath.
• You came out to Sekhmet.
• You were honest to the Contessa, and judged worthy for it.
• You accepted a quest to Vinyedo.
• You got new equipment.
• You made contacts in the Flammites through Frankie Bacon.
• You found out where Alesha's daughter is on Mundus.
• You found the rest of your Free Company and helped them find work and homes in Viacruz.
• You made contacts in the Merchants through Tayeb bin'Ibrahim Rahman.
• You hired Siobhan as a guide.
• You faced the Scyllan Horror and lived.
• Ace went Berzerk.
• You realized that Io had been wounded.
• You revealed the truth to Tayeb and Siobhan.
• You love, and made love to, Ace.
• You arrived in Vinyedo.
• You resolved your history with Sekhmet.

Chapter 3:

• You impressed Iustina.
• You began your investigation of Vinyedo.

 

[Talia B]

Adhoc vote count started by EternalObserver on Jun 22, 2021 at 10:16 AM, finished with 27 posts and 19 votes.

• ---

  10 people have voted

  [X] Twin claws, prayer beads, and a monk's robes. (frontline DPS focus for a highly mobile glass cannon build.)

  • Vozen
  • Eternal_0bserver
  • Solarstream
  • DrunkenGrognard
  • Derpmind
  • Illusion of Eris
  • Vehrec
  • Walker
  • Jeboboid
  • SeaSirocco

  8 people have voted

  [X] Sylphan, The Trickster-Fox, God of the Winds. (Wind, travel, luck and wits. Teaches overland travel tips and etiquette. Makes you disarmingly charming.)

  • Vozen
  • Eternal_0bserver
  • Solarstream
  • DrunkenGrognard
  • Derpmind
  • Illusion of Eris
  • NekoIncardine
  • SeaSirocco

  7 people have voted

  [X] A staff, an aegis talisman, and full clerical robes. (backline magic burst, emphasizing buffs and crowd control.)

  • Kaja Rainbow
  • bii
  • Jeremiah
  • woody12
  • Erehwon
  • NekoIncardine
  • GrayGriffin

  5 people have voted

  [X] Io, the Worldsculptor, God of Space. (Stasis spells, haste and slow, teleportation. Teaches masonry and architecture. Grants a perfect sense of direction.)

  • Vehrec
  • Walker
  • woody12
  • Erehwon
  • beowolf

  3 people have voted

  [X] Mutan, the Shifting Dreamer, Deity of the Night. (Sleep, illusions, and inspirations. Teaches acting, costuming and drama. Guarantees restful, dreaming, sleep.)

  • Jeboboid
  • Kaja Rainbow
  • Blacksheep

  2 people have voted

  [X] Thorne, Fae Warden of the Wylds, Deity of Wood. (Woodcraft, animal friendship, archery. Teaches hunting, gathering and cooking. Helps you find food in the wilderness.)

  • bii
  • Jeremiah

  1 people have voted

  [X] Gnomon, Who Knows All That Is Written, God of Memory. (Metamagic, divination and prognostication. Teaches random smatterings of Deep Lore. Grants a photographic memory.)

  • beowolf

  1 people have voted

  [x] A glaive, breastplate and chain skirt over a tabard. (backline aggro management, good at counterattack tanking.)

  • Blacksheep

  1 people have voted

  [X] Flamma, the Black Cat of the Cauldron, Goddess of Fire. (Passion, madness, carousing, and flame. Teaches alchemy and brewing. Grants insight into others' motives.)

  • GrayGriffin

I'm starting to draw up the character sheet. Sylphan is still winning, with Io close behind. Voting closes at 2:00 Pacific.

This means you'll soon need to know how your stats work.

----

This quest is loosely based on Valor: Heroic Roleplaying - loosely, because while I like it's stat set-up and the way it pushed things towards the most anime possible actions, y'all don't have time to push miniatures across a hexgrid (which is why I'll do it for you in the background). Practically, on your end, this means I'll be using the dice and task resolution from Valor, which works like this:

Each potential player character has a level (from 1 to 20) and 5 stats, renamed here Vigor, Agility, Spirit, Mind and Resolve.

• Vigor is an all-purpose physical might stat. It makes you Good At Melee in particular, boosting melee damage, physical defense, HP and knockback.
• Agility is your grace, dexterity and reflexes. It increases your movement speed and combat initiative and can be used for melee or ranged physical attacks.
• Spirit is your charismatic and magical aura. In addition to it's social utility, it increases your magic damage, magic resistance, and SP and is used for unsubtle gross manipulation of energy and similar sorcery.
• Mind is your speed of thought and depth of memory and education. In addition to it's mundane utility, it increases magic damage, magic resistance and SP, and is used for subtle and ritualistic magic and other such wizardry.
• Resolve is your strength of will and ability to mentally shrug off setbacks. It vastly increases your HP, increases your physical defence, and is used to resist pain, temptation and despair.

Those of you counting along may have noticed that Deedee's Resolve is presently abysmal. Have fun with that.

Dice rolls in this game are usually (Stat+Level)/2 round up, then any bonuses or penalties, added to a d10 roll against either a target number or contested against an opponent.

For example, Deedee hauling herself up a rock face would be (Vigor 8 + Level 1)/2, rounds up to 5, +1 for the Athletics skill, equals d10+6.

I won't be giving out exact target numbers, but when Deedee has a reasonable idea of what she's up against, I'll describe in narrative terms what she's up against.

Note also that I've also played Disco Elysium I might be making passive skill checks in the background that will give her more information and color her perceptions.



ETA: Sometimes I'll refer to the (Stat+Level)/2 combinations by particular names:
(Vigor+Level/2) = Might
(Agility+Level/2) = Dexterity
(Spirit+Level/2) = Aura
(Mind+Level/2) = Intuition
(Resolve+Level/2) = Guts

I'll try to use the actual stat rather than these names when offering decisions.

Note also that in Valor proper, the stat names/rolled stat pairs are, respectively:
Strength - Muscle
Agility - Dexterity
Spirit - Aura
Mind - Intellect
Guts - Resolve

...which I changed for euphony and to sound more JRPGish in this Quest. They otherwise function the same.

 

[Talia B]

How do we increase resolve?

Click to shrink...

Short version: Story events.

Long version: It's not a coincidence that someone who was a closeted, dysphoric and depressed wageslave IRL has low Resolve in the other world, and taking steps to actually deal with those psychological issues will compel me to spend stat points on her Resolve on level-up, along with her always increasing Vigor and Spirit.

There are also ways to increase her effective Resolve during skill checks and combat - these being appropriate Skills and Perks, some of which are story rewards.

 

[Talia B]

The thought "You know, I've seen enough anime that I should have known where this was going" flickers through your head and you laugh, but only because the alternative is worse. Say what you will about busting your ass for a convenience store, at least that's safe - this is a world with dragons and monsters where an adventurer's dayjob is getting together with a mercenary company for Crown-sanctioned murder.

You might be hyperventilating a little as you check for your equipment.

You do see your backpack a little further up the beach, and your stuff hasn't scattered to the four winds yet. Part of you suspects that Sylphan wouldn't let it, if you're one of His favored here, a thought that only sort of bothers your culturally Jewish sensibilities while you rifle through your own stuff. It's a regular backpack, not a Marvelous Merchant's Pack - not yet; you do recall that you get that from the quest line with Tayeb (you know, the Jovial Merchant) so you're less bothered by the loss than you would be.

Right. It's all starter equipment for a Cleric going down the Monk subclass tree. Not ideal, but not terrible.

You're just in the high fantasy equivalent of a (very necessary, you realize with a blush) sportsbra and shorts, and apparently snapping your fingers and saying a catchphrase like the Champion of Stars from Dreaming Of Questing Country doesn't start a transformation sequence, so you spend some time equipping yourself. First you don the layered Shaolin-ass robes, gold over teal and magenta over that; you find your prayer beads marked with the tail of Sylphan (useful for focusing your spells and also acting as a ward), you strap on those knuckledusters with the clawed knuckles. You're not unarmed on the Shores of Awakening.

You experimentally throw a punch. It feels good. Proper, even; it felt solid and graceful, and this body apparently knows how to follow through, doing a set of dance steps you didn't realize you absorbed from playing Deedee with the haptics on. It feels right, feels reassuring, and you're not entirely sure why.

Going back to your stuff, you also seem to have rations, waterskins, potions and... incense, perfumes and almond oil? Oh, God, that's right, 'laying on hands' during extended rests means exactly that. That's not gonna get awkward at all, nope nope nope.

You look through the rest of your stuff, and just find another icon to Sylphan, a blank scroll with some charcoal, and a very light purse with only a few copper coins marked with a sheaf of wheat. All basic starter equipment.

Then you hear a scream. Your ears twitch, swiveling towards the sound (and that's WEIRD, even if it's HELPFUL) - it's a feminine scream, hitting that soprano note - and then after it, another scream from the same throat that then pitches down into a valkyrie's war cry or a samurai's kiai.


You find yourself bounding towards the sound of the fight before you can stop yourself - with a start, you realize that no, it's actual bounding, you're bouncing around like you've got wires strapped to you, Sylphan's winds rushing around you and lifting you up; and you laugh and whoop at a physical sensation you never felt this keenly and that your fat ass would never be able to do IRL.

And then you realize what it is you're hearing.

Another Adventurer.

Another player.

Like you.

Your last memory before coming here was logging on to try out the new DLC with the rest of the Free Company.

You check your (furry, triangular) ear midflight and to your relief, your earring with the sendjewel is there. Everyone else in the Free Mercenary Company Dungeon-Crawling And Chill was there for the Pepper, Silk, Gunpowder and Rum expansion release party, knocking back virtual ale and vino at The Dragon's Flagon in Viacruz. And if they're here too, they might have a better idea of what's going on.

With a simple hand gesture, the 'address book' of the sendjewel unfolds, and you confirm - with mixed feelings - that they are online. That way too many of them are online. Raldulf left early, like he said he would - something about a sociology paper in the morning - but most of the others are around to respond. You immediately call your best friend in the guild -

----

Vote for one. You'll meet the others soon enough. The person you're heading to the rescue of is none of the above.

[] Alesha Herezhade, Human Auroran Paladin, social worker in both worlds and company strategist.
[] Hikaru Aoisora, Pixie Wizard, tactical thermonuclear potato, admin of the AWO wiki, and codeslinger.
[] Sekhmet Clanclan, Ubastim Rogue (read: knifecatte), your IRL roommate Jules and the company quartermaster.

 

[Talia B]

Deedee Yeowoo,
Vulpecian Cleric
(Mendicant Monk of Sylphan)​

Art by Bedsafely on Twitter.

 

[Talia B]

Alesha Herezhade
Andrax Oathsworn
Paladin of Aurora
​

 

[Talia B]

Hikaru Aoisora
Pixie Wizard
Elemental Evoker
​

 

[Talia B]

Sekhmet Clanclan
Ubastim Rogue
Scoundrel
​