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When The Dungeon Master Breaks Reality... [Isekai Extravaganza Quest]

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[A/N: If you can actually trudge through the long prologue, props to you. If not, and you just...
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Prologue: Hey, I Made This Dumb World, So Let's Make It Into An Isekai!
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    • Birdsie

    Birdsie

    Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
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    [A/N: If you can actually trudge through the long prologue, props to you. If not, and you just want to vote, you'll find the tl;dr way down below, just above character creation.]
    ​
    When The Dungeon Master Breaks Reality...
    by Birdsie

    Partly inspired by:
    Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken by Fuse

    System partly inspired by:
    Halping Quest by @unsanity

    ...

    Prologue
    Hey, I Made This Dumb World, So Let's Make It Into An Isekai!​

    He put down his encounter sheet on the wood table, satisfied with the outcome. The players, too, looked rather content with the fight. Not to mention that it ended with a rather spectacular critical attack, which only added more fuel to their excitement. But glancing at his phone, the Dungeon Master saw that an hour had passed since they began this session.

    He stood up. "Break time. I'm going out to buy snacks, you guys want anything?"

    One of them half-absently replied, "Buy some Doritos, we're running out."

    "I'm good, but if it doesn't bother you, could you get me some tissues? My nose is running from the cold." He handed some cash to the Dungeon Master.

    "Sprite for me, please," came another reply. "I'll pay you back."

    "Don't need anything except more ogres to fight... but, you could get me some jelly beans. Good ones, though - no hard-candy stuff, alright?" She grinned his way.

    The store was just two blocks away, maybe four to five minutes on foot. Putting on his black-colored coat, he confidently strode out to visit the small grocery shop. Call it an unfortunate incident, call it a stroke of bad luck, or call it the cruelty of fate...

    As the Dungeon Master crossed the street, a white nondescript bag with groceries in his left hand, he took out his phone and swiped right with his thumb, his screen following to show him the weather forecast, recent news, and some internet threads.

    "Stan Lee died? Damn, what a shame..."

    The random news distracted him, so he didn't hear the quiet engine revving or the dim spotlights headed his way from the corner. No, the last thing he heard was the sudden screech of tires and something hitting his right side.

    Snacks jumped out of the bag, sprawled across the road. Two packs of Doritos, a pack of tissues, a bottle of Sprite, and a pack of jelly beans, laid bare on the cold blacktop.

    The sound of a car door opening. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, what the hell!? Hello? Hello!? Are you okay? Shit, I need to call..."

    His consciousness blinked in and out, he barely knew what was happening. He couldn't feel his legs, or his right arm, and yet, paradoxically, everything felt strangely cold. At the same time, he felt his forehead swelling in heat and sweat as he spat out something salty-sweet with a faint metallic taste to the side of the asphalt. Weirdly, no pain.

    A moment passed by, as he felt someone tugging at his left arm. It hit him, this time metaphorically rather than literally.

    I was hit by a car?

    He heard some intermittent, panicked words, "come on...", "don't die... me...", "yes, I'm at... boulevard...", "please, hurry, he's..."

    He breathed in. He felt a sharp pain pulse through his chest, which ended abruptly, then came back. It switched on and off over and over, torturing him. As the pain went on and off, so did his upper body jerk itself in uncontrollable pain, and he began to feel the need to go to sleep.

    At that moment, he heard a regretful voice. "My God, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry..."

    Is it the man who hit me? He looks so sad... Stop being so... self-deprecating... I don't... blame... you...

    There was no fade to white, or to black. No tunnel with a light at the end. No teary voice telling him to come back. There was only a great cold, followed by an abrupt cut-off of consciousness. When he came to...

    The Dungeon Master broke reality.

    ●​

    There is a realm out there, so meta-conceptual that it cannot even be called a realm. It has gods in it, so meta-powerful and meta-omnipotent that they cannot even be called gods.

    For the purpose of differentiating them from those 'lower' realms and 'lower' gods that we humans can understand, we will call them the Oververse and the Overgods. Please, do not misunderstand, as these existences are so far beyond the mortal ideas of a "realm" and of "gods" that words cannot even describe them as such.

    And today, the Oververse gave birth to a smaller, budding universe and put a computing system in charge of it.

    【No universe in existence... Creating basic universal template A-115-11b.】

    A blind eternity of primordial chaotic soup spread in every direction, something that is neither an electromagnetic wave, nor made of particles, nor made of space or time, and yet not being magical either. A shapeless phlogiston of prima materia, of pure quintessence, something so inconceivable and outside of human conception that it cannot even be named with a single, definitive term, as any word that any language has would do no justice to the true mechanics of this ultra-substance. This existence, this phlogiston, this blind eternity, this prima materia, becomes the wall of the new universe, separating it from non-existence.

    And then, there are electromagnetic waves, as the universe lets there be light.

    Particles, gravity, radiation, time, space, magicules. All of this is created.

    And within it all, drawing on the universal template, is created a cosmos, not unlike that of ours. It has clusters of galaxies, star systems, and planets, one of which is chosen at random to have a civilization of vaguely anthropomorphic creatures which will grow to become a civilization that will advance until they conquer the stars.

    This realm has magic, yet it is faint and vague, and cannot be tapped into through mortal means. There are two other planes, existing parallel to this 'Cosmos.'

    A sea of astral essence, infinite and awesome in size, and yet so outsidious and impossible to grasp that it might as well not exist to those mortals who live under it.

    And an ethereal plane where the dead will walk after their life ends as souls, beginning to suffer and crowd in thousands of years. This particular universe solves the problem of spiritual over-crowding by creating souls that can consume each other and creates an internal mechanic that determines which soul wins the encounter, this mechanic further being decided by the amount of stress the soul had felt in life.

    Eventually, this will lead to the evolution of particular spiritual masses, until they can use sufficient magic to become higher forms of existence.

    Deities...

    Or wraiths, or demons, or ancient spirits. Call them whatever, in this particular universe, and at least for now, they are the same.

    However, deities require careful oversight, lest they destroy the universe that gave birth to them. For that, an Overgod is required to adjudicate them and make sure they avoid total destruction.

    【No Overgods in existence. Creating Overgod... Error, system data leak, existential synthesis impossible. Drawing on a suitable Overgod...】

    Somehow, the Oververse gave birth to a flawed system. It's not that rare, actually, happening once in fifty-eight vigintillion cases, average. This system, not because of its inherent flaws but rather due to a lack of sentience and thus incapable of proper situational judgment required to arbitrate deities, tried to create an Overgod to do so instead. However, this time entirely due to its flaws, it could not synthesize such an existence due to a lack of data on it.

    So it did the next best thing and tried to find a free one in the Oververse.

    【...】

    【...】

    【...】

    How bizarre. No Overgods were present, or perhaps detectable. In that case, the system took the next best choice.

    【No Overgod found. Attempting to draw on a suitable, impartial substitute...】

    The system began to filter, not through the universe it tried to distill, but other universes. It sought a soul that could become an impartial arbitrator. Since a soul had no inherent power of its own, the system had no choice but to comply with any of its wishes.

    Of course, the system wanted an impartial arbitrator that would have to perform the smallest amount of actions to rule over the universe fairly. And yet another flaw in it meant that it chose anything but. Instead of filtering to find impartiality, it, without its own knowledge of thereof, sought experience.

    And there was yet another buffer present, in that it could not simply haul someone from the world of the living nor an afterlife, as it went against basic protocol.

    So, it did the next best thing, and without any wait, it yanked the first sentient thing resembling a mental process that dredged through the horror of death, as the transitive state between life and death did not break any protocols according to the system, as another part of its set of flaws.

    This transitive existence it stole, identified itself as 'Dungeon Master.'

    【Alert! Mental processes not suited to the role of Overgod. Altering conceptual existence of the Overgod to fit a minimally familiar mental template that allows effective operation.】

    【Downloading the Overgod's memories for convenience... Overgod's identity has been sub-tagged as "Dungeon Master."】

    【Alert! Due to highly-intense emotional trauma, an Emotional Suppression effect has been put into place to avoid negative sensation for the Dungeon Master.】

    【Due to the Dungeon Master being used to a system of existence that includes Space and Time, they will be simulated for him until ordered otherwise.】

    When he awoke, the Dungeon Master felt like hundreds of years had passed since his death. He was not confused, scared, or tired in the slightest. The Dungeon Master found himself floating in a black, featureless void. Despite the lack of confusion, he was still unsettled by this place.

    He could not feel his limbs, but he felt his mind.

    He didn't have a mouth, so instead of saying anything, he thought, or at least emitted something very close to the sensation of the phrase: 'What the hell is this place?'

    【Command not understood... Keyphrases: "Hell," "place." Confirmation of the action: 'Create a place called Hell?'】

    'What...? S-Sure?... What is this place, anyway...'

    【Confirmed. Hell created, according to the Dungeon Master's conceptual understanding. Transferring perceptual output to a random location in Baator.】

    Suddenly, the Dungeon Master saw a vast plain of brimstone and burnt sulfur with no sky and only a red ceiling. For some reason, there were also those glowing yellow rocks from Minecraft, though nothing else beyond that was in sight.

    'Okay, please, stop, stop. Stop. Pause.'

    【Confirmed. Stopping time across the universe.】

    The fire stopped moving.

    'First of all. What are you?'

    【Answer. The existence the Dungeon Master refers to is a system created by... --5!^ERROR. No proper word fitting the Dungeon Master's comprehension can be found. Educating.】

    It was like flicking a switch. One moment, the Dungeon Master was clueless, and the other, he was instantly aware of what the Oververse and Overgods were. The system then explained,

    【The existence the Dungeon Master refers to is a system created by the Oververse with the intent of generating a universe.】

    'Okay... and why did the Oververse create a universe?'

    【Unknown. Missing data.】

    'Huh. Alright. So, I am the Overgod, right?'

    【Correct.】

    'Okay. Howzabout this: Give me a body.'

    【Vague command... Solution: Creating a body the Dungeon Master is familiar with.】

    Flesh weaved together and sunk into bone, nerves spreading through the body and connecting to the nascent brain, from which eyeballs sprouted. Everything became coated in skin. A fully human body, with the exception of an alien emotional suppression effect.

    The body, despite suspended temporality of its surroundings, felt uncomfortable due to the ambient heat of the realm. The Dungeon Master had the system alter this body to have [Omni-Resistance] to everything, as well as [Total Pain Nullification].

    That's better.

    'Okay, System. Create a space within this universe, however, one that cannot be accessed by any creature without my say-so. This space should resemble my old house on a one-to-one scale.'

    【Understood. Creating space according to given parameters...】

    When he got back "home," the Dungeon Master sat down in his chair to consider. His computer, though it worked, could not access the internet due to its nonexistence within this universe. Curious.

    He considered the events. Should he try to return back to his universe?...

    【Command impossible. Most interference with other universes without permission from their Overgod is against protocol.】

    'Then... what, if any, interference can be done?'

    【Answer. Minimal interference with spiritual and mental existences is possible, but only during the transitive state between life and death.】

    'I see... so, basically like what happened to me? I died and got transported here, so if anyone out there dies, I can do the same?'

    【Precisely.】

    'Huh... If that's the case, how do you determine the time ratio between this universe and my old universe? If possible, I want you to get the souls of my friends and family in here.'

    【Ratio is non-subjective. Passes at a 1:1 rate between the perceptions of the Overgods, rather than in-universe. Your old universe's Overgod is in a subjectively time-suspended state almost 99.99999999999999988848​% of the time. It will take subjective billions of years before Dungeon Master's friends come of age, let alone die.】

    'What a shame. I wanted to flex on them with my newfound power... come to think of it, they'd all be old and grizzled by the time they came here, so they wouldn't be into... that...' In that moment, something hit him for the third time today. 'Hey, System. Say, how many universes similar to mine are there?'

    【To your mental comprehension, infinite.】

    'That's great, because I had an idea in mind.'

    【Do share.】

    'I'm going to do the only sensible thing that a creature with the ability to resurrect souls from other universes in its own can do...'

    【???】

    'I'm going to make this into a fucking Isekai anime.'
    ​
    ☀​

    TL;DR
    A guy who was the Dungeon Master in (presumably) a D&D game gets resurrected as an Overgod, ruling over his entire cosmos, capable of creating new planes, deities, and so on. He discovers the only way he can interfere with other universes is to draw on souls of the dying and bring them into his own universe. Naturally, he decides to turn the universe he had been given into a sick aberration of a D&D-verse and an Isekai anime world, returning as many people to life and giving them special cheat-like abilities so he'll never run out of fun stories to watch in his loneliness.

    Speaking of which, it is time for one such soul to cross the threshold between worlds. And you get to choose what kind of soul it is! Sweet.

    [] Name... [write-in]
    [] Gender... [write-in]
    [] Age... [0-29]
    [] Laconic Biography... [write-in]
    [] Death Circumstances... [write-in]

    Later on, creating more characters may be possible. Also, you are not the only Otherworlder out there - keep it in mind.

    CHARACTER CREATION TUTORIAL

    Name: The character's name.

    Gender: The character's gender.

    Age: The Dungeon Master will refuse to bring in anyone aged thirty or above since the optimal Isekai protagonist is young. That said, the idea of little children fighting leaves a bad taste in his mouth, so he will make their new life as light-hearted as possible until they hit sixteen, which is the age at which the Dungeon Master died. Choosing fifteen or anything below will result in the character being adopted/taken-in by someone else - all characters aged sixteen in the story are, by the standards of the in-universe vernacular, adults, and unlikely to be adopted as children, though they may still live with a family that decides to take them in or hire them.

    Laconic Biography: A short, to-the-point history of the character's life. Their world should be somewhat similar to ours, but can diverge slightly. The idea is that if the Otherworlder meets another of his kind, the two should recognize any major historical event from the past, or a corresponding variant of thereof, made by one another.

    Death Circumstances: The circumstances of the death that led to the character's re-emergence in another world. The Dungeon Master has a sick sense of humor, namely, since the System chose him to be the Overgod because of him being an experienced "creator of worlds, ruler above deities, and dying during a break in his sovereignty over his 'game,'" then others deserve the same.
    Examples: If the Otherworlder dies in a fire, he will begin with fire-based Skills and an affinity for Fire Magic. If the Otherworlder dies cursing God, he will begin as a Fiend-type creature. If the Otherworlder was a greedy businessman in his biography and died due to his greed getting the better of him, he will start out rich. If you want overpowered meta-abilities, get creative and get meta.
    ​
    ☀​

    FOR CHARACTER CREATION, PLEASE VOTE BY PLAN.
    Vote Duration    : 2-5 days, whenever voting and discussion get close to total inactivity.

    [A/N: Updates will be sporadic. I will post whenever I have time, which means around one to three updates per week currently, though, in around 1-2 weeks, I should have more time for it, at which you will see an uptake in activity.]

    Funfact Galore / Trivia:
    - Although this Quest was always intended to have a world that works mechanically similar to the one seen in Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken, the idea of throwing in D&D concepts for diversity and flavor is recent.
    — And so is the idea of throwing in a multiple-character system.
    - Originally, I intended for the Dungeon Master to be resurrected into a world identical to the game he was running in a non-D&D system. Out of the guilt of seeing his world besieged by demons that he, himself put into existence, he'd try to remove them, but accidentally press the wrong button on his DM console and incarnate himself as a backstory-less human on the planet, where some kind of AI (The System) would provide a pop-up in his display (vision), informing him that he permanently lost his DM privileges and became a Player. He'd curse his fate, and set out to fight against evil.
    — This draft was going to be called "Hey, I Made This Dumb World, So Why Is It Trying To Kill Me? [Isekai Extravaganza]" but I dropped it. The appeal would be the Dungeon Master having meta-knowledge of all major events, backstory secrets, and even the existence of anything resembling an exploit in the system. The problem was that, no matter how hard I worked on translating it into a Quest, the thing didn't work.
    — Also, originally, I intended a scene for the laughs. Its structure went like this: the Dungeon Master's death was so quick that he did not understand what even killed him. He would use his DM panel to see a recording of his own death and discover he got hit by a self-driving car then have a mental breakdown over how fucking stupid and statistically improbable that was. The System would also, very subtly as it does not have a "personality," jab at him, or 'pour salt into his wound.' How it would do this, I did not decide and probably never will.
    - I've actually been sitting down to write this for actual months, but something always prevented me from doing so. Either the writing was too long, or too bland; I didn't like the intro, or the Dungeon Master character felt unrealistic. And finally, I managed to do this by burning down the original script in favor of making the Dungeon Master an otaku who resurrects other people instead of incarnating himself due to sheer human error and comedic stupidity that is impossible even through coincidence.
    - At one point, when throwing around one of the hundreds of ideas, the 'Dungeon Master' was actually a 'Game Developer' working on an RPG for a huge company. He'd die for some stupid reason at work (as they always do,) and his soul would go into an identical world as the game he was working on. Then, the original idea of him pressing the wrong button and incarnating as a mortal would happen, but with one, big difference... Namely, there would be a Gachapon system where he could participate in monthly gacha rolls or pay $2.99 (which he didn't have,) to get an instant access key or pay $56.99 for twenty consecutive tries with 5% increased odds of better drops. The Gacha rolls would basically be a huge roulette with various items, abilities, objects, currencies, or even additional EXP. And naturally, he would never get anything good, because that's how companies make a profit.
    — If an Otherworlder dies due to gambling, this will be a possible Unique Skill, except instead of it being a monthly thing, they will be able to pay for it with EXP.
    - Originally, the Dungeon Master's friends were more fleshed out and had names. I intended for them to meet him again in his world in some way, or for him to find people who reminded him of them to the point of symbolism. Then, I decided to instead make him go out to buy them snacks, and their snacks would appear in the new world as "consumable artifacts" that can either be used for various purposes or put together to return the DM authority to him. Yes, you read that right - Doritos, tissues, sprite, and jellybeans were consumable artifacts.
    - Somewhere along the way, I fiddled around with the idea of the DM being a rich gamer who went by the tag of 'Pade4U2Day.'
    — I also fiddled around with the idea of one of these overpriced 'Gucci Elastic Headbands' being his good-luck charm when playing. After his rebirth, it'd become a magic item, as would his 'Stars4Fans' wristband, a pair of black aviators, a pair of stainless-white yeezys, an overpriced pair of torn-up jeans, a black organic leather jacket, a 'Supreme' t-shirt, and a 'My Little Pony' comb that he kept a secret for his entire childhood. This entire set of armor would be the end-game artifact set, and would let him ascend back to DM-hood, or whatever else.    ​
     
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    Skills & Skill Types
    Skills are a flexible phenomenon and have a number of applications and diverse forms. Their definition varies, though in short, it can be said that a Skill is essentially a superpower, something extraordinary and parahuman, though not in the realm of magic as it cannot be dispelled or suppressed with anti-magic. In a way, Skills can be said to be a 'law of the world,' just like the laws of physics.

    Skills can be learned by anyone, be they sentient mortals, animals, or outsiders and spirits, however, it should be noted that 'Skills' are different from 'skills,' where the latter can be learned through simple experience, and the former have to be acquired with true dedication and sometimes, though not always, supernatural events. Generally, hitting a higher Level will make acquiring Skills easier, or even allow one to do so automatically. Sometimes, however, Skills are granted by the System to people deserving of the appropriate Skill, or at the Dungeon Master's order, such as the case with Otherworlders.

    It should be noted that although two people might have a Skill of the same name, what they do in practice may be slightly different. Two people might both have a skill called Slash, but the Slash they perform may have different power, mechanics, or activation cost. If one were to obtain two different types of Slash, the likely outcome is that the System would combine both Skills into one, better skill, perhaps something like 'Art of Slash,' or something else, depending on the user.

    Skills can be improved over the length of one's lifetime, simply by Leveling Up, or by training the Skill itself and improving it through practice and experience, or by delving deeper into its mechanics. Training a Skill enough will allow it to advance into higher forms, such as Extra Skills or Unique Skills, and in the end, Ultimate Skills.

    Unlike its alternative, in the form of Magic, Skills, as a rule, do not require any sort of mana to fuel them, though they may have other activation costs, often stamina. This also makes them a viable alternative for warriors without magical talent.

    ***​

    There are several Skill types:

    Skill: A normal Skill, capable of interfering with the world on some basic level. They can be simple improvements to actions one can perform, such as damage increases, or they may be capable of interfering with the world in other ways, such as fire-breathing or teleporting.

    Passive Skill: A Skill that is capable of running constantly with either no cost or a cost that is so insignificant it may as well not be there. Generally, they can be toggled on and off by the user. Passive auras, self-buffs, and many sensory enhancements fall into this domain. An example of a popular Passive Skill, which also has a spell counterpart, is Magic Sense.

    Perk: A Perk is a type of an evolved Passive Skill, essentially being its equivalent of an Extra Skill. It is also impossible to nullify or disable Perks, unlike with Passive Skills.

    Extra Skill: An Extra Skill is an evolved or improved form of a normal Skill. It is different from a Skill that has been honed to perfection or the potential of which has been completed, as it goes many orders of magnitude above and beyond what the original could achieve. Almost any Skill can evolve into Extra form, though there exist Skills that can only be found as Extra Skills. For an example, if one were to evolve a Teleport Skill that lets them move around from town to town at a time with a cooldown, an activation cost of half of the user's stamina, and a two-percent chance of hitting off-mark, the Skill in its Extra form might have a range limit of the entire continent, little to no cooldown, little to no activation cost, and zero-percent failure rate.

    Unique Skill: A Unique Skill is, to an Extra Skill what an Extra Skill is to a normal Skill. Though called Unique, the same Skill of this level can still be possessed by multiple individuals, though it will very often vary between them. A Unique Skill is not just a single Skill, but more like an entire package of several Skills working together to form a significantly stronger ability than when used as a sum of its parts. An example for Ultra Instinct would be how Precognition combined with it, not only allowing for normal insight provided by itself but also allowing to predict attacks ten seconds in advance, sometimes before the opponent has decided to make them. A Unique Skill variant of Teleport might be called 'Dimensional Teleport' and include the ability to traverse planets, go across planes, and scout out the terrain with scrying before arrival.

    Ultimate Skill: An Ultimate Skill is the highest degree of power that a Skill can achieve, practically Godlike in quality. The pinnacle stage of all Skills. They can arise from Unique Skills evolving or combining appropriate Skills together. If there were to be an Ultimate variant of Teleport, it'd let you not only traverse entire dimensions, but teleport into your opponents' minds, or teleporting wounds off of your body and onto the enemy, or perhaps teleport the entire damn planet you are on while you're at it. This is the pinnacle; it doesn't get higher than this.
    Magic
    Magic, in its raw state, is a wild and primal force of nature. Like all things natural, mortalkind has tamed it and systematized it for convenience, creating spells and rituals.

    Spells are a confusing and dazzling mixture of spiritual knowledge and complex rotes, but they have several advantages and demerits when put up against Skills.

    Firstly, magic is much easier to learn than Skills. Learning a low-rank spell, to the average wizard, takes half an hour at most, very often less, although mastering it completely can take up to a few days. Once a wizard learns a sufficient amount of spells of a certain school or type, the System categorizes it as an Archive. A magician who has ten fire spells will have them show up as 'Fire Magic Archive' on his profile. Obtaining a high-enough level of mastery of a certain school or type of Magic will give the magus a related Extra Skill. For example, in the case of Arcane Magic, it is 'Wishgranting,' which allows the mage to basically warp reality by spending enough prana.

    Among the defects is the requirement that the user has enough prana to cast spells, as well as enough time to initiate an incantation of the spell they are casting. Incantations can be shortened or entirely avoided by either mastering the related spell or by having a Skill that allows for it, but both options have demerits of their own; the former requires lots of time, and the latter is usually an incomplete Skill that requires additional prana expenditure to use.

    Having an Affinity for a certain type of Magic will make it easier to learn, and even allow the user to learn basic usage of the school or type of Magic without schooling, albeit these cases carry the risk of a sorcerer's Magic going out of control.

    There are also rituals, which do not have a strict definition and tend to be loosely associated with any Magic that requires more than half a minute to cast, or requires some form of preparation with materials. A common ritual is the 'Prana Measurement' ritual, which involves the target standing in a magic circle next to a candle, and the candle burning down at a rate which indicates the prana their soul can produce.

    Note: If the cost of magic casting cannot be paid with prana, the soul will take stamina instead, and if the caster runs out of that, their health is the next to go.

    When learning magic from a book, it is not as simple as understanding the book. The soul has to grasp the meaning of the spell to cast it.
    Magical Energy & Souls
    Spells oftentimes, in order to be cast, require magical energy to be expended.

    Magical energy is a raw force of pure existence, permeating the universe, and simultaneously being at one with it. Magical energy is also often called magicules, due to said miniature spiritual particles being what comprises said energy.

    Magical energy is only produced from souls that have specific growths in them, called meridians and dantians. The former are like blood vessels and factories of magical energy, and the latter are massive storage and coalescence points as well as exhaust pipes for it, though both of them can fulfill the other's role in a pinch at decreased efficiency.

    Leylines and nodes, as people understand them, belong to the same phenomenon, being the meridians and dantians of the anima mundi; the soul of the planet or realm they happen to be on. Since a mage's dantians can absorb the ambient energy generated by the planet, they often make their workshops along leylines and on nodes to recuperate from casting a lot of spells more rapidly.

    Magical energy can also often be found in an unrefined, material state along leylines and more often nodes; in the form of crystals called magistone, a liquid called magifluid, or even in the air, as mana; though the last term is used interchangeably with prana, which is the processed form of magical energy used to fuel spells.

    A common strategy that high-level adventurers use for finding monster fields, dragon nests, extensive dungeons, or other locations of interest, is to simply have their wizard track a leyline until they reach a node, where such things can often be found due to their attractiveness to many individuals and creatures.

    Monsters & Names
    Some of the creatures in the world are classified as monsters. Though that word is far from a strict definition, as most things are, generally, the agreed consensus is that a monster is a creature born from raw magical energy given form and the primary reason adventurers don't run out of work.

    Every plane has a soul, called an anima mundi, or "soul world," which produces prana. For reasons unknown, the planet expends a part of its prana (or perhaps it occurs by fluke) to create monsters, using concepts that humans hold to do so, which is why drakes or trolls may be born in the wild at random, simply popping out of nowhere.

    However, all of these monsters are born nameless. They are essentially a form of a permanent spell, insignificant to creatures born naturally. As such, naming them is treated as a form of metamagic by the world, and imbues monsters with additional power and linking them to the namer. However, this link isn't necessarily always positive; a drake, though it may be grateful for receiving a name, is still a wild beast and will most likely consume you.

    It should be noted that if two monsters and opposite gender of the same species meet, they can procreate and have children, but these children are treated by the world as an extension of the same spell and remain nameless. Nonetheless, sentient monsters can commune their intent to each other even if their species is identical, which is why societies of goblins can exist without failure in communication.

    Generally, naming a monster can only be done by a being of a similar power-level, or higher. Doing otherwise will result in either failure or the lesser creature receiving several maluses.

    There also exist Titles, which can be granted to someone multiple times. The System will generally give appropriate Titles to deserving monsters, for terrible deeds, and those monsters may gain enough power to self-name themselves. Titles tend to not develop a monster's pre-existing abilities, as much as take them in a new direction.

    Grand Dungeons
    Among the dungeons of the land, there exists a type of dungeon created by the planet, known as Grand Dungeon.

    Grand Dungeons are not just structures but are actually spiritual organisms, with a core in the middle that can shoot out a spore to create a similar Grand Dungeon somewhere else. Grand Dungeons create additional tunnels, rooms, and monsters with magical energy, then lure in adventurers to kill them with traps and consume their souls for more energy, creating offspring and growing.

    When an adventurer team reaches the core of a Grand Dungeon, the most common resolution is to destroy it. However, there have been cases of people communicating with the cores and even naming them, turning the Grand Dungeons into their allies and granting them extensive power.
    Naming Items
    Like monsters, it is possible to name items and objects, in which case they become Legacy Items and collect their own history, gaining traits depending on what is accomplished using said item. For example, a sword known for slaying dragons might gain bonuses to damaging dragon-like enemies.
     
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  • Informational
    • So theoretically, what happens if someone somehow writes a 5k story of how we died? :drevil:

    Jokes aside, what would happen if someone dies in a fire while cursing god? How would you choose which ability he would get?
     
    Glint said:
    So theoretically, what happens if someone somehow writes a 5k story of how we died? :drevil:

    Jokes aside, what would happen if someone dies in a fire while cursing god? How would you choose which ability he would get?
    Click to expand...
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    Then only the key elements become any powers, resistances, Unique Skills and so on, and if there are lots of elements of various natures at cause, then so is the obtained powerset equally representative of the chaotic divergence surrounding the character's death.

    As for the other question, that depends on a plethora of things and might result in a great number of potential combos. The most likely result is a Fiend with Fire Manipulation, rather straightforward.
     
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    Eh sure I'll play.

    [] Random name
    [] Male
    [] 25
    [] Former professional player champion in PVP competition in online gaming.
    [] Death by gaming (bad lifestyle or feud over virtual goods)

    Typing this from mobile so I'll edit when I get back home.
     
    Wait. Veekie gave me a "funsies" rating? That omnipresent veekie that can be found everywhere? I feel honored.
     
    I helped inspire the mechanics for this? You have my sincerest condolences...

    Birdsie said:
    [] Name... [write-in]
    [] Gender... [write-in]
    [] Age... [0-29]
    [] Laconic Biography... [write-in]
    [] Death Circumstances... [write-in]​
    Click to expand...
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    [x]Name... Adam Whales
    [x] Gender... Male
    [x] Age... 19
    [x] Laconic Biography... Adam Whales is was the next-in-line to inherit the Dictatorship of Britannia, in a world where pneumatic pistons were developed before gunpowder, causing pneumatic crossbows to become the dominant weapon instead. As he was also the last-in-line, the country is likely to collapse from infighting in as little as five years. Not that he'd ever know that. Adam is an irresponsible, reckless young man who believes his good breeding makes him naturally better than lowborns, but does not actually have real-world experience and therefore fails at everything he tries, provided it isn't strictly related to memorized knowledge. Since he believes everything he reads, but doesn't get out much, a fair amount of his knowledge isn't based in fact, and he believes in silly things like magic, unicorns, and fairies.
    [x] Death Circumstances... Adam Whales died while attempting to prove that alchemy was a real thing. To his credit, he did successfully develop bleach, and also ammonia, which will revolutionize what would have been his kingdom if they ever find his body.

    Birdsie said:
    Yes, you read that right - Doritos, tissues, sprite, and jellybeans are consumable artifacts.
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    Oh, is that how the recipe goes? Excuse me for a moment, I need to go cook up some DMs.
     
    unsanity said:
    I helped inspire the mechanics for this? You have my sincerest condolences...


    [x]Name... Adam Whales
    [x] Gender... Male
    [x] Age... 19
    [x] Laconic Biography... Adam Whales is was the next-in-line to inherit the Dictatorship of Britannia, in a world where pneumatic pistons were developed before gunpowder, causing pneumatic crossbows to become the dominant weapon instead. As he was also the last-in-line, the country is likely to collapse from infighting in as little as five years. Not that he'd ever know that. Adam is an irresponsible, reckless young man who believes his good breeding makes him naturally better than lowborns, but does not actually have real-world experience and therefore fails at everything he tries, provided it isn't strictly related to memorized knowledge. Since he believes everything he reads, but doesn't get out much, a fair amount of his knowledge isn't based in fact, and he believes in silly things like magic, unicorns, and fairies.
    [x] Death Circumstances... Adam Whales died while attempting to prove that alchemy was a real thing. To his credit, he did successfully develop bleach, and also ammonia, which will revolutionize what would have been his kingdom if they ever find his body.


    Oh, is that how the recipe goes? Excuse me for a moment, I need to go cook up some DMs.
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    Normally I'd ask the origin world to be slightly less divergent, but this particular idea hits all the right notes for me. Also, you are unsanity. Therefore, I approve.

    EDIT: Actually, I decided to increase the world diversity for Otherworlders, as this has shown me the perks of doing so. Stuff like this is now allowed and perfectly acceptable.
     
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    [X] Skylar Dare
    [X] Female
    [X] 19
    [X] Skylar was... adventurous. The daughter of an account and a baker, she loved her parents but found life... boring. Skylar was constantly enacting stunts to entertain herself, such as attempting to navigate a busy road with rollerskates and a grappling hook. Most of her stunts were similarly... reckless, to put it mildly. The skill required to carry out and survive so many foolhardy schemes must be acknowledged, but everyone's luck runs out eventually...
    [X] Skylar's latest and greatest idea was to jump off of Big Ben with a pair of homemade glider wings. Small tests of the wings were promising, and she had acquired a parachute as a backup... and then the security guards caught up to her. In her haste to make the jump before the guards could stop her, Skylar tripped... and fell off the roof... and was impaled on one of the clock hands.
     
    [X]Name... Cindy Collens
    [X]Gender... Female
    Age... 17
    [X]Laconic Biography: Hailing from a world where capes and scarves are a permanent part of fashion, to the point that to go without would be uncomfortable for anyone, Cindy was from a poor, but large family that lived in a trio of rowhomes that they had rennovated to have doors going to and from each house. Cindy herself was laid-back and calm, and while smart enough to have claimed several scholarships had she applied herself, she had long looked forward to taking up the family trade of clothesmaking/tailoring, and thus had planned on only graduating from high school...
    [X] Death Circumstances... Cindy was over a friend's house when the stove started leaking gas. A black out hit just before she struck a match to light a candle and blew the room to smithereens, herself included.
     
    New
    [X]Name... Cindy Collens
    [X]Gender... Female
    Age... 17
    [X]Laconic Biography: Hailing from a world where capes and scarves are a permanent part of fashion, to the point that to go without would be uncomfortable for anyone, Cindy was from a poor, but large family that lived in a trio of rowhomes that they had rennovated to have doors going to and from each house. Cindy herself was laid-back and calm, and while smart enough to have claimed several scholarships had she applied herself, she had long looked forward to taking up the family trade of clothesmaking/tailoring, and thus had planned on only graduating from high school...
    [X] Death Circumstances... Cindy was over a friend's house when the stove started leaking gas. A black out hit just before she struck a match to light a candle and blew the room to smithereens, herself included.
     
    Birdsie said:
    Wait. Veekie gave me a "funsies" rating? That omnipresent veekie that can be found everywhere? I feel honored.
    Click to expand...
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    The premise tickled me.


    [X]Name... Cindy Collens
    [X]Gender... Female
    Age... 17
    [X]Laconic Biography: Hailing from a world where capes and scarves are a permanent part of fashion, to the point that to go without would be uncomfortable for anyone, Cindy was from a poor, but large family that lived in a trio of rowhomes that they had rennovated to have doors going to and from each house. Cindy herself was laid-back and calm, and while smart enough to have claimed several scholarships had she applied herself, she had long looked forward to taking up the family trade of clothesmaking/tailoring, and thus had planned on only graduating from high school...
    [X] Death Circumstances... Cindy was over a friend's house when the stove started leaking gas. A black out hit just before she struck a match to light a candle and blew the room to smithereens, herself included.
     
    Shazbot I forgot about my chargen plan. Had to finish halo 2.

    So when you say similar setting it has to be modernish?
     
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    [X] Name... Byleth Gaster
    [X] Gender... Male
    [X] Age.. 17
    [X] Laconic Biography... A high school studdnt strengths were his gaming knowledge and hacking as well as his tutoring and math skills, he is also fluent in Japanese and English American. He was the son of a female asian yakuza and a male scientist, he also has a sister 2 years younger than him. He lived in American for 9 years. Outside of his family he was a average guy you could pass on the street without a second glance.
    [X] Death Circumstances... Byleth and his mother was killed by a japanese hitman hired by a rival gangmember while his dad and sister was out on a vacation to celebrate her birthday.

    Are yakuzas allowed to be a thing?​
     
    rx915 said:
    So when you say similar setting it has to be modernish?
    Click to expand...
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    Not exactly. I've decided to allow alternate historical timelines, but if the world is outright eldritch, it won't be accepted.

    Deathvon said:
    [X] Name... Byleth Gaster
    [X] Gender... Male
    [X] Age.. 17
    [X] Laconic Biography... A high school studdnt strengths were his gaming knowledge and hacking as well as his tutoring and math skills, he is also fluent in Japanese and English American. He was the son of a female asian yakuza and a male scientist, he also has a sister 2 years younger than him. He lived in American for 9 years. Outside of his family he was a average guy you could pass on the street without a second glance.
    [X] Death Circumstances... Byleth and his mother was killed by a japanese hitman hired by a rival gangmember while his dad and sister was out on a vacation to celebrate her birthday.

    Are yakuzas allowed to be a thing?​
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Sure.
     
    Birdsie said:
    Not exactly. I've decided to allow alternate historical timelines, but if the world is outright eldritch, it won't be accepted.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Ok initially I was thinking of a recently retired legendary online game champion (Ye Xiu expy from king's avatar) though an ancient soldier who died in a last stand in the most badass way sounds more funner as he'll get to meet what he assumes to be one of his deities in the afterlife.
     
    Anyway, I'll tally the votes in a few hours. I have time to write right now.
    Adhoc vote count started by Birdsie on Dec 4, 2018 at 6:48 PM, finished with 21 posts and 8 votes.
    • [X]Name... Cindy Collens
      [X]Gender... Female
      [X]Laconic Biography: Hailing from a world where capes and scarves are a permanent part of fashion, to the point that to go without would be uncomfortable for anyone, Cindy was from a poor, but large family that lived in a trio of rowhomes that they had rennovated to have doors going to and from each house. Cindy herself was laid-back and calm, and while smart enough to have claimed several scholarships had she applied herself, she had long looked forward to taking up the family trade of clothesmaking/tailoring, and thus had planned on only graduating from high school...
      [X] Death Circumstances... Cindy was over a friend's house when the stove started leaking gas. A black out hit just before she struck a match to light a candle and blew the room to smithereens, herself included.
      [X] Name... Byleth Gaster
      [x] Gender... Male
      [X] Age.. 17
      [X] Laconic Biography... A high school studdnt strengths were his gaming knowledge and hacking as well as his tutoring and math skills, he is also fluent in Japanese and English American. He was the son of a female asian yakuza and a male scientist, he also has a sister 2 years younger than him. He lived in American for 9 years. Outside of his family he was a average guy you could pass on the street without a second glance.​
      [X] Death Circumstances... Byleth and his mother was killed by a japanese hitman hired by a rival gangmember while his dad and sister was out on a vacation to celebrate her birthday.​
      [x]Name... Adam Whales
      [x] Gender... Male
      [x] Age... 19
      [x] Laconic Biography... Adam Whales is was the next-in-line to inherit the Dictatorship of Britannia, in a world where pneumatic pistons were developed before gunpowder, causing pneumatic crossbows to become the dominant weapon instead. As he was also the last-in-line, the country is likely to collapse from infighting in as little as five years. Not that he'd ever know that. Adam is an irresponsible, reckless young man who believes his good breeding makes him naturally better than lowborns, but does not actually have real-world experience and therefore fails at everything he tries, provided it isn't strictly related to memorized knowledge. Since he believes everything he reads, but doesn't get out much, a fair amount of his knowledge isn't based in fact, and he believes in silly things like magic, unicorns, and fairies.
      [x] Death Circumstances... Adam Whales died while attempting to prove that alchemy was a real thing. To his credit, he did successfully develop bleach, and also ammonia, which will revolutionize what would have been his kingdom if they ever find his body.
      [X] Skylar Dare
      [X] Female
      [X] 19
      [X] Skylar was... adventurous. The daughter of an account and a baker, she loved her parents but found life... boring. Skylar was constantly enacting stunts to entertain herself, such as attempting to navigate a busy road with rollerskates and a grappling hook. Most of her stunts were similarly... reckless, to put it mildly. The skill required to carry out and survive so many foolhardy schemes must be acknowledged, but everyone's luck runs out eventually...
      [X] Skylar's latest and greatest idea was to jump off of Big Ben with a pair of homemade glider wings. Small tests of the wings were promising, and she had acquired a parachute as a backup... and then the security guards caught up to her. In her haste to make the jump before the guards could stop her, Skylar tripped... and fell off the roof... and was impaled on one of the clock hands.
      [X] Plan: Paul
      -[X] Name... Paul Dubois
      -[X] Gender... Male
      -[X] Age... 18
      -[X] Laconic Biography... Paul had lived a charmed life. Born well off but not so rich as to be resented, liked by all and generally successful at everything he put his mind to (primarily focus on gaming). 567648000 seconds (18 years) after he was born his grandmother died. Less than an hour after his home was in ruins, everyone he knew was dead or dying and he had the dubious honor of being the first casualty of the zombie apocalypse consuming his world. Unfortunately for the poor young man that wasn't the end, as his soul was trapped in his walking corpse; forced to experience its murderous appetites.
      -[X] Death Circumstances... After a year trapped behind the eyes of a flesh eating ghoul he was finally put out of his misery by a small band of survivors.
    Click to expand...
     
    Oh dang. Just when I finished halo 2. Though I doubt making a proper chargen would affect votes.

    Winning vote doesn't look to be one I'm interested in so I'm bowing out.

    Have fun.
     
    [X] Name... Byleth Gaster
    [x] Gender... Male
    [X] Age.. 17
    [X] Laconic Biography... A high school studdnt strengths were his gaming knowledge and hacking as well as his tutoring and math skills, he is also fluent in Japanese and English American. He was the son of a female asian yakuza and a male scientist, he also has a sister 2 years younger than him. He lived in American for 9 years. Outside of his family he was a average guy you could pass on the street without a second glance.
    [X] Death Circumstances... Byleth and his mother was killed by a japanese hitman hired by a rival gangmember while his dad and sister was out on a vacation to celebrate her birthday.

    Edit: I just realized that this is similar to the world of Goblin Slayer since the world is based on D&D
     
    Last edited:
    [X] Plan: Paul
    -[X] Name... Paul Dubois
    -[X] Gender... Male
    -[X] Age... 18
    -[X] Laconic Biography... Paul had lived a charmed life. Born well off but not so rich as to be resented, liked by all and generally successful at everything he put his mind to (primarily focus on gaming). 567648000 seconds (18 years) after he was born his grandmother died. Less than an hour after his home was in ruins, everyone he knew was dead or dying and he had the dubious honor of being the first casualty of the zombie apocalypse consuming his world. Unfortunately for the poor young man that wasn't the end, as his soul was trapped in his walking corpse; forced to experience its murderous appetites.
    -[X] Death Circumstances... After a year trapped behind the eyes of a flesh eating ghoul he was finally put out of his misery by a small band of survivors.
     
    [X]Name... Cindy Collens
    [X]Gender... Female
    Age... 17
    [X]Laconic Biography: Hailing from a world where capes and scarves are a permanent part of fashion, to the point that to go without would be uncomfortable for anyone, Cindy was from a poor, but large family that lived in a trio of rowhomes that they had rennovated to have doors going to and from each house. Cindy herself was laid-back and calm, and while smart enough to have claimed several scholarships had she applied herself, she had long looked forward to taking up the family trade of clothesmaking/tailoring, and thus had planned on only graduating from high school...
    [X] Death Circumstances... Cindy was over a friend's house when the stove started leaking gas. A black out hit just before she struck a match to light a candle and blew the room to smithereens, herself included.
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    Tallying the votes. Cindy Collens wins.
     
    Chapter One: Alas, A Crispy Ending For This Lass...
  • Threadmarks
    • [X]Name... Cindy Collens
    [X]Gender... Female
    Age... 17
    [X]Laconic Biography: Hailing from a world where capes and scarves are a permanent part of fashion, to the point that to go without would be uncomfortable for anyone, Cindy was from a poor, but large family that lived in a trio of rowhomes that they had rennovated to have doors going to and from each house. Cindy herself was laid-back and calm, and while smart enough to have claimed several scholarships had she applied herself, she had long looked forward to taking up the family trade of clothesmaking/tailoring, and thus had planned on only graduating from high school...
    [X] Death Circumstances... Cindy was over a friend's house when the stove started leaking gas. A black out hit just before she struck a match to light a candle and blew the room to smithereens, herself included.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    [A/N: Congratulations. You have officially made me look through the internet for all of the following: "The most probable causes of a gas leak," "igniting a match during a gas leak," "what will happen to me if I ignite a match during a gas leak?" "how much heat does a gas leak ignition produce?" "how much heat does methane produce upon combustion?" "what temperatures does cremation require?" "how much heat is required to kill a person?"

    I've also found out by accident that you are more likely to survive when near the source of the explosion, though there still exist odds you'll die right away; surprisingly, mostly due to the debris as a gas explosion will most likely destroy any house barring those with truly exceptional structural integrity and durability. In any case, I've done my research and I am willing to bet that I am on some secret government watch list for potential arsonists right now.]

    Chapter 1
    Alas, A Crispy Ending For This Lass...​

    At times, you can't help but be impressed.

    It had been, from his perspective, well over five weeks since his death and subsequent reincarnation as the Overgod. The Dungeon Master rebuilt the universe in his image, creating deities, demons, devils, primordials, and anything else his memories could recall from those lore books he had read. Of course, he wasn't a hack, so he threw in some things from himself. Little world elements that only had meaning to him, like a golden asteroid belt surrounding the sun of the material realm.

    There were other realms. He remade Hell, fashioning it into Baator, the Nine Hells. There were countless planes, demiplanes, quasi-planes and... But that's off-tangent.

    Right now, he stood on a circular pedestal surrounded by stairs leading to it. In front of him, hundreds of screens monitoring various realms. And around him, floated various panels and even books. The Dungeon Master's body was identical to his old one, but he now wore silvery robes - simplistic, and yet, impossibly well-made, carved out with celestial stardust and glittering brocade shapes woven with golden and silver strings, portraying his own creation of the universe and telling a story, with a portrait of him on the back, his hands outward and their fingers splayed, throwing realms in various directions like a man throwing sand he had gathered.

    And now, this beautiful universe he toiled on had been finished. From his perspective, he spent a month telling the system what realms were meant to look like. What gods were supposed to reign from the beginning, and which ones would transcend into divinity later and in what ways. He told the system which races would evolve from fish, which would fall from the sky, and which would be clay fashioned into life with breath by the gods' will. He told the system which civilizations would rise, how long they would last, when they would fall and for what reasons.

    He was fate itself, knowing what has happened, is happening, and will happen. Every knight in the service of the king, every elven ancient serving to stop some ancient evil with his oracular insight, and every sign that laid on the roadside was made by his design. If he decided to place a rock on a plain, it didn't matter if that rock suddenly appeared there, if it had been there forever, or if it leaked in from the Elemental Plane of Earth. Each was a possibility, and he could choose the path that he preferred. Not even the almighty Gods knew of his existence, though he could unveil it when he wished to.

    And yet, not even he can help but be impressed.

    The Dungeon Master, wide-eyed, stared forward, as where else could he look when speaking with an omnipresent universal system?

    'What do you mean... five quintillion?'

    【Five-point-eighteen quintillion candidates for resurrection, to be specific. I've narrowed the pool down to suit your preferences, with a 91.225% minimal base similarity a—】

    'That's amazing, System, but I don't need that many... In fact, that's well over the world's population. Why not narrow it down for now? Select a pool of... forty candidates, then give me one of their profiles at random.'

    【Understood. Restricting candidates to forty, transferring spiritual and mental essence... Selecting random profile: Collens, Cindy.】

    'Let's dig through it, together, System. Before resurrecting her, I want you to assemble powers from the list I gave you and give her the appropriate ones.'

    【Very well. Preparing for initiation.】

    'This will be grand...' He smiled, putting away all of the floating books to the ground and letting the panels disappear.

    The Dungeon Master felt good about himself. Giving people a second chance just when they thought it was all over, and simultaneously giving them abilities that would ensure they not only led prosperous and adventurous lives that they otherwise could have never had but also abilities that would help them cope? He felt like a saint, almost. At least that's what he'd think of a creature like himself.

    If you died from stabbing, you would naturally receive a resistance to that type of wounds, if not an outright immunity. Maybe a general physical resistance, too. He had the System compose billions of possible power algorithms, with a possibility for creating new ones. Because he only resurrected sufficiently young people and dying in one's youth usually meant either sickness, an accident, or something else, the Dungeon Master imagined a lot of the resurrected would have some kind of Pain Resistance. Whatever the case, their powers would make them naturally less wary of these very things, and therefore help with mental recovery.

    Even if you burnt alive, fire's not that scary if it can't hurt you anymore... provided, of course, that you realize it can't. He obviously didn't expect people who drowned to jump from trauma straight to walking on water.

    He pulled up his celestial raiment's sleeves. 'Welp. Let's do this.'

    【Initiating.】

    The Dungeon Master stepped back, an eggshell-shaped quicksilver chair sprouting from the ground and becoming solid, embracing his back. A monitor flashed into existence in front of him, soon spreading to form a 360° VR space around him.

    ●​

    It was a small, suburban neighborhood, with gray, slightly destitute roads and several patches of green at the edges of the blocks, the occasional tree, one of which had a large tractor tire intended to be an impromptu swing. it gave the impression of one of those old-school neighborhoods you see in 90's movies which told about the daily mishappenings in the life of a traditional American family.

    A peculiar trio of rowhomes graced this small neighborhood.

    "Hey, mom, I'm going out," Cindy said indifferently, affixing her scarf on her neck and tying it in such a way that ensured it wouldn't fall off.

    Her mom attentively looked over from her spot on the couch, where she had been reading a book. "Where, sweetie?"

    "Alice invited me over, is that cool with you?"

    "Of course, but don't be too late."

    "Nine?"

    Cindy's mom gave her a stern look, her neutrality fading and replaced by something reminiscent of light anger.

    "Eight it is, I'll be back before eight," Cindy corrected herself without changing tone. She approached her mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek, before going in the direction of the exit.

    She took her favorite cape – cherry-red color – from the rack and put it on, the color very nicely accenting her slightly darker wine-red scarf. Cindy had a knack for fashion, and with her hard work put into learning how to sew and tailor clothes, she could deal with punctures in her clothes like no one else.

    She gave herself one last look-over in the mirror.

    Cindy was fairly attractive, not outlandishly, but decently. She had wavy, dark blonde hair; the kind that appeared as brown when looked at under a certain light. It was accentuated with her blue eyes, a recessive trait apparently from her grandparents, as neither of her parents had that eye color.

    Well, in a family that big, it was bound to happen.

    The road to Alice's house wasn't too long, as the two lived in the same residential district of the city, just a few blocks away from each other. And today, Alice's parents weren't at home, so they had the entire house to themselves.

    The two girls had a lot of fun, mostly staying in Alice's room. They discussed recent events in school, trash talked their nasty Physics teacher, talked about each other's crushes, played video games, and posted a cute selfie together on Alice's social media.

    And then, the lights went out.

    "Aww, damn it," Alice snapped quietly, in a bothered voice. "There's candles in the kitchen."

    "Let's go get 'em," Cindy declared, leading the way out.

    "Oh, great, it'll be soooo romantic," Alice joked, walking after her friend.

    The two arrived in the kitchen. A small, darkened room with white tiles and a disabled chandelier for light. There was a peculiar stench in the air.

    "What's with the shitty smell?" Cindy asked, her mind so hard-centered upon returning to their funtime that it didn't consider there was methane in the air. She covered her nose.

    Alice took a whiff with her nose, then recoiled and did the same as Cindy. "Oof, probably some rotten eggs."

    Alice took out four candles from under the counter, laying them on a table. She began to look around for some way to ignite them, for Cindy to take out a matchbox from the nearby shelf.

    "Looking for this?" Cindy took out a match.

    "Right. Just light them up."

    Cindy slid the match against the red surface. There was a spark, and then a combustion, followed by Cindy's entire body being set on fire, along with her cape and scarf. The fire spread at an alarming pace, covering the entire house like a wave, in less than five seconds.

    Then, as if not interested by being held down by some petty walls, it began to soak through them, the methane burning at temperatures in excess of a whooping one-thousand and eighty-degrees, literally more than enough to melt steel beams.

    'Fuck-fuck-hot, hot, God, help! It burns! It burns so fucking much, please, it hurts!' she thought as she screamed involuntarily as a natural reaction, thrashing around on the floor in pain next to her friend. Everything around them was on fire, and falling apart.

    【Confirmed. Acquiring Heat Resistance. Acquiring Pain Nullification.】

    Though Cindy burned alive, the temperature that affected her was lower than the rest of the house. Though she might suffer third and fourth-degree burns by the time this was over, there was still a chance of survival.

    Since the temperature was twice, maybe thrice lighter where Cindy and her friend were situated, they might survive if rescuers came in soon enough.

    The fire in the room, or more appropriately the floor, soon dissipated, though it was still burning up in the rest of the house. The two girls slowly put themselves out with wild tempestousness, completely scarred both physically and mentally, and covered in sickly brown tumors and burn marks, their hair burnt off, their senses going wild, neither even aware the other is there anymore, just laying there motionlessly in utter pain and fear of worsening the injury or getting the wounds infected if they moved.

    They were hoping for it to end with just this.

    No such luck.

    The house's structure collapsed just when the methane reached critical thermal power. The house practically exploded in a few spots, followed by the rest of the structure collapsing. The debris sent in every direction was like shrapnel, damaging the houses and objects in the neighborhood, perhaps injuring some people by accident.
    [A/N: Just a side-note, this is something your stovetop can do. Now you know why they cut off gas during a bombing... or, really, any situation that risks igniting gas.]

    The two girls were buried under rubble, and rescue came only a few minutes later to find them both alive, barely.

    Alice was... salvageable, as she had only suffered dermal burns across ninety-six percent of her body. Not to mention, no internal organs were damaged, though she had a few broken bones and cracked ribs from the debris.

    Cindy, on another hand, wasn't as lucky. A small fragment of debris had penetrated through her chest and required an immediate operation. Her entire ribcage was practically broken like an eggshell, her lungs coated in broken bone and not punctured by luck. Sheer miracle that she lived this long – asking to get out of this alive and well was foolish.

    Now, laying in the hospital bed and surrounded by squabbling doctors and nurses, she cursed her situation. One of her eyes was closed, as too much blood and fire damaged it, and her skin was covered in sickening white-brown, some-places pure black, blisters. She coughed dryly every few seconds, as her lungs kept on trying to expel the splinters and products of methane combustion in them.

    For naught, as the shard of rock in her chest wasn't going away, her ribcage wasn't ever coming back, and her lungs were already halfway to failure.

    At least the anesthetic worked, mostly. Not that it was that necessary, her nerves already being burnt so much they became desensitized. Only the phantom pain was bothering her at this point.

    In her quasi-conscious state, she started making earnest peace with herself.

    Fuck... fuck... make it stop... I want the pain to...

    She coughed again, her nose wrinkling itself and her still-working eye closing in recoil.

    If only... I was more... care... ful...

    【Confirmed. Extra Skill Instinct acquisition successful.】

    No... careful... isn't... gonna cut it... I already felt that smell... I should have been...

    【Confirmed. Instinct has evolved into Unique Skill: Ultra Instinct.】
    [A/N: Oh, yes, I just did.]

    More... I should have been... pre... pa... red... I should've... seen... it com... ing... She released several more coughs and could feel her lungs and throat shrivel up at the pain of having to release so much.

    【Acquiring Precognition... Successful.】

    Fuck... me...

    【Command not understood... Attempting... Confirmed. Seduction acquisition successful.】

    I won't ever get to... tailor anything... will... I?... This damn cape... only helped... the fire, anyway...

    【Confirmed. Acquisition of Cloth Enhancement and Armor Enhancement successful. Passive variants were also acquired for convenience.】

    With that, she blacked out, never to wake up again.

    ●​


    【Cindy and her friend had suffered extensive burns from the ordeal but were buried under rubble. Both would make it to the hospital, but only one of them would make it out.】

    'Ouch. Was that poetry I felt? Let's see what Skills you've given her...'

    The Dungeon Master glanced at the list, whipping an eyebrow.

    'That's a mouthful, but please read it for me.'

    【Unique Skills: Ultra Instinct. It is a multi-layered form of defense and offense, allowing the user to slow down time by a magnitude of one-thousand, while also automatically engaging itself should the user be threatened by an immediate attack. It predicts enemy attacks, their angles, as well as the trajectories and velocity of projectiles, drawing them as lines in the air. However, it also helps on the offense, allowing the user to perceive trajectories of potential attacks that will break through the opponent's defense with a perfect accuracy, only decreasing with the interference of Skills capable of altering odds or increasing defense. In short, as long as there is a possibility of defending oneself or attacking the opponent, the best action will always be highlighted for the user.】

    'Wah, that's pretty amazing. The way I've made it is so people usually can't achieve Unique Skills. I'm sure she'll have a field day with this. Going on?'

    【Skill: Precognition. Allows for knowing the immediate future up to six seconds in advance.】

    'Let's simplify things for her. Combine Precognition with Ultra Instinct.'

    【Unique Skill: Ultra Instinct, is now capable of seeing the future up to ten seconds in advance due to its symbiotic relationship with Precognition.】

    He nodded as a matter of course. 'Next.'

    【Skill: Seduction. Decuples success rates in seductive actions, regardless of the sexual disposition of the other person.】

    'Seduction? Okay, fine, but why?'

    【She said: 'Fuck me.'】

    The Dungeon Master let that one linger in the air. Or at least he wanted to, as he ended up grabbing the bridge of his nose and massaging it.

    'Next.'

    【Skill: Cloth Enhancement, allows for the conceptual enhancement of cloth. Cloth becomes tougher, as well as capable of repairing itself.】

    Taking silence as approval, the System continued.

    【Skill: Passive Cloth Enhancement. At no cost to the user, all worn cloth becomes tougher and capable of repairing itself.】

    'What's the reason for the first one, though? It's the same Skill, right?'

    【They stack together.】

    'Ah, right. Move on.'

    【Skill: Armor Enhancement, allows for the conceptual enhancement of armor. Armor becomes tougher, as well as capable of repairing itself. There is a passive variant, too.】

    'Next.'

    【Heat Resistance, as well as Pain Nullification.】

    The Dungeon Master thought for a moment.

    'Remove the active versions of Cloth and Armor Enhancement. They're kind of obsolete. As a trade-off, give her the ability to enhance anything she's holding. Also, since she technically died in a fire, throw in some affinity for Fire Magic... maybe Earth Magic, too, with all the rubble and whatnot... Oh, and throw in a Unique Fire Skill.'

    【Confirmed. Removing Cloth Enhancement and Armor Enhancement. Acquiring Object Enhancement... successful. Acquiring Fire Magic and Earth Magic affinity... successful. Acquiring Unique Skill: Total Fire Manipulation.】

    'Give her one-hundred thousand experience points for a start, then we're done.'

    【Confirmed... Verifying... Accepted. Resurrection in progress.】

    ●​

    Character Dashboard:

    【Name: Cindy Collens】
    【Gender: Female】
    【Age: 17】

    【EXP: 100,000】
    【LVL: 1】

    【HP: 100%】
    【MP: 100%】
    【SP: 100%】

    Resistances:
    【Heat Resistance】【Pain Nullification】

    Affinities & Proficiencies:
    【Fire Magic Affinity】【Earth Magic Affinity】

    Magic:
    n/a

    Skills:

    【Unique Skill: Ultra Instinct. A multi-layered form of defense and offense, allowing the user to slow down time by a magnitude of one-thousand, while also automatically engaging itself should the user be threatened by an immediate attack. It predicts enemy attacks, their angles, as well as the trajectories and velocity of projectiles, drawing them as lines in the air. However, it also helps on the offense, allowing the user to perceive trajectories of attacks that will break through the opponent's defense with perfect accuracy. It also allows the user to see up to ten seconds into the future. This Skill has no cost, though it may be mentally exhausting to use for long periods of time.】

    【Unique Skill: Total Fire Manipulation. A combination of Fire Control and Fire Generation. It allows the user to create and control flames, the cost being their own stamina. The flames easily reach up to 1800° Celsius. In addition, a Flame Shield may be formed, to vaporize incoming projectiles or attacks. Alternatively, there is a Fire Aura that burns everything in a thirty-meter radius. Another ability is Fire Blade, concentrating intense heat alongside a straight line perpendicular to the user's hand, though it may also be used to enhance any weapon.】

    【Skill: Seduction. Increases the success rates of all seductive actions by a factor of ten. So long as there is even a ten-percent chance of seducing someone, those odds become a full one-hundred.】

    【Skill: Object Enhancement. The user can, at the cost of stamina, enhance an object by a magnitude of four, though it may be increased up to a magnitude of eight with additional stamina expenditure. The object may be anything that they are touching. Enhancing a sword this way will make it sharper and make it so that the sword is less affected by inertia while retaining the same weight and kinetic force.】

    【Passive Skill: Cloth Enhancement. All clothing worn by the user is four times as durable as it normally would, in addition to being four times as good at blocking out harsh weather conditions and absorbing water. In addition, all cloth worn by the user is self-repairing.】

    【Passive Skill: Armor Enhancement. All armor worn by the user is four times as durable as it normally would, in addition to being four times as good at protecting the wearer from harm and damage from enemy attacks. In addition, all armor worn by the user is self-repairing.】
    - Otherworlder Clothing [Equipped]
    - Otherworlder Scarf [Equipped]
    - Otherworlder Cape [Equipped]

    ●​

    Cindy opened her eyes, in the midst of...

    [] A blazing inferno, surrounded by smoldering mountains of volcanic rock and burning rivers of lava. Feeling surprisingly little heat from them, she saw a group of curious creatures staring at her like she had grown a second head. This would've been fine, had these creatures not been various forms of humanoid or animal-shaped flame: Elemental Plane of Fire.
    [] A huge cavern, filled to the brim with stones and rocks of brown and grey colors, stalagmites and stalactytes of all sizes, and various twisting passages. Here and there, she saw small veins of brown, glistening material, and even small glowing gems. She was being cautiously eyed by a group of rock-people with pickaxes: Elemental Plane of Earth.
    [] A green plain, patches of brilliant grass going in every direction for hundreds of meters before cutting off in forests or the horizon. She, herself, lying with her head against a lonely tree on a hill, could see what looked like a city in the distance, a road leading to it: Prime Material Plane of Gaia.
    [] A fight. A group of people, some of them wearing armor, and others wearing robes, fought what looked like a huge, white demon with red eyes and numerous spines and horns. Cindy quickly realized she was clad in armor, and holding a burning sword in her hand, with a magic circle beneath her feet: Summoned onto the Prime Material Plane of Gaia.

    Her first action/s was/were...

    [] Write-in.

    ●​

    [] Direct Action - Describe the desired action.
    - [] Condition - Use this if the action or power should only be done if something else happens first.

    [] Repeating Command - Describe a desired action or power use that will attempt to be performed every time the attached condition is met, every chapter.
    - [] Condition - Set the condition/s for when the Resetting Command will be performed, minimum one condition.

    [] Timeskip Until (When) - Automatically pass time until the specified time, condition, or event. (This will not skip important events.)

    [] Generate New Character - (Locked until Chapter Ten.)
    - [] Name... [write-in]
    - [] Gender... [write-in]
    - [] Age... [0-29]
    - [] Laconic Biography... [write-in]
    - [] Death Circumstances... [write-in]

    PLEASE VOTE BY PLAN!
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan: A Blazing Inferno
    -[X] A blazing inferno, surrounded by smoldering mountains of volcanic rock and burning rivers of lava. Feeling surprisingly little heat from them, she saw a group of curious creatures staring at her like she had grown a second head. This would've been fine, had these creatures not been various forms of humanoid or animal-shaped flame: Elemental Plane of Fire.
    —[X] Write In: Cindy panics thinking that she went to hell, but is confused due to the lack of demons/screams of the damned/sulfur pits. Putting on a mask of false!confidence Cindy beings to wander the area in search of a way to leave or at least shelter...

    Edit: Would the Unique Skill: Fire Manipulation allow her to control /or communicate with the native creatures of the fire element plane?
     
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    [X] Plan "Let's get this party started"
    -[X] A blazing inferno, surrounded by smoldering mountains of volcanic rock and burning rivers of lava. Feeling surprisingly little heat from them, she saw a group of curious creatures staring at her like she had grown a second head. This would've been fine, had these creatures not been various forms of humanoid or animal-shaped flame: Elemental Plane of Fire.
    -[X] Write-in: Take greater stock of surroundings, make sure you're safe.
    -[X] Write-in: See about communicating with those flaming beings, and keeping a safe-ish distance. Try not to fall into the lava or fires either.
    -[X] Write-in: Try to keep yourself together, until you learn what in the hell just happened. Try not to think too hard about this being Hell or something.
    -[X] Repeating Command - Ensure your own safety, in the most effective, and most moral way, using your own morality system. Remain aware of what is around you at all times.
    --[X] Condition - While alive.

    To me, this seems like a good plan. Any changes or addons that anyone else can think of? I'll explain a bit of why I wrote what I did. Fire, because fire manipulation and resistance is a skill we have, rather than physical, earth, or any other resistances. This is the best place for us to start, with the most freedom and ability to protect ourselves.
    Taking stock of the surroundings is fairly self-evident, I feel. As is the "No Panic!!1!" action.
    The repeating command I made just in good sense, to protect ourselves, and also try not to incur psychological damage to ourselves while we do.
     
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