You have chosen the Path of Otter’s Pet. Are you sure?

Yes | No

I quickly clicked No. I wanted more information about the Path, not to select it. I figured the more I knew, the better, even if the Path was a joke. So I poked and poked and... poked!

Otter’s Pet: You live your life in service to the otter of your choice. Your skills focus on support; everything from fishing the most succulent fish to grooming matted fur. You even learn the secret arts of… OH MY GOD! What in the... No. No. No. What would Helen think? Please stop this madness and choose another Path!

Yeah, System-Eight was right. This one was a pass.

I had a decision to make though--the most important in many games. Whether it was called a class, profession, or--as in this case--path, it implied a structured progression through a series of skills, abilities, and powers. As such, whichever Path I chose, it would define how I interacted with the world.

It wasn’t clear if the System allowed people to change or hold multiple Paths, so I went into the decision-making process assuming the answer was no. I hated the idea of counting on something that later turned out to be false.

So, my options...

I didn’t want to live alone forever, so I immediately discarded Half-Pint Hermit.

I gave Hobby Spiritualist more consideration than it deserved. I was fresh from a deeply felt encounter with my wife and grandparents, and very much wanted to spend more time with them. But as much as I longed to visit my loved ones, I couldn’t see how the Path would keep me alive over the next six months.

Both Wild Child and Survivalist probably could, but neither sounded like me.

I never dreamt of being Tarzan, and that mattered. It was a lesson I learned early in my gaming life. Flavor mattered just as much as the numbers, otherwise you got stuck playing a great character that you hated. So I ruled out Wild Child.

Survivalist sounded like an amazing base builder, which I appreciated. It’d be great for--well, survival--but then I’d be trapped in one place. This was a whole new world, with new horizons to pursue. I didn’t want to shut myself away from it. (And great, now I had an Aladdin ear worm. Thank you, Disney.)

There were lots of stories about spearmen wandering the world in search of adventure. And Lazy Spear included practical skills too, so it’d be good for survival. A part of me hoped it was the spear’s equivalent of drunken kung fu, with the spear randomly swinging to “accidentally” knock out opponents. I really dug that idea.

As for Novice Hydromancer, there was only one thing to say: magic. My Attributes were already heavily skewed towards the magical side of things, and I imagined they’d give me a headstart on the power curve. Which I’d probably need, given how notoriously hard it was to level magic users. But that may only be true in games and not in the real world. Hmm… it’d be a risk.

Young Forester reminded me of D&D’s Ranger, a hybrid class focusing on nature. They were certainly iconic, if a little underpowered in the 5th edition rule set. What caught my attention though was the line about the heart being one with the land. Those were my grandfather’s words, and I wondered if System-Eight was giving me a hint.

I grabbed a piece of charcoal and made a chart. Each of the paths included a mix of four key elements: survival, combat, magic, and spirit. And if I plotted them, it’d look something like this:

No, that wasn’t right. Young Forester wasn’t an even mix of all four elements. The Path was more like this:

It wasn’t all guesswork either. At least I hoped not. I counted on System-Eight to provide clues for parsing the information he provided, so that I could arrive at a smart decision.

I sighed and leaned back to look at the sky. There were still some dark clouds on the horizon, left over from yesterday’s storm. I hoped it’d thunder again. That was fun.

The clouds scudded southwesterly, and I wondered what was to be found in that direction. All I knew about this world was the town gate I was driven away from and this glen. Well, a few more things than that, but in terms of geography? The people? Cultures and civilizations? Nada, nothing, zilch.

As much as I loved the woods, I didn’t want to spend all my time there. Which, ironically, is why I chose Young Forester. The Path had the most generalized skill set, and that’s what I needed to deal with the unknown. Humankind reached the apex of my previous world, because we were generalists. I hoped the same approach would work on this one too.

You have chosen the Path of the Young Forester. Great!

Wait… don’t I have to click yes?

We’ve already moved on. Do try to keep up, Ollie. Congratulations. You’re now Level 1 and have reached an important milestone on your Path. You receive a free Attribute point. Checking for new Talents. *Ding.* You’ve triggered a latent Talent.

You are now Level 1 and no longer require the Blessing of Meliune. The Goddess wishes you well on your journey.

Attribute gains have been finalized. Thank you for your hard work.

The base benefits for Level 1 Young Forester are now active: Attribute foci: Agility, primary Wisdom, secondary Spirit, tertiary Skill foci: Archery Melee weapon of choice Survival, all Nature Magic Stealth Melee weapon selection made. Thanks for choosing the spear. You’ll love it.

I… well… yes, okay, I was going to choose the spear, but still… I would’ve liked to be the one to do it. Really, I had no idea I was this annoying.

It didn’t stop a wide grin from spreading across my face. I was on my way now, for real. Time to go digging. “Status.”

Eight (Hidden Status, Oliver Michael Sandoval) Path of the Young Forester 1 Age 8 Silverlight 105 Soul Marks God Touched, Spontaneous Formation, Memories of Another World Attributes 1 Strength 8 Constitution 8 Agility 8 Intelligence 14 Wisdom 15 Spirit 14 Charm 11 Luck 13 Hit Points 8 Mana 15 Qi 11 Talents Jack of All Trades Talent Scout Qi Sensitive Uncanny Tracker Blessings Diriktot (Fallen Clockwork God) Helen Miriam Sandoval (Spirit) Ikfael Glen (Spirit, Temporary) Curses Conditions Skills Artisan Appraisal 5 Construction 8 Pottery 4 Woodworking 8 Domestic Cooking 6 Repairs 6 Magical Hydromancy 0 Nature Magic 0 Qi Body 2 Spirit Magic 0 Martial Archery 6 Logistics 11 Marksmanship 6 Spear Arts 0 Strategy 4 Mercantile Accounting 12 Administration 12 Barter 3 Scholarship Biology 5 Chemistry 4 Literacy English 13 Literacy, Spanish 8 Numeracy 8 Physics 4 Social Gaming 12 Relationships 8 Storytelling 10 Spiritualism Meditation 8 Taoism 8 Survival Forest 6 Ocean 3 Stealth 1