"Can I view the different stats?" Justin asked. Might as well see if I'm allowed to look under the hood.

Janus' smile never wavered. "Oh, certainly. Even once a selection is made there are still plenty of details that can be fine-tuned to your preferences. I have to admit, far too many players seem happy to 'buy off the rack', as it were."

In front of each figure, a blue box appeared, focusing on the one in front of the Human, brought it forward to a readable size.

Species Human Archetype Inventor Origin Natural Wealth $ 10,000,000 Level 1 Hit Points 110/110 Recovery Rate 0.1 per minute Strength 10 (max 20) Intelligence 20 (max 20) Agility 10 (max 20) Acuity 15 (max 20) Fortitude 10 (max 20) Willpower 10 (max 20) Stamina 25 Focus 45 Recovery Rate 0.1 per second Recovery Rate 0.1 per second Paragon Package +120 points 120 points Species: Human -10 points 110 points - Talent: Quick Learner - - Attributes -75 points 35 points Powers - - Talent: Inventor -10 points 25 points Resources: Wealthy 3 -30 points -5 points Complication: Secret Identity +5 points 0 points

 Focussing on each item brought a description to mind, like a mental tooltip.

Species Determines innate Talents and Complications.

Determines the minimum and maximum of starting attributes. Level Level is advanced through completing quests and defeating enemies.

+1 attribute point (AP) and +1 character point (CP) per level. Rewards increase at higher levels. Origin The origin of the characters powers and abilities. Archetype Descriptive only, used to help guide character creation and growth.

 Given that levelling awarded attribute points separately, Justin assumed they couldn't be purchased with character points after creation.

The attributes seem simple enough, though I'm not sure about Acuity.

Acuity Determines the speed of a character's thoughts and mental reactions.

High levels allow a character to slow the apparent passage of time.

Well, that explains the need for high conductivity. I knew VR was capable of time dilation, in fact, now that I think about it, compression would be the only way to properly represent super speed, unless they were somehow willing to slow everybody else down instead.

Hit Points (Fortitude + Level) x10.

Recovered at (Fortitude /100) per second. Stamina Spent to activate physical abilities (Strength x2) + 5 per Level.

Recovered at (Fortitude /100) per second. Focus Spent to activate mental abilities (Intelligence x2) + 5 per Level.

Recovered at (Willpower /100) per second.

 The Secret Identity complication caught his eye.

Secret Identity Your character has a secret identity to maintain.

Where will you sleep when your enemies know where you live?

That seemed like a no-brainer. He'd never understood the heroes who were willing to let all and sundry know their real name, it just seemed like an easy way to get your friends kidnapped by Mad McCleaver. And by the look of the point costs, keeping your identity hidden actually gave you points back.

Quick Learner A Human only talent.

Grants a +15% bonus to all skill xp earned. Inventor All Science skills begin at the Novice tier.

All Engineering skills begin at the Novice tier.

Both looked like they'd save him a lot of time on grinding skills, and he could definitely see why most people were happy to play a human.

Janus cleared his throat softly, and Justin realised he'd been ignoring the guide for more than a few minutes while he studied the human's stats and abilities.

"That's quite alright," Janus said lightly, "I'm currently talking 235 other users through character creation, and am in the process of generating 2,454 personal quest prompts. I am far from bored. I merely wanted to inform you that skill advancement is also afforded a bonus equal to 10% of Intelligence, which means Human Inventor would gain a total 17% increase to skill progression."

Justin's nodded his head in surprise, "That's pretty nice, is it fixed, or does it go up when you increase your Intelligence?" He blinked as another thought pushed its way to the front of his brain. "And does that mean a higher Intelligence would offset the Quick Learner talent?"

Janus smiled happily. "All attribute bonuses are calculated at their modified levels, and yes, a high Intelligence would offset some of the benefits of the Quick Learner talent, as well as providing access to higher levels of technology, and of course being the default attribute for most Science and Engineering skills."

Justin couldn't help smiling at Janus' continued attempts to push him towards the AI character. Maybe he didn't like the idea of a species going unplayed, maybe he was secretly programmed to be a munchkin, maybe it was just racial solidarity.

Whatever the reason, Justin shook his head in defeat. "OK, J-man, I'll look at the AI."

Species Artificial Intelligence Archetype Inventor Origin Synthetic Wealth $ - Level 1 Integrity 210/210 Recovery Rate 0.2 per minute Strength - Intelligence 50 (max 50) Agility - Acuity 30 (max 50) Fortitude - Willpower 20 (max 50) Stamina - Focus 105 Recovery Rate - Recovery Rate 0.2 per second Paragon Package +120 points 120 points Species: Artificial Intelligence -10 points 110 points< - Talent: Machine Traits - - - Complication: Amorphous - - Attributes -100 points 10 points Powers - - Talent: Inventor -10 points 0 points

Hmm, Integrity instead of Hit Points, makes sense. And I suppose the lack of physical attributes isn't surprising, what with no body and all, he guessed all that was covered under the Amorphous complication.

Really though, all an AI actually needed was plenty of power and a computer to run on, and Justin wasn't above squatting in someone else's virtual real-estate; besides, once he got some money together he'd be able to build a really nice core for his 1s and 0s to call their own.

I wish I had some friends willing to sign up with me so we could co-ordinate builds. I know ----- said he might be free to play from a short-term pod on the weekends... Justin blinked a few times, OK, that was weird. His name is -----. Oh right, the thought stealing thing.

He frowned over at Janus, who smiled back innocently.

Ok, let's have a look at the Machine Traits.

Machine Traits Immune to biological necessities, ie sleeping, breathing, eating and drinking.

Immune to biological poisons, diseases, and powers.

Immune to mental manipulation powers.

Requires constant source of adequate power.

Vulnerable to hacking, viruses and electro-magnetic pulses.

About what he'd expected.

He spent a few more minutes looking back and forwards between the human and the AI.

What it basically came down to was speed versus potential, Justin decided. A Human Inventor would gain skills faster and would have the resources to build items straight out of the gate.

An AI on the other hand would have to find somewhere to squat while grinding for resources and it would have to spend longer developing its skills. On the plus side though, the AI would, eventually, be able to practice those skills at a much higher level, build better technology, and think and react at a much faster rate.

Actually, there's an interesting thought. I wonder whether time dilation would allow for faster equivalent skill progress? Justin glanced across at Janus, who appeared to be examining a far off cloud shaped like a particularly interesting eel.

"Janus, is there any way to gain more points?"

"Certainly," Janus replied, as if he'd been expecting the question, which he more than certainly had been. "Please concentrate on 'Complications' and the character you are interested in. You may select as many as you like, but may only benefit from an additional 10 points."

A long list of Complications appeared in Justin's mind as he mentally selected the AI. More than two-thirds of them were greyed out. Justin stopped to consider how weird it was that something could be greyed out in his mind. He wasn't actually seeing the list, it was more as if he now remembered it. So he supposed he was also remembering something he never previously knew, that was anyway unavailable.

He decided to stop thinking about things before he gave himself a headache.

The fact that he couldn't take Complications like Family, Job, or Physical Disability made sense, he was a little bummed he wouldn't be able to take Secret Identity. Having a Mental Tic could be fun, but would probably get old very quickly. Ah, here we go!

Outsider

(+5 cp) You are a stranger from a strange land.

You do not speak the local language.

You do not have access to current affairs memory package.

All Social interactions with NPCs suffer a 5% penalty.

Other than not speaking the language, this pretty much sounded just like Justin. No idea what's going on, and trouble talking to people, I shouldn't have any problems playing that! Now, if only there was a Complication that summarised his poor sex life. Though come to think of it, Amorphous did come pretty close.

Partial Amnesia

(+5 cp) Your recent past is a mystery.

Whatever happened to you is lost in the recesses of your mind.

The details of your recent past may come back to haunt you in the future.

Now his character was coming together. An alien AI trapped on Earth, no resources, no friends, and no idea how he got there.

He concentrated on the idea of adding the two Complications to the AI character, and smiled as he succeeded. With only a little hesitation he dropped the extra 10 points into Acuity. Since he'd already decided to slow-build, it only made sense to front load on attributes.

As the changes to the character sheet took effect, the AI figure expanded and changed, no doubt aided by Justin's thoughts on his character's origin.

The scrolling code that made up the AI's semi-transparent 'skin' lost the appearance of numbers and became rune-like instead. The clearly holographic figure took on the appearance of a short humanoid with a slight hunch, a small torso and long arms ending in three-fingered hands. His eyes were wide with a cunning slant, his mouth curled in a smirk. There was a decidedly mischievous air to him.

Justin smiled.