I deliberated some more, ping-ponging between Warlock, Adept, Elementalist, Fighter and Barbarian but not quite coming to a decision. Adept and Elementalist were quite obviously tanks with some magical ability, one with an elemental flavour, the other with an arcane-flavour, which both had some appeal. And then there was the simple fact that, in almost every game, ever, tanks had been a coveted resource, so playing a tank made it a lot easier to find groups to delve into dungeons or do harder quests.

Warlock, on the other hand, was an unashamed damage dealer, about as straightforward as it could be. Fun, but in previous games, I had too often seen such characters being a dime a dozen and only those with connections or the very best of the best were able to secure spots for raids and such fun endgame-activities.

Finally, Barbarian and Fighter were a little less straightforward, Barbarian read like it might be either tank or damage dealer, similarly with Fighter, just being both a tank and a supporter.

But that was all conjecture on very limited information, who knew what would happen once the various classes were at higher levels, had some gear and their second class, which added even more variables.

Finally, I went with the classic choice, most fitting, choice, picking the Barbarian, knowing that there were even odds that, at some point, the character would be reincarnated into something else, once more information was available or I became bored with it.

Selecting the Barbarian had another quite nifty animation, I was stepping forward, towards the Barbarian Me, taking her hand and we pulled on each other, merging in the middle, only that her gear obviously vanished. Oh, well…

But with that done, I thought to be finished with character-creation, so I was a little confused when a couple more figures appeared, all of them looking very similar to my character but with slight variations. I noticed a small questionmark Icon and focused on it, opening a blue box.

Heritage

Not everyone is born equal. Your Heritage adds slight variations to your Character that will express over the progress of your game.

A Heritage? Curious, that was something new. Apparently it gave another small customisation, both of the character’s look and maybe their stats.

Focusing on one of them, I was greeted by a blue box.

Pureblood Heritage

Pureblood Orcs can trace their lineage to one of the great Chieftains of old, making them respected amongst their people. Their connections allow them to rise quickly in the ranks.

Advantage: Increased Social Status amongst Orcs, starting reputation of Honoured.

Disadvantage: Reduced resistance to disease-effects.

It was a curious idea, I wondered what it would look like with other races. Starting out as a noble human might be a major boon but it would likely come with just as big disadvantages. In this case, the Pureblood seemed to be a little bigger in size and just overall more impressive. But the Pureblood wasn’t quite what I wanted, it sounded a little too inbred for me.

I checked the next one, but that was only the normal orc heritage, not changing my looks and offering neither advantages nor disadvantages, so I kept it in mind and looked to the next.

Half-Orc Heritage, Human Bloodline

During the Orc-Raids, sometimes events occur that later lead to the birth of a Half-Orc. Amongst Orcs, they are seen as lowlifes and weak, even if they are often just as strong as Orcs and their human heritage is giving them adaptability that many orcs don’t enjoy.

Advantage: When gaining a Racial Ability, you might gain a Human Racial Ability instead of the Orcish one, or maybe even both.

Disadvantage: Lowered Social Status amongst Orcs, lowering your starting reputation to Neutral.

The Half-Orc was a little smaller than the normal orc and her pelt looked rather scruffy, making me decide against it. It was simply a gamble, I wasn’t turned off by the lowered reputation, more often than not it was only a matter of time and effort to raise that, but what it offered wasn’t enough to make me interested. In addition, the whole conception-story was a bit of a turn-off for me.

With that, I turned to the final heritage.

Half-Orc Heritage, Unknown Bloodline

At some point in your Ancestry, something else was mixed in. What that “something” is, you don’t know, it might be a bloodline of great strength or it might be a liability. Even the question how it got mixed in, be it by magical experiment, a bored spirit or the old fashioned way is unknown.

Advantage: Unknown

Disadvantage: Unknown

I had to laugh at this one, it didn’t tell you anything but that it was a complete roll of the dice. Having already decided to treat this first character as a testbed of sorts and if it didn’t work out, I’d reincarnate her, I decided to cast the die, curious what I would get. Nothing changed on selection but I was quite sure I would only get the changes upon finalisation, to prevent people from picking it, changing their mind if they didn’t like the change and trying again until they did.

With my heritage selected, I thought I would get into the game when another choice appeared, making me groan. At least the amount of options had gone down, if there were fifteen again, like with the class, I might have become stuck for a long time. Again, there was a small question-mark that I focused on for a blue box.

Background

Your Background decided about your starting location, equipment and abilities. Your choice is limited by your Race, Class and Heritage.

I focused on the first option, my Barbarian dressed in simple leather armour, reinforced with metal and armed with a good looking, two-handed maul.

Tribal Warrior

You were trained in your tribe from a young age, to defend the tribe against foes and keep the peace. But now, the council of of chiefs has called upon the tribes to muster warriors and you are one of them.

Starting Location: Training Area of Gaular, the largest, permanent Orc Settlement

Starting Equipment: Basic Medium Armour and a basic weapon of your choice

Starting Abilities: One weapon-skill of your choice at Apprentice V, Class Skills at Apprentice I

Not really knowing what to expect from a Background, I looked over to the next, this one with just the baisc leather armour, no metal reinforcements on it, but instead, she had a long spear and a set of short spears in a quiver on her hip.

Tribal Hunter

Tribal Hunters are the backbones of the tribes, hunting game for them to eat but also engaging monstrous threats if necessary. You recently finished your apprenticeship and were sent out to another tribe, to broaden your abilities.

Starting Location: Random Orc-Tribal Camp

Starting Equipment: Basic Leather Armour, a hunting spear and a set of Javelins.

Starting Abilities: Spear-Skill at Apprentice I, Foraging at Novice V, Class Skills at Novice V, Thrown Spear at Novice V.

The difference between the Hunter and Warrior seemed to be rather small, I remembered that abilities had ranks starting at Novice, followed by Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and Master, but there had been a note that Masters were always trying to further improve their skills and some succeeded.. Who knew what they meant with that, I would have to see. But it also meant that the difference was relatively small, something that could be equalised in a relatively short time, maybe a couple of hours or a few days, at most.

The next figure was clad in a miss-matched set of armour, a chainmail-shirt, a leather-cap and boots but only cloth pants, making me wonder what was going on there. In one hand, she was holding a lit torch, in the other a hatchet that looked more suited for wood than for combat.

Raider

Some Orcs have decided to take matters into their own hands, to resist the human expeditions into their lands by pushing human settlements back. They pillage villages, taking what they can and burning what they cannot.

Starting Location: Random Orcish Raider Camp

Starting Equipment: Armour of random quality, a random weapon, a random set of trade goods from your last raid

Starting Abilities: Apprentice I with your starting weapon, Class Skills at Novice V, Intimidation at Apprentice I

Starting Title: Arsonist

So, I could start out as a bandit? Given what I had read about the Human-Bloodline Half-Orc I would rather not. Even if having a title to begin with might be fun.

With that, I looked to the final choice and I was confused. That choice’s gear flickered, changing from what looked like plate-armour in one moment, to fine clothes, to simple rags, to leather armour and so on. Similarly, the weapons seemed to change as well, ranging from impressive to her bare hands.

Curious, I focused on it and a blue box appeared.

Gladiator - Pre-Order Exclusive

Who knows what fate might hold for you.

Starting Location: Unknown

Starting Equipment: Unknown

Starting Abilities:Unknown

Starting Title: Unknown

Now, I had to chuckle, I had suffered from information overload but the box that essentially only said the name and that it was pre-order exclusive made me want some more information. But, given that it was an exclusive, I quickly decided that I wanted to know what others paid money for and picked it.

The world turned dark and I hoped to get into the game when another box opened, prompting me to enter my name, albeit warning me that if I picked one that was copyrighted or obscene, I would be subjected to a name-change at a Gamemaster’s discretion.

Somehow, I could see that as a rather harsh punishment, it allowed the Gamemaster’s to be cruel and unusual. I liked it.

After a few moments of consideration, I went with a slightly punny name, calling myself Chrystal Withakay making a pun on my real-life name without making it obvious.

With that finally out of the way, I was able to enter the game.