The next few weeks I start doing several things. Also helping the pirates refill their fleet of ships with new, improved ships. I teach them all an extra class. I have to teach them in pairs of around 100 as to not run myself out of fatigue points. I leveled my blood knight and necromancer to 25. I really want to make sure I don't make any mistakes with the charisma stat. I've been primarily working on the plans for the redesigned charisma stat the past few weeks.

The biggest problem with charisma is the effect it has. With only improving looks by some unknown, unspecified amount, it is hard to tell how useful it actually is. Changing the stat to be more helpful to everything would be for the best, especially for me. Most of the time the charisma based classes are secondary, only a few people would have 2 of them. So perhaps a buff to the other stats would be best.

That seems too strong though, it would be very finicky to perfect the amount. Too little and it would just be better to go with another of the primary stat classes. Too much and it would make everyone who could choose their second class pick a charisma based one. I decide against that for now. The first thing I should do is group the classes that are charisma based or seem out of place in their current stat priority to charisma.

Writing a list… I pick out blood knight, bard, pirate, saboteur, warden, necromancer, and paladin. I try to find something that is similar for each class. Blood knight and necromancer are still low level so it is hard to judge off those. Each seems to be good for helping others, sort of like all the buff based classes.

Just having charisma boost the effects of buffs would be boring… I sort of expect the Greater god to be bored if I do that… It has to be special, something that is just perfect for the classes. I've also been thinking of something else… Each stat has a resource linked to it while charisma doesn't. Coming up with a resource might help me decide on the final changes to the charisma stat.

I design the resource. It will be called insight. Unlike other resources, this one will be used to supplement the other resources. Each class gives a set amount of insight of 3. You can use an insight to increase the potency of the spell. An example would be if you were to use a heal. You could strengthen it with insight. Doubling the effect with no extra cost besides the insight. Insight will be completely restored every hour. So I myself have 21 insight… That seems sort of broken for my class… The Greater god might see it as the same way… Perhaps a different method of strengthening should be used instead.

Perhaps something that changes the way everything works instead of just a few classes would be best for the charisma stat. Sort of like how dexterity also increases dodge… I just can't think of anything. 2 weeks have passed since the celebration. One day during a soak in the hot springs it finally hits me. Charisma should be able to reduce the cool downs of spells. So if a spell has a 10 minute cool down. Charisma might be able to shave off 10-20% of the time it would normally take.

If charisma is shortening cool downs. I think it should also lengthen duration based spells, maybe by the same amount… Warden's shields just don't last long enough, this might combat the problem with it. Because of these changes, I've decided to make insight work differently. Insight will be based on your charisma at a 1 to 1 ratio. So if you have 1500 charisma you also have 1500 insight.

Each spell can be lengthened or shortened by 1 second for 10 insight. This allows you to lengthen a warden shield for over 2 minutes with all my insight. Approximately 150 seconds to be exact. If I use insight to shorten a cool down. The insight can only shorten it by up to half the cooldown. So if it is a 10 second cool down skill. It will still take 5 seconds to fully cool down even with the aid of 50 insight.

I think that is too confusing for newcomers of the stat… It is fine for me but I'm already good with using confusing systems. Stupid people would have difficulty managing their insight and another resource. This should be good for a secondary class but also helpful if both classes are charisma based… I've decided to remove the insight portion, doubling the effect that charisma would have. So instead of 10-20% cool down reduction, it will be 20-40%.

...It's still so boring though… Changing inspiration back to being a few but special amount. Instead of 3, it will be 1 inspiration per class. To bypass the fact that some people might never use it. It will automatically boost the next skill used if they drop below 25% health. This way even people who didn't understand it would still get the benefit from it. 7 insight isn't much. It is still 7 moves I can strengthen to double their power… It is still too strong.

I reduce the amount boosted to 50%… That seems like a fair amount. Doubling the power or length of a skill just seems too unfair in any aspect of it. 40% increased duration of the warden shields, then boosting the time 50% more would result in a shield that would last 15-20 seconds depending on the exact amount boosted. That is still better than what it was previously. The shields would be able to absorb multiple spells or attacks if they last that long.

I still feel it is missing something… Something special… I rack my brain for a few days and just can't think of anything that would make it special. It should be a unique and interesting stat that people wouldn't mind having but not overpowered so they want it for that reason. I burn myself out, I can't think of anything. I go to sleep late and wake up early to try and think of something. I must look like a mess because Leaf questions me.

“Hey, are you okay? You've been distracted more than usual lately.”

“I've been thinking of changes that might change the future of the world.”

“Ah… I guess that will do it. You just can't keep thinking of just that. If you take some time and put your thoughts you might have a breakthrough.”

I guess that makes sense. I do other things as my head mulls over the idea of changes I can make. I play with the children of the fortress, there are child care people who watch them normally but they always could use extra help. After that I sit in on the elite squads training. They are running until they no longer can, some have already dropped out. Others puke from the intense training and continue running or drop out as well. This training is far too intense for most people to handle.

The healers have the hardest time with this new training. All of them are forced into it, with their low fatigue points, most have already dropped out. They'll keep doing it until they can handle running for a very long time. They will be taught unarmed combat, weapons training as well as jobs if they can. They will be more like the jacks of all trades who everyone will rely on in the army. If a healer dies he has failed his mission more than once. Healers need to be the strongest... The best of any army to help mitigate losses.

I crawl into bed that night just enjoying a day off… That single line I thought of. “Jack of all trades” got me thinking. Most people only ever focus on a single stat, one of the major 4. Strength, intelligence, dexterity and stamina. Everything else will remain low because of this. Charisma should level out these stats. If charisma also boosted the lowest stat by a portion of itself, we would have far more diverse groups.

Healers who put forth more effort than everyone else could rush into battle and fight evenly with everyone else. Dexterity based classes would also hit harder and be harder to kill. Mages would become less of a glass cannon class. Tanks would be faster, stronger and smarter to help backup the group… It seems almost brokenly strong but it isn't. It will only make the worst part of someone better.

With everyone's overall stats raising, you would also see many improvements to secondary stats like dodge, movement speed, fatigue points and other stats. The groups dynamic might completely change… The hardest part comes now… How do I balance it?

If I make it too strong, most people would go for the charisma classes once again. Too weak and it wouldn't be very noticeable… I decide that every 5 charisma boosts the lowest stat by 1. So if someone had 1000 charisma they would have 200 extra stats in their weak ones. So if someone had low dexterity and intelligence. They would be faster and smarter than normal. This amount seems like the perfect amount for not being too strong.

The charisma stat has a lot of built in utility. I'm very happy with the changes I decided upon. So every 1000 charisma you get, you will get 200 extra stats. 20% reduced cool downs and buff durations. Finally 1 inspiration point per charisma based class that will automatically activate at 25% health if not used and regenerates every hour.

What I expected would take a day or two has taken weeks of work has boiled down to so little information… I can understand why someone would give up on this… I still haven't even redesigned the classes yet… I'm not sure if I'm allowed too… We'll just have to see, I'll do it then the Greater god can choose weather or not he'll accept their changes. I think that just as I go to sleep.

I'm woken up by Leaf that night.

“Kite! Wake up! We're under attack by hundreds of dragons! We need you to tame them all or we will all be dead!”

I jump out of be panicked and open the door. There is nothing on the other side but fire! What happened!? Why are we under attack!? Leaf starts laughing hysterically at this… It takes a few seconds to realize it is the Greater god messing with me.

“WHAT THE FUCK MAN!”

“HAHAHA, I'm just pissing with you. So I see you are finished with charisma. I've already made the changes to the classes, you inspired me to make the changes. You should look at them after you wake up. So… Let's talk about your payment...”

He pulls out 2 chests again… Damn it! Why does he always have to make things into a game like this.

“I don't really need a reward, the classes being fixed is enough for me.”

“Bullshit! One of these boxes will help you far more in the future.”

“...I don't want either… I don't want to be indebted to you more. You've already given me the time tree and castle mimic which I rely on completely… Accepting the help of a god shouldn't be fine for normal people to do.”

He heavily sighs before continuing to speak.

“You're so boring. You're so predictable now… When you were a child I wasn't sure what you would do but now I can predict you so easily. Here...”

He opens one box and the contents inside are a key. He uses the key to unlock the other box that reveals a sealed scroll case… Now I'm intrigued… He hands it to me and begins to speak with a very bored tone in his voice.

“Here you go, you can open this when you aren't so boring. Until then, it will remained locked with no hope of opening… I can't wait until you can open it… You'll be fun to watch again.”

He punches me and I wake up from the shock of it. My cheek still hurts from his punch… What the shit man!? I go to check my stats before I hear a voice in my head. The voice must have been heard by Leaf because she also wakes up.

“ATTENTION! This is the Greater god speaking. Some new changes are coming with a new stat being introduced to help certain classes more. I realized it was unfair to people with certain classes that were weaker than other classes. So I spent an entire night making changes to the stat system. Those of you with any of these classes will notice a slight boost in performance from them. I'm going to allow anyone who isn't max level to see the top level skills for today only. Memorize them as they might be helpful in the future. This is the Greater god signing out.”

…Of course he would take credit for everything. I check my classes and none have changed except the 7 listed.

Charisma based classes

Blood knight- passive skill gained Bloody strength- attacks are strengthened with the assistance of blood (uses your own unless you've drawn the enemies blood), passive stat increase charisma

Level 1 passive skill Blood strike- every single attack against an opponent that draws blood strengthens the next attack

Level 10 skill Vampire strikes- attacks that draw the blood of enemies can be used to restore lost health (combines with Drink blood to make Blood tap)

Level 25 skill Blood weapon- create a floating weapon out of blood that will assist you in fighting and will grow in size as it absorbs the blood of enemies

Level 50 skill Desecrated ground- corrupt the area around you, while undead monsters are on this land they gain a boost to all stats (permanent unless consecrated)

Level 100 skill Create blood crystal- can store the blood of enemies and be crushed to use for attacks or the restoration of insight if needed

Bard- passive skill gained is Insightful recovery- Regenerate all of your energy when an insight is used

Level 1 skill Strength ballad- play a song that increases the strength of all allies that hear it

Level 10 skill Intelligence ballad- play a song that increases the intelligence of allies that hear it

Level 25 skill Dexterity ballad- play a song that increases the dexterity of allies that hear it

Level 50 skill Stamina ballad- play a song that increases the stamina of allies that hear it

Level 100 skill Inspiration- play a song that will boost the morale of allies that hear it (morale boost gives a small amount of regen)

Combines into the awakened Champion class

Pirate- passive skill gained Treasure finding- can find more items and gold than normal, gives you a feeling when hidden gold is around, passive stat increase critical strike damage

Level 1 passive skill Ship fighting- remove the penalties for fighting on ships, also gain a dexterity boost while fighting on boats

Level 10 skill Plunder- attack an enemy with the attempt to disarm them and take weapons and armor from them (upgrades to Stealing strikes)

Level 25 skill Persuade- use insight to gain a huge advantage in convincing someone through talking

Level 50 passive skill Water combat- greatly improves your fighting capabilities in water

Level 100 skill Pirates charisma- increases your charisma by a portion of your dexterity

Saboteur- passive skill Play dumb- harder for even experienced interrogators to read you, can easily act like a fool if necessary, passive stat increase dodge

Level 1 skill Expose weakness- attempt to find the weak point in a person or object, bigger/better/stronger objects or people take longer to find the weak point of

Level 10 skill Exploit weakness- attack the found weakness of an enemy, damage done and critical strike chance doubled

Level 25 skill Subterfuge- use insight for a huge advantage in confusing an opponent, increasing the chances of them missing and you landing strikes

Level 50 skill Wire tap- place a mark on an opponent that allows you to hear them even from long distances (constantly drains energy)

Level 100 skill Sleep attack- attempt to kill a sleeping opponent, damage done and critical strike chance doubled (stacks with Exploit weakness)

Warden- passive skill Insight boost- Increases insight by 4 instead of 1 and your defensive spells length is tripled from using insight, passive stat increase to mana

Level 1 skill Shield- casts a defensive shield that reduces physical damage

Level 10 skill Shell- casts a defensive shell that reduces magic damage

Level 25 skill Absorption shield- cast a shield that will absorb magic if cast at you and turn it into mana (much shorter duration than shell)

Level 50 skill Magic link- link yourself with an ally, splitting damage they would take

Level 100 skill Guardian angel- cast a permanent guardian angel on a single person, protecting them from a deadly attack once (only one guardian angel can be cast at a time)

Combines into the awakened Rainbow mage class

Paladin- passive skill Charismatic- doubles the speed at which insight is restored (30 minutes for full restoration), passive stat increase to charisma

Level 1 skill Mock- use insight to provoke the enemy into making a mistake (can make the target attack you if it fails)

Level 10 skill Rallying cry- use insight to increase the regeneration of all nearby allies

Level 25 skill Smite evil- attack that deals 8 times more damage to undead targets (combines with Weaken undead to make Turn undead)

Level 50 skill Lay on hands- heals all health and negative effects of a single ally, need to be in contact with them (1 day cool down)

Level 100 skill Consecrate ground- attempt to purify the area around you, while undead monsters are on this land they suffer heavy penalties to all stats (permanent improvement unless corrupted, if insight is used provides a buff to the paladin as well)

Necromancer- passive skill gained Blood magic- can use health as a resource for casting magic, passive stat increase charisma

Level 1 skill Reanimate dead- turn a corpse into a controllable puppet

Level 10 skill Mana leech- very slowly absorb the mana of an enemy

Level 25 skill Promote undead- use insight to increase the rank of a single undead, boosting its stats permanently or until another undead is promoted

Level 50 skill Bone armor- pull the bones out of nearby corpses that will deflect attacks and projectiles

Level 100 passive skill Phylactery creation- Create a vessel to house your soul after death to become a lich, drawback includes the loss of your humanity over time

The changes to each class makes sense. The warden's new passive seems a bit strong, I lose some mana for far more utility in that class. Tripling the active time of each shield would put it around 1 minute shields. So for one minute you could mitigate 25% of the physical damage or magical damage any one person would take… Against strong enemies with the potential to kill in a single strike this seems to be godly. Although far less effective than healing against multiple enemies who are all slowly wearing down a multiple people… It does seem slightly overpowered for someone like me with multiple insight. I now have 10 insight with the warden passive skill. With the reaction from Leaf… I assume everyone knows about the changes now.