When Stew came back down he slung his school bag down in front of Mike. "Help yourself. I don't need any of it anymore." He sounded very satisfied as he said it. Sam sighed and shook his head. Mike pulled a notebook and pencil out. "Nice. Hasn't even been used yet." I decided that whatever else, Stew knew how we could allocate his points. "Stew, how did you manage to assign those points?" "Probably the same way you got this list. You wanted to know crap. Well, I wanted to be Earth Shatteringly Strong!" He lowered his voice for the last few words and struck another pose. I turned back to the TV with a frown and brought up a Character Screen. Stew was right. I had gone from mild curiosity to I need to know what these Attributes do, as the start of getting the terms. So I turned up my mental intensity. Instead of thinking about how nice a little extra Vit would be I decided I HAD to have it. One point gave me six HP and 8 Stamina, I smiled at that. Well that was easy once you knew how. So I assigned the rest. Another into Vit, 1 into Str, 2 in Int, and my final point into Per. DAVID SMITH ATTRIBUTES Dave Title --- HP(Regen) 55/56 (1.4/15Min) Str 7 Int 9 Per 6 XP Human Level 2 MP(Regen) 28 (2/Min) Dex 6 Wis 5 Cha 3 35/200 18 Job --- Stam(Regen) 21 (1.96/Sec) Vit 7 Res 4 Lck 3 5 Skill Points I had to admit that my increase in Int might not be the best for immediate survival but I figured if Fallout gave extra skills maybe this would too. I just had a feeling. Besides I saw the boost it gave to MP and whatever else I ended up being I was going to tag Arcane onto that. If I couldn't be a badass magical whatever then I would probably go insane. This was a major change in my world and that was the only thing that would make it work for me. Mike looked up from where he had been copying stuff down. "OK. I got it. Anything else?" I decided to focus on the blank fields of my sheet and brought up two more descriptions. Titles and Job. Change in focus and I got descriptions. A little practice makes navigating these screens much easier.

‡ Titles - These are rewards for performing feats of various kinds as well as meeting certain requirements. Once gained and equipped they can be developed to higher levels using Skill Points. ‡ ‡ Job - Once the requirements are meet these become available and allow for improvement as well as allow access to skills that make performing the Job easier. ‡

Pretty sure I remembered getting a title I brought up a new screen called Title List. The only Title at this point was Loner. Loner - You dealt with your first shattered alone •Attack +5%, Per+1 ? ? ? ?

With a thought I equipped it.

‡ Congratulations! You have equipped your first Title. +1 Skill Point. ‡ ‡ You could even use it to improve this new title! ‡

It seemed like solid advice. I put a point in and got a new bonus. Health Regen +1/15min when not in party. I put in another and the next circle got a bit darker. My next point brought it to a dark gray but not fully black. I guess each level took more than the previous. I felt a little silly for expecting anything else. I put the next in and got the next bonus. My last two points probably wouldn't get the next level bonus so I just kept them. Loner - You dealt with your first shattered alone •Attack +5%, Per+1 •Health Regen +1/15min when not in party •Dodge +5%, Dex +1 ? ?

"Those look like nice bonuses. Do you think those are supposed to be the main method for growth rather than levels?" Mike was scribbling furiously, trying to get everything written down. I shrugged at his question. "I guess it depends on how easy it will be to get more Titles and increase skills versus getting XP." "I gained Basic Carpentry and then got it up to level 2 just by nailing the board to the door. I didn't get any titles though." Meagan spoke up at this point. "I mastered Running. Then something about [Running] and a Title called Runner." "What's the description?" I held out the remote. "You could just show us if you want." Meagan smiled in thanks as she took the remote. Mike continued scribbling furiously. I studied them myself, I felt like they weren't teaching me anything new just reminding me of things I had forgotten. "Mike why don't you just create a Skill list? Then you wouldn't have to write it down." "I did. My Skill List only shows Skills I've gotten. I'll write them down so you guys can look at them too if you want." Meagan said "Thanks Mike." While I mumbled my own thanks and Sam nodded. Stew looked bored and Soccer Mom sat mired in despair. Stacy was standing against the coffee table reaching for some magazines. I watched a screen in my mind fill itself out with several different columns. Known Skills, Known Titles, Known Martial Arts ‡ Running - Walking might get you there, eventually. Speed up your travel for the low, low price of 2 Stamina-per second. ‡ ‡ Basic Carpentry - Sometimes banging things together is good enough. Higher levels increase chance of success. ‡ ‡ Leadership - Telling others what to do is an art. Higher levels increase likelihood of being listened to, maybe even...Respected? ‡

‡ [Running] - Others may be satisfied with being good at something, you know it only matters if you're better than yesterday. Reduces cost of running and running related activities by 1% per level. ‡ ‡ [Sprint] - Running is great when you go places but sometimes you just don't want to be where you are. Increase speed at the cost of double your running Stamina use. Stamina use is reduces by 1% per level. ‡ ‡ [Stomp] - By using 5 Stamina you can really lean into that attack. Inflicts 150% of attack on opponent. Attack increases by 5% per level. ‡

‡ Runner - You have raised the Skill known as Running to an Art. ‡ ‡ Loner - You dealt with your first Shattered alone. ‡ MEAGAN THOMAS - RUNNER ATTRIBUTES Megean Runner HP(Regen) 50/60 (2.6/15Min) Str 6 Int 5 Per 5 XP Human Level 2 MP(Regen) 21 (2/Min) Dex 7 Wis 6 Cha 6 20/200 18 Job --- Stam(Regen) 22 (2.08/Sec) Vit 8 Res 4 Lck 2 6 Skill Points Buffs: {Gentle Blessing} HP Regen +1/15Min