AN: Hello, gentle perverts. I've come to you early with an update.

I figured that I'd get some of the more 'expositional' stuff done in this chapter so we can focus more on the story. It's the one thing about LitRPG with visible stats that is hard to get around, unless the system is blisteringly simple. "ScottF14, how do dis statzes worksies?"

Anyway, I introduced a bit of knowledge after the chapter, since I did not want to expositionalize everything in the chapter itself. It's hardly necessary for every little thing, but I know some people like to know the weird little way I calculate things.

Random side note: Am I the only one who thinks that it's weird for a game system to allow a level 0- 1 character to actually be able to kill a level 50 or so player? What I mean is, have you seen the stories where one guy or another has thousands of stat points in defense or resilience, but some scrub with a steel dagger and ten points of strength tagged him in the kidneys and he died? Why even have stats if they literally do nothing?

Monsters can have daggers bounce off their flesh, but a level 50 human with higher base defense than a set of steel armor, somehow gets ganked by a guy who's base strength wouldn't even be able to penetrate a suit of plate armor with that dagger? You know, those kind of stories?

I'm all for litrpg fantasy, but if you tell me that someone has 10 points of resilience as a normal human, and 100 times that resilience and damage resistance at 1000 points, shouldn't dagger strikes from a level one scrub with 10 strength and a steel dagger... just sort of slide right off? Dude should be bullet-proof to anything less than a 50 caliber rifle at that point, much less a kidney stab! (Notice I'm saying resilience/durability, and not strength, you can have the strength of an elephant and still get your head blown off)

Now if a story legit does not have a boosted durability stat, or the character's durability isn't particularly high, sure. But come on with that man. A knife strike can slide off bone even with two normal dudes.

If the stats are low-end because of the game, no problem. I just find it weird when stories have stats in the thousands, tens of thousands, and dude gets stabbed by a random other due who never even gained a level.

I might be exaggerating, but if you have a million points of durability, and the norm is 10 points, shouldn't you just be able to not worry about being shot in the face with a normal gun? Or even being punched by anyone who doesn't have a million points of strength? It's like a dudebro, who can totally max bench 300 lbs, stabbing superman in the kidney with a sharp non-magical stick. Don't give me that critical damage BS as a handwave. You'd have to be able to at least damage to do critical damage! I'll buy it if you can injure the guy normally with your own ability, even a little, but not if there's no possible method short of kryptonite or magic.

I didn't mean any specific story with this mild rant. I just see this happen a bit too often. It's bad enough during game cut-scenes, but in novels... come on people!

Anyway, annoyed rant over!

Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Serpent of the Heart

Heart racing, Scott reached for his shotgun with a slow deliberate motion. Just as he brought it to bear, something out of an eldritch nightmare slithered out from under the brush in front of him.

Red eyes gleamed from the shadow of the shrubbery. Hellish, like blazing coals glowing in the dark. A cross between a cobra, a centipede, and the fetish dreams of a hardcore hentai enthusiast, a red armored serpent slowly rose up before him.

"Fuck this!" snapped Scott in surprise. He aimed at the monstrosity and fired just as it reared back and opened its insect-like maw to reveal several rows of teeth hidden behind a vaguely human maw. The shotgun thundered. The hideous thing took a blast directly in its disturbing mouth.

The snake thing's head snapped back. Several of the armored plates on its back exploded in a hail storm of chitinous confetti. Stunned for a moment by the furious assault, the creature was left vulnerable. Scott fired twice more while it was staggered, never allowing it to recover. Armored plates exploded once more after the second blast, but the thing's head was torn clean off after the third.

The battle, such as it was, ended in only a scant few seconds. However, the headless beast took three shot gun blasts to the head before it dropped. Scott sat where he'd slept previously and panted heavily. These woods were more dangerous than he knew! What kind of thing was that?

Curious about the now dead monstrosity, he inspected the body. Stripped off its imposing segmented armor it looked like a snake skinned and ready for dinner. The tentacles that still wriggled spastically were tipped in various ways. Several possessed sucker mouths but ended in barbed hooks, while the majority ended in a knobby protrusion that immediately made Scott's butt cheeks clench together.

His disgust shifted to surprise once more when a pillar of light rose up from the body of the beast. Within the shining light several glowing items appeared. He moved closer to the light and took stock of the four items that appeared.

One item was simply a message screen. It was an acknowledgment of the experience that he earned for defeating a male red heart serpent. He gained seven hundred sixty experience for slaying a beast in this region for the first time. The strange knowledge rattling around inside his mind filled in a gap in his understanding. He received experience for defeating an opponent. He received more experience for slaying an opponent. He received bonus experience for doing either to an opponent higher than his level, and even more if it was done quickly.

The second thing that he saw was the word copper and a number beside it. He'd acquired twenty-four copper coins for slaying the beast.

The third thing was a short list of names under a heading entitled special loot. The names were heart serpent chest plate, heart serpent boots, heart serpent shield, and heart serpent core.

"This..." Scott looked at the names listed then realized that it related to possible items. His bizarre knowledge filled in the gap. The first time he slew a beast, he would receive one of every item available from its possible loot. Those items would also be the best versions of those items. From that point on, he would only be able to receive an item on rare chance. It was one of the perks due to his status as a hero.

Further, he noted the color of each item. There was a rarity code for items. White items were common and dropped thirty percent of the time if an item dropped at all. Green items dropped ten percent of the time. Yellow items dropped five percent of the time. Blue items dropped one percent of the time. Red items dropped once per thousand times, and flashing golden items dropped only once out of ten thousand times that items actually dropped.

Scott looked to the items and noticed that rarest item was the heart serpent core, a blue item. The chest plate was yellow. The boots and shield were green.

"The rarest item this monster drops is a blue item?" asked Scott to the empty air. The game-like nature of this strange forest became more bizarre as his day went along. If a creature that could completely withstand two shotgun blasts to the mouth only dropped blue items at the most, then he shuddered to think of the difficulty posed by monsters that dropped rarer items.

The fourth thing was titled common loot. He acquired a heart serpent scale. His strange knowledge told him that common items usually dropped one time in twenty encounters. They were considered grey items. If a special item dropped it would be at that time, which made special items even rarer.

The pillar of light flared once then a glowing golden sack appeared in the air. Scott looked at it curiously for a moment then reached out and took it. The body of the heart serpent began to glow then dissipated as motes of light drifted away into the sky. Nothing was left behind save for a neatly wrapped package.

"Whoa... Kind of pretty." said Scott as he watched the disappearing act. He checked the package and discovered well cut meat inside. He'd received food! Hopefully it would even prove to be edible.

He took the golden sack in hand, but reloaded his shotgun before checking its contents. He was nearly out of shells, only five loaded, and two left for another reload. He could only hope that seven shots would get him somewhere in this strange place. It was obvious why those girls did not travel the woods alone, and why the goddess allowed him to temporarily keep his shotgun. Fighting that thing with a common steel sword would have been suicidal for him, even with the sword mastery skill.

His improved dexterity could double his shotgun damage as things stood now. Had he a gun mastery skill, it would be even stronger. Without his timely level up, that thing would have needed four or five shots to bring it down. These woods were dangerous!

Shotgun reloaded, he set it down close to hand then opened the sack. The moment he opened it up, it grew in size then folded outward like a sheet. Neatly arranged atop the golden sheet were the items he'd acquired.

The chest plate took up the entirety of his attention afterward. Scott lifted it up and noted its hefty weight. It was certainly a solid item, not to mention beautiful. It shined brilliantly as the sun streamed down upon it through the forest canopy. The glossy red chest plate help the color of a bright red sports car. Upon the surface a golden symbol of a snake biting its tail was neatly emblazoned in an eye catching manner. The metal component was affixed atop a sleeveless scarlet red leather half-vest, though there was no visible connection between the metal and the leather.

For a time, he was confused as to how it would be worn. It opened on the side, but there were no side straps or buckles. Once again, the strange knowledge inside his head came to his rescue. Scott slipped it on then lightly held it shut at the side with one hand.

He focused his thoughts on the chest plate and strongly concentrated on his desire to equip it. The two halves came together then merged along the sides without leaving a seam. He'd successfully equipped his armored chest plate, and whatever bizarre law of nature that allowed for such things caused it to be a perfect fit.

Scott twisted and turned experimentally. It was heavy, but not overly cumbersome. There was no shoulder protection and neither the vest nor the metal chest piece reached below his ribcage, but he already felt better protected than before. It certainly beat wearing nothing but his own shame and a few leaves on his feet. The armor was surprisingly comfortable as well.

He ran his fingers down along the glossy red material and noted faint black lines that broke up the simplicity of the armor and gave it a sort of antique appearance. It was like a heat-cracked glazed vase had been made into armor. It was distinctive and intriguing.

The boots came next, and thankfully included a pair of socks. Though, the socks were only available when the item was equipped. Like the leather vest that helped make his armor comfortable, the socks provided comfort for his feet. His boots were designed with the same color and styling as the chest piece. Glossy red metal protection atop them, darker scarlet leather material underneath.

Scott took his new shield in hand and grinned. It was a large round shield capable of covering his full torso. It bore the same coloration and cracked glaze pattern as the chest plate, with matching serpent symbol at the center. Along the edges a similar serpent acted as trim. "Neat," said Scott while hefting the weighty item in his off-hand.

He tried to equip it but the shield only grew heavier. His shotgun also grew heavy. Scott mentally unequipped his weapon and then tried to use the shield correctly once more. The weight diminished considerably he properly equipped it. Now it felt slightly lighter than it did originally.

Experimentally, he tried to re-equip his shotgun. Both items became exceptionally heavy. His hands moved clumsily as he tried to line up his weapon to view a target through the sights. "Well, fuck," he said quietly after a moment. It was obvious what happened. His shotgun was a two-hand weapon. His equipped shield required a hand-slot.

"Don't know if I'll be using shields much, but this one will get some use," he said. It interfered with his shotgun, but it no doubt added a lot of defensive capacity.

All that remained on the sheet were the coins, the serpent core, and a glossy red scale. He picked up the core first, eager to see what it did.

He tilted his head right and left for a moment then tapped it a few times. "What do you do?" he asked lightly. He stared at it in the hopes that it would give up its secrets. Surprisingly, after a brief moment passed, he discovered exactly what he wanted to know. A message window appeared!

Heart Serpent Core

Type: Consumable

Use: Armor Upgrade Item

Place the core against any armor item with an upgrade slot. Concentrate on the upgrade, and the core will fuse to the item.

Bonus(s)

Fashion Rating +10

Armor Rating +5

Defense Rating +10%

Durability + 4

Flame Resistance +10%

Acid Resistance +10%

Poison Resistance +10%

Double bonus for equipping this item on heart serpent armor.

"That's badass... I can see item stats!" Scott immediately tried to see the stats of his other items.

The first thing he attempted to view was his shotgun, but all he received as a message referring to it as an undefined object. "A bunch of question marks, huh? Figures."

He tried viewing the scale and discovered that it was an armor creation material. If he located someone with the skills who was willing to do the work, he could have custom armor made to fit him. It would have an appearance similar to his other items if it was successfully created.

The coins only showed information relating to their value. A copper coin possessed a value of one. Scott checked his shield next, and then his boots.

Heart Serpent Shield

Type: Shield

Use: Defense [Equippable]

A cerasteel shield gifted by the gods for services rendered. Its glossy red sheen is both fashionable and highly visible. The perfect protection for the warrior on the go!

Upgrade Slots: [0]

Fashion Rating: 10

Armor Rating: 40

Defense Rating: 65%

Durability: 49/49

Special

Projectile Defense: +40%

Flame Resistance: +15%

Acid Resistance: +15%

Poison Resistance: +20%

Heart Serpent Boots

Type: Armor

Use: Defense [Equippable]

A smashing set of high-fashion cerasteel boots gifted by the gods for services rendered. Their glossy red sheen is both fashionable and highly visible. The perfect protection for the warrior on the go!

Upgrade Slots: [0]

Fashion Rating: 20

Armor Rating: 18

Defense Rating: 40%

Durability: 28/28

Special

Flame Resistance: +5%

Acid Resistance: +5%

Poison Resistance: +10%

"That shield seems like it would be pretty badass. It's too bad I can't use it with my shotgun," said Scott. As things stood, anything that kept him from quickly using his shotgun was bad news. He'd keep the thing equipped in case of surprise attacks, however. He could always try to fight with his sword if he was forced into it.

The numbers were confusing at first, but as he looked everything over the information began to make more sense. Fashion was the number multiplied by his charisma modifier to determine the extra hit points gained while wearing it. Armor rating was an absolute defense against attack. Any attack that did equal or lesser damage would be completely negated if it struck that piece of equipment.

"Defense rating..." he said thoughtfully. It was the most confusing stat involved. It determined how well the item would hold up before it began to lose durability. It also determined how much attack damage was converted into hit point damage, and how much force could travel past the defenses of the system to inflict injury on the body.

The latter component of the system relied upon resilience, as the ability to resist damage was dependent upon the total resilience stat. A shield with a defense rating of sixty-five percent wielded by someone with one hundred resilience would allow the body to completely negate damage of up to sixty-five points. Of course, shields were also special in that they negated damage to anything but the hand and arm holding it, unless the force of the attack was an area-of-effect class assault. At least, that was true as long as the shield was used to effectively block an attack.

Without equipment, the ability to resist damage was equal to the resilience modifier. In Scott's case, his body was immune to attacks that did less than two points of damage, even when naked. Actual damage taken was hard for his mind to wrap around due to its basis in percentages and status afflictions.

It took a while for him to grasp the simplicity and the complexity of the system. It was simple in that the higher the defense percentage was, the better the armor. It was complex in that it based everything on the armor rating of the item and an arbitrary seeming defense rating, but compared that to his stats in order to determine damage taken. Usually that meant little to no real damage taken if fighting someone of comparable skill and strength while properly equipped.

Scott did the math for his shield. No attack that did forty points of damage or less would cause harm to him or to his shield, if he successfully blocked the attack with it. Any damage above forty would slowly stack until the shield received damage equal to sixty-five percent of its armor rating. Any further damage would lower durability by one point. Further, only attacks that did damage greater than that total amount in one hit would lower his hit points.

"So with my shield, as long as I block an attack, nothing short of sixty-seven damage will lower my hit points by even one point..." That was certainly an excellent piece of equipment! Of course, whenever the durability lowered to certain increments, the armor rating would drop significantly. It would become easier and easier to damage his shield, and lower his hit points. If durability hit zero, the shield would be destroyed. If any hit points from the item remained they would be instantly lost as well. The same would happen if the item generated hit points were all lost as well, however.

"Something like this... Back on Earth, a shield with enough armor rating could even protect me from tank fire despite the explosive force... Ridiculous," he said. After a moment, he amended his words by saying. "Though if someone could hit my shield hard enough in a single blow, or often enough to cause stress, they could completely break through my defenses and shatter my hand or arm..."

Scott rubbed his chin. The system of this weird game world was interesting. As long as an item was equipped in the right slot, eleven slots total, it did not matter where an attack was received. The item in that slot would defend it.

A shield, which was one of two hand-held item slots, needed to block an attack directly. On the other hand someone wearing a single glove on one hand, would be just as protected if attacked on the naked hand. The system did not care. The hand armor item worked to protect the entire region known as hands. The same could be said for stylish sunglasses. A pair of sunglasses, if worn as armor, protected the entire head and neck region. As an accessory, the same item could offer bonuses for the entire body.

"Six armor slots, two hand item slots, and three accessory slots... Eleven ways to keep from being killed or worse," said Scott thoughtfully as knowledge awoke within his mind. Curious about his upper body armor slot's sole protector, Scott checked the stats for his chest plate.

Heart Serpent Chest Plate

Type: Armor

Use: Defense [Equippable]

A gorgeous high-fashion cerasteel chest protector gifted by the gods for services rendered. Its glossy red sheen is both fashionable and highly visible. The perfect protection for the warrior on the go!

Upgrade Slots: [1]

Fashion Rating: 20

Armor Rating: 20

Defense Rating: 45%

Durability: 42/42

Special

Flame Resistance: +10%

Acid Resistance: +10%

Poison Resistance: +15%

"Not bad at all for a passive bit of defense," he said. Never a heavy gamer in the past, he was not one to crunch numbers and create so-called perfect builds. If something seemed like it would be good, he equipped his characters with it. If anything, he was the quintessential casual player. He preferred to make his toons look badass rather than focus on the best stats for a given build.

"Man, it's been a few months since I even played games regularly. I wonder if I'm doing alright, so far?" Without his shotgun, he'd be dead. He knew that much intellectually, but even so, there was a sense of pride for having survived this far into his new life.

Scott considered his heart core item. He could upgrade his chest armor now. Would he find better down the road? It was debatable. Yet, what if he did not live long enough to find that possible item? The core would be double effective on his chest plate compared to a different item.

"Fuck it. That thing's rare, but not that rare. I doubt there won't be other upgrades to find. I need the boost now."

He did as the core prompted earlier. Scott placed it to his chest plate and willed it to join with it. Several tense seconds passed before the stone began to glow brightly. His armor followed suit. Soon, the core dissolved into it like water being absorbed by a sponge.

The brilliant red glow emanating from his armor intensified. Scott shut his eyes to protect his vision. While he did so, his armor underwent a minor change. The serpent biting its tail broke loose from its circular pattern and stretched out. Its front half rose up and its stylized mouth opened as if ready to feast.

Once a glossy red, the chest plate was now a lustrous red color that shined softly with its own inner light. It sparkled a little as flecks of gold hidden within it caught the rays of the sun at the perfect angle.

"Whoa, badass and sexy to boot," he said. Scott checked the status of his newly upgraded item, only to see a new surprise waiting for him. A message screen appeared.

Congratulations!

You have upgraded your first item. Due to your hero designation, it will automatically be granted perfect synthesis status. A perfect synthesis is a rare occurrence allowing for an even greater effect than normal when an item is upgraded.

All future items will have normal chance of success or failure. It is suggested that you hire a skilled blacksmith to either teach you the synthesis skill, or to perform the action for you.

"Oho? Really?" For a goddess who claimed not to be giving him a lot of help, this system seemed dedicated to letting him have a good go of things. Scott checked his chest plate once more to see what was different now.

Superior Heart Serpent Chest Plate

Type: Armor

Use: Defense [Equippable]

A gorgeous high-fashion cerasteel chest protector gifted by the gods for services rendered. Its glossy red sheen is both fashionable and highly visible. The perfect protection for the warrior on the go!

Upgrade Slots: [0]

Fashion Rating: 40

Armor Rating: 30

Defense Rating: 65%

Durability: 50/50

Special

Flame Resistance: +30%

Acid Resistance: +30%

Poison Resistance: +35%

NEW!!

You may invigorate this armor and permanently acquire one of the following skills.

Acquire Skill: Summon Loyal Heart Serpent Male [400][0/400]

Acquire Skill: Summon Loyal Heart Serpent Female [4000][0/4000]

Scott's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. Perfect synthesis would allow him to spend experience points to acquire the ability to summon a pet heart serpent that was either male or female. It was obvious why there was a difference in cost, however. Only females of any species could gain levels. His pet would cost him four thousand experience points! Worse, he needed to be damned sure not to let his piece of armor be destroyed in a fight while he saved up that amount.

"A creature that can withstand multiple shotgun blasts at level zero is probably pretty decent..." said Scott thoughtfully. Saving up to acquire her would be good, but his own levels needed to come first. Unless he somehow acquired four thousand experience points before he found somewhere to rest, the serpent would need to wait.

The sheet disappeared once he took all of the items presented, but that was fine. He could have used it for various things, but it did not matter in the end. What did matter was getting out of the damnable forest. He had experience points to spend, but he could only do that when he was asleep for now. He would not be sleeping in this spot again after this encounter.

At the moment he could potentially survive because he had his shotgun, but when those shells ran out he would be screwed. Getting out of this place, hopefully before nightfall, was his only real chance for survival.

He checked his gathered weapons then nodded. They were all weak, but solidly constructed. The best one among then possessed and offensive rating of ten. He bundled everything then added the meat to his pile. The coins were shoved into the wrapped package for safe, if smelly, keeping. Shield slung over his shoulder, and shotgun fully loaded, he was ready to hit the trail.

And so it was, that Scott strode off into the forest once more, his weapon loot and meat slung over his back. He felt ridiculous wearing only boots, a shield, and a chest plate but, he had to make do with what he had. Who knows, maybe he'd run across something that gave him pants! That would be simply lovely.

--

End of chapter

Common item chart time!

This story features a variation of my standardized item capacity concept that will appear in at least two other stories. Basically, it amounts to possibilities for specific items and the ranges of ability those items might have.

Since Scott has a sword and some armor. I'll break common items down for you.

In my little system, an item has a general ability range. Meaning that for a commonly crafted item of proper construction, such as a mass produced sword, the capacity of the blade ranges from poorly weakly crafted standard versions to excellent standard versions. Either way, it is still just a standard common sword.

There are modifiers for these items, however. Materials used will modify the item. Craftsmanship level (beyond or beneath standard) will modify the item. Enchants and augments can do so as well, but that's a side thing. Rarity can also modify an item.

So, for swords -

Common Swords

Short sword – Base Offense Rating 1-4

Long Sword – Base Offense Rating 1-6

Two-handed sword – Base Offense Rating 1-8

--

Weapon Materials

Common Wood = 1 - 3 points.

Special Wood = 1 - 4 points.

Eldritch Wood = 2 - 6 points.

Copper = 1 - 4 points.

Bronze = 2 - 6 points.

Iron = 3 - 5 points.

Steel = 4 - 8 points.

Cerasteel = 5 – 10 points.

Mithril Plated = 8 – 14 points.

Mithril = 12 – 18 points.

Ceramithril = 14 – 20 points.

Orichalcum = 15 – 22 points.

Crystalline Materials = 16 – 26 points. [Includes Mystic Obsidian, and other eldritch glass and crystal materials.]

High-End Monster Drop Materials = 18 – 35 [Includes elder dragon bones, fangs of a divine beast, and other similar items. These items are tagged [Epic Beast].

Adamant = 20 – 35 points.

Godsteel = 40 – 99. [These are special alloys made with different divine methods.]

--

There is no 'damage range' in the weapon itself. There is only the total capacity. Stats and skills determine the possible damage.

Say we have a longsword, which equals 1 – 6. This sword was reasonably well-crafted despite being mass produced. So, rate it as a 4.

The base offensive rating is 4.

It was manufactured from common steel. The material worked well during the manufacturing process and the steel is rated 4-8, ending in a 6 overall rating.

The steel weapon now has a rating of 10. So, it would show as Offensive Rating: 10 on a stat screen.

Strength is the primary stat for melee weapons in the 'power' set. (There are power and finesse melee weapons, the primary stat is determined by the nature of the weapon. A rapier would be finesse and use Dexterity instead.) Let's say his strength is 100.

The sword mastery skill is the primary skill for all swords. Let's say Scott has no sword feats, just basic swordsmanship at 100 points.

The stats and skills give modifiers per 25 points. At 100 each, both modifiers are at 4.

Whenever Scott strikes with his Offensive Rating 10 sword, the system checks for strength value and skill value. The stat modifier is multiplied by the offensive rating. The skill modifier does the same. These two numbers combined are the total damage done.

With a rating of 4 in both. Scott can do a maximum of 80 points of damage in a perfect hit each time he attacks. However, the value is randomized. He really does 0 – 4 times the offensive rating. For strength to count at max, he needs to put all of his strength into the attack. Otherwise, he'll hit for less damage.

The same is true for skill. If he uses all of his skill to strike the foe, absolutely focus, he can get 4 X offensive rating from skill. Otherwise the rating used will be less. Jabbing and light cuts, for instance, would do less damage that a precision strike to the eye.

All of his raw strength and skill combined with a perfect strike, can allow for 80 points of damage max. So, he'd have the potential for 0 – 80 damage with those stats, that amount of skill, and that steel sword.

Give Scott the same abilities, but say... a high-grade adamant weapon. Say 34 rating plus the 6 base rate. (The likelihood of a mass produced adamant weapon is practically non-existent, but then we'd have rarity upgrades and craftmanship upgrades to factor in.)

Anyway, that adamant weapon is rated as 40. With his exact same strength and skill, he'd be able to max damage 320. Even his low-showings of 1 X jabs could hit for up to 0 - 80 points. Meaning, his weakest jabs with that mass produced adamant weapon, would be equal to his maximum possible range with a mass produced steel sword.

I decided to share all this, because I think any story that I write using modifiers, would probably use a system similar to this as a base for items. It allows a lot of variety in attack and defense values, while keeping things varied, but within a structured boundary. You know, like a real game.

The modifiers are the most important for dynamic actions like attack and active defense. Whereas the primary stat number (The ones that go into the hundreds) are more for system checks. Did Scott get poisoned?

Poison value: 0 -63 .... came up 42

Resilience value: 0 – 50 ... came up 35

Resilience bonuses from armor: 65% = 32.5

Total poison resistance = 67.5

Scott resists poison! Doot doot doot da-dooooot!

The same can be said for tripping, knock-backs, staggers, actual poison damage, charm person, mind rape... you know, the usual. Though different stats come into play for those. (Dexterity, strength, strength, vitality, charisma, concentration.)

Status effects are interesting because resilience stops a lot, but then other things take up the slack afterward. Like poison. If the resilience check stops the poison, the poison never enters the system. If it fails the check, vitality checks will determine how well the poison works.

A basic vitality check will either allow the poison to be resisted at that pulse, or fail and have the full effect happen. Each time the poison does its work a new check happens. Feats that increase resistance to the efficacy of poison (of specific types) can be chosen. Items can be worn to bolster it as well.

Someone with 100% resistance to damage poisons, for instance, would not be automatically immune. Instead, when a damage check occurs, vitality + 100% of vitality will be used for the check. With 100 points of vitality, that means a poison check of 100-200 instead of 0 – 100. If the poison does not have a base efficacy above 100. The character is auto-immune to the poison, even if it's swirling around in their body. If the poison is virulent and has a higher check versus the resistance, damage is taken. If vitality and resistances are high enough, a character is effectively immune to most toxins, but it's never 100%. An extremely virulent disease or poison could still work as long as it is rated high enough. Also, poisoners with feats get bonuses to poison efficacy. (Like assassins who use poison).