3.01

“Startup Gods Online”

There was the familiar gut wrenching rush amongst the blackness before Michael was once again standing in a white marble hall. Although it was probably the same building but it was obviously a different room. There were no majestic columns or thrones. It was rather ordinary. Except for that is the doorway.

It stood in the center of the room drawing the eye. A rectangular doorway. It was made of light. The center was golden and as it expanded outwards the light altered to sky blue. The outline of the doorway was a solid white.

Instinctively Michael knew that he had to continue through the doorway to enter the game. Although incredibly eager Michael still took the time to look around. The room was unadorned. On opposite sides of the room, facing the edges of the light built doorway were two normal doors. They were built out of wood. Interestingly, they had no handles in which to open them and whether through knowledge given by the game or instinct he knew that they were locked.

Realizing that he was dawdling Michael stepped forward towards the game entrance. Hesitating a moment before once against stepping forward and through. There was a flash of light and Michael became Aloys.

In the game Aloys realized that he was within a carriage. It was rattling along. Incredibly uncomfortable. Every bump on the road sent shockwaves into him and his ass was beginning to ache. Glancing to his right and out of the nearest window gave him a view of a dirt road. Past the road was a thickly wooded forest. Behind him he could hear men talking through the carriages wooden paneling. Michael shook the impulse of sticking his head out like a dog to find out where they are and who was talking. He was seated quietly for a couple of minutes before anything happened.

-System Message-

Welcome to Gods Online. This message is to give you some crucial information about the workings of the game.

Firstly, there are three different kind of system messages. Orange is information about the game. Green is information that a denizen of the world would know. Blue is your character’s information showing experience and status.

Secondly, it is advised that you don’t address the worlds denizens as NPC’s. It may be subtle but you will lose reputation points with any local that hears those words. For the best gameplay experience treat the local’s as real people with real desires.

Also, this message is to inform you on how to open sections of the interface. Simply will a certain screen open by focusing or saying specific words.

“Status” – Opens Status Page and character information.

“Inventory” – Gives access to your inventory. Reveals a room to which you alone can see into.

“Retrieve [input name of item or picture it in your head]” – Removes item from your inventory and places it in your hand or on the floor somewhere around you.

“Grimoire” – List of known spells and spells seen. Only adds spells if you know the name of the spell and you have seen its effect.

“Bestiary” – List of slain or seen monsters/animals. Only monsters/animals have been seen and you know the name of can be added to your bestiary.

“Identify” – If you see a monster/animal or spell which is added to your bestiary or grimoire you can “identify” its name and if known average level.

“Loot” – Within range of slain enemies removes corpses and leaves loot. Only works if you have the requisite tools.

“Reputation” – Shows your reputation with affiliated factions.

"Quests" - Shows current quests

“Convert coinage”- If you have sufficient currency the game will convert copper coins into silver or silver into gold or gold into platinum.

“Party- Will open the Party Interface”

“Invite [Input name] to Party” – Will invite a player to your party. Player has to be with 10 meters.

“Friends List” – Opens Friends List interface

“Add [Input name] to Friends List” – Adds friend to player to friends list providing the added player agrees.

We hope that you enjoy the game,

Jupiter Enterprises

After the sudden info dump Michael sat in silence for a few moments. He read and reread the screen before willing the screen to disappear. It was strange to get used to. Simply thinking something to happen then it would. To emphasis this Michael willed his ‘status’ page open and he was surprised when it opened.

Name: Michael

Age: 21

Race: Human (Kingdom)

Location: Unknown

Level: 1

Faction: House Estrisden

Distributable Status Points: 5

Allegiance: Unchosen

Hitpoints: 50/50

Stamina: 50/50

Health Regeneration: 5/s

Stamina Regeneration: 2.5

Vitality: 5

Mana: 50/50

Strength: 5

Mana Regeneration: 0.25/s

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 5

Dexterity: 5

Wisdom: 5

Luck: 5

Charm: 15

Bonus:

Blessing of Aphrodite

- “You’re Special”

= +10 Charm

It took a moment for Michael to take in the new information but it was truly quite simple. He wasn’t quite sure which stats effected what but it wouldn’t be hard to work out. He guessed that except for the +10 charm he had the same stats as everyone else. He smirked at the “You’re Special” bonus and one thing for certain was he wasn’t complaining. He wondered if there would also be a corresponding change in his appearance. She had said that she would look into it after all.

Noticing that he had 5 distributable points Michael took the time to apply them. Straight off the bat Michael felt the need that he had to start moving in the direction that he wanted his character to go. He had stated to Aphrodite that he wanted to play a ranger. Being able to move between bow and sword. As a lone player hunting monsters appealed to Michaels although he knew he didn’t have the necessary hunting skills. He intended to learn them. Now where should he designate his points.

After several moments of deliberation Michael finally had to face the truth. The problem was he truly had no idea how to progress and had to acknowledge that 1 level wasn’t really going to make a difference on the character. A ranger was an incredibly diverse role and if he had his way he would probably learn a little magic at some point. Realizing that there would probably be no noticeable difference. He decided to spread the points around. He increased vitality by 1, Strength by 1, dexterity by 1, agility by 1 and luck by 1. Luck seemed like an odd choice but Michael had decided that his first few levels would be devoted to getting every stat up to 10. He felt that would be a good base in which to start his character from.

Result:

2.75 +

Hp = 10 x Vitality

HP regen = Vitality / 10

Stamina regen = 0.25 ag + 0.25 vit

Mana = 10 x intelligence

Mana regen = 0.05 x intelligence

Staminia = 7.5 x vitality + 2.5 x agility

Name: Michael

Age: 21

Race: Human (Kingdom)

Location: Unknown

Level: 1

Faction: House Estrisden

Distributable Status Points: 0

Allegiance: Unchosen

Hitpoints: 60/60

Stamina: 60/60

Health Regeneration: 6/s

Stamina Regeneration: 3/s

Vitality: 6

Mana: 50/50

Strength: 6

Mana Regeneration: 0.25/s

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 5

Dexterity: 6

Wisdom: 5

Luck: 6

Charm: 15

Bonus:

Blessing of Aphrodite

- “You’re Special”

= +10 Charm

Finished, Michael decided to test out the other parts of the interface. With that in mind he simply went down the list, hoping he hadn’t forgotten something. If he had, he was certain he would remember it when he needed it. First things first. “Inventory”

What happened next was slightly discomforting. His peripheral vision darkened and blurred making it impossible to see anything at the edges of his vision. The rest of his view was taken up by the inside of a white room. It was odd. He could feel the caravan under him but the room in front of him seemed incredibly real.

The room was cube shaped and from what Michael could see not very large. At a guess it was around 1m in length and height. So, large enough to crouch inside but not high enough to stand in. As his eyes adjusted to the brightly lit inventory Michael realized that he already had several items inside of his. There was a metal canister (probably water), a loaf of bread (looked unappetizing), what looked like a leather coin pouch and an iron sword. Curious Michael tried to reach for the coin the pouch but found that his hand didn’t enter the room. Then after a few more equally unsuccessful swipes of his hand Michael decided to do the weird thing where he willed the pouch to come to him. And it did.

He only removed the coin pouch, the rest wasn’t particularly useful at the moment. Adjusting the strings that tied the pouch together revealed 2 silver coins and a dozen copper. A treasure trove. Michael smirked at himself. It seemed wealth was going to have to be earned. Strangely this excited him, wealth had always been in his life now was his chance to prove that he didn’t need it.

Several minutes of contemplative silence later and several minutes of restraining his dog-esque instincts there was steady increase in noise at the front of the carriage. The carriage itself slowed. There was the rattle and creak of a gate opening. A drum of hoofbeats. Then there was the chorus of hellos and how do you dos. Then the carriage started up again.

Michael at the edge of his seat struggled to resist the growing grin on his face.