Human Paragon

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The Human Paragon exemplifies the characteristic traits of humanity - endless curiosity, a strong sense of freedom and self-determination, and constant need to learn and explore.

Abilities: As a Racial Class, a Human Paragon does not have a Key Ability, though they do benefit from a solid, well-balanced physique to support their adventures, so Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution are important. Furthermore, their innate curiosity benefits from a higher Intelligence, and the more intuitive and cautious among them tend to survive longer, so a high Wisdom score is useful.

Resilience: Paragons gain 8 HP per level, and have a stronger willpower than most.

Proficiencies: A Paragon does not gain any additional proficiencies.

Skills: A Paragon will gain 10 skill points per level.

Congratulations! You are a level 1 Human Paragon.

8 HP 2 Will 10 Skill Points

You have gained the ability: Adaptive Learning

Adaptive Learning: A Human Paragon is always learning, and can apply skills in new and unexpected ways as they continue to grow and explore. At 1st Level, a Paragon selects 10 skills, and those skills will always be on their Favoured Skill list.

I couldn’t help but grin as I saw the new information cross my awareness. Although it seemed that I still didn’t have any proficiencies, which concerned me. Not that they would be particularly useful, as I had nothing to my name, not even clothes. Furthermore, the beach didn’t offer anything obvious. I’d need to see what I could find in the forest, though I didn’t know the first thing about fashioning weapons. To be fair, I don’t know the first thing about much, at this point.

I guessed my first course of action would be to choose some Skills, since that seemed to be a large part of being a paragon - at least at this point. As I planned to call up my Skill list once more, I absent-mindedly wiped my forearm against my nose. To my surprise, what came away was blood. As I took in that information, a new notice appeared.

Favoured Skill Assigned: Autohypnosis

Autohypnosis (Wis): Through concentration and sheer force of will, you are able to manifest minor changes to your being. In moments of high stress, this may occur automatically.

It seemed that my mind and will had more of an influence on things than I had initially thought. This was interesting. Storing that information for later, I called up my Skill list.

Skills:

Acrobatics

Appraisal

Arcane Energy Lore

Arcane Energy Manipulation

Athletics

* Autohypnosis - 1

Bluff

Concentration

Crafting (+)

Cryptology

Diplomacy

Divine Energy Lore

Divine Energy Manipulation

Escape Artist

Handle Animal

Healing

Intimidation

Investigation

Ki Lore

Ki Manipulation

* Knowledge (+)

Linguistics

Martial Lore

Mechanical Lore

Mechanical Manipulation

Natural Energy Lore

Natural Energy Manipulation

Perception

Profession (+)

Psionic Energy Lore

Psionic Energy Manipulation

Sense Motive

Sleight of Hand

Stealth

Survival Lore

That was… a lot. I also sensed that some of this felt familiar, and some of it did not. Just looking at the list felt more than a little overwhelming. I saw that there were marks next to Autohypnosis and Knowledge already, which I took to mean that they represented Favoured Skills.

I also noticed that there were (+) symbols next to a few skills, Craft, Knowledge, and Profession. I already knew from the description of my innate traits that there were multiple knowledge fields, so based on that I felt it was a safe guess to assume that the symbol meant there were multiple options under that skill category. I also noticed that there were a number of Lore and Manipulation skills. I was more than a little curious about why they weren’t contained in their own subsections, or why Lore didn’t show under Knowledge. Curious, I started to explore the skills. After a bit of mental prodding, I was able to get a brief description of each.

Acrobatics (Dex): The coordination and spatial awareness required to balance, tumble, and move about unimpeded in your general vicinity.

Appraisal (Int): The ability to bring to bear your understanding of a subject in order to assess its state or value. Appraisal benefits from specific experience based on appropriate Lore, Craft, Knowledge, or Profession skills.

Arcane Energy Lore (Int): The ability to identify and analyze the physical manifestations of Arcane energies. Lore skills benefit from relevant experience in theoretical knowledge.

Arcane Energy Manipulation (Cha): The ability to manipulate manifestations of Arcane energy. Manipulation skills benefit from relevant experience in Lore skills and are opposed by the manipulation skills of others.

Athletics (Str): The physical ability to push, pull, and propel your physical form in both explosive and enduring contexts.

Bluff (Cha): The ability to manipulate the reactions of others based on physical and social cues. Opposed by Sense Motive.

Concentration (Con): The ability to ignore distractions and focus on a particular task. Active skills like Manipulation and Autohypnosis benefit from Concentration.

Cryptology (Int): The ability to discern patterns and decipher codes and text. Appraisal and Linguistics can benefit from Cryptology.

Diplomacy (Cha): The ability to positively influence others’ opinion of you. Diplomacy is positively influenced by Sense Motive, Knowledge skills in a relevant field, and Bluff.

Divine Energy Lore (Int): The ability to identify and analyze the physical manifestations of Divine energies, of both deific and fundamental in origin. Lore skills benefit from relevant experience in theoretical knowledge.

Divine Energy Manipulation (Wis): The ability to manipulate manifestations of Divine energy. Manipulation skills benefit from relevant experience in Lore skills and are opposed by the manipulation skills of others.

Escape Artist (Dex): The ability to adjust and contort your physical form in order to navigate confined spaces and bonds.

Handle Animal (Cha): The ability to influence the behaviour of animals to your benefit. Handle Animal is influenced by appropriate Knowledge and Profession skills.

Intimidation (Cha): The ability to forcefully influence the behaviour of others through sheer force of personality, physical, and social cues. Intimidation is influenced by the Bluff and Sense Motive skills.

Investigation (Int): The ability to use clues and information sources to discern the truth of a situation. Investigation benefits from Cryptology, Sense Motive, and appropriate Knowledge, Craft, and Profession skills.

Ki Lore (Int): The ability to identify and analyze the physical manifestations of Ki energies. Lore skills benefit from relevant experience in theoretical knowledge.

Ki Manipulation (Wis): The ability to manipulate manifestations of Ki energy. Manipulation skills benefit from relevant experience in Lore skills and are opposed by the manipulation skills of others.

Linguistics (Int): The understanding and usage of language. Each rank in Linguistics implies understanding of a different and distinct language.

Martial Lore (Int): The ability to identify and analyze tactics and battlefield behaviour. Martial Lore benefits from appropriate Knowledge and Profession skills.

Mechanical Lore (Int): The understanding of the underlying laws of physical reality and the inner workings of mechanical workings. Mechanical Lore benefits from appropriate Knowledge, Craft, and Profession Skills.

Mechanical Manipulation (Dex): The application of Mechanical Lore and fine manipulation of mechanical devices. Mechanical Manipulation benefits from Mechanical Lore and appropriate Craft and Profession Skills.

Medicine (Wis): The ability to heal or harm biological forms through mundane means. Medicine benefits from appropriate Knowledge, Craft, and Profession skills.

Natural Energy Lore (Int): The ability to identify and analyze the physical manifestations of Natural energies. Lore skills benefit from relevant experience in theoretical knowledge.

Natural Energy Manipulation (Wis): The ability to manipulate manifestations of Natural energy. Manipulation skills benefit from relevant experience in Lore skills and are opposed by the manipulation skills of others.

Perception (Wis): The ability to physically perceive the world around you, through various senses. Perception directly opposes the Stealth of others.

Psionic Energy Lore (Int): The ability to identify and analyze the physical manifestations of Psionic energies. Lore skills benefit from relevant experience in theoretical knowledge.

Psionic Energy Manipulation (Con): The ability to manipulate manifestations of Psionic energy. Manipulation skills benefit from relevant experience in Lore skills and are opposed by the manipulation skills of others.

Sense Motive (Wis): The ability to identify the intentions and disposition of others based on physical and social cues.

Sleight of Hand (Dex): The ability to leverage fine motor control and misdirection to manipulate public perception.

Stealth (Dex): The ability to move silently and hide your presence from others. Stealth is contested by the Perception of others.

Survival Lore (Int): Knowledge of how to survive outside of civilization, including identifying safe food and water sources, finding or constructing shelter, and avoiding mundane dangers.

Needless to say, it was a lot to process, and I had some decisions to make.

Some decisions were pretty self-evident. As I looked out at the empty shore and the forest stretching behind me, Survival seemed pretty important. That would make 2 out of 10. 8 more to choose.

Acrobatics seemed useful, as did Athletics. I didn’t know anything about Magic, regardless of its form, so my thinking was that I could leave that for the time being.

Perception was crucial. I didn’t want to be the kind of person oblivious to the world around me. That’s 5 out of 10. Stealth also seemed like a survival skill.

Now that the obvious options were out of the way, decisions got a lot harder.