I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck as I slumped into my chair after several hours of patrolling and breaking into every gang hideout I managed to find.
I needed to increase my class level, and the only way to do it was to level up my skills. I chose the Brawling skill because I only needed to level it up once to max out my Acrobat Class, so I went into a frenzy, beating up any thugs I could find.
It took several hours, but I managed to max out the Acrobat class thanks to that, and now it's finally time to see what this thingy archetype is all about.
[1+ level to the Brawling Skill]
[Brawling (level 26)]
[+1 level to the Acrobat class]
[Acrobat (level MAX)]
[You have maxed out three basic classes]
[You have unlocked the archetype function]
[Would you like to choose an archetype now or continue to the starter class selection menu?]
'Would I still be able to select the starter classes after choosing an archetype?' I questioned after a second of hesitation. I didn't need the Gunman and Duelist class, but more classes meant more skills, and more skills meant faster level-ups.
[Choosing an archetype will unlock more specialized classes based on the host's choice, but the basic ones will still be available]
'Then I'll choose an archetype first...' I shrugged and quickly decided without much hesitation.
[Understood]
Available archetypes: [The Occultist] [The Mad Scientist] [The Warrior] [The Mercenary] [The Trickster]
...
The Occultist:
Properties: as an archetype, an occultist is a powerful sorcerer or sorceress, witch, warlock and wizard, or even a human practitioner that has studied the supernatural, the mystic arts, sorcery, alchemy, astrology, séances, folklore, and mythology.
These studies of occultism are considered taboo and can lead the archetype into the forbidden arts in various circles. And although the study of the occult is neutral by nature, it can lead to corruption on occasion if one is ignorant or not careful enough.
Possible flaws/weaknesses:
-The Occultist may be limited in knowledge.
-Some knowledge may be considered forbidden.
-The Occultist may accidentally gain the attention of certain beings.
-Ignorance may lead to disastrous consequences.
-The Dark Arts may prove to be troublesome or tempting.
The Occultist archetype comes with the following classes: [Alchemist] [Astrologer] [Dark Mage] [White Mage] [Potioneer]
...
The Mad Scientist: as an archetype, the mad scientist is a scientist that dabbles in pseudoscience or performs very unethical/crazy experiments.
The main reason most consider such people "mad" or "insane" sometimes is their dangerous habits of attempting to play God with their science, which can break the laws of physics/nature.
Possible flaws/weaknesses:
-The Mad Scientist's creations and experiments may rise against them.
-The Mad Scientist may develop a god complex.
The Mad Scientist archetype comes with the following classes: [Mechanic] [Programmer] [Surgeon] [Chemist] [Biologist]
...
The Warrior:
Properties: as an archetype, the Warrior is a brave and experienced fighter, specializing in combat, battles, and warfare. Warriors are familiar with many weapons and combat strategies as they are known for other expertise in more than just combat, such as hunting, riding, and leadership.
Possible flaws/weaknesses:
None notable.
The Warrior archetype comes with the following classes: [Tactician] [Gladiator] [Barbarian] [Hunter] [Monk]
...
The Mercenary:
Properties: as an archetype, the Mercenary takes various dangerous jobs in exchange for large sums of money, such as killing people, fighting as soldiers in an army, finding treasure, stealing items, delivering messages, acting as bodyguards, etc.
The methods Mercenaries employ to complete their tasks range from something complex and finesse-based like mastery of stealth, strategically and tactically planned scenarios, expertise in martial arts, and proficiency with weaponry to using brute strength and speed.
Possible flaws/weaknesses:
None notable.
The Mercenary archetype comes with the following classes: [Bounty Hunter] [Treasure Hunter] [Demolitionist] [Soldier] [Tracker]
...
The Trickster:
Properties: as an archetype, The Trickster can be anything from a god of chaos, bedeviling heroes for a few laughs, to a master manipulator who uses cruel ploys and sadistic choices.
They can also be heroes (or more likely anti-heroes) who make up for their lack of strength or bravery with manipulation, planning, or outright cheating. Tricksters are often masters of disguise and may have magical powers.
Possible flaws/weaknesses:
The Trickster may be unable to trick those with Reality Perception.
People may find the user untrustworthy due to their nature of causing mischief and manipulating others.
The Trickster archetype comes with the following classes: [Con Artist] [Gadfly] [Illusionist] [Trapper] [Insurgent]
...
'Wow... so I wasn't wrong to assume an archetype was a theme for the available classes to follow...' I mused as I began reading through the finer details of the five available archetypes.
Right off the bat, the Occultist archetype was the most appealing to me, especially with the Potioneer and Alchemist classes, but it also came with the most warning labels and flaws.
While slinging spells, creating potions, and transmuting shit was incredibly tempting, the warning labels were a huge turn-off because I was as ignorant as you could get, and the idea of gaining the attention of "certain beings" doesn't sound like a good time to me. I was decidedly unsure about the archetype.
Then there was the Mad Scientist class, which seemed like nothing more than an average auxiliary, production type class (or archetype, in this case), but it was probably the second most powerful and most versatile.
The Mad Scientist classes may sound like everyday jobs, incredibly mundane and not particularly outstanding. But the truth was far from it, and what got my attention the most was the programmer and the mechanic classes.
The mechanic class likely covered stuff like creating and developing any technology related to the field, like weaponry, transportation, and even robotics, which was a great way to make money and gadgets for me to use.
That was just the Mechanic class. Combine that with programming, and you get robots and artificial intelligence. In other words, an army of intelligent, heavily armed, and armored soldiers.
However, the Mad Scientist's best selling point was also its worst downside, because whatever I created might rise against me if I wasn't careful enough and gave it more autonomy than needed.
And the Warrior archetype, on the other hand, was by far the blandest one out of the five archetypes. It was just your typical meat-headed choice, where your only option was to bash your head against the proverbial wall until it broke.
It was by far the least appealing, simply because I only needed to keep training the same way I've been since I picked my first class. And I'd eventually get the same results as choosing the warrior archetype, even if it took longer.
'Yeah, no thanks. Moving on...' I shrugged my shoulders, immediately dismissing the warrior archetype as I moved on to the next.
The Mercenary wasn't that different from the Warrior, other than offering some versatility. And even though it was much more appealing than the latter, it still paled compared to the Occultist and the Mad Scientist, so it was another automatic no.
The Trickster looked like a well-rounded archetype with some combat-specialized classes and others that relied on tricking and misleading people, making it a decent choice, but it still didn't have the potential of the first two.
'So it comes to a choice between Mad Scientist and Occultist...' I sighed, feeling hesitant to choose between the two.
Occultist was the more powerful option, but I couldn't risk fumbling in the dark without someone guiding me. And I don't think the system-given knowledge would be enough to prevent me from making ignorant decisions or giving in to temptation.
The system wouldn't include the warning labels in the archetype description otherwise, and I honestly didn't trust myself enough to guarantee I won't make reckless or ignorant mistakes on my own.
Risk-wise, the Mad Scientist Archetype was the safest choice, and its potential wasn't far from the Occultist, maybe even matching it with the ability to create advanced weapons, armies of robots, artificial intelligence, prosthetics, and physical enhancements, etc.
'Wait... system, is it possible to choose another archetype later, or will I be locked into the one I select now?' I paused, deciding to ask the system.
If I could only choose one, I'd bite the bullet, go with the Occultist archetype, and let the consequences be damned. But If I could choose another one, I'll go for the Mad Scientist and change to Occultist when I find a mentor or something.
[The host may choose a second Archetype after maxing out the current one]
'Oh! And how do I max out an Archetype?'
[For every 15 class levels, the archetype would go up in level once, up to a maximum of 10 (Archetype specific classes have a maximum level of 30)]
'It would take a lot of time and effort to max out an archetype... but it's better than being locked into one, at least...' I mused, nodding my head and preparing to make my choice.
'System, is there anything else I need to know before choosing an archetype?' I asked, shooting my shot. I didn't know if the system would answer or give me anything of value, but it was worth a try.
[Due to the specialized nature of Archetypes, it will probably affect the awakening of the host's metagene and imprint it with the same theme]
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Occultist please, gonna be more fun imo
That's gonna lead him to more bullsh*t trouble with probably bullsh*t fixes
Question: It mentioned that his meta gene could be influenced by his class choice, shouldn't that be something that the mc should be considering/talking about? I think that should be a major factor in the choice. The meta gene will probably be an important corner stone of his power, does he really want it to be linked to the scientists path? I would think the occultist would be better just for that. Maybe he would get a power to protect his mind.
Also I think you should either add a weakness on the warrior/mercenary classes or have the mc make a comment about them.
When I first read through them I thought since you didn't list any problems, he was going to choose them but there is one major con of them that wasn't listed. It is the same con that is listed in a lot of fantasy if you going in a pure warrior path and that is "how strong can you really get?"
The warrior/mercenary classes would still keep him in the realm of a normal person. Sure he might be stronger than a normal one, mainly because of the system, but that would still keep him on the lower end of the power spectrum. Think about the normal "warrior humans" in dc, Batman/green arrow for example. Compare them to people like Green lantern or superman and without the plot armor they would be crushed.
Now the mad scientist can be argued to still be in the realm of man as well but at least with that class you would have ways to make money and build support items. Robots, gadgets super soldier serum, etc. Also he might be able to cure some people and get there help. Mr. Freeze's wife or Croc for example.
Trickster I would say is semi-mortal realm. It has potential with dipping the toes in magic with illusion but it lacks firepower to stand in a direct fight.
Lastly Occultist which would have been my choice. It has more options and chance for greater power in the future. Being in the dc universe he should know all the world ending troubles that will come to earth and this class would probably have the most power to combat that. Also he is thinking of mad scientist for money, but wouldn't alchemist and potioneer be money making classes as well? Probably be able to create rarer items with those classes.
Forgot to add on two things.
The first is his goal. When talking to the homeless man who I forget his name, he mentioned his goal was to break free from the control of the world or whoever makes it this way. In this chapter and last he mentions how he should be able to defeat Harley but she is pretty much protected by plot armor. With his goal to break free I would think his main two choices would be occultist or trickster. Occult for magic to break free and trickster to slip through the cracks/hide from fate.
Second point would go with the corruption for the occultist class. I wonder if upgrading his mind state would give him mental defense skills. That would be one way to help protect his mind from corruption. Corruption/mind control would probably be a bigger issue then getting some powers attention. . . If he gets there attention he would just have to hide behind superman or someone's back.
Ps. A big bonus for occultist class would be an excuse to find/interact with Raven. . .
@KidBuu699 f*ck yeah occultist it is 'kuhum' totally not cos Raven/Rachel is a total bae
Wouldn't a mad scientist centred metagene increase an aspect of his intelligence or his cognitive speed?
Meanwhile an occultist metagene would what, give him some powers to play with? While sure, that might give him more familiarity with the different powers magic might have, don't you think extra intelligence and time to think would be more useful for a power that controls energy that may or may not be related to eldritch things?
I'm probably missing what both gene probabilities there might be, but what are they?
@Help well for mad scientist it's probably gonna be some gene like technopath for occultist its probably gonna be some umbrakinesis or psychokinesis
@Tyler I'd say that those are too specific, since mad scientist has biologist, chemist and other classes that wouldn't actually mesh with technopath, but I can see the metagene not being completely perfect for the class
@Help yup there is also a chance for it to just be a passive meta-gene like enhanced senses or something like minor telekinesis
@Tyler Some trainable meta-gene would be most preferable, although enhanced senses should work with magic, unless sensing something can trigger alarms...
@Help To me the metagene for the mad scientist being centered around his intelligence or cognitive speed would be a waste. It seems that every time he gets his mind status up by 25 points that he gets a passive skill similar to that.
But who knows. I would think that the meta gene would be more of an active skill/power instead of a passive one. Something that is more unique that he could not get by upgrading his states.
@KidBuu699 it's gonna be interesting either way
Eu acho que você esqueceu das penalidades,onde ele iria achar conhecimento para se tornar mais forte?sem mencionar os "seres superiores"te marcando como uma possível ameaça