As the last person was seated, I couldn’t help but sigh. Waiting for everyone to wake up was difficult. We wanted to let everyone wake up and tell them what we know all at once rather than one at a time, but my patience nearly ran out. When people woke up, they were confused, then they would panic and sporadically ask questions, then we would escort them to sit by a wall until everyone was awake so they wouldn’t hurt themselves, and as many had different proportions, it was often difficult. There were exceptions of course, but they were far in the minority.
My Father had been especially confused. While my mother had simply enjoyed the idea of her new features, Dad had some trouble adjusting to his new hearing. While Mom and I went from normal hearing to this, Dad was coming from legally deaf without hearing aids. At least I didn’t have to calm human, catholic parents turned demons like Dean had to.
Whispers flooded the cave as I stepped up onto the partially collapsed pile of rubble that used to block the tunnel at the back of the cave. Some had been waiting for an hour now and were getting anxious.
“I’d like to start by thanking everyone for being patient. I know that you’re all a little antsy. We were already in a confusing and stressful situation, and it just got more confusing and stressful. For those that haven’t figured it out, anyone who played VoV has become their character, me being the exception due to certain circumstances. Any children of players have also changed to match their parent’s or parents' new bodies, and the reverse is also true. I’d like everyone to try to stay calm while we tell you everything we know and get everyone organized.”
The first thing we did was group everyone together, with at least one VoV player in each group to help explain the status screen. We figured that once we started telling what we know about the status screen and how to open it, the VoV players would be able to figure out the rest. It was a pretty generic status board for the most part anyway.
“If there are any questions, ask a VoV player before you ask me, and be patient. Those of you who are no longer human, you aren’t monsters, nor condemned. Even demons in VoV weren’t damned in the biblical sense, and going forward we’re treating all the lore in VoV as true until proven otherwise, so you’re okay. I would like everyone to open their Status pages. Before I tell you how, I need to tell you, do not invest any free points. I know it’ll be tempting, especially for you kids, but you need to listen. We have an idea as to what the stats represent beyond the numbers and obvious stuff, like Strength making it easier to lift heavy stuff, from VoV’s lore, but we can’t be certain. Another reason is that we may be able to raise stats naturally, so any points spent before we found a limit would be wasted. Any point wasted is not just a detriment to your potential, but the entire group’s. Now that I’ve warned you, you can open your Status page by mentally or verbally saying Status.” I gave the guests a chance to open their pages and ask the VoV players questions before I continued. “We’ve found that if you don’t say it with intent, nothing happens, so you don’t have to worry about avoiding the word in conversation. Hp, Sp, and Mp are your Health, Stamina, and Mana points respectively. Qi is just the same. Assuming they’re the same as VoV’s, [Skills] are pretty simple. They’re measurements of how good you are at whatever the skill is. They can be raised through practice or leveling. [Titles] are manifestations of great accomplishments, and they give bonuses based on those accomplishments, sometimes [Traits]. [Traits] represent a part of you, physically or otherwise. In VoV it was impossible to lose a [Trait]. Even though you may have gained a [Trait] through a combination of other things, once they are obtained they are yours, even if what gave you that [Trait] is no longer yours. For example, let’s say someone has a [Title] for benign number one at something on the leaderboards. If that [Title] gave them a [Trait], then even if they lost the position and their [Title] changed or was lost outright, the [Trait] would stay the same. However, if the lore is to be believed, a [Trait] can be lost, but it is still extremely difficult. It would have to be deliberate, and if the local culture is the same, a heinous crime, up there with mass murder. The lore explained this as [Titles] being deeply connected to who you are, at a level greater than could be understood without experiencing their loss. [Professions] are new, so we are unsure of how they work, or their significance. From what we can tell, what you did on Earth determines you [Professions].”
I paused again. The cave was abuzz with people asking questions, and I wanted to give the VoV players a chance to catch up. It was all going pretty well so far. I wish we knew more about [Professions], but they weren’t in VoV, and besides their name and who had which [Professions], we had nothing else to go off of. After a long while petting my cute puppies, someone asked a question one of the players couldn’t answer.
“Where’d Ember and Odin come from, and how did you guys get weapons?” The weapons the player, John Land, were referring to were Smoke Shot and Shifting Seasons, which Sam and I wore in the custom sling and sheath they came with.
“ Players can access equipment in their inventory that’s level one, or presumably, whatever their level is. Growth equipment has been reset to rank one, but can be accessed because of it. Any consumable boosters are either gone or have had their effects nullified. Once something is removed from the inventory, it can not be returned, so only take out what you or someone else is willing to carry. The command word is [Transfer].” Dean demonstrated by opening an inventory portal and pulling out his signature shield, the one that was dropped in that level 65 dungeon all those years ago. He attempted to return it, but each time the shield would send ripples across the portal without entering.
“Now, let me describe how we think the stats work. This is important for the pan moving further, so until I’m done, hold your questions. Parents, some of this may be sensitive for kids, so cover their ears and explain it to them later. From what the lore says, the stats should work something like this:
Will is your Qi capacity and density, which determines how powerful Qi skills are, and provides minor resistance to physical and mental pain, especially resistance to fear effects.
Attunement is how in line you are with the ambient Qi, or the world’s Qi, which affects Qi regen, the cast time and cost of Qi related activities, and the perception of Qi.
Strength is the strength and/or density of all muscles, this means that strength affects speed, as the muscles in the legs and feet generally determine that. Strength also increases the toughness of the rest of the body to an extent so that using your muscles doesn’t shatter your bones or anything like that. Thankfully, the lore mentions a limit to how much your mass and density can affect the world around you.
Constitution is how hard it is to hurt you, more so than Strength, your resistance to physical pain, your max hp, the strength of your immune system, your natural toxin filtering, your lifespan, and your senses.
Endurance is what level of effort counts as exertion and resting, i.e. does walking still drain stamina, does holding a shield cause increased stamina loss, etc., stamina, in all physical meanings, and how much sleep the body requires.
Vitality is stamina and hp regen, fertility, and increases lifespan further than Constitution. Contrary to how one might think, increased stamina regen does not reduce sleep requirements, but that also means you don’t have to be asleep to get the bonus stamina regen that comes with ‘resting’. It may also allow one to control fertility at high levels.
Agility is your flexibility, and your wider body control, meaning efficiency of movement, how fast one adjusts to changes in str, acrobatics, etc. Wider meaning mostly for your limbs and torso. At higher levels of Agility, you may be able to decrease or increase your weight slightly, eventually to the point of walking on air. This was something seen in high level rogues in VoV, so we know the criteria for that is around 200 Agility, although it may be affected by weight now that it's real.
Dexterity is fine motor control, i.e. hand, foot, face, and mouth control basically. If you want to throw stuff with accuracy, have good handwriting, earn a reputation for your poker face, or be a really good kisser, this is your stat.
Intelligence is your memory, ability to recognize patterns, mana density, which similar to Qi density, equates to effectiveness, and your cast time for mana related stuff.
Wisdom is mana capacity, mana cost, and signal recognition. Constitution’s enhanced senses will let you realize there’s a fish in the lake, Intelligence will tell you it’s a bluefin tuna, but it’s Wisdom that will help you realize that a bluefin tuna shouldn’t be in a lake and what that means.
Finally Clarity is your mana regen, your thought speed, your mana perception, how much sleep the mind requires, and your resistance to illusions, mental attacks, and non-physical pain.”
“We recommend that anyone above the age of 65, and/or feels 65+ after the optimization, invests a few free points into Vitality, both for your safety, and so that you’ll be able to keep up better with everyone. It may seem callous, but it is a truth that age slows people down and makes it harder for their bodies to adjust. Other than that group, I would like to remind everyone not to use their free points. We’ve already devised some training methods for each stat and intend to test them asap.”
