With a snap of his fingers. The Maze Master sent me to a strange void.
Before I could investigate my surroundings, a lifeless automated voice sounding like an AI made by a certain delivery company spooked me out of nowhere. [Would you like a step-by-step guide on how to create your character, or skip ahead to creating your character?]
Not wanting to bother with the complexities of this limbo dimension, and copyrighted digital assistant, I ask to skip.
[Are you sure.]
"Yes, please."
[Very well, please select your race.]
A light blue screen pops out before me with a list of all the playable species available.
In the world of Mazes and Monsters, you can choose to play as a variety of different races. Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, Dragonborn, Halflings, Gnomes. You can play as just about any race! The list is endless! Each race comes with a variety of perks. However, I already have one in mind.
Reborn.
They aren't actually a race of people per-say, but a quasi-Undead. A resurrected individual who wasn't completely resurrected, the result of an experiment gone wrong or came into being by complete accident.
Despite me calling them Undead, they're normal-looking humanoids who adopt the features of their original race and appearance.
The race comes with many useful features.
They don't need to eat, drink, or breath.
A high resistance against poison and disease.
One daily fifty-cent chance to survive a fatal blow recharged each day as long as they're not doing strenuous activity.
I require no sleep and magic can't put me to sleep. If I'm really tired, I can just stand motionless for four hours while still conscious and be back on my feet bright as day!
On a side note, Reborn have an unlimited lifespan due to them being half-Undead.
Yippee!
I'm so happy I spent an extra eight thousand yen on the expanded DLC of the game!
After scrolling down and selecting Reborn, a screen pops out of nowhere and confirm my choice.
[Race chosen: Reborn.
Please choose your class.]
Alrighty! Next up, it's time to choose my class! I get five levels, meaning I can only pick five different classes.
My first two Classes are obvious. The first one I'm going to choose is Bard. Simply put, an all-rounder. They can cast spells, have some martial prowess, and are skilled in just about everything from sneaking into enemy-infested territory to persuading a guard to let your criminal acquaintance go.
The higher level a Bard, the more skills they can master. The only downside is they lack a bit of firepower compared to other classes.
Despite this drawback, they're still a top-class for most players to pick due to their versatility and increased skill learning speed. Something most definitely want due to the EXP penalty.
[You have selected Bard. You gain the following
Inspiration: For one minute, your chance to successfully land attacks, and deal critical or fatal blows is increased.
You may choose to share this feature with someone else. However, they can only receive it once a day.
You may use this ability twice a day.]
Nice, but the second effect is one I'm after.
[All-Rounder: Your skill acquisition, learning and mastery speed is increased by 25%.]
Excellent, next up, my second class is definitely going to be Wizard. Despite having less unique features compared to other spellcasting classes like Sorcerer or Druid, they have a wider range of spells to use. The spells will also gain some useful bonus features depending on the School of Magic they study.
[You have selected Wizard.]
Let's see, I have three spots left.
I'm probably going to pick Ranger. Their expertise in exploration will be extremely useful, allowing me to have a easier time navigating unfamiliar terrain.
[You have selected Ranger. Please choose a Favored Terrain and Favored Foe.]
"I'll pick Forest as my Favored Terrain and Monsters as my Favored Foe."
[Favored Terrain: Forest
When tracking your quarry in this terrain, you are more likely to come across them. You gain extra information about the quarry you are tracking, such as their size, numbers, and how long they've last passed an area.
Brambles, overgrowth, and other rough terrain do not hinder your movement.
You and your nearby allies cannot get lost as long as you have a clear destination in mind.
Chances of finding certain items in forests are increased.
Favored Foe: Monsters
Deals 10% increased damage to Monster enemies.
When tracking Monsters, increases chance to come across them.
Loot drop for Monster enemies is increased.
Chances of receiving rare loot from Monster Dungeons and Monster Dungeon Bosses in Forest Terrain are increased.]
I have an all-rounder, spell-caster, and an explorer. My utility kit is solid, so I should pick a DPS-focused class for the fourth one.
Guess I'll go with Fighter. Although generic, they have decent damage output and they obtain more stat points per level than any other class. Due to my EXP penalty, the extra stat points will be helpful. Plus, some of their subclasses are extremely interesting and contemplate very well with some of my other classes.
[You have selected Fighter. You gain the following:
Martial Skill: You have some skill in using all weapons. You are unencumbered by most light, medium, or heavy armor. You have skill in blocking and using shields.
Round Two: Regain 10% of heath at any time you choose, so long as you aren't dead.
Cooldown: 1 hour
You may select a fighting style, which style do you wish to choose?]
"Twin-Weapon Fighting please."
[You have selected Twin-Weapon Fighting.
Twin Weapon-Fighting:
You become more proficient in using multiple weapons at once.
Deal 10% Increased Damage when wielding two weapons.
Attack Speed increases by 10% when wielding two weapons.]
Now, for the last class.
Hmm, I'm definitely not picking Monk or Barbarian, I'd much rather be wearing armor than have none on.
Sorcerer and Druid, are crossed out. I already have Wizard for most of my spellcasting abilities.
Paladin's no-go, it's a good class but I'm not picking it right off the bat. They're mostly Supports or Tanks. I'm going for a solo Attacker build, so I don't need tanking abilities. Although it does have another Subclass I want. I'll consider taking it after I get some levels.
This just leaves me with Artificer, Rogue, Cleric and Warlock.
I never played Artificer before, but it involves machinery, sounds complicated, so that's removed from the list.
If it were the board game, I would've been inclined to pick Rogue due to their high-DPS sneak attacks, stealth, infiltration and useful dodging abilities.
However, Monsters and Mazes Online is more skill-based and has less RNG. Meaning you can dodge an attack without taking damage, or sneak past a group of enemies if you level up your Dodging skill enough. Guess this means I'm left with Cleric and Warlock.
These two classes both worship a higher being, but their playstyles are different.
The key feature of Clerics is they specialize in healing, curing debuffs, casting buffs, revival, etc. Stuff healers normally do in RPG's. They also come with a handy niche ability that allows them to ward off waves of minor Undead or instantly destroy them. There's some good DPS spells they can use like Flame Strike, but I already have Wizard filling out the role.
I can also get some healing spells from my Bard Class, so that won't be necessary. If I need to dive into an Undead-infested crypt, I'll just bring someone who's a Cleric along. Although, it does have one subclass I want to obtain in the future.
Whelp Cleric aside, I pretty much struck out almost every other class. The only one I'm left with is Warlock.
Warlocks, if they were to be described simply are cultists. It's an unusual class to say the least.
They're a spellcaster, but can only cast a limited number of spells each day. Meaning you can't continuously spam a Fireball like you can with a Sorcerer or Wizard so long as you have Mana.
But the spells they cast don't cost any Mana at all as they draw power from the being they worship.
Similar to a Cleric or Paladin, they receive unique gifts depending on the entity they worship. Unlike those two classes, they don't just worship Gods, but other entities as well. You can make a pact with the Fairy Queen, a powerful Demon Noble from Hell, a Genie, an Angel, etc. Heck, you can even make a pact with Eldritch entities like Cthulhu!
The only downside is I might be hunted by the authorities if it were discovered I made a deal with an evil entity. However, if I play my cards correctly, the skills Warlock provides may compilate very well with my other classes.
"Hmm, alright let's go with Warlock."
I select Warlock and another screen popped up.
[You have selected Warlock. Please choose your Patron.]
Following the message, another list of names appeared before me.
Instead of Races or Classes, these were all the names of Gods, Demons, Fairies, Immortals and so many more, but I already have a choice in mind.
But first, I have something I want to test out.
"Oi! AI! Please randomly select a Curseblade Patron for me, one who doesn't have the Evil Alignment."
[Request Approved, a random patron has been selected for you.
You have selected Warlock, you gain the following:
You can cast one Novice spell using your Patron's power every eight hours.
Your Patron also bestows upon you the following spells.
- Shield
- Wrathful Smite
These spells do not count toward the maximum number of spells you know.
Your Curseblade Patron grants you the following powers.
Curseblade's Mark:
You may place the Curseblade's mark on a target within thirty feet of you. The Mark does the following.
- Increased chance of landing a critical hit on the marked target.
- Increased damage on the marked target.
- If marked target dies, you absorb some of their life force to heal yourself.
Curseblade Warrior:
- You have some skill in medium armor, martial weapons, and shields.
- You learn to channel mana into a weapon to deal more damage and penetrate defenses. The more mana channeled, the more damage your weapon deals. Ordinary weapons will have their durability reduced at a faster rate.
Max damage bonus is 10%
Max penetration bonus is 5%
The first effect of Curseblade Warrior can be combined with Martial Prowess.
Would you like to combine-]
"Say no more! Please combine them!"
[The first effect of Curseblade Warrior has been removed and been combined with Martial Skill.
You lose Martial Skill and the first effect of Curseblade Warrior.
You have gained, Martial Prowess.
Martial Prowess:
You are skilled in using all manner of weapons.
You are skilled in blocking and using shields.
You are unencumbered in using, light, medium, or heavy armor.
You feel comfortable moving around in medium armor. Movement actions such as sneaking and dodging have been improved.
Remaining second effect of Curseblade will be transformed into Imbuement.
Imbuement:
- You learn to channel into your weapon to deal more damage and tear through defenses. The more mana channeled, the more damage your weapon deals. Ordinary weapons will have their durability reduced at a faster rate.
Max damage bonus is 10%
Max penetration bonus is 5%]
Meh, there's barely any change. I only have one less feature.
Although I am a tad bit curious about the difference between 'some skill' and 'skilled'.
Forget about it, let's move on to my character's background.
Just like with races, there are plenty of Backgrounds to choose from, Nobles, Spies, Scholars, Devotees, Soldier. These are just some of the many backgrounds just to name a few.
Each background comes with its own set of unique and useful features, but it comes with downsides as well.
For example, picking the Soldier Background allows you to gain access to military bases belonging to whatever country you choose to serve. These bases can allow you to resupply or grant access to better military-grade weapons. (Provided you follow orders and requests from the higher-ups.)
However, if you happen to venture into a foreign country you're at war with, enemy soldiers belonging to that country may attack you on sight. The citizens will be distrustful of you and may report you to authorities. Said authorities may refuse to cooperate with you and have you thrown to the dungeons or hanged, etc. This basically locks you out of certain regions you might wish to explore.
But that's what's beautiful about Mazes and Monsters. Doesn't matter if it's the original table top game or the VRMMORPG. Each choice you make, from something as simple as dialogue with an NPC, to fighting a powerful Dungeon Boss, will have a butterfly effect rippling across the world.
Depending on your actions, you may be hailed as renowned adventurer, a notorious criminal, a shrewd merchant, a dedicated craftsman, a reclusive mage, the possibilities are endless!
With everything in mind, I decided to go with the classic Folk Hero background.
By selecting the Folk Hero background, words of my heroic actions will spread faster and far wider than with any other class. This allows me to gain lots of Positive Reputation.
The more Positive Reputation I have, the more welcome and support I receive from those with a Good or Neutral alignment. Meanwhile those of Evil alignment, especially cultists, evil-aligned monsters and the likes, will have increased hostility toward me and actively hunt me down.
Hilariously enough, despite being one of the first and most popular backgrounds players pick in the table-top version, few people would choose it in the VRMMORPG version.
This is attributed to the absurd encounter rates. At level one, when trying to find a Goblin to fight, you might find a dozen of them at level five.
For average players, it was a nightmare. For skilled veterans such as myself, it's a great a choice for farming EXP. This background is a must-have for me since my the amount of experience I need to acquire is ten times that of an average character who has only one class.
I'll skip appearance settings, I'll just use the looks I have now.
After picking my race, class and background, we have stat distribution. I have two hundred and fifty points I can distribute my stats into. Actually, it's only a hundred points, since I traded half my points for the Dual Casting, Silent Casting and Mental Casting Characteristics. They're are extremely useful perks and I'm not giving them up.
Okay, let's see which stats I should prioritize.
Strength, Intelligence, Agility, Constitution, Luck, Endurance.
Strength represents physical prowess obviously. They're important for players who wish to use heavy gear like full-plate armor or large battle-axes.
Intelligence confusingly has nothing to do with a character's smarts. Instead, it has correlates with your Mana and other skills related to Magic. The system's a little complicated, but the gist is the more mana you have, the more spells you can cast and the more powerful they are. Since three of the five classes I chose are spellcasters, I'll need to spend a fair bit in Intelligence.
Agility determines your speed and improves your ability to use light weapons such as daggers and rapiers.
Constitution determines your health, defense, and resistance to debuffs.
Endurance is a little similar to Intelligence. In Monsters and Mazes, martial art classes like the Monk or Fighter have something called Skills. They're similar to Spells in a way, but consume Stamina Points instead of Mana Points. Endurance also affects how long you are able to perform certain actions. A person with High Endurance can run for half the day and still have breath to spare to beat up a couple of bandits. Someone with low endurance on the other hand can be out of breath after just a short ten-kilometer trek.
Luck increases the rate you encounter fortuitous events and rare item drop rates. It also raises the chance of you dealing Critical Hits and increases your Critical Hit Damage.
It's a good thing players always have five starting points in all stats.
To start things off I'll bring my Intelligence up to fifty points Then with my fifty-five remaining points. I'll bring Agility and Endurance up to thirty. Then the the final remaining five points will go toward luck.
Strength: 5
Agility: 30
Constitution: 5
Endurance: 30
Intelligence: 50
Luck: 10
Damn, I'm a glass cannon, but I had to sacrifice some of my points to get those three features.
Mental Casting lets me cast spells without needing any of their required material components at the price of a higher Mana consumption.
Silent Casting lets me cast spells without needing me to say the name out loud. This prevents my opponents from casting a spell that counters mine.
Dual Casting lets me cast two spells different spells at once, provided I have free hands to do so.
Oh! I almost forgot about the spells! Since I'm level one in all three of my spellcasting classes, I can pick six Cants and six Novice spells.
Two Cants and two Novice spells from my Bard class.
Three Cants and two Novice spells from my Wizard class.
Two Cants and two Novice spells from my Warlock class.
Meaning I can pick a total of seven Cants and six Novice spells.
"Oi, Menu, System or whoever you are. Please show me the spells I can select."
I'll take Flame Blade, Mage Hand, Eldritch Blast, Ward, Fire Bolt, Frostbite and Sword Burst.
Flame-blade as my main close-up attack against enemies.
Ward to protect myself against basic weapon attacks.
Fire Bolt and Eldritch Blast for ranged attacks.
Frostbite to hinder my enemy's movements.
Mage Hand in case I need to snag something from someplace far away.
Sword Burst for close-up AOE.
Actually, I think I'll replace Mage Hand with Toll The Dead. No, maybe with Fire Bolt. I already have two long rage spells, so I think I'll swap that out for Toll The Dead.
Should I also replace Frostbite with Vicious Mockery? Both reduce my enemy's combat effectiveness. I'm leaning toward using Vicious Mockery. It'd be pretty funny to see someone die just from making a 'Your Momma' joke.
On second thought, I'll stick with Frostbite. Vicious Mockery only works on targets who can understand what I'm saying. It'd have no effect on a mindless being with low intelligence like a slime or zombie.
Very balanced isn't it? This is one of the reasons I like multiclassing. I get access to a multitude of spells from several different classes.
Oh, can't forget about my Novice Spells.
Let's see, I definitely want Cure wounds. I'll also take Mage Armor, this'll pair up nicely with Ward.
Hmm, I suppose I'll also take Ice Knife for some ranged AOE. Burning Hands and Frost Fingers for medium range AOE. I'll also take Disguise Self if I need to infiltrate someplace. For my last Novice Spell, I'll take Appraisal, extremely useful if I wish to know an enemy's current state or need knowledge about an unknown item.
Alright, a very balanced damage dealing spell kit for all elements, with a bit of utility.
Finally, let's pick my gear. Since I exchanged my cheat for having no level limit, I can only get normal gear.
Now's the part where several minutes later slide is cued.
After picking out everything I wanted, I examined myself in a mirror. Gazing back at me is a figure decked in black leather armor and overcoat. Strapped to his waist are a pair of out-of-place katanas, and around the legs were several light disposable throwing daggers. Topping everything off is a full-face silvery-white raven's mask covering the person's identity and a hood to shroud the back of the exposed head.
Damn, I look decked as hell! Normally I'd go with something a little more Dark Lord-like like the main villain from that movie series about rings. But the occasional change is appearance is nice, and I must say, I really like the mysterious vibes I'm giving. When picking my gear, I based it off the nickname people gave me, Plague. Hence the plague doctor-like appearance.
Originally, I wanted to go with longswords, but my Strength stat isn't good enough for it to receive Bonuses when using them. So I went with Katanas, light, sharp, and lethal. One of the finest weapons made in history. Plus, they're an Agility-focused weapon, meaning I get Weapon Bonuses when using them due to my high Agility.
Since I'm a Bard, I was also entitled to one instrument of my choice. Of course, the instrument I chose was the bagpipes.
What? It's quite an original instrument. Plus I already have some practice playing the pipes in real life, so it's an instrument I'm familiar with.
I bet it'd be real funny, if I showed up to a random town dressed in a plague doctor outfit playing the pipes.
"Alright, you Alexia rip-off, send me back to your prick of a master."
[Would you like to confirm your choice?]
"Yes, now hurry up and send me back already."
[Understood, user has completed their build. Teleporting user back now.]
In another sudden flash of light, I found myself back at the ruined village, face-to-face with the Maze Master.
"Judging by your appearance, it seems you're ready to begin the adventure."
"Yup, is there anything I need to know?"
"This new update involves a little time perception manipulation, meaning even if you play for a month, only five minutes might've passed in the real world."
"Oh! Very neat!"
"Most of the content is set in what's essentially another continent, so don't expect your knowledge to come in handy."
"Alright."
"Now, just so were clear. If you do something like burning down a village and all of its inhabitants. There will be repercussions. Treat everything as you would in real life. You commit a crime as heinous as that, it's off to the gallows with you. No fines or Persuasion checks will get you off the hook."
"Alright, I could just respawn and the bounty on my head would be cleared right?"
"About that, you only get one life. You die, you get booted out of the game. Whatever you do stays with you."
"What!?!" Okay, after thinking about it a little, I'm being presented a special once-in-a lifetime opportunity, so I can't complain too much.
"Don't worry, there's actually a time limit. As long as you are revived within the time limit. You can keep playing the game."
"Doesn't that mean I have to have party members?"
"Yup, don't worry. There's a variety of characters you can recruit into your party. As long as you maintain a good relationship with them. You should be fine."
"You realize how bad I am at maintaining friendships, right?"
"Your problem not mine."
Son of a b*tch!
"Anyways, if that's it for questions, I'll teleport you now.
Do you have any requests on where to be teleported?"
"Someplace with opportunity to earn EXP and with safe human settlements."
"In that case, I know the perfect spot."
"Let me guess I probably won't see you again."
"Probably not, but there's a chance if you progress far enough?"
"Progress what exactly?"
Is there some secret questline with the fate of the world at stake!? I'm dying to know!
"That's for you find out."
"Come on, can't you give a little hint."
"No."
Tch! Stuck up little prick. I don't have anything else to ask, might as well have him teleport me now, "Whatever, just teleport me already."
"Alrighty, good luck and try not to commit too many atrocities."
I respond to his little joke by flipping him the bird, the annoying *sshole simply laughed me off.
With a final snap of his fingers and being blinded for the umpteenth time, seriously this is getting old, I began my new solo adventure.