The Power of Ten, Book Three : The Human Race

“He’s got enough Karma to get it all back, but he’s finding that there’s a whole lot of other things he could be doing to shore himself up... and buying them while he’s a Three is a lot cheaper than doing so as a Four.”

“Huh.” The Paladin looked at his Shotgun. “” he asked.

“Every day that you fight with her, you can give her a share of the Karma. If you’re familiar with enchanting, it’s the exact same amount of power a Mage could Infuse into Her.” He blinked in shock. “But, you have to know what you’re trying to do and grow, and you have to do it within a day of earning the Karma. So, you declare what you are trying to do, and you work towards it, day by day. If you suddenly change your mind, you lose all the Karma... so don’t change your mind.”

He nodded slowly. “” he asked.

“Zen Weapon.” He furrowed his brow. “+3 to hit in the hands of a Zen Gunner.”

“Ah.” That he got, nodding.

“Alternatively, go for versatility with Martial Weapon. It combines with Morphing... all the Feats and skills you have with a Shotgun, Rifle, or Pistol will carry over to any form you choose to use her in, rifle, pistol, or shotgun, and you’ll get a bonus out of it. Probably the better choice, if you want to really build up your gunmanship.”

His brown eyes flickered. “Yes, that does sound better...”

“If you want to help me lay more of these spirits to permanent rest, draw some extra ammunition this coming night.” My voice dropped lower. “And I shouldn’t have to tell you not to mention anything about perma-death, or that is going to stir up all kinds of very unwelcome attention from many, many quarters...”

He nodded slowly, and then there was a swelling rush as the light swept across us. I turned back to look as the countless numbers of spirits, not even bothering to hide in the shadow of the wall, moaned and groaned as one, and the sun burned them away like leaves in an inferno, scattering them momentarily across the sky.

Down on the ground, it looked like a firestorm had gone off, as millions of undead burned away and blew apart, scattering in burning motes of light before the dim rays of the morning, and the sun nobody could actually see. Hundreds of acres of waiting undead, who couldn’t pass this Wall, or do anything but moan at the defenders as they burned away...

There were relieved shouts on the Wall and down below, and a Heartsinger somewhere began to blow the Salute to Aru, carrying a very long distance along the Wall as he did so.

I considered all those acres and acres of undead, and how I would be able to burn them down, soon enough...

I wasn’t in a hurry, but I was. There was a little baby out there in the hands of Sinbound, and technically I was now his mother. I was going to get that kid back, and the Sinbound were going to pay.

I had a massive Karmic feast laid out in front of me. There was no way I wasn’t going to indulge, I simply had to get to the Level I could do so...

I flicked up my dual Darts, stared at them, then let them lapse. Nice, useful, but in the end, a stopgap measure. They would have to work until I got to the place I needed to go...

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The nightwatch cycled down, the inspection crews cycled up, and I had to figure out what to do with myself for the next twelve hours.

In optimal circumstances, I would now go off and Craft me some Gear, getting myself started on forming a decent wizard’s kit of enchanted Stuff that would help me out and save me a lot of Valences in the long run.

Unfortunately, I had neither the crafted items to Infuse, nor the Feats to do so, at the moment. The amount of gold I had wasn’t much, either.

As Helix was joining the crowd to head down, I followed him and asked, “Helix, I’m in need of a proper Staff, sturdy enough to be enchanted eventually, and used as a Weapon. I have some money, although not an excessive amount. Could you be of help here?”

Helix was still looking a little pale. The sunlight had come in, wiped out the negative energy, and a chunk of his soul in so doing. He hadn’t ‘lost’ his Human/2, but without being a Four, it was effectively inert and non-active. It would be a time before he regained it... but that was a Good thing, as it meant he could really start growing in ways he’d never thought about before.

He talked over his shoulder as he carefully made his way down the stairs to the ground. Not long ago, he probably would have just jumped off the side of the Wall, so he was getting curious looks right now as he went down on foot.

“I have to go Meditate and get my Valences back,” he said, and given his focus on himself, that was going to happen unless I really wheedled. Since I could do the same, I didn’t much care. “We could drive into town at Riverhead; they have some places that sell magic aids.”

Well, I suppose I needed to branch out from a military camp. It was a step up from undead-infested ruined cities...

“Do you need to go home and check up on stuff? Call anyone?” he managed to ask.

I had some interesting thoughts about that. I really didn’t want to insert myself into this girl’s life, and Baltimore wasn’t exactly nearby. I hoped she didn’t have a cat that was starving to death or something...

“Credit card,” I replied, as if that explained everything. Given his personality type...

He grinned despite himself. “Ah, the wonders of a good credit limit! I understand perfectly.”

“Take your Soak point.”

“Oh! Oh, right.” I sighed to myself as he answered. “Put three Skill Points into Spellcraft and Arcane Lore each. For your Mastery, take Extra Sorcerer Spell Known/1, Detect I.” He had naturally taken his Bard/2 Level as soon as Renewal came up. “For your Flexible Performer Skill, pick Dance. It qualifies as Acrobatics... and Flight.”

He stiffened in surprise and delight, stopping to look back at me. I raised an eyebrow as he burst into gleeful laughter. He was going to get all his Flight Ranks back... for nothing! And be a better dancer out of it!

“What about tomorrow?” he pressed, clearly going to be obsessing over all the stuff he might be able to do.

“Take Minstrel/1. Take your Soak Point, take three each Ranks in Natural Lore and Diplomacy. Take Ghost-Scarred for your natural Feat, and Banespell for your Purchased Feat. For your Mastery, take Extra Sorcerer Slot/1.”

“Yeah...” he agreed thoughtfully. “Uh, what’s Ghost-Scarred do?”

“Lets you hit incorps better, resist the effects of undead magic and stuff. You only qualify to take it if you’ve been hit by an incorporeal undead.”

“Oh, good for killing them faster!” he agreed eagerly...

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Nobody bothered me as I returned to the mostly empty medical tent. The soldiers there yesterday had all been discharged back to their own tents, so it was empty, except for the nurses on duty. Father Bower had probably retired to Meditate after staying up all night just in case.

No reason for me not to do the same.

Since I had the spare Valences unused, I inquired of the nurse there if she had containers for holy water available for donation. She was happy to get a couple for me, and I Created the water with a Cantrip, then charged up both of them, using my Ring Bond to regain the spell.

This being a One was so irritating. The III version of the spell let you create one vial per Caster Level...

I could only sigh, wonder about tonight, and slip into Meditation myself.

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Four hours of Meditation sufficed for eight hours of sleep if you could hit a 20, i.e. had a +10 modifier to it. Generally, that meant you were a Three or Four. Mine was much higher, at a +20, and I was Sustained, so I only needed two hours regardless. 28 Levels of Valence restoral/hour was more than enough to take care of my dozen or so Levels in less than half an hour.

Wasted time with nothing to do. No Alchemy Ranks, no Item Creation, nothing, despite my need for more capital and Gear. Just a wonderful situation to be in.

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This was a PM, but given the nature of it and the length of my reply, figured it would be best posted. Also, Paladin vs Chaotic Sorcerer makes it appropriate!

Addendum:

Brandiny Wrote:

Hi,

Firstly let me say how thankful i am for your incredibly quick response to my last message.

Secondly I was hoping you could give me a rundown of Masteries and how they work and level work for them, like Weapon Masteries and like when in Power of 10 Chapter 172 Errant says that he has Eyes of Heaven at 5, is this like True sight just for Lawful Good and what does it do?

Thirdly, I was reading through your Alignments and im finding myself coming out into Neutral when i put my own character into it, could you give me your definition of those please?

Fourthly, I was wondering with your Powered Casters, normally Sorcerers are people born with magic that comes from them, how is that different from a Wizard or a Mage or a Chi-User or Barbarian in Power of 10? Because i've read A Jaded Life by Tsaimath and in that sorcerers have to basically build their own spells and stuff does that differ with Power of 10?

Kind Regards,

Brandiny

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When I initially put in Masteries, it was mostly with the idea that they would replace low powered Feats. Basically, a normal Mastery Tier would be worth about half a Feat, and most Feats that scaled would be Masteries. The poster Child of this was the Weapon Focus, Weapon Spec, Greater Weapon Focus, Improved Threat, Greater Weapon Spec tree.... each is underpowered, but if you add them all up, they are pretty strong.

Then I realized that within the story, I don't have fixed Karma costs. So Masteries that simply add +1 to a skill were possible, and if I made them Competence Bonuses, all they did is substitute for a magical item.

So, 'cheap' Masteries got into the mix.

Then class abilities, and the incredible array of PrC's from 3.5e came into play, most of which are, naturally enough, specialization in specific areas, i.e. Masteries. Borking your whole build by having to take Levels in something that allowed you to specialize in Magic Missiles or Exorcisms seemed stupid, and the habit of PrC's giving away armor and weapon profs and additional skills, and being BETTER than the Core Classes, rubbed me wrong.

So, I did away with most Prestige Classes, and their Class Abilities became Advanced Masteries. Some of the abilties were quite strong, and have pre-reqs that are onerous... but with a functional cap of Ten, I wasn't worried about breaking anything.

Advanced Masteries can cost as much as getting a new Class Level, because that is what they are... a Class Level stripped of all the other stuff, and some Class abilities are just plain worth it (a level of Warshifter is +4 Str and Con. 4 of them gets you Fast Healing, which is a 90k gp magical item ability!).

Some Masteries are mutually exclusive (you can't super-spec into more than one Elemental Mastery, for instance).

All of this naturally ties in to Advanced Classes, which include the Theurgic Classes (which help combine the abilities of two Classes into one), and the true Advanced Classes, which take a component of the Core Classes and focus on it entirely, such as Warlord, which focuses solely on the Marshal bonus of the Melee Class, or Bombardier, which focuses on explosives as a function of the Alchemist class, and so forth.

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Will this concept work in computer games and tabletop? Well, the problem is that both of those are usually x/level things, where you gain a Feat or special ability per level. They aren't 'Karma' abilities, where you pay the appropriate cost to acquire them... and Feats and special abilities can be ALL OVER the place in actual value, which is totally annoying. Pricing such things accordingly is too much work, so it never gets done.

On the other hand, it's totally possible and feasible to handwave it. If you want a powerful ability, pay a lot of Karma for it. If your associate just wants to Ironskull for Levels fast, he'll outstrip you in Levels... which, if you aren't earning a lot of Karma, might actually be the better way to go. Every Level is ten years more lifespan, after all...

If you are gorging at the Karmic Buffet and pay the cost early, you don't need the extra years. In short, IN REAL LIFE, Mastery Karma pricing is a thing. In games where you are at the spigot of Karma all the time, it’s not a choice at all, and seems stupid.

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1) Masteries generally scale in tiers of 5; Tiers are normally accessible at levels 1,3,5,7, and 9. Advanced Masteries generally start at 6, advancing at 7,8,9, and 10. More powerful Masteries cost more Karma to take... there is no cheaper way to get them.

The 'Eyes of Heaven' is basically the at-will power to Detect Good/Evil/Alignment. The three Masteries on it affect the a) Range/Power/Spell Level of the ability (Tier 5 is considered a 5th Level spell being used at CL 9 at least, with a range of 360' vs 60', and can Detect any Alignment, not just Evil), b) speed you get all the information (from 3 rounds, down to instantly at 5); and c) how easily you can maintain it (standing still and concentrating hard, to keeping it going all the time as a free action at 5).

So, someone with the Eyes of Heaven at 5 can scan an arc in front of him 360 feet long, or all around himself for 180 feet, all the time, and instantly know the Alignments and approximate Levels of those people. As a 5th Level effect, it will pierce through Divination Wards of Level III or less, and if not, clearly indicate who has such a Ward, OR, who is using magical concealment of their aura (such as borrowing that of another person) of level 4 or less.

This is a rare Mastery that modifies a spell-like Ability, not a spell, as you must have the at-will ability to Detect Evil to make it work.

2) Whoops, did that first.

3) Pigeonholing Alignments is difficult, and I've whole chapters related to discussing them. In General...

Good people will sacrifice for other Good people, and even for innocent neutrals.

Neutral people will sacrifice for family and friends, and just don't care that much about anything else. They'll fight the big evil if it represents a threat to their own, but otherwise, it's someone else's problem. Nobody cares about global warming until their fields start to burn, etc...

Evil people will sacrifice others for their own benefit, and the more evil they are, the more people they will sacrifice, and the more easily. As long as it benefits them, the more evil they are, the more readily they will do it. Knowing Global Warming is a thing, but deriding and decrying it because it would cost you millions now, and you're perfectly able to move to a cooler place later, screw everyone else, is an Evil mindset.

Lawful people are disciplined, orderly, and like a heirarchy. They tend to follow a code and legal system, and tend to believe in it unstintingly. They will obey their superiors, expect obedience from those below them, generally think their way is the best way, and everyone should feel the same.

Conflicts between different Lawful systems tend to get EXTREMELY bloody in a magical world, because in the end, there can be only one!

Identifying as an American instead of a New Yorker or Manhattanite is the kind of thing Lawful societies start developing. The next logical step is a Terran, a Human, then a member of the Federation/Galactic Empire. Only The Law matters, nothing else!

Neutral people on the Law/Chaos axis tend to respect their family first, friends and clan second, immediate rulers/cheifs/officials third, and the rest just doesn't concern them unless it's in front of their face, and you best obey the high king. Such things are too far away and irrelevant... usually until they become too relevant. Giving lip service to the king while continuing to do things the way they always have been is kind of what Neutrals do.

Neutrals with power vary between imposing laws and breaking those laws to do what has to be done, finding neither option sancrosanct. Whimsy and reliability are both hallmarks of Neutral Kings, often called despotic behavior. The King can overturn the King's law, after all...

Chaotic people are all about themselves and what they want. They are narccisists. They are the guy who hangs with you, but if he doesn't like the place you are going to eat, he won't go. If he doesn't like bowling, he won't go with the group there. If he can't convince someone to go to the rock concert with him, he'll still go.

It's all about him, baby.

Chaotics aren't into rules, and will break them if there are no adverse consequences for doing so (i.e. not getting caught). They can be whimsical and unreliable, but mostly, their own drives and desires are what dominate them, and they just don't care about what other people tell them to do or want them to do. They do their own thing.

Chaotics tend to follow their own habits and traditions, and hang what others think of them, unless there are adverse consequences, again. They tend to have close ties to friends and families, i.e. personal relationships, and just don't respect institutions and businesses, only people. They'll obey the king in the king's reach, and ignore him otherwise, especially if they consider him an idiot.

Chaotics place a LOT of emphasis on personal ability, as they hate having to rely on other people to do stuff. In real life, this can result in someone who knows a lot of stuff, but isn't very good at it versus a specialist... or, it can result in someone who is super-obsessive about a particular topic, to completely unreasonable levels, a fanatic about it, to the level it can affect everything they do (i.e. an emo artist, or a mad scientist).

Chaotics are about relationships, not rules. They follow the spirit of an agreement, rather than the letter of it... although they are perfectly happy to use the letter OR the spirit to weasel out of something not to their benefit, whereas a Lawful Person would follow the letter even if it is NOT to their benefit.

4) Sorcerers are defined by having a magical Bloodline that attunes them to one aspect of magic. They accomplish magic by force of will, personality, and attunement, demanding magic do thus and so, and so it is done. They don't actually have to know anything about magic... they have a limited number of spells/tricks and can't change them, but they have a lot of magical power they can allocate between their spells.

Wizards also have a magical bloodline, so all Wizards are also Sorcerers. However, Wizards are smart, not charismatic. They figure out how magic works, how it does what it does, what buttons to push, strings to pull, and figure out the mechanics behind spells.

Wizards build their spells ahead of time and allocate the power to them then. That gives them much less flexibility than sorcerers have... but Wizards can know a LOT more spells than any Sorcerer, meaning today's magical artillery is tomorrow's stealth infiltrator is the day after's magical craftsman is the next day's Diviner is the day after's leader of a small Summoned army.

Sorcerers do a limited number of things very well every day. Wizards can do all the things, and completely reconfigure what they are very good at from day to day.

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A Magos is a Wizard/Sorcerer, with both sets of Valences, able to use both sets of spells in conjunction with one another, thus combining the versatility of the Wizard with the repeated spell power of the Sorcerer. In the Power of Ten, you become a Magos by taking Archmage Levels, combining the power of Wizard and Sorcerer... this is also called the Arcane Theurge Class.

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A Chi-user uses the external energy of the world for combat purposes, drawing it inside themselves and using it to enhance their own ability. It builds upon ki, the basic life force of all creatures. In general, it is less flexible than magic, but more fundamental, harder to counter, and enhances its wielders more. Powerful profound martial arts are the primary outlet of Chi-users. Using Chi to deliver a swordstroke for +10d6 fire damage to a swathe of enemies 100' away repeatedly over time is an example of what Chi-users can do under their own power.

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A Berserker is a user of Rage, which is the emotive counterpart to Ki. They are a subset of the Melee Class, trading broad mastery of armor, weapons, and mental discipline for the pure power of fury, and as such are sort of an anti-monk. Their reliance on emotion means they lose a good part of their rage if they are Lawful, so many are Chaotic. Traditionally, berserkers are elite warriors of barbaric societies who have not evolved greater chi-usage, whose focus is trusting in their own might and power, rather than skill in weapons and armor.

Alternatively, they are elite military troops who are better at doing then thinking, trained to tap the power of their souls with valor, courage, bloodthirstiness, and similar things, to acheive the same effect.

Rage can be exactly as magical as Ki is, but for the same amount of power, both of them pale compared to Chi and Mana, which are higher-order energies.