There’s satisfaction in a tool doing exactly what it’s made for. That’s how those “how it’s made” videos get so much attention. No matter how flowery or artistic you are, at a certain point, optimization can be a pleasure in and of itself.

By the time I pulled my mandibles free, the ghost was a crumpled, dried out sliver of withered web and crumbling ectoplasm, like a dried out leaf. And I was fully healed, my cuts and scratches gone, mana restored, and now levelled up.

To LEVEL FOUR.

Ha, don’t doubt old Gab, I told you this build was top tier.

Unlike my equipment. My little padded gambeson was scratched and torn, all the jostling of the combats finally beat the strength of the buckles. All of a sudden my bouncy green busty spilled free, to utter relief and guilt. Thank god Flint had died before he saw that.

Speaking of, his body was left, and the ghost had nothing to loot, so I grabbed his coins, vest and “drumsticks” actually twin clubs. No useful stuff like a healing potion, but I’d kill him all over again if he died while having a healing potion on him. He’s done it before.

Anyway, I was fully healed- but it looks like there’s a clear order of operations. EXP is accrued to preserve processing power, then rewarded in a single stack provided no more is added. Levelling up results in a full restoration, but you can’t trigger it like in Skyrim as an emergency heal.


In fact, if you kept feeding tiny dregs of EXP to someone, you could delay their level-up and restore. Interesting.


Importantly, levelling up rewards us a number of <Level Points> to spend, which can be used for minor <Skills>, species or unique <Perks>, and class based <Abilities> and <Ability Points> to upgrade them. Health and Mana increase passively, but can be invested in as well. And, lastly, a few class abilities come at a discount instead of automatically.

Now, there was a ton of tempting options. I’ve got potential Inquisitor, Exorcist abilities like <Truthseeker> for more information, <Unexpected> to better my ambushes, <Orizons> for spellcasting, or Occultist specific ones like <Fate_Gamble>. Then our cocktail of Drider, Drake and Spectre had plenty options like <Burrow> to camp underground, <Danger_Sense> to help my guard, or… oh, there’s so many. I’m in heaven.

I’m not in heaven, I hate this. But I love the crunch. Sitting there, triumphant, relaxed, debating options, even as a spider-dragoness sitting with her tits out in a haunted tomb, felt like old times.

Eventually, I went with Flint’s simple and solid advice. I dumped into <Wall _Crawler> and upgraded my web skills and a smattering of others.

—

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Gabriella Adrakne
Sex: Female Height: 5’7”
Species: GhostWeaver_Wyrm
Background: Occultist
Class: Inquisitor_Exorcist_4

Species Perks:
<GhostSilk_Webs 3>
<Draining_Venom 1>
<Rejuvenating_Bite 1>
<Wall_Crawler 1>


Class Abilities:
<Ethereal_Vision 1>
<Ghost_Touch 2>
<Judgement 2>

Passive Features:
<Keen_Taste 1> <Venom_Resistance 3> <Necrotic_Resistance 2> <Web_Weaver 3> <Archery 2>

Strength: 12 Dexterity: 14 Constitution: 16 Intelligence: 12 Wisdom: 10 Charisma: 16
Health: 56/56 Mana: 55/55
Luck: 2/2 Reputation: -1


—

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Not quite perfect. But my baseline is solid still, and I’m going after level 1 or 2 enemies. I nicked Flint’s belt for my gear, fiddled with the buckles and gave up with the top and bottom done. Less a cleavage window so much as a doorway now, but I’d kill anyone in the dungeon that saw my- or Gabriella’s- bust anyway.

What, did you think old Gab’d run away with all these new toys to play with?

There was a change when I chose Wall-Crawler- i can’t tell exactly how, if my model changed, but no way I’m retreating when I can spiderwoman around the walls and ceiling! My manoeuvrability indoors had just quadrupled, and that was after one ghost. Barely an appetiser.

So I flicked on Ethereal Vision, skittered along the ceiling, and went to look for the main course.

—

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Important note- smarter mobs can throw things at you, even if they wouldn’t have a ranged attack. A skeleton chucked its skull at me. It died when I threw it back down and smashed it on the floor though.

Skulls are their weak point, check. Good to know, that makes battling those a lot easier.

Oh, great, next room has a ghost and two headless skeletons with a pile of skulls behind them. No problem, guess who’s got four thumbs and can bungee jump from the ceiling?
A certain level 6 Inquisitor with purses full of gold.

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Bit of a break from the action to take stock of a core mechanic now! I'm not going to fully maths this out, but I want to keep Gabriella's character sheet pretty accurate, since that's part of the appeal for me. More characters and action to come in the future!