“Yeah,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “It says I need help to activate it, but it doesn’t really say what kind.” She glanced at me with a speculative look. “Anyway, my Class still says ‘None Chosen.’”
“Danielle, do you think you can fight to protect yourself?” It was my turn to ask her a question. At her nod, I said, “I think you should consider what is usually called a Rogue class. They’re fighters, but not big brawny ones who swing big swords. They use smaller weapons and lighter armor and sneak up on people. Like…” I tried to find an example that would make sense to a non-gamer.
“Like Black Widow in The Avengers,” said Anthony. “She couldn’t fight somebody like Captain America if they just stood there and fought like boxers, but she’s fast and agile and if she managed not to get hit she could fight him.” He grinned. “Your hair’s even the right color.”
“I love her,” said Danielle. “Can I do that?” She actually looked a little excited. Gamer, no. Nerd… yeah. I wanted to kiss her.
“Try it,” I said. “See if there’s a ‘Rogue’ option on your class list. Maybe say ‘Status’ and ask for a list of Rogue classes?”
“’Status,’” she said firmly. “Show me Rogue classes.” Her eyes went out of focus. “It shows… wow… it shows a lot. The top one is ‘Shadow Dancer’ and the next one is ‘Infiltrator.’ What’s a Shadow Dan… and now it’s telling me what a Shadow Dancer is. It says Shadow Dancers specialize in quick combat, sneak attacks, hiding and finding hidden things. Okay, what’s an Infiltrator… Infiltrators are expert spies and assassins, basically.” She was keeping her descriptions general. Good girl.
“You could look at that list all day but the first two things it gave you are the two main kinds of Rogue,” I said. “Either of them would be good but Shadow Dancer sounds like it would be useful right now. What do you think?”
“Being called a Shadow Dancer sounds awesome,” she said. “It sounds like being a superhero.”
“We’re all basically superheroes now, or will be eventually,” said Joe.
“I’m taking it,” she said. “Accept Class ‘Shadow Dancer.’” She blinked and swayed. “Okay, I’m a Level One Shadow Dancer. I can pick two skills and I have an attribute point.”
“I’m going to suggest that everybody put their first point in Constitution,” I said. “That’s the stat that determines how much damage you can take. Nothing else matters if you’re so weak you die in a few hits. We can level our abilities as we grow.”
“Okay,” she said. “Mine’s… well it’s not that high. ‘Point in Constitution.’” She blinked again, but didn’t seem any different. “I got ten hit points.”
“If you have any skills that allow you to do more damage by attacking from behind, I’d take that first,” I said. “That’s a Rogue specialty.”
“There’s one called ‘Backstab,’” she replied. At my smile and nod she said “’Skill Backstab.’ Yep, got it. More damage for attacking from behind and even more if the target doesn’t know I’m there.”
“Classic,” I said, and Joe and Anthony both nodded. “Rogues aren’t the toughest in a standup fight, but if one sneaks up on you, you’re dead. Any weapons skills?” Skills like Pick Locks or Find Traps are great and all, but we aren’t going dungeon diving. At least not today.
“There’s one called ‘Dual Wield’ that lets me use a small weapon in each hand with no penalty. What’s it mean by ‘no penalty?’” The brilliant blue eyes focused on me as she asked.
“Normally when you try to use both hands at once in a fight, it’s not twice as effective as if you just have one. In a lot of games, you can’t wield two weapons at once, or at least it doesn’t do a lot,” replied Joe. “But even in real life, most people are either right-handed or left-handed so their other hand isn’t as coordinated. Dual-wielding means you are basically ambidextrous when you fight.”
“I’d take that one unless anything else really jumps out at you, Danielle,” I added. “Little knives are everywhere and if you sneak up behind somebody and let them have it in both kidneys at once, they won’t know what hit them.”
Danielle wasn’t what you’d call an uber-nerd, and I don’t think she was necessarily harboring a lot of violent fantasies. (I knew what kind of fantasies she had. They weren’t all that violent.) But she was petite and cute and had had to deal with the crap most cute petite women had to deal with her whole life. I think the idea of being able to deliver smackdowns like Natasha Romanov lit something up inside her.
“No, I want this. ‘Skill Dual-Wield.’” Another blink. “Okay. That’s all.”
“Mike, I think yours is also pretty obvious unless you have a problem. Healers are super important.”
As I turned to our newly-exposed doctor, Danielle slid off her chair with unearthly grace and started rummaging around in the kitchen, presumably looking for knives.
“What do you mean ‘healer?’” he asked. “I’m a doctor. I’m not some reiki nutjob.” I wasn’t sure what ‘reiki’ was but I could guess from the tone of his voice.
“I think I see the problem,” I said slowly. “Danielle, bring one of those knives in here, would you?”
She walked back with that same grace, looking curious. “What for?”
I held out my hand and she gave me one. Looking around, I said, “I won’t lie, I’ve kind of always wanted to do this. Everybody be cool.”
Then I took the knife and made a shallow cut along most of my left forearm. Blood welled out and I winced as the pain hit. I wiped the tip of the knife on my pants and set it down on the table before looking up at everyone.
“What the Hell are you doing?” Mike almost shouted. “Are you nuts?”
I stood and, holding my arm to keep the bleeding to a minimum, walked to his side. He watched me approach, eyes wide. When I stopped, I saw him involuntarily start reaching for my injured arm.
“Mike, use your Healing Touch on me,” I said.
“How the fuck do I do that? You need stitches, that cut’s long and it won’t stay lined up without them. Butterflies at least. Staples would serve you right, you idiot.” Dan’s voice clearly indicated that he thought I was crazy and, even for a crazy person, not too bright.
“Heck if I know,” I said, with a bit of an edge. That cut was really a little over the top and it was starting to throb. “Put your hand on my arm, think about the wound closing, and say ‘Healing Touch.’ There’s no WAY this thing is… wait. ‘Status.’”
I gestured with my other hand to indicate that he should hang on a second. My status screen came up and indicated that I had 97 of 100 HP and a ‘Slow Bleed’ effect that would cost me another HP every five seconds for a minute and keep the wound from regenerating.
“I was right. This is only a few percent of my HP. Do it.” I lowered my right hand and extended my arm toward him.