3 Chapter Three - Second Primary Class (1/2)

Existing Skill Ranks. Expert/3 would be 24 points, with +3/level from Int, for 33 points. Experts, all Skills were available.

Taking my Human Skills to 3 would cost 12 Ranks. I flicked a mental switch.

I was actually amazed when I clicked over the mental switch, and the existing spaces in my head rolled back wider and further, deepening what I knew and applications thereof.

Importantly, it gave me 3d6+15 Soak. Hoo-ray for old life NPC Class Levels...

Soak was the other cheaty thing monsters hated Class Levels for. Hitting a human so hard their bones should break, yet they get right back up without even shedding blood or limping or whatnot. It was straight foundational magical energy, and absorbed and dispersed attacks like invisible ablative armor. Most of the time, you couldn't even tell it was working, aside from the fact you were alive instead of dead. Near misses, lucky dodges, scrapes instead of stabs… Soak used whatever was most effective to keep you alive.

When you jumped two hundred feet off a cliff, landed on stone, got up and walked away, well, Soak was a little more obvious.

NPC Classes never maxed Soak at Level One. In fact, I couldn't feel any other Level One benefits kicking in. But, I still had to choose my First Level Class.

I might just be broken and have two Primary Classes. If not, I had an Expert Class that wouldn't be moving until I was a Six. Mmm. Oh well. Time would tell.

And I still had 21 Skill Ranks to allocate.

Martial Lore, Sense Motive, Knowledge: Math, Knowledge: Chemistry, Knowledge: Engineering, Calligraphy, Swim.

Martial Lore for the ki-based stuff I was going to need. Sense Motive so I could understand others more deeply and easily, something I was always lacking in my old life, and vitally necessary in a dream. The others were basically nods to the fact I was an eclectic learner in my past life, and I was pretty sure that these Expert Levels had to be treated like cross-class Levels, and cater to both my old life and the strength of the Class.

Martial Lore was also one of the knowledge skills, and Sense Motive was effectively people-reading. Swim was just something from my last life. Not knowing how to swim would just goggle my mind. 3 Ranks would make me a professional, easily able to be an elite lifeguard.

Calligraphy, 'cause I'd been a reader and a writer, and it was one of the artistic skills that would feed Flowing Waters Swordplay and work with Profound Artisan. My penmanship would be much, much better than my last life.

And they all hit, and opened up to 3. I just shook my head at the massive amount of basic knowledge that was there, as if it always had been there and I'd just noticed it. More like it was knowledge returned to me then knowledge that was new. I didn't just know, I knew what I knew.

Favored Class. It would have been my Favored Class in my last life. I ticked a mental bar on Alchemy, and nothingness melted away and revealed the information. Bonus skill point per level Favored Class bonus…

And I got a Feat at level One, and a Feat at Three.

As a Forsaken, that meant I got two at those levels.

There were many Feats that could only be taken at Level One. Most of these were Talents, some were Experiences.

Talent. It was stupid, but I was a swordswoman before, and I'd be one again. Natural Swordsman, +1 to hit with Swords, +1 to AC when wielding Swords, +1 to all skill-type rolls when using a Sword, such as Weapon Performances, Smithing them, identifying them, juggling them, etc. Doubled at Ten to +2. Required to become a Lord of the Sword.

Experience, Undaunted. Immunity to fear. Right on the boilerplate. I had already died once, and been eaten as a baby. I more then qualified for it on the 'trauma overcome' basis.

I opened my eyes and looked at the shadows around. They didn't look so threatening anymore. Indeed, the whole dreamscape seemed to shiver as I looked upon it. The little bits of dread and despair picking about the edges of my vision had evaporated.

A life without fear. That would be very different then the kind of person I was in the past…

Level Three Feats… would have to wait until Melee/1 was done.