Part 2 (1/2)
”Almost.”
”Right.”
Deighton droned on, ”...to the north, you see a great body of water stretching out to the horizon. It could be an inland sea, but the wind blowing across it brings no smell of salt; you suspect that it is a lake, instead...”
”Roll for Wisdom.”
”Wisdom? What's the difference between that and Intelligence?”
”Edith Bunker.”
”What?” She flinched as the others glared as though in chorus. ”What?” she whispered.
”I said, 'Edith Bunker'a”from All in the family? Not too bright, but wise as all h.e.l.l. Or to take a counterexample, Richard Nixon. Get it?”
”Fine.”
Three rolls gave her a ten. ”That's not too bad,” he said. ”Manual Dexterity is next.”
”As opposed to electric dexterity?” She arched an eyebrow.
”As opposed to Weapon Proficiencya”wizards can be dexterous as h.e.l.l, but not with weapons. It comes with the territory.
Roll.”
”...beside your party is a collection of large wooden boxes. Except for weapons and personal effects, they are the only equipment you have with you...”
The best she could do was five. ”Too bad. Guess I'm clumsy, eh?”
”And cold.” He smiled. ”Now, Weapon Proficiency.”
Her first roll was a total of twelve. ”Which is a waste of some good numbers,” Karl said. ”The best WP a wizard can have is five, which is what we'll give you. Now try Endurance.”
”...you have no sure recollection of how you got to this hillside, and the only possibility that suggests itself is too incredible to be taken seriously...”
”Hmm, a thirteen.” She lifted her head. ”Which means I'm hardy as h.e.l.l, right?”
”Close. One more to go.”
”What's the C stand for?”
”Charisma. Roll.”
Her first roll was a perfect five threes. ”Which figures,” he mumbled.
Andy-Andy just smiled back.
”...and now,” Deighton straightened himself, ”all that remains is for you to decide who you are, and what to do next.”
”Not quite. Doc.” Karl tapped Andy-Andy's sheet. ”Still got to work out her spells, decide on a character.”
”Quite right. Miss Andropolous, if you'll step over here, you and I can work that out. Mr. Cullinane tends to be a bit too... generous with spells, as I recall.”
”Not fair,” James Michael's voice held a decided edge. ”I was there the time Karl rolled up Martin the Illusionist. Righteous rolls, all of them.”
”As it may be.” Deighton motioned Andy-Andy over to his side of the table. ”And now, it is time for you to decide on your characters, weapons, and effects.”
James Michael Finnegan held himself back from the arguments over who was going to do what. There was no question that he was going to be Ahira Bandylegs, a dwarf warrior of great Strength and Weapon Proficiency, average intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, low Speeda”because of the three-point penalty for his short dwarf's legsa”but with an Endurance level that was just this side of magical. That was settled, for certain. On the other handa”
”Dammit, I don't want to be the cleric this time.” Doria thumped her hand on the table. ”Let me run a warrior, a thief, a wizarda”and get to do something. One of you be the cleric.”
Cullinane shook his head. ”Who? The only one of us with a reasonably high-level cleric is Walter. And as I recall, his cleric's only about a D-Cla.s.sa”we'll be better off with Walter as a thief.” Cullinane shrugged. ”It makes sense to do it that way.”
Slovotsky s.h.i.+fted position uncomfortably, ”I do have a cleric character.” He licked his thumb and riffled through the character sheets in front of him. ”Gin. But it's Rudolpha””
”a”the Incompetent,” Jason Parker finished, his voice taking on a whining tone that made James Michael itch. ”Forget it. A D-Cla.s.s cleric in a killer campaign? C'mon, Dorea”stick with what you're best at.”
Riccetti sucked air in through his teeth. ”Why don't we let her decide for herself? If she's tired of being a cleric, if she wants to do something else, let her.”
”Thanks, Ricky.” Doria smiled a promise at him.
Now that was strange. Riccetti always followed Parker's lead, but...
Of course. James Michael nodded. The only character of a higher cla.s.s than Riccetti's Aristobulus was Doria's cleric, and Riccetti wanted to be the most advanced character in the game.
Cullinane spun around. ”You want to be the cleric?”
Riccetti sneered. ”And have our only wizard be a C-Cla.s.s novice? Don't be silly.”
James Michael sighed. If this haggling went on much longer, it would threaten to cut heavily into playing time. And that would be intolerable. ”Excuse me.” Five pairs of eyes fastened on him. ”Ricky, it seems to me that you're being kind of... generous. Usually, you're the one pus.h.i.+ng for a balanced team. At least you were, until Doria went up to K-Cla.s.s,”
”Yes, but...” Riccetti obviously couldn't think of a but.
”But nothing. The fact is that Doria of the Healing Hand is K-Cla.s.s. Aristobulus is J-Cla.s.s, one level lower. I'm sure, Ricky, that you'll put aside your jealousy. For the good of the group.” He turned to Doria. ”If you're willing to be the cleric, that is.”
Suddenly, he was ashamed of himself. Not that he'd meant it that way, but Doria was taking it as a request from a cripple. And she wouldn't turn down a little feeb, would she? Please, Doria, say no. You wouldn't give in to anyone else on this. Treat me like everyone else, for once. Please?
She nodded. ”I'll be the clerica”but I want to have a say in your characters. You choose mine, I get to veto yours if I don't like it. Agreed?”
”Agreed,” James Michael sighed.
”Fine,” Parker said. ”Ricky and I were talking to Doc on the way in; he kind of agreed that it would be a good idea for Walter to run Hakim, if that'sa””
”Yippee!” Walter leered at Doria. ”This thief's going to steal your heart, he is.” He riffled through his character sheets and selected one. ”I like that greasy b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Please don't veto him, Doria-beautiful, please?” He clasped his hands below his chin and ducked his head.
”Okay, okay.” Doria turned to Parker. ”And I suppose you've decided on a character already?”
Parker shrugged. ”Einar Lightfingers, I guessa”Doc suggested that we might want to have a couple of thieves along. Particularly if we're going to have to steal this Gate thing.”
Cullinane's head snapped back from his almost constant staring at the new girl, who was still talking with Doc in the corner of the room. ”Steal it? Do we know that it's portable? I was helping Andy roll up her character; must've missed something.”