by Pdmac
“The game is called Bridge Quest,” Hans began. “Think of this as any other sort of RPG game.”
“He’s never played before,” Heinrich interrupted.
Hans regarded Karl with overt suspicion bordering on disbelief. “You’ve never played before?”
“I know,” Karl sniffed. “A real shocker, isn’t it. I can only imagine your utter amazement when I tell you I don’t have a tattoo either.”
Heinrich burst a laugh and shook his head at Hans. “I told you he was perfect.”
Hans blinked at the realization he was again going to have to start at the beginning, muttering under his breath, “You would think that just one time one of them had a clue.” With a resigned sigh, he opened the folder in front of him and unfolded a map, spreading it out on the table and twisting it around so Karl could see it.
“This is the world of Bridge Quest. It comprises a planet made up of islands. The object is to complete the various quests on all the islands. There is only one way to get to each island, and that is via a bridge that connects one island to another, hence the name, Bridge Quest. However, there is only one bridge between islands. There is no other way to go from one island to the next. Also, once you leave an island, you cannot go back. In other words, all the bridges are one way only.”
“Why?”
“That’s so players, what individuals like you are called, don’t stagnate in one spot. The object is to make life an adventure, a continuous adventure. Staying in one spot defeats the whole purpose of the game.”
“Suppose someone, a player, likes where they are and wants to stay?” Karl asked while looking at the map.
“I suppose they could, but it would get boring after a while.”
“So I’m interacting with other players?”
“Yes and no,” Hans replied, wearing a pained expression as he realized this was going to take far longer than he wanted. “Yes, you do interact with other players, but there are also nonplaying characters, called NPCs. They are characters introduced into the game to help you along with your quest. In many games, the NPCs tend to be linear and provide you with information when asked, and that’s all they do. In this game, NPCs are every bit as human as you are. Though they are computer generated, they have emotions and feelings and everything else, just like you.”
“Do they feel pain?” Karl asked.
“Yes,” Hans replied. “In fact, it will be difficult to tell the difference between a player and an NPC, but not impossible.”
“OK. So I’m in the game and I’m on my quest,” Karl began before Hans stopped him.
“Not so fast. There are a few things to accomplish before that. First is choosing your avatar.”
“Huh?”
“Your avatar, your persona,” Hans explained. “You choose what you want to look like.”
“What’s wrong with the way I look now?”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Hans fussed.
“Let’s just say,” Heinrich intervened, “that most folks prefer to have another persona. It allows them to engage their creative imaginations. For example, you can choose to be a human, an elf, a dwarf and a number of other characters.”
“An elf?” Karl snickered.
“Yes, an elf,” Hans stiffly replied. “You can even be a Halfling or some other race.”
“What’s a Halfling?”
“They’re somewhat similar to humans, but half their size,” Hans curtly answered then caught himself. “The first thing you choose is your race.” He pulled out a page from the folder and slid it in front of Karl. “You’ll see the major categories listed there from humans to dragonborn to elf and others. So right now, you get to choose what race you want to be.”
“I’ve been a human my whole life,” Karl chuckled. “I think I’ll stay human.”
“Human it is.” Hans checked the block on another piece of paper. “Now you choose a class and then further refine from there. You can choose to be a warrior, a magician, a rogue, or a cleric.”
Karl examined the list and the various subcategories. Two immediately caught his eye.
Paladin: The Paladin is a brave and powerful fighter, motivated by the cause of justice and a devotion to a deity or higher being. He has additional gifts with healing, white magic, and combating undead, demons, and other dark supernatural creatures. However, his adherence to his cause/deity may impose behavioral limits and should he stray or transgress those rules of conduct, his abilities may be weakened.
Warlord: This warrior is a tactical master. He is the grand strategist when leading armies against a foe. He is equally forceful whether in the front lines or commanding from his headquarters. His charisma translates into protective auras that enhance and increase the fighting effectiveness of himself and his army. Though not as individually powerful as a berserker, for example, his charisma and genius are enough to sway the battle in his favor.
“I think I’ll choose Paladin,” he announced. “He seems the more interesting, though I do like the warlord’s strategic talents.”
“So I’ll put you down as ‘Paladin’?” Hans said.
“Yes.”
Hans checked the box ‘Paladin’ on the selections page. “Now comes some of the other finer points of the game. The first is your gear. As a level 1 Paladin, you have armor consisting of scale mail –”
“Wait a minute,” Karl interrupted. “I’ve changed my mind. I want to be a Viking instead.”
“A Viking?”
“Yeah. It says here,” he read, “that the Viking is a combination of the barbarian, swashbuckler, and paladin. When it comes to combat, he is fearless and ruthless, having greater than normal physical strength compared to other warriors. Though he can invoke berserker rage, he prefers agility, speed, cunning and daring to brute force, yet is not above extravagant theatrics. The ancient gods and magic play an important role in the Viking’s daily life and he can invoke the supernatural powers when necessary. Magic is a natural part of life to a Viking.” He looked up at Hans. “I’ll be a Viking.”
Wadding up the paper, Hans pulled another selections page from the folder. “Class, human, character, Viking,” he said, checking the boxes. “You do realize the Viking starts off with far less gear.”
“Easier to keep track of,” Karl shrugged.
“You have a choice of weapon from a broadsword, falchion or a claymore.”
Karl thought for a moment then decided, “Make it a broadsword. I prefer a double edge and the true claymore is a little longer than I like.”
“Then you have a choice of shield or buckler.”
“Hmm,” Karl mumbled. “A buckler is good for close combat, but doesn’t really help against arrows, whereas a shield is good for overall protection, but can be cumbersome.” An epiphany burst and he narrowed his gaze at Hans. “Is this a combat game, like some sort of dystopian drama where I’m expected to fight to survive? If so, I want guns and ammo and hand grenades and things like that.”
“It’s not like that, Karl” Heinrich explained. “In this world, there are no modern weapons. Think of Bridge Quest as set in medieval times with the addition of magic and fairytale qualities.”
“Seems an odd choice,” Karl replied. “Why not simply make it like today’s environment? It’d be a lot simpler.”
“Like I said before, why reinvent the wheel. The RPG world is a highly developed universe. Why attempt to develop a completely new game when we could take the best from what already exists?”
An unhappy thought suddenly occurred. “What’s the chance of me getting killed?”
“That’s a very real possibility,” Hans said.
Karl sat back. “This is absurd. You throw people into a game where the result is the same had they not played at all. What’s the point?”
“It’s not like that,” Hans placated. “If you are unlucky enough to be killed –”
“Unlucky is right,” Karl retorted.
“Let me finish. If you are unlucky enough to be killed, you
respawn.”
“Respawn,” Karl repeated with a concentrated frown.
“Respawn – you come back to life again. You see, in the game, you can’t die. Well, you can, but it’s not permanent. You come back again to your bind spot.”
“Bind spot?”
Hans looked helplessly at Heinrich who understood the technician’s frustration. This would go a lot quicker had Karl the rudiments of gaming. Unfortunately, even pro gamers had to start somewhere. Part of him wanted to hand him a manual and be done with it. Instead, he patiently smiled at his coworker.
“Let’s go back to the beginning, shall we?” He turned to Karl. “You have an idea of the world you’ll be living in. It’s a fantastic world in both the sense of adventure as well as design. We’ve developed this world to be exciting, better than the real world you’re temporarily leaving. Our hopes are that once you are part of Bridge Quest, you’ll never want to come back. That said, there are some essential rules and guides we want you to know to help you deal with the various aspects of the game. However, we cannot answer every variable as it would consume valuable time. The best thing we can do right now is give you the basics and get you into the game. Does that make sense?”
“I suppose,” Karl replied without conviction.
“Let Hans finish the essentials and then I can answer any questions you might have.”
“Fine.”
“We ended at choosing between a buckler or a shield,” Hans said.
“Buckler.”
Hans checked the box. “Now comes the part where we discuss your initial skill levels. Every player begins at Level 1. As your skills improve and you complete quests, your levels increase. The greater your level, the more powerful you are. The highest level a player can reach is 100. So, for instance, if two players were to fight each other and one was a level 10 and the other a level 1, which one do you think has the advantage?”
“Level 10.”
“That’s right. Now suppose the level 1 player had a magic potion that allowed him to freeze-in-place a level 10 opponent who would have the advantage now?”
“It depends,” Karl replied, “on the weapon the level 1 player had and if the potion lasted long enough for him to continue attacking the level 10 player until he killed him.”
Hans smiled with satisfaction. “Now you understand. It’s not necessarily the strongest who can win a fight at any given time. You have lots of other things you can use. But there are restrictions as to what and when you can use certain spells, potions, or weapons. If I understood correctly, you study martial arts.”
“That’s correct.”
“What level are you?”
“Fifth degree black belt.”
“OK, good. When you were a white belt, could you use a Bo staff correctly?”
“No,” Karl answered with an understanding nod. “I needed training and experience.”
“Exactly. The same applies here. Thus, beginning characters are awarded points in a number of basic skills. As your experience grows, the number of skills and the points per skill increase. For example, here is the listing for the basic skills of a Viking.” He twisted a page around and slid it across the table to Karl.
Strength: 10 points
Speech: 8 points
Magic: 4 points (locked)
Health: 10 points
Mana: 10 points
Combat: 12 points
“What’s mana?” Karl asked, reading the list.
“Mana and magic are interrelated,” Hans replied, “though not necessarily interchangeable. Think of mana as the power to use special abilities or spells. Different abilities use difference amounts of mana. For example, if you want to cast a certain spell, it would require a certain amount of mana to cast it. Based upon how much mana you have determines how many or how powerful a spell you can cast. If your mana points drop to zero, what happens?”
“I can’t cast a spell,” Karl answered.
“Exactly.”
“So once my mana goes to zero I can never cast a spell again?”
“No,” Hans explained. “Your mana regenerates based upon time and your character. Certain characters’ mana regenerates faster, druids for instance. So, for example, when you check your stats, you’ll see a set of numbers displayed as a value, such as ‘35/70.’ The second number represents the max amount of mana you can have. The first number is the current amount of mana available. Understand?”
“I think so,” Karl said. “What about speech?”
“That’s the ability of other languages and decoding.”
“Decoding?”
“Say you have a magic document written in code,” Hans explained. “Certain levels of speech help decode it.”
Karl reread the list. “OK. I got it.”
“As you play the game, you’ll want to keep track of where you are as well as determining other players and characters levels. In the game, you can call up a screen by simply pretending there is a screen in front of you. All you have to do is concentrate on the idea of a computer screen and one will pop up for you. Think of it like VR and its touch technology. When you call up your screen, all the screens of every other character immediately become visible. To get rid of the screens, simply press the off button at the bottom of the screen. Here’s a picture of what it looks like.” He slid another page with a screen graphic on it across the table.
Karl studied it then glanced up at Heinrich. “I’m surprised you still use paper when all this could have been done on a laptop.”
“It’s all a question of legality,” Heinrich replied. “We need your signature, in person.”
“I understand that, but why not have a laptop here with the game on it so I can see how it looks?”
“It wouldn’t be the same,” Heinrich smiled indulgently, “even in holographic form. It would give you a basic idea, but it would be nothing like the world of Bridge Quest with its sounds and smells and vibrancy.”
“I have just a few more items to review and then you can ask questions to your heart’s content,” Hans interrupted.
Gaining Karl’s attention, he continued. “Along the way on your quests, you will gain weapons, potions, scrolls, coins and other items. You need a means to store these. You have two options. For potions, scrolls, jewels, coins and other small items, you have a belt with ten pockets. Each pocket holds an unlimited amount of items. While this might be unrealistic, we decided for sake of ease to leave it. However, just because you can store all sorts of things doesn’t mean you should. For example, whenever a character is killed his possessions are up for grabs unless he can get back to his death spot in time to claim his stuff.”
“I don’t understand,” Karl frowned.
“It’s called your bind spot. Whenever a character is killed, he respawns back at his bind spot. So, for example, if your bind spot is in a tavern, anytime you respawn, you will reappear in the tavern. You can change your bind spot whenever you want, so it behooves you to pay attention.”
“Suppose my bind spot is in an island I just left?”
“Good question,” Hans said, pleased that Karl was beginning to understand. “Your bind spot will automatically move to the end of the bridge on the next island should you forget to move it. But back to my point, if your bind spot is too far away from your death spot, it’s possible you can lose everything you had on you, including your belt. You will be unable to store any items until you get another belt.”
“How do I do that?”
“There are certain NPCs who can provide you with a belt, but it comes with strings attached.”
“I don’t understand,” Karl said, his frustration showing.
“For example, Hans placated, “suppose you are killed and you respawn. You’re buck-naked by the way. You need a belt. A NPC offers you a belt in exchange for completing a quest. You get the belt, but you are obligated to complete the quest. If you don’t, you lose everything and the belt along with it.”
“Suppose I get killed again and hav
e to respawn?”
Hans nodded knowingly. “It behooves you not to get killed, which by the way, respawning is exceedingly painful. Not something you want to experience if you can help it. And that reminds me, in addition to your belt, you have a small bag always with you. Think of this bag like a genie’s bottle. You can store all sorts of weapons and armor in it, but it’s small enough to hardly be noticed. And again, while this is unrealistic, it’s done for the sake of the game. The same rules of respawning apply to the bag as the belt.”
Hans continued his explanations for the next two hours, finally stopping when he saw that Karl was beginning to grow tired.
“I think we’ve covered quite a bit of ground today,” he cheerfully said.
Heinrich indulgently smiled then turned to Karl. “You’ve signed all the necessary forms. Now it’s merely a question of when do you want to insert. My advice is the sooner the better.”
Karl yawned and rubbed his eyes. Lately he noticed that he tired easily and had chalked it up to fighting a bug or not getting enough sleep. Now that he was in the grip of cancer gave understanding to his change in health. Dr. Bryant’s prognosis rattled around inside his brain. He had maybe six months to live. Why wait? All he had to do was get his affairs in order and how long could that take? His will left what little he had to the kids. The divorce last year gave new meaning to the idea of starting over.
He then had a perverse pleasurable thought and smiled at the sweet revenge of coming back when Judy was old and grey and wrinkled. Wouldn’t that be just perfect. A scenario played out with him swinging by the retirement village to talk about the kids who now looked older than he did.
Awareness crept in and he realized they were waiting for an answer.
“Sorry,” he sheepishly said. “How about as soon as possible?”
“Excellent,” Heinrich grinned, slapping the table. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Chapter 2
Karl lay on the table wired to electrodes and IVs and other machines, both medical and analytical. Doctors, nurses, computer technicians and other support staff hovering around him mostly ignored him as they were too busy with their respective responsibilities to worry about the patient until the time came for his cross-over.
