The Wonderful LitRPG Wizard of Oz (LitRPG Classics Book 1)

by Oisin Muldowney

  The Wonderful LitRPG Wizard of Oz

  By Oisin Muldowney

  Based on the original text of L. Frank Baum

  Copyright © Oisin Muldowney 2020

  The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the publisher.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No affiliation is implied or intended to any organisation or recognisable body mentioned within.

  Published by Level Up in the United Kingdom in 2020

  ISBN: 978-1-83919-102-2

  www.levelup.pub

  Acknowledgements

  To the memory of L. Frank Baum, obviously, for the original fantasy story. I hadn’t read The Wizard of Oz since I was a teenager and was surprised how many battles there were and how much magic. It lends itself well to the LitRPG treatment.

  Thanks also to my Second Life friends, Poko (who took the picture), Nina, and Sophie Awhã for posing for the cover with me.

  Chapter I

  The Cyclone

  Dorothy was a level 1 Sorceress who lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies with Uncle Henry, who was a level 0 NPC farmer, and Aunt Em, who was also an NPC, the farmer’s wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar: except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

  When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the ghostly traces of her UI and the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

  When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife with a Charisma of 15. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. The Kansas landscape debuff of -1 Charisma per five years was probably not permanent but it might as well have been, for Aunt Em had nowhere else to go.

  She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now, reducing her Charisma to 9. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

  Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

  It was her familiar, Toto, who made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

  Toto

  Level 1 Familiar

  HP 2

  Dog form: Attacks 1 (bite), damage 1-2; AC 2 (+2 Dex)

  Brave (+4 on morale checks); Loyal (+4 on mind influencing checks); Magic Resistant (+4 on all saves vs. magical attacks)

  Dorothy longed to progress as a Sorceress, but she was stuck on level 1. Her only spells were the Detect Magic and Read Magic that every magic-using class was granted at creation. And the farm didn’t even have the usual Large Rat and Large Bat yardtrash that allowed new characters to gain experience. Instead, Toto scampered after imaginary foes and Dorothy pretended to assist him with Magic Missile and Lightning Bolt, as though she were a level 5 Sorceress. Her greatest dream was to actually own a copy of those spells in her spellbook.

  Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.

  From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and making her perception check, Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.

  Suddenly, Uncle Henry stood up.

  “There’s a cyclone coming, Em,” he called to his wife. “I’ll go look after the stock.” Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.

  Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand.

  “Quick, Dorothy!” she screamed. “Run for the cellar!”

  Toto jumped out of Dorothy’s arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt. When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.

  Then a strange thing happened.

  The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

  The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.

  It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.

  Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.

  Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the trap door so that no more accidents could happen.

  Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quit
e lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf. For a time she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her.

  In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

  Chapter II

  The Council with the Munchkins

  Dorothy was awakened by a shock, so sudden and severe that her 3 hit points were reduced to -3, and she should have been unconscious and in danger of dying. As it was, the jar made her catch her breath only. For it was followed by a most delightful series of seven chimes and a sense of health and power that she had never before experienced.

  Lying there, wondering what had happened, Dorothy felt Toto put his cold little nose into her face and give a cheerful bark. A pop-up notice appeared:

  You have slain the Wicked Witch of the East!

  Exp gain 140,000.

  You are now level 8.

  You have 8 Attribute points to spend. You have 24 Skill points to spend.

  You have unlocked level 2 Spells.

  You have unlocked level 3 Spells.

  You have unlocked level 4 Spells.

  You may now cast:

  4 level 1 Spells

  3 level 2 Spells

  2 level 3 Spells

  1 level 4 Spell

  Confused by why she had gained so much experience, but thrilled by her rapid progress, Dorothy sat up and called up her character sheet.

  Dorothy, level 8 Sorceress

  HP 27 Mana 80

  Str 5

  Int 12

  Wis 11

  Con 5

  Dex 6

  Cha 13

  Since a Sorceress cast Int-based spells, the obvious choice was to boost Intelligence, but Dorothy had been brought up by her uncle and aunt to appreciate that min-maxing was a foolish idea, because neglecting any Attribute too much had consequences. In her case, it was obvious that she needed more hit points, which came from allocating more points in Constitution. Dexterity wasn’t too urgent, but there would be checks for activities such as leaping or climbing that would be penalized by only having a 6. And the same for Strength. Her spend would therefore be 2 Str, 3 Int, 2 Con, 1 Dex.

  Dorothy, level 8 Sorceress

  HP 43 Mana 98

  Str 7

  Int 15

  Wis 11

  Con 7

  Dex 7

  Cha 13

  Very satisfied with her new stats, Dorothy turned her attention to spells. There were now ten gem slots down the left side of her UI. Unfortunately, eight were grayed out. She simply didn’t have the spells in her spell book to assign to them. The only active gems were the top two level 1 slots, where Read Magic and Detect Magic were assigned.

  Dorothy closed the character sheet and noticed that the house was not moving; nor was it dark, for the bright sunshine came in at the window, flooding the little room. She sprang from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran and opened the door.

  The little girl gave a cry of amazement and looked about her, her eyes growing bigger and bigger at the wonderful sights she saw.

  The cyclone had set the house down very gently—for a cyclone—in the midst of a country of marvelous beauty. There were lovely patches of greensward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes. A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful to a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairies.

  While she stood looking eagerly at the strange and beautiful sights, she noticed coming toward her a group of the queerest people she had ever seen. They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although they were, so far as looks go, many years older. A quick check showed them all to be level 0 NPCs.

  Three were men and one a woman, and all were oddly dressed. They wore round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. The hats of the men were blue; the little woman’s hat was white, and she wore a white gown that hung in pleats from her shoulders. Over it were sprinkled little stars that glistened in the sun like diamonds. The men were dressed in blue, of the same shade as their hats, and wore well-polished boots with a deep roll of blue at the tops. The men, Dorothy thought, were about as old as Uncle Henry, for two of them had beards. But the little woman was doubtless much older. Her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly.

  When these people drew near the house where Dorothy was standing in the doorway, they paused and whispered among themselves, as if afraid to come farther. But the little old woman walked up to Dorothy, made a low bow and said, in a sweet voice:

  “You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins. We are so grateful to you for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free from bondage.”

  Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder. True, she had seen the message that she had killed the Wicked Witch of the East, but how had she done that? She had no offensive spells and no recollection of casting any, or of little Toto attacking with his minor bite.

  The little woman evidently expected her to answer; so Dorothy said, with hesitation, “You are very kind, but there must be some mistake. I have not killed anything.”

  “Your house did, anyway,” replied the little old woman, with a laugh, “and that is the same thing. See!” she continued, pointing to the corner of the house. “There are her two feet, still sticking out from under a block of wood.”

  Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of delight. There, indeed, just under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes.

  “Oh, what luck! What luck!” cried Dorothy, laughing. “The house must have fallen on her. That explains the way I could win a boss fight, even though I was only level one and with no useful spells.”

  “Congratulations,” said the little woman calmly.

  “But what level was she?” asked Dorothy.

  “She was a level ten Witch,” answered the little woman. “She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set free, and are grateful to you for the favor.”

  “Who are the Munchkins?” inquired Dorothy.

  “They are the people who live in this land of the East where the Wicked Witch ruled.”

  “Are you a Munchkin?” asked Dorothy.

  “No, but I am their friend, although I live in the land of the North. When they saw the Witch of the East was dead the Munchkins sent a swift messenger to me, and I came at once. I am the Witch of the North.”

  “Oh, gracious!” cried Dorothy. “A Witch; can you teach me some spells?”

  “Yes, indeed,” answered the little woman. “But I am only level five, nowhere near as powerful as the Wicked Witch was who ruled here, or I should have set the people free myself.”

  “What’s in your spellbook?” asked the girl, who could only think of one thing: that she might soon achieve her ambition of being able to cast Magic Missile and Lightning Bolt.

  “We’ll come to that. First, you should know there were only four Witches of level five and above in all the Land of Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and the South, are good witches. I know this is true, for I am one of them myself, and cannot be mistaken. Those who dwelt in the East and the West were, indeed, wicked witches; but now that you have killed one of them,
there is but one Wicked Witch in all the Land of Oz—the one who lives in the West. And she also is level ten.”

  “I see,” said Dorothy, after a moment’s thought. “Yet Aunt Em has told me that the highest-level Witch in Kansas is only six.”

  “Who is Aunt Em?” inquired the little old woman.

  “She is my aunt who lives in Kansas, where I came from.”

  The Witch of the North seemed to think for a time, with her head bowed and her eyes upon the ground. Then she looked up and said, “I do not know where Kansas is, for I have never heard that country mentioned before. But tell me, is it a Pathfinder-based RPG country?”

  “Oh, yes,” replied Dorothy.

  “Then that accounts for it. In Pathfinder-based countries I believe levelling up is really difficult. But, you see, the Land of Oz has never been based on Pathfinder, for we are cut off from all the rest of the world. Therefore our laws are those of Runescape, with much higher level characters.”

  “Who is the highest-level character here?” asked Dorothy.

  “Oz himself is the Great Wizard,” answered the Witch, sinking her voice to a whisper. “He is more powerful than all the rest of us together. He is level fifteen and lives in the City of Emeralds.”

  Dorothy was going to ask another question, but just then the Munchkins, who had been standing silently by, gave a loud shout and pointed to the corner of the house where the Wicked Witch had been lying.