World Keeper: Birth of a World

by Justin Miller

  “Don’t worry, because you don’t need to create all ten right away. Any race slots that you don’t use will be saved for later.” Terra explained with a quick nod, so I got to work on another window that appeared in front of me.

  Race Name

  _______________

  Comprehension

  7

  Agility

  5

  Strength

  5

  Lifespan

  75

  Luck

  5

  Awareness

  4

  Male:Female ratio

  1.06

  Example Adult Male

  Example Adult Female

  Racial Abilities

  For the first one, I decided to just leave it at default, filling the race name as ‘Human’. No matter what world you go to, humans are definitely the staple race, right? As for the second one… naturally it had to be elf, right? I tried to fine-tune it for the elves, and had to adjust some things.

  Of course, an elf’s lifespan can’t be as low as 75 years, so I increased that to 600. This brought the point cost of the race to 10, so I reduced their Comprehension to 5, and raised their Agility to 6. This should, hopefully, make them learn more at the pace that their bodies develop, while also making them faster than humans. Next, I gave them the second level of Magic Affinity for another 20 points.

  I made a few more adjustments, until finally I came up with this.

  Race Name

  Elf

  Comprehension

  5

  Agility

  6

  Strength

  5

  Lifespan

  600

  Luck

  5

  Awareness

  6

  Male:Female ratio

  0.89

  Example Adult Male

  Example Adult Female

  Racial Abilities

  - Magical Affinity 2

  Okay, that should be good for that race. I nodded to myself, before I got to work on the other races. Aside from the elves, most of them balanced out fairly well when I tweaked their stats. In total, I made dwarves, halflings, and beastkin(cats, dogs, bears, and foxes). That left me with two extra race slots, which I decided to save for later. Maybe I’d make demons and dragons once the world developed more?

  “Ready now, Dale?” Terra asked curiously, to which I nodded without fully understanding what she meant. “Okay! Now, we’re going to fast-forward the planet by a few millennia until your world has a population of about eighty-thousand. That will be a good time to start developing culture, and choosing your magic system!”

  Before I had a chance to react to that, the scenery below us began rapidly moving. The tiny figures that dotted the ground ran about at high speeds, with day and night passing in the blink of an eye. “Wh-what? What do you mean magic system?” I asked after I managed to compose myself. The shock of the world suddenly going at high speeds had startled me for a moment.

  “Hmm? Oh, there are various types of magic you can ‘install’ on the planet. For instance, you could go with a rune language that rewrites the fabric of reality. You could install gods that manage certain aspects of the world, and grant their followers power related to their domains. You could even choose to have the magic work either through imagination or geometric formulas!”

  “Ah…” Wow… there were way more options here than I had expected. Then again, I didn’t really know what to expect in the first place. “What about culture?”

  “Same thing.” She replied with a shrug. “Though, with culture, you can just choose to leave it at default and let them develop naturally. If you wish to guide them down a specific path, that will cost additional points.”

  I nodded my head slightly, and took a look at my remaining points. 350 left… I could probably afford some pretty cool things with that? Though, judging by how expensive some things have been, I should probably spend sparingly.

  Chapter 2

  “Okay… show me all of the options for magic systems, Terra.” I waited patiently for the options to appear.

  “Right, Dale!” She said with a happy grin, before a blue panel manifested in front of me.

  Imagination System

  Magic is limited only by the user's imagination. As long as they have the energy and the willpower, they can create any effect they desire.

  80 points

  Geometric System

  Magic is bound by a strict rule of mathematic formulas. Greatly restricts the flexibility of magic, but effects can be used at a much lower cost to the caster.

  50 points

  Limited System

  Choose one of the other magic systems, and apply specific limitations. For instance, the Imagination system may be limited by bloodline.

  Dependant on Limitations

  Runic System

  There is a language of magic that permeates your world. Any who know the proper words can bend the fabric of reality to their whim. This magic comes at practically no cost to the user, but they must use their own efforts to learn each individual rune.

  75 points

  Custom System

  You may self-define a system of magic if none of these options are suitable to your world. If the system acknowledges your design, it will be assigned a price, and placed on the list for future worlds. You may also earn a small income of points whenever your system is chosen by another Keeper.

  ???

  Game System

  This is not directly a system for magic, but can greatly influence the magic system. After choosing this option, you may begin development of a game system for your world. This system will contain classes, stats, and levels, and may aid or restrict the learning of magic, according to your design.

  150 points

  I looked over the options for a moment, and did a double take when I saw the one at the bottom. The ‘game system’ was nearly twice as expensive as the next biggest choice! I mean, I could understand that, as this system would influence far more than just magic, and could potentially even make magic easier to use as well.

  Taking a look at my remaining points, I grit my teeth and chose the ‘Game System’ option. This was a bit of a gamble, but in the worst case scenario I could just reset my world to get the points back. I’m not very far in right now, so it’s not like I will lose much work.

  Welcome to the World Keeper Game Design interface. This tutorial will help guide you through the step-by-step process of integrating your very own World System into your world. Be warned, additional features may cost extra points, so balance carefully.

  The next… I am not really sure how long I spent, but it felt like a day or two at least. Anyways, during that time I was going through drop-down menus, selecting things like what classes were available, how monsters were treated, and so on. Once I got to the Mage class, I ended up having to choose the magic system all over again! Though this time, the options were a bit different. I could either let the game automatically assign spells based on Mage levels, or choose one of the previous systems… But I had to pay half the price for the ‘other system’ option.

  I ended up choosing the Geometric System option this time, costing me another 25 points. At the same time, I added some basic spells to automatically be acquired with levels, to serve as a starting point for the Mage’s research. Just things like fireball, wind wall, and the like.

  As for what classes were available… I decided to select all of the ones that were relevant to a fantasy world. Simply making a class available didn’t have a cost value associated with it, but some required conditions to be set for gaining the class. For instance, the Hero class, the lowest requirement I could set for it for free was single-handedly defeating a monster twenty levels above themselves. I didn’t foresee that class being very common in the future.

  Now… the only other part that actually cost me more points was the holy magic system. Since I included Priests, Clerics, and Spirit Tamers in the mix, I had to define
the holy magic system. For this, I needed at least three ‘gods’ from which the divine classes could draw their power from. I could assign Terra and myself as one of the gods if I wanted, but I really didn’t want to have to listen to things like prayers and divinations all the time.

  So, instead I bought three AI gods at the cheapest price. For 25 points each, they could grant magic related to their domain to their followers, but would offer very minimal interference in the world. I decided to name the first one Ryone, Goddess of Wealth. The second was Bihena, Goddess of Battle. And finally, I had Udona, Goddess of Life.

  Why are they all goddesses, you ask? Now that is a silly question. I am making a heavenly host, and you think I WON’T make it full of people I find physically attractive? I mean, really? I will fully admit that I am a pervert, and be proud of it.

  As for the goddesses, I decided to assign them the races of Elf, Human, and Kitsune(the name given to the fox beast-kin) respectively. Sadly, since I bought them so cheap, they would not have personalities until I spent points to upgrade them. Anyways, with that taken care of, I was finally done with the core of the game system. And the grand total came to…. 250 points…

  It’s okay… this will take care of most of your future needs as well… it’s an investment, Dale, and investment. I mentally reassured myself, before clicking the ‘buy’ button. Just like that… half of my starting points vanished all at once.

  Congratulations! You have earned two achievements.

  For spending over 200 points, you earned the Basic Keeper achievement. +20 points.

  For spending at least 250 points in a single purchase, you earned the Spendthrift achievement. +20 points.

  Well… at least that is a small consolation. I spent over two hundred points, but got forty back. So now my total is… 165. I’m really going to have to budget myself at this rate. “So, what do you want to do for culture?” Terra asked with a smile, having waited patiently until I was done before speaking up.

  “Uh… can I hold off on that for now?” I asked with another sad glance to my remaining balance.

  “Sure, Dale.” Terra nodded her head in response. “Right now, they are at what you would consider the ‘Stone Age’, so there is still a great deal of time to see what direction their culture develops before we get involved.”

  That was a pretty good point. “Then… what is the point of buying culture so early? Wouldn’t it always make more sense to just wait and see how things go?”

  Hearing my question, Terra once again assumed her ‘teacher’ attitude, quickly sitting up straight. I’m sorry, I definitely was not looking at your naked chest just now. “Well, the difference is in development speed and history. For instance, in the second iteration of Earth, when the Keeper decided to pursue an advanced technology route, he selected a technology culture from the very beginning. This led to several people being born ‘ahead of their time’, which caused rapid innovation. Technology advanced at least twice as fast as in the Earth you grew up, because all of the major influences in history were designed to advance the culture in that direction.”

  I furrowed my brows together, thinking about it, before nodding my head. “So, if I leave it how it is, then the world could develop in a completely random direction. One race could rise to power and enslave all the others, or they could coexist peacefully.”

  Terra nodded her head happily as she heard that. “That’s right! Also…” She suddenly frowned, leaning forward with her hands on the artificial ground below us, arms inadvertently pressing her chest together. “Why didn’t you let me be one of your goddesses?” She was sporting a real pouting face, and it was at this point I discovered that my new companion knew exactly how to get me to agree to whatever she wanted.

  “U-uhm… well.. I thought that you wouldn’t like to handle all of the annoying prayers and everything associated with it.” I did my best to maintain eye contact, because looking anywhere else would be dangerous right now.

  “I don’t care about any of that!” She quickly said, shaking her head. “I can’t actually do anything if you don’t make me a goddess, you know? I’ll just be stuck up here all the time, twiddling my thumbs whenever you go down to the world.”

  “Huh? Is that how it is?” I asked in genuine confusion. I figured she could do stuff through the system like I could.

  “Yeah! If I’m just a system companion, all I can do is advise you. If you make me a goddess, then I’ll be able to influence things in the world related to my domain.”

  “Ah… I think I get it… well, what would you like to be a goddess of?” I asked, cautiously. I was really hoping she wasn’t going to pick something like ‘Goddess of love’. I mean, maybe I wasn’t completely okay with sharing my dream girl with everyone in the world, alright?

  “Hmm… How about the Goddess of Fate? That way, I could do a lot of little interactions to change the world, without making too big of a mess?” She had a beaming smile as she asked that, and I just really couldn’t say no. So, before she had the time to change her mind and pick something more lewd, I opened the interface for the game system and assigned her as the fourth goddess, Goddess Terra of Fate. The change only cost me five points, since I was not creating a new AI, but instead simply assigning deity rights to one that already existed.

  “Yay!” She called out, hopping to her feet and doing a quick dance when she felt the changes taking place. “I won’t make you regret that, Dale!” She said happily, before jumping at me and wrapping me in her arms. As for what happened next… well, I’m sure everyone can guess without me saying it, right? Let’s just say she was very thankful for her new job.

  After we had finished having our fun, Terra stretched out lazily on the ground with a content smile. Holding her with one arm, I looked around the open area. We could still see everything below, so this was not exactly a nice home. Maybe some people with a god complex would like it, but I didn’t really care that much for it. “Is there some way we can change the Admin Room, or would that cost points?”

  Terra shook her head, still smiling happily. “The Administration Room can be changed freely, without worrying about expenses. After all, this room in no way affects the power of the world below. Would you like to change it to something specific?” She let out a long purr as she felt my hand rubbing her back when she asked.

  “Hmm… could we change it to look like a modern house? With enough room for all of the goddesses?”

  She thought about that for a moment, and then nodded. “Alright, we can do that. How about… something like this?” By the time she finished speaking, we were resting on a large, red bed in the center of a big room. Looking around, the floor was soft carpet, and there was even a computer desk in the corner.

  “So… if you can do all this… why did the last Keeper descend to Earth, instead of getting all of his entertainment up here?” I asked, in honest confusion. I mean, from the looks of it, he could get everything he needed here, without needing to risk his neck on the surface.

  Terra simply giggled in response, scooting over closer to me on the bed. “Because the companion he got kept nagging him to advance his world and join the games. Since he didn’t give her a god status, he could run away to the surface without her being able to reach him. From what the companion noted, he sold all of his other god AIs a few years before he died, to prevent her from using them to contact him.”

  “Ah…” I couldn’t help but laugh when hearing that. Apparently, the last Keeper’s companion really wanted to take part in the games, so she kept pushing him to advance. But, being the person he was, he just wanted to live life casually. “I really hit the jackpot, then.” I grinned, leaning over to kiss Terra, whose smile became even brighter at that.

  Later, after resting a bit, I learned some of the changes to the Admin Room. Although each goddess had their own room, they were as bland and featureless as the personalities of the goddesses themselves. Further, there was no actual door leading out of the Admin Room. That was because there w
as really nothing else to see out there. Instead, the link to view the world had been moved to two places. One in the living room, by watching the TV and navigating with the remote, and the other in my bedroom with the computer, navigating the world and its information like I was playing a video game.

  Content with the changes so far, I decided to fast forward the game to the next ‘era’, and see how it progressed on its own. Since eras were marked by cultural and technological advancements, as well as important decisions, I didn’t have to worry that I’d miss too much. According to Terra, even a major war breaking out would be enough to count as a new ‘era’, so it was safe to leave it alone for a while. Besides, I had more fun things to do now.

  Chapter 3

  When I woke up the next day, well, it was probably the next day at least. We really needed some way to determine time for the Admin Room. Anyways, when I got up, I noticed that the computer was flashing an indication, showing that the fast forward had stopped. Terra didn’t seem to be paying much attention to it, as she was curled up happily at the foot of my bed.