Respec(')

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SpoilerHey guys, this is an adventure I started just a week or so ago back on MSPAFA, before I even knew Eagle-Time existed. Guess I'll be running it in both places, now. Heck yeah!

Welcome! You are now the unnamed protagonist of this story, though if you really insist on referring to yourself, let's call you, um, KEB. Yes, you are Keb, though that is not really your name, and you are an adventurer in the adventure-filled world known as PLANET OF ADVENTURE. Well, generally it is just know as The Planet of Specification, but that is boring, because you are an adventurer, and anyone who specifies in any other specification is boring and lame.

Specification is simple enough: When you turn 18, you stop being Unspecified, and gain your first level. With that level, and every one you gain after it, you gain a specification point which you must allocate to a specific...specification. The process is a bit obtuse, but mostly, your point goes to whatever you want. The possibilities are basically endless. And most people put their points into boring trees, like the Accounting tree or whatever. But you knew from the beginning that you would be following the adventurer tree, and, sure enough, here you are at level 25, and all 25 of your points have gone into that tree. Here's what your build looks like:



Okay, so, it's not the most practical allocation, you've come to terms with that. But now, after many, many days spent grinding for Slime Pelts and Wolf Kidneys, you finally have enough money to buy a POTION OF RESPEC, which will allow you to finally reallocate those points into something a little more...useful. It's a big step though. Are you ready, man?

ARE YOU READY?

FUCK YEA

FUCK YEAH indeed. You hand an insanely huge pile of gold to the potion vendor, and chug the proffered concoction. You don't even even taste potions anymore. Since coughing up half of one means it either doesn't work or goes horribly wrong, your tastebuds have learned to just shut down out of a sense of self-preservation.

There's not a much immediate effect, you just suddenly feel more worried about Little Keb. You mean Little Unnamed Protagonist. Your build may have been useless for proper adventuring, but at least it gave you a certain peace of mind. But that's okay, you're about to make a brand new build that will earn you so much cash, you'll be able to afford the best codpiece money can buy.



Twenty-five whole points to play with, and you can start wherever you want. Just, as long as it's not accounting. If you spec accounting, your parents win. Anything but that.

Where to start?

PUT IT ALL IN CHEAT CODES

Yeah, you could just try to power build. It's certainly possible to utterly break the system and become wholly invincible. For example, the following build is quite popular:



Yes, quite popular, at least amongst a certain segment of the adventuring population. That would be the POWER GAMER, er, you mean ADVENTURER segment. And no one likes Power Adventurers. And for good reason. See, you could get all the loot and experience by power adventuring, but there's one thing you wouldn't get: Respect. Or, as you call it in the hip adventurer parlance, RESPEC'.

Respec' may not be a tangible as specification points or levels, but it is very real, and very important. Power Adventurers with no respec' never gain access to the highest, most sublime rewards this planet has to offer. And weird things happen to them. Sometimes they just disappear without a trace. Or a respawn.

No, you know your respec must keep respec' in mind.

There's one key attribute that makes a build respec'ful: Creativity. Don't just become a fierce and deadly adventurer, become one in a way that's never been done before, and no one would expect to work. That's why when you put that first point into "Protecting Your Gentleman's Area," you were SURE you were on to a good thing. The possibilities seemed endless, just as long as you avoided the "Teabagging Dudes To Death" route, which is totally cliche and overdone, and therefore disrespec'ful. But then you kept putting every new point you got into preserving your manhood, and things just got out of hand.

Well, no more! NOT THIS TIME!

8 to command squirrels
6 to summon squirrels
3 to conjure nuts

Suddenly, a stroke of genius hits you. Weaponized squirrels. Heck yes. Squirrels are an untapped source of carnage. You used to live by a walnut tree, and all day long, you heard them working away with their teeth, uncovering that nutty, nutty goodness. You mean, you've tried to crack walnuts yourself. You can barely do it! And that's with tools! Can you imagine what squirrels could do with the proper training? You will leave a trail of disemboweled monsters wherever you go, strewn about like the shattered husks of so many savaged nuts...

Oh god. That mental image does not mix well with your post-respec insecurity about your you-know-what's sudden vulnerability. You find yourself really, REALLY wishing you had some way of keeping them safe...



God. Dammit.

Okay, so you know how you said you can spec into anything you want? Well, that's true, it's just that THE SYSTEM has its own way of interpreting what you want. It's...kind of unpredictable. Some people say it works on the deepest subconscious levels of the adventurer's mind. Others say that it just likes to troll, like some irony-minded wish-granting Djinn from the desert zone. You think it's probably a little of both.

Okay, okay, fine. It's just one point. You can still salvage this. You can do it, unnamed pro...tagonist.

Also, it would probably be helpful to protect your man region in other and more creative ways. Put some points into clothing enhancement abilities, so at any moment you can make spikes come out of your pants or wear metal underwear or whathaveyou.

All while protecting your man's region!

Alright. Don't fight it. Don't resist your protective urges, just focus them. Concentrate on how you're going to use them. Concentrate on all the ways cool gear could make protecting your man region easier, and more flexible. You can do this.



Oh. Oh your gods. Is...is that color? Color on one of your allotment cards? Most adventurers don't get any colors until at least level 75! Oh, jeez, you think you're going to faint. The System is practically showering you with respec' here. This is why you don't Power Adventure. Power Adventurers never get any colors.

Okay, okay, you don't have any more ??? cards, so that means that before you can get any new abilities, you have to allot more points into the ones you already have. Not that that will be an issue. Even Epic Man-Crafting is going to result in pretty shitty gear with only one point allocated. And you'll probably be really bad at using whatever gear you get well unless you put more points into Protecting.

So, what'll it be?

Twenty points in Epic Man-Crafting, three in Protecting.

Okay, you start willing your points into Epic Man-Crafting, but then you're interrupted.



New blank card. This is always the hardest part. Do you focus on your existing skills, or get more and more? The thrill of new abilities, vs. knowing you're fully applying the ones you have. You have a lot of anxiety about such decisions. Probably has something to do with why you never used any of the blank cards in your original spec.

So, shall you continue with the original plan, or try to come up with yet another new ability?