Настучать в бубен / Hit the tambourine: Глава 20-2

Chapter 20-3

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 13:13

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Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 13:13

He had been selecting the second of the elite segment properties all day long, taking breaks only to eat and fulfill his natural needs, raping the system help in every possible way with various unnatural types of queries. It seemed that when he finished collecting data, his version of the system sighed and wiped away the labor sweat. But that was it, a humorous moment to distract from the really important issues. Most of the available super-properties, and those were a little over fifty, he still discarded, rejected for various reasons, the most important and frequent among which was inconsistency with the direction of Stepan's pumping or evasion in some very narrow specialty. The remaining options were also cut for one reason or another until he was left with a relatively modest list of only eleven options.

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 14:37

Here it was already possible to work, although it was almost physically painful to cross out each of these properties as if you were making notches on your own bare nerves. The system knew how to seduce with missed opportunities. But nothing lasts forever, not forever the patience of the shaman, who is quite stumped by the agony of choice. And still ahead loomed the assimilation of a new auric modification. A special mode of auric nodes, in which the energy body of the shaman acquired some of the functions of the spiritual body, revealed the possibility of almost doubling the call potential. This mode consumed so much energy that he wanted to cry from the calculations because, without the use of meta-skills or tokens, such a property can not normally be used. And the consequences of overloading could easily cripple the spirit, source, and aura nodes at once, and if the spirit decided to jump up, it would be sooner rather than later. It was a pity. Two units of Power and one of Source weren't lying on the road.

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 14:41

From the options of development dropped out and a very funny mark on the spirit, which gave the analog of the same Mark of Spheres, but in a different direction. It's not bidding spirits, but scaring away aggressive predators. Calls of all sorts of evil and dangerous things simplified literally dozens of times and life for all shaman-opponents that could try to attack Stepan with their retinues became very complicated. Also with such a mark, he can easily scare away restless cemeteries or demonic altars by his mere presence, especially when combined with a ‘small spiritual-energy amulet’. In many ways, a very good modification, and yes two to Spirit and one to Sensitivity for a shaman was a perfect bonus, but it was not without drawbacks. Outside of pure call practice, such property was of little use, and some of the spirits of other, most good, such a ‘mark of inevitable retribution of great spirits’, will only scare away, as well as the most cautious dark ones. Stepan categorically did not want to reduce his versatility, believing it to be his greatest trump card. Any bonuses from the property that reduced that versatility didn't pay off.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 19:05

Yes, it was very pleasant to know that your murderers, the beneficiaries of your elimination would be pursued to the twelfth tribe by nearly a dozen Great Spirits. Only he would not care at that moment, and he himself would prefer not to die and not to be killed, although his mind recognized that if he wanted to go out to the people, to formalize his status, it would be very successful to use such a “dead hand system”. But the Earthman was not going to reveal himself to the world, especially against the background of the presence in the same world of his sorrowful namesake, and therefore he refused this option with an almost light heart. Not exactly light-hearted, but the reason for his greed was the bonuses to the calls, not the opportunity to get revenge on his killers from the other end of the “GAME OVER” inscription.

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 14:43

He'd given up the one property that could allow him to survive death. The cost of such survival was too great, and it wasn't about losing some of his markings and contracts. To revive, the shaman would need to borrow someone else's body, not a hostless homunculus bred specifically for him, but another gifted one that needed to be struck, devoured, and literally digested. It was the agony of the donor-host, the process of disintegration of its shells and personality that revealed the possibility of perfect incorporation into a new vessel, even more ideal than if in a specially prepared and grown body by biomages. In addition, the recipient had to be gifted, preferably not weak, but not too strong either, or he could traumatize himself in the process of absorbing someone else's aura and even, partially, soul. Gifted and young, the younger, the better, the more you will be able to keep the marks and contracts, the less you will lose when transferring. While the shaman had initially taken this property more normally, a closer look at it made it clear that fuck it, just fuck it, it was too nasty. Even a set of bonuses to out-of-body travel and accelerated rebirth of the spiritual body, which would bring him closer to becoming a Higher Shaman, did not compensate for its nastiness.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 19:10

He also discarded a very cool but very exotic aura and mind modification that would have literally opened his third eye. An immediate triple to sensitivity was certainly nice, as well as wild bonuses to all types of sensory, postcognitive, mind-reading, and even prediction and fortune-telling. The only cost was the need to walk around blindfolded at all times. The longer you don't look at the world with normal eyes, the stronger the property and its effects become, reaching full dispersal in a month and a half. And every time to guess at the present or try to look into the future to go blind for forty-five, bitch, days, it's even for Stepan too much. All the more so because he had to blind himself, not just close his eyes, for he could see without his eyes. It is important to cut himself off from any form of perception of the visual picture of the world. No, he still had the necessary knowledge that would make him a fortune-teller and clairvoyant, but such knowledge was in the form of too fragmentary and depended mainly on the summoned spirits, among which there were enough experts in collecting or analyzing information. In general, it was not his choice. However in another situation, if he had known that he would have the opportunity to take such a property on the thirtieth, he would have seriously considered adjusting the pumping.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 19:17

The young man had not forgotten about the unfortunate misunderstanding that had visited his dreams and almost managed to get into his head - an unknown and insidious demoness was poisoning his existence by the very fact of his own existence, forcing him to be constantly on guard. He prepared for all possible trouble, gathered a whole team of specialized spirits, and called for a contract, albeit not permanent, but with several charges of summoning, a senior exotic spirit with very powerful aspects. Except how was he supposed to search for an obscure demoness, knowing next to nothing about her except that she could walk in dreams? No Vice specialization, no auric imprints, no Name, just the fact of her existence. You couldn't play a normal game with such cards, so you just had to wait and wait, ready to strike back. This is where the opportunity to pump a branch of fortune-telling would come in handy, and working fortune-telling not quackery! But if you knew where you were going to fall, you would have put there not even a straw, but a normal mattress, or even a trampoline. And how much easier it would be if he knew the name of this thing, at least one part of it if we are talking about a non-ordinary demoness!

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 19:19

One property was rejected after the other, and as a result, Stepan was left with exactly two variants that attracted him equally: “smooth fusion of spiritual and carnal structure” and ‘balance of spiritual-energetic symbiosis’. Both properties did not do exactly the same thing directly, but overlapped each other's abilities markedly, though their main benefits were different. Both systemic gifts increased the ability to travel in the spirit world and to indwell spirits in the body, but in the first variant traveling in the spirit world was the main basis, and indwelling was an auxiliary consequence, while in the second variant, everything was strictly the opposite. Stepan even tried to check the system for bugs, maybe he could spend one of his saved talent points on these properties, but expectedly he got exactly nothing - if there were bugs in the system, it was impossible to use them in such a way.

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 14:46

The Smooth Fusion worked on the principles of unity of spirit and body, continuing the work of spiritual transformation to its logical end, to the point where the flesh had already begun to act and change after the spirit. This allowed for a very effective use of spiritual shapeshifting, planting a beast spirit in himself and shifting with an ease that a full-fledged shapeshifter would not get. And that's not to mention that the limits of morphism and the forms of transformation can be very wide, up to turning yourself not into a wolf or a jaguar, but into a partially material co-bear from the unforgettable Dungeons and Dragons. But these are just side bonuses, whereas the main highlight is in that very partial materiality - the possibility, albeit with crutches, albeit not without difficulties, albeit not for long, but to pass to the spiritual world in the physical body. All it takes is to be able to make this physical body for a while not quite physical. The ability that older shamans learn for decades, for the sake of becoming a Higher Shaman, in his case will take the form of a complete and embedded in the spiritual body of the ancestral arcana, which makes you pseudo-high much sooner than it should.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 19:25

And the whole point is that this annoying and ugly prefix ‘pseudo’ will disappear and disappear quite quickly. Yes, learning to switch from crutches to normal walking is difficult and time-consuming, but still faster than learning to walk those who were rolling around in a wheelchair and could only move a couple of fingers. He would be able to speed up his training, especially at the initial stage. He just needed to get enough time to get back to the practice of out-of-body spirit traveling. He couldn't get time for it - the training, or the calls, or the wormy shit, or something else. A very tempting opportunity, which was only strengthened by three points of characteristics in the power of aura. It was logical because it was through the nodes of the subtle and energetic body, where they were closest to the flesh, that this transformation-melding took place. If this property were the only one of the two remaining, the earthling would have chosen it almost without doubt, but it was not the only one.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 07:48

The Delimiting Balance also made it possible to train spiritual wandering more effectively. This property also made it possible to survive a few minutes of bathing in the world of Spheres without the slightest difficulty on passive pluses alone, without suffering any injuries. Increasing the protection of the spiritual body, strengthening the defense of the physical body against everything spiritual, simplifying many risky calls, and reducing the danger of injury in case of some unplanned outcomes of the rituals. This is already very good. But the main strength of this property was that the body and spirit of the shaman became many times and orders of magnitude less susceptible to the effect of ‘astral diffusion’, as adepts of high magic called it or the ‘burden of the born in reality’, as fellow shamans would say. That time, when Stepan and Singha had nearly died diving into the depths of the spheres, he had feared that the matter and spirit of his body in the Spheres would drip off his bones like icing sugar in a microwave oven. The balance prevented him from losing himself and allowed him to feel clearly and distinctly where his body, no matter spiritual or real, ended, and where something else began - the world of the higher spheres, the essence of the spirit that had entered the body, some witch's territorial curse that gnawed into the subtle bodies of its victims.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 07:55

Yes, it allowed him to throw off curses quite well, especially in combination with the same protection and opened up the possibility to train movement through the world of Spheres together with the body without unnecessary risks, even mentally-perverse crap will be much easier to counteract. But the main and most important power of this property is in the mode of settlement, which does not cease to be dangerous, but becomes no more dangerous than the usual call or the planting of spirits in the amulet feather, which is braided in your hair. Practically no effort or concentration will not need to be spent on the control of the spirit and its actions, because another entity, especially benevolently attuned, instructed, and skilled in symbiosis-settlement, simply will not be able to do accidental harm, and intentional, perhaps, too. There was no threat that the shaman's essence and his summoning would become so mixed that they would begin to fuse into one another - the very threat that had eaten up so much of the shaman's strength and concentration earlier, the threat that demanded maximum control over the indwelling.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 07:59

With such a bonus, he could really expect to put an elder spirit in him while still having enough concentration to manage his retinue and shuffle his summons! In the name of Great Milf, he could even, theoretically, only with a contract certified by the System and with a long preparation, try to add a high spirit specialized in such a symbiosis to himself and withstand such a neighborhood for more than a couple of seconds without getting into a magical analog of reanimation and receiving a fantasy version of the Darwin Award! In addition, add three points to the Resistance, which will bring his spiritual protection to a very serious level, and increase the resistance to mental and spell influences. It would seem that all the ideal. It is just what the Shaman needs from all sides, overlapping the weakest aspects of his development. He already perfectly copes with the rest of the facets of the shamanic gift and the most ordinary standard calls.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 08:06

Stepan would have chosen Иalance, but he just didn't want to and couldn't understand why. His thoughts kept jumping to the fact that even if the Balance suited him perfectly, for some reason he wanted to choose Fusion. Why would he need resistance if it was the most unnecessary attribute for a Shaman? That is, he understood perfectly well why he needed Resistance, but every time, even after listing the reasons for increasing Resistance, the young man returned to the same thought. He does not need to increase the Resistance, because it is the most unnecessary attribute of the Shaman. And the attribute that increases mental resistance so much is good for everyone, but why should he increase mental resistance with a super-property point, when he can pump it with Sylvia's help and let her jerk him off with her oiled pale tits? And again, he knew perfectly well why it would be important and the right decision, but he still wanted to spend the point on anything but this balance, it was wrong, he didn't need to pump it, it was better to develop something else.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 08:11

Feeling himself boiling over, at the same time wishing he could find Sylvia and Jasper, ordering them to put oil on her pale tits and give him a double cock clamp with their tits, he was about to put a point of talent into the fusion. But at that moment, as he was walking out of the door, horny and distracted, clutching the summoned Malter doll in his hands, hurrying to fuck her pale slippery slick oiled tits before the assimilation of the talent began, he nearly tripped again in the same spot, slamming his forehead into the defenseless jamb. It seemed to be a little damaged, and the Earthman had to heal himself again because it was as if someone had kicked him in the head with a shoe made of solid gold, even if it was in the form of sandals - with that weight it could have been ballet shoes, but there was a ringing in his ears.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 08:14

Shaking his head and considering it a sign of fate, the young man decided not to listen to his intuition acting strangely, choosing what he needed rather than what seemed to be more necessary, because the former was just too suspiciously well-suited to his plans for his pumping. Talent goes into “balance of spiritual-energy symbiosis delineation”, and the shaman, realizing that the idea of going and snatching Sylvia's pale tits right at the moment of aura and spiritual body modification was, to put it mildly, very bold, decides to lie down for a bit and try to take a nap. Of course, he was not able to doze off, but he was glad that the reorganization of his essence caught him not standing on his feet, but comfortably resting on a soft bed.

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 14:51

The new transformation caused the sensation of his thin body being poured into glass - strong, tough, fast solidifying, but hot and cool at the same time as if it were covering his essence with its cocoon, which separated what was Stepan from everything else. It was as if it were a kind of constantly existing wall that allowed him to see, feel, touch, change, and shift. At the same time shielding him from everything he wanted. It was also worth adding the damned Resistance, the growth of which seemed to be a press from all sides, which painlessly but intensively tamped and compacted the subtle body of the Shaman, making it less and less amenable to the world around him, obedient only to himself and his desires. It seemed to the Shaman that it lasted for several eternities in a row, but in reality, it was only a little more than a day and a half, during which he practically did not move.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 09:52

At some moment he assumed a sitting posture in a meditative position and spent almost the entire time of his transfigurative trance in this state. He awoke from his withdrawal into the depths of his self exceptionally contented, but hungry and sweating. The servants, whose names he had never learned, and for which he was a little ashamed every time, pleased him with a whole tray of tasty canapés, as well as with a bath, hot and fragrant, for the remaining systematically purchased recreational compositions from the last time were still available. He satisfied his first hunger literally on the fly, devouring the canapés with a ruthlessness worthy of true dark lords, and then plunged into the warm water and almost moaned in pleasure. The hardest stage, if not for the consciousness then for the gift and subtle bodies, was passed and the most important and the most difficult of the necessary choices remained. The second class is an opportunity to diversify the build and get access to full-fledged branches of class knowledge and properties, which will have to enter into synergy with the already available status lines.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 09:56

He was even going to talk to Sylvia and discuss his choice. She couldn't advise him on shamanism because she didn't have the necessary competence, but when it came to completely new classes, in which Stepan himself knew a little better than her, the advice of an experienced and much-seen bloodsucker would be at least interesting. He decided to open the new system message right in the bathroom - he wasn't going to choose anyway, not right away, but curiosity was eating him up, tormenting and tormenting him, it was worse than not being able to scratch when it itched. The necessary tab was found and activated. The young man immediately focused all of himself on what the system was pleasing him.

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 14:49

The thirtieth level of development has been reached!

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 09:45

The option to select a subclass has been opened. Available subclass selection options are provided taking into account the existing status modifications.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 09:46

Available subclasses to choose from: Druid, Healer, Beastmaster, Malefic, Passionweaver, Enchanter, Sage, Artificer, Changeling, Priest.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 09:48

A whole nine options. Pretty good, especially when you consider that only one of those nine options is engaged by the Autogoddess! Yes, all the classes are simple, but that's just fine. He still needs to pump them up and get specialized, only the base is provided here. Not all of these classes are straightforward, though. The ‘Passion Weaver’ is clearly a grade or two above the standard, though it doesn't reach THAT ONE class, which he didn't choose on the day he entered the new world. In principle, it's not surprising. Not even without the intervention of Great Milf. Because his most pumped-up branch is a brainfucker, no matter how you look at it. And this class wouldn't be so bad, especially when combined with the existing knowledge branches, the cascade of synergy, and the fact that the Earthling has already learned how to extract benefits even from such seemingly exceptionally perverse status lines.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 10:00

He even imagined for a moment how he could use the only ‘trump’ subclass provided. Brain blows, frosts, psychic attacks, emotional burning, elimination and creation of agents of influence, brainwashing of all sorts of pretty peasants with sweet juicy slippery-greased peasant tits, which under the influence of his new knowledge would gladly pull up their dresses or, on the contrary, lower them, exposing such beautiful breasts with dark nipples, which could be licked and kissed, oiled and caressed with every touch. He saw it almost in reality, experiencing a serious passion, a desire to take and fuck the luscious juicy peasant bitch, having previously brainwashed her so that she would shake her sweet juicy slippery greased peasant tits in front of his face, shaking them so enticingly that he would not even want to fuck her, only to lick and kiss those tits, only...

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 10:03

Stepan suddenly realized that his fantasies had taken him somewhere wrong, because he was in the same house with a lot of gorgeous women, even if they were vampires, and now he was sitting in a warm bath and lazily jerking off, dreaming about some brainwashed titsy villagers. What's more, he almost managed to pick the Passion Weaver subclass in the heat of his fantasies! If he'd actually managed to do that shit he'd have to drown himself in the bathtub of shame. No, the class is not bad, of course, there are many ways to use it he sees, many ways he would like to use it, and not only for licking sweet juicy slippery greased country tits.... but, no, no, no, no more sitting here jerking off in the bath, it was time to get up and have a proper lunch, and Sylvia was obviously not going to deny him a little passion, he seemed to be so worked up that he'd almost done something fatally stupid.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 10:05

A few minutes later he was dressed and hurrying to Sylvia's house consumed with desire and an annoying boner to indulge in some unbridled perversion in her company. He had not forgotten about his idiotic desire to take a kinky subclass, but he had discarded it like a momentary weakness, which was a shame to remember, and he was not going to choose such a stupid and breaking-all-his-plans variant of development. For some reason he did not think about how he got such an obsessive desire at all, not realizing that only by a very great luck he was able to stop himself from making a fatal choice.

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 14:56

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Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 13:13

The subclass gave a considerable amount of bonuses when taken, but less than the first one. Characteristics received a stable increase every tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth level, just like the Shaman, but the first point of characteristics was added immediately as if the first ten were taken at the moment of choosing a subclass. But the instantaneous increase of five or six points, as was the case with the original classes, was not brought. But there were two free knowledge points, two points of minor knowledge suitable for the new class, and one point of properties, also class or neutral, not purely shamanic. Not as much as you might think, but this bonus will allow you to start using your subclass right away. Especially in combination with all the knowledge that already existed in the status, but multiplied by the high characteristics of the owner of the system.

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 15:04

The classes themselves also differed from each other, gave slightly different bonuses, and there was also a promise from the help, which stated that the Milfy Patroness would also somehow gift her chosen one, depending on the choice of the subclass. It wasn't hard to guess which subclass, when chosen, would give the greatest reward from the Autogoddess, and it wasn't hard to guess what types of rewards would be given. Again, the Weaver subclass promised three points of knowledge, six points of minor knowledge, three properties, and three meta-skills at once. You can't help but think about putting up with her exhortations and starting to swing the way the Great, - in terms of scale and volume, - namesake bequeathed. You will think about it, and then shudder and cast such thoughts far away, into the darkest corner of your subconsciousness. Leaving aside the jokes, there was still the same problem of choice, which in fact was not as serious as when choosing a super-property.

Camrad_RIP 24.02.25 в 15:06

All the subclasses, with one exception, were exclusively from the standard list. Apparently, as he was now realizing, he was originally supposed to be offered not the measly five options he'd had from the start, but much more. Only Her Milfness Special Class had eaten up too much space, reducing the list of available options to a bare minimum. The young man was not surprised by this, but he was not angry, for he did not regret becoming a Shaman, and all the other choices that passed him by had already passed him by, so why should he foam with anger? What is more interesting here is that the classes offered to him are almost all based either on wild magic alone or can work on its methods just as well as on high magic. Makes sense, because the young man wouldn't have chosen the Wizard, Sorcerer, or Mage subclasses. There are too different, diametrically opposite approaches to work, they literally weave their charms like patterns, and for this to work you need to work with the nodes of the aura, not the spiritual body. And that means that if not to retrain, then it would be necessary to pump a parallel branch of root knowledge and after that to build up the meat of separate branches on it.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 10:18

From the available ones, it was easy to trace the reason for issuing this or that subclass. Artefactor was given due to a bunch of totems and envolting. Malefic - for the ability to curse, and not just through spirits. Shapeshifter - for his work with indwelling in conjunction with the entities of animal spheres, and it's silly to talk about the Weaver. But part of these subclasses could be scrapped at once, despite the possible advantages of pumping them up. The same Artifactor, of course, can be useful, but it's a specialty that requires steady hands, a huge investment of resources, and an equally huge time to create real masterpieces, and can be easily replaced by a System Shop. The Beastmaster can be amazingly good in combat and support, being literally a version of a Shaman that controls a material retinue rather than a spiritual one. Yes, it can, but this retinue requires eating, sleeping, and constantly shitting, and even if you subdue and strengthen with specific spells someone strong, this miracle will have to be hidden and pumped somewhere. No, spirits are much more convenient, although the prospect of creating spiritual chimeras through the settlement and totemisation of still-alive and voluntary recipients, which may well be any evil beast beckons.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 10:41

After some thought, Stepan was left with exactly four options as to which subclass to choose to maximize synergy with his existing strengths and overlap the weaknesses. Well, four and a half, if you count the Shifter but there are very doubtful advantages, with undoubted risks and rather narrow limits of the subclass, especially at the early stages. And at the later stages you have to choose either shamanism or the art of shapeshifting, because, in its base, the original essence of the beast will be in conflict with the planting of spiritual entities of any kind, except those suitable for the inner hamster. Or a deer. Or even the mighty chirp. A Priest, on the other hand. He'd checked with the Help, he could only become a priest of a local entity of the appropriate rank, and although he'd recognized the tantalizing symbolism of the opportunity to Glorify the Sun, he didn't feel good about such a career. If only because a priest never belonged to himself, only to his deity, and that was too significant a loss of freedom to accept without a very good reason.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 10:44

No one was going to give him any reasons, even on the contrary, and the dubious possibility of getting ultimatum social protection did not please him as much as at the beginning of his career. If he had been offered a priest class at the beginning of his career, he could have accepted it, knowing very well from the information and simple logic that the local gods or goddesses would almost lick the bearer of the System. And just for a minute, he laughed at the thought of becoming a priest, and not of someone, but of Life Giving, Eternally Giving Birth, Earth Keeping, and so on, so on, so on. As Stepan knew from Shera's words, she had a principled position that forbade her to take male members of the clergy. Stepan was not the kind of man who would commit a life-changing act just to see how the sight of a man who was a priest of Gaia made others sick, but the thought was tempting. He wonders how the System and the goddess, whose aspects don't allow for male priests, would cope.

Camrad_RIP 27.02.25 в 10:53

Anyway, about the choice.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 09:48

Druid, Warlock, Malefic, and, with a caveat, Sage - these are the subclasses that should at least be taken seriously at his thirtieth level, and not just as a mental experiment. The Sage, alas, is almost immediately crossed out because of the same caveats. At first glance, this class, which is a classic literally textbook Taoist monk, fit almost perfectly. The same basis of the magical gift is to work with the spiritual body of his and the surrounding reflection of the universe, very good physical reinforcement of different sorts, survivability, armor, and resistance at the level, as well as the speed at which, after pumping, even vampires will seem a little slow. All would be well, but the very basis of such a method of development is in harmony with the universe, in the compaction of the spirit of his own, bringing it to a monolithic fortress and at the same time with the preservation of incredible mobility, capable of literally pulling in aspects of the world of spheres. To take from the flame the very essence of fire and pound the enemy with blazing fists, to take from the water its nature and become flexible, resistant to impact and instantly taking the former form and state, to adopt the hardness of stone and the vitality of wood - all this could a Sage.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 19:29

He could summon spirits, too. Though, it was much more difficult for them than for Shamans. Their compacted and monolithic spirits worked for reception, drawing in the power and aspects, but it was much more difficult to make them give back what they had drawn in. Also, the active use of the Sage's knowledge was simply blocking Indwelling and Spiritual Transformation. In such a tightly compressed and forged spiritual body there would be no room for a neighbor, subtle bodies compacted to the limit would not let out claws and tentacles, certainly not without harm to themselves. It would be almost impossible to simply leave the body and walk around the Spheres because the body and spirit of the Sage are too united. Here, either go straight to the underside of the world in the physical body, noticeably more resistant to such extremes, or completely forget about this most important part of shamanic development. In principle, it was possible to buy the corresponding properties from the System, but it was not certain that after taking the subclass in the list of available options such properties would remain available for free taking. The class gave a unit to Sensitivity every tenth level starting from the thirtieth, a unit to Constitution every twenty and a unit to Resistance every thirty - not the kind of gifts that would pay for the trouble.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 16:50

Malefic, despite the decidedly dark coloring of the class, was a very promising option, if only because so many of his charms and compulsions are essentially the same as curses, only inverted differently. Add to that the Autogoddess' gift of level thirty, which turns any attempts by the Shaman to use curses into very successful attempts, and things get even more interesting. The main problem here was that curses, though they can be created from wild magic, are no less a high magic, woven into classical weaves. Like Druidism, this trend also combines wild and high approaches, but where Druidism has this division almost evenly split, in this case, the preference is still for classical high magic. In the framework of system pumping, this will be expressed by the fact that most of the class talents for Stepan will remain either ineffective or blocked, and synergy with the main class will be available for a maximum of a third of the choices available in the lists. And the characteristics - Control, Sensitivity, and Source every ten, twenty, and thirty levels, respectively - are not the most appropriate.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 16:41

On the other hand, no one would say that wild mages are bad at cursing. Maleficism is the very essence of influence on the spiritual world by methods of High Magic. It's just that in his case, you can skip that transition right away. Even taking High Magic out of the equation, there are still large-scale rituals, the creation of cursed objects, and combat curses, which are so easy to use in conjunction with Spiritual Transformation and the gift of Her Milfness. It's not so bad. It's just that the class itself is very nasty, unpleasant and, to put it mildly, designed for some pretty shitty things. No, a Malefic can drive mice out of barns. Damn, it's a shame he didn't solve that mystery. You can kill bedbugs and you can even heal, albeit in very tricky ways, not to mention lifting curses, which is also quite a business plan. But still, Stepan didn't want to, he just didn't want to, knowing very well how much the possession of certain facets of magic changed his worldview. His shamanic practices had changed him noticeably. He is now partly a different person, different from the young man who just came into this world. Shamanism is a neutral magic. Probably the most neutral of all types of gift control that can exist. All paths are open, there are no locked roads, light or darkness, good or evil, dominance or service - any outcome is at your service, just search the depths of the spheres for those spirits that suit your worldview.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 16:59

Maleficism in its essence is harm, the infliction of intentional and directed damage. It is the very essence of the class, the essence of its core skills. Distortions of reality in such a way as to make adjustments to it, imperceptible, often unhurried, but always leading to the desired results. Such magic can be used for good, for deeds that are purely good and beneficial to society. But to use it for all sorts of vile things, you know, is much easier, many orders of magnitude easier. And that is why the attitude towards Malefics is also quite characteristic. It is not for nothing that the villagers call them - Damned. But even without villagers and other low public. If once a shaman decides to go out into the public and legalize himself as a shaman, in all his undisguised power, he will be accepted and put on a chain as part of the usual attempts to get a strong magician, no matter what school. But any ruler will try to subdue or kill a malefic of comparable power, or, if he tries very hard, to secure his neutrality and guarantee that this mage will not want to arrange something bad for this ruler.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 18:00

In short, fuck the maleficism!

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 09:23

And Malefics fuck too!

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 09:24

Stepan had almost no druidic skills and knowledge. Only marking and, to a limited extent, working with sources. But at the same time, the Druid subclass was much more appealing to him. Firstly, he had a lot of talents available to him due to the completed assignments, which relate more to druidism than to shamanism. Secondly, Druidism is only slightly less neutral than Shamanism, though not as universal. If you want all sorts of blackness, welcome to the section of Dark Druidism, all sorts of sacrifices and other rottenness, if you want light, there are whole branches of Beneficence, summoning of good forest entities, mass strengthening and enhancing rituals, even healing. Thirdly, the fact that Druidism is inferior in versatility to Shamanism does not mean that this class is completely devoid of that versatility. There's attacking, defending, and household trifles, summoning, and creating a small personal army, and his favorite structures of echeloned defense, and stealth, albeit tied to the forests.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 18:54

Again, while the Shaman is more versatile, the Druid is much less reliant on preparation. A Shaman has to regularly renew and renegotiate a bunch of contracts. Every battle or large and important call thinning the stock of ready-made summons, and a Druid once turning a cherry tree into an automatic turret firing armor seeds can use it for years. And if your guardian is destroyed, it's no big deal. As long as you haven't sizzled or destroyed the entire structure with the roots, you can always restore the destroyed, spending much less resources, time, and effort than to create a new construct. Again, you can grow fun weed and sell it, competing with the local drug business. If there's nothing to do, then you can do it in such a way that by the end old man Prostirus will think that he has a split personality, because all traces will point to the fact that he organized this second distribution network. Pluses to spirit, control and, strangely enough, corporeality, due to work with vital energy, which will need to feed part of his growths, completed this very attractive picture.

Camrad_RIP 26.02.25 в 08:57

Actually, only one thing played against this subclass - the very stealth and the need to work strictly on the surface, in some kind of forest. Well, or underground, but outside the Underworld. And near the city there is a problem. There are already druids here, and quite well-pumped. They have long ago mastered the forests surrounding the city, processed them, set up there their rookeries, outposts and just traps and signals, and they will at least notice the competitor. Still, he, as a druid, having taken the necessary subclass, will not be stronger than them, and the game will have to play on the field of local masters of sickle and branch. Yes, it is possible to get around this problem, yes, it will not be difficult to somehow get into the heads of those druids who can notice his influence, especially with the new property. But the million-dollar question is, what's the point?

Camrad_RIP 26.02.25 в 09:01

At the same time there was another option, already well mastered, some of the witch practices the shaman had been using for a long time and had successfully integrated into his build. Yes, some subclasses would be no less interesting than Warlock, but only if he had the opportunity to choose them ten or even fifteen levels earlier. With his current status, the choice wasn't clear-cut, sure, but it wasn't anywhere near difficult either. This was the point where the best became the enemy of the good. He has already pumped branches of witchcraft, has practiced using that very witchcraft, and has a very deep understanding of how to combine shamanism and witchcraft in an effective symbiosis. So what else does he need? It is worth admitting that Stepan realized almost immediately what he would choose. Except for the attack of idiocy that came over him when he almost took the Weaver. But for the sake of decency and not wanting to make a mistake, he checked and thought over the other options. What if the reference would suggest the perfect choice, which he had originally just missed out on out of sheer haste?

Camrad_RIP 26.02.25 в 09:07

So, the Warlock subclass, i.e. the adept of witchcraft in its most direct and broadest manifestation. If there is a class as close to shamanic as possible, but at the same time not “exotic” and with increased awesomeness, it is the Warlock. Pluses to Power on the tenth, Sensitivity on the twentieth, and Spirit on the thirtieth, from which the Power, enhanced by the reward for the thirtieth level, immediately reaches the tenth, allowing him to get an additional free point when he reveals the related system message. Of course, he would like to put Spirit and Sensitivity in the first place, but there's nothing to be done. Witchcraft requires a lot of power or a lot of reserves, but the reserve these guys pump directly from the territory they subjugate, which also requires, among other things, powerfully developed aura nodes and channels. After a bit of thinking, not finding any mistakes in his reasoning except for the annoying thought of choosing a Weaver again, so that he could fuck sweet, lubricated, slippery, juicy country bitches with sweet, lubricated, slippery, juicy peasant tits, he makes his decision and activates the corresponding option with a mental effort. His aura immediately begins to tingle, and the familiar shroud of stupor descends on his mind as his knowledge begins to adjust to the new subclass. It's nothing new, more like a calibration of what he already has and a very important addition-change.

Camrad_RIP 26.02.25 в 09:21

Lost knowledge: "advanced master practices of spiritual dialogue".

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 09:24

Lost Talent has been removed from the Player's overall status.

Camrad_RIP 25.02.25 в 09:24