This is a story! But it's also real.

That is the first lesson of being a bard. It helps Elan calm down a bit.

So everything that happens once I tell you I'm ready will be part of my real actual life. Including all the cool powers I pick.

Right. I'm sorry, did I say something confusing before? I wasn't trying to hide that from you or anything.

No, I just thought that the whole "chosen by the spirit of girliness" thing was like… the thing where the story says that everything in it really happened because it feels more dramatic that way. A framing device to explain why I was choosing all the protagonist's cool powers.

Oh! I can see why you were confused. To the Spirit, this is a story and you are the protagonist, and the Spirit wants you to be able to choose what kind of protagonist you are and what kind of stories you tell.

Okay, he's with the book so far…

This is just like what I went to school for! Well, it's like half of what I went to school for. A lot of it was normal stuff like Skill Points but the fun part was a lot like this. Do you think that's why the Spirit likes me?

That could definitely be part of it! I don't get any special insight into what makes the Spirit like or choose a person, especially because the Spirit likes a lot more people than it's able to send me to, but if you like stories and living your life as one then the Spirit agrees and wants to help you do that.

Cool!

He's definitely going to check Personal Hygiene, then, because noticing when he needs to go to the bathroom if it isn't an emergency is hard and that leads to more emergencies.

I can still take nice baths with Personal Hygiene, right? Like if there's a scene where I go to a castle or somewhere else that's really fancy and they draw up a bath with oils and perfumes and things? So I can still be really impressed by how fancy and nice everything is, because I never even imagined that something could be that good.

12/70.

Yes! In general, powers that make it so you don't need to do something don't prevent you from doing it, they just make it so nothing bad happens if you don't do it. The Spirit wants you to have lots of nice things!

Great!

Hmmmmm.

Do you think I should look at the options I skipped again, now that I know more about how they work?

It's up to you! You should spend as much time as you need figuring out which powers you want.

He might as well, since he feels like he just got started. He flips backwards, skimming. Cosmetic Equipment seems a lot more appealing now, Undressing Room is a little appealing in a way he's unsure about, Perfect Nails still doesn't do anything for him, Emerald Orbs does… slightly more than that. He's not checking anything, yet, just musing.

Okay, just one page left…

You said that A Thousand Ships and A Hundred Ships kinda do only one thing, right? And that Emerald Orbs and Perfect Hair and everything else let you do a bunch of different things?

A Thousand Ships and A Hundred Ships do tend to give you a more stable appearance, yes. It's definitely possible for the face they give you to change over time, though!

What if I wanted to have something like… Dressing Room, but for my face?

I think I see what you mean! The appearance powers tend to work together with each other, and if something about how you look ever feels wrong you'll never be stuck with it. But I could also try to come up with a special power that lets you change your appearance more flexibly, if you want.

Yeah!

Okay, I think I've got something…

In the same precise writing as the rest of the powers:

A Thousand Faces ☐
Cost: 1
(requires A Thousand Ships)
At all times, you have exactly the right face. This effect operates based on your sense of aesthetics, in-the-moment preferences, and narrative considerations. By default, your face will always have a fundamental "you"ness to it, but you can make yourself less easily recognized if you take a moment to think about it.

This is definitely the kind of thing Elan was thinking about.

I can take this one with A Hundred Ships, right?

Yes, any power that replaces another power will let you take a power that requires the power it replaces.

Cool!

He takes A Thousand Faces with A Hundred Ships and throws in Emerald Orbs to boot.

16/70.

Now to skip back to—oh, wait, he wanted Cosmetic Equipment and had thoughts about Undressing Room.

Undressing Room seems really fun but also kind of like a lot to deal with.

18/70.

It does seem both those things, doesn't it? What parts seem fun to you and what parts seem like a lot to deal with?

So it seems really fun to be able to do pranks like the banana costume thing, but I think… it might be less fun to do it in the Undressing Room way? If I was going to wear a banana costume to a fancy ball, I would probably like it more if I was wearing fancy clothing and then for just a second I was in the banana costume, or if I was wearing fancy clothing that got more and more like a banana costume the longer I was at the ball.

I think I understand exactly what you mean! Dressing Room on its own would definitely be able to do the second thing as long as nobody was looking at you at the exact times your clothing got changed. The first thing would probably be trickier to pull off, especially since you would probably have a lot of eyes on you in the banana costume.