Can I use Cosmetic Equipment to do the underwear thing?

18/70

You would probably need to be wearing something, but I bet "something" could be a ring.

I think I'll stick with Cosmetic Equipment, then.

And now it's time to look at some new stuff!

Hmm, these are both fine but he doesn't feel a pull to them. He flips the page.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

How does Immunity System work? Does it just automatically know that I'm drinking liquor on purpose?

18/70

Yes, if you have Immunity System then whenever you drink something alcoholic or take a drug on purpose you'll experience the effects you want to experience.

Does it… have to be on purpose?

18/70

It's definitely possible that you could drink something you didn't realize was alcoholic and feel the effects if you would have wanted to if you knew!

You might also like the Dramatic Damsel drawback.

Elan… does not know how to find that. However, he has a hunch. He closes the book entirely and opens it to the page that has Dramatic Damsel on it.

18/70

This works just fine.

Yay!

Wow, this is a really great power. He immediately takes it and then repeats the trick to get back to where he was.

18/73

Elan goes ahead and takes Immunity System, then looks at the upgrades.

I don't think I want Warmhearted… well, the thing about never being too hot or too cold would be pretty nice, but I bet I can use Dressing Room and Cosmetic Equipment for that. I'm really not sure if I want Breathe Easy or not, though! I think that… I feel like I might like food less if I can never get hungry, maybe? I think it would be sad if I could never come back home after a long day and have a bite of the dinner my mom made and realize how hungry I am and eat two helpings. Or something like that.

21/73

Well, if you take Breathe Easy, you'll still be able to have good food the same way you'll still be able to do that thing you said about the fancy bath after taking Personal Hygiene. But it definitely sounds like you care a lot about your current relationship with food. What are some reasons that you might want to take Breathe Easy anyway?

Um… mostly I think that drowning and not having enough to eat sound really scary.

21/73

I can definitely understand that. But I think…

Well, you can absolutely take any power for any reason. But I think that being scared of not taking a power is kind of… more sad as a reason to take a power than wanting what it can do for you. The Spirit wants you to have the powers that will let you live your life as the best story you can. If your idea of a good story is one where not eating or breathing doesn't make you lose anything, Breathe Easy is a power that can make that happen. And if you would prefer a story where you still need to eat and breathe, then you probably don't want to take Breathe Easy.

Kind of like the true names thing?

21/73

That is a great way to put it!

Elan flips to the next page without taking anything new.

He does not want to know everything everyone thinks about him! That would be scary! And, he thinks, it would probably make him sad.

Soundtrack and Soundboard, on the other hand, he checks immediately.

This is the best thing ever!!!!! Especially Soundtrack. Can I let other people hear the soundtrack? Can I give it hints? Like maybe I'm sitting alone at home, playing my lute, and I start to make up a song, and then a while later I hear the song I made up and I look up and I see a beautiful girl and that's her song? Or the thing where there's a song playing over a montage and then the montage ends and it turns out that someone's playing the song in real life? Wait, can I do montages?

23/73

I'm really glad you like it! ♡

I'm very uncertain about sharing the Soundtrack. I can definitely try to think of something but for some reason I feel like I can't promise I'll come up with something you like. If you already play a musical instrument you'll probably be able to recreate bits from your Soundtrack and it will probably help you with learning how to play it. I definitely think that incorporating music you're already familiar with is something that it can do, especially if in your example the song you were working on was a love song or otherwise turned out to be related to the person it attached to. I'm not sure about the last thing, or what you mean by doing montages.

Elan's got to think about that for a moment.

I'm not sure either! I guess that one way to do it would be that if I'm doing something that would normally be covered by a montage, like training a new skill or going on a long journey, only the things that would be shown in the montage happen, but I don't really wanna skip over stuff like that! I'll think about it.

23/73

Okay! Take your time.

He decides to put the thought of montage powers on the back burner while he goes through the other ones.

Well Endowed doesn't stand out to him but Hollow Leg seems like it'd go with A Thousand Faces and the other powers like it; he snaps both of them up. Inner Strength isn't super exciting; he turns the page.

Oh, cool, Lightfoot seems really good! He's already got decent Dexterity but this will give him great Dexterity. He's not sure what the point of Starstuff is. He definitely wants Battle Angel and, when he turns the page, Battle Demon. Battle Maiden gives him pause, though, and he's not sure why.

What kinda stuff does Battle Maiden do that the other two don't?

30/73

Battle Angel and Battle Demon don't give you nearly as much skill in a fight on their own as Battle Maiden does. I've never been in a fight, so I can't be completely sure, but I think that being good at fighting involves a lot of things that can't be boiled down to "don't get seriously injured" or "take advantage of gaps in defenses." There's also the thing where Battle Demon specifically says that you might not be able to take advantage of the gaps that you spot; Battle Maiden makes you more able to do that. And I think it's important to mention that even Battle Maiden isn't a guarantee that you'll win every fight.

Elan looks out the window and thinks. It's past sunset; he should probably go to bed soon. He can stay up a little longer, though.

He thinks about the Julio Scoundrél comics. He bets that the battle powers could let him fight like Julio. That would be so badass. The way Julio fights seems pretty Battle Maiden-y, but that's probably because he's high-level. In the earlier issues, Julio's definitely way more of an underdog.

Is that it? Does Elan just want to spend some time as an underdog while he learns to fight? He's not sure that's completely it… after all, Elan doesn't want to be exactly like Julio. If he did, he probably would have tried to be a rogue instead of a bard.

It feels pretty close, though. Close enough that he decides not to take it. Gloryseeker seems good, though, he can take that.

The next page has a bunch of powers about money! Hmmm.

What happens if I don't take any of the money powers?

31/73

Nothing specific. Well, besides you not having the money powers. You can still make money without them, it just isn't guaranteed. If you want to go to a lot of worlds, you'll have to figure out how to make money in each new world.