"...and that was an ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch and a knee pinch all together! So I figured something scary was about to blow a door open, and whaddya know it did!"
Spike did his best not to meet Twilight's disapproving glare, instead watching Pinkie's animated description of the mishap. Which was pretty unnecessary since they'd all been there for it, but he took his distractions where he could find them. Rather than the deadpan stare from Twilight, he could watch Pinkie's mane bouncing with ever-infectious joy... Joy even in the aftermath of a huge gout of flame shocking them all out of their work. To his credit it was more of a mass deflagration than a proper detonation, and that had to count for something!
"So what did we learn here today Spike?"
"Artificially-stabilized magical fire is still entirely capable of fueling destabilized fire unless I go out of my way to prevent it?"
"...I was hoping for something related to personal safety, but I guess a dragon is the wrong type of creature to ask in this situation."
Spike looked up and down his (still flawless) scales and shrugged.
"I mean, it did pop up a new skill, but... Oh! I confirmed one of your theories from last night."
Twilight begrudgingly stepped back, lighting up her horn in order to double-check the fireproofing.
"I'm going to chalk that up as a lesson just so we can stay on schedule."
He was more than willing to take that. Pinkie had already gotten back to whipping her cream and straining her sauce, so he went back to the heat-partitioned section of the kitchen. Twilight gave him the nod to confirm the defenses were still in place, so he lit up the fire... A little more assured of his success this time around. Well, maybe not success but at least safety!
A skill has been created through a special action! By exposing yourself to the conditions of your homeland, a skill to survive your heritage, [Utter Fire Resistance], has been created!
This has been consumed by [Dragon's Bones]
Like he told Twilight, this confirmed one of her theories: Natural features of him just 'being a dragon' would only become skills for The Gamer once he actually exerted them. His Dragon's Breath hadn't codified itself until he used it a few times, and now after taking several would-be-burns he'd gained a skill for ignoring flame and heat. The same seemed to be true for any talents or abilities he had before The Gamer as well: His cleaning-related skills, Cooking, those came naturally after the first uses as well.
New skill aside, the problem stood: Using Stagnet on his fire had (pardon the pun) backfired. He'd breathed out several sizable portions and stabilized them using the skill, then broken them apart. Using resūmō on just a single part had worked to an extent: That single piece, and only that single piece, became active again. Unfortunately the newly-reactivated fire treated the still-stabilized pieces as fuel and the whole thing quickly conflagrated into a real mess.
This time he'd be more cautious: Start with a smaller, cooler chunk for one thing. Regular fire, a solid earthy orange that felt stable on a conceptual level. Rather than break it apart, he'd focus on the moment when he actually got a new keyword for this power in the first place. He'd been deep in meditation, entirely focused on his subject. After bringing everything to stillness he'd had a moment of clarity, a sudden revelatory breakthrough about how to make it... not still.
But that wasn't what he wanted now: The phase-shift from 'stilled' to 'active' was too complicated. He needed either a slow partial release, or a process of release that had more control. From A to C without the intermediaries, no side processes or extra consumption. He didn't want it to melt, he wasn't looking for a thaw. It had to be gradual but not gratuitously slow, the magical solid becoming a vaporous reaction again without consuming itself. Solid, straight to gas...
"Sublīmō."
A new Command has been added to Stagnet: Sublīmō, to elevate and uplift.
The point at the very top of the crystallized fireball, the spot where his eyes focused? It unfolded like a flower, blooming out into living fire without consuming the stable magic beneath. His focus remained unwavering, and the change gradually made its way down as each previous bit burned away. Spike barely felt the change in temperature as the entire thing burned away in his palm, distracted by how hard he was grinning into the blank space.
"Alright: Take two!"
- - - - - - - - -
The take-away after all that was simple: Take two was the only other one he needed. The stir-fry turned out fantastically well, and all of them plowed through it (and Twilight's rice and toppings) with speed and focused intent. None of them even took the time to try and hold a conversation while eating it: They were only opening their mouths for more air, more food, or a drink to clear the way.
Eventually Pinkie's fork clattered into the empty bowl with a sigh and she leaned back, a second before Spike followed suit. Twilight had always been a slower, more thorough eater (where fast food wasn't involved), so she still had a bit left at that point. Spike was content, doubly so to see Pinkie smiling across the table: It felt nice to make food that others appreciated.
It felt a little less nice to have the food produce unexpected results, however. A failure he could have brushed off, given that he'd paired the gem with the sauce and not the main bulk of the food. A success, of course he'd be happy. But this...
This dish was unable to reach its full potential. A reduced effect has been granted.
Your Vitality has temporarily increased by two points.
Checking the Dragon's Kitchen... no recipe listed, foggy result at the intersection of the meal and the gemstone. Layer... No buff acquired, no new option available. He'd managed to half-fail and half-succeed, opening up even more questions about how the Gamer functioned. It really drove home why this past day and a half had felt so long: Everything he did raised more questions than it could possibly answer! Even when he was resolving his issue with Rarity, he managed to trip headfirst into a skill that redefined his potential...
"That was fantastic, Spike!"
"I know right? I'm a liiiittle worried that my trifle won't be able to stand up."
He waved his claw at Pinkie to dismiss her worry.
"Eeeh, don't sweat it: I've been staring at that dish this whole time!"
Pinkie giggled and portioned out the diced trifle to the three of them: The powdered carnelian in the whipped cream just barely created a shining sparkle, enough to offset the pale white as it cascaded and melded into the yellow cake and orange fruits.
"Dig in everypony! Well, singlepony and singledragon. And me!"
His fork (a fresh one for dessert, no sense crossing the streams) slid cleanly through the layers and came back with a little bit of everything: Cream, cake, kumquat, a sliver of gem and a slight coating of syrup. The first bite was incredible, and he knew this was going to be a hands-down winner for one of his favorite desserts of all time. The fruits were bright and sweet with a bracingly tart center, the cake was thick and buttery, the cream was soft and melted on his tongue...
"WOW! I mean... Wow. That is something else, Pinkie Pie!"
Pinkie blushed, and Twilight seemed like she was going to comment as well but lowered her hoof.
"Awww Spike! It's nothin' super-special, just a little idea I've been sitting on. I should be thanking you, if anything: The gemmy bits take this to another level! I didn't think I'd be able to taste 'em but they sort of pop and shiver like little seeds! But way tastier than most seeds because I'm going to be honest even the best seeds usually need a lot of roasting before they're very tasty."
"Well, you did way too much of the work for this to be a team effort: I'd just be a contributing advisor or something with the amount of input I made."
"Close enough for government work! Although come to think of it despite his reputation Government Work is a really strict stallion."
Twilight looked like she wanted to raise an objection there, except again she stayed silent.
Spike began wolfing down his dish, trying to balance the desire to make it last with just how dang delicious the whole thing was. The fruit had been cooked, roasted and soaked in all sorts of flavors... He'd never thought of it before, but now the idea was running wild through his memories of old standbys and foods-less-eaten. Griddled pineapple on ice cream, slow-cooked lemon jelly, bananas burnt through their skins...
"Spike?"
Twilight had finally said something, and her voice was surprisingly affected: Maybe she was just as fond of this dish as he was!
"Yeah Twilight?"
There was a surprisingly long pause before she finished asking her question.
"Can you tell me exactly what this combination is doing, according to your system?"
Dang, the effect of it had totally slipped his mind! He'd been so lost in the flavor forest that he'd failed to see the statistical trees, or some other fitting malaphor...
"Oh! Sorry, one second..."
He looked at the pop-up and recited it verbatim. Twilight, in response... sat up like a bolt with eyes wide. Her horn flickered and then flared as she teleported away from the table, and they could immediately hear frantic movements from upstairs. Pinkie looked at Spike with concern but he could only shrug: He had no clue why was she so worked up over such a small detail.
Carnelian-Kumquat Diced Trifle: Increased maximum mana, 4 hours.
- - - - - - - - -
If mana has any kind of biological component, then a before-and-after check will find it... and that's probably a pony equivalent of one of the Millennium problems.
With all these mechanics, I can't wait to see where we adventure to.
Cue Twilight building a kumquat greenhouse and a "rock farm" of carnelian to isolate their mana-boosting properties.
[Rock Farming] could a great way to level-grind [Earthshaper] and [Dragon's Claws], which would give Pinkie Pie an excuse to send her geologist sister Maud a letter about Spike.
And both [Gardening] and [Rock Farming] as subskills of [Earth Pony Magic], which Spike might unlock using [DRAGON'S MIND] on Applejack or Big Mac when they're bucking trees at Sweet Apple Acres.
10337282
With all of these mechanics, how will the author keep them all straight?
10337359
Notes. Lots and lots of notes. I assume.
Aaand twilight is addicted
Thats just OP! ... I love it! I wonder if there's any draw backs to it.
As if Twilight needed the ability to do more quote-unquote science in a single day.
Spike went out with a Whomper than a Bang?
Pity there wasnt any icecream just laying around. Im sure a nice thermal crisping on the surface would make a nice treat.
Ultimate Fire Resistance will be handy with lava diving and bathing, but is Solar Flare classed as Fire Only, or Holy Cleansing Light, or something else, given its possible to have a plasma with so much energy, it cant lose anything within itself and so is classified as being absolute negative temperature, like BEC from the other side, and so maybe feasable for shields, teleportatio and breath effects?
Because Spike has Party and Associates have buff effects also running, does that mean the Mana Increase he registered, for what little Mana he has, means Twilights Mana pool increased by a similar ratio, with effects similar to Pinkie downing a Coders Midnight Coffee?
Intresting how the recipie is indeterminate. Must be missing an ingreient or two, or even a stat or treatment method?.. Or got treated in an unexpected manner but was still edible? Thats a lot more variations.
For the reipie for the Mana, what if search and collate was done on the Effect, so Spike could work on recipies that give larger and more permanent effects etc?
This is going to be a massive relational database once completed, unless things are being added and used to create even more options to write about.
10337644
To use one of my favorite tags in derpibooru...
"This will not end well"
media1.tenor.com/images/6d5343471a4f0d9bca2acc0d5c12e7f9/tenor.gif?itemid=11056773
10337644
If I had to hazard a guess? It will half his total mana for four hours after the effect goes away.
Ho boy. No one will see Twilight for those four hours, and I should think Mayor Mayor as well as Celestia will need to be told about this; for safety reasons.
Ooh, nice! That’s gotta be useful for days when you’re adventuring.
There goes that saying, "Fastest way to a mans heart, is though his stomach"! Put a ring on it, and have love and buffs for the rest of your life, Spike!
10338535
That begs the question, is the buff a strict number or a percentage. Cause if its like 5-15% increase then beings like Discord, Celestia, and Luna are gonna have a comparatively massive increase to their mana pools. And in book horse's case, yeeting an Ursa.
10341877
It’s likely a flat half the total of his mana, it may seem OP but I bet the Diminishing returns make it all but useless the higher a Mana pool is.
Edit: to whomever down voted this comment, you need to remember that these days most so called “ARPG” and “NRPG” games don’t function like the older games and progression systems. What used to be called “Rouge” games that used to take skill, math and thinking, now are dumbed down. If you really want to get something close to the system Governing The Gamer ability you have to play D&D or P2E
10341945
1- Your guess is incorrect.
2- It was me, because I didn't find your guess interesting or logical, nor did I appreciate its tone.
3- Please don't make weird confrontational edits in the comment section.
10342524
How was it confrontational? I was just trying to remind that The Gamer ability is based off old school number crunch systems unlike today’s RPGs which are almost purely skill point based and that the closest you can get to it now is D&D.
Also it WAS logical, a mana pool is a typically a Flat set number of points based on level, buffs, skills and items. Even if it gave a Flat boost of 10% onto his total pool of mana, it would likely be offset by an overuse factor and in this case that would be a negative reduction to his total pool based on use and total depletion of his boost.
For example, if he has a mana pool of 1,000 and the boost gives him 10% of that total as a boost thus making it a total of 1,100 and he uses let’s say 200 of that total then the negative would reduce his total pool by 10% + 100.
He could literally go negative if he uses to much while he has the buff. Depending on how long the negative lasts it could cripple him at the worst possible moment.
That does seem useful to know.
Nice.
Neat.
Eh, not everything is a winner.
With that reaction from Twilight, I feel like that last buff did something ridiculous when applied to an alicorn.
10342584
OG Tabletop systems were extremely dumbed down, moreso than you may have ever experienced. The old Whitebox Tabletop RPG had a system dedicated entirely to just rolling d6's and core stats. It relied on players' imaginations more than core mechanics. Number-crunching came later, when they wanted to implement more unique abilities and skills to characters, and it recently got dumbed-down some more because of the perceived over-complicated nature of DnD 3e and Pathfinder.
10343129
I can honestly say I forgot about Whitebox, I might only be 27 but even I remember that system.
Hiss never mention 3e, it’s D&Ds equivalent of MLP 3.5!
10342886
Don't forget, in the fic's timeline Twilight's still a plain-Jane unicorn at this point. So her reaction isn't related to any wingdings effect. :P
10343132
3/3.5ed is the best version of D&D.
You;re thinking of the trainwreck of 4th edition- designed to have a digital companion that was never made.
5th is okay, and a good introduction. But is way too lacking in mechanical customisation that you can get in 3.5 or Pathfinder.
I really want Pinkie to just kiss Spike, or try to drag him off after one of those lewd jokes. It's getting to be a bit too "clueless-dragon-is-too-clueless" the longer it goes on... though with Pinkie being Pinkie, I have a feeling that she'll confess to him in either the most hilarious way, or it'll be an off-handed remark.
10337359
10337364
i.imgur.com/D6M0k5E.png
I do indeed keep a pretty meticulous ship: This index is heavily censored, but suffice it to say that my background as a pen-and-paper game designer has taught me the value of a table of contents and a consistent data format. :P
10348995
Don't you worry: Spike can give as good as he gets, and Pinkie's overtures are not being missed. It's less a case of dragon obliviousness, and more the fact that both of them are playing the long game here.
10349691
Thank you for acknowledging it. That will suffice for now. ;>
pinkie the draconeous xDD
Twilight mania incoming... RUUUN!!!
10435843
The name of these whimsical species is draconequus. Or draconqui when you want to be plural. At least they occasionally find themselves quite plural.
When Nom-nom-nom become science