Chapter 2: Character Card
This item has no name and unknown origin; the dice are merely a facade, its essence is a supernatural manifestation of some rules.
The basic function is the character card; other abilities require activating the symbols on the dice.
“How to activate it?” Anse asked.
The dice gave no response, apparently lacking intelligence.
“View character card.”
The dice trembled slightly, projecting a light screen filled with various data into his mind.
【Name: Anse Hollewen】
「Race」: Human-Silver-Horned Subspecies（Medium Size）
「Background」: None
「Class」: None
「Level」: 0
「Life」: 2/4
「Armor Class」: 11
「Alignment」: True Neutral
「Faith」: None
——Core Attributes——
【Strength: 11】
【Dexterity: 12】
【Constitution: 11】
【Intelligence: 12】
【Wisdom: 13】
【Charisma: 14】
「Skills」: Arcana +1, History +1
「Languages」: Common Tongue, Netherese, Iluskan
「Feats」: None
「Equipment」: Crystal Artifact
——Spells——
「Cantrips」: Light, Ray of Frost
After quickly scanning the character card, Anse understood; this was a data panel based on DND rules.
“Silver-Horned Subspecies?”
Anse thought for a long time before recalling that this Silver-Horned Subspecies should be a Dragon Blood subspecies, originating from Metal Dragons-Silver Dragons, who most loved mingling in the Human World.
One of the more common physical traits is silver streaks or sheen in the hair, hence called Silver-Horned.
The original owner was unaware of this information, and the body had no spell-like abilities, likely due to distant and dilute bloodline.
This is very common; the Toril world has numerous races living intermixed, some with reproductive abilities strong enough to break species barriers, birthing countless strange hybrids over long ages.
Besides race, the original owner’s attributes… were truly lackluster!
In DND settings, commoners have 4 life points, with six core attributes around 10.
Wizards with intelligence below 10 lose spellcasting ability; below 8… nearly equivalent to feeble-minded, and character attributes rarely fall below 8 in most cases.
The original owner’s attributes were only slightly better than average; 12 intelligence aspiring to be a wizard was no small challenge.
Wizards are a high-intelligence group, with extremely high entry difficulty; ordinary people can’t join through mere hard study.
Charisma at 14 points was likely race-related.
Fortunately, the original owner wasn’t entirely useless, having diligently learned two extra languages and gained some foundation in Arcana and History.
At this moment, the character card flickered unsteadily; Anse touched it lightly, popping up the character editing page, listing from top to bottom: Origin（Background, Race）, Class, and Attributes.
However, Origin and Attributes were grayed out.
“Looks like Background, Race, and Attributes are inherited from the original owner, unchangeable.” Anse felt some disappointment.
He “clicked” the Background field, and the character card popped up a prompt:
“Detected Noble or Sage background; you may choose one as your character origin. This will grant increases to attribute scores, feats, and skill proficiencies.”
“Huh… two choices isn’t bad.”
He checked each one, finding the background sources somewhat forced.
Noble likely came from the surname; Anse himself had no title, solidly a commoner.
Sage was somewhat reliable; after all, he had spent so many long nights studying books and scrolls, reading diverse world knowledge, barely qualifying as half a scholar. His mind craved more, but alas, he was a poor student.
Noble increases Strength, Intelligence, Charisma; Feat「Proficiency」. Sage increases Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom; Feat「Magic Apprentice」.
Anse didn’t rush to choose, continuing to check Race.
「Race」: Human
「Creature Type」: Humanoid
「Size」: Medium
「Traits」:
Attribute Score Increase: Choose two different attributes, each +1.
Skills: You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Versatile: You gain one Origin Feat of your choice.
“Two attribute points, one feat, three skills.” Anse’s brow raised, heart excited.
After joining, Background and Race would give him five attribute points, two feats—quite good.
Finally, he opened the Class options, revealing 13 icons.
Barbarian（Strength）, Warrior（Strength or Dexterity）, Paladin（Strength or Charisma）
Priest（Wisdom）, Druid（Wisdom）, Monk（Dexterity or Wisdom）
Ranger（Dexterity or Wisdom）, Rogue（Dexterity）
Sorcerer（Charisma）, Warlock（Charisma）, Bard（Charisma）
Wizard（Intelligence）, Mechanist（Intelligence）
These are all main classes; after joining, numerous subclasses can be chosen.
Each class has different primary attributes, most with spellcasting ability, but only Wizards, Sorcerers, Priests, Druids, and Bards are full spellcasters, mastering 9th-level spells at level 17.
“Why are these classes covered in varying shades of dark red?” Anse frowned slightly, sensing something ominous.
He mentally touched the blackish-red Wizard class, and two warnings popped up immediately:
“Magic Net Instability, uncontrolled Primal Mana surges—cast spells with caution!”
“Character’s innate intelligence level too low—choose with caution!”
The first was expected; “instability” seemed accurate, as the Magic Net hadn’t fully collapsed, with distant battlefield still flashing spell lights.
The second was a bit hurtful.
Low intelligence was a hard flaw; if he could freely allocate attributes like in a game, level 1 could max primary at 16+, but he had no extra attribute points.
In DND, feats or two attribute points every four levels; low starting attributes mean sacrificing valuable feats, greatly lowering potential.
“Looks like Magic Net affects Wizards most.” Anse thought.
Magic Net Instability doesn’t faze genius Mages, but ordinary Wizards suffer, relying on cantrips.
Since Wizard is out, switch to another class.
He now needed a level 1 class to escape the Giant Pit, no need to consider the future. DND allows unlimited multiclassing if attributes qualify; worst case, multiclass at level 2.
“Gotta climb up!” He looked up at the dozens-of-meters-high cliff and waterfall, urgency rising, “before it collapses here.”
Falling into the Underdark, even if not fatal, he’d be swarmed by underground creatures.
Professionals have strong Athleticism, but relying on body alone is highly risky; best to use spells for survival, like Mage Hand, Feather Fall, Jump, etc.
“Spellcasters first, best to heal leg injury too.” Anse eyed his numb right leg, calculating.
He first touched the grayed-out Priest class:
“Casual believers cannot become Priests!”
Anse sighed helplessly; believing now was too late. Priests’ spells come from Faith in Deities; discovery has severe consequences.
He checked around; all spellcasting classes had ominous red glows, Bard and Druid heavily red, Warlock and Sorcerer lighter.
Warlock, aka evil caster, borrows power via pact from Patron（Angel, Great Fey, Demon, etc.）—sounds unsettling, set aside for now.
Clicking Sorcerer class, relevant info popped up immediately:
“Dragons’ gift, a treant present at birth, or struck by lightning on a clear day, can awaken Sorcerer talent.
Deity’s boon, exposure to strange magic from other Planes, or a glimpse of reality’s principles, can turn ordinary folk into Sorcerers…”
“Sorcerers don’t learn magic; churning Primal Mana is part of their innate being…”
Surprisingly, Sorcerer level 1 allows choosing【Sorcerous Origin】（Subclass）:
Aberrant Mind, Clockwork Sorcery, Dragon Sorcery, Wild Magic, Divine Soul, Shadow Magic, Storm Sorcery.
But five of the seven subclasses were grayed out!
Supplement:
1. DND character cards are complex; listing all might confuse readers unfamiliar with such rules, so the character card is appropriately simplified, showing only core data.
2. Attribute explanations:
Strength: Muscle power, athletic training, and physical potential.
Dexterity: Agility, reaction speed, and balance.
Constitution: Health, endurance, and vitality.
Intelligence: Reasoning, memory, and logic.
Wisdom: Intuition, perception, insight, and mental toughness.
Charisma: Manifestation of soul light, with tangible magical power, influencing mana, spellcasting, social interactions, etc.; appears as temperament, demeanor, affinity, attraction, etc.
High Charisma doesn’t mean handsome; it’s a magical inner attraction.
3. True Neutral: Most commoners’ starting state, prioritizing survival, avoiding alignment conflicts.
Alignment isn’t fixed.
4. Clockwork Sorcery: “Guiding the order of the cosmos.” Requires Lawful alignment.
Divine Soul: “A spark of divine power shining in the soul.” Anse has zero relation to any holy entity.
5. Race uses 5E Variant Human.
