Eldritch Blade: Knight With A Thousand Eyes

=====You do NOT need to read any of this before the story!===== =====Due to publishing through a non-exclusive contract, I cannot create multiple volumes to divide the auxiliary content from the story volumes.===== =====Thank you for your patience.===== ===== ANCESTRAL FOUNDATIONS Some special bloodlines grant their heirs Ancestral Foundations, which often take the form of moderately powerful buffs or transformations which can be called upon once per week. When cultivated according to the covenants of their bloodline, those who possess Ancestral Foundations can eventually develop them into Ultimate Arts. ===== ARMOR CLASS (AC) A score describing how difficult a creature is to hit. Most humans have 10 AC. Most armor and defensive spells increase it by 1 or 2 points at a time. ===== CLASSES Cosmic patterns of knowledge and power which make their users far more powerful and reveal the truth that all living beings belong to a "system." This is kept as a secret from most ordinary humans. Humans and most animals are born without classes, or are considered to be 0 Level creatures of their race. Monsters, Dwarves and Elves are born as 1st Level members of classes named after their races, and can gain further levels in their races or gain the same classes as humans. It is believed classes can be as high as 20th Level, and that the Demon Lords are 20th Level monsters. Classes increase in level as the user gains Experience Points, but the number needed to level up again increases each time by a huge amount. ===== COSMIC REALM/DEMONIC/ULTIMATE ARTS Unique abilities with incredible power which evolve based on the user. They can usually only be accessed by 10th Level creatures or above, though some circumstances and magical items can provide access to these abilities much sooner. Gaining levels in multiple classes and attuning to intelligent artifact weapons are two ways to heavily warp a Cosmic Realm/Ultimate Art. They can usually only be used once per week, though this also varies heavily. Various cults, religions, and magic schools describe Cosmic Realm Arts as powers which come from the gods while Ultimate Arts belong to ordinary humans, but other people use these terms interchangeably. Demonic Arts seem to be very similar, but little is currently known about them. Demons of 1st Level have been known to use them. ===== EXPERIENCE POINTS (EXP) A magical force which can be found in all living creatures as well as in certain holy or magical places in the world. Gaining EXP allows a creature to level up. Animals tend to give only a fraction of one Experience Point, though some deadly creatures such as bears can give several EXP. Creatures without levels slowly lose EXP over time, so even town butchers who kill many animals every year rarely even reach 1st Level from slaying animals. Each class has a Class EXP Bonus, which gives its user additional EXP for certain actions. For example, Rogues gain a little EXP every time they pick someone's pocket or successfully land a sneak attack, while Warriors simply gain a bonus for killing enemies of their level or higher. Humans additionally gain slightly more EXP in all areas than members of other races. Demons actually gain much less EXP than all other creatures, but gain permanent stat boosts whenever they kill a creature. ===== FEATS Permanent abilities which are usually passive effects. Creatures gain a free Feat every three levels. A certain magical item famously allows Feats to be bought with raw EXP. Some Feats are restricted by class or level, or require other Feats to be taken first. Many Feats also add effects to a character's Cosmic/Ultimate ability. ===== HIT POINTS (HP) The measure of a creature's ability to withstand damage. When this runs out, a leveled creature falls into a coma-like unconsciousness and dies in a few hours. Humans are born with 1 maximum HP and gain 1 more every ten years. When they enter old age, some maximum HP is converted to spiritual defenses. Some monsters are born with more maximum HP, but don't gain any more from growing older. Gaining a level in a class also increases a creature's maximum HP. For example, Rogues and Wizards gain 1d6 HP each level. Warriors instead gain 1d8. ===== WEAPON ARTS Special abilities granted to Martial classes, such as Knights, Rogues, and Warriors. Martial classes have several Weapon Arts to choose from, but can only use a Weapon Art once per day (or more at higher levels). Once they use a Weapon Art, they can use no others for the rest of the day. There are some exceptions to this. For example, Rogues can use their Sneak Attack again each time they successfully hit with it. 1 ===== XdX Die notation describes a random number. For example, most low level creatures deal 1d2 damage. This means they deal either 1 or 2 damage when they hit with an attack. More powerful creatures can deal much higher damage. The legendary destructive spell Fireball deals 8d6 damage, or between 8 and 48 damage, to everything it touches.