There weren’t as many modifiers as Ethan had first imagined. There were only slightly over a dozen, and most were detrimental to some degree. Though in turn, each offered quite a hefty sum of Fate Points.
Before he decided to choose any, however, Ethan had made a decision. To some, it may seem idiotic, but he intended to choose as many detrimental scenarios and world modifiers as he could, within his own interests at least. That didn’t mean he was going to forgo beneficial modifiers altogether, but he was going to attempt to have as many Fate Points as he could to spend on himself later.
With that in mind, he skimmed through the scenario options and ultimately landed on seven options, which he selected.
Fractured Empire: The Celestial Empire’s territory has become fractured across multiple regions and provinces, causing great unrest. While the Celestial Empire as a whole is still functioning, it lacks the stability and power it once had. If not corrected in the near future, it may fall. This has also resulted in many prestigious families vying for control over territory and even the royal throne. (+20 Fate Points).
Rise of the Great Khan: The scattered tribes within the steppes are beginning to unify over one ruler, someone known as the Great Khan. While they have only just begun their unification of the steppes, they plan to amass a horde to travel south and take down the Celestial Empire and raze their cities to the ground. If you so wish, you can join their horde if you prove yourself worthy. (+15 Fate Points).
The White Death: Within the Mystic Wilds, an odd plague has rooted itself and begun to spread to the more civilized regions of Dai’Gyo. While this plague is slow to spread, it has a high lethality rate for the common citizens and can even hinder trained warriors. The plague can be withstood and cured, but it takes a master of medicine and healing arts several years to concoct a cure. But by then it may be too late. (+10 Fate Points).
Demonic Rapture: Seemingly at random, a blood moon will encompass an entire region for several nights on end. During the blood moon, the veil between the mortal realm and the spirit realm is thin, and the spirits become chaotic and violent. Several demons from the lower spirit realms will appear in areas to cause havoc. The blood moon also affects creatures and people with demonic heritage or who possess demonic arts. (+15 Fate Points).
Internal Conflict: The court of the Celestial Empire has fallen to corruption within its powerful officials. Due to this, they strive for their own personal power over those around them. As such, the gap of wealth and general power between the middle-class and the upper-class has grown drastically, causing much civil unrest amongst the common folk. (+12 Fate Points).
Wandering Behemoths: Across various regions of Dai’Gyo, massive behemoths the size of large mountains wander. While not particularly aggressive, they are defensive of their territory and are physically monstrous. Though for anyone who may kill them, their materials and cores are highly valued. (Cost: 5 Fate Points)
Wandering Foreigners: The Far Lands have ventured beyond the sea towards the Eastern Ports for trade. While this has brought a plethora of new industrial technologies to the region, the mercantile lords of the ports are wary of the foreigners. (Cost: 10 Fate Points).
His number of Fate Points now totaled 137 after he chose the modifiers. He would have worried more about the Celestial Empire had he chosen that as his starting region. But as long as the Eastern Ports were generally safe for the time being, he was sure he could grow enough in strength to face the detrimental modifiers by the time they snowballed out of control.
Closing the tab, he opened the next one. “World Modifiers”. The first thing Ethan noticed was a paragraph of text before a set of subtabs.
Modifiers to the world come in many forms and have a much larger impact on the world than scenarios, as they can change how the entirety of society functions across Dai’Gyo. Choose wisely.
General Modifiers
Lewd Modifiers
Ethan arched a brow at the “lewd modifiers” subtab, but figured he would see what it had in store for him soon. First and foremost were the general modifiers. And there were a lot of them. Ethan didn’t count them all, but combining the beneficial and detrimental modifiers, Ethan assumed nearly 100. Over the next hour, he skimmed through them all and selected a handful of benefits and detriments. Though sticking with his plan, he chose detriments primarily.
Savage Beasts: Predatory beasts and mystical creatures have adapted to the ambient energy, becoming slightly stronger than normal and turning more violent, often seeking out bloodshed and being drawn to it. Typically, passive beasts are unaffected by this modifier. (+5 Fate Points).
Beast Tide (Requires “Savage Beasts”): Seemingly at random- generally once every lunar cycle- a horde of beasts and mystical creatures will amass to attack a nearby civilized location, such as a city. The size of the horde is determined by what they are attacking, but it weighs in the beast's favor. While larger cities can reliably withstand the Beast Tide, smaller towns are less fortunate. (+10 Fate Points).
Tainted Behemoths (Requires “Beast Tide” and “Wandering Behemoths”): Very rarely, behemoths are amassed into a beast tide as leaders of the tide. These behemoths are stronger than typical behemoths and often harness one or more of the 5 elements. These behemoths only appear when a Beast Tide targets major cities within a region, but do not always appear. Tainted Behemoths often take small armies to fell, but hold even more valuable materials than typical behemoths. (+15 Fate Points).
Crime Syndicates: Be it notorious crime families, bandit lords, or kingpins, the criminal underworld holds more sway then they typically would. While they are by no means equal to the ruling governments within a region, they still hold much sway over the many cities within all regions. (+5 Fate Points).
Wealth Corrupts: Aristocrats, merchants, and magnates alike all hold more sway due to back-room deals with the government of their region. Most merchants hold small private armies at their beck and call, as well as sorcerers and warriors on their payroll. And they will not part with their wealth quietly. (+5 Fate Points).
Mercantile Syndicate (Requires “Crime Syndicates” and “Wealth Corrupts”): With immense wealth, many merchants and aristocrats have their roots set within the criminal underworld for even more profit. As such, smuggling is common, as are assassinations and demonic sorcery. This modifier also increases the size of the private armies of the merchants and aristocracy. (+10 Fate Points).
Kingpin: Addictive substances and drugs are rampant amongst traders. While still illegal, the laws governing such materials are lax. Within each city, there is a criminal kingpin who manipulates the flow of the substance and holds a major seat of power in the criminal underworld. (+8 Fate Points).
Ancestral Privilege: Many families across all regions have power that holds sway within the government, as well as the power to back it up. Most influential families hold private armies of elite soldiers and sorcerers that rule over some cities. What they lack in number, they make up for in individual power. (+8 Fate Points).
Privileged Clans (Requires “Ancestral Privilege”): The power of families across Dai’Gyo has expanded to lesser clans. While they are not as powerful as their greater families, they often have the ego of one. Causing them to bite back against even minor slights. (+5 Fate Points).
Dying Empire: The Celestial Empire is falling apart from within. Day by day, the royal families' influence wanes. Soldiers hold loyalty to generals, and magistrates attempt to sabotage one another. While this alone does not spell the end of the Celestial Empire, its death is a slow one. (+12 Fate Points).
Hot-Blooded: Marital artists and sorcerers alike often do not take minor slights easily. It is not uncommon for a slight disrespect between warriors to evolve into a duel. While these are not always lethal, depending on the strength of the combatants, casualties are inevitable despite the warriors’ attempts to minimize them. (+2 Fate Points).
Ambitious Foreigners (Requires “Wandering Foreigners”): Some foreigners from across the sea do not see the new world they have come across with peaceful eyes. Some have instead come to conquer new territory. While these groups are not sanctioned by the ruling power of the Far Lands, they are great in number. (+10 Fate Points).
Young Master Syndrome: Many heirs to powerful families are often coddled by their ancestors and, as such, have a largely inflated ego and partake in heinous acts. Despite this, their family always takes their side in conflicts. Be wary of disrespecting a young master. (+5 Fate Points).
Royal Puppet (Requires “Fractured Empire”): The current emperor is little more than a young adult being played with and puppeted by a lady of high renown. On the outside, she is simply his courtesan; in truth, she manipulates the emperor like a puppet on a string. Due to her divine beauty, most others also fall under her allure. The courtesan’s plans are unknown, but she controls far more of the Celestial Empire than many imagine. (+15 Fate Points).
Demonic Empress (Requires “Royal Puppet”): The courtesan controlling the emperor is secretly the head of a demonic sect that has its roots in the Celestial Empire’s capital. They regularly harvest potent sexual fluids from powerful martial artists to increase their power. In time, they wish to topple the Empire and make a new one in its stead. (+5 Fate Points).
Well-Paved Roads: Throughout even the less civilized regions, roads can be found heading towards towns and cities alike. These roads are warded from most mystical beasts, but one can still run into the occasional bandit party. Though one is equally likely to come across a benevolent wandering merchant. (Cost: 5 Fate Points).
Fertile Soil: The soil across the world of Dai’Gyo is abnormally fertile, allowing crops to grow with increased speed and yield. As such, food is in abundance. While starvation among the beggar-class still exists, it is far less than it would be normally. (Cost: 5 Fate Points).
Mystical Veins: Within dense forests or deep caves, veins of valuable mystical ore or fonts of mystic essence can be found with much greater ease. As such, items useful for the progression of martial and sorcerous arts are cheaper and easier to come by. (Cost: 8 Fate Points).
Lands of Wonder: Various spans of land within Dai’Gyo are beyond ordinary. From chasms formed of crystal, to subterranean ecosystems that hold their own forest, to even floating islands, the world has many wonders to explore, often with valuable treasures to be found. (Cost: 8 Fate Points).
Friendly Behemoths (Requires “Wandering Behemoths”): Although rare, some behemoths have become domesticated by some fragments of the world, acting as guardians of cities. Some have even become enlightened and act as spiritual tutors to those they deem worthy. (Cost: 12 Fate Points).
Ethan had expected to have quite the headache after mulling over so many modifiers, but likely due to the body he was experiencing being his consciousness rather than his true body, he didn’t have these effects. Regardless, he finally finished choosing the general modifiers, now with a total of 227. He laughed at himself; he had doubled his amount of starting Fate Points. Though given the amount of detriments he’d given to the Celestial Empire in particular, he didn’t imagine it would last a few years beyond when he entered the world. It was a good thing he planned on making himself an absolute anomaly in terms of strength. That being said, he didn’t expect he would be able to fight cultivators as soon as he spawned, but he would be leagues better than most low-tier martial artists.
Though now, Ethan turned his attention to the subtab he hadn’t opened. He felt… nervous? No, that wasn’t quite it. He was anticipating in what ways he could change the world to be more ‘lewd’. How far could he alter it? Could he make the world no more than a massive cacophony of sex and lust if he wished? Not that he would go that far. He definitely wanted to put more Fate Points into this subtab than he’d first expected. However, that may be his other head talking. Bracing himself, he opened the tab.
Once again, there were countless modifiers, both detrimental and beneficial. In fact, there seemed to be even more than the prior list. Unlike the general modifiers, he was going to be more even with the benefit/detriment distribution. He may even have primarily benefits within the category.
As he read through each modifier over the next few hours, he felt his face get hot as his mind came up with scenario upon scenario for each modifier. He couldn’t lie to himself; most of the ones he ended up choosing he’d choose solely based on a certain fantasy that may have popped into his mind, or things he’d wanted in the real world. He decided to be rather shameless about his choices. It's not like anyone would know he made society the way it is.
Unfaithful Lovers: Cheating and general unfaithfulness to one’s partner is a more common occurrence, and the societal punishment for such things is generally more lax. However, most lovers may take great disrespect in being cheated on, causing grudges to form amongst even the higher rungs of society. (+2 Fate Points).
Lax Laws: Laws pertaining to sexual harassment are much more lax and, depending on the severity, can be seen as a form of aggressive flirting. However, this laxness still has a limit, and when the limit is broken, the punishment is rather harsh. (+5 Fate Points).
Public Punishment: Some lesser crimes do not have jail time or a fine as punishment, but rather sexual acts, often public humiliation. Most decent-sized towns have areas where such punishments take place. (+5 Fate Points).
Syndicate Brothels (Requires “Crime Syndicates”): Many brothels, whorehouses, and other pleasurable establishments are often run by crime syndicates in one way or another as ways of controlling the populous and gathering information. It is also used to sway high-class customers into their servitude. (+8 Fate Points).
Physical Gap: There is a noticeable gap between your sex and the dominant sex [default: Male] of the world (if this sex is the same, you are considered ‘lesser’ of the gender you are socially in some way). This results in the dominant sex being taller and stronger on average compared to the average of the other sex. This gap isn’t insurmountable; many martial artists of the ‘lesser’ sex can defeat the average citizen of the dominant sex. This physical gap does not inherently change society as a whole, but it can cause those of the dominant gender to look down on you. (+5 Fate Points).
Interspecies “Romance”: The sexual fluids of humans are more potent for non-human races. As such, many humanoid spirits and non-human races of high status within their own society have humans as concubines. While oftentimes the humans are unwilling to partake in being a concubine, some members of society find being a courtesan of non-humans to be a great boon. Be wary if humanoid spirits or non-human races find you appealing. (+10 Fate Points).
Amplified Lust: Due to a strange fluctuation in the ambient energy around Dai’Gyo, the average libido of society has risen considerably. This has not changed how society functions as a whole, but sexual acts are far more common to occur, as well as more intense sexual encounters. (+2 Fate Points).
Foreign Fascination (Requires “Wandering Foreigners”): Due to the influx of foreigners in society, many have found them fascinating. As such, foreigners are more likely to partake in sexual acts with the citizens of the Celestial lands and vice versa. This also makes cheating on each other for foreigners more common. (+2 Fate Points).
Sexual Physics: The world has altered slightly to allow more versatile sexual acts to take place, such as injury from large insertions being negated, and sexual fluids being naturally replenished more often. This results in more fantastical kinks manifesting more commonly. (Cost: 2 Fate Points).
Beauty Standard: The world's energies have altered the average appearance of citizens to be conventionally attractive. While not everyone is considered overly handsome or beautiful, seeing citizens with more appealing bodies is far more common. (Cost: 5 Fate Points).
Femboy/Futanari: Makes a small percentage of citizens be either male with feminine properties, or females with more masculine properties. Slightly changes the disposition between sexes across society. And some find these rare specimens more appealing than average. (Cost: 2 Fate Points).
Shameless: The attitude towards most sexual acts is more relaxed. Public sex is seen as immodest at most, and more exotic or extreme fetishes are more accepted, albeit still uncommon. (Cost: 2 Fate Points).
Revealing Fashion: The general fashion sense of the upper rungs of society is rather revealing, especially for the dominant sex. While these outfits are still somewhat uncommon in more official occasions such as courts, they can still be seen being worn by aristocrats and the generally wealthy. (Cost: 2 Fate Points).
Sexual Energy: The internal and external energy of those who can harness it is briefly amplified during and after sex and during pleasure. This allows for some arts to be done more easily for several hours after experiencing an orgasm. The more intense the orgasm, the larger the bonus. (Cost: 6 Fate Points).
Enchanted Toys: For one reason or another, items crafted to cause pleasure or take part in pleasurable acts are far easier to enchant in various ways compared to traditional items. As such, enchanted sex toys, bondage gear, and other equipment are more commonly found. (Cost: 2 Fate Points).
Lewd Alchemy: Many alchemists have taken to producing and creating all forms of aphrodisiacs and sex enhancing drugs. They are far more common to come across. Some are even potent enough to manipulate mental barriers. (Cost: 8 Fate Points).
Tempting Strength: Powerful people, such as sorcerers, martial artists, and warriors, are generally more beautiful and appealing to most others. As such, this also increases their influence in many situations. (Cost: 2 Fate Points).
Reverse Sexual Dominance: At some point in the past, women have become the dominant gender in terms of sexual acts. This has slightly altered some parts of society to be female-dominated. Females are also generally considered more influential than men, though this difference is slight. (Cost: 2 Fate Points).
Winners Deference: Winning a competition, fight, or similar interaction with another will often result in the winning party inducting the losing party into a relationship with the winner as the dominant member (regardless of sex). Though these occurrences are somewhat rare, they are socially acceptable. (Cost: 2 Fate Points).
Ethan will admit to himself. He’d gotten rather carried away with how many modifiers he’d chosen. The tightening in his pants had largely thought of him. The generally low cost of all of the beneficial modifiers made Ethan think that it was encouraged to take the lewd modifications. Though, despite that, Ethan still thought he’d gone overboard.
Even the ‘detrimental’ modifiers Ethan found very appealing, some at least. Though maybe that simply spoke of his various kinks and rather enjoying being on the more submissive side of things. Nonetheless, taking a glance at his Fate Points, Ethan’s eyes widened. There were even more than what he’d started with: 233.
“Shit.” He whispered to himself. Not that he was complaining. Some of the detriments had practically been free Fate Points.
Ethan took a breath as he closed the “World Modifiers”. He took time for his body to calm down from all the thoughts that had arisen while sifting through the lewd modifiers. He circled the room a few times.
The standing mirror had returned to its place on the wall, showing the form he’d selected in its typical A-Pose. One thing he didn’t notice was that the map on the wall had changed. None of the landmasses looked different, but Ethan could see slight variations in the geography. The region of the Celestial Empire had patches of ruins where towns had once been, and a small illustration, which he assumed was the Celestial Empire’s Capital, had a faint crimson glow coming from its base. At the sea between the Far Lands and the Eastern Ports, several European-looking ships sailed towards the ports, a few of which seemed like battleships. There were even faint grey lines across all the landmasses that Ethan assumed were major roads akin to interstate roads in the real world.
After around half an hour of contemplating his plan when he spawned in, he finally returned to the screen on the wall and opened the most important tab so far: “Personal Modifiers”.