Speedrunner 0.25

Author's Note: Doing this as a short bonus post plus a poll as an addendum to Speedrunner 0.2. It's the first time any of the characters have “leveled up” so there's a bit of a mechanics-dump, and I'm going to treat this as a voting opportunity.

If you're hoping for more sex-related game mechanics, you've come to the right place!

If you're looking for a sex scene, this is sadly not the post for you; you'll have to wait for Speedrunner 0.3. :)

To be clear, I'm not sure I'll do votes for every advancement choice Chloe and the gang make, the way I do frequent polls for The Thaumaturge. Maybe. But I thought these two choices at least present an interesting way for people to weigh in on character development and the direction of the story and sex scenes a little.

(Side note: in the poll at the end, there are four options; please vote for one Dominance perk and one Overall Score talent, as Chloe only gets to pick one of each. If you vote for multiple perk or talent options, you're just canceling out your own vote!)

---

ADDITIONAL CHARACTER CHOICES ARE AVAILABLE.

STATISTICS
Appearance: 1
Verbal: 3
Performance: 1
Sexual Prowess: 3

EXPERIENCE
Dominance: 5
Satisfaction: 1
Connection: 2
Overall Score: 10

The 5 next to Dominance and the 10 next to Overall Score were both slowly pulsing with a blue light.

Well, Colton had said that at five points in a Statistic, he got a new Perk. It must be true of Experience as well.

I focused on the Dominance score first. Options popped up in front of me.

SELECT A NEW DOMINANCE PERK FROM THESE TWO OPTIONS:

Charismatic Chatter [F]
You've got one of those voices people love to listen to. For hours at a time, even.
Add +1 to your Verbal.

Good With Your Hands [F]
All those video games have really made you dextrous, huh? Think about what you could use that for...
Add +1 to your Performance.

The letters sparked a realization -- it must be a tier system. I'd started with some C-tier perks. These were F-tier, apparently; at least according to the system, anyway. I'd get better ones for getting my stats even higher, maybe.

SELECT A NEW OVERALL SCORE TALENT FROM THESE TWO OPTIONS:

The Voice [D]
Once per encounter, you may add half of your Dominance, rounded down, to your Verbal score for three seconds.

(Currently, this perk will temporarily give you +2 Verbal when activated.)

First Impressions Matter [D]
You know how to make a good first impression. Until you complete your first encounter with another participant, all six of your core characteristics are effectively three points higher for the purposes of interacting with them. This does not affect your Overall Score or Sexual Prowess.

(Currently, you have had encounters with Ted and Becky. This talent no longer applies to them.)

"Chloe?" It was Ted. I realized that I'd been quiet a long time. They were both looking at me, expectant.

"I, uh...I got new abilities, I think, from the Experience we just got. I get to pick a new perk from my Dominance, and a new talent from my Overall Score."

I rapidly described the choices to them.

"Good With Your Hands sounds hot," Becky said, enthusiastically. "You should pick that one."

I didn't feel like her take was especially well-considered...but I half agreed with her. I had always liked giving handjobs...but then, maybe just getting my Verbal Score even higher was the better choice.

"Wow, okay...I want to talk about how irritating it is that you leveled up and I didn't. But let's put it aside for a minute, I guess..." Ted's mouth twisted in displeasure, but then he sighed. "Run them past me again?"

I repeated them, with him listening more carefully the second time.

"Huh. Okay. My opinion is that First Impressions Matter seems really strong, but it kind of depends on how many other participants there are, right? And whether or not you'll just be going back to the same people over and over...like if it's mostly going to be the three of us, I'm not sure how useful that is. The Voice, on the other hand seems, uh..." he blushed.

I raised an eyebrow, curious at how he was going to end the sentence, given what had just happened.

"...Kind of scary, if I'm honest with you. You're already..." he trailed off, and was silent for a moment, obviously reflecting on our encounters to this point. "...Really persuasive," he finished, lamely.

I considered. The +1 to Verbal or Performance, I could go either way on; the big choice here felt like the Talent.

First Impressions Matter would only be useful if I was really going out of the way to have encounters with new people. Otherwise it'd be wasted. But a +3 to everything seemed pretty damned strong, at least for now.

The Voice would be more generally useful -- and might be stronger later on, since it scaled. Right now it was only a +2, and with it only being for three seconds in each encounter, just enough for me to say a phrase or a short sentence...

What to choose?