Introduction and System Explanation

Hello, and thank you for taking a look at my story!

This section is for those interested in how the specifics of the system in my story works, and where I am coming from with some of my decisions in the story.

If you are a first time reader, or are not interested in these mechanics, please feel free to skip ahead to the first chapter and (hopefully) enjoy the story! If you want to understand the system before the story begins, or are reading the story and came back here for clarification on how the system works, hopefully this can shed some light on what the system is about!

Note that while I plan to keep my story as consistent with my system explanation in this chapter, there is a chance I may change how the system works in the future, so this do not be surprised if this Auxiliary chapter is updated or clarified as the story goes on.

Apologies if this is a dry read.

---How the System works and why it is how it is---

The system John uses is a personal growth system that allows John to visually see his Attributes, Skills, Abilities, Traits and Titles in an easy to read format. As such, outside of the initial "Boon" given to John at the start of the story, the system has no ability to change John in any way shape or form such as making him smarter or stronger, that change is based on John's own hard work, perseverance, cunning and other such things alone.

This also means there are no such things as quests, tasks, or anything like that to "guide" John in his journey. John must create his own goals and find his own place in the One Piece universe or canon, which includes if he even wants to be associated with the Straw-Hat Pirates adventures.

Because of this, the system may seem pointless or unnecessary which I can understand and see from others point of view, but I am doing this extremely specific system style for 2 reasons.

1). I like system style fiction, so…

2). As a plot related device, it allows John to visualize his personal progress and journey in a very tangible way giving John more efficiency when getting stronger.

For example, let us say John and another random individual are lifting weights to increase their Strength (an Attribute described later) for 1 full year. They start at lifting 10lbs of weights, and both are starting with a Strength of 20. The random individual lifts his 10lb weights for a year without increasing the weight of the dumbbells at all, but their Strength stops increasing at 25 one month into the year. John, being able to see his Strength stopped increasing after one month with the 10lb weight, would then up the weight he was lifting until his Strength started to rise again. By the end of the year (in this fake scenario), the random individual would be stuck at 25 Strength while John would have surpassed him by a lot.

It should be reiterated that this system used by John is his alone, so no other person has access to visualize their stats in the way he does. This also means that John is unable to see the Attributes, Skills, Abilities, Traits or Titles of other people, unless he witnesses them or finds out through other means, and only then will the system record it properly (or in the case of Attributes finds a suitable comparison number).

For example, let us say a person John encounters on the street looks like a member of the nobility (based on dress, wealth, cadence and so on). However, even though John is certain this person has the Title of a noble (explained later), the system will only display them as (? [Noble?]), because he is only assuming that the person is a noble (which he has not been told is true or confirmed in some other way). The system will not even display the person's name because John does not even know it yet! This also applies to other things as well such as plants or rocks which will just be named 'Plant' or 'Rock' until John knows what they are called (or he gives them a nickname). This is especially problematic if a person has statistics, abilities or other things that are unknown to John since he can be taken by surprise and taken off guard, injured and so on.

---How the System displays Information---

Attributes-

There are six Attributes governing John's basic physical and mental abilities and are based on generic D&D Attributes. These Attributes are-

Strength- Physical power and Stamina.

Constitution- Endurance and Stamina.

Dexterity- Agility, Balance, Coordination and Reflexes

Intelligence- Deductive Reasoning, Memory, Logical Thinking

Wisdom- Self-awareness, Restraint, Perception, and Insightful Thinking

Charisma- Force of Personality, Persuasiveness, Leadership

You may have noticed that there is no Health, Stamina (even though stamina is a thing, it is not a tangible stat) or Magic/Mana/Willpower/Chi type Attribute on this list, and that is on purpose. While I find a display of Health to be a great way to create tension in a hectic battle, or Stamina to determine how far one can run until they have to stop, or what spells can be used based on how much magic you have, it feels too artificial to me personally.

Just as low Health can create tension, high Health means there is no tension since there is a systematic way to see when a character can die (and do not even get me started with Health regeneration mechanics). With a Stamina number, a person will only run until their number gets depleted, but what if I want the person to keep going past his limits and collapse on the floor, showing his determination? And why have a Magic stat that is basically a carnival ride? "You must be this tall or have this much magic to ride this ride". To me, that is silly, if my character wants to use a spell they really should not have and almost die because of it, good for them!

So yeah, no Health, Stamina or Magic/whatever Attributes.

It should also be noted that an Attribute common to many RPG and novel systems, Luck, is not present on this list. This is because, according to the story I am writing, Luck is determined by more things than just the individual, which is all the system is supposed to see and give information on. For example, say John flips a coin and calls head. Is John exerting his own Luck on the coin or is it just a coincidence that determines what side it lands on once it escapes John's hand? But what if something like Destiny/Fate exists and decides that it/they/whatever wants John to succeed; was that heads the result of John's luck, or divine intervention? What if a random person slaps the coin out of the air after John flips it and it lands on heads, was that John's Luck that got that heads or did the person who slapped it change it to heads? Or did John's Luck compel this person to slap the coin? But then isn't that some weird form of compulsion, or even destiny?

So yeah, no Luck Attribute.

Attribute ranges are on a 0-100 scale and is based on an average between the "weakest" (whether physically, mentally, or otherwise) intelligent, mortal human-like lifeforms in the world at 0, to the "strongest" at 100. 0-19 is considered "low", 20-39 is "average", 40-59 is "above average" 60-79 is "exceptional" and 80-100 are "Transcendent". It is possible to increase attributes up to 79 through practice and training (such as working out for strength or speaking to people with charisma). Getting to 80 or higher is incredibly difficult to achieve (in some cases almost impossible) and is usually dependent on special conditions (like having certain abilities or traits), genetics (for example, some people have a racial disposition to have higher strength, like giants), or body modification (such as implants, becoming a cyborg and so on).

It should be noted that John can only see the level his Attribute is, not how much experience is required before it goes up a level. This is to help emulate the feel of how in life you are not always entirely sure when you reach the next "level" of something, so John's progression seems more natural and smooth than a sudden level up like in some video-games. Plus, I (the author) hate when half of a chapter is filled with so many percentages and decimals, when really I just want people to know John is getting better at something, not to have myself or readers nitpick over the tiny numbers.

Additionally, these attribute ranges are only applied to those considered human-like because otherwise the system would be too granular and ultimately unusable. For example, one can see a much easier Attribute comparison between a Giant and a Human is, a Giant would (on average) have a higher Strength without training due to the size difference. On the other hand, how would one describe the difference in Strength between a tiny ant and a deity/God? Would the ant be a 0 and the deity a 100? Would that mean the new Human average is now 0 as well, because how would they compare to a deity? Should the max Strength cap just be raised from 100 to, I do not know, 1,000,000,000? But then that makes everything too complicated and precise, and people who care greatly about numbers would get on my case, when numbers are not really that this story is about.

So yeah, I am sticking with mortal human-likes.

How Attributes are displayed-

Strength- 0-100

Constitution- 0-100

Dexterity- 0-100

Intelligence- 0-100

Wisdom- 0-100

Charisma- 0-100

Skills-

Like Attributes, Skills are listed on a 0-100 scale based on the average levels and proficiencies held by both the weakest and strongest holders of the skills and are also broken up into "low", "average", "above average", "exceptional" and "Transcendent". The ability to reach "Transcendent" level in skills is generally easier to reach than in Attributes since it is based on knowledge, practice and proficiency as opposed to physical or mental prowess. That said, it is still a daunting prospect and the ability to reach "Transcendent" is usually greatly aided by having higher Attributes, certain Abilities, or even creating special or unique techniques that set the user apart from the other skill practitioners.

When learning skills, most skills can be learned without certain Attributes requirements and mostly just with hard work, understanding and proficiency with the skill, with some exceptions. For example, a person wanting to learn the skill (Sword Mastery) can learn it by using a sword at any point with some proficiency, regardless of Attribute. However, there will be a learning penalty if the user lacks the Attribute to wield the sword (such as Strength if the sword is heavy). This experience penalty is described in the next paragraph. Additionally, some skills require certain attribute scores to learn, such as (Observation Haki) which requires a combination of Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma up to a certain score to use.

Regarding skill experience, depending on the amount of Attribute points one has in a specific category affects experience gains of certain skills. This hidden Attribute cost is hidden to the readers and John and can only be known if it is found out in some external way, like a trainer/mentor pointing out John needs more muscle to do something, or a book or something. Additionally, the experience gain/penalty is never surfaced numerically but can be felt by the individual in the form of increased/decreased physical or mental stress, pain, and other such indicators. For example, if John is greatly above the hidden Attribute requirement, they can run for greater distances at faster speeds for longer periods of time when compared to lower Attributed peers.

How Skills are displayed-

{Skills}

(Running [0-100])

(Sword Mastery [0-100])

Abilities/Traits-

Abilities/Traits covers, well, Traits and Abilities a person may have. The difference between Abilities/Traits and Skills is that Abilities and Traits do not level up like skills do, they are just a part of a person and their skillset.

For example, a "common" Ability in the story would be having a devil fruit. Using Monkey D. Luffy as an example, he would not have a skill for his devil fruit because it is not something that can be learned (and having finesse with it is optional), but it is gained by eating a devil fruit. So instead of having a skill related to his devil fruit, he would have the Ability called (Devil Fruit [Gomu-Gomu no mi]). Additionally, because the ability directly affects his body (becoming a rubberman and being able to stretch), he would get the Trait (Rubberman Physiology) because he can now stretch his body like rubber.

While Abilities and Traits are under the same tab, they are generally distinct in the way that Abilities are usually powers or unique techniques that cannot level as a skill, while traits are usually more physical and individual. Using the earlier example, (Devil Fruit [Gomu-Gomu no mi]) gives Luffy his power as a rubberman, but as his body is physically a rubberman now he gets the trait (Rubberman Physiology) as well.

Note that John can list physical features as a trait in both himself and others, such as if he or someone else is (Right-Handed) he can note that under Traits. John (and by extension me, the author) will usually not do this as it just adds wordcount and "fluff" for no reason, but it can be useful when attempting to note unique features about things, such as if someone needs glasses to read earlier and then suddenly has none at a later point, making John suspicious.

How Abilities and Traits are displayed-

{Abilities}

(Devil Fruit [Gomu-Gomu no mi])

{Traits}

(Rubberman Physiology)

(Right-Handed)

(Poor Eyesight)

Titles-

Titles are basically how John classifies himself or others in the world and is displayed after John's name (or others). Titles generally revolve around two things; what people are and what they are good at. For example, a King of a country would have the title of (King) because that is what he is, or a farmer will be a (Farmer). Titles can also be based on skill proficiency, such as a Prince of a kingdom having the Title of (Prince), but also being a (Swordsman) because he is known for his skill with a blade.

Titles can also be forced upon people if the world generally considers the title appropriate for them. For example, if a person goes around pillaging villages on a ship with a crew of people and gets a bounty, they may gain the title (Pirate), even if they just consider themselves a petty thief or a Robin Hood-esque figure or something.

For John, Titles are useful because it can allow him to gain small experience bonuses to certain Skills and Attributes, or even allow him to potentially learn unique or restricted techniques. For example, if John holds the Title (Swordsman), he can gain an increase in experience when training the Skill (Sword Mastery). Some Titles also allow John to gain certain abilities, which will be revealed as the story progresses.

Note that John can claim any title for himself personally at any time, but there must be some truth for the Title to give bonuses to anything. For example, say John decides that he is a fisherman even though he has never fished. He would gain the Title (Fisherman?) which would do nothing because he has never fished, and the world around him does not believe him to be a fisherman. That said, if John truly decided he wants to try to learn how to fish and has the confidence that he can learn to do it right then he would gain the Title (Aspiring Fisherman) which will give him an experience boost when he fishes, but it will be miniscule.

The Title system is incredibly fluid and weird because it is basically working off John's subconscious mind. Using the example from earlier, if John had the Title (Fisherman?) he would gain no experience boost because it is not true, and he has no confidence in his ability. It would then upgrade to (Aspiring Fisherman) if he gained the confidence that he could learn how to fish properly, and then actually do it. Once his skill is proven either by being acknowledged by others or fishing a lot, he would get the Title (Fisherman) because he has the knowledge and confidence to claim that he truly is a fisherman, rewarding him with further fishing experience gains.

Note that while John can technically have an infinite amount of Titles, he will usually only display the one most pertinent to what he is doing at the time since he is the only one who can see it. If he becomes a pirate in the story, he will already know that, so why would he keep that title displayed at all time? This will also help me (the author) keep word countdown so there isn't just a huge long list of nonsense all the time.

How Titles are portrayed-

John Capet [Swordsman]

John Capet [Merchant]

---An Example Status Screen---

John Capet [Swordsman]

Strength- 20

Constitution- 25

Dexterity- 30

Intelligence- 35

Wisdom- 50

Charisma- 45

{Skills}

(Sword Mastery [50])

(Running [25])

{Abilities}

(Devil Fruit [Gomu-Gomu no mi])

{Traits}

(Rubberman Physiology)

(Right-Handed)