"Auxiliary system activated successfully. Welcome to ice and fire: Battle Royale. Hello, Mr. Ivan, your AI assistant Annie is at your service."
"Uh, hello."
"First, we will proceed with character creation. You have a total of three hours for this stage, so please take your time and study it carefully."
"Three hours?" Ivan felt that this time allocation naturally carried a serious atmosphere. After all, for a game character creation, this time was too long, but for someone playing for their life, this preparation time was too short.
Annie did not answer the question, so Ivan could only look at the text that popped up on the screen with a solemn expression.
[What is your lineage?]
[Andal: Strength +1, unlocks profession 'Sellsword Knight'
First Men: Strength +1
Loynar: Agility +1
Ironborn: Strength +2, unlocks profession 'Shipwrecked Pirate', gains trait 'Seafaring Adaptation'
Braavosi: Agility +2, Trade Skill +1, unlocks profession 'Wandering Assassin'
Valyrian Free Trade City States Descendant: Trade Skill +1
Dothraki: Agility +2, Riding Skill +1
Yi Ti: Spirit +3
Iban: Strength +3
Note: 1. Players can choose one main lineage and one sub-lineage. The character's appearance is primarily determined by the former, while the latter only provides bonuses.
Lineage will affect the player in various aspects throughout the game. Players will acquire the spoken language skill corresponding to their main lineage's living area.]
"Uh," Ivan fell into contemplation as he looked at this panel.
"Hint: All choices can be changed before the final confirmation of character creation," Annie reminded him at the opportune moment, "Therefore, you can make your selection after reviewing all options."
Ivan nodded and directly clicked to the next page.
[Who is your father?]
[A returning veteran:
A farmer:
A...]
[Who is your mother?]
[Where were you born? (Location/Time)]
[What did you do in your childhood?]
[What did you do in your youth?]
[Later, you became a...?]
[Finally, you arrived at...?]
After roughly reviewing the options for each question, Ivan began to try locking in some options to find the optimal combination.
Soon, he discovered a pattern: when he locked in a certain question, some options in the other questions would automatically decrease.
For example, if he chose Ironborn as his race, the 'farmer' profession option would disappear later, because 'we do not sow' (the Greyjoy family motto, literally translated as 'we do not farm').
If he chose to become a craftsman in his final profession, then he would have to choose a craftsman apprentice in either his childhood or youth experiences.
This is a common setting, designed to ensure the logical consistency of the player's character background.
Next, he spent nearly an hour and had only reviewed less than a third of the options, because the system provided an incredibly rich array of choices.
For example, the identities of parents: it could be said that, apart from nobles, all identities that could appear in a real world were listed as options, even eunuchs and silent sisters were not spared.
Therefore, Ivan had to change his strategy and chose to lock from back to front, first checking the current profession, which had the greatest impact on the three major factors: 'panel, funds, and equipment'.
Soon, Ivan identified what he considered to be the five most competitive professions—Sellsword Knight, Wandering Sellsword, Shipwrecked Pirate, Brotherhood Hunter, and Traveling Merchant.
Among these, Sellsword Knight and Traveling Merchant had the greatest advantages.
Although the Sellsword Knight's stats were slightly inferior to the other three combat professions (Ivan didn't know why this was set up this way, perhaps for balance?), his strength lay in having a trained horse and a complete set of armor (including a nasal helmet, gorget, an old chainmail, a pair of chainmail gloves, and a pair of greaves).
Compared to minor differences in stats, Ivan believed that a set of armor would provide a significantly greater advantage to the player in the early stages.
After all, the 'greatest swordsman in the world' (Arya's words), Syrio Forel, was killed by the 'club' Kingsguard Meryn Trant, who 'any whore can beat three of', precisely because Meryn had a 'damned armor' (the Hound's words).
The Traveling Merchant, on the other hand, was strong because he started with a massive 100 gold dragons in funds, and also began with 4 retainers (with almost no combat ability), four old pack horses, two carts, and seven mules.
This was undoubtedly the best starting choice for a behind-the-scenes playstyle. If it weren't for the Traveling Merchant's average attributes being no more than 5, Ivan might have chosen it on the spot.
These two professions were considered T0.
Then there were Wandering Sellswords. Their equipment was slightly simpler, just a short sword and leather armor, but their stats were ranked first, making their combat power very considerable.
Shipwrecked Pirates, while having decent stats, also had an initial fund of 10 gold dragons, making them a relatively well-rounded profession. The only drawback was that it was Ironborn-exclusive. Considering the Ironborn's reputation throughout the ice and fire world, if a player chose this, they would definitely have to put Ironborn as their second lineage, otherwise, they would be an outcast everywhere they went.
Brotherhood Hunter had no particularly outstanding features compared to the others, but as the only available ranged profession, it always attracted some loyal archery enthusiasts, and backstabbing also aligned more with the player's style.
These three professions were considered T1.
T2 included, but was not limited to, professions like Ascetic Priest, Wandering Red Robe Monks, Wandering Assassin, Lorn River Pirate, etc., which didn't show much advantage but were still acceptable.
As for the last ones, such as landless farmers, pickpockets, newly escaped slaves, Flea Bottom beggars, or ducks from bankrupt inns, Ivan suspected the developers were insulting players' intelligence.
This was about risking one's life in another world! What kind of brain-dead person would choose to be playful at this time?
After completing his analysis of the professions, Ivan began to try locking from back to front, and soon, he tried out some very good combinations.
For example, choosing the Andal and Dothraki lineages, with a Sellsword father and a maid mother from a knight's estate, spending childhood as a sparring partner for the master, youth sent to a castle to be a knight's squire, becoming a knight in adulthood due to military merits, and finally venturing out to become a Sellsword Knight.
This path started with a well-equipped and stat-wise excellent mounted fighter, with considerable combat power.
Another example was choosing the Ironborn and Iban lineages, with a pirate father and a salt wife captured from the Iban, spending childhood helping on a ship, youth sailing with pirates, becoming a formal pirate in adulthood, and finally coming ashore due to a shipwreck.
This path started with a berserker whose Strength directly exceeded 30.
However, Ivan had a question about this: didn't Iban and other races have reproductive isolation? How was this guy born?
After comprehensive consideration, Ivan finally decided to balance both early and late game. He chose Andal, which was required to unlock 'Sellsword Knight', and then selected First Men as his second lineage.
Because there was a note in the lineage selection stating that 'lineage will affect the player in various aspects throughout the game', Ivan guessed that the qualification to learn magic should also be one of them.
Based on Ivan's years of experience as a game designer, in games set in worlds with magic, it's only a matter of time before players learn magic.
So, what kind of magic exists in the ice and fire world?
The most famous is undoubtedly the Lord of Light r'hllor's resurrection magic, but this BUG-level magic is unlikely to be held by players themselves (it's more likely for players to try to recruit Thoros of Myr and the Red-robed Woman Melisandre). Then, the remaining magic of the Lord of Light is relatively useless; either it has extremely long casting times with little practical use, or the cost is unacceptably high.
Aside from the Lord of Light's magic, the most famous is clearly the First Men's green magic. Not to mention the Three-Eyed Raven's BUG-level ability to see the past and future, 'warging' (possessing animals with one's consciousness) and prophetic dreams in green magic are both very practical minor spells.
Combat, reconnaissance, and danger prediction abilities are all covered, and the side effects are far smaller than other magic.
The key is that the Lord of Light's magic may not have lineage restrictions, but green magic is very likely to require First Men lineage.
As for the 'dragon riding' ability, which players most eagerly anticipate, that requires pure Valyrian Dragonlord lineage. Even a little mixed blood would work, but the people of the Free Trade City States calling themselves 'Valyrian Descendants' is somewhat self-aggrandizing. Therefore, Ivan did not consider 'Valyrian Free Trade City States Descendant'.
Ultimately, Ivan chose First Men as his second lineage to avoid the situation of not being qualified to learn green magic in the future.