Defeat The Godmodder

[Moniker]

Hmmmm..... lets read the Preface.

Click to shrink...

Preface:

I am a humble traveler, and an accomplished researcher. Over the years, I have traveled to many places seeking information on the targets of my research; godmodders. Menaces to many, I have published many works on their abilities and machinations, including A Comprehensive History of Godmodding and Godmodding: Vol. 1, a historical record and collection of my knowledge, respectively.

And with all this research, I have found one thing to be consistent: The only thing that keeps godmodders in check are Players. Seemingly ordinary people who choose to fight the godmodder in whichever game he appears in, and gain extreme power just in the act of doing so. Understanding Player powers is an important part of understanding the Godmodder's powers, so in this book I have collected all I know on Players and what they can do.

A warning before I begin: While Players gain incredible power, the situation they are thrust in to keep that power is incredibly dangerous. Becoming a Player is not something that should be sought out just for that power. Players experience what is known as "Total Party Wipes" very often, and then the godmodder will not merely kill them, but take their very souls for his own ends. Only pursue a godmodder if you are prepared to accept that risk.

Another warning: Not all Players are good, or even neutral. Some of the strongest players have also been the most evil ones. It's rare when a godmodder accepts a turncoat Player, and several godmodders have been entirely closed to the idea, but when they do, the combination of Player and Godmodding power is never good, at least, not for anybody but themselves.

With that said; read on, learn about the Players, and hope you never become one.

------

That's all.

Remaining chapters:
7: History of Players
8-2: Summary

(No need to post selecting the next chapter to read, it's going to be Chapter 7)

 

[Moniker]

Finally, with the Darkshard gone, you have a moment to read.

Looking at this book... what's the point of reading 8-2? You already know everything in there. Seems like too much work. No more Chapter 8-2. It is pointless.

What's this? The chapter is a mere 1 page long. You thought for sure it was longer!

Chapter 7: The History of Players

Were this book to contain a full history of all known players to fight against the godmodder, it would be significantly heavier than it is now. However, for Players or someone with their powers, a full book containing a proper history of all players can be summoned. The spell code to receive it is "dwojf329♀sbde". Take care, it's not a small book!

Once you have it, do note that the book lacks a table of contents. The book is meant primarily for Player use, so use a creative action to browse for any specific entries. Entry format is as follows:

Group Number (This player is the xth group to ever fight a godmodder. Note that these may not be completely accurate, as the record only goes back so far, it is possible that there may have been player groups before the book's cutoff point.)
Group Size (not a specific number, describes it in terms ranging from very small(2-3 players) to immense(50+ players))
Lead Players (it is very rare for a group of Players to have a designated leader/s, so if there is no clear leader, this will list the players who showed up first.)
Godmodder Damage Dealt (how much they managed to injure the godmodder, lists "all" if they managed to slay the godmodder they were fighting)
Godmodder name (lists the godmodder's name, if publicy known - most current godmodders shield their names, so it will probably show up as "???" for the currently living godmodder)
Players slain(number of Players who have died during the fight - says "all" if entire group was slain)
Battle State(this lists "defeated", "ongoing", or "victory". Occasionally, battle states that do not fit into any of these categories will occur, the book lists "-----" in response to )

As for the origins of the book, the best of my research shows it was made by a Player as a random creative action, but the item was well-liked and useful enough it became a permanent fixture. We don't know which Player created the book, but there is some evidence indicating it was used at least once by Players several hundred years in the past.

Unfortunately, as I am not a Player, I have only been able to gather this information from accounts and other writings, rather than first-hand experience.

--------

And that's the end of the chapter! Great! Well, you know what to do now.

You recite the spell code, "dwojf329♀sbde". It was pretty hard to pronounce, but you managed it. Immediately, a large tome appears in your hands. You flip to the first page, and read the first entry.

Group Number: 1
Group Size: Medium
Lead Players: Zagash, John
Godmodder Damage Dealt: 64
Godmodder name: Eerste
Players slain: All
Battle State: Defeated

Interesting! There's probably a lot of reading to do here. Might as well make the obvious choice, and flip to the last page to look at yourself. You flip through the pages aaallllllll the way to the very last one. Looks like there's three relevant entries here:

Group Number: 8,672
Group Size: Very Very small
Lead Players: Altair
Godmodder Damage Dealt: 0
Godmodder name: ???
Players Slain: 0
Battle State: -----

Group Number: 8,673
Group Size: Very large
Lead Players: Captain.cat, Corebrute, orange
Godmodder Damage Dealt: 78
Godmodder name: ???
Players slain: All
Battle State: Defeated

Group Number: 8,674
Group Size: Very Large
Lead Players: Shiboso, RedRover1760, Srovy
Godmodder Damage Dealt: 23
Godmodder name: ???
Players slain: 7
Battle State: Ongoing

Wait... no... that's not right... is it? Wait... Wait...

You are seized by a sudden headache...

 

[Moniker]

You open up your magazine article, that CaptainNZZZ brought back from his quest...

Confessions of a Paradox Gambler

It all started out so innocently. We were all Players, engaged in battle with the godmodder, but it all went wrong. Why? Entropic Paradox Rolls. Something every Player should be wary of.

This is my story. I have to share it. I can only hope that it prevents other Players from making the same mistakes I did.

Early on in the fight, a player decided to plant a tree. Out of that tree, from the Player's intentions, grew several Charge Apples. When eaten, they'd draw in power, giving us an extra action, and we could use three per turn! Of course, doing so forced an Entropic Paradox Roll, which caused a random effect on the field based on a random number rolled from all the numbers between 1 and 10000. But with a possible 6 actions each turn, surely taking a dice roll or three was worth it, right? Or, that's what we thought.

Of course, we quickly noticed that the downsides were greater than we initially expected. A few of us realized, early on, that the bad of using the Charge Apples outweighed the good by a fair margin. First off, the rolls seemed to turn out bad a lot more than they turned out well - even when we rolled above 5000, the midway point of the rolls. I still remember all the general results clearly in my mind, and have written them down here:

9000+: Medium Positive Effect
8000-9000 Minor Positive Effect
7000-8000 Neutral Effect
6000-7000 Minor Negative Effect
5000-6000 Medium Negative Effect
4000-5000 Major Negative Effect
3000-4000 Massive Negative Effect
2000-3000 Insane Negative Effect
1000-2000 Disastrous Negative Effect
10-1000 Cataclysmic Negative Effect

Of course, 5000 is only the midway point at the start. Each roll reduced the maximum roll amount by 10, without changing the sets of the rolls to match - for example, after 50 rolls, you could only roll as high as 9500. However, rolling an 8980 would still give you a Minor Positive Effect, even though proportionally that is in the top 10% of possible rolls at that point. After 100 rolls, the entire top bracket, medium positive effect, was removed. After 300 rolls, any chance of anything but a negative was gone entirely - I know because, I am sorry to confess, we passed that point later on in our battle.

For a little more information on the specifics, with the exception of the very bottom bracket, what you roll within the bracket matters little - there is not much different between a 3010 and a 3990, both are massive negative effects all the same. The same roll twice would not yield the same effect each time - the rolls don't seem to predict specifics as much as general guidelines for what random thing will happen. Rolls within the 7000-8000 range tended not to be truly neutral effects but rather, effects that hurt or helped [N] entities, which could sometimes still be an overall negative, if the [N] entity was helping [AG] forces. Furthermore, though these rolls generally benefited the forces of the godmodder we were fighting, they seemed to have a strong association with [V] entities, often buffing or spawning them. As for the roll of 10,000, possible only on the very first roll, I have no idea what it does. The odds of getting it are astronomical, but I have a hard time believing that these Charge Apples could ever have a Major Positive Effect for the [AG] forces.

And so that is most of the factual information out of the way. After reading, you are probably wondering how we didn't see it initially. How could me and my compatriots keep rolling, knowing the risks? Well, at first, it was easy to justify. We got a guaranteed positive boost for a random event - that might not necessarily even be negative, or that bad! And, if it WAS that bad, well... that was the risks we took! If that seems like a selfish position to take... that's because it is! And I was as blind as everyone else, one of the team members who made the most rollers. Beyond being easily justifiable, it was also exhilarating, and easy, and... well, addictive. Several of us were riding the adrenaline too much to stop eating the Charge apples, even as their effects got continually worse.

You see, there were actually several pervasive attitudes in our team that, while nobody saw them initially, fed into our maniacal Charge Apple consumption. Though the godmodder was a threat to everyone, and a common goal for all of us... not everyone on our team was what you'd call... a good person. I certainly wasn't. Most of us weren't. The general attitude was one of personal glory, personal gain, rather than a true desire to work together and defeat the godmodder. Seeing genuine teamwork and cooperation was rare, and we tripped each other up as often as we helped each other. The fact that the results of the Entropic Paradox Rolls would often hurt people who WEREN'T the one who initially ate the Charge Apples caused much frustration and anger - while simultaneously making the Charge Apples more appealing, as you knew your own entities would likely be unharmed. Though, by the end, of course, everyone was suffering equally.

We fell into a vicious cycle. We got back at each other by using more and more Charge Apples, and the godmodder caught up to our boost in power by taking off one of his sets of "training wheels" a little early. Not that he needed to, as the rolls consistently ruined our own armies repeatedly. This caused us to be forced to use more Charge Apples, and so the cycle repeated. We couldn't stop, and by the end, I'm fairly certain everyone had used Charge Apples at one point during the fight.

And then it happened.

You'll notice up there that the bottom bracket listed, "Cataclysmic Negative Effect", stops at the roll of "10", rather than "1". A Cataclysmic Negative Effect is always terrible, but it can be recovered from in the long term. However, any roll below a 10, in the single digits, is in its own separate category. I suspect each roll is different, and most of them are potential game-ending events. Sometime after the 300th roll I mentioned earlier, one of us rolled an 8. What happened was, a giant, horrific, [V] aligned beast was summoned. The stats on this monster were utterly insane - we knew as soon as we saw it that we didn't stand a chance. It looked like a giant spider, but it wasn't so easy to kill as being squished. It was so incredibly out of our league, I don't even think any normal entity stands a chance of killing it. It wiped out both our and the godmodder's entities, then the godmodder sat back and kept himself safe as it tore us to shreds. And what did I do? As the last of my teammates tried to mount a resistance and died, I fled. Fled so I could write this. None of them survived, and now... I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

So this is what I tell you: Don't mess with Charge Apples, or any other form they appear in. The Entropic Paradox Rolls are not, nor will they ever be, worth the gain you get from them.

 

[Moniker]

Soul Weaknesses and how to Find Them

Dear Reader, Before we begin, allow me to briefly introduce myself. My name is Val, a collector of lore from the wars of Players and Godmodders.

If you are reading this, odds are, you are a Player. Well, I have good news for you. This book was made for Players, and commissioned by a Player using wealth conjured from their powers. As such, the knowledge this book contains is geared towards Players. If you are not a Player, then this book is still useful for teaching the basics. Do note, however, that the Player powerset is easily the one most suited to exploiting Critical Soul Weaknesses. Or just "Soul Weaknesses". Or "Critical Weakness". Occasionally, they may be referred to as "Critical Entity Weaknesses", but this is not strictly correct, as they are not limited solely to entities. There are many names, but they all mean the same thing. This book has two main sections: Learning Critical Soul Weaknesses, and What Happens When a Soul is Hit By Its Weakness. Now, let us begin properly:

1: Learning Critical Soul Weaknesses

Learning the Critical Weakness of a Soul is very difficult. The first thing to know is, it isn't random, though it sometimes appears that way. From the known Critical Weaknesses I have seen, the consistent thread running through them is that they always make a twisted sort of sense. At the same time, they are never obvious - a being of fire may be weak to water, but never critically weak. Another important point: Every soul has a weakness. Entities. Godmodders. Players. Every unique soul has a weakness, as well. The only point of contention with this is Critical Weakness's interactions with "Crowd Entities" - entities all bunched up together. Outside of the battle with the godmodder, if someone were to strike a soldier in a regular human army with their Critical Soul Weakness, each soldier in the army has their own thoughts, their own unique talents. Only the single soldier would be affected. With, say, a Player-summoned horde of ten skeleton warriors, each skeleton warrior is utterly identical. And so, were their Critical Weakness to be struck, all of them would die together.

With this in mind, there are three ways that a Player may find a Critical Soul Weakness. The first, and most common, is by accident. A player uses a clever attack, and it ends up being more effective than they ever expected. A nice surprise, but it often leads the other Players to attempt to further capitalize on this and waste valuable effort on the other two methods, without realizing how difficult it truly is. Though this is the most common way a Soul Weakness is discovered, it is still very rare. The second way is to attempt to guess a Critical Weakness, based on the above criteria of making sense by some level of logic. But this tends to lead to more frustration than anything - your odds are better than attacking like normal, but tactically you're better off trying to kill it normally without using Soul Weaknesses - if at all possible.

The third and final way is to explore the Ruins. The Ruins contain the Soul Weaknesses of every living thing - I myself once visited the place, and found what I was looking for. However, it is exceedingly dangerous, and only gets moreso in relation to the power of the being whose weakness you are searching for. It is my recommendation that such a journey should only be undertaken if every other possible option has been used - and do not attempt to venture to the Ruins to find the godmodder's Critical Weakness! It is simply a terrible idea. The Ruins are located at approximately Latitude -57, Longitude -123, on Earth. The creation of the Ruins is a complete mystery - perhaps a Player of the past willed it to exist? Considering most Player creations are temporary, the Ruins are very old for this to be the case.

Before moving on, I would like to re-assert: Finding Critical Soul Weaknesses is difficult. The above methods may seem easy. They are not. With that said:

2: What Happens When a Soul is Hit by Its Weakness

Instant death. That's the short version. The long version is immediate destruction of the entire soul. The soul itself will come undone, and the being's physical body will not be long for this world. How can one protect against this? There aren't many ways. If you have a Health bar, the amount of HP you have simply does not matter. Attack shields will do nothing. Dodge rate will be ignored. Second phases or "survive at 1 HP" clauses will fail. The only defense is if someone with a different Soul Weakness takes the attack for you. If that happened, then the being in question would survive as though their weakness had never been targeted.

That being said, do note that "Hit" in this scenario is defined as an explicitly offensive action. A mere brush will not trigger the Critical Soul Weakness. If someone's critical Weakness is Pamphlets, reading, looking at, or being politely given Pamphlets will not harm them. Being shot with a Pamphlet gun, however, might be enough.

Everything and everyone with a soul is vulnerable to Critical Soul Weaknesses. Players, entities, godmodders, and everything else alike. The only difference is that godmodders are the only ones who can theoretically survive being Struck with a Critical Soul Weakness, and this is due to them using multiple souls to power themselves. The other souls would "shield" them from much of the blast, being destroyed in the process, and the godmodder would take a permanent blow to their power - and become immune to their Critical Soul Weakness, most likely, as a weakness strike only works once. This would still cripple a godmodder, even if knowing the Critical Soul Weakness alone would not be enough to win the battle.

And so concludes these brief notes on Critical Soul Weaknesses. For more information on souls, please see Heart and Soul. For more information on godmodders and Players, please see Godmodding Vol. 1 and Players and Creativity, both written by an esteemed associate of mine.

 

[Moniker]

You don't have time to start reading quite yet, but now's a good time to get a head start! You open "Godmodding: Vol. 1" to the first page. The Table of Contents is laid out before you.

Godmodding Vol. 1
Table of Contents
I: Preface
1: Introduction: What Makes a godmodder?
2: Powers of Godmodders
3: Godmodders vs Players
4: How a Man Becomes a Godmodder: The Protege System
5: History of Godmodders
6: Conclusion

Which chapter would you like to read first? It looks like this book is a little shorter than Players and Creativity.

 

[Moniker]

CHAPTER 4: How a Man Becomes a Godmodder: The Protege System

While much is still a mystery, with the help of Players combined with my own research, much light has been shed about the workings of the Line of godmodders. Yes, the "line" of godmodders. If what we know about the Line of godmodder is correct, at any point in time, there can only exist two godmodders at once. One is the "lead" godmodder, or mentor, and the other is the subordinate, or "protege" godmodder. The Line of godmodders if formed by the historic chain of each lead godmodder and protege godmodder.

Most godmodders will, when they feel they've found an appropriate candidate or they sense the end of their life approaching, take on someone to train. This chosen candidate is usually a Player whom they saw potential in, but not always. The exact method of training is unknown, and varies depending on the godmodder and their standards for their successor. It usually isn't inherently deadly - but the godmodder may kill the chosen one should they fail. That said, again - this all depends on the godmodder, and they can be quite temperamental. Same for who or what qualifies as an "appropriate candidate" to become a protege godmodder.

Once a godmodder feels that their pupil is ready, they will bestow upon them a portion of their power, and elevate them to the status of "godmodder". At this point, the new godmodder is still very weak. They are given their own Soul Orb (the creation process of such is entirely unknown) and sent out to collect souls from Players who attempt to kill them. Now, from this point, they can only become the main godmodder if the original godmodder is killed. This is generally done by victorious Players, or, rarely - by the subordinate godmodder, who attacks when the main godmodder is weakened.

No godmodder in the past has ever appointed more than one subordinate godmodder. Since it can be assumed that a godmodder would amass legions of fellow godmodders if they could do so, it may well be impossible.

This system paints a bleak picture. If the protege system continues cycling without any interruption, every godmodder kill only brings a break, never an end, to the battle against godmodders. However - it also gives hope.

If a godmodder were to be slain without a protege to replace them, then it is possible the line of godmodders could be permanently ended, and the world could be free of their terror forever.

This is not a for-sure thing - we still do not know the origins of the very first godmodder, who most likely obtained their power through a system other than the protege system. Again, the exact means by which they accomplished this are unknown, but there is no evidence to disprove the theory that they were given by Lucifer themselves. Players are advised to inquire about potential proteges to see if the godmodders can be ended permanently - but do so knowing that they could drag a second godmodder into the battle, and make an already difficult fight even harder.

 

[Moniker]

Chapter 1: Introduction: What Makes a Godmodder?

When you see a godmodder, you'll usually know almost immediately. They emanate an aura of immense power, so much that it can feel like your body is being crushed, even if the godmodder isn't currently attacking you. However, more often than not, the godmodder will, in fact, be attacking you. But that alone isn't enough. How can you tell a godmodder apart from other entities of varying levels of power? There are a few different ways godmodders set themselves apart from the other forces in our multiverse.

The first is, the godmodder's appearance tends to vary between people. If you've had the unfortunate experience of laying eyes upon the godmodder, you'll notice first: They bear a striking similarity to a certain fictional character in a story you've experienced. "A certain fictional character" doesn't refer to any actual specific character, because of the second thing you'll notice: Nobody can agree on what exactly they look like. Everyone sees the godmodder as a different fictional character. This effect is very odd, but there is one consistency: Everyone always sees them as a fictional character that they particularly dislike. Whether they were just slimy and evil, or poorly written such that despite being the hero of the story, they were one of the worst people in it... your least favorite character's visage will be eternally staring at you. If your least favorite character was in a book, the godmodder will be seen as what you imagined them to look like. If the character and the godmodder's gender don't match up, the godmodder can either switch to your next-least-favorite character that matches the gender, or look like a genderbent version of your hated character (possibly depending on the level of hatred?). If you don't have any least favorite characters, then the godmodder's appearance may incessantly remind you of somebody in real life you hate. If, by some odd quirk of chance, you hate nobody nor any fictional characters... then you'll see the godmodder's true appearance.

Some godmodders forgo this entirely, and opt to fight always showing their true appearance, instead of appearing as something you personally dislike. It appears to be based on personal preference. If you need to see the godmodder's true appearance, then Player powers can be used to see past the illusion.

Speaking of which, there are two other ways to tell godmodders apart from anyone else around. The first is the HP bar. If you have the necessary clairvoyance to see Hit Point bars (this is possessed by all Players, in addition to their other abilities), then the HP will be absurdly small. The exact HP varies from godmodder to godmodder (more HP means the godmodders have slain more Players - more on this in Chapter 2). This is in direct contrast to any eldritch terror mimicking a godmodder - if they haven't masked the HP bar entirely, their HP is likely to be absurdly high in comparison.

Second, godmodders will almost always be accompanied by (and assaulted by) Players at every turn. No godmodder, no matter how hard they try, is ever able to prevent Players from pursuing them for more than a small amount of time. No matter how many Players a godmodder kills, more will appear to attack him and slow him down at every turn. Players choose to fight godmodders, and get their powers as an inevitable result. Godmodders choose to get their powers, and fight Players as an inevitable result.

Despite the numerous attempts of godmodders to prevent Players from fighting them, none have succeeded. Wherever you see Players, you can be sure that the current godmodder can't be too far away. Though we don't know how it works, we can be assured that the godmodders can never truly win against the Players.


OOC: It has been. AGES. Sorry. First, I didn't want to type up one of these while also doing a sidequest, and there's been a lot of sidequests lately, plus I've been busy with the main updates... well, enjoy. Who knows when you'll see Chapter 2.

 

[Moniker]

Chapter 5: History of Godmodders

All you have known is only a shadow of the truth. The true hopelessness of Reality has been made known to me, and so I have redacted all my former works and released my ultimate thesis: The Truth. Seek this book and the Revelations contained within if you wish to know everything.

---------

What? There's a lot of blank space. It looks like the text has been vandalized. You turn to Chapter 6, and 7, and even one you've already read, Chapter 4, and find the same thing. You imagine Players and Creativity might be in the same state. So much knowledge, lost... you didn't even know the author of the books was still alive...

...The Truth? What manner of book is that?

---------

The Dark One: I believe they should be arriving right about now.

A portal opens! 20 Void Assassins come out - they're the ones The Dark One/Eyowebot used Revelation on. They kneel before the Dark One, and present it him... a book.

The Dark One: You all ought to thank me. I've saved you the trouble of a sidequest.

Sure enough, its clearly titled "The Truth". Below the title you see: "Written by: The Author".

The Dark One: This book is very special. Within it is contained Revelations, and too many Revelations at once is never good. Each chapter you read costs 1 RP, which my ability grants.

The Dark One: I do believe you can read one chapter now. Go ahead and choose.

Hmmm...

 

[Moniker]

The Truth: Table of Contents

1: The Truth about Players
2: The Truth about Godmodders
3: The Truth about Entities
4: The Truth about Entropic Paradox Rolls
5: The Truth about Arbiters
6: The Truth about the Architects, God, and Satan
7: The Truth about Reality
8: The Truth about Verraad (Author's note: Read this chapter last!)

You can see that whoever wrote this book, they haven't bothered with a preface this time.

Well... go ahead and vote on which chapter you want to read first. You'll need to wait for the Dark One/Eyowebot to charge up his RP to read each chapter, as reading one costs 1 RP.

 

[Moniker]

Chapter 4: The Truth About Entropic Paradox Rolls

Entropic Paradox Rolls have long been a source of mystery and reverence for many Player groups. But this mystification is only borne out of ignorance. When the actual results of these rolls are examined, and proper studying done, the truth is easily revealed.

But before I elaborate, I must take a moment to reference an earlier work, Confessions of a Paradox Gambler. Though merely a poorly written work by a failed Player, it nonetheless stands as the current height of any scientific understanding of Entropic Paradox Rolls. However, while it does effectively communicate a simple truth ("Paradox rolls bad") it also engenders multiple misconceptions which I feel the need to correct. As you are sacrificing your valuable time to read this particular chapter of this particular book, I'll assume you've already read CoaPG, and so we have no need for review. Within that book, the author mentions one actual interesting result: The spider summoned as a result of rolling an 8. But of course, this begs a number of questions which show how painfully incomplete CoaPG's analysis really is; the most pressing of which being: What happens when you roll a 1?

Well, after not insignificant labor I have found the answer. When you roll a 1, one specific thing is certain to happen. That thing is the simultaneous formation of both a truly great and terrible foe, and his creation. But this is no ordinary creation - the foe put his whole heart and soul and mind (assuming it has those things, which is unconfirmed and unlikely) into their creation, to the point where the foe is their creation, and their creation is the foe. They do seem to be different entities, but only a technical level - functionally the foe and his creation are the same. The fruits of my labors included the name of this foe, and it is composed of three syllables from the most ancient language of Reality:

Go, a syllable used as part of a magic spell that would instantly banish the life from any living being.

An, a syllable used to force something to begin Anew - its applications were as numerous as they were terrifying.

Na, a syllable used to indicate absolute and true hopelessness.

These syllables together form our foe's name. Meanwhile, the name of his creation is equally enigmatic - the Second Chance. The name of the Second Chance is a cruel lie, as in truth it gives no such thing - the particular effect of the Second Chance is that it "restarts the game". And when the "game" is restarted, the Cycle of Eternal Return begins. All the variables are reset to the exact same way they were before, and everything will happen again, exactly the way it did before - up and to including the Second Chance firing off again.

When a 1 is rolled, the Second Chance will arrive and detonate immediately. There will be no time to react. Not even a single one of the abstract "turns".

I can't say whether we're in the first loop, and thus still have hope, or if we're in the trillionth, and thus have none to speak of. But I can say one thing. The Second Chance doesn't begin existing until a 1 is rolled, at which point it will always have existed. And I have already confirmed its existence. In other words - it isn't enough to hope nobody ever lands on a 1. At some point in time - the future, most likely - a 1 has already will be rolled. It isn't a question of if, but a question of when. Maybe it'll be today. Maybe it'll be a million years away.

This segues neatly into my next revelation on Entropic Paradox Rolls: They aren't random.

The foe, the Go An Na, dictates their results. Or so my hypothesis goes. Go An Na watches over everything, waits patiently for the "random" result to appear, and then chooses to mess with one side of battle - usually, the Anti-Godmodder side, if one is available. He patiently waits for the random number generator to spit out a result, and then messes with Reality, willingly sticking to what the number generally says. This explains everything - his omnicidal destructive intentions link his rolls with [V] entities, and his desire to see the eternal war between Players and Godmodders perpetuated is why he favors the godmodder.

The logical challenge to this theory is the presence of any positive potential for rolls at all. But this is the most brilliant part of Go An Na's plan. It's a honey trap. If there's a chance for positive rolls, and they're rolled after using a useful item (The "Charge X" variety, normally), their perception in the minds of Players changes. No longer are they "goading the attention of a dark and terrible force" - instead they are "gambles", "calculated risks", and so on. In this, I believe myself and the writer of Confessions of a Paradox Gambler have arrived at the same conclusion.

Under this theory, it is entirely possible for the actual rolls you make on an Entropic Paradox Roll to not really matter at all - they are only indirectly related to the result you get. Go An Na can ignore them as he pleases. Furthermore, the idea of Entropy and energy might itself be merely a construct and a red herring, another hook to trick Players into thinking it is just another mechanic to abuse and toss aside. Hence why this "Entropy" seems to reset at certain points, usually after the defeat of a particular Player group.

To conclude: Our Reality is destined to loop eternally. But it isn't hopeless. We don't know if it has looped in the past. And the best way to seize that hope is to break the cycle, and throw off this force that shackles us.

For more information on breaking the cycle, read the last chapter of this book. After all the others, of course.

--------

Which chapter next? Once you have another RP.

The Truth: Table of Contents

1: The Truth about Players
2: The Truth about Godmodders
3: The Truth about Entities
5: The Truth about Arbiters
6: The Truth about the Architects, God, and Satan
7: The Truth about Reality
8: The Truth about Verraad (Author's note: Read this chapter last!)