Does the money in Motherlode and Four Star Daydream come from a different place from Making Ends Meet? And if the Making Ends Meet money is an inheritance does that kill someone?

31/73

The money powers can be really complicated to explain, because economies are really complicated and so it can be tricky to be absolutely sure that a power isn't causing problems like killing people or stealing from people or making there be so much money going around that it loses value. The metanarrative protection does mean that none of this happens, it's just that the Spirit can just… make things work out directly without having to figure out how to make them work out. I think in general it's a good idea to avoid squinting at the money powers especially unless you find thinking about economics really fun and rewarding all on its own.

The important part is that, if you take the money powers, however they end up working is always going to be a way that you're comfortable with.

Elan hadn't even considered that the money powers could maybe be stealing from someone! But he trusts that the Spirit won't steal from anyone for him. It seems to care a lot about being nice and about not being mean to him. And it would be really mean to give him a bunch of stolen money.

He checks off Making Ends Meet and is about to turn the page when he realizes that Motherlode would let him give his mom and all the friends he makes a comfortable lifestyle too.

34/73

Elan turns the page.

Omniglot and Anything You Can Do are scary and I don't know why.

34/73

Oh no! Well, you definitely don't have to take them. Would you be okay saying what you feel like more specifically when you think about them, or would you rather just skip them completely?

I can try.

Deep breath. What is he feeling?

You probably noticed this already, but I don't have a very high Intelligence score. I forget things and I'm bad at math and I don't know a lot of big words. And I think that Omniglot and Anything You Can Do would probably change that. Because I would suddenly know a whole lot of words and never forget them, and I would suddenly be able to pick up skills really fast. And that's probably better, right? It would let me do more things and not feel dumb all the time. But I've never been a me that was good at math or big words. What if it's really different? What if it's so different that I'm not me anymore?

34/73

I can definitely see why that feels scary! For what it's worth, it really doesn't bother me when you ask what a word means. I like to explain things; it makes me feel helpful. And even if you don't have a high Intelligence score, it's been really nice talking to you! I've learned plenty of new things from you already, and I think you have good ideas about how to have fun with your powers.

Do you think it would help if I explained a little about what Omniglot and Anything You Can Do are for?

I dunno if it would help me make up my mind but it might be nice anyway.

34/73

So I don't know where, exactly, either of these powers came from. I know that a lot of the powers were made for particular people the Spirit talked to but I don't know if Omniglot and Anything You Can Do are like that. But I can think of reasons that people do take them:

• Someone might take Omniglot because they really like languages and think that how they work is lots of fun.
• Someone might take Omniglot because they plan to go to a lot of worlds and don't want to have to think about learning new languages.
• Someone might take Omniglot because they have a hard time with words and know for sure that they want to change that.
• Someone might take Anything You Can Do because they think it's lots of fun to show off to friends and rivals.
• Someone might take Anything You Can Do because they want to be able to do as many things as there are to do and don't want to be unable to learn any kind of magic they encounter.
• Someone might take Anything You Can Do because they want to take a power or drawback that requires it.

Those aren't all the reasons there are, they're just the ones I was able to think of just now.

That all makes sense. He still feels vaguely threatened by the powers.

So do you think that I should take them? It probably would suck if I went to a bunch of worlds and wasn't able to understand anyone in any of them.

34/73

I really can't make that decision for you. But I think that it might be a good idea to set these powers aside while you look at other ones and come back to them later. It definitely sounds like they would make a big change in how you think and how you experience things, so it's a good idea to be really sure you want them before you take them.

I can do that.

Dragon Fairy Elf Witch isn't scary, but it is super weird!

If I take Dragon Fairy Elf Witch, does that make me not be related to my mom anymore? Or my dad? Does it make them be dragon fairy elf witches too?

34/73

No, to both of those. Dragon Fairy Elf Witch doesn't change anything about the past or about your family, it just changes traits about you. Using Dragon Fairy Elf Witch on a being is more like… very thoroughly shapeshifting into a version of you that has some of that being's traits.

Weird! What if I have kids, will they also be dragon fairy elf witches?

34/73

Yes, your children can inherit traits that you pick up from Dragon Fairy Elf Witch.

If I use Dragon Fairy Elf Witch on a bunch of different things do I get a bunch of different forms for each thing? Like if I become part-elf and part-orc and part-dragon and part-DINOSAUR do I get to be Elf Elan and Orc Elan and Dragon Elan and Elanasaurus Rex whenever I want? Or would I be an elf orc dragon dinosaur human all at the same time?

34/73

If you didn't have some kind of shapeshifting ability (through Dragon Fairy Elf Witch or through something else—I bet A Thousand Faces will make you really good at picking those up, though!), it would be more like the second thing.

Elan thinks he likes this power! He goes ahead and checks it off. He's about to look at the next page of powers when he remembers—

I probably shouldn't stay up too late. Is there a good stopping point soon?

39/73

There's a new section that starts in six pages!

I think I'll go to bed then because my brain is kind of tired. Goodnight!

Elan doesn't actually get back to the book first thing in the morning—he has breakfast, for one, and some of his mom's friends have come over to congratulate him. He tells them all about Bard Camp until lunchtime.

After lunch, he opens the book again.

39/73

Goodnight! ♡

And underneath that:

I was thinking about powers relating to Soundtrack. I couldn't figure out anything that would let other people listen, but I did get a few music-related powers…

Power Scales ☐
Cost: 1
Music comes naturally to you. You can pick up skill at new musical instruments as easily as you can pick up (or sit at, if they're too big to lift) the instruments themselves. Learning and composing new songs is a breeze, even if the genre or musical tradition is completely new to you. You have absolute pitch.

Bass Boosted ☐
Cost: 2
(requires at least one of Angelic Tones and Power Scales)
You can use music to shape the world around you. You can learn any kind of magic that works through the medium of music; magic you work with your music is particularly strong.

Setting the Tone ☐
Cost: 5
(requires Soundtrack and Bass Boosted)
By singing or playing along with your Soundtrack, you can nudge the events that it's keyed to.

Elan checks all three!

Hi I love all of these new powers! I'm gonna be like a super extra bard! A bard+!

47/73

I'm glad! ♡

There's another power that I thought up, but it doesn't really have anything to do with music…

Allusionist ☐
Cost: 1
The things you say and do will sometimes turn out to reference things you don't know about. The things you reference will sometimes be plot-relevant, but not always; they may just as frequently be things that happened in a completely different world that you might not ever visit. You will not necessarily be able to notice when this effect is in play.