BTDEM, book 13 notes, and 'Numbers go up' (Patreon)

Hey all!

Bit of an announcement/information post.

Two parts to this. The first is a note on book 13, the second is a note on numbers and Elaine’s stats.

THERE ARE ARGUABLY SPOILERS HERE AND SOME VAGUE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE REST OF BTDEM. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. I’m not trying to spoil anything, but there are minor ones you might dislike.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

First! Book 13 is plotted to be short and sweet. From a web serial perspective you won’t notice too much of a difference, just that we’ve got a slice of life vibe for a bit. Then we’re moving to high octane, and critically, I think we’re staying there for most of the rest of the series.

Wait. The rest of the series?

Yes! I’ve had the overarching plot for BTDEM written down for quite some time, and we’re getting through it at a decent pace. One day we’re going to hit the big The End. We’ve got two more ‘mega arcs’ between here and the end, along with a final book. I’m not going to say how many books that is - but the first seven books was three mega arcs. 

Book 13 is also a shift in approach. I’ve been bad about not letting Elaine sit and breathe for a few years here and there. I should’ve had more long breaks at various spots. Maybe eight years between being a Sentinel and the Formorian attack. More time out beyond the wall. Etc. Book 13 is going to cover a number of years, shifting mentality to ‘oh this is a long time’, as well as being a bit of a breather.

I think I’ve foreshadowed what happens next well enough.

I’m toying with the idea of the last book occurring at a slower pace, so I can MAKE SURE it’s all done to the highest quality. We’re at least a year and a half away from the start of the last book, probably two, so it’s nothing you need to think about now. At the same time, I’ve been doing BTDEM in a ‘three-five per week’ cycle for so long - why change a winning formula?

That’s it on the future stuff.

Stat stuff here

I’ve had a lot of people ask or complain about Elaine’s stats. ‘They’re too big’ ‘My eyes glaze over’ ‘they don’t make sense’.

Which is fair. The numbers have gotten far larger than I expected when I first sat down to write BTDEM. However, I promise you - all the numbers DO mean something, and they all feed into a variety of calculations that drive the plot and the story. 

I’ve been keeping most of these calculations under wraps. For the most part, a combination of ‘A magician never reveals their secrets’ and the ability to fudge things juuuust a hair if needed. But they’re still there and working.

For example, when Katarina asked Elaine during the Han Civil War arc if she could double-space her troops, I went straight to my calculations. I worked out how wide a Legion was when deployed, I worked out Elaine’s radius, and from there I was able to give an answer. 

Let’s have a stat sheet for comparison.

(Note - I don’t THINK there are any spoilers in here for current patrons, but I could be wrong.)

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]

[Age: 38]

[Mana: 6,911,270/6,911,270]

[Mana Regeneration: 13,695,885 +(41,548,244)]

Stats

    [Free Stats: 0]

    [Strength: 40,823 (Effectively: 326,584)]

    [Dexterity: 65,269 (Effectively: 694,984)]

    [Vitality: 203,035 (Effectively: 3,172,422)]

    [Speed: 190,267 (Effectively: 3,745,025)]

    [Mana: 691,127]

    [Mana Regeneration: 1,555,022 (+ 4,154,824)]

    [Magic Power: 904,127 (+ 39,600,763)]

    [Magic Control: 903,335 (+ 39,566,073)]

[Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 876]]

    [Celestial Mastery: 876]

    [Aurora Curialis: 771]

    [The Stars Never Fade: 55]

    [Luminary Mind: 602]

    [Universal Cure: 876]

    [Etheric Aegis: 222]

    [Event Horizon: 650]

    [Zenith Everlasting: 609]

[Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 855]]

    [Radiance Mastery: 855]

    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 23]

    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 855]

    [Radiant Angel's Spear of Obliteration: 38]

    [Celestial Dew: 855]

    [Sunrise Halo: 855]

    [Seraph's Wings: 855]

    [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 855]

[Class 3: [Erudite Archmage - Spatial: Lv 712]]

    [Spatial Authority: 488]

    [Cozy Reading: 712]

    [Teleportation: 195]

    [Repository of the Magus: 557]

    [Tower of Knowledge: 92]

    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 530]

    [Astral Archives: 326]

    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 644]

General Skills

    [Long-Range Identify: 532]

    [Handy: 1]

    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 876]

    [The World Around Me: 216]

    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 876]

    [Sentinel's Superiority: 876]

    [Persistent Casting: 650]

    [Tender Gardening: 108]

A lot of big numbers! Now, let’s reveal a little behind the curtain. First, her physical stats:

System Improvement

Biomancy Improvement

Total

17.2

2

34.43

20.1

2.2

44.29

29.4

2.5

73.47

28.8

2.7

77.65

Taking Strength, for example - Elaine is made 17.2x as strong as her baseline because of the System and her 40.8k strength stat. She’s twice as strong as her ‘human’ baseline, making her 34.43x as strong as a human woman with her general fitness. Wow! The same applies to her Speed, and we get the following chart in my notes:

Elaine Mass Kg (For str calcs)

45.0

Elaine Mass Kg (Current)

80.0

Jogging Baseline

5.5

Jogging Modified

427.1

Sprinting Baseline m/s

7.5

Sprinting Speed Modified

582.3

Speed of Sound

343.0

Mach Speed

1.7

Deadlife Baseline (kgs)

67.5

Deadlift Modified

2324.2

Squat Baseline

58.5

Squat Modified

2014.3

Bench Press Basline

40.5

Bench Press Modified

1394.5

When I need Elaine to do something - lift weights, run fast, etc. - I reference this chart, and it tells me what happens. From there, I’m able to say stuff like “Elaine runs this fast” “A light jog overtakes most people” “needs the anti-friction runes for max speed”, etc.

Which brings me to the magic stats! They also have a chart, and a great big set of calculations. 

Skill Calc Chart

Oath Multiplier

            43.8

Celestial Affinity Tree Bonus

              4.8

Sentinel's Superiority Bonus

            1.25

Aurora Curialis Range

      10,436.7

Universal Cure Range

        1,317.9

Universal Cure Efficiency Bonus

27%

Healing Costs:

5.6%

Shield Range

            48.9

Radiance Affinity Tree Bonus

4.8

Rays of the First Dawn

          238.4

Six Wings Acceleration

            33.4

Six Wings Time

              13

Reasonable Distance

        1,490.2

Max Distance

        2,980.4

Blink Range

            10.7

Shield Range

            48.9

Parallel Though Processes

              12

Long Range Identify

        1,064.0

Nectar Bonus

              2.7

Spatial Affinity Tree Bonus

              2.8

Vault of Ages Room Size

2.5x8 (Cylinder)

Number of Tower Levels

            14.0

Persistent Casting number

10

Blink Cost

  114,271.36

Sorry - Patreon is kinda throwing numbers all over the place a bit. Six Wings has a star on it on my notes - the formulas currently need reworking. (I had an initial assumption that Elaine could continuously accelerate the feathers when they were out, but that violates my distance principle, so that’s all gotta be recalculated.)

Now, there’s the fundamentals that come into play. 1 mana is good for about 1 gram of conjured matter at a baseline. It’s a little more complex than that, but we’ll start with it for now. Elaine’s skills means for healing, it goes about 20x as far. As the numbers go up, it gives me a ‘scale of devastation’ that Elaine can handle and shrug off - or if it exceeds that, explain how many people survive and why. 

Wizardry, on the other hand, eats a hefty penalty.

All this to say - I understand if your eyes are glazing over on the big numbers. They DO matter though, and they do impact the story and how I tell it, and what’s possible for our little mango fiend to accomplish.

Cheers! I hope the peek behind the curtain doesn’t ruin anything.