The Power of Ten: Sama Rantha, The Tip of the Spear

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2020

Author

RE Druin

• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 24 – Using Them Marks Properly
  Nov 22, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 23 – Amazon Captains and a Hag
  Nov 21, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 22 - Sama meets Briggs in Real Life
  Nov 20, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 21 – Coming to an Agreement on Time
  Nov 19, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 20 – Let Us Negotiate
  Nov 18, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 19 – Meeting with a Monarch
  Nov 17, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 18 – Reminiscing about Old Times That Never Were
  Nov 16, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 17 – All that Loot, and for What?
  Nov 15, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 16 – Things Have Been Happening...
  Nov 14, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 15 – Big Bargains
  Nov 13, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 14 – Titanic Upheavals
  Nov 12, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 13 – A Road of Ruin
  Nov 11, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 12 – Someone’s Fighting over There
  Nov 10, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 11 – Tremble Comes
  Nov 9, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 10 – Tools Making Tools
  Nov 8, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 9 – Cutting Off the Karma Flow
  Nov 7, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 8 – Rival Forgers Need to be Quenched
  Nov 6, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 7 – Hag Munchies the Hard Way
  Nov 5, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 6 – Forging More Nastiness
  Nov 4, 2020
• The Tip of the Spear Ch. 5 – Brother, Where Art Thou?
  Nov 4, 2020

Reviews

Community Reviews(9)

• user 1441Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  As expected from this author!(Excellent story telling)  This story delivers the details of the beginning of Sama's story.  It also touches on many of the mindsets from gamers and how they transition to real life(in the story).  Oh no a monster! vs oh! loot! comps!
  tl;dr ---fun story, lots of action and min/max ideology
• rgreadsRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Over a thousand pages of Butt-kicking for Good, and we finally see where it all began.
  In an infinite multiverse there are an infinite number of possible stories and incarnations of Sama Rantha, Briggs, Aelrynth and other familiar faces. This is the original.
  RE Druin creates intricate, thoroughly proofread stories, usually told from the perspective of the main character (with occasional diversions).
  Expect lots of references to his level 10 capped (with a level 6 soft cap) homebrew mix of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd edition D&D with a splash of Pathfinder, the source of the "Power of Ten" in the title. Only the truly epic can break through the level 10 cap, and those who break the Eternal cap at 20 must do it through deeds worthy of demigods.
  Naturally, that's where we're going on this ride.
  Alignments are played straight, and everyone can make the choice of which path to follow. Good is good, but not stupid. Evil is evil, and doesn't hold back.
  And Sama Rantha always has some butt to kick for Good and Karma to level up.
• Andy0986Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Probably the strongest story by this author on the site. Taking D&D rules and using them as the rules of the world and the characters being aware of them is fascinating. It does definitely help to be at least passingly familiar with the basic rules and conventions of D&D.
  I find some of the other entries in the series are a bit drawn out but this one feels tight and the perfect length.
• Franklin SmartRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Don't believe the low ratings they are trolls just trying to lower the reader reviews.
  RED goes above and beyond when writing a dnd worldbuilding story. Where most stories only show a character's level ups and statuses once and a while, RED shows what those stats do and how they affect the character and the world around them.
  STORY
  While short for his normal work, thus book bridges his works together while still being stand alone. I do wish it continued on for longer but the whole arc of the story is complete and would start switching point of views to keep up with the other main characters. So while most of this Sama's story is done for now I can't wait to see more
  GRAMMAR
  RED has given us an other masterful piece of work. Any grammar issues that get brought up that he misses he fixes immediately unless they were intentionally. And you have to love his battle song prose.
  CHARACTER
  RED always makes sure to flesh out all of his characters making them almost seem like real people. He doesn't want two dimensional characters in his stories (unless he writing about Amazon's, but even they are well developed), his characters resonate with his audience to drag them in, making them wish to be a part of his story.
  OVERALL
  It's well worth the read to get readers into the swing of RED's writing before you move into his more beefy story arcs.
• MorkailRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  In the same vein as Azerith healer it’s a bad ass doing bad ass stuff getting ever stronger. Also making bad ass gear.  Wouldn’t mind a more in-depth explanation on how playing the game gave made her a 10 ten the mage who made the game must of been a insane high level.
• SeadrakeRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  A reader of all of Sam's other tales, in super interested in how the original becomes the Tip of the Spear. It's also going to be interesting how she builds out considering she doesn't know all the tips and tricks to strength her alternates discover.
  I eagerly await seeing RED's original take of Sama and hope it continues in its spiritual successors success.
• TazKhaelyorRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I was gonna write a longer review, but everything I would have said was already in Celinor's review (currently top rated).
  TL;DR : Great "short" (by the standard of this great author) story that gives a bit more content, ideal to read after book 1 or 2. Could use a bit more empathy on the first months (as said by Celinor, just some contact with awakened animals could do it). 4.8/5
• BlenheimRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 4.0

  This story really benefits from a reading of the First Day. A lot of the stuff I was uncomfortable with the first time is answered in those books -
  1) The human originating 'Sama' is almost completely subsumed by the skill set and stats of the character 'Sama' due to the way the character was developed in the game.
  2) Sama is a complete outlier versus other characters, even those at her level. First Day covers the behaviour of the other major characters. Putting her in perspective.
  3) Sama thinks is a total min-maxer and thinks in game terms. She would be totally alien to deal with.
  Since First Day is way behind this story, it does contain major spoilers. Consider skipping it and reading the published books instead.
• CelinorRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 4.0

  By themselves, the chapters posted do not make a story and thus are better left until after at least book 1, to shed light into the origins of the characters.
  Still, to try for some constructive criticism I would like to point the lack of care for her situation and that of others by the main character, alone in the Apocalypse, even if she is dauntless, is particularlly jarring. Because she isn't just a template of Sama Rantha, trying to survive against the odds (B1) or expecting a grimdark setting (B2): she is she person behind her game character in the remnants of her reality, and not totally rewritten.
  In this situation, griding for months, eschewing all (non hostile) social contact and playing the long game before seeeking information presents her more like a robot than an examplary human. To adress this, perhaps a few snippets of interaction with sentient animals she helped make so would be beneficial?