Maruyama: The Holistic Amalgamation of Ideas - Runecraft and Divine Magic

Hai hai, Ziggy desu.
Okay, so this is mainly an addendum to the mechanical looks at Runesmithing and the whole "blobs" thing with Divine magic. Ziggy lumps them together because he got his hands on what is almost guranteed to be something Maru ripped off. It has a few things besides these!

---

For Runecraft:
Ziggy brought this up but it's pretty clear Maruyama fused the ideas from D&D and this other series to make his Runecrafting system. Well this new book actually has one of the Runes Gondo mentions at least in terms of function.
A curious thing though: both series have explanations for why Runesmiths would encounter explosions like we hear about in V11.

They had come in the summer, and during the course of fall and winter, they had become close friends. Are those people still making new magic items? Until about two months ago, the sound of explosions and flashes of light had been a common occurrence, but now everything had settled down.

[V11]
Now for any of you who go to D&D to explain Overlord, you likely hit a wall with Runesmithing. That is because the D&D Runesmithign is very combat focused. Well in this case, like Ziggy tries to tell people, Runesmithing actually favors this other game more. It not only shares the weakness of taking a long time, there being limits to how many runes can be used at once, or so on, but it even explains what these explosions are coming from.
Effectively, Runecraft has certain rules and if you mess with these, the Runecraft failure isn't like other failed spells. Insted it fucking explodes!
So what was Gondo doing then with his team?
Well basically they were trying to find where the Rules can and cannot be applied it seems. Ziggy feels that Gondo's breaktrhough will be consumable or temproary runes since in this game that speeds up the process a fuck ton. How these explosions work is basically the stronger the rune or a rune that takes a long time to make means the explosion gets bigger and stronger, as if all the energy you are trying to store just rushes out.
These explosions happen for temporary runes as well!
But...
These explosions can happen if you try to force Runes on already enchanted items as well!
So...
Was Gondo trying to combine magic and runes? Ziggy thinks not, since it's well known Runes and Tier Magic do not get along. But Ainz could have tried to see if RUnes can be put on Artifacts or something which does not inherently have Tier Magic.
Since Ziggy will fight any of you on the point Runesmith comes from YGGDRASIL, this is likely no good because like a game analysis suggests, Runesmithing was intentionally made weaker than normal enchanting for balance reasons and the idea that it's not able to compete with weapon enchantments. Instead, its far better at large scale works where it's cheapness and time restrictions actually make up for Tier enchanting advantages.
Ziggy just wanted to share why those explosions MIGHT have been happening. Ziggy feels really confident now though. Not only does Tier Magic have Temporary Enchantments in both the WN and LN, but now this new game book even gives us hints at the result of Gondo's experiments.
Well at least Ziggy thinks so...
In conclusion; always be wary of just relying on D&D. Maru loves to pull random shit from other games you have never heard about.

---

That was only a baby version of this bigger cluster fuck though....
Divine magic.
Go read the articles on this if you haven't already.
Basically, Ziggy will summarize ti though.
You have various specializations in Divine magic which get down to what KIND of Divine caster you want to be. IE for those who know only D&D you only know of the Cleric type. Priest is actually a less physical Cleric who is basically a Divine Mage with little perks. Bishop itself is a hybrid of Arcane and Divine. And all three of these each come from a different game.
In all three of these games though, the notion of having a God was mandatory. But in the WN, we learn that Ainz proves there is no God required for Divine magic. So what gives? We know Lizardmen are Druids and Shamans and dont' believe in Gods initially but convert. We hear nothing of them having problems either.
But we know for some reason that Roberdyck and other people are so convinced that Gods do exist because you can "feel " them. But like a previous artilcle attemtps to convey, these masses of power are not gods but just blobs.
Its not the name of the god that matters, just the blob you need to use your magic.
Now in D&D you get spells form the God each day. But in the game where Priest comes from you have MP and need it to use the spells which are acquired from god to learn them rather than books. The Bishop game doesn't go in depth about this.
In this new game though, with none of the above, Divine magic actually functions like this:
Divine Caster uses Heal. Caster loses MP.
A magical signal goes out to the blob.
The blob acquires the MP used. The blob then sends back down the spell casting itonbehalf of the Divine caster.
So why does it increase with classes in power?
Well basically, the big idea Maruyama seems to be TRYING to get acorss is that Divine castesr are not people who make Gods do things for them. Rather, they are people who are attuned to the transmission of energy in a sense. IE they know hot/cold spells, Postive/Negative spells, steal/give MP. IE Divien castesr are really just satelites or antennas for these blobs and the spells they 'learn' represent how their 'prayers' harness energy in the same way they can harness MP and send it out thorugh a prayer to the 'gods' or blobs.
Or at least that seems the case to Ziggy based on putting all these different games together....
This isn't the first time that Maruyama did this either. Just look at how Rider vs Tamer vs Mount Users differ and seem so weird. It's because they are all from different games! f
Well the same goes for Divine casters in Maru's head at least.
It's important to note that Maruyama likes Ur Priest as well, or basically Arcane mages who learn to use Divine magic without prayers and this very cynical view on Divine magic would be right up his alley...
Well that or Ziggy is really just trying to force tinfoil hats on you all!
Ziggy is only basing this off what he's revealed so far though and how it lines up with how the Ur Priest functions. IE in a world with actual gods an Ur Priest makes no sense since the God would find out most likely. But if the 'Gods' are really just blobs of power, then Ur Priest are fucking ground breaking!
That moment you realize Maruyama ignored all the God mechancis in TRPG just so he could make his favorite class make sense.... Kappa.

Londes Di Gelanpo had probably cursed his gods more times in the past ten seconds than he had in the rest of his life. If the gods really did exist, then they should defeat that evil being right now. Londes was a faithful man —why had the gods abandoned him? The gods did not exist. In the past, he had looked down on those people who did not believe in the gods as fools. After all, if the gods did not exist, how could the priests work their magic?

[V1]
Well consider, if the blobs really cared would Shalltear's disrespect for her god not been blasphemous? Or her own worship of the Supreme Beings?

"Don’t think I’ve seen that spell before …are you two magic casters?" Both of them wore dresses, garments that were unsuitable for combat. However, if they were magic casters, he could understand why they did not wear armor. "I am a divine magic caster who venerates the First of the Blood, the Divine Ancestor Cainabel." "The Shin-sow Kine-able?’ Never heard of him before, is he some sort of evil deity?" "That is correct, but he was defeated by the Supreme Beings. Apparently, he was just a weak event boss,’ or something. One would expect nothing less of the Supreme Beings."

[V3]
Or, would Calca have been allowed to research Divine beauty magic for herself and not for her God?

In order to maintain her appearance—keep her skin looking young— she has even gone and developed new Divine spells for skin care. She uses herself as a guinea pig and has thus accumulated much knowledge in that field, which makes her the most skilled beautician in the human kingdoms.

[V12]

Maruyama mains Ur-Priest

[Maruyama in his blog]

"Well, do listen. That’s just my theory. But if that were the case, if you do borrow the power of the gods to work your magic, could dead people provide it to you? Or rather, what are the gods? Do they even exist? Are you really using the power of the gods?" "…What are you trying to say?" "…Have you ever seen the gods?" "The gods are always by my side!" "That is to say, you’ve never actually seen them directly, then?" "No! When we use our spells, we feel the presence of a mighty being. That is our god!" "…And who declared that that presence to be a god? The god himself? Or someone else drawing on that power?" Roberdyck recalled the theological debates he had taken part in. There was no clear answer to Ainz’s questions. Until today, the priests still debated hotly over whether that was the proof of the gods’existence. Just as Roberdyck was about to speak, Ainz interrupted him. "…Well, supposing these super-dimensional beings—which we shall generously term gods for our purposes—do exist, I wonder if that means they were originally colorless entities. Simply put, they are masses of power. Because drawing on their power dyes them in a different color and changes the thing …well, they do exist in a world with magical laws, I just wanted someone to chat with someone about this. It wouldn’t be funny if there really were gods." "My apologies. That was off-topic. The power of the god you believe in. I think we won’t be able to learn it …so do you want to take part in a human experiment?" "…A human experiment?" "That’s right. For instance, when we alter your memories so the god you believe in is someone else, what will happen after that?" He’s insane. That was Roberdyck’s deepest and most honest thought about the situation. No, he’s undead. It wouldn’t be strange no matter what he did. Ainz took a step back, looking with deep interest at Roberdyck. That look was the way a scholar would examine a laboratory animal, and it made Roberdyck want to throw up. "Why, why do you want to do that?" "To prove that god exists …eh, I’m not going to bother going on with that joke. Truthfully, I want to become stronger by understanding the nature of that power. And if those beings you call gods really exist, I want to know if they have emotions or thoughts. I want to confirm that. As for me, I have never thought of myself as a chosen being. In truth, there are many others like that."

[V7]

"Well, our goal was to change his memory, but he could still use magic. Basically the Four Great Gods do not exist, and I assume that it is a large existence of power. Depending on how the existence is directed, it changes into the various powers of gods." After explaining that much, Ainz once again made a wry smile. "Well, anymore and it would dangerous and so we stopped. It is dangerous to play with an unknown energy. Well, if I say that then magic might be a problem but.It would be the best for our nerves to understand it is useless to dwell on it. And if gods are the physical expression of the direction of that power, if we can control that direction. We can control gods." Shalltear sent a gaze of respect to Ainz who said that they could control even gods. She was an NPC that recognised her master, the 41 Supreme Beings, were gods. She felt a happiness as if that was being recognised. "As expected of Ainz-sama." "Well, that method will be improbable though." Ainz threw his hands in the air. However, Shalltear was not the least bit disappointed. It did not come to him now but she believed in him. In the not far future, she believed that her master could control even gods.

[WN]
But wait, there's more!
Well remember how we were talking about how Undead form their own Blobs of hatred?
Well in another game God itself is a blob of Souls!

It was only natural to kneel when faced with such awesome power. However, it was not just respect he felt from the Lizardmen, but something more intense than that. The Lizardmen did not worship any gods, and strictly speaking, their faith lay in their ancestors. Now, he sensed something like the reverence for a god from the surrounding Lizardmen.

[V4]
In this sense, you can think of the fact Maruyama rejected the updated canon of D&D which segregated Druids and Divine castesr as a sign of sorts. He obviously knows about it, but kept them together. Maybe the Lizardmen have a better idea of how their power works than churches which need gods... well before Ainz came.
Ziggy hopes that was interesting or at least made you ponder potential reveals in the Theocracy arc!
(o_o)7

 

 

It's funner for people to think I'm just making stuff up. That and I find it makes Overlord appear less original if you know the sources. I'm like Maru a bit since I think it's fine if people believe the sources are say random MMOs or something instead.
I find most people dont' really care about the sources either and won't read them anyway.
But mainly it might limit your imagination if you see Overllrod like I do: a ripping off of all the interesting parts of various RPGs .

 

Flavor Text and Normal Classes

https://pastebin.com/FwFU9bJ8

April 2018

13巻に向けて既刊等を読み直していたのですが、一つ質問よろしいでしょうか？ ツアレの保有クラスにメイドが有りますが、一般メイドはスキル無しで問題無く職務を遂行出来ているように思えます。 何か理由が有るのでしょうか？ネタバレの場合はスルーください。

Q:

I was rereading the previous volumes in anticipation of Volume 13, but

I had a question. Although Tsuare possesses a Maid class, the Ordinary

Maids are able to perform their duties without problem without any skills.

Is there some reason for this? Please ignore if it is a spoiler.

A:

It’s lengthy to talk about however, if one were to speak of the reason

(omitted in the middle) so it can be done. Connected to that the New

World’s job [classes] (omitted in the middle) because for example the Job

called Slave (omitted in the middle). Connected to this is the case of Slave,

there is [only] 1 Level then (omitted in the middle) so the girl could calm down.

語ると長いけど、どうしてかというと（途中省略）というわけで出来ます。ちなみあの世界の職業というのは（途中省略）なので例えばスレイブという職業で言うと（途中省略）というわけなのです。ちなみにスレイブの場合ですが一レベルでは（途中省略）だったから彼女は生きていられたりするのです。

[Fun Fact Maru removed this tweet on Twitter. Maybe its too revealing? Muh. ]

=====================================================================================================================

 

So there is something secret here Maru doesn't want to reveal about Normal classes. What he didn't redact shows the

number of Normal classes is significant. When speaking of why the Homunculi maids can do what they can (flavor text

or programming?) or pretty much non stat based abilities, somehow is related to Normal classes.

 

Here we can make some inferences.

 

First, Tsuare spent years as a sex slave and 4 more months in absolute hell.  

 

================

 

Quite the common character (Bubbly and sweet). She is a bit above

20. Real name is Tsare. The older sister of Ninya, she was taken by a noble

when she was 13 for 6 years, the noble then grew bored of her and sold her,

causing her to experience hell for four months. Or so it should be.[WN]

 

After being liberated from a hellish existence, she is now immersed in a

sea of happiness, so she always has a smile on her face. Her greatest

problem now comes from the fact that she lived a long time being

subservient and speaking in a low voice, and finds it difficult to interact

with others. Her younger sister is still in her thoughts, but when she

remembers her, the bad memories return, one after the other.

Therefore, she strives not to think about it.

 

Maid (General) Lv. 1

Slave (General) Lv. 2

 

Previously, making flower arrangements/crowns

Now, nothing in particular. [Tsuare Character Sheet]

 

=====

 

So despite Tsuare's expereince, all those months led to only two slave levels, compared to Calca who reached Tier 4 at 15 and Lakyus who reached Tier 5 at 19. Hence, why the theory was suggested that Normal or General classes follow the Sword World rules less than D&D. That is each level is gained based on amounts of experience. See the other notes. The more levels of these are held, the more benefits to that type of work.

 

The main theory is Normal classes relate to aspects that can influenced by flavor text in terms of buffs.

 

See below and think to Normal classes.

 

=====================================================================================================================

 

A:

That’s how it is. However, in the game YGGDRASIL political and strategic

thinking were not quantified [literally expressed but it’s more like there

is no stat for it], so they are able to grow in that respect. If it’s the case

they’re at the early stage, Demiurge’s setting was written to be almost

omnipotent [OR all purpose]. Maa, Ainz isn’t aware of that to that extent.

[Arcadia]

 

"Be it cleaning, washing clothes, or sewing, I possess all these skills at a professional

level."

Elated by Demiurge’s surprise, Albedo continued showing off in a self-satisfied

tone:

"I’ve already made socks and clothes for our future baby, up through the age

of five."

[V2]

 

Albedo Settings Anime:

Her abilities befit the title of Guardian Overseer, with outstanding intelligence

and combat ability.

That said, she is not omnicompetent. For instance, in pure wits, Demiurge

is her superior, while Shalltear is superior in fighting ability. Yet, nobody in

Nazarick can rival her administrative ability.

In addition, her feminine skills – particularly those pertaining to being a housewife

– are excellent, and during her free time, she can be seen sweeping, sewing,

and so on.

Though the reason is unknown, she enjoys cleanliness and her desire for such

frequently drives her to clean things up.

In particular, her ability to sort out bookshelves knows no peer.

 

"Yes, I do. As the Guardian Overseer, I am aware of his name and appearance

…Pandora’s Actor is the Area Guardian of the Treasury, and his abilities are

on par with myself and Demiurge. Other than managing the Treasury, his purpose

is also to prepare the currency needed to activate Nazarick’s defense network.

In other words, he is a treasurer."

[V3]

 

In high spirits, Demiurge moved on.

The truth was that Demiurge enjoyed making objects like these. It was not

a love for bonecrafting, but a love for crafting in general. He was very interested

in that field, covering items ranging from objets d’art to furniture, and

his techniques had surpassed those of a casual dabbler.

In fact, his current piece would draw gasps of awe from just about anyone

who looked upon it, provided one disregarded the materials from which it was

made.

This tent contained other items as well, such as a statue of his master made

from solidified lava, all sorts of chairs, assorted clamps, and so on. All of

them were the handiwork of Demiurge. While those pieces were all built for

functionality and were not ornamented, they were still excellent specimens of

workmanship.

Demiurge picked up a piece of raw material from the corner of the tent and

began evaluating it.

[V4]

 

For classes labeled (Average), their combat ability is largely taken away/minus

and in exchange without exception they receive positive compensation [for

getting poorer combat stats]? Ordinary Farmer in comparison to their combat

ability being inferior the results from their agricultural [work] is high.

A:

Your phrasing isn’t the correct interpretation, the Farming technical skill they

have is that of a Farmer from a Farming ( main occupation). Farmers don’t

hold a Kitchen Gardening person’s (a hobbyist’s) image is that easy to understand?

Farmer level 1: Choose one out of 15 options of Farmer benefits & speed of

plowing the earth + 5% increase (passive)

Farmer level 2: Harvest of agricultural products + 5% increase (passive)

Farmer level 3: Choose one out of 15 options of Farmer benefits & Farmer’s

faito : Once a day (for the duration of one hour, halve the fatigue of agricultural

work)

-MNH (credits for letting me know about this and TL these stats)

They obtain those kind of abilities ([is that] too vague?), compared to an identical

farmer a Farmer[class holder] technical skill they possess has a feeling

of being higher. The combat ability of a Lv. 1 Farmer and a person possessing

technical skill, the Farmer is somewhat stronger. Well it’s the difference

between a Lv. 0 and a Lv. 1 (Lv. 1 Farmer). Although they only differ by a few

percentage points. A super powerful farming soldier may turn out like Lv. 7

(Lv. 2 Farmer, Lv. 5 Farmer). They’re Lv. 7, but they are weaker in comparison

to a Lv. 7 Fighter.

Does that answer your question?

 

Q:

Although Ainz cannot equip Warrior Job weapons and the maids cannot cook

so their game settings are shown [in not being able to do things they have no

classes for]. Demiurge made a throne for Ainz though. Is that not okay unless

he has crafting classes?

A:

Tasks can be done as usual for Jobs not in YGGDRASIL. For example, because

YGGDRASIL had a class called Weaponsmith, Demiurge cannot make weapons.

Armor is the same. Yet, there was no Furniture Craftsmen system Job, so he

can make it like normal. Nevertheless, Demiurge has exceeded do-it-yourself

carpentry, maa Ulbert is at fault.

 

[Blog]

 

I know. The plug was one gag I made for Shalltear. It’s a R-18 item, however

in fact in YGGDRASIL those items did not exist neither did a skill to

make them, but Shalltear can make them. So she can make revere clothes

lol

[Arcadia]

 

=================================================================================

 

So we know that Demiurge and Albedo acquired extremely skilled abilities just from

flavor text, Albedo's are actually readable and we are told Demiurge got his

craftsmen ship from his flavor text.

 

So why in the fuck does this matter?

 

Well if flavor text conferred these abilities, if you can alter flavor text...

you can buff people with flavor text buffs.

 

Assuming the Normal classes are just like Sword World, that means the ones that

count for flavor text buffs (you can't put "Is greatest Magic caster and has all spells").

 

If the Maids can achieve such skill with no classes, means others can as well and naturally

Normal classes don't actually need to be around to be skilled, since they are more

complimentary based on what Maru has said.

 

 

 

==========================================================================================

 

There is a type of class called General, but holders are not endowed with combat

ability at the drop of a hat, rather it’s a class which a person potentially

acquires during their livelihood.

Skilled craftsmen are talented well, because their General class is high.

But General classes are weak/frail classes.

For example, a Lv. 8 Emperor is not endowed with combat ability equal to a

Lv. 8 soldier in comparison.

Is the combat ability 1/5 or 1/2 the standard? [Blog]

 

==========================================================================================

 

CZ possessed knowledge on all of Nazarick’s mechanisms. That was too dangerous,

and she would not be able to leave Nazarick like this, Therefore he had

used [Control Amnesia] to edit her memories.

CZ’s knowledge of those mechanisms had been part of the backstory her creator  

ator had made for her. While he did not know if the spell could work on such

things, after manipulating her, he found that the spell had worked as intended.

That was a technique Ainz had developed after repeated experiments on a lab

rat he had obtained. It felt like he could do incredible things once he mastered

it.

The reason for that was because Ainz had the feeling he might be able to access

the core of the NPCs. What exactly were the NPC backstories, the origin of

their memories? Still, that was ultimately the product of Ainz’s imagination,

and it was very likely that they were completely unrelated. If he wanted to

sort that out, he would need to further understand the spell, and understand

everything to do with the human memory. In that case, he would need a lot

of lab rats and decades to practice and research with, as well as preparing

himself for the possibility that it might all be a waste of time. [V13]

 

===================================================================================

 

It's not head canon that Ainz with Control Amnesia can at least influence the link

between memory and Flavor text, if only blocking for now. As he changed what Gods

Roberdyck believed in, it's not impossible he can attempt to do so later. He may

require the Guild Weapon though equipped to actually change it. Or maybe because

they are NPCs he can't do it to them but possibly New Worlders since the rules

differ. Either way, now you can see what this passage may be connected to

and how Nazarick can be strengthened.

 

There are dozens of these classes but for now the ones that exist in Overlord

are Farmer, Noble, High Noble, Emperor, Servant, Slave, Maid, and some hinted

at with only descriptions(High Class Prostitute, Painter). If Ainz can buff

people with this remains to be seen of course. But it's interesting to see how

flavor text actually affects people and the New World equivalent.

 

The best example of this is Jircniv and Pe Riyuro who are described as born

rulers etc.

 

After discovering an abandoned dwarven city, he gathered the clans there and

formed monster-fighting units, using Dwarven prisoners to develop agriculture

and animal husbandry.

That was not all. Usually, when a new clan leader was born, he would exterminate

the bloodline of the previous clan leader. This was the commonlyaccepted

means by which power was exchanged within the Quagoa people.

However, Riyuro did not do that. Instead, he chose to let the leaders of the various

clans rule themselves. However, Riyuro ordered all the ores to be brought

to him. Those who obeyed Riyuro and performed well would be given rare

ores, regardless of their status.

For instance, those clans that defeated monster invasions would be known

as brave, while those clans that found more gold or precious stones would

gain favor and more members. He would reward them for their work with the

appropriate ores.

Their competition against their lord turned into competition with each other,

and the Lord’s seat was secure.

He had done all these things which no Quagoa had even dreamed of to expand

his influence and to set into motion a certain plan.

 

Although the Lord to which he had pledged his loyalty cast his suspicions upon

him, Yozu’s heart was filled with nothing but respect.

If he were in Riyuro’s place, he might not have thought so deeply into the issue.

Yozu firmly believed that Riyuro was the true Lord of the Quagoa, and his loyalty

deepened ever further.

[V11]

 

The reigning Emperor —Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix

His title of the Bloody Emperor had come from the river of blood that had

flowed when he came to power. Gazef recalled the time when he had met the

man himself on the battlefield; the Emperor who wanted to bring him into his

service.

That Emperor was a born ruler.

[V3]

 

Osk was a merchant, but the Sorcerer King viewed him as an equal. Under

normal circumstances, some nobles would want to establish who was on top,

to say nothing of a king.

This was what baffled him.

He could understand it if he had been a trader in the past, but that was impossible.

In other words, he was simply adept at negotiations.

"In terms of overall ability, he is comparable to our Emperors."

Of course, he had not read that deeply into him. It was simply that the Sorcerer

King frightened him that much.

"No, I should say that he’s equivalent to the Bloody Emperor, at the very least."

So at a minimum, he was equal to the greatest Emperor in history. What a nightmare.

[V10]

 

======================================================================================

 

Looking at character sheets, the ones who are good rulers likewise have ruler classes.

 

Caspond: High Noble (normal) Lv. ?

In truth, if he became

the Holy King, he would be much more willing to engage in

underhanded activities than his sister and so he would be better suited

for the throne.

 

Pe Riyuro: Emperor (Average) Lv. 2

 

White Dragon Lord: 46 Racial Levels, 0 Job Levels

 

Raeven: High Noble (Average) Lv. ?

Sage Lv. ?

Charisma (Average) Lv. ?

 

Jircniv: Emperor (Average) Lv. ?

High Emperor (Average) Lv. ?

Charisma (Average) Lv. ?

 

Arche: Wizard Lv. ?

Academic Wizard Lv. ?

High Wizard Lv. ?

 

Renner: Princess (Average) Lv. ?

Actress (Average) Lv. ?

 

Zaryusu: Fighter Lv. 10

Swordmaster Lv. 6

Ranger Lv. 1

Sage Lv. 2

 

========================================================

 

So first look at Arche. We see that just being raised a noble

doesn't mean you get a Noble (Normal) class. Furthermore, the

great leaders among their people get classes related to being a

leader or have charisma or both. Jircniv being called a monster

in the rulership rankings reflects how he not only has Emperor

but also High Emperor and Charisma on his sheet.

 

Renner contrasts this by having only Princess and Actress.

Sage is relevant because it shows that people can have it if

they work toward some revolutionary idea in Zaryusu's case or

in their domains in Raeven's case.

 

This alongside Tsuare's case of only having 2 Slave levels despite

all the years she was in that situation shows it's not easy to get

these levels by grinding them out compared to Calca and Lakyus' case.

Pe Riyuro likewise is also only got 2 Emperor levels despite ruling the

clans for some time.

 

All this further supports the Sword World level scaling for Normal classes

isn't based on EXP but instead based on dedication and experience in that

given field and several years only gets you to Level 2, several months to Level 1

(Tsuare is the source for these two as Pleiades Days tells us it too k about

half a year of being worked by the maids to get 1 Level). Enri only having one Farmer

level at 15 even further backs that up, that is reaching Level 2 is not easy.

 

Demiurge having flavor text that makes him a master at all matters related to ruling and

craftsmen ship for weird shit can begin to shed light on how flavor text buffs and

Normal classes relate.

 

If there was only one word to summarize her entire being, that would be

“Golden”. That word derived from her blinding beauty. However, very

few people knew that she possessed a talent that far outstripped even

her good looks.

The level of talent she had was enough to call her a genius of internal

affairs.

Her talent could only be described as a gift from the heavens. Her deductions

might seem to have come from flashes of inspiration, but the truth

was that they were pieced together from countless scattered fragments

of information, gathered by her extraordinary powers of observation.

In all likelihood, nobody on the continent could match up against her

mental abilities.

If one were pressed to find an equal for her, then one would have to look

beyond the human race. However, very few entities were on her level,

even among these superhuman beings.

In Nazarick, only Demiurge, who possessed a fiendish intellect and was

hypercompetent in every aspect of national administration, be it military,

domestic and foreign affairs, could be considered on par with her.

Human beings often considered matters from their own perspectives.

From that point of view, one could say that “strange” or “wondrous”

people were merely labels applied by plebeians.

Basically Renner was a genius of that level.

[WN]

 

Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself.

If there was only one word to summarize her entire being, that would be "Golden".

That word derived from her blinding beauty. However, very few people

knew that she possessed a talent that far outstripped even her good looks.

Her talents lay in thinking, insight, observation, innovation, understanding

and the like. All her mental faculties were abnormally well-developed — in

other words, she was a genius. Her talent could only be described as a gift

from the heavens. Her deductions might seem to have come from flashes of

inspiration, but the truth was that they were pieced together from countless

scattered fragments of information, gathered by her extraordinary powers of

observation.

In all likelihood, nobody on the continent could match up against her mental

abilities.

If one were pressed to find an equal for her, then one would have to look

beyond the human race. However, very few entities were on her level, even

among these superhuman beings.

In Nazarick, only Albedo — the Guardian Overseer who could manage the vassals

of every single Floor — as well as Demiurge — who possessed a fiendish

intellect and was hypercompetent in every aspect of national administration,

be it military, domestic and foreign affairs — could be considered on par with

her.

[V5]

===========================================================================

 

Therefore, if Ainz can alter flavor text he can potentially alter Normal classes

and make people on par with NPCs who have flavor text buffs for all things that

have Normal classes.

Repost - Healing or Something Else

Hai hai, Ziggy desu.
Today, Ziggy was thinking about a series where Divine magic gets revealed to not be Divine. Basically, the premise is the church is evil as they are not using "miracles" but instead "altering" reality to heal people. True healing magic in that series was actually stamped out but the process of healing people led to soul degradation as you erasing them from existence at the moment and replacing them with a copy of themself before they were hurt. It's effectively the whole Teleporter Paradox in Star Trek or the plot twist of The Prestige.
But Ziggy was thinking, Divine magic in Overlord is weird too.
Consider:

"..Is that so then we won't need to use the potion... ..Mm. Besides, using it carelessly will remove the effects of muscle training...

..Well, it's meant to provide rapid healing, but the effect of the magic also reverts

the muscle to its original state.

Just as well. You'll be going to bodyguard the Princess after this, am I right?.."

[V5]

"Did I not mention it? Then, have you heard of Demiurge’s healing experiments?" "Yes, I have. Sever all four limbs. heal them with magic, those experiments, right?" "Indeed. Then, another question for you. Do you know where a resurrection spell has to be applied?" "Is it not on the corpse?" "...I don’t think so …hm, at least, I don’t think so, no?" Albedo went silent alongside Ainz, and then her eyes sparkled. "Ah! It seems I misspoke. Ainz-sama, you are correct. It is not on the corpse, but the soul!" "Indeed. In Demiurge’s experiments, the severed limbs vanished and grew from the body once more. Now, when you cast a spell on the soul, what will happen to the body?"

[V3]

"First are the healing magic tests. When we cut off an arm and heal the wound with magic, the severed hand disappears. Now, if we had them eat the severed arm and then healed the wound, would the nutrients derived from the arm vanish? If we repeated this over and over again, would the people who ate the arms starve to death?"

[V2]

"I doubt it. In addition, the use of healing magic allows us to skin them again. Therefore, we will not need to capture them en masse if we do not engage in large-scale production. That too is thanks to the monsters called Torturers." "Hm? Don’t severed body parts vanish when healing magic is applied?" "About that …we have learned something during our experiments with healing magic. Once some great change has occurred to the severed body parts — mincing, for example — those parts will remain. In other words, once the flayed skin has been processed, the healing magic no longer recognizes it as part of the body and it will not vanish even when the source is healed. This is also why they will not die when they are fed meat. Also, this is not exactly related, but when either the healer or the healed one rejects the magic, it will not be able to operate properly and will leave a scar. Similarly, lower tier spells are more likely to leave scars as time passes."

[V4]

Would a girls hymen be restored by healing magic?
Yes that has been on my mind. That would be healed by healing magic wouldn’t it? That was the result of all sorts of considerations, but I think it is good even if the hymen or appendix are gone? That is a gray area.

[ARC]
Doesn't something feel "off"?
Why does healing magic require COOPERATION or the effects are dampened? Why does healing magic erase parts that disappear but not if they are transformed? Why does it undo muscle training?
Practically, Demiurge's experiemnts show that at least what healing magic does is not "heal". Otherwise, the removed pieces would return to the person no matter what. Instead, this shows several facts about the New World.
The first is that once something is doen to the old flesh, ie if you convert it from residue of a creature into an item (scrolls, meat, etc) healing magic no longer considers it part of the creature at all. But healing magic still works and can heal even when the missing bits are no longer there.
Isn't that weird?
That is to say, those pieces never really mattered at all.
So just like in that other series, healing magic isn't "healing". It's returning people to their previous states.
Just look at Resurrection. Doesn't that return a body from death to life?
So rather than medicinal, this is closer to causality alteration.
Well if we consider that Divine mages are borrowing the power of the Clouds of Energy, this may not be so far fetched. These "Gods" just alter reality to "heal". In a way, it's a bit wasteful.

"Yes. They seemed to have done things like chopping arms off and then reattaching them to other creatures, or cutting open the subjects’ abdomens and exchanging the internal organs within. They started with blood relatives as a control group, and they branched out to combinations of humans and other lifeforms — not just demihumans, but animals too — and then they healed them with magic to see what changes occurred." "What dreadful experiments! Especially that blood relatives and body swapping stuff, how could any sane person think of such things?"

[V12]
That brings us to what Demiurge was doing in these experiments in the Holy Kingdom. What did he find out? Why was he doing this?
Well, he's stumbled onto an exploitable facet of this world: Divine magic doesn't heal. That's why it can recreate people even when it no longer recognizes the former pieces it can recreate them.
What it appears Demiurge is doing now is he's trying to see if this "recreation" actually can be altered. IE, if you give an organ transplant, does Divine magic consider that the "self" or the "other". Effectively, does the Divine magic process undo an organ transplant or do people have their "data" updated with transplants and so Divine magic considers that the new default?
This is a sensible question. It appears to undo muscle training. Well all muscles are is the tearing and healing of muscle fiber that "scabs", well more or less.
Muscle growth can be considered a scar of sorts on teh muscular system. Hence why it can be undone. But what of transplants? Those are distinctly not of the person. They are from another being but the origianl part is often replaced. If the body still functions after that, would that new organ be considered part of the self?
THis is a very complicated question. We know Divine magic has no problem replacing missing parts. But how does it determine what is the ORIGINAL state?
Discovering that mechanism means you could permamently cripple people from being healed by Divine magic since you know how to exploit weaknesses in the magic process. Likewise, you could find out how to enhance people by swapping out weak parts for stronge rones and making that a person's new ORIGINAL state.
Keep in mind, Eruya in the WN was meant to be undergo a process like this. He was meant to be a guinea pig but the WN never revealed what the outcome was either.
Of course, Maruyama truly likes to fuck with Divine magic. Not only does it not have gods, it may not even heal people at all. But maybe that power is godlike. It can change reality to some extent even fi unintended. What else could it do?
Thsi leads into another idea: why do the scrolls retain a Tier limit and how does Undead Creation work within these retraints?
Does it chagne a person's ORIGINAL state into an undead summon? Hence Ainz is stealing a person's ORIGINAL state to turn them into one of his undead? Do scrolls show that these missing pieces once turned into scrolls retain the limits fo the their bodies (most humans cannot learn past Tier 4 due to level caps).
Will any of this ever even matter???
Probably not...
But Ziggy wanted to share that something is definitely weird about this all compared to other settings. Maybe this goes to show people in the New Wordl who practice Divine magic do not understand how their powers really work and superstition is hiding the truth. Gods and healing? Just give MP to those masses of energy and change reality itself!
Who knows the limits of this. It ceratinly fits the theme Maruyama is going for: his Divine magic is different from traditional Divine magic. His atheist world view and this queerness suggest so at least he's going for some kind of build up to something.
(o_o)7

Repost - Ores

Ahoy hoy, Ziggy Desu.
Today, let's talk about a discussion the Japanese Overlord fans were having (since I'm an unoriginal hack kappa).

"With the greatest respect, your servant submits that the following was merely overheard from an acquaintance. The Dwarves are a species which builds cities in productive mines, and they use the ores thus extracted to manufacture all manner of wargear. Among those are weapons and armor made of very rare metals." "Very rare metals, you say?" For a moment, Ainz thought that he had gulped in surprise. Those words were extremely tempting to a player that loved collecting rare items. "Do you know what these metals are called?" "Regretfully, your servant does not, Your Majesty. My understanding does not reach that far." Disappointment set in for Ainz, and he chided himself for his foolish expectations. While adventuring as Momon, he had learned about metals, but there had been no news about anything harder than adamantite. In this world, even orichalcum and adamantite qualified as ultra-rare metals. It was hard to imagine the exotic metals which the Lizardman had described being anything more than that.

[V11]

Ainz shook his head, chasing away the memories of the past from his mind. Even so, he could not fully eliminate the idea that had come to mind. ...Even if there’s no prismatic ore there, the Dwarves might know about other metals. What if there was knowledge there which had not spread to the outside world? If I used a charm spell or the like — oh, I’m being too hasty. I shouldn’t let my imagination run wild.

[V11]
Ainz strikes upon this idea that the Dwarves may have knowledge about metals or ores that others do not. To the outside world and at large the strongest ore is Adamantite at least in the human region.
We then receive confirmation in the next volume this is in fact true:

She used the full might of her body in a massive downwards chop. Jaldabaoth did not block or dodge it. And then — it bounced off with laughable ease. "...Eh?" The sword, made of an unknown metal that was harder than adamantite, bounced off Jaldabaoth’s skin.

[V12]
It's important to keep in mind that these swords were seemingly made in relation to Dark Knight's swords:

It was renowned as one of the four Holy Swords, the holy sword Safalrisia. One of the Thirteen Heroes, known as Black Knight, was said to have carried four swords — the evil blade Hyumilis, the demonic blade Kilineyram, the blade of rot Crocdabal, and the fatal blade Sfeiz. This was one of the four swords which existed as a counterpart to them. Incidentally, the other three holy swords were known as the sword of law, the sword of justice, and the sword of life.

[V12]
So remember there are theories his weapons may have been related to the Demon Gods assuming his demonic heritage isn't some chuuni fantasy but his relation to them (not all Demon Gods were Demons apparently). So if these are shitty YGGDRASIl items that would explain the hardness.
However, one of the Japanese fans had this idea:
"What if the Runesmith King made these swords for Dark Knight as a good replacement for his other four swords once they broke his curse or to make him seem more like a hero?"
Here's why this theory exists.
We find out that the Dwarves in that CITY only had up to Adamantite. But the Dwarves never said that was the strongest metal in the mountains.
The evidence for this was Pe Riyuro.

However, he learned that the metals which the Quagoa ate when they were young determined their strength when they matured. If he let them eat the metals of Nazarick, it could give rise to a powerful individual. Then, he thought about the prismatic ores in the Dwarven Kingdom. Even if he had not eaten one of the prismatic ores, perhaps this Clan Lord had reached his station by eating one of the rare metals of YGGDRASIL. If he was strong enough to capture, then it was worth investigating him.

[V11]
Obviously Pe Riyuro didn't eat a prismatic ore since somethign that strong would probably have been impossible to chew on. However, remember Quagoa seem to get different colored coats based on the metals they eat.
We see hints of this as well with the other Quagoa:

The Quagoa whose pelt was streaked with red frowned as he listened to his underling’s report. He was Yozu, commander of the Quagoa vanguard. He possessed a hide that was as tough as orichalcum and his resistance to metal weaponry was even greater than that of regular Quagoa. He was a superior member of his species, a Red Quagoa.

[V11]
Ie the red streaks relate to a hardness about Orichalcum and Orichalcum is typically an orangish to red orange colored metal in fantasy. It's important to note Maru has never explicitly described the color.
If we use the anime as refernce though, Mithril at least is a greenish blue tending toward darker shades.

Gondo rambled on about the Quagoa as he walked through the tunnel. This was probably to keep Aura on her toes as well. At a glance, they were bipedal demihumans who resembled moles. They were about 140cm tall, weighed about 70kg on average, and they had short but powerful builds. They were predominantly dark brown, with black and brown being less common. Special colors like blue or red apparently denoted an individual of some power. They lived in places where light could not penetrate, but their vision was stronger than those of human beings. Their technology level was low, on par if not lower than the Lizardmen. They could not make armor or weapons, probably because their own bodies — their claws and fur — were superior to subpar wargear. The fur that covered their entire bodies was about as tough as metal armor, and it could dissipate blows from metal weapons. The fur grew tougher if they fed on rare metals in their youth. One could tell their resistance to damage by the color of their fur.

[V11]
Well it's not confirmed, but it's somewhat common to see people say Blue = Mithril, Red = Orichalcum. So one could say they haven't gotten hold of Adamantite yet since there is no mention of a special streak of black that surpasses the blue and red Quagoa.
However, keep in mind one thing: Pe Riyuro is the strongest but we never get a description of what color he is.
But look at his character desgin.
He has some orange on him but also his pelt is actually a very light shade compared to all the other Quagoa who are normally dark browns or blacks.
The Japanese theory is that Pe Riryuro isn't some Fluder type Outlier, but he actually ate a metal that was stronger than any the past Quagoa heroes ate which would most likely be Adamantite.
If you line that up with the way the Dwarves answered the question about the ores then something should stand out to you.
It's the metal Gondo was after.

"Not enough for my aims. That is why I intend to go digging around in the abandoned city. None may gainsay my claim, no matter what kind of metal I excavate." The manager knitted his brows into a mass. Gondo’s words might have been quite extreme, but he was also correct. "You seek the white iron, then?" "Yes, exactly. After all, nobody will quibble with me if I recover it from there." The fundamental fact was that all these mines were nationalized. Thus, one would have to pay an appropriate — appropriately high — price if they wanted white iron. "...Would you sell it to me? I’ll pay well, of course." They had not yet dug up white iron from the mineral veins near this city. Thus, once the ores ran out, the price of the metal would rise asymptotically.

[V11]
Gondo was specifically after a metal that had not been found in the city. Now let's look at what question Ainz asked and the exact response the Dwarves gave.

"Ah, so it’s like that,"Ainz replied, trying not to let it show in his attitude."...So tell me, what’s the highest-grade metal in this city?"
If the names of one of the prismatic ores came up, Ainz might well abandon his present negotiations and subjugate the Dwarves by force. However, his worries were ill-founded.
The metal of which they spoke was adamantite. "Adamantite, hm? Is there nothing harder than that here? No, even a slightly softer metal would do if it was a rarity in this mountain range." They could not answer that question either. There was a possibility that this was classified information and they could not speak openly of it to Ainz.

[V11]
Notice how they neither confirmed nor denied a stronger metal or a rarer one yet we know of one which was not found around that city already. But keep in mind:

"I’ll go, then," said the Cabinet Secretary. " I’m interested in the sort of masterpiece he’ll produce. Also, I’m wondering what sort of metal the Sorcerer King gave him." "He only said it was a rare metal, but you can’t get any rarer than adamantite can you?" "So it would be more like orichalcum, then?" The Dwarves were an underground race. Even if their jobs had nothing to do with metallurgy, they would be very interested in a metal they had never seen before.

[V12]
It doesn't appear all the Dwarves even knew about White Iron, likely due to it's rarity or some other reason.

Knowledge on smithing and ores. Now that he had enlisted the runesmiths to his cause, all he had to do was slowly tease that information out of them. However, there did not seem to be any of the prismatic ores here, as expected.

[V11]
So there you have it, a very minor theory about the origins of this mysterious metal that is stronger than Adamantite that fuses all these little pieces together, including the Hoy Sword's origins, their strength, and so on.
People were saying the idea that the Dwarves didn't mention White Iron is a big hole in this theory but remember this hint:

"It didn’t heat up!" "What, what did you say?" "This damn thing won’t heat up at all!" Before he knew it, the Cabinet Secretary had caught the ingot tossed his way. For a moment, he imagined that it was emitting a searing heat, but t was not hot at all. In fact, it was surprisingly cold. "What, what is this?" That was a pointless question. In all the Cabinet Secretary’s knowledge, there was only one thing which corresponded to the description of a metal that did not get hot even when heated. Thus, the question was merely a formality.

[V11]
Notice how there is a metal that doesn't heat up in the Dwarves knowledge but he doesn't name it. It's also important to note that he mentions Adamantite as rare not as the best. That may be too pedantic though for an argument but it's worth bearing in mind.

---

Side Discussion:
People often like to talk about what happened to the Forgemaster.
The JApanese fans have their ideas but the most interesting is based on what comes up in the conversation between the Forge Master and the other guy.

"I’m nothing more than an idiot who can only stare dumbly at a hunk of unknown metal!" The Cabinet Secretary struggled to think of how to comfort the high-strung Forgemaster. "Then, then what if you asked that undead being how to work it—" "Those who ask when they don’t know are wiser than those who don’t ask when they don’t know? Something like that, right? That’s true. The dwarves of days past do have a point. But — what does my experience count for? Look at these hands." I’ve always believed that any metal can be shaped to any desired shape. — What a joke I am! Haha! What was I using to deceive myself? I was nothing more than a tiny frog in a well! And to think I dared call myself a genius. I was such a fool." "No, all you need to do now is start learning again, right?" "That’s right. Yes, you’re right. Though it pains me to hear it …" The Forgemaster tightly clutched the ingot in his hand. The fact that the Forgemaster’s face had gone completely blank worried the Cabinet Secretary. "It’s fine. You’re right. All I need to do is start learning again. Then, what are you doing here?"

[V11]
If you pay attention, the Forgemaster actually alludes to the fact he's going to go outside of this "well" and learn in a different "well".
And where would a Dwarf go? Not the human nations which value Dwarf craftsmen ship as superior. No. Wouldn't he go to other Dwarves who acquired separate knowledge?
As a Dwarf though, the closest Dwarf Country was the Hill Dwarves whose nation is long gone and only the Abelion Hills remain.
But would that stop this artist and craftsmen?
And keep in mind, in the Abelion Hills walking in may be a death trap but not necessarily for a Dwarf. Remember, the Dark Dwarves are still there and they are known to make various arms for many races for slaves. So wouldn't one of those races bring him to the Dark Dwarves as a special trade since they would think a rare Dwarf or maybe a surviving Hill Dwarf would be worth more Dark Dwarf gear?
This is all purely hypothetical of course. But there is a joke theory Ainz and the Forge Master run into each other in the Abelion Hills and he did end up making something using the Dark Dwarf knowledge. Some Japanese fans love talking about this because it's actually a very Eastern thing to do, to go out to master something at least in folk lore. It's teh reason Gon's dead isn't seen as a dead beat in Japan for instance. So in some of their eyes, the Forgemaster didnt' abandon the Dwarven Kingdom, he set out to learn so that he could accomplish his word to Ainz due to his pride. That's all.
But what do you think?
Hope this made you think more critically on these hints.
(o_o)7

[Weird Japanese Theories- 4]

"What in the world is this going to be about..." you might ask.
Today, let's talk about the association of Dragons and the Soul. For any of you have barely paid attention to Overlord, this would most likely be the association between True Dragon Lords and Wild Magic.
魂 is typically the kanji used for Soul. It relates to spirits as well of a person or their essence.
The main connection between Souls and Dragons is basically Eastern thought. That is it has its roots in Taoism. Effectively, the Soul is usually talked about as Yang or Yang Energy. So what does Yin Yang mean literallly? It means Negative Positive Shadow and Sky female and male etc etc. It encompasses many dualities. Yang is often considered the one that causes changes.
Well the Japanese fans like to talk about dragons in Overlord based on these Eastern ideas. Like you all know White Draogn Lord was the typical bad guy dragon who destroyed cities, was greedy etc. The Tolkien dragon basically. But to our weeby neighbors, they like to joke about Western dragons being greedy and militant is an allegory of their true nature (a criticism of Western Imperialsim) meanwhile the traditional view of dragons varied. Originally they were seen as positive forces of nature who blessed and damned people with rain or floods.
Hence the association of the skies or light with dragons based on reading the kanji for souls, ie they are not Soul but Yang or what is normally considered good, if not strong and powerful and all the main masculine traits.
So in the East there are many reasons why dragons can fly despite having no wings. One myth describes that they are not physical creations at all. These beings are made of pure Yang or heavenly matter. Others say it was their association with the sky.

---

In Volume 10 there is a mention of Buddha being from the South. Now for us this seems like a weird wacky reference. But the Japanese actually take this further with some obscure references.
Basically they linked this line to one in Volume 5, how the Greed Kings were likened to dragons. But where did this come from? Were they dragonoids?
Well that is the thoughts of the West, but the Japanese people actually have an alternative reasoning. What they think is the 8 Greed Kings were a guild named not the Eight Greed Kings >八欲王 but instead the >八大龍王 :
Effectively the Eight Great Dragon Kings.
"NANI?!"
Well that should be a big eye opener. This has to do with the idea that in Japanese Buddhism, the Eight Great Dragon Kings are likened to the disciples of Jesus but for Buddha. WEll the kanji is Dragon King which is what Maru uses for Dragon Lord.
The Japanese fans sometimes love to make jokes about this.
Dragon King can also be used to explain the suits and katanas as less a monk thing and more the yakuza gangster type thing with dragon king. So people like to joke that they were a more Japanese heavy cultural enthusiasts group based on these anecdotes.
It's curious how different cultures lead to different interpretations huh?

[Article] Shredder

One thing that comes up sometimes in discussion is:

Why Does YGGDRASIL accept items in the Shedder?

Naturally, one would think "Why Not?". But why would it recognize these foreign substances worth gold? Shouldn't it only recognize the data of YGGDRASIL?
Looking at the livestock costs required to make a single gold coin, it certainly does appear that something is amiss. It's fairly possible the quality is very poor. But in a game where one could grow things, would it have really taken huge shipments to make a single gold coin of even the worse plants?

"I intend to throw them into the Exchange Box. Simply put, I wish to see if the money I get from the ores changes with the location. The Exchange Box should not be affected by such things. For instance, even an exquisitely-carved statue would only count the same as an unworked lump of the same material when fed into the Exchange Box. That being the case, what if the composition — the intrinsic quality of the material varied? That was why he had purchased all those ores. "Nabe, you know that I managed to fix a price by throwing grain into the box." I had to throw in quite a pile of grain before getting one measly coin, Ainz grumbled in his heart.

[V5]
Basically we learn several facts about the New World here.
1.) although minute, the grain can accumulate a total value. IE they all carry a modicum of value in the eyes of YGGDRASIL's system if it's less than one gold coin, the smallest unit of currency in the game.
2.) No matter what they are fixed into, the value shouldn't change. Beer made from distileld grain would likely not make more gold by this system.
3.) Ainz proposes that the intrinsic value of each component may vary.
So what is determining thsi value? What is YGGDRASIL recognizing that is worth gold?
If they truly vary by region but are chemcially identical, why would that happen?

"But …is that really so? If it’s just one failure, couldn’t it be the parchment’s fault?" "Just one, you say? I have already used the parchment from the outside for various experiments, but whenever I attempt to imbue a spell above the 3rd tier into them, I receive the same result each time — destruction. It is quite likely that the parchment burns because the magical power cannot be infused into it." "...But the magic casters in this world all use that sort of parchment, right?" "No, what I just disposed of is probably not a typical piece of parchment used by the magic casters of this world. Of course, after considering that there are various nations in this world, I cannot guarantee that nobody has used a parchment like this one. When I used the parchments of the nations near Nazarick—" Titus produced a stack of parchment which seemed different from the piece just now. "—The experimental results were even worse; they were limited to 1st-tier spells." "So that means the humans know how to make good use of poorer materials?" "No. I believe it might be a technological difference. While it pains me to admit it, their technique is, to some extent, more refined than ours. I would love to acquire this new technology and improve my skills."

[V8]

That was the remains of the parchment — its ashes. Titus seemed to have anticipated this, and he calmly picked up the ashes to examine them. "So you can’t imbue them with 4th-tier spells. I seem to have confirmed that it has nothing to do with the caster’s power." Titus muttered, 'ten years old was a failure' and made notes. "Er, what …what just happened? What did I do wrong?" "Pay it no heed. I attempted to use the materials of this world to make scrolls in order to save on parchment costs, but their quality is simply atrocious."

[V8]
Let us look at this example. A ten-year old child's skin had a scroll which couldn't hold Tier 4 magic. Titus conjectures that the reason they burn is they cannot contain the magical power within. Titus though makes it seem that the scrolls can hold Tier 3 spells irregardless of other factors. Titus's experiments reveal that what matters isn't the user's power but their Tier.
But what connection does this have with the failures? Or the variable gold values of items?
Recall, in this world, besides MP, magic casters actually radiate an aura that suggests their Tier.

"If it’s convenient for you …would you like to meet my master? Master’s talent lies in detecting an individual’s magical power. If you were born with magical potential, Master should be able to sense it. When it comes to arcane magic casters, Master can even differentiate between them by the tiers of magic which they can cast." "I’ve been meaning to ask for a while …is that talent the same as the one possessed by the Empire’s head magician?" "Yes, it’s the same talent." Ainz could not let information like this slip through his hands. He had to continue asking about it. "...What is this ability like?" "Ahh, according to Master, we magic casters radiate something like an aura from our bodies. The more adept one becomes in magic, the stronger this aura becomes. Master has the ability to see these auras."

[V2]

If one had to name Arche’s Talent, perhaps calling it the Mystic Eyes of Revelation might be appropriate. Apparently, all arcane magic casters radiated an invisible aura of magic. Arche’s talent allowed her to perceive this aura, and understand which tier of spells someone could use.

[V7]
What we know from this is a tangible manifestation of one's tier exists. It may be vague but it is present although it is unseen to most. What this aura is may vary but it could be a sign of the connection to the world, one's own innate mana capacity (ie think of it like a balloon which they store their mana for attacks, such as you need a Tier 4 balloon to use Tier 4 spells and so this aura is a residual component of New World casting).
Could YGGDRASIL be able to sense these auras as well? That is, a fixed capacity for magic?
We know at least that rituals and Over magic when pushing people to cast above their Tier results in pain and bleeding to varying extents. That is there is bodily strain.
Certainly, if all things had magical Tier capacities though, wouldn't Ainz be able to see their magical nature?
Ziggy believes that rather than a direct relation to Tier magic though, this is actually something more primitive. Consider how beings can level up. Certainly Maru describes this as a magical change but it's not Tier magic. But isn't the physcal enhancement or expansion of the body not simlar to the enhancement of one's tier or magical capability from the same evolution?

"Hm? Don’t severed body parts vanish when healing magic is applied?" "About that …we have learned something during our experiments with healing magic. Once some great change has occurred to the severed body parts — mincing, for example — those parts will remain. In other words, once the flayed skin has been processed, the healing magic no longer recognizes it as part of the body and it will not vanish even when the source is healed. This is also why they will not die when they are fed meat. Also, this is not exactly related, but when either the healer or the healed one rejects the magic, it will not be able to operate properly and will leave a scar. Similarly, lower tier spells are more likely to leave scars as time passes."

[V4]
The world at least or Tier magic does "change" the status of a creature to item components once it is alterted too much.
It certainly feels that whatever this aura is, it creates changes based on magical job classes or the quantity of this mysterious magic which Levels correspond to.

That is to say Level Up (Growth [seichou]), please perceive it as the evolution [shinka] into a superior living [joui no ikimono] thing. It’s the first step to becoming an ubermensch [choujin]. They aren’t humans, those they are people, the New World’s humans and our world’s humans are different. Consider the previous explanation. I don’t mind if you think of this as an inconsequential part of the setting though. The gathering of similar magical power [maryoku], gives rise [umarete] to a massive field [omoi ba]...

[V5+6]
Here Maruyama confirms the evolution process does inherently make something superior so it does give credence to the idea there are variable values to things just as we see how Level Caps are fixed at birth. The magical limit of a body can be considered it's Level cAp then.
IE your Level Cap can be explained not as one's genetic ilmits (the very notion of Level Up is to evolve into something superior). Rather, Level Cap is rather the fixed amount of this mysterious magical energy one's body can hold.
This isnt' abnormal, if we consider that some people are more naturallyi attuned to magic than others to begin with.
For some reason, by trainign or killing one get's stronger as well. Why would this magical energy which has fixed limits raise from such actions?
Item quality may vary with regions theoretically, but since living creatures vary in this Level Cap, isn't that saying the same thing? But grain doesn't have levels, so what is the YGGDRASIL system recognizing that has value?
We know that even byproducts of creatures have these limits as the human scrolls show us. Then that means the inherent limits transcened the creature and instead apply to anything made from them., This limit relates to whatever magical process affixes levels to one's self, ie the magic of classes and levels at all.

"Weakly enchanted objects like this cannot harm this body of mine. Incidentally, this shortsword is imbued with about as much data —or rather, as much mana— as that sword you bear, Stronoff-dono. However, your sword can harm me, in clear defiance of what I know to be true. "

[V9]
It's important to note that this may be linked to why the Razor Edge bypasses the innate immunity of Ainz. This intrinsic magic, likely influenced by whatever non YGGDRASIL magic made that sword is the catalyst for changes to the rules that should be in place. Certainly if it's Wild Magic, we can just shrug. But if it's not, it could have something to the New World data that sword contains. Fluder for instance brings up the idea:

"Perhaps," Fluder had begun by saying, "Gazef’s sword was spontaneously created by the natural absorption of mana..."

[V11]
The Cursed Armor at least appeared to be formed from a magical change to what was normally unenchanted bones.
Why is second to How.
It's interesting to think what exactly is causing these variatons in quality. Perhaps it hints at something more. Or maybe not...

[Article] Archetypes

I appreciate the extra information, but I'm still a bit confused on which classes are considered beginner classes.

Ziggy pops out of a cardboard box
If you are confused about the "base classes" of YGGDRASIl, it helps to understand what a "base class" is. For instance, Maruyama has laid out the general outline before of melee potential of classes. Here we see the classical archetypes of:
1.) Warrior
2.) Cleric
3.) Rogue
4.) Mage
And these should be evident to anyone who has played a game created with intelligent game design.
However, if we limit our scope to such things as tihe classics, where do things like Paladin, Ranger, and Spiritual casters fit in? Monks?
It helps to understand what you mean by base classes is more akin to unique class packages. There are presumably many base classes in fact. Not all Divine casters have Cleric or Priest for instance and these are two distinct branches on the Cleric or Divine magic user path. Then you have weirdoes like Nfrirea or Gondo who don't even have combat classes.
Thus you have to breakdown classes into at first two paradigms: their utility and their role in the game. The distinction here Ziggy is making the things they are good at (melee strenght, type of magic they can use, actions they can take) vs their intended function in the overall game design.
It helps to understand Maruyama loves to draw from games he likes. Much of this is fairly standard as well.
Let's first take Maruyama's Melee tier list in terms of base classes:
Warrior>Cleric > Rogue > Mage
Now lets fill in the blanks from his own statements.
Warriors > Monks (Blog)
Warriors > Paladins (V7, V9AT, V13)
Warriors > Clerics (V3)
With these additions we have:
Warrior > Cleric/Paladin/Monk > Rogue > Mage
We can further refine this with TRPG knowledge though. For instance, Paladins are the weird middle point between Clerics and Warriors, along iwth other game design differences. In terms of melee though they would fit into this sweet spot. Likewise, Monks are able to face off against warriors (Sebas in the Albedo and Cocytus triangle). However, they excel in countering magic or being a Warrior-like Rogue with abilites based on close range. Of course they lose out in direct feats of brawn (Cocytus beats Sebas) but they counter other people's tricks (Sebas beats Albedo an Evil Paladin).
THus you have:
Warrior > Paladin > Monk > Cleric > Rogue > Mage
Here we know these are base classes due to how they are predefined archetypes and fall under their own rules. So even though a Monk is subpar to a Paladin in melee strength, they actually have an edge against them because a Paladin sacrifices direct power for magical shenanigans. In contrast, a warrior goes full on pure melee dps. By this token, they lack the very tools to deal with the magical edge of others for raw power. It's why they can over power Monks but lose to Paladins who are basically nearly as strong as them but have more tricks. Monks are the weakest of the three but they excel at speed and tricks and can effectively prevent a Paladin from using their tricks as well and can bridge the weaponless or unarmed weapon gap thanks to this.
Thus you start to see on this specturm, we have also Rogues coming in behind Monks. They are not frontliners in most cases and generally can't take a front on attack. But they double down on tricks like Monks and Paladins do and thus becomign an entirely different breed of class.
So how do we distinguish base classes or archetypes? In terms of game design ie the second paradigm, Warrior, Monk, Paladin are basically front liners. They do the thingy to hit the guy with their muscles and sometimes otehr stuff.
Well that's where things get tricky, surely these are base classes since we see people with builds like these lacking the others (Zenberu/Zero/Pe Riyuro are pure monks for the most part barring Zenberu's one warrior level). In contrast, even Warrior can be further refined into more classes!
You have Fencers who are effectively agile warriors who sacrifice power for speed and quickness. Then you have the opposite end, the Knight or INSERT WEAPON Master. The Knight sacrifices power for defense while the INSERT WEAPON Master is someone who pursues one weapon alone and ignores all the others. Then you have everyone's average joe, the Fighter, the jack of all trades non specialization. Many people have Fighter as a class because you first start out trying to understand what weapons you want to use and being a physical well fighter.
Effectively the balance is do you favor armor or your weapon as a tool in combat? Knights favor armor or their shields while Warriors or Weapon Masters favor a weapon to keep them alive. Thus you see how Knights lead to classes like Guardian or double shield users who go evne further into the pure defense category. Fighters are just the basic starting point for many people. It's also important to note the Holy Knight which is pretty much a Paladin. The main difference is they are a different game's version of Paladin, as is Holy Lord. IE the difference between Priest, Cleric, and Bishop is the difference between Holy Knight, Paladin, and Holy Lord. Different twists on the same base class archetype.
Do you see how this starts to get out of hand?
The reason the New World has so much depth is because so many different games are being drawn from!
We haven't even gotten into Spirtual Casters, Commanders, Riders, and so forth.
Effectively, in terms of game design we have three magical systems: Arcane, Spirituall, and Divine.
Arcane users are the super squishy and physically weak mages. Divine users are typically the very physically competent just below Warriors mages. But they trade off this physical competence for a smaller spell list for example. Well, you can think of this as a spectrum as well:
Front line Competence ---- Back line Competence
Divine>Spiritual >Arcane
There are exceptions to this, but basically you have Bishops in the Divine sector which are weird pure mages while you have Priests who fall between the other two.
IE
Cleric>Priest>Bishop>Spirtitual >Arcane
But we also have magical warrior type classes though they are pretty rare. Not split builds like Succulent but actual magical warrior classes. Paladin would fall under this category but it's an Other class. As is most likely Ranger. Ziggy is referring to the self enchanting warriors like Bellriver is supposedly. This is typically a more Eastern based class since in the West we split them.
But that's where Spiritual Casters fall in! Thesse are typcially from Eastern games where the line is blurred. This is why Evileye being a really terrible half vampire half arcane caster build was able to oppose Entoma- She was a Spiritual Caster caught between melee and magic competence.
Now, just like how Bishops are pretty shitty front liners while Clerics are great at it, there are many variants to the Spiritual Caster (though we know very few in Overlord). In theory though, using the game that some Spiritual Caster classes come from, there are more archetypes but you can ignore this for now at least.
So where do Riders and Comanders fall in?
Well these are unique splits as well. Just like magic, there is amiddle ground here as well: the Tamer!
IE you have a specturm of what we can consider the Pokemon class series - IE you fight by using others in your stead. This spectrum lumps in the others though.
Rider> Tamer > Commander > Summoner
Entomancer falls under this spectrum as do certain Divine classes, even Paladin does as well. Paladins are basically using magic to get their Pokemon, while Rider have to raise and train their Pokemon. Commanders rely on others even other people as their Pokemon and thus have less specialized and general buffs and abilites. Summoners are using pure magic to have temporary allies and so you see Necromancers fall under a gray area here as well.
Basically, these classes fuck up our whole understanding of game design because they come all different sorts of game design! Some predate DnD's ideas of these classes before they riipped these games off (well more like came upon the same idea but who knows for certain).
Then you get into schols of Arcane magic, like Illusionist, Necromancer, Evoker/Elementalist, Summoner, and so on.
So each of these base classes like Mage or Rider has variants as well which are their own base classes which twist and specialize the ideas of the class. Just like Mages differ in theri specialization Riders vary in how they fight with their mounts and what their mount does.
Now Druid falls under the Divine umbrealla as well but it differs in feel and competencies too. Adepts would be something in this area as well as one harnesses natural forms to fight temporarily.
THen you have new Overlord exclusive classes like Sacred Archer which neatly fit into thsi intricate web of classes.
Basically this gets really complicated and we need to actually study all the games Maruyama plays to get a better picture but at this point we encounter contradictions in what these classes can and cannot do due to differences in game design when they share classes. THen you have cases where Maru just shoves these different games together to create variance and depth like with Divine casters. The differnce between Templar, Holy Lord, and Paladin all happened due to picking and choosing differences in these games and editions to explain different things.
So when you ask "how many base classes do you think YGGDRASIL had"
we do not have a clear answer since no one game inspired YGGDARSIL. Well that's because Overlord is a love letter to RPGS in general! So we can think of base classes as class archetypes and just say Mage, Priest, Warrior, Rogue, but these exclude other base classes all together like Spiritual casters or Tamers which don't fit into the others quite as neatly.
So you have to reason with game design and uniqueness to really explain where you draw the line between archetype and base class.

do you think YGGDRASIL had available to choose from at the start? Do you think I should make special Base Classes for certain races be available?

Yes. Overlrod has these like with Skeleton Mage, Insect Fighter, Quagoa = Monk, and Zoastia = Rider variant. Some races are specially attuned to certain classes. An article below can go deeper if you want on this topic. Vampire is effectively a Warrior variant for example more than another class. Basically, Racial levels are weird hybrids of all the classes above in weird ways. It makes sense, some creatures are better at things than others.
Further reading:
Divine casters from different game systems - https://drive.google.com/open?id=10kWsITD-HzflYoYl3uMG7jAr2BYts_Tn9OS-CspvWMI
Warrior Faith classes - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XawKWH5NJ5aUeAkAH2bIYs8W7UPwOkjdAQXB8XN1Oys
Soemthing you probably didn't know about animals and classes - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zghT5u72w2qWVmzY-zEQD_qqBWKeF7SIzl5ohVNEGMk
Why Paladins are not Divine casters - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GN-WP_wCrbk-VYf31dwhQ0YtFpDJ59gZoF4qwvnTsIo
Double counting classes and the pro/con fo them - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1v92uy1ab6NH2x90CHew0_0zCIxP6QMv4aXFxTotVIqQ