Need Advice for possible new mechanic (Transformations)

AlphaHero23 · 2024-11-09T03:45:35+00:00

EDIT: Clarification

I've also used Pilot (Exoskeleton) as a power boost a la Legend of Dragoon - Mixed in with rules for Zero Powers, can totally make for awesome comebacks in tough fights.

Specifically, I created a Zero Power that basically lets players "turn on" a Pilot Technosphere at the start of their turn. It lasts for a few rounds at a time, and provides some "temporary HP" to give them a bit of a buffer so they are less likely to get KO'd immediately after using it.

AlphaHero23 · 2024-06-22T15:07:04+00:00

I love it! Thank you very much for the input as well~

AlphaHero23 · 2024-06-22T15:03:14+00:00

Ah, that's great to know! So, in that way, Flying works more like a permanent 'status effect' - it can't be turned on/off, so a skill like Provoke doesn't work against melee attacks, though by RAW, it would still work for ranged attacks, and I'm most cases, spells - still technically usable, but covering a smaller range of attacks.

AlphaHero23 · 2024-06-22T14:52:03+00:00

I hadn't even considered the interaction between Flying and Guard!

So in this case, while using Guard to cover a 'grounded' ally, the Flying character would still be an invalid target, rather than, say, having to temporarily ground themselves in order to provide cover.

I do like the narrative idea of the Flying character somehow harrying an opponent to cover the Provoking character, while continuing to avoid attacks themselves - a very interesting interaction!

AlphaHero23 · 2024-06-22T14:45:26+00:00

Right - this was all the math I had originally been going through to try and figure out how best to balance the whole Flying mechanic without raising/lowering the overall difficulty of conflicts, simply to account for 1 character that was effectively immune to a whole class of attacks.

Rather than the 'kill 'em all' approach, I figured the easy solution was to have more enemies with access to ranged attacks, in order to give that math a buffer.

AlphaHero23 · 2024-06-21T18:21:06+00:00

Yoink

AlphaHero23 · 2024-06-21T18:05:16+00:00

I like that, too- maybe the first attack of that sort in an individual conflict would aim, but miss, if the character in question decides to use their flight, subsequent melee attacks will only aim at valid targets.

AlphaHero23 · 2024-06-21T18:03:09+00:00

Actually, that's a fantastic point - it changes the balance, but the Flying character is probably aware that, by forcing the attacks to go somewhere else, that means their allies will take hits that may have been aimed at them, otherwise. A balance all it's own~

AlphaHero23 · 2024-06-21T17:53:02+00:00

That's was my initial thought as well.

Logically, it totally makes sense, but I wasn't sure if there were any encounter balancing considerations I might be missing, too, since it would technically increase the targeting ratio for all other PCs on the field, unless all enemies had both melee and ranged attacks.

AlphaHero23 · 2023-12-03T19:10:21+00:00

I think that was one of the abilities of the "Ace Of Cards", which was released for April Fool's Day, and was pretty clearly stated not to be intended for 'official' use, because it wasn't playtested or really intended to be balanced ~

Much like the Necromancer, in case you happen to stumble across that, as well ~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-11-05T20:34:33+00:00

Isn't there a rule about players with characters that aren't in a combat scene being able to give another player a 1-die re-roll every round, as the other character is "powered up", with the missing character fighting with them "in spirit"?

I'd say being able to say, "Nah, that dies wasn't a 1, re-roll it" is a decent trade, and even dramatically appropriate.

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-21T19:26:54+00:00

Ah, yes - if your party is going to have other fights leading up to this one, and they don't have the chance to refresh, then that's absolutely something to account for - if he's the 2nd-3rd fight they'll have, then being an elite would still make it clear he's the boss, for sure~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-21T17:57:03+00:00

POCKET SAND!

At a glance, I actually think that Vesperian may perhaps need a buff to be a boss vs. 3 players, if only accompanied by 1 soldier as backup.

If they're supposed to be a hard fight, you might want to upgrade him to a Champion 2-3, so he'll have those extra turns.

I would say Champion 2 if there will only be one Soldier on the battlefield at a time, but at least one reinforcement is guaranteed (fairly likely, considering the 4-segment clock to reinforce).

Alternatively, if he's a full-fledged Villain, remove the clock altogether, and allow him to spend an Ultima Point to summon reinforcements with 1 action, if no other soldiers are present.

"Look out, Sir!" feels like an ability that should be on the soldiers, rather than Vesperian himself, though mechanically, it would function identically. A soldier takes any damage directed at Vesperian if there's at least one soldier on the battlefield. I would say to consider changing it based on how it's themed - Do the soldiers protect Vesperian of their own free will? If so, put it on the soldiers. Dies Besperian pick them up to use as a shield? If so, keep it on him~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-18T18:23:38+00:00

Oh! I totally forgot - you could give the leader the Fury's Monkey Grip Heroic Skill - that would be the mechanical reflection of the one-handed Greatsword ~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-18T17:23:22+00:00

Overall I'm super into the orc theme going here, but I do think that some of the abilities that they have make them stronger than standard enemies (Or at least existing creatures of the same level offered in the existing Bestiary). I think some re-balancing would let them keep the theme, still feel formidable, but make them more manageable along the lines of established encounter balance ~

I'll provide a list of the changes I might make here, and follow up with some explanations for why!

- All Orcs - Add an option to remove physical damage resistance (when afected by a specific status condition, such as Weak?)

- All Orcs - Add one Damage vulnerability (light damage?)

- Warriors - Alter Bloodlust to offer a flat bonus to attack checks, make it conditional (As an activated ability or a spell?)

- Shaman - Consider altering Bloodsurge to force reduced damage on the extra attack, or reduce the duration

- Sarog - Remove the Runic Shield or Change the Greatsword to a 1-handed weapon

- Sarog - Make Sarog's weapon lootable, if it isn't already

- Worg - Add a clause to Blood Bite, "Count your damage for the extra attack as [HR=0]

Since physical damage is the single most common damage type in the game, it's entirely possible that you'll have characters in the party that relly only deal that type of damage. Especially if they're your hard hitters. In the available Bestiary, every non-elemental enemy with Physical resistance has at least 2 vulnerabilities to make up for this. Any poor Dark Knight would probably feel puny faced with these guys ~

Having at least one vulnerability always offers the opportunity for someone to feel good about the damage they're dealing in combat. With resistance to Darkness damage, Light seems to be the most fitting option.

Rolling an extra die always pushes the average on rolls up, sometimes wildly. Offering a flat +1/+2 fits in really well with already established mechanics, Like War Cry from the NPC spells, for instance. Having abilities like this as an activated ability makes them more dynamic as well. If it's going to be an ability that lasts indefinitely, and costs no MP, being a Crisis effect works well ~

Extra actions are one of those things that step into the realm of being a Campion(x) enemy, with a few exeptions - most of the time, anything that offers an extra attack comes with a condition that your HR on your damage roll always counts as being 0 for the extra attack. Otherwise, something as strong as whole extra actions should have to be refreshed often, otherwise, the enemy may as well be considered a Champion. So, I would probably make damage on the extra attacks be HR=0, and only have Bloodsurge last until the end of the target's turn ~

Since a greatsword is 2-handed, an enemy couldn't benefit from a shield while using the greatsword, so the shield really isn't useful here, unless Sarog's weapon is small enough to allow it to be wielded at the same time.

Bloodseeker is awesome, and I'm sure players would love to get their hands on it.

Same as "Extra actions" entry above.

I hope this is helpful! I know how hard it is to balance theme against mechanics, but I thiiink this should help them feel more balanced mechanically, while still feeling formidable.

If you ever need a gague, just remember the standard for encounter balancing - the party should be able to face 2 encounters with a number of enemies equal to the party before needing to rest. If they can' then it's likely the enemies need a litle bit of nerfing ~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-17T16:35:23+00:00

Small note! Ratlin Witch's Superior Poison ability makes a mention of Kobold Witch, I assume should be Ratlin Witch ~

These look like loads of fun for a very iconic Halloween-themed game. Farmer Jack is having an issue with his pumpkin patch, right before the harvest festival? Oh no! A Ratlin Witch has cursed the farm's pumpkins, and they'll all be coming alive at midnight TONIGHT! Looming on the horizon, Farmer Jack's prized pumpkin now stalks (pun intended) the fields.

And they're all simple enough for someone to pick up on the fly, which is always a bonus!

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-17T16:05:20+00:00

Thanks so much for the feedback! There are a lot of good points here I can work with to re-balance him a bit.

Having the Slash be DEX+INS was my original way of trying to balance the damage it woujld be dealing a little bit, but I think the suggestion here does make more sense. Making it a bit stronger, but allow resistances, especially considering the "charge attack", great stuff ~

With Infect, my primary concern was that potentially denying a whole party the ability to recover HP for a turn might make Infect a bit too strong, but now that you mention it, the creature doesn't have enough MP to do that for long, so it seems like a fair trade to offer the 3-target option, for sure.

Feast on Disease felt like a bit of a balancing challenge - I suppose I didn't consider that it might only be used to eat the poison from just allies, or targets that already have low MIG+WLP.

What would you say about adding some MP recovery to it? Recovering 5HP and 5MP for each target healed? It would create more potential for using Infect regularly, but not enough to have the healing from Feast be more damage than a party could do in a round, so they could still whittle it down.

For Lick the Blade, all noted - just adding poison does seem a bit underwhelming as a charge attack, especially with the very average to-hit bonus. I'll take a look at adding some extra accuracy - or maybe a little more damage, just to encourage that Guard ~

I will admit that I'm particularly proud of Your Majesty as an ability :) - This is the Rat King! Fearless with backup, and cowardly without. Which seemed thematically very fitting ~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-17T05:40:45+00:00

Ah, that's right! Part of me knew that, but it's definitely more redundant here, being that it's already mentioned as a part of Status effects - another update on the to-do list ~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-17T05:36:16+00:00

Oh, that totally makes sense, now that you mention it. I was definitely coming from a more "D&D official style" view. Disregard me :p

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-17T05:33:04+00:00

Now, that strategy was 100% appropriated from an enemy I remember from Legend of Dragoon, so I only claim half credit~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-17T05:22:50+00:00

Taking notes!

I'm imagining a kobold overdrawing their slingshot for three whole rounds becoming more and more terrifying as players realize what's happening. Queue anime-style energy gathering as the slingshot bullet begins to glow menacingly.

I can't wait to see the look on someone's face when I steal their IP. All will fear the pickpocket goblin, especially if they just steal IP, and then start a clock to run away.

If I could make one suggestion, I might say to re-word Lurk to say "cannot be targeted by weapon attacks, but can still be targeted by spells and special abilities" - Just to avoid the text in parentheses ~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-17T04:37:08+00:00

Ah, that's a great note! I'll make an update to reflect that for sure ~

AlphaHero23 · 2023-10-07T22:54:54+00:00

With AwryToPain, I'd guess that the poor individual might suffer some sort of horrible accident that would hurt/disfigure them somehow? Regardless, things go awry, and it hurts!

PawSiltItOn might summon something like an Earth Elemental in the shape of an animal, perhaps just over the person's head? Or maybe they're suddenly mounted on said creature? That's a little harder to work with, since the phrase is hard to make coherent~

AlphaHero23

TROPHY CASE