Rawkking brought up the possibility of healing in the chat. My response to that is "HEALING IS A CRUTCH, YOU FILTHY, CASUAL PEASANTS".
But nah, if people really, really want some sort of healing, I can try and figure something out. I just don't want to have yet another variable to juggle in a battle.
Plus, you know, you could just be a bit more cautious. Looking at you, Amber.
I suppose I should be thankful that Marsh didn't up and drastically overhaul the entire system just yet. Give him time, though.
In all seriousness despite bringing it up for discussion I'm not convinced healing is needed yet, at least without seeing another battle or two.
Elise & Zeal
"Catarine, watch out!" Elise swings across the floor with her polearm, the skirmisher leaping over the blade with some difficulty. Zealfleet once again harries the man, irritated, angry, one and a half-winged combees flying around him. Unable to stop her forward momentum in time, Elise crashes into the man, the skirmisher suppressing a pained grunt as his wounded side crashes through a particularly worn section of wall.
"Not sorry." Elise grunts at the brute. As the man picks himself up through the pain and rubble, Elise glances at Catarine, noticing the tears still on her cheek.
"Are...are you...?" Elise shifts uncomfortably before steeling herself, turning to defend herself from the immediate scimitar-wielding threat. "Come on now, in a battle we don't have the luxury of grieving." she half-scolds, her voice going from stern to soft as she sneaks a glance at Zeal's struggle to keep airborne.
Elise + Zeal shift to House B.
Elise attacks with Halberd [3, 2], missing.
Zeal attacks with Double Team [2, 4] hitting and entering a defensive stance.
Could prevent people from advancing their character past the lowest spent voltage total among all the players, sorta bringing back the way it was in OSH. vOv
I can't tell if there's any genuine vitriol in that post.
Coming from a pony makes it all the worse, though.
Marshmallow on
0
Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
edited January 2012
Can I make a speaking action even though I've had my turn? I'm going to anyway, someones speaking to me and it'd be rude not to reply...
Catarine
Ths sudden appearance of the armor-clad noblewoman catches Catarine off guard, making a play of digging at her eyes with a handkerchief she replies; 'Tis but a mote of dust, all this rubble you know.' It wouldn't do to show weakness in front of another noble house, battle or not, after all. Catarine glances at the striken skirmisher, pointedly ignoring him before asking Elise; 'Can you handle this one or are you going to require my assistance? There are some archers I could do with looking at.' Although from the sounds of things up on the tower someone else has beaten her to the punch...
Oh and sorry Marsh, I'm afraid I did a little doodle, sometimes it's had to resist...
Although I've just noticed I totally left Zeal out, apologies.
I can't tell if there's any genuine vitriol in that post.
Coming from a pony makes it all the worse, though.
Only a very tiny amount is genuine.
It's like my experience in Resonance of Fate, where you don't quite understand the tactics the game system wants you to employ, but still brutalizes you for making one mistake. I liked the idea behind the battle system, but I kept thinking, "Come on, guys. It's only my second battle!"
Well I'm a fragile spring blossom so even the merest hint of disapproval hits me as hard as that Houndour's flamethrower is about to hit Iktomi.
But no, I'm purposely hitting people hard because usually most of my battles are hella pushovers as anyone who's played in my games will attest. Gotta get some of my GM aggression out. Plus attrition is just straight up going to happen in battles with this many people. I'm going to absolutely knock out Pokemon when I get the chance (Trainers not so much, I'll be slightly more forgiving with them).
So: try to keep your Pokemon away from stuff they are traditionally weak to, and try not to get yourself completely surrounded by enemies to the point where I would feel foolish if I didn't focus a little fire on you.
Finally, this is a terrible argument to make but your characters are supposed to be relatively novice Trainers. Considering what you're up against you're doing quite well!
Also! Did some thinking about Healing what with Rawkking being utterly inconsolable about its lack, just wailing and gnashing his teeth nonstop. I think I may have a reasonable thing worked out to let you Heal wounded stuff and get things that've been knocked out back on their feet. Will continue thinking about it and come back to y'all about it later.
I'm trying to hover somewhere halfway between one of those GMs who goes super easy on his players and makes his enemies incredibly dumb purely so he doesn't KO his players except by accident, and those goddamn tactic game AIs who will always, always do the exact perfect action that results in maximum "fuck you" to your party.
So challenging, but not annoyingly so. If I start to tip the scale towards "Fun-killing shitheel", let me know so I can back off my Creed-Worthy Tactical Genius a bit.
Anyway, GM to Stilts for telling me I'm maybe being a dick with this fight? Seriously, tell me if you aren't having fun with a thing. I can fix that shit. I am a fixer.
Though his knowledge of human anatomy is spotty at best, Timaeus' familiarity with killing blows is near encyclopedic, and in his reckoning the woman will probably survive with a minimum of medical attention. He manages to get a good hold on the wounded female, and drags her out into the street as carefully as he can. It takes very little prompting from the tiny otter Pokemon to get the kid to follow him, though something is... off... about how calm, quiet, and generally dispassionate the young boy is about all this. Timaeus is very uncomfortable around that child.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Knight B
Continuing his trek along the wall, the armored bandit notices his Archer buddies and hustles forward to meet them.
"Something's hidin' in th' bushes. Being a right pest," one of them hisses to the newcomer.
The Knight nods his understanding and swipes his mace at one of the many nearby plants growing up through the paving stones, crushing the foliage but finding no enemy Pokemon. Muttering in disgust, he raises his shield in preparation for a counterattack.
Knight B shifts to Street A
4,2,3 vs. 5 - Miss!
Iktomi takes 0 Damage from Knight B's Mace!
Knight B enters a Defensive Stance!
Archer A/B
Now free to turn their attention to their surroundings, the pair of Archers spot Makai, who didn't go quite as unnoticed in the hubbub as he could have hoped. Archer B takes a potshot with his bow, and the other one charges ahead to slash at the boy with his drawn dagger. Clearly you aren't dealing with very merciful people, here!
2,4,6 vs. 3 - Hit!
Makai takes 1 Damage from Archer B's Arrow!
6,4 vs. 3 - Hit!
Makai takes 1 Damage from Archer A's Dagger!
Archer C
The tower-borne Archer takes another short look over their cover, and rapidly sends an Arrow towards House B. The arrow neatly zips through one of Zeal's Double Team clones, shattering into splinters on the floor.
3,2 vs. 5 - Miss!
Zeal takes 0 Damage from Archer C's Arrow!
Skirmisher A/B
Not entirely sure where the guy he was fighting disappeared to, Skirmisher B wanders over to the nearby house. After pausing for a moment, surprised at all the foe's he's found, he leaps towards the nearest target with a battlecry. Brandishing his Scimitar recklessly in the enclosed space, he does more damage to the walls than he does to Catarine.
3,2 vs. 4 - Miss!
Catarine takes 0 Damage from Skirmisher B's Scimitar!
Taking advantage of the distraction, Skirmisher A pushes himself from the ground to his feet again, using his scimitar as a makeshift cane. Hobbling a bit, he closes the distance to Elise and stabs at his armored foe to little effect.
1,3 vs. 4 - Miss!
Elise takes 0 Damage from Skirmisher A's Scimitar!
Damn it, where'd all my good rolls go >:I
Houndour A
Slammed back into House A, the Dark Type leaps to its feet, frothing at the mouth and barking savagely. Snapping its jaws indescriminately, it latches onto Tanaka and attempts to drag him to the ground.
3,6 vs. 3 - Hit!
Tanaka takes 1 Damage from Houndour A's Crunch!
Tanaka is Impeded! (Can't Shift on his next turn)
Torterra
The robe finally comes loose, fluttering away from the Torterra's face and revealing an expression you would never want to see on something that just had a veil lifted off it. (Especially if someone had just said "you may kiss the bride" though luckily this isn't the case, today.) Completely failing to spot the source of its most recent consternation in the rubble, its maddened, beady eyes settle once again on House A.
"Fuck that house," the Torterra thinks. In a manner of speaking, anyway.
With the deceptive speed of a landslide, the Torterra smashes through yet another wall of the house, making it look rather more like a roof with a couple support beams than something people were meant to live in at some point. The Houndour, realizing how totally fucked this place is about to be, releases Tanaka and skips backward as the Torterra rears up, smashing the wooden slats of the second floor as it prepares to tackle the hell out of the prone monk in front of it.
1 vs. 3 - Miss! Nope, nope, I don't fuckin' think so. Voltage to hit!
Tanaka takes 2 Damage from Torterra's Take Down!
Tanaka is Shifted to House B!
Motherfuck this shit and motherfuck these dice. I am out.
Anyway, Makai took 1 Damage and 1 Damage, and Tanaka took 1 Damage and 2 Damage (Got Shifted while Impeded! Bonus Damage, yay!).
We seem to be missing @Whyther, @TiamatZ, Kro (@alternatingAberration), and uh, @Squall maybe, perhaps? If you guys wanna jump back in, feel free to do so anytime, I ain't mind at all.
Holy Cripes. These guys ain't no slouches. While Archer A's arrow doesn't hit any vital organs it's still enough to completely rattle him and throw off his cool. When the second Archer approaches however Makai is ready. He throws a smoke bomb and flees before the quick blade gets the chance to taste young blood.
1 Damage healed by
What was he doing there in the open anyway? He looks down at his own gangly arms and minimal armor. Basically everyone else here can take a hit better than me. I got too cocky. Too Flashy. Too eager. Foolish! That is not the Way of The Amakusa. Ducking back into the [House A] Makai hides in a nook, still obviously shaken by the Archers assault.
Iktomi is pissed. She wants Vengance. "We're no good in the open, Iktomi. If your still itching for a fight...Unleash your rage on the turtle"
The spider charges at Torterra, at super speed, murder in it's eight eyes. A few feet before impact she leaps and digs her claws into the beast's back, and uses the built up momentum the etch wounds across the gigantic tortoise's shell. Releasing her grasp and landing on the back wall directly behind the lumbering behemoth she chitters/buzzes what can only be the Pokemon equivalent of "Come at Me Bro". As it moves to counterattack, she leaps into the foliage. Tearing that stuff to shit. The spider finishes by once again, leaving an Exoskeletal doppelganger and hiding in the shadows.
Your move now Mr. Turtle.
Makai loses one point in Perception. Makai heals one damage with Voltage.
Makai & Iktomi shift to [House A]
Makai goes into a [Defensive Stance]
Iktomi uses Substitute on Torrterra
Iktomi goes into a [Defensive Stance]
Elise & Zeal Elise answers Catarine's question with a sweeping chop at the new skirmisher that assaults her fellow noble, knocking him down and sending his weapon flying across the room.
"Finish the other off and let's go get that other arch-" Elise makes to move when a glowing silver meteor soars across her field of vision.
Zeal wasn't sure what made her make the decision: the beating she had already taken, the arrow that just whizzed by her, her queen's treatment, or the beating one of the more valuable (and amusing) hive members had just taken from the hideous plant monster.
But now she had made it.
Seconds ago, she weakly saluted Elise before turning to face the Torterra, buzzing a low drone that rose into a warcry. Zeal didn't bother to check for Elise's response; to Zeal, the only flaw of her queen was an unfortunate unwillingness to sacrifice those under her for the good of the hive.
Emitting a fierce silver beam of light, Zeal uses the force of her other attack to propel herself towards the ruined house, corkscrewing violently due to her bad wing. Suddenly she stops her attack, landing on the pokemon many times her size, her stinger piercing the creature's hide. Glowing white, Zeal's form starts to lose form as it travels through the wound, spiritual venom getting under the now very pained creature's wound.
And then suddenly a brilliant, blinding white explosion, the traces of Zeal scattering as glowing motes in all directions as the roof above the Torterra gives its last gasp, unloading more rubble on the unfortunate pokemon, still outlined in a silver glow for all to see.
...
Zeal recalls this is the second time she has done this: once to save her mother, and now to save her current queen. Both pretty good queens, all things considered. Would serve again. She briefly wonders what her next queen will be like before she is interrupted by a sharp tug pulling her essence in a particular direction...
Elise attacks Skirmisher B with Halberd [3,1] vs. 2, a hit! Skirmisher B is impeded.
Zeal shifts to House A and attacks Torterra with Signal Beam (Bug/Testing/Hazardous). [6, 2] vs. 4, a hit!
Zeal uses her last point in [Exacting Executioner] to add the voltage effect extra damage to the attack, fainting in the process.
Elise recalls Zeal with her apricorn device and shifts to Tower Bottom.
edit: welp, gonna be interesting to see how alive that torterra will be after this... especially if it is weak to bug.
Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
edited January 2012
Catarine
The charging Skirmishers blade is slow and cumbersome, even with the momentum from his ferocious leap it is a trifle for Catarine to intercept with a confident parry. About to react with a piercing riposte Catarine stops short as her armoured ally swings a powerful blow, knocking the unfortunate knave to the floor.
Obeying Elise's request with a graceful pivot, just in time to see the second cur stagger to his feet, shaken and blood-stained, and throw an opportunistic stab at Elise's back, her armour proved more than adequate in denying the lacklustre thrust any purchase. Catarine steps martly into the gap and raises her sword in a duellers salute, she almost feels sorry for the injured man, but he attacked a lady with no warning, and a lady of privilege at that, clearly he must be taught some respect.
'Let's do this properly this time shall we?' Catarine enquires to the bewildered skirmisher, 'You can't just go swinging your sword around wildly, blade up, like this, arm back, and now we can begin.'
Despite her best instructions the man still came with a wide horizontal swing, dropping her hand to the floor Catarine elegantly ducked the incoming strike, extending her arm in the same motion to stab at the mans leg before following rapidly with a rising slice as he staggers backwards. 'Passata-sotto, touch, double-touch,' she intones as she rises from the maneouvre, the skirmishers body falling with a thud behind her.
Wiping blood from her sword with a cloth from her belt Catarine moves to enter the tower before that archer can hurt anyone else.
Attacked Skirmisher A (2D6; 4, 4 vs defense 1. Success.
Shifts to Tower Bottom
I think that Skirmisher is dead, or incapacitated anyway, unless I miscalculated, in which case that rather dramatic bit seems somewhat foolish...
Tanaka wipes a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Try an' drop a house on me, eh?" He smiles, and reaches into one of his billowing sleeves. "Alright, you bastards! Time for me to get serious!" He pulls out a bamboo flute. Pakki rushes the tortoise.
The monk wieldshisinstrument with a master's skill, cracking it across the Torterra's head with the speed and ferocity of a madman, his relentless assault driving the beast forward into the adjacent street. Cracks and savage screams echo throughout the dead town.
There, with the great tortoise battered, its skull shattered and softened by a thousand strikes, Tanaka drives his weapon between the island-beast's eyes with the sound of wet, popping bone.
He pulls his blade free, spins it in his hands, slides it into its sheath, and stares death at the remaining marauders.
~~~~~~~~~
Gigen grabstheHoundour's head and smashes his knee into its jaw. What a pitiful creature. He punches the thing in the eye. Only willing to fight those weaker then itself. Gi grabs onto his head again. Willing to devour a defenseless woman! The ghost starts to spin the dog around. What. Faster. Disgraceful! Faster still. Tactics! Gigen releases the hound, and delights in the sound it makes when it hits the archer's tower.
A man looks into his foe's eyes while he kills him! A man fights for challenge, not power! A man fights for the weak, not against them!
Gigen disappears into the shadows of a nearby road. He's gonna have to pose soon, and can't do that without his student.
Quite. I'm not sure whether I should bring the Aerodactyl back into play again or call this intro fight a success and segue into some downtime after you guys mop up the rest of the resistance.
Anyway, Whyther wrote me a nice PM explaining he hasn't time to continue playing and is dropping out. Haven't really heard from the other people who haven't posted in a while but that's not a big deal, I can safely assume they're taking care of more important business. And probably don't hate me.
I might do a Enemy turn later this afternoon? @Stilts and @Terrendos still haven't posted their action and while I'm leery about going longer than 48 hours without a big update, I'm even more leery about skipping people's turns without giving them a solid warning to get a post in first. Especially when it's overwhelmingly probable they have a reason to not be posting just yet.
Maybe I'll just do a partial "enemy reaction to getting murdered" update like I should've done yesterday evening or should be doing right now.
"Impressive," Gawain says as he sees Gigen swing the Houndour around. The dog looks pretty well taken care of. And as much as he'd like to personally finish off the Torterra, there are more important things to worry about than revenge right now. For instance, making sure that Ikitomi and Makai don't die.
He rushes back out onto the street to find that the three enemies he left there still haven't moved. Good. As he runs, he brings his spear back and swings it as hard as he can at Archer A.
My bad, didn't realize we were back on my turn again.
Tullius and Timaeus
With mother and child safe, Timaeus rushes back into battle, water-charged scalchop armed and ready. With an extra bit of dash, he converges on the wounded Houndour, each leaping through the air in a poor imitation of every action movie ever with two guys swordfighting.
[1, ? vs 2] The Oshawott finishes his leap several meters away from the Houndour, who appears unharmed. Timaeus sheathes his scalchop, not bothering to look at this opponent. The Houndour growls for a bit and turns around...
[3 HIT] ...but suddenly notices a red line across his chest. The line widens until it becomes clear that Timaeus did not, in fact, miss with his attack. The Houndour collapses.
Meanwhile, Tullius hurries after the displaced Torterra, book in hand. Heaving it high above his head, he attempts the most dangerous maneuver in Codexkind: the brutal overhead smash attack.
[1, 4 vs 2? HIT] The hefty tome lands heavily upon the Torterra's recently-unblinded dome, dazing the creature with its mighty heft and, unfortunately, making Tullius the nearest available target. In preparation, Tullius holds the book in front of him like a shield, in a defensive stance.
Stuff I like:
Summaries at the ends of posts and not sprinkled in acronym tags throughout the post. Shock.
People who update the googledocs map, because knowing where stuff is positioned is kinda important for people taking action after you.
Putting current Trait Ranks in the header (Voltage/Exp being in there also would be super awesome).
The Torterra and Houndour are both pushed back into the street where they both give in to a frankly quite ridiculous deluge of violence. They collapse, and begin rapidly dissipating into clouds of colorful fog.
One of the Skirmishers falls as well, clutching, unbelieving, at Catarine's killing wound.
Aerodactyl - (5)
Finally full up of the interminable Pidgeot's ability to dodge and weave circles around it, the Aerodactyl drifts down once more, air shrieking in protest as its wings beat gravity into submission. Around Catarine and Elise, the sturdy stone tower creaks as the Pokemon's weight drops heavily on the roof above them, and they are treated to a short shower of falling dust and knocked-loose pebbles.
Aerodactyl Shifts to Tower Top!
Archer C - (4)
Having noticed the approaching pair of ladies, the Archer's silhouette appears briefly from a trapdoor above, and the tight quarters of the tower and stairs provide Elise little room to dodge the feathered projectile shot her way.
5,2 vs. 4 - Hit!
Elise takes 1 Damage from Archer C's Arrow!
Knight B - (2) (Def)
The Knight rushes forward to protect his Archer ally from Gawain's offensive, giving the bowman time to retreat as he thrusts his mace at the opposing Cavalier, trusting in his upheld shield to protect him.
6,4 vs. 4 - Hit!
Gawain takes 1 Damage from Knight B's Mace!
Knight B enters a Defensive Stance!
Archer A - (1) Archer B - (2)
The second Archer covers the other's retreat with a well-placed arrow, striking the victory posing Timaeus with its barbed head. Once again with their backs to the wall, the badly wounded Archer tosses his dagger, reversing the grip, before desperately flinging it into the melee. Whether by chance or intent, the flung weapon flies true, slashing into Tanaka's unarmored form.
Archer A Shifts to Wall A!
Archer A Shifts to Wall A!
2,2,4 vs. 3 - Hit!
Timaeus takes 1 Damage from Archer B's Arrow!
6,2 vs. 4 - Hit!
Tanaka takes 1 Damage from Archer A's Dagger!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wrappin' this sucker up. Knight is 2 hits from death, Archer B is 2 hits as well, Archer A is in the danger zone. I suspect Archer C and Aerodactyl will be attempting to finish the fight another day but we'll see what happens.
Also, got some ideas on map and Update formatting to make things easier on me (and possibly you too!). Will likely go into more detail on EXP spending in a bit too, since people are gonna have some of that coming up.
Iktomi doesn't celebrate her victory. Fine spider hearing picks up the Dragon landing, and she quickly races after it.
She's Running so fast she doesn't even notice the Skirmiser drawing his sword...But before he can strike he is struck from behind by a well thrown ninja star.
Iktomi Shifts to House B
Iktomi Shifts to Tower Bottom
Makai attacks Skirmiser B with Ninja Stars [5,2,4,+0 vs 1]
Makai shifts to House B
Gawain just barely manages to deflect the knight's counterattack. Going after the guy that just hit him is tempting, but the archers are better targets. He waves goodbye to the knight and sprints over to the archers, using his momentum to impale one.
Gawain spends to negate 1 damage from Knight B.
Gawain shifts to Wall A.
Gawain attacks Archer A with Spear [4, 1 vs. 1]
Evidently being bothersome, the monk bows in apology. "Au contraire, ma'am, i was being sincere! The concern i show is for the very reception you refer to! Surely you've noticed that most of the party has departed?" He gestures to the empty hall, tugging Idly at the prayer beads hung low around his neck.
The sting in his arm subsides, and a hiss at his back let's him know that Mara has made her way out into the courtyard. Always so impatient, he thinks to himself. Rather than address her, he decides to continue Speaking. "Have you any need of my help?"
0
Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
Catarine (4/4, 2/2) and Mitsuhide (1/2, 0/2) : 1
Exp: Is Exp just spent Voltage or is there some crazy formula? If the former then: 1
A heavy thump and a trickle of dislodged brick dust suggests a weighty impact with the tower, but Catarine has eyes only for the rangy bowman firing at her fellow. 'You cur! I'd advise you to desist maiming my companions lest I remove your bow fingers!' Clearing the trapdoor as she speaks, emphasising her final statement with a viscious slash at the archer with her epée. Not a weapon designed for slashing attacks but against a foe with little opportunity for defense, and emboldened by her indignant fury it is more than adequate to wound the villain. And I'm going to use a voltage to add another damage I think; Catarine is preeetty angry at this guy...
It is only when the tower is plunged into sudden shade that Catarine turns from her quarry, coming face-to-face with a mouth of hideous fangs. A dragon! Princesses and dragons don't get on too well if books have taught her anything, time for a speedy retreat perhaps, edging rapidly back towards the trapdoor and edging inside.
'You're almost a Knight right?' She asks Elise, 'you certainly look the part regardless, fancy slaying a dragon?'
Shifted to Tower Top
Attacked Archer C (1,6 vs 4; Success!)
Used 1 voltage to add an additional damage.
Shifted to Tower Bottom as a mobile attack.
Tullius watches the Aerodactyl land and is suitably frightened. He was tired, lacking in his upper layer of robes (most unseemly!) and running on nothing but adrenaline. That adrenaline was telling him to run, and quickly, and in the direction opposite the massive primordial avian. His higher brain function was thinking that perhaps its sight was based on movement and if he remained perfectly still, he might elude the creature that way. Then his occipital lobes noticed the knight still attacking his classmates, and the running instinct somehow colluded with that, and suddenly he was running directly at the man in piecemeal armor and trying to swat at him with his book.
[1,1 vs 5 MISS] Sadly, this type of haphazard attack style isn't well suited to those who are trained in battle, and the Knight takes essentially no notice of the assault. He's far too occupied with the onslaught coming from the tiny otter wielding his shell like a sword. [5, 5, 3 vs 5 MISS] Timaeus, unfortunately, can't seem to break through the armor himself, to the knight's relief.
Tullius will shift to Street A and both he and Timaeus will attack Knight 2. They both miss, and Tullius will maintain his Defensive Stance.
Oh it's cool, I'll just impede the aerodactyl and fend off it and the archer, alone, while wounded so the rest of the party can hahahahaha-
Elise (3/4, 1/2) and Zeal (0/4)
Elise gives Catarine and her comment a confused look as the foreign noble hastily retreats down the stairs Elise is ascending.
Taking in the scene at the top, Elise watches Bossan and the Pidgeot (seemingly alive, to her great relief) narrowly avoid the aerodactyl now approaching the tower. A brief glance at her two opponents, the arrow in her left arm, and Bossan once more and she comes to a decision, hefting her halberd and charging the pair.
[5+3=8]She swings wide, early...intentionally as she lets go of her halberd instead of reversing its momentum, the weapon clattering across the stone floor before being blocked by a crenelated wall. Her right fist punches the archer in the chin as he fumbles for his knife, the blow knocking it out of his hands. Elise grabs him by both wrists, pushing him forward. Noting the aerodactyl moving for them, she makes her words brief.
"Remember the strength of Malachite, brute.... if you survive."
She pushes him off the tower, turning towards the stairs...
Tanaka brings up his forearm to deflect the oncoming knife, but then he remembers he's not wearing his gauntlets. The blade bounces off of bone, instead.
"Ah, fuck!" Pakki rushes toward his attacker. "You bastard! Why don't you fight me," He pulls back his arm, "Face to face!" Tanaka's fist flies straight and true, shattering the bowman's teeth and leaving him reeling.
Gigen appears from the shadows. He jumps on the archer's companion, ripping and clawing at his exposed flesh, leaving deep furrows in his back and across his neck. The man screams furiously, stabbing at the creature mauling him with a dagger, but Gigen does not stop until his opponent stills.
Pakki holds out his fist, and Gi bumps it with his own.
Tanaka shifts to Wall A! Tanaka uses Red Punch of Destruction! on Archer A! 2, 5, 3 v. 1, Success! Archer A takes 1 Damage!
Gigen shifts to Wall A! Gigen uses Shadow Sneak on Archer B! 2, 5 v 2, Success! Gigen takes a point of damage in order to inflict an extra point of damage on Archer B! Archer B takes 2 damage!
The last Skirmisher goes down with blood trickling from his mouth as Makai's shuriken embeds himself in the back. Elsewhere, Tanaka's brutal punch gives Gawain the opening he needs to spear the unfortunate Archer through. The other goes down to another messy interlude by Gigen, the man's light armor doing very little to deflect the Ghost's razor sharp claws.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the top of the Tower, the sniping Archer is finally faced with some competent resistance. Catarine's Epee flies past her foe's guard as they desperately try to pull out a boot dagger to defend themselves, and the fencing Noblewoman is rewarded with a feminine yelp of pain as she deeply gouges the Archer's arm before making a smart retreat back into the Tower.
Apparently whoever is under that hood is of the female persuasion. Who'd have guessed?
Elise, luckily, fully recognizes that rules about not hitting girls don't belong on the battlefield, and especially not when said girl has shot several of your allies full of holes. Shouldering aside the trap door, she charges forward and engages the Archer in close quarters combat, her opponent putting up a remarkable fight at the edge of the Tower, considering she just received a gauntlet to the face. Eventually, Elise's superior strength wins out, and she shoves the troublesome quarry over the edge, turning around...
...To see the Aerodactyl bearing down on her. While she was tussling with the Archer it may have had the presence of mind to avoid attacking, but with its master nowhere in sight its heaves itself over the opposite edge with a curiously sinuous movement for a beast so large. Its maw snaps open, lined with greyish teeth reminiscent of chipped stone daggers, and before the thought of dodging can even occur to her, the Aerodactyl is upon her.
Upon and past, a massive foot slams down on the floor beside her as the Aerodactyl steps heedlessly over the Aristocrat, and down over the other side in pursuit of the Archer. It's jaws close on the falling sniper's leg, and her anguished scream goes up in pitch as her leg audibly dislocates from the shock of the clumsy save.
The Aerodactyl continues descending, its pointed tail flicking as it desperately attempts to somehow backpedal itself up onto the tower. The sweep of the tail does nothing to aid the falling Pokemon, but manages to clip Elise on her shoulderguard, not harming her, but the force alone sending her spinning towards the edge of the Tower...
...And Bossan is there, yet another leap of faith and rolling landing from his airborne Pidgeot putting him next to the falling Elise, his hands scrabbling at the her arm as she descends. He manages to get a decent grip, and the heavily armored woman nearly drags him over the edge himself. His chest impacts a crenelation, and he grunts painfully as the wind is knocked out of his lungs, but he somehow keeps his grip, ceasing her descent.
On the other side of the Tower, the Aerodactyl's claws carve several inch deep grooves in the Tower as it slows its fall, and it manages to impact the ground at a very survivable speed. Standing back up to its full height, it tenderly deposits the heartily swearing Archer from its mouth to its back, dimly aware things are not going very well. Despite her mangled leg, and bleeding arm, the Archer is able to hang on as the Aerodactyl crawls forward at high speed along the nearest path of escape.
Already rather swiss-cheesed from the Torterra's efforts, the House between the Aerodactyl and the broken section of wall is smashed apart as the Fossil Pokemon doggedly flings itself into a full retreat. showering the nearby arenas with rubble and splintered wooden spars.
Aerodactyal and Archer C are retreating!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seeing how horribly alone and surrounded by enemies he is, the Knight raises his Mace and overhand hurls it at the fast-approaching Oshawott, who is forced to roll to the side to dodge the heavy, metal-hafted weapon. Rising up and pulling his shell out for another go at disarmed Knight, Timaeus charges while the armored man's hand darts to his neck, snapping some amulet or charm loose from a necklace. As Timaeus leaps, the Knight holds his closed fist in front of him, what can be seen of his lower face contorted into a mad grin.
Tullius instinct tells him to raise an arm to his face, but even with his eyes guarded the sudden flash is outrageously bright, outlining every capillary in his eyelids with painful clarity. There's a sudden whomp of inward rushing air and a brief sensation of great heat. Lowering his arm and looking past the blinking spots left in his vision, Tullius sees Timaeus thankfully unharmed, albeit sneezing and rubbing at his eyes from the unexpected lightshow.
The Knight is still standing, but definitely not alive. His armor is melted and charred as though it was fed through a forge, soot-dirty and warped. His body is little more than a blackened skeleton, which falls to its knees, and then flat on the ground with a small crunch as it impacts the perfect circle of blackened grass and rock around it.
Knight B got hella Incinerated! Crazy stuff!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There we go, nice and neat ending, sorta! Though you can absolutely try and follow the Aerodactyl and its rider. You know, if you want to. Surely, nothing bad will happen.
If not, I will recharge the shit out of that generator and start dealing with non-combat, wrapping-up stuffs and NPC junk. Yay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Look, I know you want to help, but honestly all you're doing is ge..." is all the coordinator manages to get out to Bhutso before being interrupted by one of the guards. "What now," she says testily, before noticing the soldier's fear-white expression. "What is it?" she says, sharply.
"Fight over on West Wall... big..." he gasps, nearly out of breath.
"Bossan and his students? What the hell are they fighting out there?"
The guard shakes his head in dismay. "Dunno, Logos Run crew reported it... Thought they felt Earthquake and checked it from a tower... Saw something real big flying around..."
"Earthquake," the coordinator repeats in near disbelief. "You go, right now, tell Logos if they aren't already on their way over there they are in some shit," she shouts in the guard's face, grabbing the exhausted man and shoving him back the way he came. "Bloody Ho-oh fire," she adds, under her breath.
"Alright everyone shut up and listen," she calls out, silencing the surrounding guards, students, and teachers. "We got the real deal going down West Wall. Every free body is going over there now. Everyone who already has their route get out there, ASAP, and keep your damn eyes open and warning flares in hand. If this is a ruse, we ain't falling for it. Get to it!"
Voltage, as listed in the OP, is a generic resource thingummie intended to make it easier on me. Keeping track of individual monetary units (or having players do it themselves) is awful. Truly awful. The worst possible thing.
Ergo, if you want to purchase something reasonable: food, traveling supplies, rope, simple knives, arrows, knick-knacks, souvenirs, etc., you can safely assume you probably have enough pocket change to cover it. In fact, if it's something your character ought to have and isn't something oddly specific or suspiciously numerous, you don't even have to make a note of it. You can come to a cliff and be all "oh hey, it's a good thing I travel with a coil of rope for situations like this " and that'd be fine.
Things of moderate worth or rarity, like certain types of weapons, treasures of some sort, or unusually large amounts of mundane items can be purchased by expending a Voltage. These would be things that could be expected to make some sort of dent in your character's savings. If you aren't sure whether something should cost a Voltage, then hey go ahead and ask about it. We can negotiate things, even.
Can I damage a trait to get voltage to use to buy things?
Yeah, sure. Why not. That makes perfect sense. I'll just carry over the damage to the next battle or whatever.
How long does it take to heal a damaged Trait's Ranks?
Mmm, probably each day a Trait will recover one Rank. Pokemon confined to their Apricorn and properly attended to will heal much faster, each Trait recovering one Rank per hour. "Properly attended to" meaning in this setting's equivalent to a PokeCenter, probably some sort of temple fulla chanting priests and incense?
Might change this later, but it seems pretty fair for now.
Anyway, Experience. You get one experience for each Voltage spent (not a Damaged Trait Voltage, a proper Generator one).
You can exchange the Experience at any time to have your Trainer learn a new Style/Terrain for them to attack with, using either a new weapon or a pre-existing one. I will look upon "Powerful" rapiers and "Mobile" Heavy Maces with distaste, however.
Alternately, you can use them to teach one of your Pokemon a new Type/Style/Terrain Move. Whatever your wee heart desires, though it would be super nice if the Move in question made sense for its species.
You can use Experience mid-battle if you like (Shock did, apparently), though saving them up so you can do a training montage during downtime might be fun. Whatever boats your float, buddy.
I caught a Pokemon! What does that even mean?
Means you got a Pokemon. It'll have one Trait at Rank 1, a Demeanor, a Need, a Quirk, and a handful of Moves. Also it will occupy a spot somewhere on this loyalty line I just made up: Hostile - Unfriendly - Neutral - Friendly - Loyal.
Why only Rank 1?
Because balance~. And because you need to cultivate a relationship with the Pokemon before it gives a shit about obeying you. You do this by spending Exp on it and Ranking up Traits. If it starts off hating your guts (ie. Hostile/Unfriendly), Ranking it up will (probably) make it like you more, especially if you can fulfill its Need. As you Rank up a Pokemon's Traits, you can make small adjustments to its Demeanor, Need, and Quirk, if you feel like it.
Seems like a waste of time.
If you start falling behind the Rank curve of people who aren't catching hella Pokemon, I'll probably spot you some bonus Exp for being such a cool guy. Alternately, releasing a Pokemon will refund you any Exp you spent on it, so you can do that if you decide having multiple Pokemon sucks (Like Ash does at the start of every anime season) (you even get to keep the now-empty Apricorn. Bonus!)
Marshmallow on
0
Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
I appreciate all the words you're doing there Marsh, good stuff.
Would you mind especially if I re-jig Mitsuhide's traits so he's a tad less fragile? If we can pretend I made him Honorable (1), Protector (3) at the start and I'm now using my 2 exp. points to bring him to Honorable (2), Protector (3) that'd be just splendid.
Posts
But nah, if people really, really want some sort of healing, I can try and figure something out. I just don't want to have yet another variable to juggle in a battle.
Plus, you know, you could just be a bit more cautious. Looking at you, Amber.
In all seriousness despite bringing it up for discussion I'm not convinced healing is needed yet, at least without seeing another battle or two.
Elise & Zeal
"Catarine, watch out!" Elise swings across the floor with her polearm, the skirmisher leaping over the blade with some difficulty. Zealfleet once again harries the man, irritated, angry, one and a half-winged combees flying around him. Unable to stop her forward momentum in time, Elise crashes into the man, the skirmisher suppressing a pained grunt as his wounded side crashes through a particularly worn section of wall.
"Not sorry." Elise grunts at the brute. As the man picks himself up through the pain and rubble, Elise glances at Catarine, noticing the tears still on her cheek.
"Are...are you...?" Elise shifts uncomfortably before steeling herself, turning to defend herself from the immediate scimitar-wielding threat. "Come on now, in a battle we don't have the luxury of grieving." she half-scolds, her voice going from stern to soft as she sneaks a glance at Zeal's struggle to keep airborne.
Elise attacks with Halberd [3, 2], missing.
Zeal attacks with Double Team [2, 4] hitting and entering a defensive stance.
I'm liking it quite a lot, so far.
Might mess with the voltage/experience mechanics if people level too fast or slow.
Or it becomes some sort of popularity contest with the Voltage gifting.
Or I get bored.
Or I could just count on people to not be dicks and help set up situations for voltage-poor people to do cool stuff.
Hey Stilts. Hey.
That...
Is such bullshit.
Gawain and Amber
Before Gawain runs off to return Amber to her apricorn, he decides to help thin the number of enemies his classmate has to deal with.
Gawain attacks Houndour A with his spear!
3d6 = 1, 4, 3 = Success!
Houndour A takes one damage and is shifted to House A!
Gawain follows the Houndour into House A and returns his Rapidash to her apricorn.
Sorry for the minimalist post, but I've been pretty busy today, and I wanted to get it in before Marsh kills me off.
Coming from a pony makes it all the worse, though.
Catarine
Ths sudden appearance of the armor-clad noblewoman catches Catarine off guard, making a play of digging at her eyes with a handkerchief she replies; 'Tis but a mote of dust, all this rubble you know.' It wouldn't do to show weakness in front of another noble house, battle or not, after all. Catarine glances at the striken skirmisher, pointedly ignoring him before asking Elise; 'Can you handle this one or are you going to require my assistance? There are some archers I could do with looking at.' Although from the sounds of things up on the tower someone else has beaten her to the punch...
Oh and sorry Marsh, I'm afraid I did a little doodle, sometimes it's had to resist...
Although I've just noticed I totally left Zeal out, apologies.
Only a very tiny amount is genuine.
It's like my experience in Resonance of Fate, where you don't quite understand the tactics the game system wants you to employ, but still brutalizes you for making one mistake. I liked the idea behind the battle system, but I kept thinking, "Come on, guys. It's only my second battle!"
But no, I'm purposely hitting people hard because usually most of my battles are hella pushovers as anyone who's played in my games will attest. Gotta get some of my GM aggression out. Plus attrition is just straight up going to happen in battles with this many people. I'm going to absolutely knock out Pokemon when I get the chance (Trainers not so much, I'll be slightly more forgiving with them).
So: try to keep your Pokemon away from stuff they are traditionally weak to, and try not to get yourself completely surrounded by enemies to the point where I would feel foolish if I didn't focus a little fire on you.
Finally, this is a terrible argument to make but your characters are supposed to be relatively novice Trainers. Considering what you're up against you're doing quite well!
Also! Did some thinking about Healing what with Rawkking being utterly inconsolable about its lack, just wailing and gnashing his teeth nonstop. I think I may have a reasonable thing worked out to let you Heal wounded stuff and get things that've been knocked out back on their feet. Will continue thinking about it and come back to y'all about it later.
So challenging, but not annoyingly so. If I start to tip the scale towards "Fun-killing shitheel", let me know so I can back off my Creed-Worthy Tactical Genius a bit.
GM - Map
Though his knowledge of human anatomy is spotty at best, Timaeus' familiarity with killing blows is near encyclopedic, and in his reckoning the woman will probably survive with a minimum of medical attention. He manages to get a good hold on the wounded female, and drags her out into the street as carefully as he can. It takes very little prompting from the tiny otter Pokemon to get the kid to follow him, though something is... off... about how calm, quiet, and generally dispassionate the young boy is about all this. Timaeus is very uncomfortable around that child.
Knight B
Continuing his trek along the wall, the armored bandit notices his Archer buddies and hustles forward to meet them.
"Something's hidin' in th' bushes. Being a right pest," one of them hisses to the newcomer.
The Knight nods his understanding and swipes his mace at one of the many nearby plants growing up through the paving stones, crushing the foliage but finding no enemy Pokemon. Muttering in disgust, he raises his shield in preparation for a counterattack.
Knight B shifts to Street A
4,2,3 vs. 5 - Miss!
Iktomi takes 0 Damage from Knight B's Mace!
Knight B enters a Defensive Stance!
Archer A/B
Now free to turn their attention to their surroundings, the pair of Archers spot Makai, who didn't go quite as unnoticed in the hubbub as he could have hoped. Archer B takes a potshot with his bow, and the other one charges ahead to slash at the boy with his drawn dagger. Clearly you aren't dealing with very merciful people, here!
2,4,6 vs. 3 - Hit!
Makai takes 1 Damage from Archer B's Arrow!
6,4 vs. 3 - Hit!
Makai takes 1 Damage from Archer A's Dagger!
Archer C
The tower-borne Archer takes another short look over their cover, and rapidly sends an Arrow towards House B. The arrow neatly zips through one of Zeal's Double Team clones, shattering into splinters on the floor.
3,2 vs. 5 - Miss!
Zeal takes 0 Damage from Archer C's Arrow!
Skirmisher A/B
Not entirely sure where the guy he was fighting disappeared to, Skirmisher B wanders over to the nearby house. After pausing for a moment, surprised at all the foe's he's found, he leaps towards the nearest target with a battlecry. Brandishing his Scimitar recklessly in the enclosed space, he does more damage to the walls than he does to Catarine.
3,2 vs. 4 - Miss!
Catarine takes 0 Damage from Skirmisher B's Scimitar!
Taking advantage of the distraction, Skirmisher A pushes himself from the ground to his feet again, using his scimitar as a makeshift cane. Hobbling a bit, he closes the distance to Elise and stabs at his armored foe to little effect.
1,3 vs. 4 - Miss!
Elise takes 0 Damage from Skirmisher A's Scimitar!
Damn it, where'd all my good rolls go >:I
Houndour A
Slammed back into House A, the Dark Type leaps to its feet, frothing at the mouth and barking savagely. Snapping its jaws indescriminately, it latches onto Tanaka and attempts to drag him to the ground.
3,6 vs. 3 - Hit!
Tanaka takes 1 Damage from Houndour A's Crunch!
Tanaka is Impeded! (Can't Shift on his next turn)
Torterra
The robe finally comes loose, fluttering away from the Torterra's face and revealing an expression you would never want to see on something that just had a veil lifted off it. (Especially if someone had just said "you may kiss the bride" though luckily this isn't the case, today.) Completely failing to spot the source of its most recent consternation in the rubble, its maddened, beady eyes settle once again on House A.
"Fuck that house," the Torterra thinks. In a manner of speaking, anyway.
With the deceptive speed of a landslide, the Torterra smashes through yet another wall of the house, making it look rather more like a roof with a couple support beams than something people were meant to live in at some point. The Houndour, realizing how totally fucked this place is about to be, releases Tanaka and skips backward as the Torterra rears up, smashing the wooden slats of the second floor as it prepares to tackle the hell out of the prone monk in front of it.
1 vs. 3 - Miss! Nope, nope, I don't fuckin' think so.
Tanaka takes 2 Damage from Torterra's Take Down!
Tanaka is Shifted to House B!
Motherfuck this shit and motherfuck these dice. I am out.
Anyway, Makai took 1 Damage and 1 Damage, and Tanaka took 1 Damage and 2 Damage (Got Shifted while Impeded! Bonus Damage, yay!).
We seem to be missing @Whyther, @TiamatZ, Kro (@alternatingAberration), and uh, @Squall maybe, perhaps? If you guys wanna jump back in, feel free to do so anytime, I ain't mind at all.
Holy Cripes. These guys ain't no slouches. While Archer A's arrow doesn't hit any vital organs it's still enough to completely rattle him and throw off his cool. When the second Archer approaches however Makai is ready. He throws a smoke bomb and flees before the quick blade gets the chance to taste young blood.
1 Damage healed by
What was he doing there in the open anyway? He looks down at his own gangly arms and minimal armor. Basically everyone else here can take a hit better than me. I got too cocky. Too Flashy. Too eager. Foolish! That is not the Way of The Amakusa. Ducking back into the [House A] Makai hides in a nook, still obviously shaken by the Archers assault.
Iktomi is pissed. She wants Vengance. "We're no good in the open, Iktomi. If your still itching for a fight...Unleash your rage on the turtle"
The spider charges at Torterra, at super speed, murder in it's eight eyes. A few feet before impact she leaps and digs her claws into the beast's back, and uses the built up momentum the etch wounds across the gigantic tortoise's shell. Releasing her grasp and landing on the back wall directly behind the lumbering behemoth she chitters/buzzes what can only be the Pokemon equivalent of "Come at Me Bro". As it moves to counterattack, she leaps into the foliage. Tearing that stuff to shit. The spider finishes by once again, leaving an Exoskeletal doppelganger and hiding in the shadows.
Your move now Mr. Turtle.
Makai & Iktomi shift to [House A]
Makai goes into a [Defensive Stance]
Iktomi uses Substitute on Torrterra
Iktomi goes into a [Defensive Stance]
Elise answers Catarine's question with a sweeping chop at the new skirmisher that assaults her fellow noble, knocking him down and sending his weapon flying across the room.
"Finish the other off and let's go get that other arch-" Elise makes to move when a glowing silver meteor soars across her field of vision.
Zeal wasn't sure what made her make the decision: the beating she had already taken, the arrow that just whizzed by her, her queen's treatment, or the beating one of the more valuable (and amusing) hive members had just taken from the hideous plant monster.
But now she had made it.
Seconds ago, she weakly saluted Elise before turning to face the Torterra, buzzing a low drone that rose into a warcry. Zeal didn't bother to check for Elise's response; to Zeal, the only flaw of her queen was an unfortunate unwillingness to sacrifice those under her for the good of the hive.
Emitting a fierce silver beam of light, Zeal uses the force of her other attack to propel herself towards the ruined house, corkscrewing violently due to her bad wing. Suddenly she stops her attack, landing on the pokemon many times her size, her stinger piercing the creature's hide. Glowing white, Zeal's form starts to lose form as it travels through the wound, spiritual venom getting under the now very pained creature's wound.
And then suddenly a brilliant, blinding white explosion, the traces of Zeal scattering as glowing motes in all directions as the roof above the Torterra gives its last gasp, unloading more rubble on the unfortunate pokemon, still outlined in a silver glow for all to see.
...
Zeal recalls this is the second time she has done this: once to save her mother, and now to save her current queen. Both pretty good queens, all things considered. Would serve again. She briefly wonders what her next queen will be like before she is interrupted by a sharp tug pulling her essence in a particular direction...
Zeal shifts to House A and attacks Torterra with Signal Beam (Bug/Testing/Hazardous). [6, 2] vs. 4, a hit!
Zeal uses her last point in [Exacting Executioner] to add the voltage effect extra damage to the attack, fainting in the process.
Elise recalls Zeal with her apricorn device and shifts to Tower Bottom.
edit: welp, gonna be interesting to see how alive that torterra will be after this... especially if it is weak to bug.
The charging Skirmishers blade is slow and cumbersome, even with the momentum from his ferocious leap it is a trifle for Catarine to intercept with a confident parry. About to react with a piercing riposte Catarine stops short as her armoured ally swings a powerful blow, knocking the unfortunate knave to the floor.
Obeying Elise's request with a graceful pivot, just in time to see the second cur stagger to his feet, shaken and blood-stained, and throw an opportunistic stab at Elise's back, her armour proved more than adequate in denying the lacklustre thrust any purchase. Catarine steps martly into the gap and raises her sword in a duellers salute, she almost feels sorry for the injured man, but he attacked a lady with no warning, and a lady of privilege at that, clearly he must be taught some respect.
'Let's do this properly this time shall we?' Catarine enquires to the bewildered skirmisher, 'You can't just go swinging your sword around wildly, blade up, like this, arm back, and now we can begin.'
Despite her best instructions the man still came with a wide horizontal swing, dropping her hand to the floor Catarine elegantly ducked the incoming strike, extending her arm in the same motion to stab at the mans leg before following rapidly with a rising slice as he staggers backwards. 'Passata-sotto, touch, double-touch,' she intones as she rises from the maneouvre, the skirmishers body falling with a thud behind her.
Wiping blood from her sword with a cloth from her belt Catarine moves to enter the tower before that archer can hurt anyone else.
Shifts to Tower Bottom
I think that Skirmisher is dead, or incapacitated anyway, unless I miscalculated, in which case that rather dramatic bit seems somewhat foolish...
Not in this case though, so you're fine.
Tanaka wipes a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Try an' drop a house on me, eh?" He smiles, and reaches into one of his billowing sleeves. "Alright, you bastards! Time for me to get serious!" He pulls out a bamboo flute. Pakki rushes the tortoise.
The monk wields his instrument with a master's skill, cracking it across the Torterra's head with the speed and ferocity of a madman, his relentless assault driving the beast forward into the adjacent street. Cracks and savage screams echo throughout the dead town.
There, with the great tortoise battered, its skull shattered and softened by a thousand strikes, Tanaka drives his weapon between the island-beast's eyes with the sound of wet, popping bone.
He pulls his blade free, spins it in his hands, slides it into its sheath, and stares death at the remaining marauders.
Gigen grabs the Houndour's head and smashes his knee into its jaw. What a pitiful creature. He punches the thing in the eye. Only willing to fight those weaker then itself. Gi grabs onto his head again. Willing to devour a defenseless woman! The ghost starts to spin the dog around. What. Faster. Disgraceful! Faster still. Tactics! Gigen releases the hound, and delights in the sound it makes when it hits the archer's tower.
A man looks into his foe's eyes while he kills him! A man fights for challenge, not power! A man fights for the weak, not against them!
Gigen disappears into the shadows of a nearby road. He's gonna have to pose soon, and can't do that without his student.
Steam
Anyway, Whyther wrote me a nice PM explaining he hasn't time to continue playing and is dropping out. Haven't really heard from the other people who haven't posted in a while but that's not a big deal, I can safely assume they're taking care of more important business. And probably don't hate me.
I might do a Enemy turn later this afternoon? @Stilts and @Terrendos still haven't posted their action and while I'm leery about going longer than 48 hours without a big update, I'm even more leery about skipping people's turns without giving them a solid warning to get a post in first. Especially when it's overwhelmingly probable they have a reason to not be posting just yet.
Maybe I'll just do a partial "enemy reaction to getting murdered" update like I should've done yesterday evening or should be doing right now.
"Impressive," Gawain says as he sees Gigen swing the Houndour around. The dog looks pretty well taken care of. And as much as he'd like to personally finish off the Torterra, there are more important things to worry about than revenge right now. For instance, making sure that Ikitomi and Makai don't die.
He rushes back out onto the street to find that the three enemies he left there still haven't moved. Good. As he runs, he brings his spear back and swings it as hard as he can at Archer A.
Gawain attacks Archer A!
3d6 = 3, 2, 2 = Success!
Archer A takes 1 damage!
Tullius and Timaeus
With mother and child safe, Timaeus rushes back into battle, water-charged scalchop armed and ready. With an extra bit of dash, he converges on the wounded Houndour, each leaping through the air in a poor imitation of every action movie ever with two guys swordfighting.
[1, ? vs 2] The Oshawott finishes his leap several meters away from the Houndour, who appears unharmed. Timaeus sheathes his scalchop, not bothering to look at this opponent. The Houndour growls for a bit and turns around...
[3 HIT] ...but suddenly notices a red line across his chest. The line widens until it becomes clear that Timaeus did not, in fact, miss with his attack. The Houndour collapses.
Meanwhile, Tullius hurries after the displaced Torterra, book in hand. Heaving it high above his head, he attempts the most dangerous maneuver in Codexkind: the brutal overhead smash attack.
[1, 4 vs 2? HIT] The hefty tome lands heavily upon the Torterra's recently-unblinded dome, dazing the creature with its mighty heft and, unfortunately, making Tullius the nearest available target. In preparation, Tullius holds the book in front of him like a shield, in a defensive stance.
Summaries at the ends of posts and not sprinkled in acronym tags throughout the post. Shock.
People who update the googledocs map, because knowing where stuff is positioned is kinda important for people taking action after you.
Putting current Trait Ranks in the header (Voltage/Exp being in there also would be super awesome).
GM - Map
The Torterra and Houndour are both pushed back into the street where they both give in to a frankly quite ridiculous deluge of violence. They collapse, and begin rapidly dissipating into clouds of colorful fog.
One of the Skirmishers falls as well, clutching, unbelieving, at Catarine's killing wound.
Aerodactyl - (5)
Finally full up of the interminable Pidgeot's ability to dodge and weave circles around it, the Aerodactyl drifts down once more, air shrieking in protest as its wings beat gravity into submission. Around Catarine and Elise, the sturdy stone tower creaks as the Pokemon's weight drops heavily on the roof above them, and they are treated to a short shower of falling dust and knocked-loose pebbles.
Aerodactyl Shifts to Tower Top!
Archer C - (4)
Having noticed the approaching pair of ladies, the Archer's silhouette appears briefly from a trapdoor above, and the tight quarters of the tower and stairs provide Elise little room to dodge the feathered projectile shot her way.
5,2 vs. 4 - Hit!
Elise takes 1 Damage from Archer C's Arrow!
Knight B - (2) (Def)
The Knight rushes forward to protect his Archer ally from Gawain's offensive, giving the bowman time to retreat as he thrusts his mace at the opposing Cavalier, trusting in his upheld shield to protect him.
6,4 vs. 4 - Hit!
Gawain takes 1 Damage from Knight B's Mace!
Knight B enters a Defensive Stance!
Archer A - (1)
Archer B - (2)
The second Archer covers the other's retreat with a well-placed arrow, striking the victory posing Timaeus with its barbed head. Once again with their backs to the wall, the badly wounded Archer tosses his dagger, reversing the grip, before desperately flinging it into the melee. Whether by chance or intent, the flung weapon flies true, slashing into Tanaka's unarmored form.
Archer A Shifts to Wall A!
Archer A Shifts to Wall A!
2,2,4 vs. 3 - Hit!
Timaeus takes 1 Damage from Archer B's Arrow!
6,2 vs. 4 - Hit!
Tanaka takes 1 Damage from Archer A's Dagger!
Wrappin' this sucker up. Knight is 2 hits from death, Archer B is 2 hits as well, Archer A is in the danger zone. I suspect Archer C and Aerodactyl will be attempting to finish the fight another day but we'll see what happens.
Also, got some ideas on map and Update formatting to make things easier on me (and possibly you too!). Will likely go into more detail on EXP spending in a bit too, since people are gonna have some of that coming up.
Exp: 2
Iktomi doesn't celebrate her victory. Fine spider hearing picks up the Dragon landing, and she quickly races after it.
She's Running so fast she doesn't even notice the Skirmiser drawing his sword...But before he can strike he is struck from behind by a well thrown ninja star.
Iktomi Shifts to Tower Bottom
Makai attacks Skirmiser B with Ninja Stars [5,2,4,+0 vs 1]
Makai shifts to House B
Exp: 0 + 1
Gawain just barely manages to deflect the knight's counterattack. Going after the guy that just hit him is tempting, but the archers are better targets. He waves goodbye to the knight and sprints over to the archers, using his momentum to impale one.
Gawain shifts to Wall A.
Gawain attacks Archer A with Spear [4, 1 vs. 1]
Evidently being bothersome, the monk bows in apology. "Au contraire, ma'am, i was being sincere! The concern i show is for the very reception you refer to! Surely you've noticed that most of the party has departed?" He gestures to the empty hall, tugging Idly at the prayer beads hung low around his neck.
The sting in his arm subsides, and a hiss at his back let's him know that Mara has made her way out into the courtyard. Always so impatient, he thinks to himself. Rather than address her, he decides to continue Speaking. "Have you any need of my help?"
Exp: Is Exp just spent Voltage or is there some crazy formula? If the former then: 1
A heavy thump and a trickle of dislodged brick dust suggests a weighty impact with the tower, but Catarine has eyes only for the rangy bowman firing at her fellow. 'You cur! I'd advise you to desist maiming my companions lest I remove your bow fingers!' Clearing the trapdoor as she speaks, emphasising her final statement with a viscious slash at the archer with her epée. Not a weapon designed for slashing attacks but against a foe with little opportunity for defense, and emboldened by her indignant fury it is more than adequate to wound the villain. And I'm going to use a voltage to add another damage I think; Catarine is preeetty angry at this guy...
It is only when the tower is plunged into sudden shade that Catarine turns from her quarry, coming face-to-face with a mouth of hideous fangs. A dragon! Princesses and dragons don't get on too well if books have taught her anything, time for a speedy retreat perhaps, edging rapidly back towards the trapdoor and edging inside.
'You're almost a Knight right?' She asks Elise, 'you certainly look the part regardless, fancy slaying a dragon?'
Attacked Archer C (1,6 vs 4; Success!)
Used 1 voltage to add an additional damage.
Shifted to Tower Bottom as a mobile attack.
Exp: 0
Tullius watches the Aerodactyl land and is suitably frightened. He was tired, lacking in his upper layer of robes (most unseemly!) and running on nothing but adrenaline. That adrenaline was telling him to run, and quickly, and in the direction opposite the massive primordial avian. His higher brain function was thinking that perhaps its sight was based on movement and if he remained perfectly still, he might elude the creature that way. Then his occipital lobes noticed the knight still attacking his classmates, and the running instinct somehow colluded with that, and suddenly he was running directly at the man in piecemeal armor and trying to swat at him with his book.
[1,1 vs 5 MISS] Sadly, this type of haphazard attack style isn't well suited to those who are trained in battle, and the Knight takes essentially no notice of the assault. He's far too occupied with the onslaught coming from the tiny otter wielding his shell like a sword. [5, 5, 3 vs 5 MISS] Timaeus, unfortunately, can't seem to break through the armor himself, to the knight's relief.
Elise (3/4, 1/2) and Zeal (0/4)
Elise gives Catarine and her comment a confused look as the foreign noble hastily retreats down the stairs Elise is ascending.
Taking in the scene at the top, Elise watches Bossan and the Pidgeot (seemingly alive, to her great relief) narrowly avoid the aerodactyl now approaching the tower. A brief glance at her two opponents, the arrow in her left arm, and Bossan once more and she comes to a decision, hefting her halberd and charging the pair.
[5+3=8] She swings wide, early...intentionally as she lets go of her halberd instead of reversing its momentum, the weapon clattering across the stone floor before being blocked by a crenelated wall. Her right fist punches the archer in the chin as he fumbles for his knife, the blow knocking it out of his hands. Elise grabs him by both wrists, pushing him forward. Noting the aerodactyl moving for them, she makes her words brief.
"Remember the strength of Malachite, brute.... if you survive."
She pushes him off the tower, turning towards the stairs...
And nobody wants to do that.
[Manful Martial Monk 1] - [Willful Wisdom Seeker 1] & [Spirited Spectral Scrapper 4] - [Puerile Pest 1]
Volt: 0; Exp: 1
Tanaka brings up his forearm to deflect the oncoming knife, but then he remembers he's not wearing his gauntlets. The blade bounces off of bone, instead.
"Ah, fuck!" Pakki rushes toward his attacker. "You bastard! Why don't you fight me," He pulls back his arm, "Face to face!" Tanaka's fist flies straight and true, shattering the bowman's teeth and leaving him reeling.
Gigen appears from the shadows. He jumps on the archer's companion, ripping and clawing at his exposed flesh, leaving deep furrows in his back and across his neck. The man screams furiously, stabbing at the creature mauling him with a dagger, but Gigen does not stop until his opponent stills.
Pakki holds out his fist, and Gi bumps it with his own.
Gigen shifts to Wall A! Gigen uses Shadow Sneak on Archer B! 2, 5 v 2, Success! Gigen takes a point of damage in order to inflict an extra point of damage on Archer B! Archer B takes 2 damage!
Steam
Steam
men come from the four corners of the earth to gaze at it in wonder
Steam
To belatedly answer Halos' question: When you spend a Voltage it becomes an Exp, yeah.
GM - Map
The last Skirmisher goes down with blood trickling from his mouth as Makai's shuriken embeds himself in the back. Elsewhere, Tanaka's brutal punch gives Gawain the opening he needs to spear the unfortunate Archer through. The other goes down to another messy interlude by Gigen, the man's light armor doing very little to deflect the Ghost's razor sharp claws.
At the top of the Tower, the sniping Archer is finally faced with some competent resistance. Catarine's Epee flies past her foe's guard as they desperately try to pull out a boot dagger to defend themselves, and the fencing Noblewoman is rewarded with a feminine yelp of pain as she deeply gouges the Archer's arm before making a smart retreat back into the Tower.
Apparently whoever is under that hood is of the female persuasion. Who'd have guessed?
Elise, luckily, fully recognizes that rules about not hitting girls don't belong on the battlefield, and especially not when said girl has shot several of your allies full of holes. Shouldering aside the trap door, she charges forward and engages the Archer in close quarters combat, her opponent putting up a remarkable fight at the edge of the Tower, considering she just received a gauntlet to the face. Eventually, Elise's superior strength wins out, and she shoves the troublesome quarry over the edge, turning around...
...To see the Aerodactyl bearing down on her. While she was tussling with the Archer it may have had the presence of mind to avoid attacking, but with its master nowhere in sight its heaves itself over the opposite edge with a curiously sinuous movement for a beast so large. Its maw snaps open, lined with greyish teeth reminiscent of chipped stone daggers, and before the thought of dodging can even occur to her, the Aerodactyl is upon her.
Upon and past, a massive foot slams down on the floor beside her as the Aerodactyl steps heedlessly over the Aristocrat, and down over the other side in pursuit of the Archer. It's jaws close on the falling sniper's leg, and her anguished scream goes up in pitch as her leg audibly dislocates from the shock of the clumsy save.
The Aerodactyl continues descending, its pointed tail flicking as it desperately attempts to somehow backpedal itself up onto the tower. The sweep of the tail does nothing to aid the falling Pokemon, but manages to clip Elise on her shoulderguard, not harming her, but the force alone sending her spinning towards the edge of the Tower...
...And Bossan is there, yet another leap of faith and rolling landing from his airborne Pidgeot putting him next to the falling Elise, his hands scrabbling at the her arm as she descends. He manages to get a decent grip, and the heavily armored woman nearly drags him over the edge himself. His chest impacts a crenelation, and he grunts painfully as the wind is knocked out of his lungs, but he somehow keeps his grip, ceasing her descent.
On the other side of the Tower, the Aerodactyl's claws carve several inch deep grooves in the Tower as it slows its fall, and it manages to impact the ground at a very survivable speed. Standing back up to its full height, it tenderly deposits the heartily swearing Archer from its mouth to its back, dimly aware things are not going very well. Despite her mangled leg, and bleeding arm, the Archer is able to hang on as the Aerodactyl crawls forward at high speed along the nearest path of escape.
Already rather swiss-cheesed from the Torterra's efforts, the House between the Aerodactyl and the broken section of wall is smashed apart as the Fossil Pokemon doggedly flings itself into a full retreat. showering the nearby arenas with rubble and splintered wooden spars.
Aerodactyal and Archer C are retreating!
Seeing how horribly alone and surrounded by enemies he is, the Knight raises his Mace and overhand hurls it at the fast-approaching Oshawott, who is forced to roll to the side to dodge the heavy, metal-hafted weapon. Rising up and pulling his shell out for another go at disarmed Knight, Timaeus charges while the armored man's hand darts to his neck, snapping some amulet or charm loose from a necklace. As Timaeus leaps, the Knight holds his closed fist in front of him, what can be seen of his lower face contorted into a mad grin.
Tullius instinct tells him to raise an arm to his face, but even with his eyes guarded the sudden flash is outrageously bright, outlining every capillary in his eyelids with painful clarity. There's a sudden whomp of inward rushing air and a brief sensation of great heat. Lowering his arm and looking past the blinking spots left in his vision, Tullius sees Timaeus thankfully unharmed, albeit sneezing and rubbing at his eyes from the unexpected lightshow.
The Knight is still standing, but definitely not alive. His armor is melted and charred as though it was fed through a forge, soot-dirty and warped. His body is little more than a blackened skeleton, which falls to its knees, and then flat on the ground with a small crunch as it impacts the perfect circle of blackened grass and rock around it.
Knight B got hella Incinerated! Crazy stuff!
There we go, nice and neat ending, sorta! Though you can absolutely try and follow the Aerodactyl and its rider. You know, if you want to. Surely, nothing bad will happen.
If not, I will recharge the shit out of that generator and start dealing with non-combat, wrapping-up stuffs and NPC junk. Yay.
"Look, I know you want to help, but honestly all you're doing is ge..." is all the coordinator manages to get out to Bhutso before being interrupted by one of the guards. "What now," she says testily, before noticing the soldier's fear-white expression. "What is it?" she says, sharply.
"Fight over on West Wall... big..." he gasps, nearly out of breath.
"Bossan and his students? What the hell are they fighting out there?"
The guard shakes his head in dismay. "Dunno, Logos Run crew reported it... Thought they felt Earthquake and checked it from a tower... Saw something real big flying around..."
"Earthquake," the coordinator repeats in near disbelief. "You go, right now, tell Logos if they aren't already on their way over there they are in some shit," she shouts in the guard's face, grabbing the exhausted man and shoving him back the way he came. "Bloody Ho-oh fire," she adds, under her breath.
"Alright everyone shut up and listen," she calls out, silencing the surrounding guards, students, and teachers. "We got the real deal going down West Wall. Every free body is going over there now. Everyone who already has their route get out there, ASAP, and keep your damn eyes open and warning flares in hand. If this is a ruse, we ain't falling for it. Get to it!"
Ergo, if you want to purchase something reasonable: food, traveling supplies, rope, simple knives, arrows, knick-knacks, souvenirs, etc., you can safely assume you probably have enough pocket change to cover it. In fact, if it's something your character ought to have and isn't something oddly specific or suspiciously numerous, you don't even have to make a note of it. You can come to a cliff and be all "oh hey, it's a good thing I travel with a coil of rope for situations like this
Things of moderate worth or rarity, like certain types of weapons, treasures of some sort, or unusually large amounts of mundane items can be purchased by expending a Voltage. These would be things that could be expected to make some sort of dent in your character's savings. If you aren't sure whether something should cost a Voltage, then hey go ahead and ask about it. We can negotiate things, even.
Can I damage a trait to get voltage to use to buy things?
How long does it take to heal a damaged Trait's Ranks?
Might change this later, but it seems pretty fair for now.
Anyway, Experience. You get one experience for each Voltage spent (not a Damaged Trait Voltage, a proper Generator one).
You can exchange the Experience at any time to have your Trainer learn a new Style/Terrain for them to attack with, using either a new weapon or a pre-existing one. I will look upon "Powerful" rapiers and "Mobile" Heavy Maces with distaste, however.
Alternately, you can use them to teach one of your Pokemon a new Type/Style/Terrain Move. Whatever your wee heart desires, though it would be super nice if the Move in question made sense for its species.
You can use Experience mid-battle if you like (Shock did, apparently), though saving them up so you can do a training montage during downtime might be fun. Whatever boats your float, buddy.
I caught a Pokemon! What does that even mean?
Why only Rank 1?
Seems like a waste of time.
Would you mind especially if I re-jig Mitsuhide's traits so he's a tad less fragile? If we can pretend I made him Honorable (1), Protector (3) at the start and I'm now using my 2 exp. points to bring him to Honorable (2), Protector (3) that'd be just splendid.
If so I'll do an in-character post shortly.