Naletia Role Play System

by Zerifachias Thu May 22, 2014 7:59 pm

Stat-Playing Zeri's Way

Hello and welcome to the new thread for my Role Play System, coined as the Naletia Role Play System. Here I will discussed the purposes of my system as well as each and every detail about my system so that players, new and old, can see the inner workings of my system to a greater degree than what has already been shown. Here, I'm going to start from the top of the list and scroll all the way down, discussing each and every part of my system as I can. Grab a drink, because this might take awhile.

Table of Contents:

General Profile and Battle-Ready Stats
Starting Equipment and Accessories
Professions and Innate Abilities
Reaction and Support Abilities
Health and Energy
Morale
Leveling Up: Party and Combat Experience
Leveling Up: Job Promotions

Drop Rates:

Bags

Contains Materials or Medicines.

Common - 65%

Uncommon - 35%

Chests

Contains Weapons, Armor, Accessories, Materials

Common - 30%

Uncommon - 25%

Rare - 20%

Very Rare - 15%

Ultra Rare - 7%

Legendary - 3%

by Zerifachias Thu May 22, 2014 8:40 pm

The current system in place allows players flexibility with how their profile is oriented. For example, one could have a very formal way of outlining the profile, from the name of the character, age, gender, and appearance all having allocated slots. I, however, use a different way to set up my profile, but because this is only a matter of taste, I allow any format of the profile to be used to allow maximum comfort for my players. Of course, there are a few things about my profile that are different and are required.

Generic Profile:

There is also something else that Butters gave me an idea for. That is, the Battle-Ready Stats. These are basically your updated base stats from your profile put into a compact and simple format so that it can be easily copy and pasted from your profile and into the battlefield. This has proven to be extremely convenient and a very good way to save time, while also bringing some of the boring parts out of GM'ing.

The general way that Battle-Ready Stats is to input a source code and add up all the modifications to your stats together. A visual explanation is listed below:

This is the base statistics for a level 60 Auza.

Auza (Banisher)
HP: 461/461
EN: 125/125
Atk: 1
Def: 26 (+8 from Armor)
Int: 55 (+20 from Weapon)(+10 from Accessory)
Spr: 34 (+12 from Armor)
Move: 2 (+0 from Banisher Profession)
Evade: 15%
Crit: 20%
Morale: (//////////)

Now here is how it would look as Battle-Ready:

Code:: HP: 461/461 EN: 125/125 Atk: 1 Def: 32 Int: 85 Spr: 46 Move: 2 Evade: 15% Crit: 20% Morale: ([color=#0000ff]/////[/color]/////)

This is a bit of an extreme example, but I'm sure everyone will understand what Battle-Ready Stats can do for a GM. They are very convenient and easy to use, and I hope that everyone will begin using these for all role plays, not just mine.

by Zerifachias Fri May 23, 2014 3:32 pm

In most role plays, the energy modifier is mana, or MP. Mana is generally static and can only be increased by investing points into the stat. It is also very low in the beginning of a role play. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the Accessory allowed to characters can increase that meager amount of mana by increasing it by an even more meager (meagerer?) amount. However, the system I use is much different. I use Energy, or EN, which has a much larger use pool at level 1, makes abilities cheaper, and is easy to regenerate.

Thus, I do not allow level 1 Accessories to boost EN by any amount. It is both unnecessary and a waste of a perfectly good Accessory. It would be much more valuable elsewhere. That being said, I also do not allow boosts to Crit, Evade, or Movement for the Accessory, and the HP bonus remains the same +5 as ever.

Weapons will automatically increase the dominant attacking stat. Unless specified otherwise, or depending on the weapon type, that is always static. Even so, I still expect not to see anyone taking liberties to filling in that weapon bonus. The only bonus anyone should be adding themselves is the Accessory.

Armor is entirely dependent on the type. Armor that looks and sounds physical will be increasing defense. Robes and other such magical gear will increase spirit. Players can use this to their advantage, as mages will likely have a higher spirit than defense, and the reverse is true for warrior and assassin classes.

by Zerifachias Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:29 am

Concerning a character's profession, that is generally what I look at the most to determine the stats that he/she should have. A melee fighter will have higher defenses and attack while a support will have higher defenses and a medium-sized health pool. A mage will have a lower health pool, but they will be unmatched in magical power and spirit. When it comes to the more complicated of the professions, then I rely partcially on the starting weapons and the Innate ability of that character.

Every character is allowed a single Innate ability that should come off as obvious when you look at the character's profession. A mage might have a Clarity-type of Innate that allows him/her to use less energy when casting spells. A more mobile fighter might have a way to close gaps more easily by boosting his/her movement. Dual-wielding and shield-bearing abilities can also take up the Innate slot, where before you would have needed a whole S-Ability to do it. This mechanic allows your character to have a low-class S-Ability for free, basically, and it allows your actual S-Ability to be more powerful.

Just because you are allowed to have an Innate ability, does not make it a requirement. If you wish to give your character one, then you can, but know that I have the right to refuse or tone it down. Innates should never be as powerful as an S-Ability, but there are some cases where a collection of Innate abilities CAN be as powerful as (or more powerful than) a single S-Ability.

To give you a better idea of how Innates work, I'm going to list a few drafts - examples.

~

Clarity - Reduces EN usage by 10%.

Relentless - Cannot be Immobilized.

Immunity - Cannot be afflicted with Poison, Severe Poison, or Venom.

Pursuit - Boosts Movement by 1 when moving towards an enemy unit.

Revel in Blood - Melee physical attacks grant a bonus 40% Lifesteal.

Great Wings - Allows this unit to switch from Flying to Grounded freely.

Tree Stride - Allows this unit to travel from one tree cell to another as long as it is within this unit's Movement. (Lily)

Chaining - Allows this unit to link spells with beneficial status effects to another ally instead of only the target for no extra cost. (Auza)

Lucky Number Three - This unit deals a guaranteed critical hit once every three basic attacks. (Samira)

Commanding Force - This unit is unaffected by effects that claim "possession." (Charm/Mesmerize) (Gaiden)

by Zerifachias Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:51 am

Firstly, Support Abilities, or S-Abilities, are your bread and butter for how your character should work in a battle. It is what really defines them and makes your character unique and useful on the battlefield. If you have a support character, than your S-Ability should reflect that. It is the same with Duelists, Mages, and even Alchemists if you choose to have one. A character without a battle-useful S-Ability is not going to be useful in battle, other than as a damage soak or damage dealer. The reason we have S-Abilities is to make that less the truth.

Here's what I mean by a useful S-Ability: There is something about your character that no other character in the role play can do. For example, Archer is the only one able to spot traps and hidden treasures in SDW. He can also see through Fog of War, which will come into play at some point during the role play. Silvia, on the other hand, has a Rage mechanic that makes her stronger as the battle goes on. With enough Rage, Silvia can output more damage than most of the Guard in certain situations. Leilah, on the other hand, has a Stealth mechanic, which allows her to rush into the middle of the fight, assassinate an enemy, and then disappear before she gets aggro. These are all useful abilities, some more than others, but they all DO something.

Lets say we have an alchemist. The reason I don't like alchemists is because, USUALLY, they don't have a very useful S-Ability. Some sort of Scavenger ability that allows them to find materials on the ground, or a Mix ability that allows them to create something from the materials on hand. This is not a useful S-Ability for battles, which is the primary reason S-Abilities are used in the first place.

And then there is Ein. Ein's S-Ability allows him to use his surroundings to regain some of his mana. THIS is a useful S-Ability for any mage/caster-type of character that uses a lot of mana. Unfortunately, this isn't applicable in my role plays, but makes a good example of how even an alchemist of all characters can have a useful S-Ability.

S-Abilities can be purchased for two Skill Points.

~

Reaction abilities are the more fun of the two. Your character is allowed only one, but they can be extremely useful. Reaction abilities are not Support abilities, keep this in mind as we talk about them. Reaction abilities rely on your character's ability to react to his/her surroundings and, given a certain situation, something happens. Reaction abilities are usually made keeping in mind the character's strengths and weaknesses.

Here are some examples of how R-Abilities apply to the strengths of a character:

Defender of the Weak - If Zenovia is within 2 cells of an ally that is being attacked with a ranged attack, Zenovia has a chance to block the incoming attack. Zenovia warps to that ally's side if this effect activates. The Block chance is equal to Zenovia's current shield Block chance. This ability may only activate once per turn.

Reckless Assault - After entering a new stance, the wanderer's basic attack gains an Assault charge that can be used to double the damage output of one hit.

These abilities heavily tie into strengths for these characters. Zenovia has a great amount of defensive stats, AND has a shield, so with this R-Ability, she can help her allies who do not have her benefits avoid some of the damage during a battle. Irene's strength comes from her insane attacking power, so giving her the ability to do double her normal basic attack damage makes her a big threat.

Here are some examples of how R-Abilities can help a character's weaknesses:

Instinct - Caoimhe's reaction times and evasive abilities are her primary trait, being able to dodge simple attacks is basic instinct to her. Grants a high evade chance when the target of a basic attack or in the range of an AoE spell.

Eternal Fire - Silvia's flame will never go out. Much like the phoenix, Silvia's body can be reborn from her own ashes. Turns Silvia's character into Ash. In 3 turns time, she is reborn in fire with 20% Max HP.

Caomhe's Instinct allows her to avoid damaging abilities and basic attacks. It uses one of her strengths, evasion, to assist in dealing with one of her biggest weaknesses, defense and spirit. It allows her to continue fighting when, without this R-Ability, she would not have been able to continue. In regard's to Silvia's Eternal Fire, Silvia is a half-immortal being due to her dragon blood, but she still holds all the weaknesses of a human's mortality. Given that, her dragon blood will allow her to resurrect herself a single time during a battle in order to keep the fighting going. Silvia is a great asset to the Guard's magical and physical damage output. Losing her also means that taking out a dragon will be nigh impossible.

by Zerifachias Sun Jun 08, 2014 10:43 am

I'm going to be short with health. It is a very simple mechanic that does not need a lot of explaining.

For the past few years, we have been using Stat Points to upgrade our health by 5 points per tick instead of having it upgrade automatically as our character grows in strength and levels. I decided that, not only was this inefficient, but it made the role play needlessly harder than it should have been. Decision making is also not a strong point of mine, but we won't get into that.

Starting health is one of three options. You can start with 30, 35, or 40 HP at level one, depending on your class. When you level up, your HP is increased by a static amount, determined by your level 1 health.

To be more precise, your Health is upgraded by 12% of it's original value at level one. This means that it is either upgraded by 4 or 5 points per level. At level 10, you get a job promotion and the health upgrade value is reset to 9% of your level 10 HP. Continuing on, at level 20 it becomes 6% of your level 20 HP, and at level 40 it is 3%. Very simple, very easy to keep track of, and you never have to worry about upgrading your HP. It is upped with every level the party gets, which will be explained later.

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Energy is probably the most complex mechanic I've created thus far. To begin, let me explain that Energy was created to replace Mana completely in my role plays. Also, not only does Energy allow you to cast more abilities at lower levels, it allows me to give repercussions for using too much of your energy during a battle, especially because it is so easy to recover.

The general idea behind costing abilities is this: Basic attacks, or 100% of your physical or magical power, costs your character 2 EN per rotation. So, if you have an ability that uses 100% of your physical or magical power, then the base cost of that ability is 2. If it is not a damaging ability, then the base cost is reduced to 0. Everything else is calculated by the value that I think it is worth. Low-end status effects, for example, have a base of 2, while the medium has a base of 4, and the higher-end status effects have a base of 6. An ability with 100% of your physical or magical power with a higher-end status effect is going to cost you a base of 8 EN. If we were talking Mana, that number might be anywhere from 8 to 12, depending on the GM.

Continuing that path, the distance your ability travels is also important to note. An ability that targets a single enemy in a surrounding cell will have a base value of 0, but if that ability stretches to 2-3 cells, then the base is upped to 1 EN. There are hidden EN values, however, so be very aware of making use of that extra 1 cell range if you plan to add more to your ability.

Starting out at level 1, you are allocated 50 EN for your character. Why so much? Don't worry, you'll be using this stat a lot more than you did Mana. With every basic attack rotation, you use 2 Energy. Depending on how many basic attack rotations your character has in a single turn, this could be a large amount of EN consumption. Abilities that use EN generally cost less as well, so you will be better able to spam your abilities at the early levels. The enemies also have a larger health pool as well to compensate for this.

Oh, and EN does not upgrade until you hit your first job promotion. So you'll be stuck with 50 EN from level 1 to level 10. There are certain items that can permanently increase your EN, but these will be very rare. They might not even exist in certain role plays. Currently, there is no viable way to increase your EN at level 1, but I am looking into ways of balancing that to allow for more flexibility. Right now it would be better to ignore the stat completely and focus on something else.

In terms of regaining Energy used in battle, it is actually very simple and easy to do. Simply wait your turn away without using EN, and your character will automatically restore 10 points of EN. Because of this simple regeneration mechanic, there are some serious repercussions for going below 20% of your maximum EN as well as reaching 0 EN.

If your character, for whatever reason, goes below 20% of his/her maximum EN, your basic attacks and abilities will cost more. Basic attacks cost is doubled, but the abilities you use have a 20% increase in cost. You will be unable to use an ability if you do not have the required EN for that ability. This makes sure that you can, in most situations, never force yourself into the 0 EN point without enemy intervention. If you do get low enough, however, and an enemy attacks you, there is a chance your character will drop to 0 EN and Slump will be applied to your character.

Slump is a nasty status effect that only comes into play if you run out of EN, use a D-Ability, or drop to 0 Morale. Here is what it does:

Slump - A state reached when a unit has no Morale or is applied after using a D-Ability. The afflicted has -15% Evade, -15% Crit, -50% Crit Damage, -20% Atk and Int. Also, EN cannot regenerate or replenish for 3 turns. If a D-Ability was used, EN is automatically reduced to 0. Slump is alleviated when the afflicted's Morale reaches 4, or if their EN is fully recharged.

It is not a friendly status effect. Actually, it wants to eat your face. Don't let it eat your face.

by Zerifachias Wed Jun 25, 2014 7:56 pm

Ever since its conception, I have not been too sure of how to calculate Morale through combat. In the end, I decided that Morale will be a very difficult stat to increase or decrease. Only in extreme situations will it ever rise or fall during combat. Simply winning versus some low rank mobs will not be enough to increase Morale. It'll just stay put most of the time.

The one case that Morale might increase from simpler enemies is if your character is below the 3 point mark after having used a Final Judgment, losing all your Energy, or otherwise getting shit on by one of my boss characters, which very well could happen. Dragons also tend to have that effect, I'm not sure if you guys understand the sheer scale of these beasts. A fully mature dragon will never be completely on the map, and there's a case where the dragon IS the map.

Defeating a particularly tough boss might award Morale. I'm only considering it for bosses and sub-bosses at the moment, but there could be other situations where Morale could be raised. Strictly speaking, Morale will only be raised during combat in extreme situations.

Which leaves one other question. How else can Morale increase? Easy! Role playing. There are events that will occur within my role plays that are very emotional, as you all know. These events could have a very severe effect on the party, whether for good or for ill.

An example of something good might be Archer confessing his undying love for Gai-err, Silvia. While the event is strictly between the two of them, the secret will not stay between them forever, or at all, depending on where he does it. Silvia, of course, would be overjoyed. From just their exchange, morale could go up. But be aware that I'm the one who controls the Morale system, and if you try to cheat it, I'm not gonna give you free points. You must set a pace, and then Archer must confess at exactly the right moment.

An example of something bad might have been when Silvia first arrived in Iona with the Royal Guard. Her home was destroyed by the dragons, and there was nothing left, not even tumbleweeds. The people seemed to just vanish into thin air. Silvia bawled for an hour or two during this, her wails not failing to reach the Guard's ears. In this case, everyone would have been affected. The reason I didn't touch the Morale bar was because the role play had only just started. It would not have been very fair.

There are status effects for when Morale reaches one of it's two extremes. At 0, Slump is applied, which was explained in the post above. At 10 points, Confidence is applied, which has the opposite effect and lasts for quite the long time. The key to using Confidence is to activate it during a particularly tough battle. How do you do that without combat morale opportunities? Your character has a mouth. Usually a voice and ability to use some kind of verbal language too. Try using it.

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