Battle System Orientation

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BATTLE SYSTEM TUTORIAL
A tutorial designed by the lovely Scara/Albel to provide a first look at the battle system of The Warpath Home.

PARTS:
- physical attacks
- physical passives
- physical actives
- defensive tier & passive combinations
- black magic
- green magic
- time magic & status effects
- white and arcane magic
- battle items & signature/sub-signature abilities
- summoned creature battles
- how it all fits together (a real battle)

PHYSICAL ATTACKS

Physical attacks are normal attacks with your character's weapon. The Attack ability does not need to be purchased.

All basic physical attacks deal 5 hp damage. EXAMPLE:

Albel attempts to strikes Lightning with his blade. The attack connects.

Lightning's HP is now: [hp=95/100]

But, for a moment, let's say Lightning is Level 13 instead of Level 1. In this case, her HP would now look like this: [HP=145/150]

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PHYSICAL PASSIVES

Now let's explain some of the various abilities in the physical tier. First, we'll take a look at the Physical Passive ability Momentum.

Momentum - Every time a physical attack lands successfully the attacker is granted an attack power boost of 10%. No higher than a 100% bonus may be achieved through this ability, and if an attack misses or is blocked the bonus resets to 0%.

Let's combine this with a single Physical Attack.

Albel, after receiving the damage, will now have 94 HP, or [HP=94/100]
Yes, with the passive ability, Albel received half a point (.5) more damage, but by rounding up (since there are no decimals in the health system) a full one point will be deducted. (Decimals .5 and above are rounded up to the next HP point.)

Consequentially, let's try with this physical active ability...

Blitz - An attack that inflicts 10 HP damage to all enemies within five feet of the attacker.

Albel, after receiving the damage, now has 89 HP, or [HP=89/100]
Yes, Albel received the same point deduction as he would with a physical attack - even though the physical attack dealt 5 HP damage and the Blitz ability 10, the bonus is the same, because decimals are rounded up to 1.

Let's have the same person attack Albel twice, using Momentum, for the same Blitz attack.

Albel (after receiving damage) now has 77 HP or [HP=77/100]

Blitz originally took 11 HP away for the first time. But for the second attack, an additional 10% was added, increasing the second attack's damage to 12 points. Thus, the total damage for attacking twice is 23 HP - if Blitz were a no cooldown ability, of course. The passive ability Merciless adds a similar bonus to attacks, but the bonus is not cumulative.

Lifesiphon and Faultsiphon work similarly to these as well, adding Attack multipliers given their condition. Ravage is only slightly different because of its condition - but in addition to doubling the power of Ruin and Ruinga spells, it powers up Black Magic as well.

PHYSICAL ACTIVES

Double Cut and Hat Trick both do the same thing, except Hat Trick is just 2 additional attacks. This means Double Cut allows 2 Physical Attacks andHat Trick allows 3 Physical Attacks, using only one action move. An action move is basically an ability used in battle. The most action moves you can use in a turn is two by default - buffs and items exist that change the number of actions allowed in a turn.

Example: Double Cut is used on Albel.

Albel (after receiving damage) [HP=90/100] Two Physical Moves (5 hp each) were inflicted. However, remember the dodging rule? (If you don't, here's a refresher: Only three dodges are allowed per conflict.) If you dodge both blows of Double Cut, you use up two of your allotted dodges, or one per each attack launched.

Also, you can not combine Double Cut and Hat Trick in the same post.

Power Break, Armor Break, Magick Break, Mental Break - These abilities, with their stat decreases, function the same as the passives, but with the stat decrease inflicted on the opponent.

Example: Albel was attacked with all four of the Break abilities.

Albel (after those) will suffer 25% more damage and deal 25% less damage both magically and physically. I.E Albel, instead of dealing 5 HP damage for a physical attack, will deal 4 HP damage. Instead of taking 5 HP damage for a physical attack, he'll will receive 6 HP damage.

DEFENSIVE TIER & PASSIVE COMBINATIONS

Guard halves the HP damage you give and receive - it is active, so it takes an action to apply.

Evasion works like a weaker version of Guard, but the ability is passive, so it's always applied unless passives are nullified.

Counter is a tricky one. Pretend Albel has been attacked, and he decided to use a physical attack first, then the move Flamestrike.

Lightning's HP after his turn is complete (after Counter is applied) would be 130 HP, or [HP=130/150] Lightning was hit with a physical attack that had, under Counter, doubled to 10 HP, and was also hit with Flamestrike, which remained the same.

Empowered Guard is the perfect example for stacking. Stacking abilities is just that; stacking them up. For example, if Empowered Guard and Area Barrier were in place, it will NOT result in 100% damage reduction, resulting in full immunity to physical attacks, but 75% damage reduction.

How is this possible? They are both 50%, so you start with one (50%), and then add the second ability - 50% of 50% is 25%. 50 + 25 = 75%. Of course, it gets more complicated as you add more, such as Evasion. 10% of 75% = 7.5% , with a decimal, so round up to make 8%. 75 + 8 = 83%. It continues to stack, just like this.

Reciprocate is a useful ability to have. Why? Let's pretend Albel has taken 50 HP damage and is currently SteelGuarding. Due to Guard's nature, that means Albel has received half of the damage inflicted upon him while under the effects of Guard. This means, he had originally been inflicted with 100 HP damage. As he exits guard, he returns that 100 HP damage to the opponent, unmitigated by his increased Defense stat at the time.

BLACK MAGIC

Most of these are self explanatory, and mostly deal damage, but I'll use this section to make one point solid.

Quakga will be my example. Let's pretend Albel and Lightning are on the same side fighting against Scara, and Scara casts Quakga at the beginning of the battle. First a primary target must be chosen. Why? Quakga deals 20 HP damage to a single opponent and 15 HP to everyone else on the same side. Let's pretend Scara chose Albel as the primary target by casting the spell on him specifically.

Albel's HP: [hp=80/100]
(20 HP damage dealt)

Lightning's HP: [hp=135/150]
(15 HP damage dealt)

GREEN MAGIC

Entrust, Anguish, and Doom are the only ones that need explaining. Entrust works just like this:

Let's pretend Lightning has the Arcane spell Spark on cooldown. Albel puts on cooldown the abilities Flamestrike, Aerostrike, and Lightningstrike (each having a 2 post cooldown), then uses Entrust on Lightning. 2 + 2 + 2+ = 6. 6/2 = 3. Spark's cooldown will be 5 posts now, instead of the original 8.

Albel can ALSO use a once per thread ability with Entrust - with which he can completely restore Spark. However, he can not recover another once per thread ability with his once per thread ability. Also those abilities already on cooldown can not be used in sacrifice with this ability.

Anguish is simple: for a single turn, the status effects listed within the ability last for only one post, while Blind, Silence, and Venom remain on their normal duration. Example:

Lightning casts Anguish on Albel.

Albel is affected by Anguish and all of its status effects.

Lightning has her turn.

Albel now is only afflicted with Blind, Silence, and Venom.

Doom needs no explaining, per se, but for WHO can use them. Some stronger boss enemies can cast Doom. Any summoned creatures can cast Doom in their Taming Battle. They will lose the ability to case Doom once they are in your possession.

STATUS EFFECTS & TIME MAGIC

Let's start with status effects.

How do some of these work, you ask?

Paralysis - You may not dodge nor use Physical attacks. Every other action is okay.

Freeze - The same as Paralysis, but all tiers will be locked, as well as dodging.

Poison, Venom - Every other turn literally means every other turn. Let's pretend Albel is poisoned.

Albel takes 10 damage from being poisoned.

Albel takes no damage.

Albel takes 10 damage from being poisoned.


Now, we have Time Magic.

Haste works just like this:

Lightning casts Haste on Albel.

Albel has 2 action moves.

Lightning's turn.

Albel has 3 action moves.

Lightning's turn.

Albel has 2 action moves.

Slow limits the number of posts every turn that the target is afflicted until it wears off or is cured. Example:

Lightning casts Slow.

Albel has 1 action move.

Lightning's turn.

Albel still has 1 action move. Continue until removed.

Undo works like this:

Lightning attacks Albel with Flamestrike and Ruinga.

Albel attacks with Physical Attack and Undo.

Damage from Flamestrike, Ruinga, and Physical Attack will be nullified, as if the turn never even happened. They will come off cooldown, but no damage will have been dealt.

Reversal is a mouthful, but it basically reverses everything. Cure will deal the damage it is supposed to heal. Haste will become Slow. If used on an ally...

Lightning casts Haste and Reversal on Albel.

Albel has Slow, but the effects of the debuff are reduced to only 2 posts in duration.

WHITE MAGIC & ARCANE MAGIC

White magic spells are cast the same as damage spells, just on an ally. Just remember that Raise and Revive ONLY work on a target under the KO status.

Now for arcane magic...

Curse is NOT stackable. Meaning, if there are 2 Arcanes on cooldown, it is not boosted by another 20%. 20% is fixed.

Demi refers to the current HP.

Albel has [hp=50/100].

Demi is used. 10 damage will not be dealt to him, unlike with Death, which mentions max hp. Demi will only deal 5 damage.

Gravity works like this:

Albel and Lightning around both at half health, when Albel casts Gravity.

Albel's HP - [HP=25/100]

Lightning's HP - [HP=36/150]

Graviga is the max HP. So Albel would be KO'd and Lightning KO'd as well if Graviga was used while they are both at half health.

Holy and Meteor are special cases, for the Black and White tier must be completed before being able to obtain either of these Arcane spells, as their description suggests.

BATTLE ITEMS AND SIG ABILITIES

When using an item in battle, one item takes up one action. Say Albel used a Potion - he could still attack ONCE on his turn, if not affected by something that alters the number of turns he has. Also, only one of each item may be used a turn, so he couldn't use two Ethers, for instance.

What are considered good and bad abilities? Usually, using your head works but sometimes, the situation of the ability makes it closer to godmodding. For an example of a good ability, let's do a simple one.

Wtfbbqsauce: Deals 20 damage. Cooldown of 5 posts.

What can you add to this to make it more unique?

Wtfbbqsauce: Deals 20 damage and inflict Silence. Cooldown of 6 posts.

Why did the cooldown of the ability increase by 1? It now inflicts a status effect.

Wtfbbqsauce: Deas 20 damage and inflicts Silence on both Chickenbutt and the enemy. Cooldown of 4 posts.

Why did the cooldown decrease? You have now made YOURSELF a target for an undesirable effect. Making yourself a target can decrease a cooldown, or let you get away with dealing more damage.

What you definitely can not do? Copying signature and sub abilities for one thing is considering God-modding, thus obviously not being allowed at all. Dealing extreme amounts of damage is a no-no. Damage that's more than 50-60 HP dealt without stackable abilities is pretty extensive. And unless severely handicapped (say, for example, you dish that much damage, but you receive half of the damage in turn) will most likely be unacceptable - add some hindrances, and now we're talking.

Instant kill is obviously not allowed.

However, every signature and sub ability is different and each is viewed differently and, so, there is no guaranteed way that your sig/sub ability will be approved, just because you follow the 'don't' guidelines to a T, but it definitely helps... a lot!

SUMMONED CREATURE BATTLES/TAMING BATTLES

How do they work? First of all, make a thread for your Taming Battle, then choose your goal. Your goal does not actually have to be a battle. Then, you wait for a staff member to take up the roleplay of your summoned creature for that thread, and from there, it'll take off. The staff roleplayer determines when you have met your goals, not you, so as to avoid cutting corners. If your goal was meant to be a one post deal, think again - it's meant to be an ordeal, after all. The staff member controls your summoned creature and when you obtain it.

What is an example for a goal? There are simple ones, such as "use these abilities", "survive for this amount of posts", "deplete this much HP". More complex ones? Combining some of the goals. For non-battle goals, it could be something simple as hide-and-seek.

All summoned creatures have 250 HP.

What classifies a summoned creature? Anything, really! However, ordinary run-of-the-mill animals won't be acceptable - but for example, someone like Koromaru (Persona 3) would work because he's a special case, not your ordinary dog.

If you're Lightning Farron and you canonically have the Eidolon Odin (XIII), do you need to have him on the site? Absolutely not! Lightning can have Nono (the moogle) as her summoned creature if she wished!

What's an Eidolon/Esper/Guardian Force/Summon? All summoned creatures are considered the same thing, even if they do go by different names. You can pick which one makes sense to you or for your character (e.g. Eidolon if they're from Gran Pulse, or Guardian Force if they're from Galbadia), but the site refers to them collectively as summoned creatures.

Summoned creatures are, obviously, stronger than roleplay characters, and all their signature and sub abilities are once per thread cooldown. So, yes, staff will be more lenient on these signature and sub-abilities. However, that doens't mean you can make summoned creatures deal 50-60 HP damage with no penalty. The staff will still abide to the same rules as judging with normal signature/sub abilities. However, they will most likely be more lenient with the 'extra' stuff.

I.E if a summoned creature does 40 HP damage, cause one attack to miss upon either him or his master, and casts silence in one ability, this ability might possibly be acceptable, whilst if it was a normal signature/sub ability it may not, even if the cooldown was the same result.

However, every staff member grades just a little differently! This may not hold true, but it gives you an idea of the ballpark range we look for in summoned creature abilities and would accept normally.

HOW IT ALL FITS TOGETHER

Now, we'll use some randomized characters to act out a few situations that might happen in-battle. These aren't actual roleplay posts, just logs of actions taken. Remember, threads have a lot more meat than this!

Albel Nox vs Scara Roshinto

(Introduction to Physical, White Magic, Black Magic, Arcane Magic, Items)
(Albel is starting the battle)

Albel uses Double Cut and Launch.

Momentum - Passive

[COOLDOWN: Double Cut: 2, Launch: 1]

Scara: [HP=152/170]

Scara uses Cura and Firaga.

Divine Spirit, Runic Focus, Vengeance - Passive

Albel: [HP=149/175] (Scara heals 15!)

Scara: [HP=167/170]

[COOLDOWN: Firaga: 3, Cura: 2]

Albel uses Hat Trick and Aerostrike.

Scara activates the magical item Veronica's True Pendant.

Aerostrike results in no damage taken!

Momentum - Passive

[COOLDOWN: Double Cut: 1, Launch: 0, Aerostrike: 2, Hat Trick: 3]

Scara: [hp=149/170]

Scara uses Demi.

Divine Spirit - Passive

[COOLDOWN: Firaga: 2, Cura: 1, Demi: 2]

Albel: [HP=134/175]


Akira Valice vs Freya Crescent

(Introduction to Defense, Time Magic, Green Magic)
(Freya goes first)

Freya uses Haste and Carnage.

Akira's HP is unaffected during this turn.

[COOLDOWN: Haste: 2, Carnage: 5]

Akira uses Taunt and Guard.

Freya's HP is unaffected.

[COOLDOWN: Taunt: 2, Guard: 3]

Freya uses Regen, Jump, and High Jump.

Akira's passives activate!

Evasion, Area Barrier, Empowered Guard, Guarded Evasion - Passive

Akira's HP: [hp=132/135]

[COOLDOWN: Haste: 1, Carnage: 4, Regen: 3, Jump: 1, High Jump: 2]


Mikoto vs Larxene

(Introduction to how to use summoned creatures in battle & Status Effects)
(Mikoto goes first)

Mikoto summons Persian. Mikoto uses Thunder and Water.

Persian chooses not to attack this turn.

Larxene's Static activates!

Thunder is reduced to zero, Water is doubled.

Runic Focus, Vengeance - Passive

[COOLDOWN: Water: 0, Thunder: 0]

Larxene: [HP=113/125]

Larxene uses Spark. Chooses Mikoto as Primary target.

[COOLDOWN: Spark: 8]

Mikoto: [hp=100/120] PARALYZED

Persian uses Cat in the Bag. Dodges Spark.

Mikoto uses Watera, Waterga.

--- Stopping battle short, because of redundancy.


Balthier vs Neku Sakuraba

(Introduction to Signature and Sub Abilities)
(Neku is first)

Balthier's HP: [hp=19/105]

Neku uses Finishing Combo.

[COOLDOWN: Finishing Combo - N/A]

Balthier's HP: [HP=1/105]