Pokemon Umbral Theatre 30: Go Get Some Snacks...

[Dracorion]

Which reminds me, are the rest of us only going to get our first look at the new system when Irene's tutorial comes?

[Astral Harmony]

Sure. Whether you're physically there or not is up to you, but you can say that you know about it regardless of being there or not. Watchmen like to rabble-rabble-rabble, y'know.

Morale is going to be awarded or penalized at the end of the turn like usual based on the performance of both sides.

The new system is pretty simple. First we'll start each turn with an Order Phase which will show us the order of actions taken based on the Speed stat of all Players and pimps enemies present at the start of the turn. The first Order Phase (a rough draft) will just show enemies. Then you guys decide what you'll be bringing to the party and then I'll add your units to the finalized Order Phase and you guys'll confirm it. It'll look like this:

[Free Actions and Items]
[This Asshole = Speed 245]
[That Fucker = Speed 220]
[Some Bimbo = Speed 180]
[Did You Say "Steak"? = Speed 25]

And so on and so forth. Note that you have the option of doing your Trainer Actions, Tactical Actions, Pokemon switching, Pokeform switching, Paradigm Shifting, Enforcer switching, item using, berry eating, Slayer accessory usage, yadda-yadda-yadda before all the real attacking action takes place. You can do some of it later, but you cannot switch yourself or your Pokemon out when the Order Phase ends. Your formation at the end of the Order Phase once you've confirmed it is set in stone until the end of the Upkeep Phase.

One thing you'll be interested in knowing is that if you want to make certain allied units attack later in the order queue, you can artificially slow 'em down to make 'em act later, no problem or penalty. But if you want 'em to attack sooner, you'll have to boost their Speed stat somehow. Depending on certain battle situations based on the plot, you may have the chance to boost your Speed before you even enter combat, obviously putting you at an advantage. Just note that your enemy has the same possibilities available.

Another thing I'm sure one of you will ask about the Order Phase: I'll post the next turn's Order Phase after the Upkeep Phase based on what's on the battlefield once the Upkeep Phase is over. That's only a rough draft and is subject to change when you switch stuff out. For example, suppose Pierce has a slow Pokemon deployed at the end of the previous Upkeep Phase. He chooses to switch it out for a faster Pokemon. That Pokemon will not be trapped in the same position in the order queue as the slow one was and will of course be positioned where it belongs based on its Speed stat. Same for if you switch a fast Pokemon out for a slower one. Then it goes down the order queue. But just remember what I said before: once the Order Phase ends, you can no longer switch it out until the current turn's Upkeep Phase finishes and you're looking at the next turn's Order Phase rough draft.

Once we're decided on the Order Phase, it's finalized and we then go into the Action Phase where the actions are carried out based on the finalized Order Phase.

After that's the Upkeep Phase where pretty much everything else happens (weather damage, status effect damage, morale rewards or penalties, enemy reinforcements, the next turn's Order Phase rough draft).

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So, in a nutshell, it works like this:

1st Turn: Order Phase showing only enemies, you guys discuss it and decide how you deploy, finalized Order Phase showing both formations, you guys confirm this, Action Phase, Upkeep Phase, next turn's Order Phase rough draft.

2nd Turn and Onward: You guys discuss the rough draft and decide how you redeploy, finalized Order Phase, you guys confirm this, Action Phase, Upkeep Phase, next turn's Order Phase rough draft.

And obviously the battle ends when you defeat the enemy during the Action Phase or when something else defeats them during the Upkeep Phase (the last guy dies from Poison, for example). Victory tune, hugs all around, Charlotte X Shannon, break out the wine coolers.

If y'have any questions about it, please don't ask them until the UmbralGuide is done. Because I'm pretty much not doing the "Irene teaches the new system" event until it is.

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EDIT: Oh, I guess I'll talk about another thing while I'm at it.

Obviously, you're still not going to know how the enemy is going to attack you (the scouters help you get ideas), but you guys will of course be announcing how you're going to attack. Doesn't that put you at a disadvantage since I can take your strategy and use it to give your enemies a smarter counterattack?

The answer is no, because all I'm going to know when I decide the enemy strategy is what you've decided to deploy.

Example? Oh fuck it, why not:

Okay, so Renny is fighting these two Soldiers. Menarker has Renny deploy his Togekiss. Here's the finalized Order Phase for this turn:

[Soldier A = Speed that's higher than Togekiss]
[Renny's Togekiss]
[Soldier B = Speed that's lower than Togekiss]

Menarker decides that Renny's going to have Togekiss use Air Slash on Soldier B in an attempt to Flinch 'im and keep the incoming damage down until help catches up to him. However, the strategy of the Soldiers is going to be based only on the fact that Renny deployed a Togekiss, not that Togekiss is going to use Air Slash on Soldier B. Otherwise, it just seems unfair to me. To help keep this fair, I'd advise you to keep your strategies out of the threads here and on...oh, the public Pokemon Umbral edupad or something? I'll inform you here in the threads when I've completed my strategy, and then you can feel free to post yours in the RP thread.

[Dracorion]

See, my concern is that Menarker appears to be having a heavy influence on the new system.

And I've noticed that when Menarker works on changes and such, he tends to leave open, let's call them "tactics" that technically anybody can use but he's the only one who's actually going to put effort into it.

Like, whenever he proposes allowing Wonder Launcher items in some way, I assume he's thinking about a sweet combo involving X-Attack 6, a Pecha Berry, Power Shift, Prosperous Gifts and a Portable Hole that would result in the entire enemy formation being instantly one-shotted.

[Menarker]

Actually, this new system I didn't touch at all. It's all AB's doing.

I helped AB organize pokemon, NPC moves, stats such as actual hitpoints (as opposed to percentages) and looking over the old rules and making notes in red text for what rules were ambigious so AB could clarify them as he saw fit. Stuff that don't actually decide the rules but took several weeks of work and many pages to organize. I'm pretty much just AB's secretary bitch (I'm joking AB! I'm glad to help!). Sure I might make comments or suggestions if AB asks or shows me something, but that's in regards to things I asked him to look over to proofread in the first place.

Thus I'm also in the dark in regards to many of the rule changes since I have not seen the actual "final" rules myself.

Stuff like everyone operating via the speed stat was all Gem's suggestion from way back anyhow.
The only time I really mentioned Wonder Launcher items was in regards to suggestions for rewards for dungeons that would be accessible to everyone. A mere suggestion.


If anything, I actually tried hard to prevent broken tactics. AB suggested a change to Twiloch's ability that would have given 2 pokemon double attacks IE: 2 extra attacks for which to abuse sleep powder or do more damage than 2 slayers. >_> Shot that down in an instant.

[Dracorion]

Cool.

[Astral Harmony]

Wow. Menarker impressed Dracorion so much that he forgot to call Menarker out on using "pokemons".

But yes, that post is the first time anybody but me is seeing how the new system is.

[Dracorion]

I blame the lateness of the hour, AB.

And Menarker, that was so not the first time you brought up Wonder Launcher items. I remember you brought it up at least once before that.

And AB, I was going to say the new system is pretty much exactly like the old one, only more streamlined. So whooptie-do.

[Astral Harmony]

Well, there were a lotta moves 'n' shit that just didn't work right (or at all) without overhauling the system.

Now the system is a lot more like it is in the games, just on a larger scale.

And I don't care if you don't think the system is awesome. You're just a big jerkie-pants, so nyah.

...

Note to Self: Have Chizuru call Pierce a big jerkie-pants in the RP at some point for some reason.

Anyways, Wonder Launcher shit sounds like the kind of stuff I'd only allow in Sparta Arena. Or something like that.

[Dracorion]

When are we going to do Sparta Arena, by the way?

[Astral Harmony]

You're going to do Sparta Arena when Pierce gets so pent up that he starts having sex with buildings.

Mission 5. Just note that Impact's sidequest into Corpsemire and the Hungry World (new name for the Netherworld) comes before that.