Avatar IV: Discussion time!

[Skyshot]

Newb -- See, now, I can call lightning as long as we're outdoors and I have enough mana, so you might want to hang with me, yo.

TB -- Could you at least have tossed me some earplugs so I don't have to listen to it too?

[PyrosNine]

Y'know, been re-reading upon the Second Avatar RP, and I swear, that should be documented and saved for posterity or something. Maybe even made into a comic! Or a movie!

It'd be better than alot of the shit that's on the big screen nowadays...

[Darth SS]

Sorry, Summer School murdered my time and brain.

I'm back.

And ready...

FOR ACTION!!

*bass drums thunder*

[Arhra]

Well, about time to hit y'all with the new, slightly more complex enemy ratings system. First we have Toastburner's enemy ratings to give an idea of how hard an enemy is to fight. I've updated it to include an Insane category since I felt there was need for a rating and also added the Beyond Boss category, which I'm sure the old timers recall from the second avvy rp.

The Grunts: come in massive, near-mindless mobs, and are basically easy to kill off. A single person could hold off 20-25 with no problem, however once you start building a wall out of their corpses, it gets a bit tiring. They just keep coming!

The Sane: stronger than grunts, so that 15-20 would pose a problem with an individual. They are smarter, and travel in large packs, preferring to pick off the loners of the group. Needs a bit of teamwork to get rid of these guys, but their numbers aren’t exhausting either.

The Logical: medium-levelled mobsters. 5-10 of these will be really problematic against 1. They are also smarter, and travel in packs of 12 (means that if one of you encounter a pack, it’s gonna be hellishly hard to come out of it without being at least moderately injured).

The Crazies: strong bully mobsters. 1 is enough of a challenge, 2 will induce injuries, and 3-4 will overwhelm a strong individual, and they come in groups of 8, but also hunt solo.

Insane: 1 will likely induce injuries and 2 working together will overwhellm a strong individual. They are remarkably tenacious and won't go down easily.

Beyond Insane: 1 vs 1, a strong individual will lose. They have insane stamina, life, and powers, and will come at you as if there is no tomorrow. They come in 2s and 3s.

Minor-bosses: Sub-boss levelled monsters. They are hellishly hard to kill, and can pin 2-3 heroes down quickly. Guns are almost like pellets to them, and they come in 2s and 3s. Teamwork is required to prevent an ass-whipping.

Boss: your average ass-kicking monster. One is a challenge to any large group of adventurers. Even the Gods will have trouble if they face these guys on their own. Teamwork is definitely required to bring these creatures down.

Beyond Boss: Don't be ridiculous. Something this appallingly dangerous couldn't possibly exist.


Now, being the incessant tinkerer that I am, I've decided to create a second rating system. This rating gives the difficulty of an encounter as a whole, intended to make it much clearer how dangerous things like mixed groups and some special circumstances are. For reasons of my own madness, these ratings all have food based names.

Note: These encounters' difficulties varies with the group and other circumstances. For example, if half of the group is facing a difficult encounter and the other half arrive mid battle, the battle will be a lot easier with the reinforcements. Amongst other things, this means it is possible to get into a fight you can't win if you do something like wander off on your own.

These encounters also assume you are at full power and uninjured, although some notes about the expected amount of attrition and the amount this increases difficulty are included. The difficulties are considered to factor in your level of power already - the only way to make a battle easier is using your head. And by that I don't mean headbutting them. This does not mean something as simple as using fire spells on ice monsters.

Cakewalk: You could do this all day. Really, this encounter is more of a hinderance than any real threat. You could fight them from dawn to dusk.

Buffet: No-one can resist free food. Just be careful not to overindulge. These encounters are quite easy but a series of them can really start to wear you down.

Easy As Pie: Pie is simple and delicious. Still fairly easy, these battles do require you to be careful not to overextend yourself. A severe slip-up can result in you taking a fair bit of damage though.

Apple a Day: Only having one of these a day means you won't have to see the doctor. These are about a medium difficulty. You should be able to win if you don't monumentally screw up but they do take a bit out of you. They aren't fights you can just breeze through. While the first one might not be too bad, ones past this without a let-up and you'll really begin to find yourself taking a beating.

Can of Spam: No-one is quite sure what strange and terrible ingredients go into it and so it should be handled with care. This is the beginning of the harder fights - you can expect to come out of it a bit bruised. Multiple servings of Spam aren't good for your health.

MASSIVE Can of Spam: To summarise this simply, it's like a can of Spam, only more so. These fights even include some of the sub-boss battles. Teamwork is definately a big aid in getting through the battle with all extremities intact.

Doom Cookies: A treat of perilous might, Doom Cookies are not to be trifled with. These are the really hard fights, up to and including lower end bosses. This battle will push you to the limits of your ability and things can go horribly wrong for you if you're not careful. Expect to have to spend a bit of time getting things back together afterwards.

Death by Chocolate: It really is almost too much. These include the higher end boss fights. You really shouldn't have any more than a handful of these kinds of fight in the entire RP. This kind of battle requires teamwork and tactics to avoid a disaster and you will come out of it fairly battered.

Long Dark Teatime of the Soul: The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul, when hope vanishes and time stretches into an eternity of despair. You are doomed. This is a fight you cannot win under normal circumstances. However, you might be able to just claw your way to a victory by trying something extremely audacious, cunning and risky and pulling together with your allies. Even then don't expect to come out in one piece. Really, you should only run across an encounter of this difficulty if you are getting seriously in over your head.

Special Ratings:
These ratings are for special circumstances and modify the regular ratings.

Brocoli: Brocoli is weird. This applies to monsters who are very difficult to defeat if you don't know the trick to beating them, but much easier if you do. This only applies to more complex vulnerablilities, not simple things like using water on fire creatures. Bosses will almost never have this rating save for special cases as it is assumed their weaknesses are already used against them to a degree.

Spinach: Spinach is for enemies who are hard or perhaps impossible to fight if you don't have a special power-up. This power-up usually must be found and can not be created or replicated by the characters. Bosses will rarely have this rating, save in the case of something like the Invulnerable Grozzlefox that can only be hurt by the Splendiferous Genocide Breaker Stick.

And now to the first enemy of the RP!

Name: Cultist Wannabes
Class: Grunts
Appearance: Cultist wannabes are the dregs of society obsessed with the arcane and the unnamable but who are far too generally sucky to get into the most accepting of cults. They have a range of appearance, dressing to how they think a cultist should look. They are generally pallid individuals due to their avoidance of sunlight and many show goth or emo influences. Holding a variety of flimsy weapons and bedecked with ritual paraphernalia, they are a sight to make any serious dabbler into the occult pass out laughing.

Abilities/weapons:
Occult Ignorance: The cultist wannabes, despite their obsession with the occult, have absolutely no idea what they are dealing with. They have a range of incorrect knowledge, carry a variety of useless trinkets and 'grimoires' that they are convinced are real and are slightly less proficient at any kind of dark ritual than an overipe banana.

Accidental Success: The biggest danger of a cultist wannabe is they might have accidently stumbled across something that actually works. Their blundering ineptitude invariably means they are the first victims of whatever abomination they might call up but it's likely also to be dangerous to anyone nearby. Use your imagination here. Generally, anything up to an Insane level danger.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

I forgot about Rhiya's extra weapon. Since I believe Arhra approved of it (because I discussed its properties with him via IM) I'll put it in here:

Breath Weapon - Chaos Breath: In draconic form, Rhiya can choose inhale and exhale a mass of black-red chaos fire. Depending on how deeply she enhaled, or how big she was, the reach and spread of this weapon is variable.

Little is known about the Chaos Breath, except that whatever it doesn't kill, it makes stronger - and maybe a little bit more angrier. Rhiya normally uses this against small fry she can't be bothered fighting, or when she's bored enough - as trampling is far more fun.
What is known about the Chaos Breath is rather unpleasant to say the least. Although not as randomly generated as Rhiya's previous massive Chaos Explosion, Rhiya's Chaos breath is nonetheless focused on maximal destruction and warping - capable of turning weak-minded creatures inside out, grow limbs from their heart, have their ribs rip out from behind, curve around and then tear back into the opponent's torso again, deboning their limbs without meeting the requirement to rip them out etc. etc.
However, those that are able to survive such horrific mutations and agony are fixated into a permanent, raging madness. Armed with occasional new powers, limbs, heads, tails, legs, spikes etc. etc., these abberations become stronger and more unpredictable than their previous forms.

The Chaos Breath is a deadly weapon against the weak-willed and the grunts of any race, but may be beneficial to the enemy.... if they can survive the changes.

[Dragonsbane]

Arhra, just how is demon-summoning out of character or overpowered?

[Mesden]

Originally Posted by Dragonsbane

Arhra, just how is demon-summoning out of character or overpowered?

The given power of the demons is uncertain and being able to conjure them at will like that is easily abuseable. He's really just telling you to watch what you do because, technically, you're on par with all of us and going on some mass killing spree that's incapable of a normal PC isn't wanted. (Later on, atleast. Right now, mass killing spree is the goal!)

[Dragonsbane]

Originally Posted by Mesden

The given power of the demons is uncertain and being able to conjure them at will like that is easily abuseable. He's really just telling you to watch what you do because, technically, you're on par with all of us and going on some mass killing spree that's incapable of a normal PC isn't wanted. (Later on, atleast. Right now, mass killing spree is the goal!)

They're Doomguards, fairly weak demons from Warcraft. Fairly. I could take them out with a single hero unit.

Also, I am on par with what people are capable of doing. Judging me by the standards of Newb is like publically spanking me with a fluffy pink featherduster, only not kinky. It's humiliating, it is.

Besides, we're ALL on a mass killing spree. Mmm...cultist blood.

[Arhra]

Incorrect. From my own recollection of Warcraft, Doomguard are quite powerful. They're level 8 creeps and the scale only goes up to level 10. Also, game mechanics aside, they are portrayed as quite powerful.

Mesden's explanation is correct. It essentially comes down to the ease with which things were accomplished and the apparent power of said effect. How it was written was definitely pushing things.

[POS Industries]

Arhra is correct. Having done the level 60 warlock thing over on WoW, I can tell you that Doomguards are an amazing pain in the ass, to summon, to control, and then to fight after they invariably regain their will after about 45 seconds.

Seriously, it's all about the succubus.