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

[Menarker]

Claws of Phantomere doesn't really work when "receiving damage" because the enemy will have already attacked by then and thus flinching them is useless unless you're hoping to rob them of their next turn. It also won't protect you from the other attackers that have yet to attack. That combined with low success rate when attacking makes it not the best choice in my mind.

Deadly Harvest is an interesting effect, but once again, low success rate.

There only only two real bonuses about the two above.
One is that you aren't losing an action. It's basically a bonus that doesn't risk anything. While the success rate isn't awesome, it doesn't require you to behave much differently (aside from not spending your rage).
The other is the above bonuses might be useful with moves that hit multiple foes at once like Discharge or Surf or something like that.


Possession Link requires you to spend an action (and risk having it be a dud action), but the success rate is higher and there are probably a few things we can do with a dominated person. It also remove an attacker from consideration. That said, it is a gamble.


Ultimately though, it's up to you.
Also, have you discussed with AB what the future upgrades from Phantomere might be like? You might want to ask in case some of them synergize better (assuming you get multiple abilities) or if Phantomere is willing to boost the success rate of an existing ability Charlotte has.

[Bard The 5th LW]

AB mentioned something about them being passive effects. Unless i misunderstood, then I'm not really losing any sorta turn with them.

I'll mull it over between Deadly harvest and Possesion Link, and flip a coin if I don't decide.

[Menarker]

If they are all passive (as opposed to me thinking the last one wasn't), then Possession Link does sound better.


At the very least, Renny's Umbreon would be an odd partner with Charlotte.
Charlotte dominates an enemy and Umbreon uses Scapegoat on the dominated foe so he/she/it take some of the hits coming toward our way. :3


Bard, aren't you getting anything more than just that one ability though? Are you taking a level of Pokemon Breeder (and getting an upgrade based on that?)

That reminds me. If you are becoming Pokemon Breeder, you get one more Trainer Action. :3

[Bard The 5th LW]

What would count under and "Upgrade" for breeder? What sorta bonus would I get?

[Menarker]

Well, we're kinda customizing our upgrades pretty much.

Common things are:

Increased Rage gain when your pokemon attacks and receives damage by half. (Becomes 7.5 rage.)
Custom Move
Upgraded Stats/abilities for existing pokemon
New pokemon, kinda like how you wanted Revanard (although you probably wanted to wait for your sidequest?)
Custom hold item

That sort of thing (although not all of that at the same time.)

You are automatically sure to get a third trainer action though. (You get one for every 2 levels of Trainer up to 3.)

I'd suggest you consider increased rage gain at least since it'll help you with Phantomere's bonus as well as spam offensive moves like divide/focus.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Might give Spitz better stats for him to keep up with the others.

[Menarker]

Ok, how exactly do you want to upgrade his stats?

Mightyena's normal stats are:

HP: 70
Attack: 90
Defense: 70
Special Attack: 60
Special Defense: 60
Speed: 70

TOTAL: 420

Given his very very low stats, I, personally, wouldn't mind if he got a boost up to 540-560 base total. (Which brings him to the rank of just a little weaker/equal/stronger than Arcanine.) This is a boost of 120-140 points which is quite a huge jump. (My Swampert in comparison got 70 points boost, but he was already very strong to begin with.)


So basically...
Phantomere ability
Spitz Veteran status
Trainer Action #3
Increased Rage


I would be fine if you got all this, because Mightyena's base stats is so really low, it should be commended to bring it up to standard-high level if you wish to continue using him. I mean, you could have chosen a much stronger pokemon from the start in its place.

Here is a sample stat increase in case you want to view, but feel free to change it or discard it.

HP: 90 (20 point increase)
Attack: 120 (30 point increase)
Defense: 90 (20 point increase)
Special Attack: 60 (0 point increase)
Special Defense: 80 (20 point increase)
Speed: 100 (30 point increase)

Base Total: 540 (Just 15 point shy of Arcanine)


ALSO NOTE TO EVERYONE: If you want to change any/all of your pokemon's abilities to their respective black/white abilities, now is the time. (Upgrading to the Black/White system)

[Bard The 5th LW]

I'll probably throw most of Spitz points Into Attack and speed. The numbers you proposed aren't bad. I'll think up a trainer action in the mean time.

[Astral Harmony]

Sparta Arena at a later time, then. Actually, I'll just set it as an optional dungeon and you guys can decide when you want to do it. I prefer that you guys don't decide to do it multiple times 'cause I've only got one Ruin General to throw in there.

As for why a PC's aura cannot be seen, it's pretty much entirely due to Geminex. At the time, I had it under good faith that Geminex wanted to be an evil character-

Armored Bishoujo: "Don't say anything yet, Dracorion."

And that if his aura could be seen, it'd expose him for the scheming mastermind who has yet to blossom into a true world-owning villain.

I don't think anybody else has a problem with it being possible to view PC auras, so, going on the fact that Geminex told me that Impact isn't an evil character, I'd be willing to do away with that silly rule if he approves as such. I may do so anyways, but I'd at least like his opinion.

-----

One more thing while I've got it in my head: I'd like to take a little liberty with your characters during the Action Phase for the purpose of creating epic kill scenes. For instance:

The doomed soldier tried to rush Sol-leks in order to stab him with a bayonet, but freaked when Sol-leks broke out into a body-blurring sprint. His shots went wide as Sol-leks leapt up and sunk his dripping fangs into his victim's throat. The momentum of the attack and Sol-leks' own weight saw the Pokemon swing around his neck and twist his head on backwards. Charlotte, seizing the moment, stepped up and unloaded both barrels of her sawed off shotgun into the back of the soldier's head, marveling as his eyeballs and brain matter rapidly exited from his exploding face.
"I love Honmyr," Charlotte took a deep breath and enjoyed the warm euphoria of killing the worthless fucker. "Nothin' fucking like it, baby."

...Y'know. Putting the "Action" back into Action Phase, if you will. Takes more time, but it does make the posts worth reading.

[Menarker]

The only big objection I might have is that PC emotions might be more complicatated and prone to shift at any given time and having someone ASSUME a person's aura is one thing is kinda iffy.

Let's say for example that Pierce wanted to scan Renny. Renny is normally on good terms with him, but sometimes, Pierce gets on his bad side (twice already). That might change the aura a bit. Drac might then have "Pierce" see Renny later on and assume out of character that Renny is still feeling the same way when I myself might believe that at that point in time, Renny have already gotten over it or has bigger concerns to worry about. (Which would mean the difference from different tiers of aggression/trust).

I don't plan on getting the aura myself, but Renny has been pretty prone to shift emotionally in a short period of time. I'd really don't want another PC to make assumptions (and potentially misinterpreting) on my character's perceived mental/emotional state. Renny especially might feel that he doesn't really like or trust someone, but he usually tries to be friendly and diplomatic all the same to that person to a certain point. I also do not want to get 30+ emails asking for an update on Renny's aura status every half day of the RP per half-demon PC.

Hence why I'd personally prefer it stuck to only the NPCs.


EDIT: In regards to action scenes, I got no objection to that myself. Keep in mind Renny isn't going to be gleeful about killing people, although he'll probably express some sort of disdain for the enemy's behavior, and at most a sort of relief that the situation is getting better.

"It doesn't have to be this way!"
"Go home! We won't stop just because of you!"
"Another down. We can relax a little easier now."

As for the pokemon, only Swampert, Sky Shaymin and occassionally Umbreon will be spirited enough for victory over their enemies. Togekiss hates strife (although he'll be happy enough if everyone is safe when the entire battle is over), Mollesk slow to catch on the fact that the battle is over (still be happy enough), and Magnezone is pretty much a cold calcuating machine. :3