Pokemon Umbral Theatre 9: Ode to Gardevoir...Yes, Again.

[Geminex]

Actually, to inflict confusion on three enemies? Yeah, he does have to pay an action a turn.

And Impact has to pay 4 actions for each confusion, and then has to pay an action a turn indefinitely, unless he ends the thing. Confuse ray comes out to 3 actions. Admittedly, pokemon actions, which're worth about 2.5 tactions each, I'd say. So you come out at 7.5. Impact comes out at 12, and that's not even considering that he has an ongoing freaking cost. Not overpowered in the slightest.

Other than that, I think we've reached the point where this isn't productive anymore at all. If you wanna object to specific techniques or make suggestions, do so. but this has been going on waaaaaay too long.

[Dracorion]

Y'know what I just realized?

You're supposed to have five standard levels, and yet you only got four!

Nah nanah nah nah!

Breaking your own rules now, Geminex? For shame.

[Geminex]

Slayer 5. Duh. I'm getting it later. With RDPA and everything, exactly like it's supposed to be.

[Dracorion]

No, see, the first five levels have to be standard.

So you'd pretty much have to take your RPDA, well, now, or follow AB's standard Demon Half 1.

[Menarker]

Finished my assignments at last.

Still reading all the comments. Still iffy about stuff. I'm especially worried about PvP (which is probably potentially going to happen in the sequel) where your character's ability to shut off Signature techniques every turn and despecialize key units REALLY strikes me as unfair. The ability to turn off everything that a player has built up over the months of playing and trying to design borders on potentially making it unfun for players to contribute. I mean, let's say you confuse Renny and lock down my techniques. For several turns in a row. See how demeaning to a player that is?

But I should probably mention right now that the RDPA does not have its stats or its Overdrive listed.

Well, yes. He does take away some key abilities. That can cripple the enemies, sure. But it's gonna take him a while, and it's not like the enemies are static. If he starts take some abilities away, they can start relying on others, he takes away key abilities, not core! They can counter him by quite simply changing the way they fight. So yeah, he can do damage, but he can also be nullified. And once again, I think that if we compare the amount of damage he can do, to the investment I'm making, it's pretty fair. Or seems thus.
And look, I get Ability drain at level 6 (well, 5 actually, but I'm combining 5 and 6 in one). Already, pretty much all the enemies we fight have sigtechs. One each. Assuming they don't outnumber us, that's 9 sigtechs on the enemy side. So what if he can block one tech for 1 Taction? He's not going to come anywhere near locking them down permanently, and he certainly can't use it constantly, since he needs those tactions elsewhere. He can disrupt an enemy plan, or protect his allies by eliminating one or two, but that's situational. And he certainly can't lock them down with brute force. Especially considering that our foes are gonna be getting more and more techs in the future. I mean, 9 foes, 2 techs each, what can Impact do? Hit them where it hurts when it hurts, sure, but how many times is he gonna have that opportunity?
I mean, I really don't see what the problem is.
If you want to, I'll limit it to 3 uses per turn. Or even 2, if you're really insistent, but then I'm gonna ask for you to concede more in all the other areas.

That's what you had it on in the first place when we objected. (I'm assuming you're just talking Signature Break here.)


Basically, you're generating 11 tactions which allows you to practically deal with 2-3+ foes at a time, locking them down with confusion and other stuff while your character has the stats of a psuedo-legendary pokemon (higher than Arecus with RDPA).


Let me finish reading things as I'm still groggy and all that. Just know the above is my initnal impression. But I see REAL BIG PROBLEMS in PvP. I mean like your character singlehandly stopping 2-3 full characters. And that's before considering you're getting 2 more signature techniques and love techs done the line.


EDIT: I want to suggest that these tactions can be blocked/redirected in the same way as attacks. So they can be redirected like with Pierce's Cover, or blocked by Protect. That sort of thing.

That said, the entire character doesn't look bad. A few of my worries have disappeared but a few came up. Basically, it's the few specific moves that is causing both of us concerns. I'll try to read more and organize my thoughts in a more defined manner to help discuss this. Still tired though and got class a bit later.

[Dracorion]

Yyyeeeepp, that's exactly it.

In the sequel, Impact's Tactions are going to be gamebreaking. Or hell, they'll be gamebreaking in this RP when we do the arena mission.

Especially since AB says DSS formations will be limited to around three members, meaning he'd be able to pretty much fuck over the entire enemy formation at once.

I've taken the liberty of heavily nerfing Impact's abilities, but I want to see what you're going to say before I post them.

Also, I might suggest adding a percentage chance for Impact's TAs to fail. After all, subtle as his mind control may be, it shouldn't be absolute. In exchange you could make his TAs not debuffs.

[Geminex]

No, see, the first five levels have to be standard.

So you'd pretty much have to take your RPDA, well, now, or follow AB's standard Demon Half 1.

My fifth level is delayed. It's the RPDA, but I'm getting it way later than usual.

Look:
Fifth level: Slayer 5, delayed (Nothing)
Sixth level: Half-demon 1 and 2, to make up for getting nothing previous level.

Seventh level and onwards: Further demon levels, with the RDPA popping up somewhere.
I'm pretty sure we established this a while ago. And even if not, it's friggin' semantics. The only reason I'm not doing it is story-driven.
And I'm pretty sure the only reason you're protesting is to live up to the whole 'Douchebag' thing. Cause I gain no power-related benefits, I just get to develop my character a bit differently. You're trying to obstruct me just for the sake of being obstructive, i.e. Asshole.
And that in turn leads me to believe that all your previous comments were motivated by Asshole.
And that...
Why, that does have unfortunate implications. See, our agreement specifies that we should balance. And that we should argue in favor of balance. If all you've been doing has been designed to simply piss me off, why, then you haven't been balancing! And that's against the rules.
I'm fine if you're actually trying to balance. But wasting my time and trolling me, that's a no-go.

Also, I might suggest adding a percentage chance for Impact's TAs to fail. After all, subtle as his mind control may be, it shouldn't be absolute. In exchange you could make his TAs not debuffs.

Depends. How big a percentage?

In regards to PvP: Well yes, Impact could go a long ways towards locking one of you down for quite a while, in just 1, maybe 2 turns. But if it's 1on1 you'll almost definitely win. Your pokemon alone could probably finish him off in the space of 2 turns, and even if he acts first, he can't do enough to stop them. Particularly because, even if he locks you down, he'll find it very hard to kill you with his level-5 attack. Not to mention that a lot of his stuff won't be effective in the absence of a team.
In larger-scale PvP, well... He'll have that team, certainly. But while he'd probably be at hist most effective here, he'll still be limited. He won't be utterly locking down a single character any time soon, and while he can do a lot to cripple a single type of strategy, for god's sake. You guys are trainers, you're supposed to be versatile. And once again, even if his disruptive power is more valuable than trainers' offensive, he makes up for it by being pretty starved of rage, having a comparatively weak attack, low rage gen, and, above all, being quite vulnerable.

If you disagree, then show me why I'm wrong. Look at the techniques, one after the other, and tell me how each individual technique is game-breaking, or combines with other techniques to be game-breaking. Because that's what I did, analyse them one-by-one, and I balanced them. You seem to be just working from a general impression and, with all respect, I'm thinking your impression is wrong.

That's what you had it on in the first place when we objected. (I'm assuming you're just talking Signature Break here.)

Huh. Could have sworn I had 6 initially. Never mind then.

Basically, you're generating 11 tactions which allows you to practically deal with 2-3+ foes at a time, locking them down with confusion and other stuff while your character has the stats of a psuedo-legendary pokemon (higher than Arecus with RDPA).

See what I said above. My prospective upgrades have a lot or benefits, but a lot of downsides. And I really don't think that Impact's going to be dealing with even one foe at a time, much less two or three. What he does is weaken the entire enemy team as a whole, and while he does that effectively, there's stuff you guys do that're just as effective.

Edit:
Now, hit me with the nerf. And then maybe you could insult yourself for 5 minutes straight, because hell, you know the words.

[Dracorion]

Originally Posted by Geminex

Seventh level and onwards: Further demon levels, with the RDPA popping up somewhere.
I'm pretty sure we established this a while ago. And even if not, it's friggin' semantics. The only reason I'm not doing it is story-driven.
And I'm pretty sure the only reason you're protesting is to live up to the whole 'Douchebag' thing. Cause I gain no power-related benefits, I just get to develop my character a bit differently. You're trying to obstruct me just for the sake of being obstructive, i.e. Asshole.
And that in turn leads me to believe that all your previous comments were motivated by Asshole.
And that...
Why, that does have unfortunate implications. See, our agreement specifies that we should balance. And that we should argue in favor of balance. If all you've been doing has been designed to simply piss me off, why, then you haven't been balancing! And that's against the rules.
I'm fine if you're actually trying to balance. But wasting my time and trolling me, that's a no-go.

Oh, get your head out of your ass, you.

The only part I was being an asshole about was the comment about your fifth level. Everything else was legit.

Originally Posted by Geminex

Depends. How big a percentage?

Depends on the TA.

Originally Posted by Geminex

In regards to PvP: Well yes, Impact could go a long ways towards locking one of you down for quite a while, in just 1, maybe 2 turns. But if it's 1on1 you'll almost definitely win. Your pokemon alone could probably finish him off in the space of 2 turns, and even if he acts first, he can't do enough to stop them. Particularly because, even if he locks you down, he'll find it very hard to kill you with his level-5 attack. Not to mention that a lot of his stuff won't be effective in the absence of a team.

Not unless you lock them down, fuck up Rage generation. And then there's the fact that even a level 5 Slayer is more than a match for two pokemon.

And seriously, 600 stats ain't exactly a pea shooter.

Originally Posted by Geminex

In larger-scale PvP, well... He'll have that team, certainly. But while he'd probably be at hist most effective here, he'll still be limited. He won't be utterly locking down a single character any time soon, and while he can do a lot to cripple a single type of strategy, for god's sake. You guys are trainers, you're supposed to be versatile. And once again, even if his disruptive power is more valuable than trainers' offensive, he makes up for it by being pretty starved of rage, having a comparatively weak attack, low rage gen, and, above all, being quite vulnerable.

Again, Slayer ain't no glass cannon.

Also, if he moves into his coveted Tactician position? That's just more power for you.

Also, when I nerfed your TAs I did give you some stuff to compensate.

Originally Posted by Geminex

If you disagree, then show me why I'm wrong. Look at the techniques, one after the other, and tell me how each individual technique is game-breaking, or combines with other techniques to be game-breaking. Because that's what I did, analyse them one-by-one, and I balanced them. You seem to be just working from a general impression and, with all respect, I'm thinking your impression is wrong.

Despecialize.

You tell me how completely fucking over a formation in PvP by cutting off 80% of their healing ability for three turns is not overpowered. And the cost? Three Tactions. That's shit.

Deathly Calm affects three foes, and while it costs 5 Tactions, it can completely fuck up those three foes in the space of that one turn.

And then there's Haunting. Coupled with Signature Break to make sure they don't spend Rage, it can be a Rage farm for Impact. While the targets still can spend Rage with like Focus and Sweep 'n shit, they would still end up hoarding more than they spend.

Originally Posted by Geminex

Edit:
Now, hit me with the nerf. And then maybe you could insult yourself for 5 minutes straight, because hell, you know the words.

Fuck you.



StandardStandard:

Slayer (Level 1)

- Has a Normal type attack.
- Normal damage is reduced by 50%.
- Can possess a loadout of three weapons and three armor.
- Can switch these equipment loadouts completely in between battles, but can request them from Daphne to switch them out one-by-one.

- Light Weapons
Claw of Twilight (Dark, 50% Flinching)
Dragon Slave (Dragon, 50% SpDefense -1)
Capacitor Rod (Electric, 50% Paralysis)
Strange Parasite (Grass, 50% Drain)
Toxin Bombs (Poison, 50% Poison)

- Medium Weapons:
Swarm Bow (Bug, 50% Evasion -1)
HV Penetrator Rifle (Fighting, 50% Defense -1)
Gust Blaster (Flying, High Critical)
Netherworld Sapper (Ghost, 25% Instant Death)
Titanic Fist (Ground, 50% Accuracy -1)
Synapse Disruptor (Psychic, 50% Confusion)

- Heavy Weapons
Napalm Thrower (Fire, 50% Burn)
Hydro Cannon (Water, 50% Sleep)
LH Launcher (Ice, 50% Freeze)
Siege Boomerage (Rock, 50% Attack -1)
Crescent Moon (Steel, 50% Internal Bleeding)

- Armor:
Reinforced Vest (Normal -50%, Always Equipped)
Pesticide Layer (Bug -50%, Evasion Debuff Immunity)
Shadow Suit (Dark -50%, Flinch Immunity)
Courage Emblem (Dragon -50%, SpDef Debuff Immunity)
Insulated Armor (Electric -50%, Paralyze Immunity)
Impact Gear (Fighting -50%, Def Debuff Immunity)
FR Suit (Fire -50%, Burn Immunity)
Windbreaker (Flying -50%, Crit Immunity)
Holy Talisman (Ghost -50%, Death Immunity)
Herbicide Layer (Grass -50%, Drain Immunity)
Jump Boots (Ground -50%, Acc Debuff Immunity)
Counter Injector (Poison -50%, Poison Immunity)
Brain Case (Psychic -50%, Confuse Immunity)
Thermal Underwear (Ice -50%, Freeze Immunity)
Sonic Guard (Rock -50%, Att Debuff Immunity)
Platemail (Steel -50%, Bleed Immunity)
Weather Cloak (Water -50%, Sleep Immunity)

-----
Slayer (Level 2)

- Slayer Weapons deal 130 damage.
- Slayers can now equip two of the Accessories listed below.

Slayer Accessories: One use. Recharge by spending 50 Rage.
- Stamina Boost: Allows the Slayer to attack twice in a round. Use it for you absolutely, positively have to fuck something up.
- Mezmerizer: Occasionally prevents a Pokémon from attacking the Slayer if its of the opposite gender. You might need some courage to use this.
- Scentsation Coil: Can be used to heal from negative status. Otherwise, it's kind of pungent.
- Adrenaline Surge: Increases all stats by one. Does not stack. Sorry.
- Spectral Eye: An amplified Confuse Ray. The Pokémon will always hurt itself. Not effective on Ghost types.
- Viper's Venom: A ring with a deployable needle that is jabbed directly into the Pokémon and inflicts it with Toxic.
- Decoy Device: Creates a perfect holographic representation of you which will trick enemies. You can still attack in the same round. Lasts for one round.
- Physical Barrier: Creates a kinetic barrier around yourself that greatly reduces physical damage. This works for three rounds.
- Magical Barrier: Creates a mysterious barrier around yourself that greatly reduces special damage. This works for three rounds.

-----
Slayer (Level 3)

- Medium Weapon Ricewood Rifle (Ruin type Damage) is available.
- Armor Guardian Globe (Ruin type Defense) is available.
- Sweep skill is available. Hits two enemies with one attack. Costs 25 Rage.

-----
Slayer (Level 4)

- PC Slayers can now equip two small, two medium, and two large weapons in addition to the Normal type assault rifle that is always on hand.
- All Slayers also gain Armor Affinity. What this means is that if a weapon they use deals the same type of damage as a piece of armor they have equipped protects against, they get a STAB modifier. This STAB modifier is double as opposed the 1.5 used by Trainers and Snaggers.

-----
Slayer (Level 5)

- Slayers now have access to the Rapid Deployable Powered Armor, or RDPA. PCs and NPCs can create custom armors that possess five attack types, five defense types, and one Overdrive. Like a Paradigm Shift, but doesn't cost Rage. Lasts for three turns.

CustomizedCustomized:

Demon Half (Level 1)

- Aura Growth increases all statistics of Slayers and Pokebrids by 15 and Pokemon by 5.
- Use Aura Reading to find out what most NPCs think of you. Impact could use this to find potential allies for his evil emergence, for example.
- Impact can now utilize "Tactical Actions".
- Impact generates two Tactions every turn while in battle, and leftover Tactions don't carry over to the next turn.
- Impact gains the active Tactical Ability (TA) "Signature Break". Tactical Abilities can be used at a Tactical Action cost.

-----
Demon Half (Level 2)

- Impact generates 3 Tactions per turn.
- Impact gains active TA "Formation Shift".
- Impact gains passive TA "Analyst".

-----
Demon Half (Level 3)

- Base Rage generated is increased 2x times.

-----
Demon Half (Level 4)

- Impact generates 4 Tactions per turn.
- Impact gains active TA "Fire at Will".
- Impact gains active TA "Ability Drain"

-----
Demon Half (Level 5)

- Impact generates 5 Tactions per turn.
- Impact gains active TA "Despecialize".

-----
Demon (Level 1)

- Impact generates 6 Tactions per turn.
- Impact gains active TA "Deathly Calm".

-----
Demon (Level 2)

- Impact generates 7 Tactions per turn.
- Impact gains active TA "Haunting".

-----
Demon (Level 3)

- Impact generates 8 Tactions per turn.
- Impact gains active TA "Massive Feedback".

-----
Demon (Level 4)

- Impact generates 9 Tactions per turn.
- Impact gains passive TA "Ultimate Warlord".

-----
Demon (Level 5)

- Impact generates 10 Tactions per turn.
- Impact gains active TA "Superanalysis".

TAs and RPDASignature Break:
Cost: 2 Tactions
Effect: Impact mentally assaults the target's aura, disrupting the target and preventing them from focusing enough to bring their strongest abilities to bear. One Sig-tech, Sync-tech, love-tech or Co-op technique (or anything else of that nature) cannot be used until the end of next turn (effect counts as a debuff).
Conditions: Can be used 1 time per turn at most

Analyst:
Cost: Passive
Effect: In combat, Impact's especially aware of his surroundings and may draw conclusions that seem inexplicable, or even supernatural in their accuracy. Basically, in combat, when we get info about enemies or our situation, AB gives us a little extra. What is up to him, as long as it's useful.

Formation shift:
Cost: 3 Tactions
Effect: Impact coordinates rapid maneuvers to modify either an allied formation, or force the enemy to modify theirs. Select one member of a formation somewhere on the battlefield and replace this member somewhere else within the same formation.
Conditions: None.

Fire at will:
Cost: 2 Tactions to activate, up to 6 optional Tactions
Effect: Impact helps coordinate the team's Destroyer to unleash a rain of destruction upon their hapless foes. For every two optional Tactions payed, the destroyer gains 100 aditional rage, for this turn only. Rage generated by this technique can raise the destroyer's gague above maximum.
Conditions: 6 optional tactions (working out to 300 rage max), can be used only every other turn

Ability drain
Cost: 2 Tactions
Effect: Select one enemy ability. This ability is nullified for one turn.
Conditions: 2 times per turn at most

Despecialize:
Cost: 4 Tactions
Effect: Select 1 enemy specialist. This specialist loses all 'priveleges' and counts as an ordinary unit for 3 turns. For the first turn only, this removes any protective effects on this specialist.
Conditions: Use once per turn only.
Example: Enemy medic is pissing us off. Use despecialize to take away his ability to use items.
Shock Troopers can only use one pokemon when despecialized, Snipers are attackable, Engineers cannot construct. And so on.

Deathly Calm:
Cost: 5 Tactions
Effect: Impact invades the minds of one foe, and bestows upon them a cold, deathly sense of calm and indifference. For one turn, they will lose rage whenever they would gain it. Techniques or abilities that cost rage have their cost increased by 10.
Conditions: Use once per turn at most

"Haunting"
Cost: 4 tactions initially, 2 per turn afterwards
Effect: Impact pierces the target's mental defenses, to strike directly at its aura and mind. Instead of just attacking, however, he does something more subtle. He leaves a fragment of his mind in the foe's, then withdraws. This fragment disrupts the foe, haunts them, causes them to become confused for two turns, and utterly exhausted thereafter. It cannot be dispelled. When the foe in question faints or dies, Impact partakes in its agony and rage, gaining a quarter of what the foe had left. The fragment then jumps to a random adjacent foe, to do the same to it, unless Impact recalls it, at the cost of another 4 tactions.
Conditions: Can use once per turn at most, and three times per battle. For every fragment of Impact's mind in circulation, he loses 1 taction and 5 rage per turn.

Massive feedback:
Cost: 25 rage to activate, 2 tactions per attack
Effect: Impact gathers his strength and responds to every enemy attack with a massive wave of Aura-shock. The enemies take no damage, but they're so shaken that the attack or weapon they last used is now disabled.
Conditions: Once every two turns only.

"Ultimate Warlord":
Effect: Makes Impact's tactions much harder to resist (enemies with immunity now just have a 66% chance to resist his TAs). Also gains ability to switch to the 'tactician' position. As 'tactician', the same limiations that would apply to snipers apply to him (meaning that FOW or the weather limit the degree to which he can affect the battle), and he gains no actions other than tactical actions, but he gains the defensive properties of a sniper, gets an extra taction per turn and his tactions become even harder to resist (66% chance drops down to 50%). Switching between 'active combatant' and 'tactician' costs him half his tactions for the turn, rounded up, he begins battles in 'combatant' mode. While the switch to tactician may be impossible during very hectic, close-in fighting, it will be available even in situations where Snipers and Destroyers aren't present.

Superanalysis
Cost: 40 rage to activate, 4 Tactions per target
Effect: Impact rapidly analyzes the condition and vulnerabilities of various foes and feeds that info to his allies. For the duration of next turn, all affected foes become extremely vulnerable to secondary attack effects such as status effects, debuffs, stat reductions, flinch, etc... Attack with these effects are 2 times as likely to successfully inflict them. If a target is immune to an effect, it becomes normally vulnerable under the effect of this ability. Foes also gain an increased vulnerability to critical hits (equivalent to a 2-stage boost to all attacks), and suffer -2 stages to defense and special defense.
Coniditions: 2 targets max, once every two turns only

RDPA:

Weapon 1: Weather Spire: Gives access to the "Weatherman" TA.
Weapon 2: yyy: Gives access to the "Dust Stream" TA
Weapon 3: Assault amplifier: Lets Impact attack with one of his standard weapons, and boosts the relevant attack stat by two stages. Attacking this way is more effective, but distracts him, costing him 2 tactions.
Weapon 4: Banshee Emitter: Gives access to the "Doom Howl" TA.

Armor 1: Survival Field Generator: Covers Impact and two allies to either side of him. Can be charged with up to 3 charges, at the cost of 1 taction per charge. Whenever an enemy attack would crit against a covered ally, the field uses one charge, and the crit is downgraded to a normal attack.
Armor 2: Variable Immunity Armor A: When RDPA is first deployed, this armor gives no immunity. Impact can initially pay 1 taction to have it grant immunity against a certain element, and from then on, another two tactions to change the immunity it provides. (E.g.: Impact goes initiates RDPA while in battle agains several fire tanks. He pays a taction to set the immunity to 'fire', to protect himself against their attacks. Once those are destroyed, they get reinforced by water tanks, so Impact pays 2 tactions to make himself immune to water instead.)
Armor 3: Variable Immunity Armor B: See above
Armor 4: Processing unit: Generates an extra taction per turn



Weatherman:
Cost: 4 tactions per change
Effect: Impact channels power through the RPDA to change the weather. He can remove and add different weather effects at will.

Dust Stream:
Cost: 5 tactions:
Effect: Impact eliminates FOW on the enemy side by 30% and increases FOW on the allied side by as much.

Doom Howl:
Cost: 4 Tactions
Effect: Deals no direct morale damage. However, enemies become subtly, but powerfully unsettled by the unearthly sounds of this device, and become far more (x1.5 times) vulnerable to negative morale effects for three turns.



I think the only one that actually got buffed was Fire at Will.

Anyway, now you get 2x Rage generation early on. We can work out some other upgrades, too, like stat boosts and shit.

Also, I didn't add the percentage chance to fail because I hadn't come up with it when I typed this up. It should be proportional to the TA's strength and Taction cost.

Depending on how big the percentage is, the move can get buffed accordingly or the cost lowered.

[Astral Harmony]

Ramen noodles. They stay crunchy even if water. But they're still the best thing ever.

I've got duty today. And intend to use it, and most of this weekend, to focus entirely on Pokemon Umbral. Mainly because I don't feel like doing much else.

[Dracorion]

Give it a little while.

You'll be beating off to H-games before the day is out. Probably even while you're on duty.