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by Learpabru
Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:31 pm
Forum: Site-Wide Rules/Guides (Please Read!)
Topic: General Tips (Including Tips for Character Creation!)
Replies: 14
Views: 12145

Re: General Tips (Including Tips for Character Creation!)

It occurs to me that some people didn't know this: You can click on various forums and subforums to see pictures of the regions and sub-regions as well as their descriptions. In case it's not obvious enough at this point, here is the full list:

You can click "Universe of Houcm" to see all of Houcm Planet and Guild World in one page. Oh, and Chao World.

Click "Houcm Planet." You'll see all the major regions and their pictures. Pretty, huh? Look at them closely, 'cause you'll be able to very easily tell how to get around by them. They're what I used to mentally map out Houcm's structure.
In Twisted Fenlands, there's K's Mansion. It's locked from being posted in by just anyone because it is heavily protected, as the description tells you.
The Necrohol of Rodentia houses the Lilith Commune.
The Hydra Yggdrasil is found in the Void Meadow.
Umbral Island is in the Abyssal Sea.
Crash Pastures have the Vuhm Guest Houses.
The Flint Ranges have Obsidian Canyon.
Shallows Village: There is the Village Broadway, The Muddy Breeze, the Boat Store, Shallows School, Shallows Pokécenter, and Bianca's Cottage. These subforums don't have pictures.
Meidkuad Castle: There is Meidkuad Palace, Scuttlejolt, Meidkuad Market, and Meikuad Pokécenter. These also don't have pictures.

Click "Guild World."
Everdrop Caverns has Entropy Chase, Nightmare's Folly, Candy Canal, and Sweet Relief.
Hutaudvale has Locco, and Xuten is in Sandstone Hollows. Sacucasu is the only one that isn't in another region.
All the guilds have a Bill Board and Residences. Locco/Sacucasu/Xuten has the Grigori Alcove/Foyer/Observatory and the Levelling Field/Infirmary/Void. Locco has the Adrenaline Springs, while Xuten has the White Hall. Locco has the Subterrane Tomb, Xuten has the Xuten Bookstore, and Sacucasu has the Forgery Pub and Highsword Halls. Like the sub-regions of the towns, the guild sub-regions don't have pics.

Go to Chao World.
Go to Chao Stadium. It has Chao Race and Chao Karate.

That's it! If you see a typo in one of the descriptions, let me know. :3
by Learpabru
Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:50 am
Forum: Site-Wide Rules/Guides (Please Read!)
Topic: General Tips (Including Tips for Character Creation!)
Replies: 14
Views: 12145

Re: General Tips (Including Tips for Character Creation!)

This applies more to character information than anything, but it's a good tip for many things:
Worry about organization afterward, if it helps. When I'm setting something up, I usually organize my ideas into a mental essay, then type it out. However, you may find it to be beneficial to just write down the stuff that you think of, then look everything over. Organize things your way, and decide what stuff you want to take out (perhaps to be used in another character), what stuff you want to take out for now and learn later, and all that. Don't be afraid to write down a ton of ideas and work down from there, or "brainstorm," as they call it. There are many ways to organize things, so don't feel like it's senseless to reorder things to be better-looking. Also, don't feel like you have to conform to a certain way for each list; deciding which ways are "better" than others is a matter of opinion. Some examples of different organization methods are seen below (and you can click the "Abilities" link on this post for another):

Leilani
Laola
Choh Lehko
Bianca
Noah Ivaldi
Dycedarg

The following is an overview of each and some alternatives (Please read these; you should learn something. However, they're not suggestions for the respective characters; they're just here to give you ideas.):
(Note that "OD/HP" setups are arrangements in which abilities are categorized by their primary functions as "offensive" (as a catch-all), "defensive/healing" ("defensive" including beneficial stat augmentation), and "passive" (or "support"), usually a matter of target-others attacks and hindrances, target-self and/or -allies protections, status changes, and remedial methods, and effects that are constantly in play or otherwise do not require fully conscious, delegated activation. "OD/HPU" setups are the same, but include abilities that exist almost entirely for utility purposes, such as an ability to give flavors to plants. There are other variations with different letter orders or different letters omitted, of course. The primary flaw in such setups is that they can subconsciously limit one's mind to only thinking of using some abilities offensively, others only defensively, et cetera. For those whom can easily surpass this mental limit and maintain versatility, though, they're no worse than any other setup, usually. They can be unhandy when abilities have widely varying uses, though.)

Leilani- Here is an example of skillsets, which is what we call the categorized organization of abilities, and our first example of support abilities. The first skillset is her Machine Magic, which is her textbook method of mana usage and the basis for several abilities down the road. They're loosely organized into an arrangement of the following:
[border]costly spells that go with her job as a machinist and artificer by helping her to gain constructs immediately
an inexpensive spell with a variable effect that's based on its targets
offensive spells[/border]
She then has her traps, which could use a bit of rearrangement, but presently have a loose order of:
[border]offensive
based on spells (mostly offensive)
more offensive
defensive (though only while immobile, one of which leaves you no choice)
more offensive[/border]
Note that she begins with some important explanatory information at the beginning, then a footnote at (naturally) the end to add a loophole to a would-be flaw in the skillset.
"Gunmanship" is another skillset with an explanation at the beginning that specifies the fact that the abilities can be used with any (standard) attack, not just gun shots.
Sharpshoot is the second example of a skillset with a stipulation. In this case, it's an equipment requirement; the abilities are available to Leilani when equipped with a greatbow, which is classically going to only be her automail arm, the Master Bow. Although it is only available with her Master Bow, the skillset is a part of Leilani's capabilities, not those of her arm, so it's a skillset of her ability list, not the Master Bow section of her inventory.
Ballistics and Cannonry are both examples of skillsets with equipment stipulations; the former can only be performed with Master Bow and the Ark, while the latter is only available to use on the Ark. Both of them are Leilani's capabilities, not the capabilities that come directly from those weapons (They are only available with those weapons.), as will be shown when she learns to use them with other weapons if she obtains more greatbows and hand-cannons. The Ballistics skillset begins with its essential ability, "Prime," then its healing ability, then two defensive/healing abilities, next a utility/variable ability, and finally two offensive abilities, all of which require preparation via Prime. Cannonry has four offensive-preparative abilities, then one prepared-variable ability (since she can use Mirror Items with Item Shell). Item Shell can be considered as a prepared-D/H ability that is made variable by Mirror Items.
Finally, she has a handful of support abilities, most (but not all) of which are based on her preceding skillsets.
Alternatively, the list could be organized into an OD/HPU setup, or that could be implemented in any number of her skillsets. Her equipment-dependent skillsets could be listed at the top or the bottom to segregate them, but they're already at the bottom of the action abilities. The Machine Magic could also be listed at the bottom to demonstrate her ineptness with magic and primary focus on physical and metaphysical effects, though it could also be considered as a "get it out of the way soon" concept right where it is.

Laola- She begins by getting the fact that she's a standard earth manipulator out of the way. After that, there are her skillsets. She begins with Outreach, the skillset of abilities that come most naturally to her (which is ironic to her personality, if you think about it). Her Raevehm Botany skillset follows it with almost no particular arrangement whatsoever; aside from the more elementally-focused skills being listed at the bottom of this skillset, the others are dispersed randomly. The next skillset, Poison Fang, has no particular order, either, unless you count the fact that it begins with one basic, offensive ability that is followed by two status-changing, offensive abilities. Her support abilities can be considered to be in an order all their own, since they begin with a utility, lead into a life-based one, delve into physics, follow up with a magical version of the former, and end with an ability that relates to all her other energies.
Alternatives are pretty limited, since most of her abilities have a wide variety of applications. Her Raevehm Botany could be arranged into an OD/HU setup, but that maintains the previously mentioned issue.

Choh- Everything's divided into skillsets, and each skillset has a seemingly random arrangement. You can ask for the motivations of each arrangement. In this case, action and support abilities are individually labeled (except in the Solar Flair skillset). This list also serves as a prime example (moreso than most others) of a list that begins with an explanation. Lists often begin with information that applies to a majority or all of the following, which can vary from attack properties to costs to, well, pretty much anything. In this particular case, there's an explanation of how she has the abilities (always a good thing), some cost and other drawback specifications, a terminology specification, and a loophole for a would-be flaw.
This could have in stead been arranged . . . however. Really, there are a ton of alternatives, but the chosen method is pretty creative if you know it, so it's hard to even think of any changes.

Bianca- This list has a simplistic style to it. She begins with plant-related abilities, rolls into other earth-related abilities, sets a section apart for combinations of the former and other stuff, and finally lists utilities (primarily related to plants). Some of the plant abilities are attached to each other as extensions of their predecessors or different kinds of what is essentially a single ability. It's simple, clean, and effective.
Alternatives are few and far between. One option would be to arrange the plant abilities into an OD/HPU setup, but some of her abilities throw that with their non-distinctive versatility, much like Laola. Really, her list is just nicely organized.

Noah- Oh, boy. Yeah, it may be intimidating, but it's worthwhile. Noah's list demonstrates pretty much every noteworthy list property; there are skillsets, sub-skillsets (Our first example of them is the different sub-skillsets of the Summon skillset.), labels of the action abilities, support abilities, a sort of extension of supports that is movement abilities, a series of specifications at the beginning of some sub-skillsets and other abilities over which they preside, an ability that results from combining others (Transummon), a skillset that's composed of others that have been modified (Arcanism), a list of "Reaction Abilities," which are partially like A-abilities and partially like S-abilities, and one more element that's only seen here, so far. That entire eyesore of a first post is his explanations, stipulations, specifications, and other details of every skillset and sub-skillset. Then, for every set that is composed of multiple spells (not like Terramancy and Necromancy, which are more generic in use, much like standard elemental manipulations), there's a massive list of every spell within the set. Yes, it does seem to be endless, but that's just proof of the potential versatility. Actually, you should probably read it now, because he gets around, so you'll probably end up facing him at some time or another. Also, since his lists will only get longer, it's a good idea to read them now so that you don't have to read every detail in full later on.
There really aren't many alternatives to this; the list is massive, and its organization is pretty much just right for it. The only noteworthy change that I could come up with would be to list Terramancy and Necromancy after the other A-abilities, since they both have their own energy sources, while everything else replies on mana. Really, that just means moving them under Lore, which was put near the bottom for lack of favor in most of the skillset, and the Elemental Affinities, which are also placed lowly for their lack of magnitude and favor. It's pretty hard to argue with any of the organization, really.

Dycedarg- Here, we have more stipulations at the top. Some of these are terminology specifications, including some that only apply to one or a few abilities. We have skillsets with their own brand of power, range, and radius determinations, all of which are A-abilities. Some skillsets have footnotes for some abilities, but most notes are seen at the top of appropriate skillsets. One skillset has two hardly distinct sections (the Jump skillset). The vast majority of his abilities rely on his equipped weapon, and some require his inventory. There's one attack that stands alone, then a list of effects. After that, we have a small mountain of S- and R-abilities, including his signature Arcane Blade support. Finally, we have the visual aids.
It could just be the fact that my brain is presently mush from sleep deprivation, but I can't really think of any alternatives that aren't a matter of "simplify make it to be as generic as everyone else's," which is pretty much exactly what was being avoided.

Learpabru- Again, we have skillsets that have their abilities arranged with some underlying themes in mind, but loosely. The naming scheme of the slimes also has a pattern to it, but with some variance.
This one is what it is; about the only differences that one could make would be to make the arrangements and naming scheme more steady.

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