Animalistic Abilities

Post by **Zahari** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 1:24 pm

Like Bianca Midori, Zahari uses nature magic or Meva to transform or semi-transform into animals and few mythological creatures. However, unlike her, he is not spell based at all and only has a few spells in his arsenal, many which are not offense based. Like Bianca, he regens Meva by being around nature. He cannot cast spells while transformed.

Zahari has high regen rate for Meva, but costs to use a spell is high and his Meva pool is low. Because of his attunement with nature, he regens Meva slowly by being in it. The amount of regen is moderate, however, the cost of a spell is very high and takes up most of his Meva, so you can see how he will have to take breaks in order to cast the next spell. Unique abilities that are from his attuned animals are not considered spells, as these are second nature.

Transformation:

Semi-transformation:

Attribute Blessing:

Transfiguration:

Post by **Zahari** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 1:27 pm

Statistics:

PS: ***
MS:****
HE: ****
MP: *
STR: *****
SPD: *****
DEF: ***
Meva:*
MRES: ****

Post by **Zahari** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 1:28 pm

( Also to mention, after this is approved, I'll post biography, allies and also inventory. Since this is the biggest section, I want to see if I need to change anything first.)

Post by **Choh Lehko** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:55 pm

Oh, no! Zahari posted something! It's a sign of the apoca- Okay, I'm done. xD

Stats: You must explicitly mention that *** = AVG. That is not an assumed property.
Also, you say that you use Meva, but your list shows MP (which should be MA) and CK. On Bianca's list, Meva is a double-rate parameter that takes the place of MA and CH. Here, it's just kinda' a concept that's spoken about and apparently confused with mana. . . xD

Rather than 20% Meva/mana per post (especially since posts do not have pre-determined time frames) and 50% per spell, I recommend just a high regeneration rate and very high costs. Proportional costs and regeneration will nullify any cost benefit that you gain from Levelling up; if your MA/ME goes up by 1/3rd, you should be able to cast more, but you wouldn't, 'cause you'd still be spending half your pool for one spell. By the same token, because everything is proportional, you have effectively eliminated your two main weaknesses, which are your low MA/CH (?). Aside from that, those numbers are highly extreme; they just make management more than a little difficult. Finally, and most importantly, if your MA/ME/whatever regen rate is 20% and you learn a spell or other MA/ME/whatever-spending ability with a normal cost, you can take advantage of this to spam spells/jutsu/whatever all the time.

Likewise, the 80% per transformation cost should be changed. You could either put it into relative terms and bring the cost down (Something like "very high," "tremendous," or something would result in a higher cost than you can presently afford! If your MA and CH were replaced with "ME: *", they would be castable, but not by much.), or you can say that the cost is 80% of your original (insert parameter here) pool. Hence, you'd still have a WTFTHAT'STOOHIGH cost at lower Levels, but it'd get to be more reasonable as you Level up (40% of your maximum at Lv4, ~22.8% at Lv7. . .).

"Fully turning himself or others into a specific animal will take 80% of his Meva, since it is a high level transfiguration."
"Zahari is capable of turning himself fully into an a specific animal with no cost because of his blending with nature."
^ Er, what? Reading on, it sounds to me that it's supposed to cost a fuck-load to transform others, but it's free to transform yourself. Hrm. . . Especially if these greatly change your stats, I'm not seeing this as a feasible option, at least as of yet. . .

Posts =/= time. This occurs in quite a few instances.

These numbers for your transformations mean nothing. Use relative terms unless you want to set up a system throughout the document in which 1 = (insert relative amount of your choice).
Turtle actually sounds petty powerful, though, if I were to know what those numbers equated to. You may want to enhance the SPD reduction. Similarly, gecko looks to be even more dynamic.
How fire-resistant is the dragon?

Unique ability? Buh? Oh, I see. How are these calculated, then? If you have "+1 Unique ability," by how much does it enhance. . . anything? Wouldn't enhancing the dragon's fire manipulation be redundant with just enhancing MAG? What is this stun ability, this burn ability, these poisons, and these paralyzing agents?

Semi-transformation: I spy another proportional cost.

Attribute Blessing: Points? We don't have points. Also, you're gonna' have to re-format some stuff or specify every specific change that this can do. Your transformation list mixes things up because it has italicized abilities (presumably unique abilities, according to your statement therein) that aren't too special and apparently are conveyed by Attribute Blessing, but other abilities are italicized, "unique," and not granted by AB, so no one can really tell what this can and can't do.

Ah, I see that you do have a decreasing cost for Transfiguration. . . Still, you're rather unnecessarily screwing yourself over on the cost decrease by quite a lot. If you just look at Lv4, you'd be running a 65% cost, while keeping it at 80% of your original would make it 40% at Lv4 and be just fine and dandy.

Now, wait. How does transfiguring someone into a fish not cause them to suffocate?

I do like the fact that you went into custom calculations, really. The only problem is that we don't have numeric stats and parameters, here. Not everyone uses the asterisks system. In fact, the asterisks system isn't anything special on its own, anyway; they're just a concise way to express relative amounts. How are you gonna' calculate these with Leilani, Learpabru, Laola (Yes, I have three girls that start with L. I noticed this after I had already picked a name for Laola. ._.), Noah (still in revision, but his stats/parameters are likely to stay the same or thereabouts), Dycedarg, Jules (who expresses hers in very high numbers), Dahxnil (same as Jules), half of Komo's chars, Tori's allies (who use asterisks on a vastly different scale), Joanna, or a bunch of others? There's no way to make sense of this. :/

Looking back, it becomes blatantly apparent that you're relating numbers to asterisks throughout the whole document. That would mean that your transformations actually cause relatively significant changes, for the most part, especially turtle, gecko, probably dragon, and probably spider and the other +2-total transformations. Given no cost but the time frame, that is a little too powerful. I understand that, when someone is charging a strong attack, it makes sense to be able to raise your defenses for it, but most people spend something to do so or rely on sub-par guarding. You're getting a significant boost for no real cost, and the time that it takes to turn back isn't a really big deal 'cause you retain the high defenses while you're changing back, and it's all the better if the foe has an action delay/movement delay after using a strong attack. Turning into a spider gives you a pretty nice speed advantage for no cost at all, and being a falcon makes you able to dodge a ton of stuff with great ease.

I don't see any range limits for your spells.

Post by **Zahari** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:46 am

Oh I see! I meant to change it identical to hers, since it's the same kind of energy, power, mana, etc. I must have missed that.

I also I made an assumption that everyone used the asterisk based parameters, but I see that is not true. I'll make some changes regarding this. There are many places where you did say 3 stars would be average, so I assumed that as well.

As for the unique abilities, I make them 'unique' because 1. these are not Zahari's own abilities, therefore he has a very basic way to use them and the manner of affliction is by transformation's way to do so (i.e. spider poison or paralysis is injected into a victim's blood stream by bite, therefore all bites by Zahari are considered poisonous or paralyzing as long as he is in spider form) and 2. they are specifically for that animal which Zahari will have to turn into. Those abilities are typically more offensive, such as fire manipulation or the ability to stun, as opposed to, say, something that increases a stat.

Dragon only gives a slight fire resistance and not full resistance. If I were to make it fully resistance, that would obviously be far too strong. Not only this, but it is very specific to fire and does not include other magic such as general magic or other elements. If I had to put it in terms of parameters, it would take Zahari's fire RMES which is 'average' into 'above average', but with only fire.

On the topic of parameters, how I calculate other character parameters is based on the concept of *** being average and going from there. Let's take for example Learpabru's parameters, where hers are based on where it would lie on average:

The idea around the transformations giving a boost was that it would be equal. Take for example turtle which increases DEF and PS, but decreases SPD. It's the concept of balances which I wanted him to work with, while still giving him some kind of increase to make transforming worthwhile.

Also to note, I moved it now, but the list of transformations actually only regard semi-transformations. For full transformations, the increase of statistics are constant as long as he is in that form. But because of the whole thing with needed time, he doesn't use full transformations in battle at all, simply because it would be far too dangerous. This is the very reason it does not have any cost, while semi-transformations do have cost because they are battle related. If I had to give it a time amount, I would probably say it takes at least 30 seconds for him to fully transform, which makes it not at all practical for a field of battle. The mosst it would be used for battle is full on escape if he needed to, or if he had to take a message as quickly as possible from a battle to another person.

I had previously said,

"Zahari has high regen rate for Meva, but costs to use a spell is high and his mana pool is low."

What I meant was what you had recommended and I figured it would be evident in the percentages. I'll try to explain again. I want Zahari to have a high regeneration of Meva, yet have very high costs in spells...this inefficiency in anything mana related as he levels is okay with me, since he isn't a magic based character in the first place. It's a gamble that I'm trying to make with him where he is very focused upon one end of the spectrum, while nearly ignoring much of the other end. This is the reason why I find no problem with him spamming spells(except transfiguration, which is the reason why the cost is so high in the first place), since none of his spells are based on offense. He has electricity and fire manipulation, but that is more conducted toward a resistance against that element and one other basic ability (electricity stun, perhaps a fireball or flames spewing from the mouth, etc) and no other way to change it, even after many levels. The reason for this incapability to manipulate the unique abilities is because of connection with Meva, specifically the branch of Meva that has to do with magic, is weak. Therefore Zahari chooses to stick with what he is good at and use what he is bad at as little as possible.

Edit: Actually I did look it over, and I will probably change the increase/decrease in statistics for all of the animals. I'll post when I finish editing that.

Haha, I guess if someone were to be transfigured into a fish, they WOULD suffocate a little bit! （・∀・）

('You laughed there. That's a bit morbid, isn't that Zahari? （　ﾟ Дﾟ).....'

Why, yes, I suppose it is! I tend to be a very morbid man! （＾ｖ＾) )

Post by **Tixxi Eldixac** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:17 am

Actually, Bianca was the first one to use asterisks. If you were to read the rules, you'd see that I explicitly stated that we use relative terms for measurements, not numeric values.

I see that, but not all of those "unique" abilities that are specific to those forms are italicized as such (e.g. camouflage, fire resistance, sand-based, sonic waves/sonar (redundant with "sound wave ability"), sharp projectiles . . .). Also, some that are italicized as far from unique; what's special about a tail, surface sticking, et cetera? Basically, I think that your format is whacked. I suggest something more like this:
List special properties that are magically added, e.g. fire resistance (moderate boost to RES/DEF against fire attacks), hyper web-stringing capabilities, and standard/minor elemental manipulations.
Leave everything else, all that is standard to the animals that you're transforming into, out. Of course, you have poisonous fangs as a spider or snake! Of course, you have a hard shell if you're a turtle! Of course, monkeys have flexible tails, aposable thumbs, and significant agility! You don't have to go over all that stuff. Is all that other stuff the junk that's transferred over in Transfiguration? If so, you don't have to say all that! Just state the stat changes/special abilities, say that transfiguring someone doesn't give those special capabilities (assuming that it doesn't), and leave it. That's all basic knowledge, bro.

RMES? xD Do you want it to somehow only activate for fire magic, for fire magic and physics, or all fire attacks? If the former, just give a parenthetical note to say that it moderately increases your RES when dealing with magical, fire damage. If the latter, say that it boosts DEF/RES when dealing with fire damage. If all fire attacks (i.e including null damage), change it to a moderate fire damage reduction.

Yes, that is the premise of the asterisks system. I am well-aware, bro; I'm the one who suggested it to Bianca. xD Of course, using relative terms allows for more flexibility (The asterisks that you assigned to Learpabru equate "noticeably below average" to "below average," which is simply not accurate.), while asterisks are easy to come up with and follow.

Yeah, I know, which is why an advantage of a moderate boost to one stat (-2 to one, +3 to another = +1 roughly = moderate, or "average," boost) is fair, while that boost with much more PS is kinda' pushing it.

Wow. 30 seconds >>>>>>>>>> one post. On average, "one post" can equate to seven seconds or less, especially less at higher Levels, 'cause you're moving so damned quickly. I mean, you can write up a post that occurs over 30 seconds, but it's generally way out of line in battle. If a full transformations take so long, that's fine; it can be said that the cost is negated by the amount of time that it takes because you are drawing in Meva as quickly as you are spending it or moreso. If you're in an area that you're not as well connected to nature, though, what happens?

So, to be clear, semi-transformations don't augment your stats at all, much like Tixxi?

-facepalms- You're missing something, here. You're not just limited to what spells you start with. If you regenerate a ton of Meva with every (insert short time frame here), you can sling out Black Magic and White Magic for tons of extra damage, healing, and protection, all with them essentially being free. You can learn Time Magic and have Haste on yourself and Slow on your foes at all times. You can learn a shadow clone jutsu and make so many copies all the time that people will suffocate just from how stuffy you'll make the area.
Imagine that you learn something like Tixxi's Kraken Bind. You spend a massive amount of your ME (probably at a higher Level) to cast it. You wait just half a minute, and you're at full Meva, even though you just spent almost all of it for a really big attack.
You learn some Dark Knight ability that costs 25% of your HE and 25% of your ME to activate, a truly hefty cost, so it has a massive effect. You regain most of your ME immediately and start curing yourself, regaining ME more quickly than you can spend it. You're practically invincible.
20% regen rate = overpowered.

Besides, no matter how you slice it, proportional costs make it so that the actual amount of your ME pool is totally irrelevant to anything but other spells, which A) takes away from your statistical disadvantage and replaces it with the cost/regen change-up and B) would gimp your natural abilities as you progress because your progression would mean nothing for them, but would make you overpowered with other spells because of the mass regen.

By the way, I forgot to mention this last time: With changing parameters, you need to understand the principle of current/maximum relation. I recommend viewing some of the more recent posts to Kaito Inaki's ability list.

Post by **Zahari** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:34 am

Edited information:

Fix of parameters
Replacement of mana -> Meva
Rebalancing of animal transformation
Further elaboration of mana regen, use of spells, and mana pool
Distinction of passive and offensive unique abilities/attributes for attribute blessing
Conversion of proportions into text based description
Formulas converted to average time
Level up proportions into converted time

Post by **Tori Keheraht** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:34 am

What is MP? Where is MAG? Is "MP" supposed to be "magic power?" If so, I recommend a clearer format, perhaps one to match Bianca's. . .
Because your ME is a double-parameter and thereby has a doubled regen rate, its effective value is **, despite being *, so you should reduce * from another parameter or stat to compensate for it, unless you want to reduce your Mevan to */2.

You describe your Meva regen rate as "high," then "slowly," then "moderate." ._. This bit of info may help you:
As a double-parameter, your Meva recovers at the additively cumulative rate of the two parameters that it replaces. Mana and chakra regen rates are practically the same, so you already have a doubled regen rate by default, without saying a single word about it.
The fact that your Meva is represented by a single asterisk on the scale of *** = AVG tells us that your Meva pool is far below average. It is a double-parameter, so we can equate this to roughly ** (Since * = way below AVG, there would be an addition that would make this more like ****, but it is assumed that expressions of cumulative parameters are described on a specially scaled magnitude that compensates for this.), which is still below average despite being doubled. We already know that you have crap to spend at any given moment without you saying anything.
Unless, for some odd reason, you want to make all of your starting spells have the exact same cost, a blanket statement that your spells have high costs doesn't work. You need to outline individual costs per ability in the descriptions of each.
Conclusively, thanks to the stats and parameters system, you can completely cut that paragraph out, and we can all see that you're a physical unit that can get back to your maximum Meva fairly quickly, but you don't have much to spend at any given moment. You're welcome~

"It takes one full post for Zahari to transform himself."
"It can stay in this form for two posts before becoming human again, but can be re-casted with the same animal after one post."

Hawk: This one sounds really useful. I'm not sure that I like the idea of a high speed increase for free on it, but, actually, it could serve as its own drawback; if you see a hawk that's flying around at more than 150 mph while rising, it may tip you off that it's not a normal falcon. Run any decent scan on it, and you have a small, fast target.
Shark: "decrease of magic resistance in either" <- Either what?
Eel: Describe both of these aspects.
Turtle: "High increase of defense, increase of physical resistance" <- Is this redundant, or is the physical resistance an additional ability that reduces physical damage by a proportional or flat amount, regardless of whether or not defense is counted?
Dragon: Describe the "scorch/burn" ability.
Mouse: Erm. . . Look closely at what you typed. Er, rather, what you didn't type.
Snake: Are we to assume that it's ordinary snake venom, nothing that a houcm char should worry about much?
Scorpion: See Snake.
Spiders: Again, just normal spider capabilities, or something special?
Gecko: "Increase of magic resistance (water resistance)" <- You mean this to be just like the dragon one, right? Also, omit the second aspect; this is an assumed prroperty of being a gecko. You don't need to tell use that geckoes can stick to walls.
Porcupine: Again, are the needles something special, or standard porcupine fare?
Monkey: Like I said, youdon't need to tell us that, as a monkey, you can use your tail for stuff. . . I mean, it's kinda' obvious. It doesn't really fit with the stat changes as relevant info.
All animals: You do not need to list factors like wall sticking, natural poisons, increased senses (sonar included), et cetera unless there is something special to them.

Attribute Blessing: You'll have to get more specific on these "passive abilities" and such that are conveyed. Tail usage isn't conveyed, right? Is sonar, since it's improved senses, like the hearing/smelling from wolves? If so, does the subject gain the ability to emit such high-pitched shrieks to actually use said sonar, or is it more of just increased hearing? If the turtle has some special effect to reduce physical damage (e.g. "Resist Physical +5%" allows damage calculations to run normally, but reduces the result by 5% before damage is applied. It is thereby independent of DEF.) or something, is that passed? What about the fire/water resistance increases?

Transfiguration: Those measley seconds could reasonably be increased, given a high cost. Again, remember that you will have to establish costs on a per-spell basis, not just "all are high" unless you actually want them to all be of the same cost.

Range limitations are still nonexistant.

You didn't answer me. I swear, no one does. The semi-transformations don't change any stats, riiiiiiight?

This is coming along better.

Seinvocc