User:Raine Valen/Design/Project Peach/Skills

Skill Mechanics

Usage Types

Action

Action skills are what one typically thinks of when they think "skill": a character uses these for various effects when they are available, like casting a spell or using a special attack. However, Action skills also encompass many basic actions, like picking up items, swinging a sword at an enemy, or talking to an NPC.
Available Action skills are contextual; that is, they depend on your State and what you are targeting. For example, "Pick up item" won't be available unless you're targeting an item.

Counter

Counter skills are skills used to defend against the Actions of others. These skills can only be used when a character becomes the target of the appropriate type of Action. Most Counter skills are defensive in nature: they may block or dodge an attack or spell, or interrupt a hostile action. Additionally, many Counter skills may also have an offensive aspect, and may even stop an attacker for a period of time, enabling a character to begin an offensive effort.

• A Counter skill with an offensive aspect attempts the offensive aspect after the defensive aspect is resolved. For example, using a shield bash to Counter a melee attack would cause the acting character to block the next attack against him, followed by counterattacking his attacker (following the normal rules and mechanics of an attack). Using this same shield bash to Counter an attack made from outside the character's melee range (such as a bow or spear attack, or perhaps a spell) would result in the attack being blocked, but the counterattack failing with the same results as any other melee attack attempted on a target out of the character's range.

Passive

Passive skills are never actually used by the player, but rather come into effect when certain conditions are met. Passive skills, for the most part, fall into one of three categories:

• Innate
  • Innate Passive skills are always active and continually provide an effect. For example, a Passive skill that causes a character to move faster or jump higher would be considered "Innate".
• Enhancing
  • Enhancement-type Passive skills improve the performance of a character's Actions. For example, an Enhancement might cause a character to use a certain Action in a different way, such as by increasing the closing speed for a specific attack Action or by decreasing the Prepare time for spells.
• Enabling
  • Passive skills that allow a character to do things that they are not usually able to do are considered to be Enabling. A skill that lets a character wield a broken sword as a dagger would be considered an "Enabling" skill.

While Active and Counter skills define what a character does, Passive skills largely define who a character is by determining what areas they excel in.

Disciplines

There are three main Disciplines, each of which refers broadly to a set of skills. Each of the three main Disciplines contains subsequently smaller disciplines, which contain smaller disciplines, and so on and so forth until each skill is unique. The three main disciplines are:

• Martial
  • Martial skills include any skills that are physical in nature. A skill that makes your particular perform a particularly heavy attack, a skills that makes a character roll to avoid incoming attacks, and a skill that deflects an attack with a shield would all be considered Martial skills.
• Magical
  • Magical skills, of course, include any skills that are magical in nature. Skills that shoot fireballs, change the weather, or heal allies would all be considered Magical.
• Mechanical
  • Mechanical skills include skills that get into technical expertise. A skill that mixes an explosive potion from certain materials, a skill that reloads a firearm, or a skill that sets a trap would all be considered Mechanical.

However, it should be noted that these disciplines may overlap; a skill that makes a potion infused with magic would be Mechanical and Magical in nature, for example.

Martial

The Martial Discipline contains skills that deal with a character's physical ability. Among other things, this Discipline contains Special Weapon Attacks, Grapples, Martial Blocks and Holds, and Character Movement Skills:

• Special Weapon Attacks are specialty attacks performed with a chosen weapon. These can either be general or specific in nature – that is, they can be used with any martial weapon, a general martial weapon class (i.e. "slashing weapons", "bows", or "light weapons"), or with only a specific martial weapon type (i.e. "fencing sabers" or "heavy axes"). These attacks, mostly, are stronger than normal attacks, are faster than normal attacks, or have effects that normal effects do not. In some cases, more than one of those may be true; conversely, one may be inverted as a drawback. For example, a particularly strong attack may be slower than a normal attack to compensate for its high damage.
  
  • An Attack may be prefixed with the weapon type it requires. For example, a Shield Attack cannot be initiated without a Shield equipped, nor can a Sword Attack without a Sword or a Fencing Sabre Attack without a Fencing Sabre.
    
  • Some Attacks may be specified under a subcategory, such as Counters, Slashes, Thrusts, Bludgeons, or Throws. Unless otherwise specified, these subcategories share the same properties of normal attacks (e.g. swing time, range, and base damage) and follow the same rules and mechanics.
    
• Grapples are martial skills that either restrain or move an opponent by holding them in place or by throwing them. Grapples are a special subcategory of Attack, but may or may not share the properties of a basic attack.
  
• Martial Blocks and Holds are two types of defensive Martial skills. A block stops or deflects an attack, while a hold specifically counterattacks and temporarily incapacitates an attacker if successful. Holds are more powerful than blocks, but require more precise timing to succeed.
  
• Character Movement Skills allow your character to perform feats of physical strength, like leaping tall rocks in a single bound or diving out of the way of moving cars in a particularly smart fashion. Unlike the other classes of skills, movement skills are more general-purpose and can be used either offensively or defensively.

Magical

Magical Discipline skills deal with arcane arts. This Discipline is more difficult to categorize than the Martial Discipline because it contains so many more sorts of skills, but some examples include:

• Direct Offensive Spells deal direct damage and may have other effects. For example, a spell that strikes an enemy with a lightning bolt may also stun them in addition to dealing damage.
• Arcane Buffs and Debuffs increase or decrease the power of something, respectively. A spell that magically sets an ally's weapon on fire for extra damage would qualify as a buff; a spell that binds an enemy's feet by capturing them in the earth would qualify as a debuff. Buffs and debuffs encompass far too many different effects to detail here.
• Arcane Healing heals allies with magic.

Mechanical

The Mechanical Discipline skills deal with creation, usage, or maintenance of any product of the sciences of Engineering and Alchemy.

• Alchemy is the general art of creating a substance from its components. Creating flammable gunpowder from coal and sulfur qualifies as an alchemical skill.
• Technical Assembly skills deal with creating an item from components. Creating a grenade from gunpowder and a hollow casing would be an assembly skill.
• Technical Usage skills deal with using certain pieces of equipment, like firing a gun or performing a special maneuver with a vehicle.
• Technical Maintenance skills deal with repairing or enhancing equipment. A skill that gives a sword an unnaturally sharp edge or fortifies a piece of armor would fall into this subcategory.

Momentum and Synergy

Because of the nature of Prepare and Wait time, many skills can build on each other. For example, take a hammer attack that is Prepared for by building momentum and another hammer attack that you must Wait for a swing to stop. Because you are already swinging for the Wait time of one skill, you can skip both that phase and the other skill's Prepare phase!
Momentum is especially important for physical attackers, but it can similarly be applied to many spells. Many Psychic spells, for example, are Prepared for by entering a trance state and require the user to Wait or Recover from that state afterward. In those situations, a user may be able to use another Psychic spell before recovering from trance state without having to reenter it.

Skill Acquisition

There are three methods through which characters may acquire skills:

• Training:
  • As per the traditional approach, characters may learn certain skills by speaking with a Skill Trainer that teaches that skill. There is usually a fee associated with this.
• Reading:
  • Many books or scrolls throughout the land detail skill usage and technique. Characters may learn new skills by studying these pieces, provided that they have the required discipline spec and any prerequisite skills necessary.
• Emulation:
  • If a character has the required Discipline spec and all prerequisite skills for a skill, they may learn it by targeting any other character within a certain range as they use that skill. This happens passively, so characters can grow in knowledge simply by playing the game.

Skill Statistics

Skills are measured by their timing; that is, the time it takes to Prepare to use, Use, Recover from, Wait for, and Cool from each use. These times are measured in tenths of seconds.

Example Skills

Bloody Crescent

• Action Available: Decide, Wait.
  • Prepare: Build scythe momentum. Movement possible, martial counter impossible.
  • Action: Scythe Attack. Spins your scythe in a great arc. Deals heavy damage to any foes hit.
  • Recover: Regain balance after strike.
  • Wait: Scythe spin slows to a stop. Movement possible, martial counter impossible.
  • Range: Immediate.
  • During Decide: 7_P, 12_A, 5_R, 10_W, 0_C.
  • During Wait: 0_P, 12_A, 10_R, 15_W, 60_C.
• Discipline: Martial, Scythe Attacks

Elemental Prism

• Action Available: Decide.
  • Prepare: Gather the energies of Fire, Earth, Lightning, Ice, Water, and Wind. Movement impossible, elemental counter possible.
  • Action: Spell. Deals low elemental damage. Deals additional elemental damage every second for 5 seconds. Never deals the same elemental damage twice per cast.
  • Recover: Recover from casting strain.
  • Wait: Excess energy dissipates. Movement slowed, counter possible.
  • Range: 50 feet.
  • During Decide: 10_P, 6_A, 4_R, 10_W, 30_C.
• Discipline: Magical, Elemental Offense

Shield Bash

• Action Available: Decide, Wait.
  • Prepare: Rush at target. Movement enhanced, counter possible.
  • Action: Shield Attack. Deals mild damage. Causes moderate knockback.
  • Recover: Regain balance.
  • Wait: Lower shield into neutral position. Movement slowed, shield counter impossible.
  • Range: 5 feet.
  • During Decide: 3_P, 6_A, 1_R, 8_W, 10_C.
  • During Wait: 2_P, 6_A, 8_R, 13_W, 40_C.
• Counter Available: Decide, Recover, Wait, Cool.
  • Counter: Shield Counter. Triggers on an incoming attack. Blocks that attack. Counterattacks to cause moderate knockback if that attack was a melee attack.
  • Recover: Regain balance.
  • Wait: Lower shield into neutral position. Movement slowed, shield counter impossible.
  • During Decide, Wait, or Cool: 0_P, 4_A, 2_R, 13_W, 10_C.
  • During Recover: 0_P, 6_A, 7_R, 13_W, 30_C.
• Discipline: Martial, Shield Brawling Skills

Swift Riposte

• Counter Available: Decide, Recover, Wait, Cool.
  • Counter: Sabre Counter. Triggers on an incoming attack. Blocks that attack. Counterattacks to cause moderate damage if that attack was a melee attack.
  • Recover: Regain balance.
  • Wait: Return to en guarde. Movement and counter impossible.
  • During Decide, Wait, or Cool: 0_P, 2_A, 1_R, 6_W, 0_C.
  • During Recover: 0_P, 4_A, 4_R, 8_W, 20_C.
• Discipline: Martial, Fencing Arts

Wastrel's Worry

• Action Available: Decide
  • Prepare: Focus the mind into trance state. Movement and counter impossible.
  • Action: Arcane Psychic Debuff. After 3 seconds, if target foe is in Decide state, that foe enters Recover state for 1 second.
  • Recover: Fall from trance state.
  • Wait: Regain alertness. Movement and counter severely slowed.
  • Range: 50 feet.
  • During Decide: 10_P, 0_A, 10_R, 10_W, 30_C.
• Discipline: Magical, Psychic Debuffs

Word of Healing

• Action Available: Decide.
  • Prepare: Gather healing energy. Movement impossible, counter impossible.
  • Action: Healing Spell. Moderately heals target. Exceptionally heals target if that target was at critical health.
  • Recover: Recover from casting strain.
  • Wait: Excess energy dissipates. Movement slowed, counter possible.
  • Range: 50 feet.
  • During Decide: 7_P, 3_A, 3_R, 6_W, 10_C.
• Discipline: Magical, Arcane Healing