I'm just popping up from lurking here to say I cannot wait to see how you've got this combat system set up. Also, your style of writing continues to be strangely familiar to me, and overall quite pleasant. Thank you for your efforts, both so far and continuing onwards.
Well, here it is. Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair.
Okay, so, I haven't actually fully caught up but... Will the events of Grimm Eclipse happen? I think that's canon, and I do kind of feel like Merlot might make an interesting foe for Jaune specifically. Granted, that's like inbetween Volumes 2 & 3, and we're still at Volume 1 timewise right?
Also, entirely different question, is this gonna be a "One Waifu Only" kind of quest? Fundamentally I don't mind, but my goodness so many Best Girls... that and I do think polyamory could do with more positive representation, but like... I just wanna know if a "shipping war" is gonna be a thing, or if "why not [X]?", cause I don't wanna get caught up in a shipping war.
I can't comment, because I know literally
nothing about Grimm Eclipse beyond something something Merlot, something something Mountain Glenn, something something toying with forces beyond human ken in an utterly stunning display of hubris unlikely to be matched by anything short of just igniting the atmosphere with nuclear weapons. I also know that it takes place between volumes 2 and 3, so it's not going to be my problem until I'm 34.
I thought he was definitely open to the idea of Jaune getting into a relationship, he was just going to sidetrack the questers by throwing so many Best Girls at us that we tear each other apart instead of actually committing to any one of
them.
Honestly, that was mostly just a chaff statement in and of itself to hide the fact that I honestly had
zero interest in writing romance. Now, I'll admit that my stance has softened over time, and as such, my demands are simple:
If people can play nice about it and not sabotage actually important parts of the quest in the process of trying to pick someone to hold hands with and smooch, I genuinely couldn't give less of a damn about who Jaune ends up holding hands with and smooching, or how
many people Jaune ends up holding hands with and smooching, whether it's zero, or one, or two, or three. I don't have any personal preference for whoever he ends up with, because I'm reasonably certain I could make most serious suggestions work, with my confidence ranging from "piece of piss" to "
ehhhhhhhhh that's a very hard maybe."
I try to approach shipping as a puzzle; what would it take to make this pairing work, and how many flavours can I get out of it? What if I change this, does that change that? How would excluding these people from the mix by pairing them off affect everyone left, who would
they end up with? It's why I've never enjoyed that ride-or-die mentality so many authors and commenters seem to have; variety is the spice of life.
I've gotten off-track; romance will be, at best, a backseat aspect of this quest from beginning to end. The second it stops being that, and starts being detrimental, is when I start ignoring votes and comments about the subject again. Play nice, be gracious if your ship doesn't sail, and maybe the boy eventually gets better than a peck on the cheek.
About half the class raises their hands at first, and you choose not to join them-
{Dove has his hand up if you're hoping for some guilt-free violence.}
Ah. Yes, you… completely forgot about what you promised Sky yesterday. With a minimum of beleaguered sighing, you raise your hand and only blanch a little when Professor Goodwitch
snaps to look at you.
"Arc, Bronzewing- you shall be the inaugural fight of this class."
If you didn't know better, you'd think she
knew about what you'd said to Sky yesterday, or even what Dove did to deserve your collective ire.
{I have
no doubts that she's aware.}
You doubt that she particularly cares. Is it a test?
Well, it doesn't matter. You shake 01 out of your hair, prompting it to gently
hup over to Lumen's shoulder and hide in
his hair with Alabaster. The other boy stifles a giggle at the sensation of two Cells shuffling about on the back of his neck, vying for space and chirping away at each other.
{Why
do Cells enjoy hiding in people's hair so much?}
Nobody looks for us there, and it feels nice!
You get up and walk to the stairs on one side of the stage, Dove waiting for you on the other side. You know, objectively, that he's not giving you some smug look of superiority; literally, you can
see his face broken down into possible emotions, and not one is looking down at you.
…
But you still wanna squash his smug little face with your bare hands-
{Jaune. Calm down. I know what you're looking to do, and we'll need to be smart if you want to get away with it, and the first step of being smart about this is to
calm down.}
You take a measured breath and push your feelings to the side. By the time you're at your set of stairs, Professor Goodwitch watching impassively, you certainly feel… much better.
"Combatants, take to the stage," Goodwitch announces.
You ascend as Dove does the same, walking onto the stage. Your footsteps go from the hard clack of concrete to the low, warm creaking of old hardwood floors. Further in from the edge, there are two white squares, painted onto the boards with pinpoint precision.
"If you turn your attention to the floor, you shall see two white squares. All battles shall start from there unless I say otherwise. Please enter your squares, gentlemen."
{Hear that, Jaune? You're a
gentleman.}
Resisting the urge to roll your eyes at Blue's teasing, you step into your square as Dove does the same, taking position about 10 metres away from each other.
"Ready yourselves."
The Transistor's handle presses into your hand, the bulk of the sword resting on your shoulder. In retrospect, you kinda wish you'd kept that divot from the Initiation, it sat
wonderfully on your shoulder back then.
Dove draws his sword; an old pattern of longsword, made back before humans worked
steel. You know it isn't, but you almost
hope it was work-hardened, rather than oil-quenched. Bending his sword out of shape would be
incredibly satisfying.
{Okay, you're not normally this vindictive, even against open racists. What's up?}
… He hurt your friend. Isn't that reason enough?
Your sword goes silent for a moment. Muffled chatter goes on in the background between your AI friends. You don't like being kept out like this, and for once you feel like forcing the issue-
Attitude: 4
You feel an eyelid twitch. It's just enough to force some introspection- yes, this
isn't normal, is it? Getting this angry at Dove is one thing, but turning it on your friends?
{Look, we're... we're gonna keep you under surveillance for the moment. Just, call it a hunch?}
Not that you wanted to, but you're too mortified to object anyway.
While that little conversation went on, Dove flicked out the cylinder in the base of the sword- counting out five bullets from a pocket and loading them into the gun, before flicking it closed.
Right, this is- this is prep time. Gods, your head is fuzzy.
Functions loaded?
16 out of 16 MEM units used; current list is… everything but Spin().
Everything but Spin()?
Everything but Spin(). In ascending order of cost: Crash(), Ping(), Freeze(), Spark(), Bounce(), Load(), Jaunt(), and Breach(). We're full up.
{Spin() would
probably be a little much for a first fight. Especially if it misses.}
8 seconds of out-of-control Spin()
would probably cause an incredible amount of damage. To everything
.
{
Everything.}
Oh god I'm looking at the simulation now, we are never firing that inside Beacon. Ozpin would harvest your organs to pay for the damages.
"On my mark."
You shake the cotton out of your head and focus on Dove. Dove and his
smug little…
Perfectly focused face. No smugness, no goading. A mask of perfect neutrality. Glad to know he can take
some things seriously.
A klaxon goes off, once, twice, three times-
"Begin!"
Initiative Rolls:
Dove: 1d10 +2 = 5
Jaune: 1d10 +2 = 12
Status:
Aura: 6/6
Injuries: None
Attitude: 4
Action Plan:
Actions available (and the order they will be taken in):
-1 Special Action
-2 Light Attacks OR 1 Heavy Attack OR 1 Assist/Malus, AND 1 Movement Action (Press Forward/Jaunt()/Disengage)
Current Equipment: The Transistor, Zero Hour.
Special Action:
[] Turn()- Take an extra turn, doubling all actions. All Functions besides Jaunt() are locked for 3 turns. Turn() is locked for 6.
[] Yield- Yield the fight, immediately ending hostilities. Walk back with no damage other than your pride.
Light Attacks: Hack-Slash +1, Success Threshold: 2. ½ Weapon Base Damage.
[]Crash(): Destructive analysis. Weak, short-range. 50% chance of causing the Crash status effect (double all damage, raises all Success Thresholds by 1. Lasts 1d3 turns.)
[] Ping(): a rapid-fire stream of energy bullets. (Spray-And-Pray: Dice Threshold lowered by 1 (7->6))
[] Spark(): Launch fast unstable shells that split into explosive particles. (AoE: -1 to Kinetics dodge roll. Can hit multiple targets.)
[] Zero Hour: The bladed edge of your shield isn't just for show. Go for a quick slash or two, test his defences. (Requires Movement Action: Press Forward)
Heavy Attacks: Hack-Slash. Success Threshold: 3. x1.5 Weapon Base Damage.
[] Bounce(): Discharge a ricocheting bolt that jumps from Target to Target. (Homing: can hit multiple targets.)
[] Load(): Form a volatile Packet. Strike Packet to produce a large blast. (Batter Up: Forms a Target that must be attacked to cause damage.)
[] Breach(): Pierce Targets with great force across long distances. (Long-Range: Is capable of hitting most Targets without moving into close-range combat.)
[] Zero Hour: The bladed edge of your shield isn't just for show. Gut him like a Kuchinashi game hen. (Requires Movement Action: Press Forward)
Movement: Kinetics. Success Threshold: 1.
[] Press Forward: Bring yourself into Close-Range with a Target. Negates Disengage actions on successful Kinetics roll.
[] Disengage: Move out of combat with a Target. Regain 1 point of Aura every round out of combat.
[] Jaunt(): Transport User to a nearby location directly ahead. Any enemies in the path travelled have a 50% chance of gaining the Green-Gilled status effect. (Movement Success Thresholds are doubled. Attack Success Thresholds are not. 10% chance of vomiting. This has no strategic advantage, it's just gross, psychologically disheartening, and feeds that vindictive little gremlin in your brain that likes seeing gross things happen to people you don't like.)
Assistance and Hindrances: Stat-Specific. Success Threshold: 2.
Assistance:
[] Analyse Yourself: Reveals hidden status effects or Hindrances. Deal with them, perhaps. (Attitude)
[] Write-In
Hindrances:
[] Analyse The Enemy: you've never seen Dove fight before, so it's time for some on-the-job training. See how he moves- learn how he's going to move. (Learning)
[] Write-In
