Renascence: A Homura Quest

[Higure]

Oh shit.
It is possible for Homura to learn Hamon.
It is possible for Homura to obtain a Stand.

Click to shrink...

It is possible for Homura to learn Hamon.
I will not answer this at this time.

 

[Higure]

Prime Minister​

I straighten my tie, casting my eyes around the audience hall, taking in the fantastical opulence of the Green Drawing Room, the visages of nobles and royals regarding me from their picture frames.

The finely crafted chair is far from comfortable, for all its plushness. No, as luxurious as my surroundings are, I cannot imagine ever being comfortable here.

I shuffle the sheaf of documents in my lap, glancing over the proposal again. She will have received her copy already, and we can discuss solutions. The recent protests about potentially harmful artistic expression are causing a serious uproar and disrupting the economy. It's important that we come out and show we're acting on this now. Increasing automated monitoring of internet activity, bending hate speech laws a bit to deal with anything that we need to calm the people, tightening copyright enforcement for the sake of our corporate backers…all of it is really quite obvious, strictly speaking.

Yet, here I am, sweating in spite of the conditioned air. Ridiculous.

"Her Majesty will see you now."

The young woman--more a girl really--with pink hair speaks up from where she stands guard next to the Throne Room, having apparently received word through an ear piece or some such.

Armed guards were bad enough, but dressing in actual plate armor is absurd. Elizabeth never would have--well, I suppose that doesn't matter anymore, does it?

I stand, smoothing my suit and straightening my tie again, and enter the Throne Room.

The Queen--no, King, very progressive that--is waiting for me. A short, blonde girl. Surely not a day over 16. Nowhere near old enough to even sit on the Throne, much less do what she's done, and yet this is the reality.

She sits straight-backed, the crown upon her head--not Elizabeth's Crown, with its jewels and fine fabrics, but a wicked thing of steel and gold, hard and unyielding, that she wears in perpetuity.

The moment I enter the room, I feel the urge to kneel, my pride and training only barely keeping me on my feet as she regards me with a cold dispassion. Not a politician or a symbol. Not a petty tyrant consumed by ego. She sits as Judge, Jury, and Executioner, and my knees feel weak beneath my King's gaze.

"H-have you reviewed my proposal? I believe it will be an ideal solution to our current--"

She stands, hefting that sword with unconscious ease and descends to approach me.

My will crumbles as I begin to shake, falling to one knee and lowering my eyes, unable to do anything else before her.

"Please, your Majesty! Britain needs--!"

Her voice cuts through my protests, "Britain needs an educational system that provides our citizenry with the needed skills to live successful, happy lives while maintaining competition with our many, many rivals."

She draws closer, the sound of steel filling the room, "It also needs a military of sufficient power so as to avoid dependency upon said rivals in the event of war. Britain needs many things.

I can see her feet directly in front of me, even with my eyes lowered to the ground, "Britain does not need your petty meddling in the affairs of its citizenry's daily lives and beliefs. If one man angers another, then that is not Our problem until they violate Our peace. These protests are not the voices of all of Britain, but a few angry souls, and We will not betray Our people by turning Our laws against them--not for a bare handful's wishes, and not for the greed of the mighty. Do you understand Us?"

Nausea twists my stomach. This isn't how it's done. It's not! We--we--we need to make sure they still love us! We have to keep them happy and fed and content! Not--not whatever this is!

"Please--!"

Her voice is like a hammer upon my spine, "Are We understood, Prime Minister?"

I squeeze my eyes shut, choking back tears, "Yes, my Liege."

Her footsteps move away, and the pressure upon me fades until I can only faintly feel it. Hesitantly, I open my eyes and stand, finding her back upon the throne, that sword clasped before her as always.

With a wave of her hand she dismisses me, and I depart, dreading the response of my peers. They have not met her. They cannot know.

When I face them, I will make excuses. I will speak of superhuman armies, and the children we've failed coming for vengeance, and many other things. But these are mere excuses, for they will note accept the only true answer until mundanity finally dies.

She is our Once and Future King, and Her Will is Law.

​

 

[Cubbyhb1]

Hi, Arty!

 

[DaiReth]

Does this Artoria have her Shirou, or is she lonely?

 

[Spi.Guyver]

Wow. Lots to absorb here all at once. First we get a bit more insight into Homura's mother. Always good to see more of where our heroine comes from. I can start to see why she has family problems. But I really have to ask, is Kamiko Akemi based on an actual character from somewhere? Or is she just sort of made up for the purposes of this Quest?

Moving on to King Author here. That is something. I'm not going to go into my full reaction because I don't want to add political stuff to this thread, but I do approve of the King here. Though it has me wondering how this will impact Mitakihara and the quest to save the Holy Quintet. There appear to be more ground involved than I had originally thought.

 

[Herofox]

Does this Artoria have her Shirou, or is she lonely?

Click to shrink...

Probably lonely, she most likely never died here after all.

 

[Cubbyhb1]

I've come up with some clarification for my Blues:

If EMIYA was present in body, he could Trace Homura's Progressive Knife.

If EMIYA was present in body, he could Trace Heartstopper.

If EMIYA was present in body, he could Trace the Lance of Longinus (referring to the version of the weapon appearing in this quest, not to the Nasuverse version of the weapon)

To determine wither those Reds were about Sayaka's abilities, or they were about some property(s) of these weapons.

 

[Higure]

If EMIYA was present in body, he could not Trace Homura's Progressive Knife.

If EMIYA was present in body, he could not Trace Heartstopper.

If EMIYA was present in body, he could not Trace the Lance of Longinus (referring to the version of the weapon appearing in this quest, not to the Nasuverse version of the weapon)

Wow. Lots to absorb here all at once. First we get a bit more insight into Homura's mother. Always good to see more of where our heroine comes from. I can start to see why she has family problems. But I really have to ask, is Kamiko Akemi based on an actual character from somewhere? Or is she just sort of made up for the purposes of this Quest?

Click to shrink...

Kamiko is just a new character outright. Same with Homura's father. Too big a game world to populate it only with known characters, and Homura's parents being expies would be excessively weird.

 

[SpeckofStardust]

...
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Progressive Knife.
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Heartstopper.
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Higure's quest version of Lance of Longinus.

 

[Higure]

...
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Progressive Knife.
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Heartstopper.
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Higure's quest version of Lance of Longinus.

Click to shrink...

EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Homura's Progressive Knife.
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Heartstopper.
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record the Lance of Longinus created by Kyouko and Homura.

 

[SpeckofStardust]

EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Homura's Progressive Knife.
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record Heartstopper.
EMIYA'S unlimited blade works cannot record the Lance of Longinus created by Kyouko and Homura.

Click to shrink...

Cool MG weapons are as BS as EA

 

[Higure]

Overview

The Fleeting Time System is built as a tool for narrative acceleration, above all else. That being said, it also aims to assist in splitting activities in Homura's schedule, so that multiple narrative and mechanical goals can be pursued in parallel, helping to discourage the monotony that can come from spending extended periods on a single narrow task, as has happened repeatedly in the past.

In general, the system works by simply giving Homura a finite number of daily Actions, which are chosen when she fills out her daily planner each morning. These Actions are divided into several types, and can be spent on various activities, based upon their type.

What follows is a detailed explanation of each Action type. Note that the details of each situation are largely handled by Homura herself--faster pacing sadly demands less granular player interaction, unfortunately.

Investigative Actions and Clues

Investigative Actions
"I cannot win as I am. There must be opportunities I'm missing."

Investigative Actions seek to gather information in the world and are, in many ways, the heart of the system. They come in two varieties: Mystery Investigations and Discovery Investigations.

Mystery Investigations gather information about a specific, established Mystery that Homura has discovered and has reason to investigate.

• Spending an Investigative Action on a Mystery Investigation allows Homura to roll Investigation and add the result to the Mystery's Progress.
• Each Mystery has an invisible Goal Number. When a Mystery's Progress reaches this number, there is nothing further to discover and no further rewards to be gained.
• Each Mystery also has a visible Breakthrough Number. When a Mystery's Progress reaches this number a Clue will be discovered in regards to the Mystery.

Discovery Investigations aim to seek out new information about Discovery Targets, rather than deeply exploring specific Mysteries. They operate similarly to Mystery Investigations, but with a few key differences.

• Rather than Breakthrough Numbers, Discovery Investigations have Discovery Numbers. They operate much the same, but produce a Discovery rather than a Clue.
  • Discoveries can include: Clues, Locations, Resources, Items, Characters, and Missions.
  • When a Discovery is a Clue, it may be for an existing Mystery, or may be a First Clue for a new Mystery.
• Rather than a Goal Number, Discovery Investigations an Exhaustion Number. When this is reached, there is currently no more to discover about the Discovery Target, and it will gain the [Exhausted] tag in the turn menu.
• Once a Discovery Target is exhausted, Homura passively keeps an eye on the Discovery Target without using Actions. If a new Discovery becomes available, she'll hear a rumor or catch a hint and the Discovery Target will lose the [Exhausted] tag in the menu.
• Discovery Targets are primarily city Districts, Locations, and Characters.
  • Districts usually yield Locations, Characters, and Resources.
  • Locations usually yield Clues, Items, and Missions.
  • Characters usually yield Clues or Missions. Alternatively, investigating a Character may unlock them as a Social Action target.

Clues
"There's something here I'm missing."

Clues represent major steps towards solving a Mystery. They can be gained by reaching Breakthrough Numbers and sometimes through Discoveries.

In addition, First Clues are what grant Homura the ability to investigate a Mystery in the first place, and are gained through story events or Discoveries.

Finally, if the players wish to Investigate a topic that Homura does not have a Clue for, they can make a Clueless Mystery Investigation roll (writing in the topic of interest). This requires an Investigation Roll against a (generally very high) DC in order to find a First Clue about the topic, if there is a Mystery to be found at all.

Sometimes, discovering a Clue triggers a Mission. Until the Mission is completed, the Mystery cannot be investigated further, and no additional Clues can be discovered.

Mission Actions

Mission Actions
"All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good magical girls to do nothing."

Mission Actions are used to take actual action in the world and complete objectives. They can be Simple or Complex.

Simple Mission Actions are completed automatically as part of the next update. Such actions require no player input after the initial vote.

Complex Mission Actions begin a series of votes and updates to complete the mission, more akin to the original Renascence system. Sometimes they may be handled through mid-week mini-updates, to avoid delays.

Social Actions, Friends, and Allies

Social Actions
"Friends are no longer a luxury, but a necessity."

Spend time with another character, building friendships and progressing their subplot. Social Actions are handled similarly to Mystery Investigation Actions. Homura selects a person to spend time with and does so. Socialize is rolled, and the result is added to their Bond Value. When the Bond Value reaches a Breakthrough Number, either a Mission is unlocked or a significant social scene occurs. Afterwards, the corresponding Social Link levels up, sometimes granting a secondary reward in the process.

Friends and Allies
"Meet me at Mercury's, Kyouko. I require your assistance with something. I will pay for the ice cream."

Your Friends and Allies all have their own goals and lives, but that doesn't mean they can't help you out from time to time. Depending on your Social Link with them, other characters can asked to perform Actions on your behalf. Note that most other characters will produce significantly less results than Homura, however: They normally roll a dice with a number of sides equal to their Social Link x 10, rather than 1d100, as they are only as motivated as Homura inspires them to be.

In order to make use of characters in this way, Homura must first have them as a Social Link. Then, as part of her turn, she can make a Request of anyone she knows. Characters performing a Request will continue to perform the relevant Action until it is completed or until the end of the week, and will be listed next to it in the Turn Menu. Keep in mind that characters may refuse to perform a Request that is too onerous, conflicts with existing plans, o4r is against their preferences.


Note that, while Homura can make a Request for help with Social Actions (see Teamwork), a Request cannot be used to have another character perform a Social Action alone--Homura must participate in all Social Actions.

Independent Actions
"I'm gonna help Mami. Are you going to help me help Mami?"


Sometimes, characters will pursue actions on their own, and simply collaborate with Homura. When doing so, characters roll a full 1d100, rather than the smaller dice used when performing actions on request.

Teamwork
"So, how are we doing this, Ribbons?"

If a character is performing a Request or Independent Action, and Homura performs the same action, they will work together. Both characters roll as normal for the action AND Homura makes a Socialize Roll and gains half of the result as progress towards their Social Link (a Social Action is needed to actually raise a Social Link's level, however).

Friends vs. Allies
"I know you don't like her, Sayaka, but we need her for this."

Allies are individuals Homura has a professional relationship with. They will perform Requests, but may require compensation--usually in the form of a request of their own, referred to as Favors. Once an Ally has an outstanding Favor, they will not perform Requests until the Favor has been completed. Outstanding Favors will appear in Homura's Turn Menu in the appropriate Action category.

Some Favors are Urgent. Urgent Favors have a time limit. Failing to complete an Urgent Favor before time runs out will result in the Ally's Social Link dropping by 1 Level.

Sometimes, Allies become Friends as their Social Link rises.

Friends are individuals Homura has a personal relationship with. They will perform Requests without requiring a Favor in return.

Note that, whenever the term Ally is used in other contexts within the documentation, this includes Friends. When Friend is used, this does not include Allies.

Training Actions

Training Actions
"I have to be stronger."

Training Actions represent the use of time, effort, and resources in order to improve one of Homura's Skills or the Skills of an Ally. Training Actions are largely automatic: Homura will automatically use appropriate Training Resources. Players only need to select which Skill to train.

That said, it is important that players consider what resources are available and seek out those that are needed: Training with no resources is extremely slow, and new Skills may only be obtained if Homura has a corresponding Training Resource.

When training an ally, Homura will automatically use resources she possesses on their behalf, and may herself be considered a Training Resource, acting as a Teacher if she has a higher level in the Skill than the person she is training.


Training Resources

Skill Books grant a small bonus to Training Actions, but have a finite number of "charges" per book, after which the book is expended.

Libraries work as Skill Books, but have far more charges, representing the many books within.

Teachers provide a significant training bonus, which varies between Teachers, as long as their student's Skill Bonus is less than or equal to theirs.

Study Partners act as Teachers, but offer a much smaller bonus. A Study Partner's Skill Level can be up to 15 levels lower than the person they're assisting and still offer a bonus. Notably, a Training Action that uses a Study Partner allows both participants raise their Skill Level.

Crafting Actions

Crafting Actions
"Some things cannot be made by human hands; fortunately, I am a magical girl."

Crafting Actions have been simplified. Instead of a complex design menu, players simply select:

Product Type: Clock, Gun, Car, etcetera.
Ambition: On a scale of 1 to 20. Higher Ambition means a better result on success, but also a higher DC. (DC = 50 + (Ambition x 10))
General Description: Explanation of the objects purpose and, optionally, general design.

Alternatively, very unique products can be crafted by giving an exact description of the product. The QM will then declare an Ambition for that particular product and roll against the resulting DC.

If a product requires materials Homura does not have access to, the Crafting Action will fail automatically.

Magic Actions

Magic Actions
"Miracles and Magic exist. It's a shame I have to work so hard on them."

Magic Actions represent the development or use of Spells in a specialized way.

Unlike other options, it is possible to decline to perform a Magic Action--this gains no additional actions, only avoiding the energy cost associated with performing Magic Actions, in case Homura is low on Grief Seeds.

Magic Actions come in three varieties: Development Magic Actions, Usage Magic Actions, and Workings.

Development Magic Actions work like simplified Item Crafting--the players only specify what kind of Spell they want to create. This can be broad (A Spell to Heal) or narrow (A Spell to Heal Sayaka's Brain Damage); broad descriptions almost always produce a usable result, with higher Development rolls producing better spells. Narrow descriptions are more likely to produce nothing, but can produce exactly what is desired if the appropriate DC is met. The format is as follows:

[ ] Development
-[ ] Desired Spell Description.

The players will not be informed of the Development DC until the Spell is successfully created, but rolls will be made publicly.

---

Usage Magic Actions can imitate other actions to a degree, but are limited exclusively to the use of a designated Spell or Spells; Homura will approach these actions with a focus on utilizing the chosen Spell(s), rather than anything else. The format for these is as follows:

[ ] Usage
-[ ] Spells
-[ ] Purpose
-[ ] Reason for action.

For example:

[ ] Usage
-[ ] Minor Healing
-[ ] Heal injured people at the hospital.
-[ ] Madoka would want to ease their suffering.

Note the explanation of why the actions is being performed. This is a necessity: This informs Homura's behavior and approach. Without this, Homura might very well decide she's healing people at the hospital as a training exercise, and that it makes sense to recreate their injuries afterwards in order to maintain secrecy (for an extreme example). Seriously, include your reason.

---

Finally, Workings may be attempted. These work like a combination of Development and Usage Actions: Homura attempts to use magic to achieve a chosen goal, and will need to make a Magical Theory roll in order to succeed. This does not require an existing Spell to be known, unlike a Usage action, but does not result in Homura learning a new Spell like a Development Action. Notably, Workings can produce more powerful effects than normal Spells, as they involve the investment of significant time and effort rather than being possible to cast in the heat of the moment.

[ ] Working
-[ ] Objective

Some Workings may require additional Skills other than Magical Theory in order to perform--these are not revealed up front, but may be predicted through the use of logic. Alternatively, the Research Action can be used to gain a greater understanding of the Working before performing it (revealing the Skills and DCs for the Working).

------

Magic Actions have a Magic cost associated with them; this is not something Homura can know ahead of time, and thus is not public. If Homura would come close to Witching from a Magic Action, she will either use a Grief Seed or refuse to perform it (if she is out of Grief Seeds).

Research Actions

Research Actions
"Without proper planning, I'll waste a great deal of time and effort. Efficiency is key."

Research Actions are used prior to a Crafting Action or Magic Action; doing so works as performing the action, save that instead of producing a final result, it produces a Theoretical Product, Spell, or Working (henceforth referred to as a Theory).

This can be used to develop multiple similar Theories, then pick which one to invest resources in. For example:

[X] Research
-[X] Spell Development
--[X] Combat-oriented Fire Spell

Performing the above action would allow Homura to research a Theory that uses fire in combat. Because "Combat-oriented Fire Spell" is a very broad Spell description, performing this same Research Action repeatedly could produce numerous different Theories that fit the description.

Players can then choose which of these Spells to actually use a Development Magic Action to create, making the necessary checks and expending resources to do so. This helps prevent Actions and Resources from being wasted on Spells which are too advanced or are not actually useful (since developing a "Combat-oriented Fire Spell" directly might lead to trying to develop something extremely advanced or barely useful, without prior research).

Furthermore, a Theoretical Spell's Development DCs are revealed, so the chance of succeeding at a Development Magic Action is known to the players and Homura, allowing more informed decision making.

The same principles apply for Crafting Actions and Workings--Theoretical versions of Products or Workings are developed, then can be realized by performing the appropriate Actions.

Research Actions use the Research Skill; DCs vary depending on what is being Researched, but are lower than the DCs for actually creating what is being theorized.

Home Actions

Home Actions
"I'm home. At least for this loop."

Home Actions can imitate any of the other forms of Action--in effect, Home Actions are "bonus" actions available based upon your residence, and thus help insure the completion of the primary "route" of the loop, as well as insuring that each home's secrets and benefits are discovered and acquired during a loop.

Which Actions are available as Home Actions will be displayed in the Turn Menu.

Sleep and Rest Actions

Sleep and Rest Actions
"I'm fine Sayaka, I can work a few more hours before--oh, fine, I'll go to bed."

Homura has 4 Actions each day set aside for sleep. Each Sleep Action spent on sleep recovers 20 Sanity (before modifiers from Items and Traits). A Sleep Action may instead be spent on another Action of any type, but doing so costs 20 Sanity. Sleep will not raise Sanity above 800.

Rest Actions operate similarly, but only grant 10 Sanity. Rest Actions can be taken instead of other Actions, however--this additional R&R is not as valuable as essential sleep, but can still be useful when Homura has been pushed to her limit. Homura refuses to take Rest Actions while above 400 Sanity.

Grand Undertakings

Grand Undertakings
"This is a major opportunity to gain an advantage; I cannot let it pass me by."

Grand Undertakings are long-term projects which take extended periods or work and struggle to complete, but do not benefit from direct roleplay, such as reconstructing the Yamato.

Grand Undertakings work much like Mysteries: You work towards a goal number by making repeated rolls. Grand Undertakings vary in Action Type based upon their nature, but otherwise work on the same principles as Mystery Investigations.

Grand Undertakings cannot be started arbitrarily. Investigations or Research may cause them to come into being, though, and players seeking to achieve something tremendous may perform a Research action on that task to see if it's viable as a Grand Undertaking.

This concludes the explanation of the Fleeting Time System. More adjustments will follow to the Quest soon--updates to Skills, Traits, and Spells to fit the new system, additional informational posts, and the like. Please read carefully, and feel free to ask questions about the system in the mean time--I am happy to clarify things further, and may adjust the above documentation reactively for future readers in response.

Thank you all for playing Renascence!

 

[justinkal]

This is pretty complicated and will probably take me a 'turn' or two to wrap my head around.

Clues represent major steps towards solving a Mystery. They can be gained by reaching Breakthrough Numbers and sometimes through Discoveries.

Click to shrink...

Can particularly clever blue truths contribute here, or only things that happen IC?

 

[Higure]

This is pretty complicated and will probably take me a 'turn' or two to wrap my head around.

Can particularly clever blue truths contribute here, or only things that happen IC?

Click to shrink...

Only IC information. That being said, you can use Blue Truths to guide your choices regarding Discovery Investigations (possibly finding Clues about a topic IC by doing so). You can also use them as a basis for starting a Clueless Mystery Investigation, in order to discover a new Mystery that a Truth has hinted at.

 

[Cubbyhb1]

I like the new system!

Question: would Homura looking into relativity to come up with the spell ideas from this post IC be a training action or a research action?

 

[Higure]

I like the new system!

Question: would Homura looking into relativity to come up with the spell ideas from this post IC be a training action or a research action?

Click to shrink...

Studying physics would be Training Action.

Developing a theoretical Spell along the lines of those described there (haste, spatial distortion, etc.) would be a Research Action.

Whether obtaining a deep understanding of relativity would help improve her use of Time Magic is a spoiler right now, due to her relatively low Magical Theory.

 

[Cubbyhb1]

Since you said spoilers, I won't use a Blue, but it makes sense to me that being able to spew a jargon explanation of your spell that you are pretty sure agrees with science would make your magic more efficient.

 

[Higure]

With a new turn system comes a new combat system, again aimed at streamlining out player micromanagement to accelerate narrative progression. During Boss Battles, players will still be able to make certain strategic decisions (if prompted), but tactical ones will be strictly handled by Homura and her team.

Most of this will be handled on my end, but a good understanding of it may be useful for you when making decisions about Training, Crafting, and Spell Development (among other things).

What follows is a general description of the system and character stats.

Character Stats

Wounds: The number of major injuries a character can take before being incapacitated. If a character takes an additional wound after being incapacitated, they are dead. If Homura would die, the loop resets instead.

Resistance: A character's ability to resist damage. When a character is wounded, subtract this value from the Harm of the attack. Resistance cannot reduce the number of Wounds taken below 1.

Regeneration (Cost): A character's ability to passively heal. Each round, the character removes a number of Wounds equal to their Regeneration. If the character requires a resource to be spent to benefit from Regeneration, this is the Cost, and it is paid each Round automatically.

Armor: A character's passive defense against attacks. If an Attack hits the character, but its Power is lower than the character's Armor, then character receives no Wounds.

Celerity: How quickly the character reacts in combat. Determines turn order.

Strength: Added to Power when Attacking with appropriate weapons.

Attack Stats

Power: The ability of the attack to overcome defenses. This is needed to overcome Armor.

Harm: The number of Wounds the attack will cause, if the target's Resistance is 0.

Accuracy: Modifies the attacking character's chance to hit. Fast or seeking attacks will have a positive modifier, while slow or random attacks will have a negative one.

Rounds

Combat takes place in Rounds. Each character receives a single Action each Round, although some Spells and Traits can alter this. Action order is determined by each character's Celerity. If a character is Ambushed (the enemy initiates combat without warning), they do not get to act in the first round of combat.

Actions

Actions can vary greatly, but some basics follow:

Assault: Attack with an equipped weapon. Mechanically, this is a single attack with a single weapon, but thematically it can be a complicated assault with multiple weapons just as easily. The equipped weapon is simply the one that the "decisive" strike of the Assault involves, and thus the one that determines damage dealt.

Defend: Protect a character. When an Attack or Pursue action is directed at that character, the Defending character can perform a Parry Reaction OR an Block Reaction, in additional to any normal Reactions they could perform. When used on oneself, the Block Reaction is useless, but the Parry Reaction can be performed an additional time.

Cast: Use a Spell or Technique.

Run: Flee from battle. At the end of the Round (rather than when the Action is taken), the character leaves the battle.

Pursue: Attempt to chase down an opponent who has Run from battle. At the end of the Round, the character starts a separate Battle with all opponents who have Run from the current battle.

Intercept: Prevent a character from successfully completing the Pursue action at the end of the Round. The character to be Intercepted is determined at the end of the Round, not when this Action is used.

Develop: Attempt to create and cast a new Spell on the fly, if you have Trait which permits it.

Reactions

Attack Reactions:

Dodge: Roll the Evasion Skill, opposing an Attack Roll. If you succeed, the Attack is negated. Some attacks cannot be Dodged.

Parry: Roll the Melee Skill, opposing an Attack Roll. If you succeed, the Attack is negated. Some attacks cannot be Parried.

Counter: Perform an Attack on the Attacker. They do not receive an Attack Reaction associated with being Attacked, but can use other Reactions they have access to.

Other Reactions:

Block: Made available by the Defend Action. Switch the target of an Attack to the user.

Resolving Attacks

The Attacker rolls their Attack Skill.

The Defender chooses an Attack Reaction to take: The standard Attack Reactions are Parry, Dodge, and Counter Reactions.

If the Attack is not negated by the Defender's Reaction:

Compare the Attack's Power to the Defender's Armor. If the Attack's Power is greater, the Defender takes Wounds equal to (The Attack's Harm - The Defender's Resistance), minimum 1.

 

[ShadowAngelBeta]

I feel like this might be overcomplicated.

Also that we need/should be able to leverage our transcendent marksmanship much better than we do.

That blue question about Hamon also wasn't complete, if I remember correctly we started into nasuverse magic of all things with an omake. So we can learn it, but like... would we ever actually?

Cause I would kind of like to shoot sun-bullets, its actually about what we need to make guns not a joke in supernatural combat.

 

[catDreaming]

I personally don't think either of the new turn or combat systems is too complex; Although it does raise one question.

@Higure , how will this incorporate the fact that (in the old system) Witches required either enchanted/magic weapons or other supernatural means to harm? Will that simply be true in the narrative, or will it be reflected by Homura still needing to enchant her ordinary military gear in some way to make it useful against Witches and other foes with similar levels of supernatural resilience?

 

[Higure]

I feel like this might be overcomplicated.

Also that we need/should be able to leverage our transcendent marksmanship much better than we do.

That blue question about Hamon also wasn't complete, if I remember correctly we started into nasuverse magic of all things with an omake. So we can learn it, but like... would we ever actually?

Cause I would kind of like to shoot sun-bullets, its actually about what we need to make guns not a joke in supernatural combat.

Click to shrink...

Eh, I think you'll find it becomes easier once it's actually being put to use. 90% of it is fairly simple--just pick a target for an action from the list, and run with it. Crafting, Magic, and Research are more complicated, admittedly.

The combat system could be complex for me, but is easier to work with than the extreme abstraction and multi-month battles from before.

And yeah, Blues about whether something "is possible" are always kinda free for me. There's a lot of things which are theoretically doable, but not reasonably likely. Suffice it to say that a lot of things are only likely to happen if you get lucky, actively gun for them, or I end up handing easy access as part of an Omake reward or something.

I personally don't think either of the new turn or combat systems is too complex; Although it does raise one question.

@Higure , how will this incorporate the fact that (in the old system) Witches required either enchanted/magic weapons or other supernatural means to harm? Will that simply be true in the narrative, or will it be reflected by Homura still needing to enchant her ordinary military gear in some way to make it useful against Witches and other foes with similar levels of supernatural resilience?

Click to shrink...

Old system rules still hold true in this regard. There's an updated Skill/Trait/Spell List that I'll be going over one more time before dropping that updates them for the rules, but the core premise won't change at all.

As for how it's integrated in the Combat system, Witches and the like have a Trait which negates/massively weakens mundane attacks. Ego Enchantment negates that, allowing Homura to deal full damage. Other similar mechanics (like hijacking constructs and the like) will still be possible for her too.

 

[Higure]

Bloodheat is a new stat implemented to make Akemi Madness more useful and less problematic for Homura's survival. Rather than reducing Homura's Sanity directly, using Akemi Madness instead increases Bloodheat, causing Homura to manifest the normal personality shifts associated with Akemi Madness, while applying a penalty to her Sanity equal to Bloodheat. Higher Bloodheat results in more severe symptoms of Akemi Madness.

Bloodheat ranges from 0 to 100, and naturally lowers with time as long as Akemi Madness is not used. Each Action that doesn't use Akemi Madness decreases Bloodheat by 5. Every action that uses Akemi Madness increases it by 20.

Homura will still suffer the consequences of hitting 0 Sanity if driven to it by the Bloodheat penalty. Bloodheat only insures that Akemi Madness does not reduce Homura's Sanity by more than 100 at a time, rather than protecting her from the consequences of poor Sanity management.

 

[Spi.Guyver]

I feel some of this information needs to be placed in the first post or some other easily accessible location, especially in the first few turns of the revived quest. I can easily see the questers deciding to do things like investigations early on, but then when we decide to finally pursue actual objectives later forget how the actual votes for that action are supposed to be handled.

While the system looks fairly simply to implement, some of the actions with all their sub clauses like needing to specify a reason for this or that magic action can easily be forgotten which may or may not impact how Homura goes about things and give us completely wrong results. Using that healing people in the hospital example you gave, it would be fairly easy for us to decide on doing that based on something or other that happened in the last post before we voted for it, forget to mention a reasoning because we thought it obvious, and then have Homura treat it as training, reinjuring the patients after healing them.

The combat side of things doesn't look too bad. To be honest, I do think a lot of the appearance of complexity comes from the fact we're getting this as a text dump rather than a hold your hand, tell you to do this and don't allow any other action tutorial. As much as I hate those types of tutorials, they often cement the basics of how a system works in a way that's pretty easy to understand in the player's mind and makes them rather simple.

 

[Cubbyhb1]

Cast and Develop aren't on their own lines.

 

[catDreaming]

Higure has so far updated the character sheets. First, certain Traits have been reworking for the new system. Let's see what we've got.

Akemi Madness - While active, gain a +10 bonus to Social Rolls. Increases Bloodheat.

Madness Of Clocks - Gain a +10 bonus to Mechanics Expertise Checks while Akemi Madness is active.

Madness Of Creation - Gain a +10 bonus to Development rolls while Akemi Madness is active.

Click to shrink...

This is mostly the same, save for Akemi Madness now working with the Bloodheat mechanic (explained above on this page) instead of outright costing sanity.

Puella Magi Development - Can use Development to create Puella Magi Spells in the middle of combat or other stressful situations, rolling at a -10 penalty.

Heart Taker - Marksmanship Attacks with Guns never fail to hit, as long as an unobstructed path to the target exists. Shots which must pierce objects or follow impossible routes to hit must be rolled.

Gun Specialist - +20 to Melee/Marksmanship rolls when using a Gun.

Fight the Strong - Homura's attacks have +5 Power when used against Witches.

Headshot! - Homura unlocks the Snipe Action, which is used to situationally target weak points or equipment.

Good Footwork - Homura gains a +5 Bonus when performing the Dodge Reaction.

The Time We Trained Together - Homura uses a similar fighting style to Kyouko, when fighting in Melee. No mechanical effect.

Click to shrink...

I strongly suspect that Heart Taker is Homura's benefit of her literal maxed off Marksmanship (in the old rules). Combined with Headshot and Gun Specialist, she is still at her most deadly when using a gun with Ego Enhancement. And let's be honest here, being able to auto-hit as long as there exists an unobstructed path, and being able to roll to hit through barriers or along impossible routes? That's exactly what you'd expect from someone who had reached the apex of Marksmanship.
Good Footwork is a foundational skill, both helping defensively but also opening up the possibilities of learning to use Heartstopper. Footwork is very important to melee weapons work, and doubly or even triply so for the spear.

Golden Dreamer - At Homura's discretion, Sanity is spent to decrease Grief accumulation when unlocking Memories.

Never Again - Homura regains an additional 1 Sanity per Social Action.

Sleep Well and Deeply - Homura regains an additional 20 Sanity from the Sleep Action.

Click to shrink...

Not much to say here; Never Again and Sleep Well and Deeply will both help Homura with staying more Sane, and combined with Golden Dreamer, leave us set up well to potentially awaken memories.

True Magician - Additional +5 to Development rolls involving Parallel Worlds or Time Travel.

Back Alley Amateur - You've studied the works of Takemi Tae, and have found yourself with a unsafe amount of practical knowledge about medicine and biochemistry. +5 to Medical checks involving drug-based medicine, both modern and traditional.

Warship Novice - +5 to Engineering when working on ships.

Click to shrink...

Not much to say here. A solid basis for developing more.

Now then, how are Homura's skills looking?

Core

Melee (36/100) - Used for engaging opponents at close range. Covers all forms of melee weaponry as well as footwork and basic applicable tactics.

Homura is significantly skilled in melee and can go toe-to-toe with trained combatants.​

Marksmanship (100/100) - Used for engaging opponents at long range. Covers all forms of ranged weaponry as well as basic applicable tactics.

Homura is the world's greatest markswoman, by far. With her weapons of choice, no shot is beyond her. With others, she is still a peerless sniper.​

Combat Analysis (30/100) - Used for analyzing the battlefield and assessing outcomes.

Homura is able to consistently recognize clear terrain advantages and effectively predict outcomes of conflicts between parties she knows the strength and capabilities of.​

Click to shrink...

Homura's greatest skill in combat lies in her Marksmanship, but she is more than proficient in melee and general battlefield analysis. Making Heartstopper a more normalized part of her combat style will take time if we choose to do so, but Homura does have a good basis for it in melee already.

Core

Investigation (30/100) - Used to gather information from the world around you and to analyze information to form conclusions. Primarily used for Investigative Actions.

Homura has spent a great amount of time taking part in hands-on investigation, and is reasonably skilled at it, in spite of lacking actual training.​

Research (7/100) - Used to perform scholarly research and experimentation.

Homura has only passing experience with conducting research.​

Specialty

Electronics Expertise (0/100) - Used to operate and maintain electronic devices. Can be used to Craft at a -30.

Homura can use basic, day-to-day electronic devices, but has no real expertise beyond these boundaries.​

Engineering (13/100) - Used to operate and maintain mechanical devices. Can be used to Craft at a -30.

Homura has worked with machinery in the past, notably weapons of war.​

Medical Expertise (26/100) - Used to heal wounds, perform surgery, develop medicine or drugs, and modify biology.

Homura has studied medicine quite a lot recently; although she has no chance of performing conventional surgery or doing most forms of medical work without the assistance of Magic, her ability to perform medical work using Magic is better than most Magical Girls without a Healing Specialty.​

Click to shrink...

What's more notable here is what's missing. Specifically, Mechanics Expertise isn't listed as an option. What that suggests is that it falls under Specialty, and Higure probably just hasn't added it yet (or forgot to).

I'm going to hold off on more sheet analysis as I'm fairly certain that Higure will be making more edits to the character sheet as more rules are released so as to keep things in line with publicly known knowledge.