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Trails of Tera Steel (Kiseki-inspired Pokemon Academy Quest)

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To those that dont know, during a battle shadow pokemon can enter a state called Hyper mode. Game play wise a pokemon in this mode no longer lowers its shadow gauge, meaning it wont be able to purify and the trainer has to CALL it to calm it down. If I remember right in exchamge for not lowering the shadow gauge Hyper mode mon have a increase crit chance aaaand i think they also suffer recoil damage each turn... i think its worded as the mon TRASHING about hurting itself without care for its well being.
No idea if that aplies, but it would be one hell of a phase 2
 
ArvisPresley said:
The only thing I'm out-right removing in terms of Shadow Pokemon are the Type Advantages/Resistances and the Shadow Moves themselves
Other Shadow Pokemon mechanics are staying
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Oh, so Hyper mode is still a thing, then?

For those of you unaware, in Colosseum, a Shadow Pokemon enters Hyper mode when "their emotions have reached a fever pitch". The actual effects of being in Hyper Mode boosts the Crit rate of Shadow Rush to a base 95%, but the Shadow pokemon have a chance of doing one of the following; use a different move than it was told to, target its teammate, damage itself as if it were in Confusion, waste a turn by attacking a trainer (you or your opponent) or just going 'screw this' and going back into its pokeball.

A Shadow Pokemon stays in Hyper Mode until its trainer snaps them out of it. Not even being KO'd will cure it, iirc.


There was the similar Reverse Mode in Gale of Darkness where a Shadow pokemon could only use Shadow Moves, but they all did recoil damage in that state.

Wonder how they're going to be changed here, since the Shadow Moves aren't going to be a thing.
 
Ok yeah this. Way more detailed thought.
Also jeebus waaaay more side effects that i remembered.... ok...the crit increas is bad, the confusion thing would be extremely lucky for us and all other effects except "attack a trainer" are probably irrelevant. Hyper mode could work as a phase 2 thing or a "im going to b line towards your trainers" warning.
 
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Tempera said:
No, actually, I firmly disagree.

From a writing perspective, there's not much that can be worse than a boss getting status-locked into doing nothing in a fight. There's very little you can do with that as a writer that doesn't undercut the tension of your fight scene; there's only a couple of ways to frame it, and neither of them convey any significant sense of danger or tension into the fight. And if you don't have any tension in your fight scene, why the fuck are you writing it?

It would be a fantastic way to undercut all narrative tension to the first arc's climactic encounter, but that's not actually something positive. The best you can do is showcase how effective a strategy the team was able to come up with, but you can both do that elsewhere and you can do it with strategies within the fight that don't undercut the entire fight scene.

I trust Arvis to do something to prevent a boss getting status-locked to death, though. They're a better writer than that.
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Let me put this another way: this is a game as well as a story. Not like, a real video game or anything, but important battles in this particular thread are handled through a game-like system that has rules, similar to a tabletop RPG. Not all Quests are like this - IAWWMD is a great example of a purely narrative quest where things happen because they logically would in the story, and the agency of questers is in choosing what story they wish to see play out. Just to complete the "please follow more than three quests" from me here, Asphodel in Mourning is a middle ground where there's rules and dice rolls that can change the exact events of the story, but it's all still pretty zippy and narrative. Tera Steel, though? It needs the consideration that a game of, say, Dungeons & Dragons would, because its format and the very concept of the current vote invites the quest voters to make strategic decisions and influence the very game-likemechanics, and that means a certain level of trust between the voters and the QM.

Now, if Arvis were to say, before opening the vote, "yeah actually for [insert reason here] this particular Pokémon is immune to non-volatile status, or has an increased Effect Roll difficulty to inflict them, or can't flinch, or automatically cures them at the end of the round", that'd all be fine and make perfect sense (probably not all of those, though). Like, that's a basic consideration most games of this type have to preserve some kind of gravitas to major enemies (Pokémon usually doesn't but it's different in both tone and combat style from most other RPGs). I would just expect, as a matter of courtesy and transparency, to be told about this before the vote opens, because it heavily informs the strategy behind how this will play out, and isn't something that can be directly gleaned from knowledge of Pokémon mechanics (other than Vigoroths generally being immune to Sleep).

On the other hand, if Arvis doesn't want to do that, I personally think that's fine too, because like...this is a really strong opponent. If it gets an unmitigated hit in, it's probably going to put one of our team's Pokémon (EDIT: or upon consideration of the narrative, one of us, the trainers) straight out of the fight and into the hospital, and even with the maximum possible level of shenanigans, it is still going to get hits in. There's plenty of tension inherent in restraining the murder machine, mitigating the damage of its attacks, interrupting its windups, playing a deadly balancing act that's a knife edge between "do you block her move or do you watch one of your comrades eat shit because of an unlucky roll", hoping that the times its attacks get through are on a turn where Reflect is up, etc. There's still plenty of tension available simply because this opponent is that dangerous. In my opinion. Obviously, we disagree here and I don't expect to persuade you just by stating my perspective. Again, I'd be perfectly fine with "you can't flinch this guy" or "you can't paralyze this guy" for even the flimsiest in-universe justification, I'd just want to know about it beforehand, and if I don't, I trust Arvis to play around the mechanics that Arvis has set up in an interesting manner.
 
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Personally, I think there's equal opportunity story-wise for a gruelling battle against a monster, and a well-done strategy to defeat a worthy foe. They'd both cover the fruits of our labour and bonds as a group, one shows our strength and bravery against impossible odds, and the other is the end result of our training and a moment of glory as we prove ourselves an equal to this beast through guile, like a David to their Goliath. We'd still prove ourselves no matter what because nobody expects to do anything more than bruise it either way. I don't mind any way we win, so long as we win, and make sure nobody gets hurt more than necessary. I trust that no matter what we do, the narrative strength of this climax will be fine.

StattStatt said:
Leaf: "Hey kids, do you know what Bragg meant by 'fucking RNG flinch spamming'?"
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Oh please, Leaf is from the Kanto area, she and every other genwunner knows all about bullshit status and making sure your opponent never has their turn again.
 
My best guess for cutting down on flinch-lock strategies for the Vigoroth might just be to point out something that is already established:
Boss Pokemon act twice per turn. Flinching only stops one of those. So you'd either need to make it flinch twice a turn, once before it's normal move and once after that move but before it's end-of-turn bonus attack (And Shadow Sneak can't work for the latter one, since by defininton if it's being used at that point then your initiative is lower than the Vigoroth's), or it will still smack you once.
I would guess that it would similarly shake off other status effects twice as fast as well.
But even just making it miss just one or two attacks would still be a useful boon.
 
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[X] Running interference
- [X] Roland (Death from Above)
- [X] Roland (Speedy Support)
- [X] Renne (Cat Got Your Tongue)
- [X] Renne (Feel No Evil)
- [X] Ruby (Ironheart)
- [X] Ruby (A Certain Terastal Railgun)

This is the most based plan actually. If Roland gets Dragonbreath on top of Curse during this he can Paralyze, Curse, and Infestation the Vigoroth away. Dragonbreath furthermore can add onto the whole Crunch/Bite + Will-o-Wisp deal that Roland has done before, as seen below. I also think that Roland just should not be risking getting anywhere close to that Vigoroth with how much damage it can do.
ArvisPresley said:
In the skies Roland and Murkrow savage any Pokemon they can swoop down and grab, dodging String Shots and Poison Stings all the while. The former Crunching and Biting without mercy nor hesitation, maw filled with his erstwhile prey. Once his quarry no longer moves, he tosses them, now burning from the ghostly flames of a Will-o-Wisp, at another Pokemon.
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There isn't much to say about Renne in this? She is best at support and both options boost the bond with her so these are the only really viable options.
As for Ruby, while I think should would do a lot better as a dedicated Frontliner, the Spark chance for paralysis and the coolness of the railgun shenanigans wins me over when comparing the options.
 
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I mean, if nothing else, this is just the first arc, right? I think it would fit for future Shadow Pokemon to have more "stuff" so to speak, with things like a future opponent being immune to flinch (or having other capabilities that reduce its effectiveness), especially if there's a spy or hidden observer watching to see how Shadow Vigoroth performs. Or just because the work on Vigoroth was only partially finished before the hammer came dropping down.
 
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AT4467 said:
Won't Roland learn curse when he masters will o wisp which is 6 points away?
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The benefit here is basically "you definitely get it now and don't have to wait for Will-o-Wisp mastery in a couple of training sessions". It's useful since it's probably the best DoT we have, and it's a guarantee rather than the "maybe" of picking up one of the Dragon-type attacks, but it's more like useful bonus than a unique opportunity.
 
I hope Elise gets armour at some point, at least some light armour that logically shouldn't work great but since it's Japanese cloth folded one million times, it works like steel plate. If she's gonna keep challenging monsters in melee it would do my, Mariana, and Theodora's heart good to have protection. Maybe like the Demon Slayer outfit from Demon Slayer.
 
ArvisPresley said:
[] Renne (Mind over Matter): Aside from the blade, Renne is probably the strongest Pokemon amongst those present in terms of raw power. She has access to a large variety of moves that can do heavy amounts of damage to the Shadow Pokemon. The situation is dire enough for it, and she has no complaints.
  • Renne's Role will be Backline
  • Renne only takes 50% More Damage and deals 5% Less Damage due to being 3rd-Badge. This is combined with the Backline bonus.
  • +2 to Effect Rolls. -2 to Initiative Rolls
  • Renne will prioritize Moves like Extrasensory, Psyshock, and Others

[] Renne (Cat Got Your Tongue): Renne is a skilled psychic, and while she isn't strong enough to simply lift Vigoroth and crush them like a bug, she is capable enough to do the next best thing. Bend bone, break limbs, cause spasms and otherwise make it as difficult as possible for the Vigoroth to fight.
  • Renne's Role will be Support
  • Renne will only be able to attack every other turn
  • Vigoroth will receive -2 to both Effect and Initiative Rolls
  • Renne only takes 50% More Damage and deals 25% Less Damage due to being 3rd-Badge.
  • Renne will prioritize Moves like Psybeam, Draining Kiss, and Others
  • Increases Bond with Renne

[] Renne (Feel No Evil): Pokemon are extremely durable and can take damage that would be lethal to a human. Mariana and the other humans on the other hand are extremely squishy in comparison. Beyond just protecting them with her barriers, Renne will make sure that in between each of Vigoroth's attacks on the Class Pokemon, there's a psychic shield interrupting it.
  • Renne's role will be Support
  • Renne will only be able to attack every other turn.
  • Renne only takes 50% More Damage and deals 25% Less Damage due to being 3rd-Badge.
  • Lose no AP next week even if Victory Conditions are not met.
  • Vigoroth will receive -3 to Effect Rolls
  • Renne will prioritize Moves like Barrier, Reflect, and Light Screen
  • Increase Bond with Renne
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Nobody's brought this up again, by the way, but Mind over Matter does not have a bond increase. It might be worth people putting a bit of thought into why this might be.
 
Tempera said:
Nobody's brought this up again, by the way, but Mind over Matter does not have a bond increase. It might be worth people putting a bit of thought into why this might be.
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My first thought is that perhaps her going and blasting away leaves little room for communication, empathizing, bonding, or thinking about the others beyond the bare minimum. She just has to slip into the groove and act like the overpowered psychic beatstick I'm sure her previous owners intended for her. Just blast away, don't think, destroy. Meanwhile, the other two options involve protecting and defending her allies and friends from harm, saving them from harm, thinking about her family in pain and deciding to put a stop to it with her immense power. To, if not heal, then prevent healing from being necessary in the first place.

Or something like that, I guess.
 
Personally I think Renne feels that being asked to battle offensively is like... an act of using her?

Whatever was done to her, it's made her uniquely powerful. Renne know that, I think. So using her for that power... I think to her it's like just seeing her as a tool instead of acknowledging what she wants. Hence while she'll still do it if she needs to, because the situation calls for it, but even now, acknowledging things and letting her not act as a psychic artillery cannon but instead still considering her feelings shows her that Mariana genuinely is someone who she can trust to treat her as a person.
 
Speaking of Renne, she clearly had a bad reaction to the Gigaremo.

ArvisPresley said:
As your group makes your way closer towards the ruins, led by Charcadet, you all begin to hear a strange noise. It's faint, but it seems to be a long droning sound.

'This noise…It's…!' Renne's fear and panic is palpable. You hug her tighter to try and comfort the Espurr.
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Wherever she was being experimented on probably used some Gigaremos to control Renne and the rest of the Pokemon that they were experimenting on. Probably not super relevant at the moment, but food for thought. Also just feel like bringing this up:

ArvisPresley said:
You send out your own team, having already briefed all of them on the situation. Each of them quickly takes their place; Roland wraps himself around your neck, Renne holds up her paws for you to lift her up and Ruby digs into the ground, only her head being visible.
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The mental image of what looks like Renne demanding uppies amuses me.
 
[] Plan No Turns for Vigoroth
-[] Roland (Veil of Shadows)
-[] Roland (Death from Above)
-[] Renne (Cat Got Your Tongue)
-[] Renne (Feel No Evil)
-[] Ruby (Seismic Strike)
-[] Ruby (A Certain Terastal Railgun)

Anyway, after the moratorium, going for this. Argument of getting Paralysis off speaks to me (And railgun leaning into the electric abilities of Drillbur, which I really want to explore), and for all people are going on about how it would be cheesing the boss fight...

This is a 5 gym Badge Shadow Pokemon. This is the kind of thing that we want to try cheesing. And further, Cheesing it leans further into the battling characterisation I want to see in Mariana going forth:

Mariana wants to win. She's not like Nemona, who will actively choose things that make her chances of victory harder just because she wants to see if she can win regardless. For Mariana, as we've seen mentioned, a Win is a Win, regardless of how uncool or uninteresting it is. So what if trying to para flinch Delay spam a higher level pokemon is kinda boring - it's what's effective, and if she wins, that's all that matters.

An attitude that is very, VERY helpful to have in this kind of situaiton, where said Pokemon just killed two people right in front of us. Winning is what keeps us and our friends alive. Who cares if it's not awesome or inspiring - we get to live.
 
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Toaster cult said:
Cat girl built to be a weapon does in fact, not appreciate being used as a weapon
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Interesting.

Personally, I would have thought that it probably ties into the way Renne views Mariana as someone who was willing to get hurt if it meant getting Renne the help she needed. That Renne holds a measure of respect for her empathy and her willingness to try her best to ensure that hurting Pokemon in front of her are given the care they deserve, and that leaning into that aspect of herself as much as she can by asking Renne to play defensively and prevent everyone involved, including Vigoroth, from being hurt as much as possible is begrudgingly making Espurr grow a little more appreciative of her trainer here. Making it clear that trying to help Espurr wasn't a one-off thing, as much as can possibly be done here.

I dunno. Personally I thought there was a lot more to it than just 'doesn't want to be used as a weapon'. That Renne's status as an experimental Pokemon rescued by an empathetic girl is bleeding into her worldview a lot and she's holding sympathy towards a Pokemon that was clearly abused and experimented on and is now lashing out at the people in front of it.
 
I'm inclined towards Plan No Turns for Vigoroth, but not actually for the delay spam.

Rather I think Roland is wasted on support, and that Ruby will be better at setting up plans than just tanking.
The options I like just happen to line up with the delay spam plan.

Besides, its not like theres many options that don't lend some kind of debuff to hammer Vigoroth. Rolands only other option is to use lots of status, and Ruby's other option still uses Spark.
It'll happen anyway, this path is just slightly more honed towards it.
 
Shadowphyre said:
Wherever she was being experimented on probably used some Gigaremos to control Renne and the rest of the Pokemon that they were experimenting on. Probably not super relevant at the moment, but food for thought.
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This made me try to remember a detail from the update where Renne let's us vote for her name, and it wouldn't leave me like an itch you just can't reach.
ArvisPresley said:
She thinks of home. She feels her connections to her kin, brothers and sisters, and to her parents. She does not remember how she was taken, only the noise that broke the Well, broke her control over it
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From the sound of this, Renne has probably been exposed to Gigaremo control before when she was first captured. I know this isn't relevant to the current discussion about battle plans and stuff but that itch just wouldn't go away.😅
 
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