[OOTS Showdown] The Feedback Thread

[Silkenfist]

Ladies and Gentlemen: I announce the end of OOTS Showdown #1. El Jaspero defeated his opponents in 16 rounds of grand melee fight. Check out the entire fight (and the current rules/character set HERE! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30929)

What is this thread about? In the first instance of OOTS Showdown, several flaws had become evident. Before I start the next instance, I will try to close all gaps and loopholes. Also, I would like to get your general ideas on how to improve the game.
The Feedback Thread has two stages. During stage one, I want to collect general idea about the game, while the second step is dedicated to the specific characters and their balance.

We are now going to start debating the general strucutre of the game. Please withhold your ideas for the character for a little while. Instead, I would like to hear your opinions on questions like these?


General:
- Which general changes could/should be made to the format?
- How can the registration/character distribution process be improved?
- Which is the ideal duration for one round?
- How shall inactivity be handled during the next games?
- Which long-term incentives should be implemented?

Characters:
- Which is more important in a character? Balance or Realism?
- Which kinds of abilities (f.e. Action Stealing, Damage Reduction, Action Controlling) shall be toned down, which ones shall be increased? And are there general abilities, you can think of, that are not used yet?
- How long shall an entire game be? Should the HP of the characters be enhanced/lowered to make the entire game quicker/slower?
- The characters differentiate in starting HP and Initiative modifier. Should these differences be increased or decreased?


Also, I will register any suggestions not related to the questions above. Just wanted to give you some guidelines, where improvement can be seeked.

[Raistlin1040]

I think Shojo should a direct damage attack. Like maybe it gets stronger with each non-lawful character who dies. Maybe like this?

Unpopular decision (Or Meatloaf Day)
Deals 1 base damage. For every 2 non-lawful characters killed it adds 1 base damage

edit: Didn't read the front post (I really should start))
In my defense I think Shojo and Celia unbalance the game. I also think Thog and Redcloak aren't fun to play. I think some abilities make characters not very fun as you don't do anythinh
(Minion and Loyalty) I think as a general rule each character should get to choose 4 of 6 abilities so you still have some control over your character's powers. Originally I wasn't happy with Shojo but I started getting smarter with him. I would have pick V or Roy for their power though. SO maybe if we got to choose our powers some people might not feel like they got the short end of the stick.

[heretic]

I think balance takes a backseat to realism. Pompey should not be besting Roy 50% of the time.

For long term incentives, I think we should get a good avatarist to make prize images that could be placed in sigs, depicting the victor and the character with which they won.

Also, Elan should have only +4 to init.

[Alarra]

I think balance is more important than realism. No one will want to play characters that don't have a chance at winning.

[Raistlin1040]

I agree with Alarra there. Each character should have a shot.

[heretic]

Perhaps a demon roach character(s) could be introduced. They have a smiley even...

[Madmal]

or maybe a Hinjo character....

i enjoyed playing with V, even if the attacks were too predictable, i would've survived one more round if not for the flu...:smalltongue:

[Eldritch Knight]

Well, considering Miko has fallen, her abilities should change. Perhaps if you gave her a 'Blinded by Arrogance' ability that makes her have to focus solely on one GOOD character....

How about an Oracle character? Or even the lawyers...... Flumphs work as well!

[Alarra]

I also think...based purely on the manner in which the good and evil squared off, that it would be a good idea to balance the numbers in each alignment. Add in the rest of the linear guild maybe.

[Raistlin1040]

Zzdr'tr Zzdrt'i Zzdr'ti Zdrit'z

The dark elf would be fun to play.

[heretic]

Oooo!!!

Just had a great idea.

Each new showdown could feature a different 'guest' monster, played by the winner of the last round. The monster would be overpowered a bit, but would grant a reward to the character who kills them. (In theory, the lesser characters would gang up to take out the big guy) Also, the guest may not win, so if they do (unlikely) then second place is the winner.

This also doubles as a handicap, because the winner of the last round coudn't win twice in a row, thus giving rookies the advantage.

The guest monster would be chosen by Silkenfist, with the only restrictions being that they must have been killed already in the comic.

[Deckmaster]

General:
- Which general changes could/should be made to the format?
- How can the registration/character distribution process be improved?
- Which is the ideal duration for one round?
- How shall inactivity be handled during the next games?
- Which long-term incentives should be implemented?


1. The format itself is pretty sound. It plays like a battle in D&D, which it should, considering the source.
2. Characters should be given out at a first come, first serve basis, and everyone should be informed what characters are left, so they can decide whether they want one of the ones that are left or if they'd rather not play.
3. I'd say 2 days.
4. I liked the Inactivity Flu, despite the fact that that was what got me.
5. I agree with the idea of a sig icon or picture of some kind.

My ideas about characters later...

[Selrahc]

What I would like....

Double actions. Make each turn even more crazy. A consecutive rise in HP.

Maybe only for specific turns.(Or as Death conditions perhaps)


Events related to character deaths to reflect their relationship in the strip....

[heretic]

Here's an example of my guest appearence idea.



(Yes, I annoyingly refer to Trigak in the plural)

Trigak: Neutral Evil, 28 HP, Initiative -1
Chomp: Deals Six damage to any target character.
Not a 'Playa' (passive): Trigak are not easily distracted. They may always act in a round, even if they normally would be prevented from doing so.
Breath Weapon: Deals four damage to a target character and four damage to each of two other randomly selected characters.
Fly Away!: Trigak may not be attacked or targeted for the remainer of the round. Any attacks resolved before Trigak acts are conducted normally.
Guest Appearence: Trigak may not win. If they are the last characters standing, then the second place character wins.
Reward: The killer of Trigak gains 10 HP in treasure and all of their attacks henceforth deal an additional one damage.

[Sethis]

Celia's Action Stealing ability needs to be toned down. For example, adding a time-limit to how long each stolen ability lasts (say 5 rounds) or having a maximum amount of abilities stolen (like 2.) Otherwise, anyone who knows how to play Celia could win fairly quickly. Soul-Hidey Place > Feinged > MitD DR5.

Belkar's "Has to attack things with 2hp or less" ability makes Pompey's Summon completel useless while he is alive, since Belkar has to kill them. It's basically trading an action of yours for an action of his and neither accomplishes anything.

Shojo's useless survival shows that every character needs at least 1 Direct damage attack.

The previously mentioned idea about giving 6 attacks and selecting 4 is a very good one. Would add an element of strategy to planning as well.

Two-Three days seems a good time slot for one round. Plenty of time for thought, mischief, and planning, while not being so long that a game would take months to finish.

Balance is more important. It's no fun to play if you don't have a chance.

Inactivity Flu is a good idea, stick with it.

As to long term incentives, maybe make something fitting to the playstyle, a character who kills lets say 4 opponents with direct damage would get a damage boost, one who mind-controls 4 seperate people can control 2 at once. These could be 1-use buffs or constant effects.

As another form of "General" abilities, maybe avoidance. For example, Invisibility Sphere. Would take one round to cast, then make you untargetable for the next 2 rounds. Varsuvius could get her "3.14 Foot Diameter Invisibility Sphere" which lets other chosen members to also be invisible, except they would all have to target the same opponent.

The Hp/Inititive modfiers should be disparate, but there should be some kind of balancer. Low HP characters should have good Initiatives and vica versa. The last game could have gone a lot different if Celia had gone before Sabine a few times :P

Well, that's basically my opinion on all your given questions, hope signups for the next round are soon, I'd like a shot.

[Raistlin1040]

I'd just like to say w00t! Someone liked my get-6-pick-4 idea!

[El Jaspero, the Pirate King]

Here's an example of my guest appearence idea.



(Yes, I annoyingly refer to Trigak in the plural)

Trigak: Neutral Evil, 28 HP, Initiative -1
Chomp: Deals Six damage to any target character.
Not a 'Playa' (passive): Trigak are not easily distracted. They may always act in a round, even if they normally would be prevented from doing so.
Breath Weapon: Deals four damage to a target character and four damage to each of two other randomly selected characters.
Fly Away!: Trigak may not be attacked or targeted for the remainer of the round. Any attacks resolved before Trigak acts are conducted normally.
Guest Appearence: Trigak may not win. If they are the last characters standing, then the second place character wins.
Reward: The killer of Trigak gains 10 HP in treasure and all of their attacks henceforth deal an additional one damage.


I think instead of hitting for 6, Trigak should be able to deal say 5 HP of damage divided among up to 3 victims, and that breath weapon is far too powerful too. Also, a 10 HP reward for killing Trigak is HUGE, 3 is much more reasonable. Otherwise it's a fun idea.

[heretic]

I think instead of hitting for 6, Trigak should be able to deal say 5 HP of damage divided among up to 3 victims, and that breath weapon is far too powerful too. Also, a 10 HP reward for killing Trigak is HUGE, 3 is much more reasonable. Otherwise it's a fun idea.

Well noted. I deliberately designed him as overpowered. A 3 HP reward makes sense, but only if Haley's Mine Mine Mine is toned down as well.

About the 25 or 6 to 4 idea: I like it! I was thinking of a bunch of abilities that could have been created and this also makes the pregame more interesting.

Long-term incentives: I like the idea. It would unbalance the game in favor of characters that have been successful, but like I said before, I could care less about balace. The characters would also seem more dynamic if they change in between rounds, giving each stage of The Showdown a different flavor.

[evnafets]

I also think that Celia's Ability stealing ability is too overpowered.
Suggestions for toning it down
- only allow stealing of one ability at a time. Stealing a new ability replaces the old one that was stolen.
- Have a "cooldown" period so that once it is used, it can't be used again for 3-4 rounds afterwards

I think Haley is a little overpowered. Her high initiative means she can almost always sneak attack. Mine mine mine means she heals HP at a decent rate of knots. She effectively at least doubled her hitpoints in the course of the game.

You noted that it very much turned into a war against evil. Not sure you can do much about that.
The OOTSers have an extra advantage while Roy is alive (+1 to everything)
I think all the OOTSers current attacks should be reduced by 1.
ie rather than being "super" while Roy is alive, they are "lesser" with Roy dead.
Maybe you could have a similar setup with the Linear Guild and Nale?
And potentially also Xykon and Lord Shojo?

Inactivity flu was good. Keeps an incentive to be in the game.
More thoughts coming later maybe...

[Woolysock]

I also think that Celia's Ability stealing ability is too overpowered.
Suggestions for toning it down
- only allow stealing of one ability at a time. Stealing a new ability replaces the old one that was stolen.
- Have a "cooldown" period so that once it is used, it can't be used again for 3-4 rounds afterwards



I say let her steal active powers only, but as many as she wants. Then she can build up a huge range of possibilities, but can only use 1 each round.

As for Shojo, I do think he should be able to negatively affect non-lawful characters, but it should be in an indirect way. Perhaps an Arrest Warrant? Shojo can issue an arrest warrant. That character, hampered by the Sapphire Guard, acts on 0 for the next 2 rounds.

Whoops, thats character stuff. Ok, some general:
Balance is very important. No problem with differing inits and HPs, but they should all be balanced out. So powerful abilities go with low HP & init. Thats obviously happening already, as with MITD (high DR, low HP; big attack, restricted).

Action stealing is a very powerful ability. Overpowered? not sure yet - give me a char with Charm and watch me abuse it :D Then decide.

There are very few defensive abilities that would reduce or avoid attacks. (ie Defensive Stance: reduces all attacks against you by 1)

[DarkLightDragon]

To my knowledge, Trigak and The Oracle were both already made before OOTS Showdown officially started. They weren't in the recent round because they weren't needed.

As for Miko, I reckon we should have both Paladin Miko and Fallen Miko. It would make no sense, but to me that's part of the fun. There have been plenty of things that don't make sense, such as Miko, Pompey, and Roy allying together (We were sort-of using Roy as a puppet, but it still counts :smallwink: ).

And Celia should definitely have her ability steal weakened. DR 5/Feigned Insanity/Healing Hands/Greataxe Slash=overpowered.

[Beta]

heres anouther positive vote for the pick-4-out-of-6-abilities idea.
Maybe this can be used to better keep the balance? like give the more powerful characters a 3-out-of-4 choice and the less powerful characters a 5-out-of-8 choice?

Also, making a map and giving every character a position and a move action would certainly add an extra dimension to the game ( litterly :P). Then we could futher finetune the character balance and diversity with different move rates, area-of-effect abilities and movement related skills.

Of course, this would make running the game a lot complexer for the GM, but arent there other complexer play-by-post games out there, run by more than one GM?

[Khantalas]

And Celia should definitely have her ability steal weakened. DR 5/Feigned Insanity/Healing Hands/Greataxe Slash=overpowered.

You spend the first four rounds doing these:

Steal Feigned Insanity / Steal DR 5 / Steal DR 2 / Steal Xykon's soul-hidey-place.

Then steal a nice, damaging ability and you win.

[Sethis]

You spend the first four rounds doing these:

Steal Feigned Insanity / Steal DR 5 / Steal DR 2 / Steal Xykon's soul-hidey-place.

Then steal a nice, damaging ability and you win.

Well, kinda. It would be smarter to steal Soul-Hidey-place first, since anyone who read last game's transcript will probably attempt to kill Celia first, and if you start this combo, after you get one ability, everyone else will pretty much gang-beat you to death.

The "war against evil' thing is another good point. Just as Good has some abilities which only work on evil, Evil should get some which work on Good. Give Redcloak Unholy Blight, for example. The Vs. Evil attacks are amazing (especially with Miko. 7 damage a round with Focused Enemy thing), so evil should have it's own abilities.

[Khantalas]

I didn't say in that order.

Though the earlier you get Feigned Insanity, the better.

[Deckmaster]

Characters:
- Which is more important in a character? Balance or Realism?
- Which kinds of abilities (f.e. Action Stealing, Damage Reduction, Action Controlling) shall be toned down, which ones shall be increased? And are there general abilities, you can think of, that are not used yet?
- How long shall an entire game be? Should the HP of the characters be enhanced/lowered to make the entire game quicker/slower?
- The characters differentiate in starting HP and Initiative modifier. Should these differences be increased or decreased?


1. Balance. Every character should have an equal chance of winning.
2. One way to insure no ability is too powerful is to make sure some of the characters are immune to that ability. Like, say, their actions can't be stolen or they can't be controlled by characters of a certain alignment or gender, or that their damage reduction is useless against certain kinds of damage.
3. That depends on how many characters there are. An average HP of 15 sounds reasonable to me.
4. As long as it's all balanced out. For example, for every low there is a high, and vice versa.

[Weebl]

I thought Thog's normal attack should be toned down a bit because I might of done better.

[Death, your friend the Reaper]

Well, pompey was fun to play, but all those females are rather cruel, and as stated the centipedes aren't that useful.

Pompey isn't the worlds most strongest competitor as such I would have the disgust thing also make it that the females take off -1 or such if they chose to target him.

[Silkenfist]

Answering the first batch of suggestions. However, all suggestions for specific characters will be ignored until later (as I announced above. Don't hit me)


Choosing 4 of 6 abilities: I like that idea. It could be a problem to find 6 flavored abilities for the smaller roles and many players will regret their choices later. However, it adds more skill to the game and gives the players more options. I will try to implement it.
Still, one problem remains: The flaws. As it is now, some characters have flaws as 4th abilities to keep them from being overpowered. This would not be possible when 4 of 6 would be chosen. If we were to keep the flaws, they would have to be handled additionally.

Remove Minionship abilities: Will be done most likely. If I keep them at all, there will be better exit clauses.

Get an avatarist to make a sig image: Sounds great. My only concern is the fact, that I plan to do instances continuously. After many rounds, the image might lose its appeal. Maybe it could be prevented by customizing them to include the picture of the character with which the game has been won...

Balance the alignment numbers: Will be done. Along both alignment axes, I plan to keep equal numbers (For male/female, I don't think I'm going to be able to).

Guest Monster: Sorry, but this is a plan I am strongly opposed to. I like the idea of bringing in some monsters as characters. However, I don't like the idea of putting the previous winner in the spot of the NPC monster that is unable to win. The question is: What is the motivation to play, if you have absolutely no chance to win at all? The guest monster would do exactly the same thing as Lord Shojo did during the last rounds of #1. The player can't win himself but he can choose which of the other players to support.
I won't do it for several reasons. I don't want the player of the guest monster to lose motivation and I don't want to put them in the dilemma to "choose a winner". (Especially, since some players might be better known and more popular than others)

Distribute characters as "First come, first serve": Well, this would make things easy and transparent. However, I see some problems with that: We have players from several timezones and players with restricted internet access. I can't think of a fair "starting point" for signups; I will always favouring the players of a certain timezone and punishing those with daily internet access of less than 14 hours.
As a compromise, I could use the old distribution system for the first day, then use "First come, first serve" for the rest of the signups. But then again, I would rather keep one stringent system.

Auto-healing characters: I like the idea. It would give players a motivation to stay in the game, even if they are on the verge of death. I don't know yet how to fit it in flavorwise, but either as a special ability or a general rule, it could happen.

Double actions: Possible, but I'm not sure about that. It would make the game more quick-paced and random. There will be action enhancers/additions, but they need one round and can be foreseen. I like that state better.

Actions for specific turns only: Rather not, I think. I don't see the point to make the turns asymmetrical.

Special events upon the death of one character: That's an idea, I like. They could act as flaws or positive abilities. If you find good ideas during the character debate later, I will add them.

Advance characters based on the style of their player: I don't think it would end up well. I don't want to reward players for being one-trick ponies when they have better options available. Also, the set of abilities largely determines the "playing style", so there wouldn't be much variation to depend on the player.

One-time abilities: Yes, can be done. If we have a set of 6 abilities, one of them could be ridiculously overpowered but not being able to be used more than once or twice (This would btw. be a possible way to handle Celia's new line of career)

Avoidance/Resistance to certain attacks: Good idea. Will be done. For example, my current plan for Hinjo involves the ability to resist Charming/Action controlling effects. We can think of other examples later during character creation.

Tie Initiative Modifier and HP to each other: I don't think, this is absolutely necessary. Low HP and low Ini modifier are some kind of flaws, that can both be compensated by making the character's abilities more powerful. Still, we can aim for some kind of negative correlation there.

Change characters between rounds: Well, what do you think, we are doing right now? Seriously, I don't think we will ever have a constant set of characters. We will need to add/rephrase broken abilities, have different amounts of players and different choices of abilities, if we implement the 6 to 4 ratio.

Make more "Leaders" like Roy: Can be done, I guess. However, it would most likely turn these groups against each other and I don't know how to bring Team Xykon or the Sapphire Guard to equal numbers with the OOTS.

Make several versions of the same character: I don't see the problem with having "Paladin Miko" and "Fallen Miko" except the fact that latter one is not known enough. If a character undergoes a lot of development in the strip, it could translate into two different sets of abilities. Elan, f.e. could receive another set of abilities as dashing swordsmen. Miko could develop as a second character, too.

More actions for weaker characters: The exact number of abilities doesn't have much to do with balancing strength. It has to do with balancing complexity. Also, the high power of one character can be handled by filling up the rest of their ability slots with highly specific abilities.

Adding a map feature/enable area effects: It would add some complexity to the game, but this would not be my main concern. I am rather concerned about keeping the balance. There will be a large variance in the quality of your starting place. A lot of the game becomes decided before any one has actually acted. The only ways to add a map in a fair manner would be to make players choose their starting positions before giving them their characters (which would include a large random element) or have the players position themselves one after another along a given order (which would delay the game and add even more complexity). I like the idea of a map-based fighting game but I don't think the map can be well included in this one. Maybe keep it as an idea for a different forum game someday.

Balance Good vs. Evil / Evil vs. Good: Will be done along with adjusting the numbers of characters on each side. For Male vs. Female, I will make sure that each gender has an equal number of positive/negative effects.

[evnafets]

Just a things that came out of playing the last round (for adding to the FAQ) Questions I felt I needed to ask while playing.

Attack vs Target
Making clear the distinction between an "Attack" and "Targeting"
Some abilities are triggered by one and not the other, and I didn't realise there was a difference for the first few rounds.

Multiround affects if the casting player dies
- controlling effects dispelled (Royal Decree, Charm etc)
- damaging effects dispelled (Symbol of Pain)
- containing effects (preventing actions) = remain (Annoy, Verbosity, Forcecage

In the case of being controlled, if the controlling player dies before the targeted players initiative, then that player is free to choose an action as if they had never been controlled.

Question: what about boosted attacks. eg if Elan uses Bard song, then promptly dies - would the target of bardsong still do double damage?

New action suggestions:
Dispel - can dispel one lasting positive/negative effect. Of limited use eg freeing someone from a forcecage so they can attack.
Protection from Magic - protects a person from being targeted with certain actions. May want to specialise into Protection from Control / Protection from containment (those are the ones I have mainly in mind)

[heretic]

Not to put the cart before the wagon, but do we have a date for Showdown #2, or at least a general approximation?

[Silkenfist]

heretic: Registration for #2 will start in about one week.

[heretic]

Ah, thanks.

[Beta]

Make more "Leaders" like Roy: Can be done, I guess. However, it would most likely turn these groups against each other and I don't know how to bring Team Xykon or the Sapphire Guard to equal numbers with the OOTS
Well, one way to come up with more characters for Team Xykon or the Sapphire Guard is using some of the not-main characters, e.g. Xykons goblins, zombies and other monsters, while Shojo's team could feature more paladins, clerics and wizards. I know an OOTS character might sound more fun to play then Sapphire cleric #1, but I don't think it would matter much once we start playing.


Still, one problem remains: The flaws. As it is now, some characters have flaws as 4th abilities to keep them from being overpowered. This would not be possible when 4 of 6 would be chosen. If we were to keep the flaws, they would have to be handled additionally.

This can be countered by tying the flaws together with the beneficial abilities, tying bigger flaws to the stronger abilities and smaller or even no flaws to the weaker abilities. You could either say that a player who chooses the powerfull ability #1 HAS to take ability #2 aswell, nr2 being a flaw. Alternatively, powerfull abilities could cause a penalty to max HP or initiative, while weak abilities or even flaws give you a bonus.
This way the player has to choose between a character that has powerfull abilities and nasty flaws, or a more evened out character with less flaws but no powerfull abilities.

For example Pompei could have 5 average abilities and one powerfull, but if he picks the powerfull one he gets the disgust flaw with it. Roy could have 15 hp and 2 powerfull abilities, but both abilities come with a -7 HP penalty, making choosing them both nearly impossible, while his less powerfull ability gives him a hp bonus. This is ofcourse all a matter for discussion #2 : character tinkering.

Every think else I got nothing to complain about :smalltongue:, keep up the good work Silkenfist! I really love this game. :smallbiggrin:
BTW, if registration for showdown #2 begins in about one week, when will the discussion for character tinkering begin?

[Alarra]

If you added in the rest of the linear guild, you could do a leader position within that group.

[Sethis]

Yes, wouldn't mind playing the gnome druid or Zz'dtri myself. Add in more Liner Guildites. Maybe some more monsters for Xykon's team.

[Khantalas]

I wouldn't mind having Eugene over.

Of course, his fate would be tied to that of Roy's, which would kinda suck.

[Selrahc]

So for leaders, maybe have the same text as Shojo got in Saphire Guard Agenda, in that if the only people left are part of their team, then they and their team win.

So if Roy and one member of the OOTS survived, then they would both win. If Nale and one of the Linear guild survived, same thing.


On Double actions: My thoughts were to speed up the end game. As it was with 48 hours/turn, it took a frustratingly long time to watch. With double actions, things would have wrapped up twice as quickly.

So... perhaps it should only be a late game thing. E.G, when there are 5 characters or less left, everyone gets double actions.

[Silkenfist]

First results so far. For now, the general feedback is done. If you have further ideas, you can still post them but the general concept for next round stands:


Changes for the next instance:

1) Characters will be customized. Each character will have 6 abilities. After the characters have been distributed, the players choose 4 abilities and discard the rest.

2) Keywords will be introduced to make the exact function of abilities more transparent.

3) The number of characters and the number of specfic attacks along both alignment axes will be strictly controlled.


From the previous suggestions, feel free to use these ideas for character building:
Actions that trigger on the death of a character.
Create several versions of the same character.
Create one-time abilities



Second post with more information to follow

[Silkenfist]

Now, we enter the stage of gathering ideas for the new characters. Right now, you can submit ideas for keywords, ideas for abilities and ideas for characters:


Keywords:
Keywords are abilities that are general in kind and could be used (with slight diversion) on a number of characters. Possible keyword abilities are:
Regeneration X (At the beginning of each turn, this character gains X HP)
Tradeoff [Flaw] (When this ability is chosen for the character, the character gains the flaw in addition. For example, if an ability with Tradeoff [-3 HP] is chosen during character creation, the character will start with 3 HP less)
Damage Reduction X (The first X damage dealt to the character each round are prevented)
Legacy [Effect] (If the character dies, the legacy effect takes place)
Resistance [Quality] (If the character is dealt damage from a source of this quality, the damage is halved (rounded down))
Control [Quality] (Choose target character of the chosen quality. During the next round, if both you and the target character are still alive, you may choose their action)
The term "quality" can mean alignment, gender or any other aspect of a character, you can think of. Feel free to think of more keywords. Just keep them general enough to be useful.

Abilties:
If you can think of a specific ability for a certain character, submit it as such. Name the character and the ability you want to give them. Please don't do something as stupid as "New Line of Career" in its current form. If you want to balance a very strong ability, you might want to use the keyword "Tradeoff" (see above)

Characters:
I don't know how many players to expect, but I want a large number of characters ready to be used. If you want to submit a character, state the following.
Name
Alignment
Gender
Starting HP (Minimum 10, lower only if they have abilities to compensate, Maximum 20-25)
Initiative Modifier (Should range from -2 to +5)
Also you may add abilities to fit that character and/or a general plan of how it should work later.

Please don't make Pun-Pun. Please don't make abilities that have no connections to the story at all.

If you want a guideline, which character should be included, take this list:

Key 14 (The 14 characters that will HAVE to be played at any cost)
Roy
Elan
Haley
Vaarsuvius
Durkon
Belkar
Nale
Sabine
Thog
Xykon
Redcloak
Monster in the Darkness
Miko
Lord Shojo

Second Row (Next candidates to be included, roughly in this order, not strictly necessary)
Hinjo
Celia
The Lawyers
Julia
Julio Scoundrél
Samantha
Pompey
Leeky Windstaff
The Oracle
Zzt'dri

Emergency Bench (In case of a very large number of players, we could think of these. We could.)
The Demon Roaches
Eugene Greenhilt
Cliffport City Police Chief
Hilgya Firehelm
The Assassins
Trigak
Windstriker

[Raistlin1040]

For Lord Shojo
Unpopular decision (Or Meatloaf Day)
Deals 1 base damage. For every 2 non-lawful characters killed it adds 1 base damage

Also I think Zz'dtri should be ahead of the lawyers and the Oracle. I'd LOVE to play Zz'dtri.

[Alarra]

I think we should throw in the entire linear guild personally.

[El Jaspero, the Pirate King]

I think Julio should level-up to note his victory!

[Calamity]

Hmmm, how about this: [my explanations for the abilities are in square brackets, like this]

The Oracle:
Alignment: True Neutral [Probably]
Hp 15
Intiative +1

Foresight: Oracle dodges 1 attack during the round [Oracle forsees the attack]
Foreshadowing: +3 to target character's attacks during a round. [Oracle tells character best course of action to attack]
The Test of the Body: 2 damage to target character
[B]Shocking Revelation: Target character can't act until the end of next round. [Character is so shocked by what the Oracle told them]
Prediction: Pick a character, if that character dies during the round and their intiative is lower than the Oracle's, The Oracle gains 3 hp, if they survive the round, the Oracle loses his action next round
[B]Memory loss: Choose a target character, choose ONE ability, the target character cannot use that ability for 3 rounds, only works on active abilities.
[Yes, visiting the Oracle can make you forget things]

So, whaddya think?

[Alarra]

I like prediction a lot, that's a fun ability.

[heretic]

(Revised) Trigak: Neutral Evil, 20 HP, Initiative -1
Not a 'Playa' (passive): Trigak are not easily distracted. They may always act in a round, even if they normally would be prevented from doing so.
Dragon Head!: Trigak deals two damage to three different randomly determined characters
Fly Away!: Trigak may not be attacked or targeted for the remainer of the round. Any attacks resolved before Trigak acts are conducted normally.
Chomp, Chomp, Chomp: Each of Trigak's heads attack. Trigak deals five damage, divided up among three target players. Tradeoff [-4 HP, -1 Initiative]
I'm Not Comfortable Being Grappled There (passive): If Trigak are reduced to half or less than the HP total they had at the beginning of the round, they immediately Fly Away! at the initiative count that they were dealt the damage. If Trigak had not acted yet, then they lose their action for the round.
Minionship: Choose target evil character. That character controls Trigak's actions, but you get +2 to all your attacks. This effect ends when Trigak or their commander dies.
[hr]
At first glance, INCBGT is overpowered, but if you think about it, not really. It can actually work against you. For instance, if you get attacked once, but that attack happens before you act and nobody else attacks you afterwords, then you basically just lost your action for nothing.

It works for you in that if you are being targeted by multiple attacks, you can run off and avoid the secondary strikes.

Normal Fly Away! is different because it requires an action to use and if you go early in the initiative order, (not likely) then you can completely avoid all attacks instead of having to take damage to trigger your INCBGT.
[hr]
For Haley and whoever:

Evasion (passive): Haley may not be targeted by attacks or abilities that are triggered more than ten points below her on the initiative count.

[Calamity]

Trigak having a low initiative is important here as some of his "over-powered" abilities rely on a high intiative roll. Good thinking.

I think Not a 'Playa' and Trigak's large attack capibilities would overpower him, but the Tradeoff is well placed.

Certainly would be a fun character to play. Well done heretic.

How about this:
Leeky Windstaff:
Alignment: Neutral Evil
HP: 18
Initiative: 0

Summon Tree: Summons an animated tree with 4hp. The tree is under Leeky's control and each round Leeky must choose a target for his Tree until it is killed. The Tree uses Tree Punch and deals 2 damage.
Fire Storm: Any players that act on a lower initiative than Leeky are dealt 2 damage. If no players attack him, Leeky is dealt 2 damage himself.
Dire Bear Form: Leeky transforms into a Dire Bear until the end of the next round. In this form, the first 5 damage dealt to Leeky are nullified. Leeky must use Bear Slash on one target during the next round, it deals 4 damage. [Tradeoff: Must take flaw]
Betrayal: 3 damage to target Evil character
Heal: 3 hp to target character (including Leeky) [Leeky tried to cast this in his last battle, I think, but he was interupted..]
Sit! (Flaw): Actions that possess Leeky (i.e. Charm Person) last for 2 rounds rahter than one.

[Angela]

I agree with Evasion or similar for Haley... It is something that is in the comics, after all (#19)

The Lawyers
Lawful Neutral, 10 HP, Initiative -2

Violation of intellectual property: Target character's next two attacks against any other character do half damage, rounded down.

A spooooooky Cease and Desist (Tradeoff [Ohmygod!!! You have a kitty!!!]): Deals 2 damage to target Chaotic character.

Look at me, I'm a big giant boot!: Damage reduction +1.

Ohmygod!!! You have a kitty!!! (Passive): Attacks from Lawful characters do an extra 2 damage.

The prosecution calls - (Passive): Regenerate 1 HP each turn.

It's ok sir, take your time: Target character with 5 HP or less gains an extra action during their next turn.

[heretic]

Zz'dtri: Neutral Evil, 10 HP, Initiative +1
Spell Resistance (passive): Zz'dtri cannot be controlled by another character, ever.
Scimitar Fury: Deals two damage to target character, plus an extra one if they have less HP than Zz'dtri.
Wall of Ice: Target character cannot attack or use direct damage abilities until the end of next round.
Hog all the Good Spells: Zz'dtri gains one ability from another character for one round. It cannot be a direct damage ability.
Flesh to Stone: Target character loses all actions until the end of next round. They take double damage until freed. [tradeoff: takes place of two abilities]
Man of Few Words (passive): Zzt'dri hardly ever talks and people tend not to notice him. Each round that nobody targets him with an ability, he gains one HP.

Creator's Notes: Wall of Ice is basically a nerfed Mildly Escapable Forcecage and HatGS is basically a very scaled down version of Celia's broken ability.

Yikyik (and Yokyok): Chaotic Evil, 14 HP, Initiative +3
Combat Reflexes, Asswipe (passive): Whenever Yikyik is targeted by a direct damage ability, the originator takes a damage.
Shortsword swing: Target character takes two damage.
Insufferable (passive; flaw): Yikyik is incredibly annoying. Any character who takes damage from him (excluding CRAW) must target him with a negative ability next round.
Progeny (passive): If Yikyik dies, his son, Yokyok appears the next round. Yokyok has 8 HP and +1 initiative. He attacks his father's killer for three damage each round until either dies. If Yokyok prevails, he may attack other characters, albeit, for only two damage. Yokyok may win the game. [tradeoff: -4 HP]
Stop saying that! (passive): Damage dealt to Yokyok by Yikyik's killer is halved. (Requires progeny and Yokyok to be dead) [tradeoff: Must take flaw]
Tasty (passive; flaw): If an evil character kills Yikyik, they gain three HP and ignore the next one point of damage dealt to him/her next round.

Creator's Notes: As cool as the idea of Yokyok avenging his father's death is, the fact remains that they each only have one non-passive ability, and that is to simply attack. Yikyik is simply not seen doing a whole lot, so it's hard to come up with abilities for him.

The Black Dragon: Neutral Evil, 22 HP, Initiative -1
Darkness: All attacks have randomized targets until the end of the round. [tradeoff: must take flaw]
CHOMP: Deals four damage to target character
Breath Weapon: Deals two damage to each of three random targets.
Arrgghh! My Eye! (passive; flaw): If The Black Dragon takes five damage or more from one attack , it loses all actions until next round.
Swallow: Target character takes two damage and loses all actions until vomited out. The Black Dragon may take no actions except to vomit. [tradeoff: -2 HP]
Vomit: Swallowed character is vomited at another. They each take one damage.

Creator's Notes: The Black Dragon has no teammates and so is at a bit of a disadvantage.

[hr]
These are by no means even close to done or accepted. Feel free to post suggestions or even your own versions of the characters. I'm just doing this to get the ideas out there.

For Nale:

Internal Monologue (passive; flaw): If Nale is not targeted by any abilities during a round, the next round he may not act at all.

For Roy:

I Think Karma Just Evened That Score (passive): If a member of the OotS dies and their "twin" is at less than five HP, then the twin dies as well, immediately.

Alternatively...

Bizarro Twin: After this ability activates, the OotS and the Linear Guild may only attack/target their alter ego with negative abilities. If a non OotS/Linear character attacks a character under the effect of Bizarro twin, then the second character may retaliate. As soon as one Bizarro Twin kills their adversary, they may act freely.

For Nale:

Inevitable Betrayal? Check.: The Linear Guild all gain +1 to initiative, +2 HP and +2 to damage against the OotS. To use this ability, 3 Masterplans must have been fulfilled. (not including Xykon's) Can only be used once.

For Xykon:

Reinforcements: Five Lawful Evil Hobgoblin warriors arrive, under Xykon's control. They each have 4 HP and act on Xykon's initiative. Each one may attack for one damage, two if the target has a good alignment. They must choose different targets, if possible, excluding evil aligned characters. If Xykon dies or goes to his soul-hidey place, the hobgoblins lose 1 HP per round each until they're all dead or Xykon reappears. If they are the last ones standing, Xykon ties for first with the second place victor. If they die simultaneously with the last person, then the last person wins. To use this ability, 2 Masterplans must have been fulfilled. For each additional 2 masterplans fulfilled, this ability may be used again, with no upper limit on the number of hobgoblins.

For Miko:

Fallen: (Can be used at any time; not passive) Reverse the alignment targeting requirements for Miko's abilities. (Ex: Smite good, Heal effects only evil) Miko becomes Lawful Evil. Cannot be reversed.

Bonkers (passive; flaw): Choose Miko's fixated target at random.

Redo of Summon Monster for Pompey:

Summon Monster: Create two Neutral centipede characters, each with 1 HP. They act on your initiative and may each attack for 1 damage. They must attack separate targets if possible, excluding evil characters. You may only use this ability every other round.

to go along with it... (Belkar)

Homicidal Maniac (passive): If a player character has 2 or fewer HP at the beginning of a round, Belkar must choose it to attack that round.

For Julio:

Training Montage: Target character that Julio used Mentorship (or Training Montage) on last turn gains +1 HP. For next round, the character gains +1 initiative and +1 to attacks. Training Montage may be used consecutively.

[/brainstorm]

[Calamity]

Heh, I like the Black Dragon's Swallow and Vomit abilities, and Darkness would cause chaos! muhahahahah!

That Reinforcements abilitly seems mighty overpowered to me. Perhaps it should only be a one-time use?

Oh and also It's Zz'dtri! :smalltongue:

[heretic]

Perhaps the number of hobgoblins could be lowered or the number of masterplans required could be raised.

The idea behind those abilities is to give each team leader an "uber" ability that isn't used much. Roy's is the easiest to use, having no requirement. But if the Linear Guild are faring better than the OotS, then it's a bad idea.

Parhaps...

Bizarro Twin v 2.0: The OotS gain +3 damage against their 'alter ego'. Requires two characters to be killed with Oathbound.

A little simpler.

[Rumda]

some thoughts on Reinforcements making it so it is two consecutive masterplans that allows it to be used will balance it a lot

[heretic]

Good idea.

Continuing my stream of consciousness...

For Julio.

Woo: Choose target female character’s next action.

[Beta]

Wow, lots of reactions here. :smallsmile: And alot of good ideas too. I very much like Miko's Fallen Paladin ability, YikYik and YokYok and Xykon's reinforcements. It does seems overpowered, but I suggest to rather weaken the goblins themselve instead of the conditions for summoning them. Give them 2 or 3 HP and let only 3 be summoned at a time.

And for Zz'dtri's Flesh to Stone, wouldnt it be better if the target loses 2 or 3 actions, but cant be targeted or damaged while being turned to stone? And to prevent a lockdown, every character who is turned to stone gains spell immunity : Flesh to Stone, meaning every character can only get turned o stone once per game.

Nale's Internal Monologue (passive; flaw) seems way to nasty. He cant ever do anything unless he's being targeted? I'd rather suggest this one:
Revealing evil plans (passive; flaw) If Nale is not targeted by any abilities during a round, before the next round he must announce his action that round by posting them in the OOTS : Showdown thread.



Other than complaining about other characters :smalltongue: I also made up some of my own. Feel free to comment ofcourse.
How about this guy? :

Spiked-chain-wielding half-ogre, chaotic evil, ?? hp , initiative ?

Spiked-chain slash : deals 2 damage against target. Takes up halve a round.
Spiked-chain trip : target loses next action. Takes up halve a round.
attack of opportunity (passive): deals 2 damage against a target that attacked you last round.
Combat reflexes (passive): deals 2 damage against a target that attacked you last round.
Toughness(passive) : The half-ogre's max HP is 4 points higher
Improved Initiative(passive) : The galf-ogre's initiative is 4 points higher

FAQ.
What does "takes up halve a round" mean? This means that the ability takes up halve a round. :smallbiggrin: Or in other words, in one turn this player can either use 2 slashes, 2 trip attacks, or 1 slash and one trip.

When do attack of opportunity and combat reflexes activate? During the ogres turn, he chooses 1 or 2 targets who attacked him after his last turn. This is to give him the option of choosing which players he targets. He is allowed to make both attacks againt the same character, since the reach from his spiked-chain allows him to make 2 AoO's against the same target.

Toughness? Improved initiative? Eeuhh? What? Think of this ability as a reversed tradeoff. The player can either pick the full Spiked-chain-combo by picking the first 4 abilities, or he can option for more HP by giving up one of the four basic abilities. Main reason for this is, euh, well, I just couldnt think of much more abilities. :smallwink: If anyone comes up with better ones, we can always replace them after all.


Group of low-lvl archer bandits, chaotic neutral, 20 HP, initiative 0
Aid each others attacks : Deal 2 damage againt a target.
Swarm of arrows : Attacks X times at once, where X equals GoLLAB's current HP divided by 2, rounded up. Each attack deals one point of damage and has a 1/10 chance of hitting.
Rapid-shot : Attacks X times at once, where X equals GoLLAB's current HP. Each attack has a 1/20 chance of hitting.
13 in a dozen (passive): Each round, GoLLAB gains 1 HP.
Recruitment : GollAB gains 4 HP
Declare leader (minionship) : Choose a player as your leader. Until that player dies, u can only harm players who have at least once been harmed by your leader this game, and your leader can no longer harm you. You have regenerate +1 as long as you have a leader.

Extra general rule : If only a leader and his minion(-s) are left alive, the minionship is ended.

Or :
Extra general rule : If less than 5 players are left alive, all minionship's are ended.

The Lawyers
Lawsuit for having too much HP : The Lawyers choose the target their going to sue, and the amount of HP there suing for. That target can choose to go pay the HP or go to jail for 2 rounds. If he chooses to pay, he looses the specified amount of HP, which the lawyes gain.
Comicly large boot : deals 2 damage.
Phil Rodriguez was the lawyer of record for this trial (passive): every first attack of the round is negated. This ability is lost as soon as The Lawyers have less than halve their original HP.

[Calamity]

The half-orge is very overpowered, and has no tradeoffs, you may want but put them on cetrain abilities.

I think the low level bandits would confuse everyone incluing the person who is playing them. Any way of simplifying Swarm of Arrows and Rapid-shot?

Lawyers are good so far, but only half-done. However i think the Lawsuit ability will need to be a set amount, 3 or 4 hp, let's say and think of a tradeoff because it is quite a powerful ability. Also, I can't tell what Phil Rodriguez was the lawyer of record for this trial does, is it attacks to the lawyers or from the lawyers?

[David94]

Let me try and fix this one a little.

Half-ogre with a spiked chain
Chaotic Evil, 13 hp , initiative -1

Spiked-chain slash: Deals 3 damage against target.
Spiked-chain trip: Target loses next action.
Attack of Opportunity (passive): Deals 2 damage against a target that attacked you last round.
Toughness (passive): The half-ogre's max HP is 3 points higher.
Improved Initiative (passive): The half-ogre's initiative is 2 points higher.
Perfect Combo (passive): Any attacks with spiked-chain in the name may be used twice in one turn. (Tradeoff: Must take flaw)
As long as I move back 15 feet every- (passive, flaw): Using "Perfect Combo" twice or more deals damage equal to X-1 with X being the number of consecutive times used. (example: Second time=1 damage, third time=2 damage, fourth time=3 damage, etc.)

[Silkenfist]

Uhm guys...I really appreciate your efforts, but please note that OOTS Showdown is primarily about the actual heroes and storyline-essential characters. The spiked chain-wielding half-ogre has one character appearance and is about the 40th character to be included - which means, he won't be included at all if we don't get 40 players.

[Calamity]

How about these for V's other choosable abilities!

I prepared Explosive Runes this morning: 5 damage to the 1st player who attacks Vaarsuvius after V's initiative roll. (Tradeoff: Must take flaw)
Arrogance (flaw): If V deals the killing blow to another player, she (remembering that V was female for balance purposes) cannot act next round because she is too busy being what Belkar calls her in #188. :smallwink:

[David94]

Uhm guys...I really appreciate your efforts, but please note that OOTS Showdown is primarily about the actual heroes and storyline-essential characters. The spiked chain-wielding half-ogre has one character appearance and is about the 40th character to be included - which means, he won't be included at all if we don't get 40 players.
The Half-ogre with a spiked chain wasn't my idea, I was just fine-tuning someone else's idea.
It was overpowered, so I added a flaw and decreased some stats.

[heretic]

I count seven abilities for the SCO. Raise the initiative to 0 and remove improved initiative.

I like all the ideas.

The GollAB would mesh better if the chance of missing were removed. Nobody else has to roll to hit, so it doesn't fit in right. Of course, you would have to weaken the attacks some to balance it.

[Enlong]

(here's my attempt at Julio Scoundrel)

Julio Scoundrel (because I can't do the funtime accent mark)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Gender: Male
Starting HP: 16
Initiative Modifier: +2

Abilities:
Rapier Wit: deals 3 damage to target
Alchemist's Fire: (passive) Anyone attacking Julio takes 2 damage (requirement, must have Mechane)
Mechane: Julio loses all actions and cannot be targeted for anything for the next two rounds.
Again!: Target nonLawful repeats last action. Cannot be used if repeating would be impossible.
Woo: Choose target Female character's action
Infamous: (passive) Julio deals an extra 1 damage to Lawful characters

Rapier Wit's his direct damage move, Mechane is defensive, and Again! and Woo could make him quite the manipulator if he wanted.

[comprehensive]

My half-decent attempt at Hinjo....
And no, you don't know me.

Hinjo
Alignment: Lawful Good
Gender: Male
Starting HP: 13
Initiative modifier: 0

Block
Hinjo may protect another character for one turn [aka. nullify the damage done to target character]. If the attacking character is evil, he or she is dealt 2 points of damage. If the attacking character is good or neutral, he or she looses the actions for next turn.
Negotiation
Hinjo may choose the actions of a character for the next round. If target character had chosen a direct damage ability for that round, the round after Hinjo controlled them, they must attack Hinjo. If target character had not chosen a direct damage ability, Hinjo gains 2 HP, though he may not go above a maximum of 20 HP.
King me!
Should Shojo die, Hinjo may choose one non-passive ability of Shojo's to claim as his own.
Persuasive Speaker [Passive]
If Hinjo uses an action against a chaotic character, the target chaotic character may not use a direct-damage attack for the next round.
Parry
If Hinjo is attacked the round he uses this ability, the damage is halved and he deals 3 damage to the attacker. [You must take the flaw with this ability.]
Slash
Deal 4 points of direct damage to a certain character. If target character is good,the damage is halved.
Untried [Flaw]
Hinjo's starting health is only 10, and all damage taken by characters higher hp than him is increased by 1.


Uh... yea. :)

[Beta]

Monster in the Darkness: Chaotic Evil, 8 HP, Initiative -2
Damage Reduction (passive): During each round, the first 5 damage against the Monster are prevented.
Freak Out: Target character can’t attack or use negative abilities against the monster until end of next round.
Gluttony: The Monster gains 1 HP. Then, if it has 30 HP or more, it wins the game.
Vengeful Strike: Deals 5 damage to any character who had attacked the Monster in any of the former rounds.

Did anyone else think the win-condition for Gluttony was too high?

[Silkenfist]

Beta: I didn't expect the monster to win with Gluttony. It was just there to force the others to attack the monster sooner or later and get in range of its defty vengeful attacks.

I'm currently transposing my notes into actual characters. I have to leave now, but I can give you my first batch of characters. Later today and tomorrow, I'll do the rest.

Roy: Lawful Good, Male, 20 HP, Initiative +1
Greatsword Attack: Deals 3 damage to any target.
Meatshield: Choose up to three target characters. Until the end of next turn, whenever they would be dealt damage, instead prevent that damage and Roy loses 1 HP.
Family Legacy: Roy’s attacks against evil characters are enhanced by 1.
Engage in Duel: Choose target character. That character must attack Roy if possible until one of them is dead or Roy chooses another character with this ability.
Let go of the Trouser Titan: Roy becomes Female permanently
Grab your Bizarro Twins: All attacks of the OOTS against the Linear Guild are enhanced by 1

Elan: Chaotic Good, Male, 13 HP, Initiative +3
Rapier Attack: Deals 1 damage to any target.
Bard’s Song: Target character’s next attack is doubled.
Seize the dramatic moment: Deals 3 damage to target character with Initiative value not more than 3 away from Elan’s (If Elan’s Initiative is 12, he can target all characters with Initiative from 9 to 15)
Look at me, I’m a wizard: At the beginning of the game, Elan randomly gains one of the other character’s active abilities. Whenever he uses that ability he uses it and another one is randomly chosen in its place.
Disguise Self: Elan can’t be attacked or targeted until the end of next round
Annoy: Target Lawful character’s initiative value is permanently lowered by 1.

Haley: Chaotic Good, Female, 12 HP, Initiative +5
Shortbow Attack: Deals 2 damage to any target,
Sneak Attack. Bitch: Deals 3 damage to any character that has not acted this round yet
Evasion: Characters with initiative more than 10 after Haley can’t attack or target her. (Tradeoff: -2 HP)
Leave my guys alone: Whenever Haley attacks a female character, that character loses all actions until the end of the round.
Mine, Mine, Mine: Whenever Haley deals lethal damage to a character, she gains 3 HP (Tradeoff: -2 HP, Initiative -2)
Manyshot: Haley may split the damage of her attack between any number of characters.

Durkon: Lawful Good, Male, 18 HP, Initiative 0
Hammer Attack: Deals 2 damage to any target.
Heavy Armor: Prevent the first 2 damage dealt to Durkon each round (Tradeoff: Durkon must declare his actions openly)
Walking Band-Aids: Target character other than Durkon gains 4 HP.
Remove Curse: End all lasting effects on target character.
ThorPrayer: Durkon gains two additional actions next round. These actions may only be used for Walking Band-Aids or Remove Curse.
Thor’s Might: Durkon gains 10 HP and his next attack is enhanced by 4. At the end of the next two rounds, Durkon loses 10 HP.

Vaarsuvius: True Neutral, Indefinite, 10 HP, Initiative -1
Missile Attack: Deals 2 damage to any target
Insightful Advice: Target character gains an additional action next round
Gender Ambiguity: Vaarsuvius counts as either gender, however it is beneficial for the elf.
Explosive Runes: The character acting after Vaarsuvius is dealt 4 damage (Tradeoff: Initiative -3)
Dispel Magic: End all effects on target character
Evan’s Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion: Deals 3 damage to target character with more HP than Vaarsuvius. They lose all actions until the end of this round.
Belkar: Chaotic Evil, Male, 15 HP, Initiative +3
Dagger Attack: Deals 2 damage to any target.
Homicidal Maniac: At the beginning of a round, whenever a player character has less than 3 HP, Belkar must choose to attack it. (Tradein: HP +1, Initiative +3)
Combat Glee: Whenever Belkar is attacked, he gains an additional action next round.
Provoke: Target character must attack Belkar next round
Kobold Hunt!! Choose a character. Until the end of next round, whenever another character attacks them, they gain 1 HP.
Lawful STUPID: All of Belkar’s attacks against Lawful characters are enhanced by 1.

Nale: Lawful Evil, Male, 15 HP, Initiative +3
Longsword Attack: Deals 2 damage to any target
Charm Person: Choose target character’s next action
Sneak Attack: Deals 3 damage to any character that has not acted this round yet
Masterplan: Name a character and an action. If the character had used that action, they are dealt 5 damage
Inevitable Betrayal? Check! All attacks of the Linear Guild against the OOTS are enhanced by 1.
Go all Bond Villain: Nale must declare his options openly. (Tradein: All attacks of Nale are enhanced by 1)

[heretic]

Could you mark abilities as passive if they are, please?

Some of them, such as Inevitable Betrayal, could be interpreted either way.

These all look good! :smallbiggrin:

[Silkenfist]

heretic: Will be editted in later. In the meantime, have fun with the next batch. Ideas for revision will still be accepted.

Miko: Lawful Good: Female, 17 HP, Initiative +4
Katana Attack: Deals 3 damage to any target
Smite Evil: Deals 4 damage to any evil character
Lay on Hands: Target character gains 2 HP
Target Fixation: At the beginning of the game, choose three target characters. You can’t attack characters other than these. Whenever one of the characters dies, you choose another one to replace it. (Tradein: +3 Initiative)
Fallen: Deals 6 damage to target non-evil character. Miko loses this ability and becomes evil permanently.
Spartany: Miko can’t gain more than 1 HP through a single effect (Tradein: +2 HP)


Sabine: Chaotic Evil, Female, 16 HP, Initiative +3
Life Drain: Deals 2 damage to any target. Sabine gains 1 HP
Energy Drain: Deals 2 damage to any target. They lose all actions until the end of this round.
Damage Reduction: The first two damage dealt to Sabine each round are prevented.
Tactical Escape: Whenever Sabine is dealt more than 2 damage in one round, prevent all further attacks against her until the end of that round.
Arch Enemy: Name a character: All attacks against that character are enhanced by 1
Shapeshift into Disguise: Sabine loses all abilities and can’t be attacked until the end of the next two rounds.


Xykon: Lawful Evil, Male, 17 HP, Initiative -1
Symbol of Pain: Deals 1 damage to any target and 1 damage at the beginning of each following round until one of them dies or a new target is chosen.
Sacrificing Minions: Deals 1 damage to target character for every three dead evil player characters (rounded up.)
Masterplan: Name a character and an action. If the character had used or use that action in the round, they are dealt 5 damage
Moderately Escapable Forcecage: Target character loses all actions until the end of next turn.
Set Trap: The next character to attack Xykon is dealt 4 damage. (Tradeoff: -3 HP)
His soul-hidey place: Whenever Xykon dies, choose an evil character. At the end of the next two rounds, if the chosen character is still alive, Xykon returns to live with half of his starting HP, rounded up (Tradeoff: -3 HP)


Monster in the Darkness: Neutral Evil, Indefinite, 18 HP, Initiative -2
Gluttony: The Monster gains 1 HP. Then, if it has 25 or more HP, it wins the game.
Damage Reduction: The first five damage dealt to Sabine each round are prevented. (Tradein: -6 HP)
Vengeful Strike: Deals 5 damage to any character that had attacked the Monster in one of the previous rounds.
Freak Out: Target character can’t attack the Monster until the end of the next turn.
Mysterious Identity: Monster in the Darkness gains the Alignment and Gender of target character and loses this ability.
Tasty Paper: Prevent the next non-attacking action that would happen this round.


Lord Shojo: Chaotic Good, Male, 8 HP, Initiative -2
Sapphire Guard: Create a Paladin NPC with 5 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage. You can’t create another NPC if there already is one alive.
Feign Role: Choose a new alignment for Lord Shojo permanently. He loses this ability.
Devoted Servitude: Whenever Lord Shojo would be dealt damage, if there is a Paladin NPC in play, the damage is dealt to the Paladin instead.
Gift Coupon: Target character gains an additional action next round.
Royal Command: Choose target Lawful character’s next action.
Arrest: Target character loses all actions until the end of next round.

[Enlong]

Fixed up Julio a bit. Made his abilities better.

[Silkenfist]

Next batch. I hope to have all of them done by tonight:

Thog: Chaotic Evil, Male, 20 HP, Initiative +1
Greataxe Attack: Deals 3 damage to any target
Thog Improvise: Deals 1 damage to any target. You can use this ability even if Thog would have lost his action otherwise.
Influencable: Lasting effects against Thog last an additional round (Tradein: Initative +3)
Bull Rush Tackle Hug: Deals 1 damage to target character. They lose all actions until the end of next round.
Keep pretty girls away from Thog: Attacks from Thog against female characters are halved. Attacks from female characters against Thog are doubled (Tradein: HP +6)
Thog Rage: Thog deals 5 damage to target character and 1 damage to himself. (Tradeoff: -3 HP)

Hinjo: Lawful Good, Male, 17 HP, Initiative +2
Katana Attack: Deals 2 damage to any target.
Intercept: Prevent all attacks against target character until the end of next round.
Heir to the Throne: Choose a character that died not more than round ago. Hinjo gains an ability of that character permanently and loses Heir to the Throne.
Heal: Target character gains 2 HP.
Integrity: Hinjo’s actions can’t be chosen by another player.
Defense Commander: Attacks against Hinjo are decreased by 1.

Julia: True Neutral, Female, 11 HP, Initiative +1
Missile Attack: Deals 2 damage to any target.
Look: Boobies: Choose target male character’s next action. (Tradeoff: Initiative -2)
Attention Seeker: Whenever Julia is targeted with a non-attacking ability, she gains 2 HP
Adventurers to the Rescue: Choose target character that attacked Julia last round. Until the end of next round, attacks against that character are enhanced by 1.
Damsel in Distress: Whenever Julia is attacked, if she still has an action in the round, she loses that action instead of taking damage. (Tradeoff: -2 HP, Initiative +2)
Escape: At the end of each round, all lasting effects on Julia end.

Leeky: Neutral Evil, Male, 12 HP, Initiative +1
Firestorm: Deals 2 damage, divided as you choose to any number of characters.
Summon Tree Servant: Creates a tree NPC with 3 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage. You can’t summon a Tree if more than two are existing already.
Dire Bear Form: Leeky gains 10 HP and loses all abilities in exchange for a Claw attack that deals 3 damage. At the end of the next three rounds, Leeky loses 10 HP and the abilities are shifted back.
Protection: Target other character gains Damage Reduction for 2 damage until the end of the next two rounds.
Heal: Target character gains 2 HP.
Send the animal companion: Whenever a character attacks Leeky, it is dealt 1 damage.

Pompey: Neutral Evil, Male, 11 HP, Initiative 0
Summon Monster: Create a Centipede NPC with 1 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage.
Buff Spells: Target character’s next attack is enhanced by 2. If it is female, the attack is enhanced by 4 instead.
Disgust: Pompey can’t be targeted by female characters with non-attacking abilities.
Guard the Hostage: All lasting effects on target character are extended for one round.
Petty Vengeance: Deals 3 damage to target character that attacked Pompey last round.
Surrender: Pompey loses all actions and can’t be dealt damage until the end of next round.

Julio: Chaotic Good, Male, 15 HP, Initiative +4
Swashbuckle: Deals 2 damage to target character. If it has more HP than Julio, deal 3 damage to it instead.
Ladie’s Man: Attacks from Female characters against Julio are halved.
Wanted Criminal: Whenever Julio attacks or is attacked by a Lawful character, they are each dealt 1 damage in addition.
Mentorship: Target character gains an action for each alignment they share with Julio.
Training Montage: Target other character’s Initiative is permanently enhanced by 2.
Lift to Azure City: Whenever Julio targets another character with a non-attacking action, that character acts at the beginning of the next round.

[Enlong]

Okay, I like your Julio more then mine.

When I join, I'd like to play Julio or Miko.

[Silkenfist]

OK, guys. I’ve created the first set of 26. I want to open registration tomorrow, so please have a look at it and tell me if you spot flaws in the balance.

Some notes up front:

- NPC’s have no gender or alignment. Their Initiative modifier is 0. When their creator dies, the NPC’s are removed from the game immediately.
- Tradeoff means: If you choose the respective ability to be in your starting four, the tradeoff applies to your character.
- Don’t feel bad if your suggestions are not in there directly. I had to shift stuff around a lot and many ideas ended up reworded and/or on different characters.

Roy: Lawful Good, Male, 20 HP, Initiative +1
Greatsword Attack: (attack) Deals 3 damage to any target.
Meat Shield: Choose up to three target characters other than Roy. Until the end of next turn, whenever they would be dealt damage, instead prevent that damage and Roy loses 1 HP.
Family Legacy: (passive) Roy’s attacks against evil characters are enhanced by 1.
Engage in Duel: Choose target character. That character must attack Roy if possible until one of them is dead or Roy chooses another character with this ability.
Don the Belt: Roy becomes Female permanently
Grab your Bizarro Twins: (passive) All attacks of the OOTS against the Linear Guild are enhanced by 1

Elan: Chaotic Good, Male, 13 HP, Initiative +3
Rapier Attack: (attack) Deals 1 damage to any target.
Bard’s Song: Target character’s next attack is doubled.
Seize the dramatic moment: (attack) Deals 3 damage to target character with Initiative value not more than 3 away from Elan’s (If Elan’s Initiative is 12, he can target all characters with Initiative from 9 to 15)
Look at me, I’m a wizard: At the beginning of the game, Elan randomly gains one of the other character’s active abilities. Whenever he uses that ability he uses it and another one is randomly chosen in its place.
Disguise Self: Elan can’t be attacked or targeted until the end of next round. (Tradeoff: -1 HP, Initiative -1)
Annoy: Target Lawful character’s initiative value is permanently lowered by 1.

Haley: Chaotic Good, Female, 12 HP, Initiative +5
Shortbow Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target
Sneak Attack. Bitch: (attack) Deals 3 damage to any character that has not acted this round yet.
Evasion: (passive) Characters with initiative 10 or more later than Haley can’t attack or target her.
Leave my guys alone: (passive) Whenever Haley attacks a female character, that character loses all actions until the end of the round. (Tradeoff: Initiative -2)
Mine, Mine, Mine: (passive) Whenever Haley deals lethal damage to a player character, she gains 3 HP (Tradeoff: -2 HP)
Manyshot: (passive) Haley may split the damage of her attack between any number of characters.

Durkon: Lawful Good, Male, 18 HP, Initiative 0
Hammer Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target.
Heavy Armor: (passive) Prevent the first 2 damage dealt to Durkon each round (Tradeoff: Durkon must declare his actions openly).
Walking Band-Aids: Target character other than Durkon gains 4 HP.
Remove Curse: End all lasting effects on target character.
ThorPrayer: Durkon gains two additional actions next round. These actions may only be used for Walking Band-Aids or Remove Curse.
Thor’s Might: Durkon gains 10 HP and his next attack is enhanced by 4. At the end of the next two rounds, Durkon loses 10 HP.

Vaarsuvius: True Neutral, Indefinite, 11 HP, Initiative -1
Missile Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target
Insightful Advice: Target character gains an additional action next round.
Gender Ambiguity: (passive) Vaarsuvius counts as either gender, however it is beneficial for the elf. (Tradeoff: +3 HP)
Explosive Runes: The character acting after Vaarsuvius is dealt 4 damage (Tradeoff: Initiative -2)
Dispel Magic: End all lasting effects on target character.
Evan’s Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion: (attack) Deals 4 damage to target character with more HP than Vaarsuvius. They lose all actions until the end of this round.

Belkar: Chaotic Evil, Male, 15 HP, Initiative +3
Dagger Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target.
Homicidal Maniac: (passive) At the beginning of a round, whenever a player character has less than 3 HP, Belkar must choose to attack it. (Tradeoff: HP +1, Initiative +3)
Combat Glee: (passive) Whenever Belkar is attacked, he gains an additional action next round.
Provoke: Target character must attack Belkar next round.
Kobold Hunt: Choose a character. Until the end of next round, whenever another character attacks them, they gain 1 HP.
Lawful stupid: (passive) Belkar’s attacks against Lawful characters are enhanced by 1.

Nale: Lawful Evil, Male, 15 HP, Initiative +3
Longsword Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target.
Charm Person: Choose target character’s next action.
Sneak Attack: (attack) Deals 3 damage to any character that has not acted this round yet.
Masterplan: (attack) Name a character and an action. If the character had used or use that action in the round, they are dealt 5 damage.
Inevitable Betrayal? Check: (passive) All attacks of the Linear Guild against the OOTS are enhanced by 1.
Go all Bond Villain: (passive) Nale must declare his options openly. (Tradeoff: All attacks of Nale are enhanced by 1)

Miko: Lawful Good: Female, 16 HP, Initiative +4
Katana Attack: (attack) Deals 3 damage to any target.
Smite Evil: (attack) Deals 4 damage to any evil character.
Lay on Hands: Target good character gains 2 HP.
Target Fixation: (passive) At the beginning of the game, choose three target characters. You can’t attack characters other than these. Whenever one of the characters dies, you choose another one to replace it. (Tradeoff: +3 Initiative)
Fallen: (attack) Deals 6 damage to target non-evil character. Miko loses this ability and becomes evil permanently.
Spartany: (passive) Miko can’t gain more than 1 HP through a single effect (Tradeoff: +2 HP)

Sabine: Chaotic Evil, Female, 16 HP, Initiative +3
Life Drain: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target. Sabine gains 1 HP
Energy Drain: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target. It loses all actions until the end of this round.
Damage Reduction: (passive) The first two damage dealt to Sabine each round are prevented.
Tactical Escape: (passive) Whenever Sabine is dealt more than 2 damage in one round, prevent all further attacks against her until the end of that round.
Arch Enemy: Choose a character: All attacks against that character are enhanced by 1.
Shapeshift into Disguise:Sabine loses all abilities and can’t be attacked until the end of the next two rounds.

Thog: Chaotic Evil, Male, 20 HP, Initiative +1
Greataxe Attack: (attack) Deals 3 damage to any target
Thog Improvise: (attack) Deals 1 damage to any target. You can use this ability even if Thog would have lost his action otherwise.
Influencable: (passive) Lasting effects against Thog last an additional round (Tradeoff: Initative +3)
Bull Rush Tackle Hug: (attack) Deals 1 damage to target character. They lose all actions until the end of next round.
Keep pretty girls away from Thog: (passive) Attacks from Thog against female characters are halved. Attacks from female characters against Thog are doubled (Tradeoff: HP +6)
Thog Rage: (attack) Thog deals 5 damage to target character and 1 damage to himself. (Tradeoff: -3 HP)

Xykon: Lawful Evil, Male, 17 HP, Initiative -1
Symbol of Pain: (attack= Deals 1 damage to any target and 1 damage at the beginning of each following round until one of them dies or a new target is chosen.
Sacrificing Minions: (attack) Deals 1 damage to target character for every three dead evil player characters (rounded up.).
Masterplan: (attack) Name a character and an action. If the character had used or use that action in the round, they are dealt 5 damage
Moderately Escapable Forcecage: Target character loses all actions until the end of next turn.
Set Trap: The next character to attack Xykon is dealt 4 damage. (Tradeoff: -3 HP)(Doesn't count as attack)
His soul-hidey place: (passive) When Xykon dies, choose an evil character. At the end of the next two rounds, if the chosen character is still alive, Xykon returns to live with half of his starting HP, rounded up (Tradeoff: -3 HP).

Redcloak: Lawful Evil, Male, 13 HP, Initiative +1
Harm: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target.
Heal: Target evil character gains 2 HP.
Hobgoblin Commander: (generating) Create a Hobgoblin NPC with 1 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage to any non-evil target.
Grudge: (passive) Attacks against good characters are enhanced by 1.
Raise Dead: Target character is returned to life with 1 HP. You may choose their next action.
Loyal Minion: (passive) Attacks from Redcloak and characters controlled by him against evil characters are halved. (Tradein: +3 HP)

Monster in the Darkness: Neutral Evil, Indefinite, 12 HP, Initiative -2
Gluttony: The Monster gains 1 HP. Then, if it has 25 or more HP, it wins the game.
Damage Reduction: (passive) The first five damage dealt to the Monster each round are prevented. (Tradeoff: -2 HP)
Vengeful Strike: (attack) Deals 5 damage to any character that had attacked the Monster in one of the previous rounds.
Freak Out: Target character can’t attack the Monster until the end of the next turn.
Mysterious Identity: Monster in the Darkness gains the Alignment and Gender of target character and loses this ability.
Tasty Paper: Prevent the next non-attacking action that would happen this round.

[Silkenfist]

Second part: I didn't manage to fit everything into one post.

Lord Shojo: Chaotic Good, Male, 10 HP, Initiative -2
Sapphire Guard: (generating) Create a Paladin NPC with 4 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage. You can’t create another NPC if there already is one alive.
Feign Role: Choose a new alignment for Lord Shojo permanently. He loses this ability.
Devoted Servitude: (passive) Whenever Lord Shojo would be dealt damage, if there is a Paladin NPC in play, the damage is dealt to the Paladin instead. (Tradeoff: -3 HP)
Gift Coupon: Target character gains an additional action next round.
Royal Command: Choose target Lawful character’s next action.
Sapphire Guard Agenda: (passive) When there are no non-Lawful player characters other than Lord Shojo alive, he wins the game.

Celia: Neutral Good, Female, 12 HP, Initiative +1
Thunder: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target
Level Bypass: Exchange the Initiative values of two target characters (This ability takes place at the beginning of the round)
Not a Booty Talisman: Target good character gains an additional action next round
New line of career: Choose an ability of a character. Celia gains that ability and loses New line of career.
Desperate Defense: Target character can’t be the target of non-attacking abilities until the end of next round
Rune Guardian: (passive) Attacks of good characters against Celia are decreased by 1. Attacks of evil characters against Celia are enhanced by 1. (Tradein: +3 HP, +1 Initiative)

Hinjo: Lawful Good, Male, 17 HP, Initiative +2
Katana Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target.
Intercept: Prevent all attacks against target character until the end of next round.
Heir to the Throne: Choose a character that died not more than round ago. Hinjo gains an ability of that character permanently and loses Heir to the Throne.
Heal: Target character gains 2 HP.
Integrity: (passive) Hinjo’s actions can’t be chosen by another player.
Defense Commander: (passive) Attacks against Hinjo are decreased by 1. (Tradeoff: -4 HP)

Julia: True Neutral, Female, 11 HP, Initiative +1
Missile Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target.
Look: Boobies: Choose target male character’s next action. (Tradeoff: Initiative -2)
Attention Seeker: (passive) Whenever Julia is targeted with a non-attacking ability, she gains 2 HP.
Adventurers to the Rescue: Choose target character that attacked Julia last round. Until the end of next round, attacks against that character are enhanced by 1.
Damsel in Distress: (passive) Whenever Julia is attacked, if she still has an action in the round, she loses that action instead of taking damage. (Tradeoff: -2 HP, Initiative +2)
Escape: (passive) At the end of each round, all lasting effects on Julia end.

Leeky: Neutral Evil, Male, 12 HP, Initiative +1
Firestorm: (attack) Deals 2 damage, divided as you choose to any number of characters.
Summon Tree Servant: (generating) Creates a tree NPC with 3 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage. You can’t summon a Tree if more than two are existing already.
Dire Bear Form: Leeky gains 10 HP and loses all abilities in exchange for a Claw attack that deals 3 damage. At the end of the next three rounds, Leeky loses 10 HP and the abilities are shifted back.
Protection: Target other character gains Damage Reduction for 2 damage until the end of the next two rounds.
Heal: Target non-good character gains 2 HP.
Send the animal companion: (passive) Whenever a character attacks Leeky, it is dealt 1 damage.

Pompey: Neutral Evil, Male, 11 HP, Initiative 0
Summon Monster: (generating) Create a Centipede NPC with 1 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage. If there is no Centipede NPC in play, create two Centipedes instead.
Buff Spells: Target character’s next attack is enhanced by 2. If it is female, the attack is enhanced by 4 instead.
Disgust: (passive) Pompey can’t be targeted by female characters with non-attacking abilities.
Guard the Hostage: All lasting effects on target non-evil character are extended for one round.
Petty Vengeance: Deals 3 damage to target character that attacked Pompey last round.
Surrender: Pompey loses all actions and can’t be dealt damage until the end of next round.

Julio: Chaotic Good, Male, 15 HP, Initiative +4
Swashbuckle: (attack) Deals 2 damage to target character. If it has more HP than Julio, deal 3 damage to it instead.
Ladie’s Man: (passive) Attacks from Female characters against Julio are halved.
Wanted Criminal: (passive) Whenever Julio attacks or is attacked by a Lawful character, they are each dealt 1 damage in addition.
Mentorship: Target character gains an action if they share an alignment with Julio. If they share two alignments, the target gains 2 HP in addition.
Training Montage: Target other character’s Initiative is permanently enhanced by 2.
Lift to Azure City: (passive) Whenever Julio targets another character with a non-attacking action, that character acts at the beginning of the next round.

Samantha: Chaotic Evil, Female, 11 HP, Initiative 0
Missile Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target.
Hold Person: Target character loses all actions until the end of next round.
Usurpation: Choose target character, than exchange Usurpation with one ability of them.
Capture Handsome Guys: Target male character loses all actions and can’t be attacked until the end of the round.
Send in the Bandits: (generating) Create a Bandit NPC with 1 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage.
Chain Lightning: (attack) Deals 2 damage to target character and the two characters acting right before and right after it. (Characters acting simultaneously will be included additionally)

The Lawyers: Lawful Neutral, Male, 14 HP, Initiative -2
If with the boot you’ve been kicked…: (attack) Deals 1 damage to any target.
Cease and Desist: Target character loses one non-attacking, non-generating ability of your choice permanently. Can’t be used more than once against each character. (Tradeoff: Initiative -3)
Call Witness: Up to two target characters that were dealt damage last round, gain an additional action next round.
Scapegoat: (passive) At the end of each round, if the Lawyers are below 7 HP, their HP become 7, their name changes to Mr Jones and they lose this ability.
Restraining Order: Non-chaotic characters can’t attack the Lawyers until the end of next round.
We’re off to see the Wizard: Remove target NPC from the game.

Zz’dtri: Neutral Evil, Male, 12 HP, Initiative -1
Lightning Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target.
Spell Resistance: (passive) Can’t be targeted by non-attacking abilities.
Flesh to Stone: Target character loses all actions and can’t be attacked or targeted until the end of the next three rounds
Man of Few Words: (passive) At the end of each round, if ZZ’dtri wasn’t attacked or targeted that round, he gains 2 HP.
Violation of Intellectual Property: Zz’dtri gains the alignment and one ability of your choice of target character. Zz’dtri loses Violation of Intellectual Property.
House-ruled Fly Spell: Up to three target characters can’t be attacked until the end of this round. (Tradein: -2 HP, Initiative +3)

Hilgya: Chaotic Neutral, Female, 17 HP, Initiative 0
Melee Attack: (attack) Deals 1 damage to any target.
Restoration: End all lasting effects on target character.
Cure Wounds: Target other character gains 4 HP.
Servant of Loki: (passive) All attacks of chaotic characters and NPC’s against Hilgya are halved (rounded up)
Sanctuary: Hilgya can’t be attacked until the end of next round.
Shift of Conscience: Choose a new alignment for Hilgya among the Good-Evil axis.

The Oracle: True Neutral, Male, 9 HP, Initiative -2
Test of Body: (generating) Create a Hydra NPC with 5 HP and a melee attack that deals 2 damage. You can't use this ability if there is a Hydra in play already.
Test of Heart: (passive) Whenever characters with less than 6 HP attack the Oracle, prevent that damage and the attacker gains 1 HP instead.
Benevolent Prophecy: Name another character and one of its abilities. The next round, that character may use that ability at the beginning of the round without spending an action.
Malevolent Prophecy: Name a character and an ability. Until the end of next round, whenever they use that ability, they are dealt 3 damage.
Field of Memory Loss: (passive) Whenever a character attacks The Oracle, they can’t attack it again until the end of next round.
Inconclusive Answer: (passive) Whenever The Oracle’s action would be chosen by another character, it may pay 2 HP to choose it himself instead.

Yikyik: Chaotic Evil, Male, 10 HP, Initiative +2
Shortsword Attack: (attack) Deals 2 damage to any target.
Combat Reflexes. Asswipe: (passive) Whenever Yikyik is attacked, the attacker is dealt 1 damage.
Vengeful Son: (passive) When Yikyik dies, its player continues the game with the character Yokyok. Yokyok is a copy of Yikyik, except that he is Chaotic Neutral and does not have the ability Vengeful Son. (Tradeoff: -3 HP)
Pursue: (passive) Whenever Yikyik attacks a character, all further attacks against that character are enhanced by 1.
Provoke: Deals 1 damage to target character. They must attack Yikyik next round if possible.
Distraction: Deals 1 damage to target character. That character loses all actions until the end of this round.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

Okay, I like your Julio more then mine.

When I join, I'd like to play Julio or Miko.

Pssst. Elan is more fun to play. Trust me.

[Enlong]

Pssst. Elan is more fun to play. Trust me.
Actually, despite second opinion, I'm gonna be really wild and ask to play the Oracle. His abilities look like fun, one question though. Can the Oracle make multiple Hydras, like, have more then one hydra at once?

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

No, seriously, Elan is a blast to play.

'Course, that was back when you could be granted complete and utter control of Thog, and make outrageous bribes and longshots and finally be betrayed by Haley when she needed Elan most.

That's why I'm going to ask for Shojo.

[Silkenfist]

Actually, despite second opinion, I'm gonna be really wild and ask to play the Oracle. His abilities look like fun, one question though. Can the Oracle make multiple Hydras, like, have more then one hydra at once?

Not anymore ;) Forgot to add the clause.

[Enlong]

Yeah, but I think I prefer the Oracle. He can conjure an army of Hydras, bribe characters with extra actions (woah! Think of Durkon using ThorPrayer under a Benevolent Prediction!) Punish people for being predictable, avoid a bunch of damage by stopping multiple attacks on him, fight low-health people with impunity, and keep his actions no matter what. I like the idea of that manipulative style. Especially the "army of Hydras" thing. :biggrin:

[Deckmaster]

Except that he changed the "army of hydras" part.

So many characters...I don't know which one to request!

Not Julia again, that's my only stipulation. She's still designed around calling attention to herself, and that doesn't match my style of play.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

Read above you, Enlong. No army for you.

Shojo manipulates too.

[Enlong]

Darn, loophole untied. Well, I still want the Oracle, because of his awesome powers of manipulation. And the Hydra ensures that I can continue maniulating people without having to use up my action on a direct attack. Quick questions. If Durkon is given a Benevolent Prediction of ThorPrayer, can he get 3 actions (the two from the free Thorprayer, and the one normal action?) Also, what do you think is a better self-protection for the Oracle? Memory Field or Test of Heart? Either way, I want the ben/Mal evolent predictions and the Test of Body. inconclusive is too limited.
Finally, can a character's hp go over their max? (just wanna know if I should do a bit of first-round durkon bribing)

[Angela]

I'm a little unclear on what the Lawyer's 'Scapegoat' ability actually does...

[Enlong]

It turns their health to 7 once if their health drops belos 8 during the round. Best case scenario, they get knocked down to 1 before the end of the round, Scapegoat kicks in, and Associate gets turned out while Jones goes back up to 7 HP

[Deckmaster]

It's like at the end of the trial when the one lawyer says the lawyer of record was the other lawyer. If their losing, he deletes any record of his involvement, and if they're winning, he takes all the credit. In game, it means that if they are at, say, 12 HP and they take 8 damage in one round, instead of being at 4 next round they're at 7, and only Mr. Jones is left. Not a very useful ability, compared with some of the others.

[Calamity]

Hmm, there are so many characters I'd like to play! I think, I want Leeky more (because he's the only one I would like to play who's NEW!!!) That's a silly reason I know. So yeah, Leeky,

And I gotta say you have thought you characters through very carefully Silkenfest, and this was a great idea from the very beginning but... Celia's Rune Guardian: The tradein should be +3HP not HO? i wonder why I nitpick though as I make many typos myself.

Anyway! Kudos (Who thought of that word anyway) to you Silkenfest.

Calamity: Looking forward to Round #2 since.... uhhh, reading round #1! :)

[Selrahc]

On Samanthas Usurpation power:

I think it would be neat if after use, the person targeted has the actual ability stolen, and replaced with usurpation. Gameplay wise it just seems a neat idea... Some shifting around of abilities. Like a freaky game of pass the parcel.

Setting wise, it kind of matches. Since whoever was usurped, tried to usurp again. (I.E, her dad took the control back)

[Silkenfist]

Selrahc: Done :)

[heretic]

When we choose our four abilities, will we have to post our choices, or can they be kept secret until used?

[Enlong]

When exactly does choosing begin? I know tomorrow, but when tomorrow? I could very well have school then, so can it start earliesh in the day? I don't want nobody stealing the ORacle slot.

[Madmal]

i have a question: is registration gonna be as the 1st round?

[Silkenfist]

Heretic: The chosen abilities will be published openly.

Enlong, Mal: Registration will be like last time. You send me your list of choices in hierarchical order via message and I distribute the characters among you.

[Enlong]

Quite possibly last questions.
In reguards to the character choosing, you mean right now?
Also, can any character (aside from the MITD) go above their original Health total?

[Silkenfist]

Character choosing starts tomorrow and all character can exceed their starting HP.

[evnafets]

Some initial comments after a very quick skim.

I think we need a rule that if you grant an extra action, that action can't be used to create ANOTHER action. I can see a continual growth building up between Shojo and Julio ;-)

I think Julio is potentially overpowered with the combination of Mentorship +Freeride on a Chaotic good character. Two actions plus guaranteed to act first? Sounds like sneak attack city for Haley.
Previously mentorship also included the caveat that the mentoree could not attack their mentor. Is that deliberately out?

Clarification request on Sabine Tactical escape ability. It seemed a little strong to me on first reading - basically means she can't be triple teamed.
The best you could do is have one character do 3 damage (cut through DR + 1point of damage) and then have someone else whack her for 6?
However she could still be targeted by non-damaging actions?

For Nale, obviously you want to take BOTH Masterplan and Bond villain. Its a sure recipe for success. Trust me :xykon:

[although]

Scapegoat: At the end of each round, if the Lawyers are below 8 HP, their HP become 7, their name changes to Mr Jones and they lose this ability.

Are you sure you don't want this to read "...if the Lawyers are below 7 HP..."?

As it reads right now, if they fall to exactly 7 HP, then they lose Mr. Rodriguez but gain nothing in return.

[Enlong]

Oh yeah, REALLy my last questions. If the Oracle gives Durkon a Benevolent Prediction about ThorPrayer, does Durkon get the double Thorprayer actions, and a third, normal action? Also, if the Oracle gives somone a Benevolent Prediction, do they know about it when they make their action?

And we CAN exceed normal max? Sounds like truce time for me and the healers....

[heretic]

You may exceed normal HP. At least, in round #1 you could.

[Enlong]

Thate was more an incredulously happy thing. If Hilgya, Durkon, and Leeky keep me alive, they may find a very useful ally...:smallsmile:

THough I'm worried that I'll negociate the truce in the thread, and then the entire game will strike me down because they read it.

[Silkenfist]

evnafets:
- Concerning ridiculous action accumulation. I've been afraid of this one already during #1. I am hoping that the "lose all actions" abilities balance it.
- Julio/Haley Combo: OK, I should do something against that. I'll look at what I can do against that.
- Rewording Mentorship: I think it is simpler that way. The clause just isn't needed that much.
- Sabine's abilities: It's more than 2 damage. You can still triple attack her, if the first two attacks deal 2 damage each. It just prevents her from being overrun. And non-damaging actions still work.
- Nale: Yep. Bond Villain and Masterplan don't interact well. I'll think of something to fix it, but maybe I'll just let it be. They are not the essential actions for Nale and he would probably not take both anyway.

although:
Thinks....yeah, I can do that.

Enlong:
At the end of the round, any of your choices will be revealed.

[Enlong]

Actually, my worries lie in the negotiations before the round happens. I'm afraid I'll get a truce between myself, Durkon, Leeky, and Hilgya set up, by talking to them in the thread, only to have the rest of the game slaughter me before they can even boost my health any, due to knowing my alliances. It's a security issue.

[heretic]

I think you can PM people for strategy...but I was just a lowly spectator in round 1.

[Asarth]

A question about Shojo's Sapphire Guard ability and the Paladin NPC.

If the Paladin NPC was,for example,in a moderately-escapable forcecage,would he still be able to take the hit for Shojo?(if Shojo has Devoted Servitude.)?

[heretic]

By the RAW, yes.

[Copacetic]

I want hinjo please( I'm new here)

[Madmal]

I want hinjo please( I'm new here)

wait till tomorrow, and then sent Silkenfist a PM with you top five choices. he'll distribute the roles among us.

[Enlong]

Top 5? Oh!

[Copacetic]

Malmagor sorry i figured it was tommorow i got a heck of a time scedule(like my CPU says it's 5pm hen i post it says postedleke 11:30 Pm) srry.

As i said i'm new here

[evnafets]

Tomorrow is a very subjective term depending upon where you are in the world.
I'd wait for Silkenfist to officially open the registration before flooding his mailbox with PMs.

[Madmal]

Malmagor sorry i figured it was tommorow i got a heck of a time scedule(like my CPU says it's 5pm hen i post it says postedleke 11:30 Pm) srry.

As i said i'm new here

no problem. the apology was unneccesary. :smallsmile:

[Enlong]

If Zz'Dtri uses Houseruled Fly on himself, does Man of Few words automatically work for that round, because it's impossible to target or attack him?

[heretic]

I'm torn between my love of strategy and my love of Belkar. :smallfrown:

[Copacetic]

I find apologizes especially necisary

Rude is so uncool

[evnafets]

If Zz'Dtri uses Houseruled Fly on himself, does Man of Few words automatically work for that round, because it's impossible to target or attack him?
Can he target himself? It doesn't explicitly say not.
However seeing as he targeted himself with his fly spell, Man of few words wouldn't apply.

I guess if he starts spamming it too much, the people earlier in the initiative order should take care of him. Or the people later in the initiative order could use actions on him to bring him down (eg dispel), or control/cage him next turn so he can't fly away.

[comprehensive]

Hrm..
Is tomorrow considered now or in a few hours time?
Meh. I'll send it in now.
:]

[Calamity]

I think we should wait until he officially opens registration

[Enlong]

Can Hinjo's Intercept block people who got a higher initiative then him on the round he performs it?

[Beta]

I think Pompeis summon monster needs strenghtening, especially with all the other Summon NPC abilities going around.
I suggest :
1) Summon Monster: Creats two Centipede NPC's with 1 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage.

or, if thats too powerfull :

2) Summon Monster: Creats two Centipede NPC's with 1 HP and an attack that deals 1 damage. Cannot be used if this abilitie was used last round.

[Selrahc]

Monster in the Darkness

>Snip<
Damage Reduction: The first five damage dealt to Sabine each round are prevented. (Tradein: -6 HP)

Wow. Sabine must be really loving that ability. :smallwink:

[David94]

Character choosing starts tomorrow and all character can exceed their starting HP.

It is tomorrow now, so does that mean we can submit our lists? But if it's too early, let me know and I'll send my list again later.

[Sethis]

Yeah, do we start now or wait until a new thread is made?

[evnafets]

Just in case everyone missed it, the signup thread has been posted:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35046

[Copacetic]

Oh there the real thread is!