BBeast

BattleCorp™: Combatant Creator

I'm guessing the EXP gain from damage healed won't include damage healed from resting.

BattleCorp™: Combatant Creator

Among the group of to-be combatants was a man, aged in his thirties, of sinewy build, with pointed face and stubble. He wore over his normal clothes a brown overcoat. His eyes darted around the room and also to the rest of the group as they entered, scanning for any hint of danger, and his hands drifted beside his waist. When the box emerged he tensed and his hands slipped past his overcoat and revealed two holstered pistols, on which his hands were now resting on, but had not yet drawn.

This was David Pierce. If any of the other combatants had tried conversing with him before entering, they would have gained no personal information from him aside from his name, and even that would have been given hesitantly.

When Pierce was content that the box was no immediate threat, he relaxed slightly, although his hands had not moved. He did roll his eyes and give a grunt as the box attempted to sound dramatic and motivational, although he did not interrupt. When the box did move, and started preparing whatever it was that they were going to fight, Pierce slowly drew one pistol, clicked off the safety and held it steadily pointing at the place where the enemy would emerge, his finger resting against the trigger, ready to squeeze at a moment's notice. However, this high degree of alertness seemed to have gone to waste, as the fog cleared and revealed that the opponent was a plant- immobile, harmless, a bit anticlimactic, really.

Pierce's eyes darted around the room once more, checking for some trap, some surprise, some ambush, but he could see none. The Head Summoner seemed to be serious. Pierce shrugged, then fired twice into the base of the bush, the gunshots echoing across the hard, flat-walled room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Action: Attack the Bush (that would be 5-3=2 damage)

Dungeon Keepers (This one's done. Go to The Horde of Evil instead)

When I said create a plot and iron out details I meant something more along the lines of figuring out what the Dungeon Keeper will be like, what the rules will be, where this will take place...

@Cyclone

Oh, you meant the important stuff which needs to be settled before we can start. That's probably a good idea.

@BBeast

Would you want to be a Co-GM? If you don't that's perfectly understandable, but I figured I'd extend the offer since the two of us ran this RP.

I must decline. I've started uni this year, so I'm rather short on spare time. I'll still help out as I can, and with mid-semester break coming up I'll have extra time then, but I've got enough on my plate without Co-GMing an RP.


And on to the plan. I like the idea of progression as the story goes along, and encouraging player characters with rewards. These rewards, of course, would need to be tailored to each character, for all of our characters would have different motivations. The greatest reward (generally, anyway) would be some sort of skill upgrade, used to reward the bravest and most useful minions.

As for location: One option is Outremar- the original home of the Keepers (set, of course, before we destroyed it). It is large, a bit of a blank slate. We can do a lot with it. Only downside is that there aren't much in the way of pre-built plot hooks.
Another option is Elysium - Also reasonably large. Unlike Outremar, it comes with prefabricated civilisations which we can mould into a good story. My preference is this one, since it has a lot of potential.
Third option is Cyprus, although it is perhaps a bit restrictive. Unless we want our plot to be some sort of showdown between us and the Cypriots, we don't have much room to move.
Alternatively, we can build a whole new world, although I think that would be unnecessary considering that we already have a few.

Now for the Keeper. Our Keeper needs to not be tied down to a single theme, for that would restrict what kinds of characters would be compatible. So what we need is some Generic Evil Overlord:

Inspiration

Personality needs to fit our needs. That is, he needs to be both strict in punishment and willing to reward those who do well. I'm thinking he'll be sparing in speech rather than make flamboyant speeches, for this is about the player characters, not the Keeper. Direct. Efficient.
As for powers- well, throw in powers as necessary and within reason. He won't be doing much battling anyway (that's what we're for), so that shouldn't matter too much.

One other matter that needs to be agreed on is our individual levels of power at the start. I'm thinking on the level of Rogue Beings. Not super-powerful Rogue Beings, but still fairly potent.

P.S. We'll need a different name, too, to differentiate it from the normal Dungeon Keepers RPs.

BattleCorp™: Combatant Creator

Name: David Pierce
Gender: Male
Skills:

• Quick Draw - Allows Pierce to perform a bonus attack action on his turn. Triggering this skill or using the bonus attack does not consume Pierce's action, although Pierce may only use Quick Draw once per turn. Energy Cost: 5
• Showdown - Pierce gains the Showdown buff. Pierce enters a state of heightened alertness. When Pierce is next targeted by an attack, Pierce shoots first, dealing damage to the attacker using Pierce's Attack stat. Provided the attacker is still conscious, the attacker's attack then proceeds as normal. This buff expires after its effect takes place. This buff does not stack with itself. Energy Cost: 5

Traits: Nil
Stats: 20 / 2 / 8
Level: Level 2, 6/100 XP
Last modification: Sheet created - 7/6/15
First skill changed from Assassinate to Quick Draw - 8/6/15
Edited Quick Draw from a reaction to a bonus attack - 8/6/15
Level Up. Allocated 3 StP to Attack, 1 StP to Health. Learned Showdown. - 14/6/15
Clarification to Quick Draw (may only be used once per turn) - 15/6/15

Skills for Later

In no particular order

• Assassinate - Pierce takes one turn to find a weakness in his enemy's defenses. Pierce can take no other action on this turn. On his next turn, Pierce attacks the target, ignoring defense, thus doing damage as if the target had zero defense. He can't use any other actions on this turn either. Energy Cost: 7
• Suppressive Fire - The target is barraged by gunfire and forced to take cover or evasive action. On their next turn the target must either forgo using their action(s) or take damage as if they had been attacked by Pierce. Energy Cost: 4
• Reload - Pierce takes a few moments to reload and restock. For 3 turns Pierce has +3 energy regeneration, -1 defense and can not attack or use other abilities. Energy Cost: Free
• Critical Hit - Pierce attacks a target, using double his current attack stat. Energy Cost: 8
• Crippling Blow - Pierce attacks the target, and on a hit the target takes normal damage as well as a -2 penalty to either Attack or Defense (Pierce's choice). This penalty lasts until the target receives some form of healing. Penalties of the same type from this Skill do not stack (eg. so Pierce can't apply an Attack debuff twice to the same target, but he could apply one Attack and one Defense debuff) Energy Cost: 8
• Bullet-time - Pierce gains the Bullet-time buff. With heightened reaction speed, Pierce is able to dodge the next attack targeted at him, along with all its effects. The buff expires after its effect takes place, or after two enemy turns. This buff does not stack with itself. Energy Cost: 4
• Disarm - The target can not use any attacks on their next turn. Energy Cost: 3
• Backup Piece - Pierce gains the Dual Wield buff. When Pierce uses a normal Attack action, he may attack twice rather than just once while Dual Wield is in effect. This effect does not apply to attacks done through Skills. This buff expires if Pierce is unable to fulfill the Energy cost or if he chooses to end it. Energy Cost: 3/Turn
• Desperate Barrage - Pierce launches an all-out barrage on the target. The damage dealt, before defense, is equal to Pierce's Attack stat plus the Energy consumed by this skill. Energy Cost: All

And a couple of traits I've thought up.

• Extended Clip - +5 to maximum energy.
• Keen Aim - Pierce's attacks ignore any dodging or evasion abilities.
• Final Stand - If Pierce receives the KO debuff, on the start of his next turn he loses that debuff, all of his Energy and heals one Health. This trait may only trigger once per battle.
• Slight of Hand - +1 to energy regeneration.

BattleCorp™: Combatant Creator

@Behemoth542, Cool. I'll get my sheet into the characters tab then.

@BCTheEntity, I still want the total defense bypass for Assassinate. How about some penalty? Such as- 'Pierce can't attack on the next turn, and can't use any other attacks/abilities on the same turn.' So it does a substantial amount of damage, but leaves him out of action temporarily.

Also, question: What happens if we drop to zero Health? Do we just die and our character is gone? Do we respawn/get revived later (possibly with some penalty)?

Dungeon Keepers (This one's done. Go to The Horde of Evil instead)

<Snipped quote by Genni>

Will do!

@BBeast

That's a rather thorough analysis, and one that I agree with. I've been over on the nations section and I almost exclusively play nation RPs, and given my experience personally I'm skeptical that the nation section would be any better. It might even be worse.

I suppose I could control both the good guys and the Keeper.

@Cyclone

The Keeper shouldn't need too much effort to control, in my vision. Unless otherwise demanded by the plot the Keeper's role (on-stage, anyway) should be mostly limited to issuing orders and berating/congratulating player characters. This keeps the focus on the players. The 'good guys' might be a bit more work, but controlling the opposition is typically the role of a GM anyway.

What I'd like to get your opinions on is whether I should take the time to figure out a plot and iron out the major details before making the interest check, or just make it as the vague idea that we have so far and see what the majority of interested people want. I see benefits to both sides.

While part of me likes to plan ahead, another part of me says that this set-up should make it easy enough to hack in a plot later and in the meantime make do with a few run-of-the-mill missions to get the players warmed up. A cover plot to start with would go along the lines of- 'You are servants of this Keeper. Help him take over the world, crushing the human resistance and enemy Keepers.' You can throw in some complications along the way once you figure those out (don't forget the element of surprise). Since the players don't need an all-encompassing knowledge of the world like previous installments, you have an advantage here.

BattleCorp™: Combatant Creator

@Behemoth542, Fair enough. On considering your feedback, I think I shall save that reaction ability for another time (I feel that being a trait which drains energy could be problematic, so I'll probably use a skill which provides a buff allowing him to do that), and change Quick Draw back into a bonus attack.

Dungeon Keepers (This one's done. Go to The Horde of Evil instead)

You might have a better job with a Dungeon Keeper RP if you based it around a single dungeon, with players taking on the roles of the monsters vying for the favour of their Master, rather than giving everyone a dungeon of their own.

@Genni

That could actually work.

@Kangutso I also like the original concept. It's a very nice concept. Sadly it is, as Cyclone has made clear, exceedingly difficult for it to gain traction, due to the long timescales, patience and periods of solitude required to play it out. It takes a very long time before things get exciting. That said, maybe the people in the Nation section might be more likely to stay. I can't say for sure, as I haven't visited the Nation section here, but I definitely feel that the way Dungeon Keepers is currently set out is more akin to a Nation RP than anything else.

Which brings us back to Genni's idea, which removes all these Nation RP elements and makes it fit better with a more standard RP while keeping the theme. I have not got time to commit to GMing a new RP, but I can visualise the idea now. We play as monsters- Constructs and Rogue Beings, mostly- who serve under a grand and glorious Keeper. He'll be well established already at the start of the RP, but that means he also has enemies (I'm defaulting to he, but the nature of this Keeper will be up to the GM to design). The GM will control the Keeper- probably not play directly as the Keeper, but have the Keeper issue orders out to us underlings. While the Keeper resides in the safety of the Heart for all but the direst circumstances, us Constructs and Rogue Beings will need to go out on his behalf, sometimes leading a legion of terror, and pillage villages, besiege castles, raid opposing Keepers' Dungeons, etc., all while striving for whatever personal goals we have, be they the thrill of battle, a need to eat (on flesh or souls or whatever), cravings for wealth, a desire for power, or just wanting to be recognised by our evil overlord as the best of his minions.

For me, this feels like a good, refreshing change from before, where I can now focus on a single character rather than having to micromanage an entire realm (which can be fun itself at times, don't get me wrong). The GM would need to design who our Keeper will be, what the world is, and on some plot elements. The Keeper would need to be broad enough in theme so as to not restrict the players in designing their characters. The world, well, we have three worlds of Keepers already built and ready to be used- Outremar, Elysium and Cyprus. Which one you pick, I suppose, will depend largely on what plot appeals. Fortunately, having some form of plot, or even a story line, should be much easier in this RP, where you can send the players where you want rather than having to somehow tie together an entire sandbox world and all the scattered players in it into one big plot. Good luck with all that, @Cyclone. When it's ready, count me in.

BattleCorp™: Combatant Creator

@Genni,@BCTheEntity, I think I'll save Assassinate for a later level. It's not too much use near the start of the game, although will be potent later on.

<Snipped quote by BBeast>
I think it's good overall but the Quick Draw ability would be worthless since you'd have to spend your turn activating the ability in order to gain an extra attack in the same turn, rather than simply attacking without spending any Energy.

Perhaps change it to something like:
Quick Draw: Cost 5; Reaction, when an enemy attacks David he may perform a counterattack before resolving any incoming damage or effects.

@SimplyJohn

I'm sure I could rephrase Quick Draw in such a way so as to make it work properly as a bonus attack. Although, your suggestion is also a good one. I think I might take that one.
"Quick Draw - Used as a reaction when Pierce is attacked or targeted by an ability. Pierce launches a counterattack against the attacker before any damage or effects on Pierce take place. Energy Cost: 5"

I have other skills in the works which I have been thinking about. Not as urgent as my first skill, but I may as well put them out in the open and they might be balanced by the time I actually need them.

Skills for Later

In no particular order

• Suppressive Fire - The target is barraged by gunfire and forced to take cover or evasive action. On their next turn the target must either forgo using their action(s) or take damage as if they had been attacked by Pierce. Energy Cost: 4
• Reload - Pierce takes a few moments to reload and restock. For 3 turns Pierce has +3 energy regeneration, -1 defense and can not attack or use other abilities. Energy Cost: Free
• Critical Hit - Pierce attacks a target, using double his current attack stat. Energy Cost: 8
• Crippling Blow - Pierce attacks the target, and on a hit the target takes normal damage as well as a -2 penalty to either attack or defence (Pierce's choice). This penalty lasts until the target receives some form of healing. Energy Cost: 8
• Bullet-time - Used as a reaction when Pierce is targeted by an attack. Pierce evades all damage from that attack. Energy Cost: 4
• Disarm - The target can not use any attacks on their next turn. Energy Cost: 3

And a couple of traits I've thought up.

• Extended Clip - +5 to maximum energy
• Keen Aim - Pierce's attacks ignore any dodging or evasion abilities. ((this one may cost a few skill points))

On using skill points to unlock skills and traits, how much do they cost? Is it 1 point for all? Will stronger abilities/traits require extra skill points as deemed appropriate?

BattleCorp™: Combatant Creator

This sounds like fun, and not too time demanding. I'd like to join in if that's not a problem.

Name: David Pierce
Gender: Male
Skills: Quick Draw - Allows Pierce to perform a bonus attack action on his turn. Triggering this skill or using the bonus attack does not consume Pierce's action. Energy Cost: 5
Traits: Nil
Stats: 15 / 2 / 5
Level: Level 1, 0/50 XP
Last modification: Sheet created - 7/6/15
First skill changed from Assassinate to Quick Draw - 8/6/15
Edited Quick Draw from a reaction to a bonus attack - 8/6/15

What do you think? Another skill I'm considering is: Quick Draw - Allows the user to perform an additional attack action in the same turn as another action. Energy Cost: 5
What do you think of them? Have I got the energy costs balanced? Should I use that second skill as my first?
Also, I'm guessing that using skills takes up an action.

Skills for later

Assassinate - Performs an attack action on a target, but ignores their defense stat, instead doing damage as if they had zero defense. Energy Cost: 7