Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 3:57 am
Okay, okay, seriously, we're finishing this chapter out this time.
This isn't in the book, I just fucking love it. It's called PURE MUSCLE BATTLE.
Poison
However, I would be neglectful if I didn't mention that a decent amount of homebrewed moves are totally awesome and actually show off what the system could be capable of. For all their faults, it's really easy to make up your own moves and give them cool effects given the standardization between them. You could spice up moves like Roar of Time by simply adding a Special field stating that the user actually stops time for 10 seconds when using the move or just as a new Capability. The pieces are all there, they could just be put together better.
What do you guys think of Moves? Would it be too much to bring up a few of the cooler homebrew moves out there? If so, I'll just move on to the final chapter.
Next time (maybe): Chapter 11: Running the Game
This isn't in the book, I just fucking love it. It's called PURE MUSCLE BATTLE.
Poison
- Acid Armor is so fucking cool that I gave one of my players a ring that lets them use it and they only ever use it outside of combat. It's Scene x 1 and makes you become Liquefied. While Liquefied you're Slowed and can't take Standard Actions, but your movement isn't obstructed by Rough/Slow Terrain and you can shift "through even the smallest openings". You're also completely immune to all Physical damage and become completely invisible if fully submerged in any liquid. When you stop being Liquefied you gain +1 DEF CS, but why would you ever stop? I affectionately refer to this one as the "Human Puddle" move.
- Cross Poison is Slash, but Poison-type... and it also Poisons on a 19+ in addition to critting on 18+. I'm not sure if I've mentioned moves with multiple effects like this, but things like Fire Fang can totally Flinch and Burn, or just one of those. Obviously, this one always crits if you Poison them, so that's neat.
- Poison Sting, that staple of low-level Bug Pokemon, Poisons on a 17+ and has a range of 6, 1 Target. Great for hitting and running!
- Toxic is Scene x 2, but also 4, 1 Target and doesn't miss if the user is Poison-type. For some reason, I think this is a laser.
- Toxic Thread Poisons the target and imposes -1 SPEED CS... unless they're already Poisoned, in which case they lose a Tick of HP and -2 SPEED CS. Because we can't have nice things, this is Scene x 2. At least it gives Threaded.
- Ally Switch is an Interrupt that can be declared during the foe's turn, targeting 1 willing ally within 6 meters and switching places with them. This can and will save someone's life. Or consciousness, I guess. Scene x 1 though, go fuck yourself.
- Barrier is a Hazard that places 4 segments of Blocking Terrain. Your force field is 2 meters tall, 1 meter wide, and 2 cm thick. They've got 20 HP, 15 DR, and are Psychic-type, meaning they'll probably go down in one hit from anything it doesn't resist. Oh, well.
- Future Sight works like the games, targeting someone within 10 meters and doing nothing on the turn it's used. At the end of the user's next turn, even if they aren't on the field (so I guess at their Initiative Count), the target is hit by a DB 12 attack no matter what.
- Gravity makes the field Warped for 5 rounds. "Moves that involve the user being airborne may not be used" (I'm guessing they mean Fly and Sky Drop?), and nothing can end its turn at an altitude higher than 1 meter. Flying-types and Levitate users lose their immunity to Ground-type moves, and all attacks get +2 Accuracy. It's actually sorta neat.
- Guard Split is Scene x 1, which sucks, but it makes 1 target in melee range lose 5 DEF and SPDEF (note: not CS), causing the user to gain 5 DR for the rest of the scene. A bit weak, but the idea is solid.
- Heal Pulse is a ranged healing move with the Aura keyword, of all things. The user can't target themselves with it, though. Alas.
- Hyperspace Hole is Hoopa's signature move, and is Melee, 3 Targets. You make and resolve all 3 attacks separately, but can Shift using Teleporter as long as you end next to a target. They also can't Interrupt your attack. Given that Hoopa has Teleporter 10, it might actually be able to zip around and hit 3 dudes, which is depressingly surprising. It's also worth noting that when Hoopa becomes Unbound, it loses Hyperspace Hole, causing it to become Hyperspace Fury instead. Sadly, both are Daily.
- Instruct is Oranguru's signature move and causes a Melee target to immediately reuse the attack it performed last, ignoring Frequency, as a Free Action, choosing a new target if they want. It can't be used if the target's last move was Set-Up, Trigger, Instruct, or if the target's Exhausted. Still sort of neat, though.
- Kinesis is an Interrupt that can be used when the user or an Ally within 6 meters is going to be hit by an attack, imposing -4 Accuracy to the attack. Hopefully this makes it miss, otherwise you wasted your turn.
- Magic Coat can only be used when the user's targeted by something without a Damage Dice Roll, causing the interrupted move to bounce back at the original user. Because reflecting someone's Toxic at them is awesome, it's Daily x 1.
- Miracle Eye is a Swift Action that lets your Psychic moves hit Dark-type targets, also allowing you to see through Illusions... for the rest of the turn. It's Scene x 2, so make it count.
- Photon Geyser is Necrozma's signature move and can be used when fused with Solgaleo or Lunala. It's Burst 2, DB 10, and uses the higher of your ATK or SPATK... though it stays Special either way. It's not like that in the games, so I don't get it. It ignores anything that would cause it to miss outside its own AC of 2 (like Dodge or Wonder Guard). I thought Burst 2 wasn't that big, then I realized Necrozma is Huge and is already 3x3. Still seems a bit small, though. Mercifully, this is Scene x 1 instead of fucking Daily or some shit.
- Power Trick targets the user and switches their ATK and DEF for the rest of the Scene. Yes, Shuckle learns it at level 31.
- Prismatic Laser is another of Necrozma's signature moves, and is an appropriately fuck-off DB 16, Line 8, Smite attack. Awesome. It has Exhaust, which would make this much less awesome before I changed it...
- Psychic is EOT and 5, 1 Target. It grants Telekinetic and lets you Push the target 1 meter when you hit them with it. 1 fucking meter. Okay, guys, let's just keep pretending like that matters outside of fringe cases.
- Psyshock does, in fact, target the foe's DEF instead of SPDEF, despite still being Special. You still use your Special Evasion to avoid it, though.
- Psywave makes you roll 1d4 when hitting with it. On 1, they lose HP equal to half your level, on 2, they lose HP equal to your whole level, and so on. You don't apply weakness or resistance, or even stats. Potentially, you can really fuck up a tank's day with this one.
- Speed Swap trades you and your target's Initiatives, so you don't even get to benefit from higher Evasion if they have it. Thanks, guys.
- Telekinesis makes the target Lifted, and while Lifted they gain the Levitate Ability, are Slowed, and can't move by any means except through Levitate. They're also Vulnerable and have to use a Shift Action to roll 1d20 to escape, becoming free on a 16+. Thank god, you don't have to maintain it after you use it for it to keep going, and it grants Telekinetic, because that would be totally retarded if it didn't.
- Teleport is an Interrupt that immediately makes you move using your Teleporter capability. Yes, this makes things that were going to hit you completely miss. It also grants Teleporter 4, letting you BAMF around all day like Nightcrawler. The move itself is still Scene x 1, though.
- Ancient Power is a 6, 1 Target move that gives you +1 to all CS on a 19+. The range is the important part.
- Diamond Storm is Diancie's signature move, and is Close Blast 3, Smite, Friendly. On an Even roll, it gives her +2 DEF CS, too. Since it's Friendly, you could really benefit from increasing the blast range.
- Rock Slide is 6, Ranged Blast 3, and Flinches on 17+. It can fuck up a lot of people's day, which is why it's Scene x 2.
- Rock Tomb gets mentioned for also being 6, 1 Target. Ranged Rock moves are hard to come by, and this one's At-Will! It also grants Materializer, so you can just... manifest fucking rocks now.
- Rollout has to be used until you miss with it, gaining +4 DB each time. More importantly, it's Pass, so you can really Sonic the Hedgehog your way through people.
- Smack Down is a ranged move that knocks the target down to ground level, making them lose all Sky and Levitate speeds for 3 turns. Naturally, they lose any Ground-type immunities, too. Fuck birds.
- Stealth Rock is still great: It has a range of 6, and you place 4 meters of Stealth Rocks that don't have to be in a line like most Hazards. Any foe coming within 2 meters of it gets hit by a rock, destroying it. The foe loses a Tick of HP, but you can apply weakness & resistance, meaning you still fuck up a Charizard's whole life. Except for the part where it arbitrarily doesn't work on the same target twice in the one encounter. God, why? This one also grants Materializer.
- Tar Shot is Coalossal's signature move, is Cone 2 and puts a Coat onto the target and imposes -1 SPEED CS. When they get hit with a Fire move, they are one step more vulnerable to the attack. Of course, Coalossal learns like 3 Fire moves, but hey.
- Wide Guard is hilarious. If an ally adjacent to you gets hit, you use Wide Guard as an interrupt, making ALL TARGETS ADJACENT TO YOU not get hit by that move. Best on big boys... like most Rock pokemon.
- Anchor Shot is Dhelmise's signature move, and can only be used from its Anchor Token. Shit is melee, 1 target, EOT, and makes the target Trapped for 2 rounds. It would be cooler if it Stuck them too, but I get the idea.
- Autotomize lowers the user's WC by 1, gaining them +2 SPEED CS if they do so.
- Bullet Punch is a Priority move, in case you were wondering. It's Melee, so you aren't actually shooting anyone.
- Doom Desire is Jirachi's signature move, and is just Future Sight, but Steel and DB 16. Ouch. Hey, it's also Scene x 2! If only we could get it down to EOT...
- Double Iron Bash is Melmetal's signature move, and benefits from Iron Fist (which Melmetal has to have). It's DB 6, Double Strike. This means if you hit with both strikes, you're dishing out a DB 16 attack that Flinches on 15+. This is appropriately tough coming from a... mythical, I guess?
- Gyro Ball is a 6, 1 Target attack that deals extra damage based on the target's Speed stat - the bigger the difference between their Speed and yours, the more damage you deal. This move fucks.
- Iron Head is a Dash move, so you need to be able to pick up speed to really headbutt a motherfucker.
- Iron Tail, on the other hand, Smites. As if it weren't already good enough.
- King's Shield is Aegislash's signature move, making you not get hit by an attack. But, if it was a Melee attack, the attacker gets -2 ATK CS.
- Magnet Bomb is an 8, 1 Target Physical move that can't miss and grants Magnetic. Yes, this means you should get a Magnezone and kite people all day, because it's also EOT.
- Metal Burst is a Burst 1 move that can't miss and causes everyone you hit to lose HP equal to however much direct damage you've taken since the beginning of the round. This is probably the best realization of "dish out damage you take" I've seen so far.
- Mirror Shot is a 6, Ranged Blast 2 move that dishes out -2 Accuracy, too. It's also surprisingly common for Steel types and is one of the few Special moves in the type.
- Steel Beam is a DB 14 Cone 3, Smite move that makes you lose 50% of your max HP. Looks like it's just a Tutor move that nothing learns naturally, too. Interesting...
- Steel Wing is an At-Will Pass move that gives +1 DEF CS on a 15+. Fuck yeah.
- Aqua Ring puts a Coat on you that heals you a Tick of HP at the beginning of your turn for the rest of the encounter.
- Aqua Tail is an EOT Pass move. I am so glad that most types have at least one Pass move, my inner weeaboo loves them too much.
- Brine is a DB 7 move that becomes DB 13 if the target's under 50% HP. Because this sort of thing pops up every now and again, it makes me wonder if it's worth just adding a Bloodied condition to the game? Could make dealing with Injuries simpler.
- Bubble is still worse than Bubble Beam, but unlike Bubble Beam, which is 4, 1 Target, Bubble is Burst 1! I appreciate the differentiation of the two, since that still lets Bubble have its own niche.
- Clamp is exactly like Bind and Wrap. It is unfortunate that very few pokemon can learn both Wrap and Bind, and even fewer of them are actually good at grappling... I believe the current champion of "best grappler in the game" is actually Dragonite, since Dratini learns Wrap and Bind and Dragonite winds up with 5d6+3 Athletics, meaning with mild amounts of optimization you end up with 7d6+7 grapples that have +4 to hit and choke out 2 Ticks of HP every round. You can go ever farther, but the mental image should still be there. And hilarious.
- Dive is like Dig, but you can't use it unless the water you're in is at least 10 meters deep. It's still Burst 1 and grants Swim +3.
- Hydro Cannon is a Water starter (as in the video game starters) only Tutor move. It's fucking DB 15, Line 9, Smite. It has Exhaust too, but damn is that actually satisfying for once. Daily x 2, though.
- Hydro Pump, on the other hand, is 6, 1 Target, and pushes people 3 meters away. My party has been pooped.
- Muddy Water and [/b]Surf[/b] are both unique: Muddy Water is Close Blast 2 while Surf is Line 6, and as a Shift Action you can move to any square in that move's AOE without provoking any AoOs. So you can actually, no shit, Surf through fools every other turn. Thank god.
- Sparkling Aria is Primarina's signature move and is Cone 2, Sonic, EOT. When hitting, you can choose to deal no damage and cure the target of Burn, Confusion, Infatuation, or Rage. This is surprisingly appropriate for a mermaid Pokemon.
- Water Gun is a basic 4, 1 Target attack that grants Fountain. Simple enough for a basic move.
- Water Pulse is another Aura move. It's 8, 1 Target, At-Will, and Confuses on 17+. It's actually a solid staple, but it DOESN'T grant Fountain, for some reason.
- Water Shuriken is obviously Greninja's signature move, and it's very ninja-y. 6, 1 Target, Five Strike, Priority - just start chucking shurikens at a dude whenever the fuck you feel like it. The DB is a miserable 2, which is bad even for Five Strike moves. Guess the range is supposed to make up for it.
- Water Sport is a Burst 2 move that puts a Coat on everyone including the user. When you're hit by a Fire move, you must expend the Coat and gain 1 step of Resistance towards the move. The part where it helps allies is the cool part.
However, I would be neglectful if I didn't mention that a decent amount of homebrewed moves are totally awesome and actually show off what the system could be capable of. For all their faults, it's really easy to make up your own moves and give them cool effects given the standardization between them. You could spice up moves like Roar of Time by simply adding a Special field stating that the user actually stops time for 10 seconds when using the move or just as a new Capability. The pieces are all there, they could just be put together better.
What do you guys think of Moves? Would it be too much to bring up a few of the cooler homebrew moves out there? If so, I'll just move on to the final chapter.
Next time (maybe): Chapter 11: Running the Game