The complete blink rework is finished! It’s the same blink you know and love, just now with a time delay that makes it easier to punish at lower casts. Naturally, Transplace got a small update too. [table][row][cell]Old[/cell][cell]New[/cell][/row][row][cell] Blink: Mana cost (4) Instantly teleport to where the effect activates. Teleportation fails if the spell activates in an area that cannot fit the teleporting esper. The esper can also decide not to teleport where the effect activates, but the mana spent on the note will still be expended. At rank D, Blink allows an esper to Blink to a location. But higher ranks allow for blinking with other items. C allows for some small items to be taken along with you, B allows larger items or children, A lets you blink with an adult, and S lets you blink with an 800 LB creature or machine. Any target you attempt to blink with must be willing. Transplace: Mana cost (8) Same as above, only the caster swaps places with the target so long as the target is as large as an adult human or smaller. The caster can also choose not to swap, but will have to expend the mana regardless. The target of a transplace note can resist the note if their arcane defense rank is higher than that of the note. [/cell][cell] Blink: Mana cost (4) Teleport to where the effect activates after a short delay. At rank D, the delay is two seconds. Each rank above D shaves a half second off the teleportation delay, until it’s nonexistent at rank S. Espers, magi, and some monsters know when the casting esper is going to teleport after it’s been cast. Teleportation fails if the spell activates in an area that cannot fit the teleporting esper. The esper can also decide not to teleport where the effect activates, but the mana spent on the note will still be expended. At rank D, Blink allows an esper to Blink to a location. But higher ranks allow for blinking with other items. C allows for some small items to be taken along with you, B allows larger items or children, A lets you blink with an adult, and S lets you blink with an 800 LB creature or machine. Any target you attempt to blink with must be willing. Transplace: Mana cost (8) Same as above, only the caster swaps places with the target so long as the target is as large as an adult human or smaller. The caster can also choose not to swap, but will have to expend the mana regardless. The target of a transplace note can use their arcane defense to resist transplace for an extra second for each rank their arcane defense is over the note, or transplace sooner. Those below the note’s rank are unable to affect the timing of transplace. [/cell][/row][/table] And of course, this necessitated the reworking of the cast notes. Nothing major here, just definitive times to assist with balancing other notes down the road, and Blink/Transplace. Most importantly, there’s a compose and cast time. Compose indicates how long it takes for an esper to convert their mana into a melody, and cast is how long it takes to release that energy and hit their target. Most of the time you’re just going to add these times together to get your total cast time. However, there have been a few instances of espers “composing” their melodies behind cover and then “casting” them when there’s an opening. Under these circumstances, there’s less time for an opponent to react. Basically, it’s just some nerd shit to make GM rulings more fair. Also changing how things are worded because it’s too clunky and we generally don’t care how notes are ordered in a melody. [table][row][cell]Old[/cell][cell]New[/cell][/row][row][cell] Bronze Projectile: Difficulty (6) Base Rank (D) Silver Projectile: Difficulty (9) Base Rank (C) Gold Projectile: Difficulty (12) Base Rank (B) Diamond Projectile: Difficulty (15) Base Rank (A) Launches a projectile that flies faster than a stone throw, but slower than a bullet. When the projectile strikes something, it triggers the next note on it. Bronze Self: Difficulty (4) Base Rank (D) Silver Self: Difficulty (6) Base Rank (C) Gold Self: Difficulty (8) Base Rank (B) Diamond Self: Difficulty (10) Base Rank (A) The melody is channeled inside one’s own body. The next note only affects the caster. If a single point for the spell is necessary, the caster may select any point on their body, but it will still only affect them. Bronze Touch: Difficulty (4) Base Rank (D) Silver Touch: Difficulty (6) Base Rank (C) Gold Touch: Difficulty (8) Base Rank (B) Diamond Touch: Difficulty (10) Base Rank (A) The esper channels their magic into their hands, feet or instrument, and the next note activates on contact with whatever they touch/hit. Bronze Beam: Difficulty (8) Base Rank (D) Silver Beam: Difficulty (12) Base Rank (C) Gold Beam: Difficulty (16) Base Rank (B) Diamond Beam: Difficulty (20) Base Rank (A) After a small charge window with a “tell” (glowing energy, gathering particles, etc) the esper can fire a beam. The beam travels in a straight line, fires near instantly, and activates the next note on impact. Bronze Spawn: Difficulty (12) Base Rank (D) Silver Spawn: Difficulty (18) Base Rank (C) Gold Spawn: Difficulty (24) Base Rank (B) Diamond Spawn: Difficulty (30) Base Rank (A) With focus and little else, the esper can choose a point and activate effects there. Spawn is the slowest to cast, and has an obvious “tell.” Trigger: Difficulty (0) Base Rank (Dependent on rank mark was made with) Causes any number of marks the esper has placed to trigger. Can’t be cast with any other notes. [/cell][cell] Bronze Self: Difficulty (4) Base Rank (D) Silver Self: Difficulty (6) Base Rank (C) Gold Self: Difficulty (8) Base Rank (B) Diamond Self: Difficulty (10) Base Rank (A) The melody is channeled inside one’s own body. After composing the melody for half a second, it is instantly cast. If a single point for the spell is necessary, the caster may select any point on their body, but it will still only affect them without something like an Area or AoE note. Bronze Touch: Difficulty (4) Base Rank (D) Silver Touch: Difficulty (6) Base Rank (C) Gold Touch: Difficulty (8) Base Rank (B) Diamond Touch: Difficulty (10) Base Rank (A) The esper channels their magic into their hands, feet or instrument. After composing the melody for half a second, it takes a fraction of a second to cast the melody on whatever they touch/hit. Bronze Projectile: Difficulty (6) Base Rank (D) Silver Projectile: Difficulty (9) Base Rank (C) Gold Projectile: Difficulty (12) Base Rank (B) Diamond Projectile: Difficulty (15) Base Rank (A) After composing a melody for half a second, the esper may launch a projectile that flies faster than a stone throw, but slower than a bullet. It generally takes about a half a second for a projectile to fly from the esper’s hand and hit the target. Bronze Beam: Difficulty (8) Base Rank (D) Silver Beam: Difficulty (12) Base Rank (C) Gold Beam: Difficulty (16) Base Rank (B) Diamond Beam: Difficulty (20) Base Rank (A) An esper can fire a beam or a high speed projectile that flies in a straight line. It takes half a second to compose the melody. While the beam fires instantly, it takes a full second for an esper to line up their shot and ensure they are accurate. Bronze Spawn: Difficulty (12) Base Rank (D) Silver Spawn: Difficulty (18) Base Rank (C) Gold Spawn: Difficulty (24) Base Rank (B) Diamond Spawn: Difficulty (30) Base Rank (A) With focus and little else, the esper can choose a point and activate a melody there without a clean shot. It takes half a second to compose a spawn melody, but two seconds to cast it. Trigger: Difficulty (0) Base Rank (Dependent on rank mark was made with) Causes any number of marks the esper has placed to trigger. Is composed and casted with a thought, making it the fastest cast note of them all. If you ignore the setup, that is. [/cell][/row][/table] Might as well revise casting melodies so that the above makes more sense. This is more for clarity than a real change. [table][row][cell]Old[/cell][cell]New[/cell][/row][row][cell] CASTING MELODIES: When an esper wishes to cast a spell, they simply choose notes they have access to and arrange them to create the desired effect. Each note has a mana cost and increases the difficulty multiplier, save for cast notes which have no cost but establish the base difficulty of the spell. If you add the mana cost up and multiply it by the total difficulty, you can see how much mana the melody will cost. If it is not greater than your current mana points, you may deduct them and cast the melody. Complex melodies can quickly eat away all your mana, so cast wisely. There is a calculator available for doing all the math for you, but if you would like to learn how to do the calculations yourself, that will be explained later. Notes activate in sequential order, going from left to right. The cast note determines when the next note “activates.” If a bunch of effects are together, they will all activate at once unless a mod alters the timing. And lastly, the melody will have a rank to determine how powerful the notes are. This is tied to the cast note that you use to cast your melody, but other notes can cause a melody’s rank to go up or down, such as [Powerful] and [Quicken] [/cell][cell] CASTING MELODIES: To cast a melody, an esper chooses from a pool of notes they have access to for a desired effect. Each note in a melody has a mana cost which is added together and multiplied against a difficulty multiplier, which is affected by the cast note and number of notes being used. If the esper has enough mana points to cast the melody, then it can be cast. Complex melodies can quickly eat away all your mana, so cast wisely. There is a calculator available for doing all the math for you, but if you would like to learn how to do the calculations yourself, that will be explained later. Melodies are not instantly barfed into reality. Once the mana cost is paid, that mana needs to be “composed” into a melody, at which point it can then be cast. Composing melodies is not subtle. An esper, magus, or intelligent monster will know you are composing a melody, but not what it does. There are almost always cues, like a fireball manifesting in an esper’s hand or light particles collecting in front of a wand. And that’s the more subtle part of a melody. Casting melodies is noisy and followed by flashy effects. A target can take evasive action and avoid getting hit if they are shrewd enough. And lastly, the melody will have a rank to determine how powerful the notes are. This is tied to the cast note that you use to cast your melody, but other notes can cause a melody’s rank to go up or down, such as [Powerful] and [Quicken] [/cell][/row][/table] And finally, Quicken and Powerful are getting an adjustment now that compose/cast times are more concrete. I know I said quicken would make melodies cast instantly, but what I had meant to say was that they would be [i]composed[/i] instantly. My B. [table][row][cell]Old[/cell][cell]New[/cell][/row][row][cell] Powerful: Mana cost (0) The melody is twice as slow or takes longer to activate, but the effects are all stronger by a single rank. Quicken: Mana cost (0) The melody is twice as fast or quicker to activate, but the effects are all weaker by a single rank. [/cell][cell] Powerful: Mana cost (0) The melody’s compose time is doubled, but the melody is stronger by a single rank. If two melodies would finish casting at the same time, the one with a Powerful note will always be a little slower. Can’t be used in a melody with the Quicken note. Quicken: Mana cost (0) The melody is composed instantly, but is weaker by a single rank. If two melodies would finish casting at the same time, the one with a Quicken note will always be a little faster. Can’t be used in a melody with the Powerful note. [/cell][/row][/table] Time for that Summon rework huh? Hopefully the new tech, lower mana cost, and better explanation of its capabilities will make them more useful in combat. Craft will be getting a little love later on, but this should be a marked improvement for summons. [table][row][cell]Old[/cell][cell]New[/cell][/row][row][cell] Summon: Mana cost (4) Creates a minion who can fight on the esper’s behalf. They are made out of their element, and while they can’t cast melodies they are capable of manipulating simple machinery(pushing buttons on controllers, actions that require low precision/reflexes) and fighting. They are stronger than humans but their fighting abilities are weak when compared to an esper. The grade of their weapons and defenses are equal to the grade of the note used to create them. [/cell][cell] Summon: Mana cost (2) Creates a minion who can fight on the esper’s behalf. Minions can be the size of an adult human, twice as big, or half the size. All of their non-stat attributes are relative to a human scaled up or down depending on if the summon was made larger or smaller than an adult human. IE: A summon twice as big as a human has double the reach and strength a human would have, regardless of what form it takes. They are capable of following simple commands, such as “flip that switch” or “protect the cargo”. Their fighting abilities are weak when compared to an esper, but can hold their own against monsters that aren’t smart enough to work around them. The grade of their weapons and defenses are equal to the grade of the note used to create them, and any damage they deal is arcane. Minions can only fight in melee, but they can use tools such as weapons made with the Craft note. Additionally, notes used along with a Summon note can instead imbue the minion created with the melody, allowing it to use any effect note it’s been imbued with on touch a single time. Minions cannot be imbued with modification notes. [/cell][/row][/table] Purify and Dispel: Demystified! Also they will now weaken negative effects with the possibility of removing them completely. [table][row][cell]Old[/cell][cell]New[/cell][/row][row][cell] Purify: Mana cost (6) Removes debuffs and negative effects caused by physical/chaotic afflictions, such as tear gas or a poisonous breath attack. Effects must be equal to or weaker than the rank of the melody to be removed. Will not heal wounds, fix physical afflictions, or unbind magical constructs such as those created with a restrain note. Dispel: Mana cost (6) Removes positive magical effects from a target. If the target is a magical construct, it will be destroyed instead. Effects/constructs must be equal to or weaker to the rank of the melody for it to work. [/cell][cell] Purify: Mana cost (6) Weakens or removes negative effects caused by physical/chaotic afflictions, such as tear gas or a poisonous breath attack. Physical effects are weakened by 25/40/55/70/85/100% at rank E/D/C/B/A/S respectively. Chaotic effects are ranked down 0/1/2/3/4/5 steps at rank E/D/C/B/A/S respectively. If an effect would be ranked below E rank, it is removed instantly. Purify will not heal wounds, and can only remove a single effect on each target it hits, caster’s choice. Dispel: Mana cost (6) Weakens or removes arcane effects or unbinds arcane constructs. Arcane effects/constructs are ranked down 0/1/2/3/4/5 steps at rank E/D/C/B/A/S respectively. If an effect would be ranked below E rank, it is removed instantly. Dispel will not heal wounds. If trying to remove arcane effects, dispel can only remove a single effect on each target it hits, caster’s choice. [/cell][/row][/table]