[Game Thread] Lord Windos’ PokeRole Adventure 2: The Wild Lands

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

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For washing up Zephy, Let's do a Cleaning Roll, DEX + Survival + Perform - 2 for being VERY STINKY, ew! 
(1)(2)(4)(4)(6)

You manage to get the worst of the mess out of her fur and freshen her up a bit, but even afterwards she still faintly reeks of alcohol and looks a bit scuffy. Also, she sleeps through it, and that a wet Zephy is VERY silly looking, he he!

Hmm... Not clean and fresh enough. Bah, and that reek of alcohol is particularly unpleasant and not very 'I am the mythic partner of a high-ranked Scimitar!'-like. Mind your attitude, lil' flying artist! Casting a minor spell onto Zephy to overlay it for finishing is it then, and then we're ready to go! Sleep and rest up, smol birdmouse, for you do deserve it from the look of you... Highly doubtful that Bernhard will draw any of her powers for the 1st Encounter, if that unpleasant shiver upon withdrawing her is any sign.

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*Time Skip - TM Shop!*


That makes... *calculates*...$4500 Poke in total for all artworks, greatly appreciated! It's kind of flattering to see them all in the TM Store, and Bernhard certainly takes notice of customers taking a positive note of them.


And now: Showtime!!1 No particular Music in mind, anything that's ominous and not too oppresive to work as a background theme would so. But for the first Slot, I know exactly what to do.

Bernhard does an acknowledging and appreciating bow to the crowd as a greeting, then position on one end of the sort-stage - and to the other end, their second partner-Pokemon is summoned from a Luxury Ball: It's Nirix, turning out to be...

Artwork

...a VERY proud and majestic looking Galarian Rapidash, surely a sigh to behold.

Perhaps a rare sight outside of Galar, or perhaps a rare sight at all, but a a prize addition to any mage's arsenal definitely - if one can get a hand on an exemplar. Bernhard did so, and greets his treasured stallion with a respectful bow.




(Rambling: Yes that's a drawing I made myself. It was...so very much outside of my comfort zone to draw a horse, put reference images and anatomy together with studying the coloring of original artworks on bulbapedia greatly helped, plus me feels I learned a lot about shading via airbursh. Win-win!)

For what we'll do: Practicing some Spells to make something invincible or shielded from damage for a limited timeframe, with the goal of keeping the Invincibility up for the duration of roughly one Round in combat. Taking turns, we'll toss some minor objects (the empty bottles, used Single-Use TMs, anything the crows hands the pair) in direction of Nirix, who is requested to slash and break the object with a wellplaced trademarked Psycho Cut, with Bernhard aiming to keep the object intact via a well-timed Invincibility Spell. "For those informed folks or fans of unique and powerful Pokemon among you - *very carefully strokes Nirix's forehead* - his Psycho Cuts are strong enough to cut through sheet and sheer metal, like nothing. Oh, their horns are also highly sought out to prevent and cure poison too, a potential life saver indeed..." If the cast Spell is successful and the object is still intact upon Nirix slashing it, we'll count that as a win and proudly present that to the crowd. And in between it all, taking some breaks to dramatically wave hands through his precious pinkish and cyan mane full of psychic power, harvesting Veil Color (3d6 units, harvested once a Day, grants +1 Success to any Arts and Crafts Rolls made with it, can be sold for 500$Poke)

Yes people may take pictures if they like. Yes people may come to the stage and toss an object themselves. Yes Bernhard will answer any questions concering himself or his Pokemon partner. Yes Bernhard will present their Gauntlet if asked for it. No they cannot take it off for the cables are surgically connected to the veins of their hand (well, he COULD remove it, but that'd be a gore-y mess, painful as heck and would break the Gauntlet). No no one is allowed to touch or pet Nirix, for he disapproves of strangers coming close.

For such a simple task you can easily conjure up a air freshener cantrip to make your bedraggled rodartist much more pleasant to be around! You've also had practice doing such a spell on her in the past and yourself - the life of an Alchemist can be very dirty and messy at time, don't you know!

*Later....*

Once you get on the stage and summon what is for all intents and purposes a near mythical unicorn to prance around and look pretty it doesn't take long for a crowd to form, as onlookers of all ages, genders, and kinds look on with awe at this most poised and graceful creature. He, much like his Master, is quite aloof, paying no mind to his onlookers and instead looking over at you, bowing his head towards you in respect. As his sworn Master and Rider, his devotion towards you is without question - just say the word, and he'll do as you Wish. The crowd eats this up like cotton candy, which a lot of them are hankering for upon seeing his similarly colored mane spilling all over the floor and floating in the air.

So Spell Practice for Bern with Shields, Target and Restraint Practice for Nirix, and do a small Performance collecting some Veil Color from him, eh? Let's get to the magic making then!

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For Spell Practice, Magical Use mainly comes in two different 'Schools' for the lay wizard that isn't an Evoker - Using your Pokemon's Moves - either through the Guantlet or by Bond - in a process generally known as 'Evocation' , and Using your collected Special Power , Capabilities, and Specialties to try and create 'Spells' in a process generally called 'Incantation' . 

For Evocation, it's as simple as choosing a Move of a Pokemon that is connected through your Gauntlet (or Bond, if you're daring/specialized in that kind of Magic Use) , drawing upon the well of SPE Power you share (Determining how much SPE you dedicate to the Casting), and then actualizing the Effect on to the World, most oftenly directly from and through your Guantlet (Point and Aim, Strike, Touch, etc.), or in other cases away from the Caster, as is the case for powering Runic Structures from a distance, forming Spells around you, etc.. Since you don't really have any Moves with Myra or Nix that would increase the Defenses of an Object conventionally this route is not available. Which means we have to go with Invocation, which is when things get more complicated.

Invocation can be broken down into many different kinds of 'schools' and specialties, but really it all comes do to whether a Magi is doing Prepared Casting , Instance Casting, or Innate Casting. 

Prepared is as it says on the tin: you have, through practice, experimentation, and much research, used the SPE Power and what else you can draw upon initially (Moves, Items, Ingrediants, etc.) to make Spells that you know well enough to whip out as needed. For example, that Invisibility Spell is one such Prepared Casting - one you have put so much research into and much practice casting you can do it on a whim with Zephy and have her maintain it without much thought or effort. 

Instance Casting is just that - creating a Spell on the fly, as the instance of time demands. This is usually an inelegant and risky process that involves drawing upon either your Pokemon, Nature, and/or yourself and what you have on hand to make an Effect that hopefully does what you want.

Innate Casting is calling upon your own Specialties or Innate Traits to create a Spell that is based of those qualities, which can either wholely draw from yourself or be further bolstered by your Pokemon and other sources. If you were a Fire Mage, you could make Fireballs or warmth incantation much easier on the fly OR Prepared, for example.

In any case, Invocation follows a 'Build Your Own Spell' Model in Design Approach and Execution: Intent of Spell/Spell Desired -> Experience/Innate Talents <-> Effects/Ideas/Materials/Innate Specialties/etc. on Hand (Sources -> Research and Experimentation <->Combining the Sources Together <->  Refinement - > Final Results/Spell <-> Modifications as Needed. 

For example, you want to make a Healing Spell, and you have a Mon that knows Absorb , another has Regenerator, one knows Acid Armor, and you have an understanding of Medicine. You cludge all these together the best you can: one outcome is a Reverse Absorb Effect that turns the affected away into a semi-liquid mush first, uses your SPE and/or HP to Heal and Boost the Targets Natural Regeneration to treat the damage, and then Restores the natural condition of the Body by dispelling the Acid Armor properties after the Target is healed. Generally have a Clear Idea of what How Your Spell Should Work (IE: What does it do to a Target in a 'How does a Hammer Work' sort of way)and What You Spell Should Do (IE: What is the Effect of the Spell, or 'It is supposed to apply force to a target, like a Nail getting driven into wood by') is necessary in any kind of Invocation - randomly throwing stuff together without much thought can only lead to CHAOS!, disaster, and Strange, STRANGE results....

It is possible to create a Healing Spell using just your own Power and Ideas with no external components, but with an Innate Trait (Like Fire) or heavy practice and experimentation with other Healing Spells to form a sort of 'Feel' and Specialty for that sort of Casting it's exponentially harder to do so, and tends to lead to much failures or messy results. Though sometimes such things can produce Spells that are useful despite not being what you want - creating a Cancer Spell out of a Bad Healing Spell to Curse someone you REALLY don't like is one such example of 'Happy Accidents' of Spellcasting. 

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With all that Now Known, Bern is trying to create a Protective Shield Effect on the Bottles and other Stuff. The Only 'Shield' Move he has on hand through his Mons and Guantlet is Myra's Safeguard, which only covers Status, not Damage. Nirix doesn't have any Shiled Moves himself, but he does have Growl, which weakens Physical Damage via Mystical Means and counter vibration frequencies, and his Ability, which has further protective properties and allows a certain creativity in what he can do. Myra' has plenty of other Moves that could be bent towards esoteric functions to 'Protect' something, but it'd be VERY difficult without actually harming Nirix or someone else.

Zephy, of course, has plenty of Counter Damage Effects, but That Feeling you get is Warning you that Drawing Upon Her Power wouldn't be such a bright idea....

With all that said, how would you go about making a Protective/Shielding Spell, based on what Bern Knows, What Ideas He and You Have, the Power you have on Hand, the Moves your Pokemon Knows, and ultimately how you think that Spell should Work and its Final Effect? 

Also, having a Name to Say while Casting a Spell makes it much easier and can make them stronger or 'come together' better: as a freebie, the Norse Rune-Word 'Algiz' means Protection, and can be used as is or as a part of a larger Name/Chant to make a spell 'More Protective.

ttt For the rest of the Slots, I'll wait until we get Resolve the Spell Casting you want to do, or if you want me to automate the process and show it until you get a better idea of how this works.