[Meta Thread] Dragonstrike's Pokerole Test Game: Mount Coronet Mystery

[Dragonstrike]

Thank you, dear dear~! All's forgiven, and yes, I DO want a free Male Salandit for Ran, so again thank you! We don't have to make it a Flashback scene, but he'll be even more charitable to Kee for now on with the second gift, if a bit off put by his sudden flood of generosity.

Stats for that Male Salandit:
Attributes: 2 in everything
Boosted Social Attribute: Your Choice
Skills: 2 Fight and Survival
Specialties: 2 Channel and Brawl
Level: 14
Moves: Fake Out, Knock Off, Ember, Scratch, Poison Gas
Gender: Your choice
Happiness: 2
Loyalty: 2
Disobedience: 0
Current Ability: Corrosion
Other Abilities: None
HP: 5/5
Will: 5

[Dragonstrike]

Don't think I'm going to get to rolling out encounters tonight.  It'll probably have to wait until tomorrow when I have time.

Two notes I'll leave in the meantime, @Lord Windos:
- Sucker Punch is only +1 Priority,
- Assurance will work more like Brine in this game, just like in CCV

If those change your orders at all, let me know.

[Lord Windos]

Don't think I'm going to get to rolling out encounters tonight.  It'll probably have to wait until tomorrow when I have time.

Two notes I'll leave in the meantime, @Lord Windos:
- Sucker Punch is only +1 Priority,
- Assurance will work more like Brine in this game, just like in CCV

If those change your orders at all, let me know.

Fine by me, as I wasn't expecting you to post so late in the evening/morning!

As for the edits, I guess if Assurance won't work like I remembered, Amethyst will use Feint instead, as if I'm not going to deal that extra Damage when I want it I might as well go for preventing Medicham from benefiting off its higher Initiative as much as possible (If Bite doesn't end up being used earlier). Sucker Punch should still work how I want regardless of + 1 or 2 Priority, as if they Move first to attack with a Priority Move, then Sucker Punch will still have greater Priority than it and supercede it unless you rule otherwise. That, and I don't particularly expect Medicham to lead with Priority yet, since it's obviously faster than Amethyst.

[Dragonstrike]

As for the edits, I guess if Assurance won't work like I remembered, Amethyst will use Feint instead, as if I'm not going to deal that extra Damage when I want it I might as well go for preventing Medicham from benefiting off its higher Initiative as much as possible (If Bite doesn't end up being used earlier). Sucker Punch should still work how I want regardless of + 1 or 2 Priority, as if they Move first to attack with a Priority Move, then Sucker Punch will still have greater Priority than it and supercede it unless you rule otherwise. That, and I don't particularly expect Medicham to lead with Priority yet, since it's obviously faster than Amethyst.

I don't like how the book completely changes how Assurance works, making it more like Revenge than a move that exploits a weakness that's been opened up because the target's already taken damage.  I like the Mystery Dungeon interpretation of Assurance acting more like Brine a lot better (in this system, anyways).



To quote Bulbapedia on how Sucker Punch works:

Sucker Punch has a power of 80. It has a priority of +1, so it is used before all moves that do not have increased priority. If Sucker Punch's target has selected a physical or special attack and has not yet had a chance to execute its move, Sucker Punch will damage the target; otherwise, Sucker Punch will fail. Sucker Punch only depends on the move the target has selected, and is not affected by any consideration of whether the attack can actually be executed, such as status conditions like sleep or freeze or Abilities like Truant.

Sucker Punch would only go first against another Priority move if the SP user is naturally faster (Amethyst is currently lower in the initiative) and the move the opponent is using is only +1 Priority (so not Fake Out).  If Sucker Punch doesn't go first in the games, it fails outright, and I'll treat it the same here.

[Lord Windos]

Sucker Punch has a power of 80. It has a priority of +1, so it is used before all moves that do not have increased priority. If Sucker Punch's target has selected a physical or special attack and has not yet had a chance to execute its move, Sucker Punch will damage the target; otherwise, Sucker Punch will fail. Sucker Punch only depends on the move the target has selected, and is not affected by any consideration of whether the attack can actually be executed, such as status conditions like sleep or freeze or Abilities like Truant.

Sucker Punch would only go first against another Priority move if the SP user is naturally faster (Amethyst is currently lower in the initiative) and the move the opponent is using is only +1 Priority (so not Fake Out).  If Sucker Punch doesn't go first in the games, it fails outright, and I'll treat it the same here.

....You're making Sucker Punch worse and worse every time you errata and/or elaborate it's effects, Dragonstrike, and that certainly doesn't bode well for it being used frequently in the future, if at all. I'm already iffy on using it to begin with, so with this I'm on the verge of just sending Catherine alongside of them to just to save me the headache  of having to put up with the move or you finding a way to use it against me. That's if I can send out Catherine in the first place, and if not I'm liable just to either call Lucas over to bail Ran out or employ Detect + Evasion spam to stall until I can summon a partner to swamp Medicham.

[Dragonstrike]

....You're making Sucker Punch worse and worse every time you errata and/or elaborate it's effects, Dragonstrike, and that certainly doesn't bode well for it being used frequently in the future, if at all. I'm already iffy on using it to begin with, so with this I'm on the verge of just sending Catherine alongside of them to just to save me the headache  of having to put up with the move or you finding a way to use it against me. That's if I can send out Catherine in the first place, and if not I'm liable just to either call Lucas over to bail Ran out or employ Detect + Evasion spam to stall until I can summon a partner to swamp Medicham.

Don't look at me.  That's how the move has always worked.  It's a good move, but it's always required a little prediction, which is an inherently risky thing.  I don't want to change the status quo from the games too much, though I don't want to radically alter the book's rules willy nilly, either.

Lucas can only respond to 1 battle per encounter.  He's intended to be a safeguard on case things get too difficult.  Think very carefully before calling for help, as using him means nobody else gets that safety net (and everybody else took harder encounters this go around).

I'll let you send out a second pokemon this time if you wish, but I make no guarantees I'll allow similar action in the future.  I'll obviously need you to edit your orders and posts accordingly if you do.

I'll also note that I generally won't be trying to purposely use your own orders against you, as NPCs need to follow the same rules as the players to make things fair. Using Sucker Punch in a situation like this is actually not bad, in fact. The encounter shouldn't be difficult enough that Amethyst wouldn't be able to handle it, either (though she could very easily take a beating for obvious reasons).

And yes, I do realize that I'm being a stickler for the rules, but I also want to be a fair GM, which is why this discussion is happening in the first place.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Being too focused on rules tends to reduce the fun though in my case, as it takes away the freedom of situational or environmental interpretations - sometimes things that aren't possible under normal conditions could work if the circumstances are just right. That's something I just wished to carefully throw in... I would favour an interpretation of a certain situation over blatantly following rules, or to phrase it differently I tend to see the scenery first and adapt to it when choosing Actions rather than the other way round. This doesn't work for most moves which have their effect clearly written down though, like Sucker Punch which is always a bit of a gamble to use.

[Spiritmon]

Since we talking about "follow" the game rules, how about stick with Shell Bell original effect of half damage became heal, instead of each 4 damage heal only 1 HP? Because this is also ridiculous and make Shell Bell worse than Leftovers? Or we only stick with Game Rules when convenient?

[Dragonstrike]

Since we talking about "follow" the game rules, how about stick with Shell Bell original effect of half damage became heal, instead of each 4 damage heal only 1 HP? Because this is also ridiculous and make Shell Bell worse than Leftovers? Or we only stick with Game Rules when convenient?

It's actually 1/8 of the damage dealt becomes healing in the games.  It's not meant to be as good as Leftovers unless you can deal a lot of damage.  Hence why I gave it (and Bloodlust) the effect I did. 1 healed every 4 dealt is 1/4 of the damage you deal being recovered.

As far as I remember (can't check the book right now), the Shell Bell doesn't have a listed effect in the book.

If it made every attack a full fledged draining move, that'd be kinda busted, and it'd see a lot more competitive use.

[Spiritmon]

Since we talking about "follow" the game rules, how about stick with Shell Bell original effect of half damage became heal, instead of each 4 damage heal only 1 HP? Because this is also ridiculous and make Shell Bell worse than Leftovers? Or we only stick with Game Rules when convenient?

It's actually 1/8 of the damage dealt becomes healing in the games.  It's not meant to be as good as Leftovers unless you can deal a lot of damage.  Hence why I gave it (and Bloodlust) the effect I did.

As far as I remember (can't check the book right now), the Shell Bell doesn't have a listed effect in the book.

If it made every attack a full fledged draining move, that'd be kinda busted, and it'd see a lot more competitive use.

At least you could give a better effect instead of only 1 HP. Like, each 4 Damage heal 2 or 3 HP. At least this makes the item a bit more useful.