Code talk: Stats
I know lots of you have been waiting for it.
But first, a caveat. The combat system is currently being worked on, so there is a chance some of this may change. Also, please do not ask for change. There's a whole lot more to the combat system than what's going to be given out at first, and there are reasons we've made some of the decisions we have. You can comment with your opinions, of course, but please be polite and don't demand things go a certain way.
That said, on to today's topic: Stats!
On BF, there are six main stats that determine someone's combat capabilities: Power, Magic, Vigor, Spirit, Reflex, and Composure. All of them are on a scale from 0-100, except Composure, which is 0-10.
Power: The main damage stat for Physical type attacks. This is not necessarily raw musclepower, but the ability to inflict damage by non-magical means. Punches, swords, and even guns and technology-created lasers all fall under this category. Examples of people with a high Power are Signum, Cure Sunny, and Ku Fei.
Magic: Just as Power is the main damage stat for Physical type attacks, Magic is the main damage stat for Magic type attacks. Anything from heart beams to magical fireballs and explosions would be represented here. Examples of those with high Magic are Nanoha Takamachi and Evangeline A.K. "Kitty" McDowell.
Vigor: The counterpower to Power, Vigor is the measure for how a character is able to withstand Physical type damage. Examples of those with high Vigor are Vita and Sailor Uranus.
Spirit: Magic's counterpart, Spirit is the measure for how well a character can resist Magic type damage. Examples of those with high Spirit are Asuna Kagurazaka and Cure Mint.
Reflex: When you're fast, you're fast, and dodging bullets and punches is no different from dodging blasts of magical energy. Whether a character is naturally fast, has exceptional spatial awareness, or even some sort of precognition, Reflex represents the ability to evade incoming attacks. Examples of those with high Reflex are Fate Testarossa and Ikuto Tsukiyomi.
Composure: Ah, the weird one. Composure is, as the name implies, the ability to keep cool under pressure, resist psychological attacks, and generally not freak out. A high composure represents someone who is never rattled, while someone with low Composure is more of a spaz. Unlike other stats, which start at 0, Composure begins at 5. An emotionless robot might have Composure 10, while someone who is easily infuenced and breaks down at the drop of a hat might have Composure closer to 0.
So what, exactly, does Composure do? You may have noticed that there's no Accuracy stat. Among other things, Composure affects your Accuracy. Someone with high Composure have a slightly higher default Accuracy and aren't penalized much at low Morale, as they're able to keep cool in the face of overwhelming odds. On the other hand, though, they don't gain as much from high Morale, as they don't get fired up so easily. In contrast, someone with low Composure will see their Accuracy fall pretty quickly at low Morale, as they lose all hope. At high Morale, they get extremely spirited and tend to have very high Accuracy.
Derivative stats and other values.
Accuracy: Mentioned above, under Composure.
Balance: Balance is not necessarily a stat, but it is derived from Magic and Power. Why, you might ask, would you ever want to go for a balanced build over stacking one of these two high and letting the other suffer? Well, aside from non-damage uses for the stats (which will come in a future post), how close the Power and Magic stats are represent the inner balance between body and soul. The closer the stats are to one another, the faster you will regenerate Mana. If you minmax them and they're far apart, your Mana regeneration will be much slower, and you may find yourself having difficulties in going all-out for the entire battle!
Fatigue: Rather than health or HP, a character's endurance is represented by their Fatigue. Everyone begins at 0 Fatigue, and at 100 is completely unable to move their body to fight any longer. Sometimes Fatigue represents damage, but other times it is there to just show how tired a character is getting. For example, if they dodge an attack but it takes a lot of effort to do so, they will incur a little Fatigue (but not as much as if they took the attack fully). We feel this is a better representation of damage in the Magical Girl setting, since very rarely do horrible wounds happen. More often than not, a Magical Girl is simply too beat up to be able to fight back any more.
Morale: Currently, we have Morale set on a scale from -100 to 100, where you begin each battle at 0. If you play on SRT, you might be able to draw a few parallels to Will over there. Morale represents your overall feeling about a battle. If you're doing well, you'll have high Morale! Do poorly and your Morale will drop. In addition, if your Morale ever drops to -100, you become unable to do much. You've likely seen this in Magical Girl series as well. Someone who's just been so completely overpowered that they lose all hope, their eyes go all glassy, and they can barely even stand up straight, let alone fight back. That means there are more than one way to 'KO' someone in a fight! You can max out their Fatigue, or you can bottom out their Morale. There are methods to do both (though it's a lot more difficult to lower Morale quite that far). There are special actions and effects on attacks that can affect Morale as well.
Mana: Mana is the energy used to make attacks. All attacks, whether physical or magical, use Mana. As mentioned above with Balance, Mana regenerates slowly, though if you have a higher Balance (i.e. your Power and Magic stats are closer to each other) then it will regenerate more quickly. If you run low on Mana, you'll be unable to fire of any big attacks. Not only that, running out of Mana is a third 'KO' condition: at 0 Mana, you're unable to keep up your henshin mode and can no longer fight.
That's it for now! I'm going to try to make another comsys-related post every week or two.
But first, a caveat. The combat system is currently being worked on, so there is a chance some of this may change. Also, please do not ask for change. There's a whole lot more to the combat system than what's going to be given out at first, and there are reasons we've made some of the decisions we have. You can comment with your opinions, of course, but please be polite and don't demand things go a certain way.
That said, on to today's topic: Stats!
On BF, there are six main stats that determine someone's combat capabilities: Power, Magic, Vigor, Spirit, Reflex, and Composure. All of them are on a scale from 0-100, except Composure, which is 0-10.
Power: The main damage stat for Physical type attacks. This is not necessarily raw musclepower, but the ability to inflict damage by non-magical means. Punches, swords, and even guns and technology-created lasers all fall under this category. Examples of people with a high Power are Signum, Cure Sunny, and Ku Fei.
Magic: Just as Power is the main damage stat for Physical type attacks, Magic is the main damage stat for Magic type attacks. Anything from heart beams to magical fireballs and explosions would be represented here. Examples of those with high Magic are Nanoha Takamachi and Evangeline A.K. "Kitty" McDowell.
Vigor: The counterpower to Power, Vigor is the measure for how a character is able to withstand Physical type damage. Examples of those with high Vigor are Vita and Sailor Uranus.
Spirit: Magic's counterpart, Spirit is the measure for how well a character can resist Magic type damage. Examples of those with high Spirit are Asuna Kagurazaka and Cure Mint.
Reflex: When you're fast, you're fast, and dodging bullets and punches is no different from dodging blasts of magical energy. Whether a character is naturally fast, has exceptional spatial awareness, or even some sort of precognition, Reflex represents the ability to evade incoming attacks. Examples of those with high Reflex are Fate Testarossa and Ikuto Tsukiyomi.
Composure: Ah, the weird one. Composure is, as the name implies, the ability to keep cool under pressure, resist psychological attacks, and generally not freak out. A high composure represents someone who is never rattled, while someone with low Composure is more of a spaz. Unlike other stats, which start at 0, Composure begins at 5. An emotionless robot might have Composure 10, while someone who is easily infuenced and breaks down at the drop of a hat might have Composure closer to 0.
So what, exactly, does Composure do? You may have noticed that there's no Accuracy stat. Among other things, Composure affects your Accuracy. Someone with high Composure have a slightly higher default Accuracy and aren't penalized much at low Morale, as they're able to keep cool in the face of overwhelming odds. On the other hand, though, they don't gain as much from high Morale, as they don't get fired up so easily. In contrast, someone with low Composure will see their Accuracy fall pretty quickly at low Morale, as they lose all hope. At high Morale, they get extremely spirited and tend to have very high Accuracy.
Derivative stats and other values.
Accuracy: Mentioned above, under Composure.
Balance: Balance is not necessarily a stat, but it is derived from Magic and Power. Why, you might ask, would you ever want to go for a balanced build over stacking one of these two high and letting the other suffer? Well, aside from non-damage uses for the stats (which will come in a future post), how close the Power and Magic stats are represent the inner balance between body and soul. The closer the stats are to one another, the faster you will regenerate Mana. If you minmax them and they're far apart, your Mana regeneration will be much slower, and you may find yourself having difficulties in going all-out for the entire battle!
Fatigue: Rather than health or HP, a character's endurance is represented by their Fatigue. Everyone begins at 0 Fatigue, and at 100 is completely unable to move their body to fight any longer. Sometimes Fatigue represents damage, but other times it is there to just show how tired a character is getting. For example, if they dodge an attack but it takes a lot of effort to do so, they will incur a little Fatigue (but not as much as if they took the attack fully). We feel this is a better representation of damage in the Magical Girl setting, since very rarely do horrible wounds happen. More often than not, a Magical Girl is simply too beat up to be able to fight back any more.
Morale: Currently, we have Morale set on a scale from -100 to 100, where you begin each battle at 0. If you play on SRT, you might be able to draw a few parallels to Will over there. Morale represents your overall feeling about a battle. If you're doing well, you'll have high Morale! Do poorly and your Morale will drop. In addition, if your Morale ever drops to -100, you become unable to do much. You've likely seen this in Magical Girl series as well. Someone who's just been so completely overpowered that they lose all hope, their eyes go all glassy, and they can barely even stand up straight, let alone fight back. That means there are more than one way to 'KO' someone in a fight! You can max out their Fatigue, or you can bottom out their Morale. There are methods to do both (though it's a lot more difficult to lower Morale quite that far). There are special actions and effects on attacks that can affect Morale as well.
Mana: Mana is the energy used to make attacks. All attacks, whether physical or magical, use Mana. As mentioned above with Balance, Mana regenerates slowly, though if you have a higher Balance (i.e. your Power and Magic stats are closer to each other) then it will regenerate more quickly. If you run low on Mana, you'll be unable to fire of any big attacks. Not only that, running out of Mana is a third 'KO' condition: at 0 Mana, you're unable to keep up your henshin mode and can no longer fight.
That's it for now! I'm going to try to make another comsys-related post every week or two.