That they are meant to protect from disorder but they'll only get good at handling it with disorder?
Not heard of that paradox before so I'm guessing at it.


Also DoMaya that's part of the reason I healed Jade over you despite her health, she can move like...anywhere being a flier but us walkin dudes will pretty much go at the same rate. So long as you advance into one of the green zones on my chart I can still get to you if you want to move.

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I was more so referring to how, though the police are crucial in fighting crime, they would be out of a job if there was no crime to begin with.

Also, DoMaya's already made his move, Pierre. Unless I allowed takebacks earlier (I don't think I did), Crelarus will not be allowed to move until the next turn.

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*grumbles* Sure keeps me away from the frontlines I guess.

Also bear in mind number 9 is an archer guys so keep distance.
I'll duck two right (assuming I can move through Crelarus) and give him a bit of medical attention.

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Crelarus is now at 18/18 HP. Time for the enemy to move. The Swordfighter near Jade moves next to her and attacks, doing 1 point of damage. Jade's counterattack is a critical hit, doing 78 points of damage, almost enough to kill the Swordfighter five times over. The combat brings Jade's transform gauge down to 22.

Cold, it's now your turn. Here's Dorran's range.



For those of you who might be thinking Jade's overpowered, you probably have nothing to worry about in the long run. I did some calculations on a hunch and measured a hypothetical 40th-level Jade against a hypothetical 20th-level, third-tier Dorran, Crelarus, and Lucius (I haven't done the calculations for Ardan yet). Because I can't predict how the RNG will behave, I had to use fixed growth in my experiment. Anyway, what I found is that Jade's advantage over the rest of the party decreases as everyone gains levels. Essentially, Jade is a Jagen of the Oifey variety. In theory, she'll be on roughly equal footing with the rest of the party at higher levels. That said, since everyone's growth is random rather than fixed, I can't guarantee a balanced party at higher levels.

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Jade's a freakin dragon, it's to be expected she decimates foes.

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I was just concerned she might be accused of being a game-breaker.

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remind me never to get on jade's bad side. >_______________>;;;

anyways...move me six right (number 11 shall be a tasty snack for durandal)

Lida, it's now your turn. Jade's transform gauge is now at 20.

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I'd say "crutch" would fit better than game-breaker. As such, I think I should hold her back so the others can get some more experience, so...remind me to do that next test battle. :P

But, since it's too late anyway for this one, and enemy 9 could be a real pain in the rear, I'll have Jade move three spaces to the right, attack enemy 9, and then move up the rest of her range.

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Jade's attack does 26 points of damage, killing the Bowman instantly. The combat brings her transform gauge down to 19. Blak, it's now your turn. Here's Lucius's range:



Admittedly, I don't have another test battle prepared at this point, but given Jade's performance in this battle, as well as the fact that there are some mechanics I haven't tested, and even an algorithm I've been reading incorrectly, another test battle would probably be a good idea. I'll see what I can cook up.

Oh, I also noticed that there was an enemy contained in the data sheets that I stupidly forgot to put on the map. A bit late for that now, though.

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What Algorithm is wrong?

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I'll go right 2, down 4.

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Done. DoMaya, here's Crelarus's range:



And Pierre, unfortunately for everyone but you, the algorithm I was reading incorrectly was one of the two algorithms that calculated combat experience.

I had been reading it as this



when it was actually this



The result is that everyone but Ardan had been gaining ten or eleven more EXP per combat than they should have been gaining. This will be corrected in later test battles.

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Hahaha it's not like I'm limited in exp anyway XD. Normally I have to set special sessions in a grind location to train healers.

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A while ago, before Lida joined, I brought up the idea of defeated enemies not necessarily dying. There are a few reasons why I'm considering the mechanic. The first is to account for the possibility of a player wanting to let a defeated enemy live. The second is because when a player character runs out of HP, he/she is considered wounded rather than dead. I'd like everyone's input on whether or not they are okay with such a mechanic. To recap:

When an enemy unit is reduced to 0 HP, he/she has a 25% chance of dying, checked upon being reduced to 0 HP as well as each subsequent turn. Any excess damage from the finishing blow would increase the chance of the enemy dying from his/her wounds by 1% per point of damage. For example, if the enemy has 5 HP left and your attack does 10 points of damage, the enemy's chance of dying is 30% instead of 25%. If you don't want the wounded enemy to live, killing him/her counts as a free action and doesn't degrade your weapon.

In addition, if you want to hold back on the finishing blow, you can do so, albeit at 2% penalty to Hit for every 1 point of excess damage. Going back to my example, if you chose to hold back against that enemy, you could do so, making your attack just enough to defeat him/her, but at a 10% cost to Hit. If your attack hits, the enemy's initial odds of dying will be reduced to 0%, but the odds will go back to 25% each subsequent turn. If you get a critical hit, though, even if you were trying to hold back, you fail to do so, and the attack counts as a regular critical hit. In the example I gave, that would mean 25 points of excess damage, giving the enemy a 50% chance of dying each turn.

Finally, a healing item (or a staff if you're capable of using one) will reduce a wounded enemy's chances of dying, but doing so will cost the item/staff one use. This can be done multiple times, but the effect weakens with each use. Herbs, Heal staves, and other staves that restore Mag + 10 HP will reduce the odds of dying by an eighth. Vulneraries and Mend staves will reduce the odds of dying by a fourth. Concoctions will reduce the odds of dying by half. Elixirs and Recover staves will reduce the odds of dying by three fourths.

I also proposed, but never discussed, a prisoner system that would go with the mercy system. Here is what I've come up with:

A wounded enemy that survives the battle can be released, killed, or taken prisoner. A prisoner will recover from his/her wounds at the same rate as a wounded player character that avoids battle. Once he/she has recovered, he/she will attempt to escape. His/her base odds of escaping are 0%. Every point of Spd and Mov he/she has will increase those odds by 1%. For example, suppose a Swordfighter with a Spd of 10 and a Mov of 6 is captured. His/her odds of escaping are 16%. A player character or allied NPC may serve as a guard, decreasing the escape odds by 1% for each point of Spd and Mov the guard has. Suppose Dorran, who currently has a Spd of 5 and a Mov of 8, serves as the guard. The Swordfighter's odds of escaping would be 3% as long as Dorran stands guard.

If a prisoner is left unguarded, but the party is technically in the area, the aforementioned prisoner's odds of escaping would be 16% again. If the prisoner is left unguarded and the party is nowhere near him/her, his/her odds of escaping would be 100%. In the event of a battle, the prisoner has a 100% chance of escaping unless he/she is brought into the battle as a Rescued unit, in which case his/her base odds of escaping are tripled and measured against the sum of the entire party's combined Mov and Spd. The odds of escaping would be checked at the end of the party's turn.

Finally, there are two new mechanics that I've thought up: repairing/refilling items and enchanting equipment.

A non-SS-level weapon that is at anything less than its maximum number of uses can be repaired in any town that has a blacksmith. A non-SS-level tome or staff that is at anything less than its maximum number of uses can be repaired in any town that has a resident sage. Most temporary items (such as Herbs) can be combined with ones you have in stock, though they can also be refilled at any town with an apothecary. The cost depends on the item's base cost divided by the number of uses below maximum that it's at. For example, repairing a Bronze Sword that has 49/50 uses left would cost 7G.

As for enchantment, every now and then, you might come across a unique item called a Fortune Card. You might find one on a defeated enemy, a chest might contain one, or I might just throw in a plot-related event that will yield one. I don't intend for them to be rare, but they aren't going to be things you can buy. This is based off of the Coin mechanic in Radiant Dawn. What type of card you get is random, but all cards save for the Vine card contain a special enchantment. A mystic will enchant the equipment of your choice for a price of 100G when you give him/her a Fortune Card. Enchanted weapons and staves gain a colored aura, the color depending on the enchantment. The text of enchanted tomes will glow the same color as the aura of a weapon with the same enchantment. For example, the Sword card will yield a pale red glow. A weapon/staff/tome can only have one enchantment, though you can replace an existing enchantment with another if you want.

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I like the idea of enchanting weapons, and keeping the weapon restocking system in, but in regards to letting enemies live I've forgotten what we decided about that. It would only affect things plot-related correct?

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We never reached a final decision on that. On the one hand, a generic enemy is unlikely to be able to do much in return for being spared. On the other hand, NPCs are still characters, however insignificant they may be with regards to the main plot, and I feel it's appropriate to allow players to be merciful toward enemy NPCs if they want to be. Because of their relative insignificance to the plot, I doubt I'll ever have a spared NPC affect the plot in any way.

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Sure, if only because we might come up against important people who need a good sparing so they can come back stronger.

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Just thought I'd tell everyone the next test battle is ready to go once we've finished up this one. I expect it to be harder than the current test battle, but still winnable. Unlike the first one, the party's not in a position to get swarmed from the get-go. Also, as I said earlier, there are still a few mechanics that I haven't tested, and this map will use one of them. Those only familiar with Awakening might be in for a surprise.

Oh, and DoMaya, it's still your turn.

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How are we doing the test battle this time? Are we giving the Skype thing a try?

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I don't have everyone's Skype yet, so that's not a possibility at the moment.

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peye42@hotmail.co.uk

Sorry forgot the Skype thing was a thing.

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That just leaves Cold, then. Worst case scenario, we just do the session through posts.

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sorry... kinda forgot myself >______>;;;

cold52jjc@hotmail.com

Got it. Assuming everyone confirms me as a contact before the session starts, we'll be able to do some of the test battle over Skype.

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I'm so sorry, guys, but I don't think I'll make it to tonight's session. I have homework to do and I'm feeling entirely too crappy to wrap my head around anything, so I won't be available. v_v

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XP on the verge of the battle....

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Shall we finish up the test battle without her? I'd like everyone's input.

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You think we can? She's been pretty crutch.

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There are three enemies left, so it's not as if you're going to get swarmed, but I can understand wanting to wait.

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I don't mind either way.

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we could...it would take abit more work than jade just one shotting everything but it shouldnt be impossible i mean i've already taken 2 out using a hit and run tactic so...shouldn't be too hard.

Well, I just got DoMaya on Skype, and he's against it, so it doesn't matter. You know the drill, everyone. Please post the times you'll be available between now and next Sunday.

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Only day I'm available next week is Sunday after 4pm.

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Well, then that limits us to next Sunday at 4:00 PM (6:00 PM on Lida's end, 12:00 AM on Pierre's end). We still have the means to carry on the battle outside of the scheduled sessions, though--assuming DoMaya takes his turn.

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I'll move to the left of J

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Done. Pierre, here's Ardan's range. Crelarus is at full HP. Jade has 39/41 HP.

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I'll move right of Jade and give her a heal.

Sure it's only 2 HP but hell I know what training healers in FE is like, you take every shot you can get.

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Done. It's now the enemy's turn. The Medium Dorran was going for approaches him and attacks from a distance with his magic, getting a critical hit and doing 42 points of damage, taking Dorran out instantly. Lida, it's now your turn. Jade's transform gauge is now at 17.

A word of advice to all of you: keep an eye on the enemy's range and attack power--especially if you have low Res and the enemy in question is a magic-user or you have low Def and the enemy in question uses a physical attack.

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XD Hilarious.

Out of interest, what were the stats for that battle? Also did the guy use wind magic or something?

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