Techniques

This page describes the game mechanics of techniques. Category:Technique is the list of techniques that have been designed and Creating Techniques is the guide to making your own techniques.

Techniques are discrete attacks, blocks, tricks and other manoeuvres that tuxemon perform in combat.

How they work

Acquisition

There are two main options for how techniques are acquired:

1. A tuxemon species knows a certain number of techniques automatically, and they might be able to learn or acquire others from another list.
2. A tuxemon species learns certain techniques at certain levels, and they might be able to learn or acquire others from another list.

Availability

To keep things managable, tuxemon should probably only have access to a finite set of techniques in combat. There are two options:

1. When a tuxemon learns a new technique but they are already at their limit, they have to forget an old technique
2. Out of battle, a tuxemon trainer can choose their tuxemon's techniques, from the list of all techniques that they know

The latter is how EvoCreo does it. However, there is some concern that this takes an interesting decision away from the player.

Additional

Tuxemon could learn additional techniques from a number of sources:

• Technical Manuals
• Other tuxemon

Both options are attractive, and having both lets comparisons be made between them: pay a corporation for a Technical Manual, or share knowledge between tuxemon for no charge.

Uses

There are also a number of ways of pacing how many times a technique can be used:

• Each technique could have a fixed number of Power Points, determining how many times it can be used before a rest is required.
• Techniques could each have a cost in mana - once mana is too low, they are not available for use. Tuxemon might recover mana over time
• Techniques could have a recharge time: once used, it takes them a while to be available for use again.
• Techniques could be used any number of times, perhaps because there is a scissors-paper-rock dynamic where over-using a particular technique is dangerous.
• Techniques could be rationed in another way, like Dynamons World's technique card deck.

I think recharging is the best way of doing it.

Varieties

There are a number of types of technique you can have:

• Distinguishing between attacks based on how they use Stats - Melee (the attacking tuxemon bodily strikes the target in close quarters) and Ranged (the attacking tuxemon using a projectile, energy beam, pseudopod or other remote attack)
• Having a mega technique and a healing technique in dedicated slots, like EvoCreo does

Elements

The most obvious is for techniques to have Types that match the types that monsters can have, including having two types if such a thing is possible for monsters.

However, there are a few other options:

• Only being able to have one type.
• An additional type, "Aether", that takes on the user tuxemon's type(s). This allows for generic attacks like tackles and bites to not belong to a particular type.
• Special techniques - which don't involve attacks - don't need a type at all.
• Techniques could have completely different types to the types that monsters have. See Types for more discussion.

Options

There could be any number of options for techniques. Some are below under Other options.

Current implementation

Technique effects are defined in the core.components.monster.Technique class.

Techniques can use any of these effects:

• damage: This effect applies damage to a target monster. This effect will be applied if "damage" is defined in this technique's effect list.
• poison: This effect has a chance to apply the poison status effect to a target monster. Currently there is a 1/10 chance of poison.

Proposal

Each tuxemon species has three techniques all individuals of that species automatically know. The final fourth slot can be filled with a technique from a Technical Manual or one taught by a fellow tuxemon, or left empty.

Each technique has a recharge time between one Round (i.e. available from the next round) and four Rounds.

Techniques are split into Special (non-attacks) and then Melee (Melee vs Armour), Ranged (Ranged vs Dodge), Touch (Melee vs Dodge), Reach (Ranged vs Armour) and Reliable (no Stats) attacks.

Each technique has the following options:

• Element (one or two; only for attacks - all special techniques get the Aether element): Element(s) determine whether the target is weak or resistant to the attack.
• Accuracy (0 to 100): Accuracy is the chance of the technique succeeding.
• Potency (0 to 100; only for technqiues with a User or Target Condition, or both): Potency is the chance of the conditions being applied.
• User Condition: The condition that the user receives (if Potency is successful)
• Target Condition: The condition that the target receives (if Potency is successful)
• Power (0 to 3; 0 for non-attacks): The damage multiplier
• Healing Power (0 to 16): The healing multiplier
• Fast: Whether the user's Speed is increased for determining who goes first
• Area (only for attacks): Whether the attack does damage even if the technique fails
• Recharge: How many Rounds you have to wait before it can be used again
• Range (Melee, Ranged, Touch, Reach, Reliable; only for attacks): Which Stats are compared for calculating damage

Other options

Field techniques

Field techniques would be usable outside of combat.

Body Shapes and Subelements

As a tuxemon levels up, they learn new techniques at fixed levels, based on their species, Sub-Elements and Body Types. These are their "nature techniques", because they are innate to the tuxemon.

Tuxemon can also learn new techniques from Combat Codexes. They can also be taught techniques from other tuxemon that know that technique (Technique Teachers). These are their "nurture techniques", because they are taught.

Tuxemon have a finite list of nurture techniques that they can learn, also based on Life Stage, Sub-Element and Body Type. These are distinct from their nature techniques.

Effects

Terms

Low/Mid/High Chance: An effect's chance of success can be set to:

• Low = 10% + (10% * user's level/50)
• Mid = 20% + (20% * user's level/50)
• High = 30% + (30% * user's level/50)

MAX: Maximum HP.

Targets

An effect can target:

• Self, in other words the one using the technique
• Opponent, in other words the target of the technique
• Persistent Self, which means that it affects the one using the technique and any other tuxemon that replace them
• Persistent Opponent, which means that it affects the target of the technique and any other tuxemon that replace them
• Battlefield, which just means both Self and Opponent
• Persistent Battlefield, which just means both Self and Opponent and any other tuxemon that replace them

Persistent effects end after 5 turns. The conditions that were caused by that persistent effect, if any, last as long as they usually do even if the 5 turns is expired.

General

• Charge Up: The technique has no effect this turn. The rest of the technique takes place on the attacker's next turn.
• Shelter: The technique has no effect this turn, except the attacker cannot be hit by attacks except Area attacks. The rest of the technique takes place on the attacker's next turn.
• Fast: This technique goes before the other technique, regardless (unless that technique is also Fast).
• Backlash #: The user takes #/16 of their MAX in damage (unmodified).
• Disarmed: The target loses its item, and the other creature picks it up if it is not holding an item. Otherwise, it is not accessible until the end of the battle. In any case, all items are returned to their original owner at the end of the battle.
• Scope: The opponent's stats are revealed.
• Switched Stats: If this is a melee attack, it targets Dodge (not Armour, as is typical). If this is a ranged attack, it targets Armour (not Dodge).
• Likely Crit: Increases the chances of a crit by 1/8th for every rank of this effect. (Base crit chance is 1/8).

Ones that affect damage done by the technique

• Area: This technique still does x0.5 damage on a miss.
• Reliable Damage: This technique does exactly its Power * 100 in damage, unmodified, instead of using the Damage Formula.
• Proportional Damage: This technique does damage to the enemy equal to #/16 of the enemy's MAX.
• Proportional Damage (User): This technique does damage to the enemy equal to #/16 of the user's MAX.

Multiattacks

• Multiattack (Random): Do one attack (25% chance), two attacks (50% chance) or four attacks (25% chance).
• Multiattack #: Do # attacks.
• Multiattack (Uses): Do # attacks, where # is the number of times in this combat that the technique has already been used.

Conditions

See Conditions for the consequences of having a condition.

Stat Buff and Debuffs

Every stat can be increased or decreased by anywhere from x1 to x6. This refers to how many 'steps' up or down the stat moves; see Stats#Temporary stat changes for more.

Healing

• Healing (Reliable): This technique heals the user exactly its Power in damage, unmodified.
• Healing (Proportional, User) #: This technique heals the user equal to #/16 of the user's MAX.
• Healing (Proportional, Enemy) #: This technique heals the user equal to #/16 of the enemy's MAX.
• Contrary Healing: This technique heals the enemy, not the user. (How much it heals is determined by which of the other healing effects the technique has)

Strengths and Weaknesses

Techniques can give the user or the target a strength, weakness or immunity towards/against any type.