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 uses, reset by a rest.
• Each technique could have a fixed number of uses, reset when the encounter ends.
• 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
• Additional generic techniques, like Defend

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 and proposed implementation

Original thread

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

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.

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

Attack Properties

Fast attacks multiply the user's Speed by 1.5 for this Round.

Area attacks do half Damage on a Miss. No Conditions on a Miss, however.

Attack Categories

Techniques have one of six attack categories:

• Special: Any technique that does not involve an attack
• Melee: Multiply damage by User Melee/Target Armour
• Ranged: Multiply damage by User Ranged/Target Dodge
• Touch: Multiply damage by User Melee/Target Dodge
• Reach: Multiply damage by User Ranged/Target Armour
• Reliable: Multiply by 1

Damage formula

   (User Melee or Ranged/Target Armour or Dodge OR 1 if Reliable) * (7 + User Level) * Technique Power * Weakness or Resistance Multiplier

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 system

Sanglorian's original proposal. Spun off into Effects system page because it was quite involved.