Revisions
- 0.07
- Added 'Fateful Action' things, which basically liven up the rather stiff 'throw dice back and forth' system.
- Fixed the occurrence of two spells named 'Wall.'
- Nuked from orbit a horrible terrible nogood issue with listing the EXP costs for each number in a skill.
- 0.06
- Cleaned up starting stats--to give people a more accurate idea of what they have.
- Attacks are NOT "Techniques", that's just being frivolous.
- Added in descriptions of several basic actions people like to do, but which haven't been defined properly--until now!
- Reminded self that explode only works on combustible material...
- Clarified how Unique Skills can't be used to make attacks. At least, in the normal sense...
- Basic attacks table a splode, to quote Digifanatic.
- 0.05
- Adjusted Ele spell a bit, based on testing.
- Mentioned glitches in techniques section.
- 0.04
- Added in some basic attacks and organized some nearby data.
- Added notes about Final Smashes and Team Attacks.
- More Attack 'Pieces' (instead of 'Things')
- Added in Unique Skills section.
- Added in the Spells section.
- Miscellaneous style editing.
- 0.03
- No more delay, ticks, nonsense. Init-style system returns.
- Rate now counts TOTAL amount of attacks you can do on your turn including the move, instead of itself + 1 for that number. Much less confusing.
- Some ability renaming.
- Attacks are now known as Techniques.
- Multiple uses of an attack or attacks no longer mess up your defense.
- Status Effects everywhere!
- Unlocked the elements and some attack styles.
- "Fluff" removed by popular request.
- 0.02
- Some tiny change in the base attack style not worth noting.
- 0.01
- Nothing much here. Well, EVERYTHING, but that's too much to describe in one paragraph.
Base Stats
You start out with 100 HP (Hit Points). Lose them all, and you die. But don't worry; although cannot be fixed mid-mission, death is temporary. The side-effect is that your EXP and coin gains are cut short.
Next are your Abilities, these are basic skills all characters are known to posses from time to time. They are Athletics, Defense, Diplomacy, Initiative, Intelligence, Melee, Search, Technology and Will. They start at 1, and can be increased all the way up to 10.
Finally there is experience points. These represent rewards for participating in sessions and good roleplaying. You spend them to make your character better. It's very simple to advance your characters. For each EXP spent on HP, you get 3 more HP. As for abilities, you level them up by purchasing the cost for each level in order.
The costs being, from level 1-10 respectively: 0, 2, 6, 14, 26, 42, 62, 86, 110, 200. Now that you know this, you can begin spending EXP; you start with 30 EXP, see. So let's say you spend ten of it on HP. Then you now have 130 HP. (30 = 10 * 3) Now, you want level 3 in Intelligence. That costs 6 points, right? Nope. It costs level 2 + level 3. You already know the 6 points. Just add 2 onto it, and you've got your total cost: 8. But then maybe you think you need level 4. How do you get from 3 to 4? Just spend the 14 more required for that level.
Character Sheet
Name: HP: 100 EXP: 30 Coins: 0 Items: None ABILITIES Athletics: 1 Defense: 1 Diplomacy: 1 Initiative: 1 Intelligence: 1 Melee: 1 Search: 1 Technology: 1 Will: 1 (Ask Metal Man about everything below this line) Weapon Attacks Attack 1 Attack 2 Attack 3 Attack 4
Attacks and Actions
| Name | Rate |
|---|---|
| Item Usage | 3 |
| Skill/Ability Usage | 2 |
| Pick up item | 2 |
| Random Arena-related Events | 1 |
| Spellcasting* * limited only by Will, but if you use more than one spell you can't do anything else but use spells that turn. | * |
In the Super Smash Quest world, attacks come in many flavors.
All attacks are made up of several smaller components. These components vary from attack to attack, and players themselves do not actually create them. Players describe their techniques and then they are generated by Metal Man (outside of gameplay, naturally).
Before I mention the stats of the individual attacks, I shall explain how battles begin. At the start of each battle, everyone rolls init; higher rolls go first. In case of a tie, those who tie roll against one another to see the exact order. Each person goes in order, then; and when they reach the end the turn order starts from the top again. People who get glitches are moved one position further back in the order than they would be normally.
On each person's turn they may use any move they choose, dependent on the rate of each of their moves. When you use your first move, that determines the amount of attacks you may make that turn. This is based on the rate of the move you chose. If you should use a move with a lower amount of rate, then that becomes the total instead. Hence if you use two moves, starting with one of rate 3 and then another of rate 2, you can use no more--the rate 2 move dictates a maximum of 2 moves.
When you use your move you roll for the accuracy of the attack, especially with Status effects. The only time you don't is if it's a spell, in which case it instantly hits. (More details about spells can be found later in this document.) Status effects require high rolls to go off, even if you use them on yourself--that roll is either the value of the status effect in points (listed below) divided by 10 above the enemy defense roll, or if using it on yourself, that same number +1 for your total roll. For example, if it costs 20 points, then you need 2 above the enemy DV to make it go off, or a roll of 3 or higher to make it work on yourself. If half or more of your roll winds up being 1s, you get a glitch--which may cause 10 damage to you, or something else bad to happen.
Accuracy is based partially on the type of move. If it's Melee, it's Melee + the modifier. If it's weapon-based, it's whatever the weapon calls for (there are many possibilities) + the modifier. If it's a spell, it automatically hits. It may also use intelligence or will, depending on the attack description. First you roll the accuracy (calculated by adding the value of the relevant stat to the bonus, then rolling it by typing 'q4', where 4 is the actual value of your accuracy for that move) and then the enemy rolls defense (Which is determined by the defense ability, naturally). Unless their defense roll beats yours, you hit.
Once you hit, you determine any status effects (by checking if you rolled high enough) and apply those if applicable. Then you apply damage (as marked on the move's description), THEN you apply any bizarre extra stuff your move may do. A table below lists the various special things moves are likely to do. You may wonder what points are--they measure the relative value of the addition to the move. There's also a number of non-attack moves. They are listed as well. You can do a maximum of 5 actions in a turn--but likelihood is the only moves with that rate are one or two of your own personal attacks or spells!
There are also some standard attacks, which are inferior to most of your own attacks, but allow you to do certain actions in battle.
| Name | Acc | Dmg | Desc | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grab | Melee | 5 | Grab a foe, giving +1 acc to your next attack or allowing you to throw them. You cannot hold a foe past your own turn as you run out of energy to do so once your turn is over. | 3 |
| Object Throw | Intelligence | ? | Pick up an object in the area and throw it. Damage depends on aim and how effectively it hits. | 2 |
| Throw | Melee | ? | The other half of a grab. Can be done without a grab, but it deals less damage. A failed throw after a grab means they break free. Using this, you can hurl an enemy to hit others, but they get a chance to dodge it. | 3 |
| Run Away | Athletics | 0 | Sometimes a foe is a real pain. But to escape a foe who isn't stunned, you need to use this move. In this case, if their dodge beats your roll, they thwart your escape. | 1 |
| Boring Punch | Melee | 8 | Sometimes, people without basic punching-type attacks need to punch anyway. This is what they have to use. Sucks, doesn't it? | 2 |
| Gather Smash Energy | ? | ? | Spend your time powering up for a Final Smash. | 1 |
| Disarm | Melee | 4 | Knock away your foe's weapon with a quick smack! | 1 |
| Name | Desc | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Fatigue | All attacks have 1 less rate. | 10 |
| Energy | All attacks have 1 more rate. | 10 |
| Haste | Two turns, one round! | 20 |
| Blind | Roll search checks before each attack. Determines your target... | 8 |
| Hawk Eye | Roll search checks before each attack. Adds on bonuses if you roll nicely; messes you up otherwise. | 5 |
| Stoic | Immune to status effects. | 15 |
| Ultra-Range | Target anything, anywhere, that you can see! | 10 |
| Rage | Doubles your damage, but half of it's done back to you! | 5 |
| Sadness | Halves damage taken AND dealt. | 5 |
| Apathy | Nulls damage dealt and damage taken. | 10 |
| Stupidity | Occasionally encountered, either naturally (by being overly stupid) or a bad knock on the head. Effects are... random. | No |
| Clumsy | Misses deal mild damage to you. (Like, 3-2 damage). | 5 |
| Determined | Your status cannot be changed from what it is. Furthermore, attempts to do so give you a chance to hit the enemy with a standard (Non-Special) attack once. | 10 |
| Mute | No effect other than being unable to talk | 4 |
| Surprised | Caused by ambushes. -1 to your DV all battle long. | No |
| Prepared | You know something about your foe/terrain/fought this before. +1 to AV. | No |
| Name | Desc |
|---|---|
| Charge | Must be rate 2 or higher. You may simply use the rate to increase damage by 3/4 the normal damage of the move for each rate used. |
| Jump | Works as a jump--but it means you have to move up to the enemy or have them above you. Failure to do so could mean missing or limited damage. |
| Homing | Attack continually attacks foe as long as you're still attacking on your turn. -1 to AV each time. |
| Sticky Attack | Not actually sticky. It just stays around for a round and acts as an item. |
| High Knockback | Sends person flying back. They may threaten others, but don't count on it unless they're weak. |
| Elements | Free. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes they are only for show. Fire, Ice, Electricity, Geo, Wind, Water, Time, Gravity, Light, Dark. |
| Block | The attack actually blocks the damage listed on it from being taken. It does not do damage. |
| Thief | Get a chance to steal from an enemy. Makes you have a bad rep, increasing store prices and getting you in general trouble. |
| HP Link | Grows stronger as you have less HP. Half damage when you're above 50% HP, normal damage below 50% HP, and triple damage below 1/4 your max HP. |
| Fateful Attack | Either the attack hits and deals 10 damage more, or it misses and you take half the damage! |
| Life Drain | If you hit, you recover half the damage you dealt back; if you miss, you take half the damage! |
| Skill Assist | Adds +1 to skill of choice for one round. |
There are also some more advanced battle techniques, which I briefly mentioned before and shall detail here. You don't need to know them to play, however.
The Final Smash: When you are in a quasi-important battle (I.E. any battle not against weak peons you can kick around like soccer balls) and you have managed to dodge many attacks and lay the beatdown on your foe, you may attempt to gather Smash Energy. This takes your entire turn, and being rate 1, prohibits using other moves in that turn; the GM will tell you if it is possible to do a Final Smash at this time, or if not, how close you are to one. It will take time either way.
Of course, in a minor battle, the GM will tell you you can't do it rather than tell you that your turn has been wasted.
Either way, when you eventually succeed, you are then entitled to throw the Final Smash. It is a freeform attack and can involve practically anything you can describe, as long as it doesn't assume any hitting or damage being dealt. The GM will evaluate the attack and then give you the results. Sometimes they will go off half-corked, or maybe they won't do well at all, but it is guarunteed something will hit. If you write poorly, it may do more bad than good.
With a little luck and a lot of thinking, you can use Final Smashes to devastate your foes.
The Team Attack: In similar straits, you may work better as a team than alone. Instead of making one giant attack via a Final Smash, you and two others whose turns are adjacent to yours (the one before and one after you) can work together to make three attacks at once. Note that only the person between those two people can choose to initiate such, and that it uses up the person before them's next turn and the one after them's upcoming turn as well. But, should it go off nicely, it will do more damage than is normally possible... and look cool.
Weapons
| Type | Effect | Worth | Dropped By |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | Deals damage, nothing more. | 10-15 coins | Most enemies. |
| Shiny | Deals damage and/or another effect. | 30-45 coins | Dropped by a few mid-bosses, if you mind to avoid blowing them up. |
| Polished | commonly deals damage and an effect, or is especially reliable at damage. | 135-150 coins | Held by major bosses, only obtained through theft during the near-death phase of their fighting. |
| Legendary | Does something unexpected for a weapon, but usually for a sacrifice of some sort on the wielder's part. | 300 Coins-∞ | These are automatically unstealable and cannot be obtained through theft either. They are either insanely expensive or hard to gain. |
Weapons act as attacks in item form. They may be modified by Weapon moves, which require them to function in the first place. They are more powerful than normal attacks, but they can be broken, stolen, or damaged; on the other hand, they can be upgraded, too.
The weapons come in various qualities; almost any weapon will deal some damage, but will it do much else? Not really, unless you get a good one! See the weapon table for a list of weapon types.
You can request a 'Simple' weapon to start with. Note that it will have no value and mostly serve as a tool to enable any Tech-based moves you have. And... that's about it.
Spells
| Tier 0 (Innate) | 0 Will | (Unique to each person; takes a move slot) |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (Novice) | 1 Will | |
| Tier 2 (Intermediate) | 3 Will | |
| Tier 3 (Advanced) | 5 Will | |
| Tier 4 (Summons and World-damaging Spells) | 6 Will | (Hard to control even with this; only one with 10 will can be sure of themselves with this!) |
Spells may be hard to obtain, but can be one of the most rewarding abilities to use. You can only have as many of these equipped as you have ranks in the Will ability, and they have Will requirements based on their tiers:
Tier 1 and above spells are learned by borrowing the resiquite books and studying them (a will check) once a session until you have obtained a result equal to (spell tier * 2) on your roll. Novice books are free; Intermediate books cost 2 coins per mission; Advanced cost 5; Higher level books must be found first.
Spells, additionally, have a limited number of uses. The maximum is 15 and the minimum is 1. Spells instantly hit, making them a useful asset at times. Their damage, however, can be low. All the spells in play are listed here; you cannot create more spells above Tier 0. But why would you need to do that, when there is such variety?
You can use up to (Will) spells at once, but you cannot do anything else but cast spells on your action if you use more than one in your turn. Tier 0 spells have rates attached to them, however; they will limit the amount of moves you can use just like a special attack.
The highest level spells are highly variable, and really hard to control. It all is in your will roll as to what they do. As there is only one person who can do each spell possible at a time, they tend to be hotly contested. Therefore, people new to spellcasting need not apply...
| Name | Desc | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Ele | A level one spell that deals 10 damage based on the element you wish it to be based on. | 10 |
| Confusion | A light which has a 50% chance of confusing the target. | 15 |
| Minor Heal | Minorly heals target for 15 HP. | 10 |
| Drain | Gain 10% of the enemy's HP... opposed Will checks required. | 10 |
| Die | Kills an enemy which is considered much weaker than you. Unfortunately nobody knows exactly what that means. | 9 |
| Dark | Makes the room dark. | 15 |
| Lock | Locks a door you have control over/can easily lock. | 15 |
| Stumble | Makes an enemy stumble. | 13 |
| Lockpick | Undoes a lock of normal persuasion. | 5 |
| Echo | Changes the origin of one sound for up to 15 minutes. | 10 |
| Explode | Causes combustible material to blow up/catch on fire. | 10 |
| Read Object | Reads directly into your brain whatever it is you are seeing. | 8 |
| Rejoin | Warps you directly to where the group is. | 15 |
| Telepathy | Allows you to communicate one line of text to anyone you know in the dimension you are in. | 6 |
| Image | Prints a square foot image of your choosing onto something nonorganic. | 10 |
| Missile | Always hits; 5 damage. | 10 |
| Wall | Blocks 8 damage from the target, cancelling out that attack entirely. Some attacks may blast through it. | 10 |
| Bend | Bends or snaps a bendable object in your direct sight instantly. | 7 |
| Telekinetic | Hurl up to a 15 lb object at will. | 8 |
| Ward | Blocks evil spirits for a 7 by 7 by 7 foot cubed area for a day. | 10 |
| Haste | Grants an extra turn for your ally for (will) rounds. | 2 |
| Name | Desc | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Element | A level two spell which deals elemental damage of your choosing. 25 damage. | 10 |
| Distraction | Averts the attention of those who fail a DC (your Will) check. | 10 |
| Light | Fills the current area with light. | 10 |
| Describe | Describes whatever you point at with medium detail. | 10 |
| Translate | Translates stuff from other languages. | 5 |
| Activate | Turns on dead machinery, if it has a power source. | 8 |
| Disarm | Disables enemy's weapon if they fail opposed will checks. | 10 |
| Destroy | Eliminates dead or medium-rank enemies from your sight. | 5 |
| Deceive | Auto-succeed at fooling someone with a lie, if their Will is lower than yours. | 3 |
| Burn | Causes recurring 3 damage every round to enemy. 25% chance of hitting. | 15 |
| Kinesis | Obtain any 100 pound or lighter object immediately. | 10 |
| Cure | Restore 30 HP. | 10 |
| Enchant | Used in combination with a spell. Imbues weapon. Based on rank; Tier 0, 1, 2, and 3 spells can be loaded. | 1 |
| Stave Death | Grants target one more turn even if they are hit with a fatal blow. | 3 |
| Reverse | Disorients foe 75% of the time. | 5 |
| Fatigue | Decreases enemy's damage and accuracy; 50% chance of hitting. | 5 |
| Shield | Protects against up to 30 damage with an orb. Even blocks poison gas. | 5 |
| Cover | Can be used any time to take a blow for a friend. The attack instantly hits you instead. | 5 |
| Counter | Reflects a phantasm of an enemy attack back at them; the attack must have hit you before the turn. | 5 |
| Vanish | Makes you unseeable for the equivalent of 2 rounds. | 5 |
| Name | Desc | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Dire Element | Deals 50 damage of elementalness of your choice. | 10 |
| Disturbance | Renders foe utterly hopeless for 3 rounds. 75% chance of hitting. | 5 |
| Annihilate | Annihilates any non-boss foe instantly. | 3 |
| Curse | Enemy loses 15 HP every round; 25% chance of success. | 5 |
| Disguise | Assume existence of another person for an hour. | 3 |
| Understand | Read information into mind about pointed object. Accuracy very high. | 5 |
| Steal | Takes an enemy weapon for your own if it isn't too powerful. | 5 |
| Control | Move any object the size of a house or smaller. | 3 |
| Super Wall | Protect target from all damage for one round. | 3 |
| Dimension Hole | Rip a hole in reality, which will seal itself after doing a dire random effect. | 10 |
| Panel | Activate, repair, and power almost any machine of choice. | 5 |
| Healing | Restores 50 HP. | 10 |
| Detrap | Destroys any traps in the room. | 3 |
| Alter | Change the appearance of anything within reason instantly. | 5 |
| Plane | Warp between different planes of existence. | 5 |
| Sensory | Read all relevant senses (even ones you don't have) to know about the area you're in. | 10 |
| History | Know the history of whatever you point at. | 5 |
| Copy | Make it possible to copy the enemy's special attack style as a special skill. | 10 |
| Time Freeze | Stop time for a round. Only stops for you. | 3 |
| Comet | Hit all targets for 50 damage of neutral damage. | 5 |
| Name | Desc |
|---|---|
| Andross | Summons Andross, who proceeds to blast the target to bits with tiles. Will continue for a while if he fails. |
| Nullus | Permanently annihilates a being, object, or portal, if it is unguarded. |
| Pure Element | Summons a portal to the plane of the element in question, which damages based on enemy's own element of choice. |
| Armageddon | Mindboggling destruction horrendously damages target. |
| Master Hand | Summons Master Hand, who will aid you for a while and fight the enemy. |
| Crazy Hand | Summons Crazy Hand, who will proceed to attack everybody and everything at random... but for high damage! |
| Space Ship | Barrages enemy with hundreds of kamikaze space ships, and also blows up the nearby terrain something fierce. |
| Antimatter Beam | Annihilates target, keeps on going. Leaves no traces and is silent. |
| Time Reversal | Go back in time and eliminate the future you leave behind. Limited to a day at most. Beware weak rolls!!! |
| Energia | Summons immensely strong energy; use to supercharge an attack or power something huge. |
| Godly Protect | Protect something in a way which is immensely hard to break. Lasts 1 day. |
| Reversal | Send all the enemy's attacks (within reason) back at them. |
| Capture | Captures the essence of a recently defeated foe; they can be used as a summon. One can be held at a time. |
| Divining Rod | Determine the nature of the time period you are in, what is important, and what you need to do. May be inaccurate! |
| Still | Destroy target's magical abilities... permanently, if you are lucky. |
| Zelda | Master mage aids you with spells and wisdom. |
| Pokemon | Summons a random pokemon to aid you. Not all are beneficial--others do not obey if you get a bad roll. |
| Tsunami | Wipes out entire area with gigantic wave of water. |
| Ghor | Summons a well-known cyborg to pound your foe into powder. |
| Zero | Summons Zero to destroy your foe and protect you from computer-based viruses. (Like anyone needs that?) |
Unique Skills
These cost a variable amount of EXP, and allow you to do whatever isn't covered somewhere else. The only rules there are are what you CAN'T do.
- You cannot duplicate an already existing attack
- You cannot have a skill which deals direct damage
- You cannot have a skill which benefits your EXP or coins
- You cannot use it to boost all uses of any one pre-existing ability
- You cannot make it work in tandem with another Special Skill
- You cannot make it work with teams
- You cannot make it if it otherwise unbalances the game (See Metal Man for this one)
This is important, as while almost everyone will want these, only those with a good idea of what they want will likely get it. It is up to you to make new and interesting skills if you are to succeed in using and obtaining them.
Additionally if you should want another attack... tough luck. You'll have to learn it through some sort of IC tutor or mystical attack-giving force. Otherwise everybody's gonna wind up with eight million attacks... hence why you can't make any direct kind of attacks with this type of Skill thing.
Fateful Action System
Sometimes just rolling the dice back and forth becomes monotonous, or unfair. Not because the dice are broken, but because unmitigated randomness can skew one side or another at random. So to combat this, there is the Fateful Action system, which consists of fate energy spheres the players randomly receive from a pool of 70 spheres, of which there are three types: White, Red, and Blue.
They range from weak, to middling, to strong, in that order. Now as for what they can do.
| White Orb |
|---|
| Heal 10 damage |
| Add 1 to an attack's successes after rolling |
| Add 10 damage to an attack which has hit. |
| Add 1 to a defensive roll's successes after defending |
| Regain 1 spell use on a tier 1 spell. |
| Gain 10 coins. |
| Red Orb* |
|---|
| Heal 25 damage |
| Add 2 to an attack's successes after rolling |
| Add 25 damage to an attack which has hit. |
| Add 2 to a defensive roll's successes after defending |
| Regain 5 spell uses on a tier 1 spell, or 1 spell use on a tier 2 spell. |
| Gain 25 coins. |
| Blue Orb |
|---|
| Heal 50 damage |
| Add 3 to an attack's successes after rolling |
| Add 50 damage to an attack which has hit. |
| Add 3 to a defensive roll's successes after defending |
| Regain 15 spell uses on a tier 1 spell, 5 spell uses on a tier 2 spell, or 1 spell use on a tier 3 spell. |
| Gain 100 coins. |
*Another note--reds cause the enemy to gain one of these spheres, and when the enemy uses one of these spheres, you get one.
You get three of these at the start of every session, and can keep them between sessions--you can have up to 10 at a time.
There may be other uses of these than shown here--it never hurts to try. Finally, using these does not consume any time in-battle or otherwise.