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Note: If you have chosen to use Blue Magic, skip this chapter.
The Tech Creation System is used to create the set of special attacks and abilities, called Techs, that your character will learn over the course of his career. Characters receive Tech Points at every level-up that are used to learn new Techs or upgrade old ones into a more powerful form. When you gain a level, you gain a certain number of Tech Points as shown on the following table. You gain the listed bonus every time your level increases within a given range. For example, when you reach level 2, add 2 Tech Points to your total. Reaching level 28 would add 6 Tech Points to your total.
In addition to the Tech Points that you gain when your experience level increases, you also gain bonus points for increasing your Magic stat. Each time you increase your Magic by one point, you gain a number of Tech Points based on what your new Magic stat is, as shown below. For example, if your Magic stat increases from 8 to 9, you gain 1 Tech Point; if it increases from 9 to 10, you get two Tech Points. Increasing it to 11 would net you another two Tech Points. These are one-time bonuses that are added to your total Tech Points as soon as your Magic increases. A new character begins the game with all the Tech Points he would normally have earned by increasing his Magic to the value he starts with; a beginning character with 11 Magic would have 13 extra Tech Points in addition to the ten he started with (see the level-based table above).
As an example, a 3rd-level character with a Magic stat of 8 would have a grand total of 24 Tech Points (12 at first level, +2 at 2nd and 3rd level, and +1 for each of his eight points of Magic). For reference, tables listing the total number of Tech Points at each experience level and Magic level can be found in Appendix IV. USING TECHS Each Tech has an MP cost required to activate it; if you cannot pay the cost, you cannot use the power. All Techs have a Power Level associated with them, which is different than Tech Level. Power Level determines the MP cost of the Tech. Some Techs, such as Magical Attack, have variable Power Levels, allowing you to use more powerful attacks in exchange for a higher MP cost. All Magic Point costs are given in the table below.
*Maximum Tech Level is 6. Tech Levels 7-8 are provided to show MP costs for high-level powers with positive MP modifiers (see Secondary Effects below). LEARNING TECHS To learn a new Tech, you must first decide what Tech Level you want the new power to be. Tech Level determines how powerful the new Tech will be, as well as the MP cost to activate it. In order to learn the Tech, you must spend some of the Tech Points you have earned. Each Tech has a Tech Point Cost, which must be paid in order to learn the Tech. A character may spend Tech Points to learn a Tech at any time. Learning a Tech is permanent- it cannot be unlearned. A character can have a maximum number of Tech Levels equal to 5 + (MAG / 2). A character may begin play with no more than 3 Techs, all of which must be Tech Level 1.
CREATING THE TECH When creating a Tech, you choose one Primary Effect and up to two Secondary Effects from the lists below. Refer to the appropriate section for more information on Primary and Secondary Effects. UPGRADING A TECH If you wish, you can upgrade an older Tech to make it more powerful, which is cheaper than learning a whole new Tech. To do so, simply pay the difference in Tech Points between the power's current Tech Level and the level you wish to upgrade to. The upgraded Tech is identical to the old Tech, but the strength of its Primary Effect is increased appropriately. Example: Amos the Valiant already knows Cure, a first-level Medium Healing Tech, and he wants to upgrade it to a level 2 Healing Tech. According to the Tech Point Cost chart, Amos needs to spend 7 TP to upgrade the power. He does so, and Cure becomes a second-level Medium Healing Tech. It's now a full level stronger than before, but its MP cost also increases from 3 to 6. CLONED POWERS Cloned Powers are a way to improve your character's flexibility without spending a large number of Tech Points. Essentially, the character learns to modify a power that he already knows and use it with a slightly different result. A Cloned Power is a Tech that has exactly the same Tech Level and Primary and Secondary Effects as the original, except for ONE of the following:
Only one degree of difference may be chosen for the clone. Cloned Powers are learned in the same way as normal Techs, but the Tech Point cost of the power is halved. The same goes for upgrading a Cloned Power, as long as the original power is of a higher Tech Level than the clone. If upgrading the clone would make it a higher Tech Level than the original, the upgrade costs full price. The reverse is also true- the original power may be upgraded for half cost if the clone is of a higher Tech Level. A single Tech may have multiple clones, but a Cloned Power may not be cloned. Finally, all Cloned Powers are considered one Tech Level lower for purposes of the character's maximum learnable number of Tech Levels. Note that Cloned Powers are supposed to be modifications of existing powers, so they should be similar in some way to the original. The Master may rule against a nonsensical clone- for example, cloning Bazooka to create Sword Dance.
Near-Fatal Attack Power Level: Medium Similar to, but less powerful than, a Fatal Blow, a Near-Fatal Attack attempts to reduce the target to 1 HP in a single blow. Make a magic attack roll; if successful, the target's Hit Points drop to 1. Near-Fatal Attack has a base modifier of -60 to your attack roll. For each Tech Level of the power beyond the first, the modifier is increased by +15. For example, a third-level power would have a modifier of -30. If the attack fails, no damage is done.
Power AttackPower Level: Variable The Tech is designed to inflict heavy damage on the target, using your equipped weapon. Power Attacks always deal physical damage, and use your Strength Dice and Attack Power to determine how much damage is dealt. The type of dice rolled is determined by your equipped weapon- if your sword uses d10s for physical attacks, your Power Attacks use d10s as well. You can modify the die type by choosing a Power Level for the Tech. A Medium Power Attack rolls damage as normal, a Weak Power Attack uses one die class lower, and a Strong Power Attack uses one die class higher- thus, you can get a stronger attack for a little more MP, or reduce the price in exchange for lower damage. Die classes are ranked, from lowest to highest: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12. In addition, Power Attacks modify your Strength Dice and Attack Power as shown below:
The total damage dealt is equal to (Die Roll * 10) + (Modified AP). Don't forget that the number and type of dice you roll are modified by the Tech Level and Power Level of the attack. Example: Diff the Biffer uses his powerful Biff attack, which is a level 6 Strong Tech, giving it an MP cost of 41. Diff has 2 Strength Dice, a base Attack Power of 170, and a tenth-level, d10 weapon with a +230 to Attack Power, giving him a total AP of 400. Diff's Biff gives him +3 dice of damage, and an AP multiplier of x2.5. Diff rolls 5d12 (his d10 is upped by one class, since it's a Strong Tech) and scores a 38. The Biff deals 1380 points of damage (38 * 10 is 380, and 400 * 2.5 is 1000). It may be helpful to calculate your modified AP before the game and write it down on your character sheet- that way, you'll save some time while you're playing. Quadra Slam Power Level: Special The Quadra Slam attack allows you to strike randomly four times, with each strike dealing half damage. May not be combined with Area Effect or Backfire. May be combined with the -2 Tech Level version of Random Target, but not the -1 Tech Level version. Quadra Slam has a Tech Level of 3, and a power level dependant upon the weapon used- a Light weapon is Weak, a Medium weapon is Medium, and a Heavy weapon is Strong. Revenge Power Level: Strong A Revenge attack deals greater damage as your health declines. At Tech Level 2, it deals an amount of damage equal to half the difference between your max HP and your current HP- i.e., half the amount of damage you have taken so far. At Tech Level 4, the damage dealt is equal to the total damage you have taken. Revive Power Level: Strong This Tech revives a character whose Hit Points have been depleted, returning him to consciousness and restoring a portion of his HP. A Tech Level 3 Revive restores 10% of the character's max HP; Tech Level 5 restores 50%, and Tech Level 6 restores the target to full health. Stat Booster Power Level: Medium Stat Boosters are Techs that augment the subject's normal abilities, making him stronger, faster, and more powerful. Multiple Stat Boosters of the same type are not cumulative. - Strength Boost increases all Strength-based damage dealt by the subject. - Magic Boost increases all Magic-based damage dealt by the subject. - Speed Boost increases the Speed of the subject. Level 2 Stat Boosters have an effect of 25%, Level 4 Stat Booster have an effect of 33%, and Level 6 Stat Boosters have an effect of 50%. Thus, a Level 4 Strength Boost would increase the power of the subject's weapon attacks by 33%, or one third. May not be combined with Backfire. Stat Boosters may not be Cloned. Status Effect Power Level: Medium The Tech bestows one or more positive or negative status effects on the target. The minimum Tech Level of the power is equal to the sum of the levels of all the chosen effects. Positive effects will always work, but negative effects require a successful magic attack roll. Each negative status effect has a base modifier to the attack roll, as listed below. For each Tech Level of the power, you have 10 additional points to divide between the attack modifiers of all the chosen effects, to a maximum of +10 for any single effect. For example, a fourth-level power might Stun at -15 and Seal at -30. All temporary effects such as Curse and MBarrier last for 1d4+1 ticks. See Chapter VI: Combat for more information on Status Effects and their durations.
SECONDARY EFFECTS Secondary Effects are modifiers to the primary function of the power. Most Secondary Effects raise or lower the MP cost of the Tech in exchange for extra functionality or some sort of deficiency. The total Tech Level modifier is applied to the Tech Level of the power for purposes of figuring MP cost ONLY- the Tech Point cost of the power is not affected. Unless otherwise noted, any Primary Effect may be combined with any Secondary Effect. No Tech can have more than two Secondary Effects. If a Tech has enough Secondary Effects to reduce its effective Tech Level to 0 or lower, the power costs 1 MP. Area Effect MP Adjustment: +1 Tech Level The special ability affects either all enemies or all allies. Tech Levels 1-2 have half their normal effect (numerical values or chance of success, whichever is appropriate), while Tech Levels 3-6 have full effect. May not be used in conjunction with Self-Only. Backfire MP Adjustment: -1 Tech Level The Tech is dangerous to its user as well as to his enemies, for every time the power is used, there is a 15% chance that it backfires, affecting the user instead of its intended target. May not be combined with beneficial Primary Effects such as Healing, and may not be used in conjunction with Random Target. Charge Power MP Adjustment: Special Instead of consuming MP, the user of the Tech must focus his energy for a certain amount of time before unleashing the Tech. Normally a Tech requires 8 Speed Points to use, just like any other action, but a Charge Power requires a higher expenditure of Speed Points. If a character does not have sufficient Speed Points, he may wait, taking no actions and expending no Speed Points, until he has enough points to execute the Tech. A Charge Power has an MP cost of 0. If combined with other Secondary Effects, the amount of SP required increases or decreases in the same way as MP cost normally would. A Charge Power consumes SP according to its effective Tech Level and its Power Level as follows:
Drain Attack MP Adjustment: Special The Tech, which must deal damage of some type to the opponent, drains a portion of the damage dealt back to the user, restoring his HP. For +1 Tech Level of MP, the power drains 25% of the damage dealt; for +2 Tech Levels, the drain is 50%. If combined with MP Attack, the Tech damages and drains MP instead of HP. If combined with Area Effect, choose one of two effects when the Tech is created:
Elemental
MP Attack MP Adjustment: +1 Tech Level Rather than damaging the target's Hit Points, the Tech is designed to destroy magical strength. The Tech deals no damage, but reduces the target's Magic Points by 1 / 10 of its damage roll; if the Tech normally deals no damage (for example, a Magic Break), make a damage roll as per a normal attack. Alternately, you may deal half damage to the target's HP and 1 / 20 to its MP. May not be combined with Healing. If combined with Revenge, the damage dealt to the target's MP is instead based on your own MP. At Tech Level 2, the damage is half the amount of MP you have lost; at Tech Level 4, the damage is equal to that amount. This damage is calculated prior to deducting the MP cost of the Tech. Random Target MP Adjustment: Special The Tech is chaotic in nature and cannot be completely controlled. For -1 Tech Level, the Tech targets a random enemy (or ally, if the Tech is beneficial). For -2 Tech Levels, the target is completely random, and may be either an enemy or a friend. Sacrifice MP Adjustment: Special Sacrifice allows a character to partially or completely convert the MP cost of a power into lost Hit Points. There are three variants, chosen at creation.
If combined with Healing, the Tech CANNOT affect the user, even if Area Effect is also chosen. This also means that a Healing Tech may not be combined with both Sacrifice and Self-Only.
Dispel Tech Level: Variable Power Level: Weak The Dispel power removes the effects of negative status conditions from the target. The power may remove up to 2 status effects per Tech Level. However, more severe conditions require a more powerful Dispel. The Tech may remove any Dispellable Effects of a level equal to or lower than the power's Tech Level. May be combined with Self-Only or Area Effect.
Esuna Tech Level: 6 Power Level: Medium A more powerful version of Dispel, Esuna removes ALL negative status conditions from the target. May be combined with Self-Only. Immunity Tech Level: 4 Power Level: Medium Grants one target Immunity to one element for one round, reducing damage from that element to zero. The element must be chosen when the ability is learned. May be combined with Area Effect or Self-Only. Invulnerability Tech Level: Variable Power Level: Strong The subject of this spell becomes completely invulnerable to either Physical or Magical damage for a limited amount of time. For Tech Level 4, the subject is protected for one round; at Tech Level 6, the protection lasts two rounds. A character may not be under the effects of both types of Invulnerability at once. May be combined with Self-Only, and the Level 4 version may be combined with Area Effect. MP Steal Tech Level: 3 Power Level: Special MP Steal drains an amount of MP from the target equal to 5 + (MAG / 10) and bestows it upon the caster. MP Steal has an MP cost of 1, and may not be combined with ANY Secondary Effects. Neutralize Tech Level: 2 Power Level: Strong Neutralize removes all Weaknesses and Resistances from the target, and reduces all Immunities to Resistances. Resistance Tech Level: 2 Power Level: Medium Grants one target Resistance to one element for 3 ticks, reducing damage from that element by half. The element must be chosen when the ability is learned. May be combined with Area Effect or Self-Only. Scan Tech Level: 1 Power Level: Weak This Tech allows the user to discern the following information about the target monster: Current / Max HP, Current / Max MP, Weaknesses, Resistances, Immunities, and Absorbencies. You can also spot any items the monster may be carrying. At the Master's option, Scan may also be used to find traps, secret doors, and other hidden things. Steal Gold Tech Level: Variable Power Level: Weak The character attempts to steal money from the target. To do so, you must make an attack roll at -40. For every Tech Level of the power beyond the first, your attack modifier is increased by +10. The amount of gold stolen is 100% of the target's GP value (see Appendix I: Monster Creation). Once a particular target has been stolen from, additional attempts provide only 1 / 10 the normal amount of gold. The monster still yields the same amount of money when it is defeated. If combined with Area Effect, the attack modifier recieves an additional penalty of -25. True Neutralize Tech Level: 5 Power Level: Strong True Neutralize removes all Weaknesses, Resistances, Immunities, Absorbencies, and Greater Absorbencies from the target. |