Elements V2

[CJ]

Little is changing among elements, but I am implementing an elemental defense trait that anyone is free to use. It does not cost ability slots, and the only cost is that spending positive ticks requires an equal spending of negative ticks.
The only change to elements themselves is that they now have compatible and incompatible status effects assigned to them. ANY status effect can be caused by ANY element, just some of them are a bit better at it and others are worse. For example, it's very hard to Freeze someone with fire, while it is easy to Paralyze them with Electricity. You won't know whether or not a status is compatible or not though, so don't let it hamper your creativity.


Wind: Gravity, Mind, Plant, Decay
Fire: Water, Lightning, Rock/Earth, Wind
Plant: Fire, Poison, Ice, Soul
Water: Lightning, Plant, Wind, Ice
Lightning: Soul, Earth/Rock, Gravity, Fire
Soul: Water, Decay, Poison, Mind
Rock/Earth: Mind, Wind, Water, Plant
Gravity: Rock/Earth, Ice, Lightning, Soul
Mind: Gravity, Fire, Poison, Decay
Ice: Poison, Mind, Fire, Wind
Poison: Decay, Water, Gravity, Earth/Rock
Decay: Ice, Plant, Soul, Lightning




When assigning Positive Affinity Ticks (PAT), you assign an equal number of Negative Affinity Points (NAT) among the four elements that the boosted element is potentially weak against. The effects of these ticks are listed below.

POSITIVE
The first effect is constant, but all further effects replace the one before them.
1 - Healing and support of the element are doubled.
2 - Halves damage of the element.
3 - Negates damage of the element.
4 - Absorbs damage of the element.
5 - Absorbs damage and MP used to use the move of the element.

NEGATIVE
These effects stack. For every negative tick, one level of the 'Ignore Negative Affinity' full-slot passive trait is required in order to use moves utilizing that element. This does not negate the ticks themselves.
-1 - Cannot be healed or boosted by the element.
-2 - Double damage from the element.
-3 - Double all applicable effects of moves of the element.
-4 - Special Defense against the element negated. Armor still functions normally, but Natural Armor disappears as well.
-5 - Direct exposure to the element kills you outright. Just being in an area heavy in it will weaken you.



If an Affinity'd character is struck with a move that uses two elements at once, then Average the numbers of ticks the target has between the two, even if one of the tick counts is '0'. Round up if the result is positive and down if the result is negative. This only occurs if the move has multiple elements within the same damage (+# FireIce would invoke this rule, but +# Fire +# Ice in the same move would not)
IE:
30 base, +8 FireIce damage VS Larry, who has 1 Tick toward Fire and -1 toward Ice. 1 + (-1) = 0, 0/2 = 0. The attack is completely normal.

30 base, +8 PlantWater damage VS Joe, who has 1 Tick toward Plant and 2 Ticks toward Water. 1 + 3 = 3, 3/2 = 1.5, rounded up to 2. He takes half damage.

30 base, +8 PoisonDecay damage VS Jimmy, who has -1 Tick toward Poison and -2 Ticks toward Decay. -1 + (-2) = -3, -3/2 = -1.5, rounded down to -2. He takes double damage.

[CJ]

Other Elements;


Tier 2 Elements
These elements are higher level than the basic ones that make up the world, and those elements in fact stem from these. Attacks can be taken using these elements, but they will often be weaker than they should, and do not gain the benefit of their special effects that otherwise apply automatically.
To unlock the true power of these elements, you must first master the power of their 'children'. Likewise, 'affinities' for these elements cannot be bought, only earned.

Light - Not necessarily holy power, but creative power. Light exists primarily to create, but anyone who's been shot with a laser blaster will tell you it can just as easily destroy.

Darkness - Not necessarily evil power, but destructive power. Darkness exists primarily to destroy, but it can be channeled into healing arts as well, though with difficulty...

Order - The power of stillness. It seeks to maintain the status quo, whatever that may be. It can create and destroy with equal proficiency in order to brings things to the way they once were.

Chaos - The power of flux. It seeks to change all, for better or worse. This constant change will devour seas or create mountains.



"Weapon" elements
These are not true 'elements', but forces in the world nonetheless even if more physical ones than magical. Obviously, you cannot be 'Cut' affinity and inexplicably heal when struck by a sword.
Magic spells CAN use these elements, but the damage will generally be extremely low.

Cutting - Blades of all shapes and sizes deal Cutting damage, which consists of just about anything that cleaves that which it strikes.
Cutting weapons have 1.2x the damage of a non-cutting weapon of the same exact make, which is applied on creation of said weapon.

Piercing - Any weapon that focuses on applying force to a small area in order to stab it into material is Piercing, from arrows to spears to stiletto or foils.
Piercing weapons come with a natural ability to bypass armor with a certain chance, determined primarily by the Weight of the weapon. On a critical hit, this 'AP' chance is doubled. On a Critical AP, the physical armor of the target is actually turned against it, adding to damage. Armor that is repeatedly APed may even become fragile.

== Bullet - Bullet damage is a specialized form of Piercing, and acts as Piercing damage in any case that demands it (IE; You have an amulet that increases Piercing damage by 3. This would also apply to bullet damage)
The primary difference is that bullets do not get the AP chance of piercing weapons, instead having an automatic amount that they bypass on -every- hit. This functions basically as a 'minimum' damage. Bullets can also damage armor, but only if they are specially designed to do so.

== Energy - This is exactly like Bullet damage, but is nonphysical and thus uses the Special Armor rating of the target. This doesn't make it a spell, it's just not physical damage. This is the damage used generally by laser guns if they haven't been tuned with an elemental affinity.
Energy damage from laser guns likewise has 'automatic' AP, but generally cannot damage armor.


Bludgeoning - The simplest form of damage, this is a catchall for anything that clobbers an enemy into mushy mushy paste.
The special trait of Bludgeoning weapons is that it has a chance, equal to its Weight, of causing a Stun effect on targets that are struck, and users apply their Power Bonus an additional time to any weapon technique that uses it.

== Martial Arts - Like 'Bullet' and 'Energy', this is a child element of Bludgeoning and thus counts as it for most intents and purposes. Martial Arts damage is done -only- by MA proficient users with completely bare fists. Even wearing brass knuckles will turn your punching attacks into simple Bludgeoning.
Martial Arts has a few advantages; rather than Weight, the attackers Power Bonus is used per-hit to determine Stun damage. Power Bonus is likewise added to bare fist/foot/head damage, though armor is also applied double. Fighting unarmed is also obviously a Triple Light weapon, which has advantages detailed elsewhere.
Fists are naturally Dual Wielded by anyone proficient, and taking Dual Wielding will in fact give you a -third- hit of weapon damage from them.



Blast - Kaboom. Blast damage is the basic type of damage given off by any explosion or bomb, consisting of energy, concussive force, and shrapnel.
Both Armor types are applied to this, but the final armor score is then halved (effectively Averaging the two armors). Blast damage is almost -always- Area of Effect to at least some degree.