2. Custom Abilities

[Admin]

[CUSTOM ABILITIES]

Characters, upon creation, receive 1000 Shop Credits that can be used to purchase any item from the shop along with the user's own personal Munny. However, there is a reason for this large sum of starting Munny.

Characters are not allowed Custom Abilities, at least, not in excess (Yeah, we get that face a lot). Upon creation, you are allowed to give your character one FREE Custom Ability of Weak strength and one empty Custom Ability Slot. Slots are simply the potential to have a Custom Ability; to use them, you must design and then purchase a Custom Ability in the Shop like you would a regular Ability. After the initial freebies, Custom Ability Slots can be purchased for 150 Munny up to a limit of four per character.

Now for the actual, formal rules you need to keep in mind while making a custom ability. Read these thoroughly!

• Agreement. By posting a Custom Ability you, the player, agree to submit the Ability to staff review and we, the staff, agree to be reasonable and even-handed in doing so. If at any time you feel you aren't being given a fair shake you can request a different staff member to review the Ability instead. There is, however, a limit: three strikes and you're out. If three separate staff members agree in regards to your Ability, their decision is LAW.
  
• Keep a Sense of Balance. If your Custom Ability sounds like a version of Ultima that can destroy the world entire or involves invulnerability to everything except a super-rare mineral from another universe... yeah, we WILL call you on it. NO GODLIKE ABILITIES, PERIOD.
  
• Be Specific. The more detail you use to describe the effects of your Custom Ability, the better a chance it has of being approved. If your Ability's description simply says "shoot lasers"... AUTO-FAIL. Be a bit more creative than that.
  
• Have a Reason. This may sound obvious, but try to have a good reason in mind as to why your character would have this Ability. Simply loading characters down with superpower after superpower for no better reason than "I want that" not only creates unbalanced roleplaying but also makes for really, really dull characters. If there's no good reason your character would have the Ability you describe, don't be surprised if a staff member decides to call you out on it.
  
• Don't Mess With Existing Abilities. We spent a long time working on those lists of pre-made Abilities in the Shop, and staff members won't take kindly to thinly veiled attempts to "modify" existing Abilities to suit your personal tastes. This is especially true when it comes to "powering up" or removing an Ability's counterbalancing traits, OR imitating the Special Abilities gained from Skill Ranks. We WILL notice, so don't try it.

Now, that said, it's time to get to the meat of the matter... actually, just one more thing first. If you design a Custom Ability that the staff agree is just so awesomely well made that we decide to add it to the list of pre-made Abilities for purchase, you will get that Ability at HALF-PRICE. This is our way of thanking you for contributing your creativity, time, and effort to the forum. And yes, this DOES stack with the Skill Point discount and any other official discounts you might be able to apply.

• Standard Abilities - These are spells, skills, or special powers a character has that don't come from their Equipment or Weapons. [Unlimited]
• Equipment Abilities - Enchantments or advantages gained through armor, clothes, jewelry, tools, or other gear besides a character's weaponry. [Maximum of two per rank achieved]
• Weapon Abilities - Permanent enchantments or powers imbued into the character's weaponry. [Maximum of two per weapon]
• Advancement Abilities - These Abilities relate to a character's growth, whether in weapon skill, magical discernment, or other fields. Advancement Abilities typically act as prerequisites to powerful Standard Abilities and grant the character a clearly defined advantage over those without such advancement. [Unlimited]

ABILITY NAME (Give your Ability a suitable name.)
ABILITY TYPE (Choose one: Standard, Weapon, Equipment, or Advancement.)
ABILITY DESCRIPTION (Describe the Ability, both its use and effects, to the best of your writing abilities. Be sure to include all relevant details.)
USAGE (How many times or how frequently can this Ability be used? Write this in terms of turns. One 'turn' is from when you post to when you're allowed to post again.)
RANGE (What's this Ability's reach? It's size? It's impact zone?)
ELEMENT (Choose an element, such as light, darkness, fire, ice, etcetera... that describes this Ability's power. Some Abilities may not have an element, in which case write 'None'.)
POWER (Choose one: Weak, Average, Strong, or Legendary.)
SKILL REQUIRED (Suggest how many Skill Points in what Skills a character needs to acquire this Ability at normal price and how many to earn a discount. Staff members reserve the right to modify this as they see fit before approving it. Skill categories are Strength, Agility, and Cunning.)
COST (Suggest what this Ability's normal price should be. Staff members reserve the right to modify this as they see fit before approving it. If the price of your Custom Ability is far too low the staff member has the right to lock a minimum price -- this can be changed if the player opts to "power down" the Ability some.)

[b]ABILITY NAME[/b]
[b]ABILITY TYPE[/b]
[b]ABILITY DESCRIPTION[/b]
[b]USAGE[/b]
[b]RANGE[/b]
[b]ELEMENT[/b]
[b]POWER[/b]
[b]SKILL REQUIRED[/b]
[b]COST[/b]

SUMMON ABILITIES

Summon Abilities are the power to bring one or more creatures to the battlefield to fight for your character. The regular Summon is an Average Ability, meaning that creatures summoned are generally about as powerful as the summons from Kingdom Hearts -- they pack a wallop, but have nowhere near the force nor the staying power of, for instance, a final boss. There is also the Superior Summon Ability which, being a Strong Ability, allows you to create summon creatures that are up to twice as strong as they would be with the normal Summon Ability. You are allowed to have a single Summon Slot produce up to a dozen creatures... but it is understood that the more creatures in a summon the weaker they will be individually. In the case of more than one creature per Summon you are allowed to Summon them all at once, one at a time, or in small groups if you like. However, there is a five turn cool-down between summonings.

You may only have a maximum of three Summons. Ever.

The Epic Summon variant, accessible ONLY to those who earn the Magister or Demigod Skill Rank, is a Legendary Ability. This translates to a single creature of devastating final boss type power and durability (or, if you prefer, either a small army of mid-boss creatures or a full army of up to a hundred weaker creatures).

All Summons are effectively used as side-characters to your main character and can do virtually everything a normal character is able to do. You can purchase Abilities for your Summon, upgrade their weapons, and have them appear and interact with other characters and players when not in combat. The one restriction is that Summons don't have Skill Points, nor can they earn them for themselves or for their summoner. Summons also cannot have the Summon Ability.

Though Summons are a type of Custom Ability it is also a separate category unto itself. Instead of buying and filling Custom Ability Slots, characters instead have one Summon Slot for free automatically and may purchase an additional two at the Shop. No character can have more than three Summon Slots, period.

To create a summon, use the form below. Please post it in updates, along with a link to your character's profile.

SUMMON CLASS (Summon, Superior Summon, or Epic Summon)
SUMMON NAME (Your Summon's name goes here. If the Summon includes more than one creature, include all of their names.)
DESCRIPTION (Describe the appearance of your creature(s).)
PERSONALITY (Describe the personality of your creature(s).)
HISTORY (Describe the history of your creature(s).)
ELEMENT (If your creature(s) have an elemental affinity, list it here.)
WEAPONS (If your creature(s) use weapons, describe them here.)
ABILITIES (List all the Abilities that creatures in this Summon possess. Upon creation, a Summon has 1500 Shop Credits that it can spend on Abilities -- these work the same as Shop Credits for new characters. A Superior Summon gets 2500 Shop Credits. An Epic Summon starts with 5000 Shop Credits. Discounts held by the character cannot be applied to Shop Credit purchases for a Summon.)

ABILITY DESCRIPTION
USAGE
RANGE
ELEMENT
POWER

[b]SUMMON NAME[/b]
[b]DESCRIPTION[/b]
[b]PERSONALITY[/b]
[b]HISTORY[/b]
[b]ELEMENT[/b]
[b]WEAPONS[/b]
[b]ABILITIES[/b]
[blockquote][size=1][b]ABILITY DESCRIPTION[/b]
[b]USAGE[/b]
[b]RANGE[/b]
[b]ELEMENT[/b]
[b]POWER[/b] [/size][/blockquote]