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Finally... => Forum Games and Roleplaying => Topic started by: Stirk on May 18, 2020, 02:15:26 am

Title: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1 Deployment)
Post by: Stirk on May 18, 2020, 02:15:26 am
Albadonia! Born by the sea, raised by the sea, raising Monsters in/by the sea, you are masters of the coastline. As one would expect you are able to Breed Blue Monsters in the Ocean for a small bonus, a more closely guarded secret is your utilization of Flash Storms. Every sailor knows how to read the sky, and the Albadonian sky is often filled by the thundering clouds of a Flash Storm. By raising a metal rod into the air we direct that energy into an incubation chamber, giving a small bonus to Red breeding!

Wait, Red and Blue...that ain't right. What where the Albadonian names for the elements again?

Speaking of elements, it is now time to pick out are starting monsters. We get One of Each of the four major elements, with Three Traits and One Quirk for each Monster. Keep in mind that Capturing and Breeding have a random aspect to them, so this is our one chance to 100% decide what our armory is like!

If you want to write any additional lore for Albadonia, feel free. There isn't like a competition or anything. Some people just like doing that.

OOC (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=176426.0)
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 0)
Post by: IronyOwl on May 18, 2020, 04:16:25 am
We know Blue as Joy, since sea life tends to frolic happily in its endless home and cools the passions of the storm-born.
We know Red as Wrath, since the beasts of a Flash-Storm tend to be intense and aggressive, and their fury is enough to quell even the boundless expansion of hungry muck.
We know Green as Hunger, since the ever-expanding muck we dredge up grows insatiably and feeds effectively on normally joyous sea-life.


Proposed Joy Monster
Name: Albadonian Joyscale
Element: Joy
Size: Medium
Traits: Swift, Agile, Pack Swarmer
Quirk: Skittish
Flavor Text: One of the most iconic symbols of the great nation of Albadonia is the wondrous Joyscale, a playful sea serpent much beloved by Albadonians for its intelligence, friendliness, and cute appearance. It is also well suited to war, being able to move quickly, evade blows well, and strike viciously while a foe is distracted by other threats. Their one downside, other than the deleterious effects on morale at seeing such lovable creatures slain, is that they are naturally skittish in battle, easily routed or put on the back foot when a foe does manage to damage them.

Proposed Wrath Monster
Name: Albadonian Wrathspike
Element: Wrath
Size: Medium
Traits: Shoots Lightning, Retaliation, Paralyzing Attacks
Quirk: Vengeful
Flavor Text: Sometimes described as an angry ball of pink, the Albadonian Wrathspike is a giant sea urchin with translucent pink spikes. It utilizes these spikes for a number of purposes, including locomotion, communication, firing barrages of pink lightning at foes, viciously counterattacking when struck in battle, and just plain stabbing things until they're paralyzed with electricity. The only complaint one could have of these beasts in battle is that they're easily provoked, flying into a single-minded rage when damaged by an enemy and pursuing that foe well past reason or even the orders of their handlers.

Proposed Hunger Monster
Name: Albadonian Muck Mountain
Element: Hunger
Size: Very Huge
Traits: Colonial, Regeneration, Lifestealing
Quirk: Mindless
Flavor Text: Aptly named, the Albadonian Muck Mountain resembles little so much as a massive pile of green slime. In truth it's a colonial assembly of much smaller gelatinous components, giving it a few interesting qualities. One is that, unlike normal monsters, the Muck Mountain suffers no overt penalties from being undersized- "young" Muck Mountains possess fewer fully grown components and far less weight to throw around, but are otherwise no more awkward than their more venerable peers. Another is that, being rather simple of construction, the Muck Mountain finds it easy to repair damage to itself, regenerating in combat at a prodigious rate. Finally, the Muck Mountain's components possess tiny tentacles quite adept at feasting on life energy, absorbing it from foes to heal and empower itself. The one downside to the great beast is that, well... it's not very smart. It is, in fact, rather aggressively un-smart, being almost literally brainless, and thus handlers have difficulty informing it of anything but the most basic of orders.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 0)
Post by: Shadowclaw777 on May 18, 2020, 08:03:48 am
I have not decided on a good name for our three elements yet and am still thinking of them
Edit: Apparently Clarified In Core Thread

Name: Albadonian Mind Cephalopod
Element: Blue
Size: Small
Traits: Telekinesis, Telepathy, Intelligent
Quirks: Aquatic
Flavor Text: The Albadonian Mind Cethlapod is a unique specimen of molluscoids that have lived in the bottom of the depths of fish that our Albadonian have gathered, this eight-armed with two tentacles furnished with denticulated suckers surrounding a pointed beak, this lavender-coloured bodied creature is known for the ability to move objects without touching it and much greater than what it’s small body would allow, as allow being able to converse and read the thoughts of others, known to use this as a form of mind radar to gather prey, combined with the fact that it shoots out nonsensical words into your head and thinking process, allowing for disturbing encounters when handling them. Their bodies always glow with a dark purplish color whenever they try to perform one of their tricks, however they are an entirely aquatic species, and cannot survive on dry land for long which has only limited their hunting grounds to the ocean and our deployment to only areas that have access to sources of water.

Name: Albadonian Weedbeast
Element: Green
Size: Large
Traits: Plant Body, Tough Hide, Venomous Barbs
Quirks: Enervated
Traits: An monstrously-formed four-legged creature composed entirely of plant-based matter that it seems to gather and collect from drifting seaweed, kelp, and even moss to for composition, though to continue its existence it indeed engulfs other living animals and monster for sustenance. The Albadonian Weedbeast is a shambling monster that holds a botanical body that allows it to handle much physical damage as the creature doesn’t have a neurological system to speak of or even conduct electricity. In the same we it’s toughened “hide” being made of a wet-rot and soaked material that gives it a level of insular protection to changes of temperature such as from cold or fire, as well as the layers of hardened vines that surround the creature being incredibly resilient acts as an additional layer of armour to stop it from crumbling down. This monster has two powerful forelimbs containing a neurotoxin on serrated barbs that surround their graspers, allowing it to paralyze or even severely hamper internal organs. However these are creatures are slow to move, like the eponymous material they are made of, they act and react in a slow manner and prefer to be mainly stationary.

Name: Albadonian Thunderflapper
Element: Red
Size: Medium
Traits: Electrical Bite, Swift, Extra Docile
Quirks: Haughty
Flavor Text: The Albadonian Thunderflapper is often considered one of the more emblematic creature, as it quite well mimics a combination of a pinniped and feline with its long foreflipper and two hind legs that gives them the ability to move on all fours and with surprising electrical speed to catch on land or water and their bite always containing an electrical charge the use to evoke the static when they attack, the creature has been heavily domesticated and conditioned by us and our fisherman to serve as an assistant hunting monster that helps collect seafood for our populace and has resided in many households as a valued pet. Even so, their altitude has shaped to a prideful state and often their own survival is most important during combat, not their masters and they have shown an innate superiority mental state and will tend to trump and gloat with their skill.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 0)
Post by: Happerry on May 20, 2020, 03:10:16 am
Mmm, both sets of creatures seem to be well written. Anyone want to extrapolate on any longer term plans or reasoning for the choices of creature stuff? I do like IronyOwl's elements though, they're interestingly non-standard elementaly.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 0)
Post by: Shadowclaw777 on May 20, 2020, 06:54:11 am
Simply put, I tried to give each monster a designated role that it would serve in combat and beneficial traits to mix with, the Cephalopods would serve as the controller and supporter role to the more combative side of the Red, which I suggested the Thunderflapper to combine with our electrical lore and to have a damage dealer, while the Green would serve as the more defender to side to handle the damage comes it way and let the other two colors. I am fine with the color scheme that IronyOwl suggested. After more consideration I like the more striker approach that the Wrathspike has compared to my idea.

Quote from: VopeyBox
Color Scheme:
Joy, Wrath, and Hunger: (1) SC777

Joy:
Joyscale
Mind Cephalopod: (1) SC777

Wrath (Red):
Wrathspike: (1) SC777
Thunderflapper

Hunger (Green):
Muck Mountain:
Weedbeast: (1) SC777
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 0)
Post by: IronyOwl on May 20, 2020, 11:57:55 am
Muck Mountains are intended to be massive but deployable immediately, giving us some longterm power without the extensive wait to get anything at all out of them. They're also tanky, obviously.
Wrathspikes are dangerous berserkers, naturally.
Joyscales I'm the least certain on. I wanted something different than the other two, hence agile and opportunistic. They feel a little generic/placeholdery, though. I might switch over to the telekinesis squid, but they also feel kind of unfocused.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 0)
Post by: Happerry on May 21, 2020, 12:29:19 am
Voted for the Mind Cephalopod to get reliable access to psychic traits it has, the Muck Mountain both because I like its writing better and because I like the regeneration, colonial life, and lifestealing traits more then the Weedbeasts traits, and the Wrathspike because it can shoot lightning bolts at people. I am quite sad that I can't bring myself to vote for the Joyscale given I think the psychic powers could be really useful, but hopefully we can do a capture program on it (And then roll well)? Swift, Agile, and Pack Swarmer aren't bad traits at all, after all.

I just really like the idea of a friendly sea serpent though, and I'm tempted to switch over despite liking the Cephalopod's traits more.

Quote from: VopeyBox
Color Scheme:
Joy, Wrath, and Hunger: (2) SC777, Happerry

Joy:
Joyscale
Mind Cephalopod: (2) SC777, Happerry

Wrath (Red):
Wrathspike: (2) SC777, Happerry
Thunderflapper

Hunger (Green):
Muck Mountain: (1) Happerry
Weedbeast: (1) SC777
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 0)
Post by: IronyOwl on May 21, 2020, 12:52:33 am
Let's see how psychic squid work out. It'll be good to have an attacker with a weird gimmick, if nothing else.

Quote from: VopeyBox
Color Scheme:
Joy, Wrath, and Hunger: (3) SC777, Happerry, IronyOwl

Joy:
Joyscale
Mind Cephalopod: (3) SC777, Happerry, IronyOwl

Wrath (Red):
Wrathspike: (3) SC777, Happerry, IronyOwl
Thunderflapper

Hunger (Green):
Muck Mountain: (2) Happerry, IronyOwl
Weedbeast: (1) SC777
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 0)
Post by: Stirk on May 21, 2020, 10:32:37 pm
Quote
Name: Albadonian Mind Cephalopod
Element: Joy
Size: Small
Traits: Telekinesis, Telepathy, Intelligent
Quirks: Aquatic
Flavor Text: The Albadonian Mind Cethlapod is a unique specimen of molluscoids that have lived in the bottom of the depths of fish that our Albadonian have gathered, this eight-armed with two tentacles furnished with denticulated suckers surrounding a pointed beak, this lavender-coloured bodied creature is known for the ability to move objects without touching it and much greater than what it’s small body would allow, as allow being able to converse and read the thoughts of others, known to use this as a form of mind radar to gather prey, combined with the fact that it shoots out nonsensical words into your head and thinking process, allowing for disturbing encounters when handling them. Their bodies always glow with a dark purplish color whenever they try to perform one of their tricks, however they are an entirely aquatic species, and cannot survive on dry land for long which has only limited their hunting grounds to the ocean and our deployment to only areas that have access to sources of water.

Name: Albadonian Wrathspike
Element: Wrath
Size: Medium
Traits: Shoots Lightning, Retaliation, Paralyzing Attacks
Quirk: Vengeful
Flavor Text: Sometimes described as an angry ball of pink, the Albadonian Wrathspike is a giant sea urchin with translucent pink spikes. It utilizes these spikes for a number of purposes, including locomotion, communication, firing barrages of pink lightning at foes, viciously counterattacking when struck in battle, and just plain stabbing things until they're paralyzed with electricity. The only complaint one could have of these beasts in battle is that they're easily provoked, flying into a single-minded rage when damaged by an enemy and pursuing that foe well past reason or even the orders of their handlers.

Name: Albadonian Muck Mountain
Element: Hunger
Size: Very Huge
Traits: Colonial, Regeneration, Lifestealing
Quirk: Mindless
Flavor Text: Aptly named, the Albadonian Muck Mountain resembles little so much as a massive pile of green slime. In truth it's a colonial assembly of much smaller gelatinous components, giving it a few interesting qualities. One is that, unlike normal monsters, the Muck Mountain suffers no overt penalties from being undersized- "young" Muck Mountains possess fewer fully grown components and far less weight to throw around, but are otherwise no more awkward than their more venerable peers. Another is that, being rather simple of construction, the Muck Mountain finds it easy to repair damage to itself, regenerating in combat at a prodigious rate. Finally, the Muck Mountain's components possess tiny tentacles quite adept at feasting on life energy, absorbing it from foes to heal and empower itself. The one downside to the great beast is that, well... it's not very smart. It is, in fact, rather aggressively un-smart, being almost literally brainless, and thus handlers have difficulty informing it of anything but the most basic of orders.

Albadonia has come to know the elements by feelings, a unique perspective brought about by their natural habitat. For Joy, they have raised the Mind Cephalopod - an intelligent creature with unique telekinetic and telepathic abilities alongside an impressive intellect. Yet these creatures are shackled to sources of water, limiting the locations they can be deployed. Perhaps acting as their opposite is the Muck Mountain - a nearly mindless creature with a powerful physical form capable of regenerating and stealing the life force of others as one would expect from the representative of Hunger. Likewise representing the element of Wrath is the Wrathspike, an angry monster capable of defending itself with both its physical spines and their ability to shoot lightning.

A full unit of each has been prepared during peace time, ready to deploy against our enemies.

Turn 1: Capture Phase

As war looms, we must prepare our military for the incoming conflict. Either side has yet to deploy in force - we should be able to access all territories as if they where Partially Controlled for the purpose of Capturing and Breeding. What instructions will we provide our hunters and trappers?

Spoiler: Monster Species (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Current Units (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Happerry on May 22, 2020, 05:49:40 pm
I kinda want to go try to capture a Albadonian Joyscale, both because I like the fluff and because they do have useful traits.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Stirk on May 23, 2020, 08:32:44 pm
Other team has decided. Waiting an you guys~

I'll just go with Happerry's suggestion if nobody else ends up voting.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Shadowclaw777 on May 23, 2020, 08:55:49 pm
We seem to have a DPS (Wrathspike), Tank (Moss Mountain), and Controller (Mind Cethapod), we should probably go interesting and try and get of those weird colors like White or Black, maybe another tank? This unit would be like a Support Healing Tank, which would probably have synergy with the Mountain and draw attention so that the Wrathspike and Cethapolod can do what they can do.

We should probably make big head way into the Left, the Ulrest Desert, since that offer boons to both Red and Green which we have innately minor boons to because of our starting faction. So we should probably get another red monster.

Quote
Name: Albadonian Shockperd
Traits: Extra Docile, Healing Breath, Swiftness
Flavor Text: The Shockperd is a medium-size lupus-like creature with a yellowish to sandy-like colour fur backing on four legs that has migrated into Albadonia because of the thunder storms which is it is often howling too, that has been domesticated by the Albadonian people as a great household pet and worked as a herding or even assistant fishing monster for generations, and even served as assistant to our herbalists for its renown ability to shoot out a breath of crimson-tinted healing energy that stores a electrical volt around it that restores back damaged wounds and even apply electrical current back into the heart for us, and has been used in its packs to help make sure the wounded, old and frail, and newborn pups to make sure they don’t die. When someone sees the creature moves it’s a sight to behold because the innate electricity it has stored from the Flash Storm has increased its movement speed into almost a blur when its running and catching down prey or to run after its kibble. The Shockperd has integrated into our culture because of its innate domesticity and ability to help with our civilization’s healthcare.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Stirk on May 23, 2020, 08:59:15 pm
Unfortunately, White and Black arn't found in the wild. They can only be created by breeding.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Happerry on May 23, 2020, 09:44:12 pm
Quote from: Animal Box
Name:Calvarian Dune Drake
Element: Red
Size: Small
Traits: Breaths Fire, Night Vision, Flier
Quirk: Sun-Fearing
Flavor Text: The Calvarian Dune Drake is an uncommon predator native to the Ulrest Desert, where this keen eyes and high flying beast may spy out prey from far distances. While unfortunately overly sensitive to sunlight, causing these Drakes to primarily be active at night, this does not prevent them from being a menace to both travelers and other monsters of the desert. Generally, the first one knows that one has caught the eye of such a drake is when they are set on fire from the air and left to burn, with the Drake returning later to either feast on the remains or apply more fire once its prey has again lowered its guard by, say, going back to sleep.

Just as an animal I thought of. What I'd like to do with them is breed them with the Cephalopods so we have a version with some of the Cephalopod's good traits that isn't water access only. And flight is just a good thing to have access to in general, right?

Quote from: Votebox
Capture Calvarian Dune Drake: (1) Happerry
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: IronyOwl on May 23, 2020, 10:44:31 pm
Quote from: Animal Box
Name:Calvarian Dune Drake
Element: Red
Size: Small
Traits: Breaths Fire, Night Vision, Flier
Quirk: Sun-Fearing
Flavor Text: The Calvarian Dune Drake is an uncommon predator native to the Ulrest Desert, where this keen eyes and high flying beast may spy out prey from far distances. While unfortunately overly sensitive to sunlight, causing these Drakes to primarily be active at night, this does not prevent them from being a menace to both travelers and other monsters of the desert. Generally, the first one knows that one has caught the eye of such a drake is when they are set on fire from the air and left to burn, with the Drake returning later to either feast on the remains or apply more fire once its prey has again lowered its guard by, say, going back to sleep.
I'll +1 this to get things moving, but I'm a little concerned about a sun-fearing red creature, given that the desert gives them a bonus to combat.

It will indeed be good to get a source of flight regardless, though.

Quote from: Votebox
Capture Calvarian Dune Drake: (2) Happerry, IronyOwl
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Shadowclaw777 on May 23, 2020, 11:05:40 pm
Well first I think it doesn’t follows the correct Capturing structuring as stated in the OP, choosing the three desired traits with each additional one you add making it more difficult to get what you want, so your making it harder to catch for...?

As well, my design is intentional created to be able to sprinkle extra docile into all species so that we have a baseline allowed them to be deployed and being much more tactical and coherent than before, as well supporting our tank even further. As well the sunlight sensitivity sounds like an unnecessary crippling flaw to put on a Wrath creature, why not something like Prideful?, Hollow Bones, or something that doesn’t makes it impossible to utilize 50% of the time or make it want to die in the desert by just breathing there, while adding that previous thematic sense. Also could have a cooler name like Photophobia or Sunlight Hypersensitivity

Quote from: Votebox
Capture Calvarian Dune Drake: (2) Happerry, IronyOwl
Capture Albadonian Shockperd: (1) SC777
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Happerry on May 24, 2020, 01:44:20 am
I'll +1 this to get things moving, but I'm a little concerned about a sun-fearing red creature, given that the desert gives them a bonus to combat.

It will indeed be good to get a source of flight regardless, though.
They're nocturnal though? Desert nights are also a thing.

Well first I think it doesn’t follows the correct Capturing structuring as stated in the OP, choosing the three desired traits with each additional one you add making it more difficult to get what you want, so your making it harder to catch for...?

As well, my design is intentional created to be able to sprinkle extra docile into all species so that we have a baseline allowed them to be deployed and being much more tactical and coherent than before, as well supporting our tank even further. As well the sunlight sensitivity sounds like an unnecessary crippling flaw to put on a Wrath creature, why not something like Prideful?, Hollow Bones, or something that doesn’t makes it impossible to utilize 50% of the time or make it want to die in the desert by just breathing there, while adding that previous thematic sense.
See above statement about 'desert nights are also a thing'. Also, it's not like most stuff isn't only active 50% of the time anyway, that's the thing with night/day cycles. On the subject of difficulty, if it's important to minimize extra difficulty you've not done that either, you know?

Fire breathing is a good trait, night vision is a good trait, and flying is a good trait. Maybe we don't get one or, if we roll badly enough, two of those, but honestly any of those would still be good and from the example of catching monsters even if we roll low it's not like it'll just have less traits, they'll just get replaced by something else most likely, so...
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Shadowclaw777 on May 24, 2020, 02:37:57 am
Well first I think it doesn’t follows the correct Capturing structuring as stated in the OP, choosing the three desired traits with each additional one you add making it more difficult to get what you want, so your making it harder to catch for...?

As well, my design is intentional created to be able to sprinkle extra docile into all species so that we have a baseline allowed them to be deployed and being much more tactical and coherent than before, as well supporting our tank even further. As well the sunlight sensitivity sounds like an unnecessary crippling flaw to put on a Wrath creature, why not something like Prideful?, Hollow Bones, or something that doesn’t makes it impossible to utilize 50% of the time or make it want to die in the desert by just breathing there, while adding that previous thematic sense.
Quote
See above statement about 'desert nights are also a thing'. Also, it's not like most stuff isn't only active 50% of the time anyway, that's the thing with night/day cycles. On the subject of difficulty, if it's important to minimize extra difficulty you've not done that either, you know?

Fire breathing is a good trait, night vision is a good trait, and flying is a good trait. Maybe we don't get one or, if we roll badly enough, two of those, but honestly any of those would still be good and from the example of catching monsters even if we roll low it's not like it'll just have less traits, they'll just get replaced by something else most likely, so...

No your wrong because guess what, we’re going to introduce that gene of being Afraid of Sunlight to all the creature that it can breed with, and with captured monster we don’t have enough to deploy them for combat and only for breeding as this is during the time I am writing this, and I don’t want to introduce that horrible drawback even if it’s more mild compared to normal to the rest of our fighting forces. Even if we are able to pick our engagements, we will still probably be attacked in the day because they and having sunlight sensitivity problems on our Wrathspike or whatever will severely disorient them and reduce their chances of winning, this would severely limit our flexibility compared to a more mild Quirk like Prideful, Vengeful, or whatever pointless emotional perk we apply to the creature that will not hurt them as bad as compared to Photophobia

As for the comment about complexity, the capturing desired traits thing kind of resorts to sizes, and you technically have four traits and all desired traits after three negatively impact the roll, you want on this captured creature its Size and because it is considered one of those traits thus making it hardly unnecessarily, it might be countered by having choosing a flaw. But wouldn’t it make sense that getting a random Quirk instead of choosing what our quirk is, would mean that the Creature is more easily findable? As for thoughts about complexity, it has made me reconsider the choosing the size and I feel like a third trait is much more desired, resulting in the Shockperd to have an additional trait of Swiftness, thus improving the beneficial nature of its breeding ability.

Remember captured creatures aren’t to be deployed in combat, but to provide beneficial traits to our combat line while not hampering them severely with quirks
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Happerry on May 25, 2020, 12:21:40 am
Wait, for stats? How does... oh, wait, doh, sizes seem to count as stats for capturing. Hmm.

Honestly I don't really consider the spread of 'needs to be nocturnal' to be an issue so much as, well, a not issue. Because 'being encouraged to fight at night' isn't a bad thing in my opinion, and would definitely not be the standard path.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: IronyOwl on May 25, 2020, 01:24:25 am
I don't think we have a way to calculate the efficiency of trait count, since we don't know what the modifiers are and we'll get unpredictable traits whether we fail to specify or fail the roll.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Stirk on May 25, 2020, 05:54:28 pm
Name:Calvarian Dune Drake
Element: Wrath
Size: Medium
Traits: Breaths Fire, Vibration Senses, Burrower
Quirk: Sun-Fearing
Flavor Text: The Calvarian Dune Drake is an uncommon predator native to the Ulrest Desert, using a unique ability to detect prey from far distances. While unfortunately overly sensitive to sunlight, causing these Drakes to primarily be active at night, this does not prevent them from being a menace to both travelers and other monsters of the desert. Generally, the first one knows that one has caught the eye of such a drake is when they are set on fire from below and left to burn, with the Drake returning later to either feast on the remains or apply more fire once its prey has again lowered its guard by, say, going back to sleep.

It would seem that our records of the Dune Drake have been entirely incomplete. While the rambling tales of frightened travelers had spoken of ambushes by these creatures, it seems that in the dark of the night they had missed out on key details. To start with, their ability to detect prey isn't granted by keen eyesight from on high but rather a unique series of bones in their ears allowing them to detect vibrations in the sand at vast distances. While this ability is honed for its home territory, it works on any solid ground. This pairs with the second misconception, the creature is equipped with powerful digging claws allowing it to move through the ground at a walking pace. Using this it is able to get under its target, spit fire, then retreat back into the ground before it can react. While the means are just about opposite, the effect remains the same. As a final note the creatures are bigger than we had previously been told, travelers had assumed the reason they couldn't see them in the night air was due to a smaller size than they have in reality. It is correct that they seem to fear the sun - though this seems to be a practical adaption to keep this ground-adapted creature safe from the harsh rays of the desert sun rather than a result of over-stimulus of its remarkably average eyesight. They can be coaxed to move during daylight hours so long as they stay cool underground, getting them to surface for anything proves to be a difficult task regardless.

Our hunters first find it difficult to capture Dune Drakes. They lay out fire-resistant traps filled with bait that goes without being taken for days. It isn't until they're attacked by their prey in the dead of night that they realize their mistake. Attempting new techniques, they place live bait in the traps at night- a strategy that is found to be much more efficient so long as their bait has room enough to move. Attempts to defend their camp-sight with bright biolamps had failed - while this is certainly disappointing to travelers hoping for an easy way to move throughout the night it does mean that it will take more than a token effort to recreate the light that these creatures fear.

It is now the Breeding Phase. As with the Capture Phase, all regions are considered under Partial Control for the purpose of breeding and may be used as Conditions. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Spoiler: Monster Species (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Current Units (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Shadowclaw777 on May 25, 2020, 06:13:51 pm
I wish we would have a general sense of how your dice is rolled to see how comparatively good or bad we did I guess we did fine as is, also whelp guess it’s time to breed the Cethapalod and Dune Drake and nope it seems like you can only make one trait Dominant so we can’t work on reducing the creature innate ability on being aquatic or fearing the sun, correct?

Also does choosing your Quirk for your specified captured monster instead of getting a random one, increase the difficulty or negative modifier of the value you get for this new monster?

Quote
Breeding Proposal: Albadonian Tentacled Drake
Conditions: The Mind Cephalopods with the highest innate ability to move objects with their mind will be designated to breed, with the eggs of the creatures incubated where this is bunch of psionic energy is around, as in essence submerged near the beach and migration zone of the squids to suck in the latent mind energy. (Telekinesis Dominant)
Flavor Text: the Tentacled Drake is a creature we strive to create through breeding, it will have the general physical shape and structure as the Dune Drake including its appendages, claws, and tail. However it’s face will be surrounded by a tentacled mane and it’s mouth replaced with a beak as well as it’s scales are replaced with the matching dark purple skin of the Mind Cephalopods.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Stirk on May 25, 2020, 06:47:24 pm
I wish we would have a general sense of how your dice is rolled to see how comparatively good or bad we did I guess we did fine as is, also whelp guess it’s time to breed the Cethapalod and Dune Drake and nope it seems like you can only make one trait Dominant so we can’t work on reducing the creature innate ability on being aquatic or fearing the sun, correct?

Also does choosing your Quirk for your specified captured monster instead of getting a random one, increase the difficulty or negative modifier of the value you get for this new monster?

Quote
Breeding Proposal: Albadonian Tentacled Drake
Conditions: The Mind Cephalopods with the highest innate ability to move objects with their mind will be designated to breed, with the eggs of the creatures incubated where this is bunch of psionic energy is around, as in essence submerged near the beach and migration zone of the squids to suck in the latent mind energy. (Telekinesis Dominant)
Flavor Text: the Tentacled Drake is a creature we strive to create through breeding, it will have the general physical shape and structure as the Dune Drake including its appendages, claws, and tail. However it’s face will be surrounded by a tentacled mane and it’s mouth replaced with a beak as well as it’s scales are replaced with the matching dark purple skin of the Mind Cephalopods.

I had assumed just looking at the result would tell you what you need to know. In this case you rolled poorly, though that means the result is "something other than what you wanted" and not necessarily "bad".

You can choose to make a Quirk dominant if you want, rather than picking a trait. Specifying a Quirk receives the same penalty as specifying other Monster Stats.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: IronyOwl on May 26, 2020, 06:26:54 pm
Quote from: Breeding Proposal: Albadonian Duneripper
Conditions: The swiftest burrowers from the Calvarian Dune Drakes will be bred with the quickest strikers from the Albadonian Wrathspikes, and the eggs incubated beneath the desert sands to ensure they are at home in the earth. (Burrower Dominant)
Flavor Text: These drakes possess the distinctive spines and aggressive temperament of a Wrathspike, dragging their prey under the sands with them rather than burning them and retreating.
If we've got burrowers and want to conquer the desert, I guess we should use the burrowers? I like the dune drakes as is, honestly, skirmishers sound pretty handy. But we might need something a little more direct, and we need to breed them with SOMETHING to be able to deploy them.

Heh. Maybe Muck Mountains for living quicksand.


Quote
Breeding Proposal: Albadonian Tentacled Drake
Conditions: The Mind Cephalopods with the highest innate ability to move objects with their mind will be designated to breed, with the eggs of the creatures incubated where this is bunch of psionic energy is around, as in essence submerged near the beach and migration zone of the squids to suck in the latent mind energy. (Telekinesis Dominant)
Flavor Text: the Tentacled Drake is a creature we strive to create through breeding, it will have the general physical shape and structure as the Dune Drake including its appendages, claws, and tail. However it’s face will be surrounded by a tentacled mane and it’s mouth replaced with a beak as well as it’s scales are replaced with the matching dark purple skin of the Mind Cephalopods.
I'm not opposed to more telekinesis and I like tentacled beak-lizards, but what exactly do these do? Regular psionic attackers?
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Stirk on May 26, 2020, 08:23:24 pm
Quote from: Breeding Proposal: Albadonian Duneripper
Conditions: The swiftest burrowers from the Calvarian Dune Drakes will be bred with the quickest strikers from the Albadonian Wrathspikes, and the eggs incubated beneath the desert sands to ensure they are at home in the earth. (Burrower Dominant)
Flavor Text: These drakes possess the distinctive spines and aggressive temperament of a Wrathspike, dragging their prey under the sands with them rather than burning them and retreating.
If we've got burrowers and want to conquer the desert, I guess we should use the burrowers? I like the dune drakes as is, honestly, skirmishers sound pretty handy. But we might need something a little more direct, and we need to breed them with SOMETHING to be able to deploy them.

Heh. Maybe Muck Mountains for living quicksand.


Quote
Breeding Proposal: Albadonian Tentacled Drake
Conditions: The Mind Cephalopods with the highest innate ability to move objects with their mind will be designated to breed, with the eggs of the creatures incubated where this is bunch of psionic energy is around, as in essence submerged near the beach and migration zone of the squids to suck in the latent mind energy. (Telekinesis Dominant)
Flavor Text: the Tentacled Drake is a creature we strive to create through breeding, it will have the general physical shape and structure as the Dune Drake including its appendages, claws, and tail. However it’s face will be surrounded by a tentacled mane and it’s mouth replaced with a beak as well as it’s scales are replaced with the matching dark purple skin of the Mind Cephalopods.
I'm not opposed to more telekinesis and I like tentacled beak-lizards, but what exactly do these do? Regular psionic attackers?

You can bread a Monster with itself to get a unit of that monster. It will not have a random chance for increased Traits or mutations in this case, regardless of the Conditions used.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: IronyOwl on May 26, 2020, 10:28:49 pm
Hm. Probably want to constantly hybridize then, hoping for those sweet mutations.

EDIT: Also I'm fine with glomming onto Shadowclaw's vote if we can't resolve this before it becomes an issue.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Happerry on May 27, 2020, 05:09:42 am
Quote
(1) Breed Albadonian Tentacled Drakes [Dune Drakes + Mind Cephalopods] : Happerry

Honestly most of our breeding options seem good, but if this has support we might as well go with it. I do think we probably want to just breed the drakes sometime, but also our other units. While it's good to have new stuff, it's also good to have more units of our old stuff and such-forth.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Shadowclaw777 on May 27, 2020, 05:36:03 am
Quote
(2) Breed Albadonian Tentacled Drakes [Dune Drakes + Mind Cephalopods] : Happerry, SC777
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: IronyOwl on May 27, 2020, 02:13:55 pm
Quote
(3) Breed Albadonian Tentacled Drakes [Dune Drakes + Mind Cephalopods] : Happerry, SC777, IronyOwl
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1)
Post by: Stirk on May 28, 2020, 02:06:49 am
Extra Trait: No
Mutation: Yes (Hyper-Awareness)

Albadonian Tentacled Drake
Element: Joy(D) Wrath(R)
Size: Small
Traits:
D:Telekinesis, Vibration Senses, Burrower
R: Breaths Fire, Telepathy, Intelligent, Hyper Awareness
Quirks:
D: Sun-Fearing
R: Aquatic
Flavor Text: the Tentacled Drake is a creature we strive to create through breeding, it will have the general physical shape and structure as the Dune Drake including its appendages, claws, and tail. However it’s face will be surrounded by a tentacled mane and it’s mouth replaced with a beak as well as it’s scales are replaced with the matching dark purple skin of the Mind Cephalopods.

Our breeders follow the instructions, breeding a batch of fresh Tentacled Drakes. Given their current number we estimate that they will grow to Small size. They seem to inherent a significant amount of behavior from their Dune Drake ancestry, preferring to burrow into the mud in shallow using their claws, leaving only their face-tentacles poking out of the ground. It seems that their tentacled mane acts as a vibrational detector much like the special ear bone on their ancestor, however it is more attuned to detecting movement in water and mud than in sand. Though they only start to use this ability near the end of this turn, it seems like they will be ambush predators using their telekinesis to stun prey that gets close. They are amphibious and capable of moving and burrowing on land, but are attuned to Joy and prefer watery habitats. They are afraid of the sun, direct sunlight seems to dry their tentacles out rather quickly even in moderate climates, preferring to burrow into nests during the daytime.

One particular explore noticed uncanny behavior in some of the young creatures. He theorizes that the detection ability of Telepathy combined with Vibration Senses could allow for a form of "Hyper Awareness", allowing a monster that possesses it to know both the current state of the enemy mind and body in turn allowing them to evade attacks with ease. Such abilities seem dormant in this species, though perhaps specialized breeding could allow them to shine through.

Now begins the Training Phase. The war is ever looming, now is the time to make our final preparations before it truly begins.

Spoiler: Monster Species (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Current Units (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1 Training)
Post by: Happerry on May 28, 2020, 04:04:11 am
An overall decent result. It could have been better but I'm not sad with what we've gotten, much less that useful mutation trait.

Anyone have any good ideas for training? It probably should be something related to the desert, as that's the one we'll likely have the most issue with given one of our monsters is Aquatic so can't really be deployed there reasonably?
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1 Training)
Post by: Happerry on May 29, 2020, 10:34:25 pm
I'll take that as a 'no, no one has any ideas'. I'll just throw up my least bad idea then.

Quote
(1) Train the unit of Albadonian Tentacled Drake in Swarm Tactics to make them have better teamwork : Happerry
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1 Training)
Post by: IronyOwl on June 04, 2020, 02:53:30 pm
Quote
(2) Train the unit of Albadonian Tentacled Drake in Swarm Tactics to make them have better teamwork : Happerry, IronyOwl

When in doubt, I suppose we could just train one of our main combat monsters to be tougher or more skilled or something.
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1 Training)
Post by: Stirk on June 09, 2020, 07:21:48 pm
While they are still young, their natural vibration senses allow them to easily determine the position of their comrades allowing for remarkably efficient pack activity. Due to their early development their training mainly consists of simple feedback training. A dummy is lowered into their habitat attached to a wooden chute. Low-quality chum is placed onto the chute and transferred to the dummy, inciting the monsters to attack it. A reward of higher-quality fish-parts is then dispensed down the chute based on the amount of creatures attacking the dummy. This way the young creatures associate swarming a target with receiving better rewards. By the end of the training session they tend to swarm even with their regular feedings, suggesting that the training took hold. We are likely to see more advanced use of these tactics as the creature develops.

War has begun. Both signs signed the declaration at 0700, immediately unleashing the proverbial Dogs of War. Those living outside of the towns and cities retreat as the wilderness transforms into a battlefield. Our nation has entered a war economy, our troops and Monsters are armed and ready. The only question that remains: How and where will they be deployed?

It is now the Deployment Phase. Keep in mind that your newest monster has yet to develop past the "monster toddler" stage. It is not necessary to deploy all your units.

Spoiler: Monster Species (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Current Units (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Albadonia - Monster Breeding Armsrace (Turn 1 Deployment)
Post by: Happerry on June 09, 2020, 11:26:56 pm
My first impulse is three detachments of the Cephalopod to the swamp along with one detachment of the other two starter monsters, and then one detachment of the Wrathspike and Muck Mountain each to the other two zones while we keep the Tentacled Drakes in reserve given they're still growing up.

What's everyone else's inclination?