Abilities, Talents, and Powers

[bastionmods]

This section will cover both Abilities and Talents. The main difference between the two is that Abilities cover things that cannot be learned through practice alone. Abilities can only be gained through spending Shards. Talents, on the other hand, are things that can be learned by other means, but spending Shards speeds up the process. As of 5/18/2014, the powers section has been edited to make the requirements for power limitations clearer.

Talents

Talents cover a wide variety of skills. Any sort of weapon proficiency is a Talent, as are things like driving a car and mending a set of clothes. Talents can be learned in two ways: by taking the time to practice the skill over and over again, or by spending Shards to instantly learn the skill. When spending Shards, there are three levels of proficiency that can be bought: Beginner, Average, and Master. These three levels affect what can be done with a single Talent. For example, a Beginner chef would be able to cook simple dishes with few errors, whereas a Master chef would be able to flawlessly prepare a ten course meal. Talents, when bought by Shards, can will generally cover a whole set of skills. Taking the Talent Sewing, for example, would allow a character to both make new clothes and mend torn ones. It would also allow a character to work with a wide variety of materials and stitch-types. The one exception to this rule is weapon proficiency: when a character takes a Talent in a weapon, they will only gain the skills for one specific type of weapon. Instead of being able to use all Swords, for example, they would learn how to use Broadswords, or Short Swords, or Rapiers. Talent proficiencies stack. For example, if a character spends 300 Shards to become an Average chef, they can later spend 200 more Shards to become a Master chef. Talents are directly linked to the amulets. If a character is not wearing their amulet, they cannot use any Talents they learned via Shards. There is no limit to the number of times a Talent can be used. Cost: Beginner: 100 shards Average: 300 shards Master: 500 shards

Abilities

Abilities are the magical cousin of Talents. These are skills that a character cannot learn through practice alone; spending Shards is necessary. They are also limited in the fact that they cannot be used endlessly. Each character gets 3 'freebie' uses per in-game day total for all of their Abilities. If they want to use their Abilities more than that, they will have to drink tonics. Each tonic allows for one more ability use. Unused 'freebie' Ability uses do not roll over to the next day. Abilities do not have proficiency levels like Talents do. A character either can use an Ability, or they can't. There is no limit to the number of abilities a character can learn, so long as they have the Shards to purchase said Abilities. Abilities are directly linked to a character's amulet. If a character is not wearing their amulet, then they cannot use their Abilities. As of right now, the only Abilities that can be purchased with Shards are listed below. If you have suggestions for other Abilities, feel free to leave a comment to the questions and comments post. Abilities cost 150 shards to purchase.

Abilities that can be purchased

Animal Kinship - Turns one enemy from 'hostile' to 'friendly'. Only works on monsters with a difficulty of 3 or below. Breaker Volley - (must be using a bow-type weapon) Fire 10 shots in quick succession. Caffeine Rush - User moves at triple speed for two minutes. Duel Decider - (must be using a ranged weapon) Fires one shot directly at an enemy's most vulnerable parts, severely wounding the enemy. Elemental Strike - (must be using a weapon or making an unarmed strike) User attacks an enemy with one of the following elements: Fire, water, lightning, wind, or darkness. NOTE: the type of element must be chosen when this Ability is purchased. Can be purchased up to five times, once per element. Final Warning - (must be using a gun-type weapon) Fire several shots into the air, which rain down on the enemies around the user. Hand Grenade - Instantly creates a grenade that can be used right away. Detonates upon impact. Healing Touch - User heals themselves or another person from any non-fatal wounds. One person can be healed with each use of this skill. Mental Map - User mentally knows the layout of the area they are in, as well as the fastest path to where they need to go. Ability lasts for 5 minutes. Mirror Shield - Automatically blocks all enemy attacks for 30 seconds. Sneaky Decoy - Instantly creates a 'double' of the user, though it is actually made of straw, sticks, and cloth. Fools all enemies nearby. Enemies will attack the double until it is destroyed. Squirt Lure - Summon up to 3 friendly squirts to your location. Trapper's Snare - Creates a trap that immobilizes any enemies that step on it. Trip Mine - Instantly create a complex booby trap that explodes when any foe draws near. Does not trigger for the user or friendly parties. Whirl Wind - (must be using a sword-type weapon) The user swings their sword in a 360 degree spiral, damaging and knocking back all enemies. Wind Walk - The user is able to walk out on the Skyway, even if there is no floating land beneath their feet. Lasts for 5 minutes.

Powers

If your character is coming into the game with powers, they may be subject to limitations. Any powers that allow for long-distance movement (flying, teleportation, dimension-porting, etc), will be limited in terms of distance and time it can be used. Characters will not be able to fly or teleport outside of the Bastion or the currently-explored parts of the Skyway. Flying and teleportation will also be limited in that users will not be able to take any more than one other person with them, even if they could carry more in canon. Powers will also be toned down if they are unusually strong. For example, if a character is normally able to destroy an entire planet with one fireball, they will only be able to destroy a small building with one fireball. All powers are also subject to the following rule: Powers fit into one of two categories: "always on", and "three a day." Always on is pretty much what it sounds like. These are powers that cannot be turned off, or are required for survival in some way. Powers that fall under this category are things like fast healing, enhanced senses, powers that add new senses, and so forth. "Three a day" powers are ones which are not always in use. These are typically powers which are temporary, or require conscious thought to do. Transformation powers would fit under here, as would elemental attacks, or teleportation, or 'finishing moves' of any kind. Generally these powers are not required for survival, and are more for some kind of added benefit in some way. Every individual power a character has must be labeled as "always on" or "three a day". Failing to do this will result in a revision request. If it is not clear which category your character's powers fit under, you can either make your best guess and explain why you chose it, or you can contact a mod and ask for clarification. Feel free to contact the mods on the mod contact page.

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Comments

[wayofvoice]

By the end of October, Paarthurnax will be buying two abilities! At this time, he will have gathered around 400 shards if I did my math right. (This is thanks to him going out to the Skyway every day to hunt, mostly for himself since... giant motherfucking dragon. Yeah.)

He will use 300 shards to buy Healing Touch and Wind Walk.

[blackblooded]

Crona's gonna buy Healing Touch!

[freedom_engineer]

As of day 152, Colin will be spending 300 Shards to acquire fluency in Caeldonian language.

Engineer boy wants to be able to READ those tech manuals and warning signs.

[heptagram]

I'm, er, "a bit" slow at this, but as of day 170, Patchouli will spend 500 Shards for a Talent -- that being for a weapon skill. Specifically, with handguns. If I need to get more specific, revolvers.

I hope I'm not too late and that this is specific enough.

[amphibian]

As of day 181, Aoi's going to buy Healing Touch, Caffeine Rush, and wind and water Elemental Strikes for 600 shards because she's saved up all of these goddamn shards and hasn't spent them on anything that's not donuts, god

[individuates]

Kaoru will be buying Mirror Shield, Trapper's Snare, and Trip Mine for Hikaru shortly after they get back from Host Club but pre-event… Day 194-ish! Total is 450 shards!

[freedom_engineer]

As of day 206, Colin is spending 300 shards to buy fluency in the Ura tongue.

And he won't be telling anyone that he knows it, either.

[bastionmods]

Just spoken, or written as well?

[amphibian]

If it's cool for me to backdate to day 200 given Claire's hiatus, I'd like for Aoi to have spent 150 shards on Healing Touch for Skyla!

[bastionpc]

That's alright, but the log says day 198, not day 200?

WRONG ACCOUNT BUT

[evacuate]

OH i was thinking the +2 days in the future thing but that only applies to buildings and plants, doesn't it; DAY 198 IT IS

[heptagram]

OKAY I FORGOT TO DO THIS FOR A WHILE but

Backdating to Day 229, as above, Patchouli spends 150 shards to buy Naegi the Lightning Elemental Strike ability. I don't... think that's an issue, right?

[bastionmods]

...totally forgot to say this ages ago, but yes that is alright.

[amphibian]

As of day 271, Aoi's gonna spend 300 shards for fluency in Alternian!

[bastionmods]

Approved!

Though for our record, is it just speaking, or speaking, reading, and writing?

[amphibian]

Just reading & writing since it's just Average, if that sounds right?

[bastionmods]

Okay, thank you.

[scary_music]

Ibuki is spending 150 shards for healing touch

[darkshooter]

For endgame, she wants to be as battle-ready as can be made. There aren't nearly enough shards for what muse and mun would both want, however, so we'll sort by what Shooter can immediately afford:

- Healing Touch
- Mental Map
- Mirror Shield
---
- Caffeine Rush
- Whirl Wind
- Elemental Strike [Lightning]

At 150 apiece, that brings us to 900, which is all the character herself has. We also desire these:

- Final Warning
- Duel Decider
- Elemental Strike [all - x4]
- Hand Grenade

...if anyone is willing to pay the shards for them.

I'm also very open to suggestions for Talents or whatnot to make Shooterkid more useful in general; fighting is pretty much her only schtick as of now. We want 'er to be as useful to the good guys as possible, so...if you got 'em, fire away.

[bakegarasu]

Caffeine Rush + Mirror Shield + Wind Walk = 450 shards

[hellpyre]

Since Rin hasn't mastered Satan Slash/Satan Bomb by her canon point, having her buy the following:

Whirl Wind
Snekay Decoy
Elemental Strike (Fire)
Caffeine Rush

600 Shards