I like most of Reno’s ideas, especially making them support-ish.
I was kicking around the idea of their unique abilities and passives being tied to their own unique resource system. It would be based around their body mass and eating food or candy. I would suggest that it has a base of 100% but can be overloaded past that by eating, but would passively go down back to 100% over time.
Passives:
• Gluttony - Magical resource pool unique to Majins. Starts at 100%. If topped over 100%, goes down at a rate of 2% per turn (and/or could be time-based within the character page). Does not kill them at 0%, but cannot use any of their unique abilities even if they cost no Gluttony.
Love the idea of a unique mechanic for them! I think they could definitely function without it, but it adds a fun element to them.
• Body manipulation - Bonus to dodge chance (unsure on % or flat number yet). Can change shape and appearance at will. Has no cost unless changing clothing or skin color, which costs 1% Gluttony (both or either can be done at once for 1%). Does not have to be humanoid or even a creature or solid, but can’t drastically change total mass.
Absolutely on the Dodge, the changing shape is such an interesting RP feature! I suppose this could also be used to “regenerate” a lost limb?
• Food-Motivated - Can eat up to three pieces of food per turn (instead of two turns for one food, could be one or two instead of three pieces depending on balance) and does not take up the rest of their turn (bonus action). Regular food gives them 20% Gluttony on top of the healing, but at 10% per turn. So, if you ate 3 pieces of food, you would gain 60% gluttony over the next 6 turns, with the first 10% being the turn the food was eaten.
I like the idea of them being able to eat more food at once or quicker than others, totally fits with the theme! I didn’t think too much about the proposed numbers, but love the concept. Giving them gluttony makes sense.
• Metabolic Regeneration - Regenerate 3% of base Ki to current Ki per turn at a cost of 5% Gluttony. This is passively on but can be turned off by the player. Will continue to regenerate from 0 Ki and/or re-form their bodies until their Gluttony has also run out completely; automatically activated and unable to be controlled by the player.
Okay, so this is where the gluttony piece really kicks in! As they get lower in current PL, this healing really starts to shine because it comes from base (like a healing version of Bleed). Maybe there could be something where if you put the Majin to a PL of negative 25% (or whatever) you will have destroyed every bit of their body and they can not regenerate regardless of gluttony. Would have to think harder and adjust numbers to see if that’s going to be easy to do or near impossible and find a balance.
Abilities:
Most of what Reno said already. Can make them be able to also learn Mystic Attack but costs Gluttony, I like that.
• Transfiguration Beam - This would cost Gluttony and would technically be a ‘starting’ ability, but has variations that have to be learned. Candy Beam to turn others into candy, Heal/Mend beam to heal other people, I’d suggest multiple other variations of Candy Beam that either give more Gluttony, healing, or PL when eaten or have special effects, such as bonuses to defensive stats or reduction in Ki attack costs when eaten by the Majin or given to other players. Cookie, Candy, Chocolate, etc beams.
Could definitely play with some upgrade Beams, learnable from Masters and/or Quests. The idea of giving the food different effects is very interesting! The majins kind of become potion makers and leans into that supportive role. The cool thing is that they need to fight to get the resources, they don’t get to sit back at the base and let the fighters bring them materials.
All the Transfiguration Beams used offensively should cost a minimum of 20% Gluttony. The transformations last until the battle is over or the Majin is killed. They cannot be blocked, but can still be countered (?) or dodged (possibly higher dodge chance than normal). Being transfigured does not stop a player or NPC from being able to fly or use Ki attacks, but does stop them from blocking, running, or using weapons and physical attacks. Any being no matter how powerful can be transfigured.
I agree there probably needs to be an increased chance to dodge, on top of the +15% for “ki” attacks, and a possible additional +15% for being within 5% pl of each other which would already put it at 15-30% before anything else added. It is interesting that a brand new player could transform someone over a million PL, but, once the majin is defeated that player would return back to normal. It’s not really a “you’re dead” type move.
• Inhale - Powerfully suck in air in a cone to pull beings or objects towards your mouth. Costs 8% Gluttony per turn used, but gets more powerful each turn. This is the only way a Majin can forcefully eat a transfigured person. Success chance would be a check of the Majin’s current Ki vs the enemy’s current Ki. If within melee range, Inhale immediately eats and kills a transfigured character, or does damage over time to any non-transfigured character. If not within melee range, the first successful check pulls the character into melee range and the second check inhales them. Also, inhales any food within the cone.
Hmmm, I still would like some way for the majin to collect the food to be saved for later, given to other players, sold, etc.
I’m thinking something like 30% success chance per check for enemies with roughly equal current PL that have been transfigured, with chances going up or down for lower or higher PL opponents. So you’d need to transfigure, get first successful inhale check at a range, then second successful check in melee to fully turn someone into candy and eat them. Somewhat lower chance to inhale any people not transfigured. Since it’s a cone attack, can hit multiple people/foods at once if they’re too close together, but each with their own checks for success.
What the Majins would gain from eating transfigured opponents would depend on the type of beam used and how powerful (base PL) the opponent is. All of them give some amount of Gluttony back.
The rest of the normal Ki moves Majins use would use Ki just like any other race or character. There are no direct damaging abilities used with the Gluttony resource system.
Mimicry is a good idea, but the Majin has to see the ability used or have eaten someone with that ability. I agree about a fairly low starting PL and a low total amount of Ki moves that can be learned, especially if we also used the Gluttony abilities as a separate thing.
Mimicry absolutely they have to see it, then instantly can use it next turn. How about custom sigs, could they learn them? I think the eating of candy should just be restore pl, gluttony, and maybe with more advanced beams have other side effects like increased dodge or lower costs. It’s just food, not an absorption/assimilation. Low starting PL and low moves learnable makes sense to me too.
Any numbers I’ve used are subject to change or suggestion. If anyone thinks this is too different or over the top or too complex of a system to add for one single race, I’m open to those opinions, too.
