Patch 2.3: The Nerf Patch

Patch 2.3: THE NERF PATCH
 
BASIC MECHANICS
- Weapon Proficiency and Hakuda have been altered, as below.
- Boosts, Buffs, Debuffs, and Skill Cap have been altered, as below. Many techniques, releases, and powers will need to be changed immediately. Those that only boost or buff actions governed by the same skill as the technique, such as a Zanjutsu attack being increased by +10/rank in Zanjutsu, may remain unaltered. Custom supplementary skills similar to Shunko and Seele Schneider may remain unaltered.
- A new effect, Armor Pierce, has been added. It clarifies how negation works when applied to armor effects.
- Damage Over Time has been revamped.
- Stat Rearranging is being removed. While similar techniques can be made, they will simply be boosts or buffs with a drawback of reducing another stat and will be dealt with by Mechanics staff on a case-by-case basis.
- The Hoho effect that allows a successful dodge to be combined with another action is now limited to once per round.
- A character may not have two supplementary skills affecting the same skill; see the Mechanics Administrator for exceptions.
- The milestone alternative offered for Prestige characters when Ascendency was removed could have been exploited as written. New wording is as follows: A Prestige Character with at least 5,500 Base GP may request an expansion of 10 to the Reiatsu Cap as an alternative to a Milestone, up to five times in total. When they purchase this Reiatsu, their Absolute Cap will increase by the same amount.
 
Boosts
Increasing one or more stats by an amount for a single action or check.
All boosts must be governed by an appropriate skill. 'Per rank' refers to the rank of that skill.
Costs 2 stamina per rank if boosting Defense, Speed, or both Power and Precision.
Costs 1 stamina per rank if boosting Power or Precision alone.
Adds +10 per rank if affecting an action governed by the same skill.
Adds +5 per rank if affecting an action governed by a different skill, or if affecting Defense.
Subject to Absolute Caps.
James attacks an enemy with his sword, increasing his Power and Precision by +40 with a technique governed by his Advanced Zanjutsu skill, for 8 stamina. To strengthen his next attack, he adds +30 Power with a technique governed by his Grandmaster Hado for an additional 6 stamina.
 
Buffs
Increasing one or more stats by an amount for a set duration.
Costs and effects are the same as boosts, paid per round, with the following exceptions:
Cost is doubled in the first round if activated instantly or if combined with most other effects.
Cost is doubled when buffing Power and/or Precision unless the buff is limited in what actions it affects, such as affecting only physical or spiritual actions or only offensive or defensive actions.
May last for up to one round per rank.
Subject to Absolute Caps.
James blocks an attack while simultaneously increasing his Defense by 15 for the next three rounds, paying 12 stamina in the first round and 6 stamina in subsequent rounds. Afterwards, he uses an action to increase the Power and Precision of his physical attacks by 20 for the next 4 rounds, paying a total of 32 stamina.
 
Debuffs
Decreasing one or more of an opponent's stats by an amount for a set duration.
Costs are the same as buffs, but the amount debuffed is always -5 per rank.
Must affect an opponent and thus cannot be accomplished by simply using an action and paying stamina.
Most frequently part of an attack, taking effect on a successful hit. This will not affect the debuff's cost or the attack's result.
Other methods exist, but must leave opponent a 'way out'.
Not subject to Absolute Caps.
James attacks an opponent, decreasing their Defense by 30 for the next two rounds for 12 stamina each round. Any successful attacks he makes in that period will compare against their reduced defense.
 
Damage Over Time
Attacking an enemy with something that damages them repeatedly each round.
Costs 4 Stamina each time additional damage is dealt.
Reduces the damage of the initial attack by one rank but deals additional damage as the battle continues, increasing the wound's severity by one rank at the beginning of each round.
Wears off after three rounds of additional damage. May be removed by using an action or by paying 4 stamina multiplied by the number of remaining rounds.
The damage reduction of the initial attack takes place after any other calculations; it will not cause the attack to be nullified by Hierro if it would not have been nullified before.
James strikes the enemy with his Zanpakuto and deals a Moderate wound. Before his next strike, he imbues his sword with clinging fire; while the strike now only inflicts a Minor wound, the constant burning worsens it to Moderate in his opponent's next turn. His opponent pays 8 stamina to remove it before it worsens further.

Armor Pierce
Ignoring Hierro or an armor technique, treating it as if it wasn't there for the duration of the action.
Costs 5 Stamina plus the armor's cost. Hierro's cost is 3.
The technique's governing skill rank must be higher than the armor's governing skill rank.
The armor's cost is only paid if it is actually negated. The 5 stamina is paid even if the attack misses.
James uses his Grandmastery in Hado to fire an armor-piercing bolt of ice for 5 stamina. If his opponent's rank in Hierro is Master or lower, it will ignore that skill and do full damage, draining 3 additional stamina from James.
 
The Skill Cap refers to the numbers provided in the Boosts section of the Mechanical Effects page, which represent the maximum a character may boost or buff through a single skill. Smaller boosts than this may be made at the user's discretion, and larger boosts may be approved with appropriate drawbacks (referred to as 'breaking skill cap'). Effects governed by the same skill may only stack up to skill cap, with the remainder being lost. Effects governed by different skills may stack freely. Passive bonuses, such as those gained by Hakuda and Zanjutsu, are unaffected by these limitations.
 
Weapon Proficiency
Weapon Proficiency governs an individual's skill while wielding a weapon. Their prowess when defending, attacking, and ultimately hurting their opponent is linked to this skill. Weapon Proficiency applies to a fairly specific range of weapons, or for Shinigami, as Zanjutsu, applies specifically to all forms their Zanpakutō takes.

Weapons cannot be broken involuntarily (though a broken weapon can often serve as a very interesting plot point).

• Beginner: Gain Ryoudan or a bonus weapon-based technique slot.
• Basic: Your weapon-based Precision is increased by +5.
• Intermediate: Gain a bonus weapon-based technique slot.
• Advanced: Your weapon-based Precision is increased by +10 for a total of +15.
• Master: Whenever a Weapon Proficiency combat action is expended, you regenerate 3 Stamina. Gain a bonus weapon-based technique slot.
• Grandmaster: Your weapon-based Power is increased by +15. Gain a bonus weapon-based technique slot.
• Transcendent: The damage inflicted by your weapon is increased by one rank in severity. Gain a bonus weapon-based technique slot.

Ryoudan
2 Stamina per rank in Zanjutsu, Single Action
A spiritually-enhanced sword slash that operates at +10 Power and Precision per rank in Zanjutsu.
 
Hakuda
Hakuda governs an individual's skill while performing unarmed combat. Their prowess when defending, attacking, and ultimately hurting their opponent is linked tot his skill. Hakuda is typically more versatile than its armed counterpart, and practitioners can use any part of their body to engage their enemy.
 
Hardened Areas serve as those areas on the body that are more resistant to damage, and when used to block incoming attacks, completely negate damage checks if the block is successful. Hardened Areas are taken in pairs, so choosing "Hands" as one of your Hardened Areas would net you both your left hand and your right hand.

• Beginner: Gain a Hardened Area and either Ikkotsu or a bonus unarmed technique slot.
• Basic: Your unarmed Precision is increased by +5.
• Intermediate: Gain a Hardened Area and a bonus unarmed technique slot.
• Advanced: Your unarmed Precision is increased by +10 for a total of +15.
• Master: Whenever a Hakuda combat action is expended, you regenerate 3 Stamina. Gain a bonus unarmed technique slot and a Hardened Area.
• Grandmaster: Your unarmed Power is increased by +15. Gain a bonus unarmed technique slot and a Hardened Area.
• Transcendent: The damage inflicted by your HSAs is increased by one rank in severity. Gain a bonus unarmed technique slot and a Hardened Area.

Ikkotsu
2 Stamina per rank in Hakuda, Single Action
A powerful single-fisted punch that operates at +10 Power and Precision per rank in Hakuda.

Patch 2.2 Clean-up
- The skill comparison in a hybrid check directly affects the results. The +20/-20 per skill rank difference is not restricted by absolute cap, skill cap, or anything else that would normally affect boosted stats.
- To account for non-1v1 combat, the 'initiating combat' rule in the previous patch has been changed to "When initiating mechanical combat, both of your actions may not attack the same target."
- Due to imbalance and the complication inherent in fixing that imbalance, wound stacking rules are being reverted to their original pre-2.1 state: Two wounds of the same severity are equal to one wound of the next rank higher. That means that two Moderate wounds are roughly equivalent to a single Major wound.
 
SHINIGAMI
- Kaido's Lesser Heal may not be used on a wound that has already been affected by Kaido this round.
 
QUINCY
- Quincies with direct powers that do not cause Reishi Manipulation skill checks (or copy more powerful skills such as Hierro or Regeneration that do not rely on skill checks) may still make general Reishi Manipulation techniques unrelated to their power.
- This may apply to other races on a case-by-case basis; see the Mechanics Administrator for exceptions.
 
MORTAL
- The custom casting option regarding non-scaling tech slots has been removed. It was not used properly in practice.