Encounter Puzzle Design

Every NPC should leverage a Synergy (see below) of some kind to keep combatants on their toes. Synergies are either Active or Passive.

Active synergies have a Trigger. That Trigger looks for a specific combatant (The NPC with the skill, an ally, or an enemy) to do a particular action. Some Trigger actions are listed below to give you an idea. The Trigger also will specify who to apply the effect of the skill to (The NPC with the skill, the Enemy or Ally who triggered the skill, all Enemies or Allies, etc).

The effect of an Active Synergy applies to one of the States on the affected Creature. States are values (either numeric or “have/don’t have”) on a Creature, some are listed below. These things are important to the game so a Trigger modifying them can be good. Some States can be custom, setup to specifically interact with other skills on this NPCs.

Passive synergies look at a specific State on a Target (the owner of the skill, the Target of an action the owner of the skill is taking, etc). When that State meets certain criteria (has the State at all, is above or below a certain value) the synergy will apply an effect.

State Changes can be “hard coded” to apply directly, or can be done via a game mechanic. IE: Damage State being changed could be an automatic loss of HP, or an attack being performed that may or may not hit. State Changes can also be thought of as the effects of attacks.

• Stat Up/Down
• Damage
• Affinity Changed
• Status Effect applied
• Buff/Debuff applied
• Custom Statuses
  • (Can include things like “Flame Tank” to be targeted)
  • (Effects applied that other abilities look for (Apply Burn with one spell, do bonus dmg to burned enemies with another.)
• Allies in conflict (a specific one, total number in conflict, any exist)
• Enemies in conflict

All triggers should specify who needs to perform the trigger (Self, Ally, Enemy) and who is affected by it (Self, Ally, That Enemy, All Enemies).

• Action type Used
  • Attack, Equipment, Guard, Hinder, Inventory, Objective, Spell, Study, Skill
• An Attack or Spell:
  • Targets Ally
  • Targets Enemy
  • Vulnerability Hit
  • Resistance Hit
  • Immunity Hit
  • Absorb Hit
  • Hit on Pressure Point (weapon vul)
  • Entered Crisis
  • Misses Target
  • Guarded Against
  • Was a Free Attack
  • Deal damage of a particular affinity
• Clock affected
• Fabula Spent
• Custom Status added or removed
• A State changes

Target should always be clearly identified in these templates. Remember that Triggers can be on pretty much anyone in the conflict, not just enemies attacking the NPC.

• While State on Target,
  • apply Positive State to Self.
    • (a part that protects the main body until removed, hiding in shell with Phys Resist)
    • (Can be a free state the npc gets, but loses it after X rounds)
  • change attack routine.
    • (Special routines, ones that take advantage of weaknesses or buffs)
    • (Can be interrupted which would be a trigger -> Neg State to self.)
  • enhance an Action being taken on the Target
    • (Bonus damage to a target with the stat)
    • (Specific skills interact differently on Targets with the State)

• When Trigger,
  • change attack routine.
    • (Hit with weakness, become more aggressive)
  • apply Positive State to Self.
    • (Change affinity based on last damage taken)
    • (Clock building to a buff)
    • (Heals if in Crisis)
    • (Guarding a specific attack buffs the attacker)
    • (Big buffs can also come with a negative state, like Attack++ Def–)
  • remove Positive State from Self.
  • apply Negative State to Self.
    • (Destroyed part to damage/disable attacks/etc)
    • (Power ability that has a drawback (increase pressure clock?))
    • (A counter attack that when misses negatively affects user.)
    • (While clock is active for big move, way to counteract clock.)
  • apply Negative State to Target.
    • (Counter attack, Reactions)
    • (Clock building to an attack)
    • (attack used during a mode shift)
    • (When gained X Status effects, trigger a big attack.)
• When Trigger on Self
  • take a special action
    • (Crisis Effect)
    • (Multi turn move which can be cancelled early via specific negative state.)
    • (allow a different specific Trigger to interrupt and apply Negative Status)
    • (Guard against specific move)