Tapestry Tuesday #2 - Defense Imperative Threads

Hello all, its Ohms again,

Another New Year has dawned, and with it comes a new Tapestry Tuesday!

Today we focus on the first ability category for the Sagecraft System, Defensive Thread Skills.

The Shield of Protection

Defensive Skills are the first of the three Forms of Imperative Skills, the other two being Evasive and Utility Skills. Those other two categories will be discussed in a later Tapestry Tuesday, so look forward to it!

Defensive Skills are the most straightforward of the 3 Imperative forms. Simply put, they represent the character defending themselves in combat, using the energy of a shield-barrier to significantly reduce the damage taken by the character. This shield lasts as long as the it can absorb the enemy attacks, and as long as its duration holds.

Both of these factors adjust based on the secondary category of each ability, the Thread Skill’s Output.

The Three Aspectral Outputs

The three Aspectral outputs, or those used for power-based abilities, are Instant, Focused, and Channeled Skills.

Instant Skills happen quickly, but with a downside depending on the type of ability.
Focused Skills happen over a short period of time, and are the more ‘normal’ skill-set.
Channeled Skills happen over a longer period of time, with additional benefits depending on the ability type.

This relates to Defensive Skills in a practical and straightforward way.

Rough Draft of an Instant Guard

Instant Defenses have a very short duration, but a powerful defense that can block almost all damage without breaking for its brief duration, and usually facilitates a strong counter-attack. This is generally known as a Deflection Defense

Rough Draft of a Focused Guard

Focused Defenses have a longer duration, an average shield strength, and can be cancelled at any time to facilitate another attack. This is generally known as a Shield Defense.

Rough Draft of a Channelled Guard

Channeled Defenses have a duration that lasts as long as the player can hold out, and an above average shield strength that can be increased significantly by absorbing initial attacks. However, it does not combo well with other attacks as a downside.

With these three categories as a basis, players can play around with various types of defenses based on the objects they find and use them to their advantage in battle!

The current default Guard

While there is clearly much more to do both in terms of the overall project and the gameplay, I am currently working through the player’s default kit to both test that the system works and to provide a visual representation of what is to come! Look forward to more content!

If you like what you see, be sure to subscribe to my website, and follow my social media to keep up with the increasing content!

May the Branches light your path!

- Ωs Emmanuel