- Partners
-
Hey all, the following is the master list of all rules, decisions, and stipulations related to Blacklight, from battle mechanics to roleplay formats to challenges. Anything said here should be taken as the final say if there is contradictory or outdated information elsewhere.
Link to the character sheet and other glossary information.
Affinity chart for players to fill out (courtesy of Virgil/Goat)
Link to the character sheet and other glossary information.
Affinity chart for players to fill out (courtesy of Virgil/Goat)
The rules are subject to change if new circumstances arise or new exploits are found. If the rules are changed, whether previous “retroactive” infractions are undone or grandfathered in depends on the circumstances surrounding the rule change.
- If the infraction was from a long time ago, or was from a place where “undoing” what was done would be more trouble than it’s worth (for example, an exploit in a fight that made it too easy—we can’t just redo the battle because that would be cumbersome for everyone involved.) then it is assumed that previous entries that are “locked in” are grandfathered by default.
- If the infraction was because the rule hadn’t been written at all or was an ambiguity in existing rules, and the infraction doesn’t give any supreme advantage over other players, OR the advantage doesn’t really affect other players, I’d be more willing to let it slide.
- If there is ever some kind of dispute or need to get an exact word count about something, I use this tool for word counting. Note that when it comes to reviews, I do NOT count quotes as part of the word count. I'm generally not going to ding you if you report a number that's slightly off from this software, since word processors are a little different. A few extra or less words here and there is no big deal. This only really matters for very low-effort reviews.
- First and foremost, respect your fellow players, the DM, and any potential spectators that may be watching the game but not participating.
- All Thousand Roads rules apply here.
- If you feel that something is wrong with some aspect of the game or other players, approach the DM about it in an environment you feel is appropriate, such as in direct messages.
- Do not disrupt other players in ooc chat or otherwise bother them if asked to stop.
- It is generally bad etiquette to disrupt scenes of fellow players without asking first if it is not a group plot scene (for more information, refer to the roleplay section.) If this is done continuously or in bad faith, disciplinary action may occur.
- If player behavior is bad enough, they will receive a warning or, if the disruptions continue, will get a week-long ban from the game. Then, a round-long ban. And after that, a full ban from the game entirely if the behavior continues.
First, the table:
| Tier | Challenge (only need to do 1 per reward, repeats okay) | Reward 1 (exp) | Reward 2 (points) | Reward 3 (points) |
| 1 | -Write 250 words -Write for 30 minutes -Read a chapter of someone else's work | Exp gained varies from round to round. | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | -Write a total of 500 words -Write for a total of 60 minutes for this challenge wave. -Review a chapter of someone else's work | ^ | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | -Write a total of 1000 words -Write for a total of 120 minutes for this challenge wave. -Read and review a second chapter of someone else's work. | ^ | 6 | 3 |
| 4 | -Write a total of 1500 words -Write for a total of 180 minutes for this challenge wave. -Read and review a third chapter of someone else's work. | ^ | 8 | 4 |
| 5 | -Write a total of 2500 words -Write for a total of 240 minutes for this challenge wave. -Read and review a fourth chapter of someone else's work. | ^ | 10 | 5 |
| S | (Can only be done once per round; can only be done after all other challenges are complete and the user has tiers from previous rounds that were not completed. The "catch up" tier.) -Publish a chapter or oneshot. -Read and review 5 chapters from an author. | The equivalent of the lowest ten tiers that had not been accomplished, if any. | N/A | N/A |
| Tier X | (Occurs at the end of every round, basically.) Defeat the boss! | Typically slightly more exp than tier 5. | +15 points if a special condition is met | N/A |
- Completing each tier will give you one of the columns above. The first time you complete a challenge, you gain exp, which helps you Level Up. In addition to getting a little stronger, you also gain 3 stat points that can further increase your stats, up to 50% higher than the original amount without any bonuses.
- Completing challenges in the second or third "waves" will cover the second and third reward columns, for points.
- Points are used to purchase items in the shop, purchase moves from various tutors, and a few other things that will come up as the story progresses. For Support units, it is also for using your Support skills in battle (more on that further down.)
- All challenge tiers as-written are cumulative, but can be mathematically interpreted if one chooses to mix and match. For example, if you wrote 1000 words and then did a review of a chapter, the 1000 words would cover tiers 1-4, and the review can be used to handle tier 5. This makes reviews very powerful. This is intentional to encourage reviewing everyone else’s work!
- You CANNOT mix-and-match “words written” and “time writing” if they correspond to the same writing session. In other words, if you spent 60 minutes writing 500 words, you CANNOT claim tier 1-3 for the 500 words, and then tier 4 for the time difference between tier 3 and 4 (120 minutes – 60 minutes = 60 minutes). They MUST be from different writing sessions.
- Despite rule 2, you CAN log down how much you wrote on a “time spent” challenge for the sake of BLECs, even if you’re claiming points for them.
- You CANNOT count writing done for Blacklight roleplaying as part of challenge claims or BLECs. It must be for other written work.
- For points, I will allow written work of any kind other than Blacklight roleplay posts, as it doesn’t really affect anybody else nor does it result in tangible prizes.
- For BLECs, the words published MUST be for a creative work posted to the Thousand Roads forums. Note: It is acceptable if the published material isn’t directly on TR, but on a work that is “ahead” on other platforms and is being ported over to TR.
- For BLECs, reviews MUST be for stories that are currently published on TR.
- For beta reading (which counts as two reviews for both BLEC and point purposes) it MUST be for something that will get published to TR, and you need confirmation from the author that you beta read adequately. Confirmation includes something as simple as a Reaction on the post that claims the beta reading, or common sense/them telling me.
- All rounds last 4 weeks, starting on Saturday, 4:00 AM UTC. The turns for the boss fight are as follows:
Turn 1: Saturday, 8AM
Turn 2: Saturday, 8PM
Turn 3: Sunday, 8AM
Turn 4: Sunday, 8PM
Turn 5: Monday, 8AM
Turns 6-10: Tuesday-Saturday, 8AM
Most battles are balanced around lasting 3-7 turns, with earlier fights on the low side, and later fights on the high side. If a battle lasts longer than 10 turns, you lose because your bodies are unable to sustain themselves long enough to keep fighting effectively.
- With the exception of round 1, Front Line slots are limited to 10 players. (For round 1, I’m allowing more than 10, but veterans MUST be Support to make room so everyone knows what it's like)
There are five types of players: - Front Line – Always. These players will want to always be on the Front Lines.
- Front Line – no less than half. These players are okay with being Support, but not twice in a row.
- Front Line – Preferred, but not priority. These players are okay with being Support and don’t mind being twice or more in a row.
- Support preferred, but Front Line is fine. These players will prioritize Support play, but may sometimes hop into Front Lines.
- Support preferred, please have mercy. These players will be in Support, no complexity involved.
- Aside from priority 1 players, who are auto-claiming a spot, any priority player can “request” to participate in the Front Lines. The priority of who gets to be in a Front Line position is determined by the following criteria, with tiebreakers being the next point until enough slots are available.
- The person is requesting to be in Front Lines.
- The person who had the longest “drought” of only being in Support wins the spot.
- The person who had the lowest overall number of times in the Front Lines wins the spot.
- The person who has the priority spot furthest from 1 wins the spot. (i.e. if a priority 2 and a priority 4 person both want the final FL spot, and they tied for the three previous criteria, then the priority 4 person will win.)
- Note: When forming the initial default lists, FL-2 individuals who missed the last fight are picked first, then FL-1 units, and then the rest of FL-2 units.
- Case-by-case. If the tie gets this low on the tiebreaker, I may also consider raising the FL limit by a tiny amount for that fight only.
- “Magic” is Special Attack, and “Resistance” is Special Defense. Purely cosmetic.
General:
Buffs, debuffs, and status effects:
Status effects are similar but slightly different, and are in some ways stronger than their mainline counterparts. However, strong bosses are able to shake off status effects after one turn of dealing with them, and cannot get the same status effect twice. Time them well!
* = "Strong" status effect.
Radiant Moves are moves that are fully custom! You can come up with the name, effect, power, flavor, and so on, run it by me (and to an extent, my balance team) and that's your unit's move! It is unique to you, cannot be copied by allies, and is an extension of your unit's very spirit and will.
However, there are a few limitations. As these are considered weak, low-tier Radiant techniques, these are the limitations to what the move can do.
Low-tier Radiant techniques have the following "maximums." You cannot achieve more than one maximum; if you take from any other type of attack, you must weaken one of the other aspects so it is balanced. This can be discussed with me, as I imagine most of you will not go for something that's just one of these maximums. But essentially...
A Radiant technique...
Radiant Corruption:
Every time you use a Radiant move, your Radiance will rise. For low-tier Radiant moves, it rises by 20. The following things will happen when you meet or exceed certain amounts of Radiance at the end of your turn:
You can also take an action to Focus. This will lower your corruption by 20. You can also use an action to Call an ally, which will lower their corruption by 10. Note, an ally can only gain the benefits of one Call per turn. Additionally, a user can anti-focus and raise their own corruption by 10 each, or 20 for one type of corruption.
Additionally, if your character is at high radiance, I humbly request all of their dialogue be in italics, as if their voice is on reverb/thoughts. This typically happens when they are at 50 Radiance or higher. This is entirely for flavor and doesn't have to be followed too strictly.
And finally... don't think I've forgotten you, Supports.
Choose any one stat from Attack, Defense, Resistance, Magic, or Status to give a +1 to. This will permanently give you a 25% buff in that stat when you're in the Support class. +1 Status will increase the effectiveness of skills such as Hex, Boon, and Heal by 25%, rounding down.
Everything above is free. Simply log your preferences in Official Actions. BE WARNED: THIS CANNOT BE CHANGED once everything is locked in for the round, unless some special circumstance comes along.
Shadows are similar to Radiance in terms of corruption amounts, and they follow the same thresholds. So, when you're thinking about your Shadow Moves, follow the same rules as Radiance would. Additionally, just like Radiance, you become the Shadow type at 20 corruption, and your regular moves become Shadow type at 70 corruption. This corruption level is separate and independent of your Radiance corruption.
Where higher Radiance is considered a lowering of inhibitions and mental filters, Shadow is considered a heightening of negative thoughts and suppressed feelings. Essentially, a Shadow is the part of one's character that they would rather not show to others; these thoughts become amplified.
If you combine both types of corruption, both Shadows and Radiance, you become Blacklight. This is when your negative thoughts or suppressed feelings are amplified, AND your inhibitions and mental filters are down. The haze that manifests from your characters' Shadows is a physical form of these inner thoughts, and are a part of your character in every way. Regular Pokemon cannot see them. They can be as simple as an apparition that manifests during attacks, or as complex as some part of them that lingers when their Shadows are high.
And finally, there is a different penalty for reaching 100 Shadow corruption. If you end the turn at that level, you gain +1 action, but also become an enemy at the same time, and will become hostile toward them. The DM will then decide what attacks your character will do toward the party. If you go above 100 Radiance AND Shadow on the same turn, you will perform Blacklight Meltdown against anybody who interacted with you that turn, in addition to three additional party members. You do not want this.
Now that both Shadows and Radiance has been properly introduced, here is the type chart for how they interact with Shadows, Radiance, Blacklight, and mundane typings:
- You lose if all Front Line characters’ HP drops to 0 and they are out of Reviver Seeds.
- You win if all enemies’ HP drops to 0.
- You can only perform 0-stamina actions if your stamina is 0.
- You can only rest or focus is your stamina is below 0.
- Certain fights may have different win and lose conditions.
- Unless otherwise stated, the battle mechanics of attacks, damage formulas (minus randomness), abilities, and so on are reminiscent of the mainline Pokémon games. Refer to the Attack sheet for effects of specific attacks, as they may be different.
- Every fight starts the same way:
- Any pre-battle changes to the players, such as roleplay penalties (being injured before the fight) or other aspects are applied before everything else.
- A “turn 0” action from the boss that may or may not happen, depending on the circumstances of the fight.
- Support fighters doing their actions, if any.
- Front Line fighters doing their actions (note, 3 and 4 are done at the same time in terms of logged actions, but are calculated in this order.)
- Enemy actions
- Weather, status, and other “per turn” effects are calculated here.
- Repeat 3-6
- Special note: “action count” is calculated just before the actions of the characters are submitted. For example, if a character starts off with +3 speed, but then uses agility, they do NOT gain an extra action that turn.
- For the most part, all damage multipliers have been cut in half. For example, STAB bonuses are 25% rather than 50%; Super Effective is 50% rather than 100%; and Critical Hits, while still ignoring Defense buffs, do only 25% extra damage on top of that.
- If you ever go below 0 stamina, all other actions that you may have logged to take will be abruptly cut off and you will be forced to rest on the next turn.
- “Resting” results in gaining 50% of your stamina. However, it means that you will not be able to perform any actions other than Focus that turn. You can also half-rest by only performing actions that cost 0 stamina for a turn, and gain 25% stamina at the end.
- Stamina costs for someone's turn is equal to this formula:
- Round up: (Sum of raw stamina costs) * number of actions * speed modifier.
- For negative Speed = (4 + |n|) / 4. (i.e. -4 = double stamina)
- For positive Speed = 12 / (n + 12) (i.e. +12 = half stamina)
- Moves do not have accuracy! While evasion exists (see below) moves missing due to their inherent inaccuracy (Thunder, Blizzard) is not something to worry about.
- Moves that are single-target in the canon games are single-target here. This includes moves like Tackle, Heal Pulse, Swords Dance, and so on.
- Moves that canonically deal damage to the enemy team only are instead triple-target attacks: you select three targets to hit for half the normal damage. This includes moves like Blizzard, Muddy Water, and Heat Wave. If there is only one target on the field, it is full damage instead.
- Moves that deal damage to all adjacent units, such as Earthquake, Explosion, and Surf, are triple-target in addition to "interact"-triggered. This means that ANY unit that interacts with this one when the move is used, will also be hit. For example, if a fourth enemy attacks this unit, they will also be struck. However, if an ally uses Helping Hand on this unit, the ally will ALSO be hit.
- Moves that affect the entire field, such as Sunny Day, Rain Dance, or Electric Terrain, behave as a self-inflicted status effect that becomes "interact"-triggered for the rest of the fight. For example, if someone uses Sunny Day, anybody who interacts with this unit will gain the effects of Sunny Day for that turn. If they attack the unit again a turn later, they get it again.
- Moves that affect only the ally team's field for many turns, such as Reflect, Safeguard, and Tailwind, affect the whole team but only for one turn.
- Moves that affect only the ally team but are instantaneous, such as Mist, Howl, or Life Dew, are instead self+triple target.
- Some unique moves may behave differently in general due to the difference in gameplay; consult the DM or the Attack spreadsheet for further clarification.
- Enemies may have higher targeting systems. For example, many boss enemies have their targeting upgraded: Single-target attacks are instead triple-target, and triple-target attacks affect the entire party. Beware.
Buffs, debuffs, and status effects:
- For getting debuffs, units now have a “threshold” that must be passed before the debuff activates. The same is true for status effects. The default amount is 100, and moves that “guarantee” a debuff or status effect in the main games are instead moves that add 100 to the debuff. Bosses always have more than 100 for their thresholds.
- Buffs are split into two types: Normal and innate. Normal buffs are buffs gained or lost from regular moves like Growl and Swords Dance. Innate moves come from other factors that will be revealed later, or very special moves that affect stats in a different way, such as Tailwind. These buffs each cap at +6, for a total of +12.
- Weather and terrain behave as their moves are described in the attack sheet. Note that for the most part, "seeded" weather effects take priority over "given" weather effects. If someone uses Sunny Day, it will generally take precedence over interacting with someone who is Rainy. However, someone who is neither, interacts with a Sunny user, and then a Rainy user, will wind up with Rainy by the end of their turn, but only for that turn. The same applies to terrain.
Status effects are similar but slightly different, and are in some ways stronger than their mainline counterparts. However, strong bosses are able to shake off status effects after one turn of dealing with them, and cannot get the same status effect twice. Time them well!
* = "Strong" status effect.
- Burn: Deals 1/16th damage per turn, and cuts physical attack damage by 25%.
- Freeze: Reduces the target's action count by 1 and increases magical damage received by 50%
- Paralysis: Reduces the target's action count by 1 and reduces their speed by 2.
- Poison: Deals 1/16th damage per turn, and increase physical damage received by 50%
- Badly poisoned*: Deals 1/8th damage per turn, and increase physical damage received by 50%.
- Sleepy: Reduces the target's action count by 1 and reduces magic damage by 25%.
- Bound/trapped: User cannot change row positions, and can only target enemies that interacted with them on that turn. Lowers evasion by 2.
- Damage trap*: Same as Bound, but also deals 1/8th the user's HP in damage per turn.
- Confused: All attacking moves have 10% recoil and do not benefit from Reckless or similar boons, unless they already have recoil; status moves have a recoil of 10% of the user's max HP; healing moves are half effective. Item uses are unaffected. Reduces accuracy by 2.
- Flinch: User’s action count is halved, rounding up, for that turn.
- Infatuated*: All actions the user performs against the Pokémon that infatuated them reduces actions three times as fast, and two times for anything else.
- Protect/Detect: User can completely nullify damage for 1 attack for each +1 they have to this status. Typically, moves that add Protect barriers cannot be used if the user had Protect barriers active on the previous turn. Protect barriers also decay by 1 at the start of the unit's turn.
- Most of the other status effects are the same as their canon counterparts, but will be specified otherwise if it becomes relevant per player discussion.
- Staggering is a new mechanic in this game, and it replaces critical hits. When you Stagger an opponent, the next blow they receive on their next turn will be Critical. Staggering occurs when the user is hit enough times in a single turn by a strike that takes out some % of their HP. This value varies significantly depending on the boss fought, but for players, the activation is 10% of their HP, and it has to happen 2 times.
- When the threshold is passed, a +1 Stagger status is added to the unit, and on the next turn, the next hit they take will be Critical.
- Certain moves like Laser Focus or Frost Breath bypass this system and simply land Critical Hits.
- Similar to damage multipliers, the effectiveness of buffs has been cut in half. Doubling attack no longer requires +2, but +4, and cutting attack in half is the same way, requiring -4 instead of -2. The same is true for defense, resistance, and magic.
- Every +4 in speed increases your action count for the next turn.
- Negative speed and other status conditions cannot take you below 1 action for a turn. This also applies to bosses.
- Every +1 in evasion will let you reduce an attack by 25% damage per turn, with +4 completely nullifying the first attack that would do damage toward you per turn. For bosses, +evasion reduces or nullifies the attack that would have hit it from the unit with the highest aggro that struck them. Negative evasion makes it easier for you to get Staggered by reducing the required HP threshold by a quarter, with every -4 resulting in an automatic +1 Stagger added to the threshold per hit.
- Accuracy buffs eat away at evasion buffs of the target, and a surplus in accuracy over evasion increases how much and how easily you Stagger the opponent. Every +4 in Accuracy over evasion results in an extra +1 Stagger. Every +1 in accuracy above evasion lowers the opponent's critical threshold for that hit by 25%. Negative accuracy makes Staggering more difficult, with a -1 increasing the necessary damage required for a Stagger by 25%. A -4 outright decreases the Stagger added by 1. It additionally reduces the amount of evasion taken away when trying to hit someone.
- Critical+ status effects, while rare, increase the number of stagger points added when landing a hit.
- Valor is a boss-exclusive buff and debuff effect. A +1 in Valor is the same as having a +1 in Attack, Magic, Defense, Resistance, Speed, Evasion, and Accuracy. The same is true for a -1 in Valor that bosses could apply to players, and so on. Valor follows debuff thresholds, but the debuffs themselves can stack on top of existing buffs and debuffs, beyond 6. Beware!
- Resolve is another boss-exclusive buff. If someone has Resolve, their HP will be fully restored at the start of their next turn if their HP had been reduced to 0. However, they miss the turn they had been KOed. Resolve is usually dispelled by special conditions unique to each enemy.
- Who enemies hit depends largely on aggro. Generally speaking, the team members with the most aggro will be hit the most often, while the team member with the least aggro will probably only be hit by attacks that strike the whole team.
- Aggro is raised by performing actions such as attacking, healing, buffing, and generally anything that makes the enemy weaker or the team stronger. Aggro is lowered by going into the back row or using an Invisify Orb. Note, however, that the Invisify Orb only lasts for a turn, halving aggro gained, before it wears off. In addition, the Invisify Orb also halves any existing aggro, similar to moving to the back row.
- Switching rows costs an action. In addition to reducing aggro, you will also take reduced damage from any team-wide AoE attacks from the enemy!
- You can also perform a Call action on an enemy in an effort to gain more aggro from them or to distract the enemy. However, note that to be truly effective, it might require some roleplaying on what was said to this enemy or enemy team. Calling costs an action but no stamina.
- You cannot attack the enemy while in the back row. Beware: enemies can still potentially attack you even if you are in the back row.
- Supports are “behind” the Front Line fighters. They are, in-universe, fighting just like all of the other characters. However, mechanically, they do not have active HP, and instead use their points to do huge attacks or other movements against the enemy or for allies. Collectively, they can do a great deal to sway the fight’s outcome.
- It costs 30 points to perform a Support attack, and 60 points to do it a second time in the same fight, and 90 points to do it a third time, and so on. This cost resets back to 30 at the start of any boss fight.
- As Support, individuals will get Support Points. The amount of Support Points a unit has is exactly equal to their current Level. These points are used to purchase stronger or different Support skills, which can be found on the Support tab of the main information sheet.
- Each time a Support skill is used in the battle, 5 points is added to the Support Burst Meter. When it reaches 100, damage given is increased by 25% and damage received is reduced by 25% for that turn! If a Support unit buys 6 low-tier perk slots, they will add 10 instead of 5 to that meter. Future upgrades to perks will amount to more points being added as well.
Radiant Moves are moves that are fully custom! You can come up with the name, effect, power, flavor, and so on, run it by me (and to an extent, my balance team) and that's your unit's move! It is unique to you, cannot be copied by allies, and is an extension of your unit's very spirit and will.
However, there are a few limitations. As these are considered weak, low-tier Radiant techniques, these are the limitations to what the move can do.
Low-tier Radiant techniques have the following "maximums." You cannot achieve more than one maximum; if you take from any other type of attack, you must weaken one of the other aspects so it is balanced. This can be discussed with me, as I imagine most of you will not go for something that's just one of these maximums. But essentially...
A Radiant technique...
- Starts with "Radiant" in its title
- Costs 10 stamina
- Adds 20 Radiance (more on that later)
- Be ANY SINGLE CHOICE from...
- 100 Power
- Add 300 to a stat debuff
- Add 150 to a status effect
- Buff a stat by +3
- Buff one stat by +2 and another by +1
- Buff four stats by +1
- Some other effect (consult the DM in private or in public)
- A mixture of any of above at weakened levels (consult the DM in private or public)
- Does not cost a move slot. It will be placed on a different set of four moves which you can also access... Though for now, the only one you have is this one Radiant move.
- Start with "Shining" in its title
- Costs 20 stamina, and therefore adds 40 corruption per use.
- Be ANY SINGLE CHOICE from...
- 140 power
- Add 500 to a stat debuff
- Add 250 to a non-powerful (e.g. Toxic) status effect
- Buff a stat by +5
- Buff two stats by +3
- Or, as usual, some other effect
- A mixture of any of the above at weakened levels
- Like before, does not cost a move slot in your normal four, existing moves. This will be a third move in your Blacklight moveset.
Radiant Corruption:
Every time you use a Radiant move, your Radiance will rise. For low-tier Radiant moves, it rises by 20. The following things will happen when you meet or exceed certain amounts of Radiance at the end of your turn:
- 20: You gain the "Radiant" type in addition to your normal types. The Radiant type is double-weak (Super Effective x2) against Shadow moves, and vice versa. It is also Super Effective against all mundane types, but are neutral when receiving damage from mundane types. (Technical note: this corruption is applied after the move is executed, so the first Radiant move you perform will not have stab.)
- 70: Your normal moves become Radiant-type. They will add to your corruption meter equivalent to 2x their stamina costs.
- 100: If you are at a Radiance of 100 or higher at the end of the turn, you will explode. More specifically, you will be forced to perform a self-destruct-like attack as a final action, which sets your HP to 0 and damages any allies who interacted with you on the turn you exploded.
- 120: If, at any point on your turn, you reach or surpass 120 Radiance, all of your actions will be halted and your turn ends. Followed by exploding.
You can also take an action to Focus. This will lower your corruption by 20. You can also use an action to Call an ally, which will lower their corruption by 10. Note, an ally can only gain the benefits of one Call per turn. Additionally, a user can anti-focus and raise their own corruption by 10 each, or 20 for one type of corruption.
Additionally, if your character is at high radiance, I humbly request all of their dialogue be in italics, as if their voice is on reverb/thoughts. This typically happens when they are at 50 Radiance or higher. This is entirely for flavor and doesn't have to be followed too strictly.
And finally... don't think I've forgotten you, Supports.
Choose any one stat from Attack, Defense, Resistance, Magic, or Status to give a +1 to. This will permanently give you a 25% buff in that stat when you're in the Support class. +1 Status will increase the effectiveness of skills such as Hex, Boon, and Heal by 25%, rounding down.
Everything above is free. Simply log your preferences in Official Actions. BE WARNED: THIS CANNOT BE CHANGED once everything is locked in for the round, unless some special circumstance comes along.
Shadows are similar to Radiance in terms of corruption amounts, and they follow the same thresholds. So, when you're thinking about your Shadow Moves, follow the same rules as Radiance would. Additionally, just like Radiance, you become the Shadow type at 20 corruption, and your regular moves become Shadow type at 70 corruption. This corruption level is separate and independent of your Radiance corruption.
Where higher Radiance is considered a lowering of inhibitions and mental filters, Shadow is considered a heightening of negative thoughts and suppressed feelings. Essentially, a Shadow is the part of one's character that they would rather not show to others; these thoughts become amplified.
If you combine both types of corruption, both Shadows and Radiance, you become Blacklight. This is when your negative thoughts or suppressed feelings are amplified, AND your inhibitions and mental filters are down. The haze that manifests from your characters' Shadows is a physical form of these inner thoughts, and are a part of your character in every way. Regular Pokemon cannot see them. They can be as simple as an apparition that manifests during attacks, or as complex as some part of them that lingers when their Shadows are high.
And finally, there is a different penalty for reaching 100 Shadow corruption. If you end the turn at that level, you gain +1 action, but also become an enemy at the same time, and will become hostile toward them. The DM will then decide what attacks your character will do toward the party. If you go above 100 Radiance AND Shadow on the same turn, you will perform Blacklight Meltdown against anybody who interacted with you that turn, in addition to three additional party members. You do not want this.
Now that both Shadows and Radiance has been properly introduced, here is the type chart for how they interact with Shadows, Radiance, Blacklight, and mundane typings:
| Defending > v Attacking | Mundane | Shadow | Radiance | Blacklight |
| Mundane | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral |
| Shadow | Super Effective | Not Very Effective | Ultra Effective | Super Effective |
| Radiance | Super Effective | Ultra Effective | Not Very Effective | Super Effective |
| Blacklight | Ultra Effective | Super Effective | Super Effective | Ultra Effective |
- Copycat and other moves that call other moves cannot copy moves that call other moves. For example, you cannot Copycat Copycat, and Assist cannot resolve into Copycat.
- In Destiny Colosseum, you are able to change around your perks and mundane moveset for free, but only for that fight, and not actual battles at the end of rounds.
- In Destiny Colosseum, when doing PvP, matches can be done between two players, up to three per opposing side. If a side has only 1 combatant, they will get 3x HP, 2x stamina, and +1 action. If a side has 2 combatants, they will get 2x HP. There are no boosts for 3 combatants.
- If you are a returning player after more than 1 round of full inactivity, you can retroactively log activities done during the round absent.
- In addition, you can perform multiple S-rank challenge tiers, if applicable.
- If all three Pledge attacks are used at once, it becomes a Power-200 move that also applies fixed damage to the entire enemy team equivalent to the current HP of the Pledge users combined.
- Triple Target attacks against Horde enemies can do 50% more damage, but can only target the horde unit.
- The Ultra Stone can only be used once per action, i.e. you cannot use the same reusable item (of which the Ultra Stone is the only one) twice in Double Dip. It has to be Ultra Stone + some other item.
- For the purpose of the R12 boss fight, escaping with an ally that was KOed, you can carry allies. You can carry one downed ally of a similar size or smaller than your Ultra Shade without penalty.
If you carry two, you'll have a -1 action penalty. (This is with your own body, not your Ultra Shade. If your Ultra Shade is too small, you immediately have to take this tier penalty.)
If you carry three, you can only perform 0-stamina actions and movement costs your entire turn... and you don't get rest benefits.
Shades are not mechanically strong enough to carry more than one person no matter what. - In the context of Tailwind in zones and then moving zones, Tailwind evaluates on turn-start with Speed and other such effects. Most things that persist into the enemy phase resolve at turn-end. Field effects during the turn are dependent on whether they are in the same zone during the time the action is performed.
- Hordes are not affected by flanking if a horde only occupied some zones but not others.
- Ultimately, roleplaying is optional, and is not required for the rest of Blacklight, such as the challenges and so on.
- There are generally four kinds of scenes to think about, and everyone prefers different kinds.
- Plot scenes. These are scheduled and are announced by the DM (me, Namo) in advance, and typically happen during the “sweet spot” when most players say they’re online, or to the best of my judgement. These scenes typically involve everyone or mostly everyone, and are sometimes written exclusively by me and assuming control of those who allowed it on their signup sheets. Plot scenes include boss walkups, boss defeats, investigating a strange location or event, and so on.
- Group scenes. These are NOT scheduled by me, but are arranged by the players themselves. They have potential to become plot important (all scenes do) but are not intended to be. Examples of group scenes could be a beach party, dinnertime, team training, and so on.
- NPC scenes. These are not scheduled by me, but are run by me and at least one other player. They involve a select number of characters and are usually closed to others unless they ask first. Examples include a private chat with Truffle, spying on other characters, or doing something independent of a group scene.
- Private scenes. Basically group scenes, but between only two or three or few characters. Has the potential to become an NPC scene, has potential to become plot related depending on what they do, but otherwise are often just for characters to interact and bond.
- When I announce an advancement of time, it is typically associated with a small-to-large plot scene. When I do this, it will usually be days in advance, and will request that any scenes taking place at the current in-universe time be wrapped up soon. If things take too long, I may be forced to close it out for consistency’s sake. I’ll be lenient at the start for this, but later on I hope that the rhythm is easier to get used to.
- In general, be respectful of others’ boundaries when having a private scene with them or intruding upon one. Always ask first before entering a private scene. In group scenes, be aware that others may rub you the wrong way or do things unexpected, and that is part of the game.
- Actions have consequences. Accept that certain things that are done may have adverse or unexpected reactions from the world, from NPCs, and other aspects of the story without any planning or prompting from the DM (though I will try to warn you if it’s a bad idea. However, I cannot stop you unless it breaks a rule outright.)
- Do not imply actions from other characters unless the players outright say it’s okay to do. Do not have your player character do anything extreme to another player character without that player’s consent. In general, respect others in the game.
- When possible, ask the DM about unknown or ambiguous aspects of the setting that are relevant to the scene, even if no NPC character is present.
- The DM has special privileges and bypasses for some of the rules above with respect to how the setting and NPC players operate within the world. Refer to rule 5.
- Ultimately, if there is a dispute and in general, the DM has final say.
Over the course of the year, some of the challenges available per round will be for leaving reviews right here on TR. You can review elsewhere, of course, but reviews on TR are the ones that will count toward the Blacklight Eternal Credits, or BLECs.
Each review you do will earn a credit for every chapter that is touched upon, or for however many hundred words it is, rounding down, whichever is less. So for example, if you wrote a 200 word (without quotes) review on one chapter, that's 1 credit. If you wrote a 600 word review for 10 chapters, that's 6 credits. I will also count beta reading a chapter for a fellow author with some form of proof from the author (a screenshot, for example) as a flat 2 credits.
Additionally, for all new content you publish for stories on Thousand Roads (that isn't just crossposted from previously published material) you will get +1 credit for every 1000 words written!
As an example, say you have a story published somewhere else that's 10 chapters long, but it's only at chapter 3 here. You cannot claim points for publishing chapter 4 here, but you can claim credits for publishing chapter 11 elsewhere, since Thousand Roads will be caught up later anyway.
Also note that during some rounds, particularly the "big" boss fights, reviews and so on will be worth more credits than usual!
Note that I'm also looking for volunteers to assist with these prizes. Reviews done as part of volunteering will be worth extra credits, and volunteers for the more unique prizes will have similarly higher compensation depending on the tier.
The prizes are...
1 credit: Unlock a special item for Front Line players (and technically Support) starting in round 2 (+10 points as well if you're Ethereal)
10 credits: 1 review
20 credits: 1 Voucher (used for a single free purchase that would otherwise have costed points -- very worthwhile if you wait for something particularly expensive.) For Ethereal players, this is instead a raw +100 points.
30 credits: 1 review
40 credits: Character interview!
50 credits: Choice between a sprite companion (like the one you see under my avatar of this very post) or another review.
70 credits: 1 Voucher
90 credits: 3 reviews!
100 credits: The title/profile badge of "Blacklight Warrior."
110 credits: Fan-fanfiction! A drabble from a volunteer based on the writer's request!
130 credits: 1 Voucher
150 credits: Art prize! (Or, alternatively, one of Persephone's Alola Dex / World Myth Encyclopedia entries.)
170 credits: Author interview!
200 credits: The title/profile badge of "Blacklight Superstar."
Each review you do will earn a credit for every chapter that is touched upon, or for however many hundred words it is, rounding down, whichever is less. So for example, if you wrote a 200 word (without quotes) review on one chapter, that's 1 credit. If you wrote a 600 word review for 10 chapters, that's 6 credits. I will also count beta reading a chapter for a fellow author with some form of proof from the author (a screenshot, for example) as a flat 2 credits.
Additionally, for all new content you publish for stories on Thousand Roads (that isn't just crossposted from previously published material) you will get +1 credit for every 1000 words written!
As an example, say you have a story published somewhere else that's 10 chapters long, but it's only at chapter 3 here. You cannot claim points for publishing chapter 4 here, but you can claim credits for publishing chapter 11 elsewhere, since Thousand Roads will be caught up later anyway.
Also note that during some rounds, particularly the "big" boss fights, reviews and so on will be worth more credits than usual!
Note that I'm also looking for volunteers to assist with these prizes. Reviews done as part of volunteering will be worth extra credits, and volunteers for the more unique prizes will have similarly higher compensation depending on the tier.
The prizes are...
1 credit: Unlock a special item for Front Line players (and technically Support) starting in round 2 (+10 points as well if you're Ethereal)
10 credits: 1 review
20 credits: 1 Voucher (used for a single free purchase that would otherwise have costed points -- very worthwhile if you wait for something particularly expensive.) For Ethereal players, this is instead a raw +100 points.
30 credits: 1 review
40 credits: Character interview!
50 credits: Choice between a sprite companion (like the one you see under my avatar of this very post) or another review.
70 credits: 1 Voucher
90 credits: 3 reviews!
100 credits: The title/profile badge of "Blacklight Warrior."
110 credits: Fan-fanfiction! A drabble from a volunteer based on the writer's request!
130 credits: 1 Voucher
150 credits: Art prize! (Or, alternatively, one of Persephone's Alola Dex / World Myth Encyclopedia entries.)
170 credits: Author interview!
200 credits: The title/profile badge of "Blacklight Superstar."
Last edited: