MASTERY OF THE ARTS

[Crusher]

CLAN STATS

WARRIORS

ATTACK: 12

DEFENSE: 8

SPEED: 5

SKILL: 5

HP: 51/51

 

MAGES

ATTACK: 11

DEFENSE: 5

SPEED: 7

SKILL: 10

HP: 45/45

 

Please see Post 1 for individual player stats. Anyone with points can use those to buy +1 in any stat. The points work 1 point to +1 and can be used on any stat. All points must be spent before the skills are revealed to make it fair.

 

PLAYERS THAT HAVE SPENT THEIR POINTS SO FAR:

 

-> Everone except Shattered_Ribbon

=Cameron=

[Xepha]

You better PM the few people who aren't online everyday, Cameron ;p

 

I can't wait for the action to start!

[Meeptroid]

Nice, my stats seem pretty awesome so far. :)

This contest shall be great!

[Crusher]

Yay, finally someone posted!! Thanks for the compliment, I'll be sending out a mailer soon.

 

=Cameron=

[Loc]

Klik-Nas will rule the kingdom. Fear me!!

[Crusher]

Strategos has spent his points. The sooner you guys spend up, the sooner we get rolling. *hides from Loc*

 

=Cameron=

[Revenge]

How does one spend these points? Is there anyone I can tell? You maybe? Just to make sure.

[DOOM Bringer]

Uh we (you, me and everybody but the four remaining people who do have points) don't have points to spend at the moment. The people that do have them, have them either because they were part of the first Wildlife or they recruited someone to sign up. At least that's how I think the system works (if I'm wrong AA/Cam feel free to embarrass me)

[hamlads1]

I'll spend my point on hp so it will look like this

 

 

MAGES

ATTACK: 11

DEFENSE: 5

SPEED: 7

SKILL: 10

HP: 46/46 ^_^

[laura_4eva_]

Yay! I'm glad it has started! *Prays to be able to understand things that happen!* :P

[Crusher]

Nope, that's right Tom *nods*. 2 points for being part of Wildlife and 1 point for each person you referred.

 

@Hamlads -> Done!

@Laura -> We're making a tutorial now, hopefully it will help :).

 

=Cameron=

[Boomer]

If i'm not to late i will use one of my points on attack and the other on HP.( Sorry i don't get here much but i'm gonna try to :))

[Guest Levy]

Am I clear that all info will be PMed to me? I don't pay much attention to this topic, so if something starts and I am not PMed, I might not know about it.

[Xepha]

My advice to people who aren't often around is to subscribe to this thread :P

 

 

Which will bring this screen on:

 

Then you can mess with some properties here:

http://www.tdnforums.com/index.php?act=UserCP&CODE=02

[Guest Levy]

If I subscribe then I will be getting emails constantly. I hate that. If we subscribe we will be getting notifications each time someone makes a post. I need info, not random chit-chat. The only reason I am posting here now is because this is the only topic with a post in it that I am remotely interested in at the moment.

[Xepha]

Yep, you will get email constantly... unless you pick the daily or weekly digest. But I still find it handy for similar topics. I've set one for Ellie's contest and it's working fine. (I should answer her last question... but meh!)

 

MoTA should start soon, anyway! And I'm sure Cameron will continue to PM everybody (or if he doesn't, I'll remind him or I could poke you on msn too ;p)

[Guest Levy]

Thank you V, now I'm bored. <_<

[Crusher]

@Boomer -> It's okay! You're still fine for time. Points updated :).

@Xepha -> Thankies for the screenies, I'm sure they'll be helpful to people.

@Levy -> Everyone will be PMed whenever they need to do something.

 

=Cameron=

[laura_4eva_]

Yay! :laughingsmiley: Tutorials are my passion! To be honest, they really help me a lot! :yes:

[antiaircraft]

Well I'm glad to inform everybody that the tutorial is finally finished! Now, it might look a bit long, but there are three major reasons why you should read it:

 

1. It's not actually as long as it looks.

2. It will (hopefully) stop you from getting confused later.

3. I stayed up until 5am making it.

 

Well anyway, here it is:

 

Mastery of The Arts - Tutorial

 

Welcome to the MoTA tutorial, a basic guide that will introduce you to the various aspects of the contest that you will need to know. First up:

 

Introduction: what is MoTA?

 

Mastery of The Arts is a role-playing game run jointly by AA, Cameron, and AA3. There will be various objectives throughout the game, revolving around battles where various teams will clash and pit their skills in warfare against each other. Good team communication and coordination are essential for victory, so do not neglect your alliances.

 

The grid

 

The battles in MoTA will be set out on a grid like the one shown below, with each player or NPC being marked by an icon on the grid. The icon will be determined by the character's class, and the character's name and stats will be shown in a box beside them. Each row will be represented by a letter, and each column will be represented by a number, so each square on the grid will have a 'name' (like 'C5', where Bob is) which you can use to refer to it.

 

 

Turns

 

The battles in the game will be turn-based, but everybody will get to carry out their action at the same time. There are two kinds of actions you can take: you can either move or use skills. The turns in the game will alternate between turns where you can move and turns where you can use skills, i.e. move turns and attack turns.

 

Moving and the 'speed' stat

 

The first move of every battle will be a move turn. During this turn, the characters can move to a different square. The distance you can move is determined by your 'speed' stat. For each speed point you have, you can move 1 square up/down/left/right. I've placed markers on the grid to show the different squares Bob and Wolf 1 can move to, based on their speed (green for Bob, blue for Wolf 1).

 

 

Once all the characters have decided where to move, then a new map will be made showing their new positions. A trail will show the squares they have moved through, for the sake of everybody's sanity. It appears that Bob has moved to get a closer look at the wolves, and that the two wolves have moved to attack him.

 

 

Note: You cannot move through a square that is already occupied by another character, even if that character moves in the same turn. You must move around them. This is to reduce confusing situations.

 

Another note: If two or more characters somehow end up moving to the same square, the characters that sent in their moves later will be informed and will have to pick different squares. The first person to get to the square gets to keep it. :P

 

Attack turns

 

So, after the movement turn, there will be, of course, an attack turn. Now, Bob, being a very nice and moral person, has decided not to attack the wolves - or maybe it's just that he doesn't have a skill with the range to hit them... But the wolves have no such inhibitions, and they are using one of their attack skills to attack Bob. The range of a skill works in the same way as the distance you can move: for each range point, the skill can target one square up/down/left/right. I've placed red markers to show the squares which Wolf 2 can target with its skill (the wolves' skill has a range of 2).

 

 

Note: Unlike your move distance, a skill's attack range is not affected by obstacles.

 

So now, both wolves attack Bob. The attack value of their skill, 'Maul', is equal to 1.5 times their attack (which is 15), and Bob's defence is 10. So 15 - 10 = 5, therefore each attack with 'Maul' will take away 5 of Bob's HP. But each of the wolves didn't just use 'Maul' once - you can use multiple skills on multiple targets in MoTA!

 

This is where the 'skill' stat comes in: think of it as a pool of energy that regenerates with every attack turn. Every skill will require a certain amount of skill points each time you use it. In this instance, 'Maul' requires 2 skill points per use, and each wolf has 4 skill points, so they can use 'Maul' twice per attack turn. That means Bob is mauled 4 times!

 

 

Note: The graphic for a skill will generally go straight from the user to the target, since zigzagging skills just look weird.

 

Note 2: The number of exclamation marks following a skill's name in the graphic shows the number of times the skill is used. Clever eh? ;)

 

Note 3: If any decimal results are produced by our calculations, they will be rounded to the nearest whole number.

 

You can see that Bob's HP has now been adjusted, and a red '-20' beside his HP shows the overall change to it.

 

Special skill effects

 

There are some special skills that can have temporary effects on the stats of their targets. Bob, who is now very mad at being attacked, is about to use one of those skills.

 

 

It seems that the wolves have decided not to move, while Bob is moving in closer so that he can properly bring the power of his skills into play.

 

 

Once again, both wolves have attempted to maul Bob, but this time he was prepared. Using his (extremely lame, I know) skill called 'Vitamin Boost', he has gained an additional 20 attack points and 10 defence points for 3 attack turns. Impressive skill isn't it (even if it takes up all of Bob's 5 skill points for this turn)?

 

You can see the temporary effects on Bob's stats in brackets beside his original stats. For his attack, the brackets contain '+20 [2]'. This shows that his attack has been increased by 20 points ('+20') and that the effect will last for 2 more attack turns ('[2]').

 

Note: The skill's stat boosts last for 3 attack turns, but because the skill comes into affect immediately, the current attack turn is not counted in the square brackets (so it is shown as '[2]' instead of '[3]').

 

Yet another note: For attack, defence, and skill (the stats that are important during attack turns), the number in square brackets indicates how many more attack turns the effect will last, but for speed (which is only important during move turns), the number in square brackets indicates how many more move turns the effect will last.

 

Now, remember how the total attack value of the wolves' skill, 'Maul' was 1.5 times their attack stat (15)? But with the additional boost of 10 defence points, Bob's total defence is now 20, which is 5 points more than the attack value of 'Maul'. This means that the wolves cannot damage Bob at all with their skill for 3 entire attack turns!

 

The special effect skills you will obtain in MoTA probably won't be as powerful as Bob's skill for a while, but they will still be very useful. Additionally, there will be skills that do the opposite of 'Vitamin Boost' - you might be able to temporarily reduce the stats of your enemies.

 

Splash

 

For those who don't know, the term 'splash' is generally used to refer to skills that can affect more than one target at a time. One of the classes in MoTA will rely almost completely on these, and you will almost certainly encounter several of them in the game.

 

 

The two wolves took the hint and and tried to run away, but they made the mistake of running in the same direction - and Bob guessed the direction they would run in correctly. There's no stopping Bob now, with his awesome skill 'Bobbinator' (range: 1, damage done: attack * 1, skill needed: 5, splash: all enemies within 2 squares). While he will only be able to use the skill once in this turn, it has a splash range of two squares, meaning that if he targets wolf 1 with the skill, all enemies in the squares I have marked in yellow will be affected.

 

 

The damage multiplier for 'Bobbinator' is only one, but that's still quite a bit considering that Bob has 20 attack points. Add that to the 20 extra points he's getting from his skill, and that's a huge punch. In one attack turn, Bob will be able to send 40 attack points at each of the wolves! And they only have a measly defence of 5.

 

 

Well would you look at that - both wolves out for the count. Bob is victorious! XD

 

Dying

 

If your HP goes to zero in a battle, then you are knocked out of combat. Your icon will be grayed out (like the icons of the two wolves in the above picture) and removed from the battle in the following move. However, even if you lose all your HP, you are not only knocked out - not necessarily dead and out of the game.

 

In each battle, there will be a certain 'chance of survival'. This is the chance of your life being saved by your team's medics if you are knocked out. At the end of a battle everybody who has been knocked out will be run through our randomiser, which will get to decide who lives and who dies (no worries, it's completely neutral). The chance of survival will decrease gradually from battle to battle, so while being knocked out in the earlier battles is not so bad, it will be much more serious later. However, if you're knocked out during a battle, you can't come back and help your team until the next battle, so don't take your HP lightly.

 

If you are unlucky enough to have death pronounced on you by our randomiser, then tough luck. It's not exactly easy to come back from the dead... we will be issuing consolation prizes however, so remember to check your PM inbox afterwards.

 

Puzzles: locks, keys, codes and riddles

 

Every now and again, a puzzle will turn up, tied to the main storyline in some way or other. This will basically consist of a question of some sort which one or teams will have to answer (we might pit the teams against each other to see who is the fastest). Feel free to work with your team-mates to try and come up with a solution.

 

Mastery points

 

At the end of each battle, mastery points will be awarded to each character. These are the MoTA equivalent of experience points in other RPGs, and they can be spent immediately to increase the power of your character.

 

I won't give away the exact formula we will use to calculate how many mastery points you receive, but I can tell you that it's partially based the number of kills you have made.

 

Mastery points can be used to buy more maximum HP, attack, defence, speed or skill. Alternatively, you can use a mastery point to increase the level of one of your skills, thus making it more powerful. One mastery point is required to raise a skill by one level.

 

Note: Each skill only has 3 levels.

 

If your attack/defence/speed/skill is less than 20, 1 mastery point will be needed to raise the stat by 1. As the value of the stat gets higher, more mastery points will be needed to increase it. If the value of the stat is 20-29, 2 mastery points will be needed for each stat point. From 30-39, 3 mastery points will be needed per stat point; from 40-49, 4 mastery points, and so on.

 

The same goes for maximum HP, except that the values are different. From 0-60 max HP, 1 mastery point will be needed per stat point. From 60-90 max HP, 2 mastery points; from 90-120, 3 mastery points, etc.

 

Forms

 

To make things easier for everybody involved, a set of forms have been generated through which you can send in what move you want your character to make, how you want to distribute your newly earned mastery points, etc. Remember to PM these forms to 'Kittenmaster Toogood' (Cameron). A turn will end once everybody has decided on their actions.

 

Note: There is a one week cut-off date for each turn. If you do not send in your actions within one week, it will be assumed that you have decided to do nothing. However, if you really decide to do nothing for a turn, it would be helpful if you sent a PM saying so.

 

Move turns

 

Character name: Please put the name of your character here, for the sake of our sanity.

Square: The position of the square you want to move to (e.g. 'D6').

Skill: If you want to use any skills that can only be activated on move turns, then name them here.

 

Attack turns

 

Character name: Please put the name of your character here, for the sake of our sanity.

Skill: Name the skill you wish to use.

Target: Put the square you are targeting here (e.g. if you are attacking an enemy in the square 'D8', then type 'D8' here).

[put more 'Skill' and 'Target' lines if you want to use more than one skill]

 

Note: If you want to use the same skill on the same target more than once, you can just put a 'X2' or 'X3', etc. in brackets in the 'Target' line.

 

Mastery points

 

Character name: Please put the name of your character here, for the sake of our sanity.

Stat/skill: Name the stat or skill you wish to spend your mastery point(s) on.

# of points: How many mastery points will you spend on this stat/skill?

[repeat the 'Stat/skill' and '# of points' lines if you want to increase more than one stat/skill]

 

Whenever your character needs to do something, you can just fill in one of these forms and PM it to Cameron. :D

 

Note: Puzzles will come in many different shapes and sizes, so we can't make a form for them.

 

Conclusion

 

Well that's the end of the tutorial. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask AA or Cameron (you can just make a post on the MoTA topic or PM us). Enjoy the game!

[DOOM Bringer]

That's not long?!?!?! That post is even longer than the first post of the DOOM thread. Still, great work guys and lets hope this competition is a good one.

 

PLEASE NOTE: I haven't actually read it... yet (this will be crossed out when I do read it, I am just starting now. *takes a deep breath for some reason and starts reading*)

 

It was very helpful and I completely understand how to play now, its a great tutorial. You're right though, it wasn't that long, I finished reading it surprising quickly (and then forgot to update this post lol). Anyway, Cameron is going to get a LOT of PMs when this starts, is he going to keep them all during this competition or will he delete them (for space issues most likely?)

[antiaircraft]

Eh, all right, it's long for a post. But not for a tutorial. :yes: Well, probably not THAT long...

[Parshy]

Do i spend my points here or in a PM?

[Xepha]

Very good tutorial AA.

Seems like a lot of work for you and Cameron to do :O

[antiaircraft]

@Aang: A PM will do fine. :)

@Xepha: It is a lot of work, but it's fun!

@Tom: We'll probably take all the PM's and put them in a log of some sort before deleting them.

 

Thanks for the compliments by the way. :D