While much of the focus in Spirit Pulse is on more traditional battles against singularly powerful opponents, there may be rare times where the combat scenario becomes akin to an army skirmish, in which case, the more standard free-formish rules will deviate slightly from their normal routes, to clarify:
-Explanation 1: Hero Units and Soldier Units
In this RP, hero (boss) units are those who have reached a certain level of strength; enough so that no single average opponent could hope to defeat them on their own, although some heroes will certainly be far stronger than others. The PCs themselves are considered to be Hero Units, and other examples of such beings are powerful demons (such as Belial), ESPers, and Spirit Tamers or Demon Summoners.
Soldier Units on the other hand are weaker, and tend to only offer true resistance against Heroes in larger groups. Such beings include weaker robots (such as those present in this update), or low-ranking demons. They are easily defeated by hero-class opponents, and their stat system is considered to be of a lower class than that of heroes (their C rank is different than a hero's C rank) but when supporting those stronger than them effectively can easily tip the scales of a battle in favor of their side, and may have special abilities of their own that better enable them to battle those stronger than them, such as being difficult to sense for those with a low Sense Ranking, or being immune to physical attacks.
Explanation 2: Free Finish
The Free Finish mechanic refers to the act of a hero unit attacking soldier units without someone strong enough to oppose them being present, and enables a player to attack and potentially defeat a certain number of them a turn, depending on their stats and abilities.
Typically, there are two different methods to do this, each with their own pros and cons:
Blitz: For every rank of AGI possessed by the character, they can make one normal attack on a Soldier-type opponent. If that attack value surpasses the opponent's durability, they are considered to be defeated and can be dealt with inside of a player's post; if it does not, the player can use another of their 'attacks' on them again until they reach the necessary value, although even the strongest of Soldiers will typically go down in two 'attacks' barring special abilities. For instance, if a robots had a C Rank in VIT, a Tamer with D Rank STR would have to use two of their 'attacks' to defeat them in that turn through this method. If a character's normal attack is being modified through a spell to the point where they would do indirect damage to others (shock-waves, fire aura, etc) those defeats (if any) will be decided upon the GM, and will be dependent on the current narrative scenario.
When blitzing opponents, one cannot also use AoE magic, due to the focus needed from both User and AI to succeed on a crowded battlefield; however, reinforcement type magic is viable. If an opposing enemy hero is present, and isn't being attacked by another hero this method can't be used (as there's a possibility they'll interrupt you somehow).
Bombardment: Utilize magic spells to defeat opponents. AoE style magics are typically considered to be able to target every opponent within one's harmonizer field; as a result, they are normally used as an attack on all opponents at once, including enemy heroes. However, their destruction cannot be confirmed in a player's post like Blitz, as the sheer range such spells grant also make them somewhat more inaccurate when it comes to actually striking their targets, so their results may vary depending on a number of factors, such as player positioning, the nature of the attack used, and the defensive aspects of the opponent.
Typically, the chaos of battle allows for such spell a turn; but if the player can make a reasonable argument for it (the approaching enemies are far away, someone is defending you, etc) you might be allowed to do more without being slapped by the GM for it.
Enemies that remain standing after a free finish phase will serve as narrative penalties against a player, and some might be capable of circumventing defenses that one has put up, such as shattering any barriers you might have cast, although even then they are typically too weak to actually defeat a hero by themselves without overwhelming numbers, which leads us to the next topic.
Explanation 3: Hero's Guard
When a hero-tier character appears on the battlefield for the enemy side, the battle will go back to the more free-form rules as opposed to the free finish ones, with the presence of soldiers serving as narrative bonuses or penalties dependent on their affiliation, and whether or not the involved characters have perks that allow them to better handle being attacked by a group. With an enemy hero present, getting rid of soldiers becomes more complicated and less certain, as your opposite number will be given an opportunity to react to your actions. In that case, it might be wise to use attacks that they would have a hard time defending others against, perhaps send out a familiar in an attempt to lessen the enemy's supporters? Manipulate the environment in some way? Or even simply hold out until other 'heroes' from your side (hopefully) arrive?
Other times, it might be a good idea to simply try to defeat them head on...
Finally...
Explanation 4: Harmonizer Effects
With Tamer's specifically, Applicable Harmonizer Bonuses/Penalties (if applicable to team mates/opponents) will affect all those in the same area tag (such as SLEIPNIR ~ Flight Deck (North) ect, as themselves.
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Originally Posted by Airen
