Hide in Shadows briefly/Limited transform in battle ability using MP & Condition as timer. (*note: Skip past the script and read what it does and all afterwards before doing this to see if it suits you). Greetings, this Idea was based on Electronic Arts "The Bard's Tale I,II,III" thief where a thief would hide in shadows and get a shot at critically hitting an opponent (killing him) and emerge inmediately. (what!, you weren't born back then? Fine,go back to playing FF 20 or something). It uses the standard battle system because it is what we've got so it is more practical to setup than many of the Spiffier systems. You can just set up one Mparty group with this script, make many copies, change the monsters in each and it should work fine. No need for making new switches or variables for each individual encounter. ~First off -Go to Database, Hero -Create a Char (named Dala in my case, a thief) at any level, no MP -Create 5 more Chars for this example [ Dala(Shdw)10/ Dala(Shdw)20 / Dala(Shdw)30/ Dala(Shdw)40/Dala(Shdw)50 ] at level = to # (set max level to this level also), MP are a must. For best effects Set Certain Kill Prob to 1(best), boost up the Curve of Abilities and set Condition Effect to a higher letter (E>A). We'll be transforming an ordinary thief into a super thief of up to 10 levels higher than the original level. For 1 round of thievery anyway. ~Next -Go to Database, Conditions -Create a condition named Cloaked: Classification (Combat Effect), Action Limitation (Restriction), Cure Method (0 on all), Decrease MP per battle turn (100% + 0). 0 on all else (Didn't mess with Plaque Rate). ~Also -Go to Database, Skills -Make a skill called Shadow, Class(Switch), MP 0, Battle(only), Sound Effect (any, Fog1 in mine), ON Switch(shadow hide). Using Message(any): Slips into the Shadows. Note :(in other cases, this can also be done with an item, as seen in the Transform Tutorial by AyaBrea). ~btw -Go to Database, Hero -Assign the Shadow skill to your basic character (Dala, at level 1). ~Then -Go to Database, Mparty and choose a group to modify -On page 1 of the Battle Events Box do the following: Page1 *Trigger: Switch [shadow hide] ON *Change Switch: [emerge] OFF Set *Variable Op: [dala lvs] Set, Dala Level *Variable Op: [mock hp] Set, 999 *Variable Op: [dala lvs] Div , 10 --rpgm2k rounds down-- ---note below: in Battle Events, Fork Optn is not a Fork, but rather an Event Pending a Requisite in order to take place. You cannot use it to exclude events like a normal fork. (if yes then A ; if no then NO A. Think of it as a Series circuit)--- *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 1 Small than .*Change Heroes Party: Dala -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)10 -> Add .*HP Change: Dala(Shdw)10 HP to Var[mock hp] Decrem .*Variable OP: [dala hp] - , 1 ---minus 1--- .*Hp Change: Dala(Shdw)10 HP to Var[dala hp]Recovery .*MP Change: Dala(Shdw)10 MP to 999 Recovery --imp!-- .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)10 -> cloaked Condition .* :End Case *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 1 .*Change Heroes Party: Dala -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)20 -> Add .*HP Change: Dala(Shdw)20 HP to Var[mock hp] Decrem .*Variable OP: [dala hp] - , 1 .*Hp Change: Dala(Shdw)20 HP to Var[dala hp] Recovery .*MP Change: Dala(Shdw)20 MP to 999 Recovery .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)20 -> cloaked Condition .* :End Case *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 2 .*Change Heroes Party: Dala -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)30 -> Add .*HP Change: Dala(Shdw)30 HP to Var[mock hp] Decrem .*Variable OP: [dala hp] - , 1 .*Hp Change: Dala(Shdw)30 HP to Var[dala hp] Recovery .*MP Change: Dala(Shdw)30 MP to 999 Recovery .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)30 -> cloaked Condition .* :End Case *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 3 .*Change Heroes Party: Dala -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)40 -> Add .*HP Change: Dala(Shdw)40 HP to Var[mock hp] Decrem .*Variable OP: [dala hp] - , 1 .*Hp Change: Dala(Shdw)40 HP to Var[dala hp] Recovery .*MP Change: Dala(Shdw)40 MP to 999 Recovery .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)40 -> cloaked Condition .* :End Case *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 3 Large than .*Change Heroes Party: Dala -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)50 -> Add .*HP Change: Dala(Shdw)50 HP to Var[mock hp] Decrem .*Variable OP: [dala hp] - , 1 .*Hp Change: Dala(Shdw)50 HP to Var[dala hp] Recovery .*MP Change: Dala(Shdw)50 MP to 999 Recovery .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)50 -> cloaked Condition .* :End Case *Change Switch: [hidden] ON *Change Switch: [emerge] ON * -Click on New Page on the Battle Events box and press Tab 2 Page2 *Trigger: Switch [emerge] ON *Change Switch: [shadow hide] OFF *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 1 Small than .*Variable OP: [mock mp] Set to Dala(Shdw)10 MP .*Variable OP: [mock hp] Set to Dala(Shdw)10 HP .* :End Case *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 1 .*Variable OP: [mock mp] Set to Dala(Shdw)20 MP .*Variable OP: [mock hp] Set to Dala(Shdw)20 HP .* :End Case *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 2 .*Variable OP: [mock mp] Set to Dala(Shdw)30 MP .*Variable OP: [mock hp] Set to Dala(Shdw)30 HP .* :End Case *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 3 .*Variable OP: [mock mp] Set to Dala(Shdw)40 MP .*Variable OP: [mock hp] Set to Dala(Shdw)40 HP .* :End Case *Fork Optn: Varbl[dala lvs] 3 Large than .*Variable OP: [mock mp] Set to Dala(Shdw)50 MP .*Variable OP: [mock hp] Set to Dala(Shdw)50 HP .* :End Case *Fork Optn: Varbl[mock mp] 0 .*Change Switch: [emerge] OFF .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)10 cloaked Cancel .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)20 cloaked Cancel .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)30 cloaked Cancel .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)40 cloaked Cancel .*Condition: Dala(Shdw)50 cloaked Cancel .*Fork Optn: Switch [hidden] ON ---update!--- ..*Message: Dala emerges ..* .:End Case .*Change Switch: [hidden] OFF .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)10 -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)20 -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)30 -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)40 -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)50 -> Remv .*Change Heroes Party: Dala -> Add .*HP Change: Dala HP to 999 Decrem .*Variable OP: [mock hp] -, 1 .*HP Change: Dala HP to Var[mock hp] Recovery :End Case * ~Finally! -Go to Database, Common Events ---major update in this section--- -Make an Event called Uncloak: Event Start(Parallel Process), Appearance of Conditions (*Switch: [hidden], mark it). -Click on Event Commands box *Set Message Options (anything, not essential). *Message(any): Dala emerges from the Shadows *Change Switch: [hidden] OFF --note below: Fork Optn are true forks here and can be used for exclusion of events (if yes then A ; if no then B. Think of it as a Parallel circuit).--- *Fork Optn: Dala(Shdw)10 Party Members .*Variable Op: [dala10xp] Set, Dala(Shdw)10 EXP .*Variable Op: [dala10xp] - , 1942 --minus 1942--- .*Variable Op: [mock hp] Set, Dala(Shdw)10 HP .*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)10 -> Remove .* :Excepting Case .*Fork Optn: Dala(Shdw)20 Party Members ..*Variable Op: [dala20xp] Set, Dala(Shdow)20 EXP ..*Variable Op: [dala20xp] - , 13552 ..*Variable Op: [mock hp] Set, Dala(Shdw)20 HP ..*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)20 -> Remove ..* .:Excepting Case ..*Fork Optn: Dala(Shdw)30 Party Members :*Variable OP: [dala30xp] Set, Dala(Shdw)30 EXP :*Variable Op: [dala30xp] - , 47450 :*Variable Op: [mock hp] Set, Dala(Shdw)30 HP :*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)30 -> Remove :* ..:Excepting Case :*Fork Optn: Dala(Shdw)40 Party Members :.*Variable Op: [dala40xp] Set, Dala(Shdw)40 EXP :.*Variable Op: [dala40xp] - , 152074 :.*Variable Op: [mock hp] Set, Dala(Shdw)40 HP :.*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)40 -> Remove :.* ::Excepting Case :.*Fork Optn: Dala(Shdw)50 Party Members :..*Variable Op: [dala50xp] Set, Dala(Shdw)50 EXP :..*Variable Op: [dala50xp] - , 573344 :..*Variable Op: [mock hp] Set, Dala(Shdw)50 HP :..*Change Heroes Party: Dala(Shdw)50 -> Remove ..:* :.:Excepting Case ..:* :.:End Case :.* ...:End Case :* ..:End Case ..* .:End Case .* :End Case *Change Heroes Party: Dala -> Add *Fork Optn: Dala Level 40 Over .*Change EXP: Dala EXP to Varbl[dalaxp50] Incr. .* :Excepting Case .*Fork Optn: Dala Level 30 Over ..*Change EXP: Dala EXP to Varbl[dalaxp40] Incr. ..* .:Excepting Case ..*Fork Optn: Dala Level 20 Over :*Change EXP: Dala EXP to Varbl[dalaxp30] Incr. :* ..:Excepting Case :*Fork Optn: Dala Level 10 Over :.*Change EXP: Dala EXP to Varbl[dalaxp20] Incr. :.* ::Excepting Case :.*Fork Optn: Dala Level 1 Over :..*Change EXP: Dala EXP to Varbl[dalaxp10] Incr. :..* :.:Excepting Case :..* :.:End Case :.* ::End Case :* ..:End Case ..* .:End Case .* :End Case *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)10 EXP to 999999 Decrem *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)10 EXP to 1942 Incr. *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)20 EXP to 999999 Decrem *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)20 EXP to 13552 Incr. *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)30 EXP to 999999 Decrem *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)30 EXP to 47450 Incr. *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)40 EXP to 999999 Decrem *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)40 EXP to 152074 Incr. *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)50 EXP to 999999 Decrem *Change EXP: Dala(Shdw)50 EXP to 573344 Incr. *HP Change: Dala HP to 999 Decrem *Variable OP: [mock hp] -, 1 *Change HP: Dala HP to Var[mock hp] Recovery * ----------That's it, so wazzit do? It allows a thief to hide in shadows (transform) the first round by casting the Shadow spell. It takes place the moment the thief casts the spell. Monsters may still swing at you (they attack character positions, not names it seems) but are better protected if already hidden. On the second round you have MP but are afflicted by Cloak. You may use any normal options (with Certain Kill Prob at 1, Clobber them for mega damage). You are still vulnerable to attack but better protected in shadow. You have 0MP now but the switch will take place at the beginning of next round where you emerge inmediately. Note no character action taken by the thief (fight/ magic/ item/Def) will be carried out because the switch is inmedate so the action is not carried over to the new character. Also, you are vulnerable to attack with no "protection" bonus (you've been discovred, so monster gets a regular swing at your original self and you can't retaliate). However, you can Choose the RUN option and hopefully run away before emerging on the third round. The code is made so that you can cloak in and emerge as often as necessary in battle and HP will be transferred correctly. Whenever you emerge in battle, the computer recalls the original character the way it entered battle with the same items but we modify the HP. If you finish battle or run away cloaked, the Uncloak Common Event will unmask you inmediately with proper HP and XP (updated, see below). Btw, conditions that alter Char MP may alter the cloaking, so set all ether's to not affect cloaked characters. Also, add Immunity (E) to MP Draining conditions. Suggestions/uses: - mix the Steal code in but give the steal skill/item (either from RPG Advocate's forum suggestion or Seith's new tutorial) to the thief only when cloaked (makes a lot more sense than walking up to an orc grabbing his money pouch in broad daylight). Note, the run away (or steal) before emerging from shadows makes a lot more since too (hit & run). Especially if you're playing a single character scenario like Locke's. - Dragoon Kain Leaps into the Sky, Laying the Smack on his opponent on Round 2 but Recovering strength on Round 3 before going Airborne again! (Kain used no MP btw :) - Increase the Shadow time by decreasing the %mp/#mp lost in cloaked or increasing the character's resistance to the condition. (a higher level thief is less likely to be uncovered). - Rather than making the character inmune to ether, incorporate it. Scenario: you are a bard who can only sing while Drunk (condition!) but because of years of drinking, sober up every other round. Thus your buddies, (other party member) must feed you ale(ether!) while you sing(a tech?) in order to defeat your nemesis, the evil Spellsong! But as your levels advance, you can sing longer without resorting to alcohol :) - Anything requiring battle timing based on character (not round) may be used here, provided the Hero does not rely on MP like a Wizard/Priest. - Remove the Cloaked condition and all it's switches/vars/events, make an uncloack item/spell and used this to make characters with advanced transformation capabilities. (note, I tried everything to switch items from Char A to Char B but it was fruitless, that Change Equipment by Variable in battle did'nt do it for me). - Give the attack a cool animation for dramatic effect! -----------------Appendix------------------------ *Database Concepts (Criticals) -in the Hero & Mparty sections Certain Kill Probability is an inverse number (1/#) so the smaller the # the greater the chance of a critical hit. (set your heroe's # to 1 and watch him clobber those baddies ; set the enemy # to 1 and watch him slaughter your hero!). -in the item section, Rise Kill Prob is a whole number, so the greater the number the higher the chance of a Critical. -There seems to be a slight cummultative effect when combining Character Certain Kill with a Rise Kill Prob weapon (test: set at 1 & 100 respectively in a 25 level char with 50 attack barehanded with a 50 attack sword (total attack 100) fighting 2 lizardmen: a) with critical weapon only damage ranged from 97 - 133 b)with Character critical damage ranged from 93 - 133 c) with critical weapon and character damage ranged from 99 - 137 with a typical damage of 122 (higher than the other categories). *Battle Events Concepts (few): -You cannot Set an event to Kill an enemy Inmediately (the Change HP option may decrease up to 999 HP on an enemy or Hero alike. But it will always reduce it to a minimum of 1 HP). That is why I can't make Death Spells/Deadly Backstab with a Change HP, Switch spell (you could use it for a weakness spell however, but the drawback is that you could not target it individually, it would be preset to a certain monster (Monster1, etc. your choice). In the above code you'll see I reduce the (Sdw)Heroe's HP by 999 (down to 1 minimum, assuming your hero doesn,t have > 999 hp) and we correct it by adding the original hero's HP -1. Update(old): You actually can make a inmediate kill spell by making a switch spell that triggers a Change Enemy State (or Change Condition) to Normal (instant) or making a spell that casts the Normal condition (resist as per Normal setting). -For dramatic effects you can "Kill" a hero by permanently removing it from the party (Remove Hero Option but don't replace). Setup a Message (Demon Casts a Spell, Alex is Pulverized!). Maybe he was just banished to another dimension and you can rescue him later. -Trigger: set to Turn number #X + ? # Turn. If you set the first number to 3 (and leave the 2nd to 0) the event will take place on every 3rd round. If you set the first to 0 and the second to 3 then the event will take place on round 3 only but not afterwards. If you assign numbers to both, in my experience the 2nd number takes priority over the first (so it occurs only on the 3rd round) but feel free to experiment. (I originally made this code to cast the shadow spell and trigger a 3x round emerge event after casting a Deadly Backstab switch spell (didn't get it right at the time). The problem was once I emerged on the 3rd If cast Shadow again on the 4th no problem, if I waited to the 5th to cast it I would emerge on the 6th without retaliating; if I cast it on the 6th I'd pop out the moment I cast the spell!) -Battle Forks are not real forks (as mentioned in the code above). The reason I used a divide level by 10 variable was that I could not exclude level numbers with forks like in Common Events. Note: here rpgm2k rounds down fractions. Battle Forks have certain conditions among them variables set to numbers that are the same (=), above (greater than or equal), below (less than or equal), bigger (>), smaller (<), or other (don't know). -Change Heroes Party option removes a character and stores it in memory the way it left and replaces it with the other in battle. That is why we modify the HP whenever a Character hides/emerges. But this also affects MP so if you hide, lose your MP and emerge it is fine the first time around. But if you hide again in the same battle your Shadow character is recalled the way it left battle (without MP!) so you emerge instantly. To correct this you add a Change MP to increase MP to 999 (or the max) each time the character is exchanged (that's why I labeled it important!). -Help(old)! Originally I wanted to transfer all the weapons to the Shadow Character and alter all of it's ztats to match the starting characters ztas with some minor boosting (this way I'd only Need 1 shadow Character and a lot less forks!) However the Battle Events Editor has no Change Level, no Change Ability options (plus I can't directly change the Critical rate or Condition Resistances in or out of battle). I cannot effectively switch weapons in battle based on the original character. One can assign new weapons to the shadow characters in the database box,or use a Change Equipment option in Battle Events to assign Set equipment. But I can't change it based on Variable! Update(old): You can effectively change weapons by variables using the using the Change Equipment Op in Battle events, BUT if you have equipment set to (none) [my thieves use no shields] then it will Freeze! Update: I created a weapon called Critical (dmg 100, to hit 92, critical 65%, Normal at 98%), and gave it to my Shadow thieves. Plus I increased their individual Certain Kill Prob so only Dala(Shdw)50 would be at 1. This is cooler than just making her super strong because at low levels it'll kill almost anything (as intended) but at high levels many monsters may resist the Normal Effect. If resisted it will still do great damage which varies (from the variable cummultative critical rate). Plus I gave it a cool animation (combined Blood Suck with Axe and a Character pic plus Sound Effects) for Dramatic effect. It can also still miss (perfection is boring IMHO). 08/18/2k update: You'll notice in page2 of mparty an --update!--. This corrects the annoying "Dala emerges" message that used to pop up if you emerged from shadows after battle and then had another encounter. The major update is in the Common Events "uncloak". Here we are using the same trick previously used to correct HP & MP but applying it to XP (your XP is awarded to you fully!). Note: biggie number is simply the minimum XP to get to the shadow character's max level (may vary in your game). Disable the Level Up Message in the shadow characters Change XP. ---Thanks--- -ASCII (for the program) and Don Miguel (for translating it) -Kanji Hack (your efforts on RPGm95 are remembered) -Brick Road(whose SwitchFAQ helped me grasp variables, checkout the bigger vs. above concept) -Gemineye (for many FAQ's & the RPG2000.hlp file) -AyaBrea (whose transform tutorial I read afterwards. fiddling with it gave me some future ideas. ) -Shadowtext (& the Master Mage for self explanatory reasons) -&Everybody else who has written a FAQ/Tutorial or collaborated for the benefit of the RPGm2k community! -Final note: Feel free to place this document on any RPGm2k related site, but do not modify it's contents in any way. Oh, and give me a little credit if you use it. -Gnome (drgnome) el_gnome@hotmail.com -no, I'm not a poster, just a crafty lurker. (alright, so i posted anyhow!)