Paper Story v1.5

Looking at the last update, I seem to be setting a trend by making way too much work for myself, and then convincing myself that I'm done this time, for real, for sure.

What's been really amazing is having a little community crop up with an eager appetite for the game - I love having you guys around to bounce ideas off of, roll dice with and just generally vibe with. Huge shoutouts to Lucy for running not just a fantastic play-by-post game and a litany of homebrew content, but IRL campaigns which (in addition to sounding super fun) have given me more feedback to work with than ever before.

You're all stars. I hope this new version helps run more interesting (and vaguely balanced) games, and doesn't uh, completely destroy any fun builds that are floating around out there. If it's any consolation, I nerfed Repeat Techniques to get back to where Power Bounce sits in the games, completely torpedoing any chance of my own Gloomba dealing any kind of damage.

And just a quick friendly reminder that I'm not your mum and I can't force you to include any changes you don't want to.  If you want to stack Boosts in an eternal loop and walk around in a perpetual state of Charge, go nuts. It's not my table to judge, these are just rules to help breathe new life into these beautiful games.

The changelog this time around is pretty hefty, so I won't go into  all the details here, but the short of it is:

• Added new systems!
  • Item Attacks, using Aim to get more out of your Items.
  • Item Crafting, using Crafts to build Items from scratch.
  • Improvised Techniques, using SP to make up attacks on the fly.
  • Terrain, representing (broadly) different situations you can fight in or force your enemies to deal with – such as in a heavy storm or under the sea.
  • The iconic Power-Ups! I resisted putting this in for a while since it's not very Paper Mario, but it is undeniably extremely Mario. Currently there aren't too many Power-Ups, just a few core options, but hopefully this helps give a guideline for further homebrew. 

• New races!
  • Beanish are happy-go-lucky folk from the Beanbean Kingdom, always good for a laugh.
  • Blizzards are enchanted snow sculptures with a thirst for exploration and a healthy fear of the heat.
  • Broozers are ghostly muscle-heads, serving as the more athletic and aggressive counterpart to Boos.
  • Bubbles are otherworldly spirits of flame, whose illusory magic strikes fear in the hearts of the living.
  • Bullet Bills are brave flying metalheads, great at pushing around their foes and always looking out for their allies.
  • Bullies are sturdy territorial, well, bullies – great at standing their ground and shoving others around.
  • Chuckyas are odd clockwork creatures with burly arms, who take quiet pride in their work.
  • Dino Rhinos are peaceful dragon-like creatures from the wild mountains – but don't get them angry.
  • Kongs are a proud clan of similar apes and monkeys, with mighty throwing arms and huge hearts.
  • Kremlings are unsavoury reptiles from abroad with shredded bods and a surprising knack for technology.
  • Puffs are carefree wind spirits, with a sense of self bordering on the egocentric.
  • Puppets are wooden dolls blessed by the Stars for some greater purpose, with a strong affinity for their magic.
  • Ukikis are athletic cheeky monkeys who love snatching whatever they can get their hands on.

• New subraces!
  • Aeromental- creatures are beings of elemental air, good at dizzying their foes and knocking them around.
  • Aquamental- creatures are beings of elemental water, good at softening enemy blows and blasting from afar.
  • Cryomental- creatures are beings of elemental ice, good at freezing their foes in place and skating right through hordes of enemies.
  • Electromental- creatures are beings of elemental electricity, good at striking past defenses and stunning enemies.
  • Pyromental- creatures are beings of elemental fire, good at lighting their enemies aflame.
  • Terramental- creatures are beings of elemental earth, good at soaking up attacks and sending tremors through the earth.
  • Dreamy- creatures are ethereal and charming, hailing from the world of dreams.
  • Gold- creatures are all glitz and glamour, great at finding Coins (from anywhere) and keeping all eyes on them.
  • Mecha- creatures are cold, unfeeling machines – capable on offense and defense, but unable to truly experience life (or Mushrooms).
  • Metal- creatures are tough as nails with the highest Defense yet, though they're exceptionally slow to act.
  • Spectral- creatures are ghoulish undead beings, faint and otherworldly like Boos but with little of their panache.
  • Tanooki- creatures are mischievous tricksters with a penchant for transformation magic, able to sacrifice all feeling and turn into impregnable statues.

• New Techniques!
  • Minion is a complicated one, but it generates tailor-made NPC support on the fly – perfect for scattering Spiny eggs. Better results can make stronger NPC's, or just more of them.
  • Reach allows you to hit flying targets without jumping up or shooting at range.
  • Terrain generates different terrain and weather conditions.
  • Tutor bestows some of your technique traits onto the target, sort of like an enchantment (or a curse).
  • Underfoot strikes from the ground without reaching to the walls or ceiling – sort of like what Grounded unintentionally did before.
  • Alternative allows you to change how you pay for Techniques.
  • Cooldown prevents Techniques from being used turn after turn, while still allowing the user to take action.
  • Lacking nullifies Technique Traits without sufficiently good rolls.
  • Penalty allows you to take on a negative Status in order to execute your Technique (like putting yourself to sleep).