Arbiters: The Fundamentals

[Ves]

Arbiters are the other driving force behind your characters, the heart of much of the action you’ll carry out against your fellow characters. They’’re the complementing forces to your Traits that can augment the ebb and flow of combat and challenges, crafted by your character’s background and experiences. Arbiters can be either physical or supernatural and cost one action in an individual post and can be of one of four classes, with specific properties associated with each. Their individual anatomy looks like this:

Name: Your arbiter’s given name
Class: Ava, Bea, Cea, or Dea
Cost: Total cost of Pool to use that technique
(Note, the Class and Cost of the Arbiter are inexorably linked and will be explained more below.)
Type (Optional): The associated Anthem, or Trait connected to this Arbiter. For some, helps ground the Arbiter in their characters' narrative
Prep (Optional): Some Arbiters will require the preparation of Naten in the way of certain Ava or activation of certain Dea skills to use
Effects (Optional, read more below.): The Arbiter’s applied effects. Each effect that can be applied adds +1 to the total Cost of the Arbiter

Arbiters all cost one action per post, and roll an Arbiter Die when invoked. You can read more about Actions here.

Ava Class
These techniques represent foundational knowledge of being able to utilize Naten. Ava class Arbiters allow your character draw upon a deeper well of Naten to perform a task. Any form of hand seals, magic circles, runes, or special triggers necessary to do another technique in your arsenal falls into this category.

Ava must be used as preparation for Bea, Cea, and Dea techniques, costing only an action on your post and they add +1 to your Pool each time they are used.

Bea Class
These techniques are used with intent from the user. Arbiters in this class can be used freely in combat and only need the corresponding amount of Pool to activate.

Bea Class Arbiters have a minimum Cost of 2 Pool.

Cea Class
These are techniques that are a step beyond Bea Class, typically a beefy, souped up, specialized version of Bea Class Arbiters.

Cea Class Arbiters have a minimum Cost of 3 Pool.

Dea Class
These techniques, once activated, are in use continuously. Techniques like areas of effect, summons, and transformations fall into this class. Dea skills are also special in that they can be used as conditions for more complex skills, similar to the way that Ava class Arbiters work.

Dea Class Arbiters have a minimum Cost of 3 Pool, and consume 1 Pool per user turn they are active



For examples of how to build your skills, check out these characters:

Zero Venkage
Ovan Hellgate
Kilik

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Special Effects

Certain Arbiters and other events can impose status effects on players and negatively affect their roleplay. Arbiters that effect listed in their descriptions increase their cost by +1 for each effect listed and must win an Arbiter roll by +2 in order to apply those effects to their opponents. For Arbiters with multiple effects, they’ll need to win by +2 for each effect they plan to apply.

Staggered

A staggered opponent has their movement completely hindered for a turn. Effects such as Paralysis, Frozen, Petrified, etc. impose a hindrance to your opponent and prevent them from using a movement action on their turn. Afflicted players roll 2d12 against the effecting player’s next Arbiter.

Impaired

Arbiters that cause an impairment prevent players from using Arbiters and responding with precision. Effects like Blind, Confused, apply this effect. Afflicted players roll 1d12 instead of 1d20 against Arbiter Rolls and Trait Buffs are calculated in these instances.

Damage Over Time(D.O.T.ed)

Arbiters that apply this effect drain a player’s HP over time, inflicting damage at the start of the afflicted player’s turn. This effect stacks up to 4 times dealing maximum 4 health each turn, doing -1 damage for each successive turn. It lasts a maximum of 3 turns unless cleansed by another Arbiter or Trait. Effects such as Burn, Poison, Corrode, etc. may apply this effect.

Shatter

Arbiters that apply this effect will lower a player’s Defense -2 to impose this effect. Because of this strong effect, it increases the Arbiter’s cost by +2 instead of +1.

Transmute

Arbiters with this effect are able to take energy and convert it directly into another energy. On a winning roll, it takes the difference between two rolls and adds that value to the next roll’s HP/Offense/Defense before calculating battle.

Regen

Arbiters with this effect will, on a successful roll, add the difference between the player and the opponent’s rolls to the victor’s Naten or Stress.