Tension Support Update & Guide

Tension System And You


Tension Support is a system designed to allow players to control friendly NPCs in combat, based around added Tension Requirements for skill usage. In the past, Tension Supports have gained Tension Levels, going from 0% and capping at 300%. However, that version of the system often caused misunderstandings and confusion, owing to the lack of easily available info on its inner workings and the fact the Tension Levels between 0% and 100% moved at odd intervals. With this new update, we seek to make the Tension Support system easier to grasp and enjoy for everyone.


The main site-wide Tension update is the change from Tension Levels to Tension Charges. Whereas Tension Levels moved from 0%-15-25-50-75-100-125-150-... Tension Charges move from 0 to 12. Tension Supports start at 0 Charges and gain a Charge at the start of each of their turns, up to a maximum of 12. Otherwise, they're functionally identical to Tension Levels.


An additional update is that Tension Supports now sport both HP and SP stats, something they never had in the past. In the past, Tension Supports had a hit-based HP system; they simply got knocked out after suffering 3 hits, with the only method of restoring them being the Recarm/Samarecarm skills. This made the Tension Supports extremely frail, making using them feel very dissatisfying. From now on, Tension Supports have normal HP and SP pools in order to give them more staying power on the field. This also means that their skills will cost HP and SP as normal, on top of costing Tension Charges.


The rest of the thread will explore the Tension System in depth.


1. Gaining Tension Charges


There are a number of ways to gain Tension Charges:

• +1 Charge at the start of each of the Tension Support's turns
  
• +1 Charge for when the Tension Support downs an enemy (note that Tension Supports cannot get Once Mores by downing an enemy)
  
• +1 Charge whenever the Tension Support is hit
  
• the cost of a Tension Support's skill can make them gain Tension Charges
  

2. Using Tension Charges


Tension Charges are expended when a Tension Support uses a skill. Each skill of a Tension Support possesses its own Charge cost, meaning different Tension Supports might have different Charge costs for the same skill.


Some skills might even gain Charges for a Tension Support! However, beware as Tension Charge Buildup will cause stress-related negative effects for Tension Supports! Additionally, Tension Supports cannot gain Charges above 12, so using a Charge building skill at higher Tension Charge counts might be impossible if it would push the number above 12.


3. Tension Stress Buildup


Tension Charges are a representation of stress on a Tension Support. A Tension Support will gain unique negative effects when they reach 5 Tension Charges and again upon reaching 9 Charges. These negative effects are removed by reducing the Tension's Charges to 0.


Additionally, if a Tension Support spends 3 turns at 12 Tension, their HP will automatically drop to 0 ignoring Endure and Enduring Soul or any similar effects.

Player Tension System


Real life gets to us all and that is quite alright. It's understandable not everyone will always be able to participate in an online forum based roleplay such as this. For that purpose, if a players deems themselves unable to fully participate in a dungeon or has been prevented from doing so in the midst of one, they might elect to build a Player Tension. By simply making a special Tension skillset for their character, a player can re-elect their character's control for the remainder of a dungeon to another player. A clear guide to building Tension skillsets can be found here. The only notable difference are the listed skill costs, as the Tension Level and Bar system is no longer in place. With the Tension Charge system, the skill's Tier will correspond to their Tension Charge cost. Player Tension cannot gain Charges by using skills, unlike the NPC Tension Supports.


Below is a list of unique skills available to Player Tensions:


Back Up | For 1 turn, the user will follow up any attacks made by the target ally with Dexterity attacks. The follow up attacks don't roll for miss nor crit, but will miss or crit if the target ally misses or crits. | Tier 1 | 0 SP, 1 Charge

On Your Feet | Prevents one ally from being downed by the enemy for one turn. | Tier 1 | 12 SP, 1 Charge

Medical Knowledge | All allies will boost any resurrection or healing skills by 15% for 3 turns. | Tier 2 | 15 SP, 2 Charges

Guardian | The user takes all damage for an ally for 1 turn, but it is increased by 50%. This damage will not cause the user to gain any Charges nor will it be able to down them. | Tier 2 | 25 SP, 2 Charges

Protection | Neutralizes one of an ally's Weaknesses for 3 turns. | Tier 2 | 20 SP, 2 Charges

Lotus Sutra | Protects an ally from ailments for three turns. | Tier 2 | 15 SP, 2 Charges

Great Wall | Increases the party's Magic Defense by 40% for three turns. | Tier 3 | 20 SP, 3 Charges

Rampart | Increases the party's Physical Defense by 40% for three turns. | Tier 3 | 20 SP, 3 Charges

Boost | Boosts entire party's Attack and Defense by 30% for three posts. | Tier 3 | 25 SP, 4 Charges

Knock Out | Causes the target's next physical attack to be a guaranteed critical hit. | Tier 3 | 20 SP, 4 Charges

Slayer | Reveals all of a target's weak points and guarantees the next attack made against them will be 2.5x as powerful. | Tier 4 | 25 SP, 5 Charges