NISMs – orgaNISM Breakdown (Mechanics)

Types

• Fauna – These types of NISMs are anything associated with animals including mammals, birds, insects or anything else that falls into there.
• Flora - These types of NISMs are anything associated with plants including trees, ferns, flowers or anything else that falls into there.
• Funga – These types of NISMs are anything associated with fungi including molds, mushrooms, slimes or anything else that falls into there.
• Feral – These are highly rare and evolved NISMs that include but are not limited to dragons, mechs, fairies, and other fantastic or mythical creatures.
• note – in future versions of the game, some NISMs may fall into more than one type and other types may be introduced

Regions

• Lowland – these are grassland, plains and field regions, like something you might find in a park or schoolyard or the field behind your house.
• Forest – these are more woodland associated and can be found in forests, jungles and heavily wooded areas.
• Highland – these are found in more craggy areas like the mountains, plateaus and volcanic areas of the planet.
• Wetland – these will be found near (for now) rivers, lakes and oceans and in places like swamps or marshes.
• Desert – in the drier, more dusty parts of the planet, with very little vegetation, will you find these more rare types of NISMs.
• Tundra – there are parts of the world that are quite frigid, often covered in snow and ice, which is where these infrequently seen ones reside.
• City – these kinds of NISMs have made the human cities their homes and are quite often seen living in or around human structures.
• note - in future versions of the game, some NISMs may fall into more than one region and other regions may be introduced

Tempo

This is something I don’t think any other game remotely similar has. There will be NISMs that are only seen while traveling at certain speeds. Some will be seen in multiple categories. I have come up with three different categories (for now) and hope this adds a unique element to the game as it grows.

• Slow – these are NISMs that can be found while traveling at a speed of 50 km/h or less in the game.
• Medium – these are NISMs that can be found while traveling between 51 and 400 km/h in the game.
• Fast – these are NISMs that can be found while traveling anything beyond 400 km/h in the game.
• note - in future versions of the game, some NISMs may fall into more than one tempo and other tempos may be introduced

Rarities

• Extraordinary – These are the super hard to find, only appear once in a blue moon or special edition rarities.
• Bizarre – These will also be really hard to come by, but slightly easier than an extraordinary one.
• Exceptional – basically the rare NISMs in the game.
• Ordinary – the most commonly found NISMs.
• Anomalous - this will be the special version of a NISM giving it more stellar properties and appearance.

Attributes

There will be 6 primary attributes that contribute significantly to so many other things, they need their own little category. Some NISMs will have higher beginning attributes in certain areas and the way they are acwuired will also play a role.

• Strength – The first of the 6 primary attributes, this affects the physical attacks and how powerful they can be and how well they can take a physical hit (defense).
• Agility – this affects how soon a NISM can perform an action in battle and how easily it will be for them to dodge a physical/basic attack (+1% per 10 Agility).
• Endurance – this affects how much HP a NISM has and slightly affects their defense and how often they need to eat/rest (+1% defense per 10 Endurance).
• Intellect – this will have several applications like item drop chance (+1% per 10 Intellect), finding items chance (+1% per 10 Intellect) and boosts to befriending a NISM chance (+0.1% per 10 Intellect). It will also affect the maturity rate slightly (+0.1% per 10 Intellect).
• Instinct – this affects the magnitude of ‘primal’ attacks and how much a primal attack will affect them.
• Virtue – this affects how many EP a NISM can have and gives a chance to dodge primal attacks (+1% per 10 Virtue).
• Note - Upon a level up, befriended and captured NISMs will be given different point parameters to use based on rarity.

Stats

These are all things that are affected by the attributes a NISM has. Some are tournament driven, some are used for exploration and some for pageants and I’m sure we’ll see more as this develops.

• HP (bar with numbers) – the amount of ‘life’ left in a NISM (can be refilled with items, food and by visiting a building with recovery services – nurseries will be free once per day - or by letting your NISM rest for the remaining extent of a 24 hour cycle in the PIM storage at your house). At 20% health, the color of the HP changes color. The rate of increase will be +1 per level (until it is befriended – then +2) of the NISM with another +2 for any point added to endurance and a +1 bonus for any point added to strength.
• EP (bar with numbers) – the amount of energy left in a NISM (energy used to perform battle actions and replenishes over time – can also be refilled with items- or by letting your NISM rest for the remaining extent of a 24 hour cycle in the PIM storage at your house). At 20% Energy, the color changes to red or yellow or something. The rate of increase will be +1 per level (until it is befriended – then it is +2) of the NISM with another +2 for any point added to virtue and a +1 bonus for any point added to intellect.
• FP (bar with numbers) – the amount of fatigue that a NISM is experiencing. It decreases over time and can be replenished by resting your NISM. At 20% Fatigue, the color changes to red or yellow or something and the NISM may no longer battle or be used to help befriend/capture/etc. other NISMs. (Tournament and pageant entries, friendly battles and some other occurrences, will not require a fully rested NISM). There will be no rate of increase per the 6 primary stats. The rate of decay itself, will be slightly affected by a NISM’s Endurance and Instinct. This can also be modified by evolutions and honed through bond and maturity levels or bolstered by items and boosts. The initial rate of decay is 50% per hour giving the base rate 2 hours. Which really constitutes to a little over an hour and a half since at 20%, a NISM can only walk with you for bond levels. The rate is adjusted/reduced by 1% for per Endurance and Instinct total values divided by 5. So if a NISM has say 5 Endurance and 8 Instinct, They would have an extra 2.6% rate subtracted from their base 50% = 47.4% per hour.
• Attack Power – dictated by Strength notwithstanding any items/boosts/powerups. It is directly reflected so if a person has 10 Strength, they have 10 Attack Power.
• Defense – total defense inclusive of attribute consideration not including any items/boosts/powerups. It is determined by adding the Strength and Endurance of a NISM together and dividing it by 2.
• Primal Attack Power – dictated by Instinct notwithstanding any items/boosts/powerups. It is directly reflected so if a person has 10 Instinct, they have 10 Primal Attack Power.
• Primal Defense – total primal defense inclusive of attribute consideration not including any items/boosts/powerups. It is determined by adding the Virtue and Instinct of a NISM together and dividing it by 2.
• Dodge – dodge chance will be for any attack, normal or primal. This will be determined by adding Intellect and Agility together and then dividing them by 10. So if a NISM has 20 Agility and 8 Intellect, they would have a 2.8% chance to dodge an attack. (Some attacks may be unavoidable.)
• Speed – This is directly determined by Agility. The highest Speed in a battle acts first.

Character Levels

I am putting this in here because it affects the way a NISM levels up in certain degrees. It will likely be reiterated in other places as well. This will also give people different things they can do like enter tournament X or pageant Y or walk with/carry/ride extra NISMs. Steps are counted in this game (to hopefully get people moving a little) and are the way we distribute various levels of experience.

• Rate of Increase – If a person is traveling 15 miles an hour or under, one step will count toward the progress. If they are traveling faster than that, it will be reduced to 1 kilometer (km) = one step. This will give riders and transits players some recognition for their efforts as we will institute a few NISMs that can only be caught at certain speeds. If a person is playing the REMOTE version at a desktop, steps will be counted by distance traveled virtually. A hundred steps will be added per 1 km virtually ‘walked’. After considering the average steps a person takes in a day (roughly 3500), I’ve come up with this formula. The rate of level increase will start at 1000 steps to reach level 2. The rate will go up by simply adding 20% to the previous total. So level 2 would be 1200, level 3 1728, level 4 2074, level 5, 2489, level 6 2987, level 7 3584, level 8 4301, level 9 5162, level 10 6194, level 11 7443 etc. This will make it relatively easy to get to level ten where all the goodies start happening, but, will start getting more difficult and people will need to be more resourceful to increase their progress after that. Also, the algorithm with round to the nearest whole number(s) for the steps.
• Effects on Encounter rates – a character will get an extra 1% chance to encounter a higher rarity NISM per ten levels of the character. (So at level 10, they get an extra 1% and level 20 etc.)
• Effects on Maturity leveling – a NISM will get a 0.1% bonus to maturity rate per level of the character.
• Effects on Bond leveling – a NISM will get a 0.5% bonus to bond increase rate per level of the character.
• Effects on Capture rates – a character will get a 0.5 % ease of capture rate per level of the character.
• Effects on Befriending rates – a character will get a 0.1% increase to befriending rates at each level increase of the character.

Encounter rates

Each rarity of NISM will have a set rate of encounters, or how often you will see them versus other NISMs in the area.

• Ordinary – These NISM rarities will have a 80% chance of being encountered (with any character level bonus added).
• Exceptional – These NISM rarities will have a 15% chance of being encountered (with any character level bonus added).
• Bizarre – These NISM rarities will have a 4% chance of being encountered (with any character level bonus added).
• Extraordinary – These NISM rarities will have a 1% chance of being encountered (with any character level bonus added).
• Anomalous - This will be a one in a thousand – 0.001 % chance of any NISM encountered being ‘Anomalous’.

Befriending rates

You may only try ONE TIME to befriend a NISM upon the initial encounter. After you try and are unsuccessful, you will be attacked by the confused NISM and can either disable it or weaken it enough to capture.

• Ordinary – These NISM rarities will have a 20% chance of being able to be befriended (with any character level bonus added).
• Exceptional – These NISM rarities will have a 10% chance of being able to be befriended (with any character level bonus added).
• Bizarre – These NISM rarities will have a 5% chance of being able to be befriended (with any character level bonus added).
• Extraordinary – These NISM rarities will have a 0.0% chance of being able to be befriended (with any character level bonus added).
• Anomalous - No difference, to be treated the same as ‘normal issue’ NISMs and based on the rarity of them.

Capture rates

The rates set are just a small variation based on the rarity. Some NISMs we create may not be able to be captured. A weakened NISM is defined as one with their HP between 0.01% and 20% remaining. A message will pop up while in battle saying something like, “The [NISM name] is feeling weak! Would you like to try and capture it?” The capture percentage rate will be on your PIM to help you decide.

• Ordinary – These NISM rarities will have a 95% chance of being able to be captured (with any character level bonus added) once they are weakened and a 5% chance of fleeing the encounter in fear.
• Exceptional – These NISM rarities will have a 80% chance of being able to be captured (with any character level bonus added) once they are weakened and a 20% chance of fleeing the encounter in fear.
• Bizarre – These NISM rarities will have a 65% chance of being able to captured (with any character level bonus added) once they are weakened and a 35% chance of fleeing the encounter in fear.
• Extraordinary – These NISM rarities will have a 50% chance of being able to be captured (with any character level bonus added) once they are weakened and a 50% chance of fleeing the encounter in fear.
• Anomalous - No difference, to be treated the same as ‘normal issue’ NISMs and based on the rarity of them.

NISM Leveling

There are different types of levels for the NISMs, and some are similar to a character’s level, and all of them are grown in different ways. All befriended and captured NISMs will revert to being level one (1) upon being added to your PIM codex – regardless of what level the one is that a player encounters in their travels. It is also worth noting that any NISM gifted to you or won in an event, will be treated as if it were befriended. Any NISM you buy or trade for, will be treated as if it were captured.

EXPERIENCE

This will be how the NISM levels up its stats and attributes. There are multiple ways to do this, and each of them will scale depending on the level of the character of the player. During normal exploration, a player should only find NISMs within 3 levels of the character level. This will (hopefully) keep them from knocking out NISMs immediately, and will allow players to gain a little more experience for finding ones that are a little higher of a level. Dungeons and special quests and the like will have different requirements and parameters which we will set at a later interval when those are introduced in the game.

Now, some NISMs will surely be smaller than others and some much larger. I would like for that to be reflected in the game with 3 different ways (but all account for steps for experience gain). If the NISM is small or cannot walk well yet, it should be carried and shown in the hand of the player on screen, like a cute little mushroom or something. If it is capable of walking, then show it walking in front of the player. If it is a large NISM, then it can be ridden! These will be more rare, but a fun aspect to the game.

The experience required to level up will be the same ratio gain as a character. The rate of level increase will start at 1000 XP to reach level 2. The rate will go up by simply adding 20% to the previous total. So level 2 would be 1200, level 3 1728, level 4 2074, level 5, 2489, level 6 2987, level 7 3584, level 8 4301, level 9 5162, level 10 6194, level 11 7443 etc. Experience for NISM levels will only be accrued any time a player WINS or LOSES an encounter with a wild NISM or fights another character (PVP or NPC). Different amounts will be given for each, which are listed below.

• Befriending – If a player successfully befriends an ordinary NISM, they will gain twenty-five percent (25%) of their last threshold to level up for their NISM. So, if they are level 2, to reach level 2, they needed 1000 XP, so befriending a NISM will give them 200 XP for their NISM(s) they have out. If they befriend an exceptional NISM, they gain 50%. If they befriend a bizarre NISM, they gain 100%. If they happen to befriend an extraordinary NISM, they will gain 1000% (one thousand percent) of the needed experience (which could propel their NISM(s) multiple levels). The level of the befriended NISM will not matter.
• Capturing - If a player successfully captures a NISM, they will gain 5% of the next level total needed by capturing a NISM of the same level, regardless of the rarity. Levels captured above and below will add or decrease the percent by 1% per level. So if a level 5 NISM is the companion(s) and you capture a level 3, you will get 3% of the needed amount to reach level 6. If you fail at capturing a NISM and it flees in fear, you will gain 50% of what you would have for capturing it.
• Knocking Out – If a player knocks out or disables a wild NISM it encounters, the NISM(s) they are traveling with will get 4% of the total needed to level up their NISM(s), regardless of the rarity. Levels defeated above and below will add or decrease the percent by 1% per level. So if a level 5 NISM is the companion(s) and you capture a level 3, you will get 2% of the needed amount to reach level 6. If a player’s NISM(s) is/are knocked out, they will gain 1% only.
• PVP & NPC – Any battle won by a player versus another player or NPC, gives their NISM(s) 5% of the needed XP for the next level. Any battle lost gives them 1% of the needed XP for the next level. This will include any Pit Fights a player engages in. No experience will be awarded for any tournament or pageant wins/losses.

Captured initial stats

• Ordinary – Both Strength and Endurance must be at least 6 from the randomly generated 24 point distribution for the 6 primary attributes.
• Exceptional – Both Strength and Endurance must be at least 6 from the randomly generated 28 point distribution for the 6 primary attributes.
• Bizarre – Both Strength or Endurance must be at least 7 from the randomly generated 30 point distribution for the 6 primary attributes.
• Extraordinary – Both Strength and Endurance must be at least 8 from the randomly generated 32 point distribution for the 6 primary attributes.
• Anomalous - Any anomalous version will have an extra 6 points added to the initial stat generation added to it upon capture on top of the rarity distribution.

Befriended initial stats

• Ordinary – Both Instinct and Virtue must be at least 7 from the randomly generated 26 point distribution for the 6 primary attributes.
• Exceptional – Both Instinct and Virtue must be at least 7 from the randomly generated 30 point distribution for the 6 primary attributes.
• Bizarre – Both Instinct and Virtue must be at least 7 from the randomly generated 34 point distribution for the 6 primary attributes.
• Extraordinary – Both Instinct and Virtue must be at least 8 from the randomly generated 36 point distribution for the 6 primary attributes.
• Anomalous – Any anomalous version will have an extra 6 points added to the initial stat generation added to it upon capture on top of the rarity distribution.

Captured stat increments per level

• Ordinary – Each level will give this rarity +1 to Strength and give 3 points for the player to set on any attribute.
• Exceptional – Each level will give this rarity +1 to Strength and +1 to Endurance and give 4 points for the player to set on any attribute.
• Bizarre – Each level will give this rarity +1 to Strength and +1 to Endurance and give 5 points for the player to set on any attribute.
• Extraordinary – Each level will give this rarity +2 to Strength and +2 to Endurance and give 6 points for the player to set on any attribute.
• Anomalous – Any anomalous version will have an extra 3 points added to the distribution for the NISM.

Befriended stat increments per level

• Ordinary – Each level will give this rarity +1 to Instinct and give 3 points for the player to set on any attribute.
• Exceptional – Each level will give this rarity +1 to Instinct and +1 to Virtue and give 4 points for the player to set on any attribute.
• Bizarre – Each level will give this rarity +1 to Instinct and + 1 to Virtue and give 6 points for the player to set on any attribute.
• Extraordinary – Each level will give this rarity +3 to Instinct and +3 to Virtue and give 10 points for the player to set on any attribute.
• Anomalous – Any anomalous version will have an extra 4 player chosen attribute points added to the distribution for the NISM.

Maturity

This is a leveling system that will allow some NISMs to have babies! Once a NISM reaches a certain level of maturity, they will either be able to breed, flower and fruit or produce spore. Not all NISMs will have this ability, but most of them will have some kind of evolutionary feature to make them stronger. This feature aims to be one of the hardest things to do in the game.

Initial Maturity Classes

Flora

• Seed – these are brand new flora type NISMs. It will be extremely rare (0.01% chance) that any of these are found in the wild.
• Sprout – these are young flora type NISMs. It will be possible (32.49% chance) to encounter these in the wild.
• Sapling – these are the teenagers of the flora type NISMs. This is what 67.2% of the NISMs encountered in the wild will be.
• Flowering – these are the adults of the flora NISMs and are able to bear fruit for seed given the proper circumstances if you have some. It will be considerably rare (0.3% chance) to find any of these in the wild.

Fauna

• Egg/Infant – these are brand new fauna type NISMs. It will be extremely rare (0.1% chance) that any of these are found in the wild.
• Larva/Toddler – these are young fauna type NISMs. It will be possible (22.4% chance) to encounter these in the wild.
• Pupa/Teen – these are the teenagers of the fauna type NISMs. This is what 67.2% of the NISMs encountered in the wild will be.
• Adult – these are the adults of the fauna NISMs and are able to reproduce given the proper circumstances. It will be considerably rare (10.3% chance) to find any of these in the wild.

Funga

• Spore – these are brand new funga type NISMs. You will not find these in the wild as they are so incredibly small, you just won’t be able to find them.
• Mycelic – these are young funga type NISMs. It will be considerably rare (10.6% chance) to encounter any of these in the wild.
• Button – these are the teenagers of the funga type NISMs. This is what 69% of the NISMs encountered in the wild will be.
• Ripe – these are the adults of the funga NISMs and are able to produce spore under certain conditions. It will be possible (20.3% chance) to find these in the wild.

Increase of Maturity Point (MP) Rates

Befriending

• Ordinary – Each time the player befriends a NISM, this rarity will gain +1 maturity points (MP) to its current maturity level progress.
• Exceptional – Each time the player befriends a NISM, this rarity will gain +2 maturity points (MP) to its current maturity level progress.
• Bizarre – Each time the player befriends a NISM, this rarity will gain +3 maturity points (MP) to its current maturity level progress.
• Extraordinary – Each time the player befriends a NISM, this rarity will gain +4 maturity points (MP) to its current maturity level progress.
• Anomalous – Any anomalous version of a NISM, gives a +1 bonus to the maturity point gain on top of the rarity rate.

Capturing

• Ordinary – Each time the player captures a NISM, this rarity will gain +1 maturity points (MP) to its current maturity level progress.
• Exceptional – Each time the player captures a NISM, this rarity will gain +1 maturity points (MP) to its current maturity level progress.
• Bizarre – Each time the player captures a NISM, this rarity will gain +1 maturity points (MP) to its current maturity level progress.
• Extraordinary – Each time the player captures a NISM, this rarity will gain +2 maturity points (MP) to its current maturity level progress.
• Anomalous – Any anomalous version of a NISM, gives a +1 bonus to the maturity point gain on top of the rarity rate.

Knocking Out

• Ordinary – No MP (maturity points) are gained from disabling or knocking out a wild NISM.
• Exceptional – No MP (maturity points) are gained from disabling or knocking out a wild NISM.
• Bizarre – Each NISM, regardless of how it was acquired, will reset to a maturity level of 0 upon acquisition. Extraordinary – No MP (maturity points) are gained from disabling or knocking out a wild NISM.
• Anomalous – No MP (maturity points) are gained from disabling or knocking out a wild NISM.

PVP & NPC Battles

• Ordinary – Whenever a NISM wins a battle (PVP or NPC), they gain +1 to their MP. Nothing is rewarded for a loss.
• Exceptional – Whenever a NISM wins a battle (PVP or NPC), they gain +1 to their MP. Nothing is rewarded for a loss.
• Bizarre – Whenever a NISM wins a battle (PVP or NPC), they gain +1 to their MP. Nothing is rewarded for a loss.
• Extraordinary – Whenever a NISM wins a battle (PVP or NPC), they gain +1 to their MP. Nothing is rewarded for a loss.
• Anomalous – Anomalous versions give double the MP won per battle.

Bond bolstering

• None – There is no bonus for MP at this bond level.
• Frail – There is no bonus for MP at this bond level.
• Weak – There is no bonus for MP at this bond level.
• Minor – There is no bonus for MP at this bond level.
• Stable – This bond level adds +1 to MP gain activities.
• Major - This bond level adds +1 to MP gain activities.
• Strong - This bond level adds +2 to MP gain activities.
• Unbreakable - This bond level adds +3 to MP gain activities.

Maturing

For the 4 different levels of Maturity, each will have a threshold before they can mature to the next level and ‘evolve’. I don’t want to use the word evolve or evolutions in the game, so we’re trying to focus on ‘mature’.

• Seed/Egg/Infant/Spore – these are brand new baby NISMs, so will start with 0 MP (Maturity Points) and will need 10,000 MP to grow up a little bit.
• Sprout/Larva/Toddler/Mycelic – these are younglings and will need 25,000 MP to mature to the next level.
• Sapling/Pupa/Teen/Button – these are the teenagers and young adults that will pretty much rule the NISM collections. To mature to the next level, they will need 100,000 MP.
• Flowering/Adult/Ripe – these are the true adults in the game and once this is reached, they will be able to reproduce once initially upon reaching this plateau (reproduction ‘credits’ can stack or be saved until proper conditions are met – like having a male/female that are both mature and fertile), and again for every 250,000 MP acquired with the NISM.
• Note - If a NISM falls below 20% FP, they will gain no MP. Any NISM that is purchased, gifted, or traded for, retains the Maturity level they have at the time.

Bond

A ‘bond’ is the relationship between a player/character and a NISM. This can increase or decrease, based on actions taken by the player. This will have a few different applications, but mostly affects their performance in pageants and tournaments. Bonds will automatically give them a boost. Each bond has a level threshold and the NISM can fall below that, reducing their bond level, or climb above and attain the next level. Steps represent bond levels as it is relative to the amount of time spent with your NISM, just like a friend.

Initial Bonds

• None – All captured NISMs will start with no bond.
• Frail – A NISM that has walked (or backtracked to) 1000 steps with their player attains a frail bond.
• Weak – A NISM that has walked (or backtracked to) 10,000 steps with their player attains a weak bond.
• Minor – A NISM that has been purchased, gifted or traded for or has walked (or backtracked to) 25,000 steps with their player attains a minor bond.
• Stable – All befriended NISMs start at a stable bond level and any captured NISM that has walked (or backtracked to) 50,000 steps with their player attains a stable bond.
• Major - A NISM that has walked (or backtracked to) 100,000 steps with their player attains a major bond.
• Strong - A NISM that has walked (or backtracked to) 250,000 steps with their player attains a strong bond.
• Unbreakable - A NISM that has walked 1,000,000 steps with their player attains an unbreakable bond. Once an unbreakable bond is established, nothing can be done to reduce the level with that NISM and the player. It is unbreakable. If the player chooses to sell, trade or free that NISM, only then can the bond be broken.

Increase/Decrease

• Befriending – If a player successfully befriends a wild NISM, they gain a 2x bonus for bond progression for 2 hours, doubling the amount of steps a NISM is credited with for their bond level.
• Capturing – If a player successfully captures a wild NISM, they gain 1% of the last levels total needed to raise up a level. So, if the NISM currently has a stable bond level, they would accrue an extra 250 steps toward their next level.
• Knocking Out – If a player manages to knock out or disable a wild NISM, they LOSE 5% of the total needed from the last bond level. So, if they have a stable bond, they will lose 1250 steps towards the next bond level and ‘backtrack’.
• PVP & NPC – When a NISM(s) is traveled with and wins a battle against another player or against an NPC player, they gain 10% of the last levels total needed toward the next level. So, if they have a stable bond, they will gain 2500 steps toward their next bond level. When a NISM(s) is traveled with and loses a battle against another player or against an NPC player, they backtrack 10% of the last levels total needed toward the next level. So, if they have a stable bond, they will backtrack 2500 steps from their next bond level.

Fatigue Factor

• Once a NISM reaches 15% of their FP points, they start losing steps instead of gaining them. There is no multiplier. If they have freshly befriended a NISM, the reduction is doubled, and they backtrack twice as fast from the next level for bonding.

Tournament Bonuses

• None – NISMs with no bond level gain +4 to their strength, + 2 to their endurance and +5 to their instinct in tournaments.
• Frail – NISMs with a frail bond level gain +3 to their strength, +1 to their endurance and +2 to their instinct in tournaments.
• Weak – NISMs with a weak bond level gain +2 to their strength in tournaments.
• Minor – NISMs with a minor bond level gain +1 to their strength, +1 to their endurance and +1 to agility in tournaments.
• Stable - NISMs with a stable bond level gain +1 to their strength, +1 to their endurance, +1 to their agility and +1 to their intellect in tournaments.
• Major - NISMs with a major bond level gain +2 to their strength, +2 to their endurance, +2 to their agility and + 2 to their intellect in tournaments.
• Strong - NISMs with a strong bond level gain +2 to their strength, +2 to their endurance, +2 to their agility, +2 to their intellect and plus +2 to instinct in tournaments.
• Unbreakable - NISMs with an unbreakable bond level gain +3 to all attributes in tournaments.

Pageant Bonuses

• None – NISMs gain no bonus in pageants for having no bond.
• Frail – NISMs with a frail bond gain +1 to intellect in pageants.
• Weak – NISMs with a weak bond gain +1 to virtue in pageants.
• Minor – NISMs with a minor bond gain +1 to intellect and + 1 to virtue in pageants.
• Stable - NISMs with stable bonds gain +1 to all attributes in pageants.
• Major - NISMs with major bonds gain +2 to all attributes in pageants.
• Strong - NISMs with strong bonds gain +3 to all attributes in pageants.
• Unbreakable - NISMs with an unbreakable bond level gain +5 to all attributes in pageants.

NISM Battles and Movement

This game has several different aspects to it, and each will have a different way of approaching them. Some NISMs will be raised specifically for Pit Fights, some for Tournaments, and some for Pageants and some for who knows what else. So, this section is a ‘scenario’ piece on how it looks in my head for each of those to happen.

• ALL battles (except for tournaments – will explain later) should have the region represented in the background. If they are in a primarily city area, some cityscape - a park or something for lowlands with grass and trees, etc. As we progress in the game, some areas may have specific things in the background like if they are close to a discovered landmark, that could be in the background of the battle screen.
• ALL battles should also reflect whether each NISM is being carried, walked with or ridden on the screen. So, if an opposing player is riding a NISM, that should be the graphic we see.

Movement

On the screen itself for the Fluid version, I would like to see a few different things. I will give the vision of all the possible views and what should be seen on the screen while exploring with your NISM(s).

• 3rd Person – From this view (which should be zoomable), a player looking at the screen should be able to see their back initially, with a 360-degree rotating option as they move their finger or drag their mouse across the screen. They should be able to zoom in on any part of their body because cosmetics are a major factor in this game. People want their avatars to look good. They should be able to see their surroundings and any buildings or terrain they are near. It should zoom out only far enough to see the player about one tenth the screen size. Hope that makes sense. There should also be a PIM (glove) icon up in the left corner to interact with, that will blink if there are new messages. The PIM is the only way to interact with most other options in the game, so this is important that it be always visible. The screen should also display relative sizes of the NISMs they are traveling with, be they carried, ridden or walked with. Every 30 seconds, they should see a faint ping circle emanating from their character.
• 1st person – From this view, the only thing they see is the environment around them and their NISMs in front of them. They should be able to look down and around by tilting their screen if they are playing fluid. Remote versions will be able to look up and down by moving the mouse or trackpad or holding their finger on the screen or something. While walking, they should see their arms/wrists come slightly into view at each pace. If they are carrying a NISM, it should be visible in the hand they are carrying it with. PIMs can be worn on either hand/arm, and only one NISM may be carried. (May travel with more, but only one carry slot – and obviously, only one ride slot – once they have reached that level and the option for the NISM exists.) An echo ping should radiate from the player every 30 seconds with a faint visibility.

Wild Encounters

While walking, carrying, or riding your NISM, a sonar type ping will echo out from the player every 30 seconds. Whenever a wild NISM is pinged, it will show some garbled wording and a compass direction and location, guiding the player (safely) to where they are. As the player gets closer, there will be different introductions/greetings from wild NISMs. Some may just stare at you, some may be happy to see you and say hello, some may just attack you right away (20% attack you immediately in their fight or flight instinct, 5% should immediately run away). An AI will generate 3 things on top of that; first, whether it says anything to you or not, 2nd and 3rd, what it says. The first option should be random messages like “The wild [NISM name] just stares at you” or “The wild NISM watches you closely” or things like that. (25% chance it says nothing). Which leaves it at 50% of the time, it will say something to you. In the actual NISM list, it will have common phrases and things for each NISM that is encountered in the game and the AI should be able to spawn various messages from there.
If it does not attack or run, you may do one of three things initially:

• Talk to it – carry on a brief conversation (3 exchanges max before the next options appear) in hopes it gives you information about anything. (This will be a neat way to discover hidden things I have planned for the game.) Once the dialogue reaches the 3 exchange limit, you will be asked to either Befriend, Capture or Attack the wild NISM.
• Befriending – this was covered earlier how it works. If the befriending option fails, you are then taken to a battle phase. In the battle, you will see your character (or glove if 1st person) and be asked what to do. HP and EP bars will be displayed on screen for the wild NISM which is across from you moving around however it does, and HP and EP bars will be on your side of the screen. If you fail to befriend them, you have 3 other remaining options.
• Walking Away/Leave it in Peace – This will leave the wild NISM at peace if you decide to walk away. This will only appear the first time as once you attack the wild NISM, you have engaged in hostility and walking away is no longer an option. This will give any NISM the player is currently traveling with +2 points to their bond experience level if they choose to walk away plus any rarity or item bonuses. It will also give any NISM(s) being traveled with +3 to their MP (Maturity Points) plus any rarity or item bonuses.
• Capture or Attack – Once you start attacking (regardless if attack or capture was chosen), the battle menu comes up with things that you can do with your NISM to weaken or disable the wild one. You will have a command list and an item list. The commands will be various actions you can have your NISM perform in the battle and the item list will be things you can use during the battle. No cosmetics can be changed during a battle. Once a wild NISM reaches 20% (or less) of their HP, then a blinking capture option will appear alongside the command and items options. If capture is chosen, (capture rates above in this doc) you will have 3 chances to capture it as it will still attack your NISM(s). If not successful by the third try, the wild NISM will flee in fear. If you keep attacking, once the wild NISM reaches 1% or less of their HP, again, they are knocked out/flee and you are credited with XP. This is gone over earlier in this document. If you chose to attack, you will only be able to render the wild NISM unconscious or cause it to flee.

NPC Battles

• You may remember reading about factions briefly. The in-game one is called Malicious. It will be a fun way to help level up your NISMs without having to find wild ones or battle other players. Every so often, at random time intervals, you may be approached by the Malicious. While walking, and the ping goes out from the PIM, we’ll say “Oh no! A member of the Malicious Faction has noticed you! They rush towards you, there is no avoiding this fight.” And then a battle starts with a Malicious Faction member. There will be various random encounters with the Malicious Faction, and some will involve ‘quests’ where you have to beat Malicious bosses and such.
• Battle Scenario – Is the same as trying to capture or attack a wild NISM only the faction member is visible behind the opposing NISM(s) you are battling. Just like in a tournament or PVP match. XP calculations are mentioned earlier in this document.

PVP Battles

• Encounters – Originally, I thought a 1 km radius would be sufficient, but considering safety precautions and anonymity (especially for younger players), I would like to increase that to 25 km. When a ping goes out, if another player is in that vicinity that is within 5 levels of the player, a message should come on their PIM saying “Another adventurer/explorer/player is in the area! Would you like to challenge them?”
• Saying No – The first player to accept this upon the ping notification will give the NISM(s) being traveled with +1 to their MP.
• Within Reason - The PIM will not say who or give any information about the player that was pinged until the match starts. The only surety is that they will be within five levels of you. Then, knowing the player name, you may choose to add them as a friend, enemy, or search them and look at their NISM collection or even see what they have for sale (if they have set up a kiosk).
• Challenge Accepted – If another player accepts the challenge, or you accept one from another player, a battle will initiate where you can see the other player across the way. The background should be relative to the region, as stated before for all battles, and you should be able to see what NISM(s) they are traveling with and how they are being traveled with. Player with the highest speed goes first.
• Decline a battle – if a player is challenged and chooses to decline a battle, they will lose 1% of their current bond with their NISM(s) they are traveling with. I am putting this in here because the poor things will feel like you have no faith in their abilities and be sad.
• XP – will be calculated upon winning or losing as stated earlier.

Friendly Challenges

• Friends in the PIM – You may issue a challenge to any friend at any time they are online – regardless of the level difference in the players. This will be apparent when a person is online simply by having their name glowing or something. Friends that are online should appear above ones that are not – always alphabetical to keep it easy. There will be no bonus or reduction for declining, issuing, or accepting a friendly battle.
• Sending a Challenge – an option should appear upon clicking/tapping on your friends name to challenge them alongside a few things like ‘OFFER TRADE’, ‘VISIT HOME’, ‘VISIT KIOSK’ and a few others depending on the level of the player.

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