Spirit Beast

This article is a work in progress!

Spirit Beasts premiered at Ebon Gate 2014. Similar to siegery, but with much more depth, spirit beasts battle one another like Pokemon<TM>. See spirit beast stats for more information about specific beasts. GM Auchand redeveloped Spirit Beasts shortly after their debut and introduced Talondown Arena aboard The Firebird airship for players to battle each other and NPC Spirit Beast masters.

Spirit Beasts are the spiritual essences of creatures that have dwelled in a given locale. Enterprising players can bind them to a talisman and make them fight for you to gain levels and become more powerful.

Talismans

The talismans are available off-the-shelf, are neck-worn, and can be altered. Each talisman can hold three beasts: one common, one uncommon, and one legendary. A common beast much reach its twentieth level before the talisman can take an uncommon beast. Likewise, an uncommon beast much reach level 20 before the talisman can hold a legendary beast. Talismans can be purchased on The Firebird (pendants) or in Ilixil's shop at Ebon Gate.

Common beasts are easy to find; locations are listed below and on the Spirit Beast stats page. Uncommon beasts are a bit harder to find, lurking in special locales. Legendary beasts only exist in a single place (i.e. room). These will take some serious hunting to find.

Statistics

Specific Spirit Beast stats article

Initial stats for any Spirit Beast can be seen by LOOKing at the talisman containing the beast. The descriptive ranges for stats and growth rates are as follows:

STATISTICS Stat Description Enhancive Color Power The strength of a beast's attacks. Indigo Defense The ability of a beast to defend itself. Emerald Speed How fast a beast is. Gold Insight How well a beast can determine its opponent's tactics. This is important! Violet Accuracy The likelihood a beast is going to hit with its normal attacks. Mauve (all) Saffron (common) Health A measure of the beast's life force. Crimson Black potions will clear enhancives.

STAT RANGES Descriptor Range Pathetic Under 100 Low 100 to 115 Moderate 115 to 130 Above Average 130 to 145 High 145 to 160 Very High 160 to 175 Extraordinary 175 to 190 Monumental 190 to 210 Godlike 210+

GROWTH RATE Descriptor + per Level Slowly 1 Measured 2 Quickly 3 Very rapid 4

In addition, many creatures are aligned to an element and the alignment will affect how that beast does in battles vs. other aligned beasts according to this chart:

ELEMENTS

Element	Weakest Against	Weak Against	Strong Against	Strongest Against
Fire	Water	Earth	Air	Spirit
Water	Spirit	Air	Earth	Fire
Earth	Air	Water	Fire	Spirit
Air	Spirit	Fire	Water	Earth
Spirit	Fire	Earth	Water	Air
Wild Magic	Elements	-	-	Spirit
Rift Armament	Spirit	-	-	Elements

Beasts are also sorted into classes: Humanoids, Beasts, Elementals, Arthropods, and Aberrations. This is important for armaments.

Finally, all common and uncommon beasts have a special attack (1 of 14). Uncommon beasts may have special abilities, and legendary beasts all have special abilities. These are accessed using the TELL {BEAST} TO ATTACK command.

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Attack Name	Description
Primitive Strike	Used by most uncivilized humanoids.
Bestial Fury	Used by beasts.
Rage of the Elements	Default elemental special.
Drain Life	Used by undead.
Sky Rend	Used by birds.
False Security	Used by adorable creatures.
Ambush	This one is really self-explanatory, no?
Swordplay	Used by armed creatures.
Fierce Strike	A generic attack, usually used by uncommons and rares with once-per-battle stuff.
Stampede	Used by hooved creatures.
Stinging Swarm	Used by bugs.
Witchcraft	Drain Life for living beings.
We Are Pack!	Used by wolves.
Catscratch Fever	Used by cats.

Common

Common Spirit Beasts have base level 1 stats ranging from 90 to 130 and have a growth potential from 1 to 3 points per level. This means that, at maximum, a common spirit beast with a fully potion-enhanced stat, maximum stat growth, and with a 130 base stat can achieve a 170, or "very high" rating for that stat. They have a stat pool of 635 points and a growth pool of 12 points, but the stat numbers do not go above 130 or under 90, and stat growth does not go over 3 or under 1.

Uncommon

Uncommon Spirit Beasts have a stat pool of 645 points and a growth pool of 14 points. They have a stat range from 90-140 and a growth range of 1-4 points. In addition, some (but not all) of them have access to unique abilities instead of the common ones.

Legendary

Legendary Spirit Beasts have a stat pool of 655 points and a growth pool of 16 points. They have a stat range from 90-140 and a growth range of 1-4 points, but they all have unique special abilities like Sympathy, Bleed, Airwall, Bone Shield, and more. A legendary beast's maximum enhanced stat could reach 220 provided that they started at 140 and had a growth potential of 4.

Binding

Original instructions provided by Brian, Sepher's player

Before trying this yourself, consider if your character has enough Magic Item Use AND Spiritual Lore, Summoning to complete the process. Without both of these skills, or the ability to collect high level blood, it is highly advisable to ask someone else to get a beast for you. Ability to obtain a beast makes no difference when battling.

Step 1: Purchase

Obtain necessary items

• Talisman(s)
• Vial(s)
• Syringe

Put vial on syringe and make it readily available during hunt. Vials and syringes are reusable. Multiple vials are recommended.

Step 2: Blood

Collect blood by killing creatures and DRAW their blood with the syringe. The higher the level of the creature, the better the blood will be. This is important as it makes offering a talisman to a beast easier. Leopards in the Gyldemar Forest yield "moderate" quality blood while war griffins in OTF yield "incredible" quality blood.

The process of drawing blood is thus:

1. Kill the creature
2. KNEEL
3. DRAW {CREATURE} WITH SYRINGE

It looks like this:

K>draw leo with syr
You draw some of a mastodonic leopard's blood into your syringe. The leopard shrivels and decays away 
until naught but dust is left.
Roundtime: 3 secs.

Repeat this process 9 more times to completely fill a vial. A full vial (10 kills) is needed to prepare your talisman. LOOK at the syringe to see how much blood has been collected.

• 1-3 doses

A small crystal vial is locked into place within the syringe. A bit of sluggish war griffin blood sloshes inside, deep red in color.

• 4-6 doses

A small crystal vial is locked into place within the syringe. It is about half full of dark red war griffin blood.

• 7-9 doses

A small crystal vial is locked into place within the syringe. The syringe is mostly full of war griffin blood.

• 10 doses

A small crystal vial is locked into place within the syringe. The syringe is full to the brim with war griffin blood, which appears to be of incredible quality.

Note that the quality of the blood cannot be seen until the vial is full. Also, in the somewhat likely event of a failure, another full vial may be needed to prepare the talisman. Multiple vials are recommended.

Step 3: Prepare Talisman

Once the vial is full, UNLOCK MY SYRINGE and POUR MY VIAL ON MY TALISMAN.

Moderate Magic Item Use training is required to prepare a talisman, but anyone can do the preparation; talismans are not attuned to the purchaser.

If you have low MIU your talisman CAN break and you'll lose it AND have to buy a new one and start over. It's best to have someone high level with high MIU do the pour for you.

Success

>pour my vial on my talis
You pour the mastodonic leopard blood in your vial over the surface of a rippled clay talisman. A faint thrum of a sensation akin to stirring awareness answers from within the blood-drenched talisman. The blood seeps into the surface of your talisman, and a feeling of faint satisfaction wells up from within.
The vial is now empty.

Failure

>pour my via on my tali
You pour the triton radical blood in your vial over the surface of a painted clay talisman.  A faint thrum of a sensation akin to stirring awareness answers from within the blood-drenched talisman.  As quickly as it came, it flickers out like a dying candle, and the blood beads on the surface of the the talisman as it rejects your offering.

Major Failure (Talisman breaks)

>pour my via on my tali
You pour the troll king blood in your vial over the surface of a simple red and white orb. A faint thrum of sensation akin to stirring awareness answers from within the blood-drenched orb. Cracks form all over the surface of a simple red and white orb just seconds before it crumbles away in your hands. Perhaps you just weren't skilled enough to prepare the orb, but now, you'll never know for sure. The blood on your hands commingles with the dusty remnants of the orb as if to compound your miserable failure. You get the feeling you just aren't skilled enough to prepare the vial. 

Step 4: Find a Beast

Now the talisman is ready to take on a spirit beast, but one must be found. INVOKE TALISMAN will show what beasts are around, if any. Invoking the prepared talisman in a single room multiple times may get different results each time.

Messaging

You focus your thoughts on a rippled clay talisman, attempting to align yourself with the spirits floes within the area, but fail to detect anything at all.
Roundtime: 15 sec.

Same room, different results

You focus your thoughts on a rippled clay talisman, attempting to align yourself with the spirits floes within the area, and a wash of foreign sensation floods your mind.

You detect the presence of a common griffin spirit.
You sense the presence of at least one spirit whose nature you cannot discern.
Roundtime: 15 sec.

Common Spirit Beast Locations

Originally compiled by Eruheran

Town	Spirit Beasts
Broken Lands (WL)	hyena, jackal
Cysaegir	butterfly, aelotoi guardsman
Ebon Gate	swamp witch, mire wight, giant mantis, skeletal warrior
Four Winds Isle	snapping turtle, great tortoise, capuchin monkey, seagull
Icemule Trace	thyril, penguin, timber wolf, vereri, silverback orc, snowcat
Pinefar	arctic wolverine, seeker, glacei, fox, snowy owl
River's Rest	aardvark, pale crab, chimera, krolvin, pirate
Shadow Valley (WL)	mare, pony, stallion
Solhaven	shan, lobster, fenghai, roa'ter, daggerbeak, hound, alleycat
Ta'Illistim	griffin, moulis sapling, yeti, kiramon
Ta'Vaalor	hawk, fanged rodent, urgh, wolfshade, bobcat, grass snake
Teras	tsark, water elemental, fire elemental, cinder wasp, wind wraith
Wehnimer's Landing	kobold, rat, rolton, goblin, thrak, manticore
Zul Logoth	krynch, bat, whelk

Step 5: Attune Talisman

After receiving a desired INVOKE TALISMAN result, ATTUNE TALISMAN to set it to a specific beast.

Messaging

You tighten your grip on a rippled clay talisman, willing it to attune to the presence of the griffin spirit lingering in the area.
Roundtime: 2 sec.

Step 6: Offer Talisman

Finally, KNEEL and OFFER TALISMAN to bind the beast to the talisman. Having some Spiritual Lore, Summoning skill will help greatly. While kneeling is not required, it is highly recommended.

Minor failure

You hold out your clay talisman and reach out with your mind, calling to the kiramon spirit lingering in the area. Sudden warmth draws your attention to your hands, where beads of blood begin welling from the surface of your talisman. A stray thought causes you to lose your focus, and the blood seeps back into the talisman.
Roundtime: 14 sec.

Major failure (blood must be reapplied to the talisman)

You hold out your clay talisman and reach out with your mind, calling to the kiramon spirit lingering in the area. Sudden warmth draws your attention to your hands, where beads of blood begin welling from the surface of your talisman. The blood rises in a cloud of sanguine mist that evaporates into the air, and you sense that the spirit you are trying to summon is little pleased with your offering.
Roundtime: 20 sec.

Success

You hold out your clay talisman and reach out with your mind, calling to the kiramon spirit lingering in the area. Sudden warmth draws your attention to your hands, where beads of blood begin welling from the surface of your talisman. The blood rises in a cloud of sanguine mist that illuminates a shrouded form hanging in the air before you. The spirit drifts closer to a charred clay talisman, its outline glowing as it nears. Golden light spills from the surface of the talisman, consuming the spirit. A thrill of satisfaction echoes up your arm and through your body.
Roundtime: 18 sec.

LOOK at the talisman to see the beast.

REPLACE EXAMPLE WITH CURRENT ITERATION

It's clay talisman that binds the spirits of the dead. What more do you want?

A rippled clay talisman is currently attuned to a spectral griffin of 1 train.

Its Power is moderate and will grow quickly.
Its Defense is low and will grow slowly.
Its Speed is moderate and will grow quickly.
Its Insight is moderate and will grow at a measured pace.
Its Accuracy is moderate and will grow at a measured pace.
Its Health is moderate and will grow slowly.

It is attuned to the element of air.

Battling

Now that the talisman has a beast, the battling can begin.

To initiate a battle: POINT TALISMAN AT {OPPONENT}. Opponent will respond in kind.

Beasts will start in randomly assigned bestial stances (might end up being the same stance), in strike mode, and automatically attack each other at a rate dependent upon a comparison of each beast's speed stat. The base is one attack every 7 seconds.

Players should adjust their beasts attack stance and bestial stance to achieve success.

Commands during battle

TELL {BEAST} TO ATTACK

Commands creatures to execute special move. This requires energy, which is automatically gained one some successful strikes and blocks. The maximum energy a beast can store is 8 points.

This incurs roundtime of between 11-15 seconds.

TELL {BEAST} TO GUARD

Commands creature to change to a defensive stance. In this stance the beast will be very poor in attacking, but will regenerate health upon attacking and boost its insight into its opponent's stance. Beasts will also be more likely to gain special move energy from blocking, but special attacks cannot be executed from guarded.

This incurs roundtime of between 5-7 seconds.

TELL {BEAST} TO STRIKE

Commands creature to change to an offensive stance. This is the default stance that the beast will begin the match in, thus there is no need to use it unless it has been told to guard. The beast will need to be in this stance to execute a special attack.

This incurs roundtime of between 5-7 seconds.

TELL {BEAST} TO SWITCH

Commands creature to change between the five bestial stances -- Turtle, Wolf, Serpent, Hare, or Crane -- each with their own merit.

This incurs roundtime of between 11-15 seconds.

Bestial Stance

Success in attacking/defending, besides the Strike and Guard stances, is dependent upon the current bestial stances of the attacker/defender. At the start of the match the bestial stance is randomly set to Turtle, Wolf, Serpent, Hare, or Crane. Each of the five stances is strong against two of the others, but also weak against two of the others. These never overlap for two to be strong or weak against the same pair.

Turtle is strong against Hare and Crane; is weak against Serpent and Wolf.

Wolf is strong against Hare and Turtle; is weak against Crane and Serpent.

Serpent is strong against Turtle and Wolf; is weak against Crane and Hare.

Hare is strong against Serpent and Crane; is weak against Wolf and Turtle.

Crane is strong against Wolf and Serpent; is weak against Hare and Turtle.

A beast's Insight may give a glimpse at what stance its opponent is in, but observation of relative success can also be an indicator.

Insight will allow a beast to possibly see its opponent shifting stance, or to detect the stance its opponent is in upon being attacked. In either case, the beast might also shift its stance to a better one to counteract its opponent.

Enhancives

At this point, you may also enhance your spirit beast with the flacons sold in the same shop you bought you talismans at. Each spirit beast can be enhances a maximum of 20 times, and as of now there is no way to undo what you enhance, so be careful.

Re: Casilla asked how soon you can use the beasts again after you've lost/completed a match
Ilixil says, "You can use them immediately again."

Ilixil says, "You'll have to get a common to twenty trains, bind an uncommon, get it to twenty trains, and then get a legendary."

Ilixil says, "I'll probably craft a potion that will allow you to remove bad pours."

Ilixil says, "Because... it would be a shame to have to get rid of your talisman and train a whole new beast because of a poor choice."

Ilixil says, "When that time comes, I'll be customizing beasts in various ways."

Re: someone was making suggestions for beasts:
Ilixil says, "If there are beasts that the talismans cannot yet sense, I am always open to suggestions."

Re: the talismans
Ilixil says, "I will say that these are magicked to detect the spiritual floes around all of the major towns, so far."

Ilixil says, "I believe you might find a silverback near Icemule."

Casilla asks, "Do spirits switch stances on their own if their insight is high enough?"

Speaking to Casilla, Ilixil says, "They do not."

Speaking to Casilla, Ilixil says, "That is, however, an intriguing suggestion."

Re: beast enhancive potions
Laelithonel asks, "So common spirit only needs one dose of a certain potion?"

Speaking to Laelithonel, Ilixil says, "The potions are not necessary. They merely allow you more control over your beast's strengths and weaknesses."

Japhrimel asks, "If we get a spirit can we remove it? or would we need a new talisman?"

Speaking to Japhrimel, Ilixil says, "There is no way to remove a spirit currently, I'm afraid. Some of my future plans..."

Ilixil says, "Well."

Ilixil says, "Future plans are future plans."

Ilixil chuckles.

Ilixil says, "At any rate, I would rather enjoy it if there were a way to reimburse people for putting effort into training a spirit they decide they do not want."

Re: someone sancted
Ilixil says, "They will not, by the way, fight in places that are sanctuaries."

Speaking quietly to Ilixil, Demyse says, "Have thoughts turned inward for future experimentings? As in some of the most powerful creatures in this world aren't beasts or animal.. but those which stand as adventurers of Elanthia."

Speaking to Demyse, Ilixil says, "Some of the creatures are not beasts."

Speaking to Ilixil, Riend says, "You can customize the look of your creature, if I recall correctly. Is this option fairly open or must it remain the same type of creature it was to begin with?"

Ilixil says, "It'll have to remain roughly similar to that creature."

Ilixil says, "A rat will have to remain some sort of rodent."

Ilixil says, "I'm more likely to be all right with it if it's merely a cosmetic change."

Ilixil says, "There is a Sheruvian legendary beast, I know."

Ilixil says, "She..."

Ilixil says, "...is unpleasant."

Ilixil says, "Now, in addition to standard tactics..."

Ilixil says, "...elemental attunement can definitely change a fight."

Ilixil says, "That's not something that you can change about your beast, mind."

Casilla asks, "Do I have to attune it? Does it find an element on its own?"

Speaking to Casilla, Ilixil says, "Attunements are indelible."

You say, "They're innate to the creatures, if they have one."

Casilla says, "So this guy [kiramon] is just neutral."

Ilixil nods at Casilla.

Ilixil says, "So, it's worth noting that again, it can be a hindrance or a help."

Customizations

You can customize a lot about your beast! There are potions for sale in my shop that allow you to improve the traits of your beast. These can help you improve already good traits (like making a beast with a lot of Power really, really strong) or shore up ones that your beast lacks (such as enhancing the Insight on a beast that's not very aware). There's a limit on how much potions can do, but I might be convinced to do a little more for you. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

I can also work on your beast's appearance. You want your twitchy giant rat to look like a snarling fanged rodent? I can do it. Want it to look like a snake? Probably not. I can change its basic appearance and the greater detail when you look at it while it's fighting for you. But that's not all! I can even change what its special attack looks like, within reason.

Spirit Beasts 2.1

Category: Game Design Discussions
Topic: Spirit Beasts
Message #: 56
Author: GS4-AUCHAND
Date: 03/14/2015 03:23 PM EDT
Subject: Spirit Beasts 2.1: Arenas!

Editor's note: Talondown Arena information appears on that page. Only Spirit Beast system info here.

Armaments, beast experience potions, and common and uncommon Spirit Beast enhancements are all available for purchase or winning at the Talondown Arena!

Max Speed bonus now allows your beast to attack once every 7 seconds, up from 5. This was to compensate for the overwhelming speed of high-level fights, which were becoming a hindrance to strategizing even for experienced players. Speed ranks have been adjusted accordingly.

To positively readjust the value of Speed, extremely high levels of Speed now qualify beasts for the "Blinding Speed" buff, which begins as a passive 3% boost to attack avoidance and climbs from there.

Accuracy has now been considerably improved. Base special attack damage has been reduced slightly, but it is now boosted by Accuracy. Beasts with average levels of Accuracy should see no noticeable damage change, but those with high Accuracy will see more damage out of their special attacks. Furthermore, Accuracy now provides a chance to do more--but still reduced--damage while guarding.

Experience 'til next is now shown on Spirit Beast talismans!

Spirit Beasts 2.0

Category: Game Design Discussions
Topic: Spirit Beasts
Message #: 15
Author: GS4-AUCHAND
Date: 03/06/2015 07:16 PM EST
Subject: Spirit Beasts 2.0 Release

Some avid players of Spirit Beasts have noticed changes to their talismans today. There are quite a few updates as part of the 2.0 release, but the most pertinent one's you'll be seeing right now are:

• Clearer Info - Numerical values now exist for all Spirit Beast stats, accompanied by rough values appropriate for in-character discussion.

• Combat - It's been rebalanced around recent fight tracking to even out the gaps between certain overperforming and underperforming spirit beasts.

• Spirit Beast Armaments - You'll now be able to collect and use armaments for your Spirit Beasts. These come in three different levels: Lesser, Sturdy, and Potent armaments. More powerful armaments can do things like allow your beast access to new skills; all armaments will modify its stats in new and interesting ways. PUT armaments in your talisman to add them, DISARM the talisman to remove them.

• Level-matching - You can now FLIP your talisman and it will level match for lower-level beasts. Beasts will gain experience according to their actual levels, meaning that experienced Spirit Beast gladiators can help their friends gain experience more quickly.

• Fight Notifications - RUBbing your talisman while it's worn will now tune you in to receive fight notifications as they happen across Elanthia.

• New Spirit Beast Elements - Wild Magic (strong against spirit, weak against elements) and Rift Armament (strong against elements, weak against spirit).

• New Spirit Beast Special Abilities - Frailty (weak against criticals), Troll's Tenacity (has a chance to struggle for life), and Leech (has a chance to drain health on normal attacks), all acquired through equipment.

• Replacement Potions - Tired of your Spirit Beast? No problem! They can now be modified with replacement potions, which will trade out your existing beast with another of the same rarity level. All mechanical enhancements will be maintained. All physical customizations are removed by these.

• Classes - Beasts are now sorted into classes: Humanoids, Beasts, Elementals, Arthropods, and Aberrations. This is ultra-important for armaments!

Auchand

Resources

• Officials folder
• Spirit Beast (saved posts)