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Wednesday, April 21, 2021

LEGAMON: You Must Acquire Them

LEGAMON! You Must Acquire Them (Original Series Theme Song)

I want to be the very best, above the world's law,
To acquire them is my sole quest, then teach them to make war... LEGAMON!

I will explore far-flung locales, find all that's hidden
Seek Legamon! And cultivate, the strengths they hide within...

LEGAMON! (You must acquire them)

LEGAMON! You'll fight for me! It's your one true destiny!
LEGAMON! Oh, I'm your best friend, 'til my death, you will defend...

LEGAMON! (You must acquire them)

Oh, I feel so free! Your powers win victory!
Nothing can stand in our way! LE-GA-MON... You must acquire them! (You must acquire them) LEGAMON!
by DevilDman on deviantart
Hello there and welcome to the world of LEGAMON! I'm Professor Lichen, and I'm an expert on the creatures that inhabit these lands. They're called legamon - that's short for "legally distinct monsters", due to a nasty copyright dispute between various explorers that initially laid claim to this region. For some, legamon are pets. Others use their immense power to help them work. Myself, I study legamon as a profession, because there's vast amounts of grant money in learning to weaponi- sorry, harness, their unique and fascinating abilities!
 
Links to other Legamon posts
Legamon Battles
I'm sure you're interested in joining the legamon battling scene. I know I was, as a young one - there's leagues for children as young as ten! It's the biggest sport around here, and it's great training for when you'll need to go out into the wilds and defend yourself from feral legamon. They really seem to dislike us. Can't imagine why - maybe you'll discover it on your adventures!
 
Sanctioned combat between legamon is typically 1v1 with teams of up to 6 and to-exhaustion, though trainers often invent new modes of battle on their own, and doubles matches have gained popularity in recent years. Of course, in the wilds, anything goes.
 
In a round, the 'mon with the highest Speed goes first. On a tie, flip a coin. On a 'mon's turn, it saves vs. status effects (trainer's choice of order if it's saving against multiple), then it gets to make one move of its trainer's choice. The trainer may alternatively change their active 'mon or use an item on their 'mon, but forgoes the ability for their 'mon to use a move. Once all 'mon have taken their turns, a new round starts, and compare Speeds again to see who goes first in the new round.

'mon types are also damage types. Attacks are either Physical (roll d20+Attack vs. target's AC) or Status (target rolls d20+Save vs. attacker's Save DC). Level 1 Legamon deal d6 damage with their Physical attacks, Level 2 deal 2d6, Level 3 deal 3d6.

#0XX Geisticle, the Icicle Legamon (Ghost/Ice). Level 1. Evolutions unknown.
The spirit of a fallen Legamon, frozen to death on the side of the never-summited Mt. Colossus. It haunts the slopes, ambushing foolhardy climbers in the hopes of making more Geisticles.
1 Hit Die (5 Health), 0 Speed, 0 Armor (10 Armor Class), 3 Save (13 Save Target), 1 Attack, 2 Power Dice.
Physical Attack: Ice. Status Attack: Ghost (Curse). Ability: Ambush. Takes the first turn in round 1 regardless of Speed.
Special Move: FROSTBITE (Ice, Status): Target saves against its blood freezing in its veins. If it fails, it's unable to use Status attacks without taking sum ice damage until it saves against this effect.

Level represents the stage a 'mon is on its evolutionary path. 'mon have level*5 points to spend among Hit Dice, Speed, Armor, Save, Attack, Power Dice; and have one Special Move per level. Hit Dice and Power Dice both start equal to the 'mon's level before adding points; the rest start at 0. Can't go above Level 3. 'mon level up and evolve into a new form when you've achieved a significant emotional bond or milestone with them - don't track XP. Perhaps one of the techniques listed here may aid you in your quest.
 
Types determines a 'mon's strengths, resistances, and immunities. Resistances halve damage (round up) and give you advantage on saves against moves of that type and status moves, Strengths doubles your damage against 'mon of that type and give enemy disad on saves. Using a Strong move against a 'mon that resists it deals normal damage with no advantage or disadvantage. If a 'mon has two types that give the same Strength, its moves deal an extra level damage. If a 'mon has two types that give it the same Resistance, it can add level to its AC and Saves against moves of that type.
 
Each type also has an associated status effect. For status effects, level is always the level of the inflicting 'mon. Damage dealt by status effects is assumed to be the same type as the type of the inflicting move – which may not always be the same as the type the status is normally associated with! A Grass-type move inflicting the Bug status Bound will deal Grass damage when the target struggles.
    
Hit Dice is the 'mon's overall hardiness. Multiply by 5 to get Health. When reduced to 0 Health, the 'mon loses all its will to fight. At negative max health, the 'mon is killed.
Speed. Higher speed moves first in round. On a tie, flip a coin.
Armor. Armor Class is 10+Armor.
Save. Add this to Save rolls to resist Status attacks and shake off Status effects. 10+Save is the 'mon's Save Target, the static difficulty other 'mon need to tie or beat to avoid the status.
Attack. Add this to Physical attack and special move rolls to hit.
Power Dice. d6s, function like GLOG magic dice - spend any number of Power Dice to use a move and roll them. Any dice on a 3 or less return to your PD pool.
 
'mon all have a basic Physical attack that inflicts their damage type and a basic Status attack that forces save vs. the type's associated status. If a mon has two types, pick one for the physical attack and one for the status attack - these must be different types.
 
'mon may also each have a passive Ability that reflects their unique advantages and place in the ecosystem.
 
Special Moves cost Power Dice to use and are statted like GLOG spells. dice is the number of PD spent on the move; sum is the total of all the rolled dice; highest is the highest result on any individual rolled die; lowest is the lowest result on same. Special moves can inflict damage and status types that don't correspond to the 'mon's types, and provide interesting new tools. Special moves are categorized as physical if they involve an attack roll or dealing direct damage, or status if they force a 'mon to make a save, but might have interesting new types if they buff the 'mon that uses them, allow for new movement types, change the battlefield's terrain, or have solely out of combat uses.

It is unknown which 'mon can learn which moves, though not all moves are available to all 'mon, and there is no centralized or comprehensive list of moves. New techniques are being developed and discovered by enterprising legamon trainers every day!
Legamon Types
Normal. Status: Taunt. Taunted 'mon can only use its basic Physical moves, not status or special moves. Save each round, end condition on success.
Immune to Ghost.

Fire. Status: Burning. Burning 'mon saves each round. On a failure, take level +1 fire damage. On a success, end the condition.
Strong vs. Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel. Resist Fire, Grass, Ice, Steel, Fairy.
 
Grass. Status: Drain. Drained mon saves each round, on a failure, take level grass damage and opposing 'mon restores level health. End condition on success.
Strong vs. Water, Ground, Rock. Resist Water, Electric, Grass, Ground, Steel.
 
Water. Status: Drench. Reduce drenched 'mon's highest stat (except Hit Dice) to amount of lowest stat. Save each round, end condition on success.
Strong vs. Fire, Ground, Rock. Resist Fire, Water, Ice, Steel.
 
Electric. Status: Paralyze. Save each round. On a failed save, skip turn and end the condition.
Strong vs. Water, Flying. Resist Electric, Flying, Steel.
 
Rock. Status: Entomb. Entombed 'mon automatically fails on all saves besides saves against this status. Save each round, condition ends on a successful save.
Strong vs. Fire, Ice, Ground, Bug. Resist Normal, Fire, Poison, Flying.
 
Ground. Status: Sandblast. Halve sandblasted 'mon's Armor Class. Save each round, end condition at the end of a round where the save is a success.
Strong vs. Fire, Electric, Ground, Rock, Steel. Resist Poison, Rock. Immune to Electric.
 
Ice. Status: Freeze. Frozen 'mon can't use damaging attacks or moves. Save each round, end condition on success.
Strong vs. Grass, Ground, Flying, Dragon. Resist Ice.
 
Steel. Status: Trapped. Trapped 'mon can't switch out. Save each round, end condition on success.  
Strong vs. Ice, Rock, Fairy. Resist Normal, Grass, Ice, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Dragon, Steel, Fairy. Immune to Poison.
 
Flying. Status: Knockdown. Knocked down 'mon goes last next round regardless of Speed.
Strong vs. Grass, Poison, Bug. Resist Grass, Fighting, Bug.
 
Fighting. Status: Stagger. Staggered 'mon loses access to a Power Die. Save each round, end condition on success. 'Mon may skip turn to remove this condition.
Strong vs. Normal, Rock, Steel, Ice, Dark. Resist Bug, Rock, Dark.
 
Poison. Status: Poisoned. Each round, take level poison damage, then save. On a success, take level poison damage again, then end the condition.
Strong vs. Grass, Fairy. Resist Grass, Fighting, Poison, Bug, Fairy.
 
Bug. Status: Bind. Bound 'mon has its Attack bonus reduced to 0 and takes level bug damage when attacking. Save each round, end condition on success.
Strong vs. Grass, Psychic, Dark. Resist Grass, Fighting, Ground.
 
Psychic. Status: Confused. Save each round. On a failed save, deal attack damage to self (modified by own strengths and resistances) and end this condition.
Strong vs. Fighting, Poison. Resist Fighting, Psychic.
 
Dark. Status: Flinch. Flinching 'mon can't make basic attacks next turn.
Strong vs. Psychic, Rock. Resist Ghost, Dark. Immune to Psychic.
 
Ghost. Status: Curse. Whenever a cursed 'mon deals damage, it takes that much Ghost-type damage. Save each round, end condition on success.
Strong vs. Psychic, Ghost. Resist Poison, Bug. Immune to Normal, Fighting.
 
Dragon. Status: Crush. Crushed 'mon's AC becomes equal to its Armor next round (instead of 10+Armor).
Strong vs. Dragon. Resist Fire, Water, Grass, Electric.
 
Fairy. Status: Charm. Charmed 'mon can't use damaging moves on the charmer. Save each round, end condition on success. Condition ends if charmer deals damage to charmed 'mon.
Strong vs. Fighting, Ghost, DragonResist Fighting, Bug, Dark. Immune to Dragon.

The Legadex
Here's a mostly empty codex to start you on your adventure, and a starter legamon! I have three here that I've finished all my testing on, you're free to take whichever one you like best. They might be a little banged up, but take them to your local Legamon Clinic and you'll be able to get them right back into the action (so long as you've paid up with their subscription service).

#001: Elephruit, the Fruit Trunk Legamon (Grass). Level 1. Evolves into Mastoak.
A tough, stocky legamon with fanlike leaves for ears and a long trunk covered in bark and branches. It loves berries, and can't wait until its trunk is in season to fruit.
2 Hit Dice (10 Health), 0 Speed, 4 Armor (14 Armor Class), 0 Save (10 Save Target), 0 Attack, 1 Power Die.
Physical Attack: Grass. Status Attack: Grass (Drain). Ability: Gourmet. Regains level extra Health from heal effects, including Drain.
Special Move: SEED CANNON (Grass, Physical): Make sum attacks against the target. Each attack that hits deals grass damage equal to the number of attacks that have hit (1, then 2, then 3, etc).
 
#002: Mastoak. [NO FURTHER DATA]
 
#003: [NO DATA]
 
#004: Jellobe, the Deep Thinker Legamon (Water). Level 1. Evolves into Zoalobe.
A globule of transparent aqua jelly with a pink brain visible inside. It elevates itself and walks around on five stubby tendrils of the same gel. The brain is small, but its many wrinkles reveal that it's highly intelligent.
1 Hit Die (5 Health), 2 Speed, 0 Armor (10 Armor Class), 2 Save (12 Save Target), 0 Attack, 2 Power Dice.
Physical Attack: Water. Status Attack: Water (Drench). Ability: Forethought. +level Save in rounds it goes first.
Special Move: LULLABY (Psychic, Status): Target saves vs. sleep. A sleeping 'mon can't use moves. Wears off on save or when switched out.
 
#005: Zoalobe. [NO FURTHER DATA]
 
#006: [NO DATA]

#007: Scinder, the Fire Bellied Legamon (Fire). Level 1. Evolves into Scindwurm.
A slinky, scaled legamon that's warm to the touch. When it opens its mouth, it glows with fiery embers. Its six short legs have thick claws for digging, and it likes to spend cold nights buried in sun-warmed dirt.
1 Hit Die (5 Health), 1 Speed, 2 Armor (12 Armor Class), 0 Save (10 Save Target), 2 Attack, 1 Power Die.
Physical Attack: Fire. Status Attack: Fire (Burning). Ability: Heated Body. 'mon that hit this 'mon with physical attacks take level damage.
Special Move: BURROW (Ground, Movement): Burrow below the ground for up to dice rounds. Can't attack or be targeted by attacks while burrowing. When emerging from the earth at the start of a round, clear all status effects.
 
#008: Scindwurm. [NO FURTHER DATA]
 
#009: [NO DATA]
 
...
 
...
 
...
 
#???: Name, the MISSING DATA Legamon (Type). Level L. Evolutions unknown. 
Legamon description goes here 
X Hit Dice (X*5 Health), Y Speed, Z Armor (10+Z Armor Class), S Save (10+S Save Target), T Attack, P Power Dice.
Physical Attack: Type. Status Attack: Type (Status). Ability: Name. Text.
Special Move: NAME (Type, Physical/Status): Text.

3 comments:

  1. Wow! Can't believe i got back into pokemon just as this starts to pick up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's been a while since I've referenced the same blog post so often over the course of a week.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh boy, it's about to be Art Time...

    ReplyDelete