superultrachicken: 5epokedex: #146 Moltres Moltres was known as “god bird” by the first
superultrachicken: 5epokedex: #146 Moltres Moltres was known as “god bird” by the first people to have ever witnessed it. The name was apt: this Pokémon is cloaked in radiant flames that give it a heavenly appearance, and when it flies over desolate and wintry lands, an early spring follows almost immediately in its wake. However, it can bring destruction, too: with one mighty flap of its flaming wings, Moltres can inflict wildfires, drought, and unbearable heat to the land around it. Burning Body. Moltres’s whole body roars with undying flames that burn so hot, any water that could extinguish it just evaporates before it even touches it. A Moltres keeps itself healthy by keeping itself hot: open fires rage in its lair for it to warm itself by, and Moltres that roost atop volcanic mountains will dive into pools of lava to rejuvenate themselves and heal any injuries they may have. The Legend Continues. While Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are a known trio of Pokémon, it is believed that they are each subservient to a fourth legendary bird that is yet to be discovered. Such a Pokémon would be tremendously powerful—even more so than the known legendary birds—but precisely which niche or realm it would occupy is still unknown. In contrast to the high reaches of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres’s lairs, is believed by some that this undiscovered Pokémon may live deep beneath the ocean. Note: The images in this post have been edited; the original stat block contained an erroneous reference to Articuno in its Innate Spellcasting ability, and erroneously referred to Wing Attack as a multiattack in the legendary action for Wing Attack. Nice… But I have a couple Pokemon-Lore-based issues… There’s actually an ability in Pokemon that makes a offensive water-type moves useless called “Primordial Drought”. It’s only held by one Pokemon and that’s Primal Groudon. Motres’ ability “Flame Body” only actually burns those that use contact attacks (while also allowing eggs to hatch faster out of combat). Pressure could have provided a much monster ability by forcing the players to choose whether they want to attack or move during a turn, effectively turning their move and minor actions into standard actions. The reason why I have not given any of the Legendary Birds Pressure is because there are few avenues to translate the ability that wouldn’t take away fundamental resources from the player in a way that I thought would be fair or fun to play against. Requiring the use of two instead of one Rages, Superiority Die, Spell Slots, or other finite use abilities has no precedent in any other monsters’ abilities and could severely impact game balance. Your specific suggestion, in my opinion, would devastate the flow of combat; players would either be obliterated quickly because they cannot move themselves out of harm’s way on their turn, or the fight would take eons because the Moltres would keep flying away when attackers closed in on it. I also try to avoid “because it says so” abilities—specifically, things that affect the rules on a granular level and in a way not immediately visible in the world, resulting in situations like, “I run towards the Moltres and attack,” “You can’t move and attack together,” “Why? I’m not frightened or cursed anything,” “You can’t because it says so.”Many liberties are taken with the design philosophy on this blog because the rules of Pokemon do not match 1-to-1 with the rules of Dungeons and Dragons, and I prefer to follow precedent whenever possible. With Moltres, “Flame Body” is a slightly modified version of the Azer monster’s “Elemental Body” ability; it has the added ability of ignition because I want the biggest challenge from the Moltres to be that it is setting things on fire, everywhere, all the time. Its regional effect of inhibiting the range of spells that create precipitation (a minor takeaway compared to forcing a choice between moving or attacking) is just an atmospheric touch that suggests the dryness and heat of a Moltres’ territory, similar to the electric air around a Zapdos’s lair or the perpetual outward wind of an Articuno’s. The Moltres’s is the only one to have a mechanical impact, admittedly. When Primal Groudon is tackled, of course one can expect a far more dramatic drought effect.I hope this clarifies things not just for you, but for anyone else wondering why some abilities are chosen over others, or why some Pokemon mechanics don’t function exactly like their source material. -- source link
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