Introducing... Mercenaries!
Introducing Mercenaries
With all the talk of escorting and protecting stuff, an idea came to me.
Squawkers (the parody version of Stalkers) actually had hirable mercenaries, and while Season 4 does not (even though it has mercenary and bounty hunter guilds), I'm thinking of making hirable mercenaries a thing. Now, I have not run this idea by Suicune's Fire (I think she's been having a lot of outside things going on outside the forum), so there is a very slight chance she may override this. I kind of doubt it, though, generally we align pretty well on things.
WHAT CAN A MERCENARY DO?
When you hire a mercenary, they are added to your stat card, kind of like a piece of equipment. While they travel with you (and narration posts will reflect this), they can bypass type and size barriers if they can fulfill the conditions. So if you are playing a Zorua and you have a Raichu mercenary and you come across an +Electric Type+ barrier, your merc will take care of that for you.
The more advantageous reason to get a mercenary is they will fight alongside you if you get into a Hostile battle (since Friendly Battles are for sport and non-lethal sparring, they will only watch you and won't battle on your behalf). If you have a Pokémon type that has several weaknesses, you can hire a mercenary that covers those and will have advantages over types that might be a deadly threat in a Hostile Battle. You'll also have two attackers on your side instead of just you. Just note that usually in Hostile battles, your attacker will be trying to inflict as much damage as possible, so if it's your merc that might be weak against the hostile attacker's strikes, they'll become the main target.
Mercs have their own Health, Sanity, and Purity stats and they work very much like a player's stats where size are taken into account. However, if any of these hit zero, the mercenary not only dies, but that death gets added to the Doom Tracker. The good news is this is unlikely, as any damage the mercenary receives is healed into the next cycle (they buy lots of berries). But if you have a merc taking like 12 Health damage in one instance or in one battle because they just happened to be weak against a trap or Stalker attack, they perish.
What if my character gets knocked out in a battle, but my mercenary survives?
They resuscitate you! You'll find yourself at 1 Health again, but hey, at least you're not dragged off to some dungeon by a Stalker! However, if it's Sanity or Purity damage that does you in, that's fatal. If you die from that kind of thing but your mercenary survives the battle or the encounter, they'll fulfill whatever was left to be done in that action, and then return to Emissary base until you are reincarnated.
HOW DO I HIRE ONE?
You can hire a mercenary from the Mercenary Guild (does not take an action since it's a purchase). Note that you can hire up to TWO mercenaries.
There are three different contract types:
Limited Duration Bodyguard - For $50SP$, you hire a mercenary for one Cycle. You can buy a multi-day contract, such as if you wanted to hire a mercenary for one full day for $100SP$.
Seasonal Bodyguard Contract - For $300SP$, the mercenary is with you for the rest of the Season (the game), unless they get killed in action or you terminate the contract. If you terminate the contract, you don't get any money back, but it opens up a slot for you to hire some other mercenary if you want.
Premium Seasonal Bodyguard Contract - For $500SP$, the Seasonal Bodyguard Contract mercenary contract gets upgraded and the more elite mercenary you hire now has a perk (your choice), two Abilities (your choice), and a Trait (your choice). With this, you can also deploy them toward different locations or do different tasks. If you do NOT have them travel with you (such as if you have them using Medicine back at base or using Technical at a location ABC while you're over at XYZ doing Security on the other side of the map), and you get into a Hostile Battle, it will take them three rounds of battle to answer your distress call and arrive at your location to join you in the fight.
CAN I HIRE ANY POKÉMON I WANT?
Anything save for Legendaries, Ultra Beasts, or Sword/Shield Pokémon (since spoilers and that I can't verify their sizes and speeds yet).
If you have any questions, feel free to ask, but I'm thinking of making this an available thing as soon as Day 8 Night Cycle arrives.
