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Originally Posted by Scytale
I like Nure Ohna. The stats are nice and weak and the left-side stats look good. Having playtested the Yokai a lot, I can see some clever uses, and she's not bad as filler for other armies.
The one thing I'm not really happy with Paralyzing Trap doesn't have a size restriction; from both gameplay and thematic perspectives it doesn't seem like it should affect the biggies.
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Thematically, there's actually some very specific aspects of the Nure Onna legend that Paralyzing Trap is referring to. In essence, the monster lures men to the shore, then hands them a baby. This baby quickly becomes very heavy and the victims cannot let it go as she drains their blood until a stronger Yokai comes in and finishes the job. I'm not sure what the immediate visual image without that background is (given how obscure Yokai mythology is to many, I figured that a vague power name was probably the best way to capture this aspect of the legend, but it probably leaves room for misinterpretation for the power to be about venom or constricting the target, or something along those lines). In terms of the actual legend, though, there's no reason why the boulder baby wouldn't paralyze a big figure just as well, given that it's largely a mental/hallucinatory trap. I could definitely see this feeling weird without that pretty specific bit of knowledge, though, which people are unlikely to know without an accompanying bio.
In terms of gameplay, I've found that she's useful to break through high-defense targets like Q9 or dragons, especially if the player can also afford Ibaraki-doji or Masha with their higher base attacks. A more common use for her is indeed probably to make sure that the Yokai's fewer attacks per OM pay off in killing squads, though. Is there a specific reason why paralyzing the bigger figures feels off to you, or is it more of the result of many similar-themed powers like Paralyzing Stare featuring a size restriction?
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Originally Posted by Shiftrex
Looks like a thematic clash when compared to your source material and the bio you've created for the unit.
The Paralysis Trap, which is symbolizing the hand off of the baby-like bundle I'm guessing, should only effect one thing at a time. This Yokai looks like it effects and targets one person at a time, as a large part of its lore to punish choices. Functioning as a mass debuff feels unthematic.
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Much as TAF noted, I think this is a Gladiatrons-esque scenario where the hassle of trying to limit the defense penalty to one figure per attack isn't worth the thematic benefit, especially since I haven't seen many indications that the Nure Onna would
only target one figure at a time anyway--to the contrary, one of the sources that I'd read talked about one taking out a wave of people in a boat all at once.
There's a surprising amount of leeway in Yokai legends in any case, and since the only time that the scenario really "breaks" is when multiple adjacent figures are attacked simultaneously by something like an explosion attack, the fringe case doesn't seem to be worth driving the design to me at a first glance.
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I also agree, it shouldnt effect large/huge figures. Should it effect Soulborgs either? Doesnt quite feel right.
From the deep is a good name to connect with the folklore and the imagery from the bio. I dont understand why she needs an attack boost from a thematic perspective, it feels out of place.
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I don't see why Soulborgs would be immune? They're typically immune to things that would only affect biological creatures like plagues, venom, or Cyprien's chilling touch. They're not immune to fear or magical effects like Paralyzing Stare or demonic boulder babies. My apologies if I've missed something about the source legend here.
The thematic justification for an attack bonus is that the Nure Onna was typically pretty violent as a vampiric Siren parallel--this design even had Life Drain not too long ago to further emphasize that sharky playstyle, but Captain Stupendous pointed out that it made this iteration a bit too similar to Marcu and I don't disagree.