The Puppetry Specialty

The Puppetry Specialty is a unique and intricate skill set that allows players to manipulate and control puppets as powerful weapons in combat. This specialty focuses on puppetry, enabling players to create, customize, and utilize various puppets with different abilities and techniques. Notably, all who invest in the puppet specialty as their primary specialty will receive the Puppeteer skill both free and slotless.

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Players with the Puppetry Specialty can design and create their puppets, with each puppet having its unique characteristics and abilities. The design process includes selecting the puppet's appearance, size, materials, and mechanisms. Players can be creative in their designs, but the game moderators should balance and approve the puppet's abilities. All puppets must be created here, where they will be subject to moderator review. 



Players can modify their puppets to suit their combat style and preferences. This includes upgrading the puppet's mechanisms, integrating elemental chakra systems, and augmenting the puppets. Each of these is based on the rank of the puppet.

• Mechanisms: These can be thought of as the individual puppet’s techniques which they are capable of. They are detailed and graded on a case-by-case basis. Still, they can be as simple as a spring-loaded projectile-based attack or as complex as becoming the embodiment of a torture chamber. Upon creating a puppet, the creator must assign stats and AP costs to their puppet’s mechanisms. These follow the values established in the Jutsu Creation Guidelines, and they will scale depending on the puppet’s typing and primary stat requirement. They will be allowed mastery options, though typically only in enhancing a mechanism's power or speed stats.
  
  
• Elemental Chakra Systems: Puppets can be imbued with elemental chakra, granting them unique abilities and attributes based on their affinity. These are known as ECSs, which can be used to channel elemental techniques or even mechanisms that function off of the integrated element. Notably, whichever elements the puppet is imbued with must be possessed by its controller. The elements can be primary or advanced.
  
  
• Augments: The augmenting aspect of puppetry follows the same protocol (rules, costs, processes) as described in the Augmentation Guidelines. However, the number of slots that a particular puppet can have are described further later. Notably puppets with augments do NOT occupy the user's limited ANT slots, as they instead occupy the user's active puppet slots.
  

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When a user creates a puppet, they must choose a certain trait the puppet will have. Puppets get varying traits upon creation based on their rank, and these traits will have a corresponding number of mechanisms tied to them.

While some traits may provide a flat bonus to the puppet, other characteristics are necessary for the puppet (and the user) to use. These traits can be considered similar to what a familiar might have but not as complex as the capabilities of a skill. All puppets will be assigned one or more traits upon its creation, which are related to the puppet's own mechanisms. Below is the list of intended puppet traits available to a user upon creating a puppet. This list can be amended as more traits are created over time.

• Segmented: The puppet can divide itself into smaller segments. This can reveal hidden weapons, remove broken parts, or rearrange the puppet's configuration.
  
  
• Hardened: The puppet has a hardened shell that covers a large portion of the puppet to create a shield or barrier for the user.
  
  
• Dispenser: Puppet is designed to launch projectiles of various sorts and can be filled in before entering a topic.
  
  
• Jailer: A puppet is created with a large cavity for either storage or captivity, with ample room to imprison several targets.
  
  
• Wearable: A puppet can be worn like a suit of armor and controlled from the inside.
  
  
• Demolitionist: The puppet has a "kill switch" that instantly destroys the puppet but creates a powerful explosion at the same time. After the destruction, the puppet can reassemble itself as if it had not been destroyed without cost to its wielder.
  
  
• Aerialist: Puppet is created with Wing-like appendages that enable it to fly in the air, following Flight Guidelines.
  
  
• Fossorial: A puppet is created to bore holes through the earth, following Burrowing Guidelines.
  
  
• Hidden: Can collapse into a carriable object that is unassuming, unable to be detected as a puppet until the puppet is sprung out of its hidden state. This can not be a weapon, armor, or anything that is or appears to be threatening or defensive.
  
  
• Adaptor: The puppet can transform itself, which also changes one of its mechanisms. But the interchangeable mechanisms cycle between being locked and unlocked depending on the form the puppet is in. These other dual mechanisms wouldn’t be activatable while its counterpart is on cooldown, nor would the puppet be able to transform if one is active.
  
  
• Go-Go Gadget: The puppet’s body parts are equipped with telescoping features, allowing for extension and retraction of their body parts within a specific range. 
  

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As players progress and gain experience in the Puppetry Specialty, they can unlock higher levels of puppet mastery. These levels of mastery are directly related to the player’s power rank. Higher mastery levels provide access to more puppets, advanced puppets, increased customization slots per puppet, and enhanced puppet control.



Puppet progression comes in the form of ranks, not unlike the Dual Rank System for characters, but more akin to the systems outlined by the Equipment Guidelines. It also deals with the number of puppets a user may have access to. Both aspects are tied to the user’s rank, and the guidelines for these aspects of progression are defined below:

Spoiler:

Per rank, a puppet will have a different number of customization slots. These customization slots include mechanisms, traits, elemental chakra systems, and augments. The guidelines for the number of each customization slots that a puppet may have per rank are as follows

Spoiler:

As mechanisms follow jutsu guidelines, each one occupies one of the user's jutsu slots, preventing the puppeteer from gaining more jutsu slots than they would naturally have. B-rank puppets can use up to A-rank and below mechanisms. A and S rank puppets will be capable of using S rank and below mechanisms. But note that only the mechanisms for the puppeteer's active puppets will count towards the user's jutsu slots.

Example: If a C Rank puppeteer naturally has access to 1 slotted S rank jutsu and also has the potential to gain 2 slotless S rank techniques, then although their two A rank puppets have a total of 4 mechanisms between them, only up to 3 of those mechanisms could be S rank whereas the fourth would need to be A rank or below.

Puppets require the threads created by the puppetry skill to control, and the number of them required per rank of the puppet being controlled are based on the power rank of the puppetry user. Each thread must be controlled by at least one finger. The list is as follows.

• User's Power Rank: D Rank
  - B Rank Puppet - 5 Threads
  
  
• User's Power Rank: C Rank
  - B Rank Puppet - 2 Threads
  - A Rank Puppet - 3 Threads
  
  
• User's Power Rank: B Rank
  - B Rank Puppet - 1 Thread
  - A Rank Puppet - 2 Threads
  - S Rank Puppet - 5 Threads
  
  
• User's Power Rank: A Rank
  - B Rank Puppet - 1 Thread
  - A Rank Puppet - 1 Thread
  - S Rank Puppet - 3 Threads
  
  
• User's Power Rank: S Rank
  - B Rank Puppet - 1Thread
  - A Rank Puppet - 1 Thread
  - S Rank Puppet - 1 Thread
  

And so for example, a C Rank puppetry user could use one hand to control their 2 puppets at any given time, 3 for the A rank puppet and 2 for the B rank puppet.

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Puppetry specialists gain access to a range of puppetry techniques and jutsu. These techniques allow players to manipulate their puppets effectively in combat and perform specialized moves. Puppetry techniques can typically be categorized into offensive, defensive, supplementary, and hybrid jutsu, then finally, dances and performances. Each category offers different advantages and limitations, whereas hybrids may offer a combination of multiple.

• Offensive Jutsu: These techniques allow players to attack opponents using their puppets, utilizing weapons, projectiles, specialized puppet techniques, and mechanisms.
  
  
• Defensive Jutsu: These techniques enable players to defend against attacks by employing their puppets, such as creating protective barriers or deflecting incoming projectiles.
  
  
• Supplemental: These techniques offer additional utility and support options, such as puppet repair, camouflage, or puppet-based tracking.
  
  
• Dances: Dances are jutsu that amplify the puppets capabilities by a raw amount and is puppetry’s version of a Taijutsu or Bukijutsu Infusion. Dance acts as an amplifier for any puppetry jutsu channeled through the puppet but can alternatively be used to enhance the power of a puppet’s mechanisms, impact force, or health stat. Dances should be generic to work with all puppets, regardless of typings, traits, or mechanisms.
  
  
• Performances: These refer to jutsu locked behind specific slotless skills which a master puppeteer can only acquire. They are techniques that allow puppeteer to push their bodies to the limit by using their puppetry capabilities to create copies of their puppets instantly. Resultantly, they will copy and multiply the number of puppets the user has until the performance is met. Alternatively, they can further increase the number of active puppets a user can control. The performance of 100 Puppets will be an example of this type of jutsu. Their specifics will be created and graded separately.
  

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To maintain balance and fairness, there are certain limitations associated with the Puppetry Specialty.

• Puppets require the presence of their user to be effectively controlled. If the user is incapacitated or unable to control their puppet, its effectiveness will be non-existent.
  
  
• Puppets have limited durability and can be damaged or destroyed during combat. Repairing or replacing damaged puppets may require time, resources, or specific skills. These must be done in topics with the tag “[Repair],” and the costs associated with repairing a B / A / S rank puppet are either 5000 / 7500 / 10000 Ryo or 1500 / 2000 / 2500 Word Count. Alternatively or if in a combat scenario where a puppet is destroyed, then the puppeteer would be able to either 1) repair the puppet through the use of a repair jutsu, or 2) if they also have extra puppets in reserve, then they may substitute out the broken puppet and swap in a non - broken one. Following the second action would essentially interchange the puppets they have that are counting towards their active slots. Either case allows the puppeteer to have the flexibility of using backup puppets to replace broken ones so that they effectively do not lose their jutsu slots. 
  
  
• The number of puppets a player can control simultaneously may be limited based on their mastery level or game balance considerations.
  
  
• A puppet's distance from its puppeteer is variable and dependent on the puppeteer’s power rank. The puppet will be unable to travel outside these ranges and will be “stopped”, similar to how a dog attached to a leash is when they try to wander too far away 
  - C Rank and Below: 50 meters
  - B - A Rank: 70 meters
  - S Rank: 100 meters
  

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Puppetry specialists can interact and collaborate with other specialties in NRPG, such as Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Fuinjutsu, etc. Players can combine puppetry techniques with other jutsu to create devastating and unique strategies. Cooperative gameplay involving puppet users and other specialties is encouraged and can lead to powerful synergies. These synergies allow for Collaboration jutsus between puppets and their user, another puppet, or others allied with the user (players, clones, summons, etc).

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Puppetry works differently from other specialties in terms of their stats and the stats from which techniques that use them scale from. The stat fields which a puppet will have are:

• Health: Puppets will have a health stat based on their rank. At B / A / S rank, they will have base health values of 50 / 100 / 150, respectively.
  
  
• Movement Speed: Puppets move and perform mechanisms at speed based on their typing’s primary stat requirement, with the value itself equivalent to their user’s investment in that stat field. So if a puppetry user’s Vigor stat is 100, then the Caster or Warden puppet that they control will move at a speed of 100.  
  
  
• Throwing Speed/Distance: The puppet’s throwing and projectile launching speeds will be equivalent to their movement speed, with the travel distance being that value divided by 2. In the case of the example above, the puppet’s throwing speed and distance would be 100 and 50 meters, respectively.
  
  
• Impact Force: The basic strikes of a puppet’s appendages which mechanics don’t control, will have a power known as their impact force. It will function off the values of its user’s investment in the puppet typing’s primary and secondary stat fields. The average of the two will be the impact force for physical puppets (basic, bruiser, duelist). The average divided by two will be the impact force for non-physical puppets. For example, if a puppetry user’s Vigor and Speed stats are 150 and 50, the Caster of Warden puppet will have impact forces equal to 50.
  

Puppets are divided into different types with requirements and scaling stats. To use these puppets, the player must have an adequate investment in each of the stat fields, and the techniques they have that use the puppets or are channeled through the puppets will scale from those fields.

• Basic: Versatile puppets that gain an extra trait slot and mechanism when created and used by a ninja with Puppetry as their primary specialization. 
  - Primary Stat = Speed; Secondary Stat = Chakra.
  
  
• Assassin: Puppets focused on detection and deception, having mechanisms with capabilities that function similarly to the Sensory or Genjutsu specialty. 
  - Primary Stat = Chakra; Secondary Stat = Speed.
  
  
• Bruiser: Puppets specialized in close combat, having mechanisms with capabilities that function similarly to the Taijutsu specialty. 
  - Primary Stat = Strength; Secondary Stat = Chakra.
  
  
• Caster: Puppets with hand seals capabilities, having mechanisms with capabilities that function similarly to the Ninjutsu specialty. 
  - Primary Stat = Vigor; Secondary Stat = Speed.
  
  
• Ethereal: Puppets capable of S/T properties, excluding dimensions and summonings, having mechanisms with capabilities that function similarly to the Space-Time specialty. 
  - Primary Stat = Chakra; Secondary Stat = Speed.
  
  
• Warden: Restrictive puppets with fuinjutsu capabilities, having mechanisms with capabilities that function similarly to the Fuinjutsu specialty. 
  - Primary Stat = Vigor; Secondary Stat = Speed.
  
  
• Duelist: Puppets capable of wielding external weapons and channeling Bukijutsu techniques, having mechanisms with capabilities that function similarly to the Bukijutsu specialty. 
  - Primary Stat = Speed; Secondary Stat = Chakra.
  
  
• Living: Puppets created from former ninjas, allowing for the use of jutsu that the shinobi knew during their life, requiring the Medical specialty, the Human Puppetry skill, and Puppetry as the main specialty. These specific types of puppets are different than other types, in the sense where the "Living" aspects become merged with a secondary puppet type. For example, should a puppeteer acquire the body of a fallen shinobi specializing in taijutsu. That body is modified to become a puppet, the puppet will be a "Living Bruiser". In this case, it will benefit from the Living and Brusier types of puppets. The "Living" aspect, grants the puppet access to jutsu that will serve as 1/2/3 bonus mechanisms that the puppet will have, however they will sacrifice the ability to be augmented and will lose out on 1 base trait and mechanism that they would have otherwise had for their rank. The scaling of the mechanisms for these types of puppets will follow their secondary typing (in the case of the earlier example, it would follow Bruiser scaling).
  

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