I think the Full Stop pages ranged dice values are a bit too high. Personally, I'd drop the max value down by one or two, especially since their passives give those dice extra power though that's just me.

tbh I was thinking similar, I'll drop em a little

I know they're still kind of silly but I kind of like the idea of them having high variance, I dropped the min on a lot of em, but lemme know if you think they're still overly silly, I can raise the min back up and drop the max -- could go the opposite route and aim to make ranged pages have nearly no variance and decent rolls too

I'm glad you're still updating this. It's probably still my favorite mod.

I went through the new fights always using the previous office, plus the Stray Dogs to fill out any extra slots.I only lost to Gaze and Dawn offices. The rest of them didn't have anything I had to specifically build around, except maybe Rusty Chains, but they just naturally lose to Dawn Office.

Jeong Office is probably too easy. They need something to stop you from ignoring their attacks.
I was thinking more Wish Power/Stolen Dreams on hit, higher max rolls, and give them some counter dice. So it's like, going for one-sided attacks makes them strong, you weak, and you'll lose to their counter dice.

I'll probably bugcheck while messing with builds.
The only one I noticed casually was Full-Stop Jacket activates on turn 2, instead of 1.

That makes sense, they have less hard mechanics than other fights thus far beyond highroll/low roll, so if you can tank the hit there's no real downsides to not doing so and focusing however you'd like to. I'll look into giving them counters and buffing the lower rolls, maybe makin the wishpower/stolen dreams more prominent too.

Generally though ruinas "general" receptions won't translate that great into the + and I'm addin em in more to just, fully revamp everything in the game as I go along. They'll likely be a bit weaker power level wise than the named story offices. Though I don't want to make the objet d'art pages weak either, even if they're a general reception.

I really appreciate the feedback and testing thank you!

(I'll also fix full-stop jacket, tbh I can't really say whether the hotfix will come by itself in a few hours or so, or if they'll be added in with the next upcoming generic patch that's gonna wrap up the generals I've missed so far (Workshop affiliated + generic fixers)

The big draw for me was that you kept the personality of all the cards and characters, but I feel like that's waning. Kurokumo doesn't even have a way to inflict bleed. I kind of felt it with Full Stop, who lost all their feeble. The new mechanics aren't bad; they fir thematically, but I would want that on top of (or more related to) the original mechanics.

The newer cards have more resource generation; on the one hand it sucks to run out of cards or light, and everyone having more speed dice means you're burning through both faster, but I kind of like the resource management part, where you switch between 'building up' and 'releasing'. It's a more interesting for deck building too, since you can't just pick the highest dice. I think it would be better to make the dedicated 'resource cards' do more, instead of spreading it out evenly, and maybe a little bit on high cost cards, as a minor bonus.

The cards are just in general getting strong really fast, with 0 costs having 10-20 total value plus light and draw. Earlier on, the total value per cost would only go up 1-2 per reception. Upbeat Performance is a 10-20 that restores 1 light. Cumulus Wall, although defense oriented, is a 20-40 that restores 2 light.

I liked that the original 'bad' cards weren't good, but had some unique aspect. Like, I remember Shrine to Music for its high variance middle die, and comically weak outer dice, and that it inflicts feeble on combat start. Your version actually powers up the enemies, and the attacks are evened out. But I do like that the block die has an "on clash lose" effect; it keeps the weak block die but gives it a purpose.

Flash of Sunup is better now, with high values, inflict status, and draw 2, but it lost the weird "On clash win" effect on a 1-4 dodge die. No, it's not useful, but it was interesting, and I would try to build around it for fun.

Sky Clearing Cut still has the "On clash lose", but it lost the power boost to the second die. The dice values are an even +3 to the original, but 4-8 doesn't "feel" like a weak die to me. I guess I'm saying don't be afraid to put in some "below the curve" cards with weird quirks, as it's more memorable. "Above the curve" cards can also be memorable, but I feel kind of bad for using them.

And I guess as just to show my progression, I used Full Stop to slip under Jeong Office's high dodge dice, used Jeong against Bremen to dodge everything, and my go-to team is now 5 randos with Hard Rehearsal and Refine to stack power, which beat over Kurokumo.

I agree, bremen will receive a nerf as I also experienced that their power level is generally just too high, I wanted to implement some of their original power debuff mechanics on opponents by using it as a means to lower their defensive rolls, but as is it's too easy to just power stack with them so likely some of their rolls will receive nerfs and I'll tweak mangled music to be much less powerful. For instance what I have in mind is having it either solely increase your Max roll instead of power in general, or even lowering min roll while increasing max roll. Kurokumo I thought a bit when making them about how to implement bleed on them while also keeping some of the other flavor I wanted to added but gave up a little too quickly. But I have some ideas on how to bring it back to them.

To start though I'll make mangled music increase your MAX rolls by stack divided by 5 on offensive dice instead of outright strength, and nerf some rolls. As well as return bleed to kurokumo

Documented change list:
Added new buff for Kurokumo and likely use further in the future: "Sanguine" on successful attacks apply bleed equal to stacks of sanguine.

Added new debuff to Bremen and likely use further in the future: "Fear" Dice rolls lose Max roll value equal to stacks of Fear; Lose a stack on every successful attack
_______________________________________________________________________
Buff Changes -
Poised no longer deals bonus damage equal to stacks > Now applies bleed equal to half stack value

Mangled Music no longer raises Offensive Dice power > Now Raises Max Value (same amount)
Also no longer lowers Defensive power > Lowers Max Value (same amount)
_______________________________________________________________________
Passive Changes:
Sufficient Slice - Slash Dice gain +1 Power, if it's a Counter Die gain +2 additional Power and inflict twice as much Bleed with Sanguine but cannot be recycled
(Down from base 2 power to all slash, but counter slash dice apply more bleed)

Preparation - Gain +2 Poise on Scene start, every third Scene game +1 Prepared
(Down from 4 Poise per Scene)

Combat Pacing - Gain +1 Sanguine every Scene; Gain +2 Poised on successful attacks
(Added Sanguine per scene)

Confident Gait - If Poised is 10+ on Scene End: Gain +2 Slash Power and +2 Sanguine
(Removed Damage Up +4, replaced with +2 Sanguine)

Immovable Object - If Poised is 12+ on Scene End: Gain +2 Protection, +2 Stagger Protection and +2 Sanguine
(Sanguine Added)

Manic Maneuvers - If Poised is 12+ on Scene end: Gain +2 Haste, +2 Sanguine and Restore 2 Light
(Haste lowered by 1, Sanguine added)

Battle Ready+ - Start the act with +8 Poised and +1 Prepared; Draw 3 more pages at the start of the Act
(Poised lowered by 2, however result ultimately with the other poised passive bringing it to +10 on round start)

Imminent Mutilation - Winning clashes with slash die grants +2 Poised and inflicts +1 Bleed
(Added +1 bleed on slash clash win)

Idle Intimidation - If Poised is 12+ on Scene end: Gain +1 Strength, +2 Sanguine and Draw 2 Pages
(Strength lowered by 1, Sanguine added)
________________________________________________________________________
New Card Header Effects:
Bremen18
[Combat Start] Inflict all enemies with +1 Fear

Bremen19
[Combat Start] Inflict target with +2 Fear; Draw 1 Page

Bremen20
[Combat Start] Inflict target with +2 Fear; Dice on this page and the page clashing with it are unaffected by Power gain or loss

Bremen21
[Combat Start] Inflict target with +2 Fear

Bremen22
[Combat Start] Inflict Target with +1 Fear; Gain +5 Mangled Music
________________________________________________________________________
Dice Card Header Effect changes:
Bremen04
[On Use] Draw 1 Page; Restore 1 Light > [Combat Start] Gain +3 Mangled Music; Restore 1 Light

Rednotes
[Single Use] Change Colour to match the Musician > [Single Use] Change Colour to match the Musician; or Fall Flat

Bremen10
[On Use] Gain +3 Protection; Recover 1 Light > [Combat Start] Gain +2 Protection; Restore 1 Light

Bremen16
[Combat Start] Gain +2 Protection, Restore 1 Light > [Combat Start] Gain +1 Protection, Restore 1 Light

Bremen17
[Combat Start] Give EVERYONE +2 Mangled Music; Restore 2 Light > [Combat Start] Give EVERYONE +2 Mangled Music; Restore 1 Light

Kurokumo01
[Combat Start] Counter Dice gain +2 Power this Scene; Draw 2 Pages > [Combat Start] Counter Dice gain +2 Power this Scene; Draw 1 Page [Prepared] Draw +1 Page

Kurokumo06
[On Use] Draw 1 Page, Restore 1 Light > [Combat Start] Draw 1 Page, Gain +1 Sanguine

Kurokumo07
[Combat Start] Slash Dice power +1 this Scene; Restore 2 Light > [Combat Start] Gain +1 Sanguine; Restore 2 Light

Kurokumo08
[Combat Start] Counter Dice gain +1 Power this Scene > [Combat Start] Counter Dice gain +1 Power this Scene, Gain +1 Sanguine
_________________________________________________________________________
Dice Card on roll effects
> New Roll effects
Kurokumo12
[Clash Lose] Inflict +2 Deflected, Add +2 Power to the last die
Bremen18
[On hit] Inflict +1 Fear next Scene
Bremen19
[On Hit] Inflict +1 Fear next Scene, Gain +5 Mangled Music next Scene
Bremen20
[Clash Lose] Gain +2 Mangled Music
__________________________________________________________________________
Dice Card on roll effect changes
Bremen09
[On Hit] Restore 1 Light; Reuse dice for every 10 stacks of Mangled Music > [On Hit] Reuse dice for every 10 stacks of Mangled Music
Bremen12
[Clash Win] Destroy opponent's next die; Gain +5 Mangled Music next Scene > [Clash Win] Destroy opponent's next die; Gain +5 Mangled Music next Scene, Restore +1 Light
Bremen13
[On Hit] Add +10 Power to next Die > [On Hit] Add +8 Power to next Die
Bremen14
[Clash Lose] Add +6 Power to next Die > [Clash Lose] Add +5 Power to next Die

_________________________________________________________________________
Card Dice Value changes
Rules of the Backstreets+
5-12 Slash > 5-10
4-9 Slash Counter > 4-8

Clean Up+
3-9 Slash Counter > 4-8

Cumulus Wall+
5-10 Block > 4-8
5-9 Block > 4-8
5-8 Slash > 4-8
5-8 Evade counter > 3-9

Silent Mist+
5-10 Blunt > 4-9
5-10 Slash > 4-9

Scattering Slash+
4-13 Evade > 4-10
4-10 Slash > 4-9
5-8 Block Counter > 5-6

Sky-Clearing Cut+
4-8 Blunt > 4-6
6-12 Slash > 6-10
4-9 Evade Counter > 3-9

Sharpened Blade+
5-8 Slash > 4-7
5-8 Slash > 4-7
7-8 Block > 6-6

Ink Over+
5-11 Block > 7-7
6-12 Slash > 6-10

Composure+
6-6 Block > 5-5
6-8 Blunt > 5-8

Heavy Peaks+
8-20 > 8-18

The Pink Notes
5-10 Slash > 5-8
5-10 Slash > 5-8
5-10 Slash > 5-8

The Red Notes
5-10 Blunt > 5-8
5-10 Blunt > 5-8

Tendon Chords
7-9 Blunt > 7-8
7-9 Slash > 7-8

Upbeat Performance+
6-8 Blunt > 6-7
5-9 Slash > 4-8

Shrine to Music+
5-8 Blunt > 5-6
6-11 Blunt >6-9
4-5 Block > 3-4

Hard Rehearsal+
6-9 Blunt > 6-7
6-8 Slash > 6-6

Unforgettable Melody+
6-8 Slash > 6-7
5-9 Slash > 5-7

The Purple Notes
Blunt 6-12 > Blunt 6-10
Blunt 10-10 > Blunt 8-8

Sunset Blade+
4-9 Slash 4-8
3-9 Slash 3-8
4-10 Blunt > 4-9

Eject+
6-9 Pierce > 5-8
6-9 Pierce > 5-8

Butterfly Slash+
5-10 Blunt > 3-10
6-9 Slash > 4-9

Flash of Sunup+
4-9 Slash > 4-8
5-8 Evade > 1-8
4-10 Slash > 4-9



Above changes are live, Many of the above existing cards have also had their effects altered/swapped for balance purposes

Ultimately I think a big reason that the above needed to be toned down was because I was applying the exact same scale up logic to cards in base ruina, that were quite above other receptions already in existing power. So, they needed less of a tune up to be New game+ relevant than others

(I value your input as you're quite literally an amazing tester that helps me polish this mod a lot, so if you have any gripes in direction or balance feel free to let me know and I'll work with you on improving things.)

I recognize that lowering the dice values by 1 isn't a big deal, but they do look a lot less scary now. I think keeping them closer to late game cards is good, so that you can still use Roland and Binah.

For Bremen, I consider +2 max rolls to be ~1 strength. So two Hard Rehearsals would be like 3 strength, down from 5. But you could get the full value of it with Wish Power, so I think that's more interesting while still being slightly weaker.

Fear directly cancels out Mangled Music, and is stronger because it's -1 per stack, but it also wears off during the turn. I think lowered max can bring the rolls under min, so I guess you'd want to bring cards with naturally high max rolls as a buffer as it wears off.

I think the cards should still have random targets, though. Thematically, the amount of strength/feeble they had was strong for that point in the game, but they couldn't control it because they're crazy. Mechanically, you could have everyone use Red Notes at the same time to even out the randomness, or just take it as a little bonus. If Fear is targeted you could pile it all onto one person and just give them -12.

For Kurokumo, they're probably fine balance wise. It looks like they can get a max of ~4 sanguine in a turn, and you can still win clashes to prevent taking the bleed.


On the more feely side; These are some requests to preserve the weird small details I remember from the original receptions.

Dark Cloud was a weird one cost that can't take advantage of its unique effect. The original effect is basically 1 stack of Sanguine, so I was thinking you could move "Slash counter dice inflict twice as much Bleed with Sanguine" from Sufficient Slice onto Dark Cloud. I would want the dice to be like, two weak attacks, with 1 slash counter die to represent the 'inflict 1 bleed' it had.

I feel like it's weird to have a 3 counter die card for Kurokumo (and alloc tbh) since they weren't introduced yet. If you're set on it, I would make it Scattering Slash instead; you already "want" enemies to hit you to utilize the protection. But I think it would be better to just not have one. It's a dead card when the AI uses it.

I exclusively know Gin and Yang for their "Bleed on bleed" and "Bleed on clash" passives. I don't know if that would push them over the edge on bleed stacks, but I think you could give them the original ones, like how Yun has the original [Yun's Hunch]. Sanguine could maybe be on slashes only, to both cut down on bleed stacks and represent the generic "Bleed on slash" passive.

Ink Over, it feels wrong to have it instantly feed into itself by drawing cards. But perhaps more importantly, draw 3 is forbidden. It's only on Will of the Prescript, to offset the extra randomness of running singleton.

All of the fear effects that were targeted now inflict an equivalent amount but at random instead to random targets, as like you said being able to in fights use it to directly cancel someone out wasn't intended.

Dark Cloud has been given the Slash counter dice inflict x2 bleed with sanguine as suggested,

Gin and Yang have received their passives ontop of their unique poise giving passives. I.E. "Exploited Opening - Winning Clashes with Offensive dice inflicts +1 Bleed next Scene; Winning clashes with block dice grants +2 Power to the next Die rolled"
Rather than adding another passive to them (Reason being they currently have 9, which is the vanilla passive cap, however that's not a "real" passive cap by any means so I could have it go to 10 if you think it'd be a better solution)

Giving yang a flat +1 to combat pages inflicting bleed wouldnt synergize that well since the bleed now comes from Sanguine, so instead I've changed sanguine to > Inflict bleed on slash attacks, and given yang the passive of all offensive dice attacks apply +1 bleed on hit.

In the process of editing the card rolls and dice now

Dark clouds back to being a paperback page, and now has 2 kinda weakside offensive dice with a slash counter,

also went back to allocs observe action and changed the 2 block dice on it to be Active and now only the evade remains as a counter die

I think the balance is in a good spot. I tried refighting the nerfed receptions with different teams;

Beating them with base-game stuff was possible, but it always came down to smoke and mass attacks. Clashes were usually a 50/50.
Using early game mod stuff was about the same. I didn't use smoke or the Reverberation mass attacks, so the key pages and cards must be slightly stronger than base-game.
I thought Urban Plague stuff might be overpowered by comparison now, but it was similar to early mod, with the exception of Jeong Office, who more directly counter the new Bremen.

Not the perfect solution, but poised has been changed to only activate on counter dice. The issue was being sticky when I tried to implement it otherwise, however it should still now work even if the counter die is your first die rolled in a scene. Also mccullens overpower should now appear for him again

Axe Gang's [Chaotic Cravings] can activate multiple times if you deal enough damage.
Townsperson's [Let Me Win!] usually doesn't activate.

It's hard to manage the Townspeople's passives.
You need to stay on top of them in speed so you can clash all their attacks,
while also losing some clashes, and matching their damage vulnerabilities.

Cards like Dirty Blow can deal with Fun, but it's really slow damage,
and you need to include equivalent cards for the other damage types.

My winning team was three workshop fighters to ignore the vulnerabilities,
one Jeong fixer to give everyone haste, and Alloc for paralysis.
That took care of the healing passives and [Pay Attention!], but it was easier
to beat over them than figure out the Fun and "On clash lose" stuff.

I think a big part of it is you need to use 8 cards per turn to just respond to the Townspeople.
Plus, the healing passives rule out most of the high damage cards, which have mixed damage types.The original fight had some weak cards you had to ignore, which also freed you up to deal more damage.

You could put another wave of Townspeople at the start to build up
emotion before Tomerry, but I would rather the Townspeople just had less attacks.

I'll do some bug tweaking and fix those bugs / nonworking passives, as well as maybe work in a way to have it be essentially where the loves town people are, essentially using 1.5 dice as opposed to 2 every turn by mixing less offensive focused cards into their deck usage. Other than that how did the balance feel? Is tomerry themself in a good state? I could nerf the townspeople but buff tomerry, or just nerf the towns people?