Style Guide

Example AB, with every field:

ENVOY - BEARFORM

Syntax: BEARFORM

       AMAZE <target>                             |Syntax
       HUG <target> [<direction>|ALLIES|ENEMIES]  /

Power: 10 (Anomalous) - BEARFORM

       2 (Anomalous) - HUG                        |
       5             - allies or enemies HUG      |Cost

Outlay: 2 bears, 3 browntint |Block Cooldown: 15 seconds - HUG |

          1 minute  - AMAZE                       /

Damage Type: 50% Magic, 25% Cutting, 25% Psychic Damage Bonus: 1/6 Blunt, 10/10 Cutting | Damage Malus: 1/5 Poison, 2/6 Divinus, 2/6 Excorable, 2/7 Asphyx Damage Resistance: 4/10 Magic | Resistance Malus: 3/10 Psychic | Regeneration: 4/8 Health, 2/7 Mana, 1/3 Ego |Effects Block Vitals Bonus: 1/10 Health | Vitals Malus: 3/10 Mana /

Did you see the bear? It's HUUUUUUUUUUGE, HUGE! So giant, I can't believe you haven't heard of the HUGE BEAAAAR!

Note: This bear is so big, it extends OUT OF YOUR SCREEN!

There are five potential blocks to an ability file, in order: Syntaxes, Costs, Effects, Description, and Notes. The style guide goes block by block. When multiple fields are contained in the same block (power AND outlay costs, for instance), they should be displayed in the order presented in the examples.

Syntax Block

-Begins "Syntax: FIRST SYNTAX", with additional syntaxes indented to match the first character of the first syntax. -ALL CAPS for entered commands -<required input> -[Optional flag|second optional flag|<optional input>] -Primary syntaxes (STAGFORM, DRAWDOWN, etc.) should be listed first, remaining syntaxes in alphabetical order.

Cost Block

-Multiple costs of the same type (power, outlay, or cooldowns) should be indented inwards to align with previous entries, as in the example. Numerals align right. -Primary syntax costs first, after which costs should be in the same order as their syntaxes, each separate cost on a new, indented line as shown in the example. -Power costs should make clear what (Type) of power is required, when applicable. Unaligned power costs should be left blank, but still align with aspected power costs, as shown.

Effects Block

-Capitalize all type names. -Delimit effects with commas any time there is more than one type of effect of a sort. -Sort damage types by descending percentage first, alphabetically second. -Sort ten-level effects by ascending power, ascending cap within that power rating, and then alphabetically. -Sort vitals effects in H/M/E order.

Description Block

-Precede this block with two line breaks. -Follow syntax formatting when referring directly to a syntax, for clarity.

Notes Block

-This block is for any necessary OOC notes. Use infrequently, and with care.