Post by Shinigami Kyra on Dec 8, 2009 17:33:29 GMT -5
Kido and Spiritual Ability Guide
This is to help give you an idea of what one can expect when using a character who has the ability to use Kido. There are a lot of mechanics that go into the idea of Kido, especially when it comes to fighting and battle-based threads. We will be going over several aspects of Kido, including but not limited to;
- Who can use Kido?
- How often can one use Kido?
- How skilled do you need to be to produce Kido without an incantation?
- Can I make up my own Kido?
- Can my Arrancar use Kido?
- And much more
1. Kido Basics 101
Kido Mechanics
Each spell is graded on a scale from 1 to 99, the latter being the most powerful and the most difficult to perform. The scale is a measure of difficulty, as there can be multiple spells which share the same level. To use Kidō, a Shinigami must recite the specific incantation for the spell, which is often long and requires a few seconds to speak.
This weakness can be negated by Shinigami capable of using Eishohaki, a technique that releases Kidō without a spirit chant. While it decreases the time needed to release the Kidō, it drastically weakens the spell[2] While anyone well versed in Kidō can use this technique, it is most effective when done by a skilled practitioner, otherwise the spell could utterly fail. The most skilled experts are capable of using this technique to amazing effect.
The power of a spell relies on the power of the user, as even a low-level spell can be utterly devastating when utilized by a high-class Shinigami.
Kidō Types
There are three main types of Kidō: binding spells, destruction spells, and healing spells.
* Bakudō (Binding spells): are a broad category of defensive spells which block or repel attacks or freezes enemies in place.
* Hadō (Destructive spells): refer to offensive spells which harm an enemy or cause damage.
* Healing spells: do not have known names, numbers, or incantations to cast, and simply heal the target. As the user holds his hands above the patients wounds, his/her palms glow with green spiritual energy to facilitate healing.
Kidō Combat
Though Kidō is commonly used by Shinigami in combat, it has several weaknesses that make it difficult to use for that purpose. All of the spells have fairly long incantations and require concentration; because of this, the person using the Kidō leaves themself open to attack during the duration of the incantation. In addition, if an opponent is familiar with Kidō, there is the possibility of them identifying the spell by its incantation before it can even be used. However, highly skilled Kidō users can use various techniques to counter these weaknesses, such as Eishohaki and Double Incantation, which involves mixing the incantations of two or more Kidō spells together to save time and confuse ones opponent. A rarer use of Kidō is mixing various spells (such as Bakudō and Hadō together) for unique effects, which is the mark of skilled user. Kidō is commonly seen used in instances of surprise attacks rather then all out assaults, being most effective when one's opponent doesn't see it coming.
Kidō List
A proper list for the board of all types of Kido techniques can be found here:
bleach200.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=customkidoucustomquincy&thread=7515&page=1
Shinigami and Vizards are the only ones who can use Kido from this list. However, that's not to say that Arrancar cannot produce Kido of their own. We'll get into that a little later.
2. Reiryoku
Reiryoku (霊力, Spiritual Power) is a power aligned with the spiritual sensitivity and willpower of the user. It is used by Shinigami to provide power for their various feats and to effectively channel the powers of their Zanpakutō. It can also be used to cast Kidō, magic spells created by the Shinigami. Reiryoku can even be coalesced into a physical form and thrown or shot as a projectile. As a display of potency, spiritual beings have the ability to incapacitate the opponent's movement and simultaneously frighten them, by means of dispersing Reiryoku into the air. The aforementioned ability is known as Reiatsu (霊圧, Spiritual Pressure), possessing power that could be literally felt within the atmosphere.
Overview
Every spiritual being and every human has a certain amount of Reiryoku. If this amount is higher than a certain degree, it grants the person superhuman abilities. Those with such an above-average level of Spiritual Energy are very rare among living humans. It seems to be that the most basic ability that humans with a higher level of Reiryoku have is the ability to see ghosts: Pluses, Shinigami and Hollow alike. Shinigami are essentially departed souls in Soul Society with very high levels of Reiryoku who receive special training to utilize their powers. Hollows, if they make active use of their Reiryoku, usually do it to catch their prey or to evade Shinigami more effectively, the extreme case being the Arrancar, who have an amount of Reiryoku equal to Shinigami, and are able to use it just as efficiently in combat.
Spiritual Power
This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing an average level of spiritual power. This level of power is common among those of significant spiritual awareness and may even possess powers of their own but the power levels can vary among individuals. This is also a common level of power for a regular seated and non seated member of the Gotei 13 or lesser power individuals.
High Spiritual Energy
This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing an above average amount of spiritual power, which is finely controlled. This level of spiritual power is common amongst those of an average lieutenant rank.
Great Spiritual Energy
This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing a large amount of spiritual power which is finely controlled. This level of spiritual power is common amongst those of an average Captain rank.
Immense Spiritual Energy
This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing a huge amount of spiritual power which is finely controlled. This level of spiritual power is reflected in its ability to enhance a user during combat as well as its ability to affect the surrounding environment on a controlled level, allowing the wielder to use it in combat to startling degrees.
Vast Spiritual Energy
This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing a huge amount of spiritual energy which is wild and untamed. This level of spiritual power has a possible tendency to leak from a person or when released can affect the surrounding area in a destructive way. Those of this level have no real masterful control over their spiritual power, as it can effect those around them unintentionally.
Sensing Reiryoku
Another basic ability that beings with higher-than-average levels of Reiryoku have that they are capable of sensing other spiritual beings without relying on their five basic senses. This is possible because every spiritual being emits a certain amount of his/her own Reiryoku, which can be sensed. This ability apparently requires some innate skill, but can be increased with training. Ichigo Kurosaki can sense the spiritual energy of others very poorly (mainly because his own abundant supply drowns out that of others preventing it), but he can sense a few of his close friends (most notably Sado), and he gradually becomes more adept in this skill.
Every spiritual being has a unique pattern to his/her emitted Reiryoku. One can recognize the pattern of his friends and acquaintances after some time, being able to sense their presence and their physical and mental state from relatively great distances. Sudden changes in Reiryoku pattern can mean that the person in question is in great stress (e. g. fighting) or has received a grave wound.
Different types of spiritual beings have greatly different patterns, the Reiryoku pattern of hollows for example is easily distinguishable from that of Pluses or a Shinigami. The Vizard are a special case, because when their hollow mask is donned, their pattern of Reiryoku rather resembles to that of a Hollow, in contrast to that of a Shinigami.
There are a few possibilities to block Reiryoku. One is the usage of Death Stone, a special kind of stone that completely blocks Reiryoku from both sides. The walls of Seireitei, and the walls of the Tower of Punishment are built from this stone. As Death Stone blocks even the strongest Reiryoku emissions, it does not just inhibit the sensing of one's Reiryoku pattern, but effectively closes out most unwanted visitors in the case of Seireitei, and prevents the escape of even the strongest prisoner from the mentioned tower. This stone also prevents the ability to gather Reishi underneath your feet to walk in the air whist within Seireitei.
Another means of blocking Reiryoku is a special garment invented by Kisuke Urahara, which completely hides any emission of Reiryoku coming from the wearer, enabling him/her to escape from somewhere or approach someone while being impossible to notice via sheer sensing of Reiryoku.
Controlling Reiryoku
The aforementioned emission of Spiritual Energy is a common and natural phenomenon, but a spiritual being can also control the degree of this emission, this usually requires a certain amount of skill and training. By completely blocking his/her Reiryoku "pouring out", one can completely hide his/her presence from other spiritual beings and spiritually aware humans. On the other hand, amplifying this emission is known as Spiritual Pressure, and is considered a show of force, or even an attack in itself, and it can indeed paralyze opponents, and cause direct damage to the surrounding individuals and inanimate objects alike.
Aside from controlling the amount of emitted Reiryoku, most spiritual beings and some of Ichigo's spiritually-aware human friends are capable of performing many superhuman feats with the help of their Reiryoku. These feats usually require a certain level of concentration, and they tend to tire the person after some time, or after performing some of them in quick succession. It is also known, that after excessive usage of Reiryoku, Shinigami and other dwellers of Soul Society need food to replenish their strength, while on the other hand, they do not need to eat anything to sustain themselves during everyday activities.
* Aside from Spiritual Pressure, Shinigami and Vizard generally use their Reiryoku to
o cast spells - Kidō
o increase their speed and their height of jump, or float in the air - Hohō
o use the special abilities of their Zanpakutō
o increase their physical strength and power
* Hollows and Arrancar have other abilities, Cero and Bala, these are condensed Reiryoku fired towards the opponent. In the case of the former it is done in a flamethrower-like manner, in the latter case, the fired Reiryoku is bullet-like. Hollows and Arrancar can also increase their mobility like the Shinigami above, and the usage of their Zanpakutō also relies on the usage of Reiryoku, albeit in a different manner. Hierro is also a move that uses an Arrancar's Reiryoku for defense.
* Quincies can also increase their mobility, and form a weapon (usually a bow) with their Spiritual Energy. In their usage of Reiryoku however, there is a fundamental difference from spiritual beings - they primarily rely on collecting reishi from the environment, and use this collected reishi to fight. They can even collect and store Spiritual Energy in various special items.
3. Power Tier
Understanding one's Power Tier is the first step in understanding just how many spells your character can learn or produce, and how often. To make things as easy as possible, I have written up the following chart.
Low-Level - 5
Mid-Level - 10
High-Level - 15
Master-Level - 20
Almighty-Level - 30
What does this mean? Well, before I break it down, let me throw something else at you!
Kido Level - Beginner - +0
Kido Level - Intermediate - +5
Kido Level - Advanced - +10
Confused still? Well, here comes some more charts!
Weak - +0
Average - +2
Strong - +5
That should be all of them, right? Well, for those who aren't able to keep up, this chart is basically asking for information of your character. Kido-Level is the most important, as it adds the most to the overall number. Oh; what are the numbers for? What do they mean? Well, they're a point system! Will we be making certain that everyone runs by this system? HELL NO! That would bring a Stat System into the mix, and we don't want to do that!
This is a Free Form Role Playing Website, which means, no stats. Still, this table should be used as a rough guideline to let you know who can do what. Now, onto what the numbers mean.
Point System
As stated above, there's a rough guideline point system. Now, let's use my application for Momo as an example.
Momo Hinamori - Approved @ High Level, Average, Kido - Advanced
So, in points, that would be a total of 30 points. Now, what does this indicate? Well, it is your 'Kido Level,' i.e., the amount of spells you can produce before you run out of spiritual energy.
Now, of course, because 'Spiritual Energy' is not simply used for Kido alone, this sample is just for Kido based battles only, which is why it is a rough guide overall.
Kido Spells
Levels 1 - 9 = 2 Point
Levels 10 - 19 = 4 Points
Levels 20 - 29 = 6 Points
Levels 30 - 39 = 8 Points
Levels 40 - 49 = 10 Points
Levels 50 - 59 = 12 Points
Levels 60 - 69 = 14 Points
Levels 70 - 79 = 16 Points
Levels 80 - 89 = 18 Points
Levels 90 - 99 = 20 Points
So, roughly, it takes X amount of points to produce an X level Kido spell. The Guide is mostly used to determine just how high a level of spell your character can use.
Too confusing? Well, let's break it down for an even simpler level of understanding!
1- 35 Medium Level Tier Application
1-75 High Level Tier Application
1-99 Master Level Tier Application
As stated several times, these are just guides. Exceptions to the guide may reveal themselves for storyline purposes.
Obviously, someone who's approved at Mid-Strong will not be producing high level Kido Spells. Anyone approved at Master level can probably dish out low-level spells repeatedly; get the picture?
4. Incantations and Multi-Casting
Kido Spell Incantations; if spoken, produce the spell at full power. Now, only skilled level Kido apprentices can perform such a task. If your character has Kido Advanced, it's likely to say that they can perform Kido spells quickly, without the incantation. Normally, this would weaken the spell, however, doing this is normally faster, and allows for multi-casting.
Incantations
Skipping the Incantation of a spell will, obviously, weaken the spell. Just how weak would it make the spell? Well, it's a judgment call, really. For the most part, you can cut the full strength of the spell by a third or a half, depending on the spell itself.
Why would you want to do something like this? Well, to cast another one quickly, or to take advantage with a quick follow up attack!
Multi-Casting
Multi-casting Kido spells is a very difficult task to accomplish. Only the most skilled Kido Masters are able to accomplish this task (it is noted by Rangiku that Momo combining Kido spells is something of a Mastery Level). As such, this would normally be for Kido-based characters only.
It is perfectly fine to combine spells, or summon more than one Kido spell in a single post. Spamming 8 Kido spells in one post, however, will be considered Godmodding. Thus (as I always state in almost every guide I've made here), you should always remain in contact with the person you are fighting with. Make certain that you discuss your plans with them, so that the other player isn't completely surprised, or does not understand your post.
The most Multi-Casting that has been seen in Bleach, thus far, is about three Kido Spells consecutively, by Rukia during her fight with the 9th Espada. Thus, we will allow only up to three spells per post, unless discussed otherwise by the person you are writing with.
5. Other Races
Arrancar
Arrancar, though they do not have spells, have projectile-based attacks that can be considered their version of Kido. Thus, it would determine how powerful their version of a Cero is, or their Bala.
Thus, someone who is Mid-Level, Strong and an Intermediate with Kido for an Arrancar would have no chance at learning the Gran Ray Cero (at least, not yet).
Types of Kido Spells for Arrancar
Bala (虚弾 (バラ), bara; Spanish for "Bullet", Japanese for "Hollow Bullet") is an Arrancar technique that hardens the user's reiatsu, and releases it from their hand like a powerful bullet. This technique is not as powerful as a Cero, but is about 20 times faster. Its power also varies with the Arrancar and Espada.
Cero (虚閃 (セロ), sero; Spanish for "Zero", Japanese for "Hollow Flash", 'Doom Blast' in the Viz translation) is a form of attack used by Menos, Arrancar and Vizard. Basically an energy blast, it consists of firing a blast of concentrated spirit energy at the target. While in most cases it is fired from the mouth, some Arrancar and Vizard are capable of firing Cero from their hands, fingers and other parts of their bodies. This often requires the user to under take a specific pose, with Starrk being the only exception. The power, force, speed, and blast area of the Cero is dependent on the strength of the user (i.e., the stronger the user, the stronger the attack), and there are some Arrancar and Vizard who have come up with their own variation.
Gran Rey Cero (王虚の閃光, (グラン・レイ・セロ), guran rei sero; Spanish for "Grand King Zero", Japanese for "Royal Hollow Flash") is an extremely potent higher-level Cero, allowed to be used only by the Espada. Gran Rey Cero is performed when an Arrancar draws blood from the Cero firing appendage with their zanpakutō and mixing their blood with their original Cero. The result is a Cero with a much greater attack power, size, speed, and force, as well as a change of color. This Cero is also many times more powerful than a normal Cero, and is capable of disturbing the fabric of space. When fired, it spins like a razor upon release and compress and decompress, due to the sheer speed and raw power. Unlike most Ceros that mainly take the shape of a sphere created by user and released in a huge blast wave, the Gran Rey Cero, when fired, keeps its sphere form, even after being fired in a huge blast wave. It is a drastically potent Cero and Grimmjow claims that only Espada are allowed to use it. This Cero is in fact so overwhelming that one of the only two rules the Espada have, according to Ulquiorra Cifer, is that that they must never use it underneath the dome of Las Noches as the sheer force of just using can cause Las Noches to be destroyed.
Cero Oscuras (黒虚閃 (セロ・オスキュラス), sero osukyurasu; Spanish for "Dark Zero," Japanese for "Black Hollow Flash") or more gramatically correct Cero Oscuro, is a full-powered black Cero that can only be used by Ulquiorra Cifer while in his released state. When using this technique, Ulquiorra Cifer concentrates his vast spiritual energy with only his index finger into an condensed jet-black Cero with great might. The result of being used in his released state is a much greater Cero, possibly rivaling or exceeding even Gran Rey Cero, the ultimate Cero, and has been referred to as a "fully-powered Cero." When fired, it covers any exposed light into absolute pitch darkness. Ulquiorra Cifer told Ichigo Kurosaki "This is an Espada's fully powered Black Cero." The Cero Oscuras's range is vast, and is mighty enough to completely shatter Ichigo Kurosaki's Hollow mask (something Gran Rey Cero couldn't do), critically injuring him in the process, and strong enough to destroy half of the dome over Las Noches.
6. Quincies
Quincies has a variation of Kido as well, called Gintō, or Silver Tubes. Silver tubes (銀筒, gintō) are small silver cylinder capsules that store spiritual energy in a liquid form, and are used by Quincy for spellcasting in the same way that Shinigami use Kidō. Like Kidō, they are activated by calling out various commands
List of Gintō Techniques
Heizen (聖噬 (ハイゼン), haizen; German for "Heating", Japanese for "St. Zei") This technique creates a transparent, rectangular beam of energy from silver tubes which slices through the opponent. It is activated by the command "Feel the wrath of battle and accept this sacred chalice - Sacred Bite!"
Gritz (五架縛 (グリツ), gurittsu; Japanese for "Five Construct Limit") This technique forms a man-sized pentagonal Quincy cross which envelops its target. It is activated by the command "A silver rod strikes the five-fingered stone bed - Quintuple Restraining Frames!"
Wolke (緑杯 (ヴォルコル), vorukōru; German for "Cloud", Japanese for "Green Cup") This technique uses a silver tube to create a large blast. While it may not be intended for use as such, Uryū uses it to cushion the impact of a fall. It is activated by the command "Tilt the goblet to the west - Emerald Grail!"
Sprenger (破芒陣 (シュプレンガ), shupurenga; German for "Explosion", Japanese for "Ripping Grass Formation") This technique uses five Seele Schneiders to create a pentagon-shaped seal, which when activated causes a massive explosion within its borders. When an object or a person stands within the middle of the Pentagon can the placement of the fifth Seele Schneider trap them by wrapping and binding their legs to the ground with dense spirit particles. The Seele Schneiders function as accumulators, gathering the necessary amount of spirit particles to create the explosion. The liquid inside a silver tube acts as the trigger. The preparations for the technique combined with the charging time for the Seele Schneiders make its use in battle impractical unless the user has a partner that can stall to buy time.
7. Custom Kido and Quincy Spells
Customary Kido and Quincy Spells can be applied for at the link below. Please use the proper template, and make certain that you have a character approved before applying. Also; make certain the number that you are applying for (in accordance to Kido) is not already taken.
Please remember that you may only limit yourself to a maximum of three spells per application. Also note that any spell you do, in fact, apply for does not necessarily mean you can or cannot use it. You are simply applying for a Kido Spell to 'exist,' meaning that anyone can use it. Applying for your own, personal Kido spells is not allowed. You may, however, remark that you were the one who created it.
