Invulnerabilities
The ability to be immune to attacks or other dangers.
This pattern is a still a stub.
Contents
Examples
In Ghost Stories, the green player never has to roll the curse dice.
The übercharge ability of medics in Team Fortress 2 can be used to make team mates invulnerable for short periods of times during matches.
Using the pattern
Designing Invulnerabilities consists of deciding what type Damage is protected from, who or what is protected, and if the immunity provided is a permanent feature or a temporary one; if they are temporary then the causes for the Invulnerabilities to appear and disappear also need to be decided upon Invulnerabilities are by necessity Privileged Abilities since if everyone had the same Invulnerabilities the dangers protected against would stop having gameplay meaning. A primary distinction when designing Invulnerabilities is if they should be complete or partial (note that this is a difference between Invulnerabilities and Vulnerabilities since the latter is always assumed to relate to specific, i.e. partial, aspects of dangers).
Like Vulnerabilities, Invulnerabilities can be given to players' Avatars, Characters, or Units or to their Enemies. They are more common to be given to Boss Monsters than ordinary Enemies, especially complete Invulnerabilities. Conceivably they could also be given to Destructible Objects but these are typically naturally invulnerable to everything except what has specifically been designated as being able to destroy them.
One reason to using Invulnerabilities as Balancing Effects when players are disadvantaged. One reoccurring case for this is the Spawning of players' Avatars since they are in this case most likely are unprepared, unsure of where they are, and what threats exist there. To temporarily balance situations, players can either simply be given Invulnerabilities as Temporary Abilities or they can be placed in locations that provide these as Environmental Effects (i.e.Safe Havens).
Unless inherent in the construction of game entities to create Privileged Abilities, Invulnerabilities are often given Time Limits so they do not upset Player or Team Balance for entire game instances.
Partial Invulnerabilities can co-exist with Vulnerabilities if they deal with different types of dangers, but complete Invulnerabilities do not work with Vulnerabilities except when one specific Vulnerability provides an Achilles' Heel to otherwise invulnerable opponents.
Narrative Aspects
NPCs may be given complete Invulnerabilities to ensure that they can play their assigned parts in Predetermined Story Structures.
Consequences
Invulnerabilities make Avatars, Characters, or Units immune to some or all types of Damage in games. While this modulates Damage when it only provides safety from some types of Damage it works against the pattern when entities are completely protected and this can in turn lead to conflicts with patterns such as Leaps of Faith, Risk/Reward, and Tension. They can also make it more difficult or impossible to engage in Player Killing or to, more generally, succeed with Eliminate goals. Regardless, Invulnerabilities are likely to change how Combat occurs in games if it can occur at all, and can also modulate Movement if collisions, falls, or Environmental Effects can cause Damage.
Encountering unknown Invulnerabilities is likely to be Surprises to players and lead to Experimenting, Puzzle Solving, and Tactical Planning to figure out how to counter these (or exploit these in the rare cases when one is surprised by one's own Invulnerabilities). If unbalanced Invulnerabilities are allowed to exist permanently or for long in games, this most likely leads to Repeated Domination and upset Player and Team Balance.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Experimenting, Privileged Abilities, Puzzle Solving, Repeated Domination, Surprises, Tactical Planning
with Environmental Effects
with NPCs =
Predetermined Story Structures
with Temporary Abilities
with Vulnerabilities
Can Modulate
Avatars, Boss Monsters, Characters, Combat, Damage, Destructible Objects, Enemies, Movement, Spawning Units
Can Be Instantiated By
-
Can Be Modulated By
Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
Damage, Eliminate, Leaps of Faith, Player Balance, Player Killing, Risk/Reward, Team Balance, Tension, Thematic Consistency, Vulnerabilities
History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
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