Skill Creator - SHINOBI WAY Jutsu Generator

This skill helps create new game skills (jutsu) for the SHINOBI WAY: THE INFINITE TOWER roguelike game.

When to Use

Activate when the user wants to:

Create a new jutsu or skill
Add a new ability or technique
Design a combat skill
Balance or modify existing skills

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Basic Info

Ask the user for:

Skill Name - The jutsu name (e.g., "Fireball Jutsu", "Chidori")
Skill ID - Lowercase with underscores (e.g., fireball, chidori_stream)
Tier - BASIC, ADVANCED, HIDDEN, FORBIDDEN, or KINJUTSU
Description - Flavor text explaining what the skill does

Tier Guidelines:

Tier	Rank	INT Req	Description
BASIC	E-D	0-6	Academy fundamentals, taijutsu, basic tools
ADVANCED	C-B	8-12	Chunin-level techniques, elemental jutsu
HIDDEN	B-A	14-18	Jonin/Clan secret techniques
FORBIDDEN	A-S	16-20	Dangerous, high-risk techniques
KINJUTSU	S+	20-24	Ultimate forbidden arts

Step 2: Determine Action Type

Ask the user which action type:

MAIN: Ends your turn - primary attacks and jutsu (default)
TOGGLE: Activate once (ends turn), pays upkeep cost per turn
SIDE: Free action BEFORE Main, max 2 per turn (setup/utility)
PASSIVE: Always active, no action required (permanent bonuses)

Action Type Rules:

Type	Turn Cost	Limit	Use Case
MAIN	Ends turn	1/turn	Attacks, damage jutsu
TOGGLE	Ends turn to activate	Upkeep/turn	Sharingan, Gates, stances
SIDE	Free	2/turn	Buffs, shields, setup
PASSIVE	None	Always on	Permanent stat bonuses

Step 3: Determine Element & Damage Type

Element (for elemental interactions):

FIRE, WIND, LIGHTNING, EARTH, WATER (elemental cycle: Fire > Wind > Lightning > Earth > Water > Fire)
PHYSICAL (taijutsu)
MENTAL (genjutsu)

Damage Type (determines which defense applies):

PHYSICAL - mitigated by Strength
ELEMENTAL - mitigated by Spirit
MENTAL - mitigated by Calmness
TRUE - bypasses ALL defenses (FORBIDDEN/KINJUTSU only)

Damage Property:

NORMAL - subject to both flat and % defenses
PIERCING - ignores flat defense, only % applies
ARMOR_BREAK - ignores % defense, only flat applies

Attack Method:

MELEE - hit chance uses Speed vs Speed
RANGED - hit chance uses Accuracy vs Speed
AUTO - always hits (genjutsu, some DoTs)

Step 4: Set Costs & Cooldown

chakraCost: Chakra consumed (0 for taijutsu, 15-150 for jutsu)
hpCost: HP sacrificed (usually 0, used for forbidden/physical techniques)
cooldown: Turns before reuse (0-10, higher for powerful skills)
upkeepCost: For TOGGLE skills, CP or HP paid each turn while active

Step 5: Damage Scaling

damageMult: Base multiplier (1.5-10.0 range based on tier)

Tier	Zero-Cost	Low (5-15)	Medium (20-40)	High (50+)
BASIC	1.5-2.2x	2.0-2.5x	2.5-3.0x	N/A
ADVANCED	N/A	2.5-3.0x	3.0-3.5x	3.5-4.0x
HIDDEN	N/A	3.0-3.5x	3.5-4.5x	4.5-5.0x
FORBIDDEN	N/A	N/A	4.0-5.0x	5.0-7.0x
KINJUTSU	N/A	N/A	5.0-6.0x	6.0-10.0x

scalingStat: Which stat scales damage
- STRENGTH - taijutsu
- SPIRIT - ninjutsu/elemental
- SPEED - fast attacks
- ACCURACY - ranged/precision
- CALMNESS - genjutsu
- INTELLIGENCE - complex jutsu

Step 6: Effects (Optional)

Add status effects on hit. See skill-interface.md for all effect types.

Common patterns:

DoT: BURN, BLEED, POISON with value (damage), duration, chance
CC: STUN, CONFUSION, SILENCE with duration, chance
Buff: BUFF with targetStat, value (multiplier), duration
Debuff: DEBUFF with targetStat, value (reduction), duration
Shield: SHIELD with value (HP absorbed), duration
Drain: CHAKRA_DRAIN with value

Step 7: Requirements (Optional)

intelligence: Minimum INT to learn (see tier guidelines)
clan: Restrict to specific clan (Clan.UCHIHA, etc.)

Step 8: Special Properties (Optional)

critBonus: Extra crit chance % (5-30)
penetration: % defense ignored (0-0.5)
isToggle: True for stance skills (auto-set if actionType is TOGGLE)
upkeepCost: Chakra/HP per turn while toggle active
sideActionLimit: Max uses per turn for SIDE skills (default 1)
passiveEffect: For PASSIVE skills, define stat bonuses

Step 9: Skill Image (Optional)

Ask if the user has a background image for the skill.

image: Path to the skill image relative to project root
Format: /assets/skill_[skill_id].png
Example: /assets/skill_fireball.png

Output Format

Generate TypeScript code ready to add to src/game/constants/index.ts:

SKILL_NAME: {
  id: 'skill_id',
  name: 'Skill Display Name',
  tier: SkillTier.TIER,
  description: 'Flavor text description.',
  actionType: ActionType.MAIN,  // MAIN/TOGGLE/SIDE/PASSIVE
  chakraCost: 0,
  hpCost: 0,
  cooldown: 0,
  currentCooldown: 0,
  damageMult: 0.0,
  scalingStat: PrimaryStat.STAT,
  damageType: DamageType.TYPE,
  damageProperty: DamageProperty.PROPERTY,
  attackMethod: AttackMethod.METHOD,
  element: ElementType.ELEMENT,
  requirements: { intelligence: 0 },
  effects: [{ type: EffectType.TYPE, value: 0, duration: 0, chance: 0.0 }],
  image: '/assets/skill_skill_id.png'
},

TOGGLE Skill Output

TOGGLE_SKILL: {
  id: 'toggle_id',
  name: 'Toggle Skill Name',
  tier: SkillTier.HIDDEN,
  description: 'Toggle description.',
  actionType: ActionType.TOGGLE,
  chakraCost: 10,        // Activation cost
  hpCost: 0,
  cooldown: 5,
  currentCooldown: 0,
  damageMult: 0,
  scalingStat: PrimaryStat.INTELLIGENCE,
  damageType: DamageType.PHYSICAL,
  damageProperty: DamageProperty.NORMAL,
  attackMethod: AttackMethod.AUTO,
  element: ElementType.PHYSICAL,
  isToggle: true,
  upkeepCost: 5,         // Cost per turn while active
  effects: [
    { type: EffectType.BUFF, targetStat: PrimaryStat.SPEED, value: 0.3, duration: -1, chance: 1.0 }
  ]
},

SIDE Skill Output

SIDE_SKILL: {
  id: 'side_id',
  name: 'Side Skill Name',
  tier: SkillTier.BASIC,
  description: 'Setup/utility description.',
  actionType: ActionType.SIDE,
  chakraCost: 5,
  hpCost: 0,
  cooldown: 3,
  currentCooldown: 0,
  damageMult: 0,         // Usually 0 for SIDE skills
  scalingStat: PrimaryStat.DEXTERITY,
  damageType: DamageType.PHYSICAL,
  damageProperty: DamageProperty.NORMAL,
  attackMethod: AttackMethod.AUTO,
  element: ElementType.PHYSICAL,
  effects: [{ type: EffectType.SHIELD, value: 30, duration: 1, chance: 1.0 }]
},

PASSIVE Skill Output

PASSIVE_SKILL: {
  id: 'passive_id',
  name: 'Passive Skill Name',
  tier: SkillTier.BASIC,
  description: 'Permanent bonus description.',
  actionType: ActionType.PASSIVE,
  chakraCost: 0,
  hpCost: 0,
  cooldown: 0,
  currentCooldown: 0,
  damageMult: 0,
  scalingStat: PrimaryStat.STRENGTH,
  damageType: DamageType.PHYSICAL,
  damageProperty: DamageProperty.NORMAL,
  attackMethod: AttackMethod.AUTO,
  element: ElementType.PHYSICAL,
  passiveEffect: {
    damageBonus: 0.1,    // +10% damage
    regenBonus: { chakra: 3 }  // +3 CP/turn
  }
},

Reference Files

skill-interface.md - Full Skill interface and enum definitions
examples.md - Example skills from the game

Balance Guidelines

Damage by Tier

Tier	Chakra Cost	Cooldown	Damage Mult	Notes
BASIC	0-20	0-3	1.5-2.5x	Basic, reliable, spammable
ADVANCED	15-40	2-4	2.5-3.5x	Signature elemental moves
HIDDEN	25-50	3-5	3.5-5.0x	Powerful clan techniques
FORBIDDEN	40-80	4-6	4.5-6.0x	Risky, HP costs common
KINJUTSU	50-150	6-99	5.0-10.0x	Ultimate, once per fight

Cooldown Standards

Skill Type	CD Range	Reason
Basic attacks	0-1	Spammable fallback
Low utility	2-3	Frequent use
Strong damage	3-4	Moderate pacing
Powerful effects	4-6	Strategic timing
Ultimate skills	6-10	Once per fight
One-time use	99	Single use

SIDE Action Rules

No direct damage - Exception: Phoenix Flower (weak chip)
Max 2 per turn - Prevents infinite buff stacking
Setup focus - Designed to enhance MAIN actions
Long cooldowns (3-5 turns) - Can't spam same buff

TOGGLE Balance

Activation costs turn - Opportunity cost to enable
Meaningful upkeep - 5-10 CP or HP per turn
Counter-play exists - Silence/Chakra Drain shuts them down
Strong but unsustainable - Resource drain forces decisions

PASSIVE Balance

Small but meaningful bonuses - +5-10% stats, +3-5 regen
Stat requirements - Gate powerful passives behind stat thresholds
Slot-limited - Players can only equip 2-3 passives

jutsu-creator