Editing Super Mario RPG (section)

====Engagements & Enemies====
Because there's not an overt emphasis on movement or exact positioning of individuals in a combat situation, it can get easy to lose track of which enemies you can affect at any given time with a particular action. Fortunately, the game keeps track of individuals or groups of individuals as '''engagements'''. An engagement is a set of individuals in close enough proximity that they constitute a sufficient grouping of individuals for the purposes of targeting, enemy strength, and area-of-effect abilities. For example, the party of PCs in sufficiently close proximity counts as one engagement (the player engagement, for all intents and purposes). The party can be fighting a horde of pirate raiders, but the group of eight pirates may be split up into three engagements (3-3-2 or 4-3-1 or any other mix) that surround the party from all sides. Alternately, there can be an engagement of foot soldiers in front of the party, and directly behind the infantry would be another engagement of just one soldier in a portable Bullet Bill nest. An AoE effect, unless specifically noted to apply to multiple engagements, will work on one engagement of enemies at a time, like a smoke bomb blinding a group of baddies (or even the entire enemy force if the bomb is detonated in the player engagement).

Generally, there are three classes of enemy that players will battle against: '''grunts''', '''rivals''' and '''bosses'''.
*Grunts are the rank-and-file mooks that most heroes either run past or stomp on with little effort; they are almost universally weaker than any given PC, falling within one or two, maybe three attacks. However, what grunts lack in power, they usually make up for with numbers. Grunts will try to overwhelm the enemy with volume more than quality. Sometimes, bands of grunts can be lead by a rival or two, maybe even a boss. The grunts are most dangerous because they're very good at playing the numbers game.
**There's a special type of enemy formation known as the '''swarm'''. This is represented by a tight bundle of mooks that count as one unit, attacking all at once, such as a swarm of Mini-Goombas or a pile of Fuzzies bouncing all over the place. Their stats and attack power are generally equal to the number of enemies in the swarm; when they take damage, the swarm weakens as it loses numbers until there's nothing left.
*Rivals are considered the equal of PCs, generally equal in power and capability. They offer an even fight and can test how well a team works as a unit and their overall chemistry. Rivals can be friendly competitors, cutthroat adversaries or glory-seeking wannabes. Rivals are built almost identically to PCs and usually equal the number of PCs present in a fight, give or take. The rivals are most dangerous because the hardest fight to win is a fair fight.
*Bosses are beings of exceptional might that, on a one-to-one comparison, outstrip a PC's powers almost wholesale. Bosses can be huge, very well-equipped, exceptionally clever or otherwise carry an air of authority and power that makes all others tremble. Parties will be forced to work together to outsmart a boss, exploit its weakness(es) and topple the mighty foe before they are overwhelmed. Unless they have lackeys, bosses generally operate solo but make up for it with elevated stats and powerful specials, along with unique tactics and gimmicks that make the fight all the trickier. The boss is most dangerous because their immense strength can overwhelm even the mightiest of heroes if they're not prepared.