Rounds: The Flow of Combat
Combat takes place in Rounds, which are sequences of each player's Turn. A Round in a 1v1 scenario, for example, consists of 2 Turns, because there are 2 involved players. Turn order is decided by comparing each character's Reaction stat, with higher star ratings going first. If two players tie, and they are allies, turn order will be decided alphabetically. If they are enemies, a coin is flipped. For a Reaction tie between 3 or more players, if the battle is a free-for-all, a turn order between them will be generated using
Random.org. Note that faster players can decide when to use their Turn; if they want a slower ally to do something first before using their own Turn, they can declare that they wish to shuffle Turn order.
When an RPG is broken, speed is usually the cause, especially if it gives you more moves than your opponent. In Our Dying Wish, each character will normally be limited to 2 combat-related Actions per Turn, regardless of their Reaction stat. Your character's first Action will either be a "Free Action" or a "Reaction," depending on if they are currently being attacked or not. In other words, your character gets more options during the first Action of their Turn, if they are "free" in the sense that they are not under pressure from enemy attacks, and can move about the battlefield and act "freely." Their second Action will be either a normal "Action" or another "Reaction," if special circumstances call for it. High-Reaction characters can be expected to act first and to get more Free Actions, giving them more options in combat, rather than extra Actions to abuse.
There are no real numbers being tracked with regards to HP. Each character's HP is the same as any other, and ranges from 0% to 100%; damage calculation is done with those percentages. Damage is calculated by first considering the type of attack and whether Defense or Resilience is checked against it. The "star rating" of the attacker's move is compared to the defending character's Defense or Resilience, and the difference is turned into a percentage and subtracted from their HP. Normal attacks deal half a star's worth of Defense in damage, while Skills normally deal a full star. If you have four stars of Defense and take a full-damage hit from a Skill that deals normal damage, you'll be at 75% health, for example. Spells also deal a full star of damage, and Calamity spells deal two—this holds true even if the type of magic being cast is healing, so the higher your Resilience to magic is, the smaller the portion of health you'll receive. (This is to keep characters with a focus on physical attacks from benefiting too much from self-healing; characters with a higher investment in magic (Resonance) will naturally offset this.) If the result of a damage check is
exactly zero, then you'll be left with 0.1% HP as a second chance. So, if you have exactly two stars of Resilience, you can still take a Calamity spell and survive from full health. At the end of each of my (Emeth's) posts, you will find a brief report on everyone's current HP and RP. A more detailed combat record can be found on the Discord server, in the ooc-combat-menu channel.
Consecutive Attacks and Combos
Normally, a single Guard or Dodge Reaction can be used to block or avoid as many attacks as necessary within a single Turn, with Dodge Reactions rolling unlimited dice as needed. However, consecutive attacks from an aggressive, pursuing opponent, from hordes of monsters, or from more intelligent and coordinated foes will depreciate the value of these options over time. In the case of consecutive attacks, each subsequent hit on a Guard will reduce its effective Defense by 1 star, and in the case of Dodges, each subsequent attack will reduce the dodging character's Perception by 1 star, increasing the chance of a failed dodge check. If you're severely outnumbered, consider Fleeing, which will perform a single pair of dodge checks instead.
Distinct and separate from the concept of consecutive attacks are combos. When a character's Guard is broken, or they take direct damage from an attack, their current Turn ends, and they become vulnerable until the beginning of their next Turn. Each attack they take during this vulnerable state will string together; this is called a combo. Combos can be cancelled by a third party, such as the victim's ally stepping in to React in their stead. This is called a Rescue; a Rescue requires the rescuer to have a Free Action, and protects the rescuee from any further damage until their next Turn. If the rescuer's Reaction fails and they get hit, they become the victim of the next combo, instead of the ally they Rescued before.
Forget about painstakingly memorizing long incantations or tediously drawing magic circles—for Mediums, this is all accomplished automatically on the back end, by their Jinn. All a Medium needs to do to cast magic is to will it into existence using their Resonant Power. Resonant Power (RP) begins at zero at the start of every battle, increases every time your character performs most combat-related Actions, and is consumed when using high-tier Skills and spells. The more invested your character is in a battle (the more you participate), the faster you'll be able to use higher-tiered magic and Skills. Joining a battle and immediately seizing the victory in one move won't be possible, since you'll be starting at zero RP. At the end of each of my (Emeth's) posts, you will find a brief report on everyone's current RP and HP. A more detailed combat record can be found on the Discord server, in the ooc-combat-menu channel.
Instant Cast and Safe Cast
Any spell that is not a Calamity (Tier 4) spell can be cast instantly, making instant cast the normal casting speed. Calamities are the exception, and require a Free Action (specifically, Safe Cast) to use with no chance of being punished. Normally, a spell that is cast as an Action has priority over physical attacks, and cannot be interrupted by any other spell, except one of its opposing element or a higher tier. If the defending character has neither of these options available, they should Dodge or Guard. When used as a Reaction, however, any normal, non-Calamity spell will have less priority than physical attacks and other spells, trading hits with physicals and, in the case of magic, causing the Reacting character to take the hit at the cost of casting their own spell, which the attacking mage can safely deal with on their next Turn, before the Reacting mage's recovery Turn.
Quickly Identifying Magic
• A small magic circle in front of the caster is a Tier 1 Basic Spell.
• A large magic circle on the ground is a Tier 2 Field Spell.
• A small magic circle beneath a target is a Tier 3 Resonant Magic.
• A large magic circle above the field of battle is a Tier 4 Calamity.
• A small magic circle above the caster is a Tier 5 Transformation.
• A large magic circle in front of the caster is a Tier 5 Summon.
• The color of the magic circle indicates what element it is, as noted below.
Rather than the elemental rock-paper-scissors that you're probably used to, elements come in pairs that oppose each other. What this effectively means is that enemies that are associated with these elements and wield them as their primary means of attack will not be doing "super-effective" damage against each other. If two players cast opposing elemental magic at the same tier, and at the same time, the magic circles will destabilize and the spells will fizzle out. This cancels both attacks, just as any two physical attacks of similar strength would be cancelled during a parry, and grants the mage casting the opposing magic +1 RP. The existence of these elemental dichotomies also means there is no "neutral" or "non elemental" damage type that can't be resisted.
The Elements (and their Magic Circles)
• Fire and Ice (Orange and Cyan)
• Lightning and Water (Yellow and Blue)
• Wind and Earth (Green and Brown)
• Light and Dark (White and Black)
• Nature and Artifice (Lime and Gray)
[Umbrella Elements: Wood and Metal]
• Sight and Sound (Pulsing White, Vibrating Black)
[Umbrella Elements: Truth and Illusion]
• Time and Space (Inverted Colors, Nebula Colors)
[Umbrella Elements: Sun and Moon]
• Blessing and Curse (Gold and Blood Red)
[Umbrella Elements: Life and Death]
• (Etc, I may add more on request?)
Elemental resistances come in the form of passive skills. Any passive skill that gives resistance to one element will also give resistance to its opposing element. So, you will never encounter an opponent that is resistant to fire, but not to ice, for example. It's also important to note that, while these skills are passive in the sense that they are always active, they draw on Resonant Power to fuel their effects. Your character will be completely immune (no damage, no knockback, nothing) to any elemental spell they resist that has an RP cost equal or less than their current RP level. For example, if you resist fire and ice, you will always be immune to Tier 1 fire and ice spells, because Tier 1 magic costs nothing. However, to resist Tiers 2, 3, and 4, your character must currently have 4, 6, or 10 RP respectively. In other words, if you have enough RP to cast the spell you're trying to resist, then you can resist it, if you have the required skill.
• Extremophile: Resist Fire and Ice.
• Weathered: Resist Lightning and Water.
• Immovable: Resist Wind and Earth.
• Transcendent: Resist Light and Dark.
• Incorporeal: Resist Nature and Artifice.
• Enlightened: Resist Sight and Sound.
• Unstoppable: Resist Time and Space.
• Ineffable: Resist Blessing and Curse.
Status Effects and Curses
Like the elements these are associated with, the statuses in each pair will cancel each other out and cannot both be applied.
Burn: Deals 5% chip damage to the afflicted character each time they use a physical attack or Skill. Up to three Burn statuses can stack, causing "second degree" burns which deal 10% and "third degree" burns which deal 15% each time. The Burn status can be removed with Salve or reduced by 1 every time the victim is healed or Chilled.
Chilled: Causes the afflicted character to take 5% chip damage on each of their Turns; also reduces their Reaction and Perception by 1 star for each stack of this status. The status can be removed by spending a Turn Fleeing to warm up or reduced by 1 when Burn is applied. If Chilled is allowed to stack 3 times, 1 stack of Chilled is removed and Sleep is added instead.
Stunned: Causes the afflicted character to lose their Action after Recovering from damage. The status is removed immediately after applying its effect a single time, and cannot be acquired again next Round.
Sleep: The afflicted character cannot act for 3 Rounds. The status is removed immediately upon the victim Recovering from taking damage a single time. While under the Sleep status, they will take 1.5x damage from any attack executed during that combo. The status can be warded off for up to 5 Rounds using Coffee. For each Round that passes while under Sleep status, 1 stack of Chilled status is removed, if applicable.
Altitude Sickness: The afflicted character loses their +2 Strength bonus when using skills, and their Defense is reduced by 2 stars instead of 1 whenever their Guard is attacked consecutively. If they use the Flee command at any time while under this status, they must Recover on their next turn, as though they had taken damage. The status ends after 3 Rounds, or when the victim uses Medicine.
Petrification: The afflicted character's Defense is used as a counter. Each time the victim performs any action, the counter will be reduced by 1 (usually this will be 2 for each of their Turns, except during Recovery Turns). Throughout the duration of the countdown, their Reaction is treated as zero stars for the purposes of determining turn order, their Perception is decreased by 2 stars, and their Defense is increased by 2 Stars. Once the countdown reaches 0, the character is Petrified and cannot act during their Turn. Their Defense is increased to 10 stars, they are treated as being in a constant Guard state, and they will not take damage unless their Guard is broken. If their Guard is broken by any means, they are freed from the Petrified status, but they will take double the damage they would have taken if they hadn't been Guarding. Using a Salve during the countdown will cancel the status, but afterwards, the stone shell must be broken. If it is not broken by either an enemy or an ally, and the rest of the victim's party is KO'd, they too will count as KO'd and their opponent will not be required to finish them to claim victory.
Spotted: Afflicted characters are treated as priority targets for enemies, and cannot enter stealth mode, even with a Free Action. The status will end if the Spotted character is Rescued by an ally, causing the enemies to become distracted (though the Rescuing ally will inherit the status for one Round). The original target can then choose to re-enter stealth mode during their Free Action after that.
Blinded: An afflicted character must pass two dodge checks for each attack coming during a Reaction, and their own targets are able to roll twice for each dodge check whenever they are attacked by their Blinded foe. The status ends one full Round after the offending light source (or lack thereof) is removed. The status can be warded off for 5 Rounds using Salve.
Poison: Afflicted characters take 10% chip damage on each of their Turns. If at any time the afflicted character uses the Flee Reaction, their increased heart rate will cause the poison to spread faster, replacing the base Poison status with a Lethal Poison status that deals 20% damage on each of their Turns. The Lethal Poison status can also be inflicted directly by some foes. These statuses will last until the victim uses an Elixir or an Antidote.
Radiation Sickness: Prevents the afflicted character from healing by any means until they first cure the status. The status itself can only be cured by first leaving the effective range of the radiation, then drinking an Elixir or Medicine. Using an Elixir to cure this status will cancel the healing effect but still cause the drinker's "tolerance" for that battle to increase, reducing the healing effect of future Elixirs as well.
Obsession: Characters that have been afflicted with this status must continue attacking the same target, and cannot be forced to change targets. If the target of the afflicted character's Obsession is Rescued, they will instead attack the Rescuer until the Round ends and their original target becomes a valid option again. The status will end only when the target of the afflicted character's Obsession is KO'd.
Confusion: On each of the afflicted character's Turns, a D4 will be rolled to determine if the character attacks normally, uses a Basic skill or spell, Guards, or Dodges. If the roll is a 2, a D10 will then be rolled to determine which Basic skill or spell is used, based on the order they are listed in the character sheet. Don't even think about changing the order mid-battle, or I'll know.
/Revolver Ocelot voice A list of all the battle's participants will then be generated on
Random.org, and the afflicted character will attack them all in that order, if applicable, removing two participants from the list on each Turn. Even if the victim of the Confusion status is taking damage or Recovering and a D4 roll is not necessary, two names will be removed from the list on each of their Turns. Once the end of the list has been reached, the status will end on its own.
Cosmic Interference: The afflicted character's stats are all increased to a minimum of 3 stars, and are then shuffled every Round, with each row of stars being shifted down one position at the end of each of their Turns. After a full rotation of 6 shuffles, the status will end on its own.
Radio Silence: In space, no one can hear you scream. Afflicted characters cannot cast Tier 2-5 spells or begin Crew Attacks. The status will end automatically if at any time a Calamity is used, or if the afflicted character reaches 10 RP by any means.
Amnesia: Afflicted characters cannot use Rush skills or Finest Arts, and will "forget" one random Basic skill or spell at the end of each of their Turns, decided by rolling a D12. If an 11 or 12 is rolled, the status ends. Only one Basic skill or spell can be "forgotten" at a time.
Misery: Afflicted characters can gain only 1 RP per each of their Turns regardless of actions chosen. An ally can remove this status by spending a free action to hug their afflicted friend, both gaining a +1 RP bonus. They can also remove the status themselves by taking their frustration out on an enemy using Finest Arts.
Elixirs: The standard Elixir heals for 100% HP when consumed, cut by a third for each use after that in the same battle. Removes the Poison/Lethal Poison and Radiation Sickness statuses, but does not prevent them from being re-applied.
Potions: Forbidden tonics that can have a wide variety of effects. They are stronger than any of their legal counterparts, but sanity is the price to pay for power. A random status effect or curse may be applied, or the potion may backfire entirely. It's not like these things are regulated, you know. Of course, a witch may be willing to remove these curses—for a small fee.
Magic Stones: Allows one cast of a Tier 1 spell of its associated element. Does not grant +1 RP when used. Even regular humans can use these, and they also have monetary value. The most coveted are the Space-elemental Teleport Stones.
Antidote: Removes Poison/Lethal Poison statuses and wards them off for 5 Rounds.
Medicine: Removes Altitude Sickness status and wards it off for 5 Rounds. Removes the Radiation Sickness status when consumed outside the effective range of the radiation, but does not ward it off while inside that radius.
Salve: Removes Burn status and Petrification countdown. Wards off Blinded status for 5 Rounds.
Coffee: Wards off Sleep status for 5 Rounds. Removes one stack of Chilled per Round if consumed hot. Adds Burn status if spilled.