[Chance]

This is just a funny side project that we're working on. It won't be public for a few months. This discussion thread is to consolidate information since Discord was getting messy, as well as suggestions.


Summary of how it'll works:

• Both players have a Grimoire of 15 Skill Cards. They draw 5 cards at the start of the battle, then once at the start of their turn.
  
• They have a Movement Phase and Action Phase. They can also expend MP for special actions (such as countering an incoming projectile with one of your own Skill Cards). MP is gained passively and via effects.
  
• During the Action Phase, you can cast a Skill Card. Only one. It's then cycled back into your grimoire, and if it has a cooldown it'll ignore RNG and not be drawn until that's expended (so a big signature attack might have a long CD/cost extra MP).
  
• It converts existing affinities/stats for your character; you cannot cast the 'Ice Dragon' Skill Card unless you have X points invested into the tree, f.ex. Your HP and Power scales to your stats, including items.
  
• You have a Grimoire Item. Skills are obtained as items and shifted over, not sure how they'll be accessed yet. You can use this to build your magic,  https://i.imgur.com/QBGyX62.png
  
• Skills are all designed in-game/custom built, rather than coded. There will be a skill database and then a DM can add a skill by selecting the type, stats, customizing the flavor, the visuals, the requirements, additional effects, etc etc. Basically the goal is for a lot of this to be personalized by character and let you really snowflake it up.
  
• Big group battles will be possible, Fire Emblem style with units etc. In such situations, you'll be on a giant battle map and will need to use your movement to be in range of enemies/interact with them.
  
• No, this won't replace realtime combat. When starting up a battle, you'll have the option of 'Realtime' and 'Turn-Based'; the former will be the default.
  

Reaction Phase

You can cast a Skill during your opponent's turn as a counter, if they declare a Skill that one of your own can intercept. Intercepting Skills are highlighted in your hand for 15s if the option is there; if not it'll just skip the phase.

If a counter isn't declared even if one is available within the 15s, then the opponent's Skill is cast per normal.

If a Skill is used as a counter, then its Mana cost and Cooldown are doubled.

Counter example,

They cast a projectile Skill. You have a projectile of your own can 'clash' with this, so you d so; both projectiles meet in the middle and the one with the highest damage wins, dealing the remainder of the damage to the enemy (f.ex Mana Missile of 8d/300pow 2400 is defeated by Lightning Arc 6d/450pow 2700, so the incoming Magic Missile is negated and the Lightning Arc deals 300 damage)

Mana

Proper mana management is especially important. High grade Skills often take multiple turns to charge and a chunk of mana. You gain 10 at the start of every turn. Excessive use of counters will quickly deplete your mana and grant an upper hand to your opponent, so you'll want to pick and choose these moments carefully.

Cooldown

Similarly, cooldown management plays a role. Each time a Skill is cast its cycled back into the grimoire, but it's 'inactive' until the cooldown period ends. It's a big risk to cast Eruption as a Counter, because its base cooldown of 5 is now 10. That means less options overall, and a potential dead draw. The more you counter the more you risk putting yourself into a corner.

Team Battles

Skills will be balanced with 2v2s and 3v3s (and greater) in mind. You can defend a party member if they're a range with a counter, or by just being in the line of fire to take incoming hits in their place. Coordination and placement matters. Combo attacks will also be incentivized. 

Roleplay

There will be no 'turn timer', purposely. Only counters/the reaction phase has a countdown of 15s, for the sake of battle smoothness. There will be rules and courtesy around 'taking too long', but this IS a writing platform. Opting not to have a timer to rush people when something interesting is happening is for the best.

[Friendliest]

Oh....FUCK

You're COOKING cooking

[Purpalicious]

Yeah, that's cool and all but-

"WILL YOU SURVIVE?"

[Hoovyking]

ENTER:

[Nullia]

Turn-based combat allows for more between-character IC, especially during fights. It's hypothetically less stressful, and generally frees up more interaction with the fight. It also gives players more time to recognize what moves it is their opponents are actually doing, so they can recognize them in RPs.
With real-time, fights are mechanical things that I personally feel are separated from RP, even when people tie them in very well with between-posts. This was one of the reasons I ever glanced in SL2's direction.
I'd personally vote for testing this sort of system. As a professional verb-hater, I'd be more interested in this than I am in the action-combat system we have, so you have one vote for "someone that will actually use it".

[Malek]

I'll just continue and post some of my thoughts on turn-based in general, because I think a lot of people that purely prefer real-time or think the game's RP can't benefit from it aren't considering potential. There's just things about real-time that gear the game more towards PVP whether you like it or not, and there are things about turn-based depending on the system that can erode some of those tendencies, here's a few points to keep in mind imo:

-Different win conditions/mid-battle interaction: Currently, nothing that happens in an RPB box actually matters all that much to your rp or future decision making besides whether you win or lose, barring something like "oh i just found out this person is an occultist" or whatever. Once a fight starts, it's an admittedly fun game to play, and an admittedly fun fight to watch- but very little that occurs there ACTUALLY needs to be acknowledged story-wise, doing so is our choice.

If mid-battle fleeing is an option, then you can have cute fights not intended to end in victory or defeat. Just scoping out the enemy, they try to catch you- you try to find out what they can do and run. Or you bit off more than you can chew and you're fighting to survive until you're allowed to try and flee again. Or you white text mid fight and realize you don't have to do this, perhaps after doing some damage to each other.

If you're a character that can apply debuffs/injuries during a fight that'll last for longer than the fight itself, then whether or not you keep going at it becomes more of an interesting decision. 

-Multi-player battles: Whatever your thoughts are on gank-squads, I think the setting would be a lot more interesting if numbers or coordination truly did matter. Synergy has more potential to matter in turn-based than realtime imo. ACTUAL support characters can exist, and not be confined to a settlement. Depending on, and walking out with your healer is cute imo. Actually dedicating yourself to tanking for your allies is also cute imo.

Realtime imo will always place emphasis on the two people fighting, and the spotlight moves off them to whoever is next. I think turn-based multiplayer battles could feel a lot more collaborative in general, and mechanics could support that.

Communication could actually matter instead of needing to intuit what your ally will do or ignoring them completely in real-time, with white text to direct your strategy, or whispers so the enemy doesn't hear, or telepathy so you can do it at long range.

-More character options: If you want to play a smart character rn, you red text that they are. My first character, I made a cripple that couldn't fight because I thought that was interesting thematically before I realized it was stupid to ever play that mechanically because all it meant was 'you just need to lose your RPBs'.

Fauste right now is a similar concept, she's supposed to be weak, but I don't & can't incorporate that into RPBs at all. I have my damage spells, they're flavored around mental stuff, but I still just do insane damage and tank the same as everyone else.

In turn-based, you can theme your character around support and justify that idea. I just feel like most RPB playstyles rarely reflect on the character's... character, and there's more potential for allowing that in the turn-based system especially with higher customizability.

---

There's way more I can try to list down for potential benefits, I just think turn-based just 'scales' more in benefiting RP than realtime, which imo makes it somewhat difficult to build more supporting systems that matter outside an RPB.

I'm just tired now though so this is all I'll say for the moment.

[1r5]

apping for synth RAcaseal

---

Jokes aside, I do think that this sounds pretty interesting. Malek raised alot of good points in favour of a turn-based system, and by the Profound Darkness would I like to add on it but I can't think of anything at present.

I'd be down for giving it a test run. Would be much better on my heart too.

[Regalus]

I can see this being default for large war instead of what is it, and it'd be more thematic too. Commanders for faction controlling PCs in a turn based action like Fire Emblem. Cook hard but I'd like to see it tested first in a special public event rather than being outright released publicly before i say anything.

[Tautology]

SO FUCKING BASED.

[Apollo Densin]

I have said for years that this is what Eternia needed. So much of this game is based off of twitch combat, and if you are not good at it, then you are never going to be a power house since a battle chad can just roll up and wreck your day.

I have thought of a three action economy system would be worth looking into. You can cast three times, move three times, assume a guarded stance. We can also make skills that affect terrain, throwing up an earth wall could block movement. A water spell could create puddles. Then you could combo that off of that. Buffs could be options that do different things on top of that.

Overall, I think this would be such a great move in general, but I know Combat can be addicting in its own right.