Fantasy Myth [Combat System]

[The Black Knight]

This page explains the combat mechanics for the roleplaying game Myth.

Damage output whether it be physical or magical will be controlled by cards. Damage absorption (defense) will be controlled by cards. Support spell effectiveness will be determined by cards. Accuracy and evasion will be decided using one to two die.

Strength, Intelligence, Constitution, and Willpower:

Taking a traditional deck of cards, starting with 2 no matter the house until King is:

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack (11), Queen (12), King (13).

If your character has an Ace, then it is critical damage, which will be (14 x (your character’s Strength or Intelligence level)).

Players will each receive five cards from the GM. They are random. Players are free to look at their cards. Players decide which cards they want to use first. Here is an example of combat:

Player 1 Hand:

10 of clubs
7 of diamonds
7 of hearts
5 of diamonds
6 of diamonds

This character is a warrior with a Strength level of 3. The player decides to use the “10 of clubs” first against a low-level goblin.

10 of clubs = 10 damage (See? We’re keeping it simple) x 3 (the character’s strength level) = 30 physical damage dealt to the goblin. If this character was a scholar, then they would more than likely be using magic, and thus it would be the intelligence level that would have determined the “magic damage dealt.”

If the goblin did not choose to defend on their turn, then the goblin will take 30 physical damage. However, let’s go to a defense example. As mentioned before, the goblin has five cards as well. All enemies receive five random cards.

Enemy Hand:

Queen of spades
10 of spades
King of hearts
Ace of clubs
7 of hearts

The goblin used their “king of hearts” as the defender card. A king of hearts is equal to 13 defense (if this were used offensively then it would be worth 13 damage). 13 defense x enemy goblin’s constitution level OR willpower level (depending on the type of damage received from player), let’s say it’s 1 because goblin's usually are weak and flabby = 13 damage absorption.

The 30 damage inflicted by player 1 was reduced by 13 points (again depending on constitution or willpower, which those depend on if the player attacked physically or with magic). The goblin takes only 17 physical or magic damage.

The way the goblin used a card for defense, a player character can choose to use a card for defense. It goes back and forth.

Support

When choosing to use cards to support, this is mainly for healing spells and ward magic. Your scholar is trying to heal Player 2’s character. Your scholar has five cards randomly given to them by the GM.

Scholar Hand:
3 of clubs
4 of hearts
10 of clubs
7 of clubs
Queen of spades

You decide you want to heal the character for as much health as possible. You choose the Queen of Spades. A queen of spades costs 12 health points x your character’s intelligence level. Let’s say it is 3. 12 x 3 = 36. Your character heals the other player for 36 health points. Similarly, if this had been a ward spell, and let’s say, the spell was designed to protect any character from physical damage, the spell would have placed a ward with 36 physical defense points on the character. As the character fights, this allows the character to absorb up to 36 physical damage before he or she starts taking physical damage. The ward spell can even be reinforced say if a character uses their turn to guard against a powerful attack.

36 + (the card that character drew for physical defense x their constitution) = total physical damage absorbed

Now I am sure you noticed the word “physical” was mentioned a lot. Because the ward spell the supporting character cast was for protection from “physical” damage. When you are creating your spells, you need to specify if the ward spell wards against physical or magic damage.

Constitution: Health Points

Constitution is simple. For every point placed into Constitution, gives a character 1000 HP. There are five levels of Constitution, which means the total HP a character can have is 5,000 HP. Unfortunately, this is not the same case for enemy bosses. Strength in numbers, right?

Willpower: Mana Points

There aren’t any. Unlike Constitution, spell casting is governed by frequency. You’re probably wondering what is the point of Willpower then? Well, you need Willpower to determine how many spell slots you have and how much magic damage your character can absorb when defending. Similarly, you need Constitution to determine how many skill slots you have and how much physical damage your character can absorb when defending.

Dexterity: Accuracy and Evasion

For a Dexterity level 1-3, only one die is rolled. A character who has level 1 dexterity has a 10% chance to land a hit, which means they must score a 6.

At level 2, they have a 20% chance to land a hit, which means they must score a 5 or 6.

At level 3, they have a 40% chance to land a hit, which means they must score 4-6.

At level 4 Dexterity, there will be two die rolled. A character with a 60% chance to hit, must get a roll between 7-12.

Do I even need to talk about Dexterity level 5?

Similarly to the accuracy explanation, evasion works the same exact way.

Perception

A character with a Perception level of 3 or higher can discover the enemy’s weakness right away. They can detect when the enemy is about to use a very powerful spell or attack that can endanger the team. All characters with a Perception level of 3 will receive a private message from the GM concerning the enemy. This way, those characters with high perception can keep all characters informed in game and no meta-gaming can happen.

Characters with a level 3+ Perception can also be alerted in PM by the GM of an ambush and be able to warn the team of enemy ambushes before they happen.

Enemy Ambushes

If enemies ambush players, then the enemy gets to attack first in a battle, which can suck depending on how many enemies there are, so be careful.

A character with high perception can allow the team to anticipate the ambush, and allow the team to attack first with CRITICAL DAMAGE (echo, echo, echo)!

Transcendence

Transcendence happens when a character receives a special, randomly generated hand from the GM. Transcendence is like the character’s limit break, which allows the character to use their Campaign skill for free. However, it must be used before a battle ends. If a character receives a Transcendence hand, and they choose to use an individual card out of that hand, which ruins the hand, then they will lose the Transcendence opportunity. Similarly, if they choose to sit on their hand and do nothing until the battle ends, then they lose the Transcendence opportunity. These are the different types of hands that grant Transcendence:

Royal Flush
Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 (all the same suit)

Straight Flush
Five cards in a sequence
Example: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 / King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9 / 7, 6, 5, 4, 3

Four of a Kind
Four cards are the same rank regardless of suit.
Example: Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, 7.

Full House
Three cards are the same regardless of suit AND two cards are the same regardless of suit
Example: 10, 10, 10, 9, 9

Experience Points (XP)

Unlike your traditional RPG, I award experience points based on certain completed events. The GM will initiate a XP event, which is often times a GM event. It is only during this XP event that your character can receive XP. When the XP event is over, then characters can no longer receive XP. At least not until the next event. This allows characters to level comfortably without having to worry about those players who have all the time in the world IRL getting ahead of them. Everyone has the same equal opportunity to acquire XP. They just have to decide how much they want to write. Yes, write.

Word Count

How much XP you earn during a GM event is based on the amount of words you write per post.

200 words = 1 XP
500 words = 2 XP
1,000 words = 3 XP

These numbers can stack. If your word count is 1,200 in a post, then your character will receive 4 XP. At the conclusion of a battle, your XP points are totaled and awarded to you. At the conclusion of a campaign, your character will receive bonus XP based on how many words they wrote during the entire campaign and only during XP-events.

2,000 words = 2 XP
4,000 words = 4 XP
6,000+ words = 6 XP

I reward literacy. Whether you come to this game as a beginner or intermediate writer, you can still earn XP. However, everyone should be striving to improve their writing and that is what this game rewards. Quantity is not quality, but often times Quantity and Quality go hand in hand. They will balance each other out through repetition and will lead to some amazing posts.