Something I've been working on on the side, I have all the cards made out, so the wording on the cards are changed. I'm also experimenting with what a couple of cards say, so some might say they have a magic element and others don't (Yet, they're similar), mainly player spell cards have that kind of alteration. Other than that, I'm just looking for loop-holes when someone is playing the game.
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Card Game Concept
The goal is to bring down your opponent's Fortification Points down to zero. Another incidental winning strategy is to empty your opponent's deck.
There are four types of character cards:
Fighter cards --- These cards specialize in attack. They are the best when put in a lead position and do most of your damage.
Assist cards --- These cards assist the leader in the party in one way or another. Be sure to read what the assisting character helps and in what situations.
Magic cards --- These cards will allow your party to perform magic spells. These spells can range in variety and depend on the magic character's magic power.
Champion cards --- These cards are special and can only be played for every 5 characters in your graveyard. Their powers range from any kind of champion. Some have the ability to perform magic as well as attack! (It's a smart idea to allow your Champion be the party leader)
All Character cards will have ## A / ## D / ## M on them
A stands for Attack, this is how many attack points a character has. These points are generally used for attacking a party
D stands for Defense, this is how many defense points a character has. These points are generally used for defending against an attack
M stands for Magic, this is how many magic points a character has. These points are generally used for character spells.
There are 2 types of spell cards:
Character spells --- These spells can be performed by a magic character. These spells can range in power, or cannot be played at all. The character spells usually do not have a repercussion other than not having enough magic points.
Field spells --- These spells can be played by the player. Most of these cards have repercussions, however there are some instant-spells that can be played which have minimal effect but nothing to harm yourself.
Equipment cards --- Equipment cards can be put in 1 of three slots, either of the two hands, or the armor slot. Equipment cards will state restrictions on them, such as two-handed, magic-users only, assisting characters only, and other such possibilities. XXXCharacter cards can also give special abilities such as the ability to carry 2 weapon equipment cards, or to wear armor.XXX (Actually I haven't made up cards that restrict what kind of armor or weapons you can use, most of the Equipment cards do them themselves)
Weapon card --- These cards boost attack power when equipped.
Shield card --- These cards boost defense power when equipped.
Armor card --- These cards boost defense power when equipped.
Magic item --- These cards can boost any of the stats. Most basic magic items help out Magic characters only.
Decks must consist of any combination of 50 cards. No more, no less, no exceptions.
You cannot have more than 3 copies of the same card in your deck. You cannot have more than 2 copies of the same character in your deck. Certain cards have the restriction of no copies printed on them. ---You cannot have more than 2 Champions in your deck (unless a Champion says otherwise)
When starting a game, a player must draw five cards. It does not matter if a player has a character card in their hand or not. After which, the first player gets to play any card they want. Each fort starts with 10 Fortification Points, which can increase or decrease from certain situations.
Players cannot attack during either first turn. (Mainly because you're placing your character down and you can't mobilize that same turn) Spells that directly attack a player's fort cannot be used during each player's first turn.
In play, there are 4 main spots to know, the fort, the deck, the graveyard (or discard), and the restricted zone.
The 2 battle positions are in the fort and out on the battle ground. All incoming characters must be placed in the fort at all times. With that being said, there can never be more than 3 parties active on one side at one time.
Parties can consist of up to three characters. And whenever a new character enters a party position, that party cannot be moved out onto the battleground. All of your cards inside of the fort are face down; all cards remain face down until you declare an attack with a party. This will be explained later.
---You cannot add party members while a party is on the battleground---
On every turn you must draw a card. After which you have the decision to play one character card, play one equipment card, or play spell cards.
When you play a character card you cannot mobilize it, or the entire party right away.
You can only play one equip card per turn. --- You cannot un-equip an item unless you are inside the fort, or unless another card says to do so (such as spell cards that require you to discard equipment cards from characters on the battleground). Un-equipped items get discarded. You cannot replace an equipped card with the same card.
You can play as many spell cards per turn. Character spells or Player spells. Be sure to read the character spells as they may require the magic character to be in certain situations that are not present at the moment.
After you are finished with your turn. Let your opponent know.
-----A Party's formation cannot change, except inside the fort. You cannot place a character in the party and change the party's formation at the same time. This means I cannot put the new character at the back of the party and then move it to the lead position. You may only change the formation during your turn.-----
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Playing Character Cards
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You may only play 1 character card per turn, that card must be placed into one of the three party slots inside of a fort. If a party is out on the battlefield, you must choose one of the two parties inside of the fort. You may not create a forth party in the empty slot. When a character is added to a party, that party cannot be mobilized on that same turn.
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Playing Equipment Cards
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You may only play 1 equipment card per turn. Equipment cards cannot be equipped to characters while they are on the battleground. Un-equipping an item does not count against your 1 equipment card per turn.
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Playing Spell Cards
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Spell cards may be played at any time during a turn.
Reactive spell cards must be played when a certain condition is met.
Spell cards are activated immediately after you use them, and must be discarded after they are used.
Character Spells that attack your opponent's party, must be used while battling and may not be used while in the fort.
ATTACKING--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may only mobilize once per turn to attack or retreat (You cannot retreat and then mobilize a new army in the same turn). Only 1 party (per player) may be on the battleground at a time. All parties on the battleground must be face up. First you must mobilize one party to the Battleground. You cannot attack your opponent without a party in the Battleground. When an attacking party meets attacks when there is no opposition, the defending player must choose a party to defend the fort.
A Party that is brought out to defend the fort may retreat after the battle is finished. An attacking party may not.
---NOTE--- You may decide to continue to leave your characters in your fort at all times. But this strategy isn't necessarily the best policy.
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Attacking through Normal Attacks
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When attacking, add all of your character's attack points together. If all of them are at 3 A, that's a total of 9 attack points. You then add any special effects, for example an assist character will add another three points to attack; this will make a total of 12 attack points. You then add, or subtract, any attack points for your equipment cards on the Lead Party Member. If the lead party member has a Longsword equipped, that will make this party's attack strength a grand total of 15 Attack Points.
When Defending, you do the same thing when adding defense. If all of the characters are at 3 D, that's a total of 9 Defense points. We then add any special effects, for example an assist character is adding another 2 Defense points; making a total of 11 defense points. You then add or subtract any defense points for your equipment cards on your Lead Party Member. If the lead party member has a Light Shield equipped, that will make a grand total of 13 Defense Points.
When all of these points are added together, subtract the Attack points from the Defense Points. 15 minus 13 is 2. Those 2 remaining points are then subtracted from the Lead Party Member's Life Points. Some cards may change these numbers, but that will depend on the effects on the cards. If there are no points left over, or there is a negative amount, the attack does nothing.
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Attacking through Spells
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When a player attacks through the use of a Character Spell Card, the character that cast the spell, attacks one party member of the opposing party. The same is done through attacking normally, but you only use the attacking character against the defending character. If the defending character's defense is 4, and an equipment gives him 2 more defense, his defense is now 6. The spell casting character adds the Magic points and attacks that character. If that character has 3 Magic points, plus 3 from the attack, and 2 from an equip card, that character has 8 Magic points. Those Magic points are then subtracted from the character's defense, and that character receives the damage. Using a character spell does not end your turn, unless the card says so.
The “battle” continues until there are no more attacks to be made by the attacking player/party. Most battles only consist of one normal attack. Spells must be played before the normal attack is declared
If there are still members of the defending party left from the attack, the defending party goes back to the fort (No Life Points are healed)
--- Any character that is killed, or knocked out, gets discarded, and the top card of the character's player's deck gets put into the restricted zone. (I knock out your fighter. He gets discarded, and the top card of your deck gets put into the restricted zone).
---NOTE: When the lead Party member is knocked out, the next member in line becomes the leader---
If the defending party was already out on the battlefield, it does not get to retreat right away after a battle. The party must retreat on his or her own turn, costing the one mobilization per turn (see above).
If the party is completely wiped out, the battle is over. If there are still attacks to be made, and there are no more defenders, the fort takes one point of damage (No more than 1 point).
Once you attack, your turn ends.
---SPELL CARDS---
Spell cards can be played at any time before you attack (Some spells may require that they only be used during an attack). These cards CAN overwrite certain restrictions! (assist characters may be able to do so as well, if they have it printed on the card) If a spell allows you to retreat the next turn, you can retreat early. A spell, for example, can allow you to see your opponent's cards in his/her fort for 2 turns (until the end of your next turn).
Character Spells are restricted by the type of character. Characters will have what types of spells they are allowed to use. For example, a White Mage can only use Spell cards that have “White Magic” printed on them. And an Elemental Mage can use any spell, except for Spell cards that have “Alchemy” or “White Magic” printed on them. Characters can ONLY use Character spells. While the Player can only use Player Spells.
---THE RESTRICTED ZONE---
The Restricted Zone is a secondary Graveyard. When a character is knocked out, the top card of your deck gets put into this zone. All cards put into this pile are face down. There is no way to take cards out of the restricted zone.
---SUBTRACTED STATS NOTE---
No stat can ever be lower than 0.
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I didn't want to post the cards because it was a lot of information, and there have been some edits made to the recent drafts. I'll print out the cards when I get the chance, and then get them into some sleeves with some other cards (so they have some thickness). Then I can test gameplay X3
