Event Battle Rules
Posted Aug 1, 2018 15:55:05 GMT -7
Post by Serpentarius on Aug 1, 2018 15:55:05 GMT -7
Basic Rule Differences
- When an event battle starts, everyone can join it, even if they're already in the middle of an Incursion. However, if you start or join an Incursion after the beginning of an event battle, then you can't join the event battle until your part in that Incursion is concluded.
- Event battles are an exception to the rule that you can only have one character in a battle at a time. Every character you play can fight in the event battle at once.
- You can join an event battle and immediately start fighting at any time, even if you missed the beginning.
- All power usage in event battles is handled in the thread, so you don't need to PM anything to the admins! Instead, specify your power and target in your post in the thread itself.
- The round deadline for event battles is set at 24 hours (rather than the 48 hours of regular battles). It's fine if you miss a few rounds, the battle will continue regardless. If you don't have time to write a full post, you can always post in the thread with just an action and it will still count.
- Each entity is made up of multiple components, and each component is statted up similarly to a mage with its own powers and immunities. Aggression and Interference powers should be targeted at a specific component. Maneuver and Prediction powers should be targeted at one of the cities the entity is threatening that turn.
- Event battles do not follow the standard action resolution order. Instead, everything is treated as resolving simultaneously except where noted otherwise.
- Combo effects do not function during event battles.
- Characters can buy new powers and traits at any time during an event battle and the changes will take effect immediately.
Entity Actions
An entity's powers and immunities do not have their own levels. Instead, the entity as a whole has a single "dissonance level" that measures how far it is from synchronizing with the universe and decreases over time. At lower dissonance levels, the entity is capable of using a greater fraction of its true power, but it also becomes more vulnerable to mage attacks. All entity powers and immunities are treated as being at a level equal to the current dissonance level. As dissonance level decreases, cities may be destroyed. If dissonance level gets too low, then the entire universe may be destroyed.
Event battles do not have a single combat advantage total. Instead, each entity action is given its own "success margin" which is decreased by the combat advantage gains of the mage actions that oppose it. Aggression and Interference powers targeted at a component always oppose the component's action. Maneuver and Prediction powers oppose all components targeting the protected city. The effects of the entity's action scale with the amount of success margin remaining.
- Entity Aggression powers aim to destroy cities. They target one of the eligible cities named in the resolution post. If any success margin remains after the entity's action, the target city is "marked" for destruction. Every time the dissonance level hits its next milestone, the most recently marked city is destroyed. Cities belonging to a mage group can take a hit without being destroyed, but this breaks the group's control over the city.
- Entity Maneuver powers try to aid other components. They target one of the entity's other components. The success margin becomes a shield that adds to the success margin of the targeted component. If the shield is not completely broken by the mages targeting the Maneuver-using component, then the power also suppresses any mage Aggression powers directed at the targeted component.
- Entity Interference powers directly attack mages. They target one of the eligible cities named in the resolution post. Depending on the remaining success margin, some mages defending that city are hit with debilitating status effects. The entity prefers to target mages it considers threatening, but the Unstoppable trait and mage Prediction powers can prevent this.
- Entity Prediction powers attempt to decrease the dissonance level in order to destroy the universe before the mages can defeat the entity. They do not have a target. If any success margin remains after the entity's action, the dissonance level is decreased by an extra point that turn.
Player Actions
Mage powers succeed, partially succeed, or fail just like they do during a normal incursion, but their combat advantage is also multiplied depending on several factors. Each power usage starts at 1x combat advantage. If something causes the usage to "gain a multiplier," then it goes up to 2x. Gaining more multipliers brings it to 3x, 4x, and so on. Instead of being added to a total combat advantage tally, this value is subtracted from the target entity components' success margin. Here are the multiplier sources that all powers can benefit from.
- Hidden Power trait: +1 multiplier
- Used power's level meets or exceeds the current dissonance level: +1 multiplier
- User has an immunity to the target component's used power, but it's lower than the dissonance level: +1 multiplier
- User has an immunity to the target component's used power, and it meets or exceeds the dissonance level: +2 multipliers
- User scores a HIT against a weakness: +1 multiplier
- User scores a CRITICAL HIT against a weakness: +2 multipliers
The different power roles also have some specific bonuses and penalties.
- Mage Aggression powers must target one of the entity's components. If the targeted component isn't using Prediction, then the mage gets a -1 multiplier penalty. However, this won't ever take it below x1 advantage.
- Mage Maneuver powers must target a threatened city, and the mage is treated as defending that city for the turn. If a component hits the defended city with Aggression, then the mage gets a +2 multiplier bonus against that component. During event battles, Maneuver powers are triggered in the same manner as Prediction powers, complete with the potential to resolve multiple times in one round, but this also means that they can fail due to enemy immunities.
- Mage Interference powers must target one of the entity's components. If the targeted component is using a Maneuver power, then the mage gets a +3 multiplier bonus. If the targeted component is using an Aggression or Interference power, then the mage gets a +2 multiplier bonus. If the targeted component is using a Prediction power, the mage gets only a +1 multiplier bonus.
- Mage Prediction powers can target either a threatened city (in which case the mage is treated as defending the city) or a mage who's defending a city (in which case the user is treated as defending the same city). If a component hits the defended city with an Interference power, then the mage gets a +1 multiplier bonus. Furthermore, mages targeted by successful Prediction powers cannot be hit by status effects.
Failed Maneuver and Interference powers give 0% base combat advantage as normal. However, when a failed Maneuver or Interference power gets a multiplier bonus, each extra multiplier above x1 is converted to a +5% combat advantage bonus.
Phases and Victory
In addition to powers and immunities, each component also has at least one power type as its weakness. Maneuver and Prediction weaknesses are shared between all components in the phase. Powers three or fewer levels beneath the dissonance level can HIT the weakness. Powers that meet or exceed the dissonance level can CRITICAL HIT the weakness. The only way to defeat an entity is to land a CRITICAL HIT on each of its components on the same round. This moves the event battle to the next phase.
So, the ultimate goal of each phase of an event battle is to delay the destruction of the universe long enough for the high-level Hidden Power and Teamwork users to identify the entity's weaknesses and coordinate an all-out attack. Mages whose powers are too low-level to land a HIT won't be able to uncover weaknesses, so they should focus on lending their support wherever they feel it's most important.
Standard openings cannot be used during event battles. However, landing a CRITICAL HIT will sometimes permit unique openings that might or might not be worth taking depending on the circumstances of the battle.
When a phase ends, there is an intermission round to give everyone a chance to react to the phase's events and use any relevant traits. Then, the next phase of the battle begins, with the entity using a new set of components with their own powers, immunities, and weaknesses (even if a component shares the name of a component from a previous phase, its stats aren't necessarily the same). The list of cities marked for destruction is reset, but status effects generally persist between phases.
A battle can end in one of two ways: either the entity runs out of phases and is defeated, or the dissonance level gets too low and the universe is destroyed. In either case, all mages are awarded Impact based on the number of rounds for which they submitted actions.
Death Flags
- After an event battle thread has been posted, players can PM the admins to "set a death flag" for one or more of their characters. This only applies to that one event battle.
- A character whose death flag has been set can potentially be killed during the course of the event battle.
- Setting a death flag is a purely out-of-character action. A reckless hero who charges straight at every entity doesn't need to have a death flag set, and a coward who runs away at the first opportunity can still have a death flag set. Choose whether or not to set a death flag based on whether you, the player, think that it could be interesting for the character to die.
- Whether a character with a set death flag dies will depend on how well the battle goes. When a city is marked for destruction, the admins may notify one or more players who have set death flags that when the city is destroyed, the death flagged characters will die along with it. However, if the city escapes destruction, then the characters will survive.
- A character who has died can finish any threads they're in, but can't usually join new threads.
- The death flag system can also be used to have other possible outcomes (like maiming or other trauma) depend on the outcome of the event battle. PM the admins if you want something else to happen to your character if the battle goes poorly.
- Whether a death flag has been set is private between the player and the admins. Players can talk about death flags, but they can also lie about them. Fight hard, because there's no telling whose lives depend on it!
Liquidation
- When a character dies, that character's accumulated Impact (including Impact that had been spent on Power Level), is liquidated as a package given to the character's player.
- This package may be given to a new character (allowing that character to start at the dead character's Power Level and Impact) or given to an existing character (causing that character to have a sudden increase in power, perhaps as a result of developing stronger magic or finding a new way to use her existing magic).
- When a character reaches a post milestone that allows the creation of an advanced start character, that character slot may be liquidated in lieu of actually making a character for it. Liquidating a character slot in this manner gives a package worth 3,000 Impact for a Power Level 30 character slot and 13,000 Impact for a Power Level 45 character slot.
- Bonus Impact gained in this way can never take a character to a higher total Impact than the highest-level character currently on the site. Any Impact that would take a character beyond that is lost.
- A single Impact package can only be granted to a single character all at once. It may not be divided between multiple characters, and it may not be divided and some saved for later.
- A character who dies in an event battle is still awarded the bonus Impact for the battle posthumously, which is factored into that character's Impact package.
- If a player wants to stop playing a character and liquidate her without her dying in an event battle, the admins should be contacted to work out the details.