Battle Rules

Starting a Battle

Battles may occur in any number of situations. Some Missions involve battling, special events often pit PCs against NPCs and the most common venue for a battle is player conflict. Battles may involve any number of participants provided all involved are at the same location on the Map. Initiating a battle does not require the permission of all involved. It is quite common for a single character to track down and launch a surprise attack on an unsuspecting opponent.

Battles are conducted over AIM. A great deal of the battle is determined behind the scenes by the administration using our battle system. A player's role in the battle is to give administration members directions/actions for his character on a turn-by-turn basis. There is a mathematical system used to determine all aspects of battle. The sections below first describe the general aspect, then go into detail on the mathematics, and finally show an example to aid in illustration. It is not necessary to understand the mathematics behind battle - they are listed here purely for convenience.

The first section will define how time is measured within a battle.

Initiative

Battles are composed of Rounds and Turns. A Round is made up of many Turns and is over when no more Turns remain. A Turn is a time for a single character to perform an action. A character's Speed stat helps to determine Turn order during a battle.

The Initiative Roll (IR) is the method by which Turn order is determined. The IR is a random value between 1 and 20 with a bonus of +1 per Spd point. At every 10th Spd point, a character gains an additional random bonus to their IR roll. A random bonus of 1 to 2 is gained at Spd 10, an additional random bonus of 1 to 3 is gained at Spd 20, etc. A character's IR is determined at the start of battle and remains for the duration of the fight. The character with the highest IR acts first, followed by the character with the next highest IR, etc. In order to determine if a character receives multiple Turns, a Multiple Move Roll (MMR) is calculated. The MMR is a random value between 1 and 20 plus the highest Spd score of all involved in the battle. Every time a character acts, the MMR is subtracted from that character's current IR. If the new value is positive, then that character gains another Turn at that new IR value. The MMR is re-rolled every Round and may be modified by player actions. The Round is over when all characters possess negative IR values.

Example: Player A and Player B are involved in a battle. Player A has a Spd value of 4 and Player B has a Spd value of 6. Player A's IR is rolled as a 15 and he gains a +4 bonus for his Spd score for a final IR value of 19. Player B's IR is rolled as a 12 and he gains a +6 bonus for his Spd score for a final IR value of 18. The MMR is rolled as a 5 and it is modified by +6 (the highest Spd bonus of all participants in the battle) for a final value of 11. This means that Round 1 will begin with Player A acting at IR:19, followed by Player B at IR: 18. For simplicity, we will assume that both Player A and Player B can only use physical attacks. The final order will be Player A (19), Player B (18), Player A (8), Player B (7). After Player B acts for the second time, Round 1 will end and Round 2 will begin with Player A at IR: 19 again. A new MMR is rolled for Round 2. This process continues until the battle concludes.

Hitting your Opponent

Landing an attack on an opponent is a simple process. Two factors are considered for determining on how well a character hits his opponent. Dexterity effects a character's ability to land an attack and Agility effects a character's ability to avoid an attack. There are five outcomes every time a character attacks an opponent. A Miss occurs which indicates the attack failed to effect an opponent. A Partial Hit occurs which indicates a glancing blow - moves that deal damage will suffer a damage penalty. A Normal hit occurs which indicates a solid blow landed - moves deal damage with no additional modifiers. A Critical Hit occurs which indicates a solid blow landed in a weak spot - moves that deal damage gain a damage bonus. A Perfect Hit occurs which indicates a blow that lands in a completely undefended area in your opponent's defenses - moves that deal damage gain a large damage bonus. All of these calculations are performed "behind the scenes".

In order to determine how well an attack lands, the administration consults the To-Hit System (THS). The attacking player's Dex determines how many times a random value between 1 and 6 is calculated and that value is summed (Accuracy value). The defending player's Agi determines how many times a random value between 1 and 6 is calculated and that value is also summed (Evasion value). Any modifiers are also added to the Accuracy and Evasion values at this point. Accuracy minus Evasion results in a "THS value" which is then taken to a chart where "THS value" is represented as "X".

X is less than negative two times the attacker's Dex stat results in a Miss.
X is greater than or equal to negative two times the attacker's Dex but less than negative one times the attacker's Dex results in a Partial Hit.
X is greater than or equal to negative one times the attacker's Dex but less than two times the defender's Agi results in a Normal Hit.
X is greater than or equal to two times the defender's Agi but less than four times the defender's Agi results in a Critical Hit.
X is greater than or equal to four times the defender's Agi results in a Perfect Hit.

A Miss always deals zero damage. A Partial Hit causes a 50% penalty on the attack's damage before defense is applied. A Normal hit does not effect an attack's damage. A Critical Hit causes a 50% bonus on the attack's damage before defense is applied. A Perfect Hit causes a 100% bonus on the attack's damage before defense is applied.

Example: Player A has a Dex of 5, and Player B has an Agi of 3. Player A attacks Player B. Player A's Accuracy is calculated at a value of 30 (a perfect roll on all rolls - very unlikely!) and Player B's Evasion is calculated at a value of 6. This results in a "THS Value" of 24, which is more than four times Player B's Agi stat. That indicates a Perfect Hit.

Physical Attacks & Counter Attacks

Physical attacks occur immediately. A physical attack may be aimed only at characters within one grid space on the Battle Map. Ex) Player A is at A1, Player B is at B1, Player C is at C1, and Player D is at A2. Player A may target Player B and Player D with a physical attack, but not Player C. Player C can target Player B but neither Player A or D. Player C can target only Player A or B, but not D. Player D can only target Player A.
Damage from physical attacks are a function of the attacker's Str and the defender's Vit.

Counter attacks can occur when an attacker misses his target by an extreme amount. The defender's Spd must be higher than the attacker's Spd for a counter attack to occur. A counter attack automatically lands as a Normal physical attack. Only one counter attack can occur per attack. If an attacker uses a technique that grants him multiple attacks in a single turn, then a defender has the possibility of countering each of those attacks if all other prerequisites are met.

The attacking player's Str determines how many times a random value between 1 and 6 is calculated and that value is summed (Damage dealt). The defending player's Vit determines how many times a random value between 1 and 6 is calculated and that value is also summed (Damage defended). Any modifiers are also added to the Damage dealt and Damage defended values at this point. Damage Dealt minus Damage Defended results in the Net Damage the defending player has subtracted from his current HP.

A counter attack has many factors that influence how likely it is to occur. The "Base Rate" is the excess of the "THS Value" past what is required to "Miss" multiplied by two. For every point of Spd the defender has in excess of the attacker, there is a +1% bonus for the counter attack to occur.

Example for Damage: Player A has a Str of 3, and Player B has a Vit of 5. Assume the previous example holds and Player A had connected with a Perfect Hit on Player B. Player A's Damage Dealt is rolled as a 12 but, due to the Perfect Hit, actually totals 24. Player B's Damage Defended is rolled as a 25 (unusual, but not impossible). Even though Player A scored a Perfect Hit, Player B was able to shrug off all of the damage from Player A's attack.

Example for Countering: Player A has a Dex of 1 and a Spd of 2. Player B has an Agi of 4 and a Spd of 5. Player A rolls for accuracy and nets a value of 3. Player B rolls for evasion and nets a value of 20. The "THS Value" that results is a -17, which is 15 in excess of what would be required to just barely "Miss" his opponent. That means the base rate for Counter Attacking for Player B is 30%. In addition, Player B's Spd is 3 points higher than Player A, which means Player B's total chance of Counter Attacking is 33%. A random value between 1 and 100 is rolled - any value between 1 and 33 will result in a counter attack. Any value between 34 and 100 will not result in a counter attack.

Magical Attacks & Effects

Spells occur after a charge time. Spells are initiated on a character's first turn and are completed on the character's next turn or at the end of the Round, whichever occurs first. The Speed value of a Spell helps to determine when a character's next turn occurs. Spells have a Range (R:[]) and Effect (E:[]) listing on the Moves Page. Range is the limit between the user and the intended target. Effect identifies how many Grid spaces (or targets) upon which the spell will act. The damage a magical attack deals is a function of the Magic Attack value of a spell, the Strength and Piercing attributes of the spell, and the user's Int value. The defender's Spr helps to mitigate the damage dealt by magical attacks.

Instead of dealing damage, some spells opt to invoke special effects upon a target. These effects can be beneficial or detrimental. Detrimental effects can be resisted. When a detrimental spell (a 'debuff') is cast, it must first hit a target. Unless otherwise noted on the Move's page, even a Partial Hit will suffice. Next, the caster's INT is compared to the target's SPR. The formula for this comparison is: (INT)d6 - (SPR)d6 = "Value". If "Value" is a positive number, then the spell takes effect on the target. If "Value" is a negative number, then the target resists the spell and the spell has no effect.

The formula for determining magic damage is as follows:
(MA of Spell) * (Strength of Spell) + (User Int) / 2 - (Defender's Spirit) d6 = Damage Taken.

Strength of Spell determines how many dice are rolled per MA of the Spell. Very Weak deals 1d4 per MA, Weak deals 2d4 per MA, Normal deals 3d4 per MA, Strong deals 4d4 per MA, and Very Strong deals 5d4 per MA. Piercing Value lowers the defender's Spirit roll by a percentage. Partial Piercing removes 10% of the defender's Spr roll and Piercing removes 25% of the defender's Spr roll. The Speed of a Spell modifies the MMR for the user and the Agility of the Defender. Very Slow increases the MMR by 100% and the Defender gains a 25% Agi roll bonus. Slow increases the MMR by 75% and the Defender gains a 10% Agi roll bonus. Normal increases the MMR by 50% and does not alter the Defender's Agi roll. Fast increases the MMR by 25% and does not alter the Defender's Agi roll. Very Fast does not effect the MMR and the Defender takes a 10% Agi roll penalty.

An example of a battle in which a spell is used will not be present. This is due to the large number of mechanics effected by spell-use.

Other Actions

Battle Stances
A Battle Stance is a shift in a character's fighting methods. There are multiple different stances, and each stance enhances one aspect of battle at the cost of two others. Stances require one week of training before they are usable and can be learned from any General. Taking a stance is considered a free action (it requires no time), but a stance can only be activated on one of your Turns. Only one stance can be activated per a Round and only one stance can be active at any one time. A stance stays in effect until a character cancels it.

Barbaric Stance: 10% StrMod Bonus, 10% VitMod and 10% DexMod Penalty.
Defensive Stance: 10% VitMod Bonus, 10% SprMod Bonus, 10% StrMod and 10% AgiMod Penalty.
Evasive Stance: 10% AgiMod Bonus, 10% VitMod and 10% DexMod Penalty.
Sniper Stance: 10% DexMod Bonus, 10% StrMod and 10% AgiMod Penalty.

Moving
The battle grid is made up of a 10 by 10 grid of spaces. Columns are labeled A through J and rows are labeled 1 through 10. A character may move once per (his) Turn, but only before attacking. A character's Movement score determines how many grid spaces that character can move per Turn. Grid spaces on the Battle Map hold one character.

Wait
The action of "Wait" will voluntarily set the user's IR to a new, lower value and will not consume the user's Turn. However, IR lost from waiting can not be regained.

Fleeing from Combat
It is not uncommon that a player may find himself in a situation that he cannot win. Therefore, a tactical retreat is always an option. A character's ability to flee is percent based. A character must be at the edge of the battle grid in order to flee. The chance to flee is [(Fleeing Character's Spd) / (Highest Spd of all Opponents)] / 2. Ex: A fleeing character with Spd 5 is fighting an opponent who has a Spd of 10. The chance to flee is (5/10)/2 = 0.25; 25%.

Knockbacks
While not an action per say, knockbacks are an additional effect that occurs with some techniques and spells. Knockbacks send the defending character reeling backwards across the battle grid. In effect, a knockback forces the defending player to spend movement points in order to make up lost ground.