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Rules

Page history last edited by Tombolo 7 years, 3 months ago

Overview

Mercenaries Deck Battle is a spinoff of the forum game Mercenaries, created on Board 8 of gamefaqs.  As with its inspiration, players will build a team of video game (ish) characters, use their unique abilities, and argue their effectiveness in fights against other teams.  The twist for this game is that it will take the format of a deckbuilding game, drawing particularly on Dominion and Ascension for inspiration.  It is designed for long-term play with roughly 10-40 players via message board, but requires only minor adaptations in order to play face to face, or with as few as two players.  Each turn consists of a match between two players.

 

The Flow of a Turn

-Draw Phase: The turn's Pool is drawn.  Each player draws and plays 5 cards from their deck, plus any additional cards to which they are entitled.

-Ability Phase: Players take turns activating abilities or effects from their cards played.

-Battle Phase: A fight takes place according to the events of the previous phases.  Winner will be determined by vote.

-Econ Phase: Players can purchase cards to add to their deck.

-End Phase: Some effects will take place at this time- primarily ones that modify decks.  Cards are discarded and shuffled back into the deck.

 

Types of cards

Mercenaries: The backbone of the game, about half of all cards will fall into this category.  When played, the Mercenary ("Merc" for short) will join your team for the fight this turn.  Most Mercs also have a Terrain that can be selected for the upcoming fight, as well as one Ability (activated during the Ability Phase with Red Orbs), and one Upgrade. (activated during the Ability Phase with Blue Orbs)  Some Mercs also have other effects when played, or have other ability/upgrade configurations.  Some Mercs have a Passive or Free Ability- these do not expend Red Orbs.  Passive Abilities are always in effect, and Free Abilities are similar but still involve some sort of decision.

 

Econ: These cards generate GP with which to buy other cards.  Not all Econ cards generate GP, and not all cards that generate GP are Econ cards, but that is the primary focus.

 

Support: Representing other characters, situations, and actions, Support cards provide some sort of benefit when played, but do not take part in the fight like Mercs.  Many provide Blue or Red Orbs, or have some effect on your deck composition.

 

Customization: These cards power up your Mercs.  During your Ability Phase, you will assign them to a Merc to give them some sort of edge in battle.

 

Construct: Once played, these cards stay in play, providing you with some sort of benefit every turn, rather than shuffling back into your Deck like most cards.

 

Game Setup

(Work in progress: How are matchups selected for each week?  Currently leaning establishing a schedule ahead of time like with sports.)

 

 

Draw Phase

Six cards will be randomly selected from the Randomizer Deck to form the turn's Pool.  Duplicates are possible.  These are the cards that can be bought during the Econ Phase, and can sometimes be interacted with through other means.  The Pool is the same for all players, and cards are not removed from it or changed until the end of the turn, unless specified otherwise.

 

Each player draws five cards and plays them immediately to the Play Area.  This happens simultaneously for all players.  All cards that are drawn in any phase must be played immediately, and therefore "drawing" is synonymous with "playing."  In the unlikely event that the order of cardplay matters, (which should be infrequent or never, due to the design of the cards) the one playing the card may choose to specify the order.  

 

Ability Phase

(Work in progress: Who goes first?  Do they alternate, or does one player go and then the other?)

During this phase, players will activate various effects on their cards.  Red and Blue Orbs can be spent to activate Mercs' Abilities and Upgrades, respectively.  Customizations must be assigned to Mercs.  Free Abilities are also generally used at this time, as well as some Supports and Constructs.

 

Once both teams have completed their ability usages, the terrain will be selected at random.  Each Merc has a terrain listed, and any Merc still participating in the match will enter their Terrain into consideration for random selection, even if it is a duplicate.  One Terrain will be selected for that list to use for the matchup.  Each terrain specifies an Attacker and Defender location- the Defender team will be the one associated with the Merc whose terrain was picked, and the Attacker will be the opposing team.

 

Battle Phase

Once both opponents have completed their abilities, the battle may be posted. (or in a face to face game, proposed to any players or onlookers not playing in the current match)  Any Mercs who have not been KO'd will fight for their team, according also to abilities, terrain, and other effects from earlier in the turn.  (To do: Formal template for match topics/discussion)  Voters will decide which side would be more likely to win in a fight, and are requested to keep as unbiased a view as possible.  The players participating in the match are encouraged to debate and educate on behalf of their team, but are not allowed to vote.  After 24 hours (or an agreed-upon timeframe in a face to face game) the team with the most votes wins, and gains an Infra.   The winning team will earn an extra 3 GP for that turn's Econ Phase, while the losing team will earn 1.

 

Econ Phase

Every card has a Cost.  Players may buy cards from the Pool, or from the standard supply, (Spearman, Copper, Silver, Activate, and Upgrade) using GP generated in earlier phases.  There is no limit to the number of cards that may be bought in a turn, but cards from the Pool may only be bought or gained once per turn per player.  Cards in the standard supply may be bought in any amount.  When a card is bought, a copy of that card is added to the player's discard pile. (Therefore, the Pool remains the same for all players, allowing every player the same opportunities) (Work in progress: How do face to face games handle this?)

 

End Phase

Many effects played or activated in earlier phases actually take effect here- most notably ones that can trash cards or otherwise manipulate your deck.  After these are resolved, any cards remaining in the Play Area (other than Constructs) are discarded, and each player's discard pile is shuffled back into their deck.  The Pool is finally discarded to end the turn.

 

 

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