The worlds of the
Zheng Mian and
Bei Bu Nations of Warrior-Monks were, at one point in time, very separate. These continents were both homes to very spiritual but militaristic peoples, and their fighting styles were a deeply ingrained and important part of their beliefs and cultures as a whole. The gods of both worlds sought to bless their people with powers of the
Elements, the
Body, and the
Mind, and as both civilizations grew they seamlessly integrated the blessings of the gods into their Styles.
Warrior Monks trained exclusively in melee combat utilizing Armed and Unarmed styles. Basic Armed Styles were some of the first ones to rise to prominence before the gods intervened. They required only the knowledge of oneself and the weapon that acted as an extension of their body. These Styles are often easier for Warrior Monks to learn and build upon, combining standard training with a weapon in addition to specialized techniques, strike focuses, mindsets, and combat doctrines. The ease with which these are learned lends itself to greater numbers of Warrior Monks practicing these Styles. Magical Armed Styles, on the other hand, prove to be very difficult to develop, learn, and master, leading to smaller numbers of Warrior Monks using these styles. Magical Armed Styles are able to use Elemental Magic to complement their fighting style, greatly increasing their strength on the battlefield. The Elemental Magic gifted by the gods is divided into five categories:
Wood,
Fire,
Earth,
Metal, and
Water.
Unarmed Styles pushed the development of the Body and Mind further than their Armed counterparts. A stronger sense of inner perfection leads to every Unarmed Style having at least one Elemental affiliation, although they also unlock the ability to manipulate their own Qi to act as an extension of their will, something Magical Armed Styles are incapable of. The use of one's Qi has near limitless potential. Unarmed Styles are wildly varied in how complex they get thanks to the sheer number of possibilities perfection of oneself provides, meaning these Styles could be anywhere from the most ubiquitous to the rarest Styles utilized by Warrior Monks.
Unfortunately, these gods feuded between one another and had brought the peoples of the
Zheng Mian and
Bei Bu into being in order to settle their own differences. Both worlds were eventually
folded together by these gods, merging the continents that'd been shaped to fit together precisely. The people, of course, do not realize they are being manipulated into believing the other is an enemy that must be fought and defeated, and willingly engage in combat.
The
fold acts as a barrier that prevents the armies of either side to march directly onto the other's land. Instead, it brings the armies to a magical area of space devoid of all features but the light grey tile floors. In order to begin attacking the other continent, the warriors must first push their opponents out of this space where there are no variables but the warriors themselves. Once beyond the
fold however, the nation's army can freely push through until they themselves are pushed back to and through the void space.
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You are the gods of the
Zheng Mian or
Bei Bu. They are currently nondescript, as are their continents, as it will be up to you to create them. Once you decide on which team you will join, please announce it here and then join the discord server. You will be responsible for working with your teammates before the game proper begins to answer three sets of questions that will define your peoples and what they start this war with. They are all listed below so you can effectively discuss ideas, but will be answered over the course of three turns in the respective team threads. Once a vote has a general consensus I will roll using the same set of rules for standard turns outlined below:
What type of landscape did your people settle on? This place had a great impact on your people, and defined what became your peoples first Style. What Style was it? This Style is Unarmed and of a singular Element influenced by your people's surroundings. Proposals for Unarmed Styles should include the mindset it's practitioners aim to be in, as well as how the Element is utilized, and any techniques or strikes they specialize in.
As your people expanded outward they required larger armies to face their growing number of enemies. What type of lands laid adjacent to yours did you desire enough to take by force? Describe two distinct biomes. What Basic Armed Style was developed to accomplish this? A Basic Armed Style proposal should include the weapon being developed as well as the overall combat doctrines drilled by Warrior Monks using the Style, in addition to the same subjects of mindset, and special strikes and techniques as an Unarmed proposal.
With your closest enemies conquered, your people sought to expand their influence and spread their beliefs to the ends of the continent. During this time the favor of the gods made itself known through the powers of the first Master who led the armies to the shores. This Master is likely to be relatively easy to bring into being, and so they shouldn't be considered the baseline difficulty for your own estimates of future Master proposals, especially if they're created alongside a new Style as this one is. Describe the Master and what makes them stand out on the battlefield. They also championed either a Magical Armed Style or a Qi-enhanced Unarmed Style. If describing a Magical Armed Style, remember to include the weapon that is developed for it, the Element that is used and how it is utilized, combat doctrines, mindset, special strikes, and techniques. If you decide to utilize a Qi-enhanced Unarmed Style, remember to include the Element for the base style, as well as what sort of Qi powers they use, whether they be "buffs" or "debuffs" they can apply or energy-based attacks. Remember though that while this Style is being designed for a unique character, the Style does not necessarily need to be made Unique and could potentially see more widespread use on the battlefield. Additionally, what were the three biomes conquered during this time?
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To go into further details about the game and it's rules, I have divided everything into easy peasy spoilers below.
After the first three turns where you create your starting stuff turns will enter a normal cycle of Design, Revision, Strategy, and Combat.
During the Design phase you will be able to propose new Martial Arts Styles, supporting equipment, infrastructure, units, Masters, and most anything else within the spectrum of the game that could reasonably affect the battlefield. You have Two Actions to use for the phase, although both actions can be used together on a single High-Effort design should you wish to try something more ambitious. While standard designs roll 2d6, with higher numbers being better, High-Effort designs receive a best-2-of-3d6 on top of a one-level reduction in the difficulty modifier.
The Revision Phase also gives you two actions with which to provide improvements or augmentations to existing designs. Revisions should be much more conservative than designs in scope.
During the Strategy Phase you will choose where to deploy your Unique entries from your Armory. Once the map is constructed you will be able to see which areas exist to designate.
The Combat Phase will see me write up the confrontation between the two forces with what they'd developed up to that point.
The following rules are used when determining the results of any proposal:
Difficulty is determined by how complex a proposal is. The further of a departure it is with what your team is used to, and/or the more features something tacks on, the harder it gets.
Unobtainable (-x): An Unobtainable proposal is impossible. This does not mean you gain zero experience, but Unobtainable proposals will never produce something usable on their own.
Theoretical (-3): Theoretical proposals may represent a massive step forward (or backward), and will be difficult, but not impossible, to accomplish.
Very Hard (-2): Proposals that end up as Very Hard tend to be victims of overreach or ambition, but not to the degree of Theoretical or Unobtainable proposals. These actions have a moderate chance of some level of success, at least.
Hard (-1): Hard proposals tend to represent pushing lightly against the unknown or attempting an advanced, but simple, accomplishment. A Hard action is likely to succeed in some form, but are not excluded from the occasional unexpected failure.
Normal (0): Normal proposals represent your typical step forward or a reasonable adjustment to what is available at the time. While Normal proposals are very unlikely to outright fail, fate could still see them perform less than desirably.
Easy (+1): An Easy proposal is likely a minor advancement or adjustment in areas you have familiarity with. Easy proposals never outright fail to produce results, but that doesn't mean they'll always be good.
Very Easy (+2): Very Easy proposals represent work in areas or with equipment that you have a high level of familiarity with and likely don't have a bunch of bells and whistles attached. You're very likely to at least get something "acceptable" out of a Very Easy proposal, even if it likely won't cause a dramatic paradigm shift.
Simple (+3): A Simple proposal is well within the bounds of familiarity and, well, simplicity. Simple proposals are likely the result of prolonged periods of work on a particular area or object, so even though they'll likely be fairly successful, they shouldn't be expected to blow anyone's mind.
Trivial (+4): Trivial proposals fall strictly within the confines of previous work experience and likely at best offer lateral "advancement" or a very small augmentation to an existing design. They are, at least, almost guaranteed to provide something useful or (mildly) beneficial.
Once difficulty is determined, the roll to decide the proposal's fate will be made. All rolls are done with 2d6, and results are outlined below. Note that difficulty modifiers will adjust the final roll accordingly, so, for example, a Very Hard roll of 11 will result in a 9.
Utter Failure (2): It is likely nothing tangible is gained from an Utter Failure, but they can provide experience.
Unworthy (3): The proposal "works", just not as intended, and with a bevy of issues.
Poor (4): The proposal is acceptable, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
Below Average (5): The proposal is missing a few intended features, or has a hiccup or two regarding usage, but is reliable enough.
Average (6,7,8): The proposal generally functions as intended.
Above Average (9): The proposal works, and something about it functions better than expected.
Superior (10): The proposal works much better than intended, and a lot is learned in related fields of research.
Perfection (11): Perfection. Masterworks go above and beyond what development intended.
Unexpected Boon (12): Development of this proposal goes so well that some sort of extra benefit is provided to the side building it.
Being the focus of the game, I figured I'd outline Styles and Masters clearly in their own spoiler.
Styles are divided into three categories.
Basic Armed Styles are the easiest to learn and usually the most common among the Warrior-Monk societies. Proposals for Basic Armed Styles must include a weapon to create for it, as well as describe the techniques, skills, and focuses that practitioners train in, as well as the overall combat doctrines used by them on the battlefield. More complex Basic Armed Styles are more easily achievable than equivalently complex styles of any other kind.
Magical Armed Styles use both a Weapon as well as Elemental Magic and requires both included in proposals as well as the information to determine techniques, skills, focuses, and overall combat doctrine of it's pratitioners. These Styles are more difficult to develop compared to the other types of Styles at equivalent complexity, and are usually featured in smaller numbers than their Basic counterparts on the battlefield.
Unarmed Styles all come with Elemental Magic, but may also come with the ability to utilize Qi. Qi is capable of affecting the body and mind, and can be used to provide a variety of buffs to the user and/or allies and debuffs to opponents, depending on what their training calls for, but can also be utilized to manifest energy-based attacks or otherwise manipulate the Qi to complement the Element on hand. These Styles can run the whole gamut of difficulty and complexity, and can run the range of rarity from Common to Unique.
Masters can be made alongside a new Style, but it will be much more difficult than creating a Master for an existing style. Each Master uses their Style in a unique way, and brings something to the battlefield to aid their side in some way. Proposals for Masters should include which Style they use, how they use it above and beyond the typical practitioner, and anything that makes them stand out from the rest of the normal Warrior Monks.
This game will not deal with resources. Instead, things have a rarity that indicates how plentiful they are on the battlefield. Rarity is not (significantly) randomized, but is based on the complexity/cost of the thing in question, and cannot be lowered without reducing the complexity/cost. (ie, a revision that just says "We make X cheaper or easier to learn" is not always viable)
Note that rarity is measured on a 'unit' level, not necessarily an 'individual' level; a unit of hastily-summoned zombies may consist of 100 individual undead, a unit of militia might be only 50 individual soldiers, and some units may consist of only a single individual. It is possible to increase the numbers in a unit somewhat, but don't go crazy with it.
The levels of rarity are:
Common: The bulk of your forces.
Uncommon: Five times rarer than Common things.
Rare: Five times rarer than Uncommon things.
Unique: One one exists, and must be deployed in the strategy phase.
Note that the scale of the war will escalate over time, but the ratios will remain relatively constant- ie, the first few turns may involve small skirmishes of a few hundred soldiers, while the endgame may involve colossal conflicts of tens of thousands, but there will be five times more common troops than uncommon ones in both the tens-of-thousands strong army and the hundreds strong one.
A team can win by taking all the land on their opponent's side of the map. If a beeline is made for a capital then the losing team is offered the chance to capitulate, although if they wish to try to push back they can choose to do so. If a capital falls and fighting continues it does not affect the game mechanically, but the thematics of the battles will adjust accordingly. This is mostly just to act as a morale, sanity, and interest check for the losing side.
But generally think of a typical base elemental range more along the lines of the close-in fighting you see between two firebenders in ATLA, and Qi is used not just for ranges more along the lines of the tournament fighting in Legend of Korra, but also for things akin to DBZ's eight million various powering up abilities flavored for the element(s) the style uses. If you had earthmans for instance it would be Qi to give his skin the hardness of stone. It would not be Qi to just cover it in stone briefly. If you wanted to use that stone more as armor than just a temporary block, then that would require some level of Qi to continue manipulating the matter at hand
And to further elaborate, if you have a firelady she can do fire bursts with her feet and hands a la ATLA's firebenders when they're brawling, but would need Qi to do a prolonged flamethrower or lob a relatively short ranged fireball. And then it would be qi if she wanted to do something like "instill the aspect of fire my people adore most, it's ability to dance and move unpredictably, and now there's like a fire-based mirage effect on my body"
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Topic: Magic Martial Arts Arms Race - Core Thread (Read 1411 times)