totori / Scramble for Scrolls

* Elevator Pitch Scramble for Scrolls is a 2D, timed, simultaneous-turn PvP multiplayer game in the style of the old flash game classic 'Jelly Battle'. At the historic Library of the Scrolls, a repository for centuries of magical knowledge, a furious storm has caused significant damage to the grounds. Worse still, hundred or maybe even thousands of scrolls, magical implements, and hats have been swept away by the winds! In the hopes of recovering as much of their lost items as possible, the library has offered to pay for every lost item a person can recover. Unfortunately, this may have led to even more chaos. Citizens, ne'er-do-wells, scholars, and wizards have all taken to the streets to take advantage of the situation for power and wealth! Take to a series of locations in competition with other scholars, wizards, and more in a competetive synced-turn PvP combat game with some unique twists. Each match takes place during the course of the storm, with strong winds blowing single-use scrolls, power-boosting wizard's hats, magical implements, and some unique dangers onto the playing field. Up to 8 players take their places on the stage, racing from spot to spot in order to snatch up as many of these items as they can, fight off their opponents, and get that bag! * Systems and Gameplay Each match takes place on a grid-based map somewhere within the area of the storm's path. After taking their starting places, the match begins, and artifacts are spread onto the field as the storm winds hit. In the subsequent turns, players will have two turn phases - /action/, and /movement/. Play continues until there is one or no player(s) remaining, or until the storm passes, at which point a free-for-all occurs. Free for all lasts only a handful of turns until the librarians arrive, at which point no reward is granted for the match. ** Match Progression *** Starting Round - Players may take their spot on the stage in a first-takes-the-cake scramble for positions - In this stage, combat may not occur - Once a position has been selected, a player may not move again - If no position is selected before the round timer expires, a random position will be selected *** Storm Rounds Storm rounds (aka normal rounds) are separated into multiple phases, one environmental and two control. **** Wind Phase 1. Item Scattering a) On the first round, the storm phase will randomly scatter a selection of artifacts across the stage. In subsequent rounds, those artifacts will be pushed across the stage by the wind some distance depending on the intensity of the next round's wind strength and direction, which is indicated by decoration on the stage's borders, or by hovering over an item during a control phase. b) On rounds excluding the first round, artifacts are moved across the stage based on wind strength and direction. New artifacts may be deposited in empty cells along the border from which the wind acted. 2. The storm continues to pass, and the winds shift and change strength as it does. 3. The stage decoration is updated to display the next round's wind strength and direction. **** Control Phase The control phase is further divided into two sub-phases, /action/ and /movement/. ***** Action sub-phase If the cell the player occupies on this sub-phase contains an artifact, the player automatically picks it up. They are then given the option to choose between a set of possible actions to perform with that artifact. a) USE - the player can choose to equip or expend the artifact, reducing its value by 75% but acquiring any stat improvement, or enacting any spell effect that the item confers. If the player uses a scroll, they begin to read its contents and the effect takes place at the end of the action sub-phase. b) KEEP - the player stores the artifact in their inventory, preventing it from being used but retaining the full value of the artifact should the player win the match. c) HOLD - the player does not use the artifact, but retains it in their hands for potential use on the next action sub-phase. Once all players have selected their action, or the phase timer has expired, USE actions take effect. For equipable artifacts, this happens immediately. For spell artifacts, the order of actions is determined by the player's /Wit/ stat minus the /complexity/ of the spell. Should two players' actions have the same resulting turn order value, those effects happen simultaneously, potentially resulting in /spell collision/. ***** Movement sub-phase Once the action sub-phase has completed, players must choose to either move to a new cell, or defend the cell on which they are standing. a) MOVE - depending on the /speed/ stat, the player may move up to floor(speed/2) cells, which occurs during the next /wind/ phase. b) DEFEND - the player does not move to a new cell, gaining a temporary +1 bonus to their /strength/ stat during the proceeding wind phase. This bonus can exceed the natural maximum of the stat. **** Player face-offs Player face-offs occur during the /wind/ phase when two or more players attempt to occupy the same cell. During a face-off, each player's strength stat is compared against the cumulative value of the other players'. If no player is able to exceed the cumulative strength of all other players involved in the face-off, everyone is knocked back up to two cells. If one player is able to exceed the value, they knock their opponent(s) back, and remain on the new cell. ** Character Each player character starts a match with the same stats, which are only temporarily boosted by equipped artifacts and spell effects during the course of a match. Characters may be customized with purely cosmetic clothing items purchasable with winnings from previous matches. *** Stats - Strength - Default: 1 - Natural Max: 10 - Effect: strength impacts the damage delt during a face-off should two or more players move to the same cell during a wind phase. - Wit - Default: 1 - Natural Max: 10 - Effect: wit determines the turn-order execution of artifact spells in conjunction with that spell's /complexity/. - Speed - Default: 2 - Natural Max: 14 - Effect: speed determines the distance a player can move each /movement/ sub-phase - Power - Default: 1 - Natural Max: 11 - Effect: power increases the potency of spells (namely, damage) by a percentage over the base potency for each point above one. - HP - Default: 25 - Natural Max: 25 - Effect: the total hit points a player has available. Reaching zero results in a K.O., and all held artifacts being marked as /damaged/. - Barrier - Default: 1 - Natural Max: 11 - Effect: barrier reduces incoming damage by a percentage per level above one.