Fantasy FG loosely based on Galactic Overlords

[Xuenay]

I just thought it polite to mention that after reading through one of the Galactic Overlord threads, I felt like we should get a similar FG going for Kupoli, a Finnish anime site. Of course, since I didn't want to just copy the game, I spent most of today designing a fantasy FG of my own, partially inspired by Galactic Overlords and partially inspired by the work-in-progress computer strategy of mine, Taistelu Vallan Krumeluureista.

The rules are posted below - note that this is only the first version, so things like spell costs and troop strengths are very likely to undergo HEAVY revisions before the game gets balanced. You're free to comment and suggest improvements or even steal the ruleset to run it here, if you wish.

[Xuenay]

Mage selection and actions

You can choose one of five different mage types, each with different strengths and weaknesses (explained below):

Fire
Mana 2
Troops 5
Magic 3

Storm
Mana 3
Troops 2
Magic 5

Earth
Mana 4
Troops 3
Magic 3

Mind
Mana 4
Troops 2
Magic 4

Death
Mana 2
Troops 4
Magic 4

All mages start out with 10 mana, 10 troops and 10 empty spaces. Mana and troops are produced by temples and cities, while new empty spaces can only be gained by conquering enemies.

You can carry out one combat action and two magic actions per turn.


Combat actions (1/turn): Attack another player, raise troops, build city.
Magic actions (2/turn): Buy spell, cast spell, cast counterspells, harvest mana, build temple.

COMBAT ACTIONS

Attack another player
You send your troops - all or a part of them - to attack a foe and hopefully crush him.

Raise troops
You raise more troops to be used as part of your army. All of your cities and temples produce troops, two per temple and five per city. You need to specify how many of the troops are trained to be cavalry, how many to pikemen and how many to archers.

Build city
If you have spare space left, constructs a city to produce you mana and (mostly) troops.

MAGIC ACTIONS

Buy spells
Spends mana to buy spells. Novice spells cost 2 mana, journeyman spells 5, mage spells 9, archamage spells 12 and deity spells 15. The maximum spell level you can buy is equivalent to your magic rating, with novice counting as level 1, journeyman as level 2 and so on.

Cast spell
Casts a spell you have previously bought, either to attack a foe or to strenghten you.

Cast counterspells
Casts one or more spells you have previously bought as a counterspell. If anybody casts a hostile spell against you, your strongest counterspell nullifies as many levels of the hostile spell as the strength of the counterspell. If any excess counterspell levels remain, they can be used to shield against another spell. If any excess attack spell levels remain, they get through. Only one counterspell can be used against any particular attack. Unused counterspells go to waste.

Harvest mana
You harvest mana to power your spells. Each city produces as many mana as your mana rating, with temples producing twice that.

Build temple
If you have spare space left, constructs a temple to produce you troops and (mostly) mana.

[Xuenay]

Battle

The composition of your troops depends on your Troop Rating:

2: Green (2 hitpoints, 1 damage)
3: Regular (2 hitpoints, 2 damage)
4: Veteran (3 hitpoints, 3 damage)
5: Elite (4 hitpoints, 4 damage)
6: Ultra-elite* (5 hitpoints, 5 damage)
7: Demigod* (6 hitpoints, 6 damage)

* Ultra-elite and Demigod levels are only achievable through spells.

When attacking, you may send all your troops (leaving you vulnerable!) or only part of them.

Pikemen beat cavalry
Cavalry beats archers
Archers beat pikemen

If your troops beat those of the opponent, your raw attack strength against them is doubled, cumulative with all other modifiers.

Every player must also specify an "Order of Battle" every turn, whether attacking, or expecting to be attacked. Failure to do so results in a random OOB. This is simple to do though. The OOB is divided into two groups of three weapons each. You must have 2 of each type in any order.

EXAMPLE 1: Archers-Pikemen-Cavalry-Archers-Cavalry-Pikemen (APCACP)
EXAMPLE 2: Archers-Cavalry-Archers-Cavalry-Pikemen-Pikemen (ACACPP)

These can be further refined by different tactics.

Skirmish
Employ your archers for as long as possible, trying to inflict maximum casualties before the melee. Archers produce double damage and cavalry half. If both sides skirmish, this stacks to x4 and x0.25.

Maneuver
Maneuver your forces to seek tactical advantage. Look for high ground, try to take the enemy from the flank or lure them into a bad position. Pikemen inflict x1.25 damage. If both sides maneuver, only the defender obtains the benefit (home ground).

Charge
Hit the enemy hard and fast and drive them back in the first seconds of the melee. Cavalry takes double damage the first combat round, but produces triple damage after that. Effects stack.

Default is no special orders.

* Combat is simultaneous - both sides carry out their attacks, reducing the opponent's hitpoints.
* The attacking player may decide to attack to the death. In that case, proceed as normal, but repeat the combat until one side or the other is completely destroyed.
* You may set different OOBs for different enemies, if you wish, but always send a default OOB in, to cover any situation not specially mentioned.

If the attackers manage to eliminate the opposition, the enemy is vanquished and the attackers gain all of his temples, cities and remaining empty spaces.

[Xuenay]

SPELLS

There are three sort of spells: information, strenghtening and blasting.

Novice
Information: Reveals one piece of information (amount of mana, troops, temples, cities, archers, pikemen, cavalry, fortifications or spells) of one opponent
Strenghtening: Blesses your troops with ten temporary hitpoints (total, not per soldier). These hitpoints are always lost first, and also automatically at the end of the turn.
Blasting: Blasts ten hitpoints off the troops of one opponent.

Journeyman
Information: Reveals three pieces of information (amount of mana, troops, temples, cities, archers, pikemen, cavalry, fortifications or spells) of one opponent
Strenghtening: Blesses your troops with one extra hitpoint per troop. Does not stack with higher-level strenghteners. These hitpoints are automatically lost at the end of the turn.
Blasting: Blasts thirty hitpoints off the troops of one opponent.

Mage
Information: Reveals three pieces of information (amount of mana, troops, temples, cities, archers, pikemen, cavalry, fortifications or spells) of two opponents
Strenghtening: Increases the quality of your troops by one step
Blasting: Blasts fifty hitpoints off the troops of one opponent.

Archmage
Information: Reveals the amount of mana, troops, temples, cities, archers, pikemen, cavalry, fortifications and spells OR the orders of battle of one opponent. If you're engaging that opponent in combat this turn, your order of battle will automatically be adjusted for maximum effectiveness.
Strenghtening: Increases the quality of your troops by two steps.
Blasting: Blasts sixty hitpoints off the troops of one opponent.

Deity
Information: Reveals the amount of mana, troops, temples, cities, archers, pikemen, cavalry, fortifications and spells and the orders of battle of one opponent. If you're engaging that opponent in combat this turn, your order of battle will automatically be adjusted for maximum effectiveness.
Strenghtening: Increases the quality of your troops by two steps, and blesses them with fifty temporary hitpoints (total, not per soldier). These hitpoints are automatically lost first and the end of the turn.
Blasting: Blasts eighty hitpoints off the troops of one opponent.


TURN ORDER
The actions are processed in the following order:

1. Harvest mana
2. Buy spells
3. Cast counterspells
4. Cast offensive spells
5. Cast information and strenghtening spells
6. Conduct attacks
7. Everything else

[Jamski]

Hehe, are you one of the people I showed the Fantasy Overlord rules to?

http://www.geocities.com/j_maunders/FantasyOverlordRules.html

[Xuenay]

Originally posted by Jamski
Hehe, are you one of the people I showed the Fantasy Overlord rules to?

Nope - made these up without any knowledge of any "official" Fantasy Overlord rules.

[Jamski]

I guess the idea is one of nature's good ones then.

[Kassiopeia]

I had never even HEARD of Fantasy Overlord. Curious.

[Jaguar]

Fantasy Overlord! That will be the next one we try at L'event.

[Kassiopeia]

Oh yes. The awesomeness potential is, err, awesome.

[DrSpike]

Looks interesting. You need some guinea pigs to test it though.

[Xuenay]

Made a (not-so-minor) edit to bring charge back into line with what I originally intended - instead of the old effects, it now produces double damage to the cavalry on the first combat round, but triples the damage they cause on all rounds after that.

DrSpike: Will acquire, no worries about that. Either at Kupoli or here, if they aren't interested enough (assuming I get some leftover players from the official Fantasy Overlord )

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Jaguar
Fantasy Overlord! That will be the next one we try at L'event.

We wylle try it over NO3's dead body!

(Hint: send your orders)

[joncha]

NO is borked. I see no solution to the eternal city-swap problem.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by joncha
NO is borked. I see no solution to the eternal city-swap problem.

Allied defense.

Turning a sincgle captured city into a home city if you don't have any HC left.

Armies marching toward each other actually meeting each other, with winner takes all.

There's no lack of solutions.