Hey guys! Help me playtest this baby:
Introduction
Welcome to Elegar: the Gauntlet of Champions. Beneath this dungeon is a trecharous fortress filled with all sorts of hazards and monstrocities. Once every year on the coldest winter solstice, a band of wannabe heroes are brought together in a chance to join the Elenic Guard: one of the kingdom's fiercest warriors. Whosoever can prove their worth the most in Elegar will be granted this highest honor. But beware: being the strongest, smartest, and bravest warrior isn't all that's necessary to be the best. You must also have a sense of honor and cammaraderie---teamwork. For if even one of you should fall, the burden goes to everyone else. Will you bear each other and fight for glory? Or will you squabble in despair for the top position? You decide.
How do I Win?
Becoming a member of the Elerin Guard is not that simple. The ff conditions must be met:
1) There can only be ONE champion.
2) That champion must have the most Glory (GP) by the end of the dungeon run.
3) That champion must be alive.
Mechanics
I know, those objectives were pretty obvious but hear me out. In Elegar, events can grant the warrior 2 things: Glory (GP) which represents how much that monster or event was worth and is basically your score, and XP which is self-explanatory. XP allows you to grow as a warrior and buy new abilities or increase your stats (which lets you attack in more creative ways). Sometimes, you might also gain items to aid you in your quest or add further Glory. You will need to grow if you will have any chance of getting out alive.
However. Here's the twist: only the warrior who dealt the final killing blow can take the credit and gain GP and XP. The rest of your party gains diddly squat. XP at least can be gained passively for every event that passes by but only in smaller amounts than if you actually kill the monster. To really be able to do various things, one will need to step up and deal the killing strike.
HOWEVER. Elegar is not as forgiving as any dungeon. Monsters encountered here will always scale to the Initial Party. Meaning, if you fought a monster scaled to a 4-person party in Room 1 then decided to be bastards and kill 2 of your members in Room 2, by the time you reach Room 3 you will still have to contend with a 4-party scaled Monster. So, you can't just go and kill each other off. You will need each other but only in as much as to ensure your own survival.
The general strategy is to let each other grow whilst holding each other at arm's length. Maybe wittle down your teamates until the 2nd-to-the-last encounter. I don't know. Maybe you all just care about getting out together and that's alright too. I'm not going to be a dick dungeonmaster and force you to betray each other. But the option is there. And remember, only ONE of you can really win if you all make it out alive...
How to Play
There are 9 Rooms in Elegar, of which the encounters there change every game. Once all 9 Rooms are done with, GP is tabulated and the highest wins. If everybody dies before the end of Room 9, the game is over and nobody wins. Glory is useless if you're dead after all.
Each Room will usually have a Monster that needs to be dealt with. Sometimes the monsters also have special rules so be wary of that. Here is the flow of events per encounter:
1) Preparation. The Monster is revealed here. And at this point players may choose to use Items if they so choose. Items will last for the entire fight.
2) Initiative. A passive phase where Initiative is decided. Initiative dictates which players go first and which attacks follow what order. Certain manuevers are dependent on or are able to manipulate the Initiative you are currently on.
3) Attacking. Players will post their Attack Value from what is currently available to them (as provided by me). What is available to you is dependent on how many XP you've accumulated. Players may also choose to use other manuevers available to them such as certain abilities or manuevers. Yes, all the attacks must be done in public, even the dick moves. Please remember that once you post, you may not edit your attack value again.[/u]
4) Resolution. Once all the players have placed their moves, I will resolve them according to the Initiative for that round. If at any moment a player has dealt the final killing blow, the encounter immediately ends and that player gains the requisite GP and XP.
5) Monster Attack. If the monster is not dead yet, it will be its turn to attack. Different Monsters have different rules for attacking. Some might be Initiative-dependent (which will strike after Initiatives are chosen) and some might be completely random (which will strike after picking new Initiatives next turn). If the monster lives (usually does) after this, the round officially ends and the cycle repeats from the Initiative phase.
6) XP Store. Once an event finishes, players will have the opportunity to buy abilities or increase stats with their hard-earned XP. Remember that even if don't deal the finishing hit, you will still get XP for participating. But only in tinier amounts. So it is your choice if you want to save your XP for a well-earned ability, keep increasing your stats with tiny XP boosts, earn abilities to kill the leading player, or do nothing.
Rinse and repeat until all 9 Rooms are done or if the party is dead.
Sign-ups
I'm looking for 3-6 players. Any more and it would be a long game. Any less and there would be no room for betrayal potential. I myself am testing this game out so your input would greatly help future tweaks.
1. SHADOVV the Clueless
2. WyzDM the Worthy
3. Nyarlalothep the Unready
4. Ai the Unlucky
5. Hash the High
6. ipman the Invincible
Bench:
1) Drizzle
2) Dazzy
Give yourselves a title to while you're at it. Like, Nyarlalothep the Dreaded or something.