SCSMUSH has a turn-based combat system designed for duels and small-party battles. This help file explains the basic commands and flow of combat scenes, concluding with some tactical tips for newcomers. On generating your character's stats and abilities, see "help chargen" and "help setart." For a list of effects that Arts can have, see "help effects."
THE BASICS
All characters begin combat with 1000/1000 LF (Life Force), 50/100 AP (Aether Points), and 0/100% EX (Exceed). Players take turns attacking and reacting to attacks until combat concludes.
* LF: If a character's LF is reduced to 0 or below, they may take a final action at an accuracy penalty before becoming unable to fight.
* AP: AP is expended by attacking with Arts, which are unique to each character, and gained by attacking with Normals, which are available to all characters. Normals generate 20 AP and Arts expend 5 AP baseline, plus additional AP corresponding to their special "Effects," like Crush. See the Effects help file for a detailed list.
* EX: EX is gained when taking and inflicting damage and is expended by attacking with Arts that have the EX effect. EX Arts expend 100% EX and 0 AP baseline. If an EX Art has other effects, those effects still cost their usual amount of AP.
* CP: Capacity Points limit how many Aspects, or passive abilities, may be equipped at once. See the Aspects help file for a detailed list.
The typical flow of combat is "check, react, pose, attack":
1) Attacker Poses and Attacks. Player 1 writes a pose describing their attack and then attacks Player 2 using the "attack" command.
2) Defender Checks. Player 2 uses the "queue" or "check" command to confirm their chances of succeeding at four different reactions (Dodge, Block, Endure, and Interrupt).
3) Defender Reacts. Player 2 chooses a reaction with the appropriate command (e.g., "dodge 1") and the system determines if they or Player 1, the attacker, succeed.
4) Defender Poses and Attacks. Player 2 writes a pose describing their reaction and their own attack and then attacks Player 1.
The players take turns reacting, posing, and attacking until combat concludes.
STATS
Characters have five combat stats: Power, Knowledge, Parry, Barrier, and Speed. The current default stat total for a protagonist character is 625. The absolute minimum is 1 and maximum is 255, but for player characters, the minimum is 50 and maximum is 210 except by special dispensation.
* Power: Affects the damage dealt by Power-type Normals and Arts.
* Knowledge: Affects the damage dealt by Knowledge-type Normals and Arts.
* Parry: Reduces damage from, and improves chances of Blocking and Enduring, Power-type Normals and Arts.
* Barrier: Reduces damage from, and improves chances of Blocking and Enduring, Knowledge-type Normals and Arts.
* Speed: When reacting, improves chances of Dodging, Blocking, and Enduring.
Normals and Arts have Damage and Accuracy values that are inversely proportional: the higher the Damage, the lower the Accuracy, and vice-versa. Normals split a total of 10 points between Damage and Accuracy, Arts split 12, and EX Arts split 14.
Power and Knowledge affect how much damage is inflicted by an attack and Speed affects reaction chances. No stat affects accuracy. Instead, there are four main ways to affect your chance of hitting your opponent: two special pre-attack actions, Aim and Feint, and two reactions, Endure and Interrupt.
PRE-ATTACK ACTIONS: AIM AND FEINT
The two special pre-attack actions function like so:
* Aim: Make your next attack harder to dodge or block but easier to endure or interrupt.
* Feint: Make your next attack easier to dodge or block but harder to endure or interrupt.
Typically, when typing "queue" or "check," the reaction chances displayed are fairly accurate. For example, if an incoming attack has the "Crush" Effect on it, which makes blocking more difficult, the defender will see that their block chance is lower than usual. However, the effects of Aim and Feint are hidden from the defender. That an attack was Aimed or Feinted is revealed after the defender reacts.
REACTIONS
The four reactions function as follows:
* Dodge: If successful, negate all incoming damage. A partial success, or "Glancing Blow," negates some incoming damage.
* Block: If successful, mitigate some incoming damage. Blocking increases a "block penalty," which makes blocking more difficult and gradually recovers after every action.
* Endure: If successful, take full incoming damage but gain a boost to the accuracy of your next attack.
* Interrupt: This is a simultaneous action and reaction. Choose an attack (normal or Art) with which to interrupt the incoming attack. If successful, mitigate some incoming damage and fully damage the attacker without giving them a chance to react. If unsuccessful, take full incoming damage and lose your turn.
Unlike other reactions, successfully Interrupting does not depend on Speed. Instead, it is a contest between the accuracy of the interrupting attack versus the accuracy of the incoming attack. The higher the accuracy of one's Interrupt, and the lower the accuracy of the incoming attack, the more likely the Interrupt is to succeed. Typing "check" and then the ID number of the attack in your queue (e.g., "check 1") will display your chance to successfully Interrupt with all of your available attacks.
However, the higher the damage of the Interrupting attack, the more damage from the incoming attack will be mitigated. Interrupting with an attack that has very high Accuracy and very low Damage may mean, even if successful, suffering more damage than one inflicts.
SURGE
Once per fight, a character may "Surge," immediately gaining 30 AP and 30 EX. It is not possible to exceed the maximum AP or EX limit by Surging. Certain Aspects may add further effects onto Surge (see the Aspects help file for details).
TIPS
A character's fighting style is likely to depend on their Speed. A high-Speed character is better able to dodge attacks, negating damage without accumulating a reaction penalty like blocking does. However, putting points into Speed means taking points from elsewhere, like defense stats.
Thus, a lower-Speed but higher-defense character can respond to a high-Speed character by 1) interrupting high-Damage, low-Accuracy attacks, which in being low Accuracy are easier to interrupt, bypassing their opponent's Speed by dealing direct damage to which the defender cannot react, or 2) enduring low-Damage, high-Accuracy attacks, which are harder to interrupt but less damaging to tank, and using the Accuracy boost from enduring to try to counterbalance their opponent's Speed advantage.
In turn, a high-Speed character wary of being interrupted can secretly use Feint to make it harder for their attacks to be endured or interrupted. Or perhaps, thinking that their opponent will expect them to use Feint and so try to block instead, the high-Speed character can secretly use Aim, with the defender none the wiser.
With all this in mind, here are some tips for getting the most out of the combat system:
1) Alternate between Normals and Arts to manage your AP expenditure so you'll have enough when you need it. In a pinch, use your Surge.
2) Try to keep tabs on your opponent's likely AP based on how many Arts and Normals they've used. Because Arts are more accurate and damaging than Normals, it is generally imprudent to interrupt an incoming Art with a Normal. If your opponent doesn't have enough AP to use an Art, you may not have to fear being interrupted.
3) Don't be shy about enduring attacks. If you have a significant LF advantage and your opponent is using their EX Art on you, you could respond by enduring it, potentially being brought to 100% EX from the damage, and then attacking with your own Accuracy-boosted EX Art. This can clinch a fight.
4) Use Aim and Feint freely, especially if you can anticipate what the other player will likely do. For example, if you're worried that your opponent is going to endure your EX Art, as suggested above, consider Feinting before using it.
5) Combat is unpredictable and meant to serve improvisation in RP. While Aiming and Feinting introduce a level of skill and psychology into the combat system, the dice ultimately decide the results. When I'm unlucky, I try to focus on writing fun or funny poses that contextualize my character's bad luck. Find what works for you when, inevitably, things don't go your way.