Cards vs Dice
(Working title)
Set up
Start with one of each of the d&d dice (d4, d6, d8, d10 [ones], d10 [tens], d12, and d20), and a deck of standard playing cards.
Set aside the d10 (tens) and the d12. The d10 (tens) is The Kingslayer, and the d12 is your Life Tracker. You begin with 12 life, so turn the 12 face-up in an easily accessible place.
Place the rest of your dice in one place; this is your armory.
Separate the face cards of each suit and put them together face-up (J, Q, K, A) With J on top. Set all four piles at the top of the play area. These four bosses make up the the boss battlefield.
Shuffle the remaining cards (first removing any jokers/special cards) and place one face-down on top of the third boss from the left. Then place another face-down card on top of the last boss in the boss battlefield. These two face-down are the boss vanguards.
Set the remaining cards in the deck off to the side of the play area. This is the mob spawn.
Leave room on the table for three cards. This will be your mob battlefield.
Turn order
Spawn mobs
Attack enemies
Clean weapons
Take damage
Recover weapons
1. Spawn Mobs
Replenish mob battlefield
Draw three cards from the mob spawn and place them face-up below the bosses. These mobs must all take damage before a boss can be attacked.
Go into a Berserker's Rage
Before making the first attack, you may spend 1 HP per non-slain boss to go into a berserker's rage. When in a Berserker's Rage, the player rolls all weapons first, then assigns the already rolled weapons instead of rolling the weapons. All rules for selecting mobs/vanguards/bosses and selecting attacks apply.
2. Attack enemies
There are two different attack you may choose from to deal damage to mobs, and two states that a mob can take. The two states of mobs are Alert and Enraged. The two attacks are the Face-off, and the Cleave. A mob's HP is equal to the number on the mob card. You may make as many attacks as you have weapons, but a weapon may only be used once per attack. Once all mobs have been damaged at least once, bosses can be attacked.
Attack types
Face-off
To face-off against a mob, select a mob and point to, then roll any weapon you want. If you are in a Berserker's Rage, select the already rolled weapon. The number that you roll becomes damage done to that mob. Place the die on the mob to keep track of rolled dice and mob HP. If the number rolled is equal to or higher than the mob's HP, that mob is killed and will be removed from the battlefield at the end of the battle.
You may make multiple face-off attacks on a single mob, but attacks must be done one at a time after indicating which mob you are attacking.
Fatal Strike
As a final attack of the game, you may choose to pick up your life tracker and roll it as an attack, throwing your entire essence at the enemy. This kills you, and whether it succeeds or fails, the game ends.
Cleave
A cleave may only be attempted against two, undamaged, alert mobs who are next to one another. Move two adjacent mobs together and roll a single weapon attack against the sum of the two mobs HP values.
If the attack meets or exceeds the sum of the two mobs’ HP values, both mobs are slain. If the attack does not meet or exceed the total of the two mobs’ HP values, the two mobs are separated, and you choose which mob takes all of the weapon's attack.
Notes
All weapons must be rolled in each battle (except the last)
No slain enemy may ever be attacked
Mob types
Alert mobs
In order to slay an alert mob, your attacks against it must meet or exceed the mob's HP value.
If an alert mob is left alive at the end of battle, it will deal one damage to you. If an alert mob is left alive at the end of battle AND has been attacked at least once, it will become enraged immediately after it does damage to you. It will also regenerate all of its HP when enraged. To indicate that a mob is enraged, tap it (rotate it 90 degrees while keeping it flat on the play area).
Vanguards
Not only do vanguards protect the bosses that they stand in front of, they also don't get revealed until the previous bosses are slain. They themselves cannot be slain until they are revealed.
In order to slay a vanguard, your attacks against it must meet or exceed the mob's HP value.
If a vanguard is left alive at the end of battle, it does not become enraged, nor does it deal damage to you, but any weapon used against it remains on the vanguard.
Enraged mobs
In order to slay an enraged mob, your attacks against it must sum to the mob's HP value exactly. If an attack would cause the total attack to exceed the enraged mob's HP value, that weapon does 0 damage, and is considered a miss. Place the weapon that missed above the enraged mob to indicate that it does not count against the mob’s HP total
If an enraged mob has not been defeated by the end of the battle, it deals two damage and then dies of its wounds.
Attack mobs
Attack order
Select your attack type (face-off or cleave)
Select the non-slain mob or mobs for your attack
Select your weapon
Roll your chosen weapon against your chosen mob to attack
If the weapon deals damage to the mob, place the weapon (attack value up) on top of the mob that it damaged
If the weapon does not deal damage (if the attack value exceeds the HP of an enraged mob), place the weapon (attack value up) above the mob.
Attack vanguards
Revealing a vanguard
Vanguards begin the game face-down, and must be revealed before they can be attacked. The first vanguard (protecting the third boss) is revealed after the first two bosses are slain. The second vanguard (protecting the fourth boss) is revealed after the third boss is slain. A vanguard may be attacked immediately after it is revealed.
A vanguard is in the boss battlefield, and thusly cannot be attacked until all mobs in the mob battlefield have taken 1 damage.
Attack order
Select the non-slain vanguard for your attack (face-off only)
Select your weapon
Roll your chosen weapon against your chosen vanguard to attack
Place the weapon (attack value up) on top of the vanguard that it damaged
Slaying a vanguard
To slay a vanguard, your total attack value must meet or exceed the vanguard's HP. If a vanguard is not slain, the boss behind deals damage and is promoted
Attack bosses
Requirements for attacking a boss
All three mobs on the mob battlefield must have taken at least 1 damage
An enraged mob on whom all attacks have missed does not count as having taken damage.
If there is a vanguard in front of the boss it must be slain
Attack order
Select your attack type (face-off or fatal strike)
Select the non-slain boss for your attack (face-off only)
Select your weapon (or select your life tracker if the attack is a fatal strike)
Roll your chosen weapon against your chosen boss to attack
Place the weapon (attack value up) on top of the boss that it damaged
Killing a boss
Bosses have HP too, as seen in Appendix A. If your total attack value is equal to or higher than the boss's HP value, it is slain.
If a damaged boss is not slain at the end of the battle, it will attack, get promoted, and regenerate all of its HP during the Take damage phase. If no boss has been attacked (by the end of the Attack bosses phase), the left-most boss on the boss battlefield attacks, and is promoted during the Take damage phase. The damage the boss will do is as follows (J -> 1, Q -> 2, K -> 2, A -> 12), as seen in Appendix A.
3. Clean weapons
Remove all weapons used to successfully slay mobs, vanguards and bosses and return them to the armory. Remove slain mobs and vanguards and set them in the mob graveyard. Flip a slain bosses boss deck over (showing. a card back on top).
4. Take damage
Mobs attack
As mentioned before, an alert mob will deal one damage, then become enraged. An enraged mob will deal two damage, then immediately die from its injuries
Enraging mobs
When an alert mob has taken damage, but not been slain, it will become enraged immediately after attacking. To indicate that a mob is enraged, tap it (rotate it 90 degrees while keeping it flat on the play area).
Bosses attack
A boss will attack under two circumstances:
If a boss is damaged this battle, but not slain, it will attack
If no boss has been damaged this battle, the left-most boss in the boss battlefield (even if it's behind a vanguard) will attack.
Any boss that attacks will deal damage based on its promotion level (J -> 1, Q -> 2, K -> 2, A -> 12). Reference Appendix A as needed.
Promoting bosses
After a boss attacks, it will be promoted one time.
Promote a boss by putting the current face-up face card on that boss at the bottom of the pile (face-up and card-back-side down). Jack is promoted to Queen. Queen is promoted to King. King is promoted to Ascended.
5. Recover weapons
If you are still alive, move all weapons used to unsuccessfully slay mobs and bosses into the armory. Any remaining mobs and bosses regenerate all their HP. Unsuccessfully slain vanguards keep the weapons used to attack them on their card. These weapons are not recovered.
* Special rules
The Kingslayer
Once per game, the player may use The Kingslayer to make any attack. The Kingslayer is used against a mob or a vanguard, that enemy is instantly killed. If The Kingslayer is used against a boss, on any roll other than a 1 (or 10 if the d10 is a tens percential die), the boss is slain.
Berserker's Rage
At the beginning of the turn, at the cost of 1 HP per non-slain boss, the player may use enter a Berserker's Rage. When in a Berserker's Rage, the player rolls all weapons first, then assigns the already rolled weapons instead of rolling the weapons. All rules for selecting mobs/vanguards/bosses and selecting attacks apply.
Vanguards
The vanguard is not an ordinary mob. It cannot be cleaved, it does not become enraged, it does no damage, and it must be slain before the boss it is guarding may be attacked. At the end of the Take damage phase, if the vanguard has not been slain, the weapon (and corresponding damage) remain with the vanguard.
Fatal Strike
The vanguard is not an ordinary mob. It cannot be cleaved, it does not become enraged, it does no damage, and it must be slain before the boss it is guarding may be attacked. At the end of the Take damage phase, if the vanguard has not been slain, the weapon (and corresponding damage) remain with the vanguard.
Appendix A: Boss stats
Boss
Jack
Queen
King
Ascended (Ace)
HP
10
8
6
4
Attack
1
2
2
12