MRPG Combat and Magic old 2

This page contains the primary formulas for combat and magic use.

In Mage Wars RPG, a lot of percentages are used; all numbers are always rounded DOWN to the nearest whole-number or unit.

Combat

Combat is based around 2 things: Attack and Defense(hereto reffered to as AV and DV). It all comes down to your AV and DV scores. Player's have passive AV and DV scores(Base AV and Base DV); when a player makes an attack, their Variable AV(Var-AV) is calculated. if Var-AV is higher than the target's Variable DV(Var-DV), the attack is successful and goes on to damage calculation.

Calculating Base and Variable Values

AV and DV values rely on a variety of proficiencies and stats, as well as modifiers.

Base Attack Value

Base AV is as simple as Weapon Proficiency + Special Weapon Proficiency(if applicable).

As covered under Proficiency Modifiers, proficiencies are increased according to applicable stats. For the purposes of Base AV, use the modified score.

Variable Attack Value

VAR-AV is determined each time the player makes an attack. The player gets 1d20 per-rank + applicable unmodified special proficiency. In the case of a melee attack, it would be the unmodified Special Proficiency: Melee.

Mage Wars PnP: A level-9 warrior would role 2d20 and add his Special Proficiency: Melee

Mage Wars RPG: A level 9 warrior gets 2-40 Var AV + Special Proficiency: Melee

A player without an applicable special proficiency does not get to add that bonus to Var-AV.

Some Facets will allow the player to use the modified stat at this stage or to add in various stats.

Calculating Defense Value

Defense values are based primarily on AC, so mages and other non-armor-wearers will have much lower DVs than warriors or armor-wearing players.

Base Defense Value

Base AV is applicable armor-proficiency + (AC x Buffed Dexterity Modifier). Each piece of armor is assigned its own AC-Value, which is totaled for the purposes of AC calculation. In order to get max AC, the player needs to match all armor-weights. The armor proficiency used is determined by the player's chest-piece; whatever armor weight(light, medium, heavy) they wear on their chest determines which proficiency will be used. ONLY armors of this weight are used in calculating base AV.

Example: a player is wearing a (heavy)plate-armor chest piece and (light)leather boots. Armor Proficiency: Heavy is used and the AC of the boots is not included in the total base DV calculation.

Variable Defense Value

Players have a Var-DV of buffed (Strength Modifier)d10 and (Dexterity Modifier)d6.

Melee Damage Calculation

Melee and ranged weapons deal Mortal damage. Each weapon has it's own damage-calculation for base damage, this is then multiplied by your Stat Modifier, the buffed stat is also added. Various Facets and other factors can affect this damage.

Once total Mortal damage is calculated, the target's AC is subtracted, hoever damage is not yet applied.

Each weapon can carry a variety of enchantments which add additional non-mortal damage(see: Damage Types). Six damage-types are magical and are calculated according to the player's spell resistance. Resistences are percentage-based and ALWAYS ROUNDED DOWN.

There is also untyped or "supplemental" damage.

Once ALL damage is calculated, final damage is totaled and applied.

Magic

Magic is based on Success and Resistance and uses a very similar system to melee damage. All characters calculate Success and Resistance values(SV and RV) regardless of whether or not they are a mage. Obviously non-mages will have significantly lower RV than mages.

Just like in melee combat, if the caster's success is higher than the target's resistance, the spell is successful and hits the target.

Calculating Success Values

Since mages lack Special Proficiencies, the calculations work differently.

Base Success Value

All magic uses the Intelligence-stat as a modifier in calculating Success and Strength in determining final damage. Hence, mages must be both strong and smart. Base Success is Magic Proficiency + Lore if casting from a spellbook, and Magic Proficiency X 2 if casting from memory. Exo-Mages also add their buffed Intelligence to the final Base Success Value.

All endo-magic proficiencies use the buffed skill while exo-mages use unbuffed. This means endo-mages will land their attacks more often but exo-mages do more damage.

Variable Success Value

Variable Success is Base + (Rankd20 x Intelligence Modifier). Exo-mages also use their Buffed Intelligence in this calculation.

Again various facets and factors can modify this.

Calculating Resistance Values

All characters have a Resistance Value or RV. RV is a generic value and is unrelated to damage types.

Base Resistance Value

Unlike DV, Resistance is based more heavily on stats. Vase RV is (Buffed Inteligence x Unbuffed Inteligence Modifier) + (Strength x Buffed Strength Modifier)

Variable Resistance Value

Each class-type has a different Variable RV-dice.

Class Dice Warrior d8 Ranger d8 Rogue d8 Exo-Mage d20 Endo-Mage d20 LifeBringer d20 Paladin d12 Battling Sorcerer d12

Variable Resistance Values use the Buffed Intelligence Modifier, rounded down, to determine the number of dice rolled. So a mage with buffed intelligence of 30 would roll 3d20 to determine Var-RV. Note that using proficiency-swaps does not change your Var-RV dice. A Warrior who has traded proficiencies 8 times to become an Endo-Mage still uses a d8 for RV checks.

Magic Damage Calculation

Spell damage is a little bit more straight-forward than melee damage. most spells will have a single MRPG Damage Types Damage Type(example: fireball deals fire damage).

So, if a fire-spell is successful, damage for the spell is rolled(as all spells have a variable damage) x Strength Modifier, and spell resistance is applied.

Some spells might have multiple damage-types, in this case each damage-type is rolled separately and totaled.

Damage is ALWAYS ROUNDED DOWN to the nearest whole-number.

Dodge and Evasion

Armor class, high DVs, and damage reduction all help, but the best option is never to get hit.

Dodge

Whenever DV is bypassed, the character will automatically make a dodge-attempt. Dodge can be thought of as similar to DV but with a different set of stats. Dodge is used to attempt to avoid a physical attack.

Armor determines how many dodge-dice are available:

Armor # of Dice Cloth/None 3 Light 2 Medium 1 Heavy 0

As you can see, the use of heavy armor effectively criples your dodge ability. The dodge-dice used changes according to rank. Rank 1 uses a d8, Rank 2 uses d12, and Rank 3 is d20. Dodge is also a factor of skill. As covered under stats, Dodge uses the unbuffed dexterity modifier as the base. Biffed dexterity is then added to the score as well as the dice. The final dodge-formula is: Dodge + Dexterity + dice

Stance

Stance can be thought of as a barter-system, a series of trade-offs. Give up some of one thing to get more of another.

There are five stances in all, and everyone starts out in the Central Stance. Stances can be changed any time, instantly, through hotkeys. They can even be applied to macros and changed just for the instant of attack.

The stances are: Central Guarded Unguarded Extended Inverted

In detail: Central: Central is the standard stance and uses all of the default values as detailed above. Guarded: In Guarded Stance you give up 25% of your total, pre-resistance damage you deal in order to gain a 25% reduction to all you take. Unguarded: In the Unguarded Stance, you trade 25% of your Base-DV in order to gain a 25% bonus to Base-AV. Extended: In the Extended Stance you trade 25% of your pre-resistance damage for a 25% bonus to Base AV. Inverted: In the Inverted Stance you trade 25% of your pre-resistance damage for a 25% bonus to DV.

The stances also have an impact on how much threat your character generates.

See Also:

• Mage Wars RPG