Story

It's a magic battle in a magic arena!

Setting

Arena

Game play takes place within an arena. It's rectangular in size, with no entrances or exits. Within the arena are trees, pillars, and other obstructions. The walls of the arena are large, tall rocks, restricting all movement out. Beyond the walls, crowds sit on benches to watch the event.

Player: Spell Caster

The player is a spell caster. They have a threshold for essence, which allows them to gather and use spell runes to shape their essence and alter reality.

Resource: Essence

Essence represents raw magical energy. It is required to cast spells, but having too much will cause death. This game is partially about managing essence.

Resource: Spell Runes

Spell runes represent different aspects that, when combined, result in magic spells.

Rune 1

A rune representing flame, speed, brightness, and destruction.

Rune 2

A rune representing dirt, stone, toughness, and creation.

Rune 3

A rune representing wind, freedom, distance, and power.

Rune 4

A rune representing water, tranquility, darkness, and resistance.

Mechanics

Essence Overload

When a spell-caster has too much essence, they take damage based on their threshold.

Essence Threshold

The spell-caster's essence threshold is their capacity for essence. In addition to a personal essence threshold, certain items can be attuned with essence to help expand a spell-caster's threshold.

Spell Casting

Spell casting is performed by chaining runes together, and expending essence.

Counter Spelling

Countering a spell is performed with ease, but absorbs the essence of the spell being countered.