BLACK MODE COMBAT EXAMPLE
This is a example of combat using Black Mode mechanics.
Setup (before Blue mode)
There are things that have taken place during the session setup regarding the Strand Pool choices of the players. Reach has Entwined the Divine Control, and Veil has Entwined the Earth Control. That means they may use those Control cards in any hand they play without Focus cost. And Tattoo has spent 3 Strand Pool points on adding an additional 6 health, giving Tattoo 20 Health instead of 14.
Blue Mode
A party of three Telken (Reach, Veil, Tattoo) are making their way up a narrow path along one side of a deep and steep gorge (meaning the fall would probably kill them). The starting tile is the left one in the image to the right. That should be laid out on the table for inspection by the players.
GM: "You make your way single file along a path high up the side of a steep gorge. The sounds of a river makes its way to you from the bottom of the gorge, but the sound's source cannot seen through the thick foliage. You wonder if you would survive the fall. Maybe you would, but then think about how you'd get back up again. It would not be an easy climb."
Reach: "First things first. Our Protect has expired from the last time I used it and this place looks and feels dangerous. I am going to put it back on everyone before anything happens."
Reach has done this many times during gaming sessions and will put Protect points on the partty.
Reach: "I will use divine energy to grant all of us Protect. I have Protect at PL3 (power level 3) and I'll put 3 Focus chips on the Protect card yielding FL3 (focus level 3) for that card. I'll apply the Area Modifier so I can hit all of us at the same time and that costs 1 more Focus. I will also use the Divine Control card which allows me to alter 2 pips on my roll by 1 point each. That won't cost any Focus because I have that Control Entwined. I've spent 3 Focus on powers and 1 Focus on mods (modifiers). My effect, when that hand is played, appears as a bluish radiance on each one of us originating from my hands then onto each of you. We sort of shine and glow for a second or two, then it stops. No need to walk around with that kind of target on us. That is the common visual effect I have chosen that exists when I use the Divine Control. Now we each have 3 defense points from the Protect. I will roll for the duration using 3 dice since I applied 3 focus to the hand and I can change 2 pips because of the Divine control."
Reach rolls 6, 5, and 2 and changes the 2 to a 4 with the 2 pip adjustments yielding 3(S). Protect mitigates all (S) applied to the entity as damage. It does not go away when damage is applied and is used repeatedly, kind of like armor or a permanent shield.
Reach: "So I rolled 3(S) to increase duration. Protect will last 3 hours due to the 3 focus used and 3 more hours due to the (S) roll. So that's 6 hours. Should be enough for now."
GM: "Your divine energy has protected the party but, oddly, it has also attracted the attention of some local creatures. Each is about a meter and half long with six spear-like segmented legs and a hairy exoskeleton. Their mouths are full of sharp teeth, making them look like some horrid amalgamation of shark and spider. They are low and fast, clearly adapted to this terrain and able to get around the obstacles of vegetation, rock, and slope without issue. Their movements are coordinated or, possibly, choreographed because they are not moving like what you would expect from a group of individuals. At least a dozen creatures can be seen, but their numbers are impossible to determine because they move in and out of cover so quickly. There is no doubt they mean to attack. They are all around you, perhaps coming from all directions. We will now change to Black mode."
The information in this paragraph is for the GM but it will become clear to the players as the rounds evolve. The creatures are called Sparks.They are M3 (Mastery 3), have 3 Health, the Acrobatics skill, the Climb skill, and the Melee power. They have 2 points of Protect (defensive power) based on their exoskeleton. They are fast and agile and have a number of MP. They prefer to attack with a bite, but can also stab with their spear-like legs. Since the party of Telken are all M7, the Sparks have a deficit of 4. So the Sparks will receive -4(S) for every attack versus the players, while the Telken will get +4(S) for each hand versus the Sparks.
Planning Phase of Black Mode
The GM already announced Black mode and tells they players to enact their Planning Phase. They are reminded they may take as long as they like to make a plan at this time. During this phase, they must decide how much focus to allocate toward initiative before this phase can end. Because the Telken are all Mastery 7, they already have 7 focus chips in front of them as well as 14 Health chips. And each of these players have 2 Loot chips because of their 1 Wealth. The GM places a Tile on the table. The player miniatures (action figures) and the Spark minatures are placed within that tile.
Veil: "These creatures look tough. Exoskeleton and big teeth, and they are moving with some kind of order, we should dedicate some Focus to the Initiative skill to give us more options in the fight."
Tattoo: "Agreed, but I also think we should have some maneuverability, in case we need a better position. I don't like being strung out single file like this."
Reach: "I am allocating 1 Focus to initiative. I don't have the Initiative skill so I need to use Improvise, but it only gives me a 50/50 chance for a (S). Though Our protections should buy us some time to figure them out, I'd rather just save all my Focus for playing hands."
Tattoo: "Sounds risky because there are a lot of them and they are a total unknown, but it's your skin. I have the Initiative skill but will use it "casually". It is SL4 (skill level 4) so I get half of that for my Initiative which isn't bad."
Reach rolls 1 die for initiative and gets a 3 (not enough) but adds 1 pip to the die through the use of a Loot chip.
Veil: "I also have the Initiative skill but at SL2. I'll also use it casually and have a 1 for Initiaitive."
GM: "So Reach has an initiative of 1. Tattoo has a 2, and Veil has a 1. If you are done, planning phase is over. Lets move on to the action."
Action Phase
GM: "The creatures, the Sparks, have an Initiative of 1, so since players win ties, you all get to choose to act before the Sparks do. Tattoo, you have the highest Initiative, followed by Veil and Reach. Since you all go first, you can just choose amongst yourselves who goes when, and then the Sparks will go depending on circumstances as they arise."
Veil: "Lets wait and see what the Sparks do, since we have initiative we can interrupt them and get the best timing for our actions."
Reach: "Sounds good to me."
Tattoo: "Agree."
GM: "One of the Sparks leaps out from the foliage, jumping over the rocks and ground cover in a single bound intending to land on Reach."
Reach interrupts the GM at that moment.
Reach: "While it's in the air, I want to interrupt and attack. I use my Moon Crescent kick. My left foot moves in a long arc that trails a bluish-white light forming a cresent moon as I leap upwards and it comes down upon the Spark during its flight path. I have 6 Focus remaining, having spent 1 on Initiative. I use 4 Focus for my Hand-to-Hand power which doesn't need a Control but I will need one to go along with the Gather power. So I'll use the Time control costing 1 Focus and the Gather power which will be at FL1 for this even though I have it at PL3. That puts me at FL4 for HtH and FL1 for Gather so I get to roll 5 dice. I get 4 automatic damage from the Hand-to-Hand power and I get to roll 5 dice and split them between HtH and Gather."
Reach plays Hand-to-Hand at FL4, and Gather at FL1. That causes 4 damage and Reach also rolls 5 dice to achieve (S). The roll is 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 achieving 2 (S). Then Reach discards the cards for the HtH and Gather powers, and the Time control played in this hand.
Reach: "I think I can get more than 2(S) though that is around average. The Time control allows me a reroll.
Reach rerolls. The roll is 4, 4, 2, 2, 1 achieving 2 (S).
Reach: "That was close to being worse."
GM: "So you got 2(S) from your roll. The Sparks have M3 (Mastery 3). So you also get 4(S) for the difference between your Mastery of 7 and theirs of 3. That's a total of 6(S) to spend. You did 4 damage so far. How do you want to allocate those other (S)? I cannot tell you if the creature is dead or not at this time. We'll wait until you allocate all (S) from your Hand.
Reach: "Hmmm. I'm going to apply 2(S) to Gather so I have 2 extra dice to roll for my next Hand. The other 4(S) I'll add to the damage, for a total of 8 damage."
GM: "So, as it turns out, these creatures are quite underpowered compared to you. The kick crunches into the Spark's exoskeleton, and we remove 2 of those (S) due to their armor (Protect), and the remaining 6 damage is more than enough to do the job. The creature is dead, crushed in mid-air, reduced to some goo on your boot as your attack ends."
Veil: "I hope that doesn't leave a stain!"
GM: "You all still have initiative, does anyone want to take a turn?"
Veil: "Yes, these sparks aren't so tough, I am going to use my Arcane Mortar from my Mage Staff and blast the entire area."
Veil lays 3 cards on the table: Attack, Arcane, and Area. Reach discards HtH, Gather, and Time.
Veil: "I'm going to try and take them all out in our Tile while trying not to damage us. I'll put 2 focus on Attack. I have PL3 in Attack so I'm not going all out. And I'll put 1 focus on Area and 1 focus on Arcane. I will target our Tile. I get 2 damage from Attack. And I get to roll 2 dice for Attack and 1 die for Arcane. That's 3 dice. I'll hold onto 3 Focus just in case. My Arcane Mortar fires from my outstretched arms through my hands into the air in a very fast multicolored arc of lightning-like energy and slams into the ground near the center of this area and spreads to the inhabitants of the Tile."
[VeilRolls 3 dice] Results: 6, 2, 1.
Veil: "I got 1(S) that is applied to damage. So that's 3 damage to the Sparks and us. Our Protect prevents any damage to us. And our difference in Mastery should do the rest of the work.
Veil's attack will impact all of the Sparks and all 3 party members. Veil discards all cards played in the hand.
GM: "Your 1(S) is added as damage to the 2 damage from the Attack. Also, 4 additional (S) are added as damage to each Spark because of the difference in Power Level, so they each take 7 damage minus the 2 Protect points for a total of 5 damage. The party members will each take 3 damage but it is negated by the Protect you each have. So the arcane shrapnel rips through the Spark exoskeletons, crushing all of them, pinning others to trees, but destroying each and every one of them, killing the 11 Sparks in your Tile from the encounter."
Tattoo: "Nice work Veil. I am going to stand ready to interrupt any of the Sparks that are possibly in adjacent Tiles."
Veil: "I will as well."
GM "The Sparks are still hungry and are moving towards you from the direction you were walking. They are in the adjacent Tile. They appear to want to attack anyone they can reach. Here is a new Tile placed against the edge of the Tile you're in now."
GM lays down the second Tile.
Tattoo: "I will use my rifle to shoot them. I'm using the Projectile Power, along with the Shred Modifier and I'll apply 1 damage to each Spark. I have PL4 in Projectile, so I'll get 4 damage and I can roll 4 dice for more (S) or damage. My rifle shoots pulses of red lasers so one pulse will hit each Spark."
Tattoo rolls 4 dice and gets 6, 6, 5, 1. Then Tattoo discards all cards played in the hand.
GM: "Three (S) along with the 4 from your PL of your Projectile Power makes 7. As there are 8 Sparks moving to attack your party, you said you wanted to apply 1 shot to each. Each of 7 Sparks takes 1 damage from your roll along with 4 more damage due to the difference in Mastery. So each Spark takes a total of 5 damage and that is enough to smash through their exoskeleton and eliminate them."
GM: "One Spark remains and leaps out to attack Veil. It is going to attack you with its sharp forelegs."
The GM rolls rolls 3 dice and gets 4, 3.
GM: "As you saw I rolled 2 dice and got 1(S). So that's 2 damage from the sharp legs plus 1 damage from the roll. It was a solid hit but you turned the damage away with your 3 points of Protect."
Veil: "So these sparks have a difficult time hurting us?"
GM: "Apparently so. Other Sparks move to within view. They still move together and it is impossible, at this point, to read their intent except they seem bent on attacking next round. But as you said, they have difficulty hurting you. Tattoo and Veil, you still have focus remaining to spend, do you want to do anything before the round ends? You cannot use your Projectile Power again as it is in your discard pile after the initial use."
Tattoo: "I yell at the creatures, and try to scare them off."
GM: "That improvised action takes one focus, but doesn't seem to have any effect. You aren't even sure the Sparks can hear you as they didn't seem to react to your voice. With the round over, its time to do Planning again."
Planning Phase
Everyone restores their focus back to seven chips and they put their discards back into their Play Deck.
Veil: "I was very wrong about these creatures being tough, I think we should just save all our focus and wipe these things out. But let's make sure we each have at least 1 Initiative. I'm doing the same thing as last time."
Tattoo: "Agreed."
Reach: "Agreed. That will cost me 1 focus for 1 die."
Reach rolls 1 die for improvised Iniative and rolls a 6.
Reach: "Score!"
Action Phase
GM: "Again, you all win Initiative through a tie. So, who wants to go first?"
Reach: "Let's wait for a second and see what they do. We can interrupt if needs be, but they cannot hurt us anyway. I'll still improvise Initiative but if I fail my roll I will use a Loot points and focus to add pips."
Veil: "Good."
Tattoo: "Yep."
GM: "The creatures seem to have come to a collective decision based on the idea that they all immediately stop as one and leap into the trees and shrubs of the ravine. It is very coordinated. Following would be very difficult. They are going down the side of the gorge. Unless you want to take shots at them before they go, the encounter is over."
Veil: "No need."
Tattoo: "Yeah, let's move on."
Reach: "And all that was left was the goo on my shoe. Great!"