Here is the basic rules of Duel Monsters for the Shanons RP. Rules are subject to change and are at my personal discression. Since I won't be playing as a duelist, I won't have favoritism, and I'll review card moves and cards themselves to keep the game as realistic as possible. I will work with you to set this game up and make it as much fun as possible, especially since the possibilities are endless!!
In this game, both duelists start out with a deck of about 60 cards, 7,000 life points each and their duelist card in play. They play in an arena where no one player has any advantage over the other. Players draw the first five cars from their deck after a good shuffle. The object of the game, like in most CCG's is either to wipe out your opponent, reducing his life points to 0, or deplete all his draw cards to nothing. Pretty simple, you think, but it can be a difficult task.
Your deck shall consist of several types of cards in two distinct categories. First is the realm category, which consists of movies, anime, tokusatsu, games, CCG, and books. Cards that affect tokusatsu, for example, will affect all cards that are defined as part of that realm. Here's what each encompasses.
This includes anything on the bigscreen that originated there. For example, Star Wars would fit in this category, as it started out in film.
This includes all forms of animation that are started in animation. Some examples are NGE, Tenchi Muyo!, Pok�mon, Scooby Doo, etc. They have to originate in either cartoons, comic strips or even comic books.
This includes all forms of live action series. Some examples are Power rangers, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai series, BeetleBords, Mystic Knights of Tir-Na-Nog, etc. Note: The series has to originate in tokusatsu to be of this type.
This includes all forms of video and computer games that are started there. Some examples are Gabriel Knight, Sierra's Quest series, Ultima, etc. The series has to originate here to be in the games realm.
This includes anything that started out as a CCG. One example is Magic: The Gathering.
This includes any storyline that originated in books. Some examples are the Rama series by Arthur C Clarke, The Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, etc. They have to originate in some novel or short story.
The second category is the function category, what each type is used for. Those types are fighter, magic, equipment, and trap.
These are your attack cards. They are people, monsters or even vehicles that are used to fight your opponent. Thye will have two stats only, attack and defense.
This is any card that affects the ifeld of play, or one or more fighters contained within. Mainly stuff such as changing the conditions of the arena, causing damage to an opponent outside of battle, and even healing or negating damage.
This includes anything the characters can use, such as weapons, armor, etc. They boost your fighters and increase their chanses to destroy or defend against other fighters.
These cards are often the heart of the game. While all other cards tend to be more visible to both players, trap cards only appear when they are sprung. And when they do, the opponent will pay some price for tripping the trap.
Now that you know about the different types of cards, it's time to go over the basics of gameplay. This is very simple and straightfoward. With this in mind, you'll be ready for the Duel Masters cardgame in no time at all!!
The start of each turn begins with a draw.
Next, you get to play cards. You can play up to 5 different monsters and five magic/equipment/trap cards on the field at one time. The cards can be placed face down or face up, depending on the strategy aspect of the game.
Fighters are placed on the front line. No other cards are allowed there. Fighters can be placed in attack or defense mode. Fighters in attack mode can attack an opponent only if there is an opposing fighter on the field. For defense mode, the cards are rotated 90 degrees to the left, and the card cannot attack that round. You can switch modes only during your turn. It is recommended that you place them face down, as your opponent will not know what to expect.
All other cards are played in the back row, mainly a card that would affect that fighter, such as a trap, equipment, or magic card. Trap cards remain face down until activated. It's also recommended that any equipment and magic cards be put faced down until activated to keep your opponent guessing.
The last thing you do in a round, if you can, is attack your opponent. Select the fighter in attack mode you wish to send against an opponent. If the fighter's card is not face up, turn it over and then announce which of the opponent's fighters you wish to attack. You can also activate any equipment or magic cards by flipping them over. An equipment card can only be used by one monster. The same rule goes for magic cards that affect a single monster. They cannot be switched over to another monster later on. If the opponent's fighter is also face down, it is turned over then. Then the battle begins. Look at the attack power of the attacking monster. That is the amount of damage it will do to the opponent's creature. Then look to see whether the enemy is in attack or defense mode. If the card is in attack mode, use the attack power to determine the enemy's defense power. If it is in defense mode, it's the defense power that is used.
Then it's a nice time to have some strategy planned. You can quickly activate any non-fighter cards on the playing field that would affect the outcome of the battle. This is a good way to surprise your opponent and boost your attack power. Your enemy can do the same. After all the tricks are done, it's time to check who's won. If the attacking creature's attack power, with all the modified values added, is greater that the opponents defense power, the opponent's fighter is sent to the graveyard, along with any attached cards. The difference is taken out of the opponent's life points ONLY if the opponent's creature was in attack mode. Otherwise the fighter takes the full force of the attack. If both your attack power and your opponent's defense power are equal, both fighters are destroyed. If your attack power is less than that of the opponent's defense power, your fighter is destroyed, and the difference between the two is taken out of your life points.
Each fighter can attack only once, so choose wisely before attacking. After all your fighters in attack mode have attacked, you don't want to fight anymore that round, or you decide not to attack at all, the turn is over, and then it's your opponent's turn. This repeats until one of you have a total life force left of 0. The surviving player wins.
