Megaman Battle Network inspired Game

Dan from DFL Games here and if you knew anything about me than you would know that I FUCKING LOVE MEGAMAN!

I've never beaten an older Megaman game but the world, the characters, the fighting, it's the shit!

While watching Twitch a few nights ago I saw someone streaming Megaman Battle Network, an old GBA game that I remembered playing and loving every second of it! It's a very simple game that uses a sort of deck building mechanic to help defend your megaman as you move along a 3x3 area fighting another Megaman-esk character.

Me being the Megaman fan boy that I am, I quickly began googling if a card game version of this game existed and I was sad and delighted to find out that it didn’t.

So I've set out to build my own Megaman Battle Network-esk game that will rival the GBA game.

Ladies and Ladies allow me to present to you: ECA: Engage Cyber Arena. A Card and Miniature game that happens in real time and players move a commence combat simultaneously!
How the fuck does that even work you ask? I’ve created a Priority balancing system that swaps card speed priorities between players after each round and instead of going on and on about how the game works, allow me to show you my first draft of rules, maybe they’ll help shed some light on what I’m talking about.

Please let me know what you think.

E.C.A.
Engage Cyber Arena

>THERE WAS A PICTURE OF THE MAP/FIELD HERE<

Setup:
At the start of the game players select their GRADE 1 hero and 3 random cards from the top of their deck and set them all face down in different areas of their zone (without looking to see which card is going where). After each player has done this, both players reveal their face down cards. Place your Hero Avatar (miniature) on the space that your HERO CARD is situated and move the now revealed HERO CARD to your HERO SLOT on the board. The other 3 cards you revealed are discarded to the bin.
Now that the heroes are placed on the map, put your MOVEMENT and MAIN DECKS in their appropriate spots, and then draw 5 cards.

Game Play
Each player takes their turn at the same time. Follow this flow chart to initiate turns and battles
• Resolve card effects in this order:
o Instant – Fastest
o Trap – Second Fastest
o Power Ups – Third Fastest
o Hero Abilities – Fourth Fastest
o Secondary Card Effects - Slow
o Support – 5th Slower
o Weapon – Slowest

• Attack/Apply Damage
o You can only attack with your HERO once per turn and in a straight line.

• There are 2 types of damage:
o D: Stands for Damage, This affects H (Health). If a Hero is killed, the controlling player loses Gauge equal to the Hero’s G (Gauge).
o SD: Stands for Special Damage, SD deals damage to not only the H of a Hero but also your opponent’s Gauge as long as your opponent’s HERO CARD that you’re attack is the specific CLASS listed within the SD icon.
 Example: SDB2: deal 2 Special Damage to B-Class Heroes
 Example: SDR2: deal 2 Special Damage to R-Class Heroes
 Example: SDG2: deal 2 Special Damage to G-Class Heroes
 Example: SDP2: deal 2 Special Damage to P-Class Heroes

• Move
o Both players place the top card of their MOVEMENT DECK face down in the MOVEMENT ZONE (without looking). At the same time both players reveal their Movement cards and move their HERO AVATARS in the direction illustrated on their Movement card.
o Players can also choose to not move by burning their MOVEMENT CARD, this will also allow them to draw an additional card from their MAIN DECK. In order to burn a MOVEMENT CARD you must leave it face down in your MOVEMENT ZONE and not reveal it.

• Horizontal and Vertical Card
o ECA cards can be both horizontal and vertical. Vertical cards are played from the hand and do not have a STEP TRIGGER.
 STEP TRIGGER: When a HERO or ALLY lands on a facedown card and it is immediately revealed and its effect is activated.
o Horizontal cards however, do have a STEP TRIGGER in order to be activated so they must be placed face down on the map before they can be properly played. Some cards can be placed face down in your opponent’s ZONE but will require a certain amount of gauge to do so. This is either displayed as an icon or written in the card’s text.
 Note: Once a card is placed on the field, it remains there unless the card is an INSTANT, until it is destroyed, or the card’s text says otherwise.

• Types of Cards:
o Instant: These cards are the fastest type of cards but are only good for 1 turn (unless the card says otherwise). These cards never have a secondary effect.
o Trap: Traps always require STEP TRIGGERS and most of them can be placed in your opponent’s zone for a certain amount of gauge.
o Power Ups: These cards never require a STEP TRIGGER. You can only have 1 Power Up card at a time and its effects last the entirety of the game or until it is replaced or destroyed. Power ups are kept in the POWER UP card zone to the left of the field.
o Ally: These cards are treated the same as your HERO AVATAR but they have special rules regarding how they move and take damage.
 You can only have up to 2 allies active on the field at the same time.
 They do not require MOVEMENT CARDS to move around the board. Allies can be moved in any direction, one space at a time.
 Allies do not have their own color but they are affected by any and all SPECIAL DAMAGE they are hit with.
 Allies do not have a Gauge value so you will not lose any GAUGE if they are destroyed.
 Allies have their own R, D, and H just like a Hero does.
 Allies cannot hold Weapons
o Support: These cards always require a STEP TRIGGER to activate. Support cards are stationary and will attack once per turn on their own. Support will not deal damage to the card’s owner (unless otherwise stated).
o Weapon: Weapons are cards that are directly equipped to the Hero. If a weapon requires a Step Trigger than any user who steps on it can choose to equip it to their HERO, regardless of the card’s owner.
The “B” (for bullets) on the left side of the card tells you how many times the weapon can be used to attack with before it is sent to the bin.

• Secondary Effects:
o Some cards have secondary effects that are separate from the card’s type or main effect. These effects can affect everything from the Hero to the Terrain.
o List of Secondary Effects:
 Warp: Once you’ve stepped on a portal you have to move your Hero/Ally to another portal. Each portal can only be used once per turn (unless a card states otherwise). Either player can move onto Warp cards.
 Equip: The card is equipped to the Hero/Ally. Heroes and Allies can only be equipped with 1 item at a time.
 Poison: Poison cards remain attached to the Hero or Ally until the card is destroyed, replaced or the Hero/Ally it was attached to is destroyed or replaced.
• Poison is different than Equip; they do not replace each other.
 Damage: These cards deal damage to the Hero/Ally that land on them.
 Block: Heroes/Allies cannot move onto this space once the card is revealed. Attacks cannot pass over this card (Unless a card says otherwise).
 Broken: Heroes/Allies cannot be placed onto this card.
• Note: The Block and Broken effects only apply after the Hero/Ally has stepped off of the card; this means attacks and effects still apply.
 Health: The Hero/Ally receives a certain amount of “H” back every time they land on this space.
 Terrain: These cards can be used by either player to move on top of.

• Special Effects:
o Heroes and other cards can have special effects that they use outside of their normal attacks. Some of these effects of “special traits” that tell you when, how, and where the effects take place or how they interact with the field around them.
o Special Traits:
 [Wide]: Deals damage across the 3 spaces in front of the Hero/card.
 [S-Wide]: Deals damage to all surround spaces.
 [Uni]: Any player can use the ability as long as that player is on the card.
 [All]: Always active.
 [Zone Break]: You can move into your opponent’s Zone even without having to stand on a Terrain card.
 [Com]: Can only be used during an attack
 [Dash]: Temporary movement. After the ability/move is completed you must return your hero to the space it was before. If the unit was on top of a card before using dash the card’s effect is not applied. This is true for secondary effects as well.
 [Coin]: Flip a coin before using the effect, calling it right is the only way to activate the effect. You will have to pay the gauge cost no matter what.
 [Roll]: Roll a die to resolve the effect of this card. You will have to pay the gauge no matter what.
• Factions:
o There are several different factions within ECA. Each deck can only use 1 Faction in order to be considered legal.