Welcome to Overcross.
OVERVIEW
Overcross is a strategy battle game that uses a card system. In it multiple comics are pitted against each other in a fight for glory and survival. While others may be added in the future, at the moment there is only one deck in the works, based off of the Cornstalker forums. We hope to expand to other teams so as to add choices to the game. In order to fight these teams will employ characters, artists, and writers from there own comics, as well as a variety of items, powers, and the like, that may aid in combat.
Combat is determined by both a square grid and by cards. Like well known card games such as Magic the Gathering or Pokemon, a player assembles their deck how they see fit. However, rather than a certain number of cards as the limit, each card has a deck point value. When beginning a game a maximum deck point value must be determined and the players then build decks (or to speed things up, have decks premade) as close to the value without going over. The decks are shuffled in a manner that the players can agree on and then cards are drawn from the top of the face down decks, like in a standard CCG.
On the other spectrum of the game is the grid combat. Grid combat plays like a highly simplified game of D&D or Warhammer. "Characters" fight one another on this grid, and may have to overcome terrain and other obstacles in order to do so effectively. The grid will determine movement, range of attacks, and other important information for playing out the game.
The grid is where the action will take place, but the cards will determine what characters get into play and what non-character cards are at a player's disposal.
CARDS
Cards are divided into 4 categories. Characters, Edits, Terrain, and Events.
Character
- These cards make up the main fighting force. They are the heart and soul of any deck and are composed of artists, writers, and mostly cast members from comics. They tend to move, defend, and attack. In addition to the occasional ability. Players will rely on their character cards to complete almost any of different game objectives available.
Edit
- These cards are attached to character cards. They have some effect on the character, making them better or worse (an edit that makes a character worse would be played on an enemy character). Edits stay with the character until removed somehow, and tend to have a lasting effect while carried, though some edits may have a "one time use" effect where the character can destroy the edit so use some ability. Edits will, for the most part, be based on specific comics and forum "in jokes" as well.
Terrain
- These cards allow the player to play a terrain piece (as specified on the card) somewhere on the battle grid. Terrain tend to not be controlled by either player, but will have an effect on those who travel into it's radius. Thus a player should play terrain to their advantage. Terrain might simply block movement a certain way (such as a wall) or slow it down (such as a bog). But other effects are possible. Most terrain will not come from a specific comic, though some terrain might.
Event
- These cards are one time use cards that can have a variety of effects. The effect tends to be instant, meaning that once it has done it's job it is gone, and no effect lingers. An event card might allow a player to draw some more cards, or deal damage to a character, destroy an edit, or bring a character back from the dead. Or many other effects. Once used they are discarded.
GENRE
Most cards are given a genre. The genre is based off of what the comic genre is itself. For example, Tales of the Traveling Gnome would be a fantasy comic. Thus any content used from it would be of the Fantasy genre. A genre will usually have no effect other than giving the card a different type. This allows for a variety of effects from other cards. An event might give a certain card type a bonus or penalty. Where a character might deal extra damage to a certain card type.
The genres are:
Fantasy
- Typically the comic world has near medieval technology. Often contains magic, elves, dragons, and the like.
(Example: Darken)
Sci-Fi
- Often a futuristic comic. Might have robots, lasers, space ships, or over advanced technology.
(Example: Legostar Galactica)
Modern
- The comic is at our own technology level (or close) and magic is either nonexistent or sparse.
(Example: Cortland)
Online
- The card is not based on a comic, but rather an aspect of the forum from which the card comes. Perhaps it is based off of a common joke or meme. Or perhaps it is a character based on a forum member who has no comic.
(Example: "I AM OUTRAGED!")
None
- This tends to apply to only terrain. Though some terrain will have a genre. If a card has no genre, then odds are no card will give it a bonus or penalty. (Reasoning: Try and classify wall or lava as a genre.)
CARD PLAY
Deck Building- Each player must choose a side at the beginning. (At the time this is written, being only Cornstalker). They may select only cards of that side. Additionally, the players must agree before hand on a total point allowance. They can then "spend" this point total on cards from their chosen side. Each card has a point cost, and that point cost is taken from the total allowance if that card is selected. Keep in mind that if multiple of the same card are selected, then the point cost must be paid for each one. Each player should try to get as close to the maximum point cost as total (without going over), but some combinations of cards may prevent a perfect total. Additionally, there is no limit to the amount of cards chosen so long as they remain within the point limit. But the more cards you have the less likely you are to get a specific card you want.
Also, no more than THREE of the same card may be in one deck, aside from terrain cards (which have no limit). (For example, if you want to increase your chance of getting the XI character (from Oops, Nevermind) card, you could have up to three copies of that card in your deck. Additionally, should XI be killed, then you might draw another copy of her and thus be able to refield the character should the need arise. The reason for a limit is to prevent the use of a powerful card over and over. HOWEVER, only one of the same character can be IN PLAY under a players control at a time. (If both players have chosen the same side, then there is no rule preventing each from having a copy of a specific character in play. Just pretend one is a clone or alternate dimensional doppelganger). Edits, and terrain, however, have no such restriction, so there can be more than one "Bad Review" or "Woodland" in play (and even under the same player's control) at the same time.
Who goes first?
- To decide who goes first, the most common tactic is to roll a die. The player that rolls higher can choose to go either first or last. Settle ties with rerolling. If there is more than one player, than the person to the roll-winner's left goes next, and so on in clockwise order.
Drawing a hand
- In most game scenarios before any player takes his or her turn, every player draws 5 cards. You must keep your cards to yourself unless a card is played that says otherwise. Every time a player has a turn thereafter, they MUST draw another card from the top of their deck (keep in mind the deck is face down). If the player has no cards left in their deck then they simply don't draw a card.
Playing a Card
- On a player's turn, after drawing a card and before taking any other actions, the player may choose to play one or more cards. All cards, in addition to deck point costs, have a play cost. At the beginning of the game the play cost limit will be 1. This goes up by 1 every round (at the beginning of the first players turn, once all players have had a turn). It is best to keep track of the play limit on dice or paper. When a card is played, it subtracts its play cost from the play limit for that player. So during the first round of the game, players can only play up to one card that has a play cost of 1. In the next round, players will have a play limit of 2. The means they could play one card with a play cost of 2, or two with a cost of 1. On the third round the limit goes to 3, and so on and so fourth. As long as the total play cost of all cards played that round is less than or equal to the play limit, there is no cap on how many cards can be played. Keep in mind, when a player plays a card, it takes away from that round's play limit only for that player, not for all the players. Also remember, there may never be more than one of the same character card in play under the same player's control.
Placing a Card
- When a card is played you will need to know where to put it (in the online version this is not as much of an issue). This varies depending on the card in question. Usually it is best to lay out all character cards played in front of you in a row or two, allowing you (and your opponent) to see the cards easily. When playing an edit, it's typically best to place the edit card under the character card it's being "given" to. This allows you and other players to remember what character has what edit. It's also good to have the edit card sticking out a little, so that you can at least read its title in addition to see the character card. Event cards are one time use. When they are used they tend to go into the discard pile. So you need not worry about placing them somewhere otherwise. Though it is best to allow the other players to see the card and read its effects if they wish. Terrain should be handled similarly to characters, but it plays less of a roll and therefore need not be as assessable. It might be most convenient to keep all terrain cards you control in a stack, and refer to their effects should a character wander into the terrain.
The Discard Pile
- When a card is in some way put out of commission, it goes to the discard pile. The discard pile is separate from the regular Deck, and cards in it are placed face up. With a few exceptions, when an event is played it goes into the player's discard pile. Likewise, when a character you own (own as in the card is from your deck) is killed (has 6 damage counters on it) it will usually go into your discard pile. When a character is discarded so are all edits placed on that character. Likewise, any terrain destroyed (either by a card that specifies so or by 6 damage counters) goes into the discard pile. For the most part, this pile is simply a convenient place to keep cards that have is some way been removed from play. Though some cards can return cards from your discard pile to your hand, deck, or into play. Other effects might deal with the discard pile as well.
GRID PLAY
The Battle Grid- While cards will determine what is in play and are used as a source on information for statistics and effects, the majority of the game will take place on the battle grid. The battle grid is a sheet of paper, vinyl, or the like (on a background for the online version) that is divided by lines into equally sized squares. In a typical grid (used by D&D players) these squares are about 1 by 1 inch. There is no set size that the Overcross battle grid must be (and do to a lack in game play testing, there is no standard yet), so players should agree on a size before hand (size meaning number of spaces by number of spaces). Do to the nature of the game, a smaller grid will mean more intense and faster action. Though it will limit tactical movement of characters across the grid.
Deploy Zones
- A deploy zone is where a player will place characters as they come into play. At the beginning of the game, each player should take a single edge of the grid (meaning all spaces along one side of the grid). In a standard one on one game, the players should take opposite sides.
Placing Game Pieces
- Every character and terrain card has a game piece to go with it. A game piece is a token that fits inside one space (about 1 by 1 inch). The game piece will feature a section of the artwork used on the main card and will have the card's name (or an abbreviation) on it in order to recognise it (In the online version this is a smaller version of the card itself). Character game pieces will be used to represent where the character is for movement, attack ranges, and effects of terrain. When a character card is put into play, the character token is "deployed" (placed) on one of the spaces along the player's deploy zone. Some characters or events might have or add the ability to deploy somewhere else.
Terrain game pieces are also one token, though they have a "radius" and all spaces in that radius have some effect. Unlike characters, terrain can be deployed almost anywhere on the battle grid. However, when deploying terrain the center token may not be played in the same space as a character or another terrain piece. Additionally, the area effect of two terrain pieces may never overlap.
Actions
- All character cards can make both minor (m) and major (M) actions. Typically a minor action is never anything more than moving, while a major action will be the majority of attacks and activated abilities. On a player's turn, after they draw one card and play what cards they can/ wish, they may make up to every characters they control (assuming something isn't preventing the character from acting) take a minor action. Once all of the characters the player wishes to have taken minor actions, they may then take major actions. After this the character's turn is over. The next player (clockwise) draws a card, plays what cards they can/ want to, may make minor actions, may make major actions. There are also the rare full actions (F). A full action tends to be a powerful ability that requires a lot of time or concentration. A full action must be used on the major action phase, but the character may not have made a minor action before hand.
CHARACTERS
The heart and soul of any fighting force, characters are the most complicated of cards as most rules effect them directly more than any other type of card. Characters can move, attack, and often have special abilities of some sort.
Move
- A character has a move speed listed at the bottom of the information block on its card. This is how many spaces it can move as a minor (m) action. This includes diagonal movement. Some terrain, such as walls, counts as obstructive. A character can not enter a space with obstructive terrain in it. Nor can a character enter a space with an enemy character in it. A character can move into a space with a friendly character it it, but can not end it's movement there (two characters can not share the same space). A character need not move it's full distance, if at all, as a move action. It can instead move part of that distance. But if it moves at all then regardless of how far it moves (up to its move score), it counts as a minor action (m).
Attack Stats
- Most characters have a melee attack and/ or a ranged attack. All melee attacks have a "dmg" and an "acc" stat. Dmg stands for the damage that attack deals. Acc stands for the accuracy of the attack. Ranged attacks also have a "rng" stat. This is how many spaces of range the attack has. An attack will tend to have (M) by it, meaning that using the attack is a major action. Some characters might have an attack with (m), meaning the attack is quick and counts as a minor action. Others might have (F), for full round action. These tend to be powerful attacks like giant energy blasts. An attack will have a fist, star, or cross hair by it as a symbol. A fist is a melee attack and can only be used if in a square right next to the target character (counts diagonally). A cross hair is a ranged attack. In order to attack the target, they must be within range and not obscured by terrain that blocks ranged attacks. A star is a special ability. If it has a rang (Rng) score then it must follow the same rules to hit (needs a clear line of site). If it has no Rng score then it does not need to line of site to effect it's target (though most special abilities without a range score are not meant to harm characters).
Defense
- Defense represents the character's armor, luck, ability to dodge, or toughness. Unless an event an event, edit, or ability reduces it further, a character will always have at least 2 defense. Likewise (unless aided by the same kind of thing), no character will ever have more than 6 defense. Defense scores are used to prevent a character from taking damage.
Damage (Dmg)
- Damage represents how powerful as attack is. A higher number in damage means the attack is more dangerous to its target should it hit. Unless aided by items or other effects or the like, damage will never be more than 6. Unenhanced, an attack will never have a Dmg score of less than 1. However, it is possible to reduce the damage of an attack by abilities and the like. If an attack has a score of less than 1, it is incapable oh hurting someone. An attack with a negative score does NOT heal the target. When a character takes damage (fails it's defend roll) it has damage counters placed on it.
Accuracy (Acc)
- Most attacks and some abilities have an "Acc" score. This is how accurate the attack or ability is and is followed by a + sign. In order for the attack or ability to be successful (to "hit" its target) the attacker must roll LOWER on a d6 (a six-sided-die) than the attack's Acc score. This means that a higher Acc score is better. For example, the least accurate something can be would be a "2". Meaning that a 1 MUST be rolled in order to hit. On the other hand, a "6" means that a 5 or lower must be rolled. Meaning 1,2, 3, 4, or 5. Which is a pretty good chance of hitting. The standard Acc score is "4", meaning that the ability works on a 1, 2, or 3. Or that it has a 50/50 chance of hitting (failing on a 4, 5 or 6).
Some effects can enhance or reduce accuracy, in this case it is possible for it to become lower than 2, meaning it will always miss, or higher than 6, meaning it can't miss.
Attack vs. Defense
- When an attack hits a character the character (meaning the player controlling said character) must make a defend roll. Just like with accuracy, the defend roll must be LOWER than the character's defense score in order to be successful. Should a character makes its defend roll, then the attack is dodged, blocked, or shrugged off, and the character takes no damage. Should the character fail its roll then it takes the damage specified by the attack.
Damage
- Multiple things in Overcross can damage a character. The most common form is failing a defend roll against another character's attack. But other cards could damage a character as well. Whenever a character takes damage, place that many damage counters on the character (the online version can do this, in real life using beads, dice, pennies, or the like would work). For example, if a character fails it's defend roll and takes a 3 damage attack, place 3 damage markers on the character. Or if a character walk into lava terrain, instantly place one damage counter on the character. Once a character has 6 damage counters on it at the same time, be it from single powerful attack, multiple smaller ones, whatever, then the character dies (or is at least too injured to carry on in the battle). Remove the damage counters from the character and place it in the discard pile (unless the character does not go to the discard pile upon death). Additionally, discard all edits attached to that character (again, unless those edits do not go to the discard pile). Note: A character can never have less than zero damage counters somehow.
Terrain and Damage
- Terrain, like characters, can take up to 6 damage counters before it is destroyed and thus discarded. However, terrain has no defense and thus takes the damage automatically if hit.
GAME OBJECTIVES
There are numerous objectives possible for a game of Overcross. Feel free to pick and choose from the ideas listed below, or even make up your own. Just be sure both players are clear on what they will be playing.
Assassination
- Both players begin play with a Leader card in their deploy zone. The first player to kill the enemy leader wins. Variants of Assassination include using Champions instead. Or both Leaders and Champions.
Summoning
- Race to get your Legend into play. First player to get their legend across into the enemy deployment zone wins.
Capture the Flag
- A classic game. Try to defend your flag while obtaining the enemy flag. Each player begins play with a flag token in the center of their deployment zone. In order to "pick up" the enemy flag you must move a character into or though the flag's space. As soon as it inters that space the character is carrying the flag. However if the character is killed then the flag token is placed where the character died. Should another character move through that space it is now carrying the flag. However, you can not carry your own flag. If your flag is dropped then by moving a character though it it returns to its start location automatically. In order to win get a character carrying the enemy flag into your deployment zone.
Invasion
- Try to get as many characters into the enemy deployment zone as possible. Every time you do you gain a point and that character is redeployed in your own deployment zone. First to 10 points (or any other number agreed on by the players) wins. Optionally you could instead set a round limit, and whoever ha the most points when that many rounds are over wins.
Death Match
- When you kill an enemy character (regardless of if said character goes to the discard pile or not) you gain it's Deck Cost in points. Whoever reaches a set number of points wins. Optionally you could have a set number of rounds, an whoever has the most points by the end of the round limit wins.
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