mod_ff_battle/docs/en.md

FF Battle — battles with a command menu

FF Battle is a battle system in the style of classic console RPGs: the party at the bottom left, the enemies at the top, and a command menu — Attack, Items, Defend, Escape. It is the battle system of RPG Plus. The battle itself — its start, backdrop, victory and defeat screens, experience and loot — comes from Turn Battle Base; FF Battle is the way the player fights.

The battle screen

The RPG Plus warrior meets a wolf in the village:

• Cards. Each character shows health, the attack and defence (DEF is a shield that absorbs damage first), mana if the game has it, and the yellow dots of action points (AP).
• Battle panel — the round, how many enemies and party members are left, and whose turn it is.
• Battle log — every action and its result, newest at the bottom.

A turn

1. Pick a character — click the card, or press Enter/Space for the first one with action points.
2. Choose a command with the mouse or W/S/arrows and Enter:
   • Attack — the character's battle actions;
   • Items — usable items from the inventory, 1 AP each;
   • Defend — the character's defence action on itself;
   • Escape — 70% chance; on failure the character loses 1 AP.
3. Choose the action. The panel next to the menu shows the action card and what it will do:

4. Click the target. "Select a target · RMB / Esc — cancel" appears and the enemy cards light up:

When the party has spent its action points, the enemies take their turn, then a new round starts and the points are restored.

What the log says

After one basic attack and the wolf's answer:

The hero's attack is 12. The wolf's shield of 2 took the first 2 points and was used up, so the wolf lost 10 health: 31 → 21. The wolf then used Defence and raised its shield to 4 for the next blow.

Actions

The menu lists the actions the character has (see Characters Engine). FF Battle itself carries out the basic kinds:

• Attack=1.5 — damage of the attack times the number, absorbed first by the target's shield;
• Defence=4 — a shield on an ally;
• Turn=2 — stun for that many turns;
• item use.

Actions written as formulas, such as Classic RPG Rules' Power strike or Fireball, work through Battle Formulas; mana costs (Cost=mp:4) are spent from the character's mana.

If something goes wrong

1. The menu does not open. The character has no action points left this round, or it is the enemies' turn.
2. Items is greyed out. There are no items in the inventory that can be used in battle.
3. A skill does nothing. Its values need Battle Formulas, or it is not marked as usable in battle.