Title:           Conjurer Rules
Author:          Anonymous
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/XUDMFCq7
First Edit:      Friday 23rd of October 2015 12:54:42 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Friday 23rd of October 2015 12:54:42 PM CDT

NOTE: A lot of the terms in this draft are subject to change. They should match the thread, but none of them are final yet.
 
 
These are the rules of the game that so far is just called 'Conjurers.' Basically, a two-player TCG that ponies play, but with little glowing balls of magic instead of cards.
 
Each player starts off with two pieces of equipment: A magical trinket called a Mana Pot, and a scroll called a Spell Sheet. The Mana Pot is what gives each player's magic form, allowing them to turn pegasus cloud magic or unicorn picking-stuff-up magic into monsters, fireballs, and all the other fun stuff that can be conjured up in this game. Each pony can only have up to six spells in play at a time, though the composition of those six spells can vary. The Spell Sheet is a list of the spells a player prefers, so they can show up regularly in games instead of being used once and then forgotten about. The subconscious is good for that.
 
Once both players have their Mana Pot and Spell Sheet (or at least the former), they can begin. Players take turns conjuring a 'hand' of four little blobs of magic called Lux, and then converting them into creatures called Familiars, as well as various magical spells. Defeating an opposing Familiar nets a player Friendship Points (FP). Whoever gets 10 FP first is the winner. If one player runs out of magic before that time, that player loses.
 
Magic is tracked via percentage; each player starts with 100% magic, as well as 1 Vitality Point (VP), which I'll cover later. Magic is drained by conjuring Familiars, spellcasting, brewing Potions, and landscaping; for new players, this can be as severe as a Level 1 spell costing 25% of their magic while an expert belts out Level 6's left and right for 5% magic a pop.
 
Play is done in a turn-based fashion between two or more players. Each turn consists of several steps that are done in this order:
 
1. Manifest.
2. Befriend.
3. Engage.
4. Regroup.
5. Turnover.
 
The following is a quick and dirty breakdown of what is done during each step, followed by a more detailed explanation of each:
 
 
MANIFEST:
Draw 4 Lux from Mana Pot, cast Longevity.
 
BEFRIEND:
Most actions occur now. Conjure Familiars, cast Enchantments, brew Potions, landscape the Arena, and Revitalize.
 
ENGAGE:
Familiars fight one another in three stages: Commencement, Competition, and Calculation.
 
REGROUP:
A second chance to Conjure Familiars, cast Enchantments, brew Potions, landscape the Arena, and Revitalize.
 
TURNOVER:
Turn ends and passes to next player.
 
 
 
==MANIFESTING==
 
A player conjures 4 Lux from their Mana Pot, which they can use during their turn. Ongoing costs for spells, such as Longevity, are paid now.
 
 
==BEFRIENDING==
 
CONJURING:
Conjuring, the game's namesake, is the act of create a Familiar. Familiars are quasi-sentient magical constructs that fight for you and, depending on their intelligence, can offer you guidance while you play. Regardless of intelligence, all Familiars have certain qualities: HP, ATK, DEF, Element, and Level. Many Familiars have special powers as well.
 
 
HP: A Familiar's health, represented by a '+' and ranging from 1 to 500.
ATK: Offensive capability, represented by a sword and ranging from 0 to 999.
DEF: Defensive capability, represented by a shield and ranging from 0 to 999.
Element: A representation of the Familiar's power, Superior Elements* gain +25% ATK and DEF (but not HP) against inferior Elements. Elements are represented by colored symbols above the Familiar's image.
Level: How experienced and amicable a Familiar is, represented by an n-sided shape around the Element symbol and ranging from 1 to 6
 
*Elemental Superiority 1: Water beats Fire, Fire beats Metal, Metal beats Earth, Earth beats Wind, Wind beats Forest, Forest beats Water.
Elemental Superiority 2: Light beats Shadow, Shadow beats Mystic, Mystic beats Light.
 
 
SPELLCASTING:
Enchantments are the magic spells that players cast to support their Familiars. They can be played directly, or concealed in one of your six play areas for later use. Most Enchantments are cheaper than Familiars, but they can't fight, so they can't get you FP. But they CAN help you or hinder your opponent, and you probably won't win without them. There are several kinds of Enchantments:
 
Charm: Rudimentary spells that can only be used during your turn.
Hex: Surprise spells that act as traps. They can be used during either player's turn.
Keystone: Similar to Charms, but these are permanent, as long as you cast Longevity on it each turn (This is simply paying a bit of magic at the start of your turn to maintain the Keystone's effects.). Depending on the Enchantment, they can work during either player's turn, or both.
Neutralizer: These take priority over all other actions, and serve specifically to counter other spells. They must be concealed before using them.
Ingredient: Largely useless by themselves, these can be mixed together to make Potions.
 
 
BREWING:
Potions are mixtures of two or more Ingredients that can be given to Familiars or even used by the player. Their effects are as infinitely varied as their recipes, but to get you started, here's a few examples that you can use or build off of to make more complex Potions:
 
 
Cane Sugar + Enchanted Springwater = Potion of Healing (restores 50 HP)
Enchanted Springwater + Ink of the Sleeping Squid = Potion of Blindness (50% chance of lowering an opposing Familiar's ATK to 0 for one turn)
Cane Sugar + Plant Food = Smoke Bomb (decreases the ATK/DEF of all Familiars that the holder Engages by 50% for one turn)
 
 
LANDSCAPING:
The last type of spell that can be cast in this game is one that alters the Arena, or the paying field. This is called landscaping (previously terraforming), and can radically change the flow of battle. Different Arenas can cause Familiars of different Elements, Levels, names, and more to gain or lose power. Due to the massive change that comes with altering the environment, these spells cost more magic than other ones.
 
 
REVITALIZING:
This is when you return unused or unnneeded Lux to the Mana Pot in order to restore some magic. A Lux returned to the Mana Pot will raise your magic by an amount equal to half of what it would have cost to use the Lux normally (e.g. a Familiar that would have cost 10% magic to conjure will restore 5% through revitalization.).
 
 
 
=ENGAGING==
 
 
Engagements are fights that occur between two Familiars at a time. Engagements are calulated in a fairly simple way: The attacker's ATK minus the defender's DEF equals the amount of HP lost by the defender (If the attacker's ATK is lower than the defender's DEF, the difference is deducted from the attacker's HP instead.). When a Familiar's HP reaches zero, it is defeated and leaves the Arena. The player who defeated that Familiar then gains FP equal to the difference in Levels between the defeated Familiar and the Familiar that defeated it.
 
E.g., Player A's Level 4 Familiar finishes off Player B's Level 2 Familiar. Player A gains 4-2= 2 FP.
 
FP can also be deducted, if a lower-level Familiar defeats a higher Level one. If Player B's Level 2 Familiar beat Player A's Level 4 one, Player A would lose 2 FP instead.
 
 
==OBJECTIVE==
 
 
The game is won when one of the following conditions is met:
-One player loses all of their magic (and VP, if used).
-One player earns 10 FP.
-One player satisfies an Instant Victory condition.
 
 
LOSING ALL MAGIC:
Conjuring, spellcasting, brewing, and landscaping all cost magic. Depending on the Level of the spell cast and the skill of the player, these magic costs can vary considerably but usually follow a baseline of +10% magic cost per level increased for beginners, +6% magic for regulars, and +3% magic for experts. Running out of magic means you can no longer perform these actions, which usually means defeat, unless the player has VP.
 
 
FP:
One FP is earned each time an opposing Familiar is defeated. Difference in levels will increase the amount of FP earned, or in the case of a lower level Familiar defeating a higher level one, decrease the other player's FP. FP can never drop below 0, but a reduction of FP to 0 from any number equal to or higher than 2 will remove all Harmony bonuses from that player for the remainder of the turn. A player to earn 10 FP is declared the winner. If both players earn 10 FP at the same time, whichever player earns an additional FP first wins. If both players have 10 or more FP and one player loses any FP, that player is declared the loser.
 
 
INSTANT VICTORY:
Certain spells can cause an automatic win for the player who uses them. These automatic wins override all other factors of gameplay and are often very difficult to execute (e.g., requiring multiple Familiars or Enchantments to be in play at once, manifesting four specific Lux at the start of a turn, or keeping a certain spell in play for many turns in a row).
 
 
 
 
==OTHER==
 
 
HARMONY:
Harmony is a gameplay element that acts kind of like experience: Increasing it will slowly build up the Level of your Familiar, which is easier (and cheaper) than just trying to conjure a high-Level one out of the blue. As Harmony goes up, so too will your Familiars' stats and how much it likes you. Harmony is difficult to quantify, but in a nutshell, your Familiar's Harmony goes up when good things happen (giving it Potions, winning fights, conjuring other Familiars to help it out, etc.) and it goes down when bad things happen.
 
 
VITALITY:
While some ponies will simply drop when they run out of magic, the more stubborn ones can manifest their very willpower and continue a game even when their magic hits 0%. This manifestation is called Vitality, and it acts as a source of 'emergency' magic that can save a player: One use of Vitality, or 1 Vitality Point (VP), affords approximately 30% additional magic to a player. This magic is burned more quickly than usual, but is otherwise identical in terms of gameplay to standard magic.
 
WARNING: Even the most stubborn ponies need their magic to live! Using multiple VP in too short a time can have serious consequences. While using one VP per game is generally accepted since it just leads to a pony needing a longer time to recover their magic between games, using more than that has resulted in complications ranging from simple headaches to permanent sensory and motor loss. Please use VP responsibly!