[Return to Aphrodisia] Battle system update (Patreon)

An enemy draws near...

In the past month we've performed some additional work for the battle system, as well as functionality where the player party can encounter a hostile party on the world map. When the enemy party is close enough to the player party, they will begin to pursue you, and if they manage to get close enough, they will engage you in a pitched battle.

The battlefield itself may vary according to where the conflict takes place on the world map. Maneuverability will be more difficult on a forest map as units cannot travel through trees, meaning the map will favor ranged units more than an open plains map. Rough terrain takes an additional movement point to cross--unless the moving character can fly or jump, in which case rough terrain is ignored, and allies or enemies alike can be passed over.

Battle commences!

Once battle is joined, each team lines up facing off against the other. Attacks now include melee attacks (performed on an enemy on an adjacent hexagon to the attacker) as well as ranged attacks, such as the crossbow bolt (4 hex range) and magical jolt (3 hex range).

Some attacks--like the Satyr's Wardance--can strike multiple targets at a time. Other abilities are used to restore allies' health--such as fairy's Healing Perfume. These more powerful abilities have cooldowns, meaning they cannot be used until several turns have elapsed.

Victory and Defeat

Should you win the battle, you can claim the defeated team's camp supplies as loot. Should you lose, however, you will have to abandon some of your own money and supplies in your haste to flee. 

Any followers who fall in battle will depart from the party immediately following the battle to seek immediate healing. Players and companions will be able to limp along in a very wounded (or lust-filled!) state, and should avoid battle until they can recruit replacement followers and heal the party.

Other battle features that are planned include:

- Area of effect attacks, such as hurling a splash potion of grenade

- Lust-based attacks. Similar to the previous game, all characters have a health meter and a lust meter. Health going down to 0 means falling unconscious, and lust going to the maximum means that character become too lust-addled to continue fighting. High lust may also have a chance of having that character go turncoast for a turn or two, or distract nearby allies.

- Status effects, such as:

---  Bleeding which is a slow of health per turn

--- Buffs and debuffs,  temporarily increase or decrease a character's combat attributes, reduces accuracy, etc. 

--- Stunned will cause a character skip their next turn

--- Limp which reduces their movement range by 1. Some status effects may persist beyond the battle!

- Battle transformations. Why not just simply polymorph your enemy into a chicken?

- Penalties to ranged attacks being performed when enemies are within melee range, such as a reduction in accuracy

- Boss characters with unique abilities and battle mechanics. Currently all enemy combatants are classified as Followers, meaning their combat attributes and attacks are solely derived from their species, form, and level. Boss characters will be akin to Companions and allow for a much greater degree of customization. Defeating boss characters will also progress quests and grant special loot.

- Ways for the player party to escape the enemy party instead of fighting. This may be done  through seduction (a Flirtation adventure skill check), trying to scare them away (a Domination adventure skill check), or hide (a Roguery adventure skill check). If this all fails, a bribe may convince them to let you pass unharmed. How much you have to fork over will depend on the party's best Haggler. Each of these skills can be leveled up by the player character and your Companions. (Followers do not have any Adventure skills.)

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Comments? Questions? Feedback of any sort? Let us know!