Rules

A turn-based JRPG band brawler. Build a band, pick a foe, fight.

This document is the single source of truth for game mechanics. Edit content/rules.md to update what's published here.

Team building

• A band is exactly 5 characters.
• There are four slots: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, and Wildcard.
• Max 2 characters per slot. There's no required distribution: any 5 that stay under the per-slot cap is a valid band.
• Slot determines class (see below).

Classes

Class is derived from slot — no separate pick.

Wildcard is the solo-act slot. When a one-person band signs up, that single artist is a wildcard: they carry 50% more health than a standard character and bring the signature Charm move. Wildcards are created only through solo intake, never picked as a band slot.

Genres (types)

Each character has a genre, which is their type — same idea as Pokémon. There are 8 genres in 4 families:

Type effectiveness

Each family beats two others, is neutral on itself, and loses to one:

• Super effective: ×1.5 damage
• Resisted: ×0.66 damage
• Neutral (same family): ×1

Applied to all damage moves (basic, single-target damage, AoE, vampiric — per-target for AoE).

Heals, buffs, speed-boost, taunt, shield, and the debuffs (mute / feedback / detune) ignore type effectiveness. The hearing-damage status uses the snapshot damage value set when applied and doesn't re-roll types on each tick.

Genre synergies

If a band has 3 or more characters of the same genre, that genre's synergy is active for the whole battle:

Synergies stack across genres — a band with both 3-Metal and 3-Punk would get both. With 5 members and max 2 per slot, you can have at most one 3-genre synergy unless you weight a single genre into multiple slots.

Speed points (SP)

Every character has a pool of speed points that limits how often they can act.

• Cap: 10 SP
• Start of battle: 3 SP
• Regen: +1 SP at the start of the character's own side's turn
• Moves spend SP equal to their cost.
• If a character can't afford any of their moves, they sit out the turn.
• If an entire side can't act, the turn passes to the other side.

Move cost ladder

Specials are commitments — you'll save up for 2-4 turns before firing one.

Moves

Each character has two moves: a basic and a special.

Basic attacks

Every character has a 1-SP single-target damage move with a genre-flavored name:

• Metal: Headbang
• Punk: Quick Slam
• Pop: Mic Tap
• Folk: Easy Strum
• Electronic: Pulse
• Hip-hop: Quick Bar

All basics deal 18 damage before type/synergy modifiers.

Special moves

The special move is class-specific:

Tank specials — protection

• Taunt: caster enters a locked stance. They can't act, but every opposing single-target damage attack is redirected onto them. The taunt is consumed by the next opposing damage move (single-target or AoE) — on consumption, the taunter unlocks (SP at current value, ready to act next turn).
• Shield: applies a temporary HP layer to an ally. Damage is absorbed by shield before HP. Stacks if cast again.

DPS specials — AoE, debuffs, and edgy/loud signatures

• AoE damage: hits every alive opposing character. Per-target type multiplier. Bypasses single-target taunt redirection, but consumes any active taunt on the opposing side.
• Mute: hidden status applied to a random opposing character. You do not know which one. The next action that character attempts fizzles and reveals the mute, then clears it. SP is still spent on the fizzled action.
• Feedback: visible status applied to a chosen enemy. Their next damage move (basic or AoE) backfires — the damage is applied to themselves instead of the target. Cleared after the backfire, or after 2 of the rigged enemy's own turns if they keep playing it safe and never swing. It's the priciest debuff at 6 SP.
• Detune: visible status applied to a chosen enemy. Their next damage move (basic or AoE) hits a random ally on their own band instead of you, then clears. Detune does not affect heals, buffs, speed-boosts, or shields — those resolve normally; the detune waits for a damage move.
• Vampiric (edgy — goth, emo): single-target damage that drains health from the enemy into the attacker. Only damage that actually reaches HP heals you — shield absorption doesn't bleed, so a shielded enemy yields nothing to the lifesteal until you chew through the shield. The heal is 50% of HP damage dealt (rounded), or 75% with the Goth synergy. Type multipliers and damage buffs scale the heal because they scale the damage.
• Hearing damage (loud — metal, punk): applies a damage-over-time status to one enemy. Small damage per turn for several turns, ticking at the start of the affected character's own turn. Any heal applied to that character cures hearing damage (regardless of heal size).

One debuff per target. Mute, Feedback, and Detune don't stack on the same character — applying a second debuff to an already-debuffed enemy fizzles (SP still spent). Hearing damage is a separate status and stacks with debuffs (but re-applying refreshes its turn counter).

Support specials — buffs

• Heal: restores HP to an ally (capped at max HP).
• Buff-damage: adds a flat damage bonus that's consumed by the target ally's next damage move (basic or AoE).
• Speed-boost: grants the target ally bonus SP, capped at max SP (5).

Wildcard special — Charm

• Charm (solo acts only): the wildcard charms a chosen enemy. For the next 3 of that enemy's turns, it can't attack the wildcard — its single-target attacks (basic damage, Looper, Vampiric) are redirected to another foe, or fizzle (SP still spent) if the wildcard is the only target left. Charm deals no damage and isn't one of the Mute/Feedback/Detune trio, so it stacks with them; re-charming refreshes the timer. AoE still hits everyone — Charm only steers single-target attacks.

Combat flow

Manual mode

1. It's your turn. Tap a ready bandmate to select them as the attacker.
2. The MovePicker appears with Basic and Special buttons. Each shows its SP cost and effect; buttons you can't afford are disabled. Pick one.
3. Targeting:
   • Single-target damage / heal / buff / speed-boost / shield / feedback / detune / charm → tap the target.
   • Self-target (taunt) → fires immediately.
   • Random-enemy (mute) → fires immediately, target chosen by the game.
   • All-enemies (AoE) → fires immediately, hits all alive opposing characters.
4. The action resolves. SP is deducted. Turn passes to the foe.

Auto mode

Each side's AI picks a ready actor, a move (basic or special), and a target according to a fixed priority list. Sit back and watch.

The AI priority (roughly, each side, every turn):

1. Re-cast taunt if a tank's special is taunt and they aren't currently taunting
2. Shield a low-HP ally with no current shield
3. Heal an ally below ~55% HP
4. Speed-boost an ally that's low on SP
5. Buff-damage an unbuffed damager
6. Cast a debuff (mute / feedback / detune)
7. Charm the highest-HP foe (wildcard special), if not already charmed by this wildcard
8. AoE if 2+ opponents alive
9. Otherwise — basic attack the lowest-HP enemy (never its own charmer)

Status reference

These appear as badges on combatant cards in battle:

Type chart (quick reference)

Victory

Wipe the opposing band. KO'd characters can't be targeted, healed, or revived. Last band standing wins the night.