Deltarune battle system

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1. #1Battle Structure

   Keys: turn, encounter, battle, fight, combat

   Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

   Entry settings

   The battle structure is strictly turn based. Battles occur against Darkners or similar foes in Dark World-style realms. Once engaged, the party cannot flee and must resolve the fight through commands. Party: up to 3 members, Leader acts first. Turn flow: Leader selects party commands → actions resolve in order (Defend/Tension items first, then Leader, then allies) → Enemy turn (bullet dodge phase) → repeat. Commands can be canceled before the last member locks in, undoing any immediate effect (like spent Tension). Flavor text appears at the start of turns reflecting enemy mood or recent actions.

2. #2Commands

   Keys: ITEM, SPARE, SPELL, DEFEND, ACT, MAGIC, FIGHT

   Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

   Entry settings

   FIGHT: physical attack, timing-based meter; better timing = more damage + Tension, perfect timing crits. ACT: non-magical interaction (Leader's specialty) — check stats, appease, provoke, or trigger unique behaviors; builds Mercy% toward sparing; some ACTs are team combos costing multiple turns. MAGIC/SPELL: costs Tension; damage, healing, status effects, buffs, utility; scales with Magic stat. ITEM: consumable effects — heal, revive, restore Tension, special effects. SPARE: resolves a target peacefully once Mercy% is high enough. DEFEND: sacrifices a turn, reduces incoming damage, grants a flat Tension chunk immediately; usable by anyone.

3. #3Tension

   Keys: , meter, Tension points, Tension, TP

   Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Party-wide meter, 0–100%, resets each battle. Represents focus/adrenaline. Leftover Tension converts to currency/rewards at battle's end. Builds via: Defending (flat gain), successful Fight timing/crits, Grazing (moving close to bullets without contact), Items (instant boosts), and fight-specific mechanics (collectibles, objectives). Spent on Magic, advanced ACTs, and team moves. Some fights restrict normal Tension gain and require alternative in-arena methods instead.

4. #4Dodge Phase & Arena

   Keys: dodge, graze, SOUL, arena, bullet board

   Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

   Entry settings

   On the enemy's turn, the party's SOUL (heart-shaped icon) enters a bounded arena and must dodge patterned projectiles; hits land on the whole party. Grazing (getting close without touching) grants Tension, shortens the attack, and shows a visual cue. The SOUL can slow down for precision. Powerful enemies can resize, rotate, deform, split, or add hazards to the arena as part of their attack. Equipment can boost grazing range, defense, or mode effectiveness.

5. #5SOUL Modes

   Keys: purple soul, SOUL mode, orange soul, yellow soul, green soul, red soul

   Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Fight-specific behavior shifts for the SOUL: Red = free omnidirectional movement (default). Yellow = Shooter, fires back at projectiles/targets. Orange = Dash, bursts through obstacles. Green = Block/Shield, locked in place, timed directional defense. Purple = Track/Rail, restricted to fixed lines or paths. Illumination/Shining = emits light to reveal or neutralize hazards. Custom modes can be invented per fight as needed.

6. #6Stats & Party State

   Keys: stats, LV, MAG, downed, ATK, HP, DF

   Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

   Entry settings

   HP: health; 0 HP = Downed (inactive, revivable) — party loses only when all are downed, with partial auto-heal at turn start. ATK: physical damage. DF: damage reduction. MAG: spell potency. LV and similar stats set baseline power, sometimes boosted temporarily via violent choices or story progress.

7. #7Violence vs. Mercy

   Keys: pacify, tired, violence, mercy, spare, LOST, route

   Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Violent path: reduce all enemies to 0 HP; may grant temporary stat boosts but makes some foes permanently unavailable ("LOST") and shifts the story route. Peaceful path: spare via high Mercy% (built through ACTs, Tired status, or spells); recruits allies and deepens relationships. Tired status (from low HP or specific ACTs) makes an enemy vulnerable to Pacify/Spare. Hybrid approaches are possible; choices affect narrative outcomes.

8. #8Battle Resolution & RP Guidance

   Keys: reward, resolution, synergy, adaptation

   Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Battle ends when all enemies are defeated or spared. Rewards: currency from leftover Tension, recruits, items, story progress; branching routes depend on cumulative choices. Party synergy: Leader typically drives ACT/control, others bring specialized Magic, raw power, or support — team combos are strongest with a full active party. For custom fights: invent enemy-specific ACTs, bullet patterns, SOUL modes, or Tension objectives, keeping Tension as the core limited resource that rewards risky play (grazing, timed defends).

9. #9Mercy %

   Keys: Mercy, spareable, mercy meter

   Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Each enemy has its own Mercy meter (0–100%), separate from the shared Tension pool. It rises mainly through ACTs (amount varies by enemy and by which ACT is used — some affect multiple enemies at once), certain items, or spells like Pacify used on a Tired enemy. Repeatedly attempting Spare on a non-ready enemy raises it slightly too, but far slower than a good ACT. Once an enemy hits 100%, Spare ends the fight with them peacefully. A handful of bosses are exempt from the Mercy system entirely and must be resolved through other means (defeat, puzzle-based sequence, or story trigger) regardless of ACTs used. Sparing enough of the same enemy type over a story arc can recruit that type as a standing ally/friend; violently finishing an enemy instead usually locks that type out of recruitment for good, even if it had already been partly recruited.

10. #10Species & Dodge Phase

    Keys: dodge phase, monster, non-SOUL, human, mixed party

    Enabled · After character · Order 5 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Whether a dodge phase happens at all depends on party makeup. If a SOUL-bearer (typically the human lead) is present, their SOUL enters the arena each enemy turn and the player actively dodges/grazes — successful play can avoid all damage that turn. If the party is entirely non-SOUL species (monsters/Darkners), there's no controllable dodge icon: enemy attacks simply resolve as direct damage, reduced only by Defend, stats, or protective effects — no grazing, no SOUL modes. In a mixed party, the SOUL-bearer's dodging protects the whole group at once, but that character usually can't cast Magic themselves (treated as 0 base Magic), leaning on allies for spell support instead. This is a design/homebrew layer for differentiating character types rather than a strict system found verbatim in the source material — worth flagging if strict canon accuracy matters for your table, but it's a clean way to make species choice mechanically meaningful.

11. #11Battle Atmosphere

    Keys: music, waiting, idle, theme, boss theme, background music

    Enabled · After character · Order 10 · 100%

    Entry settings

    While waiting for their turn, enemies hold an idle stance or loop a small idle animation rather than staying frozen — they visibly react, twitch, or posture between actions. Music plays continuously throughout every battle and is treated as a narrative tool as much as ambiance: themes can shift or intensify at major moments (a boss's phase change, a near-victory, an emotional beat). Regular, low-stakes enemies generally share one recurring battle track for a given area or arc. Notable bosses and minibosses, however, almost always get their own unique theme, composed to reflect their personality, mood, and the current story stakes — a menacing foe gets something ominous, a goofy one gets something playful, a tragic one gets something bittersweet. When narrating a fight, treat silence as the exception, not the norm, and let a boss's music color how the scene feels.

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