ANOMALY DETECTED

[indigo_league]

Who: ANYONE AND EVERYONE
Where: ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE
When: NOV 25TH to 27TH
Summary: GET IN HERE AND MINGLE
Rating: BUT PLEASE MARK YOUR THREAD CONTENT ACCORDINGLY
Log:






Need a reminder of our Fourth Wall Rules or what is going on this weekend? Want to check what locations have been made available? Find all your answers here!

Comments

[dreamsofahero]

"Oh? I actually am not very familiar with games, so I don't know if I'd be much good at it..."

He had a deprived childhood on that front, suffice to say. And while he's learned chess, well, he tends to approach that as a wargame more than just, you know, a game.

[thetombkeeper]

Likewise, Marik didn't really have access to many games besides a few ancient Egyptian ones. Not much to do but study and waste away when you're stuck in a tomb and Duel Monsters wasn't a thing until about a year ago in his world.

"It's fairly straight forward. Do you have a mind for strategy?"

[dreamsofahero]

Sion can't help raising an eyebrow at that question.

"I should certainly like to think so."

Does that mean this is another game like chess? Because chess he knows, at least.

[thetombkeeper]

"Good, good," Marik can't help but grin. "Because strategy is part of this game. The other is luck of the draw. So it's random what cards you're given but it's up to you to make them work together. Does that sound more up your alley?"

[dreamsofahero]

"Is the luck supposed to be part of the appeal?"

That's definitely one thing he lacks experience with. He could never afford to leave things up to chance or luck, and games that involve it typically require more than one person to play. Which is to say, Sion simply doesn't understand luck-based games due to sheer lack of exposure.

[thetombkeeper]

"Sort of? I know someone who's always going on about believing in the heart of the cards and whatnot but," he shrugs to finish his sentence. "It is an interesting way to try different techniques despite using the same cards. Keeps the game from getting stale."

Out of everyone here in the pokémon world, Marik has the worst win/lose ratio in Duel Monsters. He understands the game but his problem is never test running his decks before he plays them. He comes up with a concept, uses it right away, and it usually blows up in his face.

Still, he's a decent enough teacher.

"There might be the Dueling Arenas somewhere in the castle if you're interesting in trying to find that instead."

[dreamsofahero]

Sorry, Marik, Sion's just trying to wrap his head around this. Sure, he's heard of games that include an element of chance, but there's never been any particular reason for him to try them.

"Ah, then it's something of a test of one's adaptability in uncertain circumstances?"

A little like his gym's challenge, in a way. Though Sion's definitely always thought of that as a test for the challenger rather than comparing it to a game.

[thetombkeeper]

He's fine. Marik's just failing to remember the battle system here is almost exactly like the card game. He's gotten so used to just existing along side pokémon that it doesn't occur to him at the moment.

"Yeah. It's-" he looks at his Yamask, who's decided to sit at the table regardless if they're staying or not. He remembers at least - and gives Marik a skeptical look. The blonde's eyes widen and he slaps his forehead when it hits him.

"Ugh. I'm sorry. It's basically like pokémon battles. Turn-based, only six monsters allowed on the field at a time, you use items and equips to help you during the fight. Some of the monsters even look similar enough. Does that make a bit more sense?"

[dreamsofahero]

"Oh?"

That does sound interesting in concept, though he still doesn't fully get the whole 'luck of the draw" element.

"But in this case, your 'team' is determined by which cards you happen to possess?"

[thetombkeeper]

"Right! And depending on their 'level,' you can summon them directly or you have to meet certain requirements to bring them out. Like if a monster has more than four stars but less than six, it needs to have one monster on the field sacrificed to summon it. If it's seven or more stars, you need two active monsters."

That's probably more info than Sion needs right now but Marik's kind of excited to actually have the tech here to properly show someone the game.

[dreamsofahero]

"Then that would mean that if you never happen to acquire some of those lower level ones, you wouldn't be able to use anyway."

Normally, at least. And yes, he was able to come to that conclusion just based on the explanation that higher level ones require something already fielded to be summoned.

[thetombkeeper]

At least he gets it.

"Yeah, that can happen from time to time. They call that a bricked hand."

He's had plenty of those against his sister, that's for sure.

"Both players start with 4000 life points. The purpose of the Duel is to get your opponent's life points to zero. If you don't have a monster on the field, any attacks will hit you directly. Monsters have Attack Points and Defense Points depending on what position you play them in."

[dreamsofahero]

Just because he lacks experience with games doesn't mean he can't figure it out!

"Then wouldn't the possibility of a hand like that potentially mean the difference between winning or losing the match?"

He's still trying to see how much sheer luck factors into this, really.

[thetombkeeper]

"It can. It really depends on if you continue to draw only spells and traps with no monsters and how many life points you still have. There are also some spell and trap cards that allow you to look through your deck and pull a monster."

[dreamsofahero]

Now, this is new information that hadn't factored into his prior assessments so far. That there were additionally means to potentially control or sidestep the randomness of drawing cards from a deck wasn't something Sion had realized was an element of the game.

"... If that's the case, then it would be possible to play cards that would largely eliminate the need to rely on chance."

Potential UB control deck player here.

[thetombkeeper]

"Right," he nods. "Obviously you can't have too many of those specific cards in your deck. Some are on what's called a Limited or Banned List. That helps the game remain a bit more balanced."

He waves his hand. "But that's not super important unless you were legitimately looking to get into the game."

Marik glances around, catching a glimpse of the castle way in the distance above the treeline. "I really wish there were card packs on this island because I really need to rework my deck... Ah, but I digress. Were you... interested in seeing the game in action or do you want to check out Pegasus's Castle?"

[dreamsofahero]

"You mean using this device?"

... He might possibly be interested. He might also be reluctant to admit it. Though he does pause as he considers the way Marik's glancing around.

"Though if you wish to explore, by all means don't feel obligated to demonstrate just for my sake."

[thetombkeeper]

"Yeah. It's the best way to play the game, in my opinion. I didn't want you to feel obligated to try it if you'd rather explore or aren't interested." He smiles nervously. "If you do want to try, I don't mind teaching you."

[dreamsofahero]

Sion notices the nervousness. And while he can think of a few possible reasons for it, odds seem to be good that it's a case of wanting to demonstrate the game but not wanting to pressure anyone. In which case, given that Sion admittedly is curious about the technology in question...

"Well, while I admit exploring is tempting, it might be rather more worthwhile to see a proper demonstration of this device's capabilities while there's a chance, wouldn't you think?"

[thetombkeeper]

That's a good way of looking at it and seems to put Marik's nervousness at ease. He manages a normal smile and nods, taking a seat on one side of the table. "You're right. With me splitting my deck in half, it shouldn't take too long to get through the basics and show you a proper demonstration. I've taught a few people over the network but this Dueling Cube will help make it far more impressive."

He pulls the rest of the cards out of his deckbox and begins shuffling them. "Do you want me to teach you the easy way or the genuine way? Easy means we play all of our cards face up so I can teach you what each does and when you should use it. If you're confident enough and think you can figure it out on your own, we can play them face down."

[dreamsofahero]

"Why not start with a general overview of the game, and we can see from there?"

He's pretty sure he can remember the rules for summoning monsters that Marik's already mentioned, but there were clearly a lot of things left out from that explanation that are probably important. All those basics required to even get a game started.

[thetombkeeper]

"Works for me."

As he splits the deck, Chen moves to sit on the other side of the table to act as Sion's teaching assistant. While he's not great at reading, he's memorized what each of the cards do by the artwork.

"Each player starts with 4000 Life Points. The purpose of the Duel is to get your opponent's Life Points to zero. The way to do that is to destroy your opponent's monsters so they have nothing to defend themselves, letting you attack their life points directly. I'll get into that more once we've drawn our cards."

He sets a stack of 20 cards on Sion's side of the table.

"Because we have so little cards since we're splitting my deck, I'll need to downsize how the game works. 2000 life points instead of 4000. At the beginning of each game, we flip a coin to decide who goes first. Then both players draw 5 cards. There's multiple phases to a turn. Draw, Standby, Main 1, Battle, Main 2, and End. At the start of your turn you get to draw 1 new card, which is why it's called the Draw Phase."

Marik pulls a coin from his pocket and places it on his thumb nail.

"You want heads or tails?"

[dreamsofahero]

Sion listens as Marik explains, quickly mentally filing away each new piece of information. The explanation of the life points certainly would be a good reason why having monsters fielded quickly would be important, he can see.

"I take it this device will automatically track those points, rather than the players having to do so themselves?"

Since if they're having to do it manually, scrounging up something to write with may be in order.

"Let's go with heads."

[thetombkeeper]

The blonde nods in response to Sion's question. "Indeed, it does. That should show up once we properly start the game."

He flicks the coin into the air and catches it in the palm of his hand. "Heads. You can choose if you'd like to go first or second."

[dreamsofahero]

"Well, why don't you finish explaining the basics, and then I'll decide?"

He might want to take the first turn, but it's hard to be sure before he knows more about what the turn entails!