Kantaisen Flow

Data on Kantaisen will be covered in several pages for ease of reference. This page will cover the general flow of a combat scene in Kantaisen and relevant elements, while others will cover other elements as listed below.

Kantaisen Basics: Covers the introductory elements and terminology of Kantaisen.

Pilot Stats and Abilities: Covers pilot stats, abilities, spirit commands, and proficiencies.

Unit Stats and Abilities: Covers non-weapon elements that live on a unit, such as its base stats and abilities. You are here!

Weapons and Attacks: Covers units' attacks, including the construction of weapons in the system and attack attributes.

Kantaisen Flow: Covers how attacks are exchanged in the system, including relevant elements such as Engagement and Fields.

Inspirations and Differences: Covers the major inspirations for Kantaisen's various structures, and how things may differ for players used to one system or another.

Deployment

During the Deployment stage of a fight, several steps occur!

Scenes and Fields

One player selects the Scene appropriate to the scene from a list of available Fields. Players can also make their own Field Sets if nothing covers them; a Field Set includes both a description and a list of one or more Fields.

We'll look here at a sample Scene:

id: 11
name: Colony Nature Habitat
scene: A space of artificial nature on a space colony, resembling a forested national park of Earth.
Fields:
   1: Lake {"Water", "Low-G"}
   2: Forest {"Low-G"}

The ID is the label under which the Scene has been saved.

The Name is a short, appropriate declaration of the place it reflects, such as "City Battle" or "Ashford Academy" or, in this case, "Colony Nature Habitat."

The Scene is a short description of the scene with a little greater detail, not more than a single paragraph.

The Field listing contains all the Fields that that scene concept implies. A Field can have one or two terrains, in a similar way to how squares in Super Robot Wars sometimes have multiple terrains. The first terrain is the Primary Terrain, and if your unit has a good rating in that terrain, it will use it; if it doesn't, it will also check for the second terrain, it will average the two. Standing in the lake best serves water-use units; a Low-G-use unit can do it but will not do it as well as a water-use unit. Conversely, standing in the Forest is simply a Low-G activity.

Deployment

Deploying in a unit starts at typing +deploy. +deploy, without any argument, will give you a list of units you have access to and their numerical storage IDs. (Note that for this purpose, forms of units are stored as separate units; switching between a unit's modes happens using a different command.)

Typing a partial string match will bring up a list of units you could have deployed in with that match, like so:

+deploy Ghoul

leads to:

20: AMK-01 Mecha-Ghoulghilas
14: Ghoulghilas

(Note that +deploy Ghoulghilas would also be a mutual partial match; in this case, use +deploy 14 to get Ghoulghilas. Partial matching for AMK-01 would correctly pull Mecha-Ghoulghilas, however.)

Other Pre-Scene Considerations

Before the scene starts, you can adjust your position in a multi-Field Scene as needed. You can also redeploy if you deployed with the wrong unit, or choose a boss posture such as +rival or +boss if you expect to be fighting multiple people.

+boss and +rival are code tools that allow you to fight multiple people if dramatics allow.

+rival: Sets your HP to 2.5 times your baseline health and starting EN, and lets you take a number of actions equal to the number of opponents you have.

+boss #: sets your HP and starting EN to an appropriate amount for that number of people (though not as a direct multiplier) and is for handling four or more opponents at once. Like Rival, Boss allows you to take a number of actions equal to the number of opponents you have.

If you arrive as a Boss or Rival and would logically have a team with you -- such as a battleship showing up with its Ichinana contingent, or Ramba Ral showing up with a team of Zakus at his back -- you can also:

+escort Unitname: adds that unit's attacks to your attack list, allowing you to simulate support fire from your squad while still providing access to your full list of attacks.

Note that this does not give you the abilities of that unit, or create a second healthbar for it; the tool exists to encourage dramatics.

Exchanging Attacks

Attacking

"Attacking" covers actions that take your turn.

This includes both traditional attacks and the actions enabled by abilities like EWAC and Commander.

+attack TARGET with ATTACK: places that attack in their queue, a list of all attacks they currently need to react to. To successfully make an attack, you must have enough EN to use that attack.

+queue: shows all attacks currently in your queue.

When they react to that attack, your "reactor cycles" -- i.e., the amount of energy you regain per turn is added to your pool -- and they receive the effects of the attack.

Reacting

Reactions are how you deal with an attack.

+defend QUEUENUMBER with REACTION: attempts that reaction on that attack in your queue.

All reactions, other than Block and Parry, can result in a miss that causes no damage at all. Some reactions improve the chances of this, while others don't improve the chances but can change your engagement status or have other effects. Additionally, most reactions cost EN.

You always have access to two reactions, regardless of range, engagement status, and capabilities.

React: The standard response to an attack. Costs nothing, is always a valid option, and does not require any capabilities. React is not simply ignoring an incoming attack and hoping it misses; it is actively trying to protect yourself, but without any additional special effects and without any cost. The stats involved in React vary depending on positioning.

Accept: The standard response to a buff or debuff, or a way to freely take other attacks for dramatic purposes. You will be hit by the attack, and it will bypass negation defenses like Lucky and Mirage. If the attack achieves a critical hit, you will receive the effects of any Dynamic Hit abilities. You can always accept an attack.

React is also used as a part of many other reactions. For instance, during a Retreat, you check to see whether you can break engagement, and then follow it up with a React to actually avoid damage. The most reliable way to get hit less often is to improve your ability to React.

Ranged Unengaged
Reaction Name	EN Cost	Attacker's Stats	Defender's Stats	Description
Block	5	-	-	Reduce the damage taken. Guaranteed to work, but you will always take some damage. Blocking (the Pilot Ability) reduces the damage modifier, potentially negating a critical hit.. Requires a weapon with Shield Block. You can't block an attack with Barrier Breaker. Cost reduced by Chobham Armor.
Charge	5	Mobility+Targeting	Piloting+Mobility	Attempt to drive directly at the opponent to force engagement, then perform a React to try to avoid damage. Cost reduced by Chobham Armor.
Evade	10	Targeting+Intuition	Intuition+Mobility	Attempt to avoid damage without changing engagement. Increases your evasion chance. Cost reduced by Redundant Mobility.
Intercept	0	Targeting+Sight	Targeting+Sight	Attempt to shoot down an incoming Missile attack. Only works on Missiles, but doesn't cost EN. Requires a weapon with the Intercept capability.
React	0	Targeting+Intuition	Sight+Intuition	The standard reaction.
Melee Unengaged
Reaction Name	EN Cost	Attacker's Stats	Defender's Stats	Description
Block	5	-	-	Reduce the damage taken. Guaranteed to work, but you will always take some damage.Blocking (the Pilot Ability) improves this. Requires a weapon with Shield Block. You can't block an attack with Barrier Breaker. Cost reduced by Chobham Armor.
Parry	5	Mobility+Sight	Targeting+Piloting	Attempt to reduce the damage taken more reliably than with Block. Can fail, and you will always take some damage regardless. Blocking (the Pilot Ability) halves the damage done on a successful Parry. Requires a weapon with Parry. Cost reduced by Hidden Hands.
Rush	10	Piloting+Targeting	Piloting+Mobility	Attempt to get closer and reposition to improve your own accuracy, then perform a React to try to avoid damage. Rushing a Melee attack guarantees engagement since both people are trying to engage. Cost reduced by Hidden Hands.
Evade	10	Mobility+Piloting	Mobility+Piloting	Attempt to avoid damage without changing engagement. Increases your evasion chance. Cost reduced by Redundant Mobility.
React	0	Mobility+Piloting	Piloting+Intuition	The standard reaction.
Ranged Engaged
Reaction Name	EN Cost	Attacker's Stats	Defender's Stats	Description
Block	5	-	-	Reduce the damage taken. Guaranteed to work, but you will always take some damage. Blocking (the Pilot Ability) reduces the damage modifier, potentially negating a critical hit. Requires a weapon with Shield Block. You can't block an attack with Barrier Breaker. Cost reduced by Chobham Armor.
Evade	10	Sight+Targeting	Mobility+Intuition	Attempt to avoid damage without changing engagement. Increases your evasion chance. Cost reduced by Redundant Mobility.
Retreat	5	Sight+Intuition	Mobility+Piloting	Attempt to break engagement and get away, then perform a React to try to avoid damage. Cost reduced by Redundant Mobility.
Rush	10	Intuition+Piloting	Mobility+Targeting	Attempt to get closer and reposition to improve your own accuracy, then perform a React to try to avoid damage. Cost reduced by Hidden Hands.
React	0	Sight	Intuition	The standard reaction.
Intercept	0	Targeting+Sight	Targeting+Sight	Attempt to shoot down an incoming Missile attack. Only works on Missiles, but doesn't cost EN. Requires a weapon with the Intercept capability. The availability of Intercept at Engaged distances comes from Blocking (the Pilot Ability).
Melee Engaged
Reaction Name	EN Cost	Attacker's Stats	Defender's Stats	Description
Block	5	-	-	Reduce the damage taken. Guaranteed to work, but you will always take some damage. Blocking (the Pilot Ability) reduces the damage modifier, potentially negating a critical hit. Requires a weapon with Shield Block. You can't block an attack with Barrier Breaker. Cost reduced by Chobham Armor.
Parry	5	Targeting+Piloting	Targeting+Intuition	Attempt to reduce the damage taken more reliably than with Block. Can fail, and you will always take some damage regardless. Blocking (the pilot skill) halves the damage done on a successful Parry. Requires a weapon with Parry. Cost reduced by Hidden Hands.
Retreat	5	Piloting+Targeting	Piloting+Targeting	Attempt to break engagement and get away, then perform a React to try to avoid damage. Cost reduced by Redundant Mobility.
Rush	10	Intuition+Mobility	Mobility+Targeting	Attempt to get closer and reposition to improve your own accuracy, then perform a React to try to avoid damage. Cost reduced by Hidden Hands.
React	0	Piloting+Sight	Targeting+Intuition	The standard reaction.

A Block or an unsuccessful Reaction leads to a damage test. During a damage test:

The attacker uses Skill + Morale against the defender's Skill + Armor.

A number is rolled in the same way as during the hit check, and the attack does an appropriate amount of damage. Internally, this damage is "stepped;" the degree to which you succeed or fail the damage test dictates the multiplier applied to the attack's base power.

Dynamic Hit abilities trigger on attacks that achieve the 6th or 7th "step" (out of 7) of this damage.

All else being equal, a damaging attack that achieves some kind of connection (i.e. does not get subjected to an Intercept, React, or Evade successfully) will deal a minimum of 10 damage.

Play Flow Example

Soon to come: an actual example of play flow!