Goblinkin a deckbuilding.., p.29
Goblinkin: A Deckbuilding LitRPG, page 29
“Presumably the amount of power at play here is far beyond even what the worst of the necrofungus could achieve,” Sarkuran said. He was standing with his back to the Godsword, his eyes scanning the horizon. There was always a chance another of the mana elementals could attempt an attack whilst the group attempted to repair the Godsword.
“Too right. Gods, Mazel, imagine what damage the fungus could do if some of it got here. It would probably spread across the world overnight.”
“Yeah, let’s hope that never happens.” Mazel reached out and touched the black stone before her. It was oddly warm. “If this stuff is held together with attraction, then reckon we can fix it. We just need to join it back up, right? Connect the parts with something mana conductive so that the runes can talk with one another again. Probably a good idea to build in some kind of safety shut off in case something goes wrong.”
“Like this?” Krunk said, pulling the cylinder the Golden had made from his overall pocket.
“You idiot! Why do you even have that? What if the tower needs to use the barrier? How are they going to turn it on without that.”
“I don’t know, I just kind of, held onto it until I needed it. You know that’s the groblin way.”
Mazel let out a long sigh. Her mother, like all groblin mothers, had repeatedly told her to hang onto anything she could. You never knew when you needed a certain screw, or nut, or bolt, and groblin homes had the unfortunate tendency to become warehouses of old unread newspapers and broken furniture that they were going to fix, one day, definitely, once they can find the missing leg somewhere in the mountain of rubbish.
“Well, I suppose it will work. Try and make it so we can take the thing out easily this time. We don’t have any of those dog-statue people to pry it loose.” Mazel turned to look at Tax, the spider bowing slightly in recognition. “You think you can spin webs between all these fragments?”
“That should be easy, yes,” Tax said in her singsong voice. “It won’t take more than a few moments.” The speed at which spiders could create something was always impressive.
“So, we can fix it?” Magda asked.
“We can certainly try,” Mazel replied. “I’m confident though. Honestly, this is a pretty simple problem to solve, mostly thanks to how powerful it is. Should make our life easy. Basically, once Tax had connected the parts up we’re just essentially remaking the Godsword, but bigger. It’s like when you smash a plate, and you glue it back together. It can be a little wonky depending on the glue you use but it’ll still carry a sandwich fine.”
“Oh man, a sandwich. I miss those. Sounds odd, right?” Gareth said.
“No way. Bread. I miss bread,” Imelda said. She was sitting on the ground, an unwise move considering the amount of dust it had kicked up. Having already made the mistake she had decided that getting back up was only going to make it worse and had stayed on the ground whilst the others had discussed the Godsword problem. “That’s something we need to try and sort once we find another country, one that doesn’t want to kill us. That and beer! Anything wheat related basically.”
“I am rather fond of the attempts at fermenting some of the fruits of the jungle,” Sarkuran said. “They have a lively taste to them. Though I do admit I miss the taste of a good stout or bitter. It’s simply not the same. Rather a shame the Golden can’t furnish us with something along those lines.”
Imelda narrowed her eyes at Sarkuran. “They don’t even eat.”
“A shame.”
“You know, you could just send someone through to Thot-Ankor. Someone who isn’t you lot,” Krunk said, his eyes still fixed on the stone. “The police are only looking for you lot. And me and Mazel, I guess. They aren’t looking for any of the other people at the tower. Nothing stopping them popping to the city for supplies.”
“It’s not quite that straightforward.” Gareth had already considered what Krunk was proposing. “The teleport platform is up a mountain, getting to the city and back isn’t exactly easy. None of the other people at the tower are duellists, there could be all sorts of monsters that could attack them, never mind climbing a mountain being dangerous on its own. Add in if they mess up and draw attention to themselves I reckon the secret police would pounce on an odd foreigner trying to trade. If someone gets caught and slips up, tells them about the teleporter, we’re in serious trouble then.”
“Gareth is right. Luthor might be a potent defence, but I doubt even he could stand before the might of the Thot-Ankorian army,” Sarkuran said. The weapons the Thot-Ankorians possessed were like nothing he had seen. They were akin to things Gareth had described from his homeworld, devices that launched lead projectiles through a tube thanks to the force of some explosive powder. It didn’t take a military genius—and Sarkuran certainly considered himself such—to realise the effectiveness of such weapons. Strong enough to punch through plate armour, at a long enough distance to do so safely, and simple enough to use that people could be trained to use them on mass with little effort. Sarkuran was a little jealous, those weapons, guns Gareth had called them, would have made his empire untouchable.
“See this is why you’re the adventurers and I just fix things.”
“And even that is debatable,” Mazel muttered.
“You know, this does make us probably the most travelled groblins in the world, right? We’ve been to three different continents now. Or two, or well I guess it depends on how they connect together. It’s pretty obvious that world map we got taught as kids is dead wrong.”
“Less gassing, more working, come on, there’s a ton we need to do,” Mazel said.
***
Gareth had to admit that it was certainly an interesting sight. The groblins had spent hours instructing Tax and together they had reforged the Godsword in crystal. Or as close as they could get it anyway. The relic segments would have fitted together if they could have been plucked from the air but in forming a crystal scaffold around them the new Godsword was wonky and uneven. The connections between each piece had been left skeletal, designed for speed rather than appearance.
“So, it’s done?” Gareth said as he watched the groblins step back with their hands on their hips.
“Aye, we think so,” Mazel said. She bent down and slotted the runic cylinder into a strand of webbing at her feet. It was there to act as a cutout if something went wrong. “All that’s left is to turn it on. That’s Magda’s job, right?”
“Yeah, it is.” Magda rolled her shoulders and took a step towards the nearest chunk of stone. “You should all step back, just in case.”
“Someone will need to stand near the cylinder in case it needs to be pulled,” Mazel said.
Gareth nodded. “I’ll do it.”
Magda smiled. If someone was going to stand there with her as she faced down her past self, she wanted it to be Gareth. Pink welled up in her cheeks as she thought about what her friends had brought up in the warrens. If things were different, then maybe.
The others moved to what they thought was a reasonable distance, the reassembled obelisk looming large over the horizon. It was an imposing sight, even with the bright pink patchwork in place.
Magda nodded at Gareth and then reached out, placing her hand on the stone.
Suddenly she was standing in a void, endless darkness that stretched out into the infinite. It was a familiar sight; one she had seen back in Thot-Ankor.
“Impressive, to reassemble this shattered weapon,” said a voice. A shape began to appear in the gloom. It was Magda’s former shape, the much-vaunted Magdalena. She loomed over her newer incarnation and look at her quizzically. “Something I thought nearly impossible. I worried this fragment of myself would remain forever trapped.”
“Well, I’ve got some good friends who helped,” Magda said. She hated looking up at her past self, even the statues around the tower were too much. It was a painful reminder of her fall from what she had been.
“Yes, you do. That was my flaw, my mistake.”
“Flaw?” The idea that the past her was in some way imperfect felt odd. Everything she had heard about Magdalena had been about how incredible she was.
“Yes, of course! We all have flaws. It is what makes us alive.”
“But you’re the goddess who created, well, everything, all life, all the worlds.”
“That’s true, but life is flawed because I am flawed,” Magdalena said with a smile. “Nothing is perfect, and nor should it be. I failed because I tried to do everything alone. Presumably, I lost my battle with my children otherwise I would not be here. I let them take over because I retreated from existence once I had made them. Isolating myself was the biggest mistake I ever made. Do not repeat it.”
“I, I won’t,” Magda said. “I don’t think I could ever part with my friends. I mean, I know I will have to, eventually, if we succeed.”
“Perhaps. Even I could not see the future.” Magdalena gave a smile. “I can see your present however, you are me, after all. I will tell you this, with all the knowledge I have accrued over my endless existence. Do let fear of what might happen rob you of joy in the moment. You know of what I’m talking about, correct?”
“Yeah,” Magda admitted. “I do.”
“Excellent. I feel like your friends are waiting for you right now. This Godsword is activated, and I will become a part of you. This is your third Godsword, correct? You’re making good progress.”
“Not good enough. The longer I take the more souls will suffer.”
“I would not dwell on that. The sheer volume of souls lost to the void with every moment is unfathomable, to worry about the numbers involved would be to invite madness.”
“That doesn’t really help,” Magda said. “How am I supposed to just ignore that?”
“I did not say ignore it. Let it always drive you, but you also have to live your life. You have been given a unique opportunity. How many gods can claim to have lived alongside their subjects as a mortal? I would have given anything to have that experience, to know the people better and learn how I could best help them.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
Magdalena floated to eye level with her current self and smiled. “I know things will work out.”
“I thought you couldn’t see the future.”
“I can’t,” Magdalena said. “I simply have hope.”
In a flash Magda was back on Acamida, her fingers lifting off the stone. Around here the blue light creeping through the cracks on the ground had dimmed whilst before her the blots of energy that kept the Godsword together flickered. It was working, mana was flowing into the stone.
“Did it work,” Gareth said, taking a step closer.
“It worked,” Magda said spinning around on her heels. “We’re good.”
“And you, you’ve got another fragment of yourself back.” Gareth saw Magda nod in response. “Did you learn anything?”
“Yeah, kind of,” Magda said, stepping closer to Gareth. “She had a few good points.”
“What were those, exactly?”
“Oh, it was about living for the moment.”
Magda reached up and grabbed the back of Gareth’s head, pulling him forward and planting a kiss on his lips.
“You know,” Gareth said once their lips separated. “I think she had some good points.”
Quest Completed: Repair the broken Godsword
Reward: 2000 experience points.
Goblin Summoner – The Rules
It was important to me, when writing Goblin Summoner, that the way that everything played out was consistent with how it was presented in the story. To do this I have a set of rules in my head that every fight followed so that everything tracked correctly, especially when it came to formal duelling. Now if you had enough time, I’m sure you could piece together the core rules that underpin the systems at the heart of the book if you wanted to. Thankfully, you don’t have to.
Presented here are the basic rules of Goblin Summoner, in particular its formal duelling rules. (Sadly, our reality lacks the ability to summon actual monsters to try the real time version.) You can use these rules to play actual duels between yourself and a friend if you want to.
A few caveats first. I have no idea if this game is balanced. I designed this system to provide an interesting narrative first and foremost, so as an actual game to play it might have some wonky interactions or unintended strategies. Also, printing the list of every monsters, spell, trap and relic featured in the book would take up frankly far too much space. You can find the relevant information in the novel itself, or if you sign up for my mailing list, you’ll get a copy of the Goblin Summoner Bestiary for free. This includes the information for everything mentioned in the book, even those were you don’t see their stats directly. If you want to know what the rules are for the Nephilim, then this is where you’ll find them.
You can join the mailing list and get your free copy of the bestiary here.
Ok, so with enough preamble, I present to you the rules.
Duelling.
A duel in Goblin Summoner is a form of ritual combat between two duellists. To win a duel, you must shatter all three of your opponent’s shield cards. To do this. players will summon deadly monsters and powerful relics, or cast dazzling spells. To play each player will need a deck of cards and something they can use as tokens. Dice, coins, something like that.
The duel is split into turns, at the start of which each player will gain mana, the resource used to cast their spells, they will then alternate between each other as they take actions that effect the game state.
Anatomy of a card.
Every card in goblin summoner has a few key things about it that determine how it functions in the game. Some are universal to every card type, some aren’t.
There are four different types of card in the game.
Monsters
Relics
Spells
Traps
Every card falls into one of these four categories. Monsters and relics remain in play when you use them, repeatedly impacting the game state. Spells and traps resolve their effect once and are then discarded. Every card has a mana cost, how much magical energy is required to use it. This is true across all card types.
Monsters and Relics will have a type associated with them. This type effects their mana cost when used in a deck with a matching affinity (see the deck building rules for more.) When a deck shares has a matching affinity to a type, reduce the printed mana cost by one. For example, a three mana goblin soldier costs two mana when used in a goblin affinity deck. This change counts for deck building, as well as for any card that mentions a specific mana cost in its effect.
All spells, traps and relics, along with some monsters, will have an effect. This effect impacts the game state in some way, made clear in the effect text itself. When effect text and the rules of the game conflict, the effect text always wins. Once a spell or trap has resolved its effect, it’s discarded.
Monsters will have three further details listed on them. Attack rating, defence rating, and hit points. Attack and defense ratings determine how good a monster is at dealing or avoiding damage, whist its hit points is how much damage it can take before it is destroyed. (Destroyed cards are sent from play to the discard pile.) There numbers represent not just how strong a monster is, but how skilled as well. A giant might have very low defence because its very easy to hit, but several hit points to compensate.
Playing the game
A game of Goblin Summoner is divided into turns. During each turn players will alternate taking actions until both players choose to pass in succession, at which point the turn ends and a new one begins. During the first turn of Goblin summoner, do the following things in order.
Randomly determine who has priority for that turn. That player will get to act first. At the end of each turn priority switches to the other player.
Shuffle your deck, then present it your opponent, who may shuffle or cut it as they see fit then return it to you.
Draw three cards from the top and place them face down before you, without looking at them. These are your shield cards.
Draw four cards from your deck, this is you hand, keep the contents to yourself.
Give each player tokens matching the amount of mana available to them. It’s recommended you play with five mana each, though you can adjust this if you want to try duelling as a higher level spellcaster. Coins make excellent tokens for this.
The game is now set up. Beginning with the player with priority, players now alternate taking actions (listed in a moment) until both choose to pass. The turn then ends, and a new turn begins on subsequent turns do the following things in order.
Draw two cards. If you cannot draw any cards shuffle the contents of your discard pile to create a new deck and then resume drawing cards.
Resolve any “start of turn effects” starting with the player with priority and alternating.
Restore mana up to your maximum, minus the cost of any monsters, relics or traps in play. (For example, in a five mana game you have one relic with one mana cost, and one monster with two mana cost, then you would restore only two mana,)
Resume taking actions.
For reference, the end of turn sequence once both players pass is
Resolve any “end of turn” effects, starting with the player with priority and alternating.
Pass priority to the player without it.
Taking actions.
Players can take the following actions during a turn.
Play a card from hand – Spend the appropriate amount of mana to play a card from hand. Relics and monsters get placed before you and any relevant effects trigger, the cards remaining in play until destroyed. Spells resolve their effect immediately and are then placed in the discard pile. Traps are placed face down. Their effects will trigger when instructed to do so on the card itself. The mana cost of a trap is public knowledge and its recommended you mark it a counter of some kind such as a dice. When a traps effect triggers, it is then placed in the discard pile.
