Using Yu-Gi-Oh rules for Battle Royales

The announcement of a Yu-Gi-Oh! set definitely made some waves. For some hard core "HeroClix is about super-heroes" fans, it's worse than sets like Lord of the Rings. For HeroClix players who are also players or fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! they're eager for more. And for those players who focus on the game over characters, the set looks to have a number of interesting pieces.

But no matter where you stand on the set, don't overlook the rules insert that came with the Yu-Gi-Oh! starter. Aside from some set-specific rules, at its core it brings to the table a significantly new way to play that can make for some fun games, even if you hate Yu-Gi-Oh! as a license.

A New Way To Track the Game

The basic premise is that unlike standard HeroClix rules, KOing your opponent's team doesn't get you the win. Instead, each player has a bank of Life Points...

LIFE POINTS
At the beginning of the game, each player's Life Points is equal to twice the build total for that game. For bigger or more intensive matches, you can increase this amount by any number you and your opponent agree to. When a friendly character is KO'd, reduce your Life Points by that character's point value.

So the first question is, how is this any different than just adding up what you've KO'd? Well, in a two player game, it's not all that different, but in a game with more than two players the difference is significant.

Under the standard HeroClix scoring system, the person in the lead is the one who has KO'd the most. While it promotes being aggressive to some degree, in a 3+ player game, it doesn't promote being aggressive toward the player in the lead. Instead, if Player A attacks and KO's a figure on Player B's team, there's more incentive for Player C to attack and KO other figures on Player B's team, as Player B won't be as dangerous as Player A. It's the 'blood in the water' effect. There's also nothing either player B or C an do to impact Player A's lead other than to try and KO all Player A's pieces or score more points. On top of all this, it's not at all uncommon for such games to end due to time running out rather than last man standing.

With the Yu-Gi-Oh! Scenario rules, if Player A attacks and KO's a figure on Player B's team, that means Player A and C are now both in the lead. While Player C could attack Player B's team, if Player C wants to get the lead, Player C must attack Player A. There's also the added effect that if Player A is in the lead, both B and C can directly impact that lead by KOing A's pieces and knocking off his life points. Since Life Points are tracked during the game, everyone should always know who's in the lead, and can plan their strategy accordingly.

For these reasons alone, I favor the Yu-Gi-Oh! Scenario rules as a way of running 3+ player battle royale style matches.

But let's move on to the second obvious question, if your life points are double your build total, then won't you just end up with a score of 300 once all your pieces are KO'd?

Not Done With You Yet

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Scenario Rules adds two new elements to the battle...

RESPAWN
Once per turn, place a character on the map from outside the game in your starting area. This may be a character either from your Sideline or one who was KO'd earlier in the game. However, the point value of all friendly characters on the map may not exceed the build total for the game.

Respawn addresses the other issue that also comes up with 3+ players battles. If Player B gets eliminated, he now has the fun time of sitting around while A and C battle each other.

But, under the Yu-Gi-Oh! Scenario rules, Player B isn't out of the game once his initial force is KO'd. Instead, he can bring in additional characters and keep playing. In many ways you're playing a much larger build total, but without all the pieces being on the map at the same time.

And that makes for another significant difference. The down time between a player's turns is likely to be shorter for a Yu-Gi-Oh! Scenario game where you're playing 300 build total / 600 Life Points when compared to a standard 600 build total game.

This can also bring a new element to sealed games. You still build an initial starting team, but all the figures you pulled are in your sideline, eligible to be brought in. It can also help patch over situations where the boosters available might not be optimal for the build total of choice. Ever try to do 300 points with 2 Superman boosters, or a mini-brick of Lord of the Rings boosters?

A minor rules tweak I prefer on the Respawn rules is to make placing a sideline character optional. As it's currently worded, it isn't optional. If you have 50 points free, you must place a character of 50 points or less if you have one available. When running events with these rules, I treat it as optional, so that a player can wait until they have another 50 points free to bring in a 100 point character, if they want to.

BATTLE DAMAGE
When a character is KO'd, determine the amount of damage that should have been taken but wasn't because it was KO'd. Multiply that number by 5 and reduce your opponent's Life Points by that amount.

Battle Damage is interesting because it changes the equation for characters that include sidecar bystanders. Normally KOing these pesky gnats, particularly ones that can be regenerated, only has strategic value, it doesn't get you any closer to winning. With the Battle Damage rule, dropping 4 damage on a bystander means that 3 damage gets through, taking 15 points off your opponent's Life Point total.

But what about a player who thinks they're going to game the system and wall in their force while other players fight each other? Or maybe refuse to use their Respawn to get back into the game?

Take the Fight To You

They won't lose any Life Points so they're assured the win, right? Wrong...

UNBLOCKED ATTACK
Once per turn, give a power action to a friendly character that occupies an opponent's starting area and is not adjacent to an opposing character. Reduce that opponent's Life Points based on the point value of the character.
30-39 Points : 5 Life Points
40-99 Points : 10 Life Points
100-199 Points : 20 Life Points
200+ Points : 30 Life Points

So if your opponent refuses to fight you with his pieces, you can always take the fight directly to the player!

In the End

It should be pretty obvious by now, but...

VICTORY
Once a player's Life Points reaches 0, that player has been defeated. Remove all of that player's characters from the map. The winner of the game is that last undefeated player.

Of course, during the game, the player with the most life points remaining is always in the lead. Since tracking the points during the game is a necessity, it should always be clear to all players who is in the lead. This is very useful in cases where a game is likely to end because of time running out instead of elimination.

There are a couple more elements to the full Yu-Gi-Oh! Scenario rules, but these are the core mechanics I've adopted for running 3+ player games.

I know there are a few compatibility quirks out there. I've got my list lined up for a follow-up article, but I'm sure there are others! I'd definitely be interested in hearing other people's thoughts on and experiences with using these rules.