TriQuest

Ed Kolis' entry into the 7DRL Challenge 2013

Overview

TriQuest is a roguelike game in which the goal is for your party of adventurers to defeat the Chaos Lord. Features distinguishing it from other roguelikes include the formation system (in which multiple heroes/monsters are located in a single tile) the gradient-based overworld terrain map (as opposed to the dungeon maps of most other roguelikes), and a simplified inventory system.

Game Mechanics

Subtiles and Formations

Each tile on the map in TriQuest is divided into nine "subtiles", arranged in a 3x3 grid. Heroes and monsters are arranged into formations, with each creature occupying a single subtile. No more than one creature may occupy a single subtile. Formations also have a facing; when the formation rotates, the creatures shift within the tile to new subtiles to match the formation's new facing.

Overworld Map

When the map is generated, a number of "hotspots" are placed. Hotspots are locations where dangerous monsters will be found. The most dangerous hotspot will contain the Chaos Lord, so be careful! Surrounding the hotspots will be "danger zones", with the danger level decreasing the further you get from the hotspot. You can get clued in on whether the danger is increasing or decreasing as you travel by keeping an eye on the monsters and terrain, as both vary with the danger level.

Items

There are three types of items: weapons, armor, and consumables.

Weapons and armor are fairly similar; each hero can equip one of each, and each is specific to a particular hero. Weapons and armor modify the heroes' stats, with weapons tending to increase attack and armor tending to increase defense. The party need not carry duplicate items, so the inventory system is simplified from most other roguelikes: finding a particular weapon or armor for the first time simply sets a flag that it's been found, and from then on, you can choose to equip it.

Consumables consist of health and mana potions, each of which comes in two flavors: a "pack of small potions" (restores some HP or MP to all heroes), and a "large potion" (restores a lot of HP or MP to the hero with the least remaining). Potions are used immediately upon being found, so if you want to save a potion for later because your HP or MP are full, you'll have to avoid stepping over it.

Items are designed so that no particular item is intrinsically better than another; each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Combat

When two formations engage in combat (e.g. the heroes and a group of monsters), each creature in the attacking formation first chooses a target. This is done automatically; the creature chooses the target that is nearest to him. Next, the attacker chooses an attack type: physical or mental. If the difference between the Mind stats of attacker and target is greater then the difference between their Body stats, the attacker will choose a mental attack; otherwise he will choose a physical attack.

To resolve the attack, the attacker rolls AdX, where A is the attacker's Attack stat, and X is the attacker's Body or Mind stat, depending on the type of attack. The defender rolls DdX, where D is the defender's Defense stat, and X is the defender's Body or Mind stat, depending on the type of attack. The damage inflicted then is equal to the difference between the two rolls, or zero if the attack roll is less than the defense roll.

However, if the distance between the attacker and the defender is greater than the range of the attacker, then the attacker must roll 1d3 for each extra subtile of distance. If any of the rolls come up 1, then the attack misses and does no damage.

Controls

Key Action
Arrows/numpad/numbers Move and attack (not diagonally). Strafe-move with shift. (Without shift, the heroes will rotate instead of move if you press a direction they are not already facing.)
F Change formation. You will be prompted for where to place each hero in turn. Use the numpad or numbers to do so, or press F again to cancel.
S Use skill. You will be prompted for which hero and which skill. Press S again to cancel.
W Equip weapons. You will be prompted for which hero and which weapon. Press W again to cancel.
A Equip armor. You will be prompted for which hero and which armor. Press A again to cancel.

Terrain

Symbol Name Movement Cost Danger Levels 
.
 Grass 1 0-6 
#
 Forest 2 1-3 
*
 Rocks 2 4-9 
.
 Desert 1 4-6 
~
 Water 3 1-6 
+
 Wasteland 1 7-10

Heroes

Symbol Name Description Skill 1 Skill 2 
@
 Warrior Strong on physical attack and defense, but vulnerable to magic. Berserk - Temporarily increases attack at expense of defense Omnislash - Hits multiple enemies with a single attack 
@
 Mage Strong on magical attack and defense, but vulnerable to brute force. Fireball - Hits multiple enemies with a single attack Slow - Permanently slows a group of enemies. Only works once per target. 
@
 Priest Average stats. Some of his weapons are a bit unusual... Cure Wounds - Restores HP of party members Banish - Teleports a group of enemies to a random location.

Items

Weapons

Symbol Name User Description 
/
 Shortsword Warrior Increases attack somewhat. 
\
 Longsword Warrior Increases attack significantly, but decreases defense a little. 
|
 Greatsword Warrior Increases attack a lot, but decreases defense somewhat. 
{
 Battle-axe Warrior Increases attack drastically, but decreases defense significantly. 
/
 Fire Rod Mage Increases attack and mind. 
/
 Ice Rod Mage Increases defense and mind. 
/
 Lightning Rod Mage Increases sight and mind. 
/
 Tempest Rod Mage Increases attack, defense, and sight. 
\
 Mace Priest Increases attack significantly. 
\
 Bo Staff Priest Increases attack and defense. 
0
 Talisman Priest Increases body and mind. 
=
 Diviner's Ring Priest Increases sight dramatically.

Armor

Symbol Name User Description 
#
 Chainmail Warrior Increases defense. 
#
 Platemail Warrior Increases defense significantly, but decreases body slightly. 
#
 Crystal Armor Warrior Increases defense drastically, but decreases body somewhat. 
#
 Wizard's Robe Mage Increases defense and mind somewhat. 
#
 Robe of Protection Mage Increases defense significantly. 
#
 Robe of Wild Magic Mage Decreases defense slightly, but increases attack and mind. 
#
 Cassock Priest Increases defense and body somewhat. 
#
 Monk's Robe Priest Increases body, defense, and mind somewhat, but decreases attack. 
#
 Leather Cuirass Priest Increases defense.

Consumables

Symbol Name Description 
%
 Pack of Small Health Potions Restores 20 HP to all heroes. 
!
 Large Health Potion Restores 60 HP to the most wounded hero. 
%
 Pack of Small Mana Potions Restores 20 MP to all heroes. 
!
 Large Mana Potion Restores 60 MP to the most depleted hero.

Bestiary

Symbol Name Danger Level Item Drops Description 
r
 Rat 1-3 10%, consumables Weak enemy. You can mop the floor with them. 
w
 Wolf 2-4 20%, consumables Not as weak as a rat, but not much of a challenge, either. 
g
 Goblin 3-5 30%, armor A gang of these might pose a threat. Weak to magic. 
o
 Orc Brute 4-6 40%, weapons Somewhat dangerous, but weak to magic like their smaller kin the goblins. 
o
 Orc Shaman 5-7 40%, consumables These orcs have learned to use magic. Watch out! 
G
 Golem 6-8 50%, armor Golem SMASH! They're really tough, but fortunately they're slow, and magic attacks are super effective. 
s
 Dark Sage 7-9 50%, consumables These sages are masters of unholy magic, but they're vulnerable to physical attacks. 
x
 Chaos Disciple 8-10 50%, weapons These devoted followers of the Chaos Lord go all-out on attack, but pay little attention to defending themselves. 
X
 Chaos Lord 10 None The final boss of the game. He is a formidable foe! It will take all three heroes working together, with good weapons and armor, to defeat him...