Strategy is Composition. Combat is Performance.
The Symphony of War is the Combat System of Arcanoria that is divided into two core axioms. The macro layer determines what tools exist in the battle. The micro layer determines how well those tools are realized:
- Macro Level | Strategy as Composition: Wars are won before a single note is played. It consists of the system of building and preparing Orchestral Formations, Assigning Legend Battle Conductors, and Magic Arts made by Civilization alongside the technologies researched and invented as equipment, gear, and tier of Production Units.
- Micro Level | Combat as Performance: The attacks are dictated by Symphony Cards which consist of actions such as combat attacks with traditional swords, Magic Arts for imbuing offensive, defensive, and utility magic. All combats are driven by army compositions named Orchestral Formations which determine in the hex combat grid the positions of Units. This part features a rhythm based layer of repeating the melody back to increase the attack power of the Chord Layering Stack, and in the defense is playing the opposite melody in rhythm as noise cancellation.
Every mechanical decision flows from this philosophy. At the strategic layer, Civilization, as the architect of war a drafting armies, growing Legends, preparing the score by composing from the slots of unlocked Magic Arts by discovering The Registers of Magic, and advancing through the technology tree and developing cultural Civics.
However, at the tactical layer, they are a performer of their songs in the battlefield, moving from flawless execution of rhythm, Spellweaving Chord Layering, and inverse-frequency defense that determines whether the score becomes a masterpiece or a catastrophe.
The system is designed to merge grand-strategy war planning, the long term development of civ-like 4X through magical development of Magic Arts, understanding of Spellweaving, and the customization of a roguelike deck builder through Symphony Cards as an expression of Civics and Legends with a high-intensity tactical combat loop on the tempo of a rhythm game.
Mini game to calm units that are entering dangerously low Composure, regaining "hp" by rhythmically syncing their heartbeat with the bpm of the song, slowing it to regain concentration and calm their mind.