CARDS

The idea card wise is that all the Darkners are cards, and their different roles affect what their cards do.

Darkners that you encounter as enemies are your main attackers, with their own health and attack stats. Another thing that I think would be cool is incorporating the elements shown in their recruit book descriptions, possibly like the Pokemon trading card game. Some would have abilities as well, which could be selected, at the cost of not attack that turn, like say, Hathy. You could decide to either attack, or heal one of your other cards' health. There are also passive abilities which are automatic and do not take up a turn, like say, Viro-Virokun inflicting a virus attack that drains health over time against the card it attacks.

Darkners that you encounter as NPCs would be support cards. They function similarly to an ability card, and would grant a passive buff for a set amount of turns. For instance, Top Chef could grant a decent health boost to all cards for 5 turns, or Hacker could swap the attack and health stats of your opponent's cards for 3 turns.

Darkners that run the major shops, Like Rouxls Kaard or Swatch, when played give two helpful options unique to each of their cards, as well as a sell feature where you can sell one of your cards in your hand to them and gain their TP. You can select one of these options, and then their card stands by on the sidelines with the NPCs.

Major Bosses and Bonus Bosses would basically be the legendary cards. When played, they have a unique animation when played, change the entire backdrop of the field, and activate a unique mechanic that changes the gameplay. One such example would be Jevil, who would turn the whole playing area into a carousel, which is mainly for aesthetics. But his passive ability would randomly shuffle the enemy cards stats every turn.

All cards that are played on the field, would show up as little chibi sprites on the board wherever they are played. All the cards that would not be played on the field, like the shops or NPCs would be on the sidelines, cheering whichever side their on, well, on.

SOUL and TURN

The SOUL is your main health, and when hit by an attacking card, takes that card's damage value. In a unique twist, before the turn, you can move your soul to any of the playable lanes. This can be especially helpful in avoiding damage, or minimizing it. Be careful, as your opponent can do the same.

Turns are very simple. You start off with a set amount of TP each turn, and playing any card takes away the TP value that is shown on their card. You may play as many cards as you like as long as you have the TP. Any TP you do not use that turn, a 3rd of it carries over to the next turn along with the TP you get from that turn automatically. Keep in mind, this logic also applies to your enemy as well.

FIELD and AREAS

The Field is a grid like UT and DR, with five lanes that stretch across, with enough room for two cards from both players to be placed there. Any card can be placed in any lane, don't worry.

Another type of card I haven't mentioned are areas. These correspond to the areas you encounter throughout base Deltarune, and take up two lanes, changing their appearance, and adding a unique condition to whatever cards are played there. One example is The Cyber City, which would passively heal cards in the area, as well as giving a bit of TP to whoever has their cards in the area. Keep in mind, these would benefit both parties, so there's always a risk when playing them.

Thanks for reading all of this if ya did. If it sounds jumbled, it's cus a good chunk of this was thought up in either a couple minutes, or on the spot. Let me know your thoughts and ideas! One thing I plan on doing is releasing a card template so that people can put their own Darkners (mainly bonus bosses pffft) as cards that fit in the game's style. I definitely want to explore this concept further.