Deckay

Arise!!!

You are undead, revived by an unseen master to fight endlessly. In Deckay, looping is not just a mechanic. It is your curse.

You begin each run with a basic deck and a single command: fight. Each turn, you draw one card. You must play it or discard it. When your deck runs out, it loops. The cards are reshuffled back to the top, but they return weaker. Each loop withers your strength. Cards rot. Energy drains. Health fades. You decay.

Your enemies do not. With each loop of their deck, they grow stronger. While you decay, they grow. What was once a fair fight shifts slowly and relentlessly against you.

But even in death, victory offers you a grim mercy. Defeat a foe, and you may take a part of them. Tear a card from their deck and graft it into your deck, or consume it to fuel your fading power. Their loss is your only gain.

You may return to earlier battles, looping back to take more. While what you tore away is gone, what they gained remains. With fewer cards left in their deck, their strength increases faster. And once you step back, there is no shortcut forward. You must fight your way through again.

Deckay is not about winning. It is about surviving. Every loop strips you down. Every battle takes something from you. This is not a power fantasy. It is slow collapse. You do not get stronger. You get better at falling apart.

Decay: You gain 1 stack when your deck loops. Each stack lowers all card effects by 1 and deals 1 damage to you when applied. Resets between combats.

Growth: Enemies gain 1 stack when their deck loops. Each stack increases all card card effects by 1, adds 1 max HP, and heals 1 HP when applied. Persists between combats.

Disease: If played by the enemy, it increases your Decay. If played by you, it reduces enemy Growth.

Poison: Each stack deals 1 damage at the end of turn. Lose 1 stack at the end of turn. Ignores Block.

Slow: At the end of the turn if character has 10 stacks or more, 10 stacks are removed and the character skips their turn (top card is discarded).

Block: Reduces incoming damage except Poison. Block is consumed based on how much damage it blocks.

Discard: You have 2 discards per deck loop. When the deck reshuffles, you regain up to 2 discards.

Grafting: Steal a card from an enemy deck and add it to your own permanently.

Consuming: Destroy a card from the enemy deck permanently and gain +3 Essence.

Essence: Used to upgrade cards or heal 10 HP per 1 Essence. Upgrade cost varies by card.