Turn based battle system framework

Contribution by Tim Ashley Jenkins, 2017

This is a framework for a simple turn-based combat system, similar to those used in D&D-style tabletop role playing games. It allows any character to start a fight in a room, at which point initiative is rolled and a turn order is established. Each participant in combat has a limited time to decide their action for that turn (30 seconds by default), and combat progresses through the turn order, looping through the participants until the fight ends.

This folder contains multiple examples of how such a system can be implemented and customized:

tb_basic.py - The simplest system, which implements initiative and turn
        order, attack rolls against defense values, and damage to hit
        points. Only very basic game mechanics are included.

tb_equip.py - Adds weapons and armor to the basic implementation of
        the battle system, including commands for wielding weapons and
        donning armor, and modifiers to accuracy and damage based on
        currently used equipment.

tb_items.py - Adds usable items and conditions/status effects, and gives
    a lot of examples for each. Items can perform nearly any sort of
    function, including healing, adding or curing conditions, or
    being used to attack. Conditions affect a fighter's attributes
    and options in combat and persist outside of fights, counting
    down per turn in combat and in real time outside combat.

tb_magic.py - Adds a spellcasting system, allowing characters to cast
    spells with a variety of effects by spending MP. Spells are
    linked to functions, and as such can perform any sort of action
    the developer can imagine - spells for attacking, healing and
    conjuring objects are included as examples.

tb_range.py - Adds a system for abstract positioning and movement, which
        tracks the distance between different characters and objects in
        combat, as well as differentiates between melee and ranged
        attacks.

This system is meant as a basic framework to start from, and is modeled after the combat systems of popular tabletop role playing games rather than the real-time battle systems that many MMOs and some MUDs use. As such, it may be better suited to role-playing or more story-oriented games, or games meant to closely emulate the experience of playing a tabletop RPG.

Each of these modules contains the full functionality of the battle system with different customizations added in - the instructions to install each one is contained in the module itself. It’s recommended that you install and test tb_basic first, so you can better understand how the other modules expand on it and get a better idea of how you can customize the system to your liking and integrate the subsystems presented here into your own combat system.

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