Lost Kingdoms Format

[Joshua Kaplan]

Hi everyone.

I'm sure there have been at least a few posts about this over the years, but forever ago I was a big fan of this super unpolished RPG series on Gamecube called Lost Kingdoms (I + II) that always felt like if Yu-Gi-Oh was being played in real time, so I decided to brainstorm some ideas on how it could be incorporated into a drastically alternate format.  I'm still very much tinkering with it, but this was a rough attempt to recreate the Lost Kingdom mechanics in a Yu-Gi-Oh setting. I only included Levels because that's the only thing that was present in Yu-Gi-Oh when Lost Kingdoms came out. It's obviously purely casual and will probably appeal more to older players. I'm still figuring out a way to incorporate "Trap" Monsters, thinking about the movement, and maybe distinguishing between various levels in a more mechanically distinct way (like the Attacks and Summons in the video game). Feedback and suggestions are welcome, and thanks for reading. 

Lost Kingdoms Duel:

• At the start of the duel, banish all Spell & Trap Cards from hands and decks. 
• Each player summons 1 Runemaster Token (Spellcaster/ATK:0) with 20 Stone Counters on it; it cannot be removed from the field or switched to defense position.
• Whenever a Monster is summoned, remove a number of Stone Counters from its owner's Runemaster Token equal to its Level (if its Level is greater, its owner loses 500 LP x the difference); they must move 1 Monster Card Zone closer to the opponent's Runemaster Token and declare an attack each turn, if able.
• Players may take actions on either player's turn but only up to thrice that turn.
• Monsters can only attack Monsters in the same column/row.
• Once per battle, whenever a Runemaster Token declares an attack, its owner may remove Stone Counters equal to half (rounded up) the Level of 1 Monster in their hand to have the Token gain that Monster's ATK during damage calculation, only, then discard the Monster.
• Whenever a Monster is destroyed, its owner's opponent can put Stone Counters equal to half its Level, rounded up.
• The maximum field/hand size is 4.
• Whenever a card is send to the GY, its owner draws a card.
• Attacking Monsters battle with defending Monsters' DEF value;
• Halve the DEF of the following defending Monsters based on the Attribute of the attacking Monster: FIRE-WATER, WATER-EARTH, EARTH-FIRE, WIND-___).
• As an action, a player may move their Runemaster Token into an adjacent Monster Card Zone on either side of the field; if they've moved 3 times this turn, increase their LP by 1500.
• Players lose no LP in battles except those involving their Runemaster Token.